Unlimited Ambition

My words relieved Rin somewhat. But what Medea said next made Rin even angrier.

"So, this is what you call fate. It's different from things like developing feelings over time by spending every day together. It's a very romantic, destiny-bound fate. I have no way to repay Master's life-saving grace, so I can only offer myself in gratitude. This kind of fate, hehe..."

"How shameless. A brainless, stupid old lady who got dumped once, is she trying to cling to the teacher just because the teacher is kind-hearted?!" Rin said without any discouragement.

"Much better than some underdeveloped little girl with an Oedipus complex."

"So what?! At least she's still a pure young girl, unlike you, a fool who's been abandoned!"

"Shut up!!!!"

Seeing that the two girls were going too far with their words, I felt a little helpless and annoyed at the same time, and then I started shouting.

"Alright—you! After this Holy Grail War is over, can't you make a wish? Just ask the Holy Grail to give you a boyfriend you like, okay?! And you! Rin, I don't remember ever teaching such an impolite student!!"

Both girls were a little embarrassed by what I said. Rin was alright, just a little downcast. Medea, however, muttered softly, "I don't want that kind of thing." Indeed, what she wanted was a man who wouldn't covet her wealth because of her beauty, or simply want to use her. He wanted someone who genuinely loved her. Therefore, using the Holy Grail's power—something against the rules—was out of the question.

Well, at least it's quiet for now. Although the two girls are still glaring at each other with displeasure, at least they won't make a sound.

Otherwise I will be very angry.

That's it.

"Alright." I then poured out the coffee that had gone cold because of the earlier argument. Afterward, I brewed three more cups of coffee—actually, Rin thought my coffee tasted good because I used a little trick, replacing the instant coffee I had brewed myself with the real, expensive kind that costs several thousand yen a cup. Of course, whatever problems this might cause, or if the coffee shop gets a complaint, that's none of my business.

After that, the three of us sat in the kitchen, drinking the expensive coffee we'd gotten for free—don't ask me what it was, I don't know—while discussing the Holy Grail War.

"Actually, we already have the upper hand. Although it sounds a bit like boasting, since I'm here, we absolutely will not lose this Holy Grail War. What we should be wary of is the enemy, especially the Assassins and the like, and their attacks on Master, Rin."

"I'll take good care of myself," Rin said defiantly.

“I know, I know you’ve always been exceptional. But this time, your opponents are the strongest heroes of each era. Compared to them, your strength is slightly lacking, and you also lack practical experience,” I said to Rin.

"But..." Rin admitted in her heart that what I said was indeed correct. But then she saw Medea standing a little behind her, looking very smug and superior, and felt a little resentful.

"Alright, there's no 'buts' anymore, Rin." I stopped Rin from further arguing: "In fact, just now an enemy Heroic Spirit ran up to this area. It seems he wanted to harm you."

"Is that so?!" Rin was slightly surprised. "And then what?"

"After that, of course I took care of him," I said with a shrug, sounding nonchalant.

"Huh? Is that so? That means we've lost one of our opponents?" Rin asked, slightly excited. "Who was the opponent? What was their rank?"

"He's an archer. But I'm not entirely sure who he is." I shrugged and said, "He's a guy wearing a red coat, with white hair and slightly dark skin. Although his rank is archer, for some reason, he's using two swords. And judging by their appearance, they definitely look like Noble Phantasms."

"Huh?! I see... There doesn't seem to be a hero like this in history." Rin thought about it carefully, then said strangely.

"It's probably a parallel world, or a fictional hero, or an unknown nobody, right?" I shrugged, speaking as if it were the truth.

"Speaking of which, that guy seems to know you, Master." Medea joined the discussion at this point: "He seemed quite surprised when he saw you. He must be the kind of guy who knows your great reputation, Master."

"Forget it, let's not talk about that kind of thing." I shrugged. "There's no point in investigating that unlucky guy who got taken out right at the start of the war. All we need to know is that we have one less enemy."

