Kiritsugu's expression darkened as he recalled the look on Matou Shinji's face when he had asked Emiya to stay behind and clean the classroom.
That guy did it on purpose.
[Watching this battle unfold, something that could only be seen in TV dramas, Shirou was utterly dumbfounded.]
[The Kanshou and Bakuya in Red Archer's hands shattered one after another. But every time a blade broke, a new one instantly appeared in his grasp, as if the supply was endless.]
["The twenty-seventh one. I didn't expect that after so many exchanges, he could still keep summoning weapons…"]
[Cú Chulainn paused his assault, startled. Only now did he realize that Red Archer's weapons weren't real.]
[Red Archer: "What's wrong? Sitting back and watching isn't your style. Where's all that bravado from earlier?"]
[Cú Chulainn: "Tch, you sure love to talk. Let me ask you—where exactly are you from? I've never heard of an Archer who fights with dual blades."]
["In that case, your identity is easy to deduce. Lancers are said to be the fastest Heroic Spirits, and you're one of the best among them. There are no more than three Lancers in the world at your level."]
[Red Archer shifted into his theatrical mode, closing his eyes as he spoke: "With your beast-like agility, there can only be one possibility."]
["Well said, Archer!"]
[However, Red Archer's taunt had the opposite effect. Instead of unsettling him, it only made Cú Chulainn more excited. Lowering his stance, he gripped his spear in a throwing posture.]
[He was about to unleash his Noble Phantasm.]
["Take my fatal strike!"]
["This level of mana…!"]
[Tohsaka Rin's face paled as she frantically tried to think of a countermeasure, but for the moment, she had no solution.]
[Just then, Shirou Emiya unexpectedly intervened.]
[Having already made his way to the edge of the schoolyard, he was startled by Cú Chulainn's movements and instinctively took a step back in panic—his foot scuffing against the ground.]
["Who's there!?"]
[Cú Chulainn immediately canceled the release of his Noble Phantasm, his expression turning cold as he looked toward the source of the sound. He saw only the back of a schoolboy in uniform, bolting into the school building.]
[Tohsaka Rin: "A student!? There's still someone in school at this hour?"]
[Red Archer: "Looks like it. Thanks to him, I just got to keep my life."]
["Wait… where's Lancer?"]
[Tohsaka Rin suddenly realized that Cú Chulainn had disappeared in the blink of an eye.]
["He must be going after that kid."]
[Red Archer said calmly: "Since he was an eyewitness, Lancer is probably planning to silence him."]
[Tohsaka Rin had no time to be annoyed by his detached attitude. She quickly commanded: "Archer, follow him! I'll catch up soon!"]
[Video paused.]
[The correct answer is D. Congratulations to those who answered correctly—you have received 1 Saint Quartz.]
Cú Chulainn: "???"
What the hell? He wouldn't normally care if someone saw him, yet in the video, he abandoned the fight to chase after some random kid?
Blonde Rin: "Something's off. You weren't even going all out in the fight, and now you're dropping it entirely just to run after a normal person?"
Cú Chulainn: "What's this got to do with me!? I don't know what I was thinking in the video!"
"No need to guess—it must be that rotten priest's doing."
Cú Chulainn: "Exactly!"
Yeah, all these weird actions were obviously due to his Master's orders.
What a shame. If his Master had been Bazett, none of this would have happened.
Looks like he'll have to keep an eye on that girl—he doesn't want to meet the same fate as his video counterpart.
[Video resumes.]
[Tohsaka Rin sprinted into the school building without a moment's hesitation, enhancing her legs with mana. What would have taken a normal student several minutes, she cleared in just thirty seconds.]
["Damn it… I was too careless. Silencing witnesses is a rule of magi. I've always been cautious because I despise that rule…"]
[She gasped for breath as she reached the final step of the stairs—only to see Archer standing at the entrance of the corridor, looking directly at her.]
[The moment she saw Archer's eyes, Tohsaka Rin felt a bad premonition.]
[When she stepped onto the third floor, she finally saw it—Shirou, lying in a pool of blood.]
[Since he was face-down, she didn't immediately recognize him.]
[The floor was dyed red. A gaping wound in his back showed where his heart had been pierced, blood still seeping from the wound.]
Fujimura Taiga: "Shirou!!!"
House Cook: "I… died?"
Illya: "No! Shirou will never die!"
House Cook: "Uh—Illya, I can't breathe…"
Emiya Kiritsugu: "..."
Shirou… just died like that?
No, that can't be. The previous videos confirmed that Shirou is one of the five Masters in the war, and his Servant is Saber. He definitely won't die here.
