Ch 236: Nobunaga’s Ambitions.

"Are you sure you do not want to disguise yourself?" asked Tsukumo, doubtful.

"We could hide our hair by wearing wigs and change our outfits." shrugged Sakura. "But there's no hiding Tiné's honey skin tone, and it would be cruel to ask her to remain in the Sanctuary. If we are bound to stand out, we may as well make a statement. Let them know that we do not fear them. We are strong enough to take on anything they throw at us."

Okita had removed her teal and white haori, as it was too big a clue to effectively hide her true name, and Medusa had removed her scaly blindfold for the same reason, but those there the only concessions they did to hide their identities.

"We want to bait the opponent to come fight us as soon as possible, while they are still underestimating us." added Tiné. "Tracking down your family's murderers will be harder when they reaize just how strong Sakura and Assassin truly are.

Tsukumo could only nod at that. Seeing Sakura eke out a draw against Okita was sobering enough. Seeing Okita being repeatedly trounced by the impossibly fast Medusa was something else entirely.

After her defeat, Okita sulked for a few minutes, brooding about her supposed uselessness as a Servant, until Medusa reminded her that once she benefitted from the same enhancement she did, Okita would become even stronger than she was, with her superior swordsmanship and battlefield experience.

Saika appeared beside them. They had asked her to bring the Sanctuary out of the forest and into Tokyo.

"I have placed the Sanctuary in a back alley. I haven't been seen by anyone, as far as I can tell."

"Thank you." smiled Sakura. "Tsukumo, Okita, have you gotten the hang of entering and leaving the Sanctuary?"

"I think so. It's not hard once you know how to do it." frowned Tsukumo, before disappearing. Okita took two seconds more but managed without assistance.

Sakura nodded to Medusa, and they returned to the real world.

As expected, as soon as they came out of the back-alley, they attracted glances, and more than a few frowns from the extremely conservative Japanese society in this era.

Sakura didn't care. As far as she was concerned, if someone held her purple hair against her and avoided her, that person wasn't worth getting to know in the first place.

"Japan seems to have changed a lot since my era." said Okita, watching with interest the cars driving up and down the street. "But it smells bad."

"Yes." nodded Sakura. "As far as noise and air pollution are concerned, this Japan is likely entering its worst period. But if it can make you feel better, Senpai and her team visited Japan in another timeline where the year was 2080, and cities were much cleaner and quieter, using devices collecting sunlight and turning it into electricity. Even the cars drove themselves without needing their passengers to control them."

"Really?" exclaimed Okita. Tsukumo was also intrigued.

"Yes. And Senpai returned from that timeline with blueprints for all sorts of interesting things. The first world under Noah's control is already using them to replicate some of the things from that world. It will take maybe ten years to have the self-driving cars, but we're getting there."

"I want to see that happening." nodded Okita.

"You will." smiled Sakura.

"I meant to ask, Sakura." said Tsukumo. "But why are you now wearing glasses? Are you shortsighted?"

Sakura shook her head and removed them.

"Try them on, and you'll see."

Tsukumo squinted her eyes as she examined the glasses closely, then put them on. And suddenly, she could see auras around her companions.

"What is this?"

"Those glasses detect mana. I'm wearing them so that I will spot servants in a dematerialized state."

"…I understand. That's very convenient." nodded Tsukumo, giving the glasses back to Sakura.

She wanted to keep those glasses, as they were on a battlefield and it felt uncomfortable to know that some of her enemies could sneak up on them, and she wouldn't see them coming.

But she was also aware that they would be more useful worn by someone who could actually fight a Servant.

"Do you think you could make more?"

"Not yet." sighed Sakura. "I can make normal items and add some basic magic properties to them like self-cleaning, but this is beyond me for now. Even Senpai can barely make those glasses. It will be a while before she can create a Sanctuary of her own."

"How far are we from the church?" asked Tiné.

"I do not recognize this place. Archer, do you know where we are?" said Tsukumo.

"the nearest tramway stop is called Ogawamachi." replied Saika.

