How come the Ace of Cups isn't considered the Holy Grail?

With the seven-day period drawing to a close, Artoria was as anxious as a student realizing their vacation was about to end.

This Holy Grail War is so abnormal!

Or perhaps it's too secretive!

It was so secretive that even she, a contestant, didn't hear a thing...

It was as if she were just an ordinary citizen unrelated to the Holy Grail War, and that the Holy Grail War was about to end without her even realizing it. This made Artoria restless, fearing that the Holy Grail would suddenly descend upon her in the blink of an eye.

She even ate one less bowl of food than she had a few days ago because of her anxiety!

Emiya Shirou, on the other hand, didn't care about the matter. In fact, since there hadn't been any news about natural gas explosions or people suddenly falling into comas in the past few days, he was actually hoping that the Holy Grail War would end quietly like this.

However, he still comforted Artoria, who was so anxious that she kept pacing back and forth in the house.

"Don't worry too much, Saber. Didn't you say that the Holy Grail only appears when the souls of six Servants are present?"

Shirou Emiya, sitting in the living room watching TV, took a sip of his green tea, exhaled a satisfied breath of warmth, and continued.

"There are only seven Servants participating in the Holy Grail War, and there's no way they'll skip you, so the enemy will come for us sooner or later. There's no need to worry too much..."

"Ugh……"

After listening to Shirou Emiya's words, Artoria also realized her own problem.

"You're right, Shirou, I was too hasty."

With a soft sigh, Artoria suppressed her anxiety and sat down at the table with Shirou Emiya, picking up her own cup of tea to drink.

Actually, she didn't know why. Even though she knew everything Shirou Emiya said, she always had this inexplicable feeling that if she didn't do something, the Holy Grail War would end in vain.

Seeing that Artoria still couldn't calm down even after sitting down, Shirou Emiya thought for a moment and made a suggestion.

"How about we go to Ryudou-ji Temple together tomorrow, Saber?"

"Ryudou Temple? What are we going there for?"

Artoria's attention was successfully diverted by the topic brought up by Shirou Emiya.

"After all, we've searched almost the entire Fuyuki City these past few days, but we haven't found any Masters or Servants, have we?"

So I was thinking, maybe they've all gathered on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, in sparsely populated places like Ryudou Temple or the forest on the other side, planning to explore with you."

The more Shirou Emiya spoke, the brighter Artoria's eyes became, and she also felt that what he said made a lot of sense.

Since no trace of Servants has been found in either the new or old capital of Fuyuki City, it is indeed very likely that they are secretly fighting in the outskirts of Fuyuki City!

"I understand, Shirou. Then let's go to bed early tonight, and we'll head to Ryudou-ji Temple immediately after breakfast tomorrow morning!"

Having set her goal, Artoria downed the tea in her cup in one gulp, finally feeling a sense of relief.

Chapter 47 The Fake Priest Virus Suspected of Being Transmitted from Person to Person (Servants)

Jingle bell bell—

"Ugh...it's so noisy..."

The heavy curtains blocked out the rare warm winter sun, but they couldn't stop the alarm clock's noisy sound.

In the dimly lit room, a delicate, white arm emerged from the warm blankets and fumbled to turn off the incessantly ringing alarm clock by the bedside.

The room returned to silence. Withdrawing her arm, Rin Tohsaka peeked out from under the covers, opened her sleepy eyes, glanced at the time on the alarm clock, and her expression was somewhat blank due to low blood pressure.

Perhaps influenced by what she learned from Kirei Kotomine yesterday, she dreamt of her father's figure again last night, something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Ah... speaking of which, Archer said yesterday that he would end the Holy Grail War today?"

In other words, after today, Yudo will have to return to Valhalla...

Remembering what Yuuto had told her before she went into the basement after returning home yesterday, Rin Tohsaka suppressed her urge to stay in bed and got up.

She sat on the bed to relieve the dizziness caused by low blood pressure, and then got up to change out of her pajamas.

"Let me think... Archer should still be in the basement, right?"

