Chapter 57 – Plan For Today

For a few seconds, the room goes completely quiet.

Maiya doesn't move a muscle, but her entire posture goes rigid. Her eyes narrow as they lock onto me with the sharp focus of a soldier who just realized she's standing in front of something dangerous.

Kiritsugu freezes too. Having spent his entire life hunting magus, he recognizes Mystic Eyes the second they flare up, but he has clearly never seen a pair like mine. The cynical, dismissive look on his face completely disappears, replaced by a cold, quiet shock as he stares at the strange glow in my irises.

Behind me, Irisviel has no idea what just happened. She can't see my eyes from where she's standing, but she can clearly feel the sudden change in the room.

"Kiritsugu?" Irisviel asks softly, looking between him and Maiya with genuine confusion. "What's wrong? Why are you two looking at her like that?"

Kiritsugu doesn't answer her right away. He lets out a slow breath through his nose, his fingers slowly unclenching from the blanket as he forces himself to relax. "Nothing, Iri," he mutters, his voice dropping into that quiet, gravelly tone.

He rubs the bridge of his nose, looking thoroughly exhausted. Between his damaged Magic Circuits, losing Saber, and finding out that the wish he staked his entire life on is tied to a corrupted Grail, he looks like he's barely holding himself together.

When he lowers his hand, he rests his arms against the bed and looks directly at me. The arrogant, interrogating attitude from earlier is completely gone now.

"Fine," he says, sounding tired down to his bones. "Let's say everything you told me is the truth. The Fuyuki Grail was corrupted by an Avenger sixty years ago. Your friend is tied to the Root, already has access to that black mud, and plans to use the Servants to hatch a Beast."

He pauses and leans back against the pillows, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You have Saber. You have Archer and Caster on your side. You know the truth about the ritual, and you clearly have the power to back up your words." His fingers close around the lighter again. "So tell me, Rikka. What are you actually planning to do?"

Well my original plan was never to get involved in this Holy Grail War in the first place. That plan already failed on the first day the war started.

My second plan was to just leave and hang out with Sakura. That failed too, because I got kidnapped by Gilgamesh and Artoria. Then, somehow, I ended up forming contracts with both of them, along with Lady Avalon.

At that point, I figured I could at least use Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm or Artoria to destroy the Grail and put an end to this whole mess.

Then Manaka suddenly appeared and decided she wants to hatch a Beast.

So much for staying out of the war.

I look at Kiritsugu. "I just want to end this pointless war."

I pause for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it without making it sound more complicated than it is.

"The entire Holy Grail War is pointless," I continue. "It's just a bunch of magus killing each other because they want to reach the Root. They dress it up as some grand ritual, but when you strip all of that away, it's mostly pride, ego, and status."

I shrug slightly. "Everyone wants to be the one who succeeds. The one who proves their family is better. The one who reaches something nobody else can reach. They treat the Grail like it's some achievement because being the person who obtains it gives them something to brag about."

I shake my head. "That's not something I care about. I don't want to win the Holy Grail War. I don't want the Grail. I don't care about being the one who reaches Heaven's Feel."

I raise my hand and point directly at him. "And you, Kiritsugu. Your wish for world peace... do you even know what that actually means if you ask the Grail for it?"

"If you ask the Grail to create world peace, how do you think it would actually do that?" I ask.

Kiritsugu's expression hardens. He doesn't look away, and he certainly doesn't look like he's going to back down.

"The Grail is a miracle," he states, his voice flat and unyielding. "It possesses the power to rewrite the fundamental rules of this world. It will eliminate the root of conflict itself."

"But how?" I press on before he can lecture me further. "People fight because they have different desires. Different beliefs. If you want a world where nobody fights anymore, what happens to all those people? Does it brainwash everyone? Or does it just choose the simplest solution and wipe humanity out so there's no one left to fight?"

Kiritsugu narrows his eyes into a cold glare. "You are treating a miracle like a cheap weapon. It is a wish-granting device. It doesn't need to resort to mass murder. It will find a bloodless method far beyond human comprehension."

"No, it won't," I tell him bluntly. "Because a wish-granting device still needs a process. It only knows how to grant a wish using the methods the wisher actually understands. So tell me, Kiritsugu, what is your method? How have you solved every single problem in your life so far?"

