Alice Phil von Einzbellen is the "Little Holy Grail" of the crucial Holy Grail War, something that anyone who knows anything about the Holy Grail War system knows. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoBut within the Einzberen house, there is a difference between Alice Fell and the "Little Grail".

The "Little Grail" is Alice Filna's body that has stored the alchemical crystals of the Einzberen family for more than 2,000 years. Alice Phil is known as the "Guardian of the Holy Grail", and her mission is to keep and carry the "Little Grail".

In the last Holy Grail War, the Einzberren faction was not only defeated in the Servant War, but the most important "Little Holy Grail" was also destroyed in the melee. Because the "Little Grail" was lost before the winner was decided, the Third Holy Grail War ended in nullity.

Because of this failure, the head of the family, Ahad, decided to install a humanoid shell with self-management ability on the "Little Holy Grail" this time, giving the "Little Holy Grail" the instinct to survive, so that it can automatically avoid various dangers and achieve the purpose of achieving the Holy Grail, which is the personality simulation called "Alice Phil".

As the Holy Grail War progressed, the "Little Grail" began to function as it should, and began to oppress the excess outfit. It's like a computer with low memory, in order to ensure the operation of important programs, it will definitely compress the memory space occupied by unnecessary programs.

In Alice Phil, the human function is getting weaker and weaker, and the function of the object belonging to the "Little Grail" is getting stronger and stronger.

Every time a new Servant is eliminated, Alice Phil's body weakens a little. After Caster's death, Alice Phil began to feel tired, unable to hold a glass of water or carry a phone for something as mundane. After Lancer's death, Alice Phil struggled to walk, and with Avalon guarding her, she might have been in better shape. But after returning "Avalon" to Saber, she had to lie dormant for a long time in the prescribed procedure.

The next time Alice Fell opened her eyes, the sunset was already shining orange through the small window of the warehouse.

The disconnection of consciousness felt as if the whole day of the day was completely non-existent. Alice Field's sleep was so deep. The body has gradually lost its function, and the dormancy of the body is more akin to suspended animation than sleep.

My physical condition has improved a lot, and it seems that the rest seems to have some effect. Although I still can't stand up, I can at least talk to people without any obstacles.

Looking to the side, Maiya Hisayu was as quiet as a shadow portrait, sitting motionless in the corner of the wall. The position and posture are exactly the same as when Alice Phil last saw them. But her gaze was always as sharp as a blade unsheathed, and she was keenly watching somewhere in mid-air.

Although she was extremely trusted, she didn't look like a real human being, but more like a demon or a robot, and even Alice Fell couldn't help but feel a certain sense of fear. What kind of rigorous training and strong mental strength can maintain such an astonishing concentration, Alice Phil could not have imagined.

With a little awe, it occurred to Alice Phil that this woman named Maiya Kuyu might be more thoroughly than Emiya Kiritsugu himself to show the way he wanted to survive.

—Maiya-san. ”

Whisper in a voice that borders on sighing.

Maiya looked at Alice Phil quickly and quietly like a hound hearing a canine flute.

Alice Phil felt a little uncomfortable, she just wanted to have a casual chat with Maiya.

"Why are you fighting for Kiritsugu?"

“…… Because beyond that, I have nothing. ”

Knowing that the object of protection does not feel uncomfortable or inconvenient in any way, but just wants to talk. Maiya let herself relax a little, and after thinking quietly for a while, she replied.

"I can't remember anything about my family, I can't even remember my name. The name Maiya Kuyu was the name used on the first fake passport that Kiritsugu made for me. ”

"Huh?"

Seeing Alice Phil's surprised expression, the corners of Maiya's mouth showed a slight smile. For her, who is absolutely indistinguishable from joy and anger, this is already her greatest friendly performance.

"I just remember that it was a very poor country, with no hope and no place for a future. We can only rely on mutual hatred and plundering each other to get food for survival. There are always endless wars, and even though there is no money to maintain the army, the war has never stopped...... I don't know who came up with the idea, instead of recruiting soldiers for training, it is faster and cheaper to capture children and let them go to the battlefield with guns. ”

“……”

"Aim at the enemy and pull the trigger. Only these functions remain, and everything else is discarded...... Children who can't do it will die sooner than children who can, and they have to keep killing in order to continue their lives. So I don't remember anything before I picked up the gun, so I lived like this mechanically until I met Kiritsugu. ”

Maiya said as she looked down at her hands. The slender fingers do not have the feminine softness, only the sharpness reminiscent of a murder weapon.

