I, Kurumi Tokisaki, Am a Wanderer

The sky had just begun to brighten before sunrise. A soft, pale dawn stretched across the horizon, with a few lone stars still visible. It was a moment of serene vastness, as the first light of day began to creep over the mountaintops.

Saber, jolted awake from her nightmares, gazed out of the window, her emerald eyes trembling slightly.

"Is that really Kiritsugu Emiya?" she thought. "What is it that he truly seeks?"

To save someone... meant failing to save others...

The best method was one that brought about the greatest efficiency with the least sacrifice in the shortest time possible...

Justice cannot save the world... He has no interest in such things...

...

"Have you forgotten something?" Saber swiftly got dressed, collecting her thoughts as she left the room. "Have you forgotten who you once were?"

The Knight of Kings doesn't understand the human heart? Perhaps.

——

The wind on the rooftop was cold, and a thick haze of cigarette smoke drifted lazily in the early light.

As Saber expected, Kiritsugu Emiya was there, staring out at Fuyuki City, wrapped in fog. One cigarette after another, he lit them without pause.

A dream he had pursued all his life had shattered like a fragile bubble. Nine years of preparation had been for nothing.

Even this cold, emotionless machine felt a sense of emptiness.

His goal had been to seize the Grail with minimal sacrifice, but now, in a cruel twist, he found himself needing to destroy it to prevent any sacrifice at all.

...

The sound of firm, purposeful footsteps echoed on the rooftop. Kiritsugu didn't even need to look to know who it was—Saber. In this castle, she was the only one who walked with such dignity, a "knight" through and through. But why would she seek him out? Was she here just to enjoy the morning breeze?

Saber stopped in front of him, and only then did Kiritsugu turn to look at his Servant.

For a moment, he froze.

Saber's emerald eyes looked at him with an unusual calm, almost pitying.

"Master, what is it that you truly seek?"

For the first time since the war had begun, Kiritsugu, who had practically ignored Saber up to this point, reacted to that look—his expression twisted into simmering rage.

Who does she think she is, pitying me?

"To destroy the Grail..." he growled, his gray eyes burning with something fierce.

Saber finally understood—it wasn't the world that needed saving. It was Kiritsugu Emiya himself.

"I'm not asking about that," she said quietly. "I'm asking about the ideals you once held. Do you still remember them?"

Kiritsugu stared at her, realizing what had happened. The connection between Master and Servant sometimes allowed dreams to overlap, their memories mingling to improve compatibility.

But from the start of this war, Kiritsugu had been using self-hypnosis to replace sleep, which meant he had missed out on such dream exchanges.

Do I need your pity? He smirked contemptuously.

"You only need to serve as a decoy, distracting the other Servants," Kiritsugu responded coldly. "Just eliminate the Masters and Servants one by one. When the time comes, use your Noble Phantasm to destroy the Grail."

This wasn't what Saber wanted to hear. She took a step forward, grabbing Kiritsugu by the collar, forcefully enough that it seemed she might push him against the railing.

"Kiritsugu Emiya."

"Your anger, your lament—isn't it the very thing that someone striving for justice would feel?"

"Kiritsugu, of all people, you should be the one who most desires to become a hero who saves the world—am I wrong?"

...

Kiritsugu looked down at this fierce, lion-like girl, his cigarette falling to the ground.

"Justice is—"

"Justice cannot save the world." Her emerald eyes blazed with fury. "That's what you want to say, right?"

"Then haven't you already abandoned your ideals?"

...

Some things, it seemed, had been worn away over time, bit by bit.

There was a long silence, thick with tension, on the rooftop.

"Listen carefully, Kiritsugu Emiya."

"I'm not saying this for your sake."

"I just refuse to let Irisviel's life be wasted by a fool like you."

...

Click—

The door to the rooftop swung open.

"Kiritsugu, it's time for breakfast—???"

Irisviel's smiling face appeared, only to be replaced by a look of confusion.

Saber and Kiritsugu... What were they doing?

A small "＃" formed on Irisviel's forehead.

"Ara ara, it seems we have an interesting show to watch so early in the morning." Kurumi, ever the mischief-maker, appeared, holding the hand of a sleepy-eyed Sakura.

Sakura looked a bit troubled—Kurumi's many copies seemed to take turns doting on her every day.

"Breakfast?" Saber's quirky ahoge tilted in Irisviel's direction.

"Hunger is the enemy! Iris, let's eat first."

...

When you commit evil to fight evil, what remains in the end will only be evil.

——

Fuyuki City seemed much calmer during the day.

Inside the Einzbern castle's meeting room, the walls were covered with blank maps of the entire city. Every important location had been marked with labels, meticulously documenting information.

Leyline shifts...

The movements of familiars...

Reports of missing persons from police radio...

Nothing escaped Kiritsugu's scrutiny as he compiled intelligence from across the city.

Aside from Saber and Maiya, no one else could offer much input. Though it was unclear what had transpired between Saber and Kiritsugu that morning, the icy indifference between them seemed to have thawed slightly.

Kiritsugu, in the end, had compromised—not with Saber, but for Irisviel. He knew deep down that he had already sacrificed Irisviel, in his heart.

Kurumi sat holding Sakura, speaking softly to Irisviel.

In front of her, a phantom interface flickered—her stock of revival coins now read 0/2, in ominous red.

...

Kurumi hadn't even wanted to attend the meeting, but with her scouting abilities, she had no choice but to manage the flow of information from her many copies.

Yes, nearly a hundred of her duplicates had been dispatched across Fuyuki City, gathering every bit of information Kiritsugu required.

It was no wonder strange urban legends were starting to circulate throughout the city.

Kurumi yawned, bored. Analyze, analyze—why not just crush everyone already?

One comes, one dies. Two come, two die.

Suddenly, Kurumi shot upright, startling Sakura, who looked up in surprise.

"Avenger!?" Irisviel and Saber turned to Kurumi, their confusion clear.

Even Kiritsugu, deep in thought, glanced her way.

Kurumi's lips twitched awkwardly.

"Master... I think... one of my clones accidentally killed a Master."

"What!?"