Or Perhaps You Should Find Another Savior

Still seated by the stone wall, Scathach picked up the training spear lying beside her and smiled silently.

At first, she had only taken him on as a disciple on a whim, simply to pass the time.

She had thought he would not last more than a few rounds, and that she could send him away afterward.

"...The result has been somewhat beyond my expectations."

Interlude in the Shadow Realm: Life (2)

Scathach was not the type to speak harshly while being soft-hearted underneath.

She truly meant what she said and did what she promised.

Xi had long understood this perfectly well. He did not expect Scathach to tacitly ease the harshness of his training just because he wanted to study how to use magecraft to make something grow on this lifeless land.

Perhaps because he had performed too well recently, Scathach's training became even stricter afterward.

She had stopped distinguishing between training magecraft and training martial skill, raising the intensity of every battle to another level.

Just as Scathach had expected, Xi still did not utter a single complaint during training. At most, he would sigh afterward that he was exhausted to death.

Then, after recovering a little, he would run off to continue his independent magecraft research.

The castle where Scathach lived was vast enough to accommodate an army of tens of thousands.

—Though the only problem was that there were no supplies here.

Xi chose a patch of land near his residence and worked there every day, trying to use magecraft to create plants that could bear fruit.

From then on, when Scathach had nothing to do, she had another pastime: watching Xi devote himself to this nearly futile endeavor from nearby.

Knowing that even if she tried to stop him, Xi would never cease his research, Scathach simply let him be.

Failure after failure did not blunt Xi's spirit. After each one, he merely sat down and considered what he had done.

Then he applied the lessons he had drawn to his next attempt.

—The one hundred and thirty-seventh failure.

Scathach counted silently.

After Xi had exhausted every method he could think of and failed for the one hundred and thirty-seventh time, he finally stopped, looking somewhat tired as he sat there in a daze.

"Have you decided to give up?"

As his sole and only audience, Scathach asked anyway.

"No. I just feel as though I've been constrained by the common sense of magecraft... If I can shift my thinking a little more, perhaps I can..."

Xi hunched over, staring at the soil wet from watering.

"Perhaps." Scathach said casually, "After all, what you are trying to do is itself an act akin to displaying a miracle."

"A miracle..."

"That's right. Magecraft itself is one manifestation of miracles." Scathach nodded and continued, "It seems I have never taught you about this. Let us add a small lesson for today."

Upon hearing that, Xi immediately turned to face Scathach.

He was the Shadow Realm's only student, so Scathach had no particular rules for teaching. It might happen in the midst of battle or during casual conversation while resting; any moment could become part of a lesson.

"Listen well. The miracles humans can wield are broadly divided into four types: magecraft, rituals, mysteries, and curses. Conversely, any miracle that can generally be achieved through human effort, regardless of its form, can ultimately be classified under one of those four categories." With one hand on her hip, Scathach stood before her disciple in her usual relaxed yet imposing manner and explained succinctly, "But above them lies a higher category: the Authorities held by the gods."

"Authority..." Xi repeated the term, which was not unfamiliar to him but which he had never deeply understood.

Scathach smiled. "But that would require another lengthy discussion, so we will not go into detail here."

Her reaction made Xi pause slightly. He raised his head and looked seriously at his master.

"So, Master, are you suggesting that... what I am doing now is actually an attempt to recreate the act of gods creating life from nothing?" Xi swallowed and asked uncertainly.

"And what of it?" Scathach merely smiled. "You merely wish to grow a fruit tree where there is no life. If that alone is enough to claim one has touched the Authority of the gods, then gods are far too cheap."

Having said that, Scathach turned to leave.

But Xi called out to her from behind. "Then what about you, Master? You have taken countless lives, whether human, undead, or divine. A master like you surely can—"

"You have improved indeed. You even have the nerve to mock your own master now." Scathach turned her head back, revealing a faintly murderous smile, as though she would raise her spear and charge at him the next moment to begin another round of training.

Yet Xi remained seated upright and only shook his head earnestly. "No, I did not mean that, Master."

