"But logically speaking, the Holy Grail War shouldn't allow such a huge disturbance, or even attract the attention of ordinary citizens, right?"
"How could someone…"
As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to realize something and said softly, "Was it Emiya Kiritsugu?"
Although the Holy Maiden of Winter had been sleeping inside the Greater Grail for a long time and didn't know what had happened recently, this fragment of her consciousness was now attached to Irisviel's body.
Not long ago Irisviel had awakened, and she had already explained the general situation to her in her mind.
In order to win the Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family had hired the mage killer Emiya Kiritsugu.
And to the Masters in Fuyuki, Emiya Kiritsugu was Irisviel's husband, while Illya was their child.
But to put it plainly, their relationship was merely a smokescreen for the outside world, mainly to make the other Masters think that Kiritsugu was the Master.
But in reality… the true Master was Irisviel.
"To win the Holy Grail War, he's even willing to launch a bombing attack?"
"Irisviel's" beautiful eyes flickered slightly, and she soon frowned gently.
Back when she and several friends created the Holy Grail system, their original intention was to save humanity. Although the Holy Grail War had long since changed beyond recognition. At the very least, the Masters had never caused such large disturbances.
And now… someone had actually caused an explosion in the new district on the scale of a bombing attack?
This was going a little too far.
After all, magi feared nothing more than being exposed to the public eye, yet the man the Einzbern family hired seemed a little too, insane.
Noticing that Irisviel's expression looked a little unpleasant, Alvin smiled and said, "Anyway, it's good that you're safe. At first I thought the explosion might have been a diversion."
"But if you weren't the target, then what was the point of causing such a massive explosion?"
Alvin quickly fell into deep thought.
Irisviel also pondered the situation. Soon she seemed to remember something and said softly, "The only thing Emiya Kiritsugu truly cares about is one thing… could it be related to that?"
'That?'
Alvin hesitated for a moment, then quickly thought of something and blurted out, "The Greater Grail?"
'Kiritsugu knows where the Greater Grail is hidden?'
"It's only a guess. But if we keep dragging this out, the situation will become unfavorable for us."
Irisviel said quietly, "We must purify the corrupted Greater Grail as soon as possible. If that thing descends upon this city, the consequences will be unimaginable."
That being said, with her current magical power, she simply didn't have the ability to purify the Greater Grail.
Thinking of this, the brightness in Irisviel's eyes gradually dimmed.
If it had been two hundred years ago, with her power, she could have purified the Greater Grail alone without any difficulty.
But now, at that moment, Irisviel suddenly remembered something and asked, "You went to see your teacher today, didn't you?"
"About how to restore magical power… did he give you any suggestions?"
———
Ishtar rode Maanna, gliding beneath the night sky while casually surveying the forest of steel below.
"So this is what the modern era looks like."
The woman soon muttered quietly to herself.
Back when she was in Britain, she had heard many descriptions of the modern world from those travelers from other worlds. But she had never formed a clear picture in her mind.
After all, hearing descriptions of something you've never seen can't really convey what it looks like.
Now that she could see the modern world with her own eyes, she finally gained a clear understanding of what people meant by the "present era."
At this time, Fuyuki was still in a stage of development. The old district and the new district formed a sharp contrast.
Even in the middle of the night, the new district wasn't dark. Instead, it carried the bustling brightness unique to a modern city.
Ishtar casually observed the surrounding city layout.
Soon her gaze settled on a particular building.
"He actually lives somewhere this conspicuous during the Holy Grail War?"
She couldn't help muttering to herself, "What a strange man."
Under normal circumstances, during the Holy Grail War, every Master wanted nothing more than to hide themselves completely to avoid becoming a target or being surrounded and attacked.
The new district might be nice, but it was far too conspicuous and inconvenient for Master and Servant activities.
But in truth, when Sajyou Manaka chose this place as her base, she hadn't considered the Holy Grail War at all.
In her view, whichever place was more suitable for dating was where they should live.
Ishtar gathered her thoughts and guided Maanna toward the building, planning to circle the outside windows and confirm which room Alvin lived in.
Buzz!
But at that moment, she suddenly sensed a strange ripple of magical power drifting faintly from afar.
She instinctively turned her head and quickly realized something.
"This magical power… the Greater Grail?"
The Ruler class did not belong to any Master. It was a special Servant summoned by the Greater Grail to maintain balance in the Holy Grail War.
However, because Sajyou Manaka had transferred Irisviel's Grail, after she rewrote the rules, the one summoning Heroic Spirits in the role of "the Grail" itself, Sajyou Manaka, had a high probability of summoning the special class known as Ruler.
At this moment, Ishtar clearly felt the magical fluctuations of the Greater Grail coming from Ryuudou Temple.
Although the disturbance was extremely subtle, it could not escape the perception of a Ruler.
But logically speaking, without sufficient magical energy stored, the Greater Grail shouldn't be able to be summoned yet.
Realizing this, Ishtar instinctively glanced once more toward the floor where Alvin lived.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally turned and flew toward Ryuudou Temple.
———
At the same time, elsewhere—
Although Alvin had become the White Dragon, when it came to magic circuits and magical energy, he believed he still understood far less than his teacher Kayneth.
Normally, every magus is born with at least one magic circuit.
But Irisviel was different.
Although she was a magus and could use magecraft, her magic circuit was, in a sense, the Lesser Grail itself.
However, not long ago Sajyou Manaka analyzed Irisviel's structure and transferred the Lesser Grail into her own body.
If the Holy Maiden of Winter had not unexpectedly awakened, Irisviel would probably now be an ordinary person unable even to use magecraft.
