Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"Don't pinch my cheeks with my body. If you're so capable, pinch me with your own body!"

"That's what Eri, with her silver hair, said."

Novia can no longer fully control Erise's body. This is probably due to the silver clump in Erise's hair under normal circumstances. Although it is possible to force it, Novia did not force it. In his view, this is also part of Erise's growth.

"With the body you think I have, like an old man?"

Novia suppressed a laugh, "Haha, Eri, you really do have some strange ideas."

Erise was silent for a moment, then turned her face away and whispered with a hint of shame:

"...Whatever makes you happy."

Chapter 479 'Revolution'

And so, nine-year-old Erise Utsumi began her solitary life in Akihabara.

The so-called job is to help clean up the aftermath of crimes caused by Servants, or to infiltrate places where children can be seen without being too conspicuous to investigate. In short, it is a lot of monotonous chores and there is little interaction with the citizens of Akihabara.

Because the Kuonji residence is so out of place with the style of Akihabara, the area is considered quite remote. This suits Eri's own wishes, since she is still 'special' and doesn't have Command Seals or Servants.

Compared to the past, people in the new era still don't call the Kuonji House a "haunted house" like people in the past. After all, it was built in the 80s and was out of place in the style of Misaki Town. Building an unnatural mansion on a hill would definitely annoy people.

Even though this misunderstanding will gradually disappear with the development of the times, when people who grew up here occasionally talk about this place, they will probably jokingly say something like, "Ah, is it that mountain witch or vampire? Oh well, it's all the same, it's a haunted house anyway."

However, the Newtypes in Akihabara didn't seem to have any particular thoughts on this. After all, they didn't want to bother others unnecessarily. Apart from that, it could be said that the Newtypes were the 'ideal' humans. After the Holy Grail equalized everything in terms of material possessions, social interactions, and status, they could be said to find joy in helping others, even if it might harm themselves.

As for her roommate, Kuonji Yuzu, Erise noticed that she rarely came back and was indeed very serious about completing her work. So, just like she was trying to impress Manazuru Chitose, who was not there, she was also working very hard on these simple tasks that were assigned to her.

"Isn't this possible?"

Because of its proximity to the sea, the autumn leaves at night are constantly exposed to the sea breeze.

Meanwhile, Eri was covered in mud and water, her body filthy and covered in unrecycled garbage, panting heavily in a secluded alley.

Before her stood a monstrous creature that was constantly splitting apart, whose very purpose in life was to dismember humans according to their limbs and organs.

Although most of the tasks assigned to Eri by the city are very simple, there are occasionally some slightly more difficult tasks, such as the one we are doing now.

The residents of the mosaic city all believe that living in the city is very safe, but only the residents believe these words. For the AI ​​that manages the mosaic city, this belief is a stable and happy thing. In order to maintain the daily life and fantasies of those citizens, people like Erise are needed to do some taboo and disgusting jobs.

'Night Watch' is Eri's job title. Most of the people working there are magicians from the old era. As you can see from the name, it is similar to the role of the police in the past. Thanks to Chitose Manazuru, Eri, who works as a night watchman, has the authority that only a few night watchmen have—the authority to communicate with superiors.

This means it can secretly listen in on or block communications between residents.

But for Eri, who has virtually no interaction with the residents, it's completely useless.

"Phew... I can't be bothered to listen to your gloating..."

To evade the monsters' attacks, Erise had to roll around on the steep and narrow stone steps. "A bunch of guys who aren't even Servants, I could take them down with one hand, except for their ability to split apart..."

These monsters are Gremlin, a type of legendary monster originating from the early 20th-century industrial society. They are generally depicted as small, swarming, mischievous, and goblin-like creatures.

In the new era's night watchman's guide, they are defined as small monsters that hide in mechanical or electronic components and devour the magic that infiltrates the city.

"No matter how many you kill, they will still swarm in wave after wave, not to mention that your body is already failing."

Eri knew that the Demon King was telling the truth.

The physical enhancements she had applied to herself had lost their effectiveness. Her enhanced vision, cardiopulmonary function, and all other bodily functions were exhausted, leaving her without even a normal level of ability. Just seconds before, the girl's fingers had almost been bitten off, meaning she was in dire straits...

But Eri wiped the mud off her mouth, snorted, and replied, "If I die, you won't have a good life either."

The girl's unspoken message was 'Hurry up and possess me,' but she didn't want to directly ask the demon king, who was watching her fall into a miserable state, so she said it this way.

"So, what's the price?"

Novia seemed completely unconcerned. "Miss Death."

Eri, who had only recently become a Night Watchman, earned the nickname "Grim Reaper" due to her aloof attitude and the fear she evoked by the Servants. However, Novia understood that Eri's aloofness was simply a matter of not knowing how to get along with people. After all, when talking to her, she was like a firecracker, ready to explode at any moment.

Eri feels like she's heard this guy's 'price' thousands of times over the years, and the more she hears it, the angrier she gets.

