I have to sever all ties with my future self, and fast.

This thought dominated Li Zihan's mind.

Not long ago, Alice had confessed to him and then challenged him to a battle for the Holy Grail to determine their future romantic relationship. For Alice, a witch, to even grant him a chance to change her views on love was the greatest compromise she could make for the sake of that love.

If a so-called "lover from the future" were to appear before the victor was decided, Li Zihan was certain that Alice would go full yandere. At that point, forget about a harem happy end; he'd be blessed by the heavens to not get a cleaver bad end.

The young man, clearly wanting nothing to do with his future self, no longer cared that Brother Red A was lying there like a corpse, or that the dream team of Karna, Cú Chulainn, and Gilgamesh was currently engaged in a massive brawl at the Tohsaka residence.

There were many opportunities to obtain the Holy Grail, but this was the only chance to get Alice to agree to his harem plan. If this was messed up, he was finished.

"The great philosopher Heraclitus said, 'No man ever steps in the same river twice.' This statement profoundly illustrates the ever-changing nature of things," he began, the words flowing out of his mouth quickly and fluently.

"The me of yesterday is dead, the me of today is alive, and the me of tomorrow is currently being born. I believe the man you are interested in is the future me."

His meaning was obvious.

Stay away from me.

Sophistry?

Reines listened to the words coming from the young man's mouth, thinking with great interest.

Li Zihan's first sentence was indeed full of dialectical philosophy, but the second was pure and utter sophistry.

Heraclitus emphasized motion and change but did not deny the existence of stasis. In his philosophy, motion was absolute, and stasis was relative. It was his student, Cratylus, who further developed his philosophy of "change," going so far as to say that one could not step into the same river even once, completely denying the existence of stasis.

If there were no relative stasis, what would the world become?

At that point, there would be no things with definite properties in the world; the entire world would become a chaotic mass. It would be impossible to recognize things, or even to explain what something is, because the moment you recognized a thing, it would have already changed into something else.

Cratylus had turned his teacher's correct dialectical philosophy into a relativist sophistry.

Li Zihan's second sentence clearly did not align with Heraclitus's view, but rather meshed perfectly with Cratylus's sophistry.

"Cratylus's sophistry has already been refuted, you know."

Miss Reines, who had clearly recognized the sophistry in Li Zihan's words, chuckled lightly. This clean and decisive way of shirking responsibility made her feel even more of a kinship with him.

"Who's to say that so-called sophistry isn't just a truth that cannot be recognized by ordinary people?" Li Zihan retorted, his tone grave. The way he looked, you could say he was a devout believer preaching to a passerby and be completely right.

Of course, if Alice had been in front of him, he would most likely be arguing for the metaphysical theory of immutability, which denies motion and absolutizes stasis, to show his sincerity.

"Is it really appropriate to discuss ancient Greek philosophy when you're with a lady?"

Miss Reines, clearly aware that Li Zihan did not want to get involved with her, chuckled. "Rest assured, I have no desire to interfere in your current relationships."

"Then, what is this private matter related to a young lady's love life that you mentioned?" Li Zihan raised an eyebrow, feeling that what Reines was saying now was a bit contradictory to what she had said before.

"I just hope that you can protect the 'current me.'"

The girl who had descended as Rider, chopped off her own uncle's hand, and knocked him out to use as a mana battery, now looked slightly troubled.

"For various reasons, my Lord Uncle may harbor some ill will towards me."

Ill will?

Kenneth was one of the few Lords with normal emotional responses. He wouldn't inexplicably develop ill will towards his own niece.

Feeling that this development was slightly bizarre, Li Zihan looked at Miss Reines.

Reines did not hide it, but very frankly raised her wrist. The three strokes of the crimson crest were rather glaring.

Li Zihan fell silent.

It seemed Lord El-Melloi had already been KO'd by his own niece and Servant.

"Then, what is this protection you speak of?"

Li Zihan, who had never expected Lord El-Melloi to suffer such a bloody collapse at the very start, mourned for him for a second before asking.

"Having offended my uncle, if I want to live a good life, I can only borrow the tiger's might to scare away the fox, using the authority of a more powerful person to fend off external malice."

The girl raised her head, her magnificent, jewel-like eyes gazing at the young man who was a size smaller than the one in her memory.

Because of a problem with the Rayshift device, she had inexplicably taken the place of a certain Big Doggy, bringing a new variable to this Holy Grail game.

The F-rank luck Kenneth had not been killed by the splash damage from Karna's AoE. The main family naturally wouldn't come looking for trouble with Li Zihan, and thus wouldn't be wiped out. The branch family wouldn't rise to power as a result, and she naturally wouldn't be sent over as a gift.

In that case, would her fate and his still be intertwined?

The girl, who was well aware that her feelings were in fact pathological, revealed a slightly twisted smile.

On August 23, 1973, two criminals, after a failed attempt to rob a bank in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, took four bank employees hostage. After a 130-hour standoff with the police, the robbery ended with the criminals surrendering.

However, a few months after this incident, the four bank employees who had been held hostage showed compassion for their captors. They refused to testify against the kidnappers in court, even raised funds for their legal defense, and adopted a hostile attitude towards the police.

Even more, one of the female employees actually fell in love with one of the robbers and became engaged to him while he was serving his sentence.

The two robbers held the hostages for six days. During this time, they threatened the lives of their captives but also showed moments of kindness. In an unexpected and complex psychological shift, the four hostages resisted the government's final efforts to rescue them.

Humans can be tamed—Stockholm Syndrome.

There is a fragile bottom line to the fear that human nature can endure. When a person encounters someone they cannot escape, someone who can take their life at any moment, the hostage will gradually submit, entrusting their right to life to this violent captor. Every bite of food, every sip of water, every breath the hostage takes, they themselves will feel it is a form of tolerance and mercy from the terrorist.

For the violent criminal who kidnapped them, their fear will first transform into gratitude, and then into a kind of worship.

And if this happens between people of different genders, how will such emotions transform?

The girl, who had first lived in fear as a child and then received care and attention, chuckled softly, her gaze somewhat hazy.

Her feelings were pathological.

But she had no intention of changing any of it. Even if this love was twisted to the extreme.

"Excuse me, but would you be able to give the 'current me' a formalistic marriage contract?"

The girl, hoping that the thread of fate between herself and the young man who had tamed her would remain entangled forever, smiled brilliantly.