Fate/Zero:Act 7 Part 1

Reminiscing, this is the first time she felt uneasy since Irisviel stepped onto the grounds of Fuyuki.

She realizes once again the importance of Saber, who remained by her side constantly. The quiet confidence and tolerance emanating from her lithe frame gave Irisviel much assurance.

It was not that Hisau Maiya, Saber’s replacement to accompany her is untrustworthy as a guard; Kiritsugu also held Maiya’s abilities in high regards, and she is not being suspicious of her.

So what is the reason for this strange anxiousness?

Leaving the castle due to a strategic retreat, there was absolutely no dialogue between the two walking in the forest of the bounded field. True, Maiya didn’t seem to be the type who enjoyed banter, but her complete silence seemed too heavy for Irisviel.

Would Maiya answer if she is spoken to first? Trying once probably won’t do much harm. Currently, the two are within a safe zone, isolated from battle and not in a precarious situation where quietness needed to be maintained.

If so, then she is going to gather her courage and open her mouth – but because she didn’t know what to say, Irisviel once again checked herself forcefully.

The things she wanted to ask were piled as high as mountains. Meeting Kiritsugu; memories of time spent with him. Kiritsugu’s integrity in Maiya’s eyes… no matter what the question is she wanted to know the answer. But Irisviel felt hesitant to ask any one of them.

Hisau Maiya knew the Kirtsugu she did not know.

If the answer coming from Maiya’s mouth had enough force to shatter the image of her husband in Irisviel’s heart –

No, such a thing is impossible. There is no evidence to deny it in such a way. For Irisviel, the short span of nine years since their initial meeting was the whole of Kiritsugu.

The silence continued as her mind circled about irritably. Though the atmosphere was clearly awkward, Maiya continued to move as she ignored it completely.

“ – Clearly, I am not apt at handling this woman –”

As she hung her head and sighed deeply, a warning flashed inside Irisviel’s head.

“——!?” 　　 With a face full of surprise, Maiya looked Irisviel, whose whole body suddenly stiffened.

“What’s the matter, madam?”

“… Another new intruder. Slightly ahead of our position. We’ll meet if we continue onward.”

The situation was only to be expected. Maiya nodded calmly.

“Then, let us slowly loop around. It will be very safe if we looped from here towards the north.”

“……”

Irisviel, concentrating in her current efforts to scry on the invader with the magecraft of ‘clairvoyance’, did not respond immediately.

Clad in pitch-black vestments, the tall figure was intimidating. His short hair and serious demeanor appears exactly like the photographs found in the resources that Kiritsugu collected.

“… It’s Kirei Kotomine.”

Compared to her statement, Irisviel is more surprised by the change in Maiya’s expression as she made her report.

Always icy and expressionless, she is a woman whose emotions are impossible for anyone to detect. She had thought previously that Maiya’s heart must have been truly cold and cruel to her core -

This is the first time Irisviel saw Maiya’s “expression”. It was crisscrossed with anxiety and fury. What she saw was completely different from fear, but a sense of apprehension. Her fear was probably not Kirei, but instead the fact that Kirei appeared in such a situation.

As she detects this point, Irisviel understood. Though the process was brusque, Irisiviel, however, finally understood the mind of Hisau Maiya.

“Miss Maiya, the orders you accepted from Kiritsugu is to ensure my safety, correct?”

“Correct, but –”

“But what? You’re thinking “this is the only man whom I cannot allow to interfere with Kiritsugu”, right?”　　

Smiling slyly, Irisviel pointed out her thoughts. Maiya was temporarily rendered speechless.

“Madam, you… “

“Incidentally, I have the exact same opinion as you.”

Kirei Kotomine. The man who is probably the greatest threat to Kiritsugu. Maiya’s response upon merely hearing his name makes it self-evident.

Even though Irisviel was a homunculus, she fell in love, fulfilled that sentiment and even became a mother. Thus, she obtained the sixth sense that humans have but homunculi can never understand – that is, “a woman’s intuition.”

“Let the two of us stop Kirei here. Is that alright, Miss Maiya?

After a brief moment of hesitation, Maiya nodded her head with a strange expression on her face.

