"Is Illya still refusing to come out to eat?"
Sella stood at the door of the bedroom in the residential house, looking at the still tightly shut door with concern as she asked Leysritt, who was standing guard outside.
Leysritt shook her head silently, but the faint worry on her face was still evident.
Her silence wasn't due to any bad blood between her and Sella—it was simply because, as an artificial maid, she had a manufacturing defect.
She was an artificial human created at the same time as Illya. Though she was a failed product, this very fact gave her an exceptionally close bond with Illya. When it came to caring for Illya, she was absolutely no less devoted than Sella.
"..."
"It seems the Einzbern experiments have affected Illya after all."
Seeing Leysritt shake her head, Sella couldn't help but sigh. As Illya's maids, both Sella and Leysritt knew exactly what had happened to her.
The Einzbern family's successive failures in the Holy Grail Wars had finally driven them down an utterly mad path.
During the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzberns violated the rules by summoning Avenger Angra Mainyu, which led to the corruption of the Grail and their early elimination.
In the Fourth Holy Grail War, they hired the infamous Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, only for him to be killed by Zuke shortly after arriving in Fuyuki City.
Unlike in the original timeline, where Kiritsugu at least took out several enemies and witnessed the Grail's manifestation, this time he achieved no substantial results whatsoever. This left the Einzbern family deeply dissatisfied with their strategy.
And so, they chose an even more extreme approach—not only would they send Illya as a Master in this war, but they would also ensure absolute control over the Servant.
Their plan? To use Illya as a core, fusing the summoned Heroic Spirit—or even a Divine Spirit—directly into her body, creating a unique Servant wholly belonging to the Einzbern family.
It sounded absurd, but the Einzberns were willing to cheat by any means necessary—after all, many of the Holy Grail War's disasters were caused by their rule-breaking.
The results, however, were unexpectedly successful. They managed to integrate the mythological being summoned via catalyst into Illya's body, turning her into a special Servant.
But the consequences were horrific.
Illya, now fused with a Heroic Spirit and Divine Spirits, did not obey the Einzbern family's orders. Instead, she awoke in a frenzy.
Having assimilated Sitonai from Ainu mythology, Louhi from Finnish mythology, and Freyja from Norse mythology, Illya gained power far beyond what the Einzberns could handle.
She slaughtered nearly everyone in the Einzbern family, barely restraining herself from killing Leysritt and Sella.
Only then did she flee with the two of them to Fuyuki City.
But because she still struggled to control her emotions, Illya had locked herself in her room ever since arriving at the house, refusing to see Sella or Leysritt.
Perhaps she feared she might lose control again and end up killing them too.
"Though Illya is now a Servant and likely doesn't need to eat—sustaining herself through her Magic Circuits and the Grail's mana should be enough..."
Sella frowned, staring at the bedroom door with worry.
"But this can't go on forever. Sooner or later, the enemies of the Holy Grail War will come for her."
For Illya, participating in the war might not be necessary. But as a Servant, even if she had no desire to fight, others would still target her.
After all, the Grail required the souls of Heroic Spirits to be completed. Illya couldn't escape that fate.
"You're right. And worse, Illya is the Lesser Grail... If anyone finds out, they might come for her deliberately to capture her."
Sella's words didn't get a response from Leysritt, who rarely spoke voluntarily—but a man's voice chimed in from behind her in agreement.
This wasn't baseless speculation. In Fate/Zero, Iskandar had once stormed the Einzbern castle to seize Irisviel, the Lesser Grail.
"Exactly, her identity as the Lesser Grail is another problem!"
Sella clapped her hands together, nodding emphatically—she was about to thank the man who had added this point when she suddenly realized something was wrong.
There were no men here.
A chill ran down her spine as she forcefully pushed off the ground, leaping away from where she had been standing.
Leysritt, still at the bedroom door, reacted instantly.
Without a word, she pulled out a massive silver poleaxe from seemingly nowhere and swung it down viciously behind Sella!
CLANG!
The enormous axe blade struck Zuke with full force—he was the one who had spoken in agreement earlier.
Zuke had used Black Bird Requiem to locate this house and then infiltrated it with Presence Concealment, overhearing Sella's complaints to Leysritt.
As artificial humans created by the Einzberns, Sella and Leysritt had superior physical abilities and Magic Circuits compared to ordinary humans, but they were still no match for Servants.
The Presence Concealment of an Assassin-class Servant worked perfectly on them—until Zuke deliberately spoke, revealing his presence.
"How rude."
Zuke stood motionless as Leysritt's axe struck his head—his skull remained completely unharmed, but the blade was left with a visible notch.
By now, he was long accustomed to enveloping his body in ki, so there was no chance of being caught off-guard by ordinary weapons.
"The attack did nothing... A Servant?!"
Sella, now at a distance, wiped cold sweat from her forehead. Seeing Leysritt's axe fail to even scratch Zuke, she immediately realized he was no ordinary opponent.
At this critical moment, the only ones who would come knocking were... Servants.
"Your conversation earlier was quite interesting. You said Illya has already become a Servant?"
Though Sella and Leysritt were now on full alert and had even attacked him, Zuke didn't mind.
Their actions were ultimately out of a desire to protect Illya, so he held no grudge—after all, their attacks were little more than tickles to him.
What truly caught his attention was Sella's earlier remark:
"Illya became a Servant... Could she have turned into Sitonai?"
To be continued…