I am the protagonist

Even Rider, who admits to being a tyrant, doesn't believe he could do something so inhumane.

Killing women and children who are not on the battlefield, and using such cruel methods, is beyond the reach of humanity.

"Rider?"

"Kid, stop looking."

"The scene here is not suitable for you; you can't handle that kind of stimulation right now."

"What kind of unbearable stimulation is there? We are participating in the Holy Grail War now. The Holy Grail War is a battle between Masters and Servants. What is there that we can't handle?"

Now is the best opportunity to investigate Caster's information. If we're lucky, we might find Caster's magic workshop. If we're lucky, Caster isn't here today either. Why would we let this opportunity slip by?

Since we're here today to investigate clues about Caster, Weber brought some materials to increase brightness.

He jumped off the chariot, put the prepared item in his mouth into his palm, and threw it into the air. The item turned into a green light, slowly illuminating the dark space around him.

However, the increased brightness was clearly insufficient; the faint light was enough for Weber to see the ground in front of him, but it was still difficult to see anything more.

They continued to take out the materials they had and throw them into the sky.

The brightness of the entire underground space gradually increased, which allowed Weber to see some different scenes.

"!?"

The ground was covered in blood, and there was even a severed head at his feet, its empty eyes staring at him, which made his blood freeze completely at that moment.

Trembling, he shifted his gaze elsewhere, but the other places weren't much better; mutilated human corpses could be seen everywhere.

The sight of severed limbs, internal organs, and even the corpses of many children and women made him feel nauseous.

With trembling steps, he stumbled back to the side of the chariot, supporting himself, his face bowed, unable to control himself.

"vomit--"

Even though he was mentally prepared to kill, he still couldn't bear the intense feeling of resistance when he saw so many dead people.

Rider didn't say anything. He had already guessed that the kid would react this way. In fact, any kid who hadn't experienced war would react the same way when he saw this scene, just like he had at the beginning.

"You idiot, you should at least consider the situation before you try to be brave!"

"You are not a very talented magician, but you are a very good magician. Not knowing your own place is the greatest cruelty to yourself. Don't demand too much of yourself to do things you can't do."

"Anyone who sees this will see the same thing; there's no need to feel ashamed."

"Ugh—you, you haven't changed at all!"

Rider slowly approached Waver and suddenly drew the sword from his waist.

"when!"

A dagger was knocked to the ground by the sword.

"Now is not the time to do those things."

"Because my Master is going to be killed!"

He picked up the dagger that had fallen to the ground and threw it into the darkness, hitting a masked figure who fell to the ground.

Looking at the dark figure lying on the ground, Rider still understood that the initial death of Assassin was nothing but a hoax.

"These guys were never really dead to begin with; they were just pretending."

If they've been playing dead from the start, then these Assassins seem to have gathered a considerable amount of intelligence.

"Assassin!?"

"But Assassin is already..."

"It's just a show."

"It seems that the Masters have been colluding with each other for a long time, otherwise they wouldn't have put on such a show for the other Masters."

"Moo!!!"

The chariot's bulls began to bellow, and the entire dark space was filled with electric light.

Upon seeing this scene, the Assassins nearby hesitated for a moment before immediately choosing to retreat.

Assassins themselves do not possess the ability to directly confront other Heroic Spirits. Intelligence gathering is their forte, but they are completely incapable of facing a direct enemy after their split.

"It seems that Assassin's Master had already investigated Caster's location a long time ago, and that guy has been hiding in the shadows without doing anything."

"Even other Masters and Servants have been investigated. Those guys were just doing intelligence gathering this time."

"It's really troublesome."

Judging from the Assassin who was just killed, these guys weren't that strong to begin with, but the problem was their sheer number.

Kill one and there will be two or three more. No matter how many heroic spirits you kill, there will always be a few hiding, since the exact number is unknown.

After all, they are Heroic Spirits like Assassin; if those guys really wanted to hide, almost no one could find them.

"Kid, we're leaving."

“These dark places are their territory; we can’t stay in these places for too long.”

"But we haven't found any leads on Caster yet."

"If we investigate carefully, we should be able to find some clues here, but... let's give up."

“Assassin has been hiding all along, and I won’t be able to protect you once those guys surround you.”

“And even Caster, who is out and about, is a threat. That guy doesn’t stray too far from his lair. Now that there’s some commotion here, Caster should be on his way back.”

Although it was a hard-won clue, the place was just too terrible.

Weber looked at the magic workshop and silently climbed onto the chariot.

Chapter 149 Suppressing the Premature Physical Collapse

Shirou stayed home all day without going out. He had some very important things to do at home and didn't care about anything happening outside.

