Shinji Matou at Your Service-Chapter 1023: All Wrong

"Oh? What's going on here? Everyone's gathered."

Hearing this teasing voice and seeing the not-so-tall figure, Acht's shoulder and thigh began to ache again.

Although his physical wounds had been mostly healed, the scars on his heart were still bleeding.

At that moment, Acht once again recalled the terror of Shinji Matou.

It was this young man who, with two strikes, destroyed the bounded field around the mansion and effortlessly subdued the battle maid that the Einzbern family had spent ten years creating. In less than a minute, he even managed to shatter all of Heracles' trials without so much as a scratch. If Heracles hadn't managed to hold on using his [Battle Continuation] skill to buy time, Acht wouldn't have had any chance to escape.

Was this a Master? Was this still a human? This was a monster!

However, despite recalling Shinji's terrifying power, Acht didn't flee this time. Instead, he handed the metal case in his hands to Justeaze and stood in front of Shinji, shouting:

"Lady Justeaze, run! This man is very dangerous; I'll buy you some time!"

"..."

Justeaze.

"..."

Kiritsugu Emiya.

"..."

Maiya Hisau.

"..."

Within, Shinji Matou felt nothing. He almost wanted to laugh.

What on earth is this?

Alright, I admit, this old man has finally shown some rare courage, but the problem is, he hasn't understood the situation at all!

Barely suppressing his laughter, Shinji tried to maintain a serious face and said to Justeaze, "Hmm, he's telling you to run. Why are you still standing there? Go on, run."

"Why should I run?"

Justeaze, holding the case, looked confused.

"Maybe he thinks I'm going to hurt you," Shinji explained with an overly serious tone.

"Even if I did run, it wouldn't matter, because no matter where I went, you'd find me. Besides, you wouldn't hurt me."

Justeaze's earnest expression left Shinji both moved and helpless.

"Don't be like that. Acht has finally shown a bit of heroism; can't you at least play along?"

"How am I supposed to play along? Run now? Wait for you back at home?"

"Hahahahaha..." Shinji couldn't hold it in anymore, clutching his stomach in laughter—Why is my girlfriend so adorable?

Even Kiritsugu, standing nearby, couldn't help but chuckle. As expected from the ancestor and model for Irisviel, her occasional cluelessness was just the same.

At this point, even Acht, slow and rigid as he was, realized something was off. He looked at the laughing Shinji in front of him and then back at the motionless Justeaze behind him.

"You... you all..."

"That's right, it's us."

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Shinji stepped around Acht, putting his left arm over Kiritsugu's shoulder and his right arm around Justeaze's waist.

"These are my friends, and this is my girlfriend—by the way, what are you all doing here? Justeaze, you're even using your spirit form..."

"Actually..."

The reason wasn't particularly complicated. Although Irisviel had eventually been convinced by Natalia to let Kiritsugu leave home, she was still worried.

Heracles was incredibly strong, and Kiritsugu didn't have a Servant of his own. If something went wrong...

When people are anxious, they instinctively seek help from those they are close to. And who was closer to Irisviel than her husband, daughter, and Maiya? Besides them, there was only her sister and ancestor, Justeaze.

The two were already within the same large bounded field and weren't far from each other, so communication was convenient.

Upon hearing Irisviel's concerns, Justeaze couldn't sit still either.

She wasn't worried about Kiritsugu. He was driving a Matou family car, which was easy to track, and she had asked Medea to keep an eye on him.

She wasn't worried about Shinji either. Of all the parts of his plan, the part concerning the Einzbern family was the most thorough, and last night's battle had proven that the preparations were not in vain.

What she was concerned about was the Einzbern family itself. Shinji had promised to show leniency, but Kiritsugu might not—if his wife and daughter were in danger, he could very well go on a killing spree. This was precisely what Justeaze didn't want to see.

Justeaze had been born around the year 900 AD, and though she had spent 900 years in the Einzbern Castle, reliving the same day over and over again, she had developed feelings for the closed-off castle and family.

Especially in the past ten years, under the influence of the Matou family, her emotions had become much richer, and her attachment to the Einzbern family had only grown stronger.

She wanted to free the Einzberns from their fate and truly liberate them.

One of the reasons she was so determined to purify the Greater Grail was that she believed it would help end the Einzbern family's tragic history and act as a catalyst for their liberation.

When that time came, she would truly return to the family and negotiate with the central figure, Golem Jubstacheit, allowing every homunculus to choose their way of life.

But the prerequisite for making that choice was survival. Once dead, nothing else mattered.

And so, Justeaze had hurriedly left the Greater Grail. She first returned home, got help from Medea, and then rushed to the outskirts, arriving just in time to save Acht before Kiritsugu could kill him.

As for Kiritsugu's side, Justeaze had already explained most of it, and the rest was easy for Shinji to guess.

In short, her actions were understandable, but they exposed one problem—a lack of timely communication. If Kiritsugu, Justeaze, or Medea had informed Shinji beforehand, this situation wouldn't have occurred.

Even though Shinji had prepared three different communication methods—mobile phones, satellite phones, and magical communication channels—he hadn't emphasized the importance of timely contact, leading to everyone acting on their own. Fortunately, no major mistakes had been made.

"I understand your concerns, but next time, please inform me before you act, so I can be prepared. And please, trust in my abilities. If I need your help, I won't hesitate to ask. If I don't ask, it means I can handle it. This time, Shishou and I took down Heracles and captured all the battle maids. Though this old man managed to escape in the chaos, Shishou had already placed a tracking rune on him. He won't get far, and when I catch him, I'll bring them all back for you to deal with."

At this point, neither Justeaze nor Kiritsugu could insist on being stubborn. They weren't like Rin, with her prideful attitude, so they both replied:

"I understand, it won't happen again."

"I'll contact you next time if anything comes up."

Seeing this, Acht finally accepted reality: "You... you are... Could it be that the last Holy Grail War was also...?"

"I know you have a lot of questions, and I have a lot to discuss with you and the children you brought. But this isn't the place to talk. Come with me, and I'll show you that Jubstacheit, you, and even the person I once was... were all wrong."

As she finished speaking, Justeaze let out a sorrowful sigh.

Seeing this, Shinji's arm around her waist tightened slightly, as if to say—It's okay. I'm here for you. I'll always be with you.

There is a kind of love that begins imperceptibly and grows quietly.

There is a kind of love that may not be grand at first but deepens over time.

There is a kind of love that isn't dramatic but warms the heart all the same.

There is a kind of love called companionship.

He would stay by her side, and she would stay by his, supporting each other as they walked forward together.