Tachibana Masamune was silent for a long time before slowly kneeling in front of Minamoto Chikashi.
"Forgive me! I've hidden this from you for many years."
"In truth, even before today, I had always been thinking about how to tell you all this."
"Now that the Holy Grail War has broken out, with various factions flocking here, Tokyo's situation will likely descend into chaos. Perhaps one day, I, the head of the family, will also face sacrifice. If I don't lay it all out to you in time, this secret might follow me into the grave."
Tachibana Masamune paused, then slowly raised his head.
"My real name is not Tachibana Masamune. I am a German, named Herzog. I have half Eastern blood — my mother was Tachibana Misa, the last daughter of the Tachibana family."
"The face you see now is the result of plastic surgery. Without it, I would look entirely like a European. In truth, before my change of appearance, the owner of this face had committed countless unforgivable sins in his life."
Minamoto Chikashi turned, meeting Tachibana Masamune's eyes. His golden pupils shimmered faintly, trembling with the anticipation of the truth.
"Keep talking… Tell me everything about me and my younger brother Chime, how we came to be, and leave nothing out."
Tachibana Masamune fell silent. He stood, took a white cloth from the side, spread it on the floor, and tossed a long sword with a white scabbard to Minamoto Chikashi. Straightening his back, he drew a short dagger from his robe and held it before him.
Chikashi caught the long sword with surprise. "You're asking me to be your kaishakunin?"
This was a full seppuku and kaishakunin preparation. For him to prepare for such a ritual meant the matter he had hidden was far more serious than Chikashi had imagined.
Among Eastern nobles, when performing seppuku, they prepare an elegant dagger — a simple, straight blade — to disembowel themselves.
The kaishakunin is the assistant, standing behind with a long sword. When the person in front stabs into their own abdomen, the assistant swings to sever their head, ending the pain quickly.
"I often thought," Tachibana Masamune said calmly, voice heavy, "if the day came that I must perform seppuku to atone for my life's sins, I would want you, Chikashi, to be my kaishakunin."
"I'm not one for that kind of role. Let me hear your reasons."
"It's a long story — it begins in my youth."
Tachibana Masamune took a deep breath, as though his gaze traveled back to a distant past. "I was born in Germany, graduated from the University of Munich at sixteen, and entered the Imperial Institute of Biology. Not long after, I became its youngest geneticist with a doctorate."
"But then war broke out. After the Empire's defeat, I became a prisoner of the Soviets, who sent me to a remote Arctic Circle port."
"There, the authorities built a new research institute and moved the Empire's genetic archives there. I was forced to continue the vile research my former Imperial colleagues had left unfinished."
"I stayed there for many years, but progress was slow, for I knew nothing of dragons or hybrids. Though my mother bore the Tachibana name, she was from a diluted branch, and by my generation the bloodline was even weaker. She never revealed the secrets of the dragon world to me."
"I was ignorant then, sitting on a treasure trove of genetic data rivaling that of the Secret Party's Cassell Academy, yet not knowing its value — until a man named Bondarev broke into the port."
Minamoto Chikashi narrowed his eyes; he could tell this name was key. "Go on."
"Bondarev claimed to be a KGB colonel and the last prince of the Romanov dynasty, sworn to guard dragon secrets. He revealed to me the truth of dragons and hybrids, and said he wanted my genetic research to clone countless super hybrids to seize the throne of the world. His words successfully stirred my greed."
"Only then did I learn the significance of my mother's surname 'Tachibana' and the three special embryos in my preservation tanks — their genetic source traced to the Shadow Emperor, 'Uesugi Koshi.' It was a noble bloodline indeed. My plan with Bondarev was to mass-produce an invincible army from this lineage."
"Uesugi… Koshi?"
Minamoto Chikashi suddenly heard an unfamiliar name. "Who is that? I've never heard of him, nor is he in our family records."
