"When two Lesser Holy Grails exist at the same time, a Servant's soul will flow to the one that's closer."
As Souta spoke, his eyes turned to Illya.
She noticed his gaze and smiled sweetly at him.
Souta continued, "Up to now, we've already defeated two Servants..."
Irisviel gasped, cutting him off mid-sentence, and asked urgently:
"Two Servants have been eliminated? Why haven't I felt anything at all?"
As the "vessel of the Holy Grail," she was supposed to automatically collect the souls of fallen Servants.
And in doing so, she would gradually lose her sense of self, eventually becoming incapable of action.
Each Servant's soul she absorbed would be a burden on her body—logically, she should have sensed their deaths.
Souta, of course, was well aware of this.
In fact, he had long wanted to complain about Tohsaka Tokiomi's original plan—sending Assassin to die and faking his death afterward—what was the point of that strategy again?
Shaking his head to rein in his wandering thoughts, Souta answered Irisviel's question:
"You didn't sense anything because the Servants' souls all went to Illya."
"Yes. When we defeated Caster, you were still in Germany. When we took down Lancer, Illya was right nearby, so the Servants' souls went to her."
Souta explained, "That's why I said, the one closer absorbs the souls."
He had only discovered this today after meeting Irisviel.
He'd fallen into a habitual way of thinking—assuming that in the Fourth War, the souls of defeated Servants would automatically be absorbed by Irisviel.
So today, after seeing her, he used divine power to enhance his perception and scanned her body to confirm whether the two Servants' souls were within her.
But he found nothing.
Instead, he saw the Servants' souls within Illya's heart.
Hearing this, Irisviel immediately turned her head to look at the petite girl beside her.
"Illya, are you... alright?"
"It's just two. I'm fine, Mommy."
Illya responded nonchalantly.
As the Einzbern family's greatest creation, she was clearly superior in performance to Irisviel.
Though the more souls she absorbed, the more of her human functions would need to be shut down.
But just two souls weren't enough to affect her daily life.
"You don't need to worry. I'll replicate Illya's heart as a new Lesser Grail and transfer the Servants' souls."
Souta's calm tone helped ease the tension.
Irisviel bowed deeply to Souta in gratitude.
After thanking him, she asked curiously:
"Um... Mr. Souta, what's your relationship with Illya?"
"Big Brother and I are engaged. I've already said I'll marry him, so we're fiancés."
Illya cut Souta off and gave the answer herself.
Hearing that, Emiya Kiritsugu's gaze instantly turned sharp.
So Souta's earlier words... weren't a joke!?
Unlike Kiritsugu, Irisviel's face lit up with joy.
"You've been hiding this well, Souta!"
Rin Tohsaka twisted Souta's thigh hard, glaring at him with a look that screamed, You better explain this now.
"..." Souta was silent for a few seconds, then turned a questioning gaze toward Illya, "Illya... when did we agree on that?"
"Illya said she'd repay Big Brother."
The girl replied seriously:
"And Big Brother said he liked Illya, so naturally this is how I'll repay you. Neither of us refused, so it's agreed."
"No, when I said I liked you, I meant I liked your charac—"
Illya wasn't giving him any chance to argue.
Irisviel chuckled behind her hand, ruffling her daughter's hair.
"Illya, Mommy supports you. Mr. Souta traveled through time to save us, which shows he truly cares about you. He's a man worth entrusting your future to."
Beside them, Emiya Kiritsugu wanted to pull out his gun and fire an Origin Bullet.
But recalling Souta's strength and his still-aching head, he wisely dropped the idea.
To shift the topic before things escalated further, he took the initiative:
"With our current lineup of three Servants and Mr. Souta, who is even stronger than Saber, the Holy Grail is practically in our grasp. So... have you thought about your wish?"
Hearing this, Artoria looked displeased, but recalling Souta's time-stop ability, she sighed inwardly and said nothing.
"Rin and I don't have any wishes."
Souta laid out his plan:
"When the time comes, we can give the Holy Grail to Irisviel and Illya to restore their bodies."
"Souta, you can call me 'Aunt,' you know."
Irisviel suddenly interjected, feeling it odd for Souta to call her by name—wasn't that breaking seniority?
"...," Souta ignored her and continued:
"Restoring their bodies won't use up all the Grail's magic. The remaining magic can be used for Saber's wish."
"For me...?" Artoria looked surprised and asked, "What about your own Servant?"
She'd planned to team up with Souta to eliminate the others, then compete fairly. She didn't expect Souta to just give it to her.
"I don't have a Servant. I'm not a Master. As for Rin... her Servant's wish is special, it doesn't require the Holy Grail. As for Heracles..."
Souta rested his chin on his hand, falling into thought:
"Now that I think about it, what is Heracles' wish? He was forcibly summoned under irregular conditions. His wish is probably to protect Illya..."
Hearing Souta's murmurs, Artoria and Irisviel both shot to their feet:
They instantly turned to the burly man in the room, shocked.
Even Emiya Kiritsugu was moved. There's no denying it—a man's name carries weight.
The greatest hero of Greek mythology—his name alone brought immense pressure.
Souta also glanced at Heracles.
He was thinking—if the Einzbern family had summoned Archer-class EMIYA, even against Gilgamesh, the outcome wouldn't be certain.
"Anyway," Souta's voice brought them back, "Our Servants don't need the Grail to fulfill their wishes. The only one who needs it is you, Saber. But your wish is... complicated, so I need to warn you."
"Hm?" Artoria asked suspiciously, "You know my wish?"
"I came from the future, so knowing a few things is normal."
Souta brushed it off, then said:
"Your wish is to have the Sword in the Stone choose a new king to spare England from war and division, right?"
"Yes." Artoria froze, surprised he really knew.
"Here's the bottom line," Souta said bluntly, "Your wish... is impossible."