FATE: Target of Grand Master

"Is it possible that Xia Yan is keeping us alive to deal with Ivan the Terrible?" Cecilia asked.

"It's possible, but I think it's unlikely," Craig replied.

"Why? If you're right, our main quest and Xia Yan's main quest should be able to coexist. As long as he lets us defeat Ivan the Terrible first and fulfill our quest objective, then he can bring out Anastasia, and we can complete the quest effortlessly, right?"

Craig looked at the world covered in white before him and said, "Cecilia, you should have seen the storylines related to Fate, right?"

"Of course. Please don't question my professionalism."

Cecilia said with some dissatisfaction.

"Did you notice that in the original story, Anastasia of Ricardo fought Ivan the Terrible first, and then Fujimaru Ritsuka fought Ricardo and Anastasia?"

"Yes, I remember, that's the correct order."

"Do you remember why Kadoc and Anastasia were so determined to defeat the Thunder Emperor themselves?"

"Could it be?!"

Seeing Cecilia's expression, Craig knew she had figured it out.

"Very Powerful," this was originally Ivan the Terrible's skill, but after Anastasia defeated him, he bestowed it upon her along with the title of Lostbelt King. It's hard to say about other Lostbelts, but in the Russian Lostbelt, Very Powerful is an extremely symbolic skill. I guess Xia Yan was worried that if we defeated Ivan the Terrible, Very Powerful would fall into other hands, and then even if Anastasia was promoted, she wouldn't be able to become the Lostbelt King.

Therefore, Ivan the Terrible must be defeated by Anastasia, but this conflicts with our goal of defeating him. With too many cooks spoiling the broth, only one of us can ultimately achieve our objective. Furthermore, if my guess is correct, our resistance forces are rebelling against Ivan the Terrible's rule, not Anastasia's. Therefore, Xia Yan wants to use us to quickly win over the Yaga within the resistance, preparing for Anastasia's eventual rule.

In such a harsh environment, the Yaga's demands are actually very simple: enough to eat and enough to wear. Whoever can provide them with the means to survive, they will naturally support. However, winning people's hearts is a long process, not to mention that Xia Yan also wants to change the Yaga's values, which is why he wants to use those of us who already have a great deal of influence within the resistance forces to work for him.

Putting myself in Xia Yan's shoes, I would do the same. After all, without changing the values ​​of the Yaga people, this world has no future. However, it seems we don't need to care about that now. Faced with Xia Yan's overwhelming strength, we have absolutely no right to resist.

I now find it laughable that I previously exploited Dumas to equip the Yaga troops with pseudo-noble artifacts. All that work for nothing. Although being controlled by others feels terrible, we have no choice but to do as Xia Yan says to survive.

Cecilia had never seen Craig speak so much in one breath before; clearly, the battle with Xia Yan had greatly shocked Craig.

The two walked silently for a while longer in the snow, until Cecilia finally asked the question that had been on her mind.

"Craig, do you think we have any chance of leaving this trial alive?"

"I don't know, since I've never failed in any of the missions I've participated in before."

Cecilia: ......

"Okay, I was just trying to lighten the mood with a joke. Although I've never been controlled by anyone before, based on my judgment of people, there's a 50% chance we'll leave unscathed, and an 80% chance we'll leave with one or two Servants lost."

"Craig, we've known each other for so long, there's no need for you to lie to me."

Cecilia clearly didn't believe it.

Craig chuckled and said, "I didn't mean to deliberately increase the probability to give you confidence. Although I can't be 100% sure, Xia Yan's actions seem to be intentionally avoiding killing us directly. His relatively complicated and awkward approach actually reflects that deep down he still hopes to adhere to certain moral bottom lines. Of course, if he is truly a guy who is extremely good at manipulating people's hearts and disguising himself, then we won't die in vain."

Hearing Craig speak so casually about their possible deaths, Cecilia could only sigh.

Cecilia wasn't afraid of death, but she didn't want to die because it would leave her with regrets—regrets about not being able to spend more time with Craig.

Oh!

Xia Yan was in a good mood after acquiring four workers, and even had Musashi kill three Roaring Beasts so he could cook a sumptuous lunch himself.

Besides rewarding his own servants, Xia Yan also specially shared half of the meat with the Yaga people in the village.

This was like feeding a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast to savages who only ever ate raw meat; the Yaga people in the village went completely mad.

"Delicious! So delicious! I don't know how to describe it, but it's just delicious!"

"Do you have any more? Just one more, just one, I'll do anything for it!"

"That's it, I feel like I can never eat raw meat again."

Seeing that all the Yaga in the village were bewitched, Patsi became extremely curious about the fragrant piece of meat in front of him. But what surprised him even more was that the Yaga family, the village chief who took him in, had no intention of imprisoning him. Instead, they gave him the same benefits as the other villagers.

"Why are you giving me this?"

Patsi swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing the urge to gulp down the piece of meat.

"Because the court magician said he would grant you 'all the rights of a villager,' you'll also have meat to eat. If you want to express your gratitude, thank His Majesty the Thunder Emperor, Her Highness the Princess, and the court magician."

Whether or not he expressed gratitude to those three important figures, Pazsi didn't know, but the hunger in his stomach was very real.

So, Pazsi stopped being reserved and swallowed the piece of meat in one gulp.

This was a taste that Patsi had never experienced since birth. He finally understood why the Yaga outside were so obsessed. This piece of meat must have been imbued with a terrible addictive magic, otherwise there was no way to explain why it tasted so good.

"Um...excuse me, is there any more?"

Patsi's reaction was exactly what the village chief Yaga had expected. He smiled and casually recited the lines that Xia Yan had asked him to prepare in advance.

"There isn't any this time, but there will be more in the future. The court magician taught us this technique called cooking. As long as you contribute to our village, you'll have the chance to get this delicious meat in the future."