Fu Yuan would not allow a beautiful woman he had happened upon to die in a wolf's jaws like this.
"Just in time!"
Fu Yuan, racing swiftly across the snow, arrived in front of Irisviel. Her hollow crimson eyes looked at the stranger who had suddenly appeared before her with slight surprise.
"Who are you?" Irisviel asked in confusion.
This was near Einzbern castle, where Einzbern discarded its failed creations. Under normal circumstances, no one should have appeared here.
"I'm merely an ordinary passerby."
Fu Yuan answered her without turning around. Then, looking at the pack of Snow Wolves lunging toward him, he grinned and stomped his right foot forward.
Inch Force: Cloud Mist: Eight Wastelands Stance!
As Fu Yuan stomped hard, the fluffy snow underwent a strange transformation, and clumps of snow were kicked into the air.
Though they looked like soft, loose clumps of snow, when they struck the lunging Snow Wolves, they inexplicably made them howl in agony.
Like droplets splashing from an exploding pool, the scattered snow clumps tore through the Snow Wolves' fur and bodies. Scarlet blood sprayed out with them, staining the snowy ground red as a thick scent of blood began to fill the air.
The Snow Wolves charging from behind saw this strange sight and hurriedly stopped. Then, wary, they retreated and fled.
However, the pack did not leave completely. Instead, they watched from fifty meters away.
Fu Yuan glanced at the surviving Snow Wolves. Seeing the fear in their eyes, he stopped paying them any attention and turned to look at the woman he had saved.
At such close range, Fu Yuan recognized Irisviel at once.
After all, Fu Yuan was very familiar with the characters who appeared in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
After realizing that the person he had saved was Irisviel, Fu Yuan awkwardly averted his gaze.
This beautiful woman's clothes were in tatters, and patches of skin even whiter than snow were exposed directly before his eyes.
Noticing Irisviel's ragged clothes, Fu Yuan turned away and took off his cloak, draping it over her to cover her exposed snow-white skin and the shocking bloodstains on her body.
Sitting collapsed in the snow, Irisviel stared blankly at the man in front of her who had draped clothing over her.
Fu Yuan looked at Irisviel, who was sitting in the snow, crouched down, and asked, "Why are you out here alone in this freezing wilderness?"
"This is my trial," Irisviel answered blankly.
"A trial?" Fu Yuan frowned in confusion.
"To prove my sturdiness, Clan Elder Grandfather placed me in the abandoned disposal ground for failed homunculi deep within the forest. If I successfully return to Einzbern castle, I will be qualified to continue living and qualified to contribute to Einzbern's long-cherished wish."
Hearing Irisviel recount this in a hollow, calm voice, Fu Yuan's furrowed brow deepened.
What Irisviel had said touched upon Fu Yuan's blind spot in knowledge... Although he knew of Irisviel's existence, he did not know that she would undergo such a cruel trial before the story began.
"That's truly hard to accept," Fu Yuan said softly.
"..." Irisviel stared blankly at Fu Yuan, then tilted her head. Her beautiful silver hair fell with the motion.
Irisviel was confused. She did not know why Fu Yuan would say such a thing.
Because in Irisviel's eyes, and in the eyes of Einzbern's other homunculi, this was their fate.
They existed to fulfill Einzbern's long-cherished wish.
If they lacked the ability to return to Einzbern castle, then they were not qualified to live.
Wasn't that only natural??
Here, it was necessary to mention the magecraft family known as Einzbern.
Chapter Forty-Nine: Soft and Delicate Girl II
The magecraft family of Einzbern was an ancient magecraft family that had existed since the first year of the Common Era, hidden deep within the world.
The magi of this family wished to recreate the legendary Third Magic.
Yet despite enduring countless hardships, the magi of this family could not recreate the "Third Magic."
Nearly nine hundred years ago, the homunculus known as the Holy Woman of Winter—Justiça—was created. She truly possessed an incomplete Third Magic.
However, the Holy Woman of Winter had been created entirely by accident, deviating from the magi's intentions.
Thus, the magi began doing everything they could to use their own technical system to create a homunculus surpassing Justiça.
Yet even with all their efforts, the Einzbern magi could not accomplish such a thing.
Thus, the magi who had yielded to the limits of their own talent either chose to leave Einzbern castle or chose to end their own lives.
And now, all that remained of the Einzbern family were the artificial lifeforms created by Einzbern's magi.
Even though the magi had all left Einzbern in despair, the artificial lifeforms continued operating.
And as dolls, they kept the workshop founded upon the ideals the magi had always upheld... a workshop built to save humanity and recreate miracles, operating.
That was the legendary "Third Magic."
The remaining dolls of Einzbern now operated solely for this wish.
This was Einzbern's long-cherished wish.
There were no longer any living magi in the current Einzbern family.
What kept this family running were the artificial lifeforms created by magi.
Therefore, in the eyes of Irisviel and the other artificial lifeforms, their lives and meaning existed to fulfill Einzbern's long-cherished wish.
If Irisviel could not return alive to Einzbern castle, then that meant she was... a failed creation.
Fu Yuan looked at the beautiful woman's dazed, blank expression, clicked his tongue, and extended his hand toward her as she sat in the snow. "Come on. I'll take you home."
Irisviel looked at the hand Fu Yuan held out to her, then murmured softly, "Home?"
"Yeah, Einzbern castle, the place you just mentioned. Don't you want to go back?"
"...I do."
"Then take my hand." Fu Yuan shook his outstretched hand.
Before you continue