Part 213: Captured princess

Music: Ever-present Feeling



The memory of the guy that was set up as a hero.
The story of a knight whose end came at a place I can't reach.



"He's seriously stupid."
…That's right. It just makes me mad.
He tried his best, worked hard even though he's an ordinary person, and finally obtained a miracle with his blood.
Then it'll be a lie unless he becomes happy.
If he made many people happy, he should become happier than all of those people combined.

But he did not receive such a reward.
What he obtained in its place was the fate to be summoned as a "guardian" after his death.

""
That's right. Why didn't I realize that simple fact?
The guardians are summoned into every age.
Doesn't that conversely mean that they are summoned from every age?
From the present and the past.
Heroic spirits can even be summoned from the future.



Since guardians are pushed into a "seat" away from the time axis, the concept of time does not exist for them.
As soon as one becomes a heroic spirit, they sublimate into something other that what they used to be when they were human.



Then
It is possible for a guardian to be summoned into the place and age they lived in when they were alive.





Thinking so, he made a contract with the world, gave his body after his death, and saved a hundred or so people.
He believed that he would be able to save more, tens of thousands of people, after his death.

But such hope was betrayed.
Heroic spirits are summoned only into hell.
They appear only when the world is about to be destroyed by people.
Humans are beings that will perish from their own doings.
So the process of destruction must always be the same.

He was summoned only into these "hells".
In the land of death where the ones he wanted to save were already dead, he killed even more humans.
The boy who stated he just doesn't want to see anyone cry…
…Could only see crying humans forever.







I, Tohsaka Rin, have never had any hardships in my life.
So I might not have the right to say it, but I believe in working hard and going through pain. It's wrong not to be compensated for your fights.
That's why I'm angry at his uncompensated life, and most of allI can't leave him be because he ended up cursing his life.

'You're my Servant, so I'm only going to do what I believe is right.
I'm not as loose as Emiya Shirou, but I do have some things I cannot give up.
I won't give it up no matter who's telling me so'

…That's right.
That's why I decided…
That as long as I'm his Master, I will believe in my path like he used to do.

That's about all I can show to him.
That's the only way I can repay him.
It might have been meaningless, but still…
I do it so that Archer, the one who lost his own past, can realize that his life was something he can be proud of

Music: Whirlpool of Fate 2



The first things I notice after I wake up are the sensations in my limbs.
They hurt and I can't move them.
"……I'm tied up."
I'm sitting on a chair and slept in a bad position.

""
…I don't want to admit it, but this is the worst possible situation.
I can't do anything.
My hands are behind the chair and restrained by something like handcuffs.
It goes the same for my legs, and I can't even stand up.
The handcuffs and the shackles are magic resistant, and my Magic Circuit is so messed up that I can't even create magical energy.





"So. What do you intend to do, Archer?"
I glare into the darkness.
…By the pillar…
The knight in red is sitting on a pile of rubble.

"It's nothing. You're just bait to lure out Emiya Shirou. You should know that."
"…Heh. Shirou would come even if I'm not here. You should know that."

"You're right. But it would be inconvenient if you're there with us. I'll have you stay quiet here until the matter is settled."
Archer says so without appearing in front of me.
There's no sign of his previous friendliness.
He is a calm "cleaner" now.

"I see. So you will kill Shirou no matter what?"
"Yes. Such a soft person should die."
He answers as a matter of course.
I can only see the shadowed side of his face from here.
His expression is cold, and he looks like he has a mask on.
Thatmakes me seriously angry.





"But what about you?
You went so far, but you think that holding a selfish ideal is wrong?
You fought over and over for other people, you got betrayed over and over, and you were forced to clean up after them over and over!
Were you disgusted with humans after that, Archer…!?"

I get even more angry as I speak, and I'm screaming it out now.

Music: Stop

""
…Archer doesn't answer.
The face in the shadow is a face I've never seen before.