Part 44: Choice

"Shinji. Do you know that there's someone who supervises the Holy Grail War?"

"Yeah, that priest at the church, I hear. They say he's a survivor of the last war, but I didn't go see him because he seems annoying.
I'm not a magus, so it's a bother to be forced to follow the magi's rules."



If he wants to really stop fighting, he should go and see Kotomine first.

"Shinji. Do you know about the boundary field set up at our school?"
"I know. I can't tell, but Rider told me. What about it?"

"…Isn't it your doing? Tohsaka said it was the work of a Master at our school."

"No, it's not me. There's certainly another Master at that school, so it must be him."
"…? Tohsaka said there was only one other."

Here we go again!

"You trust Tohsaka too much. Well, putting that aside, Tohsaka is wrong.
The presence she can feel is that Magic Circuit thing, right?
Then I'm not a Master she can perceive, because I don't have a Magic Circuit to begin with.
From the beginning, we're people that go under the radars of the normal Masters."

…I see.
The presence of a magus, the presence of the Command Spell… they are both things activated by magical energy.

Thenif someone without magical energy becomes a Master, the only way to identify them is to actually see them.
Tohsaka's method of searching for people with magical energy would not only overlook Shinji as a Master, but she wouldn't even notice him at all.
It's because Shinji does not have the presence of a Master that Tohsaka is searching for.

"…I see. Then there must be another Master that Tohsaka is sensing."
I should go home and warn Tohsaka about that.
Then there's no reason to stay here anymore.

"…! Hey Emiya, what about the cooperation thing?"

"I refuse. I won't participate in beating Tohsaka or anything like that.
First of all, she hasn't done anything.
Eventually… I will end up fighting her, but she can be trusted right now, and I want to trust her."

"…Heh, I think it'll be too late when something happens. But if you say so, fine. I'll wait and see."

Music: Stop



Music: Whirlpool of Fate 2



He acts like this, but he seems to try to be fair in his own way.

"…Hey Shinji. I might be persistent, but does Sakura know about you?"


"She doesn't, and I have no intention of telling her. I'm the successor of the Matou family. I'll let her be my sister and not know anything."

"That'll help. I want Sakura to stay like that."




I see. If you're worried about Sakura that much, I should thank you as her brother. …All right then, I'll tell you something good, Emiya.
I don't know who it is, but one of the Masters is nesting at the temple."

"!? Temple… you mean Ryudou Temple!?"
"Yeah. As my Servant puts it, there's a witch up there. She is supposedly collecting souls on a large scale, so it'll be a problem if we don't do something about it fast."

"Wha"
If that's true, that is the fifth one.
And if that one is collecting souls on a large scale, there's a high probability that it is the cause of the story on this morning's news.


"That's all.
Well Rider, see him off. Emiya is on our side, so don't hurt him."


So ordered by Shinji, Rider approaches me.

"Uh… no, that's…"

"Don't be so reserved. You're my responsibility until you leave the house, so it'll be troublesome if you got hurt.
Oh Rider, you only have to see him to the front door. He has nothing to do with me once he exits, so treat him well until then."
Shinji retreats into the back room.




"……"
Rider, covered in black clothes, doesn't say anything.
But surprisinglylooking at her closely, I notice that she has clean features.

The long purple hair reaching to the ground only reminds me of the smell of blood, but at the same time, I understand it's really beautiful.
…She's wearing this outfit, so it's embarrassing to directly stare at her, but can it be that her outfit doesn't match her face?

Well, if the game didn't make light of that getup, I would have eventually. Her magical servant powers must be the ability to fight in clothing like that without her naughty bits popping out.

To put it into a phrase, she's a shrine maiden covered in blood.
That contradictory appearance of one who is both holy and evil is this Servant called Rider.

"…But…"
Are all heroic spirits beautiful?

"Well, there's Saber and Rider, of course. ...and then Berserker, Lancer, and of course sweet little Archerkins!"

I think so while looking up at Rider's face out of curiosithey, Rider's tall for a girl.
Rider must be at least 170 centimeters tall.

"…Hmm"
This is no time to calmly observe Rider.
It's a problem to be alone with Rider, so I should get out of this place quickly.

Music: Stop