In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

"Yes, I really didn't plan to."

In response to Rowe's question, Scáthach nodded without hesitation and then said:

"We just happened to bump into each other on the street this time. But what I didn't expect was that, besides the two of us, there would be other masters and servants who dared to appear openly at this time. Is it really a case of being highly skilled and daring?"

'You guys know you shouldn't appear in public...'

Lowe gave a wry smile; he was quite helpless with this somewhat self-centered queen.

"By the way, Aozaki Touko should have told you all the information, right? Master, the opponent is a combination of a homunculus and a sword spirit. They must be the Einzbern family contestants you mentioned."

Scáthach shrugged and continued.

"However, although the two of them were very close, I couldn't be sure that the homunculus was her Master because she was wearing gloves that covered her Command Seals."

"I see... I understand."

Upon hearing this, Lovi nodded, inwardly agreeing with Scáthach's statement. He had long known that Irisviel was merely a smokescreen thrown out by Kiritsugu Emiya.

"By the way, Scáthach, where's Orange? Why didn't she come back with you?"

After chatting with Scáthach for a while, Rowe noticed that Aozaki Touko hadn't come back with him this time. This surprised him somewhat.

Given her shameless personality, shouldn't she be staying by Scáthach's side like a lackey to curry favor and obtain runes? Why has she suddenly disappeared? Has she changed her ways?

"Oh, that interesting little girl."

Upon hearing Lowi mention Aozaki Touko, Scáthach casually replied,

“I just gave her a primordial rune, and she’s busy finding a quiet place to study it right now, so she didn’t come back with me this time. She said she was going to rest at a place called the Hyatt Hotel. I hope there won’t be any problems?”

"Hyatt Hotel... wow, she really knows how to pick a location."

Upon hearing this name, Luo Wei's expression subtly changed, and he silently prayed for her in his heart.

'I hope he's alright...'

"By the way, Master, what have you thought about the battle plan I proposed before?"

"Through my brief encounter with that golden Saber today, I'm pretty sure that if I actively release my aura to attract other groups of Servants to challenge me... they'll take the bait."

Scáthach recalled Artoria, whom she had just met earlier that day, and said with great certainty.

"Besides, since you're not with me today, they've probably already accepted Aozaki Touko as my Master... so I can have her appear with me then."

"Let Senior Orange appear in public in your place... Hmm, that's highly feasible, it's indeed a good idea, but..."

He glanced at Scáthach, who was eager to try, and couldn't help but think to himself, "Wow!"

'Shouldn't this be Lancer's part? You're Caster now...'

However, he also understood that even if he wanted to deny it, given the personality of the Queen of the Land of Shadows, she most likely wouldn't agree.

So Rowe nodded decisively, directly agreeing to Scáthach's suggestion.

As for Orange's wishes... that's not important.

Anyway, given her personality, she'll definitely agree to it if we just offer a few more Primal Runes.

After all, a mere puppet that can be replaced at any time as long as there are enough materials is far inferior to the primordial rune inheritance from the Age of Gods.

"In that case, it's settled then, Master. Aozaki Touko and I will fight that Saber from today. Although we haven't had much time to interact with her, I can sense her pure and clear fighting spirit. She would be the perfect opponent for our first battle."

Seeing that Lovi agreed, Scáthach couldn't help but smile, and then expressed her appreciation for Artoria, whom she had met that day.

"Well... since that's the case, let's settle things here for now. Before that, I need to investigate... whether my unfortunate teacher actually came here as expected."

※※※※※※※

Chapter Twenty-Six: I Have Betrayed Twice (2/4)

Lord of the Mineral Department, Head of the Spirit Conjuring Department...

The leader of the El-Melloi school, one of the world's youngest Color Rank magicians, and a super genius with the potential to reach the Grand Rank in the future...

These are all my titles, statuses, and reputations. Each one is stronger and higher than the last, representing my identity and official position.

My name is Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald.

This is a name that is almost universally known in the mystical world. He is the ninth head of the prestigious Archibald family of magic. Not only is his status illustrious, but his talent and intelligence are also unparalleled. Without a doubt, he is a prodigy in the world of magic.

With such abundant resources and a resounding reputation, his future is limitless, far surpassing that of a mediocre magician like Tokiomi Tohsaka. Even when facing the legendary Grand Puppeteer Touko Aozaki, Kenneth is confident that he is no less capable than her.

