(3rd's pov)

Two teenage girls were walking side by side with angry expressions on their faces. Both of them were annoyed at the other.

"What are you doing here, Luvia? I am enough for the mission, so you should sit on your very delicate princess ass. Not like you would be of help anyway."

"Hohoho~! I didn't take you for a comedian Tohsaka Rin. With jokes like that, you would be the perfect jester. It's an improvement from the third-rate magus that you're today. I would even call it your true calling."

They butted heads and tried to force the other one to back away, both were equally stubborn.

"What did you say!? At least my hair has a normal shape. I bet construction workers ask you for help when they need more drills. Am I right?" Rin said with a smug expression mixed with annoyance.

"Oh my, oh my~ I must apologize. I mistook you for a jester before, but it seems that you are nothing more than a screaming monkey because any human being would recognize my noble hairstyle." Luvia tried to sound dignified and noble, but she couldn't hide her anger.

They started wrestling until they remembered that they had a meeting with their teacher, so they continued on their way there, and soon they reached their destination.

In front of them was a big double door leading to Kischur Zelretch's office, their teacher, and one of the Wizard Marshals in the Clock Tower.

Rin and Luvia knocked on the door at the same time, not letting the other one be first.

"Come in." A commanding voice came from the inside allowing the two girls to enter.

Inside the office, behind the desk, sat an old man with white hair and a beard. Next to him was standing a tall man with long black hair smoking a cigar.

"I see that you are getting along as usual. That's good news since you will be spending more time together on your new mission." The man with long hair said.

The girls didn't say anything to his sarcastic remark. They tried to be respectful in front of the pair of magi in front of them.

"You two will continue the mission given previously to Bazett Fraga McRemitz, but she was relieved of her duty, and it will be given to you two.

The goal of this mission is to collect strange cards that appeared in Fuyuki city. According to our research, these cards are incredibly powerful and summon weapons of famous heroes from the past. Ms McRemitz has already collected two of the cards.

Both of you will get one of the cards and also mystic codes made by the Wizard Marshal, the kaleidosticks. Thanks to them, you will be able to activate the cards, but I'll spare you the details as you have gone through them already. You will fly to Japan tomorrow."

After everything was explained, Zelretch added one more thing.

"There's one last thing that I didn't mention before. You'll be getting a helper."

This news surprised everyone in the room. It delighted the old man to see the reaction of everyone.

"Why weren't we informed about this before? It seems like a very important information and depending on who it is, it could doom the mission." Rin argued. It was enough of a headache to be paired with Luvia. She doesn't need a wild card during this mission.

"As much as it pains me to say it, Tohsaka is right. With her, I at least know which type of failure and its scale to expect, but I can't prepare for a stranger I know nothing about."

"What did you say!?" A vein popped on Rin's forehead, but she controlled her anger after a few deep breaths and promised herself that she would get her revenge later.

"There's nothing to worry about." Answered their teacher. "I guarantee that he will be a valuable asset in your mission. I don't know what he will choose to be called, but most probably, it will be either Archer or Faker. You'll get along just fine."

"...Why don't I believe you?"

"Your words hurt me, my dear student, but I can't change anything about it even if I wanted. He would get involved either way."

"I must agree with the girls this time. Isn't it dangerous to involve an unknown individual? I don't think the association would approve of that." 

Zelretch's assistant questioned him.

"That's why they don't know about him. It would cause more problems if they knew, and it probably would cause a lot of casualties, so this will be kept a secret, understood?" Zelretch said with a serious tone.

""Yes sir!"" All present said in union.

"Dismissed."

And with his words, the meeting ended.

---

The next day Rin and Luvia lost their kaleidosticks due to their bickering, and the rest was history.

(Shirou's pov)

I got a strange letter today. Usually, Truck-chan writes to me about once a month, but I already got this month's letter. I knew it was sent to me because it was lying on my desk in my room and my name was written on the envelope.

Before opening it, I checked if it was a trap using present-time runes since the primordial version is too difficult to use in my current state. At least Cu taught me ordinary runecraft as well. He said it was necessary to learn before going up a level to primordial ones.

I also analyzed it using structural grasp, which I was pretty proficient at, but I found nothing, so I opened it while also being on guard.

Inside the envelope was a piece of paper. The only thing written on it was.

==========

Tomorrow it all starts. Good luck.

==========

That's not ominous at all. Was it ROB or someone completely different that left it here?

No matter who it was or what was his/her goal it doesn't change what I need to do. It just helps me to be ready on time. I'll be more attentive to Illya and see if she sneaks out from home.

---

It was already an evening, and I was about to enter the bathroom, but my hand stopped before it reached the door.

I feel danger coming from behind this door, so I'll go take a bath later... even though the lights are off and no one should be inside.

(3rd's pov)

Illya was enjoying her bath and daydreaming about her Onii-chan. She was a little jealous of Sakura because she could spend time with Shirou at school, not realizing that she also held an advantage, spending more time with him at home, although Sakura was coming practically every day, and that's why she didn't count it as one.

As she was relaxing from watching too much anime, she noticed a light in the sky. To see this light better, she turned off the lights and observed what she thought was UFO.

It quickly vanished to appear again and was flying straight at Illya, hitting her in the forehead. The impact pushed Illya's head back, making her hit the side of the bathtub, making her bleed a bit.

A few shenanigans and tricks later, Illya became a magical girl ready to fight evil for justice and love... right?

---

END

Discord server: https://discord.gg/HB2DweuG4J