[Fate] Falling Sun

Rider's king's army finally came to an end, and Karna, who had returned to the real world, carefully lowered the black-haired girl from his shoulders. He frowned deeply and fell to the ground abruptly.

"Lancer!?" Mio pressed his shoulders in horror, thinking that the other party had suffered some fatal injuries, and desperately tried to find out the abnormality.He bowed his head weakly and closed his eyes tightly. The messy white hair highlighted the youth's current weakness.It was only then that the girl realized that during the period of confrontation with the king's army, Karna had already accumulated many scars without the golden armor recovering from his injuries.

I'm afraid it was a rebound from the sudden relaxation.The conquering king's army is all heroic spirits. In order to resist the ruthless crushing of the king's army, Karna's own physical strength is almost exhausted after going through such fierce battles.Using the human body as a metaphor, it's probably like eating back the fatigue of the body after the adrenaline has just been stimulated.

"Golden armor! Quickly take back the golden armor!" The black-haired girl leaned the head of the white-haired youth on her shoulder, patted his cheek, and called in his ear anxiously.And he finally opened his eyes, and with all his strength raised his hand and flicked the gold earring on his left ear, making a crisp sound.

The black-haired girl's body gradually extracted the golden brilliance, and the condensed fragments of those light spots returned to the armor on Karna's body, restoring the former brilliance.And she also felt the rush of her magic power being absorbed in a large amount, and her body temperature seemed to be higher than usual.

And Ritsu who came out of the ruins saw this scene.

"You two! Did you get any injuries!?" The black-haired boy hurried over, seeing that Lancer seemed to have regained some strength, he staggered to his feet.But when he saw a lot of blood stains on Mio's chest, Ritsu couldn't calm down anymore. "Mio!?"

"Don't worry, Ritsu." A wry smile appeared on the girl's face. "Thanks to Lancer's Noble Phantasm, I was not killed."

On the face of the black-haired boy, there were very complicated emotions, like regret, like resentment, like... "Really. Go back to rest tonight, and I will send you back with Assassin." Too much Emotions are mixed together, and Ritsu can only make up this sentence.

***

Sending Mio and Lancer back, Ritsu walked alone on the street back to the temporary residence.

"...Hey, Assassin. What I did...was it wrong?" The black-haired boy stopped suddenly, his blue eyes looked deep under the dark night.

"Feeling lost? Master." Assassin in spirit form just asked him back.

The law responded lightly. "I wanted to protect Mio so much, but I still let her suffer like that..." And in the end, Lancer still protected her life. In this regard, I am a completely unqualified family member.Not to mention putting her in deep danger, even her life was almost taken away.

He had already made up his mind that even if he had to kill the magician who was also a human, in order to protect Mio and win this Holy Grail War, even if he lost something in his heart, he would not hesitate.

But was what he did in the beginning wrong?

"You've already made your choice, haven't you?" Assassin's deep voice was filled with a magical sense of stability.

There are weighing scales on all things.

There are no options that cover everything, and if you choose one of them, you will have to abandon the other.

So, choose the most valuable side──

What matters is the value in your eyes and the justice in your heart.

Then, don't regret it.

Once regretted, your original intention will become meaningless.

After Assassin said these words, he never responded.

***

Mio took off her blood-stained clothes in the bathroom, and stared at it for a long while.

She turned on the faucet and let the water curtain from the shower head wash over herself.The long-dried blood gradually melted away from his chest without any trace, as if the gunshot wound he received at that time was like a dream.

But she didn't forget the pain, the struggle at the border between life and death, her unwillingness and indignation at her own incompetence, all rushed to the peak for a while.

Then, as the water flowed down her cheeks, she began to weep bitterly.

Yes, the Holy Grail War is such a cruel game, a game among magicians, but she, an ordinary person who has gone astray, can only exchange everything she has for the chance to get out of the maze alive.

Is this lamenting your own fate?No.

