My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Irisviel shrugged indifferently. "...Although closing off one of the five senses will greatly suppress one's spiritual power, it won't have much impact on other actions. It's alright, don't worry too much now, I'll adjust myself... Ah! Another one is here!"

With this helpless cry, Irisviel's words came to an abrupt end, and she softly fainted and collapsed into Kiritsugu Emiya's arms.

—The second Servant to die in this Holy Grail War has been eliminated, and Mrs. Irisviel, already injured in a car accident, is now severely wounded again…

Author's message

PS: Although the number of favorites is still growing slowly, today is Lao Lao Wang's birthday, so I'm adding an extra chapter to celebrate.

Additionally, while collecting information on Ainz Ooal Gown, I discovered two interesting illustrations, which I am sharing here.

Chapter 62, Kirei Kotomine's Dream

The night was cool as water, and the moon hung like a hook at dawn.

The second night after the Fourth Holy Grail War officially began in Fuyuki City.

Fuyuki Cathedral, Kirei Kotomine's bedroom.

The walls and window frames were undecorated, the furniture minimal and simple, and apart from the image of Jesus on the wall, it was almost as dull and boring as a prison cell.

This is the bedroom of Kirei Kotomine, the Assassin Master and one of the church participants in this Holy Grail War—a boring dwelling of a bored man.

At this very moment, Kirei Kotomine, who had just experienced a series of tremendous changes including the death of his father, was lying on the bed with his usual expressionless face.

Tonight, he fell into a deep sleep just minutes after his head hit the pillow, and slept very soundly.

There was no way around it; Kirei Kotomine was just too exhausted that night.

Both physically and mentally, they had almost reached the limit of collapse.

Although the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City has only been going on for two days, let's see what he has been doing in those two days.

Assassination, sneak attack, negotiation, wrangling...

Of the seven Masters who participated in this Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, the two who have now left the battlefield are both victims of his sword!

Not to mention, in those few dozen hours, he also experienced the death of his father, Kotomine Risei, and the devastation of Fuyuki City.

To make matters worse, he was required to clean up the mess caused by all this chaos and disaster—although he was only responsible for some on-site work, the various behind-the-scenes exchanges of interests and confrontations were handled by the Magic Association, the Holy Church, local magical families, and government officials.

In short, as a result, both Kirei Kotomine's physical and mental strength have been exhausted to the limit, or even overdrawn.

Although Kirei Kotomine's situation is rather unique—his soul is essentially "empty," lacking normal human emotions and unable to feel sadness or joy, nor reacting to extreme emotions—the physical and mental exhaustion he accumulates is still unavoidable.

Therefore, Kirei Kotomine was fast asleep at that moment and soon began to dream.

—A dream unique to participants in the Holy Grail War.

It is said that this is because the Master who summoned the Heroic Spirit had a close connection with the Heroic Spirit at a deeper level of thought during the battle.

In short, it means that Masters and Servants can see each other's past memories through dreams.

At this very moment, Kirei Kotomine is in a dream, browsing through the memories of his Assassin, the librarian ghost Portia.

It was a pale and dull memory, from the monotonous life of a country girl.

— Many years later, Miss Portia’s childhood memories have become very blurry.

Even the name she used as a child has long been completely forgotten by Miss Portia.

She only vaguely remembered that she was born in a fishing village by the sea, and that her parents and neighbors were all illiterate, uncultured people.

Aside from fishing and farming, the villagers had no other life skills, let alone any advanced knowledge.

Then, when Portia was very young, her parents, relatives, and everyone in the village were killed or kidnapped when a group of pirates attacked. Even the village buildings themselves were burned to ashes by the pirates.

Although the girl managed to escape the calamity by hiding in a secluded cellar, she had little idea how to go on living when faced with her village and home burned to the ground, and her parents whose remains could not be found.

Fortunately, a passing necromancer recognized her talent for necromancy, adopted her as she wandered aimlessly among the ruins, gave her the new name "Portia," and led the girl away from the slaughtered fishing village to another town in the distance.

From then on, the girl never returned to her hometown, nor did she ever leave the town.

Initially, the necromancer Crassus recognized a certain aptitude and talent in Miss Portia, believing that her physique was naturally suited to using necromancy, which is why he took her on as his disciple.

