With her full attention on the task, Ritsuka had prepared an entire table of dishes before night fully fell and began carrying them to the dining table. There were quite a few dishes, but each portion was small enough to prevent waste.
After setting everything according to table etiquette, Ritsuka washed her hands and sat down with Kiritsugu. Pressing her palms together, she said, "Let's eat."
The lavish dinner whetted their appetites. Kiritsugu and Ritsuka, who had long wandered all over the world, began eating. Their movements looked refined and perfectly mannered, but their speed was somewhat outrageous.
Sauced Kichiji fish, sushi, hamburger steaks, pan-fried dumplings, pork soup—the food vanished at a visible rate.
Of course, after one of them finished that sauced Kichiji fish, Uncle Kiritsugu's expression became somewhat unnatural.
The morning breeze brushed against her cheeks, and gentle sunlight spilled over the road. The car drove down a broad street as Ritsuka, with the window open, enjoyed the fairly pleasant early morning.
Yesterday, after celebrating their move and enjoying a wonderful dinner, Ritsuka had gone to bed early at Kiritsugu's request.
After all, today was the day they would investigate the Tsukishiro family. Even though they had only just moved in, she could not sleep in. Ritsuka, who had gone to bed early and risen early, woke up at dawn, finished cleaning, and set off with Kiritsugu.
Pulling out a Pocky stick and holding it in her mouth, Ritsuka glanced at Kiritsugu, who was concentrating on driving, and asked indistinctly, "Kiritsugu, how much longer until we reach the Tsukishiro family?"
"Almost there. Around another ten minutes or so."
Kiritsugu, who also had a Pocky stick in his mouth, adjusted his sunglasses.
He had actually wanted to smoke. With the window open, he could simply toss the cigarette out after finishing it. But Ritsuka had confiscated it the moment he took it out, saying it was harmful to his health and littering was shameful. She had taken the opportunity to give him a harsh lecture.
Perhaps it was revenge for his refusal to answer her question about the Matou family last night. Personally, he still did not want Ritsuka to wade into the Matou family's muddy waters.
Besides, he did not know much himself. Most of it was hearsay, so it would not be appropriate to casually tell her...
The car sped along the road. As Ritsuka stared blankly ahead, she gradually saw a town in the distance. It was a rural area still within Fuyuki City, and it looked far more underdeveloped than Miyamachi.
The mysterious Sakutsuki Clan was hidden here. Though it had a long history, it showed no mystery to the outside world, appearing to be a completely ordinary family. Yet its many suspicious points had still drawn doubt. Whether Kiritsugu's final straw would prove useful would be revealed here.
"Ah... th-that is?!"
Kiritsugu suddenly cried out in shock, followed by the car slamming on its brakes. Restrained by her seatbelt, the dazed Ritsuka nearly smashed her head against the edge of the window.
The car stopped at an angle by the roadside, its tires screeching sharply against the pavement. Ritsuka instinctively covered her ears.
"Kiritsugu, what are you doing?"
Her Pocky snapped in half, and Ritsuka, who had nearly hit her head, could not help complaining. Then she looked up and saw an unimaginable sight.
Rolling black mud formed a semicircular dome over the ground. Anything grazed by it was swept inside. Houses shattered under its violent tearing, cars floated as if they had lost all weight, and the pedestrians nearby disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Ritsuka got out of the car. Before her lay a steep downhill slope, and she stared in stunned disbelief at the hellish scene not far away.
Was that hell ahead of them?
A Miracle Called "Sakutsuki"
A faint pain stabbed through her head. An image of raging flames wrapped around her body flashed before her eyes, and a chill rose in Ritsuka's heart. Her body went limp, and she nearly collapsed to her knees before hurriedly supporting herself against the car.
"Pant... pant... pant... What was that?!"
Ritsuka panted heavily, cold sweat covering her forehead and cheeks.
Kiritsugu's eyes widened as he questioned the air, "What happened...?"
"This phenomenon is beyond anything humans can achieve."
Everything was dragged in and torn apart before that thing. The black mud tornado was like a gathering of malice. Just staring at it made Ritsuka dizzy, and a wave of nausea surged up within her.
Kiritsugu hurried around to the other side of the car and supported Ritsuka, bringing her back inside as he prepared to drive away and escape the enormous disaster.
Before that unknown danger, he had betrayed his justice. Other than running away, there was nothing he could do...
"Kiritsugu..."
