Chapter Five: The Legend of the New Moon

Reality had instead slapped him hard in the face with a military raid.

This was merely a small city on the border of the country. Neither of the two violently clashing nations had deployed many troops here, so for the battle to escalate to this extent was unexpected.

What exactly did this small country possess that was worth making great powers discard all pretense?

Kiritsugu could feel that his body was already starting to fail him. He could not help feeling a little melancholy as he subconsciously glanced at Ritsuka beside him, confirming that she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.

Staying up late was still hard for a child to endure.

He pulled out a cigarette and, like a thief, carefully prepared to put it between his lips. Then a burst of pain shot through his body, his hand slipped, and it plopped onto the ground.

Whew... Pick it up within three seconds, and it was not dirty...

He picked it up and lit it. Checking the time, he saw that the ship they could take to leave would not arrive for quite a while, so they could rest for a bit.

He pulled the car over to the side. After hesitating for a moment, Kiritsugu opened the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out something resembling a notebook, his expression strained.

The joy and relief Ritsuka had shown last night when she heard that he intended to retire and stop being Justice's Partner had remained in his heart. He even felt uneasy, because what was recorded in this notebook might make him pick up his ideals once more.

He had obtained this small notebook by chance a few years ago when he saved Ritsuka. It concerned a legend about a mysterious family.

He closed his eyes and recalled the days he had spent with his adoptive mother. His heart gradually firmed up. It was the wish he had made when he was twenty, the wish he had pursued for nearly his entire life.

"..."

In the silence where all things were still, the cigarette in Kiritsugu's hand burned to its end and fell to the ground, only to be crushed beneath his foot.

"Sorry, Ritsuka. Next time, for sure." Kiritsugu stroked Ritsuka's head, then opened the unique copy in his hands. Crooked characters appeared before his eyes.

The Sakutsuki Clan, a mysterious family living in Fuyuki City.

"Kiritsugu?"

As Kiritsugu contemplated life, a faint voice sounded beside him. The brief rest had restored some of Ritsuka's energy, and she opened her eyes.

Her gaze swept over the ruins and wilderness. Seeing her observe the surroundings, Kiritsugu casually tossed aside the half-smoked cigarette, revealing not the slightest flaw. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine. My head's just rumbling. I probably need to get some proper rest."

Ritsuka smiled foolishly.

"Then we'll stay here a little longer. There's still quite some time before the ship the priest mentioned arrives."

He directly settled on the plan to rest. Worried that Ritsuka's body would not be able to take it, Kiritsugu gave up on continuing the journey. His own body probably needed more rest as well.

The exhaustion that permeated him from the inside out after using magecraft had not faded for even a moment. He was getting old, after all; his physical condition was far from as vigorous as it had been when he was twenty.

Time was a butcher's knife. Even if it was not cutting pigs but people, it could still go in white and come out red...

Of course, the biggest issue was Kiritsugu's magecraft. This Grand Magecraft forced his body to endure the backlash of temporal displacement, and the cost of using it was simply too great.

Time Alter, Temporal Control—this was Kiritsugu's specialty magecraft and core ability, a formidable magecraft that could manipulate the flow of his own time. According to the research conducted by his father, Emiya Kyuken, it might even be capable of reaching the Root.

What was the Root? It was the cause of everything, the existence from which all phenomena flowed, the truth of the world.

The endpoint containing all knowledge, the Records of Akasha.

Because it was the cause of everything, it could lead to every result. It was the sole subject of research for the race of Magi.

Conversely, magecraft was merely a means of studying methods to reach the Root.

For that very reason, most Magi were cold-blooded. Their logic differed greatly from that of ordinary people, to the point that they did terrible things others could not accept.

Though some had reached it before, they would vanish from this world at that instant and could never return.

Therefore, one could only pursue it through one's own power and could not learn from others.

In theory, Emiya Kyuken's magecraft could reach the Root, and he was also the most common kind of cold-blooded Magus, with countless evil deeds to his name.

Of course, no matter what, he would have needed to travel a long road and spend a long time researching it before he could reach the Root. A human lifespan could not support that.

In the end, Kiritsugu's father turned to researching the dangerous subject of Dead Apostles, creatures similar to the vampires of myth. He was eventually shot dead by an enraged Kiritsugu. The Magus Killer had hunted the first Magus he encountered in his life.

On Boys' Day, he had killed his biological father, who possessed the essence of a Magus.

