'But why would she do this?'
Just as Alvin was thinking about it, a small pale hand suddenly grabbed his palm.
"Let's find Sister Manaka."
Matou Sakura looked up at Alvin without blinking and said, "If you don't mind, I want to help you."
"Help me?", Alvin froze.
Matou Sakura nodded gently, "You're in a state without a master supplying you with magical power right now, aren't you?"
She looked straight at Alvin and said softly, "If you don't mind, let me become your master."
[After losing Sajyou Manaka's magical supply, in order to repay your life-saving grace, the girl adopted into the Matou family has decided to inherit Sajyou Manaka's will and become your master]
[Congratulations to the host for unlocking CG achievement: The Impulse of N.T.R, Part One (This achievement carries the risk of a 'Very Bad Ending.' Please decide carefully)]
Collecting CGs, Alvin was actually quite interested in it.
After all, collecting CGs while getting rewards at the same time was basically double the happiness.
'However, why does it feel like ever since the Holy Grail War began, the CGs this system collected are all been so "dangerous"?'
Judging from the system's reaction just now and Sajyou Manaka's "disappearance," she clearly wasn't dead. Although he didn't know what she was doing, one thing Alvin was certain of was that she would definitely come back later.
If he accepted Matou Sakura's contract now, what would happen when Manaka saw it later?
'But in the end, why did she fake her death?'
Alvin didn't have time to think deeply about it, because he quickly noticed Matou Sakura staring straight at him.
He hesitated slightly. In the end, he didn't immediately agree to her proposal. Instead, he reached out and gently patted her head, "Let's go inside first and talk."
Matou Sakura's eyes dimmed, and the disappointment on her small face was hard to hide.
"Sakura, I'm not rejecting you."
Alvin saw what the girl was thinking. His tone softened as he said gently, "The Holy Grail War is a game where masters fight each other, and in the end, there will only be one winner, maybe not even a single winner."
"Although the Holy Grail is called a wish-granting machine, I don't think it's that reliable. You're still young. There's no need to get involved in something this dangerous. Besides, do you really want to run into your father in the Holy Grail War?"
When she heard that last part, Matou Sakura's expression clearly changed slightly.
Meeting her own father in the Holy Grail War, and fighting him?
For a girl her age, that was indeed something hard to decide on.
"And don't worry. I won't disappear for now. I still have Independent Manifestation, after all," Alvin continued.
Perhaps because of his reassurance, Matou Sakura's expression softened a lot. She subconsciously hugged him tighter, as if wanting to press her small body completely into his arms.
Being adopted into the Matou family at such a young age, and not long after that coming to a completely unfamiliar place, no matter how strong a girl was, she would inevitably feel insecure.
Alvin gently stroked her smooth hair, then brought her back inside with him.
Sitting on the soft sofa and turning on the floor heating, his mind began working rapidly.
After tonight, all sides would probably think that Saber didn't have much time left. After all, losing a master's magical supply meant elimination wasn't far away.
But for him, this was actually a good chance to move from the light into the shadows.
At the very least, after this, fewer people would be watching the "Saber" side so closely.
Last night he had fought Archer in a fierce battle, and tonight he had even eliminated a servant. Just that record alone was enough to make the other masters wary.
And in tonight's great battle, Saber's master had died. At least that was the information released to the outside world.
The only identity still uncertain was the card in Kirei Kotomine's hand.
'Assassin, if the timeline hasn't changed, then according to my memory, the Assassin summoned by Kirei Kotomine was Hassan-i-Sabbah.'
'Not very strong in combat, mainly just a big threat to masters.'
Although Emiya Kiritsugu had escaped, at least tonight he had obtained a very important piece of information.
Berserker, that is, Vortigern's master Irisviel, had been kidnapped.
And tonight, Irisviel had even used a Command Spell to try to make Vortigern kill himself.
'Who was it?'
Tonight, aside from Assassin, all the other servants had appeared. Einzbern Castle was easy to defend and hard to attack. The only one who hadn't shown himself was Kirei Kotomine.
'Was it him?'
'But why would Kirei Kotomine make Vortigern kill himself. Wouldn't that be helping me instead?'
'If it wasn't Kirei Kotomine, then who could have infiltrated Einzbern Castle tonight and even kidnapped Irisviel?'
A name surfaced in Alvin's mind.
'Manaka?'
Manaka's "death" tonight had been far too abrupt. She had been shot without even the slightest reaction.
And judging from what had just happened, she clearly had another objective, which was why she deliberately faked her death in front of all the servants and masters.
So the question was, 'Where is Manaka now?'
'If Irisviel has been kidnapped by Manaka, what exactly is she planning to do?'
He had to find Manaka as soon as possible.
Alvin was thinking through all these messy thoughts when, beside him, Matou Sakura suddenly rubbed her sleepy eyes and let out a tired yawn.
Alvin glanced at the wall clock. It was already past three in the morning.
"Go to sleep first. I'll find Manaka as soon as possible. Don't worry," Alvin reassured her.
Matou Sakura nodded gently. Then she looked at the boy's face and suddenly asked, "Saber, why did you help me?"
Born into a mage family, Matou Sakura had understood more than ordinary people since childhood. And during her time in the Matou household, she had heard quite a lot about servants, even the legend of the White Dragon of Britain.
