When treating them to a meal, Rin certainly wouldn't be stingy. She directly took Irisviel and Artoria to the most luxurious Japanese restaurant in Fuyuki City.
"Bring one of everything on the menu!" Rin said with a domineering yet elegant demeanor, not even glancing at the beautifully bound, inch-thick menu, and simply handed her supreme credit card to the waiter.
It was just the beginning of winter, the time when seafood was at its most succulent, and Fuyuki City itself was a coastal city.
Arctic surf clams, octopuses, geoducks, ark shells, scallops, sweet shrimp, sea urchins, squid, tuna, salmon, swordfish, bluefin tuna, anglerfish, pufferfish… and so on. And because Fuyuki City was also close to Kobe City, one could also enjoy the world-famous authentic Japanese Kobe beef here.
Various fresh seafood, never before seen in Einzbern Castle, prepared into exquisite Japanese cuisine, filled the large table in the luxurious private room.
Irisviel was both surprised and excited by the table full of novel Japanese dishes. After learning how to use chopsticks from Rin, she ate the feast like a happy child.
Of course, with so many exquisite dishes, Irisviel was full after tasting practically every one, her smooth little belly even looking a bit like it did when she was pregnant with Illya. Based on the principle of not wasting food, it was now up to the two main combatants!
Rin: "The dining table is a battlefield!"
Artoria: "Hunger is the greatest enemy!"
They met their match, a worthy opponent! They only regretted not meeting sooner, and a feeling of heroes recognizing heroes, a mutual appreciation and regret of not meeting sooner, instantly filled the space between them!
No words were needed; the clatter of bowls and chopsticks was the best language!
They saw two exquisite ivory chopsticks freely clashing on the table, swift as the wind and fast as lightning, creating a bloody storm (sauces and seasonings) and broken bones (shells and fishbones), locked in an inextricable battle! They cleared countless dishes without a single leftover, until finally, both pairs of chopsticks simultaneously clamped onto the last shrimp tempura!
The tempura, made from a shelled large shrimp a foot long, had already been snapped in half by the two pairs of chopsticks intertwined at one point. Now, they were tightly gripping each other, with no intention of each taking half. Both stood up and leaned over the table, chopsticks in hand, foreheads pressed against each other in a fierce confrontation, their two holy-azure eyes staring intently at each other.
To think there was such a hero (x2) in this world!
Sitting on the side, Irisviel tightly held her straw and drank juice, looking left and right, not daring to make a sound. She felt that the atmosphere at this moment was not something she could join.
"Snap! (x2)"
Both pairs of chopsticks broke simultaneously!
"..."
"..."
"Ah ha ha ha...!" Rin burst into hearty laughter. Unbeknownst to her, she had eaten so happily with her opponent in the Holy Grail War; Artoria also couldn't help but smile at Rin. It was her first time enjoying a meal so fully with someone. Food is only most delicious when shared.
Rin calmly paid with her card. By the time they walked out of the restaurant, it was already late at night. Rin said to Irisviel and Artoria:
"Miss Irisviel, it's already this late. Do you need me to call a car to take you home?"
Irisviel smiled and gently shook her head, saying,
"There's one more place I'd like to go. Miss Rin, could you take us to see the sea?"
"See the sea..."
Rin murmured involuntarily. Indeed, nothing had changed. This was the final stage of their last leisure time, and after this, they would...
"Let's go, Saber! Next, we'll go see the sea!"
Seeing Irisviel's barely contained excitement, Saber paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded, determined not to let her notice her own tension.
She had vowed to protect Irisviel, to guard her last moments of happiness. Therefore, Saber was resolved to protect the joy Irisviel felt at this moment to the very end.
"Miss Rin, is that alright?"
"Yes, of course, no problem."
Just across the Fuyuki Bridge, which spanned the Weiyuan River, there was a large seaside park.
It was late at night, and on the quiet path, only the three of them slowly walked, with Rin leading the way.
The north wind from the sea blew unimpeded, ruffling Irisviel's silver hair, which danced like a comet's tail, shimmering with a bright glow. Even Rin, when she looked back, couldn't help but be drawn to it, momentarily lost in thought.
"Miss Rin, what's wrong?" Irisviel noticed Rin, who was walking ahead, suddenly stop and stare at her in a daze.
Rin immediately snapped out of it, a little embarrassed, and replied, "Ah, I'm sorry, I was just a little distracted by Miss Irisviel's beauty. Miss Irisviel is too beautiful."
