The Holy Grail, the Saintess, and Wishes

"The Holy Grail War had already reached its fourth?"

"Yes. More than two hundred years had passed. It was now the Fourth Holy Grail War."

"More than two hundred years?"

"That's right. To be precise, around two hundred and twenty years. Some events from so long ago were not recorded in detail."

"Thank you."

After the brief exchange, a long silence fell.

Shiki did not mind. He knew that in this Mental World, perceived time differed greatly from reality. With conscious control, even if several hours passed here, only a few minutes might pass in the real world.

At that moment, he was also analyzing the information revealed in the Winter Saintess's words.

Clearly, the Holy Grail War reaching its fourth occurrence was far beyond the Saintess's expectations. Those long two hundred years had also made her realize that the passage of time had long since strayed from the original plan.

It seemed there were secrets behind this Holy Grail War that even Zōken and the Tohsaka Family did not know. As for whether the Einzbern Family knew, they most likely did not either.

Shiki guessed that while the Three Founding Families had all originally aimed for the Root, the Winter Saintess might have had other plans.

About twenty minutes later, the Winter Saintess finally made a move.

With a light wave of her hand, the once pure-white world instantly changed. Shiki felt the world spin around him, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself amid a frozen wasteland.

The biting wind howled past, making Shiki shiver. "Hey, Saintess, you suddenly pulled something like this without even a warning. Isn't that a little rude?"

The Winter Saintess merely gave him an indifferent glance without speaking, then turned and walked straight ahead. Her meaning could not have been clearer—if he wanted answers, he should follow.

"Seriously, couldn't we just arrive at the destination directly? Why go through all this trouble?" Shiki muttered. Left with no choice, he braced himself against the bone-chilling wind and followed the Winter Saintess's footsteps.

They crossed a dense forest and an icy river that creaked beneath their feet. At last, they arrived before an enormous castle.

"This is the Einzbern Family from two hundred years ago."

As the Winter Saintess's words fell, the castle began to shift in Shiki's eyes. Countless figures flashed past him like a film playing at fast-forward.

Soon, Shiki saw the Winter Saintess meeting with two young men inside the castle.

In an instant, Shiki's senses underwent a strange change. He entered the Winter Saintess's perspective and experienced everything as if he were there.

The voices echoing in his ears confirmed that what he saw was the Saintess's experience from back then.

From the clothes and appearances of the two young men below the steps, Shiki recognized them at once. They were the representatives of the other two families among the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War.

The three began to talk.

One of the young men, with long black hair, spoke first. "Greetings, Great Magus. Please forgive our presumptuous visit."

The Winter Saintess remained calm. "Welcome. What brings you two here?"

The young man replied, "We would not dare conceal it from you, Great Magus. We heard that the Einzbern Family wishes to recreate the Third Magic—the Cup of Heaven?"

The Winter Saintess's tone remained flat. "That is indeed the case."

The other young man hurriedly added, "Great Magus, if you wish to recreate the Third Magic, perhaps we can cooperate."

After a moment of silence, the Winter Saintess asked, "How would we cooperate?"

The two young men then explained their ideas in detail.

Only then did Shiki learn that the long-haired young man was actually a registered disciple of the Second True Ancestor, the Jeweled Sword Sage. During their conversation, this gave the Winter Saintess hope of recreating the Third Magic.

The scene before Shiki changed again, revealing image after image of disasters and wars.

More than two hundred years ago, Europe had been engulfed in conflict, and the entire world had been restless. The colonial expansion wars of the Age of Discovery had cast a bloody shadow over the whole world.

Shiki could keenly feel, through the Saintess's perspective, that her thoughts were quietly changing. Her original simple desire to recreate the Third Magic had gradually turned into pity for the people and disgust toward the wars of the world.

At the same time, he heard the ideals and dreams of the other two members of the Three Founding Families.

"Reaching the Root is the dream of us magi!" the long-haired young man shouted excitedly.

"I—I want to become an ally of justice and eliminate the evil of this world," the young man with the seaweed-like hair said firmly.

Finally, the scene returned to the interior of Mount Enzou.

By then, more than ten years had passed, and the construction of the Holy Grail War had entered its final stage.

When a burly, white-haired old man stood before the three of them with the Jewel Sword in hand, it signaled that the crucial moment of the Holy Grail War had arrived.

