Irisviel's Decision / "Caria, the Dark Swordsman"

Fu Yuan listened to that obviously improper form of address and suddenly grew curious about how Master and Maiya addressed each other in private. As he lamented his own inadequacies, he also marveled at Kiritsugu's behavior.

You city people sure know how to have fun.

Hehe!

A cold voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

Upon hearing those words, Fu Yuan became somewhat agitated inside and immediately admitted his mistake with utmost sincerity.

Senior Sister, I was wrong! I really know I was wrong?

Then he froze for a long while, but no second voice came. It was as though that earlier "hehe" had merely been an illusion.

While Fu Yuan was spacing out, Irisviel had already pushed open the dessert shop's door.

Irisviel's Decision

Kiritsugu Emiya was just as confused today. When he had said that morning that they should gather intelligence, he had already realized that Saber had told him most of what he needed to know. So what state of mind had led him to come out with Maiya anyway?

Was it guilt?

After what had happened that morning, Maiya had visibly become happier. As they wandered around, lunchtime had already passed.

Maiya was clearly enjoying this atmosphere, but she could feel the hunger coming from her body and did not want to speak up and break the mood.

This was so frustrating!

Then she spotted a dessert shop ahead. A godsend! A dessert shop, the two of them... a machete? No, no, why was she thinking in that direction?

Maiya did not ask for much. She only wanted Kiritsugu to spend more time with her. She shook her head, temporarily tossing all irrelevant thoughts out of her mind, then looked at the man beside her and asked.

"Kiritsugu, how about we have lunch first?"

"Mm, mm! Is it already lunchtime?"

Kiritsugu came back to his senses at the question. Feeling his body's dissatisfaction, he suddenly felt even more conflicted.

"Mm! Shall we eat first? There's a dessert shop ahead that looks pretty good." Maiya watched the distracted-looking Kiritsugu without holding his lapse in attention against him. Instead, she gently asked for his opinion.

Sometimes, Maiya wondered why things had turned out this way when she had been there first!

But Maiya quickly strangled that unpleasant thought in the cradle. As long as Kiritsugu belonged to her at this moment, that was enough.

"A dessert shop? Fine."

Kiritsugu was human too. His heart was made of flesh, and he had ordinary human emotions. He merely kept them suppressed most of the time. Sensing Maiya's anticipation now, he could not help wanting to relax for a while and stop thinking about things like justice.

But why did he always feel so uneasy inside?

"This one, this one, this one, this one... and this one. Okay＾0＾~ Mm~ that should be all!" Maiya stared at the samples in the display case, her finger darting around as she pointed from one to another. Only after scanning the entire display and confirming there were no more desserts that interested her did she stop.

Only after she finished did she remember that Kiritsugu was beside her. A faint blush immediately covered her face as she looked at him somewhat embarrassedly.

Ah! I eat so much. Will Kiritsugu dislike me?...

...Mm~ I should have restrained myself... but I just can't resist when I see desserts!

It's all this dessert shop's fault! Hmph!

Thinking that, Maiya glared angrily at the shop owner. Then she suddenly came to her senses and covered her face with both hands.

Oh no, oh no!

Watching Maiya's entire performance beside him, Kiritsugu was utterly amazed.

He had known for a long time that Maiya loved desserts, but he had never imagined she could eat this much!

Still, it was only a bit of dessert. How much could it cost? Compared to being able to see Maiya like this, Kiritsugu felt he had gotten quite a bargain.

"You're very cute, Maiya." Looking at the still-embarrassed Maiya, Kiritsugu suddenly found himself in a much better mood and said it naturally.

"...Am I really that cute, Kiritsugu?"

Then a somewhat cold voice came from behind him. His whole body instantly stiffened, and he slowly turned his head, hoping he had merely misheard!

The stiffly moving Kiritsugu failed to notice the looks from the other people in the shop, as though they were looking at trash. Seeing Illya's curious gaze and Saber's expression of fellow sufferer?, all he should have been thinking about now was how to survive.

Maiya's face changed from red to white like a magic trick, making for quite an interesting sight.

