Part 141: Hard fighting / Rin's treatment / Healing / Cooperation established

Music: Footsteps of Destruction



I throw away my weapon and reach for my right arm with my free left hand.
"You are brave. You are always selecting the choice that brings you pain."

It's like meets

But my movements have to be like slow-motion to her.
The Servant in black thrusts out her nail to pierce my left hand as well!



"!"
I swing my body desperately to avoid it, but it's useless.
The Servant mercilessly thrusts her "nail"

Music: Stop



And she is shot from the side by numerous bright bullets.





The Servant in black turns her back.
She jumps onto a branch and retreats like a beast.



As soon as she runs up to me, she takes my hand.



"Um… Oh, I have a handkerchief. It's probably clean since Sakura prepared it for me."


"Ugh, it's not much better than mine. But it's better than nothing. We can make do with my towel and that."

Tohsaka takes my pulse and murmurs something like a spell.
…It must be styptic and painkiller, as my right hand feels a bit better.
Tohsaka carefully puts the handkerchief on my wound and wraps the towel around it.

"……"
Seeing her like that reminds me.
Tohsaka is beautiful and a nice person.
I was watching her from a distance, admiring her for being an honor student, until three days ago.
As it turns out, her true personality was far away from my imagination, but it's not like she was any different inside.

My heart's pounding.
Tohsaka's a nice person, she's so close to me, and she's so beautiful that I can forgive her for everything that happened until now… I can't think straight


"All right, I guess this is good for now.
…So, what was that? I tried to back you up since you were in a terrible situation when I caught up with you."
"I don't know. I followed that person here, and I was attacked."



…I decide not to say anything about seeing Shinji.
It might have been my imagination, and even if it was him, I don't have any proof that he's connected with that Servant.



That face looks a little bit familiar....

"Don't make a face like that. I couldn't tell who she was, but she's a Servant. So that means there's another Master here."


"…Yeah. I knew there was another Master at this school, so this means that Master finally made a move."
Tohsaka slumps her shoulders.
…Hm.
It seems Tohsaka already knew about this third Master.

"Hm?"
Then that Master is the one who attacked the female student…?
"Hold on, Tohsaka. How's that girl…!?"



"Plus, she owes me one now. I just have to think about when to collect... so many choices..."

"I see. That's good."
I sigh with relief.
…That means all problems have been resolved.
Then what's left is

Music: Tender Scenery




"Huh? W-Why are you staring at me? H-Hey, I won't do something like that!"

Oh my. What in the world was she thinking about?

I don't know how she misunderstood.
Tohsaka, um, sometimes makes the stupidest misunderstandings.

"Hey, I know that. You won't do such a thing. What I want to ask is if you want to continue. Do you want to keep fighting or not?"


""
Hearing this, Tohsaka freezes.

…How long did it last?


Tohsaka glares at me once,


then hangs her head as if giving up.

"……"
That's fine.
But it troubles me if she makes such a face near me.

"Tohsaka? What do you want to do?"


"I won't do it. This is it for today. I'm not in the mood anymore, and I owe you for another thing."
She gets up and brushes dirt off her knees.



Tohsaka offers me her hand.
"……?"
I tilt my head in wonder and look at Tohsaka's eyes.


"I'm saying we're going to my house. You can't heal that wound yourself, right?"
"Ohwell, that's true. But why?"



You'll die of necrosis if we leave that wound be. It'll be my fault if you lose your arm."
Tohsaka pulls at me as if telling me not to talk back.
"HuhHuh?"
Wait.
I don't get it at all.



Music: Madder Red Town





""
I look up at the extravagant mansion, dumbfounded.
…Well, I thought I was used to things like this because of Shinji's house, but this has its own taste.

"Emiya-kun? The entrance is over this way."
"Ohyeah. I know, I know."
I clear my throat and follow after Tohsaka.
…Man.
I can understand if I'm on guard being invited to another Master's base, but I'm getting nervous just thinking that I'm going into Tohsaka's house.




"Let me see your arm."
She gets straight to the point.
"……Please."
I sit on a chair and show her my right arm.

She takes off the towel that's wrapped around it.
I think she's closer to me now.
I didn't notice before, but her black hair looks really pretty and causes my heart to beat faster.



"Huhno, t-that's not true!"


"Really? But your wound's almost healed."
"I didn't say anything about it being prettyhuh? What did you say, Tohsaka?"


"I said your wound's almost healed up. I only stopped your bleeding, so it shouldn't be healed."

"Hm… But I don't know anything about it."
"Really? You don't have a clue even though something like this happened before as well?"

"Hold on, you're confusing me more now. Something like this happened before? When?"


