"Assassin, I truly still cannot understand the kind of feelings you have."
The next day, Kirei Kotomine drove back to Fuyuki. Along the way, he spoke to Sakumura.
As expressionless as ever, as devoid of emotion as ever.
Kirei Kotomine had dreamed of Sakumura Anno, and Sakumura Anno had dreamed of Kirei Kotomine.
The relationship between a Master and a Servant had never been as simple as that between a mage and a familiar. It was a deeper, more profound contract.
But what of it?
"I know why you don't understand, Master."
Sakumura Anno rested his chin on his hand as he looked out the window, replying to Kirei Kotomine without turning his head.
"You are lost. It is precisely because you are lost that you will never understand. At least, not until you find your true self."
That was unquestionably tragic.
But—
If Kirei Kotomine truly found his true self, what would happen then?
Just thinking about it made Sakumura shudder involuntarily.
It was precisely because he had seen Kirei Kotomine's past that he was even more certain of this fact.
A saint without desire? A devout believer with unwavering faith and tremendous drive?
Those were merely a restrained outer shell.
The real Kirei Kotomine... was a monster who inspired fear even in Sakumura Anno.
That fear had nothing to do with strength. Sakumura would not find it difficult to kill Kirei Kotomine. Rather, it stemmed from humanity itself.
Sakumura had killed at least four-digit numbers of people and encountered plenty of scoundrels, but they had mostly been people forced into evil or corrupted by bad habits acquired later in life. A person born evil—no, a demon—Kirei Kotomine was the only one he had ever seen.
One of his hands remained constantly close to his chest. Beneath the clothes