The holy relic found in Cornwall had arrived.
Early that morning, a homunculus maid had informed Kiritsugu Emiya of the news, and he had immediately headed for the most magnificent-and darkest-place in the Einzbern estate: the chapel.
Although religion had still held great influence when the Einzberns first emerged, theirs was a family devoted purely to magecraft. This was not a place to praise God's grace or find peace of mind, but a chamber for conducting rituals.
Naturally, then, the chapel's stained-glass windows depicted the Einzberns' thousand-year history.
They were the oldest of the Three Founding Families, and the one whose wish was the purest.
Had the times not changed, and had their ceaseless search for a miracle not yielded nothing, they would probably still have lived as they had a thousand years ago, secluded deep in the frozen mountains.
Kiritsugu walked through the corridor into the center of the chapel, then raised his head to study the stained glass.
The Winter Saint, who bore a striking resemblance to Irisviel, occupied the principal position. Two magi attended her on either side, all three reaching toward the Holy Grail in the sky.
The composition alone revealed the Einzberns' resentment at having to rely on outsiders. Beneath it was a newer image, installed after the last Holy Grail War.
At that thought, Kiritsugu Emiya's gaze sharpened, and he recalled the conversation with Irisviel that they had left unfinished that day.
"The Holy Grail War is cursed? It's not that I don't believe you, but this..."
Faced with Irisviel's request, Kiritsugu Emiya had remained rational, despite his deep concern for the Holy Grail.
"I know it's hard to believe, but this is absolutely not some lie born of delusion."
After a brief hesitation, Irisviel's maternal love had overcome her duty to the family.
"Kiritsugu, you know the Einzbern Family has endured to this day for the purpose of recreating the Third Magic. But after far too many years of failure, without even a glimmer of hope, proving that the Third Magic exists has become more like the family's goal than recreating it."
Her willingness to lay bare the family's desperate wish before an outsider made Kiritsugu Emiya grow solemn as well.
"He was always so anxious before, but ever since the last war, Great-Grandfather has been like a different person. He doesn't care about those things at all anymore. It's as though he's already confirmed that someone capable of saving everything truly exists, and all he needs to do is prove it."
"What's wrong with that?"
Kiritsugu Emiya asked in puzzlement. That Great-Grandfather had lived for two centuries, after all. Perhaps he had experienced the Holy Grail's power during the last war; such a change would hardly be strange.
"That's precisely the problem," Irisviel sighed. "The Einzbern Family came into being for the Third Magic. Although we're all homunculi, if anyone could truly become our master, it could only be the Third Magician. But that's impossible, because the Third Magic can only be recreated after the Holy Grail has been successfully used."
"But all the previous Holy Grail Wars ended in failure."
Kiritsugu Emiya spoke in a low voice. This put the cart before the horse: the Third Magician would have to exist first for Great-Grandfather's obsession to change, yet the Third Magician could only come into being once the Holy Grail had been summoned.
"You're right. Something may indeed have influenced him. But since he's still choosing to participate in the Holy Grail War, there are two possibilities."
Kiritsugu Emiya reached his conclusion without expression. "Either the influence isn't very deep, or he's already been profoundly affected, but that influence is inextricably linked to the Holy Grail."
"-So, whatever the case, everything will become clear once this war begins."
Heavy footsteps from the other end of the corridor interrupted Kiritsugu Emiya's thoughts. He stopped just as he was about to light a cigarette to ease the irritation those memories had stirred.
"A way to save all humanity? Heh..."
He gave a mocking chuckle and committed the image, so utterly unlike the Western style surrounding it, to memory. This was the conclusion that Great-Grandfather had reached after returning from the last war.
At the center of the stained glass was a coiled shadow, flanked by three figures rendered in the style of Eastern ink paintings.
Although he knew little about that artistic style, Kiritsugu had at least grown up Japanese, and he could recognize what those three ink-painted figures depicted.
A crimson Eastern dragon, a proud horse, a loyal dog-relying on those three baffling things was the answer to saving all humanity?
Whatever schemes the Einzberns had for this Holy Grail War, they did not matter. He would use the omnipotent cauldron to fulfill his long-cherished wish.
"Kiritsugu Emiya, this is the final assistance the Einzberns will provide you."
An old man with a white beard like a frozen waterfall slowly approached, his shrewd gaze fixed on Kiritsugu Emiya from deep-set sockets. He held a long, charcoal-black case in both hands, with a silent Irisviel following behind him.
Kiritsugu Emiya instinctively averted his eyes. Even now, he still could not grow accustomed to that obsessive stare.
Judging by that, however, it was very difficult to believe that such a man could be possessed by some invisible demon.
"I am truly unworthy of such generosity, Patriarch."
"With this, you will surely be able to summon the strongest Heroic Spirit!"
As though he had not heard Kiritsugu Emiya's modest reply, Ahad, the eighth patriarch of the Einzbern Family, opened the long case to reveal the holy relic within.
It was a golden scabbard adorned with dazzling enamel, with Long-Lost Fairy Script engraved down its center. Rather than a weapon, it looked more like a treasure that proclaimed its owner's status, or a work of art.
Yet the fact that it showed no signs of weathering after fifteen hundred years was proof enough of its value.
It was the scabbard of that King of Knights. If activated by his own magical energy, the scabbard could still be used even in the modern age.
Ahad reverently lifted the golden scabbard from its lining, held it in his hands, and offered it to Kiritsugu Emiya.
The old man's eyes flashed with an intense, almost maddened light as he gazed at Kiritsugu Emiya with a fervor that seemed cursed.
"This time, you must obtain it-you must summon the Holy Grail! You must bring the omnipotent cauldron into being! Our desperate wish is within reach at last!"
As always, Kiritsugu Emiya ignored this mad rambling. With a stiff expression, he bowed his head and respectfully accepted the scabbard.
There was no injunction to win, no fixation on Heaven's Feel, the Third Magic. Irisviel watched Ahad anxiously, then suddenly blinked as though she had seen something unbelievable.
But neither Kiritsugu Emiya nor Ahad showed any sign of anything unusual. Watching the scene, so much like the dubbing of a knight, Irisviel hesitated again and again before swallowing the words already on the tip of her tongue.
Had she seen it wrong?
Although it had been no more than a momentary illusion, she thought she had seen a bright yellow shadow slowly glide from Ahad's body onto the scabbard and coil around it, like an evil dragon guarding its palace.