DOTM: Chapter 587/588

Chapter 587: Waiting for the Plot to Begin

Actually, Ethan's driving skills weren't originally very strong. However, as his physical abilities, such as reaction time and coordination, constantly improved, things he wasn't good at before could be done better than ordinary people after a period of adjustment.

So his originally average driving skills also became significantly stronger. Yet Ethan didn't have many opportunities to try them out. He didn't even get many chances to experience the simulator on the Goddess of the Moon. One could say this was the first time he truly got to fully utilize his driving skills.

"I never realized driving could be so much fun... Maybe next time I'll go race with Dominic Toretto and his crew?"

Ethan turned his head and saw Illya clutching the car window, dry-heaving outside. Since she hadn't eaten much all day, she didn't end up looking even more miserable.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Illya gave Ethan a look that clearly said, "Are you kidding me?", then slumped weakly into the passenger seat, looking utterly drained.

Because they had entered the city, Ethan had already slowed down. The thrilling and dangerous feeling from earlier felt like a dream. If her hands and feet weren't still trembling, and if they hadn't actually driven from the castle in the suburbs into the city in such a short time, she might have even doubted that everything just now was an illusion.

"Don't you miss that feeling at all?"

"Not at all!"

Illya waved her hands frantically, completely bewildered as to why Ethan would say such a thing.

Ethan shrugged. He knew Illya could drive. After all, in a certain work, she often drove in and out of Fuyuki herself. And from her appearance as an elementary schooler yet never causing any misunderstandings, one could tell Illya had excellent driving habits, nothing like her mother.

"Did I get it mixed up? Was that a setting from a parallel world?"

Ethan's memory had been enhanced and strengthened many times, but this didn't mean he couldn't make mistakes. When a person is convinced of something, they instinctively believe it's true, and at that moment, they won't delve into the details of their memories.

So, having a strong memory doesn't mean you can't misremember things.

Driving around Fuyuki, Ethan found it was actually a pretty nice city. It had modern facilities but wasn't like a big metropolis with dense crowds and a fast pace that many find hard to adapt to.

Some residential areas had the leisurely feel of the countryside. Ethan felt it was much more comfortable here than in the castle in the suburbs.

As for Illya beside him, she had suddenly gone silent since before. He knew why. When they drove past that residential area earlier, a young boy with reddish-brown hair walked along the roadside and entered a large house.

That boy with reddish-brown hair was Shirou Emiya, the protagonist of this world, and in terms of family relation, also Illya's younger brother.

"Let's go back."

As they drove away from the residential area, Illya reverted to her cold demeanor, as if she didn't care about anything. Even her voice lacked energy.

"What a difficult child."

Turning the car around, Ethan knew resolving Illya's emotional knots wouldn't be easy. Heracles, from the moment he was summoned until he completely lost his sanity, did nothing but try to help Illya, and in the end, he only managed to open a small crack in her closed heart.

Ethan hadn't been here long, and he wasn't as patient as Heracles, who did nothing but offer guidance. To make Illya normal would likely take much more time.

"However... the one thing I'm not short on is time."

While driving, Ethan glanced at a blonde man in a black tracksuit walking by the roadside, then looked at Illya beside him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Driving out of the city, when Ethan and Illya returned to the castle, the entire place had been cleaned spotlessly. Even the bedding had been replaced with new, clean ones, and all the fireplaces were lit. The cold atmosphere was gone, and the castle was now suitable for living in.

"What should we do next?"

Even dinner was already prepared. Ethan sat down and tasted Sella's cooking. These two dolls, created specifically as maids and assistants, were indeed very capable in household matters.

Illya watched Ethan sitting there, tasting the food. She found her Servant increasingly strange.

"Do Heroic Spirits need to eat?"

"Did anyone say Heroic Spirits cannot eat?"

Ethan forked a piece of sausage.

"Eating is something that makes people feel happy..."

"Eating is merely for the sake of staying alive."

For Illya, eating was just for survival, nothing more.

When her father, Kiritsugu Emiya, was judged a traitor by the Einzbern family, Illya was subjected to inhuman treatment for a time. Those difficult days of struggling to survive taught her many things.

