"How could it be, I just have a reason that I must win," Sajyou Manaka touched the tip of her index finger to the other, the soft pads of her fingertips pressing together.
Delicate skin shimmered under the sunlight.
"What Saber wants, as her Master, how can I let her down? Moreover, Saber is the strongest," Like a little girl who worshipped heroes, she clenched her fist, cheering herself up.
It moved Artoria so much she couldn't handle it.
"Manaka," She looked like she wanted to pour out her heart.
'Provocation! Naked, blatant provocation!', Illya's expression shifted slightly, staring coldly at her, letting out a snort, but didn't say anything.
Shirou didn't want to waste time either, and rolled up his sleeves.
"Let's cook then for Saber—"
"Wait a moment, let me say one more thing," Sajyou Manaka waved her finger.
Shirou let her speak.
"Always calling me Saber's Master makes me feel like I'm just someone else's add-on, you know?", Sajyou Manaka pretended to be troubled, but in reality she didn't care about titles at all.
"No matter how much you dislike me, calling me Sajyou-san shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"I think in this regard, the head maid of the Einzbern family, Sella-san, does it quite well."
"Hmph!", Sella mimicked Illya's cold snort and ignored her.
"Understood," Shirou took Illya's hand, "Then come with me, Sajyou-san."
They walked a short distance away. Sajyou Manaka still stood in place.
"Not going over, Manaka?", Artoria was quite invested in the Shokugeki.
"Sorry," Sajyou Manaka withdrew her moment of distraction, took her arm, and smiled lightly, "I spaced out just now, let's go together."
"Okay," Artoria nodded seriously but then hesitated, "Manaka, like this, if there's danger, I might have a hard time protecting you."
"It's fine, Saber doesn't need to fight either."
Sajyou Manaka smiled, placing a hand over her chest, "In fact, I don't want to reduce our connection at all."
"How could that be," Artoria smiled gently at the pure girl, "As long as it's a battle between Servants, Command Spells are absolutely necessary."
"Then just don't fight," Sajyou Manaka blinked.
Artoria smiled softly, not taking the girl's words to heart. She simply thought the girl was too naive.
However… Her thoughts drifted back to Sajyou Manaka's comments about food before they rested.
Artoria vaguely felt that the girl's displayed personality made her uneasy.
———
The Shokugeki ended very quickly.
Shirou randomly found a gourmet shop, communicated with the owner, and with the power of cash, got approval and began.
In less than an hour, Sajyou Manaka lost completely.
Afterward, he had a brief private chat with Medea and Sajyou Manaka.
Which made Sella want to keep an eye on him the whole time, but she was eventually stopped by Illya.
"Saber."
"Mm," Artoria snapped out of her focus on the food, looking warily at the daughter of her former friend in front of her.
"Looks like you still remember me," Illya smiled, "How mean, we spent a lot of time together, and now you're this cold."
"..."
"What are you trying to say, Illya," Artoria slightly clenched her fist.
"Nothing much."
Illya smiled, "Just giving you a piece of advice. Trusting that woman too much may not end well."
Hearing that, Artoria wanted to laugh, and she did, "If I don't trust her, should I trust that man?"
Even without saying the name, both of them instantly understood it was Emiya Kiritsugu.
"Kiritsugu is Kiritsugu, I am me. This counts as my advice to a friend. It's fine if you don't believe it," Illya ended the conversation unilaterally, leaving Artoria frowning and deep in thought.
Soon, Shirou's side had finished the conversation as well.
"Let's go, Illya."
The group left from in front of Artoria.
After waiting for a bit and seeing Sajyou Manaka hadn't come over, Artoria became a little worried.
'Could it be Berserker broke the agreement, and let Caster do something to Manaka?'
Temporarily setting her thoughts aside, she went to check.
"Manaka?", She found Sajyou Manaka watching the water in the wetlands.
"I'm fine, Saber," Sajyou Manaka's emotions were stable, and an egret walked calmly near her.
Sajyou Manaka reached out, and the egret spread its wings, its claws gently stepped onto the girl's slender, fair jade-like fingers.
Pure white feathers, ignorant and dark eyes.
The girl and the bird stared at each other.
Artoria's hurried steps unconsciously slowed down, stopping about ten meters away.
She dazedly watched this scene like a painting.
'Maybe I really was overthinking?'
Such a pure, delicate flower bud, Artoria truly couldn't imagine what could be wrong with her.
Suddenly, the girl by the water raised her other hand and gestured in front of the egret's eyes.
Then, without any sign, activated a spell.
———
"Berserker, what did you say to that woman?"
This wasn't much to Illya, but to Sella, if she didn't ask it would stay like a lump in her heart, impossible to let go.
It wasn't about trust, but because she cared too much, she wanted to know.
"Tonight, you'll find out," Medea answered on his behalf, "It's not anything that will upset you."
As she spoke, her meaningful gaze moved to Shirou.
'To go this far for his Master—'
'Don't you realize, this kind of thing is very likely to make people, especially women, especially a woman who kissed you, jealous?'
She didn't see wrong back then. When Sajyou Manaka learned Shirou did it for that kind of reason and then had a Shokugeki with her, her expression was subtle.
Unable to understand, not daring to believe.
'Is this something a Servant should be doing?'
She might still be doubting humanity somewhere right now.
'Berserker, just who… are you?'
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