Chapter Sixteen: The Covenant Beneath the City Walls

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My name is Lin Hao.
Kiritsugu seems to intend to form an alliance with me?
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Kirei Kotomine believes that all things in the world can be bifurcated, divided into two or eight.
For instance, eighty percent of the world’s wealth is held by twenty percent of the people. Among these people, eighty percent live in a state of chaos, while only twenty percent strive for the world's development. Very unfortunately, eighty percent of the efforts made by these strivers are directed in the wrong way.
If we set aside such grand topics and speak only of himself, Kirei Kotomine is uninterested in eighty percent of the things in this world, yet he does not know what the remaining twenty percent consists of. Thus, he has been tirelessly searching. From this, one thing can be confirmed: he is interested in the act of searching for things that interest him.
Kirei is not a genius, but he possesses the trait that makes others perceive him as one: he only needs to exert twenty percent of the effort to achieve eighty percent of the results, yet to obtain the final twenty percent, he must exert eighty percent of the effort.
On the whole, he receives returns proportional to his efforts, which by no means qualifies him as a genius. However, after achieving eighty percent of a goal, he often discovers it is not what he truly wanted and turns away without hesitation, leaving others with the impression that he achieves four times the return.
Whether it was skipping grades after mastering content beyond his scope, or being pushed to become the student council president due to his talent for leadership, or even eventually joining the Holy Church where his father served and attempting every task due to his exceptional capability—he still never found anything resembling a passion. Before being sent to become Tokiomi Tohsaka’s student, Kirei Kotomine was running about as an Executor. Fortunately, he is not interested in killing or torture either.
To study under a "prey" while acting as an Executor tasked with hunting mages—Kirei Kotomine did not have much of a reaction to this, harboring only some expectations regarding magecraft skills. Ultimately, he was disappointed. Alchemy, necromancy, summoning, divination—he mastered every type of magic with excellence. In terms of healing, he was even superior to his teacher, Tokiomi Tohsaka. Yet, even when praised by his father and Tokiomi for his brilliance, he felt no joy.
His final hope was pinned on the legendary Heroic Spirits, but as expected, it was boring. A schizophrenic ancient assassin and a pretentious ancient king—the other Masters must have summoned similar legendary figures. Therefore, the sooner the Holy Grail War ends, the better; he still has to continue searching for something that will pique his interest.
Kirei Kotomine poured the gem solution into the final stroke of the summoning circle and stood up.
"Junior brother Kirei, thank you for your help!" Ryunosuke Uryu walked into the summoning room, clutching a stack of documents. "I’ve finished organizing the data Amyr summarized."
This "senior brother" is truly easy to read. A preliminary judgment suggests he belongs to that type of person who gains satisfaction and a sense of superiority by providing help to others—in other words, a "nice guy."
Currently, aside from the arrogant Gilgamesh and Rin Tohsaka, who targets him for reasons unknown, Ryunosuke Uryu is remarkably successful in interpersonal relationships—yes, he can even converse with the little girl-shaped Assassin, and he even gave her the Sumerian-style name "Amyr," though it is unclear if he is trying to curry favor with that King.
And there he goes again, teasing the Assassin who is always clutching his hem.
"Has Amyr been a good girl?" "Look what Uncle brought you." "Do you like it?" "Uncle has already eaten, Amyr is such a good girl."
Amyr... the Assassin’s surface personality cannot even speak. It is truly remarkable that he manages to communicate with her.
Kirei Kotomine sat on the sofa, flipping through the documents handed over by Ryunosuke. Hah, so that Kiritsugu Emiya is participating in the Holy Grail War for such a foolish wish as world peace? That explains why wars end so quickly wherever he appears. However, he managed to capture Caster’s Master before the battle even began; he has some skill after all.
And this Master named Lin Hao... I had wondered why Caster would occupy a hospital that could never be kept secret, but this is the reason?
Using magecraft to transfer others' illnesses onto herself... what could be the motive?
Paralyzed for years due to a magical accident... could her wish to the Holy Grail be related to this?
Judging from the medical records of patients who were discharged because of her, she transferred more than one type of illness each time. When those symptoms, which could never possibly occur simultaneously, appeared all at once...
Kirei Kotomine’s train of thought was interrupted for a moment.
What kind of pain did she feel?
244:43:10
"It hurts!"
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Irisviel pushed open the door to Lin Hao’s temporary ward, only to see the girl using clumsy levitation magic to move herself from the bed to the wheelchair beside it. Startled by the sound of the door opening, her magic failed, and she fell directly onto the floor. Fortunately, all rooms in Einzbern Castle have thick carpets.