"Because to the family, he was a disgrace. Apart from the elders, no one knows of him, and even they never speak of him. Though Uesugi Koshi was an Emperor, he was a hybrid of Shenzhou, Eastern, and French blood. Raised in France, he never fit into Eastern society."
"He was Emperor for only eleven years before fleeing, and before leaving, he burned the family shrine and much of its precious archives."
"From then on, Uesugi Koshi became a name never spoken within the family. I first learned of him because, during his reign, he provided genetic samples to the Third Reich."
"These were the source of the three special embryos, numbered π, ω, and ξ. π and ω are you, Chikashi, and Chime."
Minamoto Chikashi's heart shook. "Then… ξ must be…"
"Yes. The smallest embryo is Eriri. She and you, Chikashi, are full siblings."
——
After parting with Charlotte, Shirou returned home with Eriri. He had just ended a call from Minamoto Chikashi when his phone rang again — this time, it was Kazama Ruri.
Well now, you all just decided to pile up your issues tonight, huh? Shirou shook his head helplessly and walked into the living room. Outside, the night was deep, distant lights flickering faintly in the vast darkness — it was already well past midnight.
Eriri tossed back a quick, "I'm going to bathe," and dashed off, her vivid red hair swaying energetically. Shirou noticed her hands were hidden in her sleeves, as though concealing something, and wondered what thoughts were running through her head.
Still, there were more pressing matters. Shirou strode to the sofa, sat down, and answered the phone, silencing the persistent ringing.
"Kazama Ruri?"
"It's me."
"I just got off the phone with Minamoto Chikashi — and now you're calling. Don't tell me you're also asking about the Servant summoning?"
"'Also'?" Ruri's voice carried surprise. "Shirou, so that Minamoto guy… did he have a summoning issue too?"
"You mean… the summoning went wrong?" Shirou frowned and straightened.
"Yes. I summoned not Shuten Dōji, but the Berserker-class Ibaraki Dōji. So if your so-called 'linked summoning' still works, then…"
"Minamoto Chikashi must have summoned 'Watanabe no Tsuna'?" Shirou realized instantly.
No wonder Chikashi had called him so urgently, asking about the effects of having too many relics without being a true Minamoto heir. He really hadn't summoned Minamoto no Raikō, but one of the Four Heavenly Kings instead.
With Watanabe no Tsuna appearing, Ruri — with her oni blood — naturally summoned his fated enemy, Ibaraki Dōji.
But more shocking was that Chikashi wasn't even a real Minamoto? And he himself never knew?
Shirou thought to himself: your family's secrets are something else — some are undercover agents for demon clans, and some are fake heirs planted by who-knows-who.
After a brief chat, Ruri quickly hung up — the revelation seemed to have dampened her mood as much as his.
"But… does this summoning failure count as my fault?"
Shirou scratched his head in resignation. The intel he'd given Chikashi was solid. Even with multiple relics, he had analyzed carefully based on experience.
And when they'd first met, Chikashi had admitted his ancestor was Minamoto no Raikō — so Shirou had assumed it all along.
Who knew… he wasn't even a Minamoto at all!
After thinking it over, Shirou refused to take the blame — it was clearly the work of whoever had faked Chikashi's identity.
Shirou returned to his room, opened his personal notebook, and found the page where he'd written "Eight Clan Heads." Next to the "has an insider" mark, he added:
"Minamoto heir is fake."
He paused, then carefully recorded today's events — meeting Charlotte in the suburbs, entering the unknown "Mirror Realm" with Eriri, defeating the black mud, and saying goodbye to Charlotte.
He added two more lines:
"Black Grail suspected of distorting ley lines."
"Eriri's 'Authority' relates to 'Death'… God possibly 'Izanami'? (Note: confirm with Nono)"
Then—
He opened his phone to find a new SMS from Charlotte, sent sometime during the night, lying unread in his inbox:
"Hey, quick question — in Tokyo, are there any large church organizations nearby? Be careful of the Holy Church, they're probably here already."
(End of Chapter)
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