Abnormal Moon

"Is the spare body that Ms. Aozaki Touko mentioned your backup plan? So that even if you die outside, you can be resurrected using the spare body?"

"No, this is a special technique that only Orange can use. It cannot be used by anyone other than her. That spare body was prepared by Orange, and she will help me change it after the Holy Grail War ends."

"Yeah."

Taigong Wang's voice disappeared for a while.

But it didn't end the conversation; rather, it seemed like they were carefully considering their words.

"Today's battle was quite successful in terms of results, as we took down several Servants."

"But that's just a result-oriented view. It's because the Master was lucky enough that the mage suddenly returned and forced King Arthur to retreat, which led to this good outcome. But if that mage hadn't returned today, and you couldn't be resurrected through a spare body, what choice would you have made?"

"I'll be frank with you, Master. In the past few days of observation, I've discovered a huge contradiction within your personality."

"You possess both love and hatred for humanity. You are probably aware of your own contradictions, which is why you take off your glasses to separate these contradictory sides of yourself. When you wear glasses, you are very easy to talk to because you have cut off your friendly side towards humanity to this side. When you take off your glasses, you are full of malice towards everyone because you have gathered your malice to this side. This guess should be correct, right?"

"...That's right."

Roy silently acknowledged Taigong Wang's analysis.

Roy, who wears glasses, is too easygoing.

Even when facing magicians, whom he despises the most, he can treat them with a very sincere smile.

Roy, having taken off his glasses, felt a surge of malice, and every person he looked at had the urge to kill him.

This malice might be partly due to the curse that had been accumulating within him for three years without being effectively released, but ultimately it stemmed from the destructive desire lurking deep within his heart.

"When you faced Jiemon earlier, you took off your glasses. At that time, you should have been ruthless and wanted to kill anyone you saw, but you were persuaded by Tohsaka to put your glasses back. Did you notice this contradiction?"

"..."

"Master, good and evil are two sides of the same coin. Whether it is good or evil, they are human emotions that cannot be completely separated. The contradictory two are combined like a spiral, which is what makes human beings."

"You were willing to be persuaded by Ms. Tohsaka, and tonight you hesitated about whether to save Ms. Tohsaka's life. This means that you cannot completely separate your good and evil sides. To be honest, I am very pleased because it shows that you are aware of your contradictions. If you completely conform to the personality pattern of putting on and taking off your glasses, and execute it like a machine, you can tolerate evil when you put them on, and kill those close to you when you take them off, then I can only pity your plight and will not say these things to you."

Taigong Wang's voice was filled with deep relief.

He was genuinely worried about Roy's mental state.

It's impossible not to worry.

This world, teeming with magicians, contains far too many who, though outwardly human, have become monsters in spirit.

He admired Roy's lofty aspirations and didn't want to see him become a spiritual monster.

"I'm telling you all this for one reason only."

"Since you have the courage to risk your life to achieve your ideals, why not try to use that courage for your own evolution, not to separate your good and evil, but to integrate good and evil into one."

"If you are still alive when this Holy Grail War ends, then you have only taken the first step towards your ideal. At that time, you will need the help of many people. If you are still like this then, those who are close to you will only drive you away one by one."

"So, after going through all this trouble, you're just trying to tell me that I should have let you move me and Tohsaka together back then?"

"Haha, I do indeed prefer this option!"

Taigong Wang's hearty laughter rang out.

"Oh dear, if you die, Master, and I have to fulfill your ideals, I don't even know if I can do it. Besides, it's going to be very troublesome. It might just waste hundreds or thousands of years of my efforts!"

Roy was speechless for a while.

So you just don't want to work!

"Thanks anyway, what you said makes a lot of sense, I will think about it carefully."

"I hope this inspires you."

Grandfather breathed a sigh of relief without making a sound.

Secretly, he nodded with satisfaction.

Chapter 71 Aoko and Orange

"You're here."

Aozaki Touko arrived at the backyard of the mansion.

