It is Said That Even the Author Doesn't Know What This Chapter Is About

A ribbon woven from magical energy formed a spike, stabbing viciously towards Kirei Kotomine's back.

No matter how powerful this divine servant was, at this distance, he wouldn't be able to dodge, right?

This attack contained all of Irisviel's magic at this stage. If she still couldn't defeat him with this—no, she definitely could!

Time seemed to deliberately slow down. The Einzbern homunculus clearly saw the tip of the spike touch Kirei Kotomine's body. It would only take a thousandth of a second to pierce him—

What was going on?

The spike froze in mid-air.

A hand that appeared out of nowhere firmly grasped the spike, and no matter how much force was applied, it wouldn't budge an inch.

"Still failed..."

Irisviel slumped back as if she had given up everything, but the person who had thwarted her plan supported her body from behind first.

"Why are you here?"

The man in front stopped, but without turning around, he directly asked.

"Of course, I sensed Master was in danger... Don't worry, I wasn't slacking off. Caster is still within my tracking range."

She received this answer.

"Why did you expose your presence?"

"I was afraid Master would be in trouble, so I acted too quickly."

"...Do your job properly."

The one who suddenly appeared, released her aura to stop the fight between the two knights not far away, and disrupted Irisviel's counterattack was, naturally, Jizi, who had been hidden for a long time and whose presence had been so weak that even her Master almost forgot about her.

After responding to Kirei Kotomine with a very simple reason, Jizi had no intention of leaving. Supporting Irisviel, she followed Kirei Kotomine and headed towards the exit of the forest.

The mission was already complete anyway—she already knew Caster's whereabouts, and Saber and Lancer had stopped fighting because of her aura, so it could be considered a resolution.

Kirei Kotomine didn't mind his servant's "disobedient" actions. After talking with the King of Heroes a few times, he seemed to be showing signs of change. Before, he used to routinely ask Jizi the meaning of her every action, but now he adopted an attitude of seemingly letting her do as she pleased while secretly observing her.

This kind of curious observation was extremely dangerous for Jizi—aren't you afraid of being stared at by a gaze filled with pleasure? What's more, as her unconventional actions increased, the curiosity hidden in that gaze grew stronger.

The reason he only observed and didn't interfere was because he didn't want her behavior to be affected by external factors.

It was like how an audience member watching a play wouldn't boss around the actors on stage.

Jizi also sensed something, so she tried to minimize her interactions with Kirei Kotomine. However, a battle like today was naturally unavoidable.

And just now, she had acted impulsively again because of Irisviel. The latter was now weakly slung over Jizi's shoulder, barely walking with her strength, and her eyes showed resentment when she looked at Jizi.

I was trying to save you, alright! You really think Master didn't notice? That guy can go toe-to-toe with someone using four times the speed with one hand. If I hadn't stopped you and given Master a reason to attack you, the consequences would have been quite severe... Heh, not only did you not say thank you, but you're looking at me like this?

The above was, naturally, just Jizi's internal monologue. On the surface, she maintained her dignified image as a Servant, and while walking, she reported the current situation to her Master:

"Rider has left the forest, but her presence hasn't faded. Lancer and Saber have reached a truce and are each attending to their Masters. Caster's vile magic is still very apparent; we can track it directly to their lair."

"Mm, after escorting the prisoner back, you will go search for them."

"Kiritsugu..."

The trio, each lost in their own thoughts, left the Einzbern forest.

...Intermission...

"With your swordsmanship, you are certainly no unknown figure," the handsome Lancer said to the knight he had just been fighting. "This time, due to various reasons, I couldn't fully enjoy myself. Next time, I hope to have a proper duel with you."

"Properly?" the golden Swordsman retorted with self-mockery as he bandaged his injured Master. "Is it still a knight's duel if we can't even exchange names?"

"It is a regret of a Heroic Spirit chosen by the Holy Grail, but my Master has not forbidden me from doing so—so listen well," he said, planting his spear before him and bowing. "I am Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the First Knight of the Knights of Fianna. I look forward to our next encounter!"

With that, Lancer was about to leave, but Saber called out to him: "Wait! Since you have the spirit to announce your name, I naturally must respond with the appropriate courtesy."

Glancing at the unconscious Kiritsugu—since he couldn't command me now anyway—Saber held Invisible Sword before her chest and said, "I am Arthur Pendragon, the King of Britain. Knight, I too look forward to our next duel!"