The white-haired old man said, "I understand the ideals you three hold for reaching the Root. Then Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Makiri—the three families shall work together to construct the Holy Grail War. Begin."

Shiki discovered that his perspective shifted with the Winter Saintess's movements. At that moment, the Winter Saintess was lying atop the square altar.

The crucial ritual officially began. A stone pillar slowly descended from above the altar, closing in on her.

"Damn!"

Shiki was startled. What were they doing?

As the stone pillar drew closer and closer, he could feel the excitement in the Winter Saintess's heart. Her near-muttering words lingered in Shiki's mind.

"Release the gate to the Root and fulfill my wish!"

Even without seeing the Winter Saintess's expression, Shiki could imagine that she probably looked somewhat unhinged at that moment.

Boom!

The world before him instantly went black.

When Shiki opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the pure-white Mental World. He shook himself, as though he could still recall the suffocating sensation of being crushed to death.

When he looked at the Winter Saintess again, there was something strange in his eyes. This Winter Saintess appeared calm on the outside, but she was so twisted inside. Wasn't that a little abnormal?

"...Saintess, what were you trying to tell me by showing me all that?"

Although he already had a guess, Shiki still wanted to hear it from her own mouth.

Faced with Shiki's question, the Winter Saintess tilted her head slightly. She did not understand why he still had doubts when she had made herself so obvious.

Could it have been because their languages did not match? Even if the meaning could be conveyed, perhaps there was still a misunderstanding? Or had the changes of the past two hundred years created a generational gap?

Still, since this boy had been able to awaken her, the Winter Saintess felt that he should possess some degree of ability. Perhaps she could tell him the origin and purpose of the Holy Grail War.

Perhaps he could fulfill her wish. After all, hearing that it was the "Fourth Holy Grail War" had made her realize that something major might have gone wrong with this ritual. A purpose that should have been achieved in the first war had somehow been delayed until the fourth.

That was not a situation she wanted to see.

So, she told Shiki the purpose of this ritual. "The Holy Grail War exists to open the gate leading to the Root. Once connected to the Root, each of our three families can fulfill their respective wishes."

A simple sentence, yet it directly revealed the essence of the Holy Grail War.

Of course, reaching the Root to fulfill wishes was something that came afterward.

Shiki still had not heard what he most wanted to know.

"Saintess, if possible, I would like to know what your wish is."

That was what Shiki truly cared about. He needed to compare it with his own guess.

The Winter Saintess calmly stated her wish.

"To bring salvation to all humanity. Connect to the Root and spread the power of the Third Magic—the Cup of Heaven—across the entire world, so that all humanity will neither age nor die. Then there will be no more disasters or wars, and all humanity will live in peace forever."

Shiki felt a headache coming on after hearing that.

Sure enough, this Saintess was a lunatic too. Her idea was far too naïve.

With a helpless sigh, Shiki thought that people from ancient times had limited ideas and knowledge. Even the Winter Saintess, a Great Magus, was absurdly innocent in some respects.

"Saintess, do you think that if your wish truly came true, humanity would really live in peace?"

The Winter Saintess nodded as if it were only natural. "If all humanity neither ages nor dies, does not suffer hunger or death, and has no resource troubles, then naturally there will be no wars. The world will naturally become peaceful."

"...Do you truly believe that, Saintess?"

"Yes, that is what I think. What is wrong with it? Aren't resources the fundamental cause of humans slaughtering one another?"

"Resources are indeed one major cause, but they are not as simple as you imagine, Saintess."

The Saintess looked utterly puzzled by Shiki's words. "Boy, why do you not agree with my wish? Is this not a good thing?"

"Sigh, how should I put this..."

For a moment, Shiki did not know how to explain it to her. Reasoning with people was not his strong suit.

"Saintess, let me put it this way. If all humanity truly neither aged nor died, then the world would have only one ending: destruction."

"Destruction? Why? If humanity neither ages nor dies, how could it be destroyed?"

"Saintess, I mean that human civilization would perish. Once civilization dies out, even if humanity still exists, its existence loses meaning."

"I do not understand. If humanity exists, then civilization should exist as well."

