Fate: I Will Eventually Become the Hero of Justice

As they spotted Assassin and Saber, the homunculi became visibly tense and anxious.

Spartacus then took a step forward.

His face remained serene with its ever-present gentle smile.

Turning to Shirou and Saber, he greeted, "Great kings, my allies, you here to help us?"

"Help?" Saber's eyes met Spartacus's, her eyebrows knitting together. "We're here to bring you back."

The moment the words slipped past her lips, murmurs erupted among the homunculi.

"I knew it! They're here to catch us."

"I... I don't want to be recycled."

The murmurs grew louder.

Spartacus shook his head, "Can't do that, my allies. I won't go back, won't let them either. Oppressors only use and destroy."

"I'm not your ally, so I'm definitely not on your side, Berserker," Saber retorted with a stern tone, "But don't worry, Lancer has already promised them a way out."

"Don't be fooled. Oppressors use sweet words. You fooled by oppressors too, friend? Ah, ah... how sad. They give you shiny things, make you blind, and you don't even see it."

Saber's eyebrows knitted together even more tightly.

She felt completely out of sync with Spartacus—it was as if they were speaking two different languages!

Shirou turned to Spartacus and asked, "You want to take them away, but do you even have a plan or a goal?"

"O king, what do you mean? Beyond the mountains lies a field of green and forests," Spartacus replied.

"Really? I see," Shirou massaged his temples, feeling a headache brewing. "It's clear your Mad Enhancement is still affecting you. You have neither direction nor purpose."

"Don't waste your breath, Assassin. Berserker's beyond reasoning!" Saber's fingers clenched around her Invisible sword, her intense green eyes fixed on Spartacus.

It was evident she was gearing up for a confrontation.

Even with his mind clouded by Mad Enhancement, Spartacus's warrior instincts remained sharp. He felt the aggression emanating from Saber.

Maintaining his serene smile, he met Saber's gaze and declared, "Friend, even if you block the road to freedom, I still fight,"

"You're outmatched, Berserker. We have two Servants on our side!" Saber shot back.

"Saber."

Shirou's voice cut through the tension, drawing her attention.

"What is it, Assassin?" Saber pivoted to face him.

Just as she turned, a black hand shot up from the ground, lunging for her wrist.

With a dull thump, the surprise attack caught her off guard, bypassing even her [Instinct A] skill, and disarmed her.

Her invisible sword clattered to the ground with a metallic clang.

Immediately afterward, a swarm of black hands erupted from the ground, clutching Saber's ankles, calves, and thighs before snaking upward to tightly grip her arms.

Just as Saber was about to fight her way out of the black mud, he made a sweeping motion with his arm.

"Whoosh, whoosh~"

A torrent of black mud surged from behind him. Joined by yet more black hands rising from the earth, they wrapped around Saber like a cocoon.

The sudden twist left everyone present, including Saber, in a state of shock.

"What are you doing?" Saber glared at him, disbelief etched across her face.

Shirou smiled. "Sorry, Saber. Our alliance ends here."

"You're betraying the Black Faction?"

"You could say that."

"Why?" Saber demanded.

He pointed at Spartacus, still wearing that smile. "Because I'm going with him."

After a moment of silence, he said. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You'll just be stuck here for a day. So long, Saber."

Turning away, he exchanged a few jokes and laughs with Spartacus, and then they both disappeared into the distance.

Saber tugged and twisted, but the black hands held her fast. Clenching her jaw, she yelled, "Assassin—!!!"

Shirou, however, was indifferent. He simply laughed alongside Spartacus as they faded into the distance.

Saber's gaze lingered on his retreating figure.

...

It was a beautiful but bittersweet dream.

From her early years, the lord's daughter who lived out in the country was a bundle of joy and mischief.

She didn't sweat the small stuff, didn't hold grudges, and laughed like every day was the best day ever.

Roughhousing with boys and going on little adventures, she took life as it came, never letting anything get her down.

You could call her a carefree, happy-go-lucky kind of girl in today's terms.

However, even the most carefree girl has something that sticks in her throat like a thorn, something she cannot swallow.

And that is—,

She has no father.

People always said her father was a great warrior who'd perished during the founding of the kingdom.

That meant a lot to her, especially because she'd never known a father's love.

Whenever she'd see other dads hoisting their kids onto their shoulders, meandering through lush gardens, savoring the kingdom's peace, a pang of envy and sadness would hit her.

But she wasn't completely alone; she had her mom.

How could she describe her?

She felt her mother was a bit clumsy—too serious for her own good, scared of the dark, and even more terrified of being alone.

Whenever her mom caught her envious glances at other families, she'd get all flustered. Hoisting her up onto her own shoulders, she'd awkwardly try to make up for the missing father figure in her life.

How endearingly clumsy.

