"No problem."
Shinomiya Kaguya nodded reservedly.
The departure she had mentioned to Yukinoshita Yukino earlier was just polite talk; whether for her own benefit or Kisaragi Rin's needs, she could not leave yet.
Shinomiya Kaguya thought for a moment and said, "Ai, bring out those two Dragon Balls."
"Understood, Young Miss Kaguya."
When Hayasaka Ai placed the two Dragon Balls in front of Kisaragi Rin, Yukinoshita Yukino also handed over hers. Including Kisaragi Rin's own, they had now gathered four Dragon Balls.
Shinomiya Kaguya said, "When Hayasaka Ai and I discovered this thing in this world, we were quite shocked, because Dragon Balls are Items that can grant wishes in another world... As for whether they work in this world, there's a high probability they do. Consider it an obvious hidden quest."
"I know."
Kisaragi Rin nodded, which only made Shinomiya Kaguya feel more suspicious.
Shinomiya Kaguya felt she could still accept Kisaragi Rin possessing such great strength.
But what was the deal with his intelligence capabilities? She always felt like Kisaragi Rin knew more than she did.
"Could this guy have joined some strange organization?"
Shinomiya Kaguya thought internally.
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed, but her current relationship with Kisaragi Rin was extremely complicated.
Old acquaintance? Friend? Benefactor? Interest Group? Or perhaps just temporary teammates traveling together?
This left Shinomiya Kaguya unsure how to ask, so she decided to investigate after returning to the Main World.
"Hmm... I must investigate. If Kisaragi is involved with those organizations, I have to rescue him."
Shinomiya Kaguya convinced herself.
"We are still missing three of the seven Dragon Balls. Soichiro Kuzuki definitely has one, Scáthach's Master certainly has one, and the location of the last one is unknown. Where should we go to gather them all?"
Kisaragi Rin was deep in thought when he noticed a certain crow flying back.
Black Sun was clutching a Dragon Ball in its talons.
"...Where did this come from?"
After a moment of silence, Kisaragi Rin asked.
Black Sun: "A dog, disappeared, picked up."
---
Time rewinds to before Kisaragi Rin saw Scáthach off.
While searching for a Master in Fuyuki City, Black Sun recalled what Kisaragi Rin had previously said.
"Go to the forest in Fuyuki City and look for a castle; there might be a Master inside."
Following this instruction, Black Sun found the Einzbern Castle in the forest.
As it landed on the red bricks atop the castle and looked down, a large dog was tearing open a bag of dog food in the attic below.
Right next to it lay a Dragon Ball.
Hmm... Bond doesn't have pockets, so it had to be placed outside, right?
Black Sun: Gaze.
Bond: Looked up curiously.
Black Sun: Gaze.
Bond: Where did this crow come from?
"Woof woof! Woof! Woof woof~"
Bond sniffed, confirmed it sensed no trace of Magic Power from the crow, and casually barked a few times to chase it away.
It was just a dog. Scáthach could talk to Bond because she could read minds.
Black Sun naturally did not possess this function, nor had it recognized Bond's identity as a Master.
Ignoring the dog, Black Sun flew in, intending to take the Dragon Ball.
"..."
Bond raised its paw and pressed down on the Dragon Ball; after all, its Physical Conditioning was still present.
"..."
Then, a dog and a crow began staring each other down.
Just as their gazes sharpened and a fierce fight was about to break out, Bond suddenly received a notification from The Paradise.
[You have triggered Rule Six]
[It is detected that you are currently out of combat]
[The Paradise has settled this game for you]
"???"
Bond didn't even have time to understand the specific content of Rule Six before being kicked out of the game.
Black Sun was also a bit confused. After picking up the Dragon Ball and observing the situation at Einzbern Castle for a while, it ultimately decided to take it back first.
---
Time returns to the present.
Having roughly learned the sequence of events from Black Sun, Kisaragi Rin suddenly remembered a question.
"Scáthach's Master really is a dog, huh?"
Kisaragi Rin complained.
Shinomiya Kaguya chimed in, "When I saw that Scáthach's Master was a dog, I found that quite strange too."
"Using this method to force its exit, we've definitely made an enemy."
Kisaragi Rin signaled Medea to read Black Sun's memories and use Sorcery to display the dog's appearance, otherwise, encountering it in the Main World someday could be troublesome.
Medea nodded and cast Sorcery upon Black Sun.
A moment later, Bond's appearance was displayed before Kisaragi, leaving him somewhat silent.
A Great Pyrenees, looking very fat, with black front paws, and a benevolent expression... "This guy?"
"I seem to recall that the dog from Anya's family looks exactly like this?"
"This must be that dog, right?"
Ai Haibara had mentioned to Kisaragi Rin that Anya Forger adopted a dog and named it Bond, but Kisaragi Rin had been too lazy to pay attention.
This guy was actually Scáthach's Master?
"...It seems fine. After all, doesn't this Bond possess some kind of Precognition? Punishment Mode shouldn't be able to kill it, and maybe next time it can drink a bottle of strawberry milk and transform."
After seeing Yukinoshita Yukino's Treasure Chest opening operation, Kisaragi really couldn't bring himself to worry about this dog.
Next time, I'll buy it a bag of dog food and have Ai Haibara apologize.
After retrieving the five Dragon Balls into the Workshop, the next matter was the transfer of Command Seals and Servants.
With Medea's help, Hayasaka Ai's last remaining Command Seal was transferred to Kisaragi Rin's hand, bringing his total Command Seals back up to two.
Yukinoshita Yukino's Servant, Gilgamesh, also returned to Shinomiya Kaguya's possession.
Neither Kisaragi Rin nor Yukinoshita Yukino had enough Magic Power to allow Gilgamesh to exert his full strength.
Since Shinomiya Kaguya had joined the team, there was no need for Kisaragi Rin to ignore the best possible combination.
Furthermore, the upcoming battle might be chaotic. Asking Shinomiya Kaguya to stay and maintain the effects of [Time Zero] and [Lock-on] without giving her the Ability to protect herself would be too cruel.
"Young Miss Kaguya, I shall depart first."
Hayasaka Ai bid farewell to Shinomiya Kaguya. Having lost her Servant and Command Seal, there was no need for her to stay for the upcoming battle; she might as well settle the game early.
[Player - Hasaka, you have lost your Servant]
[Player - Hasaka, you are currently out of combat]
[Player - Hasaka, please confirm game settlement]
"Goodbye, Young Miss Kaguya, Kisaragi, and Miss Yukinoshita."
Without any light or visual Special Effects, Hayasaka Ai instantly vanished from this world.
Seeing that Shinomiya Kaguya and Yukinoshita Yukino's gazes were both focused on him, Kisaragi directed, "Let's go pick up Tohsaka Rin first."
He hadn't forgotten that Sakura, who was in the Workshop, had an older sister outside.
Moreover... Emiya Shirou's location wasn't far from there either.