Chapter Sixty-Two: Rin Tohsaka's Grand Adventure

Back to the previous night, Rin Tohsaka gazed up at the sky crowded with thick clouds, their pitch-black mass swallowing what little moonlight there was. The neon hues from the city’s artificial lights did nothing to fill the darkness; instead, they made the city appear even more like a metropolis of monsters.

Was the night in Fuyuki City always this terrifying?

A cold wind swept across her face, making Rin shudder instinctively and clutch her red coat tighter around herself.

But clearly, the other presence within her held a view entirely opposite to her own.

“Ah, how spectacular! This truly is the modern city. Don’t just stand there—get moving and find the city’s largest market of wealth exchange! As long as I display a hint of my power, the mortals will surely scramble to offer me their tributes!”

“How would an elementary schooler like me know such places? And aren’t you a goddess? How can you be so... vulgar!”

Though Rin was indeed frightened by the city at night, when confronted with this eccentric goddess, she still managed to assert her dignity.

Last night, as she drifted in and out of sleep, Rin faintly heard a voice.

“I am the goddess Ishtar, the goddess of beauty who governs Venus. You should revere, fear, and worship me.”

At first, she’d thought it was nothing but a dream. But when she awoke and found her body changed, with a strange weapon floating at her side, Rin realized she’d somehow been drawn into the Holy Grail War—and for reasons unknown, the legendary goddess Ishtar had possessed her.

How did things turn out like this...? Her first participation in the Holy Grail War, her first time having a Servant to rely on—two joyous things entwined. Such happiness should have been like a dream. So why... why had it come to this...?

It was all thanks to Ishtar that young Rin, still in elementary school, found herself sighing with such maturity.

This goddess had no interest in the Holy Grail War, nor did she wish to seize the Grail. All she wanted was to build her own temple and lie in wait to accept the offerings of humankind. Perhaps it was her personality, but she seemed entirely unreliable in most matters, and Rin felt utterly exhausted trying to cover up the traces Ishtar left behind without thinking.

What was most infuriating was that the goddess seemed completely unaware of just how troublesome she was!

“Well, what can I do? You’re so poor. In this cruel world, only treasures can bring me a shred of warmth.”

“Ugh, relying on an elementary schooler’s savings—are you really a goddess?”

Rin puffed out her cheeks and clutched the little pouch under her coat. It held the gems she’d saved since childhood, not many since she hadn’t officially started her training, but it was still a respectable fortune for her.

“I don’t mean right now! I am a goddess, you know—I understand common sense at least. What I mean is, neither you nor I have the skill of Golden Rule. That’s a fatal flaw.”

Rin turned her head away, her face full of doubt.

She wasn’t familiar with the family’s full assets yet, but she was well aware that the Tohsaka family was one of Fuyuki’s most prestigious. With properties and all manner of strange incomes, they could afford the costly pursuit of jewel magecraft while still living comfortably. Was she really destined to lack money?

“What? You doubt my judgment? I am the goddess Ishtar!”

“Who would trust a goddess obsessed with money?!”

“Aaagh!” Inside Rin’s mind, Ishtar shrieked in frustration. “If you ask me, it’s all your fault I turned out like this! Our compatibility is so perfect that even my personality’s been influenced by you! The original me should have been more dignified and cold!”

“Hmph, you suddenly seize control of my body and start babbling on your own—I haven’t even started to blame you yet.”

According to Ishtar, the two of them were now a special existence known as a pseudo-servant. To allow both to live normally, Rin controlled the body during the day, Ishtar at night.

At first, Rin flatly refused the arrangement. But Ishtar made her an offer she couldn’t resist.

In exchange for giving up her body at night, Rin could use Ishtar’s power as a servant to accomplish things she wanted.

“Just remember, after you check on that girl called Sakura, you have to hand the body over to me until school tomorrow. The note for your mother, Aoi, says you’ve gone ahead to school, so once this is settled, the rest of the night is mine!”

“I know, I know. But promise you won’t use my body for anything weird.”

Rin replied sulkily. It was only because she could rely on a servant’s power that she’d dared to defy her father’s orders and come alone to this dangerous battlefield of Fuyuki.

She had a reason she couldn’t ignore.

Ever since Sakura was sent away, she hadn’t seen her little sister again. Though her father insisted it was the best path for Sakura, and sternly warned Rin never to think of Sakura as her sister again, but only as the Matou family’s heir, Rin’s stubbornness wouldn’t allow her to obey completely. Even if she couldn’t approach, surely it would be alright just to catch a distant glimpse.

Rin recalled the encounter when she first got off the train—the uncle, Kariya, who now looked nothing like her memory. Gaunt, frail, almost like a zombie from a horror film.

Though he was still as kind as ever, sending her off on the train and giving her a few words of advice before leaving, she couldn’t shake the chill deep in her heart.

From the little she’d heard from her mother before, Uncle Kariya had returned to the Matou family.

Was this what the Matou family’s magecraft did to people?

She knew magi were an obsessive and twisted lot, and magi as excellent as her father were rare, but seeing other magi up close chilled her to the bone.

“I have to see for myself how Sakura is doing.”

Her innate sense of justice and kindness would not allow her to abandon her little sister. Even if she had to break the rules, she needed an answer.

“Humans are always making trouble for themselves. Don’t get your hopes up. That man we met earlier—his body is already crawling with disgusting insects. Anyone who enters a family like that never comes to a good end.”

“I don’t need your commentary...” Rin stared at the Matou mansion before her. The black iron gate, the old building with not a single light showing—if a horror film was shot here, they could skip building sets.

But to Rin, the Matou house meant something more.

It was a mage’s workshop passed down for a hundred years. To trespass was tantamount to declaring war. Still, remembering Uncle Kariya’s corpse-like state, Rin couldn’t stop her feet.

—This was something she had to do.

Drawing a deep breath, she pressed down her fear and unease. As the heir of the Tohsaka family, she must always maintain her poise.

Yet, as her small hand reached for the iron gate, she couldn’t help but seek reassurance from her only source of support.

“Ishtar, can I rely on your power?”

“Of course! Though we haven’t fully fused and exist as two souls in one body, as your contracted master, our bond is strong. According to the knowledge from the Grail, in this country’s words, we’re partners—aibo!”

“Thank you,” Rin smiled in relief. “You’re right, you are the goddess of war. In the mythology books in Father’s study, the Bull of Heaven you unleashed was a mighty divine beast. If there’s any real threat in the Matou house, you could flatten it in a single step, right?”

“Well, about that...”

Suddenly, Ishtar’s expression became awkward yet polite, and she fell into a guilty silence.

“?”

Rin’s face turned pale. “Ishtar, don’t tell me...”

“I sort of... misplaced it, oops!”

“Oops? What do you mean, oops?! Ugh, I knew I couldn’t trust you!”

“How is this my fault? Normally, only I should be in this world, but when I tried to borrow the Bull of Heaven, it was already lent out—very unreasonable! But don’t worry, even without it, I’m still a goddess no one can defeat!”

“Where did you pick up this habit of failing at crucial moments? Forget it! I’m going in!”

Rin cried out in her mind in resignation, as if submitting to fate, and pushed open the door of the Matou house—a place as ominous as a demon’s lair.