My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Fortunately, Weber had anticipated this and preemptively set up a "Repel Bystanders" spell around the house, which prevented the armed thugs from kicking down the door and breaking in.

Then, at dusk, a fully armed U.S. military unit stationed in Japan arrived in armored vehicles for some reason. They claimed to be there to maintain order and announced martial law in broken Japanese through loudspeakers, forbidding anyone from going out at night, with violators to be killed without exception.

Upon seeing this, young Weber had no choice but to reluctantly abandon his plan to go out that night to seek out the enemy. In the harsh atmosphere of war, if he were to risk going out at night, he might not even have a chance to encounter his opponent in the Holy Grail War. Instead, he might be shot in the head by some armed thug or shot dead by a paranoid American patrol in Japan. Wouldn't that be a huge loss?

The level of demonic cultivation he has mastered so far is probably not enough to withstand even a few shots from an ordinary person!

(A sudden thought: what an interesting scene it would be if the Holy Grail War were fought in Saigon or Hue during the Vietnam War's Lunar New Year Offensive, or in a Syrian city where the anti-terrorism war was raging, and of course, the hellish Stalingrad Holy Grail War. This shows that a stable and harmonious peaceful order is actually needed to fight the Holy Grail War, otherwise the magician might be shot dead before he even has a chance to fight.)

Of course, for us online novelists who make a living by coming up with creative ideas, the real enemy has always been this boring world!

In short, based on my reading over this period, I've found that the world-building of *Type-Moon* seems far less complete and rigorous than George R.R. Martin's *A Song of Ice and Fire* universe. (Is the world being destroyed so easily by a few people casting spells—is this just typical Japanese absurd arrogance?)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

However, while Waver's [Repel Idlers] spell could repel ordinary people, including soldiers and thugs, it couldn't stop Heroic Spirits and Mages who came knocking at night. Moreover, to be honest, Waver wasn't even sure if his hiding place had been exposed.

So, from last night until now, Waver has been anxiously waiting in the farmhouse where the [Repel Idlers] spell has been set up, staring wide-eyed and apprehensive for the enemy—his servant, the little fairy Flor, is as sleepy as a child and is clearly not the type to keep watch properly at night.

But Weber waited anxiously all night, his eyes almost turning red from exhaustion, but still nothing came.

As the sun had already risen, Weber finally couldn't hold on any longer and managed to doze off briefly while lying on the table.

Just then, he was awakened by Philia's cat paws. In addition to being sleepy and irritable, he also felt an unbearable hunger.

However, there was nothing to eat in the house; the only potato chips and biscuits he had were all eaten up while he stayed up late last night.

—When setting up the [Drive Away Idlers] spell, Weber forgot that the spell's confusion effect didn't discriminate between friend and foe. As a result, even the original owners of the farmhouse, an elderly white couple who had settled in Japan, were driven out by the [Drive Away Idlers] spell, and from then on, no one cooked...

So, Weber, who was so sleepy he was almost delirious, rubbed his throbbing temples and made a bizarre decision without thinking at all.

"...Here, take this and buy some food for breakfast...I'm going to sleep a little longer...snoring..."

He groggily pulled a banknote from his pocket, tossed it in front of Philip, and then slumped back onto the table, instantly snoring loudly.

Phily, however, was immediately taken aback, her cat eyes widening in surprise.

Meow?! You want me, a lone cat, to go out and buy you breakfast?!

Weber, you little slut, are you dozing off or something?!

However, seeing the haggard appearance of the white teenager snoring loudly, Phil still felt a little soft-hearted.

Sigh, fine, I'll do you this once since you've worked so hard! I might as well use some trickery on the salesperson!

So Phil rolled the banknotes into long strips, wrapped them around his front paws, and jumped out the window to look for food.

However, after leaving the house, Phil realized that it was not easy to get a decent breakfast in the outskirts of Fuyuki City at this time.

—The farmhouse where Weber stayed was located in a sparsely populated area on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, with few shops.

