My family runs an adventurer's guild.

After all, the basic operating principle of any world is survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle.

If, in order to eliminate all wars and maintain eternal peace, the replacement of old and new generations is forcibly suppressed, then it is tantamount to providing a protective umbrella for all kinds of old, corrupt, and stubborn backward forces, thus becoming the guardian of all kinds of dark forces.

What difference is there between a "peacekeeper" who is hostile to progress and acts as a henchman for the corrupt and decadent and a demon?

He's basically a free henchman who provides his own food and services to all sorts of tyrants!

— Often, the “peace” maintained under ignorance, evil, humiliation and brutality may not be as good as war!

However, in order to avoid further hurting the sensitive nerves of this tragic man in front of us, perhaps it's best not to be so blunt and tell the truth.

Moreover, she came to this world not to be a savior, but to see the scenery here, which is different from her homeland, to broaden her horizons, and to absorb some knowledge and technology that she did not have in her homeland, so that she could go back and try to use it to govern her own territory.

However... although she had been in this world for several days, Princess Catherine hadn't really seen much that caught her eye.

Because Princess Catherine's entire itinerary over the past few days has basically consisted of going from an authentic medieval Western European castle in Germany to a replica Western European castle in Japan, without ever entering any of the world's bustling cities or centers of civilization.

Aside from a brief glimpse of the modern airport during her landing in Japan and a quick glance at the Japanese countryside on her way to the castle, Princess Catherine gained little else of note.

After all, in Princess Catherine's eyes, neither the Eindzbern Castle in Germany nor the Eindzbern Castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, Japan, seemed to be much different from the palaces and castles in her hometown, except that they were even smaller and simpler—considering the enormous size of the dragons themselves, most of the castles in the Golden Dragon Kingdom had a portion of their interior space designed to be extra-large…

Similarly, as a castle that had been idle for sixty years, there were no modern books or paintings here that would interest Catherine.

Sigh, what an incredibly boring interdimensional journey! I hardly saw anything I really wanted to know.

She sighed and turned her head, gazing listlessly out the window at the lush, verdant forest that stretched all the way to the horizon.

Like Einzbern Castle (the main base) in Germany, this Einzbern Castle (an adjoining residence) located on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, Japan, is also surrounded by a vast, undeveloped forest to avoid the disturbances of the world.

Looking out from any window of the castle, there is absolutely no sign of human habitation in sight...

For ordinary citizens who are forced to spend their entire lives confined to modern concrete jungles, pristine forest scenery like Eindzbern Castle and fresh air scented with the fragrance of grass might bring a sense of joy. But for Catherine, it was something she was tired of seeing.

In fact, if possible, she would prefer to visit the heavily polluted concrete jungles of modern cities.

After all, the forest scenery in this world doesn't seem much different from the royal hunting grounds outside the capital of the Golden Dragon Kingdom, Thousand Sails Harbor. Hmm, except that the number of animals is much scarcer, and pedestrians are practically nowhere to be seen... uh? Wait a minute? That forest over there seems to be... smoking?

"...Eh? Kiritsugu Emiya, the forest over there... seems to be on fire?" She turned and called out to Kiritsugu Emiya.

"...No, the smoke is coming from the west side of the castle! Fuyuki City is in the opposite direction! This is probably an attack!"

The previously listless Kiritsugu Emiya, upon hearing this, quickly rose from his chair, grabbed a pair of binoculars, and strode to the window to peer out. Based on his years of battlefield experience and war instincts, he quickly made his judgment: "...Although this distance is still outside the detection range of the castle's magic circle, but...Saber! Just in case, let's prepare for battle! Our war has begun!"

Chapter 68, Arsonist Tokiomi Tohsaka! (Bonus chapter of 5000 words)

With Kiritsugu Emiya's order, the entire Einzbern Castle quickly entered a state of war.

