In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

"No...this is...never mind, let me ask you first..."

Seeing Lovi's expression, Kiritsugu Emiya was also stunned. He and Saber exchanged glances, and then couldn't help but ask Lovi and Scáthach in front of them.

"Why are you here? Didn't you come to attack me?"

This is because they heard Luo Wei's shout of "visiting guests" and saw that the two of them were dressed in formal attire and drove over. If they had truly come as heroic spirits, the two of them would have already fought to the death.

However, when they saw that the two people in front of them were not only not carrying weapons, but were also wearing formal attire, even Kiritsugu Emiya and Artoria, who had already prepared themselves, were stunned.

They had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Scáthach, who had been smiling, showed a very surprised expression.

"Didn't Rider tell you?"

"say what?"

Saber looked completely bewildered.

"A banquet? Didn't he invite me, Archer, Lancer, and Berserker to a banquet? The banquet was held right here. How could you not know?"

Even Scáthach looked surprised and confused as to what had happened.

Luo Wei, who was watching from the sidelines, covered his forehead and couldn't help but give a wry smile. He roughly knew what had happened.

This Rider...

"……What did you say?"

Upon hearing Scáthach's words, Artoria's expression completely changed. She exchanged a glance with Kiritsugu Emiya, and after confirming that neither of them knew, she asked them, almost word by word, for confirmation.

"A banquet, Rider? Didn't they even greet you? Hmm... that's really strange."

Scáthach was also extremely surprised at this moment. She had dressed up specially for the so-called King's Feast, changed into a dress with her Master, and drove over early.

As it turned out, Saber's provider of the venue was completely unaware of this, which left her speechless.

"Wait, Queen Scáthach, you must tell me about this in detail..."

With veins bulging on her forehead, Artoria withdrew her weapon and then asked, almost through gritted teeth, word by word.

……

On the other side, having confirmed that Scáthach harbored no hostility, Kiritsugu Emiya breathed a sigh of relief, and his palms, which had been damp with sweat, loosened their grip on the gunstock.

He looked at Luo Wei, who was smiling at him, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Logically speaking, he should have taken action when he had such a good opportunity. At this distance, if he suddenly drew his gun and fired, there was a possibility that he could kill the other party.

If the magician in front of her is killed, Scáthach will also disappear due to the loss of her mana supply, and then the original deadlock will be broken.

but……

After thinking it over, Kiritsugu Emiya decided to give up on this tempting idea.

The reason is that he had just suffered a loss at Kenneth's hands not long ago, and he had no way of confirming that the Lo Wei in front of him was real. Moreover, the other party had already known about the Origin Bullet, so it was impossible for him not to be on guard.

If one shot doesn't kill him, then he'll be facing a battle between servants and servants, master and master...

Although he had only met this young man once before, Kiritsugu Emiya had witnessed his clash with Kenneth at the port. This was definitely not an opponent he could defeat head-on. If he made a mistake, he would likely face immediate elimination.

With a sigh of helplessness, and after confirming that the two meant him no harm, Kiritsugu Emiya turned his back and prepared to leave.

"Since you want it, then this castle is yours. Feel free to hold a banquet or do whatever you want. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't keep you company any longer."

He turned around, leaving behind these last words, and wanted to leave this place of trouble, but just before he was about to leave, Luo Wei jumped up and blocked his way.

"what do you mean?"

Kiritsugu Emiya frowned, looking at Lovi with a puzzled expression. His tone then became wary, and his fingers unconsciously reached for the pistol hidden in his sleeve, ready to strike at any moment.

"Don't be so wary, Mr. Emiya."

Facing the dark muzzle of the gun hidden in his sleeve, Luo Wei showed no fear; instead, he almost laughed.

He smiled at the nervous Kiritsugu Emiya in front of him, then calmly said, "Mr. Emiya, to be honest, besides attending this banquet, I also want to discuss a deal with you today."

"Shall we make a deal?"

Upon hearing Loewy's words, Kiritsugu Emiya's expression turned somewhat strange.

The image of Tokiomi Tohsaka, that scoundrel, involuntarily surfaced in my mind, and I also recalled my own transaction.

However, he didn't rush to refuse. Instead, he asked Luo Wei, "What kind of deal? Do you want to cooperate with me and then divide the Holy Grail?"

Upon hearing Loewe's words, Kiritsugu Emiya's tone became somewhat agitated.

'You're really dreaming.'

Luo Wei also silently criticized him in his heart.

Given his current situation, aside from Tokiomi Tohsaka, who is also under intense scrutiny, no one can cooperate with him. Let alone Lovi, who already knows Kiritsugu Emiya's character and mindset inside and out.

"It's not the Holy Grail, but something else."

Under Kiritsugu Emiya's expectant gaze, Loe shook his head, then pointed to Kiritsugu Emiya's chest and calmly said, "I've come here to ask for that thing inside Mr. Kiritsugu Emiya, and I'm willing to pay a price you can't refuse."

"What did you say?"

Upon hearing Lovi's words, Kiritsugu Emiya frowned.

He certainly knew what Luo Wei was referring to—the thing hidden inside his body—a crucial asset that had sustained him through the battle. Although he didn't know how Luo Wei knew, Kiritsugu Emiya was unlikely to agree to this absurd request, regardless of the price offered.

"Don't be so quick to refuse, Mr. Emiya."

