Chapter 4: The Candidate
Ten minutes later, in Emiya Shirou's home.
The room was brightly lit, with warm air flowing from the heater. Su Xiao sat cross-legged in front of the TV, frequently switching channels. He was deducing the progress of the Holy Grail War through various news reports. From the current situation, it seemed the Holy Grail War had just begun.
Bubu Wang lay lazily on the tatami mat, looking half-asleep, while Amu rummaged through the refrigerator for food. Beini crouched beside Su Xiao, watching the news with him.
Emiya Shirou stole a glance at Su Xiao and breathed a sigh of relief. From the looks of it, Su Xiao didn't seem like a bad person.
Noticing Emiya Shirou's gaze, Bubu Wang's dog face twisted in exasperation, as if to say, "Kid, just wait until an organization called the Blood Gate Adventurers shows up. Then you'll know what it means to kill without blinking. That'll shatter your worldview."
Tohsaka Rin, sitting on the tatami mat, picked up her hot tea, took a sip, and exhaled a puff of steam. Her Servant was standing guard outside the room.
She glanced at Emiya Shirou, who was kneeling behind a low wooden table, and sighed softly.
"Alright, I'll start explaining. You don't even know your position yet, do you? Simply put, Emiya-kun, you've been chosen as a Master..."
As Tohsaka Rin spoke, she glanced at Su Xiao. The situation was clear: Emiya Shirou was a major powerhouse in this Holy Grail War. Since they were classmates, she didn't mind cozying up to him to secure victory.
Tohsaka Rin began explaining the details of the Holy Grail War to Emiya Shirou. When she introduced the Command Seals, Emiya Shirou froze for a moment. He hadn't expected that the marks on the back of his hand could actually control such a powerful Servant. In reality, the kid was overthinking it. He hadn't considered how he'd obtained those Command Seals in the first place. Back then, even the old worm of the three great magic families couldn't control Su Xiao through Command Seals, let alone this half-baked amateur.
After the explanation, Emiya Shirou had a basic understanding of the Holy Grail War. As a champion of justice, he clearly didn't approve of this kind of mutual slaughter.
"Amu, stop digging. That fridge isn't edible."
Su Xiao turned off the TV and tossed the remote aside. He walked over to the low wooden table, crouched down, and met Tohsaka Rin's gaze at eye level.
"Magus of the Tohsaka family."
Su Xiao grabbed Tohsaka Rin's arm and examined the Command Seals on her hand. Although he didn't need a mana supply, as a Servant, having a Master with Command Seals was crucial—otherwise, he'd be expelled from the Holy Grail World.
Emiya Shirou was the first choice for now, while Tohsaka Rin could serve as a backup. If Su Xiao, Amu, and Bubu Wang attacked together, Servant Emiya wouldn't last ten minutes.
"You are..."
Tohsaka Rin looked puzzled. She hadn't introduced herself.
"Coincidentally, my last Master was your father's brother-in-law."
"Huh?"
Tohsaka Rin was clearly dumbfounded. What she didn't notice was that two spider-shaped alchemy bombs had crawled into her sleeves.
"You know my father? A relative? Also, you're hurting me."
Tohsaka Rin looked at Emiya Shirou, as if to say, "This is your Servant—aren't you going to do something?"
"Well..."
Emiya Shirou started to speak but suddenly realized he didn't even know how to address Su Xiao.
"Decent magical aptitude, but a pity—you've only inherited gem magecraft."
Su Xiao released Tohsaka Rin's arm, feeling less than satisfied with the quality of the Masters in this Holy Grail War. In the last war, even the weakest was a murderer, and the rest were either famous magi or a magus killer. The three great magic families had all participated, and the Servants had gone all out, unleashing their Noble Phantasms freely. Gilgamesh had even pulled out Ea. Back then, any Servant without a powerful Noble Phantasm felt too embarrassed to leave the house—like Hundred-Faced Hassan, for instance. Figures like Gilgamesh, Iskandar, and Artoria had all been Su Xiao's former opponents.