Hearing that Kiritsugu actually freezes. His breath catches slightly, his hand tightening into a white-knuckled fist against the bedsheets.

I don't give him time to recover. "You kill the few to save the many. That's your entire method. So if you ask the Grail to save the world, it's just going to apply your method on a massive scale. Add the fact that the Grail is corrupted by an Avenger, and it's going to grant your wish by killing every single human on earth. It's going to hand you empty graveyard, because to Angra Mainyu, that's what perfect peace looks like."

Kiritsugu stares at me.

His jaw is clenched tight, and for a long moment, the room is completely dead silent. He doesn't argue back. He doesn't defend his ideals. The cold, logical part of his brain the part of him that calculates every horrible outcome knows exactly what I'm saying is true.

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Click.

The door closes behind us, leaving us standing in the hallway outside the bedroom. And by 'us,' I mean literally everyone. Me, Irisviel, Artoria, and even Maiya.

Kiritsugu said he needed time alone to process everything and asked us all to leave, so here we are.

"Now what?" I ask Irisviel, who is still holding me.

But looking up at her, I can see she's completely in a daze. She's just staring off into space, lost in deep thought.

The whole revelation about the Einzbern family's mistake and Angra Mainyu clearly shocked her to her core.

I just kind of hope she actually puts me down soon, because right now she's just standing here frozen like a statue.

"Should we head to the living room, Master?" Artoria suggests.

"Yeah, that seems like a good idea compared to just standing out here."

I turn toward Maiya. The woman literally has the default expression of an NPC in a video game. She shows zero emotion, her eyes hollow and completely devoid of light.

"Umm... what about you?" I ask her.

"I'm staying here," Maiya says, her voice completely flat. "I'll wait until Kiritsugu is done."

She doesn't offer any extra words, and she definitely doesn't look interested in chatting. She just takes a step back, leaning against the hallway wall right outside the door with her arms crossed.

...Yeah, definitely on guard duty. There is no dragging her along for small talk.

"Alright, suit yourself," I mutter.

I gently pat Irisviel's arm. "Auntie Irisviel? You can put me down now. Let's go downstairs."

Irisviel blinks, finally snapping out of her daze. A faint blush touches her cheeks as she realizes she has been standing in the cold corridor carrying me like a toddler the entire time.

"Ah... I'm sorry, Rein- no i mean Rikka," she murmurs, carefully lowering me until my feet touch the floorboards. "I was just thinking about everything."

"It's fine. Let's get out of this hallway."

I take Irisviel's hand, and together with Artoria walking a step behind us, we head down the quiet corridor and take the grand stairs down to the ground floor. Cath Palug trots along right beside my feet, his little tail flicking back and forth as he takes the steps two at a time.

Reaching the bottom, we push open the double doors to the main living room.

The sight waiting inside feels completely ridiculous compared to the grim interrogation we just had upstairs.

Curled up comfortably on the long sofa is Lady Ava. She is leisurely holding a delicate porcelain cup, humming a cheerful tune to herself as she sips her morning black tea, looking like a carefree tourist on vacation.

Across from her, lounging back against a plush armchair like an empress on a throne, sits Gilgamesh.

She isn't drinking tea. In her hand is a gleaming golden goblet pulled straight from her treasury, filled to the brim with vintage red wine that she lazily swirls around.

Who even drinks alcohol first thing in the morning?

The second the door creaks open, both of them look up.

Lady Ava's face lights up with a playful grin, raising her teacup in a tiny salute. "Good morning, Rikka! Did you sleep well after all that excitement last night?"

Gilgamesh doesn't smile, but the annoyed, irritated look on her face softens the moment her eyes land on me. She sets the golden goblet down on the side table with a faint clink, leaning forward with her chin resting on her knuckles.

"You took your time getting down here, little one," Gilgamesh says, her voice smooth and possessive. "Come here. Tell me what those mongrels upstairs had to say."

Seeing Gilgamesh and Lady Ava just enjoying their drinks makes me kind of annoyed for some reason.

And wine, huh? It's been years since I drank something like that. Because I'm stuck in this kid body, I can't even try one.

