FATE: Target of Grand Master

After watching the battle at Fuyuki Church, Xia Yan closed his eyes and rubbed his temples to relax his tense mind.

Although my magic skills have improved a lot, my basic skills are still too poor, so I can only reach a barely usable level.

"Master, was this also part of your plan?"

Cú Chulainn pointed at Sakura Matou lying on the bed and teased her.

"Lancer, please don't use such strange language, okay?"

Xia Yan glanced at Medusa, who was sitting beside Matou Sakura's bed.

If this head of the Sakura fan club misunderstands, my apartment is going to be blown up. I don't want to become a homeless Master.

Cú Chulainn shrugged and stopped joking with Xia Yan.

After leaving the Fuyuki Church, Medusa followed Xia Yan's instructions and went to the apartment Xia Yan rented.

According to Xia Yan, he is currently in the shadows as the Master, and it would be safer to place Sakura with him than at the Emiya residence.

Although Sakura has resolved the problem of the old insect's parasitism, the corrupted Holy Grail fragments within her body will still connect her to "all the evil in this world" within the Holy Grail. Only by resolving this problem can Sakura be considered truly saved.

As for how to solve this problem, Xia Yan has already come up with a solution, but it still depends on the future course of the Holy Grail War.

In short, Xia Yan's plans for tonight are now complete.

After crawling into the sleeping bag he had bought on his way back to the apartment yesterday, Xia Yan quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Looking at Xia Yan, whose breathing was somewhat heavy, Medusa suddenly spoke up: "It's unbelievable. Sakura and I are still participating in the Holy Grail War; we should be your enemies. How could he fall asleep so easily without any defense?"

"Rider, are you looking down on me by saying that?"

Cú Chulainn crossed his arms, giving off an air of "If you're not happy, let's go outside and fight right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lancer, that's not what I meant."

Medusa quickly apologized.

"Haha. Rider, I didn't realize you were so easy to talk to."

Cú Chulainn laughed heartily twice, but still managed to control his volume.

"If we're talking about unbelievable things, your actions are just as incredible. You only met him tonight, yet you completely trust him and carry out his plans. But, I'm not in a position to judge you."

"That's because Xia Yan has such a comprehensive grasp of the information about this Holy Grail War that he can predict everyone's actions. I'm actually quite glad I met him tonight, because only he can save Sakura."

Cú Chulainn suddenly said seriously, "You should know that if Xia Yan's plan succeeds, you will disappear."

Medusa nodded: "Of course. I am a follower, and I do not belong to this era."

"And what is your wish? Being able to answer the Holy Grail's call naturally means you have wishes you want to fulfill, right?"

"My original wish is no longer important. Now, my wish is for Sakura to be saved. As long as Xia Yan succeeds, my wish will be fulfilled."

Seeing Medusa's relieved smile, Cú Chulainn said nothing more.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Xia Yan opened his eyes and found no one on the bed, and immediately became nervous.

What happened?

Could it be that I was attacked by the enemy while I was asleep last night?

Impossible. There were no signs of forced entry in the apartment. Besides, Cú Chulainn would definitely wake me up.

Am I under an illusion? Or am I still dreaming?

Xia Yan pinched his face hard.

pain!

this is the truth.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the sound of running water came from the apartment's bathroom.

A short while later, Matou Sakura came out from inside, drying her damp hair.

Good morning, Matou-kun.

Xia Yan, with his hair disheveled from sleeping, greeted Matou Sakura.

"Ah! Good morning, Ms. Xia. I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

The purple-haired girl was only wearing a close-fitting dress, her voluptuous figure almost spilling out, and her two smooth thighs were completely exposed to Xia Yan.

Seemingly realizing that her clothes were too thin, Sakura's face instantly turned red, and she quickly burrowed into the blankets, leaving only half of her head sticking out.

"Cough...cough...Um, are you feeling any better?"

To cover up his embarrassment, Xia Yan quickly changed the subject.

"Yes, I feel much better. I heard everything from Rider. Thank you for your help, Teacher Xia."

Sakura gave him a sweet smile, which made Xia Yan feel that everything he had done was worthwhile.

"Okay, that's good. But for your safety, you should stay in the apartment for now. I'll ask the school for leave for you."

"OK."

"Just bear with it a little longer. In a few days, once I've resolved the rest of your problems, you can go out with confidence."

"It's no trouble at all. Thank you so much, Teacher Xia, for helping me. I don't know how to repay you."

"No, no, I was just doing it for my own reasons. Oh well."

I glanced at the time; if I didn't leave soon, I risked being late again.

Xia Yan hurriedly tidied himself up and prepared to go out.

"Um, Ms. Xia."

Sakura rubbed the blanket a little shyly.

"Could you please bring some women's clothes when you come back?"

Xia Yan then realized that Medusa had taken Ying away in such a hurry last night that she hadn't brought any change of clothes.

"No problem, but you need to tell me the approximate size."

Sakura blushed even more and whispered out a few numbers.

"Um, Ms. Xia, could you please bring some ingredients back with you when you return? The cooking skills I learned from my senior are highly regarded. I'd like to express my gratitude in this way."

Xia Yan smiled slightly.

"Okay, then I'll be really looking forward to it."

After saying that, Xia Yan ran out of the building.

Upon arriving at the school, Xia Yan unexpectedly bumped into Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin, who were traveling together.

The two of them must have realized that the school's barrier had been dispelled on its own.

After completely resolving Sakura's issue, Xia Yan still decided to take the initiative to contact them. On the one hand, he could entrust Sakura to their care, and on the other hand, he needed to work with them to solve the Holy Grail problem.

Xia Yan believed that as long as he could gain their trust, Shirou and Rin would definitely stand on the same side as him.

The daytime passed quickly. Xia Yan, upholding the fine traditions of a working person, left work on time and never gave capital any room to exploit him.

Walking along the road back to the apartment, Xia Yan suddenly slipped into an extremely secluded alley.

"Master, Servants aren't meant to run errands and do shopping for you."

Despite his complaints, Cú Chulainn still handed Xia Yan a bag of ingredients and two sets of beautifully packaged women's clothing.

"We're in a hurry, aren't we?"

Xia Yan took the bag and checked its contents.

"Thanks, Lancer. I promise it won't happen again."