Medea and Rin both nodded, indicating that they understood.

"So, there are a total of seven people involved in the battle. Saber, which is me, and Caster, which is Medea, are both allies. Archer has already been eliminated. That means there are four opponents left: Assassin, Lancer, Rider, and Serserker..."

Chapter Seven: What are you doing getting involved, you brat?!

After discussing this strategy at Rin's house, it was already late at night. We had agreed that I would move in with Rin to ensure her safety. After thinking for a moment, I left Caster, Medea, there and told Rin that I was going home to prepare some daily necessities. Then I left.

After I left, I figured the two girls, alone together, would put on a lot of funny scenes, right? I thought to myself as I headed home.

Of course, calling it my own home isn't entirely accurate. A more accurate description would be that it's a place where I, Yuki, Ikaros, Nymph, Astoria, and others are staying. It's called a dojo, but there's actually no one there. It originally belonged to Kiritsugu Emiya, but now it belongs to his adopted son, Shirou Emiya's family.

Speaking of which, ten years ago, Kiritsugu Emiya used the scabbard of Excalibur as a bargaining chip. He asked me to rescue his daughter from the Einzbern family instead of exchanging it for healing the wounds caused by the evil of this world from the Holy Grail—no, I should say that the moment he used all his Command Seals, causing me to lose my composure for a short time and destroy the Holy Grail, his fate was sealed.

Five years ago, that guy died. I couldn't even attend his funeral. It's only been two years since I returned here from Madoka's world. Unexpectedly, that guy took it upon himself to list me as the guardian of his adopted son, Shirou Emiya, and his daughter, Ilya Einzbern. So, I inexplicably became the guardian of these two troublesome brats—and you bunch of bastards, don't just borrow my name like that! I'm a celebrity, for goodness' sake! Didn't you even think about paying me royalties?!

But then again, I can understand his feelings. He's about to die, leaving behind two children, all alone—Shirou Emiya is somewhat better off, but Illya's true form is the Holy Grail. The Einzbern family is constantly scheming to reclaim that treasure. So, Kiritsugu Emiya is worried. He wants to find a reliable protector for his two kids before he dies, to ensure they won't be kidnapped or sold off when they're out and about.

However, it was precisely because of this that I was able to conveniently reside in the Emiya family's dojo, and to expand the basement to my liking, essentially transforming it into a luxurious palace in a subspace state. In fact, Yuki, the others, and Sakura Baldwin (who is nominally my adopted daughter) lived there. Ilya also frequently—basically six days a week—stayed there. Only Shirou Emiya, my not-so-lovable nephew, was excluded. The pretext was to train the boys' self-reliance.

That's basically it.

But speaking of which, he truly lives up to Kiritsugu Emiya's reputation as a protégé. Shirou Emiya's obsession with saving the world—that kind of brainless, immature chuunibyou—is exactly like his father's. Thankfully, unlike his father, he doesn't possess such formidable combat skills or the massive arsenal he's somehow acquired through marketing channels. So for now, he's just a cynical, immature teenager, not a cynical terrorist. There's still hope for him.

That's it.

This is the whole story of my family: besides my wife (whose number is unknown), I have a daughter, a niece, and a nephew. Every night when I'm out, my lovely niece sits on the sofa watching TV, waiting for me, until she finally falls asleep. My nephew, who's like a housewife, quietly covers her with a blanket, then sits at the front door waiting for me to come home, and then starts complaining about me.

"Whatever, that kind of thing... Speaking of which, don't let Ilya's appearance fool you, she's actually a year older than you." That's usually my answer. After answering, I'd walk confidently to Ilya's side, pick her up, and then head into her room.

At these times, Ilya, who was either truly asleep or pretending to be asleep, would wake up. Then she would rub her eyes and feign pitifulness, saying she had dreamt of her parents. Sometimes she would even squeeze out a few tears. Then she would tug at my clothes, wanting me to sleep with her.