What's worse is that Fuyuki City has just experienced a major upheaval, with countless armed thugs mixed in with the refugees (in reality, there were only a handful, but the number has been exaggerated by hundreds of times due to repeated misinformation). Now, there are also American soldiers who are said to be ruthless and merciless, killing without blinking an eye... In such a chaotic situation, who would dare to continue doing business as before?

So, through Phil's peephole, he saw that all the shops and businesses on the nearby streets were closed, like an abandoned ghost town. In the open spaces, under the trees, and along the roads, there were many messy tents and shacks, crowded with groups of refugees with blank stares.

"...This shop is closed...that shop is closed, oh no! How come all the shops on this whole street are closed?"

Bored out of her mind, Comrade Fili Cat strolled aimlessly through the deserted streets, muttering to herself, "If this keeps up, I'll probably have to break into the homes of the locals to steal food just to scrape together a meal..."

But the next moment, he saw many destitute refugees suddenly stand up and crane their necks to look in a certain direction. Several nearby farmhouses, which had been tightly shut and guarded, also poked their heads out from behind their windows and balconies, their expressions grim and their eyes melancholy as they gazed into the distance.

Huh? What's wrong now?

Because of his size, Phil, the orange tabby cat, was strolling down the street with a low vantage point and obstructed by walls and vegetation, making it impossible for him to see the distant scenery. So, after looking around for a while, he leaped onto the wall and, after several more jumps, climbed onto the roof.

Then, the cat Philly leisurely raised its neck and looked in the direction people had been pointing. Suddenly, it saw a plume of thick smoke rising straight into the sky from behind the hills covered in dense forest on the distant western horizon… Could it be a forest fire?!

Well, right now, Fuyuki City is experiencing the dry and windy autumn season...

The terrible situation that will follow seems self-evident.

On the streets below, many people noticed this strange occurrence, stood on tiptoe anxiously to look out, and pointed and whispered among themselves.

Whether they were refugees fleeing from the city, residents of this urban-rural fringe area, or bewildered American soldiers, they all had a strange premonition and even became slightly agitated because of this sudden change.

—Under normal circumstances, they might not be so panicked and sensitive. But from the day before yesterday until today, all sorts of inexplicable tragedies and atrocities have been happening non-stop in Fuyuki City, leaving these poor people no time to catch their breath:

It started with a bizarre gunfight on the commercial street of the new capital, followed by an inexplicable mass fall into a coma throughout the city, and a massive fire that stretched across several streets—even just these events alone were the greatest disaster for Fuyuki City since the Pacific War.

No, even during the Pacific War, Fuyuki City never suffered such a horrific catastrophe.

Because during the Pacific War, Fuyuki City was not yet developed; it was merely a rural town with no industry or mining and far from transportation hubs. For the U.S. military, there was no strategic significance in bombing it—aerial bombs cost money.

Therefore, even at the end of the Pacific War, when the Japanese Empire suffered air raids, Fuyuki City was not hit by many American bombs.

In comparison, the continuous gunfights, explosions, and fires of the past few days have made the locals feel as if they have suddenly fallen into a Middle Eastern battlefield.

Then, the night before last, the Hyatt Hotel, the tallest landmark building in the city, collapsed in an explosion and flames...

As for the reason why the Hyatt Hotel was blown up and collapsed, unsurprisingly, it remains a mystery to this day, with various rumors circulating.

What happened in Fuyuki City yesterday was even more shocking and insane – reportedly, Self-Defense Forces and U.S. forces stationed in Japan, who came to Fuyuki City for disaster relief, actually started fighting each other with live ammunition in the city without even discussing a disagreement! It made the citizens think that the Second Pacific War was about to break out!

Fortunately, the Second Pacific War did not break out, and the relatively peaceful night brought some respite. But who knew that upon waking this morning, they would see billowing black smoke rising from the distant western mountains, which once again stirred their fragile nerves!

To these exhausted and frightened people, the sudden billowing black smoke in the distant mountains and forests might be a harbinger of a new disaster about to befall Fuyuki City, which has suddenly become plagued by misfortune.

And even more unfortunately, the cruel reality seems to be just that...