Not inferior to her... Hmph, perhaps with my talent, I should be able to surpass that Grand Puppeteer by a wide margin very soon!

Even a genius like him has insurmountable troubles, especially in the past week or so, Kenneth's mood has been particularly bad. Things have even gotten so bad that this magical genius now needs to take several nitroglycerin pills to stabilize his emotions.

The reason is that the things that have happened around him recently have made him feel more complicated than anything he has experienced in the previous twenty years, and are equally difficult for him to evaluate.

A few months ago, his prized disciple, Rowe Crowley, the sixth head of the Crowley family, who had suddenly left the Clock Tower and even asked for a long leave, was the Clock Tower Alchemist and Magician whom he valued and planned to recruit. Since leaving, he had not returned, and even missed the rank-up ceremony that he had carefully arranged for him.

This made Kenneth, who had prepared publicity for him six months in advance, intending to introduce Rowe to his teacher, Euryphus, the monarch of the Conjuring Department, when Rowe was promoted to the rank of Nobunaga, and to take this opportunity to recruit the Crowley family into his El-Melloi school, thus helping his prized disciple Rowe into the aristocratic faction, feel extremely bad. All his efforts seemed like those of a fool.

Because of this incident, Kenneth lost face in front of the Clock Tower faction and was also worried about his traitor's long absence, so he spared no expense to search for Rowe's whereabouts in this world.

It wasn't until recently that the magician from the intelligence department reported to him: "Your disciple appeared in the Far East region and made contact with a local magic family. There is a high probability that he is still in that city."

Upon learning that Rowe was alright, Kenneth secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Everything else was secondary now; as long as that little rascal who hadn't contacted him for months was still alive, that was all that mattered.

However, when he heard the name of the city where Rowe had been seen a few months ago, Fuyuki City, Kenneth couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Fuyuki City...

This city is not particularly famous, let alone in the world, or even in the Far East; it's just an obscure little town on the map.

But this name was all too familiar to him, since the location of the magic ritual he was going to sign up for was this city—Fuyuki City.

The Holy Grail War... Fuyuki City, and now with his traitorous disciple added to the mix...

From these seemingly minor details, Kenneth gradually came to understand many things.

So, that kid secretly went to a magic ceremony in the countryside?!

As a teacher, Kenneth was naturally furious that his student had kept quiet about his departure without saying goodbye, choosing instead to miss the advancement ceremony he had arranged for him in order to attend a magic ritual in the countryside.

This also rekindled Kenneth's interest, who had originally planned not to participate in the Holy Grail War because he was worried about Lovi's safety.

He had absolutely no interest in the Holy Grail War; it was just a gathering of magus in the countryside. But... since that traitor was over there, he felt it necessary to go there in person, teach him a lesson, and make him pay for his actions.

As a teacher, it is necessary for him to appear in time when a student goes astray, correct their mistakes, or even expel them from the school or punish them with death...

If it were any other monarch, being treated like this by a student would surely have turned them into enemies. But he was a magnanimous man, so he was willing to give that rebellious student another chance.

He planned to go there himself, and then, during that rural magic ceremony, demonstrate his true abilities as a teacher, completely subdue his rebellious disciple, Rowe, and bring him back to hold the ascension ceremony again.

So what he needs to do now is quite simple: acquire holy relics, prepare a magic furnace, study the rules of the Holy Grail War, and then prepare more Mystic Codes.

Although Kenneth looked down on such rural magic rituals, and considered the Tohsaka and Matou families unworthy of his attention, he truly had to be cautious about his beloved disciple.

His dual cultivation of alchemy and magic allows him to flexibly wield various magical artifacts. His inherent dual attributes of wind and water perfectly match many theories and artifacts of the El-Melloi School. Even the Moon Spirit Essence can be used perfectly in his hands.

Others might not know, but as a teacher, he couldn't possibly be unaware of Luo Wei's abilities.

Putting aside everything else, just his theory of a mobile magic workshop, which combines alchemical transmutation circles and magic with ceremonial attire, is sufficient material for advancing to the rank of Nobleman or even the rank of Ryo.

Therefore, he really couldn't be careless in the slightest when it came to his beloved disciple, otherwise he might really mess things up.