After changing her clothes, Rin Tohsaka stretched her still somewhat lazy body, thought about where Yuuto might be, and then immediately locked onto her own basement.

Honestly, in the few days since Yuto was summoned by her, her basement has been used more times than she has used it in the past seventeen years combined!

I've heard that the Atlas Institute, which is centered around alchemists, was also built underground. Is it a common habit among alchemists to like going underground?

That's really weird...

……

"Phew~ It's all done, all done..."

In the basement, Yu Du tidied up the cards on the table, which he had spent an entire night crafting using almost all the materials.

There weren't many cards. Aside from the three [Fusion] and [Elemental HERO Neos] cards that were crafted, the remaining materials only yielded a dozen or so cards. However, there were a few decent cards that he could directly add to his current deck.

For example, the quick-play spell card he created using that silver Lancer-class chess piece as the main material: [Forbidden Holy Lance]!

For the price of 800 attack power for the cricket, you can gain resistance that is unaffected by other spell and trap cards. Furthermore, because it is a quick-play spell, it can be set and used during your opponent's turn.

If you encounter an opponent who uses Spell & Trap Cards to buff their monsters, you can give this card to their monster.

Unfortunately, perhaps this card exhausted his luck, because when he used the golden archer statue that had fallen as the main material to refine it later, he only managed to refine a [King's Harmony] that he couldn't use.

This is a Normal Trap Card that can only be activated when an opponent's monster declares an attack against your Synchro Monster.

This deck, which relies heavily on Fusion Summoning and doesn't even have a single Synchro Monster, is completely useless against his hero deck.

"I think I'll probably only be able to use this card when I switch to a deck that includes Synchro Monsters..."

Putting away the small stack of cards, Yuuto pushed open the basement door and met the eyes of Rin Tohsaka, who was just coming down.

"Oh, good morning, Master!"

After a moment of surprise, Yuu Watari was the first to react, raising his hand to greet Rin Tohsaka.

"Well, good morning, Archer. I was just about to ask you about today's preparations, but since you're already out, let's just get up and talk!"

Having finished washing up, Rin Tohsaka nodded in response, stopped herself from going downstairs, and turned to walk towards the living room.

Yuto followed her into the living room, where two cups of freshly brewed black tea were placed on the coffee table. After the two sat down, while Yuto was drinking his tea, Rin Tohsaka spoke first.

"So, when do you plan to go to Ryudouji Temple to end this Holy Grail War?"

"Hmm... I guess we'll have to wait until tonight?"

After putting down his teacup and thinking for a moment, You Du replied.

It's uncertain whether there are any ordinary people around Ryudouji Temple during the day. By the time the Holy Grail is released, the black mud should have flowed out as well. It would be bad if it affected them, so it's better to wait until night when there are fewer people around.

And speaking of black mud... he suddenly remembered a certain quilt king who seemed to have been offline from the Holy Grail War for some time.

Does the other party not know that the Holy Grail War is about to end?

She really fought this Holy Grail War in a very confused way...

"Tonight? That's fine. Although it's almost over, and the fake priest who's in charge is still a cheating bastard, it's always better to keep the Holy Grail War discreet."

Rin Tohsaka nodded, agreeing with the timing Yuwatari had chosen.

But that would free up the daytime hours...

"If that's the case, what do you have to do during the day? Like, go to Ryudou Temple to set up the protective barrier in advance or something..."

"A barrier? I don't know how to set up that. As for daytime..."

Yuuto rejected Rin Tohsaka's suggestion and thought about what else he needed to do.

The issue of the Lesser Grail has been resolved, and the individuals who caused trouble in this Holy Grail War have also been dealt with. The only remaining Servants are Berserker and the Blanket King...

He even ate Mapo Tofu, the dish that Father Mapo loved, and he also met Shirou Emiya, a guy who, like Eevee from Pokémon, could evolve into different forms depending on the conditions...

"Hmm...it seems like there's really nothing to do?"

After thinking for a while with his index finger pressed against his chin, You Du hesitated slightly.