Her ability is pathetic. Kiritsugu Emiya watched his wife rush to help the girl, shaking his head helplessly.
The girl likely does not know that without the castle owner’s permission, she would not be able to use any magic within this workshop, which is filled with magical barriers. In other words, the moment she used magic, Irisviel would have sensed it and could have stopped it with a single thought.
Though Irisviel had likely permitted it all.
"Is she the one you wanted me to see, Master?" A solemn and cold voice sounded beside him.
Dark golden, serious eyes, delicate and refined features, a gorgeous, old-fashioned black evening gown, slightly pale golden hair, a brisk and dignified noble temperament—this Servant could be said to perfectly meet all the conditions of the expected [Knight King] Arthur Pendragon, except for the fact that she is a sixteen-year-old girl.
When Kiritsugu Emiya saw the two Sabers of different forms appear earlier, he had already fully deduced the reason for their appearance, combining it with the history he knew.
Saber Lily is in the midst of training to become a qualified king, hence her relative weakness and naivety, while Saber Alter comes from the cold, ruthless side of that noble king—a hypothesis of what she would be like if she ruled by force rather than following chivalry.
As for why they appeared simultaneously, Kiritsugu also had a theory. His wife, Irisviel, is effectively the Lesser Grail used by the Einzbern family to collect the souls of defeated Heroic Spirits in the Holy Grail War. Once enough souls are collected to grant a wish, she will lose her current form and become the vessel known as the Holy Grail.
In a sense, she is the Holy Grail itself. With her participating in the war, it is not impossible to summon additional Heroic Spirits. Furthermore, since they used the same catalyst and summoning circle, the two states of King Arthur’s life that best matched the two of them manifested as different images.
As for the minor detail that the legendary Knight King was actually a girl, there was no need to consider that for now.
However, the current situation is somewhat troublesome, such as the two Sabers not seeing eye-to-eye.
"I will never become like you in the future," and "Your naive thoughts can only be spoken of now," they have exchanged such barbs dozens of times, killing any of Kiritsugu’s plans for the two Heroic Spirits to cooperate in the cradle.
The final solution was to let them follow their respective Masters and not arrange for cooperation, instead formulating combat plans based on this.
"Ah, that’s right," Kiritsugu Emiya leaned against the doorframe, watching Irisviel and Saber Lily help Lin Hao back into the wheelchair, pointedly ignoring Saber Alter who entered afterward. He said flatly, "This is the Master of Caster, whom we accidentally discovered and captured while gathering intelligence before the war."
"What do you mean?" The black Saber looked at the Command Spells on the girl’s hand.
"According to my methods, I would kill her once the seventh Servant appears and the Holy Grail War officially begins." Kiritsugu reached into his coat pocket, only to find the white Saber had already blocked his path to Lin Hao, her eyes filled with nothing but disapproval and condemnation.
It seems the Holy Grail has also instilled the concept of firearms into the Servants, Kiritsugu thought indifferently, then pulled a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth:
"It seems you object. Then, do you have any other suggestions?"
"We should..." Saber began to speak, but hesitated and closed her mouth.
Indeed, what should be done? Kiritsugu Emiya thought with a sneer. Have her summon a Servant for a head-on duel? Setting aside the fact that the girl values Caster more than her own life and would certainly refuse to summon one, you, a Saber, want a head-on duel with Caster? That’s nothing but extortion. Let her go? Let her go after a Master has already completely grasped the internal situation of Einzbern Castle? Caster has the Territory Creation class ability, and her corresponding territory-destruction skills are not insignificant. This isn't how one helps the enemy. An alliance? Without him telling Saber the girl’s wish, she certainly wouldn't think of this method. So, as expected, only the option of killing her remains.
"I am a man who will stop at nothing to achieve my goals," Kiritsugu Emiya lit the cigarette, then caught Irisviel’s gaze and extinguished it: "To achieve the goal of 'saving the world,' the lives of a mere six mages are acceptable."
Rather than having Saber discover his methods during battle later and cause complications, it is better to clarify the positions of both parties now. Moreover, the main target of these words was the lily-like girl knight.
And the black knight beside him showed no objection or intention to stop him after hearing his intentions. It seems she was indeed summoned based on his own compatibility.
"Let her go." The white-clad Saber hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: "I swear on my honor as a knight: if this place is attacked because of this, I will protect you and my lady with my life."