Just kidding! I can let it go if you fool me once or twice. But if you fool me the third time—then I'll be doing it on purpose.

So, what I said before about seduce Ilya if I didn't exercise self-control wasn't just talk. It was something that could actually happen. It wouldn't have mattered if Ilya had done that when he was a child. But as I mentioned before, Ilya is seventeen... no, no, I should say eighteen. He's an adult!

They should at least be adults in terms of mind!

So, I absolutely refuse to admit to having any "beep" desires when I hold that petite, delicate naked body in my arms! Absolutely, absolutely not! Even if that guy deliberately rubs against me, I won't! At most, it'll be a little punishment—I'll just touch her a tiny bit. Of course, we both pretended to be sleeping and did it unconsciously! So there's no responsibility whatsoever! That's it! I didn't actually make Ilya wet!

That's it.

So, I guess I'll spend the night with Ilya tonight. If possible, and if the situation is right, I'll just devour Ilya—wait, that doesn't seem right. I was supposed to be spending the night at Rin's house tonight. And I'll be staying there for a while. Starting the teacher-student romance flag. So, Ilya, I'm really sorry. I'll definitely make it up to you properly after the Holy Grail War is over…?

As I was thinking this, I suddenly sensed a unique and extremely strong aura within this dojo—an aura that should be called a heroic spirit.

"Damn it, which guy's got a death wish? Taking hostages here? The girls are mostly fine—but the problem is they all seem to dislike Sakura and Ilya. What if…" A slight worry crept in, and I quickly ran towards the source of the power. But what I found was this scene…

Wearing a purple fur coat and a white top hat, Ilya solemnly examined the giant before him: "Berserker? Looks like you've drawn a good card... Eh? Uncle Light?!" Like a child who has done something wrong and suddenly runs into their parent, Ilya awkwardly turned his back and hid the summoning grimoire behind his back...

Chapter Eight: I Will Be Your Father

...So this guy's an idiot? He must be an idiot! What's the point of hiding the summoning grimoire behind his back?! You hide the grimoire—but look at this guy, almost three meters tall, weighing several hundred kilograms, wearing only a pair of shorts, looking more like a monster than anything else—isn't this obvious thing way more conspicuous than the grimoire in your hand?

"If I'm not mistaken... no, that statement itself is problematic. How could a genius like me be mistaken? This is Berserker, and I recognize him too, Hercules, the mighty god... Although his rank has dropped slightly since becoming a Heroic Spirit, he's still much stronger than a regular Heroic Spirit. You're really bold, Ilya." I sighed softly, then mimicked Ilya's usual cute antics, gently tapping my own head before flicking Ilya's forehead hard.

"Waaah..." So Ilya quickly squatted down, covered his forehead and pretended to cry.

"Alright, stop pretending. I've lived with you for two years now. These tricks don't work on me anymore." I said, sounding slightly helpless, "What exactly is the reason—I remember saying before that I didn't want you to participate in the Holy Grail War, right? The connection between you and the Einzbern family has also been severed. How did you find the relic?"

"Ilya doesn't actually have any relics. The reason he was able to summon something like Berserker is because of Ilya's strength and luck."

And so this brat actually got all cocky. Cocky my ass!

"Anyway, get rid of this thing. Then go back to sleep." I said to Ilya in the tone of someone who would tell a child to throw away an insect they caught in the wild.

"Uncle Light... did you think Ilya summoned Berserker just for fun?!" Hearing me say that, Ilya was unusually angry. But when he was angry, he looked so cute, so adorable, it felt like I wanted to eat him up.

“Of course I know, I know you want to save your father, save your mother. To bring your parents back to life. That’s basically it—but you should know the price to pay.”

“Ilya knew it was nothing more than death.”

"Oh?" I scoffed. "It's just death, isn't it? How old are you to have seen through life and death?"

“…” Ilya pursed her lips, then turned her face away and stopped looking at me.

