Chapter 220
Gordes’s tone was exceptionally polite, almost deferential.
For all his arrogance about his pedigree—and despite his habit of looking down on others so badly that he could barely show proper respect even to a hero like Siegfried—he was not an idiot.
He understood exactly what it meant for an ordinary human to possess combat power comparable to a first-rate Servant.
Especially now that the Red faction had someone as absurdly powerful as Karna.
Any outside support they could secure was invaluable.
More importantly, this invitation had come directly from the clan head.
"Sure."
Kiriya answered with a pleasant smile, immediately putting Gordes somewhat at ease.
"I actually have something I’d like to discuss with your clan head too."
Then he glanced toward Jeanne.
"Would you mind giving me a few minutes alone with Miss Ruler?"
He smiled reassuringly.
"Don’t worry. Once we’re finished talking, I’ll head straight to the castle."
"Of course."
Gordes politely excused himself and took Saber with him.
...
"Thank you for helping me."
Jeanne turned toward Kiriya and gave him a formal bow.
Kiriya hurriedly stepped aside.
"Whoa, don’t do that. I’m just an ordinary guy. I can’t have the legendary Saint of Orleans bowing to me."
"You... really did know."
Jeanne looked at him with a complicated expression.
"So you were waiting on that road specifically for me?"
"I was."
Kiriya made no attempt to deny it.
With someone like Jeanne, he preferred being straightforward.
"One of the Masters on the Red side is extremely dangerous."
His expression became more serious.
"Dangerous to you, and potentially to the entire world."
"Please explain."
Jeanne immediately straightened.
Kiriya quietly erected a simple barrier around them to prevent their voices from carrying.
Then he activated another sensory formation as an early-warning measure.
Only after confirming that no Servants were nearby did he lean closer and lower his voice conspiratorially.
"Do you know who ordered Karna to kill you?"
They were close enough that his warm breath brushed against Jeanne’s cheek.
The saint felt her face grow noticeably warmer.
"W-Who?"
"Amakusa Shirou Tokisada."
Kiriya smiled.
"The Ruler summoned during the previous Holy Grail War."
"What?!"
Jeanne’s eyes widened, and her mouth formed a small O.
For a moment, she looked far more adorable than dignified.
Once she recovered, she immediately shook her head.
"That’s impossible! The previous Holy Grail War used the normal seven Servant Classes. Why would the Grail summon a Ruler?"
"The Grail didn’t."
Kiriya pointed at her.
"The Einzberns broke the rules and summoned him themselves."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Otherwise, why do you think you manifested in such an incomplete state?"
Jeanne fell silent.
That struck directly at one of the questions that had bothered her since her arrival.
As Ruler, she should have manifested with a proper spiritual body just like any other Servant.
Instead, she had been forced to possess the body of a living girl.
It was an awkward and highly unusual method of incarnation.
She had never understood why.
But if another Ruler was already physically present in the world...
Then the abnormality suddenly made sense.
"The Third Holy Grail War ended decades ago."
Jeanne’s brow furrowed.
"How could he have remained in this world for so long?"
"Because he reached the Holy Grail."
Kiriya answered immediately.
"The Grail incarnated him, giving him a permanent physical body."
"He now goes by Shirou Kotomine. He’s a member of the Holy Church’s Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament and is currently serving as the Church-appointed supervisor for this Holy Grail War."
Kiriya casually exposed nearly every important secret surrounding Amakusa.
"And our dear supervisor has been very busy."
"When the Red Masters gathered together, he used drugs and magecraft to place them under his control, then effectively seized command of their Servants."
Jeanne’s hands tightened around the shaft of her flag.
"Why would he go that far?"
"Why else?"
Kiriya raised one hand and clenched it dramatically.
"To obtain the Greater Grail and fulfill his lifelong dream."
He smiled with obvious sarcasm.
"Saving all of humanity."
Jeanne stiffened.
"Saving... all of humanity?"
"Sounds noble, doesn’t it?"
Kiriya continued.
"His plan is to modify the Greater Grail and use it to grant the Third Magic—materialization of the soul—to every human being."
"With that, he believes every problem humanity faces will disappear."
He gestured in front of Jeanne as he explained.
"His reasoning is that conflict comes from desire."
"People fight because they want things they don’t have. Food. Wealth. Security. Power. Recognition."
"And desire is rooted in the needs of the physical body."
"So if humanity is freed from the limitations of flesh, no one will need anything anymore."
"No hunger."
"No aging."
"No fear of death."
"No competition over limited resources."
"Materialized souls would effectively become immortal."
Kiriya spread his hands.
"Everyone stops wanting things, everyone stops fighting, and humanity lives peacefully forever."
