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*****
For the female swordswoman, the matter of changing Masters wasn't something she cared deeply about.
If someone had tried to force her Master to surrender his Command Seals through coercion or violence, then out of knightly honor she would have fought to her last breath to protect him.
But it was clear that Emiya Shirou had no desire to take part in the brutal Holy Grail War—he was willingly giving up his Command Seals.
She had fought in the Fourth Holy Grail War and knew far too well how cruel it was. Emiya Shirou was just a high school student; he had no reason to be dragged into this.
On top of that, his magical energy was extremely weak, which crippled her own combat power by a large margin. He simply wasn't a suitable Master.
In contrast, this Mr. Kaede—at a glance, he was clearly a powerful magus. If he became her new Master, she would be able to unleash far more of her true strength.
That would increase her chances of winning the Holy Grail and making her wish come true—to change the fate of Great Britain.
So, throughout the conversation just now, she had not expressed any opinion. She simply observed in silence, waiting for the outcome.
That was until Avalon was extracted from within Emiya Shirou.
It was the sheath of her strongest Noble Phantasm—Excalibur—and one of her own Noble Phantasms.
Once its power activated, any attack could be nullified—no matter how terrifying, even if capable of cleaving the world itself.
And if its wielder was injured, it could slowly heal their wounds.
"How do you have my sheath? What is your relationship to Emiya Kiritsugu?"
The swordswoman turned to Emiya Shirou. Shirou answered:
"He was my adoptive father. You know him?"
"I do. He was my Master during the Fourth Holy Grail War."
She nodded and said nothing more.
Shirou blinked in surprise, then his expression softened with understanding.
"My father was an all-capable magus. It's not unbelievable that he took part in the Fourth Holy Grail War."
With a gentle smile, he turned to George and said:
"It's fine, Mr. Kaede. Since it originally belongs to Saber, as long as she approves, you can study it."
"You really are something, kid."
George put the sheath away and patted Shirou's shoulder.
"My name is George. No need to keep calling me Mr. Kaede. I'll hold onto that wish of yours for now—who knows, you might need it someday."
Good people die young while scourges live a thousand years—and people like Emiya Shirou, with that kind of personality, rarely live long.
But that didn't stop George from appreciating him.
It was like those who sacrifice themselves to save strangers. He could never do the same, but he still admired those righteous, kind-hearted heroes.
"All right, I'll begin."
Since Shirou had agreed, George wasted no time and began preparing to transfer the Command Seals to himself in order to join the Holy Grail War.
But just then, Rin Tohsaka spoke up and interrupted:
"If you're transferring the Command Seals, I suggest you first find the Overseer of the Holy Grail War and do it under his witness.
Otherwise, if you transfer them privately, the Church and the Mage's Association might put you on trial."
Though the Holy Grail War was originally initiated by the Three Founding Families, the entire process was overseen by both the Church and the Mage's Association. It wasn't a lawless free-for-all.
For example, combat could not be exposed to ordinary people.
Shirou had been hunted by Lancer precisely because, as a normal person, he witnessed a battle between Servants.
And if a Master or Servant recklessly slaughtered innocent civilians, the Church and the Mage's Association would halt the ritual and unite all participants to eliminate the offending Master and Servant first.
Servants were indeed powerful, but the magi from the Church and the Association were not to be underestimated.
Most chosen participants were already aware of these basic rules—Shirou's case was pure accident.
"You know the Overseer?" Shirou asked curiously.
Rin nodded.
"He's a priest from the Church and was also my father's disciple. After my father passed away, he became my guardian.
So he's both my senior brother and my second teacher!"
"Your second teacher wouldn't happen to be—Kotomine Kirei, would it?"
George raised a brow.
He had just finished going through Lancer's memories, and the one who stole Bazett's Command Seals had also been a priest.
"You know him?"
Rin was clearly stunned.
She hadn't expected this mysterious magus, Kaede George, to also know her senior brother.
Could it be he was once with the Church or the Mage's Association?
"Kotomine Kirei!"
At that name, the swordswoman's expression changed as well.
During the Fourth Holy Grail War, she and her Master, Emiya Kiritsugu, had faced their greatest rival: Kotomine Kirei—a twisted, deranged man.
"You know him too?" Rin was now completely baffled.
The swordswoman replied quietly:
"Yes. He was one of the Masters in the Fourth Holy Grail War. Since he's your senior brother, your father must be Tohsaka Tokiomi."
"Yes, my father was Tohsaka Tokiomi."
Rin nodded blankly.
She knew her father had participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War and had died in it.
In fact, that was why she wanted to take part in the Fifth Grail War—to fulfill the wish her father never accomplished.
She simply hadn't known that Kotomine Kirei had also participated in the Fourth War.
"Then do you know your father died at Kotomine Kirei's hands?"
The swordswoman's next words made Rin's pupils instantly contract.
"What did you say?"
"In the Fourth War, Kotomine Kirei's Servant was Assassin. But during the final battle with Emiya Kiritsugu, it suddenly became Archer.
And Archer was your father's Servant."
The implication of her words was clear.
If Kotomine Kirei hadn't killed Tohsaka Tokiomi, how else would he have taken Tokiomi's Servant?
"I can't say for sure whether Kotomine Kirei was the one who murdered your father, but I know he's not a good man.
He was Lancer Cú Chulainn's Master and a participant in this Holy Grail War.
And he hid this from the Church and the Mage's Association, assassinated his friend from the Association, and secretly seized the right to participate."
George relayed the intelligence he'd retrieved from Lancer's memories.
Rin wasn't stupid. After hearing what the two of them said and recalling past details of her interactions with Kotomine Kirei, she was already seventy to eighty percent convinced.
"I'm going to see him. If he really killed my father, I'll kill him on the spot!"
"Then let's go together. I'm curious what tricks this priest is up to."
George placed his hand over Shirou's and began the Command Seal transfer.
Moments later, the Command Seal pattern vanished from Shirou's hand and reappeared on George's.
And the instant the transfer was complete, the swordswoman—who had been sitting quietly—suddenly widened her eyes and leapt to her feet.
"My power… I can finally use it fully!"
(End of Chapter)