Once Lelouch had left the house, Waver and Rider continued to spy on them from the second-floor window.
Out of caution, they watched as the Master waved at his Servant. They were simply making sure the redhead wouldn't start a fight. However, what they didn't expect was for the woman to suddenly launch herself at the boy the moment Lelouch got close.
Immediately taking his right hand and refusing to release it, she glared death at them from afar whilst the pair walked away. Even from this distance, Avenger looked far more like a clingy lover than the fearsome warrior she made herself out to be. On the other hand, the princely Master acted like a caring boyfriend who seamlessly coddled the young woman snugly nestling herself against him.
"Hoho! She's quite the keeper. Nice catch, kid." Iskandar mumbled with a cheery smile.
"What does that mean?"
"You'll understand when you grow up, boy."
Waver doubted he wanted to understand. This giant of a man was selfish and reckless, boisterous beyond belief already. A pushy existence that was already far from understandable. If Waver was then asked to try and understand something similar, except this time it was a domineering woman, he'd nope the fuck out.
"Stop slouching, Master!"—BAM—"Spacing out with your posture like that won't help you get any taller!" The loud voice was accompanied by yet another slap to the back that Waver recovered from almost immediately. Meeting Rider's excited gaze, the Servant then said. "Now, are we going after Saber or not?"
"W—wait, now?!"
"But of course! I don't need to tell you how much I don't trust Lelouch. But if we were to verify his claims, it would be better to fly there immediately and see if he lied to us than wait too long. We won't attack Saber at her new base, obviously, but scoping out the vicinity of her territory will be to our advantage." All the while as Rider said this, he'd shoddily packed away his games and console before he changed into his armour. "So, are we going or not? Or do you prefer we cower here while they take all the fun?!"
Waver blinked twice before narrowing his eyes. He knew what the man was doing. Despite relying on him to make the final decision, he was still goading Waver on. To make a decision that aligned with his wants. It was playing dirty especially when Waver was still doubting himself, but he nevertheless raised his hand and slapped the giant in the chest.
"Of course, we're going! Even if he's just using us, better we blow away his expectations before they backstab us!"
"That's the spirit, my boy!"
***
Emiya Residence.
The air was so thick with tension, one could cut it with a knife. Or so did the young woman take it as she continued her short walk about the new place in her slim-fit, black-and-grey suit.
Arturia Pendragon, or as her Servant class denoted her, the Servant of the Sword, Saber, felt a wave of concern as she reassessed once more the current state of the Grail War.
'Gilgamesh has fallen. His killer, unknown.' A worrying thought considering she didn't doubt the King of Heroes' capability as a Servant. Flamboyant and arrogant as the man had been, there was still considerable power that he had yet revealed. 'Between Rider, Berserker, and Avenger, there's no doubt that at least two of them are behind it.'
The question remained then. Who made an alliance and which was the odd one out?
'Whichever it is, must we continue to hide away as they whittle each other down?' Saber had her doubts, but despite voicing them out and persisting that they rejoin the battle, she was ignored. At least, by her Master, she was left to stand by, wasting the war away as a guard for their new abode. 'Of all the paths to choose… why cowardice?'
She doubted Kiritsugu even more now. At first, not only did he depict himself as a cold and tactical person, but he also displayed his hesitance to act and willingness to stand and watch as the other participants killed each other off. Only, that at least didn't apply to reconnaissance and subterfuge. The most non-chivalrous of methods.
Using familiars to merely investigate the scene, he found the corpses in the Church and quickly identified Archer's Master, Tohsaka Tokiomi, as well as Assassin's, Kotomine Kirei. He also managed to quickly identify the third body. Although it should've taken a while to figure out who the shattered carcass belonged to, since Kiritsugu himself had the fiancée of this person, it didn't take that long.
Saber couldn't help but grit her teeth as she remembered the night Maiya returned with a said woman in tow. Kidnapped and unconscious, she was their prisoner and had been interrogated for a time as to get them a leg up whilst they hid away… like a band of criminals.
'This isn't an honourable fight.' The kidnapping of fair ladies was something that shouldn't ever come to mind to a knight. But with a Master such as Kiritsugu, Arturia was only able to celebrate the fact that he had yet to kill this woman. She was safe. 'But how long will things stay that way for, I wonder?'
