I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

Page 146

Just thinking about that scene makes her heart ache like never before. However, she has gradually come to understand that some things are beyond her control. She doesn't want to put her son in a difficult position. Her mother had said before that her father had very important things to do and that she shouldn't cause him any trouble.

She had already made up her mind that even if she never saw her parents again, she would live on strongly, but some feelings just couldn't be suppressed.

Her white hair shimmered softly under the lamplight, making her look like a snow sprite. Her eyes were red as she sobbed, releasing her parents' hands and wiping away the tears that flowed like broken pearls.

“Ilya—” Irisviel felt her heart clench. She glanced at her husband, whose eyes were red, sighed, and squatted down. She whispered gently in her daughter’s ear, “Ilya, my lovely Ilya, Daddy is not going to abandon Ilya. He may not be able to be with Ilya often in the future, but he will still come back to see Ilya.”

Ilya slowly stopped sobbing, her eyes red as she looked at her mother. After sniffling, she asked in a choked voice, "Really?"

Kiritsugu was human after all. He lowered his raised hand and gently patted his daughter's head, saying, "Yes, I will never abandon Illya. I will definitely come back to see Illya often."

Illya said, "Once a day is enough. Kiritsugu only needs to see Illya once a day."

Kiritsugu was taken aback. Although what he had said earlier wasn't just a perfunctory response, he couldn't possibly do it in this short time—no, now that he thought about it, he couldn't even—

Seeing that Kiritsugu did not answer, Ilya cautiously extended one hand, spread her five fingers, and said, "Is that so? Can't I watch it every day? Then five days will do!"

She still saw that Kiritsugu did not speak, and said sadly, "Not even five days? Then a month will do. As long as I can see Illya once a month, that will be enough."

Kiritsugu then realized just how incompetent a father he was in Illya's eyes, going from one day to five days, and from five days to a month. He even realized now that despite living in Winter Castle most of the time, he had spent extremely little time with Illya. Even though he was there every day, he couldn't even spare a moment to see her each day.

His current actions are just like the relationship between Natalia and him after she adopted him. Before he became Natalia's assistant, whenever she went on a mission, he could not see her for a long or short period of time. He spent most of his time alone at the base, worrying. So, is Ilya now the same as he was back then?

Chapter 321 Choosing the Future (Part 2)

Kiritsugu had never considered such a thing in the past, because all his time was devoted to the hope of the Holy Grail, which could be called a miracle. However, now that hope has been shattered, he must seek new hope. He wants to see the fulfillment of that wish before his life comes to an end, which makes time even more scarce.

Unwilling to lie, he suddenly realized he couldn't fulfill Ilya's small requests.

Illya seemed to already know the answer. She stood on tiptoe and stretched out her hands to Kiritsugu. "If Kiritsugu doesn't come back for a very, very long time, then just hug Illya before you leave. If Kiritsugu doesn't come back for a very, very long time, then just think of Illya occasionally. It doesn't matter whether you see her or not!"

Kiritsugu's wavering had reached an uncontrollable point. Seeing his daughter's almost pleading wish, his knees buckled and he knelt down, then he and his wife hugged Illya tightly in their arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry—" These repeated words echoed in the empty stone chamber.

Ling watched this scene with a complicated expression, while Olga beside him silently wiped away her tears. Many people on the Chaldea side also had red eyes, and most of them were men. Although they could not fully understand everything, as men, they could better feel the difficulty of the choice made by the man named Emiya Kiritsugu.

"Ling, is there really no possibility that this man's wish will come true?" Dr. Roman asked Ling earnestly, this being the first time he had sought an answer from her.

"—At least in the endings I know, the world he sought never came to pass. Even though he sacrificed his life, that wish remained unattainable." Ling raised his head and took a deep breath. To be honest, he was somewhat affected by the emotions of this family. This feeling was not good. To outsiders, this emotion was both beautiful and poignant, but in his eyes, there was only sadness.

In summarizing his life, Kiritsugu Emiya felt that a song lyric was very fitting, namely the line from "Infernal Affairs"—"In the midst of disappointment, one can even say that the song perfectly encapsulates Kiritsugu Emiya's life.

