Chapter 467

Upon hearing this, a smile seemed to appear on the lips of the Erice.

"Perhaps."

Aoko Aozaki quietly raised her head to gaze at the scenery outside the window, listening to Erice's roar, and the childlike innocence that had been lost for many years was rekindled in her heart.

Although it only lasted a few seconds.

But she still felt that Utsumi Erice was truly happy.

She might have been wrong at first, and she didn't want to delve into whether that mistake would continue. Servant always belong to their Master, and she was merely the Master's Landlady. Even if she had a contract that her Master didn't have, it was just a coincidence, and she had no right to do anything to Servant belonged to someone else.

... unconsciously.

Aoko Aozaki still drank the cup of Black Tea, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the Command Spell on the back of her left hand.

Time rewinds to the Erice successfully used the Magic Bullet Shooter, in that instant, somewhere in the Mosaic City of London.

In that dark place, arranged in a complex and intricate manner like Spider's nest, sat the 'Napoleon of Crime,' who had been imprisoned Seven Years Ago for disturbing Lun Dun's Bounded Field, a strange light appearing in his glasses.

"Oh? A second Magic Bullet Shooter... There's actually a second identical Phantasmal Spirit appearing in this world? This world is truly interesting. It would Sorrow if there were a second me, hmm..."

Moriarty stroked his chin. "The east is so far from here, it shouldn't be an unexpected variable in our plans, right?"

That being said, Moriarty still incorporated this variable into his plan. After writing it down in the plan, he stretched and looked at the place where 'himself' was being held:

"Master, seven years from now, in the darkness of joy and the light of sorrow, we will overthrow those, the Ultimate Crime... Waaah, so tragic! For this, I've only been able to secretly watch little Fran for seven years. It's so painful. And recently, I've even secretly disappeared..."

Unbeknownst to him, a Cross appeared in his right hand. Moriarty's previous nonsensical demeanor vanished as he stared at the Cross, replaced by a cold and ruthless atmosphere. The Spider symbols around him even shone with a black light.

Only things that are laid to rest in the earth can become eternal and unchanging truths.

The gentleman in his fifties raised his gaze.

"This world is indeed as you described. When I was first summoned, I couldn't help but think that way, but after experiencing it, I realized that it's another level of Hell... Perhaps it's because I'm the villain that I can think that way."

That guy's smile remained in Moriarty's heart.

That will never disappear.

That will never be lost.

It is Crime and Punishment that can never be erased, or perhaps it is hope.

"Faria, if you were in this world, I imagine you would also mind this."

Chapter 486 Who are you calling the Rain God?

"It seems the scope of our investigation in the City has been narrowed down to Akihabara."

Louis sat on the workbench, swinging his legs, while his Master, the Leatherworker, stared straight at the workbench without saying a word.

The Leatherworker, with his thick, triangular shoulders hunched over, sat slumped in his chair, looking utterly listless.

"Even our plan to get close to the suspected granddaughter of Manazuru Chitose has failed. It looks like we're completely finished, Master."

Ignoring the dejected Leatherworker, Louis chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "Before that, do we need to finish the final 'work'?"

Louis and the Leatherworker chose victims who, for some reason, did not want their Servant to Present World, or were Servant unable to do Present World. The most typical case was that the perpetrators would target those who had watched their family members die at the hands of Servant during the war and suffered from Servant phobia due to psychological Obstruction.

They would deliberately leave signs of the victim's disappearance and create a false impression to make people believe that it was a spontaneous act by the victim.

Because the victims would disappear for a long time, it was not easy for people to connect the different incidents, so by the time the cases came to light, it was already too late... In the past few years, these cases have become unsolved mysteries.

If it weren't for the fact that their 'works' at Shinjuku Plaza were too provocative and alarmed the entire Japan City, Louis and the Leatherworker might have been able to move on to other City and continue causing trouble, given their methods.

Louis.

Just then, the Leatherworker had been silent for a long time, spoke up.

Do you think my revolution is correct?

"Certainly."

Louis knew that the Leatherworker was recklessly heading towards destruction. To be fair, although the two were the best-matched pair under the rules of the Holy Grail, there was no need for them to die. The best way was to surrender themselves.

... However, the Master, all alone, seemed to be in great pain.

Because Louis knew firsthand how painful loneliness could be.

