"Wouldn't it be better to just have a huge fight and vent all that pent-up frustration?!"
When this disastrous arbitration was uttered, the intensity of what should have been an ordinary couple's quarrel escalated dramatically. By the time Sakatsuki arrived, he witnessed nothing short of an all-out war.
Two ordinary people—neither magi nor Heroic Spirits—began splashing each other with water from the fountain, which then escalated into physical combat. In the end, the wife won with an uppercut to her husband's jaw... Although the couple did leave arm-in-arm laughing after thanking Astolfo, the casualties before reaching this resolution were far too great—
The café's window was shattered, Kairi's clothes were drenched from the water splashes, overturned tables were broken, a plate of food that had been on one table hit Sieg square in the head, and the unfinished spaghetti sauce splattered all over Jeanne d'Arc's face.
Astolfo deftly caught another plate of spaghetti and was about to put it back when Sakatsuki pushed the door open. Seeing him stunned by the scene before him, Astolfo's eyes gleamed mischievously as he hurled the plate at him.
"Surprise—"
"...You truly are a walking natural disaster, Astolfo." With a sigh, Sakatsuki caught the plate with practiced ease and began walking toward him. "The Red Saber is a top-tier Servant. If even she's gone missing, the Black faction should have sent more elite forces, no? Why is it just you and... Jeanne?"
"Ahaha, but we've got you here, don't we?" Seeing that Sakatsuki wasn't going to retaliate, Astolfo finally straightened up from where he'd been leaning back into Sieg's arms and grinned. "Besides, Achilles, Karna, and Atalanta have all disappeared for some reason, and Chiron can't leave the fortress. That only leaves us to handle things."
"I must have been out of my mind to bring you along." Jeanne scrubbed at her face furiously, the sticky sensation making her nauseous. "With you around, the chances of getting dragged into trouble practically double. Does sunlight make your mental condition worse?"
Even the Ruler herself had to say it—the mishaps they'd encountered along the way spoke for themselves. Yet far from feeling remorse, Astolfo puffed out his chest proudly.
"Of course! I'm the great adventurer, after all. Plenty of sunlight only makes me more excited! Besides, trouble is fun, and I really like humans too!"
Indeed, the Paladin Astolfo truly must have adored humans. Just seeing ordinary people walking down the street would bring a delighted smile to his face.
"Why do you like humans so much?" Sieg asked quietly.
"Hmm... I don't know. Maybe turn the question around—why would anyone dislike them?"
Hearing this, Sieg found herself at a loss for words. The people Astolfo watched with such a smile were neither righteous nor wicked—just perfectly ordinary humans.
Neither goodwill nor malice, merely background props—though it might sound harsh, that's indeed the extent of their existence to Sieg, Sakatsuki, and even some Servants.
"Absolutely! Just like background props, some people will live their entire lives without ever intersecting with ours. They'll do both good and bad things, and which path they take is entirely their choice. But if I get involved, something might change—and that's the most fascinating part!"
Astolfo laughed heartily, waving his arms excitedly as he exclaimed:
"A petty thug I beat up at night might decide to turn his life around! The quarreling couple earlier might have a child who makes some groundbreaking discovery! Or maybe nothing changes at all! That's exactly why I love humans—the possibilities hidden in that 'maybe'!"
Spinning around and dancing in the café, his cheerful demeanor made the other customers glance at him with a mix of annoyance and amusement before returning to their own affairs. Meanwhile, in the shadows of the café, two men exchanged glances and twitched their lips.
"Too bright. This idiot's like the sun—my eyes are about to burn out."
"...Agreed. Even sunglasses aren't enough."
"Miss...?" The café owner approached Astolfo with a helpless shrug. "Who exactly is going to cover the damages to my little shop?"
Astolfo's cheerful expression vanished. Even with his Innocent Monster skill, he understood the saying, "A single coin can stump even a hero."
"Um... Could you make it cheaper?"
"Miss, not calling the police is already the height of my generosity."
"Huh? Ah! Please, no police! I'm sorry! Master? Master?!"
Turning around, Astolfo realized in horror that everyone else had already left the café, chatting and laughing as they distanced themselves from a certain someone inside.
"First, change your clothes. Then, explain what happened."
"Understood."
As the group walked away, Astolfo stood frozen for a long moment before the cruel reality of his abandonment finally sank in. A wail escaped him.
"Wh—hy—?!"
