The same Guanbuzi City, the same abandoned building, the same room on the fourth floor, the same characters. The only difference was the time. It had been more than three years since the last time something like this happened to them.
The eleven-year-old Matou Shinji has grown a lot taller.
Ten-year-old Sakura Matou begins to develop.
At the age of sixteen, she is already a young girl, the graceful and elegant Asagami Fujino.
And Aozaki Touko has not changed at all. The passage of time has changed many things, but it has left no trace on this top puppeteer. She still remains at the most beautiful age for women.
But at this moment, the woman's current image can hardly be described as beautiful.
His hair was disheveled, his face was covered in dust, and his white shirt was wrinkled. The edges of his collar and cuffs were stained with colors that were difficult to wash off. He looked like a construction worker who had worked on a construction site all day.
In comparison, the three minors looked much better. Although they were covered in dust, they were generally still presentable.
This has a lot to do with the three people's attire: uniform grey sportswear and hoods and masks that protect their owners from the dust.
That’s right, Shinji and the others came prepared.
They arrived in Guanbuzi City more than half a month ago, and during this period they had been running around various government departments and companies including logistics, water supply, electricity supply, and gas supply. They also delivered a few dolls to an exhibition. Until yesterday, Orange finally completed all the formalities and could legitimately move into the building.
The first workshop is naturally the mountain cottage near Mount Enzo that the Matou family prepared for Orange. However, Orange's casual personality is destined not to let her live in one place for too long, and leaving is only a matter of time.
Not long after Yustisa and Irisviel's bodies were officially adjusted, Orange left Fuyuki City and continued her tour of Japan. This time, she was not alone, but with three more people, the three minors who were accompanying Orange now.
Shinji had always wanted to travel after the Holy Grail War ended. He originally planned to wait until Kenneth had almost recovered before leaving home, first touring Japan, then heading west to China, India, the Middle East, Central Europe, and finally to London, England to study in the Clock Tower.
However, plans are not as fast as changes. Yustisa has her own body and no longer needs to obtain magic from the outside. She can be self-sufficient. As for Kenneth's treatment, Shinji can't help him. He doesn't want to repeat elementary school. Just when Orange said she wanted to go out for a walk, he followed her.
When he left, Sakura was not happy and pulled Shinji to go with him. Shinji wanted to object, but then he thought that the parents' objection was based on four considerations: growth, safety, self-care and academic performance.
There is no need to worry about her growing up with me. I will keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't have any wrong perceptions.
The same goes for safety. A Grand Puppet Master with the protection of a Servant-level combat force will not run into any problems unless he encounters certain ancient families or forces. And with Orange, a veteran driver, leading the way, there is also the possibility of breaking taboos due to ignorance.
Ability to take care of oneself... Well, although it's a bit difficult to say, Sakura is indeed the one with the best self-care ability in the family. It is Shinji who feels relaxed when he is with her.
Academics - I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, but Scathach also left the modern knowledge that the Holy Grail bestowed on the servants in the inheritance of "The Wisdom of the Demon Realm". Basic education at this stage is of little significance to Sakura.
In that case, there's nothing wrong with taking Sakura with her. As a magician and the heir of the Matou family, sooner or later she will have to leave the protection of her family and go out on her own.
As for Fujino, she is Orange's disciple. Her most important task at this stage is to learn from Orange. Naturally, she will follow Orange wherever he goes.
This journey lasted for more than three years. During this time, the four people visited almost every prefecture in Japan (in Japan, the definition of a prefecture is similar to that of a province in China) and every city. The reason why it is "almost" is because there is one city they did not visit.
Misaki City is a small city less than an hour's drive from Kanbuko City. It is the hometown of Orange, and the land managed by the Aozaki family. After Orange was defeated by her sister Aoko, she was cursed by her sister. If she didn't break the curse, she would never be able to return to her hometown. Since then, Orange has never set foot in Misaki City.
Shinji is skeptical about this statement:
First of all, Aoko's magic skills are very average, and this kind of long-term forbidden curse is far beyond her ability.
Secondly, he had heard rumors more than once that Orange had already lifted the curse.
The physical curse can be solved, but the psychological shadow is hard to overcome. Just like you can wake up a sleeping person, but you can never wake up a person pretending to sleep. As long as Orange's knot is not untied, she will not go back. Therefore, Shinji chose to remain silent, and at most handed over a cigarette when he passed by. This was all he could do.
After walking for a while, Chengzi felt tired and wanted to take a break, so she returned to the city closest to her hometown. This time, she planned to stay here for a while. This building, which represents the origin of fate, was chosen by her as her residence, workshop, and office for making a living.
Today is the day of moving, and Orange unceremoniously drags Shinji and others over to do the cleaning. In order to retaliate against Orange's bad behavior of hiring underage children, Shinji secretly takes Sakura and Fujino to buy three sets of cleaning suits, but does not prepare any for Orange.
The result was like this—seeing Orange's embarrassed look, Shinji couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Feeling the malice in Shinji's smile, Orange became angry and casually sketched a rune representing wind.
The next second, an updraft of air carrying dust from the ground blew across Shinji's face.
"How dare you launch a sneak attack!" Shinji spat out a mouthful of dust, carved a rune symbolizing water with one hand, and with the other hand picked up a ball of water from the basin and threw it at him.
Unexpectedly, Orange did not dodge or evade, but continued to create dust and mock.
"Thanks, I just wanted to wash off the dust."
"Then rinse it again." Shinji didn't even use magic, he just picked up the basin and splashed water.
The living room suddenly became a mess.
Fujino and Sakura, who were tidying up the room, looked at each other, closed the door skillfully, and then began to organize the important things in the living room as quickly as possible to avoid being affected by the "fight" between the two.
Similar "battles" have occurred many times during the trip. The two girls have long been accustomed to it, from misunderstanding and dissuasion in the beginning, to numbness and avoidance, and finally to skilled aftermath and loss reduction.
When the fight is almost over and the rest of the workshop has been cleaned up, Sakura and Fujino will each pull Shinji and Touko to change their clothes and tidy up their appearance.
At this time, it was already evening. Orange leaned on the sofa and looked at the newly renovated workshop, nodding with satisfaction:
"It's much better now."
"It's good that you like it. Now let's talk about the compensation." Shinji sat opposite Cheng Zi and looked at her with squinted eyes. "We have put in eight hours of work. Shouldn't you show some appreciation?"
"I should express my gratitude in some way, but money is a bit tight lately, so I can only treat you to a simple meal." Orange touched his face embarrassedly.
"That's not right." Shinji frowned. "The balance of the workshop was settled last week, and you also made a small seven-digit profit from the previous exhibition. Did you spend it all?"
"Ahahaha." Orange smiled awkwardly and didn't answer.
Fujino explained on behalf of the teacher: "Yesterday the teacher saw a clay doll that is said to be from ancient China, and..."
"I'm also impressed by your ability to squander money." Shinji sighed helplessly, "Forget it, I'll just pay it off for now. Today I'll treat you, let's have a seafood buffet."
"Since you are not short of money, I won't be polite with you. Let's go now."
Just as Orange got up to get his coat, a "dong dong dong" sound suddenly rang out.