Aozaki Aoko was standing in an open space, looking up at the night sky filled with dark clouds.

"What's so interesting about such a terrible sky?"

"It really doesn't look good."

Aozaki Aoko nodded, then muttered to herself.

"The night sky used to be much better, but unfortunately, it's a little difficult to see it again."

Is it a little difficult?

Aozaki Touko couldn't help but chuckle.

"With the power of a mage, changing the weather is not difficult at all."

Although she said it in a question form, her tone was very certain.

Aoko has been a magician for twenty years.

Even if she was naive and innocent before, she has definitely shed that youthful naiveté long ago. Orange doesn't even want to think about how powerful she is now.

Thinking about it only discourages me, and the thought of making an effort naturally disappears from my mind, making me passive and unmotivated in everything I do.

"That's true!"

Aozaki Aoko nodded straightforwardly.

"It's easy to smash the dark clouds overhead, but bringing back the old world is not something I can decide."

Was the world better before?

"At least it's better than now, right? You're in business, don't you think so?"

"Haha, that's true!"

Aozaki Touko burst into laughter.

Before the world became like this, she could still make money through business.

Now it's going to be difficult.

Although the seal was lifted ten years ago, she didn't want to work for the Mage Association, so she lived a very lonely life.

Fortunately, he could occasionally steal Roy's savings.

"However, you can't change the world back. Is this due to limitations in your power?"

Aozaki Touko inadvertently brought up the topic again.

"Who would have such power?"

Aozaki Aoko waved her hand dismissively, giving her a look that said, "Don't joke around."

Aozaki Touko nodded in agreement; turning back time in the entire world was simply too far-fetched.

She took out a Tai Chi brand cigarette from her pocket, thought for a moment, and then insisted on lighting it.

"Let me rephrase the question: Is it that you don't want to do it, or that you're not allowed to do it?"

Her tone suddenly turned sharp.

It was as if their conversation had suddenly transformed from sisters chatting into magicians discussing spells; their personal feelings vanished from her words, making them seem unlike sisters.

"Humph……"

Aozaki Aoko murmured indifferently.

"It makes no difference to a magician."

"That's right. Magicians are creatures who accept reality, not creatures who change it. Even if they knew the truth, the outcome wouldn't change at all."

Aozaki Touko sighed with a hint of melancholy.

"If it's really confirmed that the inhibitory force doesn't exist in this world, they might actually be happy, no, they'd probably be ecstatic."

As magicians delve deeper into the art of magic, they gradually lose their humanity. It's common for them to obsessively conduct experiments that defy the laws of self-control. Once they realize that the self-control that hangs like the Sword of Damocles over their heads is gone, they'll definitely want to randomly conduct some world-threatening experiments to celebrate.

Aozaki Touko took a drag of her cigarette, the smoke forming a ring as she exhaled, obscuring her face and blurring her expression, making it impossible to discern her thoughts.

"Aoko, has this world abandoned us?"

"Hey, what's wrong? You're only starting to care about the answer to this question now?"

Aozaki Aoko couldn't help but chuckle, a teasing look on her face.

“I didn’t care that much before, but now I do care a little more.”

Aozaki Touko looked slightly distressed, gazing at the sky with a complicated expression.

"Ten years ago, when the corrupted Servants emerged from the black mud and pointed their swords at the world, you should know what happened back then, right? But you didn't show up to stop those corrupted Servants."

"Over the past ten years, I have traveled to many places and come to the same conclusion and doubt: those who came out to stop the black mud back then, apart from the armies of various countries, were only local magicians... Chinese immortals, ancient ancestors and elves, the remaining fantasy species on the ground, including you, a magician, almost none of them came out. All these kinds of beings stood by and watched the disaster that happened on the ground."

"Although Gemstone Onzelrich appeared once, it was puzzling that he only set up a spirit-repelling barrier in Fuyuki City, and it wasn't a very powerful one at that. He disappeared without doing anything else."