"Enjoyable..."
Hearing this, Artoria's gaze became complicated.
He literally pulled out a Noble Phantasm to skewer you, and you found it "enjoyable"?
But as her eyes fell upon those seemingly fair and delicate, yet actually solid and merciless "iron hands," Artoria swallowed her words back down.
After all, she had seen with her own eyes how this seemingly fragile girl had caught that Noble Phantasm with a single hand.
Cu Chulainn, the Child of Light of Ireland, was by no means an obscure hero. If that Noble Phantasm had been aimed at her, a single lapse in focus might have cost her her life.
It was, after all, a Causality-type Noble Phantasm.
Yet such a weapon had been caught by someone's bare hand, rendered unable to move...
To be honest, Artoria was currently questioning her entire worldview.
Cu Chulainn's mood wasn't any better. A Noble Phantasm, simply put, was the crystallization of a Heroic Spirit's legends and experiences from life. Having the thing you were most proud of caught with one hand...
Truthfully, it was quite hurtful.
Cu Chulainn's departing figure looked somewhat lonely.
"Miss Firefly, are you alright?" Emiya Shirou asked, panting heavily as he looked at Xia Yu with concern.
Mainly, he had been terrified by Cu Chulainn's Noble Phantasm just now; that scarlet lance hadn't been far from his face at all.
But even so, he had rushed forward without hesitation, intending to take the hit for Xia Yu... As expected of you, Emiya Shirou.
"What could possibly be wrong with me?" Xia Yu shook her head and looked at him. "As for you, do you have a death wish? Were you planning to jump out and block that for me just now?"
"Master, that was indeed far too reckless," Artoria added.
"I just... felt like I couldn't just stand by and watch," Emiya Shirou scratched his head sheepishly. "After all... you faced off against him to protect me."
"Protect you? No, you're overthinking it," Xia Yu shook her head. "I just finally found an opponent who could provide a bit of fun. I was simply enjoying the thrill of the hunt."
"But regardless, you saved my life," Emiya Shirou insisted firmly.
"Actually, even without me, you wouldn't have died." At this, Xia Yu turned to glance at Artoria, then looked toward the two figures in the distance. "Besides, speaking of saving your life, shouldn't you thank her more?"
"Sigh, this is really a headache," Tohsaka Rin could no longer remain a bystander. She walked over with Archer. "In any case, good evening, Emiya-kun."
"And... this is..." Her gaze landed on Xia Yu.
"Just call me Firefly," Xia Yu nodded to her. It was indeed the Rin she knew. "However, are you sure you want to talk here?"
"Come to my house," Emiya Shirou said, opening the gate. "Everything that happened tonight... I really don't have a clue what's going on!"
"It's not time yet," Tohsaka Rin shook her head, looking around. "This Bounded Field... it's drastically different from modern Magecraft. Someone capable of using such Magecraft in Fuyuki City... Caster?"
"Won't the person spying from the shadows... eh?"
Before she could finish, she sensed the surrounding Bounded Field instantly dissipate.
"Did she retreat?" Archer frowned.
"Likely," Artoria replied. Though she was still wary of them, the thought that her side held the absolute advantage made her less urgent. "I can no longer feel her presence."
"Well, anyway, let's go inside to talk first," Emiya Shirou invited them again.
Tohsaka Rin thought for two seconds, glanced at Xia Yu, and chose to enter.
"Um, sorry for the poor hospitality," Emiya Shirou said, bringing out teacups and starting to brew tea in the Emiya Family living room.
"Whoa, look at you. What, do you really know nothing at all?" Tohsaka Rin looked like she had a massive headache. "A half-baked Master like this is the biggest pain."
"I have a headache too! Getting killed for no reason," Emiya Shirou reached out to touch his chest, "then getting hunted for no reason, and then all these nonsensical battles..."
"Judging by the way you sound, you probably haven't eaten yet, right?" Xia Yu suddenly asked.
"Ah, actually, I haven't," Emiya Shirou rubbed his stomach. "Too much happened tonight; I didn't even have time to think about it."
"Hmm, after that fight with Lancer, I'm a bit hungry too," Xia Yu nodded. Then, she naturally turned to Archer and said, "Archer, go make some late-night snacks. By the way, I don't like spicy food at night."
"Fine, I'll go..." Hearing this, Archer felt a wave of nostalgia for this familiar house. He instinctively stood up to prepare, only stopping when he caught his Master's bizarre look.
"Apologies, Miss," Archer crossed his arms. "As my Master's Servant, I must protect her safety at all times."
"Furthermore, I don't know how to cook."
