Chapter 20: 'Ridiculous' Ideals
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[The correct answer is D: The duel is interrupted.]
[Congratulations to Waver, Chihiro, Hero King, the King of Conquerors, the Troupe of Acrobats, Emiya Kiritsugu, Tohsaka Tokiomi, Mapo Priest, Tohsaka Rin, Tohsaka Sakura, and General Tiangong for obtaining 5 Saint Quartz.]
[Bluebeard has chosen not to answer.]
[All other participants who answered incorrectly will lose 1 Saint Quartz.]
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Waver: "I was worried I had guessed wrong."
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Iskander: "Haha, you see, Waver! Luck favors the bold—#$$%##@#$%"
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Chihiro: "Iskander, what was that? Are you okay?"
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Iskander: "Ah, it's nothing. Just a slip of the tongue, lad."
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Kenneth: "Emiya Kiritsugu, aren't you and King Arthur on the same side? Why is it that only you managed to answer correctly?"
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Irisviel: "Because we're not exactly… working together at the moment."
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Artoria: "Irisviel, there's no need to reveal such details so casually."
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Irisviel: "Oh, sorry."
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[The first question has concluded. The second question will now begin.]
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[This is a multiple-choice question. Please watch the following video carefully and then answer accordingly.]
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[At midnight, two figures one large and one small sat in a yard, gazing up at the luminous full moon.]
[The older figure was instantly recognizable: Emiya Kiritsugu.]
[The younger was a red-haired boy, his name kindly provided in the caption: Shirou Emiya.]
["Hello, hello, Dad?"]
[Shirou looked over at Emiya Kiritsugu, who had remained still for a long while.]
["Hm?"]
[Emiya Kiritsugu didn't move, only responding softly.]
["If you want to sleep, go to bed, Dad!" Shirou suggested.]
["No, it's fine. I'm alright," Kiritsugu replied.]
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Kenneth: "So, even the infamous 'Magus Killer' has a son."
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Waver: "Professor, isn't that a bit… inappropriate?"
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Emiya Kiritsugu: "..."
He sat in silence, bewildered. He had no idea who the child in the video was. Could it be that in the future, he and Irisviel would have another child? Did this mean he had somehow managed to win the Holy Grail War?
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["When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a hero of justice."]
[After a long pause, Emiya Kiritsugu spoke quietly.]
["What does that mean?" Shirou asked, puzzled. "When you say 'used to,' do you mean you've given up now?"]
["Yes, unfortunately. I gave up," Kiritsugu said, with a self-deprecating tone. "Hero is limited for a short time. Once you grow up, it's difficult to call yourself one . I regretted why I couldn't realize that sooner."]
["Really? That can't be helped," Shirou said, not quite understanding.]
["Yes, there's really nothing to be done about it," Kiritsugu murmured, his gaze returning to the sky. "What a beautiful moon."]
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Gilgamesh: "A 'hero of justice'? Hahahaha, how utterly laughable."
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Kenneth: "I never expected the so-called 'Magus Killer' to hold such a naive ideal."
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Artoria: "Kiritsugu, you…"
Even Artoria found herself taken aback. Emiya Kiritsugu, a man known for using any means necessary to achieve his goals, once had such an innocent dream?
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Kirei Kotomine: "..."
Kirei felt an unexpected jolt of disbelief. Emiya Kiritsugu, the man he saw as a kindred spirit, a mirror of his own emptiness had pursued such a simplistic and idealistic dream?
For as long as he could remember, Kirei had been emotionally barren. He never experienced happiness, or at least, not in the way others did. His childhood and adult life were marked by a relentless search for meaning, trying to understand what it meant to feel joy. But no matter how hard he searched, he never found that elusive sensation.
Even when his wife, Claudia, had taken her own life, it had stirred nothing within him.
Yet, Kirei did not give up. He continued his search, abandoning his daughter, Caren, to travel the world, hoping to find some purpose that could make sense of his existence.
Eventually, his gaze landed on a man named Emiya Kiritsugu. Here was someone who took on the world's cruelties, relentlessly risking his life for causes where the reward hardly seemed worth the effort. What was it that drove him?
Kirei concluded that Kiritsugu's actions were propelled by a singular and resolute goal, something that gave his life meaning.
And so, Kirei sought to confront Emiya Kiritsugu, believing that in understanding him, he might finally come to understand himself.
In the original timeline, Gilgamesh would eventually guide Kirei towards the belief that "human nature is inherently evil." This realization led Kirei to indulge in a perverse satisfaction in others' suffering, much like Uryu Ryuunosuke.
Thus, when Kirei discovered that Emiya Kiritsugu's true ambition had been to become a "hero of justice," he felt betrayed, believing that Kiritsugu's ideals were fundamentally opposed to his own. This would fuel an intense hatred towards him.
In their own ways, both men saw each other as polar opposites, with irreconcilable values.
However, Kirei had not yet descended into the darkness of enjoying others' misery. And now, upon learning that Kiritsugu found solace in acts of goodness, Kirei felt even more lost.
He sat in Tohsaka Tokiomi's living room, alongside Tokiomi and Gilgamesh. Kirei's expression remained contemplative, unaware that Gilgamesh's eyes, though harsh in the group's chat, held a certain glimmer of intrigue whenever they glanced at him.
Gilgamesh had clearly begun to think things over.
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Chihiro: "Hey, aren't you all taking this a bit too far? What's so wrong about wanting to be a hero of justice?"
Chihiro had grown fed up with Gilgamesh and Kenneth's sneering remarks. Their relentless mockery of Emiya Kiritsugu had gone on long enough.
To him, it was absurd that they found Kiritsugu's childhood dream to be laughable. Chihiro believed there was nothing inherently foolish about it. Almost every child harbored such dreams at some point in their lives. The harshness of reality might erode such ideals over time, but clinging to a bit of that youthful hopefulness was not a weakness. It was a testament to one's humanity.
After all, wasn't there a part of every man that remained a boy until the end?
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Chihiro: "Gilgamesh, Kenneth, is it really so ridiculous to dream of being a hero who saves others?"
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Chihiro: "Or are your ambitions so contemptible that the very idea of justice seems absurd to you?"
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The group chat went silent as the words hung in the air, forcing everyone to contemplate what it truly meant to dream of being a "hero of justice."