Chapter 17 : Contract

Please stop. Please stop.

"What is this!"

In the roaring heat, my husband's angry voice resounded.

"Who told you to go this far? Everything is ruined!"

The castle was engulfed in flames.

People. Treasures. Everything.

Please stop. Please stop.

The princess attended the ceremony in the dress I gave her. She didn't know that the dress was made of fire.

The magic was broken during the ceremony, and the dress returned to the flames and engulfed everything.

It was all done according to my husband's instructions.

The dress was made of flames, one by one. If all of it returned to flames at once, how huge would it become?

I think it's self-evident, but my husband didn't seem to think about it.

"I took an interest in you because you were beautiful, and now you're repaying me with evil! Are you jealous? How insolent!"

Please stop. Please stop.

Even if you're the man who took everything from me. Even if you're my hated enemy.

You're the only one left for me.

"Don't get carried away, you filthy witch! I have never loved you!" The thud shouldn't have been particularly loud, but it reached my ears very clearly amidst the noise.

My husband looked blankly down at his stomach, at the sword stuck there, then gave me a look of shock as I held it - and then he collapsed. That was the untimely end of my husband, the honourable hero Iason.

"So, shall we go for some free talk time?"

As I said this teasingly, two pairs of hostile gazes pierced me. Whoa, super scary!

Although he acted calm, inside he was sweating profusely.

Don't be fooled, Hikigaya Hachiman. The only thing you have that works on these guys is bluffing.

My gaze was on Saber, who was stuck in the swamp of order I had created, and Tohsaka Rin, who was being tossed about three steps away.

The force is so strong that even though I have an overwhelming advantage, I want to kneel down. Why are beautiful women so scary? I can't take it anymore, I miss Totsuka.

By the way, Emiya at my feet isn't scary at all.

I wonder why. Maybe it's because he somehow senses the presence of his kind. Especially since he can't stand up to women who are close to him.

"First off, I'll start by explaining the curse I put on you guys, I'm sure you're curious. It's quite simple. If I die, Emiya and Tohsaka will die with me. OK?"

Emiya and Saber were astonished by what I said, but Tohsaka hid her shock and said something else.

"...So you already know about us. What is your purpose?"

It's not that he doesn't understand the situation, but rather he looks at me with a challenging gaze. There's a grin on his face. Huh?

"I want you to make a little deal with me."

"contract?"

Emiya gave a suspicious look.

"Don't be so wary. Even though we have a contract, it doesn't mean I have to become a magical girl or anything."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Tohsaka looked at me like I was an idiot.

"I'm a guy to begin with..."

Emiya simply twisted his neck.

(Yahatan-san, I wonder if it's okay to talk under the assumption that all Japanese people like anime.)

The media even went out of their way to criticize him via telepathy.

Huh? That's strange. I thought watching Madoka Magica was a legal obligation.

Anyway, I'll carry on.

"The contract is, you guys have to protect me."

"protect?"

"Yeah. To be honest, it would be difficult for us to survive on our own. I wanted someone to protect me."

Emiya and Tohsaka exchanged looks at my words. Then Medea sent a telepathic message.

(Yahata-sama, this isn't what we had planned.)

(Change of plan. I'll incorporate these guys into my fighting force.)

(Dangerous)

(Their power is much stronger than I had expected. If the other Servants continue like this, they won't last until the end. I need to take action soon.)

(But this curse...)

(I know. But I have no choice.)

(……I got it)

The telepathic communication ended while giving off an air of reluctance.

The original plan was to have the two of them use the Command Spells, using the curse as a shield, to make the Servant commit suicide.

Right now, I've been boosted to an incredible level by the media's physical enhancements. I'm sure I could crush a wrestler with one hand, and that's not just a metaphor. It would be weird to be able to crush concrete.

Of course, I had no intention of fighting. But I had insurance, and I honestly thought I could just fight and win.

That foolhardy confidence was quickly shattered.

These two groups are probably being watched by other enemies besides us. If that's the case, then they will be the next ones to attack.

His intention was to lure his attackers into a trap and defeat them one by one.

But Saber's speed was beyond my imagination, and the moment I saw it, I realized there was no way I could win.

That's why I revised the predicted strength of the other Servants upwards, but no matter how I thought about it, they would all die midway through. Or rather, I doubted I'd be able to win next time. I had no choice but to change my plan again.

By the way, although I said that it's natural for plans not to go as planned, you should always have a backup plan in case things go wrong.

In government offices, they seem to try to forcefully recalculate the amount to fit within their own capacity, but it's your life that's at stake. There's no point in making the revised value smaller, and downward revisions are out of the question. You can't be reassured by calculations alone.

In any case, it became urgent to reinforce our forces, and since we had succeeded in casting the curse, we decided to bring him into our side.

They have no choice but to protect me in order to survive. This contract should have been 100% successful, but...

In fact, this curse has one serious flaw.

In order to use Imohan's idea, there were a few problems that had to be overcome.

First, strength.

Curses are also a type of magic. It seems possible to break them with force. If that were to happen, the threat would be invalid, so this was absolutely necessary.

Secondly, I'm the one handling it.

Since I don't have any magical circuits, it would take some ingenuity to cast a curse without going through the ritual.

In order to achieve both of these goals at the same time, it was necessary to sacrifice something else. That's where the effect duration came in.

Thus, a special potato-shaped curse that can be used to easily cast a curse on anyone was created, but its effect was extremely short-lived, lasting only two days. This is what the media is worried about.

It would be enough to defeat him here, but to enslave him, I would have to continue deceiving him even after the curse wears off. To be honest, the risk is too high.