"Then we're in the Taito district, and we must go to Shinjuku, about four kilometers west." nodded Tsukumo.

"About an hour away, if we take our time. It should be plenty for Magatsu to find us." smiled Sakura.

Tsukumo nodded, her hands tightened into fists. She was very eager for this. The fact that her father was now alive and well, and that the rest of her family soon would, made her feel better. But she still really wanted to kill Magatsu and his subordinates. Two years of hatred wouldn't disappear in a single night.

They were about halfway to their destination, talking about what they were seeing, when something happened.

"Hum?" mumbled Sakura, looking up and to the rooftop of a building some distance ahead and to their right.

"Is there anything?" asked Tsukumo.

"A fairly strong aura, but I do not see its source… And it just went away."

"All according to plan, then. We may not need to go to the Church anymore." nodded Tiné.

They hadn't headed for the Church to register officially for this Holy Grail War. They had chosen it as their destination simply because they were certain the Church would be under observation by their enemies.

"How about we stop at this ice cream parlor, then?" suggested Saika.

"Ice cream?" asked Okita, looking completely confused. "Doesn't ice turn into water when it melts? If you want to make some sauce with it, why not just use water directly? Hey, don't snicker at me!"

"Let's get Saber some ice cream." grinned Sakura. "I want to see her face when she tastes it."

The girls entered the parlor, and the grimace of distaste on the owner's face melted when Sakura forced a polite smile and talked to him. Her charisma no doubt helping.

They sat down and were quickly served.

The girls watched with expectant expressions as Okita stared at the three balls of vanilla, chocolate and mint ice cream. She slowly scooped some of the vanilla ice cream, brought it to her mouth, and she froze, as if her brain struggled to make sense of the information her tongue's nerves were transmitting.

After a full three seconds, she rebooted, and her face showed happiness.

She tried the chocolate one, then the mint ice cream, and finally spoke.

"This is so good and refreshing! What is it made off."

Sakura and Tiné chuckled softly as they started on their own servings.

"Some cream, milk, sugar for the common ingredients…" shrugged Tsukumo. "And then you add vanilla extract, melted chocolate, crushed mint leaves, or many other things to get different flavors. You can choose just about any fruit you can think of for the flavor."

"Nuts or almonds can also be used for flavor." nodded Sakura as she dug into her strawberry ice cream, before adding in a lower voice, as her eyes seemed to follow a young man walking past the parlor. "And the presumed Heroic Spirit is back, looking at us from a rooftop, and there are a bunch of men with the uniforms of the Imperial Army peering at us from an alley. Correction, a second invisible source of mana now, at ground level. Eat your ice cream quickly, it looks like it will soon start."

Tsukumo, Okita and the others didn't look through the windows and reveal their awareness of the imminent danger, but Sakura could hear their feet shifting under the table, getting ready for a sudden jump.

The parlor's door opened, and five middle-aged soldiers entered, barely giving the girls a glance before turning to the owner to give them their order.

Sakura felt like rolling their eyes. Were those guys not realizing that not staring at six beautiful young women, some of them having exotic features, actually made them more suspicious, not less?

When they were done with their orders, the men headed in the girls' direction, ostensibly looking at the table in the corner, one that just happened to require them to pass by them.

As they did, using smooth movements that seemed to have been rehearsed thousands of times, they drew their guns. They were starting to aim them at Tsukumo, Sakura and Tiné, but never finished their gestures as Okita severed five hands with a lightning quick eight figure, already sheathing her blade again before the gun-holding hands even started to separate from the limbs they had been part of.

Sakura used two shadow ribbons to behead them all in a split second, and Saika drew two submachineguns from under her coat to fire through the window, killing six more soldiers before they could stop pretending to be just passing by. Automatic rifles fell from under their dark green coats as each of them received a burst of three bullets in the upper torso.

The owner, who had been preparing the soldiers' orders, his back facing them, turned in alarm, and his face showed abject terror when he saw the corpses, and the silver-haired girl shattering his window and opening fire on the street.

