After saying that, the mood drops below freezing level. It is the most awkward situation I experience since reincarnating here.
I don't remember much of what I do after that, except that I spend my time just silently watching Sakura and Ayaka play.
Misaya doesn't say anything to me anymore either, but she does often glance at me like I am some kind of weird person or something.
Thankfully, it only lasts for half an hour. Because that is all the time I can spend there before leaving, because I need to go to the Einzbern castle.
"I will be back later, Sakura" I say, gently patting her head.
She is sniffing quietly because she doesn't want me to leave so soon.
After that, I finally leave the Sajyou house.
Standing outside the Sajyou house, I suddenly realized a huge problem.
I need to go to the Einzbern castle, but I have absolutely no idea where it actually is.
How am I supposed to find it? Do I need to buy a map?
But the exact moment that question crosses my mind, a strange sensation hits me. It isn't pain, but more like a sudden, massive flood of information rushing straight into my brain out of nowhere.
Einzbern Castle.
Location: Hidden deep within the mountainous forest outskirts of Fuyuki City.
Distance: It is incredibly far away. If a normal person were to walk there from the city, it would take them at least seven hours on foot.
History: The Einzbern family is a lineage of alchemists and homunculi originally from a freezing mountain in Germany. This castle in Fuyuki is a massive villa they built specifically to serve as their hidden base for the Holy Grail Wars. It is heavily protected by powerful Bounded Fields that create illusions, ensuring that normal people just get lost in the woods and never actually find the building.
Everything about the castle, from its exact layout to its hidden magecraft barriers, is suddenly perfectly clear in my mind like I have lived there my entire life.
I even know exactly where the blind spots in the barrier are.
I hold my head, feeling completely dizzy for a second.
What just happened? How do I suddenly know all of this?
And then, I remember the connection I have.
"So this is what Void meant..." I murmur to myself, my eyes widening in realization.
This is the power of being connected to the Root. The moment I genuinely need to know something, the absolute truth and knowledge of the world just flows directly into my mind.
I don't need to search for the castle anymore, because the root itself just handed me the perfect map.
"Seven fucking hours?!" I suddenly realized after absorbing the information properly.
"How the hell am I going to walk for seven hours?! It's already the afternoon! That means I am going to arrive in the middle of the night... and I have to walk through a freezing mountain forest in the dark?!"
I groan and aggressively rub my temples.
I could use Reinforcement magecraft on my legs to run faster and cut down the travel time, but I really need to be careful.
While the quality of my Magic Circuits is an impossible EX-rank, the actual quantity is only B-rank. That means my total mana pool is limited.
I need to conserve as much energy as possible in case I run into traps or enemies at the castle.
So, having no other choice, I just start walking.
Seven long, exhausting hours later, the sky is completely dark as I finally reach the deep, mountainous forest on the outskirts of Fuyuki.
The temperature immediately drops to a freezing level the second I step near the trees.
Looking ahead the dense woods look completely normal, but thanks to the information floating in my head, I know I am standing right at the edge of the Einzbern's illusionary Bounded Field.
Standing at the edge of the Bounded Field, I activate my eyes to look at the lines of the Einzbern barrier.
"Huh, this one seems different from the Matou's" I mutter to myself.
This one has way more lines, and all of them are so densely tangled with each other that I can't even see which line is which.
Even though the Root gave me the exact map of the barrier's blind spots, this is still the Einzbern family.
Their Bounded Field is incredibly high-level, crafted by homunculi with centuries of alchemy experience. The sensors are extremely dense, meaning even walking through the blind spots is incredibly risky.
To make absolutely sure I don't trigger anything, I need to use the advanced Illusion magecraft that Lady Ava taught me. Because it is such a complex spell, I can't just cast it instantly.
I close my eyes, slowing down my breathing. Just like Lady Ava instructed, I visualize the blooming, unearthly pink flowers of the Inner Sea of the Planet.
I carefully push my mana through my circuits, weaving the magical energy around my body layer by layer until it forms a tight, invisible cocoon.
"Fade into the mist" I whisper the short chant under my breath.
Immediately, my sound, my scent, and my body heat completely vanish.
The illusion takes hold, turning my presence into a chameleon and blending my magical signature perfectly with the freezing forest around me.
With my camouflage active, I take a deep breath and step into the woods.
I carefully follow the exact path the Root downloaded into my brain.
I step over hidden tripwires and weave around illusionary traps, relying completely on my own magic to hide my footsteps while the Root guides me through the tiny gaps in the Einzbern defenses.
---
---
---
At the same time, inside the Einzbern Castle.
Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Saber, and Maiya surround a large map spread across the table, heavily discussing their plan for tonight.
They spend a couple of hours thinking about strategies and deciding which Servant they need to be the most careful of.
After analyzing the battles so far, they all agree that Archer is the one who is truly dangerous compared to the other Servants.
At least, that was their thought until yesterday night, when Irisviel and Saber were suddenly ambushed by a little girl.
"Archer is undoubtedly a massive threat" Saber states firmly, her expression serious "but we cannot ignore the anomaly we encountered last night."
Irisviel wraps her arms around herself, shivering slightly as she remembers the encounter. "Saber is right. That girl... Manaka Sajyou. She didn't act like a normal Master at all."
Kiritsugu stares at the map, his eyes cold and calculating. "A little girl who casually ambushes a Master and a Servant in the middle of the night. Tell me again exactly what happened."
