Chapter 31: Reality Marble?

Shinji Matou spat on the ground. “Bitch.”

Rider stood behind Shinji, silent as ever. She was serving Shinji out of a personal goal, not from her heart. Consoling her ‘temporary’ Master’s anger was far from that goal.

“How long will this take?” Shinji growled, glaring at Rider. “Just finish this quick.”

“Yes, Master.”

As someone with zero affinity with magecraft, Shinji couldn’t detect the monstrous amount of magical energy in Rider’s body. For him, she was just a servant handed to him by his grandfather. A powerful being who would obey every one of his orders.

Rider returned to creating anchor points for her Noble Phantasm ‘Blood Fort Andromeda.’ An inferior version, which merely sucked the magical energy of humans.

Sitting on the terrace alone, Shinji’s stomach growled. He had to remain energetic, or he wouldn’t be able to accompany his servant in her hunt at night.

“We’re returning,” he said and headed down the stairs.

Instead of returning home—where he had to see the rotten face of his grandfather—Shinji chose to dine at an Italian restaurant.

Waiting for his order, Shinji casually glanced out of the window, only to find Rin Tohsaka walking with three bags in her hands. Behind her, Haruki carried Sakura like a princess.

Rin turned around and smiled at the two. “Hurry over, slowpokes!”

Haruki shook his head and maintained his steady pace.

Shinji watched the three disappear into a supermarket across the road.

“That Tohsaka woman,” Shinji said, clenching his fists. She told him she had no interest in him whatsoever. Yet, she was mingling with Haruki, the man who had been nothing but trouble his whole life. Despite being from one of the Ancient Magus families in Fuyuki, he was bullied, beaten, and cursed.

‘Tohsaka, you won’t stop me. Nobody will.’

***

(Haruki)

Haruki let down Sakura after she protested nonstop. People looked at them oddly. The mothers shopping there chuckled, muttering, “Oh, youth.”

Sakura’s pale cheeks couldn’t be any redder. She took a cart and rushed to the opposite side.

“Wait, Sakura.” Rin shoved the bags onto his chest and followed after Sakura in a hurry.

Haruki looked at the time and sighed. Twenty minutes past seven. Rin dragged them here to buy ingredients for dinner.

"Done," Semiramis informed. "What do I do now?"

‘Wonderful. Keep an eye on him.’

“I will. What’s special about this kid? His Od quantity is pitiful.”

That meant Semiramis couldn’t see Avalon in Shirou’s body.

‘I’ll tell you when I return.’

“Do I have permission to send my familiars in search of other Masters?”

‘No harm in scouting.’

“I shall await your return, my master.”

Semiramis ended the talk with a dramatic line. Haruki glanced over his shoulder. In the crowd, his eyes stopped on a certain young man with seaweed hair.

‘I felt his hatred before.’

He looked toward Rin, who was busy grabbing vegetables with Sakura. He was a little surprised at Sakura’s calm behavior when dealing with a flustered Rin. Perhaps it was his due support or his mother’s gentle care, Sakura had lost her timid nature and become more confident.

He walked the two and helped them get through the shopping quickly. He went out of the supermarket. Rin still followed them.

“Why are you coming with us?” he asked. “You wanna come over to my house?”

“I’m in a good mood, so I’ll make you something.” Rin made an excuse. She had specifically brought the ingredients she was familiar with, just to show off her cooking skills to Sakura. She got addicted to Chinese dishes whenever Kirei took her out to eat, so she wasted hundreds of hours on recipe books and materials to perfect her skills.

“You better make it damn good,” he said with a shrug and took Sakura’s hand. “Let’s go…”

It seemed Rin won’t leave him alone until dinner. He was going to sneak away while she cooked. It will give her time to bond with Sakura as well as allow him to extract Avalon and summon Saber. His plan only had one drawback—he’d have to do the summoning in Semiramis’s presence.

‘Ah whatever. I hope she doesn’t oppose me on summoning Artoria.’

Holding grocery bags in one hand and Sakura’s hand in the other, Haruki returned home. The door was surprisingly open.

‘Semiramis didn’t lock it.’

He entered to find all the lights on.

Rin took a step inside the door and felt the sensation of passing through a bubble. She stopped and frowned at Haruki. He shouldn’t be able to create a bounded field.

‘Something isn’t right.’

“We have entered a Reality Marble.”

Archer appeared and summoned his favored Kanshou and Bakuya. He could feel the magical energy in the air; it was thicker than outside by a decent margin.

“No. It’s not a Reality Marble…”

It took him a moment to realize the difference. This wasn’t a manifestation of someone’s inner world. He had seen quite a few Reality Marbles before. All of them were a headache to deal with. Yet nothing here gave him a sense of danger. It looked like a typical Japanese house.

‘An illusion type? Or a different bounded field?’

He was perplexed. Rin found his confused expression rather odd.

“Rin Nee-san?” Sakura asked seeing Rin staring at everything in confusion.

‘I’ll be mad if she insulted our home.’

She had spent more time here than her own mansion, which brought her nothing but nightmares. This place had become her home, and she wouldn’t let anyone belittle it. Not even her blood sister!

Haruki looked over his shoulder and sighed. “What is holding you two now?”

Archer hid his swords behind his back. “It’s nothing. Right, Master?”

“Yeah. I was drawn in by the intricacies of a Japanese house. These little details make it more… dynamic?” she blabbered whatever came to her mind.

Haruki stared at her blankly. “This place might be too humble for your taste, Ojou-sama.”

He went to the kitchen and stowed the groceries.

Rin stayed rooted to the spot. Archer patted her back and returned to his spiritual form.

“Take off your shoes and wear the slippers,” Sakura said and headed upstairs.

Rin stared at her sister’s back. Sakura was familiar with Haruki’s house, too much that it concerned her.