[T/N: Hey guys, Final chapter of this week, ENJOY!!!]
Hisau Maiya discovered Kotomine Kirei while scouting a potential sniper vantage point.
Raised as a soldier from childhood, she had once lived as a tool, her only goal: survival. Yet now, that cold existence was a past she could no longer bear to revisit.
Ever since she reunited with Emiya Kiritsugu, she was reborn with a new name, a new identity, and a new reason to exist.
For that purpose, she was willing to commit any sin.
After arriving in Fuyuki alongside Kiritsugu, the two seized the brief lull before the Masters had fully assembled to comb through the city for a secure base of operations. It was tedious work, but not unpleasant. For once, Kiritsugu, whose nerves were usually stretched thin, found himself reaching for cigarettes with a nostalgic sigh.
But with no vending machines nearby, Maiya, whose identity had yet to be exposed, volunteered to retrieve them.
That's when she saw him.
Kotomine Kirei.
The man Kiritsugu had identified as one of the greatest potential threat in this war. Because it was unclear whether he was currently accompanied by a Servant, Maiya only gave him a cursory glance, just enough to observe him through narrowed eyes.
What she saw, however, caught her completely off guard.
The priest, who should have been operating in secrecy, was openly talking to a convenience store clerk with a grim expression.
He looked ordinary enough. Handsome, perhaps, but hardly the type to be associated with the the other side of the world. After all, what kind of mage would wear a convenience store apron and ring up customers?
A civilian friend? Someone Kirei knew in his daily life?
It was possible. While dangerous, the priest was still human. Having mundane connections wasn't out of the question, and such ties could potentially be used against him.
That assumption, however, shattered the moment the young man took off his gloves.
Command Seals.
Three glowing marks of absolute authority, etched across the back of his hand.
The seventh Master had been found.
Maiya had expected the last spot to go to some ignorant civilian, randomly chosen by the Holy Grail. She had even anticipated it. But now that he'd been exposed, it was simply his misfortune. For Kiritsugu's victory, the dream they both chased, this opportunity couldn't be missed.
Her next steps were clear. Check the weapon. Approach the target. Secure and extract.
And so, she walked into the store.
As expected, the boy, he couldn't have been older than twenty, was still staring at his hand in confusion. Completely unaware.
Perfect.
She would intimidate him, lure him outside, take him to a secluded location, then contact Kiritsugu to perform the transplant. The Command Seals needed a living host. Otherwise, she'd have just brought the corpse.
Innocent or not, he had been chosen.
She raised her gun.
What happened next caught her completely off guard.
The boy complied.
With a calmness that unsettled her more than any resistance could, he turned to her and said
"Manager, it's me, Roland. Something urgent came up, I need to take about fifteen minutes off. Can you cover for me? Thanks."
He hung up. Smiled at her.
Raised his hands.
"All done. So, where to, Miss Robber?"
"Shut up. Follow my instructions. One wrong move and I shoot."
Despite holding the advantage, Maiya felt the rhythm of the situation slipping through her fingers. The ease with which Roland had adapted to the encounter only heightened her unease.
She kept the gun trained on him as they passed through back alleys, eventually arriving at a half-finished building on the city's outskirts. It was a temporary base, with weapons stashed in the corners and solid communication lines. As they stepped inside, she sent a silent signal to Kiritsugu.
No sign of pursuit. No unusual movement.
He really was just a civilian.
But…
She glanced at him again.
Why is he so calm?
No panic. No anger. Not even a flicker of fear.
He was even staring at her.
"What are you looking at?" she snapped, unnerved by the strange weight in the air.
"Just admiring your hands," Roland replied. "You've got a beautiful pair of them, Miss Robber."
Frivolous. Smooth.
Too smooth.
"People about to die always spout nonsense," Maiya said, finger tightening around the trigger. "Even if you sent out some signal earlier, you'd be dead a hundred times before anyone reached you."
"Yeah?"
That smile.
Maiya stepped back. Her instincts flared, something was wrong.
The smile on his face… it was too practiced. Too symmetrical.
Like it had been rehearsed in front of a mirror.
Fake.
Utterly inhuman.
"Don't come any closer!"
Her nerves snapped. She pulled the trigger without hesitation
Click.
The weapon she had maintained meticulously
Disintegrated into dust.
It didn't misfire.
It was unmade.
"W..what the hell did you…?"
She staggered, voice rising as pure survival instinct took over.
Then, Roland spoke again, still smiling.
"My name is Roland. I'm 19 years old. I live in a residential area near Shinto Commercial Street. I'm unmarried and currently single. I work part-time at a convenience store near Fuyuki City Park."
"I get off work and go home at 8 p.m. I don't smoke. I drink a little, but not excessively. I go to bed at 11 p.m. and sleep for exactly eight hours. I wake up refreshed. My coworkers say I'm normal."
[T/N: Is he?]
The eerie precision of his words slithered down her spine like ice. Every nerve screamed at her to run. The clarity, the detail, it wasn't normal.
None of this was.
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
She lunged, trying to break the spell of dread. Her fist flew, a trained strike aimed at his face.
He caught her wrist mid-air.
Easily.
Her arm froze.
No matter how hard she tried to pull away, she couldn't move it.
He wasn't just stronger.
There was something else. Something unseen.
"I don't ask for much," Roland said softly. "All I want is peace. I don't care about winning or losing. Conflict just brings stress. But…"
He smiled.
"If I have to fight, I don't plan to lose."
Crack.
The sound of bone snapping echoed across the hollow construction site as her arm bent the wrong way under an invisible force. She screamed but he simply stared at her hand with fascination, as if admiring a sculpture.
"I didn't expect a gunwoman to have such delicate hands," Roland murmured. "Under normal circumstances, I'd break both as compensation for disturbing my peaceful life."
He looked down.
But the Key of All Spirits in his palm pulsed with faint silver light, visible only to him.
"The current number of nearby contract spirits: One."
He smiled wider.
"But it seems I've changed my mind… Miss Hisau Maiya."