After activating the defensive magic array of Einzbern Castle and instructing the Einzbern family's homunculus maids to quickly don their armor and enter combat readiness, Kiritsugu Emiya, with the help of his female assistant Maiya Hisau, began to check the weapons and equipment that might be needed next.

No matter how urgent the situation, it is essential to check the status of weapons before engaging in battle. This is a valuable lesson that Kiritsugu Emiya learned from years of fighting.

Despite the haste of the incident, Hisayu Maiya still managed to neatly arrange all the firearms and ammunition she had brought on the floor—which is actually quite unusual for magicians, who are more accustomed to using traditional tools such as wands, short swords, and shields in combat.

In the Type-Moon universe, most traditional magicians possess an arrogant and conceited mindset. They revere mystical powers and despise science and technology. Furthermore, they firmly believe that, aside from gods, the only threat to them comes from fellow magicians.

Generally speaking, they only pay attention to the enemy's various magic spells in battle, but ignore pure physical attack methods that do not rely on magic.

In their view, no matter how sharp a blade or how powerful a bullet, as long as it doesn't touch their body, it's completely harmless. They believe that by using magic to cast illusions, paralyze, or even create barriers beforehand, they can break through those low-level attacks.

Using modern weapons such as firearms and bombs is almost seen by traditional magicians as a degrading and heretical act.

However, Kiritsugu Emiya went against the grain, favoring tactics that combined modern weapons with mystical magic—the same sniper rifle, rocket launcher, mortar, and man-portable missile could have completely different destructive power in the hands of an ordinary person and a magician.

With his mastery of magic, Kiritsugu Emiya could easily see through illusions, find the weaknesses in barriers, and then use a sniper rifle to kill enemy magicians. Through a series of impressive kills in the magic world, he earned the infamous title of "Magician Killer."

Unfortunately, yesterday, Maiya Hisa, the female assistant in charge of transporting and storing the munitions, was caught up in a three-way brawl between the U.S. military, the Japanese police, and the Ground Self-Defense Force in Fuyuki City.

The powerful individual weapons he had previously smuggled into Japan at great expense—including the WA2000 semi-automatic sniper rifle, Steyr AUG assault rifle, Calico M-950 submachine gun, and rocket launcher—were either consumed or lost by Hisayu Maiya in the fierce, high-intensity battle.

Even most of the other equipment, including grenades, stun grenades, signal flares, flashbangs, anti-personnel mines, and C2 plastic bombs, were completely destroyed after yesterday's fierce battle—modern warfare consumes ammunition in tons.

At this moment, all that lay before Kiritsugu Emiya were two "New Nambu M60" police revolvers that Hisamu Maiya had picked up from the bodies of Japanese police officers during his escape, along with a mere fifteen pistol bullets—in Kiritsugu Emiya's view, both in terms of firepower and range, they were hopelessly weak.

So, when he was examining the two pistols and applying gun oil to them, his face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water.

Fortunately, although Hisayu Maiya had made such a big mistake, he still hadn't lost his most precious possession... As he thought this, he carefully opened a sandalwood box next to him and took out a large, single-shot pistol with an antique design.

This was his former comrade-in-arms, a unique gun belonging only to Kiritsugu Emiya, something that money couldn't buy.

Or rather, a "gun-type magical costume" that is extremely rare in the world and can only be used by magicians.

—The gun clip is made of walnut wood, the gun body is 14 centimeters long, and the simple and smooth appearance is similar to an antique flintlock gun from the late Middle Ages.

But the gun itself is not the key; the real killer move lies in the ammunition it comes with.

—Emiya Kiritsugu specially removed two of his own ribs, ground them into powder, condensed them using a secret technique, and finally sealed them as the core of sixty-six specially made bullets, thus obtaining his own exclusive Mystic Code: Origin Bullet.

This is a weapon Kiritsugu Emiya specifically designed to deal with magicians. It is an extremely vicious weapon that can completely destroy the magic circuits in an opponent's body with just a slight scratch, rendering them a magic cripple who cannot use magic.

