Fate: How About a New Savior?

Prologue – Sakura's Servant Summoning

Two and a half years later, boarding a passenger plane from England and returning to Fuyuki City, Japan, Sakura Shiomi found she felt little of the typical homesickness that came with returning to one's homeland.

Perhaps it was because, ever since the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, her father had made it a point to take the whole family traveling around the world during every long holiday. Egypt, South America, Northern Europe, North America, Australia—even the rarely visited Antarctic continent. Sakura had seen it all during the southern hemisphere's summer.

Maybe that's why she felt little attachment to the country of her birth.

Whether as a Magus or as the eldest daughter of the Shiomi family, it was the same. Besides, her days at the Clock Tower had been pleasant. She frequently audited Magecraft lessons in El-Melloi's classroom, which was always livelier than any other classroom in the Tower.

After picking up her checked luggage, Sakura stepped onto the airport's moving walkway and advanced slowly.

It was January 24th. Seven days remained until the scheduled start of the Holy Grail War.

But based on past records, Heroic Spirit summoning had likely already begun. The Assassin class, for example, could be summoned in advance.

At that thought, Sakura reached over her shoulder bag and felt for the box tucked in a corner of her backpack.

It was a holy relic specially prepared by her father for the Fifth Holy Grail War.

A fragment from the Round Table used by the Knights of the Round Table, once presided over by King Arthur.

Though the relic was somewhat broad in nature, it meant she could potentially summon a Servant from among the Round Table knights who would be best suited to her.

Servants from the Round Table generally possessed A-rank stats or higher and often manifested in one of the three strongest knight classes.

Confident in her own strength, Sakura was filled with determination.

"It's all your fault, Shirou! We almost missed the plane because you were dawdling!"

"Dawdling? Come on, Illya—there's no way to hurry with so much stuff!"

"Alright, alright, no more fighting~~. If you keep arguing, Mama's going to have to give you both a lesson!"

Voices rang out cheerfully from beyond the moving walkway.

Sakura lifted her head slightly and, through the narrow space between her cap and sunglasses, glanced at the source of the voices.

It was a family outing, like a small tour group. They chatted and laughed about their trip as they hurried past, crossing paths with her on the moving walkway.

And Sakura recognized them—or more accurately, the man at the center and the beautiful woman beside him.

Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern.

They had settled in Fuyuki after the previous Holy Grail War.

Moreover, Tenkei Shiomi had once helped Kiritsugu Emiya "retrieve" his and Irisviel's daughter from the Einzbern family in Germany.

Because of that, Sakura knew a little about their family. But since moving to England, she hadn't paid them much attention.

For them to go on an overseas trip right after New Year's, when spring break was still far off, was a bit perplexing.

Sakura could only come to one conclusion.

The Emiya family was intentionally avoiding the Fifth Holy Grail War.

After all, according to the intel Reines had gathered, the Einzbern family hadn't given up hope just because Illya—who was meant to be the next Lesser Grail—had been taken away.

No matter the means, the Einzbern had prepared another Lesser Grail. That was a prerequisite for the Fifth Holy Grail War to even begin.

It was possible the Tohsaka and Matou families had also played a role in making it happen.

In any case, learning that potential participating Magus had already left Fuyuki before she even arrived was useful information indeed.

Stepping out of the airport, Sakura hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Shiomi residence in Fuyuki.

At times like this, she couldn't help but marvel at how convenient Magecraft was compared to science. Thanks to a specific enchantment, there wasn't even a speck of dust—let alone cobwebs—inside the house.

The entire mansion was exactly as it had been when the family moved to London. Only the overgrown weeds and branches in the garden hinted at the passage of time.

As she unpacked her things, Sakura casually cast a few spells over the garden. In this way, while making various preparations for the Holy Grail War, the days passed quickly.

She opened the secret door to the Magecraft Workshop. Cold fluorescent light flickered on as the hidden chamber came into view.

Ten years ago, her father, Tenkei Shiomi, had held his own summoning ritual for the Holy Grail War right here. Sakura crouched down and inspected the lingering traces of the summoning circle she had drawn with her own hands. A strange sense of time slipping by washed over her.

It was February 1st. As night fell, Sakura could feel her Mana wavelength gradually growing more active.

Magecraft, by its very nature, was tied to mystery. Most Magus would find their Mana resonate more strongly at night—an equally mystical time.

That was why summoning rituals for the Holy Grail War were typically held at night: to increase the chances of summoning a Servant with a strong class and high capabilities.

She scattered a dusting of magical powder across the floor, and the previously faint summoning circle quickly lit up, becoming clearly visible.

Placing the prepared holy relic on the altar, Sakura stood before the circle. She took a deep breath to calm her slightly racing heart, extended the Command Spell that had formed with markings resembling her own name, and slowly began chanting the incantation.

As she recited the summoning spell, stanza by stanza, she could feel her Magic Circuits begin to stir throughout her body.

But she wasn't like most. Having trained under a system of Magecraft completely different from the norm—and having run countless simulations of the Mana requirements involved in summoning—her circuits surged without strain. Her body felt no pressure at all.

"I hereby declare.

You are under my protection. My fate rests with your blade.

Heed the call of the Holy Grail. If you accept this path and this principle—then respond!

I make this vow.

I am the one who performs all good in this world.

I am the one who commits all evil in this world.

You, clad in the three great words across seven days—

Come forth from the circle of restraint, Guardian of the Scales!"

The chant was crisp and clean. At the exact moment her magical wavelength peaked, Sakura completed the summoning spell.

Wind and smoke erupted from the center of the summoning circle, and from within stepped a small knight clad in armor. Judging by stature alone, the figure seemed even shorter than Sakura—causing a flicker of doubt in her heart. Had the summoning failed? Had she not called forth a Knight of the Round Table?

Then the knight's armor gave a slight shudder, emitting a series of clanks and clicks. Just like the mech transformations she'd watched in childhood anime, the helmet disassembled into separate parts, merging into other sections of the armor—and revealed a face framed by a golden ponytail.

In that instant, Sakura, who had previously been unable to discern the Servant's True Name or Noble Phantasm, suddenly recognized the identity standing before her.

More than the name itself, it was the face that truly caught her off guard.

She had encountered that face once before—but the person now before her was not the king she had once known.

"My name is Mordred. As the only legitimate heir to Arthur Pendragon, the King of Knights, I have manifested in the Saber class."

Though the face was that of a young girl, the voice rang out with the bright, clear tone of a spirited young boy.

"I ask you—are you my Master?"

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

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