"He is in good health and there is no issue of shortened lifespan."

"Physical function tests are normal."

"The body and soul are well adapted."

Shirou checked all the items that needed to be inspected, repeating the process three times to confirm that there were no problems with the two created bodies.

"Foster Mother, what do you think? How is the condition of this body?"

Being asked by her future adopted son to see her future body made Irisviel feel a little awkward, especially since the body was still in the culture medium and there were no clothes covering it.

"Foster mother?"

"...Ah, it's perfect, almost exactly like me."

"That's good."

"All the physical examinations have been completed. The formal soul transfer can begin early this morning. Now, the adoptive mother can go back to her room to make some preparations. After changing bodies, she should need a day or two to adapt."

"What about this side?"

"Everything is settled here. Once the final physical examination is completed, the next step is the final ceremony."

Knowing that there was nothing more for her to do, Irisviel returned to her room.

"Just face your own body directly."

"Although it's not a big deal for a mother to have her body seen by her child, and even boys have the experience of bathing with their mothers, it's still a little uncomfortable for a child who is this old."

It still feels a little strange to have one's body seen. As an artificial life form, one shouldn't have such thoughts, but as a human, Irisviel can't help but have them.

"Calm down, Irisviel. That child did this so that you could live. That child is your future child. You should put away your feelings of embarrassment."

Thinking about it this way, Irisviel quickly calmed down.

She will soon have to say goodbye to her android body. As a mother, she hopes to live into the future, to see her child grow up, and to live as a mother by Kiritsugu's side forever.

And there's his daughter, Ilya.

Knowing that her daughter also has a fragment of the Holy Grail in her body, as a mother, she naturally hopes that her daughter can live well and not become a vessel for the Holy Grail again.

"Mother."

"Ilia."

She immediately went to her lovely daughter's side. Her pale face was heartbreaking to see, but this was the last day. Soon, Ilya would be able to leave her current body.

"Ilya, how are you feeling?"

"Ugh... I still don't have the strength."

"Don't move, don't move. You just took the medicine, so it's normal to feel weak right now. Tomorrow you'll be back to normal, or even better than before."

"Trust Mom, okay?"

"Ah."

Irisviel comforted her daughter, patting her tummy and soothing her to sleep.

It's better to get some sleep than to stay awake and continue to feel unwell.

Young Ilya, whose health was not very good, was quickly coaxed to sleep.

Not long after, Saber entered the room.

"Irisviel."

“Saber.”

"Haven't you rested yet?"

Saber stepped forward and helped Irisviel sit on the tatami mat. Her eyes swept over the sleeping young Illyasviel, and she sighed silently.

"Didn't Shirou tell you that you also need some rest time now?"

"If you keep pushing yourself like this, the ceremony might run into problems later."

"Ok, I know."

At this moment, Irisviel's rosy complexion began to turn ashen.

“You just took your medicine this morning, and your physical condition is already close to the point of collapse. If you continue to ignore your current physical condition, it may accelerate the start of the ritual, which is not good for you or Illyasviel.”

"Well, I know."

"I will continue to work hard for Ilya."

This morning, in order for the ritual to proceed smoothly, Irisviel and young Illyasviel took a drug that would accelerate their physical breakdown.

Because the early morning is the time for changing bodies, it is only when the body is in a state of near collapse that it is easier to guide the soul into the new body.

However, within this one day, Irisviel and young Illya will have to endure a certain degree of pain.

After all, physical collapse is no joke; such a situation can easily lead to mental collapse along with physical collapse.

Of course, this is also because Shirou and Medea took relatively small doses of the drug. If the doses were larger, the mother and daughter would probably have collapsed both physically and mentally before dawn.

"Irisviel, you should rest for a bit. I'll go check on Shirou's situation."

"Yes, please, Saber."

"No, this is what I should do."

Saber, who wanted Irisviel to rest, left the room.

Saber arrived at Shirou's room.

After looking at the two bodies placed in the culture medium, Saber walked towards Shirou.

"Shirou, Irisviel's body is on the verge of collapse."

"It's a little faster than I expected. Was the dosage of the medication slightly higher than I anticipated?"

“I checked my adoptive mother’s condition before. I’ve already removed the sword sheath from her body, but she should be able to hold on until dawn in her current state.”

“I think your ingredient ratios are fine, but Irisviel is a little worried about Ilya.”

"...Ah, psychological issues and their impact."

The physical breakdown was likely within calculations, and the body should have been able to withstand the breakdown until the early hours of the morning. However, mental exhaustion accelerated the physical breakdown.

“Saber, you stay here and keep an eye on things for me. I’m going to check on my older sister and foster mother.”

"I see."