However, the problem is that while Portia possesses an exceptional physique for casting necromancy, she lacks the corresponding intelligence.

As a result, despite Portia's extremely diligent efforts to learn, she still could not remember the spells Crassus taught her. Even if she managed to memorize them, she would always make mistakes when casting spells, let alone further study and improve them.

Over time, she was ostracized by her teacher Crassus and the other apprentices, and was regarded as a stupid good-for-nothing and a weak vase.

She had tried her best to do what she could for the teacher, but she always ended up doing more harm than good.

Nevertheless, Portia still managed to continue living, trying her best to please and serve everyone in the mage tower.

Because, apart from Crassus's mage tower, she had no idea where else in the world could shelter her.

Years later, the necromancer Krassus became the Great Lich, and his many disciples also achieved their own illustrious reputations.

Miss Portia, however, remained foolish, dull, and weak, a perfect example of a useless good-for-nothing.

To make matters worse, due to some unknown accident, the unfortunate Miss Portia lost her life because of the failure of one of Crassus's magical experiments, and was transformed into a ghost doll, or a corpse princess.

This made the already cold-hearted Lich Crassus feel a little guilty towards his good-for-nothing, unlucky female disciple.

So when Crassus decided to move away from the town with his apprentices and donate his mage tower to the town to serve as a public library, he also arranged a lifetime position as librarian for Portia, so that this dim-witted disciple would at least have a place to stay.

In short, the great lich Crassus was gone forever, and Miss Portia, whom he had abandoned in the town, was even more bewildered.

Her hometown and relatives were long gone, and her teachers and classmates no longer wanted her.

She didn't know what she should be living for, or how she should live her life from now on.

For her, who had become an undead being, love, family, and offspring were all things that were now just luxuries.

Glory, fame, and power are all things that Portia, this good-for-nothing apprentice, can never reach.

Since Master Crassus took away almost all the spellbooks and items, this abandoned disciple could no longer continue to study magic and seek advancement.

In the end, she realized that the only meaning of her life seemed to be protecting the library left behind by her teacher.

Although there are no longer any precious magic books inside, only some introductory books for children and miscellaneous books for entertainment remain.

Besides that, she didn't know what else she could do in this world.

And so, Portia stayed in the library year after year, silently watching the sapling outside grow taller day by day, watching the people of the town come and go, grow old and die, watching the children who used to come to the library grow into adults, and then a new generation of children come to read books.

Time seemed to stand still around her, forever unchanged, just like in the past.

It was as if she were a permanent appendage of this library, or an unchanging feature of the town.

However, nothing in this world is ever truly eternal, nor are there any undead creatures that can truly live forever.

Even the gods who reign high in the heavens will eventually fall, let alone a mere spirit of the dead.

Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye, and Portia's body finally reached the end of its service life, suddenly becoming paralyzed and collapsing.

And so, the poor necromancer apprentice and Corpse Princess Portia completely lost her physical body and became a ghost.

This plunged Portia, who had long since become indifferent, into a huge panic once again: without a body, she could no longer clean the library, organize the bookshelves and books, and no longer do the job of a librarian!

So, would the town's residents still allow themselves to stay in the library left behind by the teacher?

Will the city hall appoint a new administrator to replace him?

If that's the case, what should I do?

Will I be kicked out by the new librarian, driven out of this place, and become a wandering ghost forever?

Seeing that she was about to lose the last remaining meaning in her life, Miss Ghost Portia was terrified and anxious, but there was nothing she could do.

So, in order to regain a suitable body and continue her previous life, she participated in the Holy Grail War...

However, even after becoming an Assassin, she remained just as weak, incompetent, and useless as before.

Aside from making things worse for the Master who summoned her... this left Portia feeling incredibly frustrated...

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

"...Is this...the story of my Assassin?"

Waking up from his sleep, Kirei Kotomine looked out the window at the still deep night and couldn't help but sit on the bed, thinking silently.

What an incredibly faint ghost girl she is!

—Having traveled from a distant other world to participate in this Holy Grail War, where people compete for the chance to make a wish, is it all just to regain a body?

He didn't even want to be resurrected; he simply wanted a puppet-like alchemical corpse.

