Chapter 11: Young Man, Your Cheat Has Expired
As soon as Su Xiao entered the room, the conversation between Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin ceased. Emiya Kiritsugu stood behind Tohsaka Rin, ready to take her and flee at a moment's notice.
Su Xiao glanced at the wary Emiya Kiritsugu, then walked toward the inner part of the room. He quickly found the bathroom and began rinsing the bloodstains off his body.
Bubu Wang was still lying lazily on the tatami mat, occasionally lifting a dog paw to rub his rear. Amu hadn't entered the room; he was guarding the courtyard to prevent anyone from the Blood Gate from tracking them here. Beini was nowhere to be seen, likely off treasure hunting again.
Inside the bathroom, Su Xiao simply rinsed off the bloodstains before stepping out, his wet hair still dripping.
"You were... out killing people earlier, weren't you?" Emiya Shirou's expression wasn't too pleasant as he subconsciously tightened his grip on the teacup in his hand.
"Just personal grudges. For now, these matters have nothing to do with you—provided those people don't chase us here."
"Chase us here..."
Emiya Shirou was taken aback, but he was more eager to know why Su Xiao had gone to kill people and whether it was senseless slaughter or part of the Holy Grail War.
"So, what do you plan to do?"
Su Xiao was somewhat curious about what this righteous ally, Emiya Shirou, would do. If it escalated to hostility, he wouldn't hesitate to kill this plot protagonist—after all, he wasn't a World Child.
Emiya Shirou fell silent. He actually didn't know what to do either. Should he have a direct conflict with Su Xiao? Though he didn't fear death and was willing to die for his ideals, he clearly understood that with such an absolute gap in strength, his sacrifice would be meaningless.
But as a righteous ally, Emiya Shirou absolutely couldn't allow Su Xiao to "kill innocents." Adhering to the principle that "people die when they are killed," he stared at Su Xiao with a serious expression.
"If I die, you'll disappear too, right?" Emiya Shirou raised his right hand, where two Command Seals remained.
With a clatter, Su Xiao tossed a dagger onto the low wooden table.
"Based on my experience, if you're going to kill yourself, it's best to stab straight through your throat and spine. If you have enough courage, cut sideways after the blade enters your throat—this will sever your arteries or veins, speeding up your death by at least 70%. Don't bother stabbing through the heart; if you're unlucky, you'll writhe in agony for one to two minutes after a heart puncture."
"..."
Emiya Shirou was speechless. He looked at the dagger on the table, then at Su Xiao, and finally at Tohsaka Rin.
Tohsaka Rin turned her head away, as if to say, "I'm not close to him—just classmates—and I have no intention of dying with him."
"That was just... a metaphor," Emiya Shirou said. He certainly wasn't foolish enough to actually kill himself; he had only been testing whether he could establish a mutually restraining relationship with Su Xiao. Clearly, he couldn't.
"Is that so? Then let's continue our earlier conversation. Tohsaka Rin, how interested are you in the Holy Grail?"
Su Xiao had already realized that, compared to Emiya Shirou, Tohsaka Rin was a much more suitable Master. At least she wasn't a righteous ally. He had no interest in discussing what justice meant with Emiya Shirou—their ideals were too different, and he had no intention of forcing his own views on the other. That would be pointless.
"Very interested."
Although Tohsaka Rin's goal in participating in the Holy Grail War wasn't solely the Holy Grail, she wouldn't refuse it if she could obtain it.
"Is that so? Then I can make you very strong—at least among the top few Masters."
"Well..."
Tohsaka Rin seemed to think of something and looked back at Emiya Kiritsugu behind her.
"I won't serve a useless Master."
Emiya Kiritsugu also understood what Su Xiao was implying. He glanced at Emiya Shirou. Though this was his former self, that didn't mean he would identify with his past self.
Emiya Shirou's mouth opened and closed. By now, he understood—was he being abandoned?
"Emiya Shirou, due to certain reasons, I had to rely on you to descend into this world. Considering the differences in our ideals, I'll help you switch to a different Servant."
"I object," Emiya Kiritsugu said.
"Well... actually, I also..." Tohsaka Rin seemed about to say something, but Su Xiao turned to look at her, his smile unusually warm.
"If it's for tactical needs, I suppose it's not unacceptable."
Tohsaka Rin's mouth twitched. In that instant, she felt that refusing might mean death.
"I also object!" Emiya Shirou's tone was firm. His reasoning was simple: rather than letting a demon loose, it was better to let the demon consume him first—perhaps that would prevent one more victim.
In truth, Emiya Shirou was overthinking things. Su Xiao had no interest in anyone outside the Blood Gate, Servants, Masters, or Violators. As long as they didn't come looking for trouble, Su Xiao wouldn't be bored enough to kill them.
As for explaining all this to Emiya Shirou, Su Xiao couldn't be bothered. Rather than rambling on, switching Masters or killing Emiya Shirou was a more efficient choice.
"Since the parties involved agree, it's settled. Right, Master of the Tohsaka family?"
"Uh... well, actually... I agree~" Noticing Su Xiao's smile growing warmer, Tohsaka Rin quickly changed her tune. Clearly, she was much smarter than Emiya Shirou.
"Even if I agree, the Command Seals are a big problem, and there's the matter of mana supply..."
"Those aren't problems. As for Command Seals, I can get you as many as you want."
Given Su Xiao's relationship with the old priest, his understanding of Command Seals far surpassed that of most Masters. Command Seals weren't inseparable. The old priest had once gathered a large number of Command Seals and could freely grant them to others. In the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kayneth had successfully requested Command Seals from the old priest.
"Command Seals are just a type of mark, very similar to stigmata or engravings. If you trace their origin, Command Seals evolved from stigmata."
As he spoke, Su Xiao took out a cross covered in golden stripes. This was a "souvenir" left behind after the old priest's death. Out of gratitude for the old priest's past help, Su Xiao had spent 12,000 Paradise Coins to notarize this item after the Fourth Holy Grail War. He could forcibly grant Command Seals to Emiya Shirou because of this item. Its function was simple, similar in principle to an energy stripper, but with a special nature, having been specially processed by the Holy Church.
"Amu."
As soon as Su Xiao spoke, Amu walked into the room, forming an ice warhammer in his hand. The message was clear: anyone who objected would get hammered. Very straightforward.
Before Tohsaka Rin could react, Su Xiao grabbed her arm and dragged her into the adjacent room. Moments later—
"Wait, you, what are you... yamete..."
Soon, Tohsaka Rin walked out of the adjacent room, clutching her arm. Su Xiao walked straight toward Emiya Shirou. Compared to stripping Tohsaka Rin's Command Seals, stripping Emiya Shirou's was much simpler—after all, Su Xiao had originally imprinted them on him.
When Su Xiao grabbed Emiya Shirou's right hand, the Command Seals on his hand quickly faded, and the three Command Seals of the Archer class soon appeared.
At that moment, the magical connection between Su Xiao and Emiya Shirou was completely severed. Emiya Shirou became Emiya Kiritsugu's Master. Throughout the entire process, Emiya Kiritsugu stood by with his arms crossed, watching. He knew that if a conflict broke out, all the Masters in this room would die.