Leaning against the comfortable seat, Ritsuka breathed lightly. Her rosy lips pressed together as the soreness in her eyes gradually eased with rest. She looked at Kiritsugu, whose head was tilted to one side, and a certain smell made the corner of her eye twitch.

With her keen sense of smell, how could she fail to notice him secretly smoking from such a short distance away? Was Kiritsugu treating her like a little kid...?

Wait, she was ten this year. It seemed she really was still a child?

Ritsuka fell silent.

"By the way, Kiritsugu, why didn't we save those people?"

Ritsuka shifted her gaze toward the calm-faced Kiritsugu Emiya beside her. Who were those people? Naturally, they were the local armed group that had been raided by the military.

Those people were not bad. After forming their group, they often took in homeless people, all pitiful souls caught up in the war.

"This is a necessary sacrifice."

The cigarette butt silently fell to the ground.

"We don't have the power to influence a war. Without preparations beforehand, we can't even fight a well-equipped squad." Kiritsugu started the car. "Under that kind of surprise attack with such firepower, even if they were only a hastily assembled rabble, not many people in those ruins would have survived. The reason was that the attack came without any warning."

"Compared to regular American soldiers, those soldiers recruited from Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere probably won't join large frontal battlefields. Instead, they'll search for survivors and slaughter them. After all, they were oppressed people themselves, so they'll gladly seek the thrill of revenge through others."

"And if sacrificing only those who are certain to die might save more survivors, why wouldn't we do it?"

Kiritsugu did not seem bothered as he lightly bit through the biscuit stick in his mouth.

Chewing it slowly, he even reached out to take another.

"Sure enough, I still can't become Justice's Partner." Ritsuka lowered her eyes and slapped Kiritsugu's hand away. "Maybe I won't offer help to everyone in trouble before me, but I also can't deliberately abandon them."

When prosperous, help the world; when poor, preserve oneself. Ritsuka was not some saintly person either.

Having once again confirmed the justice in Kiritsugu's heart, Ritsuka's expression did not look very good. The atmosphere between them became exceptionally stiff, and they both fell silent without any prior agreement.

Ritsuka did not consider herself especially kind, but she ultimately could not be completely cruel. That was too unfriendly to both herself and others. What could she gain by exhausting her whole life that way?

A lifetime of infamy?

"Let's go. We need to keep moving."

The car started. Without waiting for Ritsuka's answer, the off-road vehicle set off in a predetermined direction. At the end of the road, at the edge of their sight, lay the ocean.

With the conversation gone, Kiritsugu actually felt a little happy inside. He had understood the flaw in his ideal long ago, during that unforgettable failure.

To be honest, Ritsuka's answer did not make him feel lonely or resentful. He only felt gratified that his daughter had grown up and her thoughts had matured...

Even if this daughter was only ten years old.

Still, for his ten-year-old daughter to have a level of thought comparable to his own at around forty was truly rather discouraging. Sure enough—

He still needed to work harder.

PS: The Boys' Day broadcast was a joke about the airing date.

That episode originally aired on May 5, 2012, which happened to be Japan's Boys' Day, tying into the two instances of later official malice.

The second was May 12, 2012, Mother's Day. On that day, Kiritsugu Emiya killed Natalia, whom he regarded as his mother.

The third was June 17, 2012, Father's Day. In the illusion shown by the Holy Grail, Kiritsugu Emiya shot his own father.

(The above was taken from Moegirlpedia.)

The Legend of the Sakutsuki Clan

When the ship docked, Ritsuka, who had been tossed about at sea for so long, yawned. She looked up at the sky, which was only beginning to brighten. The moon had not yet completely disappeared.

Probably around four or five in the morning...

She muttered silently to herself. Feeling the cool breeze brush against her cheeks and neck, Ritsuka quietly raised the collar of her coat.

Fuyuki City's climate was slightly warm, and the current season had not even entered summer yet. By all rights, she should not have felt cold. She had, after all, spent several rounds rolling around near battlefields. The problem was probably the cool sea breeze at night.

Standing to one side and rubbing her hands for warmth, Ritsuka kept her eyes on the ship's exit, waiting for Kiritsugu, who had gone to retrieve the luggage. She did not know the exact location of the Fuyuki Emiya Residence.

After standing foolishly in the wind for a while, Ritsuka saw Kiritsugu slowly emerge from the ship's exit, dressed in a black trench coat. She decisively moved over to him.

"Kiritsugu."

"Let's go. We're going home."

