A New Alliance

I was probably beyond saving.

Wish for Mostima; if she came home, there would be three more chapters.

Chapter 17: A New Alliance

"What did you come here for, Berserker's Master?" Kiritsugu Emiya was the first to react. In an instant, he shook off Irisviel's support and strode up to the boy formed from butterfly familiars. His back was ramrod straight, like a knight's lance planted in the ground, showing no sign of injury whatsoever. "I don't recall us having any prior dealings with you."

Kiritsugu Emiya was not someone skilled at socializing. His usual methods of communication were bullets, rocket launchers, and fragmentation mines. But now that Berserker's Master had suddenly come calling, he could only force himself to deal with it.

"Ah~, is that so?" The boy seemed to have no idea what diplomatic language was. He completely ignored Kiritsugu's hostile attitude. "No matter what, we both inherited the Emiya Family's research. From that perspective, I should call you senior brother."

If he could, Kiritsugu would have loved to tie up this "junior brother" and bring him to the interrogation room for a friendly discussion about their "fellow disciple bond." Unfortunately, the other side was merely a clone made of familiars. Capturing it would be useless.

Moreover, Saber was no match for Berserker at all. If he angered the other party, Kiritsugu's plan to save the world might as well be fed to pigs.

"So? Kiritsugu's junior brother, what business do you have here?" Saber stepped forward, placing herself in front of Kiritsugu. Though she disliked him intensely, she would not refuse to fulfill her duties as a Servant because of it.

"Of course I came to help you." The boy looked at Saber's hand, which could no longer wield a sword. "If Saber's hand isn't healed, you'll be forced to withdraw."

Helping Saber recover from her injuries—what an amusing joke. Everyone in the Holy Grail War was an enemy. How could there be any talk of helping one another?

Unless the other side had an enemy they could not deal with alone, or there was a problem only Saber could handle.

Kiritsugu's heart sped up in an instant. Indeed, if that was the case, Berserker's Master had a reason to help them.

"Can you tell us what we can do for you?" Kiritsugu took a deep drag from his cigarette, not stopping until half of the white cigarette had turned ash-gray.

Talking to smart people was convenient. There was no need to babble on forever.

"Form an alliance, then split the Holy Grail." Li Zihan made a shocking declaration. "I'll help you win this war, and you'll help me obtain the vessel known as the Holy Grail."

Kiritsugu froze. He knew the other party must have come with an ulterior motive, but he had never expected his appetite to be so enormous.

"Is that strange?" The boy spread his hands. "Compared to traveling somewhere else every sixty years to take part in a brutally dangerous ritual, it's obviously better to keep the Holy Grail for yourself."

Wasn't he afraid that the Holy Grail War ritual could not be held once the Grail left Fuyuki City?

Kiritsugu's expression turned grave. Berserker's Master's idea was far too insane, like a rabid dog off its leash. Even the most basic communication with someone like this required caution.

"You should know that your plan is almost impossible to succeed." Irisviel could not help joining the conversation. She analyzed the matter for Li Zihan. "The conditions for performing a magecraft ritual on the scale of the Holy Grail War have always been extremely demanding. The terrain where the ritual is cast, the mana of the ley lines, the participants, the Command Spell system... countless conditions are indispensable."

"Madam, you know magecraft rituals very well. As expected of someone from the Einzbern Family. But the Holy Grail ritual is an exception." Li Zihan applauded this lady whose actual age was only three, then gestured for everyone present to stay quiet. He began explaining the structure of the Holy Grail War to these foolish spores who had eagerly come to risk their lives the moment they heard wishes could be granted.

"The Holy Grail is a wish-granting machine jointly created by the Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern Families. The Tohsaka Family hoped to use it to reach the Root, Zouken Matou wanted to use the Holy Grail to eliminate all the evil in this world, and the Einzbern Family hoped to use the ritual to complete the Third Magic—materialization of the soul." The boy waved a hand. "This is all common knowledge. There's no need to explain it in detail."

Kiritsugu's expression did not change, but his heart churned like a raging sea. These were internal secrets of the Three Founding Families. For outsiders, gathering such information was almost impossibly difficult. If Berserker's Master could call such matters common knowledge, just how much information did he possess about the Holy Grail?!

The shock on Irisviel's face, with her experience barely greater than that of an infant, was no different from writing "How do you know that?" directly across her face.

"The Einzbern Family created the Lesser Grail and the Greater Holy Grail. Matou devised the Servant system, the familiars used in the Holy Grail War, and invented the technique of binding them with Command Spells. The Tohsaka Family merely provided a prime spiritual land as an energy source. That was the beginning of the Three Founding Families." Li Zihan explained, "Simply put, the Tohsaka clan built the reservoir, the Einzbern clan made the faucet, and the Matou clan developed the employment system that allowed workers to be ordered to turn on the faucet." Li Zihan smiled, and Kiritsugu could clearly sense Berserker's Master's mockery toward the Tohsaka Family.

Kiritsugu understood. The Tohsaka Family had done all the grunt work, while the crucial parts had been solved and assembled by the other two families. If someone stole the Holy Grail, which embodied the achievements of the Einzbern and Matou Families, then with another prime spiritual land, there was a strong chance the Holy Grail system could be recreated.

"Then why not work with your teacher?" Kiritsugu asked. "If you offered him a Holy Grail, he would forgive you no matter what mistakes you had made before, wouldn't he?"

"There are so many people in the Archibald Family and the El-Melloi School. How would one Holy Grail be divided? Pour red wine into the cup and let everyone take a sip?" Li Zihan narrowed his eyes, his gaze icy. "I can hold my liquor. One or two sips won't get me drunk."

"Please show us your sincerity." After a moment of silence, Kiritsugu extended his hand. "We can discuss the details of our cooperation later."