Shinji Matou at Your Service-Chapter 1020: Thank You, and I’m Sorry

After seeing Hercules off, Shinji walked over to Scathach and raised his hand to inscribe a healing rune.

"Shishou, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Once again, I've failed to die," Scáthach said, her tone exaggerated, as if complaining, while she slowly stood up straight. The wound on her shoulder had stopped bleeding, though it was unclear what method she had used to treat it.

"No need to act tough at a time like this."

Shinji placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on her waist, seemingly preparing to lift her into a princess carry.

However, just before he could act, Scathach used her uninjured hand to push one of Shinji's hands away, speaking in a slightly irritated tone: "I'm not so weak that I need to be carried like that."

Shinji looked at his rebuffed arm, then scratched his nose with it.

"I nearly forgot, you're a queen. A princess carry might not be appropriate. How about I carry you on my back? Or at the very least, help you walk?"

His feigned innocence, delivered so matter-of-factly, earned him a sharp glare from Scathach.

"Put away those sneaky thoughts. Don't think I don't know what's going on in that head of yours."

"Well, I admit my intentions aren't entirely pure, but you're injured, Shishou. You're having trouble moving around, and as your disciple, I can't just leave you like this."

"There's no need for you to worry. Did you forget? I'm a Servant—I can dematerialize. No matter how badly I'm injured, it won't affect my movements."

Shinji's expression froze. Damn, I forgot about that. As a Servant, she wasn't bound by the physical laws of the world, meaning her injuries wouldn't limit her. Plus, dematerializing would conserve mana, making it the best way to recover.

Scathach, seeing through Shinji's inner complaints, reached out and poked his forehead with her finger. Half annoyed, half amused, she said, "Honestly, I don't know what to say to you. Here you are, wasting time talking to me—what about the person you were after?"

"Acht... Damn it, he's gone!"

At her reminder, Shinji realized that the old man, who had been protected by Hercules, was now nowhere to be seen. He had likely escaped when Shinji destroyed the villa, lifting the confinement, and allowing Acht to seize the opportunity to flee.

Perhaps Hercules' final battle had also been an attempt to buy time for his Master. A hero, after all, remains a hero until the end.

"Shishou, can you track him?"

"He's heading toward the back of the mountain. He hasn't gone far. If you leave now, you can still catch him."

"Alright, I'll go after him right away!"

Shinji immediately channeled mana into his legs. Just as he was about to take his first step, he paused and turned his head back.

"Are you really okay by yourself?"

"I'm fine. Go. That thing is important to both you and Justeaze, isn't it?"

Though Scathach's face was pale, she still managed a smile and waved him off.

"Alright. Take care and rest up. I'll be back soon."

With that, Shinji's steps finally landed. His white robes cut through the air, and in a flash, he was gone.

Once his figure had completely vanished, the Queen of the Land of Shadows lowered her arm. Her body, as if losing its center of gravity, collapsed backward, and the blood that had stopped earlier began to gush out once more. A faint trace of weakness appeared in her deep, resolute eyes.

Even so, she continued to smile, though her expression was filled with bitter self-mockery. It wasn't clear whether she was mocking her disciple or herself.

"Your perception still needs work, Shinji. In my current state, if you wanted to do something to me, I wouldn't be able to resist at all. Haha, how lazy I've become, to even entertain such thoughts... When will these days finally come to an end... death... an end... Setanta... Shinji..."

Her eyes slowly closed, and her murmurs, almost inaudible, faded away.

◇◇◇

"Ha... Huff... Huff... Huff—!"

Breathing like a wild animal, Acht staggered through the forest.

No, in reality, he was following a precise route, but his heart was wandering, lost and confused.

For a body focused solely on escaping, the word lost was the most fitting description.

Of course, given the Einzbern way, it was likely that Acht hadn't yet realized he was straying from the central protocol set by the head of all homunculi, the Golem Jubstacheit.

The stark contrast between the certainty of victory he had once held and the reality of leaving the battlefield so early caused his emotions to fluctuate wildly. After suppressing his feelings for 200 years, he was finally beginning to experience something akin to human change.

"How did it turn out like this?"

Using one hand to push away branches, he stumbled over the damp ground.

He left a trail of blood as he followed the pre-planned escape route.

Though he was the highest-grade homunculus created by Jubstacheit, his enhancements focused on magic power and longevity, not physical capabilities. One could say his body was quite fragile. Naturally, he had been hit by falling debris as he escaped the collapsing villa, sustaining significant injuries.

"Huff... Huff... Agh!"

His left shoulder was now useless, and he limped on his right leg. One arm and one leg weren't enough to support him properly, and he slipped, falling against a nearby tree.

In this condition, it wouldn't be long before his wounds festered, further weakening his body, and very likely leading to his death.

As he trudged along, numb to the pain, a strange emotion began to boil within him, and suddenly, he felt a desire to laugh.

"Ke-haha... Hahahaha!"

Out of nowhere, an inexplicable laugh, almost like a cough, erupted from him—hysterical and unhinged.

"This is just like the Third War. I made all the preparations, and in the end, none of it mattered."

He laughed and laughed, but his high spirits quickly plummeted once again.

"...This means I'm even worse than those two traitors."

No matter how he had treated Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern, one fact remained—they had succeeded in reaching the end of the previous Holy Grail War. They had won. They had...

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, a nameless anger ignited inside him, burning his body like a searing pain, as though he were falling apart.

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"Why? Why would you throw away a victory you fought so hard to win? Why would you abandon your wish? Were all your words lies?"

He didn't understand. He couldn't comprehend. He couldn't grasp it.

"You could never understand," a voice suddenly said, stopping Acht in his tracks. In his blurry vision, a man had appeared at some point.

A thin figure, wearing a black coat, with a cold expression—just like when he had come to the castle twenty years ago.

"Kiritsugu... Emiya."

The old man gritted his teeth as he uttered the name of the man he had personally nailed to the pillar of shame.

"It's been a while, Acht."

Kiritsugu gazed at the old man's wrinkled face, his eyes filled with the same complexity as Acht's expression.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to thank you. And to apologize. Thank you for introducing me to Irisviel, and for letting me meet Illya. And I'm sorry, but for their safety, I have to kill you."

The wind blew through Kiritsugu's coat as the once-cold-blooded assassin raised his gun.