Chapter 296: Madam, You Wouldn

In the darkness, Kiritsugu Emiya weakly opened his eyes.

He licked his dry lips, and memories of what had just happened quickly surfaced in his mind.

The next moment, the Assassin's gaze turned sharp—but soon he realized he was now imprisoned in a cell entirely made of metal.

'Where is this?'

Looking at the seamless metal walls, Kiritsugu faintly furrowed his brow.

At that moment, a maid with a slightly stiff face suddenly appeared inside the cell.

Without hesitation, Kiritsugu instantly took control of the maid.

'A puppet?'

Seeing the maid's spherical joints, the Assassin's eyes flickered with thought.

If he remembered correctly, he had seen something similar before in the Tohsaka residence.

If that was the case, his current situation was easy to understand.

He had been caught red-handed breaking into the house.

But there was no helping it—who could have expected the one who raided the Tohsaka household to be the Master?

Kiritsugu released the maid, then saw her vanish instantly, leaving only food and water scattered across the floor.

After a brief silence, he paid no mind and began eating the food on the ground.

'Teleportation? Or something else?'

Gazing at the cold, metallic walls around him, Kiritsugu's eyes flickered slightly.

……

On the other side.

After receiving the maid puppet's report, Li Ang said without looking up: "If he's awake, let him be. Just make sure his daily food and water aren't cut off."

At this, the maid puppet bowed silently and withdrew.

At that moment, a voice suddenly spoke: "Master, Kiritsugu…"

"Relax, I still have use for him," Li Ang paused his actions and turned to the golden-haired girl beside him, who had been about to speak. "Besides, to ensure Irisviel cooperates properly, I won't let him die."

Hearing this, the golden-haired girl immediately relaxed.

Two days had passed since Li Ang speedran the Holy Grail War.

In those two days, he had done plenty: first, he assisted Scathach in seizing control of Saber, then relocated his entire group.

Li Ang's current location was the vast underground cavern beneath Ryūdōji, the magical energy hub of Fuyuki City.

More precisely, it was a newly carved Niflheim within the cavern.

He had many reasons for this: staying in the Matō residence would inevitably attract unwanted intruders.

Niflheim, however, prevented that perfectly—and with Scathach's Primordial Runic Runes, exposure was virtually impossible.

At least, these weaklings in Fuyuki couldn't find Li Ang.

As for Kiritsugu Emiya, he had been imprisoned in a separate space he had carved out.

He did this partly to prevent Kiritsugu from causing trouble—after all, Irisviel was still in his hands—and partly because he was curious about the Assassin's 【Fixed Time Regulation】.

Although Li Ang had already obtained all information by reading memories, Kiritsugu himself was still a valuable specimen.

Moreover, controlling Kiritsugu would ensure Irisviel's full cooperation in the experiments.

Thinking of this, Li Ang shook his head slightly and draped a cloth over the white-haired woman on the workbench: "That's enough for today. I've already formed some ideas about the Little Grail—perhaps future Holy Grail Wars won't need your Einzbern homunculi at all."

At this, Irisviel sat up, clutching her clothes: "What about Illya?"

"Worry about yourself first. Technically, you're only one year older than your daughter."

As he spoke, Li Ang couldn't help but twitch his lips.

The Einzberns were truly a bizarre bunch—he simply couldn't understand why they made the homunculi serving as the Little Grail form emotional bonds.

But honestly, Li Ang owed them thanks: after all, his original threat to make Irisviel cooperate was her daughter.

Madam, you wouldn't want.

Suppressing the odd thought, Li Ang casually said: "The dining hall should have food ready by now. Saber, aren't you going to check?"

"By the way, give some feedback—don't just say 'delicious.'"

Hearing this, Saber's eyes lit up, and she walked toward the dining hall with forced solemnity: "If Master says so, refusing would be impolite."

Before embarking on his new journey, Li Ang had prepared some Morabysian local specialties to develop new products; since Saber loved eating, he simply made her his official taste-tester.

But perhaps because she had never even attended elementary school, the golden-haired girl had only ever said "delicious."

At that moment, Scathach passed Saber, carrying a long spear as she approached Li Ang: "This one still falls far short of the one the Great God wielded."

"I tried to reinforce it for you, but failed."

"Sorry."

She handed the spear back to Li Ang.

Li Ang was not surprised by Scathach's words.

After all, when Old Tang had forged a copy of Gungnir, he had rushed it—there was no way it could compare to the world's already transformed Artifact: 【Divine Proclamation · Gungnir】.

It was also natural that Scathach couldn't improve it: the Goddess of Winter clearly lacked understanding of alchemy and had never truly encountered the original 【Divine Proclamation · Gungnir】.

If Scáthach had been summoned instead, there might have been some room for improvement, since her 【Spear That Pierces the Death of the Flying】 shared some commonalities with 【Divine Proclamation · Gungnir】.

Fortunately, once Li Ang learns 【Conceptual Armament】, he can modify it himself—even break the permissions on the Gungnir seized from Odin.

Thinking of this, he decided to visit the Assassin: "Don't trouble yourself too much, Scathach. You've already helped me greatly."

Li Ang wasn't lying—Scathach had indeed taught him much, primarily the Runic Runes.

【Magician Lv14 (718/1400)】.

Li Ang's 【Magician】 level had risen solely through learning from Scathach; he was not far from the maximum level.

'It's just that the Primordial Lu En runes really didn't trigger a new class. If I want a special class change, I'll most likely still need to learn magic.'