Shinji Matou At Your Service

Chapter 79: Justeaze’s Transformation

Justeaze, being an artificial human, possesses the inherent nature that most artificial humans are designed with – high obedience and low subjectivity. Whether it's completing the Holy Grail or alleviating the suffering of humanity, it is a mission bestowed upon her by the Einzbern family, not her desire. Even though she has been influenced by the soul of a Heroic Spirit and formed a contract with Shinji, her nature hasn't changed much. Apart from the convictions imprinted in her soul, she mostly follows Shinji's lead.

However, this time, there was no one giving her orders. Shinji was resting, and Scathach was off racing. Justeaze made a decision entirely based on her own will – it was a human's autonomous choice, a human attribute that Shinji wished to see.

In comparison, the chain reaction caused by this decision, involving Kiritsugu Emiya and the Einzbern family, wasn't significant at all. At worst, there would be a fight between the two sides. Shinji didn't believe that Scathach and Lancelot couldn't handle a mere Einzbern!

Of course, before that happened, he needed to clarify the reason.

"Now, Lady Justeaze, answer me. Why did you want to save Miss Irisviel?"

"I..."

"I..."

"I... don't know."

Three consecutive answers that didn't count as answers.

Shinji understood this because sometimes the body reacts faster than the brain. However, when you take action, you have an answer. The difference lies in whether you genuinely don't know or don't know how to express it.

"Is it because you don't want the Lesser Grail to have any issues?"

"No." Justeaze shook her head. "As long as the core is intact, the Lesser Grail won't affect the ritual."

"Is it because you want to help the Einzbern faction and don't want them to exit the stage so early?"

Irisviel is a disguise master arranged by Kiritsugu Emiya. If she dies while Saber is still alive, it proves that she is not the Master and Kiritsugu Emiya's existence will be exposed, which is detrimental to the Einzbern faction.

"Neither." Justeaze continued shaking her head. "As I said, I am disappointed in the Einzbern family."

"Then the answer is clear. It's not the Einzbern family, nor the Lesser Grail. It can only be Irisviel herself, am I right?"

Justeaze couldn't find words to reply. She didn't want to admit it, but she couldn't deny it either because she realized that she wanted to save the existence known as Irisviel, unrelated to the Lesser Grail, purely the persona of Irisviel.

"Tell me in detail about your feelings at that time." Shinji leaned back, sitting directly on the laboratory table, encouraging the "Lady Winter" who was lost in confusion with a smile and his gaze.

"I... I don't know what happened. When I saw Irisviel trying to stop Kirei Kotomine, I forgot everything else. I just felt that she couldn't die, that I had to save her. When I calmed down, I realized I had already left the castle and was standing in front of Kirei Kotomine. Shinji, do you think I've gone bad?"

Justeaze thought of the junkyard in the Einzbern workshop, where countless malfunctioning or damaged dolls awaited their demise. Was she, this precious prototype, going to end up like them?

"Gone bad?"

Shinji didn't continue looking at Justeaze; instead, he turned to Scathach and noticed that she was also looking at him.

The two locked eyes for a few seconds then burst into laughter simultaneously. Scathach's laughter lifted a corner of her veil, revealing her exquisitely lush lips. Shinji held his stomach and slapped the table beneath him.

"W-wait, why are you laughing?"

Their laughter left Justeaze bewildered for a while, but it also lightened her heavy heart.

"It's nothing. You're right, you have indeed gone bad, as an artificial human," Scathach replied, smoothing her veil and returning to her usual calm and wise gaze.

"However, for humans, the malfunctioning of an artificial human is just another normal occurrence. The feeling of wanting to protect someone, cherishing something, every human has it. Do you remember when I killed Zouken a year ago?"

Shinji tapped his face, trying to appear more serious.

"I remember. That was the condition for our contract," Justeaze said, not understanding why Shinji was bringing this up now.

"To be honest, it wasn't the best timing. The best timing would have been to stay hidden, waiting for Sakura to complete her transformation, for the moment when Zouken's worms were about to invade her body. But I didn't choose to do that. Do you know why?"

This time, Shinji didn't wait for Justeaze to answer; he answered directly.

"Because that would have caused immense trauma to Sakura's body and soul, enough to make her live in darkness for the rest of her life. From the moment I first saw Sakura, I treated her as my family. I didn't want Sakura to become that kind of person. I wanted her to live a happy life. So, I chose to stand in front of Zouken before everything became irreparable. It was this feeling that drove me to make that decision, and I think you're the same."

Upon hearing Shinji's explanation, Justeaze seemed to grasp something in an instant.

"I feel that our motivations to protect Sakura are still different. Sakura is your sister, it's a matter of family for you. I don't hold such feelings for Irisviel. I think the reason I care so much about her is because I have doubts about her being a 'person.' I want to find answers from her, to find the answer to how a doll can become a 'person.' Until I obtain that answer, I don't want her personality to disappear."

"Desiring something and making sacrifices for it, that's also a human emotion," Scathach gently placed her hand on Justeaze's shoulder. "Your actions prove that you have transformed from a 'doll' to a 'person.' You don't need to seek answers from others anymore."

"No, it's not enough," Justeaze pointed to her chest. "It's not complete here. Maybe she can help me understand what I'm lacking?"

Scathach was about to say something more, but Shinji waved his hand at her, signaling her to stop.

To believe that it's not enough and to desire more is also a human trait. Isn't continuing to explore with that mindset the driving force of human progress?

Scathach understood Shinji's intention and held Justeaze's hand. "Let's stop here. We can think about any questions we have when it's daylight."

"Yes, yes," Shinji chimed in. "You haven't rested at home for several days. Go back to your long-awaited room, sleep peacefully in bed, have a breakfast made by Sakura, and then you can think more. Sakura has mentioned several times that she misses you. She'll be happy to see you."

"Right, then let's get a good night's sleep," Justeaze nodded emphatically. "Sleep is also one of the most basic elements of being human."

"Then, Shinji, we'll leave the cleaning to you."

"No problem, I've got it."

With Shinji's response, Scathach and Justeaze walked out of the workshop hand in hand.

One in black, one in white.

One in light, one in shadow.