"Black Faction's... Archer? But, why?" Achilles looked at the gloomy man holding the bow before him with some loss of composure. "Why would someone like you also..."
"You haven't changed at all from my impression of you... But, I didn't expect you to ask such a foolish question." Chiron looked at Achilles with a face as calm as water. "I have manifested in this world as the Black Faction's Archer, and you have manifested as the Red Faction's Rider. Both you and I have wishes we want to realize, and things we are attached to."
"Really, even if you want to remain naive, there must be a limit," Chiron sighed, unsure if he was criticizing or praising. "In life, this was the one point you never corrected... no, there's also the fact that you often ignore your surroundings when fighting; that hasn't been corrected either."
"Are you finished?" Artoria suddenly interrupted Chiron's scolding of Achilles and reminded them, "The sun is about to rise."
The Holy Grail War must be conducted in secret.
The great war sixty years ago could at least be covered up by saying the German army had entered the city.
The battles of the Yggdmillennia Clan also mostly took place in the suburban castles surrounded by forests and no man's land.
But this scene now... there were no natural pipes under the ground outside Sighisoara that could be used as an excuse for an explosion.
If the delay was too long, to the point where the commotion of the battle here was discovered by the town's residents, Jeanne would complain endlessly.
After all, she was a Ruler, yet her partners were always stomping and bouncing on the rules she had to protect.
But speaking of which, with such a big commotion last night and no one getting up to check the situation, who exactly helped cover it up?
"Hiss—" Achilles took a deep breath, holding his spear with both hands, looking at the two Servants before him with a serious expression.
He could understand the meaning of the words Chiron had just said, as well as the words he hadn't had time to say yet.
In any case, it was to tell him to muster his fighting spirit and not try to escape just because the opponent was his former teacher and close friend.
Mhm, that was how Achilles understood it.
But how could he know that Chiron was actually hoping he would obediently run away in a roundabout way?
If he couldn't escape, then he, as the teacher, would personally send his disciple on his way.
After all, Chiron didn't want to see his disciple crushed by Artoria until his glory was completely lost and he died a miserable death.
"I understand." Chiron nodded, then moved to the side and raised the bow in his hand again. "Ruler, I will assist you from the side. Let's finish him off as quickly as possible before the day fully brightens."
Achilles grinned, just about to say something tough, when his body involuntarily began to spiritize.
"This is... master?" Achilles looked at his uncontrollable body in some astonishment, then turned his head to look in the direction of the Hanging Gardens.
In the next moment, he disappeared.
Chiron's arrow passed through the spot where Achilles had just been standing and stuck into the ground.
"It seems Achilles' master saved him with a forced summon," Chiron said, unsure if he felt regret or relief.
"...That is not important." Artoria glanced at Chiron, then turned and walked toward the town.
Chiron watched Artoria's departing back, then looked up at the morning sun.
The long night was about to pass.
Then he turned around and followed behind Artoria as they walked together toward the town.
When Artoria returned to Daniel's side, she was stunned to find that at the corners of the streets, blue iron sheets and opaque curtains had been erected against the walls, tightly sealing off the street where Sanzang had deployed her temple.
Beside the curtains, several homunculus stood guard like sentries.
Upon seeing the returning Artoria and Chiron, those homunculus proactively pulled aside the curtains, revealing a gap wide enough for two people to pass through.
"Even though the Red Saber's master has deployed Bounded Fields to drive away onlookers, for the sake of acting in secrecy, we should still set up methods to block line of sight," Chiron took the initiative to explain. "That's what my master said."
Artoria nodded in agreement.
Although she felt this method was as redundant as taking off one's pants to fart, it was a free service that didn't require her own effort, so there was no harm in going along with it.
"Hmm? Is the battle already over?" Seeing that both Artoria and Chiron had returned, Atalanta asked with a somewhat complicated expression.
"Achilles was forcibly summoned away by his master, so the battle has been temporarily suspended," Artoria explained.