"Ah hahaha, Miss Rin, you flatter me." Hearing Rin's compliment, Irisviel was as happy as a child. "Actually, at first, I was also stunned by Miss Rin's beauty. I never thought there could be such a beautiful girl in this world."
"Alright, we're here."
Before them was Fuyuki Seaside Park. Before Rin left the Tohsaka Family, Aoi had also brought her and Sakura here to play, and she still had some familiar feelings.
It was a brief winter season, and due to the sea breeze, even dating couples were reluctant to come near here, let alone at this late hour. In the vast seaside park, only the three of them were present.
Irisviel, seeing the sea for the first time with her own eyes, didn't mind the cold as she was already used to it in the eternal frozen lands of Einzbern. Excitedly, she ran onto the beach to breathe in the scent of the sea up close and gaze at the pitch-black ocean.
"Actually, it's better to come here in the early morning for the sunrise. A sea sunrise is a common attraction in all coastal cities."
There was only cold darkness in the sea. Rin looked at the vast blackness and said with some apology. But Irisviel, gazing at the horizon, immediately replied:
"No, the night sea is also beautiful. It's like a mirror of the night sky, with the shadows of stars reflected on the surface. It's beautiful, a beauty I've never seen before." Irisviel listened to the heavy sound of the waves, her face beaming with a brilliant smile.
Perhaps because she had a very enjoyable day, a faint blush appeared on her snow-white cheeks. Looking at her like this, no one would have thought she was married and had a child. Her smile was so pure and innocent, as if she were still a teenage girl.
"It turns out that walking together with new friends in an unfamiliar city is such a joyful thing."
Rin looked at the happy Irisviel with a slight surprise, then smiled and replied,
"That's right, we are already friends. Even if the time is short, we have been friends for a few hours, Miss Irisviel."
"Mm! But there's one thing to correct, Rin. Actually, I'm married, and I already have a lovely daughter, Illya, so the title 'Miss' isn't suitable for me anymore."
Rin, of course, knew all this, but from her appearance, Irisviel looked like a young girl. Since she hadn't pointed it out before, Rin naturally couldn't directly call her "Madam"; she might be suspected by Saber.
"Then I should have called you 'Madam' before, Irisviel?"
"Mm, that's right. But now, there's no need to be so formal." Irisviel replied happily while enjoying the night sea scenery. She gazed dreamily at the sea, the reflection of a person in her eyes.
"Irisviel, actually, what you truly enjoy isn't strolling with me and Miss Rin, but rather with your family member, isn't it?"
Facing Rin's question, Irisviel looked at Rin, as if hearing a fresh word, and showed a clear smile.
"My family member? Are you talking about Kiritsugu? With him, it's not possible. He would recall sad things." Irisviel gently shook her head with a smile.
"Does that mean he wasn't happy during his time with you? Are you two at odds?"
"No. I think he must have felt the same happiness as I did. But it's not possible; he's the kind of person who feels pain because of 'happiness.'"
"..."
Rin repeatedly chewed on this sentence, trying to understand the contradictions within Kiritsugu Emiya's heart.
Kiritsugu Emiya, this man was undoubtedly a hero who dedicated himself to an ideal, a champion of justice who disregarded any factor of importance, proximity, or kinship in human lives, treating even his closest kin as equally valuable. No matter how pure or innocent, in his eyes, one life was a unit. To save the greater part, he had to unhesitatingly abandon the lesser part; this was Kiritsugu Emiya's code of conduct.
Recalling this, Rin's hands unconsciously clenched into fists, her teeth gritting. Rin and Kiritsugu Emiya's philosophies were undoubtedly diametrically opposed. Kiritsugu Emiya could sacrifice his beloved wife and daughter for the greater good of saving the world; Rin, on the other hand, was completely opposite—if it was to save the person she cared about and loved, she would not hesitate to kill ten thousand to save one.
Kiritsugu Emiya was a hero who sacrificed everything for the greater good, while Tohsaka Rin was a selfish demon king for her friends and loved ones. Who was right and who was wrong, no one had the right to judge.
The clash of beliefs could only be settled with force on the battlefield. Rin thought to herself, then continued Irisviel's words:
"Your husband feels he doesn't deserve happiness, doesn't he?"
"Perhaps. He always punishes himself with his own heart. To live pursuing an ideal, he can only make himself colder, but he can't do it."
Irisviel gazed dreamily at the boundless sea, imagining her husband's figure rushing about in an unknown city, striving for their shared goal.
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