He plunged under the counter, trembling, as he heard the girls stand and walk closer.

He barely dared looking up when he saw movement. One of the two purple-haired girls was handing him something wrapped in a red cloth.

"This is compensation for the trouble, and payment for the ice cream. It was delicious, although I'd suggest adding a bit of salt to bring out the flavor more."

With a trembling hand, the man took the wrapped thing, instantly surprised by the weight, and the girls left.

As he heard more gunshots coming from the street this time, as well as the scream from running civilians, he barricaded himself in the back office, and with hesitation, unwrapped the thing the girl gave him. It was a gold ingot. It would be more than enough to pay for cleaning and the repairs.

…

More soldiers were erupting from the side street, and Saika dealt with them.

Sakura was staring at the aura she saw on the roof of a building a hundred meters away, wondering if it was Nobunaga, when the Heroic Spirit, apparently deciding that hiding wasn't working, materialized.

They were actually two separate beings. The first was a man in his twenties, with long black hair tied with a blue ribbon, and wearing the white uniform of a Japanese admiral, although he didn't have any rank insignia or medal. A revolver and a sheathed katana hung from the left side of his waist. He also wore white gloves and a white round hat.

The second being, who was floating around him as if gravity was a mere suggestion, was a tall young woman with red eyes and black hair so long they would reach her ankles. She was almost entirely dressed in black, aside from burgundy stockings and the red ribbon of her black sailor uniform. She also wore a long black scarf showing a scaly design, like the skin of a snake.

Sakura knew from the information Noah had given Akeno that the two on the rooftop were actually a single servant, Rider, and someone who didn't have a Master. He had been summoned by the local Counter-Force. Noah had suggested cooperating with him… them? And maybe even bringing them back to Chaldea.

The man lifted his hat and nodded at Sakura in greeting, and she nodded back before turning her attention to the second invisible source of mana… who wasn't there anymore.

Frowning, Sakura looked around warily. Then used Shunpo, taking an Eclipse sword from her spatial ring, just in time to stop the sneak attack of a Servant making a beeline for Tiné's back.

"Oh?" said the Servant, materializing as he took a step back.

A was a man with long, unruly black hair tied in a bushy ponytail, and with bangs hiding the right side of his face. He was armed with a katana, and a wakizashi was sheated on his belt.

"Has no one ever told you that sneaking up behind girls is very creepy? Were you trying to cop a feel?"

"Cop a feel?" asked Assassin, confused.

"An expression from home, sorry. I mean, were you trying to touch her backside?"

"Are you calling me a pervert, little girl?" frowned the man.

"Only creeps would try to sneak up on a girl unaware." replied Sakura.

Somewhere in another world, Noah suddenly sneezed, remembering how he had kidnapped the Sannou twins for some reason.

"Hey, I'm an Assassin, creeping on others is what I do." shrugged the Servant.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly lunged forward, confident that he would kill that Master in a few moves. He could tell from her posture and footing that she was a decent swordswoman but still had a way to go to reach his level. Not that she would have the opportunity, as her life would end with his blade.

He saw an opening in her defense and made an oblique upward slash that would inflict a fatal blow. But his sword was parried. Not only that, but she moved at a speed he could barely follow, and her counter opened a gash on his right shoulder.

Outraged that a mere Master, and a woman at that, could presume to fight him, he forced her to step back to avoid his blade.

"You bitch! I will cut you up bit by bit!"

He followed his words with action, but to his immense frustration, she was somehow fast enough to cover her openings before he could exploit them.

And he needed to leave. The bitch's friends weren't just watching. The fake Archer was exchanging fire with the Archer from the Imperial Japanese Army who had just joined the battle, and the fate Assassin had dematerialized. She was lurking somewhere. Saber was protecting the two other Masters from Archer's attacks.

"Are you frustrated?" smirked the Master he was fighting. "We planned for this, planned for me to fight you, the Ghost of Tosa, Manslayer Izou."

