Archer & Berserker, after realizing they were the same person, Rin was stunned.
Heroic Spirits & Servants are beings who transcend the timeline, or rather are released from the constraints of time, and move to the Throne of Heroes, located outside the world.
Since they do not have a concept of time, then being summoned to the present is not impossible.
Only, such a situation happening in itself, is truly hard to believe.
After waking, Rin rubbed her temples while calming her heart, which was agitated by that memory.
"Nee-san, you're awake?", Sakura knelt beside her.
"Mm," Rin lifted the blanket and got up.
She had a habit of sleeping in, but the complicated situation made her lose all sleepiness as soon as she woke up.
"Where is this place?"
A rather unfamiliar place.
"Ryuudou Temple," Sakura answered.
Surprisingly, it felt acceptable.
"Are you okay, Sakura?", While asking, Rin raised her hand.
Her connection with Archer was completely cut off, meaning he had exited from this Holy Grail War.
'Seriously, didn't someone boast that it doesn't matter even if they killed him?'
'Just full of talk?'
The moment resentment rose, it was immediately slain without a trace.
Compared to those who had already left, for now, there were more important matters waiting for her.
Sajyou Manaka.
Rin would absolutely not forgive that girl.
"Weren't we supposed to be at Einzbern Castle? Why are we here?"
Actually, she already had the answer in her heart.
"I see. Looks like Einzbern lost a castle."
Sakura closed her lips, "Yes. Berserker said that because Einzbern Castle was destroyed, we'll probably stay here until the Holy Grail War ends."
"Stay here, what does that mean?", Rin asked.
Normally, this kind of phrase is quite vague.
For example, she lost her Servant. Would others think she's useless or something?
Also, maybe…
"Caster seems to want to turn this place into a temple, to deal with the upcoming battle," Sakura calmly explained.
"Is that so?"
'Doesn't seem like they're planning to abandon me,' Rin thought.
"Where is Berserker?"
"Next door," Sakura neatly folded Rin's messy bedding, "They're discussing matters regarding Berserker's Master."
"Looks like it's not something we can listen to," Rin gave up the idea of going to find them.
"Not really," Sakura shook her head with a soft smile, "I just feel that rather than interfering in something I'm not good at and bothering others, it's better to take care of my sister, who I worry about more."
"That really makes me happy, you know," Rin smiled, "Let's go, Sakura. Let's have a look."
"Mm."
The two opened the door together.
Only Bazett was sitting there.
The latter glanced at them, then withdrew her gaze.
"..."
"Where's Berserker?", Rin recognized her, a Sealing Designation Enforcer.
"In the magecraft workshop," Medusa revealed her physical form, "It's about matters regarding his Master, don't interfere, Rin."
"I see," Rin understood and temporarily set aside her inner doubts, planning to wait until Berserker came out to ask.
As a result, four women sat in one room, and none of them spoke. The atmosphere was unbearably awkward.
"I'll make some tea then," To ease the awkwardness, Sakura volunteered and stood up.
"Thanks, Sakura," Rin nodded to her and smiled elegantly.
Once Sakura left the room to get tea leaves, Rin finally spoke, "If I remember right, your Servant has already exited, hasn't he?"
"So what?", Bazett shot back, "Your Servant has exited too, hasn't he?"
"Indeed," Rin cheerfully answered, then added, "Come to think of it, we've both lost the ability to compete for the Holy Grail."
"So, strange. As a Sealing Designation Enforcer for the Association, aren't you planning to retreat?"
"You're the one," Bazett countered, "Logically speaking, you have no reason to stay here either. Or is it, you're planning to..."
Before finishing the sentence, Sakura walked in.
The two stopped arguing.
Without Sakura saying anything, Rin also knew what she meant to express.
After all, the only one who still had a Servant and was close to her now was Sakura.
Though Sakura had been adopted by another mage family, as long as she still acknowledged and was willing to help her sister, Rin still had a chance to rise again.
Likewise, she felt Bazett staying here definitely had other reasons.
This speculation, and Bazett suspecting them of ill intentions, were both reasonable.
After all, the Holy Grail, there's only one.
And they both still had Command Spells.
———
Inside Medea's magecraft workshop.
Shirou carefully laid the sleeping Illya down, next to her was the prototype of the Emperor Belt.
"This should be fine, right?"
"No problem," Medea answered crisply, though what she was thinking was the conversation she just had with Shirou.
"You're saying that armor was made by you?"
She could still recall the shock from that moment.
"That's right," Shirou seriously answered.
"Didn't you say you were a magecraft apprentice?", Her mind couldn't process it.
"No, I never said I was a magecraft apprentice."
"You're not a magus, not an apprentice, and you can make something like that?"
She felt her years of studying magecraft collapsing.
"Is that not allowed?", Shirou's tone was puzzled, "I just researched a bit and made it."
Medea pressed her forehead, unsure what to feel anymore.
This conversation stemmed from when she said, ("Illya has already absorbed the equivalent of several Servants' souls. Given the current situation, even if the belt is modified, it's meaningless.")
("Unless there's enough time to let her separate the Servants' souls.")
But that difficulty was no less than distinguishing between five kgs of glutinous rice and fifteen kgs of sticky rice mixed together, and picking them out one by one, then sorting them again.
Servants' souls were too powerful but Illya was too fragile. Even for her, she'd have to stay fully alert.
A single mistake could damage Illya's physical functions or have parts of her soul taken along with the Servants'.
Moreover, given the current situation, Sajyou Manaka would never give them enough time to attempt this.
So back then she said, if the person who made that armor were here, things would be much easier.
Because he would definitely be the magus who understood artificial human crafting best.
With him, separating Servants' souls would become simple and fast.
It would be like having a god-level rice-sorting expert separating five kgs of glutinous rice and fifteen kgs of sticky rice.
The speed would absolutely skyrocket.
Also, since he made the armor, he'd be most familiar with it. If he didn't mind helping with the modification, it'd be far more convenient.
Then Shirou looked at her like, 'Why didn't you say that earlier?'
At the time, Medea's expression was harder to describe than an alien eating rice soaked in soy sauce.
———
[A/N: The process of saving Illya is omitted here.]
There wasn't much to write about, the steps were:
First, use Medea's Noble Phantasm to sever Illya's connection with the Greater Grail.
Then transform the Emperor Belt into a new Lesser Grail and connect it to the Greater Grail.
Then, let the souls transfer into the belt.
That's the whole process.
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