I'm so angry! If you help me, you'll just agree without hesitation. This devil knows perfectly well what he's doing, but he deliberately told me about this plan. He's so wicked. Besides, I didn't even install any cameras in the room. What more do you want from me?

"Anyway, are you coming at me now or not!?"

"can."

Novia smiled as she watched Eri, who was running around trying to avoid Gremlin. "But the condition is that you can't use your night watchman status to skip classes at the Akihabara Old Human Academy. Of course, I'm not some kind of demon. As long as your academic performance is up to standard and you have enough credits for extracurricular lectures, you can work as you please. Oh, and you must attend the regular check-ups at the group therapy room."

In fact, because Eri had never had a Servant, she was forced to undergo psychological treatment by the local Ais after arriving in Akihabara. After all, Chitose couldn't manage Akihabara immediately from Shinjuku, and the girl didn't seem to be making a request to her grandmother.

Novia received a moment of silence from Eri, but the girl obediently placed her hand on her chest, which was considered a silent agreement.

The next instant, Erise, with her full head of silver hair, stood up and looked at the crowded Gremlin.

She raised her hand and pointed to the horizon at night. A bolt of lightning flashed across the distant horizon, followed by a series of muffled claps of thunder.

Just like in "The Demon King," the storm came from the forest to the sea, and the figures of the Gremlin were shrouded in smoke brought by the lightning... or rather, they were transformed into smoke, the bodies of the small monsters turning into smoke little by little.

"It's done."

Then, the night watchmen who came to assist couldn't see any intruders in the thick smoke.

Only the little girl, who was called 'Death,' never turned around until the very end, as if she had been guarding the lights of the city all along.

Two hours later, in the bathroom of the Kuonji residence.

"Is the water a little too hot?"

“A bath is only comfortable when it’s hot. For most Servants, bathing is a hobby. Everyone loves taking baths, and some people even have a Noble Phantasm called a bathhouse. It’s called the Caracara Bathhouse, and it’s huge—” Erito, who was full of enthusiasm, suddenly paused. “Also, you should go out now.”

"Ok."

Although the Demon King is very annoying, his attitude is still relatively docile and obedient.

Eri thought to herself.

He doesn't seem like a ruthless demon king at all.

Afterwards, Eri, feeling both annoyed and expectant, leaned out of the bathtub.

The bathroom mirror was already fogged up by steam. Erise used the mirror as a canvas and used her fingertips to draw the words "Demon King" (ErlkoNig).

"Idiot, it's not like we can't shower together, why do you have to listen to me at a time like this..."

……

Akihabara, the basement of a leather workshop.

As the shop owner and leather craftsman, he has a well-developed physique due to his long-term self-discipline and regular gym workouts. At first glance, he might be mistaken for a Servant. He is also one of the patients in the Akihabara group therapy room. According to him, "As an old human, he is struggling to find his own place in the world."

To the people in the neighborhood, the leatherworker, with a gentle smile on his face, who made leather bags or children's shoes to sell in his workshop where only the sound of his hammer echoed, was a very ordinary and normal person.

Meanwhile, in the basement, the leatherworker ripped off a leather belt from the wall. The leather made a sonic boom as it was pulled through the air. In front of him was a human corpse that had recently died. The man laughed as he hit it, tilting his head back. Gradually, many red marks appeared on the dead body.

"The first one went really smoothly, Master. I heard this guy's familiar is a Blue Morpho Butterfly."

A servant with a handsome face, like a porcelain doll, sat on the workbench peeling an apple. The blade moved among the peel, creating continuous, blood-red spirals.

"People are born with the freedom and equality they deserve. You can live in this city without doing anything, yet Kabukicho still exists in that city called Tama. Can this be considered a successful revolution?"

Upon hearing this, the leatherworker slammed his fist onto the corpse, the entire row of brass rivets trembling with the immense impact.

"This is human land! It belongs to humans! What right do those damned undead have to be with us! Even if the outside world is a hell where humans can't survive, it doesn't mean we can be treated like this!"

The basement suddenly fell silent. The exhaust fan in the corner whirred, mixing the smell of fresh leather with the stench of decay into a viscous vortex. The servant, like a porcelain doll, jumped off the workbench, stepping over the scraps of leather scattered on the floor, treading on the blood-stained tiles like hopscotch.

"Yes, a revolution is needed, both in the past and now, in France and in the New World, a great revolution is needed..."

His name was Louis-Charles, the last Louis, Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

The cobbler suddenly grabbed Louis's wrist. Louis noticed that his master's fingernails were deeply embedded in his pale skin, but he felt no pain—his soul core had long been burned by the karmic fire of revenge.

“Kill Chitose Masuru.”

The cobbler's voice seemed to come from underground, "And then... our revolution succeeded."

The leatherworker, a survivor of the old humanity after the great war, harbors a deep desire for complete self-destruction. For such a Master, the Holy Grail assigned him a Servant capable of properly healing him. Thus, the monster of Avenger Louis XVII was awakened from the realm of the dead and returned to the world of men.

