Who are you calling a stable boy?!

"Uncle Zheng, here's mine for you too..."

"cherry?!"

"Oh? Little Sakura, you only ate one. You gave the rest to me, Old Zheng. What are you going to eat?"

"As long as Uncle Zheng is happy, I... I don't care..."

"Here you go, Sakura, I have some more."

"Thank you, Uncle Yanye... Uncle Zheng, do you want more?"

"..."

"..."

"Um, I'll go fry some more. It's been a long time since I've cooked for so many people; I misjudged the portion size..."

"Did you hear that? Lao Yan, hurry up and help! This time, don't serve it in separate bowls. If you ask me, just bring up a big plate and eat it all at once, wouldn't that be better!"

Seeing Yan Ye happily follow Mrs. Kui to the kitchen, Zheng Jing shaded his eyes and peeked out. He then used his chopsticks to catch the chopsticks that Rin was secretly putting into his bowl, and turned to look at Rin.

"Hey, Lin, is this how you treat a hero? Be careful, or I, Old Zheng, won't have enough to eat, and when things get heated, I won't be able to fight back, huh?"

"But you can't eat all of Sakura's!"

Lin glared, her hands holding a pair of wooden chopsticks that showed no sign of weakness.

"Sister, Uncle Zheng..."

Caught between the two, Sakura looked left and right, somewhat at a loss.

"Alright, alright, what's the big deal? Let's talk about something serious while your mother and Lao Yan aren't here."

"...What important business is it?"

“I saw your father’s servant last night as well.”

Upon hearing Zheng Jing mention his father, Lin's expression turned serious.

"What happened to Father's servant?"

“Your father and Jinhua ham don’t get along at all. I reckon that if he uses up all three Command Seals, he might be the first one to be stabbed to death by him.”

Rin tensed up immediately.

Although she couldn't understand why Zheng Jing called his father's servant "Jinhua Ham," she knew that Zheng Jing wouldn't lie about crucial information.

In Rin's current opinion, Zheng Jing's statement proves that her father's servant is definitely not a kind person!

Can......

Rin also knew that her father's purpose in participating in the Holy Grail War, or rather, the Tohsaka family's long-cherished wish, was to reach the Root through the Holy Grail.

Even if she believed Zheng Jing's words, she didn't know how to handle the situation for a moment.

We can't exactly ask Zheng Jing to kill his own father's follower first, can we?

"Your father was truly unlucky; his Servant was Gilgamesh, that 'Golden Ham,' and his disciple was Kirei Kotomine, that 'Mapo Tofu'..."

Scratching his cheek, Zheng Jing shook his head, looking like Jerry watching Tom being manipulated.

"Kirei? He definitely has something going on!"

Rin said, frowning.

From the first time she met Kirei Kotomine, she disliked him; no, to be more precise, she disliked him.

So when Rin learned in the morning that Zheng Jing had killed the Assassin, leaving Kirei Kotomine without a Servant, even though she knew Kirei was her father's ally, she couldn't help but cheer.

Now, after hearing Zheng Jing's words, she is even more certain that she is right.

Kirei Kotomine is definitely a problem!

"You don't need to worry about him. He'll put all his energy into Caster from now on."

"Caster?"

"When it comes to 'double-crossing,' of course you should choose the one that you can eat without any guilt first."

Zheng Jing waved his hand.

"Don't worry, I'll go and give him a ride right away. He'll be fine."

Chapter 104: My Rules Are the Rules

In the forest outside Fuyuki City, there stands a castle belonging to Einzbern.

This property was left here by the Einzbern family, one of the three founding families, to facilitate their work in the Far East.

In a sense, it can be considered the Einzbern family's "frontline base".

Now, in this fourth Holy Grail War, this castle naturally opens its gates once again to the Masters and Servants of Einzbern.

only......

“Saber?”

On the city wall where one could see the blue sky and white clouds, Irisviel found Saber.

The legendary Knight King stood there, gazing at the forest full of magical wonders, his lake-green eyes reflecting the sunlight, lost in thought.

Hearing Irisviel's call, the Knight King blinked and turned around.

"I'm sorry, Irisviel, I'm sorry to have worried you."

Looking at Irisviel, who seemed about to speak but hesitated, the Knight King sighed inwardly.

She thought to herself that her Master in this Holy Grail War was supposed to be a comrade-in-arms and partner who would entrust each other with their lives. Emiya Kiritsugu was truly a complicated man.

Despicable, vile, and cold-blooded, utterly devoid of any honor or faith...

Gentle, kind, and sensitive, holding lofty beliefs in her heart—

These are comments that seem like completely unrelated, yet they are being applied to the same person because of this Snow White.

The King of Knights sincerely hoped that he could open his heart to Kiritsugu Emiya and become a trustworthy partner in this short but absolutely intense seven-day war.

However, whenever she tried to show Kiritsugu respect, Kiritsugu would speak up!

"Saber, Kiritsugu..."

"I understand that it was a plan devised for victory."

The Knight King frowned.

"However, I simply cannot accept this unscrupulous approach."

