Chapter 97 - An Unexpected Reward!

Chapter 97: Chapter 97 - An Unexpected Reward!

After spending several minutes observing the horizon through the window, Alear stepped away and walked over to the main chair in the office. He sat down with a soft sigh and, after a few seconds of silence, decided to use his daily chance in the [Fate Gacha].

Over the past month, his bad luck had returned in full force. The daily rewards had been consistently mediocre. Even so, amidst so many useless pulls, he had ended up obtaining an ability that, at first glance, seemed rather unimpressive: [Primordial Rune].

In truth, he already possessed knowledge of that particular Magecraft. He did not command the runes at the same level as his former Shishou, who had been responsible for teaching him during his past life, but he knew enough to use them in combat. Now, however, that reward had elevated his mastery to the same level as hers, granting him a complete understanding of the workings and applications of the Primordial Runes.

The [Primordial Rune] was the precursor to [Rune Magecraft], a system that dated back to the very Age of Gods. It consisted of a series of runes capable of allowing the user to invoke various magical effects without the need for any verbal incantation. All one had to do was inscribe, project, or activate the correct symbol for the desired phenomenon to manifest.

Other than that single relevant reward, nothing truly interesting had come out of the gacha throughout the entire month. Therefore, he casually activated the [Fate Gacha] with a simple thought, not expecting any remarkable results after spending an entire month accumulating consecutive disappointments.

The interface materialized before him. In the next instant, the result appeared....

His eyes widened slightly. Before he could fully process the ’information’ regarding what he had received, a magic circle appeared in the center of the office. The magical pressure intensified for a few moments, silently filling the room, until all that light began to condense into a single point. A figure silently appeared at the center of the magic circle.

She was a somewhat short woman, standing at approximately 1.62 meters tall. She wore rather modest clothing, consisting of a long-sleeved, high-collared red blouse paired with a skirt that ended just above her knees. Overall, her appearance conveyed a mature and refined elegance, although her hairstyle, formed by two braids tied with large ribbons, added an almost childlike contrast to her image. Her expression seemed slightly shocked for an instant. Her turquoise-blue eyes quickly swept across the entire office, analyzing the surroundings, the walls, and the objects around her before finally settling on him. That entire sequence took less than a second.

In the next instant, she raised one of her hands. Mana condensed at the tip of her finger, forming several dark-red beams of light that sliced through the air in his direction.

Alear immediately recognized that spell. It was a "Gandr," a simple curse that concentrated magical energy at the tip of the caster’s index finger, forming a small, black, misty orb before firing it at the target like a bullet. Because it was released directly from the finger and required the target to remain within the mage’s field of vision, that spell was also known as a "Gandr Shot." Despite its unimpressive appearance, Gandr carried a curse capable of weakening the target’s body upon impact. Even so, to Alear, it posed no threat whatsoever. It was a low-level spell, and after becoming a Zero-Sum, his magical resistance had increased drastically. Therefore, he remained completely indifferent and allowed the spell to hit him without offering any resistance....

The beams struck him directly. A numb sensation quickly spread through his limbs, but it disappeared almost instantly, completely nullified by his body’s natural resistance. Upon realizing that the spell had failed to produce the expected effect, the woman seemed to believe that he had used some kind of counterattack. She leaped backward without hesitation. Blue runes appeared across her arms and legs, covering parts of her skin as they reinforced her body. At the same time, her other hand discreetly moved toward a small gemstone bearing colors similar to those of a rainbow.

Alear raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and spoke before she could activate another spell.

"Wait, I’m not your enemy!"

The woman had already completely removed the small gemstone, holding it firmly in the palm of her hand. However, upon hearing Alear’s words, she did not activate it. She remained on guard, keeping a safe distance while the blue runes continued glowing around her arms and legs. Her gaze quickly swept across the office once more, as though she were still trying to find some logical explanation for having appeared in that place.

"Who are you?" she asked without lowering her guard. "Were you the one who brought me here? Did you use some kind of spatial transfer spell? No... that should be impossible. Spatial Magecraft of such complexity could not be reproduced through modern Magecraft. I should be in my mansion...."