"I was merely joking." Scathach nodded. "Indeed, I who have taken countless lives do possess great power. But listen well, my disciple—"

She turned away and slowly entered the castle gates, her voice drifting over from the shadows.

"No matter how great one's power may be, it may not be enough to make a flower flourish endlessly where it cannot exist."

Xi could not help touching the hair on his head.

Only then did he realize that his hair had never grown either, remaining at its original length all along.

With that thought, Xi Jianxi rose from the ground and stared at the land behind him, sinking into a long silence.

Then, after his next training session, Xi continued his research into this miracle that could, in a sense, be called "forbidden."

And Scathach, as though she could never tire of watching, observed this nearly futile foolishness from time to time at her window, atop the castle walls, or nearby.

Finally, during one of her resting naps, Scathach suddenly sensed immense life force budding somewhere within the castle.

Upon waking, she immediately rushed toward that inevitable place.

A sapling was slowly breaking through the earth and growing at a steady pace. At this rate, Scathach estimated that before long, it would grow taller than Xi, who stood beside it controlling his magical energy.

Even as she was astonished that her disciple had finally accomplished this, Scathach noticed the hidden danger. Just as Xi turned around, intending to share the good news with his approaching master, she struck him unconscious from behind.

The sapling's growth gradually slowed, finally stopping at nearly twice a person's height.

As she lifted Xi from the ground, Scathach's palm brushed over the trunk.

"I never expected you to think of using yourself as nourishment to cultivate life." Scathach felt both helpless and approving toward her disciple's actions. "But I am sorry. I cannot let you continue. Authority is still far too immense for a human body."

As she spoke, Scathach glanced again at the flowers blooming on the branches.

They were apple blossoms.

"Having touched even a fragment of such Authority, killing you will likely become even harder than killing me."

She smiled and shook her head, then turned away with Xi in her arms.

She never told him about this, not even when Xi left the Shadow Realm.

Prologue: Lineas El-Melloi Arch Zolti (1)

1999.

Five years after the Fourth Holy Grail War.

London, Clock Tower.

"I heard you met Touko?"

In the Department of Creation's reception room, an elderly woman in her seventies held a teacup with deeply wrinkled hands and questioned Xi Jianxi, who sat on the sofa opposite her.

"I would not say I met her." Xi answered perfunctorily.

Last year, Xi had gone to Tokyo to see Touko Aozaki over a certain matter. But whether the Touko Aozaki he had met then had truly been the original herself, or merely a replacement puppet body...

Even Xi did not know.

In fact, Touko Aozaki had approached Xi as early as the late 1980s. After all, claiming to be Touko's disciple while wandering around outside for so long would inevitably draw the attention of the person herself.

After a few minor conflicts, the two had become acquaintances.

Not only would Xi not participate in the mission to place Touko under a Sealing Designation, he would also use his position to pass information to her. Of course, Touko, whose whereabouts were already difficult to trace, more often borrowed money from Xi.

"What, did she stand you up?" the old woman asked.

"No. I simply failed to get the money I wanted. After a little tugging and pulling, we parted ways." Xi rested his chin on one hand. "Do not tell me I neglected my duties. I withdrew from the Sealing Designation enforcement personnel long ago, Lord Baraierehta."

The person speaking with Xi was none other than Inorai Baraierehta Atlokhem, Lord of the Clock Tower's Department of Creation. She could also be called the department head, and she was also Touko Aozaki's teacher.

Though called her teacher, Inorai was a typical Magus. Although she had been Touko's mentor, she had also strongly recommended placing her disciple under a Sealing Designation.

She never mixed personal feelings into matters, carrying out political acts as naturally as breathing.

Thus, regarding Xi, the old woman also did her best to win him over whenever necessary, elevating him as one of the foremost Magus representatives of the Democratic faction.

"Hehehe..." Inorai let out a pleased laugh.

Xi did not care whether this Lord believed him. The facts were there: he had indeed gone to ask for money, and he had indeed failed to get it. He had even gotten himself caught up in a bit of trouble.

Besides, Touko Aozaki had now left Tokyo for parts unknown, and even Xi could not say where she was.

