Chapter 230

It may seem not to exist, but it actually does exist somewhere.

Yae Village lived a very ordinary life under the rule of these three parties.

At least on the surface, it looks quite ordinary.

Saber has met all three rulers: the shrine's Chief Priest, the samurai in the Tenshu-kaku, and the 'village chief' elected by the village's self-governing alliance.

Having seen it before, Saber was well aware that what appeared to be a tripartite balance of power with three parties mutually restraining each other was a situation of rule.

But in reality, the samurai of the Tenshu-kaku were a hands-off manager.

He only cared about his own safety and paying tribute.

As long as these two things are guaranteed, he doesn't care about actual control.

As for the village chief elected by the village self-governance alliance...

When it's useful, they come out and shout a few words; when it's useless, they come out and shout a few words, which is also useless. So, this village chief is essentially a mouthpiece for the ruler, or to some extent, an Executor.

You need to be very perceptive.

In short, this role requires thinking ahead of the leader, doing things that the leader hasn't even considered, and taking the blame for things the leader doesn't want to take.

Therefore, in conclusion, the actual ruler of Yae Village is still the Chief Priest of Yae Shrine.

Therefore...

"What are you looking at?" Yae Sakura appeared beside Saber at some point, and she looked unusually happy as she said, "You're so engrossed in what you're looking at."

'What are you looking at? A conspiracy, of course.'

The Saber was in a bad mood.

But he didn't take his anger out on Yae Sakura.

"Has the village been peaceful lately?" Saber didn't answer Yae Sakura's question.

Saber didn't have any issues with Yae Sakura; in fact, you could say there were only a few real people here. She, Mei, Theresa, Hi-Fyūmaru. And the last one was Yae Sakura!

The one in front of me must be the real Yae Sakura. But what role she plays here is hard to say.

One's words and actions will inevitably have a direct impact.

What is the fox going to do?

What exactly do you want to do at this point in time?

These are all problems.

But there is one question that is beyond doubt.

That is Sacrifice Ritual; human Sacrifice Ritual will definitely happen.

However, the specifics of how it happened might differ from the part of the story you know.

But it will definitely happen!

"The village? Peaceful?" Yae Sakura seemed not to understand and said, "It feels like the village is still pretty much the same as before."

"Has the weather been good lately?" the Saber asked again.

"Good weather?" Yae Sakura nodded and said, "Of course, there has been plenty of rain in recent years, resulting in bumper harvests every year."

'Favorable weather?' The Saber frowned slightly.

With favorable weather and abundant harvests, the village was very peaceful.

Did I misjudge the situation?

Was that Chief Priest truly so enthusiastic? Did nothing really happen in Yae Village? Did the weather remain favorable year after year, resulting in bumper harvests? So, was what the Chief Priest said true?

Saber was a little unsure.

What exactly happened?

According to her deduction, the reason the Chief Priest was displaying such enthusiasm was to set the stage for the later Sacrifice Ritual. Based on her experience in the dream, she figured out how this plot would unfold.

There was a severe drought, a complete crop failure, and the villagers couldn't survive. They were forced to hold Sacrifice Ritual.

Of course, we can't start with human Sacrifice Ritual.

They had to perform several ordinary Sacrifice Ritual, but none of them worked, so they resorted to human Sacrifice Ritual.

Human Sacrifice Ritual cannot be performed arbitrarily; it must be proposed, rejected, then proposed again, rejected again, then proposed again, discussed, and rejected once more.

Finally, the proposal was made, discussed, rejected, petitioned, and then rejected again.

After completing the above steps, the final act is a petition, which is half-heartedly agreed to. The petition is led by a group of respected elders among the villagers, with the village chief elected by the Villager Autonomy Alliance as the main figure.

Petitioning on behalf of the people.

At this point, public opinion cannot be defied, and the general trend has already taken hold.

Even if the Chief Priest doesn't want to do it, he has no choice but to do it. Anyone who tries to stop him will be making an enemy of the entire Yae Village.

Then the human Sacrifice Ritual began.

At that time, she Saber, would face a very serious reality. The villagers at that time were not people who could be reasoned with; they would either go on a killing spree or simply accept their fate.

What will happen to Yae Sakura then?

She was caught in the middle and couldn't make a decision.

Protect the villagers? Save his sister?

Protecting the villagers means sacrificing her own sister, and saving her sister means becoming an enemy of the villagers. At the same time, she also has to contend with a third-party force.

That is, the outsiders, including Saber, Mei, and Theresa.

They are willing to save their sister, but their actions will provoke hostility from the villagers.