"It was recently.
You were wounded when Berserker attacked, right?
That wound healed up by itself.
…I thought it was your magic at the time, but now that I think about it, you're not that skillful."

"Heh, sorry I'm not skillful. …But what does it mean? I've never had such a thing happen to me before."


"…Hmm. The only reason I can think of is the contract you made with Saber. I don't know how you formed your contract, but I hear that there are Servants that make their contractor immortal.
Saber's self-healing powers might be flowing into you."

"…Hmm. Does that mean my wounds will heal as long as our contract exists?"


"…Well, I guess so. But I wouldn't rely on it. Saber's healing your wounds, so it means you'll be using up Saber's magical energy.
And more importantly, that's a power to heal your wounds, but not to bring you back to life. It'll be all over if you die, so don't do such a reckless thing again."



Music: Surrounded by Smiling Faces



Shirou definitely wants the sugar…

…from Archer.

"UhI don't want either. …Can you tell me one thing before that, Tohsaka?"


"What?"
"It's about what you said before. You said something about there being another Master at our school."

"Oh, that? Oh yeah, you wouldn't notice the boundary field set up there, huh? …To put it simply, there's another Master at school who's doing things like what we just saw."

""
…I recall the female student.
She was pale, and Tohsaka said she would've died if we hadn't found her.

"…So Masters don't only go after other Masters, huh?
It's like that priest said, but why would they do such a thing?"


"To win the Holy Grail War, of course. Servants can acquire more magical energy the more they feed on human minds.
The Master at our school wants to use everyone as sacrifices to make his or her Servant stronger."

"Whausing the students as sacrifices… Is that Master insane!?"


"Who knows? But there's a boundary field set up at our school.
It's not complete, but everyone inside will weaken and die once it's activated. Well, it's not like I'm going to let that happen."

Tohsaka explains with a cool voice.
…This must be something she's known for days.
She knew what she had to do and went to school, even though she told me not to.
She knew it's dangerous to be there, but she still went to stop the Master who set up the boundary field.



…I'm ashamed of myself.
It's only natural for Tohsaka to get mad at me, who came to school without thought.
I wasn't prepared for anything, as I was trying to continue my peaceful everyday life.



She looks at me uneasily.
…I bet she's misunderstanding again.

"No, you're wrong. I just thought that I'd never be able to beat you."
I think it's wrong for me to apologize, so I try to tell her how I feel.




Tohsaka stares at me.
"…W-What? T-This isn't about that previous fight"



She attacks me with a smile that makes my heart jump.

"You mean a truce between us?"


"Yup. The Master at our school is ill-natured, and the enemy now knows about you. I personally want to take care of this other Master before you. So do you want to cooperate and look for this other Master?"

""
I'm taken aback, but I think calmly.
No, there's no need to think.
What Tohsaka said is correct, and more than that, I cannot ignore this Master.
First of all, I decided to fight so that I can stop Masters that will hurt innocent people.


"How about it? I don't think it's a bad proposal."
"Yeah, it'll be great if you can help me."
I nod while staring back into her eyes.


"Hold on. It doesn't mean I'll be helping you. We're just promising that we won't attack each other."
"…I see. So it doesn't mean an enemy of an enemy is your ally, huh?"


"Nope. But you can trust me for now. I'll help you as long as you don't betray me."
She declares so.
This is so like her, and I am honestly thankful for this fortune that's been brought upon me.

"Great, then you'll be my ally forever. Please give me your best regards, Tohsaka."
I nod and hold out my right hand.




"H-Heh. I'm sure it won't last a long time, so at least be of some use to me, okay?"



First Saber, now Rin. "We shook hands, so she must be a good person!"

Music: Tender Scenery


"…I see. No wonder I thought it was strange. So you're not an official successor, huh? Your dad died before he handed down the Magic Crest to you, right?"

"I don't know. I don't think my father wanted to pass his Magic Crest on to me, and he was also against the fact that I wanted to be a magus."


"But he taught you magic, right? Isn't that contradictory?"

"Maybe. It seemed like he taught me magic because I wouldn't give up. He also told me from the beginning to be a magic user and not a magus."


We talk about unimportant stuff for a while.
"Since we're cooperating, I want to know about your family."
Tohsaka asked me that question, and it's now getting into how I learned magic.

Emiya Kiritsugu was a lone-wolf magus that came from the outside.
In contrast, Tohsaka's family has proper lineage and supervises this land.
Normally, a magus from outside must show good faith to the supervisor of the land, but Kiritsugu didn't do so.
Actually, he hid the fact that he was a magus.

