It's time to improve the strength of the infinite world

Chapter 23 "Alchemy"

The Mion River, which runs through the entire city, divides the entire Fuyuki City into two parts with completely different architectural styles.

The eastern part is Shinto, a highly modern new town with everything. The western part is Miyama-machi, an old town with basically only residential areas. It is built on the hillside and slopes can be seen everywhere.

When walking through the shopping street, you can clearly feel that this street is the point of divergence of the style of Miyama-cho.

On one side is a ramp leading to the Tosaka family's Western-style mansion, and along the way are residential areas with a strong Western style; on the other side is a Japanese-style residential area with a completely different style, passing through the bridge, school, and shopping street in the neighboring town of Shinto, and finally connected to Ryudo Temple on Enzoyama.

Xia Zhi saw through the simple and clear city layout at a glance and silently gave it a thumbs up in his heart.

Now that the road leading to Yuanzang Mountain is clear, the next step is to conduct an on-site survey and plan the next course of action based on the actual situation.

He hid this thought deep in his heart, and once again cast his gaze at the black-haired girl with twin ponytails who was walking slowly with her head down beside him, and silently added a part to the plan, which was that he still needed to find a way to deal with this Master.

The two walked all the way to school in silence without saying anything along the way.

Surprisingly, Toosaka Rin did not really intend to return to the classroom. Instead, she seemed to be searching for someone in other classes with a clear goal. However, she did not find what she wanted. After asking around, she learned that the other person would not come to school.

Her face looked even gloomier, as if someone owed her a huge sum of money.

She asked for leave from the teacher, and then stepped out of the school gate again, her voice low and deep: "Let's go, let's go see this city now, so that you can have a general understanding of the battle environment that may occur next..."

--Um?

This made Xia Zhi look at her with a new respect. He thought that this Master really couldn't distinguish priorities and was planning to go to school and go home normally during the Holy Grail War. But now it seems that this is not the case.

Paying close attention to the girl's expression, combined with the previous series of situational analysis, he couldn't help but frown slightly again -

Could it be that she had already believed from the bottom of her heart that there was no hope of winning the Holy Grail War and had foreseen her own tragic fate, so she came to the campus with a feeling as if she was saying goodbye to an important person, wanting to make arrangements for her afterlife or something...

This is too much lack of confidence in myself...

Where is the trust between people?

Ahem, but if you think about it carefully, even he himself can't help but have such thoughts. No matter how much hope the girl has, she can't help but be more pessimistic. This situation is reasonable and completely understandable.

However, this matter is a bit strange... How could just an ordinary classmate on campus make her so worried?

Or is there some unknown deep connection between them?
Furthermore, she did not choose to communicate by phone, but came to the school in person. In addition to the fact that she wanted to seize the last opportunity to meet, was it also possible that she had no way to contact the other party directly?
Recalling the Tohsaka family mansion that seemed luxurious but was actually deserted, with only the girl alone, he remained calm on the surface, but silently kept this in mind. This was also very important information.

If you want to successfully "convince" this Master and make her willing to cooperate with your plan, you must collect as much information about her as possible, find out her weaknesses, and grasp her soft spots and handles.

The more complete the intelligence you have, the stronger the power of "persuasion" will be!
Xia Zhi is well versed in the art of making friends and firmly believes in it.

As he followed the depressed Master, he stared at her back and slowly thought about the art of persuasion that might be used.

"Come to think of it, I forgot to ask last night..."

Walking some distance away from the school onto the deserted street early in the morning, Toosaka Rin seemed to have remembered something. She looked around and without turning back, she asked in a whisper.

"What rank are you?"

It definitely won’t be Saber anyway.

After a series of blows last night, she no longer had such extravagant hopes. She could only hope that her luck was not too bad and she would not draw the two worst sewer classes.

however……

"Oh, I'm Assassin." Xia Zhi answered calmly.

"..."

"..."

The girl didn't want to talk to him anymore and just walked forward in despair.

I am doomed...

This might be my last chance to see Fuyuki City, the city where I was born and raised...

Her will was too depressed to even think about why she could summon an Assassin other than Hassan... The Assassin class itself was a catalyst, and a normal summoning within Fuyuki's Holy Grail War system could only summon Hassan Sabbah.

But there are exceptions to everything. For example, although the system for summoning servants by the Holy Grail was created by the Einzbern family in Germany, in principle only Western heroic spirits can be summoned. However, illegal summoning is not subject to this restriction.

and so--

Miss Toosaka has already preconceived that the source of this series of bad things is her wrong summoning at the critical moment.

No matter what strange results arise, you can only swallow them bitterly.

