Setting out

"A martial artist? Even an Executor of the Holy Church wouldn't dare storm this place alone. Then he must be bait. Where is the mage capable of unleashing such tremendous power hiding?"

Ahadon calmly considered the situation, weighing the pros and cons.

"Whatever the case, the enemy's target should be the Holy Grail's vessel. We can't leave her outside. Bring her back, even if you have to break her limbs."

The next instant, the homunculi and airborne Mystic Codes immediately turned their sights on Bai Mo, like a battle in which a rain of arrows preceded the cavalry.

Leyritt immediately shielded Illya with her body.

The pain of ten thousand swords piercing her heart never came. There was only wind in her ears-not the sound of this valley, but something sharper, like spinning saw teeth. Looking back at Bai Mo, she saw a lead-gray column of wind held in his left hand. A tornado that should have been immense in nature was now clasped in his hand like a child's toy.

Then the rain of swords arrived. Bai Mo waved one hand, and the wind unfolded like a rolled-up sheet of paper. The flying swords and charging homunculi all seemed to crash into a solid city wall.

The wall of wind pressed straight forward. Under Bai Mo's control, every Mystic Code was shredded by the blade-sharp gale, while the approaching homunculi were scattered by the wind, all knocked unconscious.

Wind, fire, thunder, lightning, snow. Sea Tiger had once uncovered this power, with its endless variations and immense might, but against opponents like these, there seemed no need even to incorporate other powers.

I tried exploring these back when I was using Electric Current Push. Now that my horsepower has risen, they're much easier to handle.

As Bai Mo thought this, his figure vanished into the snow. The wall of wind he had unleashed had yet to exhaust its power and headed straight for Einzbern Castle.

Ahadon took no action. Bai Mo's earlier blast had already torn a hole in the defenses, making defense impossible. Besides, Ahadon did not believe this wind magecraft could damage the castle. He was better off conserving his magical energy to prepare other magecraft.

Yet the wind seemed to have a soul, wasting not a single trace of its power as it moved like a hunting hound, swiftly navigating the winding castle.

A hissing wind sounded outside Ahadon's door. The next instant, a gale howled.

"How is this possible? Could it be some related familiar or spirit? How could I have been found so easily?"

"Why wouldn't it be possible, old man?"

The wind stopped. The stranger his familiar had been observing moments ago now stood directly before him, his feet planted on Ahadon's desk as he looked down at him.

Bai Mo said calmly, "Those familiars were acting on your orders, weren't they? With killing intent that blatant, finding you couldn't have been easier, old man."

Ahadon tried to rise, but his legs would not budge, as though molten iron had been poured over them. Like an insect caught by a chameleon, by the time he realized it, he was already in the predator's mouth.

"Ahadon, right? For a homunculus yourself, you certainly show no mercy to your own kind."

"You know my name. Are you from the Clock Tower or the Holy Church? Never mind. If you're going to do it, get on with it."

After a single exchange, Ahadon clearly understood that he had been put in check, but he did not care. As an Einzbern homunculus, his sole cherished wish was to realize the Third Magic. His own destruction meant nothing to him.

Even if he died, Einzbern's magical energy factory would continue operating, continuing to create new homunculi to shoulder the Einzbern Family's cherished wish. As for whether the man before him would destroy everything belonging to Einzbern, he was not worried.

Bai Mo sighed. "Ah, so you really are a soulless homunculus after all?"

Ahadon could not pretend he had not heard that.

"What a ridiculous thing to say. How could a homunculus possibly have a soul?"

Ahadon responded forcefully. Bai Mo answered him with a somewhat unfathomable look, then stepped down from the desk, patted Ahadon on the shoulder, and slowly walked toward the exit.

"You're not killing me?"

"Killing you would be pointless. If I killed you, another central unit would appear, wouldn't it? I don't have time to deal with this mess of yours, either. I've got bigger trouble waiting for me."

Bai Mo stopped and looked back at Ahadon. A bone-piercing chill crept up Ahadon's spine.

"After all, I find it hard to regard things without a self, like you, as human. But if any future homunculi develop thoughts of their own, like those two, give them their freedom. At that point, they'll have souls of their own and should no longer be your tools."

Though his words were very calm, even somewhat gentle, the white frost forming in the room demonstrated Bai Mo's firmness. As his final words fell, he had already vanished.