"Archer, you're being dishonest," Xia Yu set down her teacup and shot him a cool glance. "A chef in charge of a cafeteria claiming he can't cook? You're joking with me."
"Chef? What chef?" Tohsaka Rin was baffled. This person seemed to know her Servant better than she did.
"Miss, I'm afraid you have the wrong person," Archer narrowed his eyes. "These hands of mine are stained with countless lives; calling me a butcher wouldn't be an exaggeration. A chef... that has nothing to do with me."
"Still pretending," Xia Yu glanced at him. "What, do you despise your dark history that much? Are you participating in the Holy Grail War just to erase that past?"
"..." Archer's body tensed instantly. He nearly projected a weapon.
Mostly, he felt he likely couldn't beat this person. God-damn catching a Noble Phantasm barehanded! I don't remember such a figure being in the Holy Grail War!
Where the hell did I end up? Is this even the Holy Grail War?
"We're all acquaintances; who doesn't know about your little past," Xia Yu looked at him with a smile. "Weren't you just a young and reckless youth who wanted to become a hero of ju—"
"You don't like spicy food, correct?" Archer said instantly and respectfully. "As it happens, I am not fond of spicy dishes myself."
"I just don't like them at night," Xia Yu repeated. "I usually quite enjoy them."
"Understood. Leave the late-night snack to me," Archer nodded and headed toward the kitchen.
"You know Archer?" Seeing his reaction, even Tohsaka Rin caught on. "Wait, even I, his Master, don't know his True Name!"
"Maybe he's just shy," Xia Yu said with a smile.
Archer, walking toward the kitchen, stumbled for a moment.
"Shy? A Heroic Spirit is shy?" Tohsaka Rin expressed her inability to understand.
"It's actually quite normal," Xia Yu laughed. "Heroic Spirits have their own personalities, after all."
"...Excuse me, but who exactly are you?" Tohsaka Rin knew she couldn't ignore the question anymore. "The Tohsaka Family has never heard of such a powerful Magus."
How could someone who can trade blows with a Heroic Spirit be an ordinary person?
"So, you still don't know," Xia Yu's look toward her was a bit subtle.
Seriously, it's been a month, and you still don't know who I am?
"Kotomine Kirei is truly incompetent," Xia Yu shook her head. "Look at what he's taught you."
At that moment, Artoria, upon hearing that familiar name, clenched her fist slightly.
"You seem to know the Tohsaka Family very well," Tohsaka Rin bit her lip.
"I suppose so," Xia Yu looked into her eyes with interest. "Tohsaka Rin, oh Tohsaka Rin. That face of yours... tsk, I really can't help but see a certain useless goddess."
Though saying so felt a bit backwards; even in terms of utility, Tohsaka Rin was more reliable than Ishtar.
"Those don't sound like the words of someone from the Living World," Tohsaka Rin narrowed her eyes. "A goddess? Do you mean..."
"Perhaps you'll find out soon enough," Xia Yu smiled faintly and didn't answer.
She had actually sensed it; the Counter Force seemed to be unable to sit still. Illya had dreamt of her—or rather, Firefly's past—repeatedly. Furthermore, Artoria should have been able to block Cu Chulainn's Noble Phantasm, but her vaunted Instinct had seemingly failed, allowing the weapon to easily bypass her and strike at Xia Yu.
Only a fool would believe there wasn't something fishy going on.
At this point, Chaldea might already be on its way.
Then again, it was normal. In Gaia's eyes, Firefly's past was truly terrifying for a planet. It would be strange if it didn't overreact.
"By the way, why are you so quiet, Saber?" Xia Yu turned to look at Artoria, who had been sitting there properly the whole time. "Don't you want late-night snacks?"
"...I'm just—no, it's nothing." Artoria wanted to say something, but she glanced at Tohsaka Rin and swallowed her words.
She was still brooding over the failure of her Instinct. It was an ability she took great pride in; its sudden failure made her feel very insecure.
After checking, the only conclusion she could reach was that perhaps her Master's mana was too weak, failing to provide her with enough energy.
She couldn't think of any other possibility. The mana supplied by Emiya Shirou... put it this way, Artoria had never fought such a frustrating battle. As a representative of the "overwhelming stats" school of combat, having her stats slashed was simply unbearable.
Moreover, seeing Firefly's familiar attitude, she strongly suspected the girl knew her as well.
But she truly had no memory of this girl at all.
"Alright, Emiya-kun," seeing that she couldn't get a straight answer out of Firefly, Tohsaka Rin could only give up for now, planning to interrogate her own Servant later.
She turned the topic back to Emiya Shirou. "You don't know the rules of the Holy Grail War yet, do you? I'll explain them to you briefly."