Unsure whether to be happy or worried, Atalanta let out a sigh, then turned her head back to continue watching Jack the Ripper's baptism.
After an unknown amount of time, a female homunculus slipped in from outside the curtains. She walked up to Fiore and whispered a few words. Fiore nodded with a troubled expression, then beckoned to Caules.
Before long, Caules left with Frankenstein, following that homunculus while looking like he was questioning his life choices.
"Mr. Li Lin, Ruler, I've just received word. Because this town has very few visitors, the food reserves prepared by the restaurants are relatively small. Combined with how actively everyone ate yesterday, I'm afraid there's no chance of buying breakfast, and the quantity for lunch likely won't satisfy everyone either."
Fiore, controlling her Prosthetic Limbs which served as Mystic Codes, arrived before Daniel to explain.
"Although I've had Caules and Berserker head to nearby towns to buy fresh ingredients as quickly as possible, I'm afraid breakfast still won't make it in time."
"Oh, do you want us to help out a bit?" Daniel looked at Fiore and asked. "After all, we still don't know how long it will take for Sanzang to finish things up here."
"No need. Since you are guests in the territory of the Yggdmillennia Clan, we haven't fallen so low as to require our guests to pay or do the work themselves," Fiore refused with a hint of assertiveness. "Please continue to accept the hospitality of the Yggdmillennia Clan."
That's what she said, you know.
Artoria looked at Daniel with a calm expression and nodded.
She felt this host was very good and knew how to treat guests well.
Though this wouldn't stop them all from going to seize the wealthy family's greater grail later.
Daniel seriously suspected that this King Arthur, who once exhausted herself with worry, had been corrupted by the life of having everything handed to her in the Shinomiya Family.
But there was no evidence.
Because he seemed to be in the same situation.
Before his words to righteously refuse Fiore's offer—which was no different from raising a useless person—could leave his mouth, his head nodded in agreement on its own.
"...Uh, we picked up a bag of money earlier. How about we give it to you?" Daniel suggested to Fiore, scratching his cheek a bit sheepishly.
Jeanne, standing nearby, shot him a sharp look.
We agreed that money was for Leticia!
"How could we possibly reach out to a guest for money? That would be slapping the face of my Yggdmillennia Clan," Fiore said, looking pitifully aggrieved.
It was as if she would suffer a great injustice if she actually took the money.
Even though Daniel was the one suggesting giving it to her.
"Is she PUA-ing us?" Daniel turned to ask the newly joined member, Rikudou Reika, once Fiore had sat back in her wheelchair with Chiron's help.
"...Probably not," Rikudou Reika replied, blinking with an 'I've really never seen this before' expression. "I just feel like she has a favor to ask of us, so she's trying every which way to please us."
"However, her words just now also make sense," Rikudou Reika added, adopting the air of the wealthy daughter she once was. "There's no such thing as making a guest pay and work. This is hosting a dinner, not hiring someone for odd jobs."
"Hmm? When hiring for odd jobs, shouldn't the host be the one paying?" Daniel asked Rikudou Reika, somewhat surprised.
"...I'm not quite sure. In my memory, the people doing odd jobs at my house often couldn't take their wages with them; instead, they'd pay our family extra before leaving," Rikudou Reika replied with a shrug.
A true old-school capitalist!
And the kind of old capitalist who squeezes every drop of oil from the bones of commoners, the type who deserves to be hung from a lamppost.
Perhaps because the meaning in Daniel's gaze was too obvious, Rikudou Reika seemed to realize something belatedly.
"No wonder both my parents died later and the family went bankrupt. I guess that's karma, right?"
Daniel felt that even though he was speechless at this moment, he shouldn't smile.
After all, a person shouldn't, or at least shouldn't... be like that.
Shishigou Kairi, sitting in a corner not far from Daniel's group, also timely showed an expression of being at a loss for words.
Capitalists are sometimes just like Magi.
They're eager to squeeze everyone but themselves until not a single drop of oil remains.