"...Huh? What's going on? The fire in the city has just been extinguished, and now the forest to the west is smoking again? Could it be a forest fire?"

"...It's hard to say! Maybe there's another fight going on in the city? This is a nightmare..."

"...There have been rumors these past few days that the current administration has gone mad and wants to start a war with the Americans at this time? That's impossible, isn't it?"

"...Pah! Pah! You jinx! Don't say such unlucky things! It'll scare people to death!"

"...You're too fragile! Do you think saying nice things to you will put out this fire?"

"Hey, what are you two still talking nonsense about? Hurry up and pack your bags, let's get ready to run away!"

"...Huh? Why? I think the place on fire is quite far from here, and it might not even burn this far away, right?"

"...Tsk tsk! You've obviously never experienced a forest fire before, right? When the smoke really hits you, you won't be able to escape!"

As for whether this fire will spread over here? Are you blind? That forest that is burning and smoking is located to the west of us. It is late autumn now, and the weather is dry with northwest winds blowing almost every day. If the forest fire doesn't burn here, where else can it burn?

"Alas! What sins have we committed in this life! Unless God intervenes and sends a sudden downpour, Fuyuki City is definitely doomed! Do you think the fire department will even come to put out the fire after the city has been reduced to this state?"

"...What?! Oh my God!!!"

"…May Buddha protect us! May Buddha protect us! Everyone run!"

Author's message

P.S.: I was chatting with readers in a group recently, and we talked about "Invincible Urban Management Officers," which was canceled abruptly. Actually, when the book was banned, the Republican era volume of "Invincible Urban Management Officers" was almost finished, with only the tail left, which was later completed. The entire book was also nearing its end at that time, with only the Black Africa volume (the most ridiculous terrorist organization in history) remaining. After the Black Africa volume was finished, the whole book would be complete.

After I gave that reply, some people hoped that I would write a separate book to complete the "Invincible Black Africa" ​​chapter of the Kantai Collection, just like the author of the sequel to the Kantai Collection: Yamato's defection to the Communists. I'm a little hesitant about this. After so long, do people still want to read it?

Chapter 67, Fire Attack on Einzbern!

Thirty kilometers west of Fuyuki city, in a forest, lies the Einzbern family's castle in Japan.

Having not slept all night, Kiritsugu Emiya sat in a rocking chair in the main bedroom of Einzbern Castle, his beard stubble and eyes red. He propped his head up with his hands and remained silent for a long time, staring blankly at the intricate patterns on the Persian carpet, seemingly lost in thought.

On the large bed next to him, the bedding and mattress had been removed, leaving only the bare, hard mahogany bed frame.

In the middle of the bed, Kiritsugu Emiya had personally inscribed an intricate magic circle, within which lay Irisviel, fast asleep.

At this moment, Mrs. Irisviel looked calm and serene, wearing a gorgeous white dress with gold trim. Her slender hands were crossed over her full breasts, and a faint smile was on her face. She looked just like Sleeping Beauty from a fairy tale.

However, while Sleeping Beauty in fairy tales is eventually awakened by a kiss from her prince charming, Mrs. Irisviel is unlikely to ever wake up again.

Because the "Minor Grail," a key component of the Holy Grail War system, is a humanoid "container" that holds the souls of defeated heroes, Mrs. Irisviel's physical endurance has reached its limit and is on the verge of collapse after absorbing the souls of three defeated heroes in succession.

Lying in this healing magic circle, a secret technique passed down through the Einzbern family, is currently the only way for Mrs. Irisviel to recuperate, but even so, it can only maintain her current physical condition and temporarily prevent her from collapsing further.

Once another Heroic Spirit is defeated and leaves the battlefield, their soul enters Irisviel's body, at which point she will lose her human form and become a Holy Grail.

"...I never would have guessed! Kiritsugu Emiya! You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, who looks so righteous, would actually turn your own wife into a magical artifact? After doing such an inhumane thing, you still dare to call yourself a champion of justice?"

