If they refused to give it, then the Holy Church would look as if it were deliberately making a biased call.
Even if that was the truth, there were some things that could be done, but not said aloud.
But if they did give it, Saber had eliminated Caster, who had made such a grand entrance and brought a whole swarm of familiars with him, even while her left hand was injured by Lancer’s cursed spear and she was far from being in perfect condition.
That cleared street was a full three kilometers long.
For Saber to possess such terrifying strength and then receive another Command Spell on top of it would be a blatant act of aiding the enemy.
That made the decision rather difficult.
“Let us give it to them.”
Tohsaka Tokiomi’s voice sounded tired.
Last night, he had spent the entire night cleaning up the enormous mess caused by the battle between Caster and Saber, and had not slept at all.
“But in that case, Saber’s side will have too great an advantage.”
“There are still six Master-Servant pairs remaining.
The greater Saber’s advantage becomes, the more likely they are to become the first target everyone prioritizes.
If we can make the remaining Masters turn hostile toward Saber, then the cost of one Command Spell is nothing.”
This was the conclusion Tohsaka Tokiomi reached after careful consideration.
In the mysterious ritual of the Holy Grail War, which was essentially a small-scale battle royale, the more a powerful team exposed itself, the more everyone else would treat it as the opponent that needed to be eliminated first.
“However, when you grant the Command Spell, make sure to emphasize to the other Masters that Saber’s group now has one more Command Spell than everyone else.”
“I see.
As expected of the head of the Tohsaka family.
Your insight is truly sharp.
Then we shall do it that way.”
Kotomine Risei offered a word of praise, then went to grant Emiya Kiritsugu the Command Spell.
At the same time, he gathered the familiars of the other Masters, widely announced that Caster had been eliminated by Saber, and declared that the Holy Grail War had officially resumed.
“Hmph.
You want to guide me into targeting Saber?
I’ll target your damn mother instead.
Damn you, Tohsaka Tokiomi.
I’m going straight after you.”
This was Berserker’s Master, Matou Kariya’s, true thought after receiving the message.
Through Matou Zouken’s channels, he knew that the Holy Church in this war was working hand in glove with the Tohsaka family.
He had no intention whatsoever of targeting Saber.
All he wanted was to target Tohsaka Tokiomi.
“A battle between kings must be fair, honorable, and conducted openly!”
This was the thought of Rider, the King of Conquerors Iskandar, and it had not changed at all from the previous night.
As for his Master, Waver Velvet, he was too timid and weak-willed to change his own Servant’s mind.
“Miss Sola, please don’t be like this…”
As for Diarmuid on Lancer’s side, his current situation was that his lord—his Master—was lying in bed as a cripple, while his lord’s fiancée was trying to seduce him.
The Holy Grail War seemed to have been forgotten by that woman entirely.
All she wanted was to immerse herself in his masculine charm, unable to pull herself away.
A perfectly good strategy had somehow been displayed before a group of abnormal people.
It was useless.
Completely and utterly useless.
The only person it could be considered to have worked on was probably Emiya Kiritsugu, who had been dragged into the calculation.
This Magus Killer happened to think along the same lines as Tohsaka Tokiomi.
He began seriously engaging in a battle of wits against thin air, fortifying his base and preparing for the other Masters to form a group and attack him.
He had even considered making use of the terrifying boy from the neighboring Fujimura family.
The result?
No one came at all.
As for Broly, because school had been suspended that day, he did not go to class.
While Fujimura Taiga still had to attend school, he ran over to the neighbor’s house to see whether he could increase the Happiness Values of the two new wives he had met the previous night.
And so, he successfully managed to freeload lunch at the Emiya residence.
During that time, Emiya Kiritsugu extracted quite a bit of information from the simple-minded Broly.
Things like being a Saiyan from Planet Vampa and so on.
If not for the boy’s astonishing strength and the fact that he had emptied an entire street last night, Kiritsugu would truly have thought he was being deceived.
Of course, in the end, Emiya Kiritsugu also figured out Broly’s purpose for visiting.
This little guy had actually come looking for wives.
And one of the wives he was looking for happened to be Kiritsugu’s own wife.
That was honestly a bit too much for the Magus Killer to handle.
In response, Mrs.
Irisviel merely giggled.