Is this pity for one's own good fortune?No.

She was just so scared that she would have to pay more to escape this game.

After three or ten minutes, Mio, who finally calmed down, walked out of the bathroom in a bathrobe.And the red-eyed girl saw the white-haired young man who had appeared for a long time in the living room, looking straight at herself.

"...Mio." Karna softly called her name. "Were you crying just now?"

She fell silent, her eyes were sore and swollen, and she no longer cast her gaze on Lancer.The girl's breathing was a little unstable, as if she was enduring something, but she didn't speak for a long time.

"Mio?" The white-haired young man stepped closer to her, trying to get the Master's attention.

"Lancer, it's okay, I'm just..." The black-haired girl tried her best to suppress her tear glands, and because of the conversation with Lancer, the irritability in her heart was like a bug, and she felt that she was about to be unable to hold back the emotional collapse again .

It wasn't Lancer's fault, but he was one of the main reasons for her restlessness now.

And the white-haired young man in front of him just stared at the black-haired girl silently, with sharp eyes that seemed to see through the soul.Faced with such eyes, when the girl suddenly turned her head away, her tears burst like broken pearls.She hurriedly fled back to the room, but Karna did not let the other party go at all──he grabbed the girl's arms.

"Mio, if you have any dissatisfaction, just tell me directly."

It was a gentle voice, but it was also because of that gentleness that it deeply hurt her heart.The girl bit her lower lip, trying her best not to let the sobs slip out of her throat.

"...Let go." Finally, she said these two words in a deep voice.

At that moment, Karna's usually emotionless face seemed to be shaken. He frowned and narrowed his eyes of different colors, and the color called "sorrow" flowed in them.

What did he do wrong?Why is Mio crying?

What he saw through was that the girl cared about him, but what she cared about was deliberately hidden by her.

Want to know.

Want to know very much.

He doesn't mind getting another curse, but now he wants to know what Mio is thinking.

"The Wisdom of the Poor" can indeed easily see through the other party's mind.

He will also encounter this kind of moment, which was strange and rare in his lifetime...

Emotions never experienced before.

He originally held her slender arm, but tightened it hesitantly, and finally let go.

Although he really wants to understand the emotion that is only one step away, he never particularly interferes in other people's actions, but respects the will of others.

And Mio didn't leave, she just wiped the completely uncontrollable tears with the sleeve of her bathrobe, sniffed her nose, and then turned to face Karna.

"Sorry, I'm too fragile as a Master." She forced a smile. "When I found out that you lent me the golden armor, I was actually very angry." The girl continued.

But she knew she shouldn't be angry, it was all because she was too weak, and she was saved because of it.But she understands that when confronted with the king's army that conquers the king, if the hero of Shi Yu does not release the god-killing spear, there is only one end to die.

She was angry at her own incompetence and Karna's selfless compassion.

After listening to Mio's reasons, the white-haired young man just nodded his head in understanding, but he still couldn't understand the girl's hidden emotions.

"Why did you put such an important treasure on me? Knowing that the opponent is such a powerful opponent..." The girl lowered her eyes faintly.

"For this point, I also have something to defend." The white-haired young man folded his arms around his chest. "Both you and Ritsu understand that Rider's Master will definitely pick the Master." This matter can be known from the moment of the first battle, and Kenneth's magic dress is definitely a very tricky existence.

"That's right...that's why Ritsu set up a barrier..."

"But in terms of results, it's useless." He just stated the facts without any disdain, disgust or other emotions, but it actually sounded like that. "As your servant, protecting you by all means is my first priority."

If fate destined him to lose here, he would accept it without complaint.

"...Really, Lancer is more like a knight than a knight." The girl's tears fell quietly again, but she still stubbornly pursed her lips and said while laughing and crying.

"...Mio, why are you still crying?"