If he hadn't met the Einzberns and made a contract with the Counter Force to become the "Scavenger," Kiritsugu Emiya would have eventually seen the ending he sought.

Olga turned to look at Ling. "Isn't the Holy Grail supposed to be an 'omnipotent' wish-granting machine? Why can't it grant this person's wish?"

Ling pursed her lips, organizing her thoughts. "Because so-called 'omnipotence' has its limits, something Leonardo da Vinci should know all too well."

"Moreover, regardless of whether the Holy Grail in the Eastwood was contaminated or not, it was impossible to fulfill Kiritsugu Emiya's wish. Or rather, even if he made a wish to the Holy Grail that was not contaminated, the result would be the same—the complete destruction of the species called 'humanity'."

"Why?" Olga pressed.

"Eastwood's Holy Grail War is a hoax. While it is undeniable that it does have the ability to grant wishes, this ability is merely incidental. Its essence is to achieve the third magic through a series of rituals."

Seeing Olga's thoughtful expression, Ling felt it was better to tell her everything so she could understand the ritual, since she herself had a deep connection with the Holy Grail War. "The name of the Third Law is Soul Materialization, which means that it allows people to break free from the limitations of the physical body and achieve true immortality. However, this is a miracle that can only be achieved by the complete Third Law. In the Holy Grail War, this system can only give Servants a physical body, allowing them to live another life. This body can remain ageless, but it can still be killed."

At this point, Ling glanced at the doctor, who deliberately crossed his arms in front of his mouth to hide his expression.

"This place we are here, Einzbern, was originally a workshop established by the disciples of the Third Mage, which has continued since the first year of the Gregorian calendar. After the Third Mage disappeared, they tried to recreate their master's miracles but could not do it with their own hands. As a substitute, they created an individual identical to their master, and that individual would then recreate the magic."

"I won't go into the details, but in short, they spent nine hundred years accidentally creating an artificial human with the same properties as their master, who was known as the Winter Saintess Justessa Risleich von Einzbern."

"This android does have the ability to reproduce the Third Magic, but this result is entirely accidental. And importantly, Justisa has a major flaw: unlike the former Third Magician, her magic is close to fine weaving. It takes years to save one person, but she can never save all of humanity."

"In the end, disheartened, some of these disciples left the castle, while others took their own lives. But they did not destroy the workshop. Although the remaining homunculi of Einzbern were abandoned by their creators, their purity ensured that the workshop, built on the ideals of magicians—the salvation of humanity and the re-creation of miracles—continued to operate. From then on, the homunculi created by Einzbern were modeled after Justessa, and the workshop officially became the homunculi family of Einzbern."

Olga's eyes widened upon hearing this. "Wait! The Einzbern are a magical noble recognized by the Clock Tower! But you mean they don't actually have a single human?!"

“Yes,” Ling looked around the amniotic fluid room they were in with a complicated expression, from the amniotic fluid pool of the abandoned androids to the culture tanks in the other room. “As you can see, everyone in here is an android. In this castle now, apart from Kiritsugu Emiya, no one is a pure human, not even Illya, who was born from a womb.”

Ling smiled bitterly. He had once stubbornly clung to the idea of ​​being a "human," but after death, he realized how ridiculous his idea was. Or perhaps everything became insignificant after death. He used to fear that becoming a Dead Apostle would mean no longer being himself, but now, ironically, he had become a Dead Apostle. He was still himself; no second personality had emerged, nor had he transformed into a monster that only knew how to suck blood. It seemed that he had really worried unnecessarily back then.

Olga raised her head unhappily and emphasized, "Don't talk nonsense! I'm a pure human!"

Chapter 322 The Holy Grail's Three Families (Part 1)

She said this without the slightest bit of guilt, because physiologically speaking, she is indeed a complete human being.

"Whatever makes you happy." Ling didn't intend to argue about this issue.

"Although Yustissa herself does not age, she will die due to her physical fragility, so she cannot leave the city. Due to her intellectual and spiritual immortality, she will not grow at all, which objectively means 'repeating the same day forever'. Although leaving the city will free her from the 'same day', what happens outside the city means to Yustissa to be a slow death."

