Chiya, It Seems I'm Becoming the Kind of Person You Hate

Near Fuyuki City's New Capital stood an abandoned factory that had long since fallen into disuse.

Long ago, before Fuyuki's New Capital had been designated by city planning as an emerging residential district, this place had existed as an important industrial site for lumber processing. Now, however, it was merely a place representing the "past," abandoned amid the tide of massive development, forgotten by the bustling new streets, hidden deep within a hill overgrown with lush foxtail grass, quietly waiting to die.

Silent, empty, utterly deserted.

It was perfectly suited for hiding mysterious things that could not be discovered by the "surface world."

Controlling Assassin's body, Jizi carefully sensed the Mana permeating the area, trying to locate a weak point in the magical barrier so she could break through it.

Since she had only temporarily borrowed Assassin's body and her class was still Caster, Jizi could not use "Presence Concealment" to infiltrate. Nor could she switch into a human state to hide her Servant aura—an ordinary human appearing here at this time would be even more suspicious than a Servant—so she could only rely on her extraordinary senses and deal with the barrier as a magus would.

And thanks to Professor Kayneth... no, she should call him Kayneth. While pursuing Kiritsugu Emiya, Kayneth had been ambushed by the Maiya Hisau who arrived afterward. Although he had not suffered any serious injuries, his attention had inevitably been disrupted. Then the Mage Killer, who had endured in silence for so long, had hit him with an Origin Bullet. In the end, he had only managed to flee back to his temporary base with serious injuries thanks to Lancer's rescue.

The Origin Bullet had sent all his Magic Circuits into a rampage, damaging his internal organs and nervous system to varying degrees. It could be said that although Kayneth had survived, he was now crippled on the path of magecraft. Naturally, the barrier he had set up had revealed many flaws under such circumstances, giving Jizi—who bore the title of "magus" but basically knew no magecraft at all—an opportunity.

"Found it."

After spending roughly two or three times as long as an ordinary magus would have needed, Jizi finally found the barrier's weak point. She extended her hand and slowly moved it up, down, left, and right through the air, as though caressing an invisible wall. When she reached a certain spot, her palm suddenly thrust forward, as if there were a huge hole in the wall.

Next, she felt around with both hands, searching for the edges of that invisible opening. Once she had roughly grasped its size, she leaned forward and climbed through it.

Once she entered the interior of the concealment barrier, the night that had been silent just moments ago suddenly became noisy.

...Prime-Time Melodrama...

"Kayneth, your Magic Circuits are finished too. You can no longer use magecraft."

The voice belonged to a cold and beautiful woman, and her tone carried the arrogant superiority unique to someone long accustomed to standing above others.

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

The male voice that followed was choked with sobs, endlessly repeating meaningless syllables through tears, as if he had suffered such a severe mental blow that he could no longer converse or communicate rationally.

After allowing the man to cry for a while, the woman spoke again. This time, however, her tone was completely different, filled with tenderness and comfort.

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

Her tone was as sweet as that between the closest of lovers, yet it contained a certain threat.

"The Holy Grail War is still ongoing. Lancer still abides by our contract. We have not lost yet."

"Sola-Ui?"

"The Holy Grail can grant any wish. As long as we win, that's enough. Once we obtain the Grail, everything will be restored."

They should have been encouraging words, yet an indescribable atmosphere of unease gradually took shape throughout the area.

"So, transfer the Command Seals to me. Let me become the Master. Let me seize the Holy Grail for you."

"N-No..."

"You don't trust me? Though I do not have a Magic Crest, I am still a magus of the Sophielia Family. As Archibald's fiancée, what is wrong with taking your place in battle?"

"Nothing... but..."

"Then that settles it, Kayneth."

"...The Command Seals cannot be given to you."

Only now did the man's voice finally regain a trace of clarity. The reason he had forcibly squeezed out under the pressure from all sides made him understand what truly mattered most.

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

However, the woman seemed to have lost her patience, like a mother lecturing a disobedient child.

"My magecraft is not sufficient to forcibly strip away something on the level of Command Seals without the owner's consent, so..."

Crack. A sound like dead wood snapping rang out.

"If you still refuse, then I can only cut off your entire right arm. What do you say?"

The woman smiled smugly. In her eyes, everything was already within her grasp. Once she had the Command Seals, Lancer would belong to her alone. His smile would bloom for her. Even if it was forced, even if it was false, as long as she could retain even the slightest bond with that man, anything would be...!

A powerful aura suddenly erupted nearby. Before the two people inside could react, a streak of silver light accompanied by the sound of tearing air had already arrived.

Slash!

The sound of metal cutting through bone.

"Cutting off a man's little buddy! Such a horrifying atrocity is simply too—delightful! Madam, if you don't mind, allow me to do it for you!"

