black Knight

Emiya Kiritsugu couldn't hold it anymore.

It was a day after winter, and Alicia was preparing to travel to Australia with Diarmuid when she received the news.He had just packed his luggage when he received a call from Emiya Shirou.

"Father... I want to see you again."

Emiya Shirou, who had grown from a boy to a teenager, had a trembling voice, but his tone was steady.

He had known for a long time that there would be such a day, that Emiya Kiritsugu could survive until now, bringing him so many memories worth recalling, which already made him feel that it was a gift from heaven.

What's more, he still has Ilya.

Although Ilya is about to leave soon, he firmly believes that this family relationship will not be erased by the distance.He once lost everything, so he knows how to cherish and be content better than other peers.

That's why I can be so calm when I make this call.

Alicia immediately changed her plan and came to Japan on the fastest ordinary plane of the day.Then he reached the place where Emiya Kiritsugu lived now at the fastest speed.

... He returned to the somewhat deserted Japanese-style house.

He took off the suit and windbreaker that he almost never changed, and put on a baggy dark Japanese-style yukata.

It was evening when they arrived, and every family was cooking at this time, and their family was no exception.The hardworking boy was busy in the kitchen, while Emiya Kiritsugu, the incompetent father, was sitting by the porch looking at the courtyard in the dusk in a daze.

"Leaving everything to the son is not what a good father should do."

Alicia leaned on the side pillar with her arms folded, and looked at the faintly breathing man who seemed to disappear at any time with a half-smile.The handsome black-haired man stood behind her as always, guarding her with a protective attitude.

"...I'm an incompetent father."

The man's reaction was a bit slow. Hearing Alicia's voice, it took him a while to turn his head to respond to her.

"I have to work hard, Shirou."

The man's voice was lazy, with a hint of warmth.Although the eyes were still dead silent, they were much gentler than before.It's just that it's still the same as before, without spirit and vitality.

Alicia sometimes thinks that it would be better to die early in the morning than to live like a walking corpse like him... Although she is a living person, she always forces herself to look like a thinking corpse.

It is better to leave this world when you still have a lot of emotions than to end your life with no interest in life like this.

But a person has a way of life, and she, an outsider, can't say anything.

"It's only when I'm old that I see it. Why did I go?" If he could see it like this before, if he didn't carry everything by himself, it would probably be a different situation now.

Years of stable life made Alicia develop a temper and talk a lot.

Unlike Emiya Kiritsugu, who is about to run out of oil, she no longer bears the revenge of the past, and the more she lives, the more nourished she is, and the more she lives, the more vivid she is.

Many things that I could not say before can be easily said now.

"That's right." Emiya Kiritsugu turned his head back again, and continued to look at the garden shrouded in haze. "It would be great if I could let go sooner."

Be it the childhood dreams or the unspoken feelings, if I could let go of them earlier, it would definitely not be like this now.

Back then...if only I could have been braver.

Probably because of the two guests who came from afar, Alicia and Diarmuid, the dinner at Emiya's family today was particularly sumptuous.The table enough for six people was so full that there was no room for dessert.

The Emiya family seems to have no rule of keeping their mouths shut. The conversation between Emiya Shirou and Illya at the dinner table has almost never stopped, and Emiya Kiritsugu will occasionally respond a few times. Except that there is no 'mother', this family can almost Said to be a model warm family.

But Alicia knew that, in fact, none of them had fully recovered from the pain.

Especially for Emiya Kiritsugu, Irisviel is a wound in his heart that cannot heal, time cannot heal it, and Emiya Kiritsugu himself will not allow it to heal.

After the meal, Emiya Shirou started to clean up the dishes without Illya knowing whether to help or make trouble.

Alicia sat on the porch with Emiya Kiritsugu and admired the moonlight.

The weather is fine today, there are only sporadic clouds in the sky, and the moon with a cool and radiant light just hangs above the sky, clean and cold.

Although the weather was not particularly cold, Alicia, who was always afraid of the cold, wrapped herself in a fluffy coat early, with her collar turned up, wrapping herself tightly.

"...You are still so afraid of the cold."

Emiya Kiritsugu said softly, if Alicia hadn't been paying attention to him, she almost thought she was hallucinating the latest chapter of the Throne of Arcane Art.

"It was born like this, and I can't help it."

Alicia shrugged and leaned back again.

"Maybe I was frozen to death in my previous life, so I'm so afraid of the cold in this life."

"In my previous life."

The man murmured and repeated.

He doesn't know whether people will be reincarnated, and he doesn't think it's necessary to know.After reincarnation, there is no memory of the past, or even the body of the past, so how can you still be the same person?

So as a person who exists now, he can only live in this life after all.

Whether it's 'Emiya Kiritsugu' or 'Alicia', there will never be any more in the past.

