"What is this thing!" Tohsaka Rin shrieked.
"Didn't I tell you already? It's a familiar I just learned how to create." Then, Jean picked one up and held it out in front of her: "Look, isn't it pretty?"
"It is quite pretty." Looking at the shimmering butterfly before her—its body constructed from an unknown stardust crystal, its wings formed from a gentle breeze—Rin thought it looked as magnificent as a work of art if held in one's hand alone. However—
"But why did you have to make so many!" The room was so full of butterflies, covering the floor and the air, that there was nowhere left to step.
They were everywhere, even on the bed and next to the pillows. At this point, even the most beautiful thing would be incredibly terrifying.
"Hahaha, I got a bit carried away. Making these is really fun."
Jean began collecting the butterflies into the spatial pouch. The first few had been made using Tohsaka Rin's mana, but to prevent the girl from dying suddenly due to having too much mana drained in her sleep, Jean switched to using the crystals from the spatial pouch once she got the hang of it.
Although there were many butterflies, they were actually very material-efficient; in total, they didn't even use up 1kg of crystals.
After collecting most of them, leaving only a few dozen behind, Jean handed the first 5 to Tohsaka Rin.
"These are for you. They are directly infused with your mana, so you can operate them directly."
Following Jean's instructions, Tohsaka Rin began to try operating the butterflies. After all, the operating principle was exactly the same as her family's, so she mastered it quickly.
"The standard functions are no different from a familiar, like surveillance. Additionally, I've added defensive capabilities. Although they can't inflict any damage, they can help you defend against attacks below C-rank, and each one can block an attack below A-rank once, for a total of 5 times."
After all, with stardust crystal as the core material, even if other things were lacking, the defensive power was guaranteed.
"It's actually this strong? And you researched this last night?" Rin stared blankly at the Anemo Crystalfly, which looked as precise as an alchemical product.
"The core structure isn't complex, and it doesn't have many functions, but the core material has high performance, which allows it to generate defensive capabilities."
Tohsaka Rin just looked at Jean, not asking any further.
"I understand. Thank you." She then put the five butterflies away.
Jean, meanwhile, released a dozen or so butterflies out the window, letting them begin to explore the city.
The benefit of familiars is their range. When Jean used spiritual power to control the wind attribute for exploration, the maximum range was only 3km. While each familiar didn't explore a large area, they could fly far, and their mana signals could be detected within a range of over ten kilometers. However, they could only provide information at the level of photographs; if live-streaming or similar tasks were needed, animal-type familiars would still be required.
---
It was almost 9 o'clock now. Because she didn't have school, suffered from low blood pressure in the morning, and had quite a bit of mana secretly drained the night before, Tohsaka Rin had woken up very late due to a combination of factors.
Upon realizing that there were only two hours left until her meeting with her sister, this young lady immediately threw herself into getting dressed and made up. Although she wore light makeup when going to school, this time, in order to see her sister, she was giving it her absolute all.
Foundation, blush, lipstick, eyeliner—all sorts of incomprehensible cosmetics were applied to her face.
By the end, Jean even thought she was going to perform in a Noh play.
"I'm telling you, Rin, you're going to see your sister, not to promote traditional culture."
"But isn't there that saying, 'Cosmetics are a woman's greatest weapon'?"
"Who did you hear that from? I never wear makeup."
Tohsaka Rin turned her head to look at Jean's naturally exquisite face. "You're so beautiful, you don't need to wear makeup."
But after thinking for a while, she still removed her makeup, applying only a bit of light-colored lipstick.
"Mm, Rin looks best like this." Jean said, looking at her.
Blushing slightly at being told this, Rin gave Jean a push. "You hurry up and get ready too."
Jean naturally wasn't so pretentious; she was ready within a few minutes, and then set off with Rin toward the Ahnenerbe café.
---
Business at the café at noon was decent, with quite a few people dining there. At a corner table by the window, a girl with purple-red hair, Matou Sakura, was looking out at the scenery, bored.
Suddenly, as if prompted by something, she looked over, and at the same time happily waved at the two, or more accurately, at Rin.
It was a four-person table by the window. Sakura was on the side by the window, Rin was sitting opposite her, and Jean was on the side by the aisle.
Before anyone else could speak, Jean spoke first to the empty seat opposite her: "Aren't you coming out? Could it be that you're shy because there are too many girls?"
"Shy? How could that be? I just didn't want to get involved in troublesome matters."
The Lancer in the blue bodysuit materialized in the seat opposite Jean, though he looked somewhat weaker compared to the heroic, full-of-spirit figure first seen.
"By the way, can you tell me why the wound you cut me with is almost impossible to heal?"
"Impossible to heal?" Jean thought for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Oh, come to think of it, you are a Child of Light. It's nothing, just an anti-divinity attack."
"!!!" Cú Chulainn seemed to recall something and stopped dwelling on it. "I really want to know what kind of hero you are."
Just then, Matou Sakura interrupted the conversation: "Enough, let's talk about business first. It's about the alliance, right?"
"That's right. I think we can gain a better advantage if we team up. Let's clean up the other participants first, and then we can discuss allocating the Holy Grail."
At this moment, Jean added: "The foundation of cooperation is trust, and the foundation of trust is understanding. But right now, you know your sister very well, yet Rin doesn't understand you at all, does she?"
"Calling her by her first name!" Suddenly realizing she had lost her composure, Sakura quickly reined in her expression. She paused for a moment, looking at Rin's concerned gaze, and finally sighed.
"Fine, since you want to know, I'll tell you. Although the story is very hard to believe, it is an undeniable fact."
Taking a sip of the coffee in front of her, Sakura continued: "It was when I was very young, while I was still in the Tohsaka Family. One day, I saw another me in front of a mirror, and before I could react, I was dragged into the mirror by that 'me.' Afterward, it was as if I were floating in water. I don't know how much time passed, but when I came to, I arrived in a strange world."
Recalling the story from back then, Sakura revealed a nostalgic smile:
"Right there, I met the most important person in my life, the queen of that kingdom, who is also my teacher—Scáthach."
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