Chapter 23

January 23, 2004, late at night.

In the secluded, almost eerie hotel near the deep mountains of Fuyuki City, a suite at the end of the third-floor corridor was lit. Sitting at a desk, Shinji had his hands clasped under his chin, quietly listening to the meeting from his laptop.

The meeting was about the amusement park project that had been in preparation since last year.

Currently, the indoor water park and indoor ice park had started trial operations, and the large amusement park was scheduled to enter its trial operation phase within the next week.

At eleven o'clock at night, Shinji stretched widely after the long meeting and shut down his laptop.

"It feels like I've easily achieved things in this life that I would have struggled for several lifetimes to get in my previous one," Shinji said, stretching and musing, "But somehow, it doesn't feel as satisfying as I imagined."

[They are mere trifles. Aim higher, my grandson. An emperor possesses everything in the world.]

Ignoring the system's words, Shinji casually opened the system page.

Over the years, even with monthly speed-boosting drugs, he had barely managed to condense three souls. He hadn't yet fully condensed the Yin spirit, lacking just the final push.

With less than a month left to complete the main task of saving Zouken, Shinji had already given up on the mission's requirement to reach the third stage of refining the soul.

Unless given another ten years, it might be possible to refine three of the seven souls (Heavenly Soul, Spiritual Soul, and Energy Soul). Refining the soul was much harder than consolidating the three souls within the body.

But there was still a chance, like the recently refreshed item in the mall—the Third Stage Soul Refining Experience Card (Ten Minutes, One-Time Use).

System, are you treating me like a cash cow? Is this on purpose?

Shinji wanted to curse. The price of the experience card was nearly all the points he had accumulated over the years.

Excluding the cost of some tools he had bought earlier, he had saved 60,000 points. The experience card cost exactly 59,999!

Seeing the red promotional font with exclamation marks and labels like "best seller," Shinji wanted to fight the system but knew it was futile.

[Out of kindness, I want to help my dear grandson complete the task. Why are you so irritable? Fine, I'll take down the experience card. You can remain a vegetable, just someone to talk to.]

Wait!

[If you don't buy it, I'll take it down.]

Damn it!

Shinji cursed inwardly, his face showing a mix of pain and hesitation.

Buy it.

[Deal.]

Shinji: ...

In the quiet night streets, under the streetlights, Shinji slowly walked towards the deep mountains, his hands in his coat pockets.

Having grown and trained, Shinji's height had surpassed the original setting's expectation, reaching an impressive 185 cm!

His physique, once that of an overweight nerd in his previous life, had transformed into a lean, muscular build. This, combined with his naturally good looks, made him the most popular guy in school.

Yet, despite his popularity, Shinji was puzzled by the absence of love letters in his desk or shoe locker—something that seemed a given.

Was the world glitched?

Not being the protagonist really doesn't work?

Lost in thought, Shinji unknowingly walked deep into the woods, arriving at an old, dilapidated Western-style house covered in moss.

Sensing something, Shinji stopped in front of the house, which had been uninhabited since he could remember, and turned to look.

The smell of blood.

Shinji's brow furrowed. His senses had become sharper since he began training, allowing him to smell the thick scent of blood even through the magic barrier, yard, and closed doors.

It was human blood, and his keen hearing picked up faint, weak breathing, indicating only one person inside, and they were near death.

With only a few days left until the Fifth Holy Grail War, Shinji didn't want to deal with this kind of trouble. If exposed to the prying eyes of Zouken...

"Don't want to die..."

The voice was so faint that even Shinji, with his heightened senses, could barely make out the words.

Formation activated.

As if making a decision, Shinji called out mentally, ensuring no strange insects were watching him.

In an instant, a thin barrier, like an air wall, enveloped the old house, including Shinji. It was a simple formation that distorted the five senses, learned from a beginner's book he had won from a lottery.

Those inside wouldn't feel any difference, but those outside would subconsciously ignore everything within the barrier without realizing it.

"Ah~ I really am a kind person," Shinji sighed softly and pushed open the rusty iron gate, entering the yard.

Yes, it was purely out of kindness, nothing to do with the woman's voice!

Inside the old house, or perhaps it should be called the Ghost Mansion or Twin House, in the second-floor parlor, lay a woman with short rose-red hair and eyes, a tear mole under her left eye, dressed in a maroon suit with a matching tie, lifelessly sprawled in a pool of blood.

Upon closer inspection, her left sleeve was empty, and her body was covered in stab wounds. Strange, glowing blue runes on the floor around her barely kept her alive.

It must have been set up by that pig (Kirei).

Her name was Bazett Fraga McRemitz.

I don't want to die...

Bazett's consciousness kept slipping into darkness, mumbling those words, but she could no longer make a sound. She was barely breathing.

Tap, tap, tap.

Hearing footsteps from the stairs, a flicker of hope appeared in Bazett's despairing eyes.

The footsteps belonged to Shinji Matou, who smirked slightly upon seeing the woman in the blood pool.

Tax evader—Kirei Kotomine.

High-level tax collector—Bazett.

This development seemed interesting, didn't it?

As he thought about it, Shinji found himself amused.

Betrayed by that blue guy, Bazett didn't recognize the blue-haired, handsome boy who approached and knelt beside her.

In the last moment before she lost consciousness completely, Bazett saw, by the moonlight from the window, a handsome young man with blue hair, just like the hero she admired—her Servant Lancer until a few hours ago...