"Don't forget, we agreed that money would go to Leticia after everything is over," Jeanne leaned over and poked Daniel's arm to remind him.
"Oh, I haven't forgotten," Daniel waved his hand and explained. "I was just being polite with Fiore just now."
A Chinese tradition—I was just being courteous.
Leticia felt very embarrassed and kept trying to block Jeanne from continuing the topic of money in their shared consciousness.
Otherwise, she really would have the illusion that she was making money for herself by selling out Jeanne's labor.
"By the way, Jeanne, can you tell what stage Sanzang's temple project is at?" Daniel asked, looking at Jeanne. "If it continues at this speed, how long will it take to finish?"
"Well, the speed has indeed increased, but as for exactly how long it will take to cleanse Jack the Ripper's sins and allow those children to return to the cycle of reincarnation, I can't say for sure," Jeanne frowned slightly, tapping her lip with a finger. "However, it should be completed within a day or two."
"Don't ask any further; if you do, it'll just be intuition!" Jeanne said quickly, cutting Daniel off as she saw him start to open his mouth.
"No, I meant to ask if you want to find a nearby inn to rest for a bit?" Daniel blinked and asked. "After all, as Jeanne, you might not feel fatigue, but what about Leticia?"
"...That makes sense," Jeanne nodded in agreement. "This body belongs to Leticia. Although I've transferred as many negative effects as possible to my own spirit core, the long journey and staying up late might still have an impact on her that I haven't noticed."
"C... Mr. Li Lin, lend me some banknotes first. I'll go to a nearby hotel to get a room and rest."
"Do you want to go too?" After Daniel pulled out a few banknotes and handed them to Jeanne, he watched her walking figure, then turned to look at Rikudou Reika. "You haven't slept all night either, right?"
"No, I'm fine," Rikudou Reika shook her head in refusal. "After all, I'm not of much use anyway, so whether I rest or not doesn't really matter."
"Besides, more than resting, I want to look at Jack-chan a bit more."
"...I understand." Daniel nodded, then beckoned to Shishigou Kairi nearby.
"Any orders?" Shishigou Kairi let out a long sigh, then stood up and came to Daniel's side to ask.
"I'd like to trouble you to help buy a video camera... if this town doesn't have any for sale, renting one is fine too." Daniel pulled out a few more banknotes and said to Shishigou Kairi, "I plan to take advantage of the remaining daylight to film a documentary for Jack the Ripper."
Upon hearing this, Rikudou Reika immediately perked up, her eyes staring straight at Shishigou Kairi.
Under the immense pressure of being stared at by Daniel and Rikudou Reika, Shishigou Kairi silently nodded, then turned and walked toward the outside of the curtain.
But he didn't take the money.
"Is that Magus planning on getting a freebie?" Rikudou Reika asked Daniel, looking at the banknotes in Daniel's hand and then up at the back of Shishigou Kairi.
"...That's actually possible." Daniel also wore an expression of 'I didn't expect Shishigou Kairi to be that kind of person,' adding, "After all, he is a Magus... no, a Spellcaster. He should be quite skilled at hypnosis magic."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't go around slandering my master like that." Hearing their barely concealed voices, Mordred looked over with black lines on her face. "Even though that guy is stubborn and unyielding, he still has a moral bottom line when it comes to being a person."
"At the very least, during the time I've been partnered with him, I haven't seen him buy anything without paying."
Mordred was vouching for her master.
"Oh—Mo Zai, you and Shishigou Kairi are getting along quite well, aren't you?" Daniel teased, looking at Mordred with a smile.
"Hmm... to be honest, having that guy as a master, I do feel it's quite good." Mordred nodded, then suddenly glared at Daniel. "Tsk! You bastard, it's one thing to bait me into saying that, but how dare you use the nickname 'Mo Zai' to call me! Do you want to be slashed a few times?"
"No, let's skip the slashing, a few light kicks would be fine though," Daniel replied unseriously.
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