"Surface dweller."
"?"
Before Medea could react, she heard Shirou change the topic, "Caster, aren't you going to hurry and remodel Ryuudou Temple?"
With high-level territory creation skills, Medea could fully transform Ryuudou Temple into a temple.
That temple, in the past, was one where the oath-bound sword Excalibur that the Dumb King once took pride in couldn't even be unleashed.
If not for the King of Heroes saving the day later on, she could have essentially declared her withdrawal.
"That's true," Medea temporarily suppressed her frenzy but still didn't immediately begin modifying Ryuudou Temple.
Instead, after staring at Shirou for a while, she said, "Berserker, what is your wish, in the end?"
After she finished speaking, her blue pupils shimmered slightly, and she suddenly became uneasy.
Given the current situation, the Holy Grail only needed two more souls to manifest.
Right here, there happened to be two surplus Servants.
And they couldn't beat him.
So, what would he do?
Hearing this, Shirou's gaze moved to Illya.
"Caster," he softly brushed Illya's forehead with his fingertip, and even his cold expression softened a little, "my wish has already been fulfilled. The Holy Grail, to me, is not important."
From now on, Illya could live like a normal person in this world.
With this, as long as Sajyou Manaka was dealt with, even if he exited immediately, he'd still feel far more at peace.
Besides, the Holy Grail was unusable anyway.
He planned to reveal that in front of everyone later.
As for who the Holy Grail belonged to in the end and how Medea should purify it, those would be matters to discuss after taking care of Sajyou Manaka.
Anyway, in this Holy Grail War, there weren't many Servants who actually wanted the Grail.
'The Ahoge King is one, who else?'
"Is that so…", Staring at that peaceful and gentle expression, inexplicable emotions sprouted in Medea's heart.
This answer, how should she put it?
He gave all his gentleness to the little girl before him. And not even a girl considered fully human.
'Truly, it is happiness.'
So much so that just looking a little longer would make her feel jealous.
After waiting a while, Illya still hadn't woken up.
Medea said she had just stabilized, and her consciousness wouldn't return that quickly.
So Shirou let Illya rest here while he and Medea left the magecraft workshop.
Just as they stepped out, they saw the three waiting at the door, Medusa was in spirit form.
Seeing Shirou, Rin finally relaxed from her anxious mood.
"You're finally out. Any later and I'd have had Rider break down the door," Although she restrained her emotions, there was inevitably some complaint in her tone.
Not just because of the frustration from the two of them hiding things, but also because Sajyou Manaka had stirred up something that made her feel troubled.
"What happened?", Shirou asked, his expression becoming serious.
For Rin to react this strongly, it definitely wasn't a trivial matter.
It was probably Sajyou Manaka pulling some new stunt again.
However, now that Illya's matter was resolved, he wasn't going to hold back anymore.
"See for yourself," Rin wasn't sure how much this incident would affect Shirou.
But she didn't believe Sajyou Manaka would do something she wasn't confident in.
After reading the message from Sajyou Manaka's familiar, Shirou fell silent.
Only on the surface.
The heaviness in the air silenced everyone instantly.
Even their breathing became cautious.
They could all sense the raging storm beneath Shirou's calm expression.
The immense magical pressure even forced Medusa out of spirit form. She stood protectively in front of Rin and Sakura, warily watching Shirou.
The current Berserker was like a volcano on the verge of eruption, just a spark would set him off.
He might not even need a spark. He could erupt on his own.
If he hadn't looked like a berserker before, he certainly did now.
"Caster, bring the Lesser Grail and come with me," A stroke of luck in misfortune, Shirou managed to control his emotions.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Illya was still asleep. If Shirou lost it now, no one could stop him.
Moreover, Shirou wasn't truly controlling himself. It was the system taking over.
Because he feared that if he held it in for even one more second… he would explode.
'Very soon, Sajyou Manaka—'
'You are DEAD!'
———
Three days ago,
After defeating Red A, Sajyou Manaka and Artoria returned to reality.
She didn't choose to pursue Rin and Sakura, but instead said with a hint of regret, "Archer was quite interesting too. Although he's different from Berserker…"
Sajyou Manaka placed her fair fingers to her lips and revealed a smile like a blooming flower, "Thanks to him, I was able to learn Berserker's true identity."
"Manaka…", Artoria's emerald eyes, nearly dimmed of all light, lifted slightly and asked with uncertainty, "You know Berserker's true name? Who is it?"
If there was anything in this Holy Grail War that the King of Knights wanted to know more than the Grail itself, it was probably Berserker's true name.
She deeply admired Berserker, who stuck to his ideals even in despair. Plus, his cooking was delicious, bonus points.
From Manaka's tone, it seemed Archer and Berserker were connected?
"Saber wants to know?", With a reserved smile, Sajyou Manaka gently shook her head. Her soft, beautiful golden hair swayed faintly in the air, "Nope."
In a playful tone, "Saber isn't allowed to have special feelings toward Berserker. I've already decided to give the Grail to you. So please allow me to withhold this matter from you."
"…Fine," Artoria no longer asked.
She knew, the decision made by this girl would not change for anyone.
Thus, she only dimmed her eyes, still holding a trace of light.
At this moment, the upright King of Knights had yet to make a firm resolution.
"If it's just Saber, she probably won't be able to handle Berserker," The girl thought.
Her lowered lashes were long and beautiful.
Artoria gripped the Holy Sword in her hand more tightly, not refuting.
Not because she believed she couldn't win, but because it was meaningless.
'What use is a rebuttal?'
'Will she listen to me?'
'So just let her be.'
"No helping it," Sajyou Manaka made a decision, "let's go, Saber."
"Go where?"
"The school."
"That place… I'm probably not suited for it," Artoria hesitated.
In the past, she would never say something like this. Almost like allowing her Master to act alone.
But at this moment, what she wanted even more was for Sajyou Manaka to say, ("If it's inconvenient, Saber can go home first.")
Right now, she'd rather go play with Ayaka than be with Manaka.
"It's fine. I'm only going for a while. Besides, I don't plan to stay long at school."
Fantasy shattered.
"…Fine," Artoria reluctantly agreed.
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