In the world of Type-Moon, start by becoming Morgan's husband!

"I actually found King Arthur's armor..."

The man muttered these words and walked into the castle.

279. The Coming of Artoria, Another Possibility for the Four War Servant (4k)

It was as cold inside the castle as ever.

Walking in this long corridor, Emiya Kiritsugu felt that every breath of air he inhaled could lower the temperature of his blood by a few degrees.

but--

This is actually a great thing for him at this moment.

As a participant in the Fourth Holy Grail War, Emiya Kiritsugu has absolute awareness.

He knew that he had to stay awake at all times in this brutal war in order to maximize his chances of winning.

Maintaining this state, Emiya Kiritsugu finally stopped in front of a door somewhere in the castle.

He reached out and gently pushed open the door in front of him.

What caught his eye was a beautiful woman with fair skin wearing winter clothes.

Her name was Irisviel von Einzbern, and she was Kiritsugu Emiya's nominal wife.

but--

The word "wife" alone cannot fully summarize her extremely complex identity.

In essence, it is an artificial human prepared by the Einzbern family for the Fourth Holy Grail War and has extraordinary significance.

She married Emiya Kiritsugu several years ago, and has lived in this castle in the German forest ever since, never leaving.

you could put it that way.

Emiya Kiritsugu is Irisviel von Einzbern's only means of contact with the outside world.

Because of this, she loved her husband very much and was even able to give him everything unconditionally.

Seeing her husband coming, Irisviel's face suddenly showed a little more smile.

She stood up from the bed and walked quickly to Emiya Kiritsugu's side, her tone becoming much happier.

"You're finally here~"

"How many days can you stay this time?"

"..."

When he heard his wife's perfectly normal question, Emiya Kiritsugu's expression became extremely complicated.

In the end, he only gave a vague answer.

"A week at most... maybe just three days."

"Eh--!"

Irisviel showed a sad expression.

"So little? The last time there were still ten days!"

"Then was then, and the present is now."

Emiya Kiritsugu looked at his wife and gave a reasonable but somewhat sad response.

"You should know... that the holy war in Fuyuki City is about to begin, right?"

"If you keep dawdling, someone else will probably get the upper hand."

"so--"

"Ally, please show me what you have collected."

Hearing this, Irisviel puffed her lips, looking very unhappy with Emiya Kiritsugu's answer.

However, she did not throw a tantrum in front of her husband, but nodded quickly.

"Okay, come with me."

Under the guidance of Irisviel, Emiya Kiritsugu followed her to a basement in the castle.

In the flickering light of the surrounding torches, he saw the holy relic that his wife had mentioned through her familiar earlier - King Arthur's knight armor.

I saw that it was a suit of silver-white armor, lying quietly on the table in the basement.

According to common sense, this is something from thousands of years ago and should have been corroded and weathered long ago.

But what is surprising is that there is no damage on its surface at this moment. It looks exactly the same as new, as if it was just made not long ago.

This made Emiya Kiritsugu feel a little confused.

"Ellie."

"Are you serious?"

"King Arthur lived at least a thousand years ago... How could her armor be preserved so well?"

"It is true in theory."

Irisviel replied to her husband as she walked towards the armor.

She just waved her fingers and used some special magic passed down in her family.

The moment his fingertips touched the armor, the originally harmonious blue light instantly turned into red.

"This……"

As a participant in the Fourth Holy Grail War, Emiya Kiritsugu naturally knew what this meant - someone had cast additional magic spells on it.

This also means that King Arthur's knight armor was preserved by unconventional means, so it is as intact as it is now.

"Who does this kind of thing?"

“I don’t know.” Irisviel spread her hands, “It was already like this when I dug it out.”

"We tried many ways to remove the magic spells on the armor, but found that it was impossible."

"It seems to have been cast there by a very powerful magician, for the purpose of protecting the integrity of the armor."

"But don't worry, Kiritsugu."

Irisviel walked back to Emiya Kiritsugu and took his hand.

"We've tested it in other ways - it won't affect the summoning!"

"..."

Emiya Kiritsugu frowned slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

Irisviel also quickly noticed her husband's abnormality and immediately asked:

"Kiritsugu, what's wrong?"

"..."

After hesitating for a moment, Emiya Kiritsugu looked at his wife beside him and expressed his inner thoughts.

"Ellie."

"I wonder if there are other relics I can use."

"I... don't really want to summon King Arthur."

"Eh?"

Irisviel had never expected that her husband would make such a request.

But she soon realized there had to be a reason for it—he wasn't the type to make decisions lightly.

"Why do you think so?"

"I... don't quite understand."

"It's very simple." Emiya Kiritsugu's eyes fell on the intact knight armor in front of him.

"Ally, I think you have heard of the legend of King Arthur?"

"This one……"

Irisviel put her finger on her chin, looking like she was thinking seriously.

"I remember that she seemed to be a female knight who fought in the name of the king for a long time, but in the end she gave up the throne to her sister."

"As for what exactly led to this outcome, there is still no conclusion."

"Yes." Emiya Kiritsugu nodded, "Eri, you are right."

"so--"

"That's why I don't want to make this summoning."

"I felt that her being a woman didn't give me enough of a chance to win."

"Besides, if it's a knight..."

"Ok?"

Irisviel tilted her head slightly, seemingly waiting for the second half of her husband's words.

But Emiya Kiritsugu did not continue speaking. Instead, he stopped talking and returned to his original intention.

"Anyway, I don't really want to make this summoning."

"Ally, do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand." Irisviel agreed with her husband, but her expression looked quite embarrassed.

"but--"

"Kiritsugu, we don't have time to prepare a second relic now."

"..."

Emiya Kiritsugu looked at his wife and knew that she was not talking nonsense.

She wouldn't lie about something like this.

He thought about it for a while and seemed to have found a solution that could have the best of both worlds.

"I understand."

"In that case... Ellie, I think maybe we can do this."

"Oh?"

Irisviel raised her head and looked at Emiya Kiritsugu, with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

"What is the solution?"

Emiya Kiritsugu's gaze once again fell on the knight's armor on the table.

"Since summoning is inevitable, why don't you become the acting Master?"

"Thus……"

"The relics you prepared in advance wouldn't be wasted, and I wouldn't have to worry about how to get along with this Servant."

“Eh?!” Irisviel pointed her finger at herself, looking a little surprised.

"Do you believe I can do such a thing?"

"Of course I believe it." Emiya Kiritsugu rarely smiled, "This kind of thing should be a piece of cake for you."

"Besides -"

The man's eyes replayed the scene of arriving at the castle.

"If there was a Servant to accompany you instead of me, you wouldn't be so lonely, right?"

“Mmm?” Irisviel made a cute sound from her throat.

"It sounds really good when you put it that way."

"All right--!"