Only after Bai Mo left did Ahadon's heart finally resume beating normally. He gasped for breath, the moisture he exhaled freezing into icy mist.

"Hah, hah... talking about... homunculi having souls. What a madman. But fortunately, he didn't kill me. If I died now, the resources lost would probably cripple the entire workshop for a long time."

Ahadon's heart remained unsettled for a long time. Bai Mo's words, the souls of homunculi-for some reason, they seemed to be hinting at something, something ordinary yet important that he had overlooked.

"I'll do as he says for now. There are only those two failures like that anyway."

After making this decision, Ahadon suddenly laughed at himself. Were he and the others not failures of a sort themselves?

Hearing Ahadon's words, Bai Mo, who had concealed himself at the doorway, finally relaxed and withdrew.

"Tch, that really doesn't feel good. I'd better not use it again."

"What's wrong? Not used to changing people's thoughts with Magnetic Field Power for the first time?"

The system's voice rang out with a somewhat abrupt question.

"I only influenced his thinking. I didn't change it outright... It's nothing. I just find it very unpleasant that Magnetic Field Power can so easily toy with people's thoughts, even their feelings. How would that make me any different from those gods? It's despicable. I'd better not use this casually again."

The system fell into an eerie silence, then asked, "But it's such a convenient power. Aren't you a little too free of worldly desires? Don't you want to try ruling the world or something?"

Bai Mo looked disgusted. "Ruling the world? Forget it. Too much trouble. Right now, I just want to finish your business as soon as possible. Fuyuki, right? That's a long way to go."

Outside a certain cake shop near an airport in Germany.

Dressed in white winter clothes, Illya stared unblinkingly at the Black Forest cake in the glass display case. Her red eyes watched the tempting cream, and then the shopkeeper opened the case and took the cake out.

Illya looked inside the shop, where Bai Mo was conversing fluently with the shopkeeper in German.

"How adorable. Is she your little sister?"

"No. Please get me that single-serving Black Forest cake as well, three slices of bee sting cake (a cake topped with caramelized almonds, with a thick layer of pudding filling inside), and a bag of Lebkuchen (a German specialty gingerbread)."

"Certainly, sir. Will that be everything? Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Do you know how to contact a private jet service?"

"Oh, an old customer and friend of mine is in that business. I'll give you his number right away, sir. No, let me contact him for you."

The shop assistant's attitude was almost absurdly accommodating. He even helped wipe Bai Mo's shoes as he left, but these services came at a price: Bai Mo had tipped him generously.

"Here. Next time you want something, just come in and say so. Don't stand watching at the door. You're not some little kid in a movie. Have a snack first."

Bai Mo pressed the Lebkuchen into Illya's hands. The exquisite gift box looked like a present from a father to his daughter.

"Thank you, Bai Mo."

Illya's smile at this simple happiness drew kindly looks from passersby. Bai Mo patted her head, and the two walked toward the airport terminal together.

Soon, they spotted Leyritt, along with Sella, who was scolding her.

"What are you doing, Leyritt? You're Illya's bodyguard, aren't you? How can you just sit around doing nothing!"

"Relax, Sella. Illya will be fine with Bai Mo. Besides, I'm working very hard watching the luggage."

"Haven't you and he gotten your jobs mixed up...?"

Sella scratched her head helplessly. Behind her, Illya came trotting over with Bai Mo by the hand. Seeing how happy Illya looked, Sella could hardly say anything more.

"Here, your bread."

Leyritt thanked him. "Thank you so much." Then she grabbed the cake and began munching. Sella shook her head. "No, thank you. I don't need any..."

Before she could finish, her stomach let out a treacherous growl.

"All right, madam. Your treacherous stomach has already betrayed your strong will. It's been almost a day since we left Einzbern and came here. You need to eat something."

In the end, Sella accepted the bee sting cake Bai Mo offered her, lowering her head and murmuring her thanks. She had just taken a bite when Leyritt suddenly blurted out something she had not expected.

"Bai Mo, Sella's actually very grateful to you. This is her being a tsundere."

With the cake in her mouth, Sella struck out with both fists, but Sella, likewise holding a bee sting cake in her mouth, easily blocked them.

Both wanted to say something, but their cakes would fall as soon as they opened their mouths. Neither would let up, like boxers at match point.

"You two really get along."

Bai Mo watched from the side.

