"But... Kiritsugu, shouldn't we think of a way to handle Drako first?"
Irisviel gave an objection in favor of the ignored Saber.
"If Drako really wipes out the rest of the Servants before we can take action, Saber will be at a nurical disadvantage. Even with her Noble Phantasm, we might not manage to take the victory."
Kiritsugu nodded at what his wife pointed out.
"That's why we won't ignore the other Servants' fight with Drako. We'll be watching closely, and we'll strike at the right ti. We don't need to confront Drako directly, but wait for attrition."
Irisviel was puzzled. When Saber heard this from Kiritsugu, she was dumbfounded with rage.
"Don't... fight Drako?"
"All the other Masters have set their sights on Drako. If I've been able to co to this conclusion, I'm sure the others have as well. No idiot is going to directly confront Drako, so it would be best to remain inactive for the ti being. We have to use this terrain to our advantage since they can't enter our territory undetected.
"Drako is not worried about Father Risei's statents, and I am sure he has learned what the Church is up to. He will most likely not change his tactics, and if he does, it will be very slightly. Once Drako attacks another of the remaining Servants, I'm sure one or two of the remaining Masters will confront him. That will be our ti to attack Drako. We have seen his pride; he would never think he would go from the hunter's role to the hunted. As long as he doesn't attack, Maia and I will look for possible weaknesses he has."
That was Kiritsugu's comndable strategy. To Kiritsugu's eyes, there are no human morals or the pride of being a magus. He is just a predatory machine originating from the formula of the survival of the fittest.
Originally, Kiritsugu did not plan to co to this castle. Irisviel finally understood Kiritsugu's intention by suddenly changing her plans and joining forces with her.
"Master, you... Just how despicable can you be!"
Saber rebutted angrily and loudly, and Irisviel felt a faint pang in her heart. Saber's indignation now was different from the anger she had felt last night at Rider's taunts and Caster's boasts - in a way, this was an even more vivid anger.
"Emiya Kiritsugu-sama, you insult the Heroic Spirits.
I only joined this war to prevent the spilling of rivers of blood. Fighting for the Holy Grail, not spilling aningless blood, minimizing sacrifices, one person accepting the mission of destiny instead of armies of n, and competing here... that is what we Servants must do.
Why don't you give the responsibility to join the battle? It was the sa when you attacked Lancer's Master last night. One wrong step would have resulted in disaster. You don't have to use such despicable thods - or does Kiritsugu-sama have no faith in , a Servant?"
Kiritsugu did not reply. He maintained an indifferent silence as if Saber's angry words were re jokes. Irisviel hated the mask-like expression of indifference on Kiritsugu endlessly.
This man was not the husband she knew.
She certainly knew that Emiya Kiritsugu had a split personality. She detected that, on the one hand, Kiritsugu passed all his emotions to his wife and daughter, and on the other hand, he hid the wounds of the past in his heart. Irisviel knew sothing about what kind of life Kiritsugu led before he entered the Einzbern family. But was that the decisive factor that caused the separation between the two of them?
Also, the factor that helped Irisviel realize that was this black-clothed woman present at the eting. The woman did not speak a single word and silently entrusted everything she had to Kiritsugu. That woman was the other reason why Irisviel felt lancholy.
It was not the first ti she had seen Hisau Maiya. She had seen Hisau Maiya a few tis in the Einzbern castle. Hisau Maiya managed all of Kiritsugu's external world business during his nine years of seclusion.
The woman who worked with Kiritsugu before he t Irisviel. At the ti of the eting, she did not present even a bit of doubt in the face of Kiritsugu's words and maintained her unrelenting silence. Perhaps to Maiya, the Kiritsugu of now was the Emiya Kiritsugu she knew.
Suddenly, a faint scent crept into Irisviel's nose. It was the sll of tobacco. That sll of tobacco had always been with Kiritsugu, ever since the day she t him. Irisviel still rembered that she detested that sll very much then.
She had not slled that scent for a long ti since she married Kiritsugu. Now the scent of tobacco emanated from Kiritsugu again. Perhaps it is the sll of gunpowder from the battlefield.
The Kiritsugu of now had undoubtedly returned to the Kiritsugu of nine years ago. Back then, Acht adopted Kiritsugu to win the Holy Grail. Kiritsugu was like a cruel and rciless dog.
And the Irisviel back then was a re doll guarding the Holy Grail. As soon as she rembered Kiritsugu's past, it was almost as if Irisviel rembered her own past. As if the nine years the two of them lived together no longer existed. Irisviel's heart began to grow impatient and restless.
Just now, the person closest to that man, Emiya Kiritsugu, was not her, his wife, but Hisau Maiya....
Irisviel did not speak her mind, but asked a completely irrelevant question:
"...What should we do about the new rule the supervisor proposed? Didn't he want us to have a ceasefire with all enemies other than Drako?"
"Ignore that new rule. The supervisor only proposed the rewards for sticking to the new rule, not the details of the punishnt you would get if you broke the rule. If the supervisor were to get in our way because of that, we can just pretend we didn't know about this rule."
With a completely different attitude from when dealing with Saber, Kiritsugu answered Irisviel's questions with details.
"- Besides, it just didn't seem that he could be trusted and respected supervisor of this war. Covering up for the Assassin Master as if he knew nothing about it, he is probably on Tohsaka's side. Before we find out everything about them, we should look at him with doubt."
"..."
Saber was so furious that her body trembled, and countless thoughts road Irisviel's heart. For a mont, the two of them sank into silence. Kiritsugu took that silence as the signal for the eting to end.
"Then, the eting is over. Irisviel and I will stay in the castle and make preparations for a possible Drako attack. Maiya will return to the city and gather information. Report back to if there are any changes there."
"Yes, sir."
Maiya nodded without hesitation, got up, and left the eting room. Kiritsugu stood up a little later, gathered the maps and docunts on the table, and left the room. Kiritsugu didn't look at Saber even once until the end.
Saber, completely ignored by Kiritsugu, bit her lip firmly and furiously and fixed her eyes on the carpet beneath her feet. Irisviel and Saber remained in the eting room. At that mont, Irisviel didn't have the words to appease the fuming Saber.
No, the proud King of the Knights Saber would not wait for others to comfort her with other words. Right now, for Saber, what she had to do was to solve the current problem at its root. When she thought this, Irisviel put a hand on Saber's shoulder to show her gratitude and imdiately left the room and followed Kiritsugu.
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