"You must be confusing me for someone else. I am Ryouma Sakamoto." claimed Okada Izou. Misdirecting the enemy was an integral part of fighting, and shortly after being summoned, he had searched for a random historical figure with a vague physical likeness to borrow his identity.

"We know about your ability to copy sword techniques after seeing them even just once." continued the girl, ignoring his attempt. "Which is why I am the one fighting you, me who doesn't possess any sword technique worth copying. Feel free to replicate my inferior moves as much as you want. But you can't copy my speed."

Sakura jumped closer, and they locked swords. Okada smirked as he took his left hand off the hilt of his sword and straightened two fingers, intending to drive them into her eyes, but the damned woman reacted fast enough to evade his jab and jump a few meters back, and she suddenly smiled.

And that was when something bit ferociously into his right leg.

Lowering his gaze, Okada saw with dismay that the girl's shadow had extended to his feet when she had locked swords, and the shadow had grown fangs, biting his right leg with enough force to sever it just under the knee.

Okada roared in frustration and hatred. He saw her flex her legs, about to move explosively, when her torso was suddenly pierced by a bullet coming from behind and at a downward angle, and she gasped in both shock and pain. Archer, the real one, had shot her and taken her by surprise.

However, this had cost Archer, as the other Servant who claimed to be an Assassin and who had dematerialized earlier reached her and struck her with a strong kick, sending Archer crashing into a building. The purple-haired servant wasn't content with just a kick and immediately followed her.

But no matter what, Okada was going to let this chance pass, and he lowered his posture, using both his good leg and the sheath of his sword as a cane to close the distance, intending to lop her head off.

The Ghost of Tosa had crossed half the distance when he saw death coming for him.

…

Nobunaga had heard about the soldiers reporting by telephone that they had found the enemy masters and followed them. She reached the place about to become a battlefield seconds after it started.

As expected, the assassins from the Imperial Army died without being able to achieve any result. She knew that Assassin was lurking around close, and another Servant (or was it two?) appeared on a rooftop, but they didn't seem to want to take immediate action, so she decided to deal with him, or them, later.

She was debating whether to risk a fight against multiple Servants or just leaving, when one of the Masters suddenly darted to the side and stopped Assassin from, well, assassinating the Master with a tanned skin. Seeing an opportunity, Nobunaga manifested a half-dozen of her rifles and aimed at the black-haired woman who seemed to be Saber's Master. Even if Saber parried her bullets, it was fine, as long as it pinned her down.

After all, she had more than one rifle and could aim at several targets easily.

The fake Archer almost immediately interfered, however, and Nobunaga had to dodge or block with her own rifles a number of incoming bullets.

She manifested more and more rifles, not trying to conserve her energy, and was planning to overwhelm fake Archer when Assassin proved his incompetence, barely holding ten seconds against the purple-haired Master before he lost his leg. Nobunaga decided to give him at least one opportunity to do some good before he was killed, and shot at the Master, who was entirely focused on him.

Her shot would likely be fatal, and if it wasn't, Assassin would capitalize on it.

The bullet went through her body, causing heavy damage but just barely missing her heart.

And then, Nobunago didn't have the possibility to keep observing, as the fake Assassin who hadn't been seen since the fight began was suddenly right beside her, both of her legs impacting her torso in a mighty drop kick.

The impact took away Nobunaga's breath and broke a few of her ribs as she crashed into a building below her.

And as she tried to get back on her feet and fire in fake Assassin's direction, she was suddenly right beside her again, pushing away her rifles with an arm as the second made a jabbing motion toward her throat with a black metal object she didn't have time to recognize.

She expected to feel pain as her throat would be pierced, inflicting a fatal wound. Instead, the black object snapped shut around her neck, and she suddenly felt weak, as if she was running out of mana to sustain her existence. Her rifles disappeared.

"You are lucky that we need you alive, or I would have dismembered you for hurting her." growled the purple haired Servant.

"This is a battlefield. Did you expect mercy or fairness from your opponent?" mockingly said Nobunaga. She tried to dematerialize, but the collar, as she now recognized it for what it was, prevented it.

