"Lord Neuvillette, is there something you wanted to say to me?"
Navia looked at Neuvillette and asked in a light, relaxed tone.
Now that the serial missing-girls case had finally come to an end, it felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from her chest.
Her father, Callas, was at last cleared of all suspicion.
But… he still wouldn't be coming back.
"I'm sorry, I—"
Before Neuvillette could finish, Navia cut him off.
"There's no need to apologize. As Fontaine's Chief Justice, you're the symbol of fairness for this nation. Of course you can't take anyone's side."
Back when that incident had happened, she really had resented him.
But she knew Neuvillette hadn't actually done anything wrong. With no evidence, no one could step forward and clear her father's name.
Neuvillette fell silent.
Ever since Callas's trial, he had been pondering what "justice" truly was.
He was the Hydro Dragon, and although he now wore a human form, his understanding of individual human beings was still only skin-deep.
"Lord Neuvillette, I have something I need to do, so I'll be going on ahead."
What Navia wanted to do now was visit her father's grave and tell him personally that the serial missing-girls case had finally been resolved.
Once things were settled in Fontaine, Koji resumed his travels between worlds.
…
"…Old Matou, I'm entrusting Sakura to you…"
In a worm-infested pit that would make even grown adults shudder, a little girl sat in utter despair.
Her father's words echoed in her mind—
He was the one who had personally sent her into this hell.
Someone… please save me…
On the back of her hand, scarlet markings suddenly flared into existence, faint light pulsing from them.
"Servant of the Saber class, answering the summons."
"So you're my Master?"
At the break of dawn, a beam of light descended.
The nauseating worms that brushed against that radiance were instantly reduced to smoke and ash.
Koji stepped out of the light and looked down at the small girl on the ground.
So that was it—
This child's desperate will to live had burst forth and summoned him.
This time, he had jumped to another world at random.
He hadn't expected to arrive at the Throne of Heroes just as a Heroic Spirit was about to be summoned.
So he simply kicked that Heroic Spirit aside and took their place himself.
"Please… save me."
Sakura looked up at Koji as if she had just grabbed hold of the very last ray of hope.
Off to one side, Matou Zouken stared at Koji warily.
The man wasn't dressed in ancient clothing, but he was clearly a Servant.
Just from the way he stood there, he radiated such overwhelming strength that it was terrifying.
A Saber-class Servant…
This felt very bad.
"What a disgusting place," Koji muttered as he glanced around.
The stench of filthy, writhing worms in the air made him frown.
"Are you even human?"
He looked over at Matou Zouken's twisted face with open disgust.
So this was the infamous old worm—what an ugly, vicious soul.
Tormenting even children…
A person like this didn't even deserve a place in hell.
This had to be one of the many parallel universes of the Type-Moon world.
"Who are you?"
Matou Zouken watched him carefully.
That feeling of mortal danger clung to him, refusing to fade.
If he stayed, he would die.
"The one who's going to kill you."
"Hellfire."
Flames gathered steadily in Koji's hand, condensing at last into a dark red sphere no larger than a fingernail.
It looked utterly ordinary, but Matou Zouken could feel a lethal threat radiating from it.
Wait, what?
He'd just introduced himself as a Saber, and there was a rather impressive sword hanging at his waist—
So why was he using elemental sorcery instead?
Koji's attitude was simple:
To kill you, I don't even need to draw my sword.
Boom.
It was yet another nuclear-level day in Fuyuki.
A colossal pillar of fire roared into the sky, piercing the clouds and seeming to connect heaven and earth.
Every last worm was incinerated in an instant, burned to ash.
Matou Zouken didn't even have the chance to fight back; he vanished together with his swarm, dragged down by his own unwillingness.
The shockwave and the deafening blast sent a wave of scorching air rolling outward.
Window panes on surrounding buildings shattered in droves, and the power lines linking neighborhood after neighborhood fused and snapped, plunging a huge area into blackout.
Where the Matou estate had once stood, only a vast crater remained, its surface charred black.
Koji carried Sakura away from that place.
Everything that followed had nothing to do with him.
Tomorrow's headlines would probably blame it on a domestic gas explosion.
"Sakura…"
The scapegoat of this world, Tohsaka Tokiomi, naturally saw the pillar of fire climbing into the heavens.
He was very familiar with that direction—it was the address he had just sent his daughter to, the Matou residence.
What happened?
Was this an attack by a Servant?
At a hotel.
Little Sakura was already fast asleep on the bed, but her small hand was still clutching Koji's shirt, as if she were afraid he might leave her.
Koji didn't move.
Instead, he pulled up his Servant status sheet.
It was a gift from the world's will when he arrived here, though it was of little practical use to him.
Name: Koji
Class: Saber
Parameters: Strength (EX), Endurance (EX), Agility (EX), Mana (?), Noble Phantasm (EX)
Innate Skills: Blessed by Protection (EX); Ultimate Swordsmanship (EX)…
Passive Skills: Undying Protection (EX)…
Noble Phantasm: Holy Sword – Dawn (EX), a blade sharp enough to sever concepts themselves.
Just as he expected.
Given how many blessings he carried, this status really was a broken, invincible mess.
The energy he used wasn't mana, so the Mana parameter was simply marked with a question mark.
As for luck—someone with this many blessings was practically the embodiment of good fortune already.
Tsk, tsk…
If any other Masters and Servants caught a glimpse of his status sheet, they'd probably scream that he was blatantly cheating.
Koji, however, had no interest in the Holy Grail War.
Forget a Grail corrupted by All the World's Evil—even if it were perfectly intact, he wouldn't care in the slightest.
Any wish he might want fulfilled was something he could accomplish just fine with his own strength.
Still, since he was here, he might as well enjoy the show.
The next morning.
"Mmm…"
Sakura slowly opened her eyes and, seeing Koji beside her, let out a breath of relief.
Right now, only Koji could make her feel safe.
Not even her parents could give her the sense of security she longed for.
"Good morning, Sakura," Koji greeted her with a smile.
"Good morning, big brother," Sakura replied, nodding her small head.
"Do you want to go home?"
Koji had no intention of making choices for her.
If Sakura wanted to go back to the Tohsaka family, he wouldn't stop her—he would simply go have a little… talk with Tohsaka Tokiomi.
"…"
"I want to stay with big brother," Sakura said after a moment's hesitation, clutching tightly at the hem of his shirt.
If she had only been adopted out, she would merely have been sad.
But she had just lived through the worm pit. Even though Koji had arrived in time, the horrifying sight had already left a deep scar on her heart.
So now, she felt a faint resistance even toward her own parents.
Why had they sent her into hell?
Koji nodded. It was exactly the answer he had expected.
"Then I'll be in your care from now on. My name is Koji," he said, gently ruffling Sakura's black hair.
Her body still hadn't been altered by magecraft, so her hair and eyes were the same as they had always been—the girl she had been at the very beginning.
"Mm. Please take care of me, big brother."
Sakura rubbed her little head against his palm like a small, affectionate animal, full of attachment.
A hero saving a damsel in distress—
It wasn't hard to leave an indelible mark on the heart of a girl who had been pushed into absolute despair.
Koji, however, had no ulterior motives.
He despised anything inappropriate involving children; protecting them was his instinct, not exploiting them.
(End of Chapter)
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