193 Tiring Fate

Silva Branwen was not happy. In his paws were a pair of invitations to a gala in Paris, France, one for him and one for Sakura. Unfortunately, to maintain his positive business relationships in Europe for his company, he had to go, much to his annoyance. The downside of being the CEO of a highly successful international tech company is that he had to rub shoulders often with fellow rich and powerful people in seemly pointless charity and social parties. Thankfully he could ignore smaller gatherings, but with this particular, the encompass the entirety of the European upper class will be attending, so he can not ignore the invitation.

Silva sighed as he went to the living room to get everyone's attention and found that it was empty except for Shuten lounging on the couch with a bottle of sake nearby. The oni took to modern clothing as she was dressed in a purple hoody with black spats on as she surfed the streaming channels to find something to entertain herself. The foreigner called out to Assassin.

" Shuten, mind gathering everyone for me? I have an announcement."

" What about, Master?"

" Just need to make a trip with Sakura to an annoying party."

The oni shrugged as she got off the couch and carried her bottle of sake away to gather everyone. Not long after, everyone came to the living room, and Silva explained.

" To put it simply, Sakura and I have a gala to attend in France, and we need to leave Fuyuki for a few days. With that in mind, as much as I love showing you off to those snobs, Skadi, I need you to stay here since the Great Holy Grail War is going on, as I trust you the most to keep an eye on things. So my question to everyone here, who wants to be mine and Sakura's, plus ones for the gala?"

" Master, it would be my pleasure to join you!"

Tamamo volunteers immediately to be Silva's plus one, but Shuten interjects with an easy-going smile.

" Ohya? Master, why not take me instead of this vixen?"

The oni was just causing trouble for the sake of it, and the vixen replied with ruffled fur.

" A gala is a party that includes various wealthy and refined people that are worthy of note that requires subtly and elegance to navigate through it, not a drunken rampaging fool that would eat the guests at the first chance."

" A fair point, but I am sure Master can THOROUGHLY teach me how to behave myself."

Shuten replied with a sultry tone at Tamamo to get a rise out of her, but before the vixen could answer, Skadi put her foot down.

" Enough! I will decide who I will entrust my husband too, and that's Rin!"

" Me?!"

Rin Tohsaka exclaimed in surprise, and the former Servant explained her reasons.

" Yes, you, Rin. My excuse for not attending with my husband will be that I am too ill to leave home, and as a friend of Sakura, you were offered to take my place since Silva can not attend alone. You already have some experience with politics due to you being the Second Owner of Fuyuki plus, unlike Tamamo, you understand the modern world better than her, so you are the best candidate."

" Since Nee-chan will be Otou-sama's plus one, I will take Medusa as my escort."

Sakura added, and Rin then complained.

" Don't I get any say on the matter?!"

" Nee-chan, please."

The purple-haired girl gave her older sister a pleading look which melted any resistance Rin had.

" Fine..."

Silva shrugged as he was fine with anyone, but Tamamo was depressed at not being able to stand by her Master's side.

" Master..."

***

I put on my best fake smile as I entered the gala with Rin holding my arm. She tightened her grip unconsciously due to the nervousness she felt at attending such an important party. Sakura helped her sister in picking out an elegant red strapless dress for the party while I wore a dark gray tuxedo. The little tsundere asked me to distract herself from the analyzing eyes of the other party members.

" Do you often attend parties like these?"

" Thankfully, no. I only attend the ones that are necessary to show my face and make small talk, plus make a few business deals."

Sakura and Medusa followed behind us, which caused a minor stir as same-sex relationships are still frowned upon at this point in time. The funny thing is that Sakura has never shown any interest in men, as she often compares them to me, and I told her about my life in Remnant and my past life. Hence, they generally fall short of her requirements to take them seriously as a romantic partner. As I made small talk with a few people and Rin stuck close to my side, I was met with an unexpected face.

" It's an honor to meet you in person, Silva Branwen."