“My deepest apologies. But please prepare yourself, madam.” 　　 “No problems. Don’t worry about me. You carry out your task. Not the orders Kiritsugu gave, but act on the things you think are necessary.”

“Yes.”

Come to think of it, perhaps she had already suspected. That was why she was afraid to confirm it.

Now, Irisviel understood. The reason why she’s been avoiding Maiya… was not that she was afraid of her, but she was afraid to know her heart.

She was afraid of the truth that she “wasn’t the only woman who cares about Emiya Kiritsugu”.　　

Irisviel cannot help but to laugh in the exultation that came with the approaching deathmatch. Pulling out her Calico submachine gun, Maiya gave her a glance of surprise. 　　　 “– What’s the matter?”

“The human heart is truly an amazing thing.”　　

Gambling her life for Kiritsugu – the fact that there is another woman with such determination other than herself.

Clearly, the answer is supposed to be shocking. However, now – such a truth made her feel infinitely at ease.

　　~ For Kirei Kotomine, it is not difficult for him to assess Irisviel’s side and their plan of action.

All the other Masters are setting Caster as their targets, while Caster has his eyes set on Saber. Therefore, there was no need for specific movements. The best strategy is to make complete preparations to confront an attack in the home base and wait for the opponents to arrive.

Therefore, there was no need for a search. The Einsbern Forest in the wilderness of Fuyuki – it should not be unused at this time. Emiya Kiritsugu should be still there.

Of course, Kirei never planned to enter battle himself. There was a high chance of the eastern side of the forest becoming a major battleground. It would make sense for their enemies from Fuyuki to attack from that direction.

Thus, Kirei hung around the western edges, waiting for battle to be joined. He also hedged his bets on the chance that – if battle really started on the eastern side as he predicted, then he can launch a surprise attack on the castle from its opposite direction.

He released Assassin into the forest as scouts in spirit form. With the ability of “presence concealment”, Assassin is able to enter the bounded field without being detected. Though they cannot go near the castle, they were still able to observe the battle around the outer rim of the forest.

And – as predicted, the battle between Caster and Saber begun on the eastern side of the forest. What’s more, and lucky for Kirei, Einsbern only engaged with the Servant alone, while the Master remained hidden behind closed gates. Assassin’s report was an excellent opportunity for Kirei.

If Kiritsugu was hired by Einsbern to be a hunting dog, then he should be guarding the Master who was defenceless and far from her Servant. Now it’s an excellent chance for Kirei to force them into a dead end.

Even though Assassin immediately alerted him to the fact that Lord El-Melloi was also advancing towards the castle, Kirei did not hesitate. Instead, he felt anxious. If Kiritsugu died by Kayneth’s hand, then it would be impossible for Kirei to complete his purpose. Thus, Kirei prepared for the worst case scenario of being forced to confront Kayneth and advanced rapidly in the forest.

Also, depending on situation, there was also a possibility of Einsbern abandoning the castle in order to escape. Thus, it is obvious that the path of retreat will be the direction away from the eastern battlefield where the Servants were currently battling. If that happened, then there was a good chance of encountering Kirei.

Just to be safe, Kirei begin his battle preparations early – As such, he reacted dexterously to the unexpected murderous intent.

Within half a breath he ducked and dodged a hailstorm of bullets, which howled above his head like thunder. Sometimes, even veterans of many battles would lose morale and judgment capabilities when surprised by a machine gun. However, such events are mere exceptions to the Executioners of the Holy Church. Kirei didn’t even break a sweat as he analyzed the situation calmly.

There is a single opponent present. Judging from the sound of gunfire, it was a submachine gun with a barrel width under 9mm. Because the handgun bullets lacked the ability to penetrate tree trunks, its threat level was significantly lower than that of the sniper rifle in the forest.

Inferring the opponent’s position through the location of the gunfire, Kirei threw two Black Keys. However, contrary to expected results, he only heard the sounds of blades piercing tree trunks.

“…Mm?”

The murderous edge of the kill returned to raid him, flanking the surprised Kirei.

Once more, the sound of gunfire appeared. This time from his left. Though he dodged it at the last second, this volley was considerably more dangerous than the volley above. The conclusion he previously reached concerning the enemy consisted of only one person slightly slowed his reaction.

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