I am the protagonist

Noble Phantasms cannot be created simply by using magic.

"Even so, you'd better not have direct contact with other Heroic Spirits."

"Each Heroic Spirit possesses extraordinary strength, and each Heroic Spirit is accompanied by their own class and legend, along with a variety of Noble Phantasms."

"As a magician, your combat abilities are simply incomparable to those of a Heroic Spirit."

"Oh dear~ Are you worried about me?"

"I thought you had been killed by Artoria a few days ago."

Saber's facial muscles twitched a few times; she didn't deny that she had really been driven to the brink of death by her past self.

She imagined her future self saying that it was so that her children could inherit Britain.

But what Saber found even harder to accept was that she herself had wavered.

The fall of Britain may have been largely due to her own decisions and judgments, but it was also partly because her subjects did not see a future successor.

If Britain had a successor, perhaps she would have faced less pressure and wouldn't have had to endure Britain's betrayal by rebels.

"Although my future self did something I can't understand, since it was my future self who made this decision, then... I think I can find out why I made this decision in the future."

She can't understand it now.

"I now accept you as my acting Master."

"It won't be easy for you to admit it."

"So, what should we do now?"

"The first battle began in the early hours of this morning, and the idea that Masters should not act rashly should have faded a lot by now."

"So what we need to do is stimulate their senses and make them have a clearer understanding of my identity as your Master."

"Is this an attempt to downplay Kiritsugu's identity as a Master?"

The reason for the substitute Master was to dilute Kiritsugu's status as Master, to draw the attention away from those who originally regarded Kiritsugu as their Master, and to make it easier for Kiritsugu to fall into darkness without that attention.

This approach is indeed not in line with her personality. However, the Holy Grail War is about fighting against Heroic Spirits from different eras. Even she would have a hard time fighting without making some preparations.

"But what happened in the first battle?"

"Ah, that was just a staged battle, partly to highlight Archer's combat abilities, and partly to make Assassin completely immerse himself in darkness."

"Assassin... The first battle was between Assassin and Archer. Such an outcome is easy to be suspicious of."

"I'm sure some people will have doubts."

"There are relatively few Assassins throughout history who possess truly exceptional individual abilities. Most are experts in intelligence gathering and assassination, but they face many challenges in one-on-one situations."

"However, even if someone has doubts, no one can provide concrete evidence. Assassin's [death] was witnessed by many Masters, which has led to the fact that no Master will continue to defend their back now."

"If you don't take precautions, Assassins will easily obtain your information... that's how it is, right?"

If that's the case, Saber knows that Assassin will become very troublesome.

Those assassins who are used to hiding in the dark are really not easy to find once they are truly hidden in the shadows.

"Is it okay?"

"It's alright, Assassin's shift to the dark side doesn't conflict with us at all."

"A single individual poses no threat, and even if there are multiple individuals, their strength will definitely not be very strong."

"Their role is to gather intelligence, and they will not emerge from the darkness until a certain period of time has passed."

Chapter 134 Saber, remember to wipe your own mouth next time!

"Lord Kirei, another Heroic Spirit and his Master have been found. They have just left the airport."

"Where did you come from?"

"It's Germany."

Kirei Kotomine's empty eyes flickered slightly.

The Einzbern family is based in Germany, so the current Servant and Master are from the Einzbern family.

[Emiya Kiritsugu.]

He silently recited that name in his heart. The man's wish was of great concern to him. Why had this man, who was completely uninhibited, found his direction? What was his wish? Perhaps it was this thought that supported him to participate in the Holy Grail War.

"Masters and Heroic Spirits of Einzbern".

"Is it Emiya Kiritsugu?"

"No, Lord Kirei, the other party does not seem to be the Emiya Kiritsugu described in the information you gave me before. The other party is just a boy."

Kirei Kotomine paused for a few seconds after hearing this answer.

Where is Kiritsugu Emiya?

"Lord Kirei, we already located Kiritsugu Emiya before, but he came to Fuyuki City alone."

"……strangeness."

Kiritsugu Emiya came to Fuyuki City alone, which means that he is not the Master in this Holy Grail War, and that the Master of Einzbern is someone else.

"Assassin, has Kiritsugu Emiya found a Command Seal in his possession?"

"Lord Kirei, Kiritsugu Emiya was wearing gloves at the time, so it was impossible to confirm."

Kirei Kotomine's brows relaxed slightly. He was certain that Kiritsugu Emiya was indeed the Master chosen by the Einzbern family, and what Assassin had observed was merely Kiritsugu Emiya's cover.

No confirmation is needed; Emiya Kiritsugu is a man with an empty heart, just like him.