"In that case, why don't we take advantage of this last bit of free time to go and explore Fuyuki City one more time?"

Seeing that Yuuto was indeed alright, Rin Tohsaka made a suggestion.

"This might be your last day in modern society, right? Let's consider it a farewell party for you. How about you relax a bit while you have this opportunity?"

Modern society...

Upon hearing this, You Du couldn't help but feel ashamed.

He realized that Rin Tohsaka seemed to be mistaking him for someone from ancient times...

While it's true that Servants are all heroes from ancient times, he's an exception!

Didn't she notice that I'm quite well-adapted to life in this modern society?

You Du felt speechless, experiencing a sense of powerlessness as someone living in the information age was described as a primitive.

Oh well, Rin Tohsaka is right, it's not bad to kill some time in Fuyuki City.

With that in mind, he nodded in agreement to Rin Tohsaka's proposal, finished the rest of his tea, and prepared to go out with her.

As for Rainbow Neos Knight... since he cannot become a spirit, he can only remain in the Tohsaka Mansion.

"Oh right, Master, since we're already out, why don't we just have lunch out together?"

"How about we go to that Chinese restaurant we used to go to?"

Toosaka Rin: “???”

Oh no, the fake priest virus appears to be spreading from person to person.

Chapter Forty-Eight: The So-Called Compatibility

You Du felt it necessary to clarify beforehand that he had not been infected with that strange fake priest virus.

He simply missed the taste of that Mapo Tofu.

After all, eating spicy food can be addictive, and that restaurant's Mapo Tofu, while spicy, was torture to eat, and it even made you want to chop off your tongue to avoid further suffering.

But it's delicious!

Sitting opposite Yuuto, Rin Tohsaka looked at the two plates of bright red, steaming hot Mapo Tofu that had been served on the table, and a bead of sweat involuntarily rolled down her forehead.

Ju actually came...

Since that's already mentioned, why did she have to order one too?!

"Damn it, it's all Archer's fault for your twisted logic, which made me unable to resist ordering one..."

“That’s true, Master.” Yuuto, who had scooped two spoonfuls of Mapo Tofu onto the rice and started stirring, looked up at the Mapo Tofu in front of Rin Tohsaka, whose portion had shrunk.

"You seem to be enjoying your food quite a bit."

They both ordered the lowest level of spiciness this time, so although their tongues still hurt, it was noticeably better than the extra spicy level that Youdu ordered last time.

"I'm doing this so... not to waste food..." Rin Tohsaka, her lips smeared with red oil, stubbornly retorted as she tried to reduce the burning sensation on her tongue by inhaling and exhaling repeatedly.

"After all... well... we've already ordered... haha, it would be a waste not to eat it..."

"Ah, yes, yes..."

You Du smiled and didn't argue with her. He used a triple affirmative-to-negative sentence to brush her off, then scooped up a spoonful of mashed Mapo Tofu mixed with rice soaked in red oil and put it in his mouth.

Ouch...it's still so spicy!

"Shirou, how about we try this place for lunch today?"

Just as You Du was thinking that since it was already spicy, he might as well eat a few more bites, a very familiar voice came from outside the shop.

He turned his head and met the eyes of Artoria, who had just entered the store, and Shirou Emiya behind her.

"Oh, what a coincidence, you're eating here too?"

Yuuto thought he was just giving a casual greeting, but Artoria reacted like a cat seeing a cucumber, instantly drawing Excalibur.

Fortunately, the sword is surrounded by the Wind King's Barrier, which is invisible to ordinary people, so there is no need to worry about it causing panic.

"Archer, why are you here?"

Faced with the question posed by Artoria, who was looking at him warily, Yuuto remained silent, simply stuffing another mouthful of rice into his mouth.

Artoria, standing at the door, then realized she had asked a stupid question.

After all, what else can people come to a restaurant for besides eating?

Although she hadn't completely let her guard down, Artoria didn't stay standing at the door any longer; she walked into the shop with the invisible sword in her hand.