“I didn’t expect that I was still so charming.
To think even this child has taken a liking to me.”
“However, little Broly, I cannot become your wife.”
She said this to Broly.
“Why?
Didn’t you shake hands with me?”
Broly asked in confusion while shoveling rice into his mouth.
“Because I already have a husband.”
Irisviel explained.
“What is a husband?”
“You don’t even know what a husband is, so why are you looking for wives?”
The words made one want to retort, and Hisau Maiya actually did so.
“A husband is the male counterpart to a wife after two people form a married relationship…”
Irisviel began giving Broly a proper explanation.
“Can’t you have two husbands?”
Broly understood, but immediately pressed further.
“Unfortunately, the country I belong to practices monogamy.
And Emiya Kiritsugu is my husband.”
Irisviel hugged the man’s arm and introduced him to the boy.
Broly seemed to fall into thought.
Immediately afterward, a conflicted look appeared on his face, as if he had sunk into deep distress.
“What’s wrong?
Did you eat too much?”
Seeing this, Irisviel asked with concern.
“No.
I’m not full yet.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
“I’m just thinking about whether I should kill your husband.”
Broly spoke honestly.
The moment those words came out, everyone at the dining table was startled.
“Why?”
Sweat appeared on Emiya Kiritsugu’s forehead as he carefully asked the question.
“Because if I kill you, I can make your wife become my wife.”
Broly gave his answer seriously.
That answer left everyone speechless, because there was nothing wrong with that logic.
“But you seem to be hesitating.”
Emiya Kiritsugu asked again.
“Because you gave me food.”
That was the reason for Broly’s conflict.
Everyone fell somewhat silent.
There was something seriously wrong with this child.
“Broly, why are you so fixated on finding wives?”
Artoria broke the silence and asked.
For a child of the boy’s age, he did not seem like someone who could be obsessed with women.
Judging from his reactions, it did not seem to be because of lust either.
“Finding wives, making my wives happy, and then when I return to Planet Vampa, I’ll have food to eat.
The more wives I find and the happier they are, the more food I can exchange for.”
Broly continued speaking honestly, but the people around him were left more or less confused.
Still, they had at least learned the real reason why the boy was looking for wives.
“If that is the case, I do have a suggestion.”
Emiya Kiritsugu suddenly spoke.
“What suggestion?”
Broly asked curiously.
“I cannot give you my wife, but my daughter, Illya, is only three years older than you.”
“Kiritsugu?”
Hearing this, Irisviel looked somewhat surprised and turned toward her husband.
Emiya Kiritsugu nodded at her, and through their exchange of glances, Irisviel quickly understood what her husband was thinking.
“If you are willing, then Irisviel and I are willing to entrust our daughter to you.”
His wife, Irisviel, was the Lesser Grail of this Fourth Holy Grail War.
The moment the Holy Grail descended, her mission would be complete.
In other words, she would die.
As for Kiritsugu himself, he could not guarantee that he would survive until the end of this Holy Grail War and become the one to obtain the Grail.
If both he and Irisviel died, then who would be left to take care of their daughter, Illya?
The Einzbern family?
Indeed, the Einzbern family might take care of their daughter—if Illya had value to them.
But now, another choice had appeared before them.
Although they did not understand the boy in front of them very well, there was no doubt that he possessed tremendous power.
They had seen that with their own eyes last night.
Over the course of a single meal, the child’s simple nature had also been completely exposed.
The boy’s pure desire to find wives gave Emiya Kiritsugu an idea.
Rather than trusting the Einzbern family to properly care for their daughter Illya, it would be better to entrust Illya here and now to this monster-like boy.
At the very least, as long as the other party was willing to stand behind their daughter, that alone would be a success.
With a fiancé whose strength was no weaker than that of a Servant, their daughter would possess tremendous value.
Even if the two of them truly died in this Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family would certainly not abandon their daughter so easily.
Emiya Kiritsugu was also entrusting his child to someone else, making arrangements in case he died during this Holy Grail War.
The reason he had not made such arrangements before was because there had been no opportunity and no suitable connection.
But now, he had encountered Broly, a boy with monstrous strength.
“Well?
What do you think?”
[By the will of the parents and the words of the matchmaker.]
