Shinji Matou at Your Service-Chapter 953 - : Ally of Justice (Part 2)

"You're a good person."

This was Kiritsugu's evaluation of Natalia.

And because of this one sentence, Kiritsugu continued to follow Natalia in the time that followed.

Of course, it wasn't a case of adopting an orphan and treating him like a normal child. Natalia neither had the time nor the compassion for that. In her view, Kiritsugu's comment was simply a joke.

A good person? She hadn't been one for a long time, or perhaps she never had been.

Her profession was that of a bounty hunter or rather a mercenary. She was unaffiliated with any organization, hunting targets solely for the reward. Her methods were far from noble.

Her most common tactic was to track the enforcers of the Mage's Association. When they moved in on a target, she would snatch the prey from under their noses and sell the target back to the Association at a high price.

This underhanded method earned her the hatred of many within the Mage's Association, but because she didn't violate any rules and always operated within the system, and because she was highly competent and valuable as a tool for the Association, they let her be, especially since the Association had no shortage of money.

After Kiritsugu joined her, her operations became more efficient.

Kiritsugu stayed with Natalia as her assistant, being both ordered around and trained by her.

This also meant that he had set foot on the same path as Natalia—the path of a hunter.

He didn't regret it. Natalia never forced him; everything was his own choice—precisely because of this, Kiritsugu never changed his view of her, believing from beginning to end that she was a good person.

After leaving the closed-off tropical island and entering the outside world, Kiritsugu quickly realized that the tragedy he had experienced wasn't some rare exception. Such foolish events were commonplace in the underworld of this world, repeating over and over again like daily occurrences. However because the Mage's Association and the Holy Church manipulated the flow of information, these events didn't cause widespread social impact.

Magus who were so obsessed with pursuing their "root" that they spread calamity wherever they went.

And the two major organizations, are willing to use any means necessary to clean up after these magus. The conflicts between these hidden forces and the mysteries they guarded were so frequent that Natalia could live a lavish lifestyle off this line of work.

Some emotion inside Kiritsugu was ignited.

To correct his mistake, he had personally killed his father.

But that wasn't enough. Killing the magus Emiya Norikata fell far short of preventing future tragedies—it was like a drop in the ocean, virtually insignificant.

If he truly wanted to correct his mistake, if he wanted to justify killing his father, the only way would be to hunt down all rogue magus like his father. Only then could he achieve true redemption.

Sealing Designation Enforcer.

A hound that hunts magus who strays from reason, Kiritsugu stepped onto this inhuman, bloody path without hesitation. He agreed to the Association's terms and accepted two magic circuits from his father's crest to use magecraft.

To Kiritsugu, magecraft wasn't his lifelong career; it was merely a tool to achieve his goals. Magecraft was just one of the many tools he had learned from Natalia.

Tracking techniques, assassination skills, proficiency with various weapons—the hunter's fangs were not limited to one. To hunt and slaughter prey under various conditions and environments, he had to learn a wide variety of skills and knowledge.

Kiritsugu devoted his most precious youth to learning these things. The years of blood and gunpowder left heavy marks on his young body, and he gradually made a name for himself in the underworld, earning quite a bit of notoriety.

Though he had matured too quickly, Kiritsugu was quite satisfied with his current state.

Though the methods were dirty and his hands stained with blood, he was walking the path toward his ideal, the path of seeking redemption. Life with Natalia wasn't bad either—perhaps not as carefree as his time with Shirley, but it held a different kind of warmth.

I'll probably live the rest of my life like this, together with her—Kiritsugu, no longer a boy, thought to himself.

At that time, he had no idea how much more this inhuman, bloody road would cost him, or how much of a burden his lofty, almost foolish ideal would place upon him.

That day, Kiritsugu's mentor and companion faced the most dangerous crisis of her life.

As if by some twist of fate, this incident also involved a magus and a vampire.

Odd Borzak the Demonic Bee User, was their current target.

Though not entirely, this magus had managed to transform himself into a Dead Apostle, using his bee familiars' venomous stingers to increase the number of ghouls under his control, making him an exceptionally dangerous individual.

Unlike many flamboyant Dead Apostles, Borzak was extremely cautious. He had altered his appearance and disguised himself as an ordinary person, vanishing without a trace. It wasn't until four days ago that information surfaced, revealing that the long-missing Borazak would be boarding an Airbus A300 flight from Paris to New York.

To seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the two of them split up. Natalia boarded the plane alone, tasked with the highly difficult mission of identifying and eliminating the target, whose appearance and alias were unknown, among 287 passengers. Kiritsugu didn't board the same flight; instead, he was sent ahead to New York to gather clues that could help him unmask Borzak.

Thus, the master and apprentice kept in close contact as they quietly and steadily searched for their target in the confined space between sky and earth.

The assassination went surprisingly smoothly. Just three hours after the plane took off, the mission was completed.

However, this was only the beginning of the tragedy.

No one had expected Borazak to smuggle Demonic Bee past customs and onto the plane. Nor had anyone expected that after their master's death, the bees would go berserk, launching a frenzied attack on the passengers.

Before long, the cabin of the massive jetliner had transformed into a hellish scene overrun with ghouls.

In the confined space, with the sheer number of Demonic Bees and ghouls, even the experienced Natalia found herself in a desperate situation.

