"I am very sorry, but I may have to make you stay in this Holy Grail War for a while longer."
At the street corner, Jeanne looked at Rikudou Reika, who was panting with exhaustion but still staring at her vigilantly, and said apologetically.
"Between you and that Servant from just now, who is stronger?" Rikudou Reika asked, looking at Jeanne.
"I'm not sure, but what I'm best at is not fighting, but defense." Jeanne shook her head and explained. "And Caster is not good at fighting either, but she is good at talking."
"Then forget it." Rikudou Reika sat down on the ground as if giving up. "If I summon Little Jack over, the situation will change from'she has a chance to take a hostage' to 'you have a chance to take a hostage' to threaten her."
"Then, what are you going to do? Kill me here?" Rikudou Reika asked, looking at Jeanne.
"No, I do not have the right to kill a master in the Holy Grail War." Jeanne shook her head and replied. "However, if I take you back, Jack the Ripper should be easier to make behave."
"I am really sorry for using you as a hostage to threaten her."
"Then, why do you think using me as a hostage can threaten Little Jack?" Rikudou Reika asked, looking at Jeanne with confusion. "Couldn't she just go find another master?"
"Because just now, she let you escape," Jeanne answered, "That is not something a murderer would say to their master."
"Moreover, she has always called you 'Mother' instead of 'master'. It seems you hold a very high status in her heart."
"This is really..." Rikudou Reika sighed helplessly, "Have I become Jack-chan's weakness?"
Rikudou Reika had considered committing suicide to escape her current predicament.
But this thought was dismissed in an instant.
Because Jack had told her before.
If she died, Jack, being a Servant, would also die very quickly.
Because there would be no master.
The Assassin, lacking independent action, would only be able to wait for the moment of its disappearance.
Therefore, even as a hostage, Rikudou Reika still could not choose death.
Instead, she had to find a way to stay alive.
Because only if she remained alive could Jack-chan continue to exist.
"Failed, failed, I surrender." Rikudou Reika raised her hands.
"Guu!" Jeanne blushed slightly, as if stimulated by something, and averted her gaze.
The lazy posture of Rikudou Reika, who had given up resistance, combined with her overly revealing attire, was a bit too stimulating for Jeanne, who hadn't dressed up much herself.
Rikudou Reika quickly noticed Jeanne's discomfort.
This was a maiden who had theoretical knowledge but hadn't yet opened her heart to love.
Rikudou Reika realized this fact in an instant.
To be honest, she felt a bit envious.
She had once had such innocent years too.
It was just that everything had been easily shattered and twisted before the iron-hard reality.
"You, how old were you at the last moment of your life?" Rikudou Reika suddenly asked this question.
"Hmm? About nineteen, I suppose. Why do you ask?" Jeanne was stunned for a moment, then recalled slightly before answering.
"...Nineteen? You met your death at only nineteen, and even became a Heroic Spirit?" Rikudou Reika looked up at Jeanne in astonishment.
"Yes, that is correct." Jeanne helped Rikudou Reika up and answered.
"Truly... whether in the past or the present, reality is a behemoth that one cannot bear," Rikudou Reika sighed helplessly.
Although she didn't know the girl's true name, she had met her end at nineteen and subsequently became a Heroic Spirit as a hero.
What was she doing when she was nineteen?
She couldn't recall it anymore.
It was just something that happened four or five years ago.
Was she too weak?
Or was this Heroic Spirit girl too strong?
"Can you tell me your true name?" Rikudou Reika was now desperately eager to know the true name of the girl before her.
"Hmm? Of course." Jeanne nodded with a smile, "I don't think my name is something to be ashamed of."
"Jeanne d'Arc, that is my true name."
"Jeanne d'Arc?" A somewhat unfamiliar name, yet it felt thunderous to her ears.
Rikudou Reika kept repeating the girl's true name, trying to find the tail she could almost grasp.
"Jeanne... Jeanne d'Arc?" Rikudou Reika seemed to finally realize, looking up at the girl in shock, "Are you the Saint of Orleans, the Maiden of France?"
"I don't feel I have the ability to bear that title, so, if you can, just call me Jeanne... Of course, you can also call me Lancer." Jeanne promptly salvaged her character setting.
"Meeting death at nineteen, right, that's you." Rikudou Reika examined Jeanne, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
A sense of inferiority began to crush this twenty-three-year-old mature older sister.
Perhaps she still had many sophistries left unsaid, but after learning the girl's true name, these sophistries had no chance to be spoken.
She could only be silently supported by the girl as they returned to the battlefield they had fled earlier.
The black-haired woman in a suit-style outfit was holding a long staff and fighting intensely with her Jack-chan.
It wasn't until she appeared on the scene that Jack finally stopped.
"Let go of Mother!" Jack the Ripper roared, glaring at Jeanne with red-rimmed eyes.
In an instant, the positions reversed.
Looking at the child on the opposite side who was about to cry, Jeanne suddenly felt that she was the big villain!
"Huh? What, what? Am I late?" Mordred's somewhat unbridled voice suddenly came from the side.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Mordred, wearing full armor, walked out from that side.
And following her was her master, Shishigou Kairi.
"Whoa, as soon as I arrive, I see you grabbing a brat's master and threatening the brat!" Mordred joked, looking at the situation on the scene with a flippant tone.
"Saber, you're here." Daniel raised his hand and waved at her.
"So, what are you planning to do? Are you going to take down the Black Faction's Assassin?" Mordred asked, drawing her hand across her neck.
"No, I just intend to clear away the resentment of tens of thousands of infants who have yet to find release, and then give them a new fortune, giving them a chance to be reborn as newborns." Daniel answered, touching the tip of his nose.
"Huh?" Except for Sanzang and Jeanne, who already knew the situation, everyone present looked stunned.
"Are you out of your mind?" Mordred asked bluntly.
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