When someone confidently predicts the development of a situation and writes a script, there often appear to be opposite or significantly different results. This gives the person a feeling of being slapped in the face, which is referred to as 'face-slapping'.
In the case of Risei, he firmly believed that a familiar spirit couldn't speak human language and issued an order to leave. However, he was immediately faced with a familiar spirit that could indeed speak human language, which was a classic example of 'face-slapping'.
And the person who was "face-slapping" was none other than Shinji, who had already spoken to Risei twice over the phone.
"Ahem, testing, testing—I am the Master of Assassin, an outsider and mysterious magus. Can you hear me, esteemed supervisor?"
Risei, who had been "face-slapped," wasn't angry. He simply looked at the familiar spirit in front of him with an astonished gaze.
Rather than calling it a familiar spirit, it would be more appropriate to say it was a small alchemical puppet. The size of the puppet was similar to that of a house cat, and so was its appearance, except it lacked fur. Instead, it had a shell that emitted a faint luster, made of some kind of crystalline material.
Shinji's voice was coming from inside the crystalline cat's belly.
"I can hear you, Master of Assassin. Do you have any questions?"
Perhaps due to a delay in the transmission of the voice, there was a moment of silence before any feedback was received.
"No specific questions just wanted to provide information on the Caster group."
Upon hearing Shinji's words, Risei exclaimed in surprise.
Although the current goal was to eliminate Caster, the relationship between Masters was not one of cooperation but competition. For them, the battle against Caster was just a small episode, and their true objective was to come out victorious in the subsequent chaotic battles.
Everyone desired to obtain more Command Spells. However, if the enemy also obtained the same thing as oneself, then there would be no advantage.
Therefore, for these Masters, it was better to individually take down Caster and monopolize the advantage, rather than working together with others to obtain Command Spells, even though the latter was a simpler method.
In Risei's view, it would be considered good enough if Masters didn't interfere with each other, so why would someone willingly provide information out of goodwill?
"Let me make this clear first. I don't oppose you providing information, but I won't give you any additional Command Spells for it. Furthermore, if the information you provide is incorrect, I will punish you. Is that acceptable?"
Risei's conditions were undeniably strict, but Shinji responded without hesitation.
"No problem. I just don't want to see the Caster group continue their outrageous behavior and insult the dignity of the magus. That's all. Besides, the information I've gathered is not much. Those who are interested in the information about the Caster group can stay a few more minutes, and those who aren't can leave now."
Not a single familiar chose to leave, and all eyes were focused on the crystalline cat. Without delay, Shinji presented the prepared information.
"The true name of Caster is Gilles de Rais, the inspiration for the fairy tale character 'Bluebeard.' I don't need to say much about his deeds; you can easily find that information. Caster specializes in black magecraft, particularly in summoning and commanding monsters. He can effortlessly summon a large army of monsters."
"The Master of Caster is named Ryūnosuke Uryū, a young man in his twenties with orange hair. He wears clothes with leopard patterns and is a macabre serial killer. While he possesses magical potential, he is not a maus. It seems he accidentally activated a summoning ritual and became a Master."
"That's all the information I can provide. If the esteemed supervisor has no further questions, please allow me to leave."
"No."
The information provided by Shinji coincided with what the Church had already known, and it was even more detailed. Risei had nothing more to add.
A commotion could be heard in the darkness. The sound of chairs being moved, people standing up, and departing voices mixed, then gradually faded away.
The notification from the supervisor had been received, and the additional information had been acknowledged. There was no longer any reason to stay here.
From this moment on, the competition had begun.
At the same time, in the Matou family's underground workshop, Shinji placed the black box he held in his hands and said to his sister, who was seated in the center of the rune magic circle, "You've worked hard Sakura. Release the shared sense."
"Okay, big brother," Sakura nodded gently, and the runic symbol floating on her forehead slowly disappeared. There was also a symbol on the crystalline cat's forehead, establishing a resonance that allowed the master and familiar to share their senses.
Indeed, the crystalline cat was not Shinji's familiar, but Sakura's familiar. Shinji supplied magical energy to both Scáthach and Justeaze while reserving a portion of his magical energy for combat. He had no extra magical energy to create and control a familiar.
Therefore, after receiving the signal from the Church, Shinji asked his sister to send out her familiar to attend in his place. For every sentence Risei spoke, Sakura repeated one by one. The voice directed at the crystalline cat was transmitted through the high-tech communication device installed in its body. The black box in Shinji's hand served as the transmitting end.
By the way, Sakura had more than one familiar. In addition to the crystalline cat crafted using the alchemy magecraft taught by Justeaze, there was also a water elemental rat created using the Matou family's water attribute magecraft. This rat, along with the crystalline cat, went to the Church together as a familiar for Kariya.
Berserker consumed more magical energy than Scáthach and Justeaze combined, so Shinji certainly wouldn't burden Kariya any further.
Kariya glanced at Sakura, who was diligently controlling her two familiars as they returned home along different routes, and quietly gestured to Shinji - "Follow me."
Shinji understood his uncle's intention. Ever since he stepped into the house, he had been waiting for Kariya to approach him.
The uncle and nephew entered adjacent rooms, with Sakura in the alchemy workshop and the underground training ground in the other.
Kariya lit a lamp, Shinji closed the door, and everything proceeded just like during their usual training sessions.
Kariya asked expressionlessly, "Sensei is Assassin, the true name is Scáthach?"
Shinji answered expressionlessly, "Yes."
"You are the Master?"
"Yes." To make Kariya believe, Shinji rolled up his sleeve, revealing his Command Spell.
"Is Justeaze-sama affiliated with the Einzbern family?"
"Yes."
"A year ago, when Justeaze-sama appeared and killed Zōken, summoning the Servants three months ahead of schedule, was all of that planned? Including my participation?" As Kariya spoke, his face grew paler and eventually turned almost iron-gray.
Shinji could understand his uncle's attitude. Anyone who discovered that they were being used and kept in the dark by their own family would be angry.
"Killing Zōken was planned, but the rest wasn't. Neither I nor Justeaze can foresee the future. No one knew if you and I would qualify as Masters within a year. All we could do was strive to qualify for participation as much as possible and prepare for it. If we can't participate this time, we'll wait for the next opportunity."
Upon hearing Shinji's explanation, Kariya's expression softened slightly. "Do you want the Holy Grail?"
"Yes."
"To fulfill a wish?"
"No." Shinji shook his head. "What we want is the Holy Grail itself. The current Holy Grail is no longer an all-powerful wish-granting device."
Shinji's statement piqued Kariya's curiosity. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's a long story," Shinji replied. "But it's okay, we have a whole day." Kariya walked to the rest area in one corner of the training ground, took out two cups, poured water into each, and it seemed he was in for a long discussion.
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