Chapter 13 : Determination

Please stop. Please stop.

"This is the last time I'll eat your food,"

my husband, who is about to marry the princess, muttered with deep emotion.

My husband was still violent, and broke furniture when he drank, but he had been in a good mood recently and no longer used violence unreasonably.

"You've helped me a lot, no matter what you say. I'm not saying this as a thank you, but after tomorrow's "work" is done, you'll be free. Do whatever you want." Please stop

. Please stop.

He spoke with a noble attitude that I couldn't imagine him having. However, the "work" he was talking about was the assassination of the princess, who was his marriage partner and my best friend. However

, my heart was still bound by the magic potion, so I couldn't even question my husband, who was telling me to be grateful.

"It was delicious. I'm going to bed now to prepare for tomorrow."

My husband said that and headed to the bedroom, but stopped on the way.

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot."

Please stop. Please stop.

Even if to you it is nothing more than the result of taking out your lust on the closest thing to you.

Even if to me they are the blood of a hated enemy.

But still, those children are my children, born with all the pain.

"Get rid of those brats. It would be a stain on my reputation if it was known that I have a son with witch blood."

"I see..."

That was the word that came out when the media explained the situation.

"...Is that all?"

"Blaming yourself isn't going to make the situation better."

He answered the media while lying on his futon.

Only an hour or so has passed since then, but the media's complexion looks much better now.

Originally it was just a paralyzing poison (however powerful and extremely fast-acting), and Medea had used her own magic to detoxify and treat the poison, so all that was left to do was restore her physical strength and she would be fully recovered.

Of course, since her physical strength had run out, I had to take care of her... Damn, I never thought the day would come where I'd have to help a girl other than Komachi get changed.

Well, it can't be helped, right? I can't let him sleep covered in mud and blood. I don't think he's the type to look slimmer in clothes, though. Who am I making excuses to...?

"But Hachiman-sama."

"Hya! Hi! Why did you blow it?!"

"teeth?"

"N-no, sorry. What is it?"

That was close, I made a strange noise. They looked at me like I was an insect...

"... No, well, I think it may have become extremely difficult to continue Hachiman-sama's plan..."

"Oh, that's it. Don't worry about it. Plans are always made with the assumption that things won't go well, right?"

"No, I don't know what you mean by that..."

Oh, no? Things have never gone the way I wanted them to, so I just assumed that was the way it was.

Anyway, I don't really feel that shocked.

To be honest, I knew this would happen eventually ever since I summoned Medea. It's a given after all.

"Well, there's no need to be so pessimistic. At least it's good news that Assassin has fallen. Are you sure it was Archer who defeated Assassin?"

"I can't prove it for sure, but it's a good guess. The classes that are capable of ultra-long distance sniping are Archers and Casters. It's not impossible for other classes if they use Noble Phantasms with those capabilities, but most Heroic Spirits that possess such spiritual equipment are Archers."

...This is the first time I've heard the word "Noble Phantasm."

From the way you've talked about it now, Spiritual Attire are what we call magic items, and Noble Phantasms are the items within those that act as trump cards for Heroic Spirits?

However, this is information that the media has been hiding up until now, so if he accidentally leaks it, he seems seriously weak. I guess I'll just pretend I didn't hear about it for now.

That being said, the current situation is far from the worst.

In my opinion, the worst case scenario would be to get completely stuck without being able to grasp the situation. If that were to happen, I'd have no choice but to die without being able to do anything.

In comparison, the current situation is one in which there is some preparation and, however limited, some intelligence about the enemy.

"...Archer means Saber is coming as well. How troublesome."

Archer's master is Tohsaka, Saber's master is Emiya, and it has been revealed through surveillance over the past few days that the two are in an alliance.

Tohsaka had weaknesses typical of a magician, and Emiya seemed to be someone who wasn't very cautious to begin with, so it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

What they were most worried about were the Servants, but it seemed like it wouldn't be that difficult to slip through that security net if it was Media.

It was fortunate that the information I had about the enemy was focused on these two (in fact, almost all of it).

"Well, there's no point complaining. Since the first plan didn't work, we'll just move on to the next one."

As I said before, I think it's normal for plans to not go as planned. So of course, I have a plan prepared for when they fail.

"I want to make some fine adjustments to that, so please tell me what you've been doing in the city so far."

"--Can you do that?"

"...Yes. I think we can manage it somehow."

"In that case, I'll leave it to you. Considering their behavior patterns, they will probably make their move at night. That means we have tomorrow, or rather today, to work through it. We'll work on everything we can in that time. For now, you rest and recover until morning. As long as you're prepared, I'll take on the real thing."

"...Are you sure?"

"There's no other choice. There's no good or bad."

"Understood. I'll rest then."

With that, Medea closed her eyes and began to sleep soundly.

I thought it was strange how easily I could fall asleep, but when I thought about it more carefully, I realized I wasn't human after all. Maybe it was like an on/off switch.

I went back to my room, took off my jacket, and jumped into bed.

I feel depressed thinking about what will happen tomorrow.

No shock. No surprise.

The time has finally come. That's it.

But that doesn't mean he wanted that to happen. He wanted to be forgiven for feeling a little depressed. From this point on, he wouldn't have time to be depressed anyway.

I sighed. I remembered everything that had happened up until now.

How did this happen?

Surely there must have been a safer route, one where there was no need to worry about one's life.

Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong?

It's decided. Everything from the beginning.

If only I hadn't asked Yukinoshita about the grimoire back then...

If only he had stopped the summoning ritual by force...

If they had negotiated on an equal footing instead of cornering the media...

If we hadn't tolerated the media's arbitrary actions...

If I use my last command spell――

Tch

I feel disgusted with myself for still dwelling on the worst possible option.

After all, as a person who has done everything wrong, I may not be able to make the right choice.

But still, I--

While thinking about a future that may or may not exist.

I went to sleep, preparing for the next night.