Hm? That wasn't right! Why was she panicking?

Maiya suddenly figured something out. She had not actually done anything that morning, right? Exactly, why was she panicking? Why did this feel like she had been caught cheating?

"Madam, please calm down. We didn't do anything all morning," Maiya suddenly explained. After all, letting Kiritsugu suffer because of something like this would be truly wrong!

Kiritsugu's eyes lit up beside her. Right, they had done nothing! He silently gave Maiya his approval.

"Irisviel, we really didn't do anything."

Fu Yuan slapped a hand over his little face, barely suppressing his urge to burst out laughing. Was this entire family made up of idiots?

"Didn't do anything?" Irisviel's expression suddenly calmed, and she asked again.

"Mm-hm! We didn't do anything!" ×2

"You wandered around all morning?"

"Mm... mm?" ×2

Kiritsugu suddenly realized what she meant, and his expression turned extremely grim. There was no fooling her over this one.

Irisviel, you've changed.

Maiya fell into self-doubt. Had she been dumbed down?

"Pfft!..."

Before any of them could turn to look at him, Fu Yuan nonchalantly began whistling.

Sure enough, the joys and sorrows between people were not the same. At least, seeing them so miserable right now, Fu Yuan suddenly felt happy!

Su Mei, who had not spoken for quite some time, silently spread out her senses. She meant nothing by it; she simply wanted to see what they would do.

"Did Daddy go on a date with Big Sister Maiya after wandering around all morning?" Little Illya used a word she had not yet learned very well and delivered the final blow in her childish voice.

"Pfft..." Fu Yuan turned his head aside and once again began whistling nonchalantly.

Kiritsugu looked at Irisviel, whose face had suddenly become utterly calm and expressionless, and felt a little flustered.

Irisviel suddenly took Little Illya's hand and headed outside. Then, as though she had resigned herself to it, she spoke with an expression as ugly as if she had eaten a fly.

"Two, Four, Six. I won't interfere."

Fu Yuan: ???

Su Mei: ???

Kiritsugu ∪ Maiya: !!!

"Is this the magnanimity of the official wife!" Fu Yuan only recovered from his stunned expression after a long while, then said meaningfully.

Seeing that Irisviel had already gone some distance away, Fu Yuan jogged after her.

How should he put it? It was beyond reason, yet also within expectations. Given Irisviel's personality, there really was a strong chance she would make this decision.

But Fu Yuan had always thought it could only happen after the Holy Grail War ended. He had not expected this scene to come so soon.

Thinking about it, Kiritsugu truly was a winner in life, at least for now.

At that thought, Fu Yuan, who had just started feeling happy, suddenly became somewhat gloomy again o3o.

Jogging behind Irisviel, he could clearly sense that she was in a bad mood. But Fu Yuan really did not know how to comfort people! The girls he had encountered before were either lesbians or perverts, so he had no experience with this at all!

"A Yuan, do you think I did the right thing?" Irisviel suddenly stopped and asked bitterly.

"...I don't know, but I think you already have an answer in your heart, Irisviel." Fu Yuan forcibly stopped, looked at Irisviel, whose eyes were already moist, stood on tiptoe, and reached out to pat her head.

"But it hurts so much! Why? I had clearly accepted it long ago, hadn't I? So why does it still hurt so much!"

As though she had found someone to confide in, Irisviel suddenly burst into tears, not even considering Illya beside her.

"Don't cry, don't cry... Irisviel is the best." Fu Yuan was somewhat flustered in the face of this situation, but he ultimately forced himself to calm down, pulled Irisviel into his arms, and patted her back again and again with his small hands.

Fu Yuan was not very good at comforting people, but what Irisviel needed right now was not comfort. She simply needed someone she could vent her emotions to. Illya was clearly unsuitable, so it could only be him.

"Don't cry, Mommy. Illya will always stay with Mommy." Seeing her mother cry, Little Illya also became flustered. She wrapped her arms around her mother and tried to comfort her.

After a long while, Fu Yuan felt Irisviel's emotions gradually settle and slowly relaxed.

