Cú Chulainn continued his lessons, while in the same city, the joys and sorrows of one Servant were not shared by another.
The air in Kiritsugu Emiya's room smelled of disinfectant and faintly of blood. Irisviel knelt beside the bed, her hands pressed against his abdomen as she performed healing magecraft.
The wound there had stopped bleeding, but the mark where he had been run through was still shocking to behold.
Proto Saber stood by the window, his back to them.
He looked out at the streets as they gradually brightened, watching the ordinary people beginning another day of their lives.
They did not know what had happened last night.
They did not know this war existed.
They did not know people were killing one another for the supposed goal of "saving all humanity."
Proto Saber's fists tightened slightly.
He had known from the beginning that the man could not be trusted.
From the moment he was summoned, he had sensed it: Kiritsugu Emiya's soul was crying out, struggling, wrapping itself in layer upon layer of indifference.
"She" had told him, "That man cannot be persuaded."
"His obsession runs too deep."
"So deep that he has already burned himself to ashes."
"I ask you to try, but please be prepared for it to accomplish nothing..."
Proto Saber had made a futile attempt. He had tried to wake him up, tried to make him see the truth about the Holy Grail, tried to make him understand that a destination reached through evil means could never blossom into good.
And the result?
Kiritsugu Emiya had used a Command Spell to order him into battle.
Kiritsugu Emiya had used bombs and kidnapping against Masters.
Kiritsugu Emiya...
Proto Saber closed his eyes.
Perhaps killing Kiritsugu Emiya from the outset would have been the best