"Really... it seems Kiritsugu didn't educate you well back then, and we also neglected your education a bit." I was a little speechless, then snapped my fingers and sent a telepathic message to my Heroic Spirit Medea and Rin.

“Something came up today, so it looks like we can’t go back. You two be on your guard—if Medea can’t sleep, then don’t sleep at all. Set up more magical traps around the area.”

After saying that, I ignored the other two girls' questions: "What exactly happened?!"

"Has he been harassed by some shady woman again?!"

"I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless."

"Master, do you no longer need me?!"

It was a sound like that. It stopped abruptly after it was interrupted.

"Death means that the living will never see you again—that's how you should think. If you were to trade your own life for your mother's, then think carefully, your mother would also be heartbroken if she came back to life."

"But even so, she still has her father by her side."

“That one is a special case.” I sighed. “Kiritsugu’s soul was corrupted by the evil of this world, and even the Holy Grail cannot revive him.”

"...How could this be?!" Upon hearing my words, Ilya seemed slightly overwhelmed, his legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground: "Father, Father..."

In truth, Ilya spent more time with Kiritsugu, and her memories of those years, from when she was growing up, are quite clear. Plus, she witnessed Kiritsugu's death firsthand, so her feelings for him are much deeper—even deeper than her feelings for her own mother. Hearing me say this, Ilya, being no fool, also understands the destructive power of evil in this world on mortals. She just still finds it somewhat hard to accept…

“The dead are gone. What we need to do is remember them and live on.” I walked over, hugged Ilya, and said this.

"But—no—if it were Wright, if it were you, Wright, you could definitely save Mother, right?"

"I had no choice." After a slight hesitation, I lied. Then I picked up Ilya and gently nuzzled her face.

Indeed, I do have a way to resurrect Irisviel, the homunculus. However, the price is a bit too high—she died as a vessel for the Holy Grail. To resurrect her, the Holy Grail system must be completely destroyed—but in doing so, even if I try my best to preserve the dimensional power of this world that I absorbed through the Holy Grail, some of it will inevitably be lost. Moreover, if the Holy Grail is destroyed, I will no longer be able to make wishes through it.

It's a losing proposition no matter how you look at it. Irisviel is indeed a beauty—but so what? I have no connection with her whatsoever. It would be more like it would be Ilya.

“Liar!” Ilya cried, pounding my chest as she spoke, this time truly bursting into tears. “You’re so capable. How could you not have—you must be lying to me. You big liar—Wright, you big liar…”

"...I'm very sorry." I felt a little guilty, so I didn't try to explain myself, but simply said, "I'm so sorry."

"I won't listen! I won't listen! I won't listen! Give me back my dad!"

Ilya was crying and screaming, saying things that were impossible to accomplish. She was kicking and hitting me like that.

So I started to feel it a little.

Okay, okay, I'm a beast.

“...Ilya.”

I was a little confused, even though I knew Ilya was already sixteen. But seeing Ilya's loli-like figure, I was ultimately captivated.

Okay, okay, I'm a lolicon.

As I spoke these words of self-reflection (but was I really reflecting?), I hugged Ilya tightly and then gently bit her earlobe.

"Idiot...don't say anymore." I breathed softly into Ilya's ear, "Don't you still have me? How about I be your father?"

Chapter Nine: The Demon Father and Such

The war was now a foregone conclusion. I mean, the war between me and Ilya. Although Ilya fought back fiercely, kicking and punching, even trying to scratch my face with his fingernails—in the end, I was still the victor.

After all, the difference in levels is undeniable. Even the Grim Reaper's clone can't touch me now. So I no longer need to hide my strength. I'm far, far stronger than the main gods of ordinary planes, and I can practically be considered invincible in this plane. No matter what kind of True Ancestor, Alaya Consciousness, or Zhu Yue are, I can crush them with a single finger.

That's how it is. These big shots from this plane couldn't stop me at all, so this so-called Ilya, this pseudo-loli android, was even less likely to stop me. I simply captured her, took her to the subspace, and then... you know...