"So if you called me here merely to ask about Touko, that is all I can tell you." Xi shrugged, though he did not leave immediately.

The old woman would never act without reason. Since she had invited Xi here, there had to be more than one thing she wanted to ask.

"I heard your two daughters are both nearly old enough for middle school?" Inorai asked.

"The older one will enter middle school next year. The younger one has another year to wait." Xi had no reason to hide it.

Especially over the past few years, Sakura had grown rapidly in every respect as a Magus, so Xi had already begun confirming her future path with her.

Would she come to the Clock Tower next year to begin advanced magecraft studies, or would she finish her education at an ordinary school before deciding whether to walk the path of a Magus?

At Sakura's current level, even if she did not enter the Mage's Association, her talent would not force her to become passively entangled in all manner of magecraft-related matters.

And, more or less as expected, Sakura expressed her desire to venture further into the world of Magi. Xi would not stop her.

"No wonder I recently saw the file of a girl with your surname sent to the Clock Tower." Inorai chuckled, making her aged face appear even more lined and wrinkled.

"That is right. I sent her here." Xi said.

The Clock Tower had no shortage of students who came to study magecraft at a young age, so Sakura did not stand out among them. At most, some nosy students might discover that she had been adopted.

"Then this works out rather well." Inorai suddenly said something cryptic.

Xi did not ask further.

Then, as though it had been rehearsed beforehand, someone knocked on the door to the Lord's reception room just as Inorai and Xi's pleasantries were about to end.

The person who entered was a blonde girl who appeared to be around Karen's age, with skin as delicate as porcelain. She gracefully adjusted her skirt. Yet the most striking thing about her was the firm will visible in her fiery red eyes.

Though she was barely over ten, she could wear such an expression. It was difficult to imagine what she had experienced during her brief life thus far.

After sweeping over Xi briefly, her flame-colored eyes gradually shifted to azure.

Mystic Eyes.

Xi immediately understood. This girl possessed Mystic Eyes, and she had just been examining him with them.

Following behind the girl was an adult man with long hair, more than half a head taller than her.

"Waver Velvet..." Xi called out the man's name. "No, I should call you Lord El-Melloi II now. It has only been a few years, but you have changed a great deal."

"Conversely, you have not changed at all." El-Melloi II exchanged pleasantries with Xi, and even his stern face showed a faint smile.

Five years ago, the man had looked only a few years older than Waver. Yet five years later, he looked younger than El-Melloi II himself.

Of course, perhaps El-Melloi II had simply overworked himself and revealed his age too early.

"A Magus must know how to take care of himself." Xi joked casually, his gaze falling upon the little girl before El-Melloi II. "Then you must be—"

"I am Lineas El-Melloi Arch Zolti." Lineas revealed a faintly malicious smile as she introduced herself. "I am the younger sister of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, who participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War and was killed by you. Does that make it easier to understand, Mr. Xi? Though by blood, I am actually his niece."

"I see." Xi smiled and glanced at Inorai. "So Lord Baraierehta sold me out to the El-Melloi faction and invited them here to seek revenge? Would it not be somewhat inappropriate to fight here?"

However, Lineas elegantly ran over and sat beside Xi. She acted like a little girl being affectionate with an adult, though the presence she carried could not be underestimated.

"How could that be? If a fight truly broke out now, the Department of Creation and the Department of Modern Magecraft would likely change hands tomorrow." Lineas stared at Xi. "Besides, before my brother participated in the Holy Grail War, people within El-Melloi repeatedly warned him that he was certain to die. Yet he went anyway. Then, as expected, you killed him. Even if El-Melloi wished to seek revenge, it would not be so easy."

"Is that so? Then why have you come to find me?" Xi employed the method one used on children to deal with Lineas. "Miss Head of the El-Melloi family?"

He reached out to ruffle Lineas's hair. She did not dodge, continuing to play the innocent child.

Prologue: Lineas El-Melloi Arch Zolti (2)

"I will explain that." El-Melloi II walked over and sat on a single sofa to the side. "Our purpose is to invite you to become Lineas's tutor."

"Huh?"