Ritsuka was inexplicably unwell, her face slightly pale. Kiritsugu had even fastened her seatbelt for her.
Amid the chaos, Ritsuka closed her eyes, which were painfully sore for some unknown reason.
The storm formed from pitch-black mud wantonly eroded the rural town before them. Ritsuka, her face somewhat pale, covered her forehead as she lay in the passenger seat, panting heavily. Her body felt slightly feverish.
"Kiritsugu..."
The car turned around and left. Ritsuka's gaze shifted slightly toward Kiritsugu, who had chosen to flee.
Kiritsugu should have known what that thing was. It had awakened an inexplicable fear in his heart, something like a nightmare that had always haunted him.
By giving up without doing anything, it seemed Kiritsugu truly no longer wanted to become Justice's Partner. That somewhat hollow ideal had been crushed by reality—crushed by the fact that Ritsuka was immensely important to him.
After all, that town could no longer be saved. If he sacrificed someone beside him for some illusory possibility again, Kiritsugu, who had already chosen to cast aside justice, would never forgive himself.
Justice's Partner had run away.
As he turned the car around and began fleeing, the grim-faced Kiritsugu did not see the faint blue markings rising across Ritsuka's left cheek.
Left cheek—collarbone—both sides of her ribs. Something like a pulse was awakening. As her body temperature rose, her blood began to boil. In Ritsuka's narrowed eyes, the magical energy reaching the corners of her eyes revealed an eerie color.
The murky color in her eyes flickered. Ritsuka pressed her lips together and spoke with difficulty. "You can't, Kiritsugu... You can't just abandon the people right in front of us who can still be saved..."
She was no saint. She simply could not abandon those crying for help before her. Countless cries for help poured into her ears, and immense sorrow battered her soul—
No matter who you are, save us...
What the hell is that?!
I don't want to die yet!
God, please save us!
Emiya Shirou (Archer) Synchronization Value: 15% ...
Wind and snow eroded her vision. Countless Sword Cemeteries stood before her, and the colorless world was lonely and cold...
One illusion-like scene followed another. Countless phenomena battered Ritsuka's consciousness, and everything before her began to blur.
Just as Ritsuka was being overwhelmed by the visions, sacred light seized her sight.
The surging radiance swallowed all the Black Mud. The mud, like an accumulation of malice, twisted and struggled to break free, but was ultimately suppressed by godlike majesty and completely vanished from sight.
It was something sacred and pure, driving away the darkness and protecting the people who should have fallen into the blackness.
Ritsuka threw her head back and panted heavily, completely bewildered, like someone delirious from a forty-degree fever.
What exactly had she just seen?
The sound of a car door closing and footsteps rang out beside her. After his vision returned, Kiritsugu got out of the car and stared in shock at the gradually fading miracle.
Coming back to his senses, he hurriedly asked about Ritsuka's condition. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine. It's just a little strange."
The things she had seen after closing her eyes had disappeared, as though they had never existed. All the ice and snow had vanished, yet she had definitely seen them—and it even felt as if she had understood something.
This was truly impossible to make sense of, and Ritsuka could not help complaining inwardly.
Returning to the car, Kiritsugu drove toward the town. However, people fleeing from that direction had clogged the road, and the car moved extremely slowly.
The sky was an oppressive gray. Layer upon layer of dark clouds made the air heavy. Slightly irritated, Kiritsugu took out a cigarette and lit it. This time, Ritsuka did not say anything about it being bad for his health.
Kiritsugu needed to calm down. Too much had happened in such a short time, and the man who had run tirelessly for justice had yet to sort it all out.
Ritsuka also needed to think calmly.
"A town not far from Miyamachi—the Tsukishiro family... Kiritsugu, I think we need to hurry."
Ritsuka took a notebook from her pocket and tossed it to the smoking Kiritsugu, then opened the car door and jumped out again.
Kiritsugu moved ahead to protect Ritsuka. Going against the stream of fleeing people, the two crossed more than half the town and arrived at a Bamboo Forest utterly out of place with the town's atmosphere.
Panting after their mad dash, Ritsuka clutched Kiritsugu's sleeve and looked toward the enormous crater formed by the Black Mud storm. Beside it stood an ancient house reduced to ruins, with only half a room remaining unswallowed by that strange black substance.
"That is..."
Kiritsugu stopped walking, his eyes filled with shock. The extraordinary mystery before him made him afraid to even step forward, and every part of his body cried out in resistance.