"No." Replied the Servant, calming down. She did something, and suddenly the pain from her broken ribs and her previous kick was gone.

"I was also asked to deliver a message to your Master, Kaname Asama, since she is very likely watching right now. This message is the following. 'Hang on tight, we are going to save you. We want to adopt you as a sister. Make sure Magatsu isn't aware Nobunaga has been captured, or he might see you as not having any use anymore and get rid of you'."

"Let's see how long you will manage to keep me captive." sneered Nobunaga.

She tried to punch the Servant, not expecting any success, but she was damned if she was just going submit to them. With her current state and her power unusable, it only resulted in her having steel shackles added to her restraints.

But she estimated that she had a high chance of recovering her freedom soon. With her Master dead, fake Assassin must be running on fumes, and when she would run out of mana and be returned to the Throne of Heroes, that black collar that was likely part of her power would disappear with her.

She told her so, thinking that the Servant, realizing the futility of her actions, might just give up and go spend her last moments in the living world differently, but she only smiled.

"Sakura isn't going to die from just a bullet in the chest."

…

Okita thought that things were going more or less as planned. The Assassin Noah and Akeno had warned them about had shown himself, and considering his ability to duplicate sword moves, Sakura had volunteered herself to deal with him.

Her strength didn't come from her technique, even if Okita could feel that she would one day be a worthy rival, especially if she accepted teaching her. It came from her absurd reflexes and movement speed, and Sakura had been confident she could take on the Assassin.

And so far, her confidence had been justified. Then she sensed a threat, and Okita spotted Nobunaga, standing high in the air on one of her rifles, just in time to block several bullets aimed at her Master and Tiné.

The bullets kept coming, and she kept defending as Saika returned fire, forcing Nobunaga to weave around.

From the corner of her eye, Okita saw Assassin lose a leg.

And that was when something went wrong.

Okita saw one of Nobunaga's rifles point toward Sakura, and before she could shoot a warning, Nobunaga fired. Okita was too far to parry this one, and Sakura was hit. Medusa, who had been maneuvering to get closer to Nobunaga without being detected, sprang into action, kicking her, and Okita saw Sakura erect a few golden shields to protect her back as she placed a hand against the exit hole in her belly, no doubt starting to heal herself.

Assassin was still very much of a threat, and Okita wasn't certain Sakura could defend herself in this state, so she intervened.

The distance, fifteen meters, was good, and she decided to use her Noble Phantasm.

Adopting a high guard stance as she took a deep breath, she took a step forward as she declared.

"First step, swifter than sound."

By the time she took her second step, she had broken the sound wall.

"Second step, Infinite suffering."

After her second step, Okita disappeared, her existence breaking the spatial wall.

"Third step, The absolute sword! Mumyou, Sandanzuki!"

On her third step, Okita reappeared right in front of the charging Manslayer Izou, her sword thrusting forward his chest. The blade, manifesting a conceptual break of the spatial laws, was followed by two echoes, causing Okada to suffer three different wounds.

Okita's blade pierced deep into Assassin's chest, severing his spine, while the two spatial echoes fanned higher and lower, piercing his throat and his spirit core near his navel.

Okada could only show an expression mixing disbelief, anger and regret as his body fell apart and turned into motes of dissipating mana.

Okita turned to Sakura, who nodded in thanks as she kept healing herself, her injury starting to close. Tsukumo and Tiné had moved closer to her, which Okita was glad about as it would make protecting the three of them easier.

"That was quite impressive, young ladies." said the male part of the Rider servant, now standing some distance away.

He was keeping a watchful eye on everyone, ready to defend himself in an instant.

"Thank you." nodded Sakura. "You must be Ryouma Sakamoto, and Oryou."

"She knows who we are. I don't like it." complained Oryou to Ryouma, who had stiffened for a moment.

"Indeed, and I would very much like to know how you know about us. Have you perhaps summoned us before?"

"No. But this isn't the right time and place for a conversation, with civilians still fleeing and the regular army about to swarm us. Would you mind if we first went to a quieter place?"