Alear tilted his head slightly, observing the woman’s cautious expression before responding.

"I am Alear G. Häangenti. It is a pleasure to meet you." He paused briefly, considering how he should explain the situation. "As for whether I brought you here... um, you could say that I did."

His eyes briefly turned toward the place where the magic circle had disappeared.

"And as for whether I used some kind of spatial transfer spell... well, you could say that I did as well."

"I’ve never heard of any Mage by that name.... And what kind of answer was that?!" The woman did not seem to be speaking directly to him. It was more of an irritated remark directed at herself as she tried to organize the information and find some logical explanation for the situation. Alear, on the other hand, ignored the brief monologue and continued maintaining a calm posture, his hands raised and his expression as harmless as he could make it. During the following seconds, she remained silent, watching him carefully. Her turquoise-blue eyes analyzed every detail of his posture before once again sweeping across the office. The runes around her arms and legs remained active, and the small gemstone was still ready in her hand, making it clear that, although she had stopped attacking him, she still did not trust him. Finally, after nearly an entire minute of somewhat awkward tension, she relaxed her posture slightly, and the runes covering her arms and legs disappeared. Even so, she did not completely lower her guard.....

"Can you give me an answer without sounding so stupid?" she asked, slightly furrowing her brow. "I can sense an absurd concentration of mana in this place. An amount at this level should not exist in the Modern Era.... So, where exactly am I? And who are you really?"

Although she was pretending to remain calm, Alear was well aware that the woman was keeping the gemstone hidden in the palm of her hand while her heart had not even begun to calm down yet...

"Um.... To put it simply? You’re in another world," Alear replied indifferently. "And I just introduced myself. I didn’t lie about my identity; you’ve simply never heard my name because you don’t belong to the same world as I do. Now that I’ve answered your questions, may I know who you are?..."

Considering that the Nasuverse possessed a multiversal structure and that the existence of parallel worlds was not an entirely unknown concept among mages, Alear was not particularly concerned about revealing the existence of other worlds. The Second Magic already involved observing and manipulating possibilities belonging to parallel worlds, so that explanation should not be completely absurd to someone familiar with the mysteries of the magical world.

The expression in the woman’s eyes, however, made it clear that she had not believed a single word. Even so, after several seconds of silence, she slightly raised her chin and replied with evident pride:

"My name is Rin Tohsaka. I am the current heir of the Tohsaka family, a lineage of mages with six generations of history." She narrowed her eyes, staring at him once again. "And what did you mean by ’I answered your questions’? You barely explained anything!"

Alear remained silent for a few moments. Upon further thought, she was right. His explanation had only answered the most superficial part of her questions, without clarifying where she was, how she had been brought there, or why such an overwhelmingly large amount of mana filled the surroundings. Even so, his attention was focused on something else. Standing before him was Rin Tohsaka. She was basically an Ishtar without divine powers and, during his first life, she had been one of his biggest crushes as a fan and lover of the Fate universe. Although he had never gotten the chance to meet her during his second life, she had now unexpectedly appeared before him through the [Fate Gacha]..... Was the Gacha trying to please him? Well.... It was better not to make any comments about that.

"Alright.... Now that I think about it, explaining all of this is going to take some time." He slowly lowered his hands and pointed toward the chair positioned in front of his desk. "Why don’t you sit down? It’s going to be a long story, and I believe it will be more comfortable to hear everything while you’re seated."

Rin did not respond immediately. Her turquoise-blue eyes remained fixed on him for several seconds, analyzing his expression as though she were trying to discover whether there was some hidden intention behind that suggestion. In the end, however, she let out a small sigh and walked over to the indicated chair.

"Considering that I was kidnapped from my own mansion and that you apparently are the only person who knows how to take me back, I suppose I have time to listen." She sat down, crossing one leg over the other without taking her eyes off him. "But I hope your explanation is better than those vague answers from before."

Alear also settled into his chair and let out a quiet sigh.

"About that...."

Rin’s expression changed slightly.

"Don’t tell me you don’t know how to send me back either...."

"..." Alear remained silent for several seconds, as though searching for a less unpleasant way to answer. In the end, however, he realized there was no reason to hide the truth.

"I have no control over this ability. Perhaps, in the future, I’ll be able to find a way to allow you to return to your world, but currently, that is impossible...." He paused briefly before adding, "In other words, you’re trapped here with me. I’m sorry...."

Rin turned pale for an instant. At first, she thought it was merely another bad joke. After all, considering all the vague answers he had given, it would not have been difficult to believe that he was trying to provoke her. However, the sincerity in the words of the man standing before her did not seem false. She had always been extremely skilled at perceiving people’s intentions. It was precisely because of that sharp instinct that she could almost always tell when someone was hiding something or thinking a certain way about her.

And as she observed Alear, she sensed no malice, satisfaction, or intention to deceive her. Only sincerity.... And a considerable amount of guilt. So it was true? She really would not be able to return home, at least not for the time being? It took several seconds for the idea to be fully understood. Her first reaction was denial. It made no sense. She had been taken from her own mansion by an ability that not even that man seemed to understand and was now trapped in an unfamiliar world, without any guarantee that she would ever be able to return.....

"This is ridiculous.... You’re saying that you brought me here by accident and simply expect me to accept that there is no way to send me back?"

Alear did not answer.

His silence only made the situation even more irritating.

Rin furrowed her brows. That place did not seem to be an illusion, much less a dream. To tell the truth, she did not even remember falling asleep before appearing in that office. The more she analyzed the situation, the more difficult it became to find any alternative explanation. Denial slowly gave way to frustration. Of all times.... She had spent years preparing for that moment. She had finally been given the opportunity to participate in the Fifth Holy Grail War and was about to perform the ritual to summon her Servant. All the effort she had dedicated to her training, the preparations left behind by her father, and her desire to prove that she was worthy of carrying the Tohsaka name could simply disappear because of that absurd situation.....

And she had not even managed to summon Saber....

The memory made her heart tighten.

For a few moments, she felt like standing up and demanding that Alear find a solution immediately. She wanted to blame him for everything, even though she knew that he probably had not planned to bring her there. Even so, being trapped in another world because of an uncontrollable ability was a situation far too difficult to accept without complaining. However, after her initial anger began to fade, her mind started functioning more rationally again. Shouting would change nothing. Attacking him would not help either, especially when he had allowed her Gandr to strike him without suffering any damage. And even if she managed to defeat him, she still possessed no knowledge of that world or any way to find the path back on her own....

At that moment, Alear was her only source of information.

After going through denial, irritation, and a brief feeling of despair, Rin finally accepted the reality of the situation. Not because she was satisfied, but because continuing to deny the facts would bring her no advantage whatsoever..... She let out a long sigh and relaxed her shoulders.

"Alright...." she said, looking at him again. "There’s nothing that can be done about it in that case. But I would like to know more about this world..."

__________________

(A/N: We are now officially entering the final stretch of the first volume!

The upcoming Chapters will cover the final events surrounding Alear’s journey to establish himself within high society, while also developing several elements that have been built up throughout the story. There will also be an epic confrontation against a certain "villain," along with other important events that will pave the way for the conclusion of this first volume. I hope you enjoy what’s coming!

By the way, from this point onward, there will be many more interactions and much more development for all the characters, including Alear himself. Many characters who have not yet had many opportunities to shine will begin receiving more attention, and we will get to see different sides of them throughout the upcoming Chapters.

Because of that, I believe many of the Chapters to come will be especially interesting. I hope you continue following the story until the end!

What if I told you that, for the price of a cup of coffee, you could be 35 Chapters ahead of the story? We’re starting Volume Two there! It focuses on the human world, no more politics! There’s much more action!

On Patreon, you can read Chapters that won’t be released here for quite some time — and that’s only part of what’s available. There are also more than 100 Chapters from exclusive stories, created specifically for those who want even more content.

One cup of coffee. Dozens of Chapters ahead. Over 100 exclusive Chapters.

If you’re enjoying the story, maybe it’s worth checking out the Patreon.

My Patreon: patreon.com/Adam_Kadmon

Thank you for your support — it makes all of this worthwhile.)