Saber approached the little shed that Irisviel used as a workshop. The rundown building was small and cramped, but the lady homunculus managed to make it a bit more homely, even for a decrepit storage building.
But the fact that her faux Master, Irisviel von Einzbern, was feeling unwell lately had Saber more than a little concerned. Not only did the lady in question try to hide it, but her husband was also making any excuses he could to avoid seeing her recently.
It already bothered Saber a lot that they were having some sort of issues recently; they'd always been close before the whole war started. But for the fact that the false human was actually happy with this arrangement…? Arturia couldn't understand it… Their relationship, their issues… maybe she didn't really understand either her Master or his wife, but she at least knew that the husband should be the one to support his spouse even while they were fixated on the war. It was just that much of common sense for the King of Knights.
'Then again, am I one to talk?' The irony wasn't lost on the former King of Britain. More so when her Queen wasn't the happiest woman in the realm. Not by a longshot. "I'm entering."
Announcing herself, Saber entered the shed to see four magi already inside. That is, if Kiritsugu and Maiya can be called as such. Artoria's eyes quickly fell on Irisviel who, despite trying not to let it show, was still weak because of unexplained reasons. Said silver-haired woman gave her a weak smile whilst sitting on a chair. Next to her, Maiya continued to remain vigilant while Kiritsugu behaved like his wife wasn't even in the same room. Before him was the fourth and only magus who didn't want to be here.
Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, kidnapped on the eve of her escape and brought here by Maiya just the day before. The black-haired woman had questioned her while Kiritsugu was away from the house. However, the method was anything but kind to the fearful noblewoman. She had bruises and cuts on her skin. She sported a cut to her lip and tears had dried on her cheeks. They were clear proof that Maiya was not above more brutal torturing. It was something the King of Knights couldn't approve of but had no say in when her Master demanded she only keep watch for the estate and nothing else.
Even though Arturia understood the need for it, she didn't like where things had ended up.
Her Master had been tracking down Kayneth, Lancer's Master and the tortured woman's former betrothed, for some time now. And, after hearing of his alliance with a certain boy, Saber couldn't help but want to know more, brutal approach aside.
Lelouch Lamperouge, the boy from her homeland and supposed prince of the current royal family.
He was a mystery as he participated in the war without much in the way of magecraft talent or even a selfish wish like all the other Masters. And yet Saber had a deep-seated interest in the boy. Arturia didn't understand why, but she felt something within her whenever she saw the young lad.
Was it because he was from Britain? Can't be, else she'd sense the same from Kayneth Archibald, Sola-Ui, or Waver Velvet. It was only seeing Lelouch Lamperouge that she'd get the sensation. There was something… odd about him. Something strange… and off-putting. But Saber couldn't tell what she felt. It mattered little in the current situation but subconsciously persisted, nonetheless.
SPLASH
"Are you awake now, Lady Sophia-Ri?"
Kiritsugu suddenly splashed the contents of a bottle over the woman tied to her seat. The magic formation beneath her glowed, preventing any magecraft she attempted to call upon defensively. But as soon as she was conscious and aware of her surroundings, and her situation, the poor woman nearly shrieked as she recognized the man before her.
"Y-you…!" Her voice, barely audible as a croak, died when he interjected. "You're—!"
"Let's cut to the chase so it'll be easier for all of us. I apologize for how roughly my assistant has treated you since last night," he motioned to Maiya. "However, I'm in a rush for answers. Answers I need now—"
"Whatever you want!" Sola-Ui definitely wasn't the bravest soul. Nor was she the most graceful under pressure as she immediately broke down into tears. Then again, Maiya's rough handling must've left an impression on her. "I'll—I'll give you anything! J-just… please… Let me leave… Please! I have nothing to do with this war anymore! I—I…"
"Then, answer me with only the facts." Kiritsugu's tone remained as cold as ice. His expression remained unmoved by the begging. "Do so, and we'll let you off quicker."
The dried tear streaks were dampened once more. The threat of more torture had her singing like a songbird. Lady Sola-Ui told them everything. Or anything that would convince her captors she was worth keeping alive.
For the next few minutes, she talked. The moment she and her fiancé arrived in Japan. The relationship between Lancer's and Rider's Masters. Even the events that led to the beginning and end of their alliance with Avenger and her Master. She went into great detail about how she, as well as her former betrothed, completely underestimated their once ally and that it was he who approached her, convincing her to abandon Kayneth and exit from the war entirely.