"──Because it's so touching." She continued to wipe away her tears, and she felt extremely moved when she thought of Ritsu and Karna trying their best to keep herself alive, but at the same time, she felt sorry for the price they paid. "And seeing you injured like that at that time, I felt ashamed of guilt."

"Why? Mio, the battle between servants is inevitable." For the summoned servants, it was a matter of course.To put it bluntly, the so-called servants are nothing more than the dead who manifested through the great magic of the Holy Grail.

So why feel sad and guilty?

"Karna──Listen, I'm not a magician." The black-haired girl rarely called out the other party's real name, and her current aura was enough to take one's breath away. "I can't look at the servant from the eyes of a magician. In other words - I see Karna as a partner, not a real master and slave." It's not from top to bottom, but equal...

comrade-in-arms relationship.

"It is very difficult for me to see a partner who has lived and died for me get hurt for me."

In her eyes, the white-haired young man indeed saw the revolutionary emotions of his companions in distress.

"...Is that so. I understand."

That's right, if it's a comrade-in-arms, then I can indeed understand Mio's complicated emotions just now.But there was another strange emotion in her eyes, I'm afraid the current him couldn't decipher it.

Or maybe the girl herself didn't notice it.

"What's more---you should borrow your chest at a time like this, so you can be called a good man?" In order to relieve the embarrassment of her crying, the girl made a playful joke, hoping to use this as a buffer The atmosphere of being froze by oneself.

Karna recalled that he had indeed seen an example of a man holding a girl in his arms and then stopping crying when someone was quarreling on the street.For girls' tears, he is indeed quite clueless, so he might as well accept the advice and give it a try.

So he really leaned over, wrapped his arms around the girl's shoulders with some hesitation, and pressed her into his arms. "Like this?"

"─────────────────────────────" The girl in her arms did stop crying, but at the same time her body was also stiff.She didn't expect this joke to be taken seriously.

"Mio?" Sensing the other's subtle reaction, the white-haired young man tilted his head slightly, and whispered the girl's name in her ear.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh──!" Karna was pushed away, her skin almost turned red from the soles of her feet to the base of her ears, almost like a boiled shrimp.

Immediately, the girl fled into the room.

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry I shouldn't be kidding I shouldn't be kidding I shouldn't be kidding I shouldn't be kidding I shouldn't be kidding I shouldn't be kidding I shouldn't be kidding I shouldn't be joking..." There were such thoughts in the room for as long as 1 minute, it seemed that the actions just now had a huge impact on her spirit.

"... Mio, it's okay." The white-haired young man said he didn't mind the joke.And it's not the first time to hug her like this, why is there such a big reaction now?

"I shouldn't be joking, I shouldn't be joking..." The thoughts continued.

What a worrying Master.

Karna shook his head outside the door, deciding not to continue irritating the Master who has suffered all kinds of hardships today.

***

Tohsaka Mansion.

The petite little girl raised her small face, showing precocious strength.She took the Azoth dagger from Kotomine Kirei without saying a word.

──Tohsaka Tokiomi died in the Holy Grail War.

The next head of the Tohsaka family, who was still young, was told that this dagger was his father's relic.

After Kaitomine Kirei turned and left, he raised a wicked smile.

On the other side of the city, a duel between monarch and minister has just been held in the dark underground waterway.

"Now that things are going on, do you still hold a sword for this kind of reason? What an embarrassing monarch."

Saber hugged Berserker who had removed the helmet, she bit her lower lip, her face was full of sorrow.

"I...I want to be punished by you...my king. From your hands...not others...for the sins I committed myself." After finishing these words, Berserker turned into a spirit with a satisfied and peaceful expression The son drifted away.

"I... absolutely want to get the Holy Grail. Neither Guinevere, Gawain, Kay, Bedivere... nor you, Sir Lancelot, should have come to such an end." The King of Knights trembled The voice revealed her persistence.

On the ground, Irisviel, who was lying on the steering wheel in the car and panting in pain, seemed to have begun to change.