"By all means. The less innocents get involved, the better." nodded Ryouma.

Sakura, her wound now completely closed, took the Sanctuary from her spatial ring and informed Medusa. She transferred inside Ryouma and Oryou, Tiné and Saika, Okita and Tsukumo, and used Shunpo to enter the building where Nobunaga had crashed.

The captive Servant was standing there, collared and shackled, frowning at her and the hole in Sakura's clothes. No doubt wondering how she had healed so fast.

"Thank you, Assassin." smiled Sakura, handing her the Sanctuary.

"It was nothing, Master. I am sorry that you were wounded. Please punish me later for my incompetence."

"…Yes, Assassin. You do deserve a punishment. We'll see to it later" nodded Sakura. She didn't actually think that Medusa did, but if she blamed herself, being punished for it would help her feel better.

And once Medusa was done venting her frustration and guilt, the punishment would change into something far more interesting.

Sakura teleported herself and Nobunaga inside as well, and Medusa took off, using Shunpo to jump from rooftop to rooftop and leave Tokyo.

…

Kaname Asama shuddered as she heard the enemy Servant say her name. Fear gripped her heart, as she was aware that in a contest for the Holy Grail, Masters were priority targets, and anonymity their greatest protection.

She didn't believe that Servant's declaration, not for an instant. It had to be a trap. No one would save her.

Then the purple-haired Master faced Nobunaga, and something happened that caused Kaname to be unable to see and hear through her Servant's eyes and ears. The bond wasn't broken, as shown by the unaffected Command Seals on her hand, but she couldn't use it to speak with her Servant or piggyback on her senses.

She even tried using a Command Seal to force her return, and it didn't work.

But liar or not, the Servant had a point. If the Major learned that Nobunaga had been captured… things wouldn't go well for her Master. She had seen him dispose of allies whose usefulness had run out. Like the Magus families who had cooperated with the Imperial Army to summon a Servant two years ago.

The Major had brought her along and made her watch. He wanted her to be aware of what awaited her, if she ever refused to follow his orders.

"Kaname, you've stopped talking." frowned Major Magatsu. "How is the fight going?"

"Badly, Sir." replied Kaname, unable to completely hide the fear in her voice. "Assassin lost a leg, and Archer… Archer retreated."

"Really?"

"…Yes, Sir." gulped Kaname.

Magatsu's face lost all expression as he walked closer. Then he backhanded her, and she fell on her butt.

"Useless tools." fumed the Major before turning away and leaving the room, followed by most of his subordinates. Two of them remained behind as always, staring at Kaname with cold eyes. She knew she could not expect any pity from them. They would kill her without hesitation if they received the order, of if she attempted to rebel.

Kaname slowly got back to her feet, retrieved her military cap and put it on, then used a handkerchief to clean the blood seeping from her burst lips.

Deep inside, she fervently prayed for Nobunaga to somehow free herself and not mention her capture after she returned.

If she didn't come back after a few days, the major would get suspicious, maybe even order to her use a Command Seal to make her return.

And then, she would die. If she was lucky, it would be quick.

…

"This is a strange place." said Ryouma as he looked around. Sakura's sanctuary was modelled after a moderately large wooden house built on a beach. The air was warm and a sun shone brightly above, which made the white mist surrounding this scenery look completely out of place.

"This is a permanent reality marble." nodded Sakura, smiling slightly and gesturing to the table and chairs in front of the house. "Assassin is currently moving it out of Tokyo, then she will join us. Do you prefer tea, hot chocolate, or perhaps coffee?"

"How very gracious of you. I would like coffee, please." smiled Ryouma.

"What about you, Oryou?" asked Sakura, and the girl approached, seemingly swimming in the air.

"How do you know my name?"

"That's a rather long story. I will tell you once everyone has a drink."

"Coffee, then. Thank you."

Sakura nodded as most of the others took their seats, and she turned to the last person standing beside her.

"Nobunaga, do you promise to behave yourself? If you do, I will remove those shackles."

"I promise." nodded Nobunaga.

