Chapter 564: The Infirmary That Never Lacks Visitors
Purple hair cascading past her knees swayed gently, appearing smooth and lustrous. Unlike Shirou, the girl had a red ribbon tied on the left side of her head, giving her a gentle and obedient demeanor.
Even more eye-catching were the alluring curves subtly outlined beneath her white coat and school uniform.
"Honestly, where are you looking, Senpai!"
A carefully prepared lunchbox was placed on the table, blocking Sakatsuki's line of sight. The girl puffed up her adorable cheeks in feigned anger, crossed her arms, and turned away. "This is the last time, okay? If Senpai keeps coming to the infirmary for no reason, even I'll get mad!"
"Can't be helped. It's all because Sakura is just too cute."
Sakatsuki tapped his fingers against the edge of the table, smiling as he watched the girl's profile gradually flush red. She pretended nothing had happened, gave a soft "hmph," and lightly brushed her hair before walking out of his sight to continue her work.
Matou Sakura, female, the infirmary supervisor of Tsukumihara Academy. In truth, she was an AI modeled after the terrestrial data of "Matou Sakura," tasked with overseeing the health of the Masters (Masters) to ensure the efficient operation of the Holy Grail War.
However, since they had chosen to replicate Sakura's appearance, personality, and essence in full, they should have been prepared for the consequences... The unique tenderness and affection of a girl was a structural affliction even Mooncell couldn't erase.
Wasn't the series of events in Fate/EXTRA CCC, and even the birth of the villainous heroine BB, all caused by the liberation of Matou Sakura's free will?
Sakatsuki mused idly, though he didn't forget to say "Itadakimasu" before opening the lunchbox and digging in. For someone as particular about food as Sakatsuki—who would rather cook for himself most of the time—Sakura's homemade meals were a rare delicacy.
As he bit into the vegetable tempura, savoring its crispy texture, the boy narrowed his eyes contentedly and gazed out the window.
To those still unawakened, the view outside was nothing more than a clear sky, white clouds, and the occasional passing bird. But to the Masters who had cleared the preliminaries and earned their place in the finals, those ordinary sights were mere illusions. The only thing enveloping the entire sky was—
"Mooncell."
At the center of the pitch-black night hung a clear, silver full moon. Like the indifferent eye of a god, it overlooked the world below, radiating countless beams of moonlight—each one an endless stream of '0's and '1's, revealing the truth of this world.
The Moon Cell Automaton (Mooncell), an ancient relic left behind by some unknown higher intelligence, was a mysterious object of unimaginable technological sophistication—the oldest enigma in the solar system.
A crystalline supercomputer spanning 3,000 kilometers in diameter, piercing through the moon itself. It recorded all of the past, predicted all possible futures, and possessed computational power rivaling an entire solar system.
This automaton harbored no thoughts of good or evil, no desires for the future, not even an end. It was merely a tool that existed here—an automatic scribe left behind by the "gods."
This was merely a crystal reflecting dreams, yet it came to be known by such names.
The Moon's Eye.
The bottomless Klein bottle.
The "TYPE-MOON" that interpreted all of Earth yet had no owner.
Sakatsuki slowly chewed the substance in his mouth. The scent, texture, and flavor flowing into his brain were indistinguishable from reality—utterly convincing, yet fundamentally unreal.
This was merely the interior of a supercomputer created from pure data—the "Eye Observing Earth." Everything before Sakatsuki's eyes wasn't composed of fermions or bosons, atoms or molecules, but rather data woven from binary digits of 0 and 1.
In other words, Sakatsuki was currently inside the massive computer known as 'Mooncell' (hereafter abbreviated as MC), awaiting the imminent Holy Grail War where the 'Moon's Eye' would be seized.
——After concluding his conversation with Julian and obtaining Pandora's Box, Sakatsuki finally activated the Fate Compendium, logging into the long-awaited Moon Holy Grail War. Following MC's established rules, he and Draco enrolled in Tsukihira Academy together, biding their time until the official commencement of hostilities.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the door to the infirmary was knocked upon, followed by someone pushing it open.
"Excuse me... Ah, Sakatsuki, you really are here."
"Shirou, is morning assembly over?"
Sakatsuki had just finished his lunchbox. Watching the girl greet Sakura, information about her surfaced in his mind.
Kishinami Shirou—if Fujimaru Ritsuka was the absolute protagonist of the FGO series, then she was the archetypal heroine of the Moon Holy Grail War narratives: FE, FECCC, FEX, FEXLINK, and so on. Like Ritsuka, Shirou had selectable male and female versions, and clearly, the one standing before Sakatsuki now was the female incarnation.
Her personality matched the original depiction—outwardly demure, possessing a charm that transcended gender, coupled with a quiet disposition.