"That is your duty anyway," Kiritsugu Emiya said before the black-clad Saber could speak, and she let out a scoff: "If you insist on letting her go, how about promising not to object to any of our actions in the Holy Grail War?"
Using the word "we," are you? Kiritsugu Emiya nodded slightly with satisfaction. If the original Saber had been summoned, she would likely have been at odds with him and refused to take orders.
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"I, I agree..." Saber Lily hesitated for a moment, then finally answered with some reluctance.
"Don't be fooled, he's a killer." Perhaps because she heard the talk of killing her, the subject of the conversation, Lin Hao, stared at Kiritsugu with the look one gives a villain, even though Irisviel was trying to soothe her with a smile on the side.
"Yes, yes." Kiritsugu had no intention of getting along with her anyway; after all, the identity of "Magus Killer" is basically impossible to wash clean. He took a golden scabbard from the long, narrow relic box he carried and, to Lin Hao’s astonishment, sealed it directly into her body.
"That is..." "Avalon?" The Sabers naturally recognized their own scabbard, but it had been lost in history, so none of the Artoria forms could possess this Noble Phantasm.
"Hmm," Kiritsugu looked back at his black servant: "Come here and touch her."
Avalon, the Everdistant Utopia, provides powerful defense and healing. If used by King Arthur herself, it can even achieve absolute defense and the power to bring the dead back to life.
It is common knowledge that relics cannot be handed over to Heroic Spirits who have manifested as Servants. Otherwise, if the main body on the Throne of Heroes were to impulsively take it back, though it could be used again when summoned next time, the owner of the relic would suffer a great loss.
"Doing that will kill her, Master," Saber Alter manifested an ominous black longsword in her palm, featuring several bright red rings and patterns running across the blade: "Manifested in this form, the moment I trigger Avalon, it will turn into a powerful, lethal Noble Phantasm."
"I'll do it," Saber Lily, whose mood had inexplicably improved, walked over and tapped the shoulder of the girl in the wheelchair, who had an expression of "How did that thing get inside?"
Hum—
With a sound of resonance, a bright and gentle golden light radiated from the girl, and one could faintly hear the sizzling sound of something being evaporated.
"Thank you..." Lin Hao said softly. Her voice was still a bit dry, but the next second she glared at Kiritsugu Emiya: "I wasn't talking to you."
Kiritsugu Emiya, who hadn't intended to listen anyway, took back Avalon and handed it to Irisviel, leaving Saber Lily, who still wanted to say something, feeling very depressed.
"Still pursuing things that don't belong to you? To think I was once so boring." Saber Alter let out a cold laugh.
"Hmm..." Ignoring the Sabers who had begun to argue again, Irisviel pressed her hand onto Lin Hao’s arm, and a faint halo appeared in her palm: "...Strange."
"What is it?" Kiritsugu Emiya, who was already preparing to leave, asked upon seeing Irisviel’s expression shift from relaxed to grave.
"Little Hao’s other illnesses have disappeared, but the paralysis hasn't recovered," Irisviel frowned slightly: "That shouldn't be."
"It's normal." Kiritsugu Emiya looked at Lin Hao, who had an expression that said "Let’s see what you can come up with," and said: "The other illnesses were things she borrowed from Caster’s power, transferred from patients at Fuyuki Hospital. It doesn't matter if they are cured, but the paralysis existed before she came to Japan. I suspect she is suffering for someone else. If curing her would cause someone else to become paralyzed, then Avalon will do nothing."
"Uh, no, that's not it." Lin Hao had the look of someone who had been hit squarely by the truth.
"What a noble spirit of sacrifice." Saber Lily, seeming to understand something, sighed in admiration and reached out to hold Lin Hao’s hand: "Please summon your Servant. I believe she must also possess noble qualities similar to yours."
"No." Lin Hao continued to stare at Kiritsugu with that look of seeing a villain.
"Tsk." Kiritsugu Emiya turned and left the room impatiently. Saber Alter glanced at the girl in the wheelchair and followed.
"Kiritsugu had already decided to form an alliance with Little Hao before summoning you," Irisviel stroked Lin Hao’s hair and said to the white-clad Saber: "It’s just that he isn't very good with words and only intended to treat this healing as a greeting gift. It’s much better now that you’re here."
"Please rest assured," Saber Lily tried to put on a serious expression and said solemnly: "Although I am still immature, I will do my best to win this Holy Grail War for you."
The white princess and the knight smiled at each other.
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