"She didn't just fight us normally" Saber explains, her tone grim. "Without a single incantation, she summoned three shadowy figures out of thin air. They were exact, corrupted copies of the Berserker class Servant we saw at the docks."
"Three of them..." Kiritsugu mutters, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "Replicating three shadows of an existing Berserker is completely impossible for a normal magus."
"But that wasn't even the most terrifying part" Irisviel interrupts softly, her voice shaking. "After Saber dealt with the shadows, the girl decided she wanted to fight us herself. She released her prana, and the entire atmosphere immediately changed."
"The air grew so heavy it was suffocating. The sheer density of her magical energy warped the surroundings. It felt like we were standing in the presence of a monster, not a human child."
"And then what?" Kiritsugu asks, leaning forward, his voice tense. "If she had that much power, how did you two escape?"
"We didn't" Saber replies, looking deeply frustrated. "Right when she was about to strike, she simply stopped. The crushing pressure vanished entirely, and she turned around and left as if she suddenly lost interest. We have absolutely no idea why."
"We investigated the Sajyou family beforehand, but their files were completely ordinary" Maiya adds from the corner of the room, her voice flat and professional. "A child with that level of monstrous talent shouldn't go unnoticed by the Mage's Association. Either her father has gone to extreme lengths to hide her existence as a secret weapon... or the girl herself is deliberately erasing the traces of her own power from the world."
Kiritsugu takes a slow drag from his cigarette, letting the smoke drift over the map.
"A magus who can casually summon three Berserker shadows and warp reality with her pure prana, only to walk away on a whim..." he says flatly. "We need to treat Manaka Sajyou as a threat equal to, or perhaps even greater than, Archer."
The discussion continues for a while longer until they finally decide to separate.
They need to rest and conserve their energy before the deep night arrives and the Holy Grail War officially resumes.
Kiritsugu and Irisviel leave the war room, stepping out onto a high overlook. The balcony provides a wide view of the freezing, dense forest surrounding the Einzbern castle, all illuminated by a beautifully clear night sky.
Kiritsugu leans against the cold stone railing. The heavy burden of the war and his own past weighs down on him, making his eyes look incredibly tired.
"Iri..." Kiritsugu speaks quietly, not looking at her. "If I told you I wanted to run away right now... would you and Illya come with me?"
Irisviel looks at him, her crimson eyes filled with deep affection, but she slowly shakes her head.
"I would not" Irisviel replies gently, reaching out to cup his cheek. "Because that is not who you are. You made a promise to become a Hero of Justice. You are going to win the Holy Grail and save the world, Kiritsugu."
She speaks with absolute faith, fully believing in his beautiful ideal, completely unaware that the omnipotent wish-granting device they are fighting for is already deeply corrupted.
Kiritsugu closes his eyes, letting her unwavering support wash over him to steel his wavering resolve.
But suddenly, the peaceful moment shatters.
Irisviel violently gasps, her eyes snapping wide open as she clutches her chest.
Because she serves as the vessel for the Grail and is deeply connected to the Einzbern magecraft, she feels a sudden, unnatural ripple in the surrounding mana.
"Kiritsugu!" Irisviel warns urgently, taking a step back. "Someone is infiltrating the Bounded Field! They managed to slip past the outer illusions entirely, but I can feel the disturbance in the inner ward. Someone is approaching the castle!"
Kiritsugu's expression instantly hardens back into the cold, ruthless mask of the Magus Killer.
His brief moment of weakness is completely gone.
Saber immediately materializes beside them in a flash of blue particles, fully clad in her silver armor.
Her sharp green eyes lock onto the direction of the magical disturbance. Without wasting a single second, the King of Knights leaps into action, rushing out into the cold night to intercept the intruder.
At the same time, the rest of them moves with perfect, practiced efficiency.
Maiya quickly emerges and escorts Irisviel deep inside the castle toward a highly secured safe room. Left alone, Kiritsugu silently heads straight to the armory, coldly checking the ammunition in his Calico submachine gun and preparing his other weapons.
It doesn't take long for Saber to arrive at her destination.
The moment she stops after sprinting through the freezing forest, she immediately recognizes the figure waiting for her in the open clearing.
The one greeting her is a tall, handsome man with swept-back dark hair and a mystical beauty mark beneath his right eye.
He wears tight, dark teal clothing fitted with light armor, and he is casually resting a long crimson spear over his shoulder while holding a shorter yellow spear in his other hand.
"Welcome, Saber" Lancer says with a confident smirk.
"Lancer? You are the one who triggered the alarm?" Saber asks, her eyes narrowing as she steps into the clearing.
"Of course. Really, my Master is in far too much of a hurry. He wants me to defeat you right now since you are already crippled by my lance" he says casually, slowly lowering his crimson spear from his shoulder and shifting into a battle stance.
He spins the weapons lightly in his hands, though his expression looks slightly reluctant.
"Honestly, striking down an opponent who cannot even use her left arm goes completely against my pride as a knight. It is a terrible shame my spear's curse prevents you from ever fighting at your full strength again. I would have loved a truly fair duel. But alas, a Master's order is absolute" he sighs, shaking his head in mild disappointment.
Saber immediately materializes her invisible sword in her uninjured right hand.
Despite her left thumb being permanently immobilized by his cursed, her expression remains fierce and completely unyielding.
"Do not underestimate me, Lancer" Saber warns him sharply, the wind swirling fiercely around her invisible blade.
"Even with this curse holding me back, I am more than capable of taking your head."