"After I die, Illya will leave you alone. Please go and see her...don't let her live like a tool." He still couldn't give her freedom in the end.

Without him, there is no telling how the Einzbern family would treat the child.

"……If you have time."

Alicia neither agreed nor refused.

She really doesn't want to have anything to do with the Holy Grail this time, but as a friend, she still needs to take her friend's request to heart.

"As long as this is enough."

The more they are together, the more affection they have, and Alicia is destined not to put too much emotion on Illya.Rather than get hurt in the future, it is better not to approach now.

Occasionally he would also think: If he hadn't awakened Irisviel's personality back then, wouldn't they have been in such pain.There wouldn't be so much heartache.

But whenever he thought of the woman who gave him courage and supported him like a pillar, this thought disappeared like bubbles on the water.

How could he deny their once happy happiness?

Although that happiness is short-lived and fragile, and they know that after happiness is farewell.

"Speaking of which, I forgot to give you this."

The girl, who had hardly changed from the past, took out a few times from her pocket, took out a white object and put it in his hand.

"I found a photo of Irisviel when I was packing my luggage. I forgot to give it to you all this time, but it's not too late now."

The man lowered his eyes to look at the small photo in his hand, his dead eyes seemed to be faintly red.

It was a photo of them when they went shopping many years ago.Most of them are group photos of them together, only this first test shot is of her alone.

The woman in the photo smiled stiffly, seeming a little nervous.But these did not damage her beauty, but made her look more lively and real.

"It's not too late."

The man evoked an extremely gentle smile—this was a gentle smile that Alicia had never seen on his face.

Emiya Kiritsugu slowly closed the hand holding the photo, as if holding the last treasure carefully.

The white-haired girl stood up and left the porch. Diarmuid, who was standing in the shadow of the porch, also left with her—he still didn't like Emiya Kiritsugu, but he wouldn't care about a dying person either. something.

"Goodbye, Emiya Kiritsugu." See you again, Emiya Kiritsugu.

When she reached the end of the porch, Alicia stopped suddenly, turned around and spoke seriously.

"Goodbye, Alicia."

The man who was still sitting on the edge of the porch responded, but he never turned his head around the whole time, nor did he make any movements.

After Alicia left, Emiya Shirou sat in the seat she had just taken, and accompanied his beloved adoptive father through the last journey of his life.

What did the father and son who had lost everything talk about in the end, and what they said, no one knew except them.

The next day, Alicia attended Emiya Kiritsugu's funeral.

The funeral was very simple, and the participants were only these "related people" who had a close relationship with Emiya Kiritsugu.Emiya Kiritsugu was buried in the foreign cemetery next to the church.

Although Alicia didn't think that Emiya Kiritsugu would like to live next to the church where Kotomine Kirei stayed, but after death, ashes return to ashes, dust returns to dust, so there is nothing to worry about.It's better to do it in a way that can make the living feel at ease.

Yi Liya cried until she was in the dark, her hands and feet were weak in the end, and she could only lie in her brother's arms and choke.

Although Emiya Shirou's eyes were red, he never cried.After Dad left, he was the pillar of the family, and he wanted to be the support of his sister, so he couldn't cry.

Alicia silently presented a cherry blossom. Although it was inconsistent with the Japanese funeral customs, none of the people present would care about it.

The aftermath of the Fourth Holy Grail War finally came to an end with the death of Emiya Kiritsugu.

After the funeral, Alicia left Japan with Diarmuid to continue their journey.

Not long after, she received another call from Emiya Shiro.

Ilyasviel has been taken back to the Einzbern house... He begged Alicia to visit her once in a while, and then tell him how Illya is doing.

Just seeing her and being able to tell him how Illya is doing is enough.

She agreed.

Then, she became the only bridge between the unrelated siblings.

"Actually, I don't know if this decision is right or not." Leaning in the man's arms, Alicia said while grabbing the man's callused fingers, "But if it's not like this... Maybe I will regret it later. "

"That's enough, Alicia."

The author has something to say: =l= After thinking about it for a long time, I still think this term is more suitable for shredded papa... so I will call him that [Hello]

Having said that, I actually wanted to use 'my master' at the end, but I feel like the Chinese word doesn't have that flavor...forget it_(:3∠)_

After all, this pit is about to end...

=l= This is probably the fastest one in my v pit to finish [Hello]

Thinking about what to do in the final chapter, it feels like there are a lot of things to be confused but it seems that there is nothing to explain... What a sad situation [Mud]

The last time this pit was [probably] pasted on the list and there are a lot of new girl paper collections. I really love you!ok~

Saye Xinkeng will probably be on the list tomorrow =l=... I really hope that I will go to see and collect more than one or two hundred favorites [You are dreaming]

Then we will continue to leave a message~