Sure enough, Waver opened the package and found it was an oversized T-shirt. He immediately rolled his eyes.
"Why did you buy this modern clothing! If you go out, you can just spirit-form and follow me, like before!" Waver shouted helplessly at Alexander the Great.
"Spirit-forming is boring. Look, even King Arthur wears modern clothes. Why can't I?" Alexander the Great didn't care about Waver's yelling at all.
Tia stood by watching Waver and Alexander the Great, and couldn't help but smile.
Seeing the King and his Master argue live was way more exciting than watching it in the anime!
"Hey! Tia! What are you laughing at! This idiot Rider won't expose himself over something like this, right?" Waver noticed Tia's smile and snapped at her, leaving her speechless.
"Of course not…" Tia sighed, "Weren't we going to stake out the Einzbern castle for Gilles de Rais? Why come back now? Don't tell me it was just to pick up a package?"
"Of course not, I had to prepare something," Waver waved his hand. "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Wait a moment, I need to get something ready."
Tia nodded and didn't ask more.
After a while, Waver packed up what he had been working on and said, "Let's move!"
Tia looked at him curiously, wanting to know what exactly he had been doing—it looked like alchemy.
"You'll learn this yourself later, no rush. It's just a bit of tracking magic, to stop him from slipping away again," Waver explained.
"Oh? Not bad. My Master really is impressive. Back at Tia's house, that spell you used was your own invention, wasn't it?" Alexander the Great said with some surprise, eyeing the potion in Waver's hand.
"Of course! I don't have much ability myself, so I have to study as many kinds of spells as I can to boost my magic power!"
"Hahaha!" Alexander the Great laughed heartily, then clapped Waver on the shoulder so hard he almost fell flat on the ground.
Watching Waver like that, Tia couldn't help but smile too.
The three of them left Waver's house and headed toward the Einzbern castle. Once they reached the mountain roads near the castle, there were no more houses around. Alexander the Great summoned his ox cart and carried Tia and Waver straight toward the shining Einzbern castle.
"Stop here!" After a while, Alexander the Great halted in the forest near the castle. "Ahead is the Einzbern barrier. If we go further, they'll notice us. Tonight we're here to hunt Gilles de Rais, not fight King Arthur!"
Tia didn't object; stopping here was fine. But she remembered that Gilles would bring many children already infected by sea demons, barging through the barrier without a care. So she wasn't sure if they could really catch him just by waiting here.
"If it's like what Clairvoyance showed, Gilles should be bringing many children possessed by sea demons as sacrifices," Tia pointed out.
"What? Why didn't you say so earlier!" Waver frowned. "No! I can't let Gilles keep harming innocent kids! Rider! Let's go back to the spot we destroyed before. I'll use this tracking potion to find where they're hiding now!"
"Oh? Good!" Alexander the Great was happy to hear that, since it meant they were closer to facing Gilles again.
This time Tia followed Waver back to the huge hollow by the riverbank. The place was a mess, littered with bits of corpses and strange things. Waver poured his tracking potion on the ground, and soon purple smoke began to rise.
"Follow it!" Waver ordered.
They didn't know how long they ran, but the purple smoke drifted from the riverbank all the way to an alley in Fuyuki City.
By then Alexander the Great had gone into spirit form, leaving only Waver and Tia to rush into the alley.
And just then, a little girl's scream suddenly came from inside.
Tia froze for a moment. The little girl's voice sounded unfamiliar, yet she felt like she had heard it somewhere before. But this wasn't the time to stand there thinking. If the voice left an impression, then it had to be tied to the story. And in this place, at this time, the only story-related event Tia could think of was Tohsaka Rin's adventure. Nothing else came to mind.
But it was daytime now. Tohsaka Rin should only arrive in Fuyuki City at night, and her goal then was to save her classmate Kotone.
Tia and Waver rushed into a small alley. Alexander the Great appeared in full form and said, "Follow me. There's a strong surge of mana inside."
Tia followed Alexander the Great deep into the alley until they entered a room. Purple smoke hung in the air.
Inside, a black-haired girl with twin ponytails was casting magic on a man.
With the light from the spell, Tia saw the girl's face clearly. Her frown deepened, and finally, she whispered:
"She looks like Tohsaka Rin."
"Tohsaka Rin? The daughter of Tohsaka Tokiomi, the Master of the King of Heroes?" Waver asked in surprise.
Tia nodded.
Alexander the Great, however, didn't bother with their conversation. He walked straight forward and with one casual kick, sent the man flying.
Only then did Tia look at the man.
"He… looks like Uryuu Ryuunosuke."
"That crazy murderer? Gilles de Rais's Master? Rider! Kill him now!" Waver didn't hesitate for a second.
"Oh!" Alexander the Great answered loudly, drew his sword, and without a moment's pause cut off Uryuu Ryuunosuke's head.
"Ah!" It was the first time young Tohsaka Rin had seen something so bloody. She fainted on the spot.
"Hey! Rider! Did you have to be so violent? You scared the poor girl!" Waver protested angrily.
"Alright, alright, she's fine," Alexander the Great said, picking up the unconscious Tohsaka Rin with one arm. "Too bad Gilles de Rais wasn't here."
(End of The Chapter)