And in the sky not far away, a hearty voice muttered to itself, "King Arthur still has a glorious appearance? And that golden king from before, neither of them are ordinary individuals."

"But that's precisely why they are worth conquering, hahahahahahahaha!"

...Wife acquired...

"Dinner's ready."

"Oh."

"Do you want some water?"

"Oh."

"Do you need anything?"

"..."

What should be done after capturing a wild... no, a domesticated wife?

This is actually a very profound research topic, involving complex professional knowledge in philosophy, sociology, psychology, criminology, management, art, physiological health, and more.

Kirei Kotomine clearly lacked the professional qualifications to integrate all these disciplines. Therefore, he simply placed Irisviel under house arrest—as for the location, the Church was a major organization in Fuyuki City, so finding a place was quite simple.

After putting her under house arrest, what should be done? Jizi was a bit unclear on her Master's intentions. As someone from one of the three founding families, he surely knew about the Einzbern's artificial humans. Therefore, killing her was out of the question. So, ordinarily, she should be used as a bargaining chip to negotiate terms with Kiritsugu Emiya.

However, Kirei Kotomine had no such intention. After symbolically asking Irisviel a few trivial questions, he paid her no further attention. Thus, Jizi had no choice but to take on the role of delivering food and water.

As for the interaction between these two, it was pretty much as described above—Irisviel wouldn't give Jizi a pleasant look, even though the latter genuinely meant her no harm.

Confirming that the restraints on the captive were intact, Jizi shrugged and left the place.

As for whether Kiritsugu Emiya would use his Command Seals to forcibly transfer Saber here to rescue Irisviel, neither Jizi nor Kirei Kotomine were particularly worried.

Because she knew his behavioral patterns well, Jizi was certain Kiritsugu Emiya would fear the other party using Irisviel and would set a trap, waiting for Saber to teleport over. As for Kirei Kotomine, he seemed to have another reason.

"Could it be that he's not worried about Iris being rescued, but rather that it doesn't matter if she is?" Jizi pondered, lowering her head. "Ever since I discussed philosophy with Gilgamesh a few times, that guy has become increasingly strange—has he finally begun to grasp pleasure?"

"His current actions are less about planning something and more about waiting for something—he's waiting for Kiritsugu Emiya's reaction!" The more Jizi thought about it, the more it made sense. "Capturing Iris' is equivalent to applying a stimulus, and then obtaining more information through the 'reaction' to gain a deeper understanding of what kind of person he is."

"That makes sense. Indeed, pleasure has begun to take root and sprout. I need to be careful too... Hmm?" Following this line of thought, she seemed to have discovered something extraordinary. "He adopts a laissez-faire attitude towards many of my actions. Is he also analyzing 'me' by observing my behavior?"

Since Jizi had always adopted a policy of reporting directly to Tokiomi, bypassing her immediate superior, she hadn't had much contact with her current Master. After all, according to the plot in her memory, this guy was extremely dangerous, and it was best to keep a distance—but unexpectedly, it had piqued his curiosity. It would have been better not to follow Rin's route (Jizi: I told you it was Rin's route!) and just stick with the Matou family.

What's done is done, and there's no turning back. Next—

"Wind and rain send spring home, flying snow greets spring's arrival... My child vows to leave my hometown, casting aside my native land. Eastward dawn outside Chang'an City, do not say you travel early..." (①)

The ringing of the phone interrupted Jizi's thoughts. Although there was no caller ID, only one person in this world knew her phone number, so after answering, Jizi spoke directly:

"Hello, young lady, what's up?"

"...It really..."

"What?"

"...It really can be heard!"

"Isn't that obvious? You've used a phone before."

"...But... it's my first time using a mobile phone." (②)

"...Sigh, you," her irritable mood inexplicably eased, and Jizi smiled as she said, "Really, just say what you need to say quickly."

"...Come..." A whisper, so faint that even a Servant's hearing couldn't distinguish it, came from the receiver.

"Hmm? Speak louder."

"...Come, come to the train station to pick me up!"

Jizi was stunned for a good while before she could fully process Rin's words. This silence made Rin on the other end of the line suspect that the electronic device, which she was using for the first time, had malfunctioned. It was only then that an impatient roar erupted from her receiver:

"How dare you come to Fuyuki?!"