To date, Kiritsugu Emiya has defeated thirty-seven mages with his Origin Bullet, including many far more powerful and high-ranking figures, causing quite a stir and a sensation in the industry. This is the direct reason why he is known as the "Magician Killer."

At this moment, Kiritsugu Emiya once again reached out and grasped the familiar walnut wood spear handle, feeling as comfortable as he had nine years ago.

Unfortunately, the feeling of holding a gun is now completely unfamiliar to me.

Kiritsugu Emiya quietly closed his fingers, making the gun fit snugly against his hand bones, as if the gun were an extension of his arm.

Then, use your index finger to open the shaft below the safety, and the gun will suddenly tilt forward, revealing the magazine.

Taking an Origin Bullet from the box, Kiritsugu Emiya tried to recreate his perfect and skillful loading technique from years ago—opening the magazine, taking out the ammunition, and then sliding the Origin Bullet back into the magazine with his wrist, before flicking his wrist to close the chamber.

It took less than two seconds, but it still felt a bit more awkward than in previous years.

"...His skills have gotten worse...but at least he can still fight!"

Kiritsugu Emiya sighed, stuffed the "Origin Bullet Mystic Code" into his trench coat pocket, then grabbed a "New Nambu M60" police revolver, loaded it round by round, and at the same time stuffed another police pistol and the remaining ammunition into Maiya Hisa's hand.

"...Prepare for battle, Maiya! After the enemy has used fire to obstruct our vision, they should be able to break in soon!"

However, Kiritsugu Emiya waited patiently inside the castle for a long time, but the enemy's invasion never came—the warning barriers set up in advance inside and outside the castle remained unresponsive. On the contrary, the forest fire surrounding the castle burned more and more fiercely.

Thick black smoke billowed into the castle with the wind, and the scorching heat made Kiritsugu Emiya feel so uncomfortable that he could hardly breathe.

"...Damn it! Cough cough! That bastard outside, is he trying to burn us alive?"

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

On a hill west of Einzbern Castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, beneath a towering, leafy tree.

Tokiomi Tohsaka, holding his cane which he never parted with, squinted at the burning forest at the foot of the mountain and the majestic castle that was gradually being completely surrounded and swallowed by thick smoke and towering flames. He couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.

At that moment, he seemed to see the Einzbern family trapped inside the castle, their bodies burned and charred by the raging fire, and he seemed to hear their vicious curses and desperate cries, like the distant barking of a pack of defeated dogs.

"...The Einzbern family's contestants...haven't they escaped yet? Could they have really burned to death inside?"

Since the whereabouts of Instructor Kenneth and the other British participant could not be found for the time being, Tokiomi Tohsaka naturally decided that the next target of this Holy Grail War would be the Einzbern family, whose position had been exposed from the beginning.

As a powerful magical family that has lived in Fuyuki City for generations, Tokiomi Tohsaka naturally knew a great deal about the Einzbern family's European-style castle.

In fact, during the sixty years that this European-style castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City was sealed off, successive heads of the Tohsaka family and their heirs all tried to scout out this enemy fortress during the next Holy Grail War, and did their best to gather a certain amount of intelligence through various means.

Therefore, Tokiomi Tohsaka knew very well that the Einzbern family's European-style castle, located about thirty kilometers from the center of Fuyuki City and surrounded by dense forests, was shrouded in multiple layers of illusion and magic barriers, forming a strange space isolated from the mundane world.

As for how many traps and mechanisms are hidden inside the Einzbern castle, that remains an unknown that outsiders can never guess.

Moreover, with the Einzbern family's warriors bringing their heroic spirits to the castle, the castle's defenses and combat capabilities will need to be further strengthened.

Therefore, Eindzbern Castle, which had already been garrisoned and fully fortified, was basically as impregnable as a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.

Even with a "powerful" Servant like Lulutia, the Silver Dragon Lady, Tokiomi Tohsaka's chances of winning a direct assault on the castle are still not high.

