Chapter 224
"Don’t be so cold, Master. We’re Servant and Master now, which means we’ll be fighting side by side sooner or later. You’ll never build proper teamwork if you keep treating me like this."
Astolfo spoke with an utterly serious expression.
"You don’t need to worry about that."
Kiriya rolled his eyes and pointed toward Caules.
"Normally, you can stick with him. Unless I specifically call for you, don’t come clinging to me on your own."
"What?"
Caules stared blankly.
How had he suddenly become involved in this?
"No way!"
Astolfo looked as though the sky had collapsed.
"Are you abandoning me already?! Don’t you need me to fight for you?"
"You guessed it. I really don’t."
Kiriya glanced at him.
"I only came here because I needed the official status of a Master. As for a Servant’s combat power... I could probably take ten of you with one hand."
Of course, Kiriya knew Astolfo was nowhere near as useless as he appeared.
His bizarre collection of Noble Phantasms could prove unexpectedly valuable in all kinds of situations, which was exactly why Kiriya had chosen him in the first place.
But...
Astolfo was also a walking disaster.
His Evaporation of Sanity D+ alone was enough to make Kiriya nervous.
With that Skill constantly active, Astolfo was fundamentally incapable of keeping secrets.
Give him enough time with an enemy and he might cheerfully explain their entire battle plan, life story, and deepest family secrets without realizing there was a problem.
Kiriya had no intention of watching his plans collapse before they even began because Astolfo casually spilled everything.
So it was better to keep Rider as a trump card for situations where his unusual abilities were genuinely useful.
As for everyday life...
The less contact, the safer.
"Noooo, Master!"
Once Astolfo realized Kiriya was completely serious, he froze for a second before suddenly throwing himself onto Kiriya’s leg and wailing.
"I’ll make myself useful! Fighting, scouting, reconnaissance, warming your bed—anything you need, I can—"
Bonk!
Kiriya’s sword sheath came down on his head before he could finish.
Astolfo was forcibly muted.
"I’m leaving this idiot with you for now."
Kiriya looked toward Caules.
"If I need him, I’ll summon him myself. Any problems?"
"N-No problems!"
Caules jolted upright and answered immediately.
"Good."
Kiriya patted him on the shoulder with the air of an encouraging elder.
"Work hard, young man. I have high hopes for you."
Caules’s expression became rather complicated.
’Aren’t you look like about two years younger than me?’
He wisely kept that thought to himself.
Getting hit over such a minor detail seemed unnecessary.
"Ahhh..."
With his objective accomplished, Kiriya stretched until tears gathered faintly at the corners of his eyes.
"Man, that was a long trip. I’m actually pretty tired."
"My apologies."
Fiore immediately turned toward one of the nearby homunculus attendants.
"Take Kiriya-san to a guest room. Make sure all of his reasonable needs are met."
"Yes."
The homunculus answered without expression and gestured politely toward the exit.
"This way, please."
Kiriya followed.
Only once his figure disappeared beyond the great doors did the atmosphere in the hall finally relax.
Crash!
Celenike grabbed the teacup from the table and hurled it onto the floor, smashing it to pieces.
"Damn it... damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"Don’t get so full of yourself, you bastard!"
After cursing to her heart’s content, she turned toward Astolfo with ragged breaths and burning eyes.
"You just wait."
"You’re mine."
"I’ll take you back. I swear I will!"
Everyone, Gordes included, looked at her with varying degrees of pity.
Astolfo was the sole exception.
He still looked completely carefree.
"That sounds pretty difficult. My new Master is way stronger than you."
"Hmph."
Celenike’s expression darkened.
"A battle between magi isn’t decided by punching each other like mindless brutes."
"Stop, Celenike."
Fiore frowned.
"Don’t do anything foolish. He is now an important asset to the Black faction. Uncle Darnic will not tolerate you causing trouble."
"You’re already saying things you shouldn’t."
Caules’s expression was equally serious.
"Keep going down this road and you’re going to get yourself killed."
"Hmph."
Celenike ignored them and stormed out of the hall.
"Leave her."
Gordes sneered.
"If someone is determined to dig her own grave, no one else can stop her."
With that, he left as well.
Fiore and Caules exchanged helpless looks.
"Archer."
Fiore turned inward toward her Servant.
"What do you think?"
"Can that man truly be trusted?"
Chiron’s calm voice answered through their mental connection.
"There is no doubt that his objective involves the Greater Grail."
"However, he carries an exceptionally powerful fighting spirit—something that could only have been forged through countless battles."
"He seeks powerful opponents."
"He desires battles against equals, perhaps even battles where victory is uncertain."
"The powerful Servants of the Red faction satisfy that desire perfectly."
After considering everything, Chiron gave his conclusion.
"So as someone fighting on our side, I believe he can be trusted."
"At least for now."
"I understand."
Fiore nodded, then turned toward her younger brother.
"Then from now on, you should handle Rider’s day-to-day coordination..."
She paused.
"Wait. Where is Rider?"
Caules’s mouth twitched.
"Probably... looking for Kiriya-san."
...
After escorting Kiriya to his guest room, the homunculus attendant left.
Out of habit, Kiriya immediately activated Energy Perception.
Almost at once, he detected a faint energy signature.
Unexpected—
Yet somehow completely expected.
Without even bothering to turn his head, Kiriya used Forest of All Things to form a wooden sword and swung it toward the empty air on his right.
Smack!
A cry of pain came from apparently empty space.
Then Rider suddenly materialized, clutching his head.
"Owww! That hurts!"
Astolfo stared at Kiriya in bewilderment.
"Master doesn’t have magical energy, so how did you hit me while I was in spirit form...?"
He stopped as his eyes widened.
"No, wait!"
"That thing just now definitely felt like magical energy!"
Astolfo immediately forgot about the pain, sprang upright, and practically shoved his face into Kiriya’s.
His large eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Master, what kind of magecraft was that? Tell me! Tell me!"
Bonk!
Kiriya had no interest in explaining anything to this human information leak.
He struck Astolfo over the head again, knocking him unconscious, then dragged him outside and dumped him in the corridor.
After closing the door, Kiriya deployed the Barrier: Canopy Method Formation around the room as a sensory alarm and created a Wood Clone.
"I’m leaving things here to you."
Kiriya handed the clone a kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God formula.
"If anything happens, channel some energy into the mark. I’ll come back immediately."
"Got it."
The Wood Clone gave him a thumbs-up.
"Leave it to me."
Kiriya nodded.
"Jeanne should have arrived by now."
He sensed the location of the marked kunai he had given her.
Then he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the room.
...
Sighișoara.
Under the pale moonlight, a beautiful young woman wandered through the streets.
Her brilliant golden hair had been braided down her back, while the fitted school uniform she wore complemented her graceful figure and delicate features, giving her the fresh, lively appearance of an ordinary traveler.
She was, of course, anything but ordinary.
She was the Servant summoned under the Ruler Class—
Jeanne d’Arc.
After learning that Jack the Ripper had been murdering people throughout the city and spreading terror among its residents, Jeanne had immediately decided she could not stand by and ignore it.
She had not even bothered resting before traveling through the night to Sighișoara.
On the surface, she looked like a curious tourist taking in the nighttime scenery of a city famous for its medieval atmosphere.
In reality, every one of her senses was on full alert.
She searched constantly for any trace of Assassin.
But almost from the moment Jeanne entered the city—
A pair of eyes filled with unmistakable malice had already locked onto her.