Chapter 75: A Simpler Method
"Are you asking us to assist you in defeating the blackened Heroic Spirit named Alcides?"
Back to the main topic.
The unimportant peripheral chatter had ceased; now it was time to discuss how to protect Snowfield. It was natural for the Chief to think this way—since Shirou Emiya was integrating the Clan Calatin, there was no reason not to utilize their combat power. More is better than less, and something is better than nothing. As long as the goal was righteous, they didn't mind being put to use regardless of how lopsided the odds were. Shirou wouldn't even need to take responsibility for the risks they faced, because one must bear the consequences of their own choices.
However, Shirou denied his assumption: "No, you don't need to participate in the battle against Alcides; we will handle that. The reason I shared this intel is because I didn't want you to be kept in the dark, but I don't want you actually engaging him in combat. I am against that approach."
"You don't want us to actually fight him? Why?"
"Because if he gets serious, it's extremely dangerous for you. If he harbors killing intent toward you, there will definitely be casualties among your ranks."
"Hey... just for such a simple reason?" the Chief confirmed, looking somewhat dumbfounded.
"Yes."
What kind of reason was that? The Chief and Clan Calatin had jumped into this Holy Grail War voluntarily; they had never imagined coming out without a single death. Losing seventy percent of their numbers would have been considered normal. From the spot where the dead fall, the buds that drive the living forward sprout, and every single one of them had already envisioned themselves as the one dying before they set out.
Conversely, if they avoided combat for fear of death, Clan Calatin would never be able to grow. They needed combat experience to break in their weapons; without fighting, unless they hid until the end of the war, they would never develop into a combat force truly capable of standing alongside Servants. Would such a Clan Calatin even have a reason to exist?
Without experiencing life-or-death situations or sacrifice, their combat effectiveness would be subpar. When the moment came to stake their lives on the front line, they would fail to execute the crucial actions they might have otherwise achieved. Clan Calatin did not want to become a burden.
He clearly intended to do something as massive as defeating Alcides, yet he was still worrying about such trivial details.
"Your way of thinking is quite rude," the Chief finally said.
They were even, neither yielding. It wasn't that Shirou lacked self-awareness; however, he felt that the belief that these twenty-nine people had their own lives and should live normally was not something that deserved criticism.
"There is also a reason you might accept. He has a pelt on his body that renders ordinary Noble Phantasms ineffective. The Noble Phantasms of the vast majority of you cannot break through that pelt; even if you had a chance, the risk is too great. While I know a method to bypass that pelt, you haven't learned it."
The Chief finally accepted this to an extent.
Feeling the weight of that ticking time bomb hanging over them, the Chief turned to Clan Calatin and said, "Disband the formation. He is not an enemy, and it seems he won't become one for the duration of this Holy Grail War."
The officers put away their already lowered weapons, re-sheathing them or slinging them back across their shoulders, returning to an undefended, empty-handed state. Clan Calatin consciously lined up in two long rows, leaving the Chief and Shirou to converse in the center.
"Please accept my sincere apologies for the offense I caused you earlier."
The Chief extended his hand, his weathered face looking even more stern than usual. Shirou also reached out and shook it. No more words were needed; he surely understood the Chief's attitude, just as the Chief realized he could see right through this young man's inner self at a glance.
"Alcides is Heracles' human name. That guy summoned Heracles... I haven't seen that Heroic Spirit. In fact, I don't even know what he looks like. I only knew of an existence named Alcides after you provided the intel."
"'That guy,' huh? Chief, from the way you speak, it seems you know Alcides' Master."
"I have an acquaintance who claims to have handed over the Mud. The recipient's name is Buzzdilot."
He was also the one involved in the sniping of Shirou. Hearing the expected name, Shirou showed no surprise.
"Let's exchange information. I also have questions. The way you spoke earlier made it sound as if you've personally fought the Heroic Spirit named Alcides. What's the story there?"
The young man gave a bitter smile but didn't dodge the question: "Yes, I was beaten quite miserably. If my companion hadn't saved me, I would have died during our first meeting. But thanks to that, I learned about the Black Mud."
The broad-mindedness to speak of his own past desperate straits without concern was a form of integrity.
The Chief didn't care about how "ugly" Shirou claimed his fight was; he only felt a sickening, cold chill run through him. Anyone else could feel his past state was irrelevant, but not Clan Calatin who had just clashed with him.
Unexpectedly, the thought that popped into the Chief's head wasn't "He's strong for surviving a Heroic Spirit," but rather, "The guy who pushed this man—who completely shut us down—to the brink of death... just how strong is the person he's trying to fight?"
The Chief's eyelids twitched, hoping that nothing even more disastrous would appear next. He took a deep breath and said:
"In that case, if you don't want us to fight, what do you want from us? Our capabilities are limited; I'm afraid it will be difficult to meet your expectations. Even if you want information on the masterminds, you need to tell us your thoughts and what you're prioritizing."
Without hesitation, as if he had held the answer for a long time, the young man replied:
"The fundamental idea is just to have you as allies; everything else feels like a bonus. I already know about the Kuragaoka family. I only need to find the locations of Faldeus, Francesca, and Buzzdilot. I'll handle the rest."
Hearing a statement that practically called out every mastermind by name, the Chief was speechless.
Shirou Emiya understood the relationship between the Police Department and the masterminds, and he had obtained a list of the masterminds' identities. Even if he were thought to be in league with them, the Chief would have had no defense, yet Shirou had not been deceived. He had actually managed to find the only outliers among the masterminds.
The waves that dispelled loneliness carried no other intent, merely brushing past in a mundane fashion. Standing within those waves, the Chief asked him:
"Do you intend to settle the score with them once and for all?"
"No," Shirou explained. "Besides defeating Alcides and finding a way to strip away the Black Mud, there is another method to resolve the crisis that I want to prepare for in advance. My hope is to find them through you, find the location of the Lesser Grail through them, confirm it is an ordinary object, and then...
—Destroy it."
Shirou simply summarized the act of breaking the rules in a tone of stating a fact.
The Police Department had once naively considered whether they could stop the Holy Grail War in this manner, but because their power was too insignificant, they quickly buried the plan in the dust. However, the situation had now been reversed.
"If the Lesser Grail is destroyed after its contents are full, it will likely cause the Black Mud to flow out from the Hole of the Grail. But as long as we destroy it ahead of time—while the Hole isn't open and the Lesser Grail is just a container—nothing will happen.
As long as the Grail is destroyed... 'All the World's Evil' will have no room to manifest."
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