A Divine Child!
A little girl sat in the half-vanished house, staring at a toy in her hands with transparent, inorganic eyes. It was as though everything happening outside had nothing to do with her. The atmosphere of isolation was separated from the ruins by the boundary of the house, existing only within that little room.
As if sensing the arrival of outsiders, the little girl finally raised her head and looked in Ritsuka's direction, meeting their eyes for an instant.
For some reason, Ritsuka's heart shuddered. That sacred, faint majesty nearly crushed her in an instant. Fortunately, the magical energy within her began resisting the moment their eyes met, and with astonishing willpower, she avoided falling to her knees.
Having just indiscriminately fulfilled the people's wish to survive, the little girl was surrounded by a terrifyingly eerie atmosphere.
"Kiritsugu, is that the Divine Child?"
Ritsuka clicked her tongue softly and looked at Uncle Kiritsugu standing in front of her. That godlike presence had gradually faded, though she did not know why.
Faced with Ritsuka's question, with the truth already before him, a trace of anticipation flashed through Kiritsugu's eyes. "That's right. She cleared away that irresistible Black Mud just now. She probably fulfilled the wishes of the people in the town."
"The black torrent swallowed the Sakutsuki Clan's barrier, and countless wishes rushed toward the Divine Child all at once. Since they faced a crisis that could kill countless people, everyone's wishes were probably roughly the same."
Kiritsugu let out a deep breath, the corner of the mouth lifting. "They were cries for help. The wishes people had sent toward the Divine Child were all for survival."
"The power to indiscriminately fulfill people's wishes... She truly is a Divine Child."
From afar, Ritsuka met the fearless girl's gaze. The little girl with black hair and red eyes seemed very curious about them, but she did not move. She only watched silently.
Crack—!
The sound of breaking rang out, and Ritsuka's eyes widened at once.
Only half the room remained, and behind it was an immensely deep crater. The room's supports had begun to fracture, and the entire room looked ready to collapse.
Kiritsugu was still immersed in the excitement of finding this mystery, but Ritsuka instinctively rushed forward. The patterns of Reinforcement Magic wrapped around her legs, and she burst forth with a startling speed completely unfitting her age.
"Not good, Ritsuka, watch out!"
Kiritsugu swiftly drew his Noble Phantasm, gripping his gun as he decisively fired at Ritsuka's back. Several bullets grazed past her.
A black humanoid shadow appeared behind the little girl. Its raised arm held something, and cold light flashed...
Magic Like a Mirror Effect
The Origin Bullet howled through the air, brushing past Ritsuka and shooting toward the figure that had ambushed the little girl, knocking the object from its hand.
Sensing another person's presence, Ritsuka pushed off with her feet, Reinforcement Magic fully strengthening her body.
Looking at the oblivious little girl, Ritsuka shouted, "Get down!!"
The Crystal Dice appeared on its own and floated beside Ritsuka. At the same time, strange energy flowed into her body. She raised her head in shock and met the Divine Child's gaze.
It was that little girl. What had she just done...
Emiya Shirou (Archer) Synchronization Value: 30% ...
Kiritsugu was faster than Ritsuka. After all, he was a battle-hardened Magus Killer. The instant he sensed someone who might be a Magus, he became alert.
"Temporal Control: Quadruple Accel!"
Without hesitation, boosted to quadruple speed, Kiritsugu also rushed to the edge of the half-destroyed house. Yet his pupils contracted slightly.
A black shadow entered his field of vision. A small figure wearing a hooded cloak closed in from one side. Its speed was so fast that even Kiritsugu, enhanced by quadruple speed, could not help feeling shocked.
Gritting his teeth, Kiritsugu decisively activated the current limit of his ability: sixfold acceleration. His speed abruptly rose by a huge margin.
His left hand drew a short blade from his waist, and patterns of Reinforcement Magic covered it. Kiritsugu first leaped backward to avoid the unknown person's ambush, then slashed upward at the other party's arm.
The blade edge tore through cloth, but when it struck the arm, it produced the metallic clang of steel hitting steel. The small figure swung its arm sharply, and the immense force sent Kiritsugu flying. He could only use the force to avoid injury.
Though temporarily driven back, Kiritsugu was not particularly flustered. He gripped his gun in his left hand and fired at the small figure, the Origin Bullet designed to counter Magi shooting forth.
Before you continue