"Wonderful, my foot!" Sora tapped Merlín's head in annoyance.
"Stop trying to stir up trouble all the time!" Sora scolded. "Let's go!"
"Yes..." Merlín reluctantly followed Sora.
"Master, where are we going? What's next?" Merlín asked.
"To find an old friend of yours!" Sora replied. "I think she'll welcome you!"
"What do you think?" Sora looked at Merlín with amusement.
"Old friend? Who?" Merlín didn't react at first.
But then she realized.
"Wait, wait, Master, you don't mean Artoria, do you! I don't really know her! The one in my world is male!"
"Doesn't matter!" Sora shook his head. "Arthur's attitude towards Merlin or Merlín is probably the same!"
"Hey, Master, you're not seriously going to find that old friend of mine, are you?" Merlín was shocked.
"Why not?" Sora showed a playful smile. "To be blunt, the new Master I've chosen is Artoria's Master!"
"Oh dear..." Merlín was dumbfounded. "Master, how can you do this to me?"
"Why can't I?" Sora retorted. "Is there a problem with the court wizard going to assist the king?"
"Enough, stop complaining. Let's go!" Sora's tone grew firmer. "Don't make me drag you along!"
"Trust me, you wouldn't want that!"
"Fine!" Merlín sighed. "Why did I even answer this summon?"
"Heh!" Sora chuckled coldly. "You should ask yourself that!"
"Come on, hurry up!" Sora said. "If we're fast enough, we might even make it for breakfast at Einzbern Castle!"
After all, it was currently the early hours of the morning.
"Yay, breakfast!" Merlín responded half-heartedly.
Then, led by Sora, Merlín headed towards the Einzbern Castle.
Knock, knock, knock!
In the silent depths of the night, the sound of knocking rang out alongside the alarms of triggered magical traps.
Hearing the alarm, Irisviel jolted awake, while Artoria herself silently appeared at Irisviel's bedside.
"Iri!"
"Yes, I'm here!" Irisviel sat up, still groggy from sleep. "What's happening now, Saber?"
"We have visitors, Iri!" Artoria said, a strange glint in her eyes. "It's a Servant we met at the harbor tonight!"
"And also, an acquaintance of mine."
At this, Artoria's expression showed a hint of gritted teeth.
"An acquaintance!!?" Irisviel didn't understand Artoria's words.
'If it was an acquaintance, why would she look like that? It was more like a grudge!'
'But it wasn't like acquaintances couldn't also be grudges. Maybe it was precisely because they were acquaintances that the grudge was deeper.'
'Anyway, let's go meet them first!'
'But before that...'
Irisviel picked up her phone and clumsily dialed Kiritsugu's number.
"Hello, Kiritsugu!"
"What's wrong, Iri?" Kiritsugu paused his training with Hisau Maiya.
Irisviel didn't notice the issue: "Someone's come to the castle! Or rather, not humans, Servants!"
"What!!?" Kiritsugu was shocked by Irisviel's words.
"What's going on?" Kiritsugu pressed.
"I don't know, but Servants have arrived!" Irisviel shook her head. "It's one of the Servants from tonight, the one who fought the golden Archer."
"And another one Saber says is an acquaintance of hers?"
"Acquaintance!!?" Kiritsugu was also confused by Irisviel's description.
But his reaction was faster than Irisviel's. "If it's an acquaintance, that means... a Servant from Britain?"
"Damn it, are these people friend or foe?" Kiritsugu was extremely agitated.
Then he said to Irisviel, "Stall them for now. I'll be back right away! Don't do anything until I get back to handle it!"
"Okay!" Irisviel nodded and hung up.
"Let's go!" Irisviel looked at Artoria.
Then, the two descended the stairs and opened the main door.
Sora and Merlín appeared before the two women.
"Good evening, ladies!" Sora nodded to them.
But at this moment, both Artoria and Irisviel's attention was drawn to the troublesome incubus hiding behind Sora.
Looking at the white-haired, red-eyed girl, Artoria looked confused.
Irisviel, however, felt an immediate affinity.
For a very simple reason.
"Wow, we have the same hair and eye color!"
Irisviel stepped forward and linked her arm with Merlín's, asking curiously, "Are you the Master?"
"No..." A resigned Artoria answered. "Iri, she's a Servant!"