After all, the Einzbern magician inside the castle also has heroic spirits, and he also has the advantage of playing on his home field.

If that's the case, why would he take such a huge risk and venture alone into the lion's den to launch a frontal assault on this heavily fortified castle?

Just like a farmer who, when eliminating rats in a burrow, doesn't crawl into the burrow himself (nor could he), but instead lights a fire with dry branches and leaves to smoke it out, wouldn't the most suitable tactic be to use fire and smoke to draw out the enemy hiding in the castle?

Thinking of this, Tokiomi Tohsaka couldn't help but reveal a confident smile:

His magical properties happen to be fire-based! And his most proficient offensive magic is fire magic that resembles a crimson lotus descending to earth!

It seems as if fate is guiding him to use fire tactics to break through the Einzbern family's tortoise shell!

If it were Einzbern Castle (the main base) in Germany, where the climate was forcibly altered by a magic circle and snow fell year-round, such arson tactics might not have succeeded so easily—the thick, year-round snow itself was an excellent fire barrier.

However, this Einzbern Castle (annex) on the outskirts of Fuyuki City didn't have any extravagant defensive magic arrays for altering the climate. And right now, it's the dry, crisp autumn season—perfect for unleashing a raging inferno!

Of course, under normal circumstances, as a traditional magician, in order to uphold the ironclad rule that "magic must be kept secret," Tokiomi Tohsaka would usually neither perform fire magic in broad daylight nor make any conspicuous acts such as setting fire to forests.

However, due to the monster Caster's rampage, most of Fuyuki City was almost reduced to ruins, tens of thousands of people were displaced, and the US military stationed in Japan inexplicably fought a messy war with the Self-Defense Forces. To this day, various lawsuits are still ongoing...

Compared to the kind of chaos that directly causes chaos, what is a small-scale incident like starting a forest fire?

Moreover, the arson occurred in a deserted forest, so the impact was even smaller—forest fires happen in every country in the world, right? Compared to news of urban warfare and military conflicts, the level of attention they receive is completely different, isn't it?

Hmm? Magic tricks must be kept secret and not seen by outsiders?

It's alright. Once the forest fire starts, everyone will run away! Those who can't escape will be burned to death to silence them.

Given the efficiency of the Japanese bureaucracy, by the time the fire brigade arrived, the battle at Eindzbern Castle should have already been over!

The only problem is that, throughout history, whether in naval or land warfare, fire attack tactics have always relied on wind power.

In Japan at this time of year, the Fuyuki area is mostly only affected by westerly and northwesterly winds.

Unfortunately, Eindzbern Castle is located to the west of Fuyuki City, so the wind is currently blowing from the castle towards Fuyuki City, not the other way around.

Therefore, in order to set fire to the castle from the upwind side, Tokiomi Tohsaka had to leave the city and travel a long distance, circling around the desolate countryside, to reach the mountains and forests further west of Einzbern Castle before he could begin to use his fire magic to launch a fire attack on the castle.

As for the timing of setting fire to the city and attacking it, Tokiomi Tohsaka had carefully considered and calculated it, scheduling it for the early morning of that day.

First, following the tradition of seclusion among magicians in the Type-Moon world, most magical battles typically take place at night. Therefore, after a night of heightened vigilance, and with dawn breaking peacefully, the enemies in Einzbern Castle should experience a brief moment of relaxation.

Secondly, according to confirmed intelligence, the Einzbern family's participants in this year's war only entered the secret castle in the suburban forest yesterday. It seems that there was a car accident on the way, so their current condition should be very bad, and they are not fully prepared in terms of physical strength and tactics.

Third, if Tokiomi Tohsaka had chosen to set fire to the forest at night, the newly lit flames would have been extremely conspicuous under the cover of darkness, immediately attracting the enemy's attention. Now, however, if he set the fire during the day, the people inside the castle would only notice it after it had spread to a certain extent, but by then, the forest fire would have already become a raging inferno, making it impossible to extinguish in time.