"Why so many negative emotions at such a young age? That's not good, not healthy."

Illya didn't say anything, just ate quietly. After finishing her portion, she followed Leysritt to the bathroom and prepared to rest.

Sella continued to wait nearby for Ethan to finish so she could clean up. At the same time, as a maid and assistant, Sella also had the task of ensuring Ethan didn't wander off.

"Comparing them like this, Leah is really a worry-free good child."

Indeed, there's no appreciation without comparison. After seeing other people's children, he finally remembered how worry-free his own child was.

In the following days, the expressions on Illya's face became fewer and fewer. Most of the time, she wore a cold face, looking full of hatred as if the whole world owed her a lot of money. It was quite annoying to see, but Ethan didn't have any great way to counsel her.

Although one day, when wandering around Fuyuki again, Illya greeted Shirou Emiya with a smile and acted like a cute little sister, calling him Big Brother, Ethan could sense a very obvious killing intent in that smile.

He still did nothing. During this time, when he was bored, he would wander around Fuyuki. He wanted to see what identity that Transmigrator would use to enter this storyline.

With teleportation magic available, not only could the doll Sella not truly keep track of his movements, but even if Illya secretly used some tracking Magecraft, she would still have no way to keep up with Ethan.

So, after a while, Sella gave up on surveillance, or rather, Illya gave up. Anyway, no matter how far Ethan went, he would always appear on time for meals, proving that Ethan didn't intend to get rid of Illya, his nominal Master.

Illya was worried about Ethan running away because she had discovered that the contract between herself and Ethan was basically useless. Not only were the Command Seals completely ineffective on Ethan, but Ethan could also act freely without needing her to supply him with mana.

Aside from Ethan's initial arrival being caused by the summoning Magecraft Illya performed, there were no further connections between Illya as the Master and Ethan as the Heroic Spirit.

This situation reminded her of the very first Holy Grail War, when Heroic Spirits were completely uncontrollable by their summoners, and the Heroic Spirits were beings with their own thoughts. This led to many problems and directly caused the failure of the first Holy Grail War.

But she had no way to change any of this. She even began to suspect that Ethan's appearance had nothing to do with her summoning, and that he was simply destined to manifest and just found an opportune moment.

Illya was very intelligent. She was infinitely close to the truth, it was just a pity that due to the limitations of this world, she couldn't glimpse any more details.

However, Illya didn't confront Ethan or ask him what he intended to do. The two of them seemed to have developed a tacit understanding. As long as he could help her achieve her goal, she didn't really care what Ethan wanted to do.

Time flowed by in this tacit understanding. Ethan occasionally paid attention to Shirou Emiya, the protagonist. After all, he was the main character of this world, and most of the plot revolved around this boy. When he had no other leads, keeping an eye on him was certainly not a bad idea.

Besides, he could witness the beginning of the story firsthand, couldn't he?

For example, Sakura Matou often came to the Emiya house to cook for Shirou Emiya, and Shirou Emiya lived a regular and peaceful life, except for taking time every day to practice Magecraft, which wasn't ordinary.

Other than that, if you didn't know the plot, you probably wouldn't guess this guy would become the protagonist.

However, in Ethan's eyes, Shirou Emiya was not ordinary at all. This stemmed from the thing hidden within his body.

"Doesn't seem to be anything special?"

Ethan looked left and right, and finally determined that this thing wasn't of much use to him, so he stopped paying special attention to it.

He began to focus on waiting for the plot to begin.

The plot development in this world was slow. Many things had long periods of build-up, and some of this build-up existed as hidden clues. If you didn't know the situation, you wouldn't even notice the connection between these things and the plot.

For example, Sakura Matou going to the Emiya house seemed nothing special on the surface, just a girl actively approaching a senior boy she liked. In reality, it was a setup secretly made by a certain old geezer.

"Speaking of which, should I just kill that guy with the seaweed hair first?"

As soon as this thought surfaced, it was hard to suppress. Along with that, the old bug hiding in the shadows could also be killed off. Without such a guy hiding in the dark playing tricks, the subsequent events would have a lot fewer variables.

Just as he was considering this, a magical fluctuation suddenly appeared somewhere in the city.

