You call this a projection?

Late at night, midnight.

Technically, it was already the second day. For some, this might just be the start of their nightlife, but for the students—and especially for the citizens of Fuyuki City, who were traumatized by ”gas explosions”—this was a time when one absolutely should not be out on the streets.

Though it sounded like a dark joke, this lesson in blood and tears, summarized by the people of Fuyuki over the years, proved to be a massive help to Emiya Shirou and his group at this moment.

Because at this hour, most residents of Fuyuki chose to stay indoors with their doors locked. Shirou and his team, who were following the principle of magical secrecy, did not need to go through the trouble of deploying ”Civilians Dispersion” barriers, nor did they have to worry about what to do if the special effects of opening the Mirror World were too exaggerated for ordinary people nearby to see. After all, Kotomine Kirei, who should have been responsible for the aftermath during the Holy Grail War, had already been eliminated by Shirou ahead of schedule. Until the next representative from the Holy Church arrived in Fuyuki, there was no one to help them clean up such messes.

”Is everyone here?”

Returning to Homurahara Academy, Tohsaka Rin gathered them on the playground they had scouted earlier that morning. She glanced at the Magical Ruby in Miyu Edelfelt’s hand before looking at Emiya Shirou. ”I’ll say it in advance: I still don’t approve of using this thing. If it doesn’t work out in the end, don’t blame me for not warning you, Shirou.”

”Even though I really don’t want to admit it, no matter how malicious the personality of the Magical Ruby Mystic Code might be, it is still the work of Zelretch. It’s perfectly normal for ordinary magic to have no effect on it.”

Indeed, Rin still held great wariness toward the Ruby, even though she had been persuaded by Shirou and had personally handed both the Ruby and the instructions on how to use it over to him. However, just as the fundamental rule of magic is mystery—though the self-taught Shirou lacked this awareness, Rin, who came from an orthodox mage lineage and had received a proper magical education, naturally adhered to this common sense. She had not asked Shirou what kind of ”special magic” he had that could guarantee the brainwashing of the Ruby would succeed. Having handed it over, she hadn’t followed him, so she didn’t actually know whether he had succeeded. That was why she offered words of consolation at the end; losing to Zelretch was hardly a disgrace.

”Don’t worry, Rin.” Shirou smiled slightly. ”The experiment was a success—or rather, the process went so smoothly that even I was surprised.”

After all, before the contract was officially finalized—that is, before the new contractor dropped their blood onto the Ruby—the Ruby remained in a dormant, resting mode during its long period of disuse. It couldn’t resist even if it wanted to. And once Shirou successfully inserted the instruction DISC created by [Pseudo-White Snake]—which compelled the Ruby to obey orders—the brainwashing was complete.

”Words alone might not be very persuasive.” Shirou looked at Miyu Edelfelt. ”In that case, transform, Miyu!”

”We are about to enter the Mirror World. To prevent a surprise attack from a Servant, transforming now is undoubtedly the optimal choice for you, Miyu.”

”Mm, I understand.” Miyu nodded.

Unlike the Illya in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, who still retained a sense of shame when transforming in front of others for the first time, Miyu—thanks to the unconventional upbringing by Emiya Kiritsugu and his group in the parallel world—had absolutely no such inhibition. She fully agreed with the logic of being prepared in advance and wouldn’t waste time on such trivialities.

However, this left Rin, who hadn’t caught up on the situation, looking confusedly from Shirou to Miyu, and then to the Ruby in her hand. ”Transform?” Because she hadn’t followed Shirou earlier, she still didn’t know the full extent of Ruby’s capabilities.

”Yes, the ability of this Kaleidoscope staff is to act as a Mystic Code that allows the user to perform a ’transformation’ by bringing the abilities of their parallel-world self into this world,” Shirou explained.

”Rin, the reason you forgot those memories and scared off your friends back then was because this transformation includes a change in clothing, and under the brainwashing of the Kaleidoscope staff, you would say various lines like those found in ’Magical Girl’ works. You were, in every sense of the word, a ’Magical Girl’.”

”...Of course, since I have already ’pre-brainwashed’ the Kaleidoscope staff, the effects that usually arise from its twisted sense of humor have been deleted.”

”...”

”——Connection to maximum activation. Mirror World Corridor, maximum deployment!”

As Shirou finished speaking, the startup sound effects erupted from the Ruby, accompanied by a surge of massive magical energy. It enveloped Miyu, transforming her into a Magical Girl holding a staff, dressed in cute pink attire.

”...The only things I could delete were the unnecessary German lines that the contractor was forced to say; the outfit, however, still changes along with the transformation,” Shirou said helplessly. ”As for the rest...”

”No, Shirou, you don’t need to say another word.” Rin raised a hand to stop him. She used her other hand to cover her blushing face and muttered, ”I think I finally understand why the ’me’ of the past chose to seal this thing away.”

”If someone saw me like this, I’d rather just die!”

Sure enough, this was a ”dark history” that she absolutely could not afford to remember.

But then again, seeing Miyu Edelfelt standing there, completing her transformation in public with an expressionless face, ready to head out wearing such an outfit... one could only say, is Miyu truly the Holy Grail of another parallel world?

She easily accomplished what others could not!

”You can’t say it like that...” Although Shirou deeply agreed with Rin’s assessment in his heart, since the one currently transformed into a Magical Girl was Miyu, he still tried to find a way to patch things up. But after thinking for a long time without finding the right words, he ultimately decided to change the subject.

”Ahem, ahem. Since there’s no problem with the Kaleidoscope staff, let’s begin.”

”Begin the traversal to the parallel world.”

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