"Hahhhh. Gilgamesh, share some wine with me," I say, walking over to the sofa and sitting down.

Irisviel and Artoria also take a seat, while Cath Palug jumps onto my lap, curling up and tucking his tail over his head to try and get some sleep.

"No. What do you think you're doing trying to drink with that small body?" Gilgamesh immediately rejects me, taking a leisurely sip from her golden goblet.

"While you two are just sitting here enjoying yourselves, I'm trying to think about what to do next," I grumble. "Stupid Manaka... why did she even need to do the same thing she did in Prototype..." I mutter the last part under my breath so the others don't hear me.

I look back up at the her. "Also, are you not mad, Gilgamesh? I mean... last night, Manaka took your treasures."

Gilgamesh lowers her goblet, her crimson eyes narrowing slightly. For a fraction of a second, the sheer pressure of her annoyance makes the room feel a bit colder.

"Mad?" Gilgamesh scoffs, though her voice stays infuriatingly calm. "Of course I am displeased that a foolish thief dared to lay her hands on my treasury. It is the highest form of disrespect."

She swirls the red liquid in her cup, looking completely unbothered as she leans back against the armchair.

"But anger implies an actual threat. Everything in this world belongs to me. A rat temporarily hoarding my property does not change who owns it. She can run around with what she stole for now, but it will all return to my vault eventually. They always do."

Her lips curve into a cold, dangerous smirk.

"And for daring to stain a piece of Enkidu with that foul sludge, that little parasite will pay."

Wow, she really is confident. Well, if she's not going to be mad, it's actually good for me because I really don't want to deal with a mad Gilgamesh.

In the anime, whenever Gilgamesh gets mad, she just yells loudly and starts opening the Gate of Babylon everywhere, making the entire place brightly annoying.

I lean back against the soft sofa, exhaling deeply, and close my eyes to think about what I should do next.

If Manaka is going to hatch a Beast, she's going to need Servants to fill the Grail. The only Servants left in this war right now are Saber, Archer, Caster, Lancer, and Rider.

Since Assassin and Berserker are already inside Irisviel's body, the Greater Grail technically still has no mana to actually grant a wish. It's currently empty, except for the embodiment of All the World's Evils sitting inside it.

Because Artoria, Gilgamesh, and Lady Ava are with me, Manaka can't do anything about them for now. But Lancer and Rider have no safety net, and it's really going to be bad if they get caught by her.

Also, I'm worried about Sakura at the Sajyou house. She should be fine, though, since Manaka doesn't care about her own family.

In the Prototype story, she only tried to kill her own family because Ayaka was getting close to Arthur while her father wouldn't shut up about reaching the Root. But here, Manaka only cares about me, so she has no reason to go back there and hurt them.

Still, I'm really worried about Sakura and Ayaka. Maybe I should go meet them first, and then go see Lancer.

If I remember correctly, Lancer should still have my mana from two days ago, assuming he hasn't fought any other Servants yet.

Also, during this point in the timeline, after Kiritsugu destroys Kayneth's Magic Circuits, Kayneth becomes crippled and his Command Spells get taken by his fiancée, Sola-Ui, who accidentally gets charmed by Lancer.

Honestly, I actually prefer dealing with Kayneth if I'm going to ask Lancer for help, because Sola-Ui is... useless.

Well not really, normally Sola-Ui would be a capable Clock Tower magus to talk to. But with Diarmuid's love spot rotting her brain, she is completely useless right now. She can't think about anything except drooling over Lancer.

"What are you thinking about, Master?" Lady Ava's voice wakes me up from my deep thoughts.

"I have a few plans for today," I announce, opening my eyes. "So later... Artoria, Gilgamesh, Lady Ava, can you three come with me to the city?"

"Understood," Artoria says.

"Okay~" Lady Ava smiles.

"Hmph," Gilgamesh scoffs softly.

Artoria, Lady Ava, and Gilgamesh all answer at the exact same time. Now that my plan is already settled, it's time to deal with the other problem.

"Auntie Irisviel! Why are you still in a daze? What are you thinking about?" I yell at Irisviel beside me, who is still staring off into nowhere like she is lost in some deep, complicated thought.