Rushing Fate

" Welcome to my somewhat humble abode Medea; it's a mad house."

After dealing with the gala in France, I immediately returned home with the elven woman and Sakura, along with her Servant. The witch looked at my home, then commented.

" When I first heard of your reputation, I was expecting to lay siege to a terrifying fortress layered with Bounded Fields, various Magecraft constructs, and who knew what else instead of something this... Homely."

" Family and comfort are important to me, so no oversized castle with more room than what I know to deal with, but there is an underground complex that houses various facilities. We can set up your Workshop later if that is fine."

Medea gave a non-committal hum as she eyed my home, and I then added.

" Let's introduce you to everyone first."

" How is this happening?!"

Rin exclaimed for the umpteenth time at learning that I snatched a Servant of Red right under the noses of the Mage Association. Sakura giggled as she replied.

" It's Otou-sama, Nee-chan."

" How does that explain anything!?"

" Otou-sama has a tendency to bend or break common sense."

Well, she's not wrong, considering all that I have done in just ten years. The tsundere looked at her sister with mixed emotions before sighing in defeat and entering the house to go to her room. Sakura just laughed in amusement and then entered our home.

" I'm home."

" Well, Medea, are you ready for your first dose of chaos with the Branwen family?"

I asked half-jokingly, and the elven woman just eyed me with suspicion. Now how is my dear Skadi going to react to me bringing the Witch of Betrayal home? I entered my home with Medea in tow as I called out.

" I'm home."

I took off my shoes and went to the living room to find the Drama Faction watching their streaming shows. I shrugged and decided to leave them alone. I then asked the elven woman.

" How about I give you a tour since everyone is preoccupied?"

" That is acceptable."

" Alright then, let's go set up your room first in the underground complex."

Medea followed me to the shed, where the entrance to the underground complex resided, and she commented.

" This certainly fits my original impression of the great Demon King of Japan. The air here is rich in Mana, but there is no wasteful expenditure plus, while runes are not my specialty, I know enough to see whoever set this place up knew what they were doing."

" That would be my wife's handiwork, along with the Caster of Black's, or rather Tamamo's unique insights. Plus, I had a small hand in the construction. Anyway, is there anything you particularly need or want for your Workshop and room?"

At my question, the elven woman replied.

" I will make a list after I settle in."

" Okay then, once again, Medea, Welcome to the Black Faction."

***

Lorelei Barthomeloi called all the Masters of Red to her office at learning Atrum Galliasta's untimely demise.

" Can someone explain to me why we are one Master short before even entering Fuyuki?"

The Queen asked with an icy tone, and Waver was the one that answered.

" Lady Barthomeloi, Galliasta left me some information at the time of death which told of his plan to deal with Silva Branwen."

" And that plan was?"

Lorelei asked coldly while staring at the Democratic Mage, and he broke out in a cold sweat as he answered.

" To ambush Branwen at a gala if he had no Servant with his own..."

The Queen's shoulders shook as she looked down, which made everyone nervous that she was beyond angry, but instead, she erupted with laughter as she insulted the dead man.

" What a fool!"

She laughed as if she had heard a funny joke and wiped the tears from her eyes as she added.

" There really is no shortage of idiots in this world."

Lorelei then looked at the Masters of Red and told them.

" We will be heading to Tokyo immediately. If you have not summoned your Servants for whatever reason in the next couple of days, you will make do with using yourself as a catalyst instead of vying for whatever Heroic Spirit you have in mind. Do I make myself clear?"

No one spoke out against her, and she ordered.

" Good, all of you are dismissed."

After the other Masters left, the Queen smiled with amusement, and a male voice called out.

" You certainly know how to pick the finest bridegroom, Lorelei."

Appearing out of thin air was a man Silva was familiar with, King Gilgamesh. Lorelei smiled as she replied to the Archer Class Servant.

" Of course, your majesty. Silva Branwen more than meets my criteria and then some since you informed me of his nature as a budding Divine Spirit. Although, Galliasta is undoubtedly, was an arrogant fool, it is no surprise he was the first to die."

" True, plus I look forward to seeing how Silva Branwen has grown in these last ten years and unlike in the previous War, I will not lose so easily again."

The King of Heroes smirked with pride and arrogance as he looked forward to truly crossing blades with the foreign entity of this world.

***

In the back of the mountains near Fuyuki resided a small tattered shrine to some unknown Shinto deity. Golden particles started to appear and condense near the shrine, and with a flash of light, a woman appeared with long brunette hair in a pair of low pigtails. She had pale skin with unusual red markings all across her body, and she opened her eyes to reveal a pair of gray eyes. The woman stretched as if she had a pleasant nap with a pleased groan. She wore a rather skimpy outfit that looked like she was wearing a white sack tunic that did nothing to hide her ample womanly assets.

The woman then said with a laid-back smile.

" A Great Holy Grail War, huh? Let's see how things play out."

She manifested a mirror and tried to look with divination but then exclaimed in shock.

" EH?! WHY CAN'T I SEE ANYTHING? IT'S NOT LIKE I AM TRYING TO SEE MYSELF... unless."

Her eyes lit up with pure joy and excitement as she came to a conclusion.

" The reason I can't see anything is that my soul mate is involved with this Great Holy Grail War! After all, no matter how many times I tried to divine my love life, it always came up blank!"

She then said with a giddy expression.

" Don't worry, my soul mate; Himiko is on the way, so wait for me!"

The woman called Himiko rushed off to the city below to find her soul mate at last, whoever that may be.