Jeanne slowly shook her head.
"But even the Holy Grail shouldn’t possess enough energy for that."
Her expression became increasingly troubled.
"Granting the Third Magic to every human on Earth would require an unimaginable amount of power. Sixty years of magical energy gathered from a single leyline wouldn’t even begin to cover it."
She stopped.
Her eyes widened.
"Unless..."
"Exactly."
Kiriya snapped his fingers.
"That’s the part you’re thinking of."
"Amakusa has spent decades studying the Greater Grail. He already knows how to alter the system."
"Once activated, the Greater Grail itself would spread its influence across the world and draw upon the planet’s magical energy as its resource."
"Then it would materialize the souls of all humanity."
He grinned.
"Pretty dramatic plan, isn’t it?"
Jeanne unconsciously held her breath.
The idea was outrageous.
And yet...
It did not sound entirely impossible.
The salvation of all humanity.
It was a dream so grand that even Jeanne herself had never dared believe such a thing could truly be achieved.
And this Heroic Spirit named Amakusa Shirou Tokisada had devoted himself completely to making it real.
What an extraordinary conviction.
"Should I... really stop him?"
For the first time, Jeanne genuinely wavered.
A world without war.
Without death.
Without tragedy.
For a brief moment, that future seemed almost close enough to touch.
"Kiriya-san... what do you think?"
Jeanne might have been revered as a saint, but she had died while still only a teenage girl.
Expecting her to immediately resolve a question concerning the fate of all humanity was asking too much.
Almost instinctively, she turned to the person beside her for an answer.
Kiriya snorted.
"It’s complete bullshit."
The bluntness of his response instantly dragged Jeanne out of her uncertainty.
"W-Why?"
"Because desire may cause conflict, but it’s also the driving force behind progress."
Kiriya’s expression remained calm, but his voice carried absolute conviction.
"People wanted enough food to survive, so they learned agriculture. Then they improved it. They learned preservation. They created better tools and better cooking."
"People wanted knowledge, so ideas collided, arguments happened, discoveries were made, and science advanced."
"People wanted achievement and recognition, so they poured themselves into art, craftsmanship, invention, and everything else humans create."
He looked directly into Jeanne’s eyes.
"Wanting something gives people a reason to move."
"Human needs and desires have produced effort, creativity, and determination powerful enough to astonish even gods."
"If you remove the body, erase every desire, and leave people with endless lives but nothing they truly want..."
Kiriya shook his head.
"Then you haven’t created paradise."
"You’ve created eternal stagnation."
Jeanne hesitated.
"Is... that really what would happen?"
"Of course."
Kiriya’s voice rose.
"And another thing—he keeps talking about saving all humanity."
"How many humans has he actually bothered to understand?"
"There are millions upon millions of people living ordinary, peaceful, happy lives right now. Does he not see any of them?"
"Does he even know what those people want before deciding that they all need to be ’saved’?"
Kiriya’s gestures became increasingly animated.
"If people fight over food and resources, then produce more food and resources."
"If people suffer because society lacks order, build a safer and fairer system."
"If people want to accomplish something, give them opportunities where their talents can flourish."
"These are difficult problems, sure."
"But does he understand them?"
"No."
Kiriya swept one hand outward.
"He sees some humans committing evil and decides the entire species is fundamentally flawed."
"Then he takes it upon himself to strip everyone of something they were born with—the right to live their own lives, make their own choices, desire things, fail, succeed, love, hate, struggle, and change."
"And afterward, he has the nerve to call that salvation?"
Kiriya spat to the side.
"Give me a break."
"He’s never truly lowered himself enough to listen to ordinary people."
"He’s never walked among them long enough to understand what they actually need."
"He doesn’t want to save humanity."
"He wants to impose his personal answer on everyone because he’s convinced that he knows better than the entire human race."
Kiriya’s voice hardened.
"That isn’t compassion."
"It’s arrogance."
"And someone who decides the future of every living person without asking a single one of them has no right to call himself a saint."
His words struck Jeanne like the ringing of a great cathedral bell.
The uncertainty clouding her heart cleared.
She looked at Kiriya with newfound admiration.
"Kiriya-san... you truly are wise."
"Wise is stretching it."
Kiriya hurriedly waved the compliment away.
"I’ve just read a few books and thought about things occasionally."
"You’re being too modest."
Jeanne shook her head.
Her expression became resolute.
"I will stop him."
She tightened her grip around her flag.
"You’re right."
"The future of humanity should belong to humanity itself."
Her blue eyes hardened with conviction.
"To decide it for everyone without their consent..."
"That would be the greatest arrogance of all."