"And you have to mean it." added Sakura, not making a move to free her.

Nobunaga glared at her as she considered her situation. She was currently limited to the strength and abilities of a normal human, and until that collar came out, she didn't stand a chance to resist whatever they intended to do to her. Her best bet was to get on their good side for now.

"Fine." sighed Nobunaga. "I won't attack you if you remove those shackles. At least for now. But let it be clear, this is a parley, not a surrender!"

"Fair enough." nodded Sakura, moving behind the black-haired servant and removing Nobunaga's shackles.

"What do you want to drink?"

"I'll have sake." immediately replied Nobunaga.

Sakura nodded and created the required drinks, switching to Whiskey for Ryouma who decided to choose something else when Sakura added alcohol to the options.

Then she introduced everyone properly, and gave them 'The Speech', talking about Noah, Lilith, Chaldea, and so on. It took a while for her to overcome their skepticism, as well as showing a few videos on her smartphone to Nobunaga, but they eventually accepted it.

"Do you really intend to save that girl, then? What will you do with her once she's in your hands?" finally asked Nobunaga.

"If you are speaking about Kaname Asama, we intend for her to join our family and serve Noah as a maid, just like I do. She will be safe, and we will give her combat training. When she sees herself growing stronger, she will regain the confidence and self-esteem she has lost, and it will help her get over her traumas."

Nobunaga nodded thoughtfully. Her dreams of conquering the world now seemed… small and trivial, when compared to the worlds Sakura had depicted.

"Nobunaga, we already know that you possess the Holy Grail." said Sakura, making Ryouma sit straighter as he stared at Nobunaga. "Can you give it to us? We want to settle things quickly if we can, by asking the Grail to destroy the demonic Pillar or give us its location."

"What makes you think I have the Holy Grail?" frowned Nobunaga. She already knew what Sakura answer would be, but she still wanted to reject the idea that some guy in another timeline knew about her biggest secret.

"Noah knows that you are trying to make a weapon out of it using a bomber plane." shrugged Sakura.

"Tche! Why don't you take it by force, then? I can't stop you as I am." bitterly asked Nobunaga.

"We know it's in a hangar or warehouse, but we do not know where exactly. We will search Tokyo and its surroundings if we have to, and I expect it will take us a few days at most to find it if we send our Servants. Bomber-sized objects aren't easy to hide... While you think about it, Ryouma-san, what do you intend to do now that you know why we came here?"

Ryouma took another sip of his drink before answering.

"…We have been summoned by the Counter-Force to find the Holy Grail and prevent the Imperial Japanese Army from using the power of Servants and Magecraft in the war."

"A bit late for that." shrugged Nobunaga. "I shot down an American air raid last night."

"We noticed. I won't scold you for preventing a lot of civilians from being bombed. But this isn't our war to fight." sighed Ryouma. "If Japan starts using magic openly, the other countries will follow suit, and the consequences will be unthinkable."

"Wouldn't that still be a good thing?" countered Nobunaga. "Soldiers would be replaced by Magus in the battlefield. Less people would end up dying."

"Until the teaching of Magecraft becomes common place, and everyone's a Magus." said Sakura. "I agree with Ryouma-san. Magecraft can be used to do terrible things, and there will be no lack of terrible people wanting to use it. Just the hypnosis alone would lead to millions of people being abused… This aside, what do you intend to do, Ryouma-san, Oryou-san?"

"We wish to help you." nodded Ryouma. "Your objective does not conflict with our mission, and you mentioned that you take people from the timelines you visit to join your mission. I am intrigued by this possibility."

"We would welcome you with open arms." smiled Sakura. "What about you, Nobunaga? Will you help us save your Master? Will you lead us to the Grail? Will you come with us when we leave this timeline?"

"…I will help you with Kaname." said Nobunaga after being silent for a minute. "For the rest… I have three conditions."

"What are they?"

"First, you remove that damn collar. I won't help you if you keep me as a prisoner."

"What is the second condition?" asked Sakura.