[Searching for new capture target: Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Current Happiness Value: 0.]
[Notice: Her parents are willing to entrust her to you.
Would you like to invite Illyasviel von Einzbern to become an official member of the Crystal Palace now?
Current official members: 0/5.]
Broly was somewhat stunned.
But as he looked at Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel, a piece of information suddenly surfaced in his mind, and he subconsciously murmured aloud,
“Bu has drifted all his life, yet never met a worthy lord…”
The moment he agreed, far away in Germany, inside Einzbern Castle, Illyasviel, who had been wondering when her parents would return, suddenly saw a line of text appear before her.
[Your father, Emiya Kiritsugu, and your mother, Irisviel, are entrusting you to Broly.
Broly has accepted and invited you to become one of the official members of the Crystal Palace.
Illyasviel von Einzbern, do you wish to join the Crystal Palace?
Confirm or Reject.]
“Eh?!”
Illya did not quite understand what the Crystal Palace was.
But when she saw that this was a decision made by her parents, and since she was currently missing them, she only hesitated for a moment before reaching out to tap Confirm.
However, her finger passed straight through the words.
Even so, her intention to confirm had already been received by the Crystal Palace, and the prompt continued to change.
[You have become an official member of the Crystal Palace.
Current number of official members: 1/5.
Once the number of official members reaches 5, the Crystal Palace module will upgrade.]
Illya blinked.
Then she saw a chibi portrait of a black-haired boy appear in her field of vision.
Beside the portrait, written in German, was [Broglie].
Below it was an entry labeled Happiness Value, with the value displayed as [3→0].
Back on Broly’s side, a similar chibi portrait of a white-haired, red-eyed little girl appeared before him.
Beside the portrait, written in Chinese, was [Illyasviel von Einzbern].
Below it was also an entry labeled Happiness Value, showing [2→0].
In the upper right corner, there was also a display for Happiness Points.
At this moment, his Happiness Points were finally no longer zero.
Instead, he now had 200 points.
Those were the Happiness Points converted from the slight increase in Illya’s Happiness Value after hearing news of her parents and confirming that she would become an official member of the Crystal Palace.
Now, as her Happiness Value continued to rise, his Happiness Points also kept increasing.
However, they did not increase by hundreds at a time, but little by little.
In just this brief moment, they had already increased by another two points.
Beside Illya’s portrait, there was also a status marked [Happiness Points currently being generated], along with the message [Please maintain your wife’s happiness].
Farther behind it was another reminder: [If your wife feels unhappy, Happiness Points will stop being generated.]
“Please tell me, how can I make your daughter remain happy?”
Broly was somewhat shocked.
And when he used his consciousness to open the exchange shop on the side and saw the foods inside that he had eaten before, his desire to make this wife—whom he had not even met yet—happy instantly reached its peak.
“Ah?!”
Irisviel froze slightly.
Emiya Kiritsugu was also somewhat at a loss.
They had only verbally entrusted their daughter to him, yet this boy’s eyes had immediately lit up, and he looked full of motivation, as if he truly wanted to make their daughter happy.
But the problem was, what exactly counted as happiness for their eight-year-old daughter?
Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel exchanged a glance.
They both had an answer in their hearts, but neither of them could say it aloud.
Because one look at the boy before them made it clear that he really would take action for the sake of their daughter’s happiness.
If they said something like, “Our daughter would be happy if we stayed by her side right now,” Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel seriously suspected that the boy in front of them might tie them up and throw them back to their daughter.
“Happiness is not something easy to explain.
Everyone has a different definition of happiness.
Our daughter Illya is still young, and we cannot arbitrarily decide what her happiness is for her.
You will have to truly get to know her in the future and understand it for yourself.”
“Uh, all right then.”
Broly gradually calmed down from his excited state.
“Then what about you?
Do you want to become my wife?”
Broly asked Artoria, who was sitting nearby and continuing to shovel rice into her mouth.
“My life has already been given to Britain.
I seek only to save the country of my past, not to indulge in so-called romance.”
Artoria decisively shook her head and refused.
She was the king of Britain.
She would not become someone’s wife.
Not to mention becoming one of the wives of a boy who only wanted to eat.
Broly was somewhat disappointed.
After all, this person had a Happiness Value as high as 7 points.