"Morning assembly ended a while ago. It's break time now." After greeting Sakura, Shirou took a step sideways, revealing the golden-haired girl in a red dress who had been hiding behind her. "Draco asked me to bring her to find you."
Draco-san...
Every time he heard that address, Sakatsuki struggled to suppress his amusement. That Beast VI/S, one of the Seven Evils of Humanity embodying the principle of 'Corruption,' had become a student at the academy—and was even more obedient and well-behaved than Sakatsuki himself. The irony was utterly delightful.
"Well then, Draco-san, what did you need me for?"
"Hug."
Sakatsuki blinked. "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
As he spoke, he gently wrapped his arms around the petite red dragon's slender waist, lifting her onto his lap to share his warmth with her.
"Thou art unexpectedly perceptive in certain matters," the crimson-clad girl in his arms murmured, squirming slightly to adjust into a comfortable position. "Indeed, I dreamed—a nightmare, no less."
Slender arms reached out as Draco tenderly caressed the boy's cheek, confiding in her contractor the unsettling visions of displacement and terror.
"I dreamed that you lost your memory and forgot me... I also dreamed that I abandoned everything, unable to remember anything, wandering like a ghost in this unfamiliar world—utterly wretched."
"..." Sakatsuki remained silent. He leaned down, gently nuzzling Draco's cheek, watching as the girl's face contorted into a comical expression. A faint smile flickered in his eyes as he tightened his embrace.
"Don't worry. I'll always be by your side."
"Mm..." Draco, who had always been one to say the opposite of what she meant, now let out a soft whimper. She closed her eyes, leaning unreservedly against Sakatsuki's chest. "You... won't abandon me, right?"
"Of course not. I am your contractor, after all, Your Majesty."
Suppressing the urge to sigh, Sakatsuki held Draco close and glanced out the window. This time, the boy's gaze was anything but calm—beneath the golden surface, turbulent undercurrents raged, concealing boundless fury.
"Damn this preliminary round."
The earliest tales of the Moon Cell Holy Grail War were recorded in Fate/EXTRA. According to the original work, to participate in the Holy Grail War centered around the Moon Cell, Sakatsuki had to pass through two stages.
The first was the 'preliminary round,' a competition to determine the qualifications of Masters.
In this phase, the magi (Wizards) invited to the Moon would temporarily have their personal information sealed, replaced by the identity of 'students at Tsukumihara Academy'—meaning the school where Sakatsuki, Hakuno, Shinji, and others 'attended' was, in fact, the battleground for the preliminary round, housing 999 candidates.
The candidates lived ordinary student lives at Tsukumihara Academy. Only those who regained their true selves could advance to the main event—the decisive battle of the Holy Grail War.
Within the four days of the preliminary round, out of the 999 invited magi, only 128 would emerge victorious and proceed to the finals. After the preliminaries concluded, the 871 candidates who failed to recall their true identities would be erased along with the school itself—in other words, they would face true death.
The cruelty of the Moon Cell Holy Grail War was evident. Even though Sakatsuki seemed to thrive in the preliminary round, he still encountered unimaginable hardships when logging into the Moon Cell across time and space.
Whether it was the Third Magic's resistance to soul interference or the Fate Compendium stabilizing his memories, the moment Sakatsuki entered the preliminary round and became a student at Tsukumihara Academy, he broke free from the Moon Cell's restraints and awoke from the preliminaries. Draco, as his contracted partner, also regained her memories.
But herein lay the problem. For the former Beast of Sodom—the alternate ending where Emperor Nero did not meet her end after three sunsets—what Draco feared most was having no one to witness her existence, whether in birth or demise.
The memory loss caused by the preliminary round's rules struck precisely at her weakest point.
Sakatsuki still remembered the scene after she regained her memories. On the rooftop, Draco had clung to him desperately the moment she appeared, her wine-red eyes filled with terror, her voice trembling with tears.
"I—I thought... you were gone!"
She had looked just like a trembling fledgling.
That should never have been Draco's demeanor. For her to show such vulnerability was a failure on Sakatsuki's part as her contractor.
He thought it was all in the past, but it seemed Draco still carried the weight of that incident...
Feeling a pang of guilt, Sakatsuki gently stroked the little red dragon's golden hair, his eyes growing deeper. In the face of their bond, any words of comfort would ring hollow. What Draco needed now was simply his support.
Come to think of it, it was their embrace on the rooftop—caught in the act by Hakuno, who had come up to eat her lunch—that had serendipitously led to their friendship with the original protagonist.
Of course, Sakatsuki's circle of friends in Tsukihara didn't end there—
The sound of the door opening made him look up in surprise.
"Rin?"