You call this a projection?

Outside the Einzbern family’s magic workshop, Shirou Emiya left, feeling satisfied with Saber by his side.

It was as if Shirou Emiya had made this trip just to deliver that one piece of information to Acht. He hadn’t asked for anything specific, nor had he sought any special assistance.

”Shirou, is this really enough?” Saber asked Shirou Emiya on their way out.

Even now, she didn’t understand why Shirou had done this. But clearly, the image Shirou had cultivated all this time made it clear to her that everything he did must have a deeper meaning. Still, this felt far too abrupt and without context.

”Yes, this is enough,” Shirou replied. ”Because achieving the Third Magic has been the long-cherished wish of the Einzberns for ages. As long as they learn that the Third Magic has already been realized by another magus, even if it might not be perfect, they will find a way to obtain that technology.”

This was the reason why Shirou didn’t say anything more after informing Acht. Human desire, even among the homunculi of the Einzbern family, was an unavoidable contamination. Trying to get them to give up on the Third Magic was likely harder than trying to get an ant to walk across every corner of the Earth in a single day.

Furthermore, Shirou had specifically told them how to trade for the technology. Of course, that was his true goal.

The reason those shut-ins of the Einzbern family could constantly research the Third Magic—and why, in Fate/stay night, they stopped—wasn’t because they went bankrupt. It was because they looked at their masterpiece, Ilya, decided it was impossible to create a homunculus more perfect than her, and then, realizing they still couldn’t achieve the Third Magic, gave up in disillusionment as their ideals shattered.

In fact, it was precisely because the Einzbern family had found [Rhine Gold], the Noble Phantasm from the legend of the Nibelungenlied that brings endless wealth to its possessor, that Shirou told them about Marisbury achieving the Third Magic.

[Rhine Gold], while bringing wealth, also carries a ”slight” side effect: those who obtain this wealth will only go from one failure to the next, regardless of what they try to do. They are cursed by the original holder of the gold, Fafnir.

This was why the Holy Grail Wars always failed, and why Marisbury—a completely unrelated outsider—was the one to first achieve the Third Magic, even though the Einzbern family were the true successors.

As long as [Rhine Gold] is traded into Marisbury’s hands, Marisbury, who seems to have achieved his long-standing wish and gained massive wealth, will end up just like the Einzbern family: forever unable to reach the truth of fulfilling the [Grand Order].

”If you’re talking about a solution, there is none better than this one,” Shirou thought. ”Not only does it avoid combat, but most importantly, the history of other world lines in the Type-Moon multiverse will shift toward the FGO world line where Marisbury suddenly makes up his mind.

As long as he makes up his mind and chooses to trade the Animusphere family’s millennium of accumulation for a chance to create a Lostbelt, he can accumulate the resources to complete the [Grand Order] by winning the Holy Grail War within the Lostbelt.”

Without a doubt, Marisbury was the most inhumane magus Shirou knew. But equally, a man who could leverage such methods to accumulate the resources to destroy the universe would inevitably realize, upon seeing someone try to stop him before his true intentions were even revealed, that this must be a version of himself from some other world line or time point who had successfully completed the [Grand Order].

After all, predicting the future was not a rare occurrence in the Type-Moon world, which had ”Mystic Eyes of Future Vision.” Once this hypothesis was confirmed, Marisbury would proceed with unprecedented confidence and efficiency, finding ways to escape from Shirou while going all-in on his plan.

For a magus with a bizarre variety of survival techniques, this wouldn’t be difficult. Not to mention, Marisbury had already completed the Third Magic. Only this kind of silent, invisible method could truly stop him.

—”Of course, just in case...”

Thinking of this, Shirou had already scanned all of Acht’s mystic codes via projection magic the moment Acht had appeared in front of him, fully armed, after realizing that the ”Saber” beside Shirou was a genuine Servant summoned by a real Holy Grail. He had projected the Einzbern family’s magic and the experience Acht had mastered as the family head.

As he headed toward Romania, he said to Saber, ”Let’s go, Saber. Let us win this Holy Grail War once again.

Or rather, you, who accompanied me here to handle these matters, must be impatient too, aren’t you?”

-

-

-

”...A, King of Knights!?”

Back in the present, looking at the figure that appeared before them—especially that classic ”Saber face” and the ahoge that symbolized the King—everything told Mordred that the Servant appearing before her was none other than the King Arthur she knew so well!

”The enemy who arrived this time is the King of Knights... huh? The King of Knights!?” After staring blankly for a moment, Kairi Shishigou turned his head quickly to look at Mordred, then back to Saber.

Saber’s appearance...

—”It really is very similar...”

Shishigou, who had seen Mordred’s true face beneath the [Secret of Pedigree], couldn’t help but have this thought flash through his mind. He then turned back to Mordred, looking nervous: ”Saber, is there a problem?”