However, before Kiritsugu Emiya could refuse outright, Loewe had already stopped smiling. Then, with a slight flick of his finger, a white photograph appeared at his fingertip, which he then handed to Kiritsugu Emiya.

"Although I know that thing is very important to Mr. Emiya, it is ultimately just an inanimate object."

"There are many things in a person's life that transcend the value of inanimate objects, so why not think about it carefully again? I'll wait for your reply."

Lovi shook his head, then gently patted Kiritsugu Emiya's stiff shoulder before brushing past him without saying anything more.

At the castle gate, only Kiritsugu Emiya remained, clutching the photograph tightly in his hands. Looking at the familiar figure in the photo, his voice trembled involuntarily as he murmured repeatedly.

"Alice..."

The treasure he had lost has returned to him in another form, and it awaits his decision.

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Opening of the Banquet (5,500 words)

About half an hour later.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky, accompanied by a rough sound, and fell straight down in this direction; it could be heard even from a great distance.

"Haha, oh, Saber, we meet again. It seems your injuries have healed quite well. But this castle of yours looks rather shabby..."

Before he could finish speaking, Artoria, who was waiting alone at the city gate, summoned her holy sword without hesitation. Then, she leaped into the air and slashed mercilessly at the uninvited, chattering red-haired gorilla in front of her.

“Ex...calibur!!”

Prepare in advance and unleash a powerful shot without hesitation.

Golden sword light rippled incessantly along the blade of the holy sword, and powerful magic suddenly erupted. Seeing this, Iskandar knew something was wrong and quickly steered the Divine Wheel into the sky, barely managing to dodge the Noble Phantasm attack that was aimed directly at his face.

"Ugh!!"

Waver, who had just landed on the wheel of divine power and hadn't even had a chance to speak before being directly confronted by the Noble Phantasm, let out a mournful cry. Fortunately, under Rider's protection, the golden sword light only grazed past him and did not hit him.

Deep blue lightning streaked across the night sky. Rider breathed a sigh of relief after dodging the sudden Noble Phantasm. Then, with one hand holding Waver and the other carrying the fine wine he had found from Kenneth, he leaped from mid-air and landed steadily on the ground, standing in front of Saber.

"Humph……"

Seeing that Rider had dodged her close-range Noble Phantasm, Artoria snorted in displeasure.

However, she wasn't too surprised by the result. After all, she already knew that her merciful, close-range Noble Phantasm was unlikely to cause any real damage to an opponent like Rider, let alone force him to leave the field. She only unleashed the Noble Phantasm because she was annoyed by his unreasonable behavior.

What made Artoria even more speechless was that her first successful release of her Noble Phantasm in the Holy Grail War was not during a fierce battle, but rather because of such a trivial matter.

What a scoundrel! He held a banquet at my house without even telling me!

They visited one by one, making such a big fuss that she and Kiritsugu Emiya thought they were the first targets to be attacked and were about to explode at them, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding.

On the other side, in the reception room of the Einzbern family castle.

"Looks like the main character has arrived..."

After using a detection magic trick to check that the tea in the cup was not poisoned, Rowe calmly took a small sip.

Upon hearing the loud explosion outside, he couldn't help but smile and asked Kiritsugu Emiya in front of him, "What? Mr. Emiya, aren't you going to go out and greet the guests as the host?"

"..." Kiritsugu Emiya covered his head and didn't reply. The female assistant beside him was not very well-behaved, or rather, her little hands were a bit restless. She secretly gripped her pistol, wanting to find an opportunity to shoot Lowe, but because Kiritsugu Emiya stopped her, she did not make a move.

"No, you go by yourself. Consider this castle a gift to you. We'll be leaving soon. I just destroyed their stronghold yesterday. If we encounter them head-on, it's hard to guarantee that those heroic spirits won't suddenly turn on us and kill us. So I don't plan to show myself."

Kiritsugu Emiya shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, then stood up, preparing to leave with his assistant to make room for this noisy and unreasonable banquet.

"I see... Since Mr. Emiya is unwilling, how about I host this banquet from now on?"

Luo Wei didn't seem to care, and instead smiled at him and said...

"Make yourself at home. The food and such are all in the castle's cold storage."

“Well then, thank you,” Rowe said, turning and leaving the room.

"Kiritsugu... are you really going to agree to that guy's request? If you send Avalon away, your body..."

After Luo Wei left, Hisayu Maiya finally removed her fingers from the gunstock and asked Kiritsugu in front of her with concern.

She had just learned about the deal proposed by Loewe, and she knew that the other party was after Kiritsugu Emiya's treasure this time.

"I'm fine, Maimi..."

Under Hisayuu Maiya's worried gaze, Emiya Kiritsugu gently shook his head.

"But……"

"We are now outnumbered and at a significant disadvantage. I have no choice. Even if we don't agree, they can still use their superior strength to snatch the treasure from here, not to mention that Alice is still in their hands..."

"I never imagined that this unknown magician was the mastermind behind the Holy Grail War, and that Aozaki Touko's partner was actually him. Only now have I realized this; I'm truly a hopeless idiot..."

Emiya Kiritsugu pounded the table repeatedly, his expression gradually contorting.

“We have no other choice now. Whether it’s for Alice’s safety or for the victory of this war, I have to make a deal with them… because that way there’s still a sliver of hope. As long as Alice is alive, we can still have a chance of winning. As for my body…”