บท 54: I Am the Master of Verbal Shenanigans!
The break of dawn.
For days now, the cold north wind that swept through Fuyuki City seemed to have ceased, swirling around the small city like it was heralding some impending event.
In the underground reservoir, the cold, damp air condensed, faintly tinged with the lingering stench of blood.
What remained of Caster's presence in this world was this final vestige of sorrow.
The souls of those sacrificed here still suffused the area with enough residual magical energy to fuel simple rituals, even if the location was not on a leyline.
In the dim, golden glow of a rudimentary magic circle, the Kurumi clone—disguised as Irisviel—lay still.
Kirei Kotomine sat with his back straight in a darkened corner, immersed in ascetic meditation. He wasn't a naturally gifted man, but what set him apart from all the geniuses was his relentless dedication to every aspect of his training.
He found solace in the pain, deriving pleasure from the agony.
Yet even so, his heart remained void, an emptiness he could never seem to fill.
Taking a calculated risk, he had been feeding mana to Avenger's clone, knowing that it was dangerous and might draw Aenger to him. But he hoped it would give him a chance to converse with her, to understand more about the man who was his polar opposite: Kiritsugu Emiya.
What kind of person was Kiritsugu Emiya?
Surely, through Avenger, he would gain a new perspective.
From the Church's archives, Kirei had uncovered the fact that his father was missing but not yet dead. However, returning to the Church was out of the question. Kiritsugu had undoubtedly left numerous traps there.
This was the safest location available, albeit damp and cold.
Kirei clicked his tongue. How he longed for a few steaming bowls of fiery hot mapo tofu right now.
Suddenly, a chill, bone-deep and freezing, washed over him. It felt as if the air had turned to ice, like standing in the presence of a malevolent demon.
He quickly identified the source of the unsettling cold.
In the middle of the crude magic circle, the figure of 'Irisviel' slowly sat up, her wine-red eyes glowing in the darkness.
The moment she opened her eyes, all doubts vanished.
That was venger.
Even in such a weakened state, Kirei could sense that this clone still possessed the power to end his life in an instant.
The overwhelming pressure came not just from the Servant souls inside her but also from the strain of the defective Grail system on her body, as well as her constant battle to resist simply devouring the Servant souls outright.
Yet as Kirei shifted, Kurumi's gaze followed him, locking on with a predatory precision.
The main body had already received the message. From the City Hall to the Mion River, the distance was inconsequential to her.
"Avenger," Kirei addressed her, sitting properly with his knees together, hands resting on his lap, his expression solemn. "I would like to ask you a few questions."
Kurumi blinked, momentarily bewildered.
This guy… his thought process… was certainly something else.
Her shadow had already reached the location. There was no longer any need to rush.
Kurumi responded, "Speak."
"Avenger, though I feel calling you that is somewhat disrespectful," Kirei began, aiming to dive straight into the heart of his inquiry.
"Call me Tokisaki."
"Very well, Miss Tokisaki." Kirei quickly adapted. Unlike other magi who treated Servants as mere tools or familiars, Kirei viewed them as beings with wills far greater than most humans.
In fact, he hadn't intended to use a single Command Seal on Archer—until Archer had tried to slice up a restaurant.
"Miss Tokisaki, could you tell me—what is your Master, Kiritsugu Emiya, truly seeking?" Kirei's voice trembled slightly, his anticipation rising.
"He's engaged in this meaningless war, killing endlessly, straying far from reason. What is he pursuing? What is this man who's as lost as I am chasing?"
"Oh?" Kurumi's lips curled into an amused smile. This could be interesting.
"Kiritsugu, huh? His original wish was to save all of humanity, to put an end to war and bloodshed, and to achieve world peace."
Kirei's brow furrowed deeply. Such a childish dream, spoken like the wish of a fool. It was practically an insult to his intelligence.
A wish like that was no different from eliminating humanity altogether.
But Avenger was clearly serious.
Wait... originally?
"Originally?" he muttered.
"Yes, originally. In the past, he was punished repeatedly for trying to save those who could not be saved. He gave up his own happiness to make difficult, impossible choices," Kurumi said, her smile growing darker as she found something amusing in this situation.
"Haah…"
Kirei drew a sharp breath, struggling to comprehend. Was Kiritsugu really a man who constantly gave up everything?
The happiness and joy Kiritsugu had sacrificed were things that Kirei, in contrast, might have found worth dying to protect.
Only two people had ever loved him deeply enough to cause him pain—his father and that woman who had bloomed like a hydrangea in his life.
His wife had taken her own life to correct his innate evil, hoping to cause him pain.
And when she had died, the profound agony he felt brought him a perverse joy that filled his empty heart, yet he had never thought of giving that up.
But Kiritsugu? He had been giving up happiness all this time?
"And now?" Kirei asked, his voice trembling, both eager and afraid of Kurumi's answer.
"He wants to save everyone who can still be saved. He wants to protect his last sanctuary of peace."
Kirei froze.
Envy? Hatred?
What Kiritsugu had—everything Kiritsugu possessed—was a dream-like treasure Kirei could only admire from afar.
At the same time, he was plunged into a deeper confusion.
"And you—what are you seeking?" Kurumi's voice was soft and enticing, like a whisper in Kirei's ear, as though it could lead him straight into a dream.
"Me?" Kirei furrowed his brow, lost in thought. "I'm troubled by my own flawed nature. I'm searching for what truly brings me pleasure."
He couldn't find beauty in what others called beautiful, nor could he shake the things others found hideous from his mind.
He couldn't feel joy from happiness, but instead, he found satisfaction in pain—both his own and others'.
That was Kirei Kotomine: a man born with a fundamental defect.
"And have you ever found that pleasure?" Kurumi asked knowingly.
"In moments of suffering," he hesitated.
"No, no, no," Kurumi interjected. "I mean, in other ways."
"Other ways? I've never found joy in anything else."
"For instance, Saber," Kurumi continued with a sly smile. "Her life has been filled with hardship, but she still finds happiness during a feast. Why? Because she enjoys eating."
"Kirei Kotomine, aside from suffering, do you really have no other hobbies?"
"Eating…?" Kirei hesitated. "I enjoy mapo tofu."
"There you go," Kurumi beamed. "Do you feel pleasure when you eat mapo tofu?"
"Yes, pleasure."
"And what if you made the mapo tofu yourself, and your guests were burning in despair from the spiciness? How would you feel?"
"Ecstatic!" Kirei's eyes lit up.
That night, watching Gilgamesh suffer through the spiciness of the dish had certainly brought him joy.
"There you go," Kurumi said, her grin as bright as the sun.
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