"Einzbern concluded that the reproduction of Justessa was impossible, and in order to preserve the precious prototype that had only one chance, they changed their approach to mass-producing the miracle she used."

"Only Justeza has been unable to fully utilize the Third Magic over several decades. This is because even with a more powerful magic formula, a machine like Justeza cannot save most of humanity at once. The idea of ​​decomposing her magic circuits and replacing them with a human universe—that is the Great Grail."

"But only the Einzberns could not start such a project. They were merely puppets, lacking the technology to survive outside and unable to withstand the complexities of human society."

"Although I don't know how Einzbern leaked the news back then, in the year 1800, a magician named Machiri Zorgen, who dedicated his life to removing all the evil in the world and the malice of mankind, arrived in this winter city."

When Ling mentioned Machiri Zorgen, Leif's eyes widened slightly. He knew the name because the demon god factor of the demon god pillar Barbatos resided in the bloodline of the Zorgen family.

"His wish is truly noble," Dr. Roman couldn't help but exclaim, only to be met with a strange look from Ling. "Huh? Huh? Is there something wrong with what I said?"

Ling turned her head to Kiritsugu Emiya. "Anyone who harbors such lofty ideals and puts them into action will not have a good ending. Kiritsugu Emiya, Zouken Matou, and Shirou Amakusa are all examples of this. — Well, Zouken Matou is the name Machiri Zorgen used after he settled in Japan. By the way, he's still alive."

“Great magicians always have ways to prolong their lives, so there’s nothing strange about that,” Olga said with obvious envy, expressing her views on the concept of immortality. Indeed, as she said, any magician family with some resources has countless methods for achieving immortality.

Human body modification, life-extending elixirs, body transformation, soul transfer, and even rank advancement, and so on.

"Indeed, but the methods he used were rather disgusting. Five hundred years of obsession had twisted him beyond recognition. Indeed, he once had a grand wish to be with this man, but the passage of time has turned everything about him into something monstrous, whether it was his appearance, his soul, or even that wish."

Thinking of the insect burrow beneath the Matou family's territory, and the existence that had been renamed Matou Sakura, Ling felt a wave of unease. With only half a year left until the Holy Grail War, that meant that half a year ago, Tohsaka Sakura had already been sent to the Matou family, and Matou Kariya had also returned to the Matou family. It was too late to stop everything; all that could be done was to make amends.

"Forget it, since we're going to participate in the Holy Grail War, we can't avoid the three starter families. Let's just give them a break then."

With some unspoken purpose in mind, Rin decided to add a goal to the Holy Grail War. While this could not be said to be out of goodwill, it was generally a move that would benefit both sides. After all, once Zouken Matou disappeared, the remaining resources of the Matou family would be enough to change many things.

"Besides the Einzbern and Zorgren, who else are the three founding families?" Leonardo da Vinci, who was Ling's teacher, was now captivated by the secrets Ling was revealing, as if their positions had been reversed.

"And there's Tohsaka, the veil holder of Fuyuki City."

“Never heard of them, country bumpkins,” Olga concluded calmly regarding the Tohsaka family.

Indeed, compared to Europe, the homeland of magic, Japan, an island nation, is a magic-poor region, so Olga's disdain is understandable.

“Hey~ do you think the Tohsaka family are country bumpkins?” Rin slapped Olga on the forehead with a chop. “Don’t look down on people just because you think you’re something special. That island nation is good at producing monsters, and the Tohsaka family isn’t some country bumpkin either. If you really want to know, their background is even deeper than yours.”

Although the topic has strayed a bit, Ling still decided to give a detailed introduction to the backgrounds of the three starter families. "None of the three starter families have a simple background. The Einzbern family is the workshop of disciples of third-party mages. If we take the Winter Saintess as the highest achievement of this family, then we can say that the Einzbern family has mastered a part of the third law. The identity of the homunculus does not affect this point, so it is not unreasonable to regard the homunculus of the Einzbern family as disciples of third-party mages, or as Gods Holders of the third law inheritance."

"Although I don't know how many generations the Zorgen family has gone through, it should be more than ten generations. After all, Machiri Zorgen, the founder of the Holy Grail War, lived for five hundred years. Now, with Shinji Matou as his ancestor, they are already the sixth generation."