Whether it was from the legends of King Arthur or his own conversations with Mordred, Shishigou knew very well that this Servant—the Knight of the Round Table who historical records claimed had rebelled against Arthur—was actually full of longing for the King.

The so-called rebellion against Arthur was more like a child shopping with their parents, throwing a tantrum when forbidden to buy a new toy they saw on the shelf.

The only difference was that while a normal child might just roll on the floor and wail, this brat Mordred... she had used the opportunity of King Arthur leading the majority of the army against the Roman Empire to incite a massive rebellion within Britain, one that was enough to bury the nation.

’If I can’t have it, I’ll destroy it.’

Perhaps at that time, Mordred’s mind was truly filled with such thoughts. But when she truly buried Britain, and was killed by the hand of the victorious King Arthur, her heart was undoubtedly filled with regret.

This was only natural. Mordred’s tantrum was rooted in her longing for Arthur. Yet, her actions had pushed Arthur—and the Britain Arthur led—into the abyss. It was like a child throwing a fit over a toy, accidentally smashing their favorite thing in their emotional outburst. Even if they didn’t understand the consequences at the time, they would inevitably feel grief for the toy’s corpse afterward.

Mordred was undoubtedly in that state now. Not to mention that during her life, Mordred had been Arthur’s subordinate and a child born of complex circumstances. All these complex emotions were intertwined...

It was so overwhelming that Shishigou couldn’t help but use their contract to speak to Mordred through his magecraft:

”Saber, if it’s too much, let’s retreat for now.”

”This isn’t fleeing; it’s a strategic withdrawal necessary for our final victory. Remember, before meeting the King of Knights, we were forced into a long battle with countless golems and homunculi. Even if they weren’t strong, they consumed a significant amount of our magical energy, leaving us in poor condition.”

”As the art of war says: ’The first drum rouses the spirit, the second falters, the third exhausts it. When the enemy is exhausted and we are fresh, we win.’ We should prioritize recovering our state before fighting the King of Knights.”

To cater to Mordred’s emotions, Shishigou quickly spun a reasonable excuse that Mordred could accept.

So, was she going to choose to run away?

Hearing Shishigou’s words through the Master-Servant link, Mordred remained in the same state of confusion she’d felt upon seeing Saber again. She didn’t know what to do; her footsteps were even visibly retreating.

Yes, no matter how much Mordred railed against her, once she calmed down and realized what she had done during her tantrum, she couldn’t bring herself to look Saber in the eye, let alone cross swords with her. At least in this sudden encounter, Mordred found it difficult to fight without mental preparation.

”What is the matter, Sir Mordred?”

However, Saber, possessing the skill [Instinct: A], saw through Mordred’s actions a step ahead and called out her inner cowardice: ”Do you intend to run?”

”...!?”

”...”

Upon hearing Saber’s words, Mordred and Shishigou both reacted—one froze mid-retreat with a face of shock, the other slapped his own forehead to hide his helpless expression behind his palm.

”As expected, the feeling of one-sided transparency in information is terrible,” Shishigou cursed internally.

Because once Saber said that, Mordred, who viewed Saber as a role model, wouldn’t back down—she refused to be seen as a coward who only knew how to run. But this change couldn’t mask Mordred’s precarious mental state, nor the issue of magical energy depletion caused by Shishigou fighting the Yggdmillennia homunculi himself to avoid leaking Mordred’s information.

”Not enough mana, severely depleted supplies, the power gap between Servants, and on top of that, the enemy has the upper hand in combat mindset... The situation couldn’t be worse.”

Should I use a Command Spell?

Should I use it to force Mordred to retreat with me?

With these thoughts racing through his head, Shishigou quickly made a judgment. He raised the Command Spell on his hand and declared: ”By Command Spell, I command you—Saber, restore your full state and defeat the King of Knights!”

Of the original three Command Spells, the moment Shishigou finished his sentence, only two remained, even though the Holy Grail War had just begun. This startled Mordred out of her shock, and she looked at Shishigou, who had taken such drastic action so quickly.

”Master...!?”

”What’s wrong, Saber? Isn’t your wish to fight the King of Knights and inherit the throne?” Shishigou smiled carefree, seemingly indifferent to the loss of the Command Spell. ”My Servant has made the resolve to fight the legendary King of Knights, how could I, as her Master, hold her back?”

”Master, you... you...”

The flustered mindset vanished. Was it the effect of the Command Spell? Probably. As the mana transferred by the Command Spell surged violently into Mordred, her magical aura flared and intensified instantly!

Matching his words, she pointed her sword arrogantly at Saber: ”...You truly are my Master!”

”That’s right, King of Knights! I am the Servant summoned for this Holy Grail War! As the Saber of Red who manifests in this world, my sword is entrusted to only one person: my Master!

I don’t think I’m disloyal enough to serve two kings, King of Knights... No, Saber of Black!”

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