And with that, the st two official Servants of the Holy Grail War exited the stage.

  Leaving El-Melloi II behind to maintain the formation alone.

  Thankfully, the bck mud dissipated much faster than anticipated. Within minutes, it evaporated pletely, and the threat ended without causing any major is.

  The following day, everyone began pag up aurning to their homes.

  Sigurd and Brynhildr still had a day or two left before they would disappear, so Waver decided to take Brynhildr on a final sightseeing trip.

  Seeing this, Chihiro transferred Sigurd's tract to Kayh, allowing the star-crossed lovers to spend their st moments together in peace.

  As for El-Melloi II, his situation was a bit more plicated. He was scheduled to vanish that afternoon, which meant flying out of the try was impossible, what would Waver and the others do if he disappeared mid-flight?

  Thus, he decided to remain grounded until the iable came.

  The only Heroic Spirit left now was Ishtar, who had been summoned using the Chaldea Version Summoning Card. With no time limit on her tract, she could remain in the world indefinitely unless defeated or dismissed by her Master.

  This meant that the Tohsaka family now had a perma deity in residence.

  After bidding farewell to everyone, Chihiro bought a picket to return to home.

  He could already imagihe fury on his mentor's face after such a prolonged abseh no word.

  The flight first took him to Osaka, where he would traional pne heading for Wakayama Prefecture. From there, he still had to take a bus to reach Mount Koya, home to the Shinto shrine where he had been raised.

  After nearly a full day of travel, Chihiro finally arrived at the base of the mountain.

  "Hey, Chihiro! You're finally back!"

  A young priest sweeping the steps at the entrao the shrine spotted him and rushed over.

  "Where have you been all this time?"

  "Nowhere in particur," Chihiro said with a shrug, tossing his bag over his shoulder. "Just went abroad for a bit to unwind. Don't worry, I brought gifts."

  "You? Buying gifts? Did you witery or something?" the young priest teased before his expression turned serious. "But hey, this isn't the time to chat. Be careful—your mentor's waiting for you, and he doesn't look happy."

  "Haha, I figured as much…"

  Chihiro's smile froze for a moment as a nervous chill ran down his spine.

  Even though he'd mentally prepared himself, the thought of fag his mentor's wrath still made him uneasy.

  Let's just hope he doesn't use me as a pung bag again.

  Resigning himself to his fate, Chihirhtened his bad strode fidently toward the shrine's entrance.

  "I'm back!" he announced, his voice carrying across the courtyard.

  "Ah! Big brother Chihiro is back!"

  His loud greeting immediately attracted a group of young children, who came running with wide grins.

  "Where did you go? Did y us anything?"

  "Of course, of course. Don't pull on my pants!" Chihiro ughed as he handed out small tris and treats he'd picked up during his travels.

  The kids cheered and scattered, delighted with their gifts.

  Just as Chihiro started to rex, a rge hand cmped down on his ear.

  "Little brat, you've got some nerve sneaking off without telling anyone."

  The voice beloo a middle-aged man with a goatee and a stern expression. He wore the simple linen robes of a Shinto priest.

  This was Tachibana Kosei, Chihiro's mentor and the head priest of the shrine.

  That's right—Chihiro had taken his mentor's surname when he ted into the shrine.

  "Master, you're the one who told me to go out and broaden my horizons!" Chihiro protested, trying tle free.

  "Broadening your horizons doesn't mean disappearing overseas without a word!" Kosei snapped, his voice rising like a lion's roar.

  "And if you hadn't beeering me stantly, I wouldn't have let you leave in the first pce!"

  "e on, Master. You never said I couldn't leave the state," Chihiro retorted, though his voice cked its usual bravado. "Besides, it's not good for your blood pressure to get so angry. You're supposed to be a spiritual leader, remember?"

  "You're the reason my blood pressure's high in the first pce!"

  Kosei kicked off one of his cloth shoes, catg it deftly in his hand.

  "You little punk! If I don't discipline you now, you'll tear the whole shrine down one day!"

  With that, he began smag Chihiro with the shoe, much to the amusement of the younger priests and children watg nearby.

  "Master, wait! A gentleman uses his words, not his fists!" Chihiro yelped, trying to shield himself.

  "You're leman, so why should I hold back?"

  "Not the face! Don't hit the face, I'll lose my good looks!"

  The children burst into ughter, while the other priests wisely averted their eyes, pretending to be busy with their chores. It was clear that ses like this were nothing new around here.

  After a few minutes, Kosei finally relented, leaving Chihiro with a dirt-streaked fad a shoeprint on his cheek.

  "Alright, Master, why are you so mad? It was just a trip," Chihiro muttered, rubbing his sore arm.

  "You little fool," Kosei growled, crossing his arms. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it was to involve yourself in something like the Holy Grail War?"

  Chihiro froze. "Wait… how do you know about that?"

  How could anyone have known? He hadn't told anyone about his pns.

  "Your spiritual key lit up ohought work. The higher-ups noticed the disturband unched an iigation."

  Kosei's tone grew serious. "That's the only reason I found out you'd gone far."

  "Why are they stig their noses into magic affairs?" Chihiro grumbled. "It's not like I was causing any harm."

  "They weren't stig their noses in for fun," came a calm voice from behind.

  Chihiro turo see an elderly man with a long white beard and an air of quiet authority approag.

  This was Yagami Akihiko, the shrine's head and Kosei's mentor. He was also one of the most senior Onmyōdō practitioners in Japan.

  "Wele back, Chihiro," Akihiko said with a faint smile. "From what I hear, your little adventure caused quite the stir."

  "Master Akihiko…" Chihiro greeted him respectfully, though he felt a chill run down his spine. "What do you mean by 'stir'?"

  "Your Servant used your spiritual key to access restricted archives ihought work," Akihiko expined, stroking his beard. "The higher-ups noticed the unauthorized access and unched an iigation."

  "Oh, for the love of…"

  Chihiro cursed under his breath. Zhang Jiao had done something reckless again.

  "Don't worry," Akihiko reassured him. "Your Servant resolved the issue before it became a problem. They even helped you upgrade your spiritual key, though the method was a bit unorthodox."

  "Upgrade?" Chihiro blinked in fusion.

  Kosei scowled. "It's illegal to tamper with the Thought work without authorization. Do you know how much trouble you could've caused?"

  "Well… it's resolved nht?" Chihiro said nervously.

  Akihiko nodded. "Yes, it's been taken care of. But try to be more cautious iure."

  Chihiro exhaled in relief.

  Later, as Chihiro reted his experiences during the Holy Grail War, Akihiko houghtfully.

  "So, your Servant was Zhang Jiao, the famed mysti a a? No wohere were plications. Someone like that wouldn't themselves with modern rules."

  With the matter settled, life returo normal at the shrine. However, Kosei made sure Chihiro trained rigorously for aire month as punishment, leaving him too exhausted to even think about his adventure.