Chapter 23: Alliance
After pressing the doorbell outside the Suzuki family's gate, irisviel saw a little girl with a similar build to her daughter Illya. She had the same long silver hair with slightly wavy ends and golden eyes. The girl came out and opened the door.
"Guest?" the girl asked.
irisviel and Artoria had come to visit Tatsuya Suzuki, but they had not expected this situation.
So, irisviel crouched down slightly and spoke through the iron gate, "Well, yes... We are acquaintances of Mr. Suzuki, and we made an appointment to meet here today."
"They are guests, open the door, Caren." Tatsuya's voice came from the steps at the main entrance.
Apparently, when Caren came over and opened the door, he came out too.
"Yes." Caren opened the door neatly and let the two in.
Tatsuya also came down to greet them and picked up Caren with one hand.
"What a surprise! Is she your daughter?" Seeing a child who was about the same age as Illya, irisviel couldn't help but feel nostalgic and asked another question.
"She's the youngest daughter, her name is Caren," Tatsuya introduced naturally.
"More than one?" irisviel was horrified.
She could see that Tatsuya was very young, so having one child wasn't strange, but having two... that was very strange.
The younger one looks four or five years old, and the older one is probably at least six or seven years old.
"Yes."
Tatsuya ignored irisviel's surprise, nodded to her and Artoria, and led the way.
After entering the house, he put Caren down and asked her to go to the garden to play with Sakura, while he received the two of them in the living room.
"Servant...Morgan is not here," said Artoria.
He dared to meet other Masters and Servants alone without any Servant accompanying him, even though they had agreed not to fight in advance. This courage is truly extraordinary.
"Playing with the kids." Tatsuya pointed to the window in the living room facing the back garden.
From there, they could see Morgan sitting on the green and yellow grass in the sunshine, teaching Sakura magic.
She felt that the classes in the workshop were too boring, so she changed the teaching location midway, and Tatsuya could only follow her wishes.
Artoria withdrew her gaze in surprise and no longer tried to understand what Morgan was thinking. After all, even if she really knew, she would not be able to understand it.
"Before we get down to business, there is something I want to confirm." After motioning for the two to pour tea, Tatsuya asked, "The Cathedral Church issued an emergency message this morning, requiring other groups to join forces to defeat the Caster group that violated the secret rules of the Holy Grail War. Are you aware of this?"
irisviel's expression gradually became serious. "Yes, I do know. According to the church, they seem to be the real culprits who have been kidnapping sleeping children in Fuyuki recently, causing disappearances and murders. And—"
"And?"
Tatsuya followed irisviel's gaze and looked at Artoria beside her.
"In fact, when I left the mansion yesterday and headed to the Einzbern Forest to meet up with the Master, I met Caster." Artoria frowned deeply, as if she thought the situation was quite troublesome. "Caster looked mentally unstable and mistook me for Joan of Arc..."
"Joan of Arc?" Tatsuya was slightly surprised. "Could it be that Caster is a Servant related to Joan of Arc?"
"The other party calls himself Gilles de Rais," Artoria added.
"It turns out to be Bluebeard." Tatsuya said Caster's nickname from the stories circulating in contemporary times.
But this is all secondary.
Originally, he just wanted to discuss with Einzbern whether to completely comply with the church's proposal and stop the war and attack Caster first.
But now it seems...
"Judging from Caster's attitude towards Saber, he will most likely take the initiative to contact us." irisviel relayed what Kiritsugu said, "If we can take advantage of this opportunity to ambush and subjugate him—"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Tatsuya said. "The church issued this crusade mission, and the reward given is to replenish one Command Seal. Judging from the current situation, the one who has consumed the Command Seal is most likely Tokiomi."
He didn't know if Archer's retreat was related to the Command Seals since Tokiomi hadn't shown up, but this was the only priority he could give it.
But Command Seals are a very valuable resource of magical power. Even if they are used to support Servants, they can turn the tide of battle at a critical moment.
"As expected," irisviel nodded. Tatsuya's judgment was almost the same as Kiritsugu's.
Tatsuya thought for a moment, "Suppose we choose to take advantage of the fact that the other party mistakenly believes King Arthur to be Joan of Arc to launch an ambush. Kayneth will definitely take this opportunity to let his Servants break in, seize the fruits of the crusade, and replenish the lost Command Seals."
"You want to kill two birds with one stone?" Artoria guessed Tatsuya's intention.
Tatsuya also smiled in agreement, "Yes. Originally, I just wanted to try to negotiate with the other team masters to reach a truce so that I could focus on dealing with the Lancer team. But now the Holy Church has issued a subjugation mission. Regardless of my participation or not, Caster will definitely come after you again."
"So you want to upgrade the previous proposal from a ceasefire to an alliance?" irisviel responded calmly.
The progress of the talks was exactly as Kiritsugu had predicted.
Tatsuya Suzuki is not a typical magician, but rather full of humanity.
Especially... he has children too.
"Caster is acting recklessly in the town, and Sakura and Caren will inevitably become targets." Tatsuya's expression sank, and he turned to look at the garden. "Even if I can ensure that my own barrier will not be easily broken, as a father of two children, I can't just sit back and do nothing about this."
It was a reasonable statement, and there was no need for either irisviel or Artoria to doubt it.
"I understand. If Illya also lived in this city, I would ask Saber to defeat Caster as soon as possible, no matter what," irisviel said.
"Illya?"
"It's my daughter, Illyasviel von Einzbern." irisviel's smile was warm and bright; it was the expression of a mother, "When the Holy Grail War is over, the child may come to live in Fuyuki. I hope that by then, she can become friends with Mr. Suzuki's children."
Tatsuya also smiled in understanding. "I'll confirm it once again. Ms. irisviel agrees to join forces to defeat Caster, as well as Lancer and his Master who may hinder and seize the victory at any time, on the basis of a ceasefire."
"Yes." irisviel stretched out her hand.
She actually had a selfish motive.
Kiritsugu thought that the man named Kotomine Kirei was very dangerous, so if possible, she hoped to use Tatsuya's hand to exclude him from the Holy Grail War.
This alliance was imperative for both Kiritsugu and her.
"Then, an alliance is reached."
He stretched out his hand, shook irisviel'z hand, and nodded together.
After letting go, Tatsuya did not want to send the guests away immediately. He leaned back on the sofa and said:
"Also, as a gift for the alliance, and as a hindrance to the other groups, I can reveal Archer's real name to you two."
"Please speak." Artoria's expression froze.
Tatsuya narrowed his eyes slightly.
"His name is Gilgamesh, the heroic king of Babylonia."
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