Atrum Galliasta, a Master of Red. I debated on whether or not I should take care of him here and now to save myself some trouble. It would be so easy to give him a heart attack, but I decided to see what he was up to first.

" I was not expecting to meet you here, Atrum Galliasta."

I gave a fake friendly smile and extended my disguised hand to him, and the poor fool shook it. Using Soul Archive, I saw that he was planning on doing something here, and I had to stop myself from laughing at him as his so-called plan, while bold, was foolish beyond measure.

" I see you have heard of me."

The Mage said with a hint of pride, and I replied.

" Just some bits and pieces. I like to keep track of promising talent in general."

I decided to play ignorant at the fact I knew he was a Master. After all, his plan was to use the Servant he summoned against me after luring me away, but unfortunately for him, I know how to negotiate against that particular Servant. After making some small talk with him, he then asked me.

" May we speak in private? I want to offer you a deal for your current plans in the Far East."

" You have my attention."

" Right this way."

He smiled as I was sure he was excited to lead me to his trap, and I left Rin behind. The Mage led me to one of the private rooms, and as he sat down, no doubt feeling confident since I had no Servant with me. Before he could speak, I put him to sleep with a bit of Magic and asked the Servant, still in spirit form.

" May we speak without your Master interrupting us?"

After a few moments, she appeared, a woman in a purple dress wearing a cloak that hid her face, Medea. The Witch of Betrayal commented on seeing her Master so easily dealt with.

" I suppose he was a fool after all."

" People can easily be blinded by several things, Medea."

The Servant looked at me with a guarded expression as she tensed up at me, revealing her true name. I then assured her.

" If I wanted to fight, we wouldn't be talking, and your Master would already be dead before he even realized it."

" What do you want to talk about?"

" Am I correct in assuming your desire for the Grail is to get vengeance against Aphrodite, despite its dubious nature?"

After a few moments, she gave me a curt nod, and I told her what I wanted with sincerity.

" My goal for the Grail is the Second True Magic, Kalidoscope. You see, I am not from this world, and I want to return home no matter what. So rather than fight you, I want to make an offer as I both respect you and feel like you got a raw deal."

" What sort of offer?"

I then gave my sales pitch to her.

" With Kalidoscope, it would not be impossible to find a World Line with Aphrodite still in existence but weakened to do with as you please. Plus, why settle for getting payback against just one Aphrodite but multiple ones until you feel satisfied? So my offer is not simply revenge but satisfaction. Are you interested?"

" I would be lying if I said I wasn't, but what is to stop you from stabbing me in the back the moment I let my guard down?"

" Nothing but my word."

I said with complete sincerity and honesty, as I would help her if she sided with me after checking up on everything back at Remnant, as I will likely be moving back and forth between worlds. Medea took out her Rule Breaker dagger and stabbed her now-former Master, then handed me the Command Seals. She then said with an icy tone.

" Let's see if you live up to your word."

" I look forward to working with you, Medea."

I turned Atrum Galliasta's body to ash and went to return to the gala with my new ally. As I reentered the ballroom, I saw Rin grappling with Luviagelita Edelfelt; why am I not surprised? I went over to the conflict and saw Sakura looking embarrassed by her sister, with Medusa watching the two girls fight against one another. I then heard the tsundere exchange insults with the wrestling enthusiast.

" Excessive gold digger!"

" Pauper barbarian!"

" Wasteful hyena!"

" Poor woman!"

As entertaining as this show is, I better stop them since we are in the middle of a gala. I walked up to the two of them and pressed my Magic and Aura against them.

" Enough! We are in the middle of a gala, you two knuckle-headed ladies."

They then saw the attention they were drawing and backed away from one another while still looking aggressive and ready for a fight. Luviagelita then turned her attention to me and greeted me.

" It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Silva."

" The pleasure is all mine, Miss Edelfelt."

" Please, call me Luvia."

Well, this gala has been more interesting than expected, at least.