"You mentioned that Noah will be sent to another timeline with a dozen inhabited worlds. And that the people in those worlds will be strong. I want to be in on it and do some conquest on my own. I want to carve out my own territory over there."

"…assuming Noah agrees to unleash you on those worlds, would you implement the reforms Noah wants to push? Would you follow his laws? And would you disturb the peace to conquer ever more territory?"

"If they make sense, I don't mind adopting his reforms and laws." nodded Nobunaga. "As for conquering more… It will probably happen, but I won't target any territory held by Noah or his allies."

Sakura pondered for a few seconds before shrugging.

"I will ask Senpai to transmit your request to Noah. This isn't something I can decide in his name."

Nobunaga nodded, and Sakura used her smartphone to call Akeno. After explaining the situation and Nobunaga's price for her cooperation, Akeno ended the call to contact Noah and called back again after a few minutes. Sakura activated the phone's speaker so that everyone could hear his answer.

"Noah agreed to bring Nobunaga with him to the next timeline. However, Nobunaga will have to agree to do her conquering in ways that will minimize the bloodshed, and to have her existence bound to the Throne of Domination, which is sort of his own personal Throne of Heroes that he can carry with him. Noah asked Lilith-sama, and she told him that he won't be able to bring any of his subordinates with him, aside from those who are bound to the Throne."

Akeno didn't mention that being bound to the Throne of Domination implied being unable to disobey Noah, and Sakura certainly wasn't going to point it out.

"Would I still need a Master to keep me supplied with mana?" asked Nobunaga, grinning.

"No." said Akeno. "You would be your own source of mana, as far as I understand it. You would be able to stay separated from him for months or even years, and if you were to die, he would simply summon you again. You wouldn't experience any loss of memories either."

"Then I accept. It sounds better than the Throne of Heroes."

"It is." agreed Akeno.

"What is your third condition, Nobunaga?" asked Sakura.

"I want the right to challenge some of the strongest warriors Noah has gathered. If I can defeat them and make them submit to me, I want them to be bound to this Throne as well so they can come along and become my generals." said Nobunaga with a fearless grin.

"I'll call Noah back!" laughed Akeno on the phone, and the call ended again.

Sakura looked at Nobunaga with a bemused smile, shaking her head gently at her outrageous demand.

It didn't take long for Akeno to call back.

"Noah agreed to let Nobunaga challenge his subordinates and attempt to make them submit to her. But she won't be allowed to harass someone who refuses her challenge, and she will not be allowed to use the outcome of a bet to make them submit. She will have to win them over with her ability, not by trickery. If one of them asks him to be linked to the Throne of Domination, he will do it."

"Fine. I agree with those terms." nodded Nobunaga, falling to the temptation of subjugating strong warriors, making them her followers, and going to conquer exotic and wondrous lands. Maybe even several worlds' worth of territory.

This was so much better than conquering the world by having to tolerate incompetent and malicious individuals like Magatsu!

"And you, Saber, will be one of the first I challenge! Be prepared to serve under me!"

"We'll see about that." nodded Okita.

Sakura stood, walked to Nobunaga, touched the collar, and removed it.

"Welcome to the team, Nobunaga." smiled Sakura.

"…I expected to have a harder time convincing you to remove it. You seem to be rather naïve, to just believe me without evidence." said Nobunaga, feeling better as her strength returned.

"Not as much as you think. Lilith-sama gave us the ability to know when someone is deceitful." smiled Sakura. "Without it, I would at least have waited for you to prove yourself by giving us the Grail and helping with Kaname."

"How convenient. Then we should move now and save that girl while Magatsu has most of his troops spread all over the Imperial Capital. If you killed Assassin, there should only be two Servants in the Headquarters. Caster who cannot really fight, and Berserker who is sleeping in the basement."

Sakura nodded and glanced at Medusa, who had joined them earlier after hiding the Sanctuary in a safe place.

With several Servants, including Nobunaga, working together, safely extracting Kaname Asama and recovering the Holy Grail shouldn't be difficult. If everything went well, they might be able to return to Chaldea before the end of the week.