Having made their promises to each other, Shinji and Artoria left the room used for the summoning and began packing their luggage with Rokudou Reika and Jack, preparing for their journey abroad.
The spirit transfer technique of Justeaze could only be used by Shinji, who had tampered with the spiritual artifact beforehand. Rokudou Reika and Jack had to travel to Romania using modern transportation.
Artoria could be forcefully teleported to her Master's side regardless of distance using Shinji's Command Spell. However, Shinji was concerned about the safety of Reika and Jack. Moreover, as Artoria was dependent on Reika, they couldn't be too far apart. She didn't possess the skills "Independent Action" or "Independent Manifestation," making it difficult for her to maintain her existence if she strayed too far from her host.
The same rule applied to Shinji, but as an Assassin with a B-rank "Independent Action" skill, he could leave Fiore and travel to Japan for a short period. According to Justeaze's calculations, Shinji could maintain his existence away from his Master for up to two days as long as he didn't engage in combat. Of course, Shinji wouldn't be away for that long, raising suspicions among the Yggdmillennia. By 7 PM Romanian time, Shinji would use spirit transfer to return to Trifas.
Rokudou Reika would enter Romania as a regular traveler through official channels. While packing, Shinji had asked her about this. As a high-class beauty, she occasionally needed to accompany clients on overseas vacations, so having a passport was essential. Her ordinary identity wouldn't arouse the suspicions of the Yggdmillennia family.
Artoria and Jack would smuggle themselves in different forms. Jack, being a Servant, could easily turn into spirit form and become invisible to humans. Artoria, not being dead and not a magus like Scáthach, couldn't spiritize. To conceal her presence, Shinji lent her the Cloak of Hades.
Despite its E-rank in the Noble Phantasm system, it was Shinji's most reliable Noble Phantasm. It provided disguise, invisibility, and masked sounds and presence. While it might not reach the exaggerated level of the original helm in Hades' possession, which could fool even Titans, the cloak had been crucial in Shinji's survival and success.
Without the cloak, Shinji couldn't assume different identities in various situations without exposing himself or the Matou family.
Without the cloak, he couldn't evade the senses of numerous experts or various detection magecrafts and barriers, preventing covert operations.
Most importantly, without the cloak, Shinji wouldn't dare use Noble Phantasms so openly. Noble Phantasms exuded a mystery far beyond modern magecraft. To any magus, even a novice, the mystical waves emitted by a Noble Phantasm were as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark—so bright and outstanding. This wasn't a joke or a mere trope; Noble Phantasms were indeed that noticeable.
Only a Noble Phantasm like the Cloak of Hades could diminish or even mask the presence of other Noble Phantasms, avoiding suspicion—albeit within a limited area around the cloak. Using something like the Thunder of Indra openly would still be impossible, as any magus unfamiliar with Servants would perceive it as an ancient secret treasure rather than a crystallized Noble Phantasm.
With the cloak, Artoria could become invisible, bypass security, and customs, and board a flight to Romania unnoticed, making her even more covert than Jack.
The only drawback was that the cloak couldn't eliminate the physical presence of people or objects. Artoria couldn't phase through walls like Jack and had to follow routes accessible to humans. Shinji had already planned the route; she would go wherever the luggage went. While the cargo hold's conditions were harsher than the passenger cabin, it was no problem for Artoria. As a battle-hardened leader, she had faced worse conditions. A simple cargo hold was trivial.
It didn't take long for Rokudou Reika to finish packing—a small suitcase and a handbag, nothing more.
As a woman, a beauty, and a professional relying on her looks and body, Shinji had expected her to bring numerous clothes, cosmetics, and skincare products. To his surprise, she only packed a few changes of clothes and minimal daily necessities, traveling light.
Shinji had asked her why.
She casually smiled and replied, "As you said, it's a battlefield. Although Jack and I won't be on the front lines, there's still danger. The less we carry, the easier it is to move."
The calmness in her words and the wisdom behind them made Shinji regard her with newfound respect and dispelled any final doubts he had. It also strengthened his resolve to change Rokudou Reika's fate. Such an extraordinary woman dying in the Holy Grail War would be too great a loss; she deserved a better future.
"You shouldn't just strive to survive; you should strive to live well."
With this thought in mind, Shinji left Rokudou Reika's residence—a villa arranged by Sagara Hyouma—accompanied by two adults and one child.
The villa itself was nothing special: a two-story building in the style of 1970s Japan. Although somewhat old, its exterior and interior were well-maintained. On its own, it wasn't a high-end villa, but its value increased significantly due to its surroundings.
This was a mountain villa, set in a serene environment, surrounded by lush greenery. Decades-old shrubs and trees were scattered around, and centennial ancient trees were not hard to find. Walking through the area, one could constantly hear the chirping of birds and the rustling of insects, occasionally spotting wild rabbits and squirrels darting through the forest—an ideal place for leisure and vacation.
More importantly, the forest where the villa was located was a spiritual land, suitable for magi to establish workshops and conduct various magical experiments.
"At a different time, I would say Sagara Hyouma had a good eye. But now, I can only say he was courting death—when he abandoned Tokyo, Shinjuku, and came here to summon a Servant, his fate was sealed."
Shinji had his reasons for making this judgment. Indeed, this place was remote and sparsely populated, with spiritual veins running beneath it, making it ideal for summoning rituals. However, gains come with losses; the sparse population also meant difficult communication with the outside world. Shinji knew that the phone lines here often malfunctioned and that mobile phones barely received any signal. Because of this, Sagara Hyouma missed a critical emergency message from Caules and continued with his original plan to summon an Assassin, which ultimately cost him his life.
All of this had been part of Shinji's plan. Justeaze had spent a month using various methods to induce Sagara Hyouma to deviate from his original plan, all to secure the right to summon the last Servant and to avoid the Yggdmillennia's scrutiny.
As for why Shinji was so familiar with this place, it was simple: not far from here lay the altar where the Greater Grail had once been buried. Yes, this was Fuyuki City, the birthplace of the Holy Grail War, specifically the mid-slope of Mount Enzou, the finest spiritual land in Fuyuki and the most suitable place in all of Japan for summoning Heroic Spirits. It was also the place most familiar to Justeaze.
Gazing into the distance at the place where Justeaze had slumbered for over 120 years (in this world), Shinji turned to Rokudou Reika and said, "Take Jack and Artoria to buy some things. First, get clothes. Unless they're in Akihabara, their current clothes are too conspicuous. Then, get food—enough to fill one, no, two suitcases, provided it doesn't exceed the airport's maximum allowance."
P.S.: A low rank for a Noble Phantasm doesn't mean it's not useful. "God Hand" is only B-rank(Hercules NP), but its practicality surpasses many A-ranked or even EX-ranked Noble Phantasms.
P.S.2: In the Fifth Holy Grail War, Sasaki Kojirō couldn't stray too far from the temple gate. While Artoria is much better off, she still can't be halfway across the globe.