It was truly a sight to move listeners to tears and onlookers to sorrow... or perhaps celebration.
Leaving behind the tearful Astolfo, who single-handedly took over the work of a dozen dishwashers, Sakatsuki soon got the full story elsewhere.
"So, at noon, while you were reporting the situation to Waver—Lord El-Melloi II—you found Saber too noisy and kicked her out. Then, after the call ended, you started crafting a Mystic Code. By dinnertime, you realized Saber hadn't returned and completely lost contact with her?"
"That's the gist of it," Kairi admitted, hanging his head.
In truth, he had omitted one detail. If it had just been the call with El-Melloi, he wouldn't have needed to avoid Mordred. But afterward, he had to craft a countermeasure against Assassin of Black, Semiramis. The specimen he obtained from Belfeban was far too dangerous, demanding absolute focus—which was why he had found an excuse to shove Mordred out.
After the completion of the ritual, Kairi found that he could no longer contact Mordred. Even the thoughts transmitted through the causality threads sank without a trace, receiving no response.
"Her spiritual signature is still present on the spiritual compass. She hasn't left Sighișoara," Jeanne d'Arc said.
"If it were a battle between Servants, Sighișoara wouldn't be this quiet," Sieg wondered aloud. "Only Servants should be able to interfere with causality threads. Since Uncle Kairi's contract hasn't been severed, what could have caused Mordred to lose contact?"
Uncle… Kairi didn't even have time to feel annoyed. Strangely enough, though he had only spent a few days with Mordred, their bond was already stronger than any "friendship" he had formed in his long life.
Now that Mordred was missing, he appeared calm on the surface but was actually frantic with worry—just short of begging heaven and earth for help.
"From a magecraft perspective, causality threads aren't something that can be casually severed. I suspect the Red Caster might be behind this! The Red Faction is currently outnumbered. Even if they took the Black Saber, it wouldn't help much. It's very possible they're trying to eliminate—or even steal—the Red Saber before the decisive battle!"
"Um, is there a chance she just… went off to have fun?" Astolfo suddenly popped up, eager to contribute. However, the others shot him a glance that practically screamed intellectual superiority.
"W-what's wrong?"
Sieg sighed. "You're oversimplifying things, Rider. Tomorrow is the decisive battle. I don't think the Red Saber would be reckless enough to wander off at this point. Any unexpected event now should be considered a worst-case scenario—captured, incapacitated, or even dead…"
"Ahem, let's not jump to conclusions, Sieg," Jeanne interjected, glancing at Kairi, who was on the verge of turning ashen. "She might still be resisting. After all, Saber is the strongest class. Even the Red Faction wouldn't be able to capture her so easily."
But her tone made it clear she wasn't optimistic about Mordred's current situation.
In short, everyone had reached a consensus—Mordred must have encountered some crisis, undoubtedly related to the enemy. She was in danger. Grave danger!
"What do you think, Sakatsuki?" Jeanne blinked, suddenly redirecting the conversation to the silent young man. "We're all well aware of your strategic prowess. When you were our enemy, you gave the Black Faction plenty of trouble. And you know the Red Faction better than anyone… What's your take on this?"
What do I think? I'm just gonna sleep through this!
Sakatsuki felt zero urgency. Artoria was his contracted Servant, so he naturally had a sense of her location and condition. Unsurprisingly, neither she nor Reika had left Sighișoara—which meant Mordred's situation was obvious.
"...If I'm not mistaken, let's go." With another weary sigh, Sakatsuki strode forward, leading the group—who were still debating "how Mordred might have died"—toward a certain location.
When they arrived at an abandoned church, they heard the sound of a heated argument. Among the voices, one particularly defiant girl's voice rang out loud and clear:
"Sir Mordred, if you continue to be this stubborn, it will mean war! My Excalibur won't hold back!"
"Huh? Bring it on then! If I weren't worried about my Master's safety, I wouldn't be staying put here so obediently! Last time I wasn't prepared, but this time I'll definitely knock your teeth out!"
Hearing Mordred mention him, Kairi could no longer restrain himself and rushed frantically toward the church. However, Sakatsuki held him back, leading everyone around the simple bounded field to climb through the church's broken window.
The sight that greeted them made even the holy maiden Jeanne d'Arc, the paladin Astolfo, and mercenary Kairi gasp in shock, unable to believe their eyes:
"What... what are all these things..."