That was the girl's only thought about her mom's efforts.

So, just to keep her well-meaning but bumbling mom from worrying, she vowed to only ever show happiness.

Even though her mom was a lady of the manor, she was way too honorable for her own good. Their only income was the modest stipend granted by the kingdom.

So in her spare time, her mom would work the fields near their estate.

And, of course, the girl helped too.

Life in the countryside was simple, yet fulfilling.

But then, the kingdom was invaded.

And the reigning Queen vanished without a trace.

The people rallied around her mom, who stepped up to become the new Queen.

Suddenly, she was no longer just the daughter of a rural lord; she was a princess, next in line for the throne.

But honestly, life didn't change all that much.

She was still herself—just a laid-back, happy-go-lucky girl.

Before heading out in armor to defend the borders, her mom entrusted her to a woman who always seemed to be coughing up blood—a woman she wasn't exactly thrilled to spend time with.

Yet, in an ironic twist, she ended up becoming the disciple of this very woman as she stepped into her role as the heir to the kingdom.

Later, an uncle who always had a gloomy expression secretly took her to a library and pretty much shoved a bunch of books into her hands.

"What are these books?" she asked.

"These are the Books of Wisdom," he replied with gloomy expression. "Your father was a great and wise man. You carry his blood in your veins, so you should carry his wisdom in your mind. Study these, and you'll gain the royal wisdom."

She wasn't sure what her uncle was talking about, but if it would make her mom's life easier, she was committed to giving these books her full attention.

Nobody knew she was reading these books; the library was pretty much under the care of the ever-so-gloomy uncle.

And that gloomy uncle told her not to disclose anything that happened here to anyone. She nodded in agreement.

But the thing was, these books were completely incomprehensible to her.

So she did the next best thing: memorized them word for word, saving her questions for her always-gloomy-faced uncle later.

And for the bits that even he couldn't make heads or tails of, she'd subtly seek out answers from her mentor.

Her mentor was always willing to help out, and if she stumbled on something even she didn't understand, she'd send the girl off for a bit, mull it over, and then break it down for her later.

This made the girl start to see her cough-ridden mentor in a new light.

And for questions that might raise some suspicions with her mentor, she'd bypass her and go straight to her gloomy-faced uncle for the lowdown on the context and backstory of the puzzling phrase.

Her uncle was incredibly efficient when it came to this stuff; she'd ask, and by the next day, he'd have it all sorted out.

So, day in and day out, she kept reading those books.

Absorbing the wisdom from the books made her smarter.

And that's how she found out the big secret of her own birth.

She wasn't the daughter of some famous warrior. Nope, she was the secret kid of the man who started the whole kingdom!

And she was born from a one-night stand her mom had.

This made her feel happy and sad at the same time, but she kept smiling when people were around.

Especially when her mom asked how she was doing.

She didn't want to get into the details of her birth. Her dad had been dead for years, buried far away in a place called Avalon.

But none of that really mattered.

People loved her. Even her gloomy uncle smiled when he saw her, showing he had a soft spot for her.

In her mind, family wasn't just about blood. Anyone who cared for her was family as far as she was concerned.

So, it was fine.

The last thing she wanted was to make her mom worry by bringing up the one-night stand. So she acted like she didn't know and kept smiling like she always did.

Yes.

Her father was gone, so it was up to her to protect that clumsy mother of hers.

Later on, her mom sent the smiley uncle off to the front lines, leaving the gloomy uncle in charge of everything.

He didn't mess around. Anyone causing trouble found themselves quickly and quietly dealt with.

People were scared of him, even hated him, but no one could deny that the kingdom was stable with him in charge.

The girl went on living her life, happy as can be.

That is, until things started going sideways in Ireland. Gloomy uncle had to go there to stabilize the situation.

And that's when everything changed.

...

The air was thick with the clash of swords.

"Just do it—kill me," said the gloomy uncle, his body covered in mysterious runes.

"I, I can't..." the girl sobbed.

"Tell me, Who are you? What are you fighting for? Whose kid are you? You've learned to fight, to use magecraft, to strategize, to be wise... What are you doing it all for?" he pressed.

"I... I..."

Tears streaming down her face, the girl drove her sword into her uncle's chest.

"Well done... You're a queen now. I just wish it wasn't so soon," he sighed, mumbling as he took his last breath, "To think I'd be controlled by something like this... I've failed the late king."

And with that, he was gone.

The girl dropped her sword, fell to her knees, and covered her face as she cried.

But this was not the end.

Five years passed.

She killed many, many people.

Many, many people whom she considered family and friends.

People who loved her.

And people she loved.

Lamorak, Lancelot, Tristan... one by one, she assassinated those she had considered family.

And yet, even at this moment, she was still smiling.

Yes.

Because, from the very beginning, all she had was a smile.

...

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