"My human heart is dead, and only the outer vessel is still active, maintaining the familiar functions of the past. That's my life. The person who picked up this life is Kiritsugu, so you can let him use it...... That's why I'm here. ”

Although she was already vaguely aware of Maiya's tragic past, Alice Fell did not expect that Maiya's life would be so heavy.

Alice Phil was silent and speechless, and Maiya spoke to avoid embarrassment.

"Compared with me, Madame, your enthusiasm has surprised me even more. ”

"Huh?"

Alice Phil, who didn't expect Maiya to say this, couldn't help but be surprised.

"You've been locked up in a closed castle, isolated from the rest of the world, and you're fighting for Kiritsugu's dream of changing the world. ”

"I ......"

Maiya's words make Alice Phil rethink herself.

Her husband, Kiritsugu Emiya, acted based on the ideal of "saving the world". Seeing him risking his life in pursuit of the Holy Grail, can you still say that you have the exact same dream as him?

"—yes. Actually, I don't really know Kiritsugu's ideals. ”

That's right. The answer is no.

"As a result, I just pretended to know, maybe I just wanted to be with my beloved. Like you said, I don't know anything about the world that Kiritsugu wants to change, and my ideal is just to take Kiritsugu's ideals and learn and sell them. ”

“…… Is that so?"

"yes, but you can't tell Kiritsugu. ”

For Alice Phil, it was an incredible feeling. I didn't expect that there would be someone who could make her easily say what she could never say in front of her husband.

"I always told Kiritsugu that he was right and that his ideals had the value to give my life. I kept pretending I could understand her. A woman who has the same ideals as her husband and dies for her ideals is not a burden to Kiritsu, right?"

"I see. ”

This feeling of dependence is different from the love for Kiritsugu and trust in Saber, and the feeling that Alice Fell experienced for the first time could be called "friendship"?

"But madam, don't you have a wish of your own?"

Hearing Maiya's second question, Alice Phil couldn't help but think back to the battle she had with Maiya in the forest, where did her fighting spirit come from in the face of Yan Feng Qili's overwhelmingly powerful existence at that time?

"Wish...... No, I do have a wish. I want Kiritsugu and Saber to win in the end, and I want both of them to get the Holy Grail. ”

It also represents Alice Phil's death and a farewell to Kiritsugu.

Even so, this desire is the source of the courage that wells up in Alice Phil's heart.

"It's... Is it the so-called fulfillment of the third magic, Einzberen's long-cherished wish?"

"No, it doesn't matter if you don't reach the Great Holy Grail of Estissa. My hope is that there will never be a war. If the structure of the world changes according to Kiritsugu's wishes and ends all strife, the war in search of the Holy Grail here in Fuyuki should be no exception. I want this fourth battle to be the last Holy Grail War, the android who died as a container for the Holy Grail, and I hope I'm the last. ”

At this point, Maiya finally understood the meaning of Alice Phil's words.

"Is it for Miss?"

"Yes. ”

Illyasfil von Einzbelen. It is the product of alchemy, which was born by the fertilization of a magician in the mother body of an artificial human. Although Maiya hadn't met Illya in person, she had heard about her.

"I've heard that according to the Great Master's plan, the 'Grail Guardians' after me will become more refined artificial lifeforms. Instead of just hiding the Holy Grail in the body, the newly added magic circuit is installed outside the body, allowing the body itself to function as a 'Grail Container'. The Great Master had already anticipated the possibility of a "Fifth War" before the Fourth War began, which is why he let me give birth to Illya. If Kiritsugu and I fail, then the child will be used as a test bed for the 'Heavenly Clothes', which is for the most important battle in sixty years' time. ”

The calm tone of his voice began to have some tenderness at this point.

This is the proof that Alice Phil is definitely not just living as a puppet. She has a heart, loves others, smiles when she is happy, and tears when she laments. Alice Phil has this ordinary warmth in her heart just like most people.

When I held the child and breastfed her, I knew very well in my heart that this child would not escape the fate of becoming a container in the end. Do you understand the feeling of a mother who has to give up her dearest child in this way?"

“……”

Maiya was silent, carefully understanding the feelings that Alice Fell revealed.

"But this is the fate that the artificial lifeforms of the Einsberren family are forced to carry. That child, and my granddaughter, too, experienced this pain when they gave birth to a daughter. This chain will continue until the time of the arrival of the Winter Wood Grail. So I wish I was the last one, and I wanted to end Einzbergerm's obsession with my own body. If this wish is granted, my daughter will be free from her fate, and the child will be able to live a life that is devoid of the Holy Grail and end her life as a human being. ”

"Is this what it feels like to be a mother......

