Chien-chan, I Seem to Be Becoming the Kind of Person You Dislike

In a district of Fuyuki City near the new town, there stood a long-abandoned factory.

A long time ago, before Fuyuki New Town was planned by the city government as a burgeoning residential area, this place served as an important industrial site for manufacturing. But now, it was merely a relic of the past, discarded amidst the tide of massive development and forgotten by the new, bustling streets. It lay hidden in the hinterland of a small hill overgrown with tall weeds, quietly awaiting its demise.

Quiet, empty, and deserted.

It was the perfect place to hide mysterious existences that could not be discovered by the "surface world."

Jizi, controlling the Assassin's body, carefully sensed the magical energy permeating the area, attempting to find a weak point in the magic barrier to break through.

Since she was only temporarily borrowing the Assassin's body and her class remained Caster, Jizi couldn't use "Presence Concealment" to infiltrate. It was even less possible to transform into a human state to conceal her Servant aura—at this time and place, ordinary humans would be more suspicious than a Servant. Thus, she had no choice but to rely on her extraordinary senses and use a mage's approach to deal with the barrier.

Thanks to Kayneth... or rather, Kayneth, when he was pursuing Kiritsugu Emiya, he was ambushed by Maiya Hisau who arrived later. Although he wasn't seriously injured, his attention was inevitably affected. Then, he was hit by an Origin Bullet from the mage-killer who had been patiently waiting. Finally, with Lancer's rescue, he managed to escape back to his temporary base, heavily wounded.

Being hit by the Origin Bullet caused his Magic Circuits to go haywire throughout his body, resulting in varying degrees of damage to his internal organs and nervous system. It could be said that Kayneth, who had managed to survive, was already a cripple on the path of magecraft. Naturally, the barrier he had set up had many flaws under these circumstances, giving an opportunity to Jizi, who, despite bearing the title of "mage," knew almost no magic.

"Got it."

After spending about two to three times the amount of time it would take an ordinary mage, Jizi finally found the weakness in the barrier. She extended her palm and slowly moved it up, down, left, and right in the air, as if caressing an invisible wall. When her palm reached a certain spot, it suddenly pushed forward, as if there were a large hole in that wall.

Next, she groped left and right with her hand, searching for the edges of the invisible hole. After roughly grasping its size and scope, she leaned forward and flipped through it.

Once inside the disguised barrier, the previously silent night suddenly became noisy.

***

"Kayneth, your Magic Circuits are also gone. You can no longer use magic."

The voice belonged to a cold and beautiful woman, her tone carrying the inherent arrogance of someone accustomed to a superior position.

"Ah... I... I..."

The subsequent male voice was choked with sobs. The crying was just a repetition of meaningless words, as if his spirit had suffered a severe blow, rendering him incapable of rational conversation or communication.

After letting the man cry for a while, the woman spoke again, but her tone had changed drastically from before, now filled with deep tenderness and comfort:

"Don't cry, Kayneth. Isn't it too early to give up now?"

Her voice was as sweet as that of the most intimate lovers, yet it contained a certain [REDACTED].

"The Holy Grail War is still ongoing. Lancer still follows our contract. We haven't lost yet."

"Sola?"

"The Holy Grail can grant any wish. As long as we win, it'll be fine. Once we obtain the Holy Grail, everything will be restored."

Though meant as encouragement, an indescribable sense of unease gradually took shape in the area.

"So, hand over the Command Seals to me. Let me become the Master, and I will win the Holy Grail for you."

"No~ No, that's not..."

"Don't you trust me? Although I don't have Magic Crests, I am, after all, a mage of the Sophielia Family. As Archibald's fiancée, is there any problem with me fighting in your stead?"

"No... but..."

"Then it's settled, Kayneth."

"...I cannot give you the Command Seals."

The man's voice finally regained a hint of clarity. The pressure from all sides forced out a sliver of rationality, allowing him to understand what was most important.

"Kayneth, you still don't understand..."

However, the woman seemed to have lost her patience, like a mother scolding a disobedient child:

"My magecraft is insufficient to forcibly strip Command Seals of this level without the owner's consent. In that case..."

Crack. The sound of dry wood breaking echoed.

"If you still refuse, I'll have to cut off your entire right hand. How about that?"

The woman laughed triumphantly, believing everything was within her grasp. As long as she had the Command Seals, Lancer would belong to her alone. His smiles would bloom for her, even if forced, even if false. As long as she could maintain a thread of connection with that man, she would do anything...!

Suddenly, a powerful aura erupted not far away. Before the two inside the house could react, a silver flash accompanied by a piercing sound arrived.

"Chop!"