This was a Holy Grail system error that even Chitose Masuru hadn't realized, revealing that replacing the act of measuring people's hearts with magic and relying entirely on magic to handle things was a lazy act, and it also had its limits.

Because even Servants have their own most precious 'wishes'.

As an avenger, Louis XVII differed from Jeanne Alter and the Count in his mindset. Having suffered persecution since childhood, his hatred was directed at everyone.

"Everything was for the revolution."

Louis tilted his head and smiled, moonlight streaming through the basement window into the shadow of the corpse being dismembered opposite him.

"Mahatsuru Chitose's granddaughter doesn't have a Servant. Master, didn't we just encounter someone in a similar situation in the group therapy room not long ago?"

"did you mean……"

The cobbler was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Ah, I'm so sorry, I didn't even think of that."

"It's alright, Master."

Louis's tone, however, carried a raw and unvarnished sincerity.

The reason he was chosen by the Holy Grail as the shoemaker's servant was not only because both of them had a desire for complete self-destruction, but also because when Louis XVII was alive, after his father Louis XVI died on the guillotine, he was sent to the Temple Tower and imprisoned. The Committee of Public Safety at the time made Antoine Simon, the shoemaker, his guardian.

Because Simon and his wife had no children and lacked experience in caring for children, historians also believe that they were not well-educated and had relatively primitive and barbaric ideas. It is said that Simon would give Louis XVII alcohol, teach him to swear, teach him the language of the slums, and how to sing revolutionary songs, in an attempt to give him strength and make him 'become a man'.

The shoemaker Simon participated in the Paris Commune during the French Revolution (different from the Paris Commune established in March 1871). Under Chaumette's suggestion, he planned to make Louis XVII lose his class consciousness. However, after the Thermidorian Reaction, he and twenty-two others, including Robespierre, were executed.

Perhaps it was because of the shoemaker Simon that this leatherworker became Louis XVII's master.

"Alright, in that case, let's approach that brat in the group therapy room a month from now."

The leatherworker smiled gently. "There are still a few people in the prison. Come with me to deal with them."

"Isn't it alright to alert the enemy?"

“Pain cannot wait, Louis.”

"In that case, I can only work alongside you, Master, towards the revolution."

Louis XVII, the Avenger, possesses a Noble Phantasm called "Death Redemption in the Mire Prison," which completely isolates him from the outside world on both physical and magical levels. Once someone is caught within the range of this Noble Phantasm's effect, it becomes impossible for them to seek help from the outside world.

Afterward, the leatherworker would carefully maintain the victims' vital functions, working on them alive, hammering brass rivets into their bodies, then carefully tanning them with chromium sulfate, and finally sewing them together with needle and thread.

The reason the leatherworker created a piece depicting the victims was simply because he felt it could demonstrate how painful it is for humanity to live in the new era.

"Speaking of which, Master, have you seen that?"

Louis placed the leather that the tanner had just peeled off into a dark green solution and slowly stretched it out.

"that……"

The leatherworker, who was threading a needle through the corpse, pondered for a moment and asked, "You saw it too?"

Louis XVII nodded.

At the moment the man he and the leatherworker captured died, both of them saw a silver phantom smiling at them as if in joy.

At the same time, Louis XVII, as a follower, felt that he had gained a certain power for a short time. He also understood that this temptation would undoubtedly lead to a surge in murders, especially among the old humans, who were more easily attracted to death due to the trauma of war.

But what exactly was that phantom?

The Avengers fell into deep thought.

That was definitely not the Holy Grail, because Louis, as an Avenger, understood that the reason he wasn't marked as the end of the city like Robespierre in the present world was entirely due to his disbelief in the events. In a city that was trying to suppress change as much as possible, the Holy Grail would never allow human deaths to occur.

That means there is something outside the Holy Grail that motivates human death.

So the Avenger subconsciously looked up at the moon through the basement window and smiled slightly.

"If it's for the success of the revolution, then any number of deaths is acceptable; isn't that an inevitable sacrifice?"

……

One month later, at Shinjuku Central Plaza.

The piece prepared by the leatherworker and Louis was placed in the bustling square.

Because of its exquisite craftsmanship, the piece was regarded as an avant-garde work of art by people passing by in the square. For forty-five minutes after it was set up, it did not cause any disturbance. Some people even happily took pictures of themselves and the piece.

It wasn't until someone accidentally touched the remaining blood on the artwork that they realized it wasn't some avant-garde art piece, but a very terrifying threat.

Starting from this point, the authorities of all the mosaic cities in Japan launched a search network to investigate this theatrical crime. All the well-known Servants and talents in the fields of criminology or detective work in Japan were mobilized to stand on the front line of the search and try their best to solve the case.

Meanwhile, in Akihabara, Eri was in a group therapy room, watching a small theater performance of "Revolutionary Trial" by another pair of people undergoing psychotherapy.

As she gazed at the combination of the muscular, gentle man and the porcelain doll-like little boy, Eri casually muttered to herself: