Reborn with Steve Stand

Chapter 769: Let's go to Poland

After changing his form, Fang Mo began walking slowly toward the two-story Western-style house.

Since he had just activated his time-stop ability, the entire street was frozen in place, even the black smoke rising from the house was suspended in the air. This made it easy for Fang Mo to pinpoint his target.

Before long, Fang Mo arrived at the yard of the house, and with a thought, he flew upward. From the sky, he quickly noticed a smoking hole in the house, where a red-clad man sat amidst the rubble, legs crossed, seemingly waiting for someone.

Fang Mo observed the man closely.

He appeared to be a weathered individual with short, white hair. Despite not being particularly old, there was something strange about him. His sharp, sword-like eyes concealed a deep weariness, as if he had experienced far too much in life.

"…Archer, huh?"

Seeing this, Fang Mo confirmed his suspicions.

This was clearly the Fifth Holy Grail War, and the good news was that Fang Mo was somewhat familiar with this storyline. The bad news was that the Fifth War had multiple branching plots, and since he wasn't a hardcore fan, he didn't know all of the details.

But now wasn't the time for hesitation.

Without delay, Fang Mo descended slowly through the hole in the roof, raised a hand, and a black, square portal suddenly opened behind the red-clad man.

"And now, let time flow again."

"Hm?"

As soon as the time-stop was released, the red-clad man immediately sensed Fang Mo's presence. From his perspective, the man in front of him had appeared out of nowhere, which naturally made him wary. "Who are you—"

Just as he began to speak, footsteps echoed from outside the house, growing closer.

"Trash!"

Without further words, Fang Mo suddenly shouted, then kicked the red-clad man without warning.

Though the man had some strength and tried to dodge, Fang Mo's power was far beyond what a mere Servant could handle. The kick landed squarely on his chest, sending him flying like a cannonball into the dark portal.

Fang Mo's eyes flashed as the black portal closed behind him.

On the other side was his dimension, a dark world known as the Dimensional Prison.

As the name suggested, it was a place of confinement. Given the man's abilities, he'd likely never escape on his own.

With the red-clad man taken care of, the door behind Fang Mo suddenly swung open with a bang, revealing a young girl with twin-tails, wearing a skirt and long black stockings, standing at the entrance.

"What…?"

Seeing the scene inside the room, the girl seemed momentarily surprised.

Since Fang Mo had just dealt with the red-clad man, his back was to the door. From her perspective, all the girl could see was the tall, imposing figure of a man dressed in a dark trench coat and high military boots. He stood silently, as if deep in thought, bathed in the moonlight shining through the hole in the roof. For some reason, the scene gave off a cold and lethal aura.

At that moment, the man seemed to sense her gaze and slowly turned around.

"You must be my Master?"

He looked her up and down, then glanced around the room. "Good… So, this is Poland?"

"Huh?"

Rin Tohsaka was stunned for a moment. Something seemed off about the Servant she had summoned. Was it because the summoning circle had exploded earlier? But this was her first time participating in the Holy Grail War. With no one to guide her through the ritual, she was already lucky to have summoned a Servant at all.

Still confused, Rin replied, "This is Fuyuki City."

"Fuyuki City?" The man frowned slightly. "Which country is that in?"

"Japan."

Rin tried to keep calm, though she found the situation increasingly odd.

Servants were usually the magical projections of historical figures, which could include anything from ancient legends to modern history, even mythology. Given the strange questions this man had asked, he might be some kind of Polish hero, right?

With that thought, Rin began to relax a little, mentally reviewing famous Polish heroes.

Meanwhile, Fang Mo was also observing Rin.

He had watched *Fate* a long time ago and didn't remember many details, so he was using this opportunity to try and recall them.

If Fang Mo remembered correctly, this girl was Rin Tohsaka, the last magician of the Tohsaka family, one of the three great families that had organized the Holy Grail War ritual.

Yes, in this world, those involved in the occult referred to themselves as magicians rather than wizards.

In the *Type-Moon* universe, magic was a terrifying power that could interfere with the laws of reality. Only a few entities had access to it, and ordinary people knew nothing about it. The abilities of most occult practitioners were simply called magecraft—not to be confused with mere tricks, but real spells constructed from magical energy.

The three great families of the occult…

They sounded impressive, but in reality, things were quite different. After several Holy Grail Wars and many unexpected incidents, the Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern families had long since fallen from their former glory.

Now, this teenage girl was the head of the Tohsaka family.

The reason was simple: her father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, had died in the previous Holy Grail War… leaving her as the last remaining family member.

However, it was worth mentioning that Rin Tohsaka's legs in those black stockings were indeed very attractive.

(Yow, that's not the main focus!)

"Well…"

Just as Fang Mo was lost in thought, Rin suddenly spoke, "Can we talk for a moment?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

Fang Mo, still not fully immersed in his role, asked as he tried to get into character.

"Let's start with introductions."

Rin lowered her head in thought before speaking again, "I am the current head of the Tohsaka family, and I specialize in gem magecraft. You can call me Rin Tohsaka."

"Mm-hmm, not bad."

Fang Mo nodded approvingly. "I can feel your magical energy. It seems I've got a very capable Master this time."

After saying that, Fang Mo reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of exquisite gems—opal, amethyst, topaz, spinel, ice stone, lapis lazuli, amber, and more. There were even diamonds and other colored gemstones. Under the moonlight, they shimmered brilliantly.

"You said you specialize in gem magecraft, right?"

Fang Mo handed her the gems. "Here, consider this my gift to you."

"…What!?"

Seeing the dazzling array of gemstones in Fang Mo's hand, Rin was utterly dumbfounded.

She indeed practiced gem magecraft, which sounded prestigious but was incredibly expensive. The power of her spells depended entirely on the quality of the gems, and the gems were single-use—they disappeared after one use. As a result, she rarely used this type of magecraft, not because she didn't want to, but because she simply couldn't afford it.

Thanks to her expertise in gem magic, Rin knew exactly how valuable these stones were. Simply put, she couldn't afford even one of them, let alone the entire pile.

"Isn't this gift a bit too valuable?"

Rin was clearly tempted, but years of upbringing and manners made her hold back.

"These are just worthless minerals. I've seen things far more precious than this." Fang Mo sighed deliberately. "Child, do you know how expensive a loaf of bread can be?"

"What?"

Rin was completely confused.

"No matter how many jewels you had back then, you still couldn't buy a single hot loaf of bread." Fang Mo tilted his head, reminiscing. "But luckily, those days are behind us."

"Uh…"

"Take them."

Before Rin could protest, Fang Mo pressed the jewels into her hands. "These are worthless to me. Since you're my Master, helping you grow stronger is part of our plan to win the Holy Grail."

"Alright."

Hearing Fang Mo's reasoning, Rin seemed to come to terms with the situation and accepted the jewels. "Thank you very much."

"No need to thank me."

Fang Mo smiled and waved. "I just appreciate young, talented people like you."

"You're too kind…"

Rin, who had a bit of a tsundere streak, was genuinely pleased by her Servant's compliments. But the next moment, her smile froze.

Fang Mo suddenly let out a long sigh.

"Ah, back in the day, I was full of ambition. I even applied to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts." Fang Mo lamented, "But alas, I was rejected."

"The Vienna Academy of Fine Arts? Rejected?"

Hearing this, Rin's brain immediately started spinning. Something was definitely wrong. Her mind raced as she processed the information.

"Yes."

Fang Mo continued to sigh. "As you can see, I'm a failed artist. My talents were never put to use in drawing but rather in map-making…"

"W-Wait!"

Rin quickly interrupted. "Sorry to ask, but what is your true name…?"

"That is a forbidden question."

Fang Mo smiled politely, but his words sent a chill down Rin's spine. "However, you may call me Führer."

"…"

Rin's mind went blank, as if her brain had short-circuited. What had she summoned? The infamous Tyrant from World War II? Wasn't this supposed to be a heroic spirit? This guy was more like an evil spirit!

Now it all made sense why he had asked if they were in Poland as soon as he arrived.

Was she about to be targeted by the other six participants in the Holy Grail War?

As Rin was deep in thought, the next moment a cold gun barrel was pressed against her forehead.

"!?"

The feel of the icy gun sent a shiver down her spine. She looked up and saw Fang Mo narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized her. She was frozen in place, utterly speechless.

"I have one last question."

Fang Mo spoke slowly. "You… don't have any Jewish blood, do you?"

"I…"

Rin's heart pounded wildly. She was a mage, sure, but still just a teenage girl. She had never had a gun pointed at her head before.

Moreover, the expression on Fang Mo's face was so serious—terrifyingly so. Rin was certain that if she gave the wrong answer, he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger, not caring one bit about her status as his Master. Was this the aura of the devil who once terrorized Europe?

Instinctively, Rin glanced at her hand.

On her pale hand were three red command spells. These were rules of the Holy Grail War—three absolute commands that could force her Servant to obey.

But they were extremely precious. Should she use one now, so early in the war?

And even if she did, it wouldn't solve her current problem.

She could force him to obey once, but that wouldn't stop him from pointing the gun at her again when the effect wore off. Unless she commanded him to kill himself.

But if her Servant died, how would she win the Holy Grail? That would essentially mean forfeiting.

Rin weighed her options carefully and quickly. She decided to try negotiating first. Her Servant wasn't of the Berserker class, so he should be reasonable. If things got really bad, she could use a command spell as a last resort.

With this plan in mind, Rin hurriedly spoke, "I already told you, this is Fuyuki City in Japan. The Tohsaka family has lived here for generations… how could I have that kind of blood?"

"Very well."

Hearing this, Fang Mo nodded in satisfaction.

Just as Rin had hoped, he lowered the gun. She sighed in relief, but before she could say anything else, Fang Mo spoke again. "Now, let's buy some plane tickets."

"Plane tickets?" Rin was puzzled. "Why plane tickets?"

"…To go to Poland, of course."