During the retreat last night, in order to prevent being caught up and wiped out by Zheng Jing, Kiritsugu chose to divide his forces into two groups.

On one side are Saber and Irisviel, and on the other side are him and Hisayu Maiya.

In this way, if Zheng Jing were to pursue Saber, he could simply use another Command Spell to recall her.

And if Zheng Jing, who most likely already saw through the trick of the fake Master, is the one being pursued...

After his death, Irisviel will sign a contract with Saber.

Fortunately, Zheng Jing did not pursue them.

However, Saber and Irisviel still encountered resistance from Servants.

Caster, Gilles de Rais.

Judging from his current state, it would probably be more accurate to call him "Bluebeard".

For some reason, he regarded the King of Knights as that French saint.

At that moment, the Knight King did not immediately swing her blade at this man who was spouting nonsense and looked more like a Berserker than a Caster.

Now, the Knight King blames himself for this.

She failed to immediately perceive the other party's demonic and heretical nature...

This morning, the Holy Church, acting as the war overseer, summoned representatives of all Masters to the Fuyuki Church.

The purpose is to exercise its authority as a supervisor during extraordinary times.

It turns out that the church has discovered that Caster's Master is the culprit behind the recent series of kidnappings and murders that triggered the Fuyuki riots.

This has violated the principle of secrecy in the Holy Grail War and seriously affected the progress of this Holy Grail War.

Therefore, the Church temporarily changed the rules of war, ordering all Masters to immediately cease fighting each other and focus all their efforts on annihilating the Casters and their Masters. The war will only resume normally once the Casters and their Masters have left the battlefield.

Of course, to ensure that all Masters will contribute their efforts, the Church will reward the side that successfully annihilates the Caster Master and Servant with a Command Seal.

In the eyes of the Knight King, it was a good thing to gather the strength of heroes to first eliminate the evil forces that plagued the world.

Even if the church didn't offer any tangible reward, she was willing to do everything in her power to annihilate the Caster master and his followers.

However, Kiritsugu Emiya presented her with a plan that she found completely unacceptable.

Not only did he want her to avoid the battle with Caster, but this man also planned to take advantage of the opportunity to kill other Servants and Masters who came to deal with Caster in this battle to eliminate evil!

How could she possibly accept this approach?

Kiritsugu Emiya completely ignored her objections at the time.

No, it should be said that the man was deliberately ignoring her.

"Irisviel, I won't act impulsively."

Turning around and looking at the forest, the Knight King said in a deep voice, "However, I also hope that Master will think twice before acting."

Irisviel didn't know how to comfort Saber.

Fortunately, Saber had no intention of making things difficult for her any further.

"Let's go, aren't we meeting with Lancer and the others tonight?"

Turning around, the King of Knights seemed to have temporarily suppressed the distress that Kiritsugu Emiya had caused her.

"If we can successfully form an alliance with that Radiant One, whether it's to annihilate the Caster or to fight the Berserker, it would be an exciting thing."

For the Knight King, being able to ally with such a noble knight as Diarmuid, even if it was destined to be only a temporary alliance, was something that made her overjoyed.

At this very moment, Kirei Kotomine, far away in the Fuyuki City sewer system, was also filled with joy.

"I never expected the Venerable One would be willing to give me a ride..."

Following behind Zheng Jing, seemingly oblivious to the stench emanating from the sewers, Kirei Kotomine smiled. His voice, usually as dull as a boulder falling into a valley, now skipped across the water like a stone, carrying a hint of playfulness.

"After all, it was me, Old Zheng, who led you into this world. Taking you a little further won't cause any trouble."

Walking ahead, Zheng Jing waved to Kirei Kotomine without turning his head.

The news about Caster and his Master, Ryunosuke Uryu, was brought to the church by Zheng Jing this morning.

When Yan Fengli saw Zheng Jing running to the church under the bright midday sun, he was truly terrified.

After Zheng Jing left, he used magic to communicate with the Tohsaka family about the time. The two of them conspired to use the church's supervisory power to make Zheng Jing the target of public criticism.

Li Zheng and Shi Chen pondered that this method had a high success rate.

First of all, Zheng Jing also violated the principle of confidentiality!

The timing of the incident at the Matou residence is now almost certain, and it was Zheng Jing who was responsible.

He simply couldn't understand who Zheng Jing's master was, or how someone like Zheng Jing had been dragged into this war.

If Zheng Jing was a Servant summoned by the Matou family, then why did he destroy the Matou family like that?

If Zheng Jing weren't a servant of the Matou family...

Then, who did Matou, one of the three starter families, summon?

Shichen even suspected that this might be a scheme by Matou Zouken to escape.

And what about the youngest daughter I sent to the Matou family?

If Kirei's Assassin were still alive, he might consider having the Hundred-Faced Hassan split off into one body to try and find traces of his youngest daughter.

But right now...

However, it's not all bad that the assassin was killed so swiftly.

At least, the irrefutable evidence of Tokiomi Tohsaka's secret collusion with Kotomine and his son is gone, leaving no way to prove it.

In this way, Li Zheng's gathering of all the Masters to deal with Zheng Jing became a legitimate move!