"Sorry to keep you waiting. Hop in."
Early the next morning, Shiomi brought Morgan along to retrieve his car, which had been stored in Shinto.
He had originally planned to keep it at home, but thinking it might be inconvenient if he ever needed it on short notice, he'd decided to store it before moving the whole family to London.
"It wasn't a long wait. Honestly, watching you interact with people while I waited was kind of entertaining," said Morgan, sitting in the lounge area of the shop. She set down her coffee cup as Shiomi approached.
They got into the car parked outside and headed for Miyama Town.
Since he wanted to be closer to Sakura, Shiomi had scrapped the idea of staying in a hotel during the Holy Grail War. A rented place wouldn't be suitable for setting up a proper Magical Workshop anyway. Renting out an entire floor, like Kayneth had done ten years ago, just wasn't cost-effective.
"If it were me, I'd just evacuate the civilians and blow up the whole building instead of storming in head-on."
That's what Kiritsugu Emiya had once said during a conversation on their way to Germany to pick up Iri.
Crude and violent as it sounded, Shiomi had to admit that any Magus worth their salt would probably survive such an explosion. Still, the idea lingered in his mind this time.
Then again, Kiritsugu had also praised Shiomi's precision in combat—likening it to a surgical decapitation—which, in hindsight, may have just been mutual flattery.
"You know, the shop folks were just singing your praises," Shiomi said with a grin.
"Oh?"
"They said things like, 'Your wife clearly isn't an ordinary person.'" He chuckled. "But don't take it too seriously—they were just trying to push their inventory and convince me to sell this car and buy a more expensive one."
Morgan glanced at Shiomi's profile and smiled, her mood lifting. "They were complimenting me, so why are you the one so happy?"
"You already know the answer to that."
"Fair enough." She tilted her head. "So, where's the new base?"
"It's about three blocks from my old house. A place about the same size as the Emiya residence," Shiomi replied, thinking back. "Five years ago, I happened to see a listing from a real estate agency, asked about it, and bought it."
"Five years ago?" Morgan looked surprised.
"I figured once Sakura and Caren were adults, they'd probably need to come back to Japan from time to time. They'd need some personal space. Sakura's a year older, so I originally bought it with her in mind. It's not on a leyline like the Tohsaka place, but the surrounding area is good, and it can still tap into the Fuyuki leyline pretty effectively."
"Since when did you start thinking like a Magus?" Morgan asked.
"Not 'like'—I am a Magus," Shiomi raised his eyebrows. "And Sakura's one too. Of course I have to consider things from a Magus's perspective."
Morgan nodded slightly. "So you didn't tell me about this when we went to England five years ago."
"You weren't interested…" Shiomi gave a half-laugh, half-sigh. "You're not about to scold me for wasting money, are you?"
"Not at all. I didn't even bother digging into your relationship with that Puppeteer—why would I care about something like this?" Morgan rested her hand elegantly on the car window, propping up her head. "Even if I handed you control of an entire country's finances, I'd trust you with it."
"…No thanks. That kind of job clearly isn't for humans. Just tapping on an abacus all day would kill me," Shiomi muttered. "I'm fine just managing the household."
Morgan didn't argue, but pointed out, "You didn't say you couldn't do it."
"How would I know if I've never tried?"
Morgan smiled again at that.
As the car crossed Fuyuki Bridge and wound its way through Miyama Town, turning left and right, they caught sight of Sakura and Rin waiting at a traffic light.
"Looks like they're heading to school together," Morgan remarked.
"They've probably already formed an alliance," Shiomi replied, his voice softening with some relief. "Compared to other Masters, a blood-related sister is probably more trustworthy."
"Not necessarily. Being family could also mean she's even more dangerous," Morgan said with a sly look at Shiomi. "You know what kind of 'samples' to reference."
Shiomi let out a wordless sigh, shutting his eyes tight for a moment before slowly opening them again. The red light turned green, and as traffic resumed, he turned the steering wheel left, taking a road opposite the direction of Homurahara Academy.
...
"What are you looking at, Sakura? We're about to cross."
Rin tugged lightly on Sakura's sleeve.
"It's nothing. I just thought the car that passed looked a lot like my dad's." Sakura turned her gaze away, but not before glancing one last time.
It was rush hour and traffic was heavy; the car she saw had long disappeared into the crowd.
"Maybe you've been away from home for a while and are starting to miss your family," Rin teased.
"Maybe." Sakura thought her sister was probably right. It had been over a week since she last talked to her father—maybe that's why she was imagining things.
The two walked through the bustling crowd, Mordred trailing behind them in a suit. Archer, in spirit form, followed from above.
It was a school day, and Rin had initially thought she'd be going alone.
But Sakura had already prepared an exchange student ID, so the sisters ended up heading to school together.
Saber, not wanting to just sit around at home, insisted on coming too—so Sakura brought her along.
"Is it really okay for you not to go home?"
After their retreat the night before, Rin had gone straight to the Shiomi residence, and asked Archer to fetch her a change of clothes.
They had talked things over briefly, and Rin had straightforwardly proposed forming an alliance. Sakura had agreed without hesitation.
"I'm the only one at home right now. Father and Mother went back to our ancestral home in Zenjou," Rin explained calmly. "So in a way, I'm just as free as you are."
"I see," Sakura said. "Do you have any intel, Sis?"
"Intel?"
"On the Masters participating in this Holy Grail War. How much do you know?" Sakura asked.
"…Um…" Rin looked slightly embarrassed. "Honestly, with everything going on with my father, all I know is that the Mage's Association and the three founding families are involved. I know some of the Masters' names, but that's about it."
In fact, until just last night, Rin hadn't even known Sakura was part of the Holy Grail War.
But Sakura didn't tease her like she used to. She just nodded in quiet understanding.
"It's no surprise. After what happened in the last Holy Grail War, everyone's being extra cautious with information," Sakura said. "But now that we're allies, it's only fair we share what we know."
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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