Although the plot usually unfolds like in movies, with the disciple betraying him, the teacher goes out to chase after the traitor and engages in a fierce battle with him in a deserted place, he gradually gains the upper hand in the fight thanks to his rich experience, until he knocks the disciple down with a single palm strike, then binds him and brings him back to suppress him. He then makes the disciple face the wall and tries to slowly reform him, leading him back to the right path.

However, in some storylines, the sect leader is no match for the traitorous disciple and is ambushed during the battle. The traitor seizes an opening and kills the leader with a single blow, after which the traitor escapes and wreaks havoc on the region.

Given Luo Wei's abilities, achieving the second scenario is not impossible; in fact, the possibility is quite high!

As a genius and the person who knows his students best, Kenneth would naturally have considered this possibility in advance.

Although he was arrogant, he was not a fool. There were countless geniuses in this world, and in the cruel environment of the demonic path, naivety could cost him his life.

Therefore, he immediately abandoned his absurd plan to take his fiancée, Sora, on a vacation while attending a rural magic ceremony. Instead, he actively prepared for an earth-shattering battle between master and apprentice in a city in the Far East!

However, just as he was making his magical costume, renting a magical furnace, and selecting suitable relics, and was about to leave the mountain... he encountered something even more infuriating.

That is, the top-tier artifact he had just chosen was gone!

Moreover, according to the courier's testimony, the person who stole his relic must be that commoner student who recently made some insightful comments and acted recklessly—Weber Wilster.

The stolen relic was a corner of the Iskandar Cloak of the legendary conqueror who established a vast empire spanning Eurasia and Africa. It was a treasure among treasures, belonging to the top tier even among relics, and was a trump card he prepared to use to suppress the traitor.

But he didn't expect that before he could even play his trump card, it would be intercepted by someone else.

He had meticulously prepared for this war, acting cautiously and guarding against any monarch's sabotage, all to bring back that traitor, Lovi. But who could have imagined that, just as he was about to achieve his goal and launch a powerful attack, his sacred relic would be gone! And stolen by a mediocre talent he looked down upon.

Undoubtedly, this matter was completely beyond Kenneth's expectations. In order to participate in this magic ritual with peace of mind and bring back his traitorous disciple, he went to great lengths to guard against the spying from various forces and the sabotage between monarchs, but he failed to guard against the backstabbing from his own student.

And it happened twice, a full two times!!

After these two experiences, Kenneth finally understood what it meant to be wary of a thief within your own ranks.

He was betrayed twice, both times by his own students, which undoubtedly deeply hurt Kenneth's pride.

But by the time he realized what had happened, it was too late. Waver, who had stolen the relic, borrowed money from his classmates and flew to the Far East, to the same place—Fuyuki City.

Good, good... It's Fuyuki City again. Everyone's rushing to Fuyuki City and taking artifacts or Mystic Codes from me. It's true that you can't teach two kinds of people from the same master.

One of them, relying on his status as Kenneth's personal disciple, moved freely in his own home, taking away a lot of costumes and materials, as well as a fragment of a Noble Phantasm, and sneaked off to a small city in the Far East to prepare for battle. The other one simply stole a fragment of his own cloak to continue to annoy him.

Leaving aside that idiot Webber, Lowe should never have done such a thing!

You should know that I was grooming him as my successor, and I was even planning to arrange for Rowe to marry into my family when he grew up, so that I could gradually pass on the El-Melloi school of thought to him. And yet he dared to treat me like this? This is the most heinous betrayal.

Kenneth's life is fulfilling and must be happy; betrayal is absolutely unacceptable!

Especially after realizing he had been betrayed twice, Kenneth was so angry at his two respectful students that he laughed. That day, all the students in the El-Melloi School classroom were given an extra practical combat lesson, which was a heart-to-heart exchange between master and disciple with Kenneth.

That day, almost all the students experienced Kenneth's iron fist of love, and were then carried back home with the help of the puppet.

This surprised them by discovering that their teacher was not only outstanding in magic, but also a professional in free fighting. His iron fists could even shatter a sparring puppet.

'Is this some kind of fake monarch?'

They couldn't help but think to themselves.

……

……

"call……"

Time returns to the period of the Holy Grail War, to a towering building in Fuyuki City.