"Hey, that's so rude. Are you discriminating against the Assassin class?"

Xia Zhi followed calmly, and used some inspirational words to comfort the girl.

"You can't deny yourself before you even start. If you want things to change, you have to change yourself first. If you want things to get better, you have to make yourself better first..."

What followed were words of persuasion such as "Who says Assassin can't win the Holy Grail War?", "Become bigger and stronger?", "Create greater glory" and so on, which brainwashed Miss Toosaka over and over again.

----

----

The size of Fuyuki City is just right, not too big, and not too small.

At least for a secret Holy Grail War, it is enough, unless a vicious incident like the one ten years ago occurs...

It took the two of them about a morning to set out from Hokunhara Academy and wander around to explore. They almost walked through the entire Miyama Town, and then headed towards Shinto to start the second half of their scouting.

"There is a port on the north side near the sea, and the church is on the hillside in the southeast..."

Near noon, standing on the street of the new city, the black-haired girl with twin ponytails pointed in two directions and spoke.

"When a Master loses, he can go to the church to seek refuge. If he wants to give up the game, he can also go there to seek help. The church is like a neutral referee, responsible for supervising these matters."

And for some reason, she emphasized the latter's church and explained the responsibilities of the cathedral church.

"So—you want to be a deserter?"

The young man looked at her with disdain.

"You! What nonsense are you talking about!" Toosaka Rin almost suffocated and glared at him. Although she did inadvertently reveal her subtle thoughts, the other party's words were too hurtful.

"Otherwise, why are you saying this?"

"We've come all the way here! I have to explain this to you clearly!" The girl was furious.

"No need to say, I understand, I understand..." The other party waved his hands and spoke perfunctorily.

"What do you understand?"

Toosaka Rin's anger was rising rapidly. She didn't realize that the other party had changed his strategy to provoke her, or that she just fell for it. She instantly became very eager to win and was ready to argue.

However, the moment immediately following——

"Wait a mininute!"

The young man opposite raised his eyebrows slightly, and without hesitation, he pulled her over. The two of them flashed into the alley next to him, and he quickly returned to his spirit state. Toosaka Rin's heart tightened, and she almost immediately realized the situation and quickly hid aside. She cast her eyes towards the road in the distance, and at first she was puzzled, and then after a long while, her brows immediately frowned:

"Ying?! Wait, damn, what's going on with that yellow-haired bastard!?"

Down the southeast ramp, on the road that leads to the church.

It was a bit empty at first, but soon, she saw the figure of a purple-haired girl appear. She seemed to be in a hurry, but was stopped by a yellow-haired man who came towards her and started talking to her.

The purple-haired girl seemed to be a little timid and kept backing away, while the yellow-haired man took an aggressive stance. Although the distance was too far to see the expressions on either side's faces, the current situation could be easily determined from their body movements.

Just seeing this scene, Toosaka Rin almost exploded with anger.

Where did this damn yellow-haired gangster come from? How dare he bully my own sister!

"Ying? Is she the person you wanted to find at school?" Xia Zhi watched all this calmly, using the breath-blocking skill he was given to the extreme, perfectly concealing his presence.

"And you should take it easy... Don't just look at the surface. There is obviously something wrong with the other party."

"What's the problem? Could it be..."

Miss Toosaka was stunned for a moment, then she reacted immediately and became even more alert.

"Is that yellow-haired servant? Or is he the master?"

"It's impossible to confirm at the moment. It doesn't look like that, but that level of magic power reserve is probably not something that ordinary humans can possess... Also, I'm not just talking about that yellow-haired guy. Miss Sakura is not simple either."

Xia Zhi shook his head. He was indeed immune to magic before.

But after awakening, he became extremely sensitive to magic for some reason.

The world now presents a completely new look in his eyes, as if every day is revealing more light and color, making his vision clearer and more vivid, and the context of all things clearly discernible.

Therefore, under the scrutiny of these sharp eyes, there was undoubtedly something strange about the two "individuals" over there.

If you must say, the seemingly weak and low-key girl with purple hair has far more problems than the yellow-haired gangster.

From Xia Zhi's perspective of magic perception, he could clearly sense that his magic bond was connected to the Master beside him, and then, like a relay, she had another magic connection extending towards Yuanzang Mountain...

Next, it seemed as if I had experienced another invisible transmission and turning point.

The connection of magical power quietly traced back in the void, and finally fell on the purple-haired girl not far away. Moreover, there was not just one connection, but many lines of magical power, which made people wonder if she was the humanoid terminal of this Holy Grail War or something.