But even with the Holy Maiden of Winter present, the magecraft Irisviel could use was still extremely limited… because losing the Lesser Grail meant losing the source of magical energy.
So… how could magical power be obtained?
Not long ago, Kayneth had already given an answer.
Since a Master can supply magical energy to a Servant, then conversely, a Servant can also supply magical energy to a Master.
However, even with the thickest skin, Alvin couldn't bring himself to say that aloud.
After all, in some sense she had helped him, and Illya was still in the living room.
If he actually did something now, wouldn't that be a little too disturbing?
But although Alvin didn't say it, Irisviel had already guessed something.
She gazed into the boy's eyes, her expression softening slightly.
"Does the method make you feel embarrassed?"
"It's not that embarrassing exactly… it's just… is it really okay to do it this way?"
On the sofa, Alvin sighed and lowered his eyes slightly.
At this moment he could feel the gentle gaze of the woman before him.
For Alvin, although he technically had a Master now, it was basically the same as having none.
She couldn't supply magical energy, and she had no Command Seals.
In other words, the reason Alvin could still remain in Fuyuki was entirely due to his White Dragon core furnace and the special authority of Independent Manifestation.
If he first supplied magical energy to "Irisviel" and then brought her to the Greater Grail beneath Ryuudou Temple, once she established a connection with the Greater Grail. Even if the opponent was Sajyou Manaka, Alvin was confident he could stop her.
But the woman before him was not truly Irisviel.
She was the Holy Maiden of Winter.
"Are you worried that if Irisviel finds out about us afterward, she'll be angry?"
As if she had guessed the boy's thoughts, the silver-haired beauty's gentle voice suddenly sounded from the balcony.
Alvin instinctively raised his head.
In those crimson eyes was a soft smile.
Her maternal aura attracted Alvin deeply, and before he realized it, his gaze locked with Irisviel's.
Then he saw her tilt her head slightly and say softly,
"She's watching right now."
For a moment, Alvin seemed completely stunned.
"But… wasn't she still asleep…"
"Irisviel" shook her head gently.
One hand rested lightly against her full chest as she spoke with a gentle voice.
"My existence is only a fragment of consciousness that is about to fade away, so I can't completely occupy her body."
"Irisviel has never been fully asleep, including our conversation now, she can hear everything."
In other words, both the Holy Maiden of Winter and Irisviel were conscious.
And this ancestor of the Einzbern family and her descendant were sharing the same body.
Realizing this, Alvin fell into deep thought.
"A Master can give magical power to a Servant, and a Servant can return magical power to the Master… that should be the answer your teacher gave you, right?"
At that moment, Irisviel spoke again, pulling Alvin back to reality.
He looked at the woman before him.
From beginning to end, her pale flawless face maintained the same gentle and intellectual expression, like a goddess descending to the human world.
Alvin opened his mouth.
After a long pause he said with difficulty, "So you already knew from the start how to obtain magical power?"
"Irisviel" looked at him with gentle eyes.
Her gaze seemed calm, yet slightly complicated.
"If we include the time I spent sleeping inside the Greater Grail. I've lived for more than two hundred years."
"So when it comes to magecraft and ways of obtaining magical power… I know a little."
After all, she had once wielded the Third Magic.
In terms of magecraft skill, the Holy Maiden of Winter was far beyond ordinary magi.
Even someone as talented as Kayneth still lacked something she possessed experience.
To put it politely: experience gap.
To put it bluntly: age gap.
Looking at Irisviel's beautiful and serene face, and the gentle gaze that seemed ready to overflow with warmth, Alvin's brain began spinning rapidly.
So she already knew what to do from the start.
She was just too embarrassed to say it… or maybe she hadn't prepared herself mentally yet.
'That's why she deliberately asked me to consult Kayneth.'
'In the end… she was just waiting for me to say it first?'
'That must be it.'
Even though she was technically an elder, she was still a woman.
And she probably had never experienced romance before.
Feeling embarrassed would be perfectly normal.
But Illya was still sleeping in the living room.
And this body didn't even belong to the Holy Maiden of Winter herself.
Thinking about it made Alvin's feelings incredibly complicated.
As if seeing through his thoughts, Irisviel's gaze softened.
Then she suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question.
"Saber, do you know how the Einzbern family's homunculi are created?"
Alvin's expression changed slightly.
He shook his head.
Although he had some understanding of the Fate world, he didn't know many of the deeper details.
"Irisviel" sat down in a chair on the balcony and looked up at the falling snow outside.
Her silver hair blended with the snowy scenery, and time had given her a mature elegance.
Soon a trace of nostalgia appeared in her eyes.
"In the beginning, the disciples of the magician who pursued the Third Magic built a workshop."
"After nearly nine hundred years of plans and attempts at creating individuals, they finally created the first homunculus capable of wielding the Third Magic."
"That person's name was Justeaze."
'Justeaze… that's her.'
Alvin subconsciously looked at Irisviel, his mind beginning to stir.
She extended her right hand.
In her palm, silver threads quietly appeared.
"The Third Magic I wield is an extremely delicate weaving."
"But even so, saving a single person would still take years, let alone saving all of humanity."
"Because I'm a homunculus, my body wouldn't die of old age."
"But because it was too fragile, I couldn't leave that castle."
"The ones who created me were disciples of the Third Magician. Their goal was to use the Third Magic to save all of humanity."
"But when they realized such a miracle couldn't be created with human bodies… they accepted that fact."
"After that, some of them left Einzbern Castle. Others chose to end their own lives."
"In a sense… it was my existence that caused them such despair."
Irisviel… or rather Justeaze… calmly told the suffocating story in a gentle voice.
"Why?"
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