Eight o'clock in the morning—
Just as Rin was sitting on the speeding train heading to her destination.
"What?! Rin is gone! Didn't I tell you to watch her?" In a hotel in another town, the Black Princess Princess Altrouge, with her hands on her hips, was imperious. Although she was in a loli state, her powerful queenly aura was still fully displayed, glaring at the White Knight Brad who was kneeling on the ground in front of her, admitting his guilt.
White Knight Brad looked embarrassed and remorseful. As one of the dignified Twenty-Seven Ancestors, a peak Dead Apostle whose strength was enough to rank among the top ten Ancestors, he couldn't even keep an unconscious girl in sight. He truly felt too ashamed to face his lord!
However, the White Knight was still going to defend himself, saying: "Princess, although this is my fault, it was truly unavoidable at the time. That young man named Obeshi Hideyoshi was truly the most beautiful young man I have ever seen in my life. I really couldn't control myself, so I couldn't help but... Then when I came back at dawn, she was already gone..."
"You damn faggot! Go to hell!" Before the White Knight could finish speaking, Black Princess Princess Altrouge had already cursed out in a fit of rage. She had only been casually playing outside for a few days. Black Knight Stuart reminded her that Rin was about to wake up, so she immediately rushed back. When she left, she had already given such clear instructions, thinking that with the White Knight watching, Rin would definitely not have any accidents, but she never expected... Now Black Princess Princess Altrouge also couldn't help but be curious, what kind of beautiful young man could attract her loyal guardian knight to disregard orders and abandon his guardian target to pursue?
"Princess, although I am guilty, my crime is not punishable by death!" the White Knight pleaded with a bitter face. Although it was indeed his fault for not keeping an eye on her, that girl was not an ordinary person. If she woke up suddenly and left on her own when he wasn't around, with her skill in concealing her presence, he wouldn't be able to find her in a small town.
Slap!
Princess Altrouge extended a hand, and somehow, a black leather whip appeared in her hand. She swung it heavily on the ground and coldly ordered: "Then I will punish you by forbidding you from being gay for one year! Go reflect behind closed doors!"
The White Knight fell into contemplation. After three seconds of consideration, the White Knight said: "...Princess, you might as well kill me."
"..." Black Princess Princess Altrouge was speechless.
"Sigh, forget it..." After a long while, Black Princess Princess Altrouge sighed helplessly. Since things had come to this, it was useless to pursue whose fault it was anymore. She closed her eyes, preparing to use the connection of the contract to sense Rin's location, but she gave up just as she closed her eyes.
"Forget it, let Rin leave. I promised her 500 years to settle her ties with the human world. Within these 500 years, I will no longer search for or interfere with anything related to her. Let's go."
"Princess, can I bring Hideyoshi with me?"
"You still dare to speak!"
Rouen, located in northwestern France, is the capital of the Upper Normandy region. Historically, Rouen was one of the largest and most prosperous cities in medieval Europe. It is located on the lower Seine River, 110 kilometers from the sea and 140 kilometers from Paris. It belongs to the Seine-Maritime department of the Upper Normandy region, with an urban area of nearly 2,000 square kilometers and a population of about 500,000.
Rouen is a famous city with a thousand-year history and many ancient sites. Many famous historical figures were born here, including the world-renowned writer Flaubert.
The Seine River runs through the city. The right bank is the old city, with many ancient buildings, known as the "Museum City," housing many world art treasures. The left bank area was almost completely destroyed by war during World War II, and was later rebuilt and extended northward. Most of the buildings retain French tradition, and the city is quaint and beautiful, with railway and road bridges connecting the two banks. The Port of Rouen is an inland river port, consisting of four port areas: Saint-Wandrille Port, Jérôme-La Tadicatel Port, Honfleur Port, and Rouen Port.
Although it is a good place for tourism, Rin is obviously not here for tourism now. For the upcoming Fourth Holy Grail War, Rin is now doing her best to prepare all possible trump cards. And the reason Rin came to Rouen is for the building in front of her.
Church of Saint Joan of Arc.
The Church of Saint Joan of Arc was built in 1979. Its exterior resembles an inverted Viking ship. Vikings are the ancestors of the Normans, known for their bravery and tenacity. The building has a roof made of slate or copper scales, facing the sea.
Inside the church are some of the best-preserved Renaissance stained-glass windows in France, depicting stories of early Norman life.
The large cross outside is the Joan of Arc Pyre Memorial Column. Over 500 years ago, Saint Joan of Arc was tried and burned at the stake in Rouen, which has become one of the reasons people visit Rouen. The Church of Saint Joan of Arc was built on the original site of Joan of Arc's martyrdom.
This modern church has a dual mission; it is both a church commemorating Saint Joan of Arc and a civilian memorial to this heroine, attracting countless domestic and international tourists every year.
The beauty and sanctity of this church held no meaning for Rin; all she cared about was that this was the place where the French Saint, Joan of Arc, was burned at the stake.
Rin entered this modern cathedral of the Saint; not only was its exterior design quite novel, but its interior architecture was also very magnificent, with new modern designs, various paintings and statues of Saint Joan of Arc, and her historical legends and life deeds.
Strolling among the bustling tourists, she was searching, searching for even a trace of a lingering soul. Although the Third Magic could not, like the Holy Grail War, directly summon heroic spirits using relics related to their legends, if even a trace of a lingering soul could be found, it could be fully restored and reborn into this world.
Rin constantly wandered this land where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, releasing her mental fluctuations, carefully searching every space for even a tiny fragment of a soul.
Unfortunately, she found nothing.
Sure enough, all those unsolved mysteries of the world she read about in her previous life were lies. What about Joan of Arc not dying, her soul being led to heaven by angels, the image of the Saint in the midday sun—all of it was a lie!
"Hmm? This is..."
Just as Rin walked to a deliberately empty area in the church, she suddenly felt a faint fluctuation from a soul.
Rin looked around the empty space in the church with a puzzled expression, and finally, on an explanatory sign, she saw that this empty space was where the pyre that executed Joan of Arc had originally been placed.
The extremely faint soul fluctuation present here, not even a sporadic trace, was more like a persistent obsession lingering, unwilling to dissipate despite its extreme weakness.
Rin closed her eyes and carefully felt this wisp of obsession, which was a pure negative emotion.
Anger, hatred, sorrow, sighs, killing intent, madness, depravity... Rin frowned in thought, "Could this be a wisp of negative emotion born when Joan of Arc was burned at the stake? But Rin remembered that when Joan of Arc was executed by fire, her heart held only pure faith and pity for the world, with no negative emotions at all; she should have been a pure saint."
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.