"Machiri is a renowned mage who excels at creating familiars. The creation of the familiar, or Servant, system in the Holy Grail War and the invention of the technique of binding them with Command Seals are all Machiri's achievements. In other words, the Command Seal system currently used by Chaldea is actually their creation, and its coercive power is far inferior."

Listening to Olga's hand, which was covered by gloves, I could feel the slight warmth beneath the silky gloves.

"Furthermore, if we consider 'before joining forces with Einzbern' as his prime, he could fight even against Servants. Depending on the situation, he could even defeat a solo opponent. If the Clock Tower's Grand Mages are ranked at level 100, then Machiri Zorgne at that time would have been around level 70. Moreover, he was a close friend of von Hohenheim Paracelsus, a fellow friend of Hohenheim. Leonardo da Vinci, you should have heard him mention Machiri Zorgne, right?"

"Yes, I have indeed heard of him." Hearing Ling mention his friends from his previous life, and even people he knew from his previous life who are still alive, to be honest, Da Vinci's current feelings are hard to describe. Especially after hearing Ling's words that the magician he knew from his previous life has fallen, that feeling became a little unpleasant.

Chapter 323 The Holy Grail's Three Families (Part Two)

“When Paracelsus mentioned Machiri Zorgen in the past, he once told me that they had similar pursuits. However, Paracelsus did not get the answer he wanted, and both he and I are now dead. Could it be that Machiri Zorgen, who is still alive, has fallen because of that noble pursuit?”

Da Vinci's voice sounded somewhat lost, as did Kiritsugu Emiya's. He looked bewildered, unsure whether to continue listening, because the words he heard revealed that all those who shared similar desires had failed, and none of them had fared well.

"Zouken Matou has forgotten his original pursuit. Time is an incurable poison. He is now just a monster who is barely surviving, parasitizing others and using insects to form temporary bodies. Also, according to unconfirmed information, the Zorgen family has the demon god factor of Barbatos, and they should be descendants of Perseus."

"The Seventy-Two Demon Gods and the Hero Perseus?" Da Vinci looked surprised. She had never known that the Zorgen family had such a background. Although Ling said that he was not sure about the news at the moment, based on the secrets he had mentioned before and some other speculations, the news was likely true. If so, the Zorgen family, or rather the Matou family, had the potential to reach the top of the Clock Tower.

"Don't even think about it. By this time, the Matou family has already reached its end. By the time of Shinji Matou's generation, the magic circuits have dried up, and they have to rely on adopting extra children from other magician families to maintain the family. The one in this generation is Sakura Tohsaka, the second daughter of the Tohsaka family, who are allies. But speaking of which, those kids in Fuyuki City who haven't grown up yet are really something else."

Recalling the Masters of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Ling couldn't help but look at Olga with pity.

"What do you mean by that look?!" Olga looked at Ling with dissatisfaction. Ever since Ling started talking about the Holy Grail War, she felt that he liked to look at her with a strange gaze, a gaze full of pity, sighs, and mockery. Although she didn't care too much, since at least Ling was willing to look at her seriously now, compared to ignoring her, she still felt a little uncomfortable.

"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?" Ling didn't dwell too much on Olga's attitude. After all, the two were still getting to know each other, and he was a self-aware person who couldn't completely change his impression of Olga in a short time, but he was already trying.

“Of course it’s the truth!” Olga hugged Ling’s right hand and pressed her whole body against it.

Seeing Olga's intimate gesture, whether intentional or unintentional, Ling rolled her eyes, her heart as still as water. "I'm thinking, how can a small city like Fuyuki have so many outstanding Master candidates? I don't know if it's luck or a curse. Although I don't want to admit it, in terms of background, whether it's talent or bloodline, you are better than them, but you don't have the qualifications to become a Master. It's really ironic."

Olga blinked, raising her right hand with a half-smile. "Who said I don't have the qualities of a Master? I already possess Command Seals, and you've become my Servant. That's an undeniable fact."

“You are an exception among exceptions. In other timelines, you only gained Master aptitude and Spirit Transfer Adaptability at the moment of death.” Ling made no attempt to hide anything and directly stated Olga’s abnormality.

