Almost everyone knows that eating too quickly can lead to choking.
Rin, of course, knew this too, but in her haste, she had forgotten. Before she could even finish chewing the last piece of fruit, the next one was already in her mouth. The first piece was forced into her esophagus, and the result—
"Cough, cough... ugh, ugh... cough, cough."
It was a mix of pained groans and coughing. After what seed like an eternity, she finally managed to squeeze out one crucial word—"water."
At that mont, Gilgash handed Rin a bottle. He had been silently enjoying her flushed and breathless face as she choked on the fruit.
Without even looking, Rin grabbed the bottle and gulped down its contents, washing the lodged food down into her stomach. She exhaled deeply in relief.
"Phew~ I'm alive... Wait, what is this taste? What did you give to drink?"
It was only then that Rin realized sothing was off. What she had just drunk wasn't water, and the bottle in her hand didn't seem right either—the Tohsaka family didn't use such luxurious containers.
"It's the Water of Life."
"Huh? The Water of Life?"
Rin was stunned. This too was a legendary treasure, and Gilgash had just given it to her like an ordinary drink?
"Treasure like the Golden Apple isn't easy to digest. The Water of Life ensures that its effects are fully absorbed by your body without any waste."
With Gilgash's explanation, what more could Rin say?
"Oh... thank you."
"This is the first ti you've thanked ," Gilgash laughed heartily.
"It seems you're finally realizing my greatness."
"Agh, here we go again."
Rin covered her forehead with her hand. Why was it that every ti she felt a little touched, this guy had to ruin it? But this ti, for the sake of the treasures, she decided not to argue with him.
"Yes, yes, the dazzling, charming king... Do you have any more recomndations? Just tell all at once."
"That's all for direct advice. The rest is up to your choice of weapons and armor. I haven't seen your combat style, so you'll have to decide on your own. Let's start with clothes—"
With a casual wave of his hand, the bottle that had held the Water of Life vanished into thin air. In its place, a row of armors appeared before Rin, ranging from leather to tal, from robes to full suits of armor. They were all won's garnts, so as light as a few leaves, which could easily be mistaken for the prototype of lingerie. The heaviest set was thicker than even the golden armor Gilgash often wore.
By this point, Rin was numb to it all. After eating a Golden Apple and drinking the Water of Life, nothing Gilgash brought out could surprise her anymore.
Rubbing her eyes, which were dazzled by the light reflecting off the treasures, Rin began her next round of selections.
First to be eliminated were the overly lightweight outfits. While the magical effects were certainly impressive, wearing them would ruin both the Tohsaka family's and her reputation.
Next, she ruled out the tal armor. It looked heavy, and she doubted she could wear it for long without collapsing from exhaustion.
What seed to suit her best were the cloth robes or light leather armor—sothing that offered a decent level of protection against both physical and magical attacks, and ideally had so special effects as well.
After filtering through these criteria, the options were narrowed down to five: two robes and three pieces of leather armor.
Just as Rin was about to further refine her choice to find the perfect fit, sothing unexpected happened.
A sharp wind suddenly swept through the streets of Miyama Town.
Like a cutting strike, the wind traveled in a straight line across the skies of Fuyuki City.
The wind sliced through the air, releasing a shockwave and producing a piercing sound. By the ti people below noticed the disturbance and looked up to find its source, the wind had already passed.
The cause of the wind was a single arrow.
Its target: the Tohsaka residence, located in the pri luxury district of Miyama Town.
As the arrow entered the residential area, its speed began to slow, and its altitude quickly dropped. Finally, at a perfect 45-degree angle, it struck the window of the second-floor study—where Rin and Gilgash were.
Though most of the power in the arrow had been expended, the impact from its fall was still considerable. The specially treated glass shattered instantly, and the arrow continued past the window and the desk before finally landing between Rin and Gilgash, striking a piece of leather armor closest to Rin.
With a dull thud, the armor fell to the ground, and the arrow bounced back into the air, only to be caught by Gilgash.
"What nerve, to attack—hmm? Is this... a letter?"
Instinctively, Gilgash had started to curse, but his sharp eyes caught sight of sothing unusual tied to the arrow's shaft.
It was a piece of sky-blue velvet cloth, fastened to the arrow. Upon closer inspection, a line of elegant script was written on the exposed part in beautiful English cursive—addressed to the current head of the Tohsaka family.
Casually tossing the arrow to Rin, Gilgash spoke with slight disappointnt:
"It's for you."
"For ?"
Rin blinked in surprise and quickly picked up the arrow, unrolling the attached letter. After a few seconds, her expression grew serious.
There were only three short lines written on the velvet:
The first line was the title: "Challenge Letter."
The second line had just one sentence: "Let's settle the grudge from seventy years ago."
The final line was the signature: "Edelfelt."
Rin knew the Edelfelt na. Her grandmother had co from this family, which was said to be a prestigious household in Finland. Though the two families had had no contact for many years, now this letter had arrived, explicitly ntioning an old grudge. It seed sothing unpleasant had indeed happened between their ancestors.
Seventy years ago... If she wasn't mistaken, that would have been during the Third Holy Grail War.
"Archer, can you locate the person who fired this arrow?"
"A small matter."
With a nonchalant air, Gilgash pulled a Noble Phantasm from his treasury, a golden ring with a strange, twisted lens embedded in the center. The lens reflected an image of a distant scene.
"Oh? This person has a taste like mine. His class seems to be the sa as mine as well."
The image in the ring revealed a man clad in golden armor, holding a golden bow. His overwhelming presence marked him as a Servant.
As if sensing the distant gaze, the other Archer raised his head, his sharp eyes locking onto the viewer with a clarity that transcended the lens, as if the two Archers were staring directly at each other.
"Rin, what do you plan to do?"
Gilgash asked.
"The grudges born from the Holy Grail War will be resolved through the Holy Grail War. I accept this challenge! As the head of the Tohsaka family, and as a participant in the Holy Grail War."
Rin nodded resolutely, then bent down to pick up the leather armor that had been knocked over by the arrow. One by one, she began to put on the pieces.
She had made her choice of armor. Though it was by accident, the fact that this armor had remained unscathed after being struck by such an arrow seed like a good on—this was the one.
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