It's the same as ever, a new day has arrived, and the sunlight shining through the window glass wakes up Ayaka Sajo. She opened her eyes lazily. With a depressed face, he put on his glasses and got out of bed, and involuntarily glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall. Leave a mark on the calendar for each day. Today, the × is painted that implies foreboding and death.

But it doesn't matter, her black magic divination success rate is unbelievably low, and it's no different today. It's just a glance of pure habit, but everything will be as usual.

Ayaka Sajo comes to the table and sits down and eats alone. There are three empty chairs around the table, which my sister and her parents often evoke bad memories at first, but now they are used to it.

"The usual day has started again."

Today, the city is still peaceful, and Ayaka Sajo's life is stable.

It was an 'ordinary day' that had become a daily routine for her. This is an ordinary life that could not have been imagined when my father was alive in the past. If she was asked if she was happy, she would undoubtedly say that I was happy.

After breakfast, Ayaka Sastripe leaves the house and heads to the garden.

The garden is full of agents of black magic—cultivating medicinal herbs, raising a large number of pigeons as living sacrifices, and crows as envoys.

Ayaka Sajo indifferently performs a magic ritual at the operating table for some years.

She doesn't have any goals or ideals of her own. While her father was still alive, Sajo Ayaka continued the ritual because she could not disobey her father. It's become a habit now.

Ayaka Sastripe easily takes out a pigeon that is kept in the garden. The dove cooed as she looked at Ayaka Sajo with round eyes.

Ayaka Sajo took a breath and swung her kitchen knife. The pigeon struggled as if aware of the danger, but the hand that held it was far beyond what it could break free, and if it had human senses, it would only see the blade enlarge in front of its eyes

After the usual ritual training, Ayaka Sajo walked alone on the way to school, her expression as melancholy as if she hadn't slept well at night, but in fact, she had always been like this.

Negative, cowardly, narrow-minded, bluffing, it's a terrible character.

This is her self-evaluation.

And most importantly -

She has the ring finger of her left hand. There was a shallow wound. Although he has recovered, he can still see the traces of the band-aid.

Rewind time to 20 minutes ago.

In the garden, Ayaka Sajo waved off her kitchen knife. But it was on the neck of the pigeon. The pigeon tilted its head to look at her.

In fact. Because of the psychological trauma of the past, she was never able to kill the living creatures.

So when it comes to food, she can only use simple ones. Ingredients that can be used to make cooking.

Because of this, more and more pigeons are kept in captivity in her garden.

Ayaka's sigh is not uncommon.

"As always, he is naïve, ordinary to the extreme. This morning, he failed to follow his father's instructions, but reluctantly completed the ritual with his own blood as a substitute. Then again. I didn't like magic or anything like that. ”

The day's school time passed in a blink of an eye, and a few friends accosted her after school, probably wanting to ask her to go and play together, but Ayaka Sajo refused without a word.

"I'm sorry, because I have something to do today, so I'll miss it first."

"Hey, Sandstrip, I remember you didn't belong to the club?"

"I'm going to visit the grave. Because today is the death day of my father and sister. ”

There is no reason to be flawless.

After leaving school, Ayaka Sajo took a train to a group of tombstones near the church in the neighboring city of Fuyuki. It is said that a group of foreigners emigrated more than 100 years ago, and all of them were buried here, and her father died in an incident.

Ayaka Sajo stood in front of her father's grave, her seemingly cold expression concealing her anger.

She placed flowers in front of her father's grave, and was about to turn away, when she found a strange priest standing there.

"Hello, Miss Sandstripe."

Actually calling her surname, Ayaka Sajo asked unceremoniously, "Who are you?" I don't remember knowing a local priest. ”

"I don't think you'll know me, either. However, I hope you can let go of your hostility, because if you were a participant, we would have dealt with each other no less. In any case, the yarn sliver family used to be a strong competitor. ”

Hearing this, Sajo Ayaka's lips squirmed, but she couldn't make any sound, and her face was as pale as paper.

After a pause, Yan Feng Qili continued:

"It's a pity that your father's affairs are regrettable, he had the opportunity to participate in the last Holy Grail War, but he died at the hands of an unknown magician, and your sister did the same, trying to find the killer, but the last thing to do"

"Sorry, I have something to do, so I'll go first." Ayaka Sajo interrupted, turning around and just taking a step-

"Did you just run away in a hurry? It's not like your style. ”

Hearing this, it was as if pressing the button to stop time, and Ayaka Sajo suddenly remained motionless.

In this regard, Yan Fengqili just smiled and did not make any other movements.

"Why don't you prepare? It's been almost ten years since then. Obviously, the war is finally going to start again. Others, everyone, are making the most difficult preparations.

Ayaka Sajo took a deep breath and didn't look back, as if suppressing her anger and said:

"Please leave me alone, none of this has anything to do with me, and I don't have the slightest interest."

"It's really sad. Because, as long as you live, you can't be isolated from the world. If you want to cut it in two, you have to die. Yan Feng Qili said, to some extent, an extremely dangerous statement.

The inexplicable chill instantly covered his body, and Satiao Ayaka turned around sharply and glared at him coldly:

"I don't want to have anything to do with the Holy Grail, do you understand?"

Anyway, he left as quickly as if he didn't want to stay here for a second.

Yan Feng Qili gave advice while looking at her back.

"Even so, those who have talent are not destined to be abandoned by fate, and it must be a good game for it. If you want to hide in the back of the dark, how small is this possibility? Let me see for myself. ”

Ayaka Sastripe sprang away as if she had fled.

In the empty cemetery group, Yan Fengqili muttered to himself:

"Because, there's that guy here. Even if you are abandoned by fate, he will not let you fend for yourself, after all, valuable things are always precious. ”

The sun is setting, like a night that swallows everything. Sastripe Ayaka returns home as if she had run away, the house that the Satiao family had purchased in Fuyuki City, which was originally used as a base area, but now it is only one of the real estate properties in her name.

"It's not about me!"

Although she seems to be calm, she actually fell into a semi-frenzied state after Yan Feng Qili appeared on the stage.

It's not the first time Ayaka has been here. For her, places other than her own home are full of dangers, so she often carries some magic props with her to protect herself, and even collects a batch of spare items to put in a corner of the house.

Locking the door with her backhand, Ayaka Sastripe turned off the lights and hid in her invisibility cloak, squatting in the corner of the room shivering.

Bloodless lips trembled.

"How could I be in the same boat! Besides, for me—"

Wrapped in an invisibility cloak, Ayaka Sajo repeats nonsense like a frightened child.

"For me, that kind of thing can't be done! I couldn't have gone to war like my father and sister did. ”

I don't know how long it has been, but Sastripe Ayaka's consciousness returns to reality and stares blankly at the clock.

Before I knew it, it was past eleven o'clock in the evening. Soon a new day will come.

I should go to bed early, and I have to catch the train to school tomorrow. As if to swallow the ominous words of the priest, Ayaka Satoro let out a subtle wail in her throat.

Suddenly, the floor clock in the living room pointed to zero.

The clock makes a "knock" and "knock" sound.

Ayaka Sastripe was frightened, but there was silence around her.

"That's right...... Nothing should happen now, my father is dead, my sister is dead, and everything is over. ”

Just as Ayaka Sastripe breathed a sigh of relief, she heard the barking of a dog coming from far away from the living room.

"The voice?" (To be continued......)