“That’s why I am who I am! I don’t know what you’ve seen in other timelines, but standing beside you is me with all of this. And if I could, I don’t want to hear about ‘me’ in other worlds anymore.” Olga’s face turned cold. Even though she had made a real contract with Ling, she still felt uneasy. The source of this unease was her complete ignorance of Ling.

All she knows about Ling is that he is the object of the suppressor's attention, knows various secrets, and has a suspected ability to observe parallel worlds. As for his past and origins, she knows nothing about them. As for his personality, she can glean some information from past interactions: he hates trouble, is misanthropic, withdrawn, and doesn't like to interact with people.

These are not the most serious problems. The most serious problem is that, for some reason, he is always extremely wary of people, yet he can't help but want to do things that make people accept him.

“No problem. Anyway, you’re the kind of character who won’t survive more than one episode in the main series. Aside from your memorable death, the only thing you’ll remember is Red Pantyhose. That’s right, the kind of minor character whose name you can’t even remember, since your name is just too long.” Ling calmly avoided Olga’s murderous gaze.

"Don't make that face. After all, I'm not much better off than you. If you're a minor character who won't survive an episode, and that can be used as foreshadowing, then I'm cannon fodder who won't survive three episodes. I'm just a minor character to be tortured." He mocked himself without a care, pinched the bridge of his nose, and continued, "Let's continue talking about the three starter families. After all, once I tell you, you'll understand why I said those little Masters were exceptional."

"Three hundred years ago, Zorgen was probably still in a state where his dreams hadn't been shattered. Even though he should have given up, he still visited Einzbern, the last hope. There he met Justeza, and he felt a complex mix of emotions: hope for the fulfillment of a tragic wish, envy for Justeza who might achieve the Third Magic, and sadness for Justeza's eternal repetition of the same day at the cost of her immortality. As someone who understood Justeza, Zorgen and Justeza decided to build the Holy Grail together."

This topic about emotions piqued the interest of all the women, whether they were from Chaldea or Einzbern, they all perked up their ears, especially Irisviel, who, as the first homunculus in Einzbern to possess a "human heart," paid more attention to this topic than anyone else.

Ling noticed his wife's sparkling eyes, then casually glanced at the projector and saw that it was the same there. He couldn't help but complain, "Hey, I'm talking about serious history, not some third-rate romance drama. None of the tragic love, life-and-death separations and stuff you're imagining happened!"

Ignoring the disappointed looks in their eyes, he sighed and continued speaking.

"I don't know how, but Machiri moved the Einzbern family. Yustiza, who had been in a 'static' state, left Einzbern Castle for the first time. She also broke her own eternity and decided to implement the Great Grail Project, which would decompose her magic circuits and magically replace them to create a human universe. From that moment on, the life of the Winter Saintess began its countdown."

Chapter 324 The Holy Grail's Three Families (Part 3)

"When we started making the Holy Grail, a new problem arose. The Greater Grail could be built, and the core could indeed be made, but activating the Greater Grail required an extremely large amount of magical power. Although ordinary ley lines could stop supplying magical power, there was a new problem in materializing the Holy Grail."

The clever Olga, with her vast knowledge, immediately came up with the answer: "The Spirit of the Relic."

“That’s right, it’s the Spirit Rank.” Ling glanced at Olga with admiration, then pointed to the ground beneath their feet. “The Greater Grail Project doesn’t require ordinary spiritual veins; it has special requirements for the Spirit Rank of those veins. At the time, almost all the land with enough Spirit Rank to make the Grail was managed by the Church. Without land, the Einzbern family couldn’t carry out the practical operation. Therefore, the two families went to Japan, where the Mage Association’s influence was weakest, to search for spiritual veins outside the Church’s jurisdiction. After all, Japan was a remote region not under the Association’s or the Church’s control. Finally, they made contact with a local mage family. With an understanding person like Machiri and a Japanese mage as a collaborator, the Einzbern family finally began building the Greater Grail.”

“The countryside, the countryside that nobody wants to care about.” Olga frowned at Ling and said the word again.