Now, Cú Chulainn had just been taught a lesson by Su Xiao and had a significant amount of his Servant energy devoured. Servant Emiya was decent in tactics, but in raw strength, he was at best average. Of course, there were still strong ones this time, like Gilgamesh lurking in the shadows, Berserker Heracles, the witch Medea, and the dragon-slaying swordsman Sasaki Kojirō.
Thinking of Sasaki Kojirō, Su Xiao recalled his Tsubame Gaeshi technique—a move that could touch the divine, allowing a mortal body to achieve a multi-dimensional refraction phenomenon.
"Where's your sister?"
Su Xiao's question left Tohsaka Rin even more confused.
"My sister?"
"Matou Sakura."
"I... seem to have some memory of her, but she's been missing for a long time."
Tohsaka Rin instinctively scooted away. She felt that Su Xiao's gaze toward her was off, as if he might cut her down at any moment.
Emiya Shirou, meanwhile, looked calm, clearly unaware of the name Matou Sakura. This struck Su Xiao as abnormal.
This was the Blood Gate Adventurers' storyline progress. As one of the Masters in this war, Matou Sakura was definitely a key figure. Moreover, Emiya Shirou should have been very familiar with her, not as indifferent as he appeared now.
Noticing this, Su Xiao stopped probing and sat by the wooden table, deep in thought.
"Well..."
Emiya Shirou spoke again, offering Su Xiao a relatively friendly smile.
"I don't know how to address you yet. If you have any requests, we can talk about them. And... I have a request of my own."
Emiya Shirou straightened up, ready to negotiate with Su Xiao.
"Call me Bai Ye. As for requests..."
Su Xiao smiled at Emiya Shirou. Since the Blood Gate Adventurers hadn't shown themselves yet, there was no need for him to go on a killing spree. He was certain that when the time came, Emiya Shirou would likely be unable to accept his decisions. But that didn't matter—at worst, he'd just switch Masters. Tohsaka Rin was one of the candidates.
"What's... wrong?"
Emiya Shirou met Su Xiao's gaze with a firm look. He had sensed from earlier that the Servant he'd summoned wasn't of the lawful good alignment. No, this wasn't even a Servant he had summoned—it was someone who had used him as a coordinate to descend here.
Just then, a faint rumbling came from far away. Su Xiao could hear it, but Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou couldn't.
"Bubu."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang got up, slid open the door, and quickly disappeared into the night. Servant Emiya appeared beside Tohsaka Rin and whispered something in her ear.
In less than ten minutes, Bubu Wang returned. He appeared out of nowhere, shook his head, and flung a blood-soaked contractor into the courtyard.
Seeing the bloodied man, Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou rushed out of the room.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The contractor, a man in his forties, was severely injured. He lay on the grass, clearly not long for this world.
Su Xiao stepped forward and pressed a hand to his neck to stop the blood gushing from his throat. Seeing this, Emiya Shirou's tension eased slightly. His Servant was saving someone—that meant he wasn't a bad person.
"Who did this?"
Su Xiao crouched beside the middle-aged contractor as blood seeped through his fingers.
"The Blood... Blood Gate is... purging this world."
The contractor knew he wouldn't survive, so he didn't hesitate to share what he knew.
"Is that so? Rest in peace."
Crack!
Su Xiao snapped the contractor's neck. The Blood Gate had finally shown themselves.
"Carry him inside—he's about to..."
Before Emiya Shirou could finish, he heard the crisp sound of bones breaking. His pupils contracted sharply.
"Bubu, Amu, Beini, let's go."
Su Xiao shook the blood off his hand and strode toward the courtyard exit.
"By the power of my Command Seal—Saber, cease your actions immediately!"
Emiya Shirou raised his arm, and the Command Seals on his hand glowed red. But... nothing happened. It was as if he were using fake Command Seals.
"Emiya-kun, your Servant seems... hard to get along with."
Tohsaka Rin watched Su Xiao's retreating figure. She suddenly realized that this wasn't a powerhouse to rely on—it was a dangerous Servant that no Master could control.