'You're not related to me at all, so why would you help me?'
Alvin froze for a moment, then quickly smiled and asked back, "If you see a girl alone in the freezing snow late at night, do you need a reason to help her?"
"If I have to say, just think of it as a knight's code."
Matou Sakura didn't respond. She just looked up at the boy, as if trying to engrave this figure permanently into her mind.
———
That night.
At the Matou residence, in the Japanese-style mansion—
Morgan le Fay had just returned. She sat alone in the courtyard, staring blankly at the white snowy scenery outside the window.
Aside from a few servants, the only ones truly living here now were Matou Kariya and his son Matou Shinji.
And Morgan le Fay was participating in this Holy Grail War in place of Matou Kariya.
Originally, in Morgan's expectations, after tonight she should have been able to make Alvin her servant. Yet Alvin had rejected her for the sake of a girl he had only known for a few days.
Even her own sister had stood on Alvin's side.
"Are you wondering why I supported Alvin?"
At that moment, Artoria's clear and pleasant voice suddenly came from beside her.
Morgan didn't turn her head. She propped her chin up with her pale arm and said coolly, "I know what you're thinking. Likewise, if Alvin had really chosen to form a contract with me tonight, I wouldn't have been particularly happy either."
"But even so, it's still annoying."
In fact, whether Alvin had chosen Morgan tonight or rejected her, she would have felt uncomfortable either way.
The Alvin Morgan knew was someone who, once he acknowledged a master, would follow that person until the end of the Holy Grail War.
And yet, the more she knew that, the more she wanted to forcibly take Alvin away from Sajyou Manaka.
And… she had clearly had the chance to forcibly seize him at that time.
But she had been stopped by her own younger sister.
"Even if you had brought Alvin back with you tonight, he wouldn't have been happy. He would have resisted to the very end."
Artoria said softly, "And besides, this is just a Holy Grail War."
Yes, just a Holy Grail War.
In Artoria's view, she and Morgan le Fay participated in this Holy Grail War partly with a "since we've already crossed over anyway" attitude, and partly because both of them wanted to keep Alvin by their side.
That shared thought was also the reason she had accepted Morgan le Fay's summoning.
But in the end, even if Morgan failed to keep Alvin by her side, once the Holy Grail War ended, he would still return to Britain.
"That's why I sometimes say you're too naive, Lily."
Morgan said faintly, "I didn't expect that after all this time, in some aspects you're still this naive."
Artoria stepped out of the darkness. Compared to her in the Saber class, the woman at this moment carried more dignity and steadiness. Her emerald eyes were filled with confusion as she looked at Morgan.
"You said something similar earlier. What exactly do you mean? Why do you say I'm too naive?"
"Don't you think Sajyou Manaka's death tonight was too strange?", Morgan le Fay stared into her sister's eyes.
"The Princess of the Root, a special mage who was omniscient and omnipotent from birth. She should have known she was going to die before it happened. If that's the case, why didn't she avoid the danger at all?"
Although Morgan le Fay didn't know what Sajyou Manaka was planning, one thing she was certain of, Sajyou Manaka wasn't dead, and she was secretly preparing something.
Artoria listened carefully. After thinking for a moment, she suddenly asked, "Does Alvin know about this?"
"I'm not sure, but one thing is certain."
Morgan looked straight at Artoria, "What do you think Alvin's master feels for him?"
'What does Sajyou Manaka feel for Alvin?'
Just hearing that question was enough to make one think deeply.
Under normal circumstances, in the Holy Grail War, the relationship between master and servant was either one of command and obedience, or cooperation to seize the Grail.
However… no matter how you looked at Sajyou Manaka's attitude toward Alvin tonight, it didn't resemble either a master-servant relationship or simple cooperation.
Rather, what the girl's gaze toward him meant, both sisters understood very clearly.
If Sajyou Manaka wanted to be with Alvin, what would she do?
Simply win the Holy Grail War, then watch helplessly as Alvin disappeared from her world after completing his mission?
Artoria's thoughts stirred, as if she realized something, "You mean she wants to keep Alvin forever—"
Before she could finish speaking, a man's figure quietly emerged from the darkness of the courtyard ahead.
Matou Kariya.
"Miss Morgan… when will I be able to see Sakura?"
Earlier, Morgan had said that as long as he transferred the position of master to her, he would be able to see Matou Sakura again afterward.
It was precisely because of that condition that Matou Kariya had ultimately agreed to Morgan le Fay, handing over the Matou family's qualification to participate in the Holy Grail War.
After all, Matou Zouken was already dead, and the current head of the Matou family was extremely cowardly. Even if they gave up the Holy Grail War, no one would say anything.
"After the Holy Grail War ends, you'll see her."
Morgan gathered her thoughts and smiled at the gray-haired man standing in the snowy night, "If I remember correctly, you already secretly went to see Tokiomi Tohsaka's wife and daughter during the day, didn't you? For you, that's already enough, isn't it?"
Matou Kariya fell silent.
Perhaps to keep his family from being affected by the Holy Grail War, Tokiomi Tohsaka had moved them to a safe place before the war began.
And Morgan le Fay had told Matou Kariya that location.
For this man, even just watching the mother and daughter live happily from afar was enough to make him feel warmth.
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