Being asked by Maiya like this, Alice Phil realized that she had just revealed too much of her inner feelings, so she smiled bitterly embarrassedly.

"Maybe. Maiya: You might have a hard time understanding. ”

"It's not that hard. I'm also a mother. ”

"Huh?"

The words were so unexpected that Alice Fell wondered if her ears had misheard.

Maiya apologized as if to scare Alice Phil, and her tone softened slightly.

"I actually have experience with pregnancy and childbirth, although it was just an accident. ”

“…… Have you ever been married?"

"No, I don't even know who my father is. On the battlefield, all of our female soldiers were in the barracks every night by the male soldiers *** who didn't know what it was...... Anyway, I got pregnant shortly after menarche. I can't even choose a name for my child, and I don't know if I'm still alive. If he hadn't died, the kid would have been killing on the battlefield. Children there have been on the battlefield with guns since they were five years old. ”

"How can this be ......"

The past recounted by the woman who had been a young soldier was so tragic that it deeply shook Alice Fair's untainted heart.

"Surprised? But this kind of thing is definitely nothing new in today's world. Now both terrorist organizations and guerrillas know the benefits of using young soldiers. Because of the early success stories like mine, the number of children who have had the same experience as me is not decreasing, but is increasing. ”

Maiya said calmly, her eyes getting colder and colder. There was no anger or sadness in her tone. In the scenes she recalled, I am afraid that there was only endless despair that had no connection with those living feelings.

"Madam, perhaps for you, the world you see for the first time is very beautiful, and envy the happy people who live in this world. But for me, I envy you all the time in that castle, because I don't have to see the ugliness and horror of this world. ”

Although Maiya's emotion is not a complaint, when she says these thoughts, it inevitably carries some blame for Alice Phil's naivety.

Later, Maiya herself may have noticed this, and shook her head as if to deny what she had said earlier, ending with more resolute words.

"If this kind of world can really change...... If it is to fulfill this wish...... It doesn't matter how you use my life. ”

Nothing but fighting. Maiya describes herself in this way. There was not a hint of exaggeration in her words. In her heart, there are no ideals, no long-cherished wishes, as if it is like a scorched earth that has been burned out, only the void of nothingness.

Although her inner world is completely opposite to Kiritsugu, as a warrior, the two are very similar. This contradiction made Alice Fair's chest sour. Maiya's presence reminds Kiritsugu and sets an example for him, and it is precisely because of her that Kiritsugu can block his own contradictions and make himself a ruthless hunting machine.

"After Kiritsugu completes his ideals, you plan to ...... What to do?"

Alice Phil's question made Maiya's gaze wander in confusion for the first time at this time.

"I didn't think I could survive. Even if I really save my life, there is no point in my life. The world that has changed because of Kiritsu must be a place that doesn't need me. ”

Those who only know how to survive in the flames of war have no place in a world where war has been completely eradicated. For Maiya, this negative thought is a natural conclusion.

This is so sad and unacceptable that Alice Phil couldn't help but blurt out.

"It's not like that. Maiya-san, you still have things to do after the war is over. ”

“……”

Facing the female warrior's puzzled eyes, Alice Fell said in a firm tone.

"You have to go and find your family and your own name, and the whereabouts of your children. These are all things that should not be forgotten. These are all things that should be remembered. ”

"Is that so......"

Contrary to Alice Phil's enthusiasm, Maiya's tone was still indifferent with a hint of doubt.

"If the era of peace does come, the memories of people like me will be nothing more than a nightmare, only tearing open the wounds that have healed and bringing pain. This is nothing more than a seed of hatred for an ideal world that is rarely reached. ”

"It's not like that. Because your life is not a dream, but a fact that has actually happened. The peace created by burying all this in the darkness is the deception of sin. A truly peaceful world is not simply about forgetting the pain of the past, but about seriously mourning the pain and sacrifice of the past in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past. ”

“……”

Maiya stared at Alice Phil silently, and after a while, her face became cheerful.

"You should have said that to Kiritsugu earlier. Then he might be better off than he is now. ”

Maiya's feelings bring joy and loneliness to Alice Phil at the same time, and she may never have the opportunity to talk to her husband again as she gradually weakens.

"-Then Miss Maiya, please tell him these words, and say that I said it. ”

"No, you should say it yourself. ”

A similar voice, accompanied by the golden and white light of the Spirit Child, condensed a figure that was almost identical to Alice Phil.

"Hello, Alice Phil von Einzberen, I'm Fristilza, Richsa Ritzlech von Einzberen, your prototype—"