Chapter. 19 Unpleasant feelings

"It seems only the calm waves linger in the blighted landscape that not long ago was a harbor."

The voice trembled the prana strand reaching from a jewel communicator inside the church to the Tohsaka resident. The contract he made with Assassin allowed him to hear, see and taste the surroundings. One could almost think he was present on the battleground because the sensations that man felt could not have been distinguished from the real world. Only now he realized why Tohsaka taught it with the utmost caution and a lot of safeguards; it was extremely easy to mistake mirages, which were only transmitted to the brain, for the real thing.

All his senses spoke to him, and Kirei briefly felt as if a foul, frosty wind extinguished the torches that filled the depths of blackness with warmth. The white battlefield devouring mist, or the other unknown person who declared war on the others—the horrifying presence that penetrated the depths of his skin still lived in his thoughts and aroused interest stronger than before. Yet Kirei felt it was idiotic, considering that this servant declared war on everyone. He could only think of Archer, who would make such a foolish proclamation.

The human mind was not made for such prolonged experiences; all that the body felt was nothing more than information. Even if this was loaded into the brain, it still contradicted the senses of the fleshly body.

The hand supported the seething forehead as the little flames of the candles in front of Kirei touched the walls. Kirei blinked a few times and tried to get used to normality again, which he only managed slowly. His forehead was boiling as if he had a fever that had been plaguing his body for days. But Kirei was not worried. After all, it was only a short overload. After Kirei's strand of prana was cut, the inconspicuous pressure on his mind subsided. His relieved breath caused the candles to flicker.

Even though utilizing it had side effects, he did not refrain from using the sensory division technique.

No answer sounded from the other side of the jewel. The hollow space, which could well reflect Kirei's innermost desire, seemed to wait only for his teacher. He was not surprised that Tokiomi remained silent. The behavior of the foreign servants seemed uncomfortable even to him, to put it mildly.

The two beings who officially announced themselves tonight showed no hint of fear in the face of enemies. Did they underestimate the heroic spirits? Well, Kirei could not claim to know the answer. The woman had presented her strength like a monument, towering above all but Archer. It was more than remarkable that she stood up to dozens of noble phantasms. But something Kirei could not explain in this fight, and the idea that she had not yet ignited her full power, was something he anticipated with tingling fingertips.

Kirei took the cross, shimmering gold in the light of candles, between his hands and brought it to his chin. God would know how this war would end, for God knew everything. But Kirei could not rely on his help. The path Kirei took was his own, and only he was allowed to determine the direction. His father's task, Risei, to support Tohsaka should be the most important duty in his life, and yet he could not say why pride did not fill him.

The cross in his hands felt heavy and hung almost like a burden on his neck. When the time came when he would have to decide on a path, it would become clear. But one thing Kirei knew was that the hollow shell that formed his skin would not be fulfilled until that which his soul longed for was found. Even after the war was over, the heart would not gain color. Kiritsugu was the man he sought.

Opening his hands, the Holy Cross bounced against his chest and disappeared behind the Dark Robe. With widened eyes, he stared at the inner surfaces of his hands. Like a sin, the cross had burned into his hands. It was hard to see in the flickering light of the candles. The red imprint left on the hand slowly disappeared into the red light. A laugh escaped the man.

After a long silence, the jewel crackled, and a familiar voice broke the silence. But what Tohsaka had to say surprised Kirei.

"Say, did anything seem strange to you? Maybe how the servants or masters had been acting?"

"You'll have to forgive me, teacher, but I don't think I can understand your thought."

Once again, the jewel cracked. One could almost think that an interference signal used the same frequency. But with a jewel transmitter, this should be impossible. Footsteps on creaking wood and a knob were turned. Everyone recognized that Tokiomi Tohsaka was taking a walk through his house.

"I am merely going over the possibility that a trained magus had tampered with the Grail."

"You mean the Einzberns? Would it be possible then that they could alter the Grail's properties to summon additional servants under their command? Or add a new class like the invader?"

Kirei's question was entirely valid. It was absurd to think that someone could take a seemingly omnipotent object that was supposed to be able to fulfill any wish and simply change it to his will. At least this was Kirei's first thought. But on closer inspection, it quickly became clear that the Einzberns functioned in a certain way as administrators of the Grail. The fact that they could change the Grail was self-evident.

"Do you think the Einzberns would resort to such drastic methods?"

"The Einzberns suffered a humiliating defeat in the last war. For a family of their status, the shame must be especially crushing. But I don't think they would manipulate the grail so openly."

A rumble, followed by a dull thud on the wood. Soft cracking from the brittle leather sounded distorted through the jewel in Kire's hand. Tohsaka had an old book spread out on the table. With his fingers, he flipped through the thick and heavy dust-covered pages. The dry wind stirred with each page, making Tohsaka cough. The old room consisted entirely of stored documents, knowledge, and records. But the old Magus rarely found a use for it.

The gray dust, some of which contained powdered jewels, indicated that no one had entered this room for years. The pitted parchment scrolls were forever buried under the dark nothingness and still air. The weak magical energy present in the dust slowly decomposed the old parchment and tore leather.

Kirei listened carefully to the countless rattles of the dry paper. Dust-coated fingers slowly rustled across the surface as Tohsaka searched for something specific.

"Kirei, had the Einzbern been acting strangely somehow? Like the situation was under control?"

Kirei shook his head. This whole conversation was ridiculous, after all.

"With the foul smell, Irisviel's face looked pale. You would think she had fallen ill. Saber had to pull the Einzbern to safety during the White Woman's surprise attack. Even though the attack was directed at Archer."