A man who chooses to marry into the Einzbern family must have a desire that he absolutely must fulfill; Kirei Kotomine is 100% certain of this.

"Should Lord Kirei keep an eye on that boy and the Heroic Spirit?"

"Keep staring."

"Yes, I understand."

Assassin vanished like smoke.

Kirei Kotomine put down the intelligence report in his hand and pondered what had just happened.

You are a man with an empty heart, just like me. I won't do anything meaningless; if it were you, you would probably be the same as me.

[If you weren't a Master, you wouldn't have stayed in Einzbern for ten years.]

If you weren't a Master, you wouldn't have come to Fuyuki City at this time.

Kirei Kotomine is now almost certain that Kiritsugu Emiya is his Master.

However, he did not have Assassin keep an eye on Kiritsugu Emiya all the time. He wanted to understand what kind of person he was, so he needed to know what the other party would do.

Or rather, Kiritsugu Emiya has already set his sights on my master.

[Report to my master about the Einzbern Master.]

Kirei Kotomine arrived at the place where they usually made contact.

“My master, the Einzbern Master and the Servant have arrived in Fuyuki City.”

Is it Emiya Kiritsugu?

“My master, it seems that this time the Einzbern Master is not Emiya Kiritsugu.”

"What Assassin saw was a boy and a girl heroic spirit leaving the airport."

[Young man... it seems the Einzbern family's claim of seeking out Kiritsugu Emiya as their Master was just a cover.]

【Kiri, are you sure who this person is?】

"Perhaps not now. I can't access Assassin's memories, so I might not be able to confirm his identity right now."

[Since that's the case, then so be it. Although I don't know what tricks Einzbern is playing, if they've only invited an unknown nobody, then I'll immediately withdraw from this Holy Grail War.]

[Have Assassin keep an eye on the other Masters.]

"Yes, my teacher."

Meanwhile, Tokiomi Tohsaka, far away at the Tohsaka residence, was deep in thought, his head bowed.

[The Einzbern Master should still be Kiritsugu Emiya.]

Has the child's side started taking action as well?

Tokiomi Tohsaka is still acting according to the plan he made before, except that this time he has already made arrangements for his wife and daughter.

In the end, no matter what, Aoi will definitely survive alongside Rin and Sakura.

[I can't trust any Master's words, and it seems I'd better not trust Archer's actions either.]

Ultimately, his death was definitely related to the people around him.

Kirei is one.

Another group one can trust is the Heroic Spirits bound by Command Seals.

The current situation isn't exactly terrible, but it's still quite troublesome to be wary of Kirei and Archer.

That king isn't so easy to hide.

Meanwhile, Shirou led Saber to stroll through the night market, specifically focusing on the food street.

"Um!"

Shirou watched Saber stuffing food into her mouth and silently took out his phone to capture the scene.

"Hmm? Hmm!"

"Swallow before you speak. You should know the proper etiquette for eating, right?"

"...Gurgle~"

After swallowing what was in her mouth, Saber looked at Shirou with suspicion.

"Shirou, what were you doing just now?"

"I'm just making a list of things I need to buy when I get home. They don't go to bed that early over there; they're probably still waiting for me to come back for dinner."

"So, there's food tonight?"

Their eyes lit up instantly when Saber was mentioned.

"The point isn't about the food... Oh well, we can eat something if we get hungry after we finish playing. It's just a matter of buying more to take home."

"Shirou, this decision... hmm?"

Saber stopped speaking and turned her gaze in another direction.

"The aura of a heroic spirit... it's like an invitation for your opponent to come and fight."

"Looks like it is."

"But you can't go in your current state, can you?"

Looking down at the various snacks she was holding in her hands, Saber blushed slightly.

"You should finish eating first. Even if you're going to fight, you need to be full to have the strength."

"Yes, that's true."

"You can't fight a big battle if you're not full" is a belief that Saber has always held, and it remains the same even now.

They quickly devoured the snacks they were holding in both hands.

This time, I finished off a large amount of snacks in less than two minutes.

After swallowing it all, Saber took a couple of breaths.

"Shirou, I'm ready."

Then Saber saw Shirou stare at her for a few seconds, then pull out a pack of tissues from somewhere and wipe her mouth.

"...Saber, remember to wipe your mouth after you finish eating next time."

At that moment, Saber really wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground.

Chapter 135 Saber and Lancer's First Battle

Shirou led Saber to the place where the aura of the Heroic Spirits appeared.

This was a rather remote dock warehouse. Due to the passage of time, there was no one left at the dock. If there was anyone there, the only suspicious person was a man carrying two guns.