A black figure followed close behind. After picking up the severed arm from the ground, it swiftly leaped out through the window. Having sensed the aura Jizi released after abandoning her disguise, Lancer, who had been patrolling outside the barrier, was already rushing back. Had Jizi been even a fraction of a second slower, the body she controlled would have been nailed to the ground by a red spear.

—But it was not her true body anyway. Even if it were destroyed, she would not feel the slightest regret.

...People Who Live on Delusions and Wild Speculation Are All Great Actors...

"You have nowhere left to run, Assassin! Return my lord's arm now, and I may yet spare your life!"

After a chase, Lancer finally cornered the "Assassin" who had ambushed his Master. Ordinarily, he could have killed the enemy with a casual thrust, but because he feared that his Master's Command Seals might be damaged, Lancer had no choice but to reluctantly propose negotiations.

For someone else, this might have been merely a tactic to lower the opponent's guard. But for an upright knight like Lancer, since he had said he was willing to trade the arm, then as long as the other party handed it over, Lancer would truly let them go.

"Kehehe!"

The black figure gave a mocking laugh at Lancer's almost naive words. Lancer, however, understood the other party's concerns and spoke solemnly once more.

"You need not worry that I will break my word. I swear it in the name of a knight."

"Kehehehe..."

"Assassin" continued to laugh strangely.

The situation had reached a stalemate. Though "Assassin" had nowhere left to flee, Lancer was not confident he could kill the enemy in a single strike before they destroyed the arm. Meanwhile, "Assassin" appeared unwilling to trust Lancer's oath.

Yet the stalemate would not last long. A severed arm that had lost its vitality could no longer be reattached if left detached from the body for too long. Thus, as time passed, Lancer would inevitably have to make a choice...

And this place...

Lancer had cornered "Assassin" beneath a massive tree that would take four or five people to encircle. Many other trees grew around them as well, making it seem like they were deep within a forest. And speaking of forests on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, there should have been more than one, but since this concerned the Holy Grail War, there was no need to consider any other possibility. The answer was the Einzbern Forest.

As for why they had come here, naturally, Jizi had deliberately lured Lancer in this direction.

They had already been deadlocked for some time. Einzbern's barrier must have detected the intruder by now, so Saber might arrive at any moment. It was not that Lancer feared Saber or worried that Saber would join forces with "Assassin" against him. Rather, he feared that once Saber appeared, "Assassin" would realize death was inevitable and fight to the bitter end. If that happened, Kayneth's right arm would certainly be impossible to recover.

Time was passing. What should he do?

After a fierce internal struggle, Lancer finally made his decision. He drew back the hands holding his twin spears, as if he were about to yield to "Assassin."

But—

"Dragon Break Slash!"

Towering flames engulfed "Assassin." When the fire faded, the assassin's figure had long vanished, replaced by a beautiful silver-haired woman.

"Caster!"

Desperate to recover his Master's arm, Lancer feared greatly that it had been damaged in the flames. However, upon seeing the object Jizi was casually playing with in her hand, he temporarily relaxed. With all his attention focused on the arm, Lancer also failed to notice the mask that flashed briefly from the ashes of Assassin's burned body before merging into Jizi's body.

"Caster, why are you..."

"And that is exactly what I want to ask the two of you!"

Interrupting Lancer was a voice that sounded somewhat weary but still full of heroic spirit. It belonged to Saber, who had suffered a mental blow at the banquet that had ended not long ago.

The three Servants met on this chaotic night, a night in which far too much had happened. What followed...

...To learn what happens next, please wait for the next installment. As for when that will be... hehe...

PS2: Those who wanted daily updates, I updated daily! It was only for two days, but that still counts as daily updates!

PS3: Those who wanted the C route, I updated that too!

PS4: Someone said that yesterday's line, "the last update of July," was unnecessary, so I'll take it back.

PSV: I'll change it to: this is the last update before August (^_^).

PSV2000: So I accepted every suggestion the readers made. Please call me "the Professor who values his readers."

PSP: So, could I ask for a few recommendations... If that really won't do, then I want clicks... Give me some clicks.

PSP2000: If you want to ask, "Isn't reconstructing Jizi's body a very troublesome task? Why was she able to create one so quickly while confronting Lancer?" then...

PSP3000: My answer is: Do you remember when I said that equipment Jizi created with her ability could be summoned at any time like a Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm, as long as it was not damaged? Also, Jizi's true body is the mask, while her humanoid body is merely something like a puppet. Combine those three points and you will understand: at that time, Jizi did not reconstruct a new body. After abandoning Assassin's body, she simply summoned the body she had used before—the one that had not been damaged, right...?

PSV-TV: It seems I have nothing much to say. I just wanted to complete the PS family... I'm a Sola-Ui fan.