[FMMISM] Chapter 40: Maiya Hisau

Although there had been instances in past battles where they lost contact, this time Kiritsugu appeared unusually panicked as Maiya still didn't respond.

After losing contact with Maiya, Kiritsugu's killer instincts left him deeply unsettled.

He quickly glanced towards the center of the battlefield in the distance and saw that his Servant and the enemy Servant were locked in a stalemate, neither able to gain the upper hand in the short term.

'As expected, I should go and see what happened to her...'

Moving his right eye away from the sniper scope, Kiritsugu was about to leave when a voice suddenly came through his quiet communicator.

"... Sorry, Kiritsugu, it's me. Seems like there's a bit of a problem with my communicator and scope."

'Her communicator and scope are both malfunctioning? Impossible.' Kiritsugu immediately denied it inside his mind.

He knew that the biggest difference between military and commercial products wasn't performance, but stability.

Therefore, the likelihood of both the communicator and the scope breaking down simultaneously on the battlefield was about as probable as being killed by a meteorite while walking on the streets of Fuyuki.

"Are you alright over there?" Kiritsugu asked anxiously.

"...I'm fine. But it seems I won't be able to provide cover for you tonight." Maiya answered after a brief silence.

"...Understood."

Kiritsugu didn't say more.

Although he had many questions, Maiya was someone he trusted unconditionally.

Always calm and composed, she was like a robot.

Maiya could always make the right and unchanging judgments based on the current situation. Moreover, when beside her, he never felt ashamed of his own brutality, nor did she ever hate his indifference.

He admitted that working together with her, he always felt calm.

Just like now, Kiritsugu's previously panicked mind settled down because of Maiya's voice.

"Alright then, you retreat first. Tonight, leave it to me."

If possible, Kiritsugu wanted to launch an attack on Saber's Master with Maiya, but even if it was just him alone, within less than three hundred meters, his skills could still easily take the life of Saber's Master with just one bullet.

"...Understood."

With a brief reply, Maiya's voice disappeared from the communicator.

===

"Not exposing me, wise judgment."

With a faint smile, Ragna remarked calmly as he gazed at a black-haired woman in front of him.

On the other end of the port area, Ragna crossed his legs casually, sitting relaxed on top of a shipping container.

Less than ten meters below him, Zealot had her foot on Maiya's back, pinning her helplessly to the ground.

Three minutes ago, Ragna and Zealot had found Maiya's location and subdued her.

From the beginning, Ragna's target wasn't Kiritsugu or Kayneth, but this woman, Kiritsugu's assistant.

Feeling accomplished, Ragna suddenly remembered something he had heard before.

In the parallel world of the Nasuverse, there had been numerous Subcategories of Holy Grail Wars where the Assassin class had the highest success rate.

Before, Ragna had laughed off this ridiculous idea, thinking how could mere Masters with Hassans possibly win in a Holy Grail War dominated by powerful Servants with their beam weapons?

But now, Ragna no longer questioned this idea and felt like embracing Zealot while patting her head vigorously.

"All right, let's continue our conversation from earlier... Big Sister, where were we again? Ahh, yes..."

Ragna stroked his chin, a devilish grin spreading across his face in the darkness.

"We were just discussing that son of yours, abandoned by you years ago and now suffering somewhere on Earth?"

===

Maiya Hisau was born in a very poor country.

At that time, there was no hope, no future—all there was hatred between people and the plundering of food for survival.

After all, on this Earth, war never ended.

Even though there was no longer any money to maintain the army, the killing continued relentlessly.

Amidst the ongoing war, people discovered a harsh reality—it was quicker to put children with guns on the front lines than to train recruited soldiers.

By the time she understood, she had already been taught the ways of a child soldier.

Before she even knew arithmetic, she knew how to shoot a gun.

And so, to survive and prolong her own life, she could only continue to kill relentlessly.

Snipe the enemy, tighten the trigger.

Her whole life was left with only this function, discarding all others, since children who couldn't achieve this were killed by those who could.

As a result, she became a weapon of war.

However, her life was not only about killing since she also gave birth to a life.

Although it was a memory she would rather not dwell on, more than ten years ago, before she met Kiritsugu, she had been violated by several male soldiers in a military camp.

By the time she regained consciousness, she was already pregnant.

Maiya Hisau once had a son.

===

"…Do you know him?"

Maiya, trampled under Zealot's feet, asked expressionlessly.

Apart from Kiritsugu, no one knew her past experiences, so if anyone knew about them, it must be someone who knew her child.

After all, as a Mage Killer, Kiritsugu's name was well-known in the industry, so it wasn't surprising that this boy would know about this 'side'.

To Maiya's question, Ragna calmly nodded.

"Well... your son is currently working under my friend."

"As a child soldier?" Maiya narrowed her eyes.

"Yep, similar to your experiences, he's been handling guns since he was five—Oh, and... his body has undergone magical modifications."

Upon hearing the phrase 'magical modifications', Maiya frowned.

"You must have heard of the special forces that utilize magecraft, yes? It seems he was modified to become a member of one of those forces."

Pausing for a moment, Ragna continued.

"Well, he's since left the battlefield and become a mercenary. His current employer, my friend, is scum among scum, worse than warlords or bandits by a million times. After all, she's someone who shares my foul stench, so I know her well. I'll be honest with you and tell you the truth, that friend of mine is completely devoid of any humanity, almost like a demon."

As he said that, a trace of pity appeared in Ragna's eyes.

"Well, to be honest, maybe continuing to live on the battlefield is actually a better life."

"..."

At Ragna's words, Maiya's expression darkened.

"Why are you telling me these things?"

Maiya looked at the boy's face and asked with gritted teeth.