Kiritsugu Emiya opened his eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling...
He lay there for a few seconds before confirming that he really was awake.
That dream, that blonde girl.
"Then I'll leave everything to you. Arthur..."
Her voice seemed to come from far away, through mist, through water, across some distance he could not reach.
He wanted to see her face clearly, but his vision was always blurred, as though something were deliberately blocking it.
"I understand. Leave it to me. I'll protect everything!"
That was Proto Saber's voice. That alone he could confirm.
Kiritsugu Emiya sat up, his right hand unconsciously pressing against his chest.
Something was lodged there. He could not say whether it was a sense of oppression or something else.
His instincts told him that the girl had entrusted Proto Saber with something concerning him... how could that be? Who was she?
What else had Saber kept from him?
Meanwhile, Proto Saber had also just awakened from his dream.
He had dreamed of Kiritsugu Emiya's past, a past that truly defied description.
Those images flashed through his mind-fire, corpses, a hand pulling a trigger, and those increasingly hollow eyes.
"So this man really is... just as she said."
Outside the gates of the Tohsaka Family's residence.
Sakura looked up at those familiar gates.
She simply stared at them, a faint light burning in her eyes.
Perhaps.
Perhaps her father still wanted her?
Perhaps he simply did not know what had happened at the Matou Family?
Perhaps...
The door opened.
Tokiomi Tohsaka stood in the doorway in a well-tailored suit, his signature cane in his hand.
His gaze fell on Messmer, and his pupils contracted slightly.
A Heroic Spirit.
"Are you the Matou Family's Master?"
Messmer did not answer.
She merely stepped slightly aside, letting Sakura stand in front.