In this Holy Grail War, Saber (the swordsman), the petite golden dragon princess Catherine, sat on the windowsill and said to Kiritsugu Emiya, her tone filled with disgust, "...As far as I know, it seems that only cultists who worship demons would do this, right?"

—Although Princess Catherine had heard some "spoilers" before her arrival, due to the time constraints, even with these spoilers, she only had a rough understanding of the causes and consequences of the Holy Grail War, and missed quite a lot. She only now understood that Mrs. Irisviel was actually the "Minor Grail," and what exactly the "Minor Grail" was all about.

This made her feel an extreme aversion and resistance to Kiritsugu Emiya, that gloomy guy—no matter how spoiled and arrogant Princess Catherine's personality was, she and her Golden Dragon Clan still belonged to the staunch Order of Good.

While the ruling golden dragons, strictly speaking, are not self-sacrificing saints, but rather like other dragons, flawed by greed and arrogance, and equally ruthless in killing enemies on the battlefield, even collecting enemy heads as specimens to boast of their prowess, what Kiritsugu Emiya just did—using his closest confidant as a sacrifice in a magical ritual for some secret purpose—is a blatant breach of morality and ethics that severely exceeds Princess Catherine's moral tolerance.

At this very moment, in the eyes of Princess Catherine, Kiritsugu Emiya had been branded with a red and black sign that read "suspected cultist".

"...It wasn't my doing that Alice became like this...She was destined for this fate even before I first met her."

Kiritsugu Emiya hadn't intended to say much, but seeing Princess Catherine's disdainful look, and realizing he still needed to cooperate with her to win the Holy Grail War, he reluctantly added a few more words: "...She is a woman destined to be without happiness. From birth, she was a homunculus created by the Einzbern family to house the Lesser Grail. Her life began because of this Holy Grail War, and she is also destined to perish in it...When I met her, it was already irreversible."

"...Is that so? Your wife, Irisviel, was a living magical artifact from birth, and a disposable one at that? Tsk tsk, unbelievable! I have to admit, your wife's fate is truly tragic!"

Although she didn't completely believe Kiritsugu Emiya's explanation, after frowning and thinking for a moment, Princess Catherine reluctantly accepted it. "...Is there really no way to save your wife Irisviel, Kiritsugu Emiya?"

"...No, as far as I know, there's absolutely no way. At least, I can't think of any way! Alice is a homunculus with a limited lifespan. Even without this Holy Grail War, her bodily functions would gradually cease to work in a little over a year at most..."

Kiritsugu Emiya, whose face had been expressionless the whole time, finally showed a hint of pain. "...So, she had already told me that since death and separation seemed inevitable, I might as well accept my fate and participate in and win this Holy Grail War! This is both to fulfill the Einzbern family's century-old wish and to realize my lifelong ideal through the Holy Grail, this omnipotent wish-granting machine..."

"...Your lifelong ideal?" Princess Catherine asked curiously. "...Could you tell me more specifically what it is?"

“…Of course…it’s to save the world!” Kiritsugu Emiya took a deep breath, looked up and said, his expression as solemn as a martyr.

However, Princess Catherine, the Golden Dragon, frowned dismissively upon hearing this. "...Save the world? What a joke! The world you live in, no matter how I look at it, doesn't seem to be heading towards destruction at all. Why would it need a mere mortal like you to save it?"

—Okay, this is a typical Japanese tactic: talking to yourself, bluffing, creating a fait accompli, and ultimately forcing the other party to admit it.

Although Kiritsugu Emiya probably never spent more than a few days living in Japan in his entire life, he used the above tactics very skillfully.

Unfortunately, the petite Heroic Spirit summoned by Kiritsugu Emiya didn't fall for his tricks.

Or rather, even on Earth, aside from a very small number of Japanese people and those with a deep-seated chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), there are probably very few people in the entire multiverse who would agree with Kiritsugu Emiya's inexplicable way of thinking.

The two sides are not on the same wavelength, which makes communication awkward.

"...Ahem, indeed, there are no signs of our world being destroyed yet. It has been a long time since the last world war."