—Because Tokiomi Tohsaka needed to avoid triggering the castle's security barrier, the location for setting the fire had to be relatively far from the castle...

At this very moment, under Tokiomi Tohsaka's arrangement, the forest within a radius of several kilometers was engulfed in flames by the fire spell.

Immediately following, under the influence of the prevailing northwest winds of autumn and winter, a hot and dry air current blowing from west to east appeared around Fuyuki City, causing the newly lit flames to leap and leap, forming a fire line that stretched for several kilometers and quickly engulfed the huge Einzbern Castle!

At this point, Tokiomi Tohsaka's fire attack tactics against Einzbern Castle could be considered a success.

However, what puzzled Tokiomi Tohsaka was that he had started the forest fire with the intention of using the high temperature, lack of oxygen, and thick smoke to force the enemies in the castle out, forcing them to engage in a duel with him, who was well-rested and prepared, when they had lost their advantageous position and were not fully prepared.

This inspiration came the night before last, after he had only intended for Miss Silver Dragon Lulutia to give Kenneth a warning, but instead she destroyed the Hyatt Hotel and easily ruined Kenneth's magic workshop.

Instead of wasting time and effort trying to counter each move and playing some kind of "Dragon Quest" game in the enemy magician's workshop, it would be better to destroy the entire enemy force from the outside and force them to become stray dogs!

However, even after the raging fire completely engulfed the castle, Tokiomi Tohsaka never detected any sign of anyone escaping from inside.

Could it be that the Einzbern family's participants in this war were so incompetent that they were burned to death in the castle?!

This is truly... wonderful!

Regardless, being able to defeat an opponent so easily is always a pleasant experience.

Thinking of this, Tokiomi Tohsaka couldn't help but take a deep breath of the scorching, smoky air, and sighed as he tried to maintain his composure:

"...It seems that the long-cherished wish of the Tohsaka family's ancestors to reach the Root is about to be fulfilled in my hands!"

The so-called "Root" is the destination on the path of all magicians in the Type-Moon world. It is regarded as the "Seat of God that is the beginning and end of all things, records everything in this world, and creates everything in this world," located outside the world.

The Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern families, the "Big Three," repeatedly waged the "Fuyuki Holy Grail War" by utilizing the spiritual veins beneath Fuyuki. In reality, the plan was to inject the souls of the six deceased Servants into the Lesser Grail, using their power to return to the "Throne of Heroes" located outside the world, to create a hole in this world. The immense magical power accumulated in the Greater Grail was then used to fix this hole, thus creating a door to the outside world—and this was the true purpose behind the "Big Three" in initiating the "Holy Grail War" in Fuyuki City time and time again.

As for those Masters other than the "starter family" who were lured in by the bait that "the Holy Grail is a wish-granting machine," they were actually just "objects for the servants" and were disposable items that the "starter family" had no choice but to allow to participate in the Holy Grail War ritual.

For the "starter families," once the Servant summoning phase is over, these "outsiders" are no longer useful.

—From beginning to end, the “starting three families” never thought of giving the Holy Grail to outsiders to make a wish.

Author's message

PS: To celebrate receiving a recommendation, I'm adding an extra chapter today, and there will be another chapter tomorrow morning.

Furthermore, regarding the remaining parts of "Invincible Urban Management Officers," the total length is only around 200,000 words, which is a bit troublesome no matter how it's published. In short, it's an African version of nuclear war, a story about a bunch of illiterate truant children happily playing with a found Tsar Bomba nuclear bomb using all sorts of incredibly stupid methods, ultimately causing the biggest nuclear disaster in Earth's history amidst laughter and joy.

I'm considering either creating a separate story on Huanle Bookstore, similar to the sequel to "Kantai Collection: The Story of the Communists," or publishing it directly as a side story in this book.