"How do we get along?! Ah!"

Sella instinctively refuted Bai Mo's words, but the moment she opened her mouth, her cake fell to the floor.

Sella felt a pang of regret. She really was a little hungry, and the sweetness of the bee sting cake suited her tastes perfectly. But now, a cleaner passed by and swept away the cake on the floor.

Inside the private jet...

"Sir, our flight will take approximately eleven hours. We'll refuel in China before arriving in Japan. We'll be passing through Greece, and with a little luck, we'll get to see the sunset over the Aegean Sea."

The captain's voice sounded over the speakers. Bai Mo reflected inwardly that he had finally set out for Fuyuki.

With his power of 250,000 horsepower, getting from Germany to Fuyuki would actually take less than an hour. But this was no longer ancient Greece. There were even satellites monitoring from space. If the various countries discovered an object flying through the air at speeds measured in Mach, agents from some country would probably come looking for him tomorrow, followed by a heap of investigations. That would be troublesome.

The other reason, and the main one, was that a world of magecraft existed here. Bai Mo did not want to expose himself to them before he was strong enough.

Fortunately, Ahadon's support had been extremely effective. In less than half a day, he had arranged identification documents and other items for all four of them.

Thinking of Ahadon, Bai Mo could not help recalling the portion of his memories concerning him: the vision he harbored of saving the world, and the Third Magic related to souls. Bai Mo did not want to get too involved in that vision. This business of racing through the dark without regard for what lay ahead or behind was far too unreliable.

What concerned Bai Mo was the Third Magic, Soul Materialization. Though distant, it was still worth exploring. Einzbern wanted to perfect the Third Magic through the Root, so even without considering the system's mission, participating in this Holy Grail War was quite necessary.

Meanwhile, after playing for a short while, Illya and Leyritt fell asleep leaning against each other.

Bai Mo and Sella were still awake. Sella looked at Bai Mo somewhat awkwardly. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"No. What's wrong with you? You seem a little strange."

"N-nothing."

Sella straightened her posture again. Then that familiar sound rang out once more.

Grrr. Her stomach protested.

Sella lowered her proud head and gritted her teeth, fuming at her treacherous stomach.

"Say, you weren't planning to wait until I fell asleep before going foraging, were you?"

"What are you talking about! I'm not some wild animal!"

"Looks like you really are hungry."

"Ugh..."

The white-haired homunculus held her head, letting out a pained groan. Then a cake carrying a familiar fragrance was placed in her hands.

"This is yours, isn't it?"

"It makes no difference whether I eat or not. Or would you rather have the airline meal?"

Ever since reaching Magnetic Field Rotation, Bai Mo had no longer felt hungry. He had even forgotten to eat the cake he had bought at the start.

Sella accepted the cake after all and began eating it in small bites. The warm cabin, the sweet bee sting cake, the comfortable sofa-it was truly hard to imagine that after escaping the Einzbern Family, she did not have to spend her days being hunted.

This really is all thanks to him... As that thought inexplicably surfaced, Sella immediately shook her head, casting the frightening notion from her mind.

How can you think that? He's an outsider who doesn't even have any identification, yet he's interested in the Holy Grail War. All of this is far too strange. Sella, oh Sella, Illya and Leyritt are both counting on you. You can't let your thoughts wander. You have to keep a close eye on him.

Sella silently made up her mind, then resumed eating the cake in small bites.

Do people from outside, like Kiritsugu, eat things like this in their daily lives? I could learn to make them for Madam and the others...

"Thank you, Bai Mo."

"It's nothing. If you're really grateful, would you chat with me?"

"Chat? I don't know anything about Madam."

You're giving yourself away, Sella, Bai Mo said inwardly. Aloud, he said, "I'd like to know about you. For example, Leyritt-what's that very conspicuous bow on her hat?"

"Huh? Why do you want to know something like that?"

"I'm very curious about the path a homunculus takes toward developing a self. Just tell me for the sake of all the money I've spent."

At Bai Mo's words, however, Sella said with some displeasure, "That's clearly because you're far too extravagant! You actually wanted to take those ancient gold coins straight to a pawnshop. What a waste!"

"All right, all right. Then thank you, Miss Sella, for managing my accounts. Is our housekeeper willing to tell me now?"

Sella glanced at Leyritt and Illya, who were already fast asleep, and slowly began to speak.