"Let's go home first, A Yuan, Illya." Irisviel rose from Fu Yuan's embrace, wiped the tear tracks from her face, and spoke while forcing herself to remain calm.

"Mm, whatever Irisviel decides."

"Illya will listen to Mommy."

Seeing this, Irisviel no longer felt quite so miserable. It had only been an emotional release to begin with.

Then she noticed that one of Fu Yuan's shoulders was soaked through. She sniffled twice more, feeling embarrassed, and bashfully turned her head away.

"Let's take the back streets. There are fewer people there."

Fu Yuan seemed to understand something from the look she had just given him. Then, while Irisviel was not paying attention, he used mana to dry the water stains so neither of them would feel awkward.

"Kiritsugu, you should be going after Madam now, not staying here with me." Maiya looked at Kiritsugu, who showed no intention of leaving. Though she felt a little happy inside, she still earnestly urged him.

"...Irisviel probably doesn't need me to go to her right now." Kiritsugu suddenly felt that he was truly awful. There had clearly been many chances to resolve this, yet he had not done so. Instead, he had delayed it again and again until now.

Watching Irisviel walk away now, he lacked even the courage to immediately chase after her. Like a piece of garbage, he was hiding here and running away from it.

I really am a coward.

Sensing Kiritsugu's inner torment, Maiya ignored the looks around them and directly embraced him, hoping this could make him feel a little better, even if only physically.

The shop owner watched the situation unfold in utter confusion. Especially now that the pastries were ready, should he interrupt them or not?

"Dark Magic Swordsman Kariya"

"Mm~" Su Mei sat up as usual, yawning and stretching without paying any attention to the other little fellow in the bed.

"Good morning, Senior Sister." Fu Yuan had grown accustomed to mornings like this over the years. The only difference was that, after what happened last night, he had realized that Senior Sister truly occupied a large place in his heart.

"I need to make a trip to the Southern Border. Pack your things." Su Mei took the clothes Fu Yuan handed over, marveling at her junior disciple brother's talent as she casually spoke.

"Mm, once I return to the mountain and turn in the mission, I'll go find you, Senior Sister." Fu Yuan was somewhat surprised by her invitation. He had asked several times before, but she had always refused.

"..." Su Mei suddenly stopped moving and calmly looked at the little Fu Yuan who did not know what was good for him. Then her expression returned to normal, and as though she had suddenly remembered something, she said.

"I suddenly remembered something. You don't need to go."

"?"

Sensing Senior Sister's abrupt change, Fu Yuan felt as though he had guessed something. He suddenly leaped over and hugged Su Mei, refusing to let go of her arm as he said softly.

"Mm, Master's side isn't urgent anyway. I want to go to the Southern Border with Senior Sister, okay, Senior Sister~?"

"Then hurry up and pack." Su Mei helplessly flicked his forehead, suppressing the slight smugness rising in her heart as she spoke nonchalantly.

"Mm-hm, Senior Sister is the best!"

In an alley that no one passed through, countless tentacles were battling a black knight. Though that was not quite accurate; it would be more fitting to say that the black knight was slaughtering those tentacles unilaterally.

Lancelot had rarely taken out the Sword for My King. It was not because the enemy was particularly strong, but simply because there were no convenient weapons nearby.

Several twisted-looking tentacles attacked the now-excited Lancelot from multiple directions at once.

Sonic booms rang out along their paths, and coupled with the tentacles' own properties, they were far more dangerous than bullets to ordinary people.

Yet none of this stopped Lancelot's advance. He did not even need to dodge. With A-rank Strength and A+-rank Agility, these tentacles that ordinary people found so difficult to deal with were simply too weak for him.

Gripping his sword in both hands, he swept it forward. Vast mana erupted...

"Is that magecraft?" Irisviel suddenly stopped as they passed an intersection and stated a rather interesting fact.

Hearing that, Fu Yuan stopped walking and shielded Irisviel and Illya behind him, fully activating the talent he had been unable to use for a long time.

Fu Yuan frowned. From inside came a stench of distortion, madness, and decay that made him sick.

"Yes, indeed. There should be a battle between two Heroic Spirits inside."