Ling ignored her this time and continued, "That Japanese magician family is the Tohsaka family, the last of the three Holy Grail starter families."

“Never heard of you, country bumpkin.” Olga seemed to get angry because Ling ignored her, and as a result, she got another chop to the neck from Ling.

“We’re not from the countryside. Although the Tohsaka family has only been around for five generations, they are disciples of the old man with the gem.” Ling tapped Olga and then touched her smooth forehead.

Olga, caught up in Ling's affectionate gesture, didn't hear what Ling said clearly. Only after Romani's exclamation did she turn her head in confusion to look at the doctor. "Roman, what's your name? I'm handing over the position of acting director to you, can't you be a little more composed?"

"Uh—" The doctor wore an extremely innocent expression, merely showing the surprise that a normal magician should have.

Seeing his expression, Da Vinci chuckled to himself and then advised, "Olga, don't blame him. After all, I don't think he can adjust his thinking in a short time, and he hasn't received enough information overload like we have."

"What information shock?" Ren Youling touched her forehead, and she turned her head to ask Leonardo da Vinci.

"Huh? Didn't you hear? The Tohsaka family are disciples of the Second Mage." Da Vinci repeated the information Ling had just mentioned.

Olga tried to recall, then suddenly turned around and grabbed Ling's hand, "That little-known Tohsaka family is a disciple of the Jewel Elder?!"

“Yes, and the old man with the gem is a witness to the establishment of the Greater Grail.” Ling said in a nonchalant tone, without a trace of respect for the mage.

"He's not some old man, he's the Marshal of the Magic Path! Show him some respect!" Olga finally slapped away the hand that was playing tricks on her forehead. She had already decided that this person was her life partner, someone who would help her control the vast Animusphia in the future. From now on, she couldn't let him show any disrespect to a mage.

Ling's expression turned disdainful. "What's so respectable about someone who likes to cause trouble, refuses to help those in distress, and whose very presence is questionable? And what's wrong with me calling him an old man? Isn't he old? By time calculations, he's lived for over a thousand years. Calling him an old man based on his age isn't inappropriate at all, is it?"

Ling continued, and after guessing that the "old friend" his grandfather mentioned and his former guardian were this demonic marshal who never brought any good, Ling's attitude towards him was predictable.

"You really aren't afraid of trouble~" Da Vinci looked at Ling meaningfully. As a Heroic Spirit, she no longer respected mages. What remained was probably just a little bit of respect for the pioneers.

"Since he's a disciple of the Demonic Marshal, why didn't the Tohsaka family member become a cripple?" Olga decided to change the subject, which was a bit dangerous.

"This matter should be quite famous in the Mage's Association. Ah, I see, it's because the Holy Grail War isn't well-known in your worldline." Ling looked at Olga, who seemed to have never heard of the Tohsaka family, and suddenly realized.

He originally wanted to explain the issue in detail, but the doctor from Chaldea suddenly coughed twice. Ling didn't look over, but squinted and thought for a moment, finally deciding not to talk about the Holy Grail War in that world.

“I know that in the Mage's Association records, becoming the old man’s disciple is synonymous with being crippled, and ultimately it’s because the disciple couldn’t bear the pressure, right?” Ling suddenly pointed at Ilya. “If that’s the case, let me tell you, if Ilya became his disciple, I don’t think this situation would occur.”

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm asking why that person from the Tohsaka family wasn't crippled." Olga glanced at Illya, puzzled. The little girl, comforted by her parents, had stopped crying and was now looking at Ling with bright, piercing eyes. Olga felt uncomfortable with that look; it was as if her precious treasure was being coveted.

"Well, what's wrong with digressing a bit? But let's talk about this later. The reason why Tohsaka Eito wasn't ruined is partly because his willpower was strong enough, and partly because that old man was teaching him as a magician, not a sorcerer."

"As the first generation of the family to step into the path of magic, Tohsaka Nagato was indeed mediocre as a magician, and his magical abilities were not even as good as his daughter's." Ling paused here to organize her thoughts, because based on the information she remembered, Tohsaka Nagato's information was too complicated, and she had to think carefully to express herself properly.

Seeing that he had stopped, no one urged him and waited silently.