"Someone is performing a summoning? Looks like the plot is about to begin?"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 588: The Very Bustling Emiya Family

Ethan, still acting like an idler, deliberately went to the place where the magical fluctuation appeared to watch the excitement.

Seeing that residence, he knew the one performing the summoning was Rin Tohsaka, one of the heroines. After all, no one else's entrance was so grand, like falling into the house from high altitude.

Standing at an appropriate distance, he did not care if the other party discovered him. Ethan stood there excitedly watching the show.

Rin Tohsaka and her Servant's first meeting was quite lively, and Rin completing the summoning meant that the plot of this Holy Grail War had officially begun.

Now, only the protagonist, Shirou Emiya, had yet to complete his summoning, and that was about to happen.

"Should I go and see Artoria's appearance in person?"

While he was lost in thought, he did not notice the man and woman in the house slowly adjusting their positions. The newly arrived red-clad Servant, essentially a future version of Shirou Emiya, the Servant Archer, blocked Rin with his body.

"Oh? You noticed."

Ethan stood there, watching Red Archer turn his head slightly and cast a glance his way. Ethan smiled and waved at him, then left the area with a teleportation spell.

The plot had already begun. His next task was to quietly wait for the appearance of the Transmigrator. According to Madeleine, this Transmigrator was polluting this world, which meant he would affect the plot, so he would definitely participate in this Holy Grail War.

So he just had to wait and find some fun to pass the time.

For Ethan, the most troublesome thing was not the enemy's strength. The most troublesome thing was if the guy was too clear-headed. If he discovered Ethan's abnormal existence, he might hide elsewhere early to avoid this plot, and then it would be difficult for Ethan to find an ordinary person in a world.

"I hope it's a Transmigrator with a dream, who wants to achieve great things."

Ethan left, and in the distance, the future Shirou Emiya, Red Archer, was still staring intently in the direction Ethan had left.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone was watching us just now."

"Someone?"

Rin froze for a moment, then realized the key point.

"Is it a Servant?"

"Yes."

Judging by the way that person left, it could not have been done by an ordinary human. However, he could not figure out what that ability was, disappearing directly without leaving any trace.

"Perhaps it's an Assassin?"

Assassins can hide their presence and are good at concealing their form, so it is not strange for them to disappear without a sound.

"Most likely. It seems this Holy Grail War will be very intense."

"Hmph, that's for the best."

Rin was not worried about powerful enemies at all. She had absolute confidence in her own strength. She just was not sure about the strength of the Servant in front of her.

Next came another argument over who was in charge, and Rin finally gained the upper hand at the cost of one Command Seal.

Although Ethan had seen these things countless times before, seeing them with his own eyes this time still made him want to complain. Not about Rin, the little girl, misusing her Command Seals, but about Red Archer's terrible acting. Couldn't he act a little more fake? He was overdoing it. He could only fool a young girl.

Illya, standing next to Ethan, suddenly felt that her Servant was a lunatic. Perhaps the reason such a powerful magus had left no legends was not because his enemies erased his deeds, but because he was considered too unreliable and his actions too embarrassing to record.

However, his strength was indeed formidable. He could actually monitor the situation of distant opponents using Magecraft from such a far location.

Ethan, back in the castle, did not stop his peeking. When he left, he had placed some magical imprints in Rin's house, which allowed him to monitor the Tohsaka household from a distance, so he watched the entire clash between Rin and Red Archer.

Incidentally, Illya saw it too.

"Is he this time's Archer?"

"That's right."

"It's hard to determine his true identity from his appearance and clothing."

Moreover, this Servant had not revealed his Noble Phantasm, so there was no way to judge through that.

"Actually, you should have probed him a little."

"No need. Even if you probed him, you would not know his identity."

Red Archer's true identity is Shirou Emiya, a possible future version of Shirou, a special existence who became a Counter Guardian.

In a way, Red Archer's appearance in this Holy Grail War is somewhat similar to his own situation, solving some special problems.

"Are you saying... he's also an unknown hero?"

"Something like that."

"Do you know him?"

Ethan glanced at Illya without directly answering, and Illya did not mind. She had already made her own judgment.

"This Holy Grail War seems a bit strange."