What a humble and insignificant wish this is!

Compared to the saints recorded in church scriptures who made grand vows to save the world, and the demon kings whose desires swelled and attempted to destroy the world, the so-called ideals in the heart of this ghost girl from another world are truly selfish and laughable, and their vision is pitifully small.

Of course, her strength was also despair-inducingly weak.

Even more tragically, such a humble and insignificant wish is probably impossible to fulfill.

Because he did not pursue the Holy Grail, he decided from the beginning to assist his mentor Tokiomi Tohsaka in winning the victory.

This was a task entrusted to him by his father and the church, and even after his father's sudden death, Kirei Kotomine had no intention of abandoning the promise for the time being.

Thinking of this, Kirei Kotomine couldn't help but sigh softly again.

Although Kirei Kotomine didn't quite agree with the female ghost's way of life, and never felt any pity for her, he still vaguely saw a bit of himself in Portia when looking at the ghost's past memories.

—They also don't know the meaning of life, nor what they should strive for.

Unable to feel the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, with only endless emptiness in their hearts, as if their lives were utterly worthless.

I've lived by listening to others since I was a child, without the drive of ideals and hobbies, and my future is shrouded in uncertainty.

Portia Ghost stayed at the Totoro Town library year after year as its librarian not because she enjoyed it, but simply because it was her teacher's final instruction and arrangement.

At the same time, and more importantly, she herself didn't know what other way of life she could have.

Similarly, Kirei Kotomine's decision to become Tokiomi Tohsaka's apprentice, learn magic, and assist his mentor in the Holy Grail War was not something he subjectively wanted to do, but merely to fulfill his father Risei Kotomine's wish.

Now that his father is dead, should he continue to study magic under his mentor, Tokiomi Tohsaka?

Moreover, after this Holy Grail War is over, what kind of life should I lead?

Kirei Kotomine is completely unaware of this, at a loss, and doesn't even know how to approach the issue.

Thinking of this, Kirei Kotomine's mind became a jumbled mess, and he was instantly wide awake. After lying in bed in a daze for a while, he got up, put on his robe, and went to the office he had just temporarily set up, turning on the desk lamp and his computer.

Then, Kirei Kotomine saw that the printer paper coming out of the fax machine had already piled up into a thick stack.

Kirei Kotomine reached out and picked up the printed papers that came out of the fax machine, squinted, and glanced at them briefly.

He then discovered that most of the backlog of faxes contained orders and suggestions regarding the aftermath of the Fuyuki City disaster, while a smaller portion consisted of inquiries from slow-witted individuals about the current situation in Fuyuki City…

However, none of these are urgent matters and can be dealt with tomorrow or even after the Holy Grail War is over.

However, one of the faxes, which used church coded language, demanded that Kirei Kotomine make a decision immediately that night.

"...Hmm? They actually sent me a letter asking if I should take over my father's responsibilities and become the supervisor of this Holy Grail War?"

Kirei Kotomine pondered for a moment before making his decision and immediately contacting his mentor, Tokiomi Tohsaka.

Chapter 63, Mrs. Irisviel is down in the dumps! (Bonus chapter if this chapter reaches 3000 favorites)

It is about 30 kilometers west of the bustling commercial street in the center of Fuyuki City.

Here, there is an east-west highway that cuts through a series of remote, sparsely populated mountains.

On both sides of this national highway is a dense forest.

For some reason, even during Japan's bubble economy era, when the country was engaged in massive construction, this forested area, which was close to the city and easily accessible, seemed to have been forgotten by the surging tide of land development and remained as desolate and peaceful as it had been since ancient times.

This desolate forest, cut through by the highway, may be state-owned land, but if someone were to find the land register, they would discover that it belongs to a foreign company. Whether this foreign company actually exists is something no one can be sure of.

If we were to investigate this land, the most perplexing thing would be a certain mysterious urban legend.

Legend has it that deep within this dense forest lies a "mythical city".

Of course, this legend is just a boring tale.

Although this forest is indeed undeveloped, it's not a desolate wilderness. Ordinary people can drive here from Fuyuki city in less than an hour. If there really were such a strange castle in the forest, everyone would know about it.