While he was alive, he lost his father, his mother, his caregiver, and was even forced by revolutionaries to accuse him of having an affair with his mother. If he didn't stand firmly on the same side as his Master, the Evil of leaving others alone would weigh heavily on his chest.

The Leatherworker stared intently at Louis, who looked like a porcelain doll, and finally chuckled softly at Louis.

"In that case, let's leave behind works that can change the world before we're caught."

"But there are only twelve people in the basement..."

Louis looked up at the dimly lit basement, which was more like an underground prison than a basement.

On both sides of the passage, rows of iron-barred cells were arranged at fixed intervals, making it seem like a completely unreal world. Each cell contained people, but they were all lying helplessly due to being drugged.

"With Akihabara so heavily guarded now, it's unlikely we'll have a chance to catch another one..."

The Leatherworker's hobby is sewing thirteen people together.

In Western culture, especially within the Church, this is an ominous number, primarily due to Judas's betrayal and the mass arrests and executions of the Temple Order of Knights, led by Grand Master Molay, on Friday, October 13, 1307.

Even in Norse mythology, at a banquet of the gods, the 13th guest was Loki, the Evil God, who was also the one who caused the death of Baldr, the god of light.

"Yes, there are guys who don't care about their own lives."

Louis blinked at the Leatherworker's words. He understood what he meant: ordinary citizens couldn't easily catch them, but the 'surveillancers' were specially permitted by the City to travel outside the City.

"However, they should also be strictly prohibited from traveling; it seems there have been other murder cases..."

I saw it when I took the shoes to the store to sell them.

The Leatherworker stared at his hands and muttered to himself, "That woman, the one whose style is completely different from Akihabara's yet still lives here, she followed the same path as before. That's right, she must have gone 'outside' that day."

A woman completely different from the Akihabara style— Aoko Aozaki.

It's impossible for the Leatherworker to know Aoko Aozaki, and there was no communication between them. The Leatherworker, who lived in Akihabara, simply observed this. As for how he knew Alice was a surveyor, he probably learned it from the City's Information Network. Without special concealment and modification, it's easy to find a person's basic information on the City's Information Network.

Given Aoko Aozaki's personality, she naturally wouldn't hide anything, and presumably even the fact that she didn't use the Holy Grail's power to summon Servant is already in her basic information.

"I understand. So, when should we take action, Master?"

"The sooner the better."

After the Leatherworker finished speaking, he handed Louis the children's shoes that were placed on the ground. "These are the shoes the shoe stores on the main shopping street ordered today. Go and deliver them."

"Absolutely no problem."

Louis jumped off the workbench, grabbed his shoes, and jogged out of the basement.

Water droplets condensed on the dimly lit basement walls. The Leatherworker sniffed Don slightly, inhaling the stench of decay and rotting flesh.

Before the times changed, he had smelled different scents in many places, from the cold scent of clear streams flowing down the mountains to the scent of the wind that accompanied the night, but... everything ended in this so-called New Era.

He hated this era, hated that as a human being he was bound by the Holy Grail and Servant. This was human land, and he did not desire immortality, but only hoped to live naturally. Even if the land outside the city was uninhabitable for humans, it was not a reason for 'humans' to be bound.

Therefore, the Leatherworker, yearning for self-destruction, would carry out a so-called revolution, even though it only brings death everywhere.

The Leatherworker's tall frame cast a distorted shadow in the candlelight, his calloused hands nervously rubbing the edge of the workbench where Louis had just slept. "For the success of the revolution."

The Holy Grail of the New Era has a systemic Root error: it exposes the fact that replacing the act of measuring human nature with True Magic and relying entirely on True Magic to deal with things is a form of negligence, and it also has its limits, because the Root of human nature is not inherently good or evil.

Louis himself also possesses a Noble Phantasm, the effect of which is to capture a scene from the France Revolution. In other words, it involves sacrificing oneself to kill the leader or founder of the environment. The requirement for activation is to carry out Thirteen Rounds of killings, each round involving thirteen people, together with the Master.

In other words, this Noble Phantasm can be activated by killing just one more person, and the target is self-evident.

"Manazuru Chitose, you bastard who destroyed everything for humanity..."

A sickly light shone in the Leatherworker's sunken eyes. "I will kill you, end this absurd and ugly era. The world belongs to humanity, not to those long-dead ghosts who should be buried long ago..."