From Ethan's appearance, or more precisely, from the moment the Einzbern family's carefully prepared summoning ritual went wrong, this Holy Grail War had headed in an unknown direction.

Ethan saw that Rin in the image was preparing to sleep, so he moved to deactivate the spell. Just as he was about to do so, he noticed that Red Archer seemed to glance his way, intentionally or not.

"Oh? What keen intuition."

Perhaps because Emiya is also a magus, he is more sensitive to magical fluctuations. Or maybe his senses were enhanced after becoming a Heroic Spirit. Can he perceive things that were originally invisible?

In any case, the fact that he was monitoring them had been noticed. Given the abilities of those two, finding and destroying the magical imprints he left behind should not be difficult.

And that was the case. After discovering that Ethan had used Magecraft to monitor them, Red Archer (to distinguish him from Shirou Emiya, the Heroic Spirit Emiya is mainly referred to as Red Archer) immediately began searching for the imprints Ethan had left behind, then spent half the night successfully destroying them.

"A magus?"

He was now a bit confused, unsure if this was the same person as before, or if another Servant had also set their sights on this place.

If it was the former, it proved that the person might not be an Assassin, but a magus. Or perhaps a powerful Heroic Spirit capable of adapting to multiple Classes, who could use powerful Magecraft even as an Assassin, or vice versa.

If it was the latter...

"It shouldn't immediately become a target for everyone, right?"

No matter which it was, the situation was not optimistic. Thinking of that young lady, Red Archer could not help sighing again.

"It seems this time will be very troublesome..."

However, he did not expect that the first real battle would not be with the Heroic Spirit who was unclear whether they were a magus or an Assassin, but with the Lancer Heroic Spirit.

Cú Chulainn. He quickly saw through the other party's identity, and Cú Chulainn, after being seen through, did not think it was a big deal. He decisively prepared to unleash his Noble Phantasm to kill Red Archer.

It was at this moment that the plot finally began.

Shirou Emiya, who stumbled into the battlefield, saw a scene that ordinary people absolutely should not see, and so he was stabbed to death by Cú Chulainn, then revived by Rin using a life-saving gem.

Rin thought that would be the end of it, but Cú Chulainn, realizing that the person who should have died was still alive, continued his pursuit, directly leading to Shirou summoning the last Servant of this Holy Grail War in a moment of crisis: the King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon, who answered the call as Saber.

"To actually... summon Saber..."

Illya looked at the holographic image in front of her. Saber in the picture, clad in armor, stood in front of Shirou, who was lying on the ground: "I ask of you, are you my Master?"

Looking at this scene, Illya suddenly made a decision.

"Berserker, let's go!"

"Where?"

Ethan watched as Illya, aided by Sella, put on thick clothes and her hat, then pointed at the screen with a cold face.

"To say hello to our opponents."

The image Ethan provided did not just show a small corner of the courtyard. It also marked Rin and Red Archer approaching from outside, and even more presences secretly lurking around the area.

One could say that the Emiya residence was now the center of the Holy Grail War.

And Illya, who had arrived in Fuyuki many days in advance, was no longer willing to wait. She decided to take action, to eliminate all the Masters and Servants participating in this Holy Grail War.

"Alright."

No matter what, Ethan was going to be involved in this plot anyway. Appearing early or late made no difference.

"No need for a car, we will go directly."

Ethan waved his hand lightly, and a blue light door appeared out of thin air. Illya looked at this suddenly appearing circle of light and understood how Ethan could run around as he pleased. Ethan was actually a magus who could perform spatial jumps at will. She had only seen fragmented descriptions of this ability in some books and had never heard of anyone truly mastering such power.

She now suspected that Ethan was either a magus from the Age of Gods or a true god, and even the name Ethan might just be a casually chosen alias.

However, she did not press the matter. Instead, she calmly stepped into the circle of light, and the next second she was already standing in the Emiya family's courtyard.

Ethan followed Illya through the portal, then stood there with her, observing Artoria and Cú Chulainn in their standoff, as well as a bewildered Shirou.

Just as the two had stabilized and were looking around, a sudden flash of bright sword light sliced toward the back of Ethan's head.

(To be continued.)