Shiki frowned and patiently explained, "Saintess, humanity not aging or dying might be a good thing at first. Society might advance rapidly over several decades and reach a very high level. But as time passes, after several hundred years, humanity will inevitably hit a bottleneck. When there is no visible progress and no threat of hunger or death, people will gradually grow lazy in their immortal state. Civilization will stop advancing and eventually perish."

"Moreover, Saintess, only the human body would be immortal. The mind would not stop aging. Once the mind ages and fades away, humans would be no different from walking corpses. That is the destruction of civilization I mean. Humanity's existence would lose its meaning as well."

"...The mind can perish..."

The Winter Saintess fell into confusion. Only after Shiki's reminder did she realize that the mind was also an important part of humanity.

Just like the spiritual consciousness currently connecting her and Shiki.

Could the Third Magic make the mind immortal?

No. The Third Magic merely materialized the soul and made the soul immortal. It did not include the spiritual level.

In mysticism, humans were composed of body, soul, and mind. All three were indispensable to a complete human being.

If only the soul and body were immortal, while the mind lost its vitality or even perished, could humans still be called human?

Would they not become the walking corpses the boy had described?

As that thought surfaced in her mind, the Winter Saintess felt a wave of confusion.

The wish she had always upheld seemed as though it truly would lead to the destruction of the world and human civilization. Then what meaning did everything she had held onto have?

The light gradually faded from her crimson eyes. The enormous flaw in her ideal left her at a loss.

Once the castle she had built upon her convictions collapsed, it would likely be difficult to rebuild.

Shiki naturally noticed this as well. Not only did he see the Winter Saintess's change, but through their spiritual connection, he could also feel her disappointment.

This pure-white Mental World also grew dim with the Saintess's emotions.

This is bad. If the Winter Saintess closes off her heart now, all my previous efforts will have been for nothing.

Fortunately, he had prepared for this. "Initiate Plan C."

Shiki hurriedly said, "Saintess, in this day and age, there is actually no longer any need to save all humanity. The world today is no longer as chaotic as it was two hundred years ago, with war and disaster everywhere. Though some regions and factions remain at war, and some places still suffer hardships, the world as a whole is peaceful and stable."

Seeing that this caught the Saintess's attention, Shiki decided to press his advantage. "Saintess, let me tell you a story. In another world, there were no magi, only a mysterious power known as ninja. In that world, there was a young man..."

Shiki then told the Winter Saintess every detail of his experiences in the Ninja World.

He described how he ended the wars of the Ninja World, restored peace, distributed the world's resources fairly, created a new history for ninjas, diversified ninja abilities, and made the world a better place.

In his story, the Divine Tree had been transformed. No longer a calamity for the Ninja World, it had instead become a pillar supporting it, restoring vitality to the land and raising the world's energy limit.

He had also modified the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, turning the Tsukuyomi Space into an entertainment venue for humanity as well as a place to resolve conflicts.

Whether conflicts between people or between nations, they could be resolved in the Tsukuyomi Space. Though it could not solve every conflict, it at least prevented large-scale wars and made the Ninja World a relatively wonderful place.

"Infinite Tsukuyomi... the Eye of the Moon Plan..."

Upon hearing the story, especially the part about the illusionary space of Infinite Tsukuyomi, the Winter Saintess's eyes immediately lit up.

She found Shiki's story extremely fascinating, and she thought everything the people in it had done was wonderful.

It would neither cause too much harm to the world nor effectively fail to resolve the conflicts of human society. If managed well, it might even allow the Earth to flourish once more.

The Winter Saintess stared at Shiki excitedly. "Then, boy, can you achieve that? If you can, I will support you with all my strength and help you achieve final victory in the Holy Grail War."

"..."

Shiki felt somewhat helpless. Was that truly the only idea the Winter Saintess had taken from this story?

His original intention in telling her this story was to tell her not to cling to such unrealistic ideas. Humanity had its own lives and thoughts; it did not need her to force her will upon them.

But seeing the anticipation in the Winter Saintess's eyes, Shiki sighed. "To be honest, I am not sure either."

However, the Saintess was not discouraged by that answer. Instead, she became even more excited. Her expression even twisted somewhat, and her smile looked almost unhinged.

Not denying it meant there was still a possibility.

"Boy, Hōraisan Shiki, let us cooperate. Together, let us make the world a better place."