Similarly, hostility can also lead to unpredictable conflicts.

Yae Sakura be on then?

But will things really develop to this extent?

Saber doesn't need a happy ending. So even though things have come to this point, she doesn't care. But Saber needs an imperfect happy ending.

Therefore, she needs to push things in a different direction at a specific time.

What if there really were no more human Sacrifice Ritual?

What should we do next?

This really exceeded Saber's expectations!

If you want to make a change in something, such as reforming Hi-Fyūmaru, small things simply won't work. You must make the right decision on a major event to reach the final happy ending.

It's like sacrificing yourself in a dream to achieve the ultimate happy ending.

What if this is just an ordinary daily routine?

There was no cruel human Sacrifice Ritual, nothing at all.

The Chief Priest had no ulterior motives, and Yae Sakura and Yae Rin happily together. The village was a picture of universal harmony, with doors left unlocked at night.

So...

What are they supposed to do?

Are we asking them to cause trouble?

Chapter 263 Yae Rin

"What a peaceful day."

A certain Saber sighed.

"Yes, it really is a peaceful day, Sister Artoria."

This is the sound made by a pink-haired creature.

The pink-haired girl isn't necessarily Yae Sakura; she could also be Yae Rin.

Yae Rin.

A pink-haired, twin-tailed little girl who, in the original setting, is the source of Yae Sakura's transformation into Simulated Herrscher. She is also the source of Yae Sakura's fall from grace and hatred as her beloved younger sister.

Saber doesn't know much about Yae Rin.

All she knew was that Yae Rin was chosen as a sacrifice in the storyline, Yae Sakura had her Achilles tendons severed when she tried to escape with Yae Rin.

In the end, he was sent to the altar and his own sister ended his life.

In conclusion, he is a tragic figure.

Besides the historical context, the formation of this tragedy may also be somewhat related to her own personality.

Saber had never met Yae Rin before; she only knew of this tragic loli's existence from the setting. It was only after entering this Stigmata Space that she had the opportunity to meet Yae Rin.

Yae Rin, this little girl isn't that strong, is she?

She and Yae Sakura have some similarities. For example, they both seem polite, kind, and gentle, just like Yae Sakura.

But unlike Yae Sakura, she lacked assertiveness and appeared more timid.

It seems like they have no opinion on anything, are indecisive, and don't know what they should do.

Even during ordinary shopping trips, it felt like I was being pushed around by someone.

She does almost nothing based on her own will; she's always led by Saber. She's never expressed what she wants to eat, what kind of clothes she wants, or whether she wants to rest.

Saber looked at Yae Rin was expressing the same sentiment as her.

She didn't know what she was feeling or why she was feeling this way; she was simply echoing Saber's sentiments. Perhaps, for her, it truly was a peaceful day.

An ordinary day, a day without any changes.

"Rin." Saber glanced at Yae Rin.

I've also made an effort to get to know the character who is the root of this tragedy Saber. Over this period of time, I've felt that Yae Rin isn't as strong and rebellious as I had imagined.

But at least he's a decent kid.

Furthermore, Yae Sakura's concern for Rin made Saber feel that Rin was the key to the success of her mission.

"Is there something you need, Artoria?" Yae Rin looked up at Saber with her innocent, wide eyes.

"Well... there is something," said the Saber, hands in his sleeves, adopting a peasant-like posture. "How should I put it?"

"This... Yae Village. What do you think of it? Hmm, this village, the villagers here."

"What do you think of this place? What do you think of the villagers? What do you think of the village?"

"Hmm?" Yae Rin didn't understand why Saber would ask that question; she didn't think as much as Saber did. She simply said, based on what she had seen in her daily life, "Yae Village is a very beautiful place."

"And everyone here is very nice."

"The old man at the village entrance gave me candy the day before yesterday..."

Yae Rin really didn't understand the hidden hint in Saber's words; she just intuitively felt that the people here were really nice.

He was very respectful to her and his sister, and always had a smile on his face.

I would occasionally give her small gifts.

The Saber could only shake his head and smile wryly.

"Does Sister Artoria not like this place?" Yae Rin asked, somewhat puzzled by the Saber's expression.

"No, that's not it." Saber smiled wryly and scratched his head. "You're right, this place is indeed nice. It's a good place, and the villagers here are really good too."

Saber didn't want to deny anything.

I didn't want to tell Yae Rin that the villagers here were all bad people, the kind who would eat people alive. They were the kind of social scum who were so evil that they couldn't be redeemed.

Because that is indeed the case.

The villagers here are certainly not heinous villains.

But can you say they are all kind people?