Shinji Matou at Your Service

In the Matou mansion that night, Kirie's voice was particularly piercing.

"You—you—you—you—you—you—you—how did you go out and bring back another woman?"

The reason for her outburst was the woman in Sakura's arms, a woman wrapped tightly in a cloak and robes that didn't belong to the modern era, yet still radiated an aura of magic.

"Shinji, it's you again, isn't it?!"

"What do you mean 'again'?"

Shinji, the accused, felt a headache coming on.

"When have I ever brought anyone else back?"

With a swift movement, Kirie pointed to herself and then to the girl beside her, Fujino.

"We were both picked up by you! You found Fujino at one of those parties you attended, and me when you were out roaming at night. And Arcueid—she said you brought her back too! You—you—you—you—you—you—heartless playboy—"

"—already have all of you?"

Shinji interrupted, cutting off her rant before she could finish. He was all too familiar with this routine.

"Kirie, you've got it all wrong this time. It wasn't me who brought her back—it was Sakura. I was busy dealing with trafficked women and children at the time."

"Sakura?"

That caught Kirie's attention.

"Trafficked women and children?"

That caught Fujino's attention.

"What happened?"

This was the question they both asked in unison.

"Well, here's what happened. Last night, we got word that someone who looked like Atrum had arrived in town. So this morning, Sakura, Medusa, and I went to investigate."

Atrum's plane had drawn attention, but his entry into the city was far more understated—no grand reception, no luxurious vehicle, just a few people slipping quietly into Fuyuki in the dead of night. The contrast was so stark that the Matou family's staff at the airport hadn't even noted down his license plates.

Fortunately, the Matou family had deep roots in Fuyuki City and well-established connections. It didn't take long to track down the location through real estate records—a commercial building in the Shinto District, which had recently undergone a change in ownership and some renovations. No groups had moved in except for the company listed on the property deed.

All signs pointed to this being Atrum's base of operations. After confirming the location, the three of them drove over.

Indeed, daytime is generally a safe period during the Holy Grail War, as fighting during the day is an unwritten rule. But that doesn't mean other activities are off-limits. Daytime offers a good opportunity for reconnaissance since Masters and Servants tend to let their guard down a bit, thanks to the implicit understanding that no battles will take place.

By the way, Medusa was the one driving. It might be due to her Rider class, but Medusa had taken a keen interest in all kinds of vehicles. Even though it had only been a few days since she was summoned, she had already tried out bicycles, motorcycles, cars, and other modes of transport. She thoroughly enjoyed driving modern vehicles.

So, while both Shinji and Sakura could drive, whenever Medusa was around, the job of driving naturally fell to her. Thanks to her A+ level Riding skill, her driving ability was far superior to that of any professional race car driver—the ultimate chauffeur.

What? You're asking about a driver's license? Ahaha, of course, she doesn't have one. Not only does Medusa lack a license, but neither Shinji nor Sakura have one either. The legal driving age in Japan is 18, and neither of them meets that requirement. They've been driving without a license all this time. As for Medusa's... ahem, Sakura bought her one just recently, so technically, that issue is solved. Don't ask Shinji how he knows this—it's simple. Right across from the police station is a shopping mall. While Shinji was doing some research at the station, Sakura was out shopping for Medusa, using his card—a card loaded with nine digits worth of dollars. The money came from auctioning off the rights to enhance the Crimson Fruit—so what's a little unlicensed driving in comparison?

As luck would have it, just as they were circling the building to observe the surroundings, a group of strange people came running out of the building. Despite it being winter, they were all dressed in matching white short-sleeved shirts and shorts. There were dozens of them, mostly women and children.

While Sakura and Medusa were merely puzzled by the sight, Shinji's face turned pale. He recalled a certain piece of information about the Galliasta family—this nouveau riche family practiced sacrificial magecraft, using lives as offerings! In the previous timeline, there had only been a few brief mentions of the family, and when Shinji had encountered Atrum in Iselma, he'd been using the Original Battery spell bought from elsewhere, which had caused Shinji to forget the true nature of the Galliasta family's magecraft.

If he had remembered earlier, he might not have been so calm. He would have considered other ways to deal with Atrum, perhaps even wiping out the entire family at the root!

Shinji didn't oppose sacrificial magecraft in principle—as long as the life being sacrificed was his own or that of livestock he owned. But using the lives of others—this crossed a line for him. Such an atrocity was even worse than what Ryuunosuke Uryuu had done. How many people had that psychopath killed? And how many more had this family sacrificed?

However, Shinji was no longer the person he was when he first crossed into this world. After experiencing so much, after witnessing the darkest depths of the magical world, his mindset had changed. His bottom line remained, but he no longer dwelled on events that had already transpired. After a brief moment of reflection, he quickly adjusted his focus to cleaning up the aftermath—a responsibility of any magus family.

In the original timeline, the Church would have likely handled the situation. Kirei Kotomine, an expert in such matters, would have taken care of it. But now, Kirei had become a heretic, and the priests stationed in Fuyuki over the past decade were rather ordinary. Shinji had no expectations for them and was even too lazy to register with the Church. Instead, he directly called the Matou family's charitable foundation to handle the undocumented people.

This was a method Shinji had learned in London. Many ancient magus families had set up such organizations to clean up the negative effects of magcraft. With the Holy Grail War looming, Shinji had suggested that his father establish a similar foundation.

Given the Matou father and son's personalities, they wouldn't do something half-heartedly. Since they had decided to create the foundation, they did it right. They hired professionals and allocated a significant portion of the group's profits to it every year. They even put Kariya Matou, the one remaining decent member of the Matou family, in charge.

While one might question the integrity of other charitable organizations, the Matou family's foundation was truly dedicated to charity. Shinji was more than confident in leaving these unfortunate women and children in their care.

Of course, the handover and briefing took some time. While that was happening, Sakura and Medusa quietly infiltrated the workshop—both Master and Servant were smart enough to realize that something had gone wrong inside the building when they saw all those people running out. There couldn't have been a better time to investigate.

The infiltration went smoothly. The building was eerily empty, but this only made the two of them more cautious. As they reached the upper floors, they encountered Atrum, who had just returned. But within minutes, the first Master, aside from Sakura, was dead. His Servant, the now Masterless Caster, walked out of the building alone, dazed.

Out of caution, Master and Servant followed at a distance. They continued until they heard Caster's final wish—and it was this wish that moved the usually cold-hearted Medusa. Up until that moment, she had been stopping Sakura from approaching, citing safety concerns, and her soft sigh had been born from this emotional conflict.