But his heart—his heart was gone. How could he possibly survive?
[As Red Archer stared at the dying Shirou Emiya, his expression remained calm.]
[After all, he had experienced this before, he already knew what was about to happen.]
["…Archer, go after Lancer. At the very least, find out who his Master is. Otherwise—"]
[Tohsaka Rin knelt beside Shirou, her face clouded with guilt.]
[She was kindhearted. She took all the blame onto herself, believing she had dragged an innocent bystander into this mess.]
Tohsaka Tokiomi: "..."
Gilgamesh: "Hahahaha! This is too amusing. So this is what kind of woman you are, Tohsaka."
Tohsaka Rin: "Shut up! This has nothing to do with you!"
["Sorry... at least let me take care of you until the end."]
[Looking at Shirou, whose heart had been pierced, Tohsaka Rin initially intended to send him off properly. However, as she got closer, she realized that he was still alive, clinging desperately to life.]
[She gently turned Shirou over with both hands, and when she saw his face clearly, she froze completely.]
[She knew Shirou, even though they had never actually met.]
[Back in junior high, after school, she had once accidentally seen Shirou practicing the high jump on the sports field.]
[The height he was attempting was clearly impossible for him to reach, yet he never gave up. That moment left a deep impression on her. From then on, she found herself secretly paying attention to him, noticing that he had a close relationship with her sister, Sakura.]
Lady Crane: "Well, even though you're from a small town, you certainly have perseverance."
Fujimura Taiga: "That's right! A man who never gives up is the most attractive."
Tohsaka Tokiomi: "..."
How could he not see what was so special about this boy?
Not only had he captured his younger daughter's heart, but now he had even ensnared his elder daughter as well.
["Why... why did you have to appear at this moment...?"]
[Tohsaka Rin's body trembled. Seeing Shirou teetering on the brink of death, she made a firm decision.]
[She glanced down at the pendant left to her by her father, hanging around her neck. She had already made up her mind.]
["I can't let Sakura be heartbroken... I can't take away someone important to her."]
["There... there's still a way to save him."]
[Without hesitation, Tohsaka Rin removed the pendant and began the ritual.]
[Placing her left hand on Shirou's body, blood dripped from her fingertips as she used the immense power stored within the jewel, invoking a technique to construct a brand-new heart.]
[As her incantation continued, a crimson light filled the corridor, and countless glowing red threads wove into Shirou's chest, repairing his damaged body—rebuilding his blood vessels, nerves, and heart.]
[Sweat poured down Tohsaka Rin's back as she poured all her remaining strength into reshaping his heart. It was a tremendous burden on her.]
[But in the end, she succeeded.]
[A few minutes later, the horrifying wound in Shirou's chest had vanished. Aside from the blood staining his shirt, his body had been completely restored.]
Caules: "It can even reconstruct a heart? What kind of magecraft is this?"
Waver: "No, it's the pendant. That's no ordinary jewel, it must be an extremely high-level magical artifact."
Kayneth: "The Tohsaka family has been underestimated. To think they possessed such an artifact..."
Tohsaka Tokiomi: "Rin, you—"
Watching his daughter use the pendant on Shirou only made the old father even more frustrated.
That gem pendant was a ceremonial artifact passed down through the Tohsaka family for generations. Created using the pinnacle of gem magecraft, it contained the accumulated magical energy of past Tohsaka heads and had the power to bring back the dead.
Of course, it could only be used once.
During the Fourth Holy Grail War, he had summoned Gilgamesh and believed victory was assured, so he had kept the pendant stored away. If he had worn it, Kotomine Kirei's dagger wouldn't have been able to kill him.
This pendant was meant to be Rin's last resort—a precious, life-saving artifact.
And now, she had used it on a mere boy.
[Exhausted from expending all her mana, Tohsaka Rin staggered to her feet. She was incredibly weak now—if another Master found her in this state, she'd be utterly defenseless.]
["I really screwed up today... Using my trump card so early..."]
[She was so drained that she didn't even notice the pendant slipping from her grasp. Only after she left the school did Red Archer reappear. He gazed at the now-revived Shirou Emiya with a complicated expression, then bent down to pick up the pendant before silently following after Rin.]
[Until this moment, Red Archer had never known who had saved him in the past. But now, he finally understood.]
[Tohsaka Rin returned home and collapsed onto the sofa, utterly drained. Right on cue, Red Archer appeared beside her.]
["Sorry, I failed. Looks like this Master is quite the slippery one."]
["Really...? I doubt it's that simple."]
[Tohsaka Rin murmured weakly. At this point, she was too exhausted to think any further.]
(To be continued.)