As Tohsaka Rin is the head of the Tohsaka family, she is the supervisor of this land even though she's young.
She was entrusted with the supervision ten years ago, and it's only recently that she actually became able to protect the land.

Well, that's why the Tohsaka family never knew about Kiritsugu's existence, and why they didn't know about his son, who is a magus.


"…A magic user, huh? Then you really are an amateur. You don't have any knowledge other than the magic you can use, right?"

"That's right. I can only use the 'strengthening' magic. I only know a bit of other things. What I did before was just casting the strengthening magic on a desk to use as a shield. And that was the best magic I've ever done."




Then.
She gets mad like it's her own affair.

"Wait, is that something to be angry about?"


"H-Hey now… Look, Emiya-kun.
We are cooperating, but there are things we should still keep secret, right?
We should be hiding the scope of our power, and first of all, a magus has to keep his magic hidden at all costs."

"Really? But it's meaningless to keep it a secret now, right? It's true that it's not something to be telling people, but you're a magus. It's not a problem to tell you. And Father told me that magic is not something to hide desperately."



"Yeah. I guess he wanted to tell me not to be bound by rules. He always told me that I shouldn't learn magic and that I could quit any time I wanted."


"!"
Tohsaka grits her teeth.
What's she so irritated about? She's showing enmity like never before.



Your dad's not a magus. If you're taught by such a character, I can't approve of you as a magus."



"Tohsaka? Calm down. Why are you so mad? Well, I know I'm no magus compared to you, but my father was a great magus."


"No, that's not what I want to say. What I can't forgive is that"


That what?
Then, Tohsaka's enmity disappears as if she's regained her composure.




"…I'm sorry. It was my fault. Everyone's ways are different. I'm proud of myself, so it's not my place to tell you something."

"…I don't get it. Did something annoy you? Um, like the method Father taught me, or is it my inexperience?"





Err… well then.

Like how you only know the strengthening magic after a few years of study, and how you tell me that weakness of yours."
Tohsaka smiles suggestively.
…Is it just me, or do I feel a chill?

Be careful now. You wouldn't want to get girl on you.

"Ugh… You're right, I really regret it now. But I can't help it, right? I'm only good at strengthening magic, and my father's dead. I had no way of learning anything else."


"Yes, that's the limit of a single magus. Magi don't know when they're going to die, so they leave Magic Crests behind and cooperate with the Association."


"…What I got so angry about was how your dad never did anything against that.
'Magic' of a magus isn't just his magic.
Magic is something passed down from parent to child for many generations. It's the 'sum of their life's work'. The responsibility isn't just yours."

"So the first condition for being taught magic is that you will pass it on to later generations. A child born into a magus's family instantly becomes a successor and an inheritor.
We are born for that reason, and we also die for that reason."



No, it is the duty of the 'magus' to change what is born human into something else through many years and hard training.
…That's why your dad isn't a magus. Your dad chose to be a parent over being a magus."

She looks away as she says so.
"……"
I don't know why Tohsaka's mad.
What Tohsaka thought when she was raised in this house…
How much she sacrificed to train as the daughter of a family of magi…
I can't put myself in her place, no matter how hard I try.

"Tohsaka. Is that why you considered me your enemy? Because I don't have the mindset of a magus?"



…That's why I had to teach you a lesson! Is that bad!?"

"Well, it is badbut I appreciate your warnings.
I wouldn't have noticed the Master at our school if it wasn't for the thing today, and I wouldn't have been able to cooperate with you."
I stare at her for affirmation.


Tohsaka ponders for a bit.


"Geez, why is a guy like this Saber's Master!?"
She complains about something strange.

Music: Stop



"So we'll look for the Master at school?"


"Right. We'll meet in the hallway after school tomorrow.
Oh, I'll have Archer guard you on your way home. I can't walk you home since I have things to do, but Archer's good enough, right?"

"Huh?"
I realize I've been forgetting about it all along.
This is Tohsaka's house, so it's not strange for Archer to be here.



The knight in red, Archer, takes form.
"……"
Come to think of it, this is the first time I've actually faced him.

The man that almost got his head cut off by Saber that night.
The man that tried to shoot Saber along with Berserker.

"………"
…Is it because of such things?
I face him and instinctively feel that…
I hate him.
I probably will never be able to accept him.

They're one of those couples.



It must be the same for Archer as he stares at me with enmity.
…Heh, I appreciate that.
If he hates me, I can hate him back without holding back.


"Please do your best, Archer. We're cooperating now, so don't attack him."


"I know. I will follow my Master's order."


Archer disappears.
Since he can't go out there dressed like he is, it must mean he will guard me in spirit form.