Kiritsugu could do nothing about it. Natalia was trapped in a sealed space 3,000 feet above the ground. Unless he had godlike powers, he could only wait in agony on the ground.

Yet, despite the dire situation, Kiritsugu remained confident that the battle-hardened female hunter would survive. After all, it was the very principle she had drilled into him countless times—a principle she had lived by: "No matter what, survive by any means necessary."

He believed she could do it, just as she believed in his abilities.

She didn't betray his trust. She survived, even though every member of the crew and all the passengers had been turned into ghouls. She survived and managed to lock herself in the cockpit, keeping all the ghouls out while piloting the plane toward New York.

This was the worst-case scenario Kiritsugu had anticipated, and the most likely one.

On their own, they couldn't possibly eliminate all the ghouls. Once the plane landed, unchecked, these creatures, driven solely by their hunger for flesh, would cause untold casualties. But if doing so ensured survival, Natalia would undoubtedly go through with it. Her desire to live was stronger than anyone else's, and so was her survival instinct.

To stop all of this, the steel coffin had to crash into the Atlantic. If Natalia couldn't do it, then he would—those who should die would be eliminated, and those who shouldn't would be saved. That was justice! And he was an ally of justice.

What a cruel irony.

The event tied to the monsters hidden in the shadows of humanity had taken away the woman he loved most in his youth, and now it was going to take away his only remaining family.

For the sake of justice, he had to make another cruel choice.

Moreover, to prevent Natalia from realizing his intentions, he had to keep the radio communication going, pretending to still be in his hotel room, chatting with her to put her at ease.

Perhaps out of boredom, or perhaps to distract herself from the troublesome ghouls outside, Natalia was especially talkative that day, saying things she normally wouldn't.

"When you, this little brat, said you wanted to join me in this business, I was really troubled. No matter how much I tried to talk you out of it, it seemed like you'd never give up."

...

"You've got some real talent for this kind of work, kid. When you act, you're completely unaffected by your emotions—most assassins need years to develop that kind of mindset. But you, you had it from the very beginning. That's some remarkable talent."

...

"But choosing a career based on your talents doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Once talent crosses a certain threshold, it leaves behind a person's thoughts and feelings, forcing them down a predetermined path. At that point, it's over. If you stop thinking about what you want to do and only focus on what you should do... that kind of life is no better than being a machine or a phenomenon. It's not the life a person should live."

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...

"In your case... I feel like I'm partly responsible for taking that choice away from you. I feel a bit guilty, although, at the time, I didn't have any other way to teach you."

...

"I spent a long time living each bloody day alone. So long that I forgot what it was like to be lonely. That's why... heh, it's kind of funny. It feels nice to be with someone who's like family."

...

"Maybe I'm getting old, losing my edge."

...

"Maybe the reason I made this mistake is that pretending to play house with you made me drop my guard. If that's true, maybe it's time. Maybe I should retire..."

...

With every word she said, Kiritsugu's heart grew colder.

Yes, he had talent. That's why he could while feeling heartbroken and on the verge of madness, calmly aim the Blowpipe missile at the plane in the sky, preparing to kill his mentor, the woman who became his foster mother.

To handle the miracle of ensuring the survival of the woman he loved, he had meticulously calculated how to kill her.

For this, he had run through the streets of New York late at night, using every connection he had to obtain a Blowpipe MANPADS (Man-Portable Air-Defense System) that had leaked onto the black market.

Then, he rented a speedboat and rushed to the waters near New York International Airport as quickly as possible. Now, Kiritsugu sat in the boat floating on the sea, waiting for Natalia's plane to appear. He was positioned directly below the flight path. As the plane approached the airport, it would lower its altitude, entering the missile's range.

What kind of scum am I!!!

But no matter how much he cursed himself, no matter how much he hated himself, time continued to slip away. The sleek silver wings appeared on the horizon in the light of dawn, entering the Blowpipe's range—1,500 meters, a guaranteed hit.

At that moment, the woman finally spoke her last words.

"If I lose my job... I guess I'll have to play the role of a mother, huh?"

"You... are my real family."

And all he could do was cry, his voice hoarse and low, as he pressed the launch button.

Just like before, memories of her flashed through his mind, accompanied by the explosion of the missile.

The plane, now deprived of its aerodynamic properties, seemed to twist and break apart, falling into the ocean in pieces. In the morning light, the metal debris sparkled as it gradually sank into the sea, just like Kiritsugu's shattered heart.

The first light of dawn shot across the horizon. Bathed in the sunlight Natalia would never see, Kiritsugu wept quietly, alone.

Without anyone knowing, Kiritsugu had saved the lives of countless strangers once again.

What kind of adult do you want to become, Kiritsugu?

I want to be an ally of justice.

Did you see that, Shirley?

This time, I've killed again. Just like when I killed my father, I've killed again. I didn't make the same mistake as I did with you. I... saved so many people...

If people knew Kiritsugu's actions and intentions, would they be grateful? Would the people at the airport, spared from facing the terror of the ghouls, hail Kiritsugu as a hero?

"What a joke... what a joke! Damn it!!"

Clutching the now-cooling missile launcher, Kiritsugu screamed at the brightening sky.

He didn't want recognition, nor did he want gratitude. He just wanted to see Natalia again, to live for the day when he could call her Mom.

That day...