"Oh dear, business isn't very good today. I wonder if it will improve after we're arrested."

Louis, having just sold his shoes and stepped out of the shop, looked utterly devout in the sunlight streaming in at an angle.

Like a seeker who dedicates himself to something Divinity.

As Akihabara is positioned as a tourist City, the search area has been narrowed down to this place, so the flow of people is less than before. However, that is only relative. Humans and Servant dressed in swimsuits or casual clothes can still be seen everywhere on the streets.

This is natural, since the murder only served as a deterrent and did not have a significant impact on the formation of the era or people's lives, so naturally everyone went their own way.

Can killing Manazuru Chitose change everything and complete the revolution?

Louis had no idea, but a bitter smile would occasionally flicker across his lips.

Although they are different, he has no reason to refuse his Master.

'The Last Louis' walked forward with a cheerful heart, intending to report his Master's gains for the day.

Then, Louis brushed past a girl on the street. Her face, which seemed indifferent to everyone, and her instinctive fear as Servant, instantly made Louis realize that it was Utsumi Erice, whom he had met earlier.

"The Last Louis?"

Louis hadn't intended to alert the enemy, but he was called out to. When he turned around, he noticed that Erice seemed to have turned silver-haired in an instant.

For some reason, Louis found it to be a deep and gentle voice.

"It's been a long time, Utsumi. I hope you can forgive my Master's rudeness last time."

That doesn't matter.

"Even so, I still hope you can forgive him."

"You're really stubborn, aren't you? What's Louis feeling right now?"

The silver- Erice is naturally a manifestation of Novia possessing Erice's body.

Several days have passed since Erice, causing her to awaken the Magic Bullet Shooter. Erice has been very resolute, completely ignoring Novia 'Demon King words during this time, even when she possesses her.

The reason Erice intended to perform her duties as Night Watch and search for information about the murder case.

Novia came out for a simple reason: she saw Louis.

What kind of... mood?

Louis was still smiling. "What does this mean? I'm a little confused—"

"During the French Revolution, he was imprisoned with his parents. After his father's death, he was declared Louis XVII, even though he was still under house arrest at the time. He was only eight years old then, meaning that he spent almost all of his childhood in confinement."

"Are you questioning me? Haha, you're overthinking it."

Louis looked intently at the Erice and smiled.

It was an innocent smile that perfectly matched her appearance.

"Those things are insignificant. Although I, as Avenger, am aware of this, I am the last king of France, and I must face my own death. Even if times change, even if I can do nothing, even if I am about to die, I must take responsibility and stand above others. That must be it."

Was Louis XVII, imprisoned, merely lamenting his own powerlessness?

But Novia understood that the reason he could say he was Avenger in a half-joking manner was because he hoped to be released and escape from prison. And these words were probably said by his mother, who used to be with him, to comfort him.

President Mitterrand once said, "The France Revolution, like life itself, is a mixture. It is both inspiring and unbearable. In the Revolution, hope and terror were intertwined, and Violence and charity were mixed together."

Louis gave a perfunctory "yes, yes" to the silver-haired Erice, having already heard similar comments many times before. He didn't care at all and just wanted to escape Erice's "interrogation" as soon as possible.

"But I also understand that your worries and your Avenger Class are all legitimate. No one can say 'what if,' no one can say for sure that things might have gone more smoothly if things had been more cautious or more aggressive. However, things didn't turn out that way. People who came after had to accept the fact that things didn't turn out that way."

"Oh? Judging from Utsumi's reaction to you..."

Louis paused for a moment, "You think the revolution is bad?"

"I support the revolution, even though Violence couldn't be controlled."

Silver- Erice smiled, a smile that seemed out of place for a child her age to Louis.

"Like the people born in this New Era, they will likely appreciate all things glamorous and luxurious, and they will sympathize with the deceased, but no one wants to see everything that it represents before their eyes."

Louis XVII did not answer immediately.

"But are you really unwilling to escape from that prison?"

"Yes, it's a responsibility."

Louis XVII smiled and nodded. "If there's nothing else, please allow me to take my leave."

After saying that, Louis left as if fleeing, leaving only the silver-haired Erice watching his retreating figure.

"That's strange, why are you so interested in that Louis?"