The sound of metal severing bone.

"Chopping off a man's little... thing! Such a horrific act is truly—delightful, my lady! If you don't mind, allow me to do the honors!"

A black figure followed closely behind. Picking up the severed arm from the ground, it quickly leaped out the window. Sensing Jizi abandoning her disguise, Lancer, who had been patrolling outside the barrier, had already rushed back. If Jizi had been a fraction of a second slower, the body she was controlling would have been pinned to the ground by a red spear.

—But since it wasn't her actual body, she didn't feel any pain even if it was destroyed.

***

"You assassin who has nowhere to run! Return my Master's arm now, and I might spare your life!"

After a chase, Lancer had cornered the "Assassin" who had attacked his Master. While a single thrust of his spear could have easily killed it, he reluctantly proposed negotiations, fearing damage to his Master's Command Seals.

For anyone else, this might have been a tactic to lull the opponent into a false sense of security. But for a righteous knight like Lancer, if he said he would trade his arm, he would truly let the other party go once the arm was handed over.

"Heh heh!"

The black figure let out a mocking cackle at Lancer's almost naive words. Lancer understood the other party's concerns and said earnestly again:

"You need not worry about me going back on my word. I swear it by my knightly honor."

"Heh heh heh..."

The assassin continued to cackle.

The situation had reached a stalemate. Although the assassin had no escape route, Lancer wasn't confident he could kill it with a single blow before it destroyed his arm. The assassin, for its part, didn't seem to believe Lancer's oath.

However, this stalemate wouldn't last long. If the severed arm, stripped of its vitality, was left disconnected for too long, it couldn't be reattached. Therefore, as time passed, Lancer would inevitably have to make a choice...

And this place...

Lancer had cornered the assassin against a massive tree, capable of being embraced by four or five people, with his twin guns. The area was densely packed with trees, indicating they were in a forest. When considering forests on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, while there might be more than one, given its connection to the Holy Grail War, there was no doubt it was the Einzbern Forest.

As for why they ended up here, it was because Jizi had intentionally lured Lancer to this location.

They had been locked in a standoff for some time. The Einzbern's barrier must have sensed the intruder by now, meaning Saber could arrive at any moment. Lancer wasn't afraid of Saber, nor did he worry about Saber and the assassin teaming up against him. His only concern was that if Saber appeared, the assassin might believe its death was certain and fight recklessly, in which case Kayneth's master arm would definitely not be recovered.

Time was ticking, what should he do?

After a period of internal struggle, Lancer finally made a decision. He drew back his gun-wielding hands, seemingly preparing to yield to the assassin?

But—

"Dragon Break Slash!"

Blazing flames engulfed the assassin. When the fire dispersed, the assassin's figure was nowhere to be seen. In its place stood a beautiful, silver-haired woman.

"Caster!"

Anxious to reclaim his master's arm, Lancer feared it would be damaged in the flames. However, upon seeing the object Jizi was idly playing with, he felt a temporary sense of relief. Lancer, whose attention was entirely focused on the arm, failed to notice a mask, which had been in Jizi's possession, flash and then merge into her body from the ashes of the assassin's remains.

"Caster, why are you..."

"That's exactly what I want to ask both of you!"

Lancer's words were interrupted by a voice that sounded somewhat weary but still full of spirit. It was Saber, who had suffered a mental blow at the banquet that had recently concluded.

The three Servants met on this chaotic night, where so much had happened, and then...

ps2: For those who want daily updates, I'm updating daily! Even if it's only for two days, it's still daily updates!

ps3: For those who want to see the C route, I'm updating that too!

ps4: If you say my comment about "the last update of July" yesterday was unnecessary, then I'll take that comment back.

psv: I've changed it to this being the last update before August (^_^).

psv2000: So I've adopted all the opinions the readers have raised. Please call me "The Director Who Values Readers."

psp: So, if I could ask for recommendations, just a small request... If that's really not possible, then I'd like some clicks... Please give me some clicks.

psp2000: If you ask, "Isn't it very troublesome for Jizi to reconstruct her body? Why was it quickly constructed when confronting Lancer?"...

psp3000: My answer is: Do you remember when I said that equipment Jizi creates with her abilities can be summoned at any time, just like a Servant's Noble Phantasm, as long as it's not damaged? Also, Jizi's true form is the mask, and her human form is merely a puppet-like existence. Combining these two points, you'll understand that Jizi didn't reconstruct her body at that time. She simply discarded the assassin's body and directly summoned the body she used before—was that body damaged? No, right...

psv-tv: I don't think there's anything else to say. I just wanted to complete the PS family... I'm a Sony fan.