Shinji Matou at Your Service

There was a girl.

She was a true genius, but because she was born into the Eltnam family, she had been discriminated against by those around her since birth.

The Eltnam family was once a prestigious noble lineage among magi, wielding significant influence in Atlas Academy, one of the three major branches of the Mage's Association. At its peak, the family even produced a magus honored with the title "Atlasia," the highest honor of Atlas Academy, bestowed upon one who would act on behalf of the institution's will.

However, no one could have anticipated that this prosperity would vanish overnight. The magus who bore the title Atlasia fell from grace, violating Atlas's taboos by becoming a dead apostle through external research. This disgrace caused the Eltnam family's authority to plummet, reducing them to fallen nobility burdened with an inescapable stigma, generation after generation enduring discrimination and exclusion from Atlas Academy.

In such an environment, an ordinary person would have gone mad, or at the very least, been left with deep psychological scars. But the girl did not. Despite the strange looks she received, she studied diligently, using her excellent grades to prove herself, all while quietly atoning for her ancestor's sins.

Alone, she persevered, moving forward, ultimately reaching heights coveted by countless alchemists but rarely achieved in a lifetime—Atlas. Like her ancestor who had fallen into undeath, she earned the title "Atlasia," becoming the sole candidate for the position of director.

Yes, the sole candidate. If she were not, it would have been impossible for her to receive this title. The discrimination and exclusion of the Eltnam family had become a form of political correctness, a unique culture of the academy, ingrained from top to bottom, from instructors to students. In some ways, the atmosphere at Atlas Academy was worse than at the Clock Tower.

But fate played a colossal joke on these magi. In the vast Atlas Academy, only she possessed the necessary abilities to inherit the institution, an irony that could not be overstated.

No one could have foreseen this.

Students, instructors, and others associated with the academy lost their composure over this improbable development, their eyes filled with protest and spreading panic.

Atlasia was not just a title; its authority was second only to the director, granting the power to bestow instructor qualifications and enjoying the same privileges as a special envoy.

It was truly shocking.

Unbelievable.

Hard to accept.

Suspicious.

Unforgivable.

Indescribable accusations, like curses, filled the girl's surroundings, but she was not surprised, having grown accustomed to it long ago. She only found it uninteresting.

Nothing had changed from before.

Exclusion and isolation. While she now stood in a position with the power to exclude others, she would not do so.

The girl was proud, and so was the Eltnam family. Even though they were branded as sinners, the Eltnam family was a lineage of noble blood. Abusing power for personal reasons was something she would never do, and she held no feelings for these mediocre people, despite their disbelief.

The girl's relationships with those around her remained distant—it used to be others distancing themselves from her, but now it was she who distanced herself from them. Essentially, nothing had changed.

The girl continued to live alone, as an excellent student, in her research lab—correction, there was a slight change. After earning the title Atlasia, she had her research lab, allowing her to distance herself from others even more effectively.

Because no one was necessary to her, she saw no need to involve herself with anyone.

She thought this way. However, inadvertently, she also harbored a bit of confusion.

Was this the right thing to do? What exactly was right? What was wrong?

With these troubling thoughts, she accepted the Church's invitation to join the Dead Apostle-hunting mission. The target of the mission was her ancestor—Zepia Eltnam Oberon, the 13th of the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, known as the Night of Wallachia, the very culprit responsible for the Eltnam family's downfall!

That was three years ago, in 1998, during an unusually hot summer.

The girl's name was Sion, a name that sounded beautiful both in the East and the West.

◇◇◇

"Sion Eltnam Atlasia."

The 13-year-old Shinji quickly scanned through the information on his computer, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.

"It's her wanted notice, this is getting interesting."

In the summer of 1998, the Night of Wallachia reappeared. The Church organized a knight order specifically to hunt the vampire, but the outcome was disastrous—the entire knight order was annihilated, with only Sion escaping.

The Church and Atlas Academy were desperate for Sion to return and explain everything. However, the last survivor not only did not return but also continuously evaded the search parties sent by both sides. During this process, she violated Atlas's taboo—exchanging her research results with others. In Atlas Academy, one can research anything of interest without any restrictions from worldly ethics, but there is one untouchable taboo—imagination must not be liberated, and one's results must be kept private.

Thus, Atlas, in conjunction with the Church, issued a wanted notice. Since Atlas Academy and the Clock Tower are both part of the Mage's Association, the Clock Tower also provided some cooperation.

The latest news indicated that Sion had come to the Far East and possibly entered Japan. Therefore, Lorelei sent an email to Shinji, asking for his help in finding her, attaching information provided by Atlas Academy.

Judging by the fact that Lorelei didn't even bother to call and just sent an email, she didn't care whether Sion was captured or not—it was just routine. It seemed the relationships among the three major branches of the Mage's Association were quite ordinary.

However—

"If you knew what kind of state Sion is in right now, you wouldn't be so indifferent."

Shinji was quite familiar with Sion. After all, she was one of the heroines in Type-Moon, appearing in the game and the manga Melty Blood. Although she was the most inconspicuous heroine, with popularity even lower than many supporting characters, she was still the protagonist of an independent work, with comprehensive characterization.

"Although I know this world line has incorporated all the special elements, I never thought it would include elements from a doujin game. Even though the story of Tsukihime has become unrecognizable, and one of the key characters in Melty Blood didn't participate, I don't know how the old gem managed the timeline..."

After thinking for a while and finding no clues, Shinji decided not to dwell on it.

"This wanted notice falling into my hands is a kind of fate too. I'll go back to Japan. If I don't go back, they might not be able to handle the Night of Wallachia. At most, they could only protect themselves, and there's a chance they might get tricked... Just mentioning the Night of Wallachia makes my right arm ache slightly, let's collect some interest first—Arcueid, Arcueid?"

"Mm?"

The princess, who was napping on the sofa, turned over in boredom.

"Let's go kill a Dead Apostle."

"Who?"

"One of the Twenty-seven Ancestors, Night of Wallachia!"

"Okay."

Hearing this name, Arcueid also got a bit motivated. She hadn't done anything significant since waking up nearly two years ago.

"But aren't you currently wanted?"

"A bunch of greedy fools, coveting the Flame of the Sun. They have good taste but lack strength, and their behavior is despicable. I want Karna to see their ugliness; how could they claim to be descendants of Surya?"

Shinji snorted coldly and casually closed his laptop.

"If they keep getting in the way, I'll clean the temple for Karna!"