Chapter 57: Rematch (I)

Haruki spent a couple more minutes using his Precognition skill. His current intel failed to trigger the skill. Something drastically increased the Grail War's difficulty; it also rendered his Precognition skill useless since it required information. The change put his heart at unease.

'Just what am I missing?'

Semiramis waved her hand in his face. "My master, your witch is concerned over there."

Haruki looked over at Medea carrying a bit of concern on her face. Artoria appeared from behind her, still wearing the white dress. Instead of mulling over small details, Haruki explained every step they had to take today. Medea proposed to bring Sakura alongside them to kill Zouken or finish Sakura's treatment before killing Zouken.

"Do as I say."

A stern instruction from Haruki stopped her from asking any more questions. Even Semiramis couldn't question his authority. Artoria just nodded her head in utter obedience.

"Sweet. Now, let's go."

He led the servant trio to the school. He didn't attend the class, instead, he messaged Sakura about not attending the class for some important task. He went to the school roof and cast a bounded field excluding the door.

"Master, Archer ditched me," Lancer said through telepathy. "What do I do now?"

'Guard the perimeter. I have a score to settle with someone.'

"This again… I'll do it."

'We'll be fighting someone later, so don't worry about it.'

"A duel. It's all I want."

Haruki scratched his head. 'About that. It's just an old magus. He is a cunning one. I might need your help in locking down the area.'

"I can force him to a one-on-one duel with my runes. A battle till one of us dies."

'That'd be nice.'

Haruki couldn't wait to finish his business with Matous and move on to the bigger fish.

Haruki leaned against the wall and went for a nap until Shinji showed up. Medea pulled his head to her chest, offering him a comforting embrace.

"We might go there again," she said. "Please have some rest."

"Yeah."

He wasn't going to reject such a sweet offer. Semiramis and Artoria also sat beside him.

"There wasn't any point in wearing a dress," Artoria said, despite feeling a sense of freedom in her new outfit.

Semiramis shook her head. "As long as it makes you more alluring."

Haruki slipped down Medea's chest and fell on her lap. "Night."

***

After three hours, the lunch bell rang. With it, Shinji stomped out of the classroom and headed straight to the roof. Increasing Rider's strength was on his mind, more so after Haruki gave him a slip last night.

'I'll show these assholes.'

He clenched his fists with a serious look, something he rarely showed. As he turned for the roof stairs, he found an unexpected duo ahead of him with a bento in their hands.

"Sakura."

"Who?" Rin turned around at Shinji's call and stepped forward, hiding Sakura from Shinji's view. "Matou-kun, do you have some business with Sakura?"

Sakura quietly looked at Rin's protective side acting up, feeling giddy all of a sudden. Haruki did the same for years but seeing someone else protect her filled her with a warm feeling.

'I can't be protected all the time… I need to find a way to help Senpai.'

"Having lunch on the roof?" Shinji grinned. "I can treat you to something nice in the cafeteria."

"Cafeteria's food is delicious only on the outside, so no thanks."

Rin shot down Shinji's offer. The majority of the high school admired her for both good and bad reasons. She had learned to discern between the two on her own.

"Sakura, where is your lover boy?" Shinji growled. "Tell me or else."

"Or else?" Rin revealed a sweet smile at the threat. "What would you do?"

She didn't think Shinji could touch Haruki before. It'd be nigh impossible now that he had two servants.

Shinji swallowed his hatred. Out of all the people in the world, only three brought out true terror in him—his half-dead grandfather, Haruki, and Rin for her fierce nature. He was aware of Rin's fierce side was unknown to most people.

"Thanks, Nee-san," Sakura muttered in Rin's ears, receiving a bright smile from Rin.

"Let me know when you find him…" Shinji left a reminder as he made his way to the second building. As he opened the door, he saw Haruki sleeping on his servant's lap while two unknown women sat by his side.

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"Well, he came," Semiramis said with an amused smile. "Caster."

Medea hesitated in waking Haruki up. She would've killed Shinji if not for Haruki's instruction.

"Haruki-sama…"

She broke Haruki's light sleep. He immediately looked at Shinji with a grin. "Hello there."

Shinji had a bad feeling about this, about the strangers beside him. Rider came out of her spiritual form and wielded her chained daggers.

"Rider, kill him."

Rider didn't move as though she didn't hear Shinji's command. Her entire focus was on Haruki, the changes in his magical energy to be precise.

'He wasn't a human after all.'

Rider mused with a blank face, not letting her amusement show up on her face.

Haruki felt his battle urges nearly explode, his instincts calling for another clash with Rider.

'I was looking forward to this.'

He got up and fetched his Mystic Code from Medea. He pointed it at Medusa's face. "Rider, ready for our rematch?"

Rider acknowledged with a silent nod. Whether she fought Haruki or the three servants beside him, there would only be one outcome—her master's death. Death awaited her and Shinji.

'Master won't listen to me and escape.'

"But not here." Haruki shook his head. "This place is too small to move around. Caster, take us to a more appropriate place."

Medusa's strength was her unpredictable agile attacks. He wanted a challenging fight that could push his growth, not an instastomp match.

Medea summoned her staff. "Rider, don't resist. I'm using a teleportation spell."

Rider nodded before she looked over her shoulder. Her real master and her sister looked down on her.

'She will at least be free from one trouble…'

Her lips curved in an almost indiscernible smile. Sakura's twisted face was the last thing she saw before Medea's spell took her away.

Meanwhile, on the roof, Rin and Sakura stared at each other.

"Who were they?" Sakura asked, her voice lacking her usual sweetness. "The woman… and the blonde girl, where did they take Senpai?"

"They could be his mother's friends," Rin said with a nod. "Remember his mother was a magus. He must have called them for help. As for where they are, only Caster knows."

Rin came up with a quick excuse. She felt like Sakura would lose something if she didn't give a solid reason.

"Let's forget it..." Sakura whispered. Haruki had accepted her, so she had nothing to fear. "I want to find him. Archer, can you do something?"

Archer appeared and leaped on the handrail. "Oh hound, we need your help!"

"Hound?"

Before Archer answered her question, Rin heard the door kick open. A spear grazed past her hair, filling Rin's ears with its sonic boom. Archer backflipped over the spear trajectory and landed with a wide grin.

"Lead us to your master."

As Gae Bolg returned to its owner, Lancer finally paid attention to the girls beside Archer. "Who are they?"

"Servant…" Rin pointed at Lancer's face. "You're Hayashi-kun's second servant."

Archer didn't have any reason to hide this from Rin, though he hid Kirei's true nature from Rin for now. She was left impressed that an untrained magus like Haruki could keep two servant contracts without showing any strain. She slapped it on him being a magus's son.

"I don't know any Hayashi guy," Lancer replied in a quizzical tone.

"Hayashi is Haruki's last name, idiot," Archer retorted. "Can't even get your master. A faithless hound you are. Just lead us to your master."

"It's not my fault, old fucker. I won't go anywhere until you answer my question first." Lancer observed the two girls. "Who are these misses?"

"I-I'm Sakura." Sakura felt timid before Lancer's daunting aura. "Haruki-senpai's g-girlfriend."

Rin blinked a couple of times as the surprise sank in her nerves. "You what girl?"

"I'll tell you later. Please, take us to senpai."

Lancer saw the concern in Sakura's voice and her expression. "Master got better luck with women than me."

Only Archer heard Lancer's grumbles. It made him smugger, making Lancer regret he never said anything.

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