But it still has to be done.

Currently, these are the only two Masters we have information about, and there's no guarantee that the next battle will go as well as this.

Besides, if he could get them on his side, he would only have 3 Servants out of 7. With Assassin down, he would have half of the total fighting power, which would make him much safer.

The curse itself is real, and the media said that they'll disguise the duration well. There shouldn't be any problems even if they investigate. I don't think there's anything they can't do, but...

"If you're going to ask someone for something, shouldn't you at least give your name?"

A dignified voice resounded in the dark hallway. It was Saber, who had been silent up until then. Although, since she was still hanging there, she didn't look very good.

"...Do you think this is the right situation to say that?"

Saber doesn't reply to what I say, but instead glares straight at me. She's so straight that I can't help but look away.

Scary, scary, scary. How can you look someone straight in the eye like that? No, it's fine though.

"...Hikigaya Hachiman. As I'm sure you can guess, he's Caster's Master."

I'll tell you my name for now. It's not like it would be a problem if people knew about it now. It's not like I was overwhelmed by the force of it all.

"...Hikigaya, let me ask you something."

This time it was Emiya.

"No, I thought I was in a position to ask questions."

"The mass gas poisoning incident in Shinto, was that your doing?"

Huh? This guy cut off what the other person was saying and asked a question? Let's exchange words properly. Otherwise you'll end up like me.

"...Well, I suppose so."

For now I'll affirm it.

To be precise, Medea did this without permission, but I am responsible for managing her. I'm sure they have no interest in the discord between enemy Masters and Servants.

Emiya took my words in and asked more questions.

"Why did you do that? What did they do to you?"

"No, nothing in particular. If you ask me why, I can only answer that it's to gather strength."

"...So you sacrificed an unrelated person for your own convenience?"

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess it's true... Eh? Is that something to be criticized for?"

"Of course! Do you know how many people were hospitalized?"

"Well, it's true that smoking until you collapse was a bit excessive, and I think it was a disservice to the people who were hospitalized, but apparently they'll recover if they just rest for about two days."

"If things had gone wrong, you could have died!"

"But he's not dead, is he? It seems like he was careful not to let anyone die, so no matter how careless he was, he wouldn't make such a mistake."

"That's not the issue!"

"Then what's the problem? I should point out that I was gathering magical power to protect myself. Are you telling me to just stay quiet and let myself be killed? In reality, even I would have lost to you guys without the magical power I gathered."

Emiya fell silent at my words. It seemed he couldn't bring himself to tell her to die.

But there are quite a few people in the world who can say that.

"That's sophistry!"

It's Saber.

"What you're saying is merely a matter of hindsight! It's a fact that I killed unrelated people to protect myself! How can I team up with a sly man like you!"

So think about the situation before you say anything... What can I say, he is truly a Heroic Spirit. His words and actions are those of the protagonist.

Well, if you think about it, he is a true hero. And as a Heroic Spirit of the Sword, it's not surprising that he has a personality like the protagonist of a story. Or rather, he might even be the model for the protagonist.

From Saber's perspective, I'm just the wicked witch's minion A.

But you know? Even though they're minor characters, they're still alive, unlike in stories.

"In the end, we're both the same, right? You guys came to kill us for your own convenience, too. It's the same thing, right?"

"We're not the same! Conflicts between magicians should be settled between magicians alone! Don't you want to fight openly with your own strength, you coward?"

"Well, you had no chance of winning, so you resorted to this tactic. And it's cowardly… I mean, I did guide it in that direction, but you guys were the ones who initiated it, right? And it was two against one too. And now you're calling me cowardly if I lose? What? Are you the kind of person who isn't satisfied unless it's a fight you're sure to win?"

"I'm telling you, have you no pride?"

"There's no way that's the case. Are you an idiot?"

I've never really liked this Saber ever since I started watching her, and now I finally understand why.

This guy is that guy. He's the same kind of person as Hayama.

He is extremely competent and extremely correct. And he is just an idiot who is just right.

"Well, I think that's cool. No, I'm not being sarcastic. Risking your life to protect your pride. I respect that, and honestly, I admire it."

I'm a loner. Most loners are otaku. I love manga and anime.

And the stories depicted in such works are often about righteous people righting wrongs. Whether they are battle stories or romance stories, these elements are included.

So otakus, more or less, admire righteousness. But the reality is not that simple. It's not okay to trample on wrong people just for the sake of being righteous.

"But, those are just your values. There are a lot of people in this world who value life more than pride. Don't force your values on me."

"On the contrary! Because lives are at stake, there are principles that must not be violated! If a warrior loses his pride, the battlefield will simply turn into hell!"

…Yeah, that's a bit embarrassing. The way you said it now makes it sound like the battlefield is better than hell.

"Hey, my knight. Pride and honor are good, but do you really have to kill someone to protect them?"

"...What?"

Saber's voice had only been accusing me up until then, but now for the first time, something other than that was mixed in. If I had to put it into words, I'd say it was confusion.

"So what you're saying is that it's permissible to kill someone to protect honor and glory, right?"

"...How dare you mock chivalry in front of me!"

Ah, I'll do that.

Saber came to kill us, probably to obtain the Holy Grail.

However, Saber denied killing others for her own selfish desires, and on top of that, she tried to cover up her own actions with nice words like pride and honor.

I'm an otaku, so I have a desire for correctness.

But before I'm an otaku, I'm a loner.

A loner is someone who is wrong. Someone who strays from what is right.

Therefore, we must fight against those who brandish righteousness and trample over error.

"Hey, what do you think about the phrase 'one for all'?"