"Ying? How could it be…"

Toosaka Rin's expression changed slightly, but soon she seemed to have thought of something and clenched her teeth.

The Holy Grail War was initiated by the Three Great Families. No matter what, as long as the Three Great Families still exist, they will not be absent.

But as in her case, she is the only choice for the Tosaka family, so what about the Matou family? It seems that the adopted Sakura is the only choice, otherwise, can we still count on that kelp head? !
Subconsciously, she thought that what her Servant said was "not simple" -

It means that Sakura might have participated in the Holy Grail War and became a Master, that's all.

The conversation in the distance had ended, and the purple-haired girl walked away as if she was a little dazed, while the yellow-haired gangster, with his hands in his pockets and a proud look on his face, walked in another direction as if he was inspecting his territory.

"Do you want to go over and see Miss Sakura?"

Summer Solstice timely suggestions.

"...No, there's no need." Toosaka Rin was silent for a while, but still refused.

If Sakura also becomes a contestant, then it would not be appropriate to go look for her at this time. This is not a problem that can be solved by dialogue. Sisters cannot go back to the past, and facing the cold reality will only embarrass both parties.

"Then let's continue scouting." Xia Zhi had no objection. He actually didn't want to expose himself so soon.

In fact, he encountered several waves of suspected contestants along the way, but relying on his overly keen magical perception, he was always able to avoid them in advance. Just like the episode just now, he knew about it before the two people met.

But at that time he thought that the two groups of people might be about to collide, but it turned out not to be the case, which really made him feel disappointed.

………………

By the time we had walked through most of Fuyuki and returned to the Tousaka family's mansion, it was already evening.

Toosaka Rin was also very sleepy, but when she heard someone say that they were going out to investigate again, she still widened her eyes in surprise.

"What's so strange about this? Isn't Assassin a class that specializes in covert operations and assassination techniques? If I don't take action now, do you really intend to wait a few days for me to face off against other Servants?"

Xia Zhi has a strong argument for this.

The girl was speechless. It seemed to be true. That was how Assassin used it.

"Don't worry. If anything goes wrong, you can just use the Command Spell to teleport me back... But I prefer that you find another base instead of staying in this mansion. It's too conspicuous."

Xia Zhi made a suggestion, he really felt that this foreign-style mansion was unreliable.

Indeed, as the base camp of one of the three great families, its defense level is actually not bad. It has barriers and defensive spells set up from generation to generation. It is not easy to capture this position.

But no matter how strong the team is, they have played for so many seasons...

Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows. In order to prevent being targeted and to avoid being targeted before the fight even starts, we have to make other preparations.

Toosaka Rin's expression suddenly became complicated. She admitted that what the other party said made some sense, but the problem was... where was the money?

When it comes to money, there's nothing we can do.

Xia Zhi briefly inspected the mansion and searched the surroundings. After confirming that there was no threat for the time being, he went out happily and relaxed.

The ghost, who had no sense of existence, went straight to Yuanzang Mountain under the cover of the dim sky in the evening. He had no intention of exploring clues about other contestants, nor did he plan to assassinate them at any opportunity.

The efficiency is too poor and the success rate is too low.

Yuanzang Mountain was pitch black under the night sky, and the astonishing vortex of magic in his sight made him frown. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still somewhat shocked by the magic reserve of this scale.

It is worthy of being the center of the magical power flowing under the land of Fuyuki City. Just a small amount of overflowing earth energy has such a magnificent and astonishing scale. The quality of this spiritual vein must be extremely amazing.

After circling the mountain a few times, it was completely dark.

Xia Zhi was not disappointed that he was not able to enter easily. This place could be said to be the core of the entire Holy Grail system. It would be strange if there was no defense at all. He did not expect such a good thing to happen and was just waiting for himself to take advantage.

So - start plan B.

That is to say, it is gradually eroding, gnawing at this spiritual vein bit by bit, eating in from the outside bit by bit.

He had observed that, under the nourishment of the abundant earth energy, the soil and rocks of this entire mountain and the surrounding large area of land were full of spiritual power, which was just right for the use of the stone boiling technique.

Using some gems that he had secretly "borrowed" from the mistress, and some simple tools and materials, he found a remote place, set up a magic circle around it, and simulated a simple "alchemy furnace", the kind that was full of symbolic meaning.

Cast magic and cook the earth.

In his vision, the ground inside the "alchemy furnace" began to boil. It was a strange phenomenon that the earth's energy was being boiled, concentrated and extracted bit by bit...

Finally, large tracts of the earth's energy disappeared, leaving only a few flashes, round like pills.

(End of this chapter)