"Mhhh." The ancient writing was not hard to read. The absence of light and musty air had protected the pages for the most part. This caused no difficulty for the Magus. The text was written in an old-fashioned style and would cause complications for ordinary people. But for a Magus, who had endured the oppressive times in the clock tower and rummaged day and night in the knowledge of old documents that threatened to collapse from lack of exercise, this was no problem.

The smell of ink could still be smelled on the dry paper, which was probably written on only for the last war and has never been held between fingers since.

"But now that I think about it," Kirei muttered. "The woman's white hair was unquestionably similar to Homunculus'. They both had pale skin and red eyes. More or less, I think, at least."

Tohsaka looked up from his book in surprise. "Are you sure?"

Tohsaka's trembling voice brought strokes of joy to Kirei. Why was that? Unconsciously, he had given his teacher an idea. Even though Tohsaka tried to maintain his composure, his tone suggested otherwise.

"Did they also have a similar face? For generations, the Einzberns have been shaping homunculi, and their creations always have the same features. A beautiful face, white hair, and red eyes."

Kirei hesitated. He tried to recall the features again. The pearly face was dotted with shiny ruby eyes hidden behind the eyelids. The long, silky hair that touched the sea indicated that the servant seemed to be much older than he originally thought. But when he compared this to Irisviel, the woman who took shelter behind Saber's strong but small body, he frowned. 'What exactly did the woman look like?'

They both possessed white hair and a face carved in stone that reminded him of perfection, but everything disappeared behind a veil of white light and mist. Kirei could no longer remember. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he couldn't. She was like a brief, unimportant encounter that a person would unknowingly forget. He didn't want to think about it further because those mere thoughts triggered a discomfort in him that he couldn't explain.

"I am not sure of this accordingly. Her overall appearance would undoubtedly be described as a "white veil, but the fog emanating made it difficult to see her features; even through the eyes of Assassin, I could only make out her figure blurrily without abandoning our camouflage. May I ask teachers why appearance matters? Her power was undoubtedly that of a servant."

"That may be so, Kirei..." Again, the flipping of the book sounded, followed by a bottomless thump and sigh that made it clear that the thick volume had been slapped together and put back on the shelf without Tokiomi gaining any insight.

"I merely toyed with the idea that the Einzberns specifically bred a homunculus body to contain a servant. Perhaps it would be called a pseudo-servant. Whether something like that is possible, I can't say. If it were, only the Einzberns would be able to do it."

This time Kirei's ears pricked up. Was it unlikely that a homunculus was bred specifically as a vessel for a servant? After all, Irisiviel was used as a container for the Holy Grail to be filled during the war. But six artificial bodies? So far, he has met only three. The blood-red woman, of whom Tohsaka knew nothing, the white ghost, and the man in ancient armor. Kirei was a man of many talents. Even though he had learned a lot about magecraft in the past three years, there were still mysteries that eluded his mind.

"But would this explain the other five stranger servants?"

"Ahh, I see. The white hair is symbolic of the breeding homunculus of the Einzberns. However, an artificially bred being can contain any hair color. I cannot explain it to myself. It would probably make the most sense to talk to all the masters about it. However, we should not rule out the possibility that something went wrong on the day of the summoning, and instead of the one servant for whom a body was provided, many more beings were summoned."

The door creaked again before a key turned the lock. Shoes clacked on the hard floor as Tokiomi hurried down the stairs. The red curtains had already been drawn in front of the windows. The hand of the old wall clock had already jumped to midnight. His daughter was already asleep far away from where the war would come, and even if Tokiomi wanted to go to the warm bed, the mind plagued him and kept him awake. A grumbling sounded when he realized that he would probably be awake for some time as there was still much his mind wanted to think about.

"Kirei, I want you to ask Risei to arrange a meeting as soon as possible. The recent events are deeply upsetting... If the other corrupted beings also possess a strength equal to the woman, we cannot ignore the problem."The old magus' usually calm and serene voice was full of worry. The Archer's Master, who always had a plan, hesitated at the recent events. The war was taking a route that Tohsaka could no longer predict. Despite possessing the Mightiest Servant and planning the destination and course with his good friend Risei years before, his hands grew cold at the thought of death. He was not allowed to die yet. The legacy of his family had to be passed on.

His fingers tapped carelessly on the back of the chair as he gazed at the wooden beams of the house. Would he even be able to win the Grail with Archer? The future was sloshing in an uncertain direction; only Akasha could answer that. Two command spells were still on his skin. But when he thought of Archer's face, his fists clenched. Although Tohsaka was the Master, Archer did not bow to his command.

The goal of all magi was within his grasp, and yet the hand could not reach it. A mixture of Archer and the Stranger Servants spread like an ocean before his eyes. The mighty waves pulled his body away from the shore, his dreams, and his daughter. He growled. Without the other Master's help, they would never be able to fight the Six if they turned out to be enemies of humanity.

Tohsaka grabbed the jewel he had placed on the table earlier. He had to clarify the situation and bring it under control as soon as possible. That was the most important thing in this Holy Grail war. Again, the line cracked. The prana strand twitched like waves from different spectrums and reached Kirei, who was lonely and silent, waiting for further orders.

"Kirei, let me know immediately when Risei arranges the meeting. I think all the masters will come. The souls of restless people will plague the participants in the coming weeks, so let's hope they all make it to the protection of the church unharmed. A servant acting without a master is a danger to any citizen of this city."

A slight grin jumped over Kirei's lips. But he did not notice. This chaos that brought headaches to his teacher was like sweet honey to his ears.

"Shall I inform Father of everything in detail?"