Abnormal Moon

Chapter 23 Association Branch

In the northeast corner of Fuyuki City, there is a gently sloping mountainous area.

Ten years ago, this mountain belonged to the Church of the Holy See, and a church was built there. But naturally, that church was also burned down on the day of the Great Catastrophe ten years ago.

However, this is indeed a good place. It is one of the four spiritual veins of Fuyuki City. Shortly after the church was burned down, it was occupied by magicians from various families sent by the Mage's Association, who established a branch of the association here.

Of course, it was forcibly occupied, without any purchase or rental fees paid.

The magicians' explanation was, "Since your Tohsaka family caused a great catastrophe, giving up a spiritual vein as punishment is too lenient."

In reality, the Mage's Association's punishment of the Tohsaka family went far beyond this; it's just that the magicians didn't want to waste money on something as meaningless as buying sacred land.

Why buy when you can get it for free?

At that time, Tokiomi Tohsaka had just died, and Rin Tohsaka was still young. No matter how outstanding she was, she could not go against the representatives of the many families that made up the Mage's Association, and could only swallow this bitter pill.

With a loud bang, the door to the association's branch was pushed open.

The pretty girl with pigtails, her face frosty, stormed into the branch's lobby with a daunting presence.

The dim lighting was clearly insufficient, and it was barely enough to illuminate the spacious lobby. The huge association hall was only as bright as a basement. The empty lobby had almost no decorations, and only the cold winter wind howled fiercely at the windows.

Several magicians stood in the center of the lobby.

Around them, on the poles in the hall, stood various birds such as birds, bats, and crows. The birds stood there motionless, with only one or two occasionally turning their eyes.

The scene was eerie.

"You've finally arrived, little girl from the Tohsaka family."

One of the crows spoke in human language when it saw Rin Tohsaka push open the door and enter.

“Your reactions have always lagged behind ours, so why don’t you just retire and hand over the position of mayor of Fuyuki City to us?”

"A dying person should live more cheerfully. If you are always blinded by greed, you might have a heart attack one day."

Rin Tohsaka covered her lips, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons as she uttered a malice that was sure to infuriate anyone.

"If you loosen your control over the magician even a little, my reaction will definitely be faster than yours. Want to give it a try?"

The angrier Rin Tohsaka got, the brighter her smile became.

Her gaze passed over the birds and landed on the magicians in the center of the hall.

Those magicians were members of the guard team that escorted the miners out of the city this morning.

Upon returning to Fuyuki City, he immediately came to the association's branch to report the situation, completely ignoring her.

She was able to get here so quickly thanks to someone who notified her via a familiar.

If those magicians had listened to her even a little, she wouldn't have fallen behind those old fogies.

Her gaze swept across the crowd for a moment, landing on a white-haired, red-eyed boy.

Roy was among those magicians.

This was to be expected, as he was also a member of the guard team and was the first to discover the situation.

"I agree with Mayor Tohsaka's proposal."

Roy raised his hand and said with a smile.

The other magicians lowered their heads, pretending not to hear.

"Shut up! Who gave you the right to speak here!"

The crow scolded mercilessly.

"You're only standing here because of that person's influence. Get your facts straight and stop spouting presumptuous nonsense!"

"Okay."

Roy pushed up his glasses, looking like a well-behaved child.

"The moment the topic of decentralization comes up, they start making jokes. The nobles of the Clock Tower are really getting more and more backward."

Rin Tohsaka gave a forced smile, her words full of sarcasm.

"Okay, now is not the time to talk about this."

One of the bats spoke up to smooth things over.

"Arguing is so inefficient. The key issue now is to figure out who the enemy outside the city walls is. Does anyone have any clues to improve efficiency?"

The magicians below looked at each other, and finally shook their heads in unison.

They ran faster than anyone else, so they had no idea what clues they might have.

"Didn't you send your familiars to investigate?"

"How could that be? Of course we sent our familiars to chase after them, but even familiars need time to track down..."

The lobby was in complete chaos.

Roy yawned.

He thought to himself that these old fogies were just bored and had nothing better to do, so he turned and walked towards the gate without looking back.

"Humph."

The old fogies noticed his departure, and one of the crows let out a cold laugh.

Roy ignored the magicians and beckoned to Rin Tohsaka with his finger.

"Sorry."

Rin Tohsaka smiled slightly at the magicians, then turned and left.

They didn't even glance at the birds.

So polite.

Roy felt embarrassed.

Unlike him, he didn't even say goodbye.

Stepping out of the association's gate.

Rin Tohsaka quickened her pace and ran to Roy's side, the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder.

"Did you call me out because you wanted to say something, Mr. Roy?"

"I have a lead."

"is it?"

Rin Tohsaka glanced at him in surprise.

"Then why don't you just say it on the spot?"

"You know, I'm also annoyed by those old men."

Roy smiled innocently.

"In comparison, Mayor Tohsaka's style is much more to my liking."

"Thank you so much for your compliment."

Rin Tohsaka smiled faintly, her face revealing a straightforward joy.

Compared to the previous smile that was merely polite, this smile made up for everything that was missing.

"And then, what did you discover?"

"The ones who attacked us were corrupted Servants."

Roy didn't keep them in suspense and gave them the answer directly.

"Really? Who is it?"

Rin Tohsaka's expression immediately turned serious.

"You should ask which one didn't come."

"...Wait a minute, you mean there's more than one corrupted Servant who came?"

Rin Tohsaka's expression immediately turned ugly.

"Based on my intuition, there should be five."

Roy stroked his chin, pondering as he spoke.

"There were only six corrupted Servants to begin with, right? They are remnants left over from the last Holy Grail War, which was ten years ago."

"Yes, in the last Holy Grail War, apart from Archer, all six other Servants turned to the dark side. The specific reasons are still unknown. Nobody knows how it turned out this way."

Rin Tohsaka's expression gradually turned sorrowful; it was around that time that her father died.

But she quickly overcame the sadness and came to an answer through calm reflection.

"Five of the six corrupted Servants have gathered outside Fuyuki City. If your senses are correct, then the reason can probably be found."

"The Fifth Holy Grail War is about to begin, and their goal is undoubtedly the Holy Grail."