Kiritsugu Emiya, slightly embarrassed, touched his nose and explained, "...However, inhumane wars and massacres continue to erupt in every corner of the world. Every day, many good people are killed without reason, and every year, many once beautiful and peaceful villages are destroyed. Even more terrifying is that even those living in peaceful countries are constantly shrouded in the shadow of nuclear war and destruction..."

As a mercenary who grew up during the height of the Cold War, spent half his life traversing turbulent battlefields, and witnessed countless acts of bloodshed and evil, Kiritsugu Emiya's worldview, outlook on life, and values ​​are naturally vastly different from those of ordinary citizens who grew up in peaceful countries.

In his view, not to mention the two devastating world wars, even in the half-century following World War II, humanity has not ushered in true peace. Instead, it continues to struggle in the vortex of war and destruction, or is shrouded in the shadow of nuclear war, trembling with fear.

Those scientists at Oak Ridge who risked their lives to invent the nuclear bomb in order to end World War II as quickly as possible probably never dreamed that their groundbreaking invention would not bring true peace, but instead create a distorted world where offense and defense are out of balance.

In the ensuing nearly half-century of the Cold War, these terrifying weapons, with a yield of millions or even hundreds of millions of tons of TNT, plunged every civilized nation in the world into an unprecedented, terrifying, tense, and unstable state.

The very survival of human civilization on Earth, and the material and spiritual wealth accumulated by countless nations and peoples over thousands of years, seem to depend on the moral and ethical standards of those few who hold the nuclear button, lest they be reduced to ashes in the next second.

If the destruction of ancient civilizations takes decades or even centuries, then the modern world in a nuclear war could be destroyed in just a few days.

Such a fragile world, such an absurd situation, is nothing short of a profound mockery of so-called "modern civilization."

Although many scientists and writers predicted that the US-Soviet nuclear war would destroy all of human civilization, it ultimately did not break out. The Soviet Union, once one of the two poles of the world, also collapsed and disintegrated in a ridiculous way not long ago.

But this does not mean that all those nuclear weapons that have already been built will no longer be used to kill people.

Moreover, even the hot war between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, never actually broke out. Even the Cold War, which lasted for half a century, has come to an end. However, in those small countries on the periphery of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which served as arenas for great power rivalry, various kinds of continuous warfare and killings have never ceased. Sometimes, the people of those countries don't even know why they are fighting, and they enter the arena in a daze.

Even if the entire nation is wounded and exhausted by the war, and finally abandons hatred and achieves a fragile peace with great difficulty, this hard-won peace can often crumble and collapse in an instant due to sudden changes in the international situation and the intervention of distant powers.

This kind of despair, watching one's homeland engulfed in war yet feeling utterly powerless to help, is something that only those who have experienced it firsthand can truly understand.

Therefore, in Kiritsugu Emiya's eyes, although human society has become increasingly advanced and developed since the Industrial Revolution, the probability of the entire civilization self-destructing is also gradually increasing as human power grows stronger, making it as fragile as a beautiful glass ornament.

In the past, launching a large-scale war cost only the casualties of soldiers and the depletion of wealth, and the entire process often dragged on for years or even decades. Now, launching a nuclear war would cost the entire civilization its destruction, and it would only take a few days!

—Cold War propaganda repeatedly depicted terrifying scenes of "intercontinental ballistic missiles being launched and humanity being plunged into a radioactive wasteland."

"...I am neither a politician nor a diplomat, and I really don't know how to get all of humanity to lay down their weapons, understand each other, and live in harmony. In fact, no politician in the world has ever been able to accomplish such a great feat."

Kiritsugu Emiya lit a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and said in a somber tone, "...So, I can only hope for a miracle, specifically, the Holy Grail, the prize of the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War, which is an all-powerful wish-granting machine. By making a wish to it, I can win eternal world peace..."

"...Eternal...world peace? Ah, I must say, that is indeed a very grand ideal..."

Princess Catherine nodded reluctantly, but deep down she felt nothing; in fact, she found it somewhat amusing.

Because, in the eyes of the Golden Dragon Clan, who also revere strength and justice, peace, though precious, can never last forever.