A rare trace of a smile appeared on his stiff face. Carrying the luggage in one hand, Kiritsugu stroked Ritsuka's head.

After leaving Fuyuki Port, there were no vehicles to take because it was still too early. The two chose to walk, with their good physical condition providing the most essential requirement.

After all, they were an old man and a child who could wander around battlefields. Wouldn't it be ridiculous if they lacked the stamina to walk a long distance?

Cherry blossoms bloomed along the road. The scenery, completely different from the Middle East, brought a hint of delight to Ritsuka's eyes. The freshness of it drove away the nausea from spending too long aboard ships.

They had changed ships along the way. A voyage of more than ten or twenty days at sea was not only monotonous and dull, but constantly rocking atop the ocean also made one nauseous. At least, Ritsuka found it nauseating.

If possible, she probably would never take a ship again for the rest of her life. This time had given her more than enough...

With nothing to do, Ritsuka took a box of Pocky from her pocket, pulled one out, and slowly chewed it. Then she took out another and handed it to Kiritsugu.

The old man and the young girl walked side by side along the road, each with an identical Pocky stick in their mouths to ease the slight hunger in their stomachs. There was an inexplicably parent-child feel to it.

Even though they had no blood relation in essence, after living together for so long, Ritsuka had already come to regard Kiritsugu as her father.

Compared to him, that original biological father of hers was nothing at all...

"Kiritsugu, are you really going to give up?"

Out of nowhere, Ritsuka suddenly spoke. Kiritsugu beside her raised an eyebrow slightly, his black eyes flickering as he seemed to consider something.

After thinking it over, he took a small notebook from his coat and tossed it to Ritsuka beside him. "Take a look."

"Seriously?"

Ritsuka immediately gave Kiritsugu a suspicious look before opening the notebook.

Legend of the Kami-child, a local myth from Fuyuki City, containing descriptions of strange circumstances surrounding the Divine Child.

After roughly reading through the contents, Ritsuka's expression did not change at all. She had traveled all over the world with Kiritsugu these past years and seen far more strange things than were recorded in that notebook, gods and ghosts included.

"What is this supposed to be?"

"A local legend from Fuyuki City. It's probably fake."

Kiritsugu carried the luggage, his expression serious.

Because according to his initial investigation into this legend, there were suspicious points in it. This might be his chance to fulfill his long-cherished wish.

"The Sakutsuki Clan is an ancient family that established itself in Fuyuki during the Tensho Era. On the surface, it has nothing beyond a long history, but there are suspicious points."

"The children born into that family... More precisely, girls under the age of seven never appear before outsiders."

This was the greatest suspicious point. Based on some hearsay, Kiritsugu had an extremely bold deduction in mind.

Of course, he and Ritsuka had traveled all over the world based on that same sort of hearsay. Unfortunately, almost all of it had turned out to be false, and the two of them had spent nearly five years busy with nothing to show for it.

This was only an extremely slim possibility as well.

Still, before seeing it for himself, all speculation was merely speculation. He would not barge into the Sakutsuki Clan to investigate for the sake of a wish he had already half given up on.

"Why can't girls be seen before the age of seven?"

Ritsuka flipped through the notebook in her hands.

Divine Child, child of man—the flowery language made her head feel a little uncomfortable. The aftereffects of just getting off the ship felt as though they were about to flare up.

In short, her head hurt.

"The girls of the Sakutsuki family only appear after turning seven. They cover it up with excuses like 'her frail constitution was cured' or 'she was adopted by relatives,' making people not pay attention."

"But even if it were a hereditary family illness, it wouldn't mean they could only be seen after reaching the fixed age of seven, would it?" Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes slightly. "And only the girls are like that. The boys are different."

All the clues and speculation came together, sketching a complete picture in his heart. The Sakutsuki family's secret might be very interesting.

Combined with the customs passed down through the local Divine Child faith, he could clearly sense that this family had a huge problem, and that problem was connected to the Divine Child.

Kiritsugu said with certainty, "Divine Child. The Sakutsuki family's children might be natural Divine Children, comparable to the Holy Grail in myths."

"Divine Child? That means... young children sheltered by gods, beings more like fairies than humans, incarnations of deities or something like that?"

Though she was not particularly well-read, Ritsuka still drew her own conclusion from the notebook in her hands. "Could it be that all the Sakutsuki family's children are Divine Children? Has something gone wrong with your head, Kiritsugu? This is way too unreliable. Local myths have multiple versions, and this isn't the first time the two of us have been led on a wild-goose chase."