Then, Tenkei Shiomi had a dream.
It was a dream someone once had in their youth.
A dream about a witch who cherished quiet, gentle stories.
A library with no one in sight.
Through the window, the sky was a muted gray.
The soft, rhythmic patter of falling rain.
Amidst the seemingly endless collection of books, a young girl sought knowledge with unwavering focus.
In the dim, warm light of the library, she sat at a desk like a child lost in a fairy tale.
She... was envisioning a certain "dream."
...
Between a Master and their Servant, a channel formed through magical energy exists—originally intended only for the Master to supply Mana needed to sustain the Servant's form. Yet this system came with an unintended "side effect" the original creators of the Holy Grail War had never predicted.
At times, while dreaming, the Master might catch glimpses of the Heroic Spirit's memories.
Sometimes they're mere fragments. Sometimes, more complete recollections.
There's no set rule.
"...Ah." Shiomi opened his eyes, staring at the familiar ceiling of his bedroom.
The lingering sensation of the dream hadn't faded, and his body felt unusually heavy. He lay there, unwilling to move, letting out a short sound.
Then came a soft sigh—Shiomi wasn't even sure where the feeling came from.
"You're awake?"
A young voice spoke beside him. Turning his head, he saw Caren's small face.
"Is it that late already...?" He glanced at the alarm clock and was startled. "I need to get you and Sakura to school."
Caren shook her head. "No need. Ms. Morgan called the school this morning. She told them my sister and I would be staying home today."
"Quick on her feet, isn't she..." Shiomi had no complaints, making a dry joke to himself.
Honestly, it was for the best. Letting Sakura and Caren continue attending school under current conditions would only keep distracting him.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Caren asked, her eyes sparkling with interest.
"No, just tired," Shiomi replied.
"Oh." Her eyes dimmed slightly, like she was a bit disappointed.
Shiomi let out a speechless sigh. "You were hoping for something terrible, weren't you?"
"Just your imagination," Caren replied with an angelic smile.
There had always been something subtly off, and as she grew, Caren's precociousness became more apparent. Along with it came a personality that could only be described as... a little "troublesome."
Was it something wrong with his approach to raising her? Shiomi couldn't help but wonder.
After all, he'd never been married, had no experience with parenting—so it wasn't impossible that he'd made mistakes.
"Who does she take after, really...?"
By the time he muttered that, Caren had already run out of the room.
He forced himself to sit up and tried to recall the dream he'd just had.
Because of the spiritual link between Master and Servant, it was possible to drift into each other's memories during sleep.
Normally, that could be avoided by consciously suppressing awareness.
But last night, Shiomi had fallen asleep completely unaware—because Morgan had used Magecraft without any warning.
"That woman's personality really is nasty... no wonder they call her the 'Witch of the Land of Rain'..."
Thinking back on last night, Shiomi instinctively wanted to complain, but the words caught in his throat.
The Land of Rain... What kind of place was that?
In various legends, Morgan often appeared as a figure in the tales of King Arthur. But even in the world of Magi, verifiable information about her was scarce.
Was that her past... or perhaps the time when she was just a young girl, full of dreams?
And the way she looked—so much like Artoria—it made it all the harder to doubt their connection as sisters.
Breakfast at the Shiomi household was never plain, especially with two children under ten who were still growing. Shiomi made sure they had a nutritious daily diet.
After breakfast, Caren watched TV in the living room while Shiomi checked on the Magecraft workshop.
Since it was a rest day, Sakura was staying home and studying Magecraft under Morgan. Today's lesson focused on Imaginary Numbers.
Sakura was born with the "Imaginary" attribute—defined in the world of Magi as something that might be possible but does not exist in the material world. Some Magi, versed in modern science, refer to it as the Imaginary Numbers attribute.
The essence of this type of Magecraft remains deeply mysterious to modern Magi. Those who naturally possess it are exceedingly rare, and truly gifted individuals among them appear perhaps once in a century.
"Looks like she's picking it up quickly," Shiomi remarked as he took a sip from his cup, watching Sakura's practice.
Though she still had a long way to go, the fact that she could already touch upon a non-existent realm left Shiomi genuinely impressed by her potential.
"She's very gifted. A brief explanation is all it takes for her to instinctively grasp the concept of 'nothingness,'" Morgan said plainly from her chair nearby.
Shiomi chuckled. "That just means you're a good teacher. I couldn't teach her any of this—only basic, practical things that barely make use of her potential."
He knew Sakura could become a capable Magus even without learning Imaginary Numbers Magecraft.
But if she could train in an art aligned with her natural talent, and with enough time, even attaining the Grand rank in the Mage's Association might not be impossible.
"Mother is amazing! She knows so much!" Sakura suddenly chimed in, full of admiration.
Her way of addressing Morgan made Shiomi choke on his drink, coughing violently.
"Cough—cough—cough—"
He really wanted to call Morgan out for putting strange ideas into Sakura's head.
But after all, she'd impersonated a stepmother to call the school, and now she was giving Sakura a lesson in Age of Gods-level Magecraft.
Shiomi could only cough and shoot her a resentful look.
"Try not to get too worked up. The curse hasn't fully worn off yet. My Magecraft only keeps your daily functions stable for now," Morgan said with a faint, knowing smile. "Besides, you look like you didn't sleep well. Did I accidentally use a curse spell?"
"...Is that something you can do accidentally?" Shiomi twitched at the corner of his eye. "It's nothing. Just had a lot of dreams."
Morgan's gaze turned a little more serious. "Then let me mix you something to calm your nerves. The Holy Grail War is life or death. If you don't rest properly, you'll die."
"A witch's sleeping incense, huh," Shiomi muttered, neither agreeing nor refusing. "Still, I doubt I'll drop dead from a bad night's sleep. Actually, I was hoping we could discuss how to approach our attack on Lancer and his Master."
"That's good to hear. But before that, there's something else you should know," Morgan said. "The Holy Church has issued a summons to all Masters."
Shiomi froze mid-sip.
"What?"
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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