280 Einzbern Castle
Head straight west from the noisy streets of Fuyuki for about fifteen kilometers.
There is a highway heading east through the high mountains away from the villages and absent of man's presence. A stretch of dense forest occupied both sides of the highway. This stretch of the forest seemed forgotten by the rising torrent of land development.
Perhaps this land was owned by the state, but based on the records, it appears to be owned by a foreign company; moreover, it was not yet confirmed whether that foreign company actually existed. If anyone insists on investigating this land, then the first impediment would be an urban myth.
Rumor has it that deep in the forest, there is a 'legendary castle'.
Of course, the myth is just a boring fairy tale. Even if the forest is untouched by development, it is still only an hour's drive from Fuyuki. If there really was an eminent castle then everyone would know about it. In fact, people have conducted numerous ground surveys in this primitive land, and not even once have they found any traces of human buildings.
But after a few years, someone would raise this myth again.
A group of children once walked in the forest between playing and exploring, and a man was hitchhiking. They saw an ancient castle suddenly appear out of the dense fog; it was built of rock and was immensely spectacular. No one lived inside the castle and it looked abandoned. But inside there were all kinds of objects and everything was in perfect order, and people could not help but have the illusion that humans certainly lived there. It was said to be an extremely mysterious ancient castle.
Obviously, no one believed this rumor. The most it could be would be a story peddled by the tabloid press when they ran short of new material, which would have taken up a page in the special summer edition devoted to strange tales to pass around among the people.
Only a very small number of magicians knew that this castle really existed.
This castle only welcomes the owner who comes here to participate in the war every sixty years; in every sense, it is a castle of magic.
This castle is enveloped by multiple layers of illusions and fields, and would never be exposed to the outside world except by some freak accident. This is an anomalous space of existence. People who know of the castle's existence call this dense forest 'the Einzbern forest'.
When Fuyuki held Heaven's Feel, Jubstacheit, the head of the Einzbern family, felt that it was an inappropriate move to establish an outpost directly under the arch-rival Tohsaka family. Therefore, he used all the financial power of his clan and purchased the entire field covering the land closest to Fuyuki as the Einzbern family headquarters. That happened near the beginning of the third Touch of Heaven, which also coincided with the tense and dangerous times just before the establishment of World War II.
This extensive primeval forest is covered with a field and completely isolated from the outside world, and the Einzbern family transferred everything in their original castle to this forest. From this act one can see the immense financial power and extraordinary persistence in the pursuit of the Holy Grail of the Einzbern. Compared to the Einzbern, all the negotiations the Tohsaka had made to buy the land in Fuyuki, and the difficulties they had gone through in covering it up, became a mere game.
...
"Sigh..."
The dense atmosphere made Irisviel sigh several times.
"Are you tired, Iri?" Kiritsugu asked.
Irisviel hid her melancholy expression and shook her head, showing a smile.
"It's nothing; I'm not tired. Keep going."
Irisviel hurried Kiritsugu. The latter continued to talk about all sorts of intelligence matters regarding Fuyuki. On the table was spread out a map portraying the entire city.
"- Two positions are the heart of the entire area. One is the residence of the Second Master, Tohsaka. There is no need to name the other; Mount Enzou. All the leylines in the surrounding area converge on Mount Enzou. The details are just as the Head of the Family said -"
They had come servants to the castle before Irisviel and company did and had prepared everything properly at the meeting place before they left. Therefore, the meeting place where the meeting was held was kept immaculate. Not a speck of dust was gathered anywhere from the table legs to the tea cups, and the vases were filled with vivid flowers. It was impossible to imagine that no one had been here for six years.
It would be a lie to say that she wasn't tired. But Irisviel had at least rested in bed for a while. On the other hand, Kiritsugu had not rested for a single minute. It was already close to noon when Kiritsugu and his assistant Maiya arrived at the castle. However, as soon as they arrived at the castle, they received the summoning from the Fuyuki church, manipulated familiars, confirmed the notice, and Kiritsugu dealt with all these messes non-stop. Kiritsugu and company tried to attack Kayneth El-Melloi, but for some reason, they had decided not to carry out their attack. Later, the Church had confirmed Kayneth's death. Since Kiritsugu had not shown himself to be exhausted, there was no room for Irisviel to complain about her tiredness.
No, there were other, covert reasons for Irisviel to sigh.
"- A powerful camp was established with the Ryuudou Temple on top of Mount Enzou as its base. As a result, apart from Servants, all natural creatures can only traverse the field through the mountain path. Saber must be careful of this when acting."
These words giving Saber warning could only be said to Saber's face to face. However, Kiritsugu did not once set his gaze on the girl dressed in male attire standing behind Irisviel.
There were two reasons for the air to feel stagnant and heavy. One was that Saber was putting on an attitude of complete rejection towards Kiritsugu. Saber's attitude did not start just now, but became even more obvious since they had arrived at Einzbern Castle.
"Also, apart from these two positions, there are two other key points in Shinto where the leylines meet. One is the Fuyuki church at the top of the southern hill, and the other is the new town spreading east of the financial district. To conclude, there are four key spiritual grounds in Fuyuki that are properly equipped to carry out the descent of the Holy Grail."
"So, once the war enters its final phase and the number of Servants is reduced, we should take control of one of these positions?"
"Correct. Any other questions regarding the topography?"
"...Saber, is there anything you're not sure about?"
Irisviel acted a bit tactfully and tried to pique her interest. The Servant girl smiled and shook her head.
"Nothing in particular. That was explanation enough."
Even if the girl in question didn't have it in mind, from an observer's perspective, that was a sarcastic, unserious response.
With a sigh, Irisviel continued.
"Well, as for our rules from now on... It seems that all other Masters will hunt Drako first, isn't that right, Kiritsugu?"
"Yes, that seems to be the case. The supervisor did hint that there would be compensations for the effort."
A while ago, Kiritsugu had told them about the Fuyuki Church's announcement, and the review of the rules from the supervisor; about Drako's target, and about the supervisor's countermeasure to stop him.
"Anyway, regarding this Drako, it will be more advantageous if we didn't join with the other Masters. After all, right now, it's only us who know that he has more than one Servant. Even if they want to attack together, we won't necessarily win because we have more numbers. There will be casualties on both sides, I'm sure. When everyone is weakened, it will be our turn."
"Master, that's enough."
That was Saber's cold voice objecting, which until now had been kept out of the discussion.
"Drako will hunt down all the Servants one by one before we manage to weaken him. He's already finished off Lancer, and Caster as well. Only Archer, Rider, and Berserker are left, and I doubt any of them will proactively try to form an alliance. If we act too late, we will lose everything."
Perhaps Saber hoped that her words would break through the wall surrounding Kiritsugu's heart. But, as usual, Kiritsugu continued without showing any signs of even hearing Saber's voice.
"It will be fine, Iri. We found no openings in the field, and the alarm and sounding systems have already been checked..."
Biting her lips, Saber's expression grew grimmer as she looked at Kiritsugu. Although Saber could forcibly endure the way Kiritsugu ignored her, there was the righteous indignation that he let Drako do whatever he wanted.
Of course, Emiya Kiritsugu couldn't look any less annoyed by Saber's expression.
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