Chapter Twenty-Six: The Trail of the Spirit Contract

Kuyuu Maiya discovered Kirei Kotomine while scouting for a sniper position.

Raised as a child soldier, she lived mechanically in order to prolong her existence, but now that chapter of her life was a painful memory she preferred not to revisit.

After encountering Kiritsugu Emiya, she was given a new name, a new identity, and a reason to exist.

For that, she would not hesitate to commit any sin, no matter how grave.

When she and Kiritsugu arrived in Fuyuki, they took advantage of the time before all the Masters had gathered to search the city for suitable locations to establish their strongholds. Though the work was not easy, the process was rather enjoyable. It was during this time that Kiritsugu, for the first time in a while, felt the urge to smoke.

Since there were no vending machines nearby, and her identity was still concealed, Maiya volunteered to buy cigarettes for Kiritsugu. On her way to the convenience store, she caught sight of an unexpected figure.

Kirei Kotomine.

The priest Kiritsugu was especially wary of. Unsure if he was accompanied by a Servant, Maiya merely cast him a sidelong glance. She saw the priest, who should have been hiding, speaking gravely with the store clerk.

That man looked completely ordinary—apart from his decent face, nothing about him suggested a connection to the underworld. No magus would be ridiculous enough to don a convenience store apron and work as a cashier.

Was he a friend of the priest’s in the world of ordinary people?

Although Maiya also sensed danger from Kotomine, considering his profession, it was not strange for him to have friends—perhaps they could even be used to threaten him someday.

This thought was completely overturned when she saw the young man remove his gloves.

Command Seals.

The authority of three absolute orders. She had found the seventh Master.

She had already suspected that the final Master would be some lucky individual chosen at random by the Holy Grail, someone who might not even know what the Holy Grail War was; but since he had been exposed, it was his misfortune. For the victory Kiritsugu so desperately sought, she could not let this gift slip by.

Without further deliberation, Maiya checked her firearm and stepped inside. As she expected, the young man was oblivious, still staring at the back of his hand. The rest would be easy.

She would threaten him outside, take him somewhere secluded, summon Kiritsugu via radio to transplant the Command Seals, then kill the man. If the Command Seals did not require the Master to be alive for the transfer, she would have considered bringing back only a corpse.

He might well be an innocent ordinary person, but it was not her fault he had been chosen.

Maiya raised her gun.

Instead, she received an unexpectedly composed response: the man complied with her instructions, then naturally requested time off and picked up the phone. His actions were so fluid that Maiya momentarily hesitated, unsure if she should pull the trigger.

“Manager, it’s me, Roland. Sorry, something urgent came up. I need to take a fifteen-minute break. Could you come cover for me? Thank you very much.”

Roland hung up, smiled at Maiya, and raised his hands.

“All done. So, Miss Robber, where are we off to next?”

“Shut up. Follow the route I tell you. Any extra moves and I’ll shoot you on the spot.”

She should have been in control, but in that brief exchange, Roland had seized the initiative with unsettling ease. Maiya became more vigilant.

Soon, they wound through a few back alleys to an unfinished building—a newly established stronghold. Weapons were already stashed in the corners, and the radio worked smoothly. As she brought Roland inside at gunpoint, she had already signaled Kiritsugu.

Once everything was in place, Maiya relaxed slightly.

Since nothing had happened so far, perhaps this man really was just a powerless civilian.

No, calling him an ordinary person didn’t seem right. Maiya doubted any regular person, when threatened at gunpoint and taken to a deserted location, could remain so calm—even watching his captor with idle curiosity.

“What are you staring at?”

Sensing Roland’s breathing deepen, Maiya forced down her unease with icy composure and snapped, “Just admiring your hands, Miss Robber. You have quite a pair.”

Roland lowered his raised hands, answering with a flippant tone.

“Is that the kind of nonsense people spout when they’re at death’s door?” Maiya’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Even if you tried to signal for help just now, you’ll be dead a hundred times before they get here!”

“Oh, really?”

Roland’s smile only widened. Instinctively, Maiya took a step back. She finally understood what was wrong.

That smile seemed gentle, but it was far too practiced—like something rehearsed in front of a mirror. Only this kind of hollow, self-contained smile could feel so disturbingly real.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Fear overriding her concern for transferring the Command Seals, Maiya, trembling all over, pulled the trigger.

Her well-maintained, reliable weapon disintegrated at the forceful action, fading into dust as if obliterated in an instant.

“This filthy, inexplicable feeling—what are you?”

Driven by survival instinct, Maiya shouted.

In the face of Roland’s indifferent smile, she received her answer.

“My name is Roland. I’m nineteen. I live near the commercial district of New Town, unmarried. I work at the convenience store in Fuyuki City Park.”

“I never get home later than eight. I don’t smoke, and only drink a little. I sleep at eleven and get eight full hours every night, like a baby, never carrying fatigue or stress into the next day. My coworkers say I’m perfectly normal.”

Such a detailed self-introduction made terror crawl along Maiya’s nerves, making the woman who thought herself a weapon tremble uncontrollably.

“What are you saying?!”

If this continued, she would lose all will to resist. Unable to endure further, Maiya lunged at him in the close quarters, aiming a punch at Roland’s face.

A blow strong enough to knock out a grown man was easily caught by Roland, who seized her wrist. Maiya tried to pull free, but there was no response.

Her hand would not move. Beyond Roland’s male strength, something invisible held her in place.

“What I mean is, I have no great desires. I just want a peaceful life. So I don’t care for victory or defeat—they only bring trouble and enemies. I hate changes like that. But if I must fight, I won’t lose to anyone.”

Crack.

With a cheerful tone, Roland explained his outlook on life while the Killer Queen in his control mercilessly broke Maiya’s outstretched arm.

He studied her hand with an expression of genuine interest, then looked up and smiled.

“I never expected someone who’s held a gun for years to have such fine hands. Normally, I’d have to take these as compensation for disturbing my peace, but—”

“But now, I’ve changed my mind, Miss Maiya Kuyuu.”

Watching her still struggle, Roland glanced at the Key of All Souls in his hand. At this moment, the artifact glimmered with a silver light only he could see, conveying a message to him.

“Number of nearby contracted spirits: one.”