"...My apologies. I fear I have shown you an unseemly sight."
After weeping in my arms for some time, Jeanne at last seemed to recover herself. Her face flushed scarlet as she stepped away from me.
At the sight, Ritsuka puffed out her cheeks and struck me lightly in the side with her fist.
I had scarcely turned to ask what that was for when Marie and Mozart, who had witnessed the whole affair, began whispering to one another in hushed voices.
Murmur, murmur.
"...He must be a natural, Mozart. And I think the Master has fallen as well."
"...Indeed. Worse still, he does not even seem aware of it. That makes him all the more troublesome. I did not take him for that sort..."
Good grief.
No matter how softly they whispered, there was no chance a Servant—one who had already stepped beyond the frame of ordinary mankind—would fail to hear them. Narrowing my eyes at Marie and Mozart, I regarded them in silence. I could not make out every word, yet I knew well enough they were speaking ill of me.
But the moon had already begun to rise. Realizing that, I let out a long sigh.
It was time to prepare camp.
Chaldea had supplied us with camping gear, and in life I had passed through enough campaigns as a knight to make such work second nature. Thus the preparations were finished in short order.
While I completed the camp, Jeanne gathered firewood and kindled a blaze. Once she had settled beside it, Mash and Ritsuka took seats at her side and stretched out their hands toward the warmth of the flames.
The sight drew a faint smile from me. For a fleeting moment, it felt less like a battlefield and more like some simple journey beneath the open sky.
It was then that Marie, who had likewise come near the fire, suddenly spoke to them.
Clap!
"Since fate has brought us all together in this Singularity, let us make the most of the occasion and speak freely! We shall call it... a girls' talk!"
Having slipped among them before anyone noticed, Marie declared a "girls' talk" with a bright clap of her hands. In an instant, the space around the campfire was transformed into just that.
"...Hm?"
I am a man, am I not?
For a moment I merely thought they had all grown close with surprising speed. Then the meaning of "girls' talk" struck me, and I looked over the women gathered there.
It began with Marie's tale of first love, and from there the conversation opened into all manner of stories of the heart.
As I listened, it seemed increasingly awkward for me to remain. Worse, I felt as though I were intruding upon secrets meant only for women. So, using the night watch as my excuse, I opened my mouth to withdraw from the camp.
"...I shall go and stand watch, so the rest of you may continue your—"
"Wait!"
"?"
Grab.
Yet just as I moved to leave, Marie caught my hand and stopped me in place.
I turned to her in puzzlement. Her eyes were shining with unmistakable excitement.
"What is it?"
"Elius, you must join us as well!"
"What? ...Ah?"
Grab!
Before I could properly gather my wits, Marie seized my hand more firmly and drew me back toward the fire.
Seated now in the very midst of them, I broke into a cold sweat as they all looked upon me with eyes full of curiosity.
Even in life, I had never once found myself surrounded by women in such a fashion.
"Hm. May I speak freely, Sir Knight?"
"Of course."
At Marie's words, I gave a nod. She smiled, then asked me at once,
"Then I shall not hold back... You heard what we were speaking of, did you not, Elius?"
"I did."
"Then tell us—have you ever been in love?"
"...?"
The question struck me like an arrow loosed without warning, and I stared back at them in open bewilderment.
Mash and Marie watched me with unhidden curiosity, while Ritsuka and Jeanne looked at me as though they were waiting for something in particular.
"...Must I truly answer?"
"Yes!"
They all nodded vigorously, as though there would be no escape from this.
Seeing that, I let out a sigh and spoke.
"...There is little worth hearing in it, I think. But if you ask whether I have ever loved, then yes. I have. Even now, I still do."
It seemed none of them had expected that answer. Every eye widened at once.
I gave a faint, helpless laugh, then let my thoughts drift back into the past as I began to speak.
From the day I first met her, to the days of the Fifth Holy Grail War.
In life, I had been slow to recognize my own heart, and time had not been kind enough to grant me leisure. Only before death did I finally confess, and only then were my feelings returned.
Then came the Fifth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, where I was able to meet her once more. There, we cleared away our misunderstandings and confirmed each other's hearts anew.
I spoke of all of it.
Even of the very end.
"...In any case, that is the tale."
"..."
"...Hm?"
Having finished recounting my love story with Artoria, I tilted my head at the reaction before me, for it was far from what I had expected.
Mash was staring at me in utter shock. Marie, for some reason, was patting the shoulders of Ritsuka and Jeanne, both of whom looked strangely stricken, as though she were offering them comfort.
...What in the world?
Unable to make sense of the scene, I opened my mouth to ask—
Or rather, I would have, had I not suddenly sensed the presence of a Servant.
I rose at once and turned toward the forest where that presence had revealed itself. The others, who had been looking at me oddly only moments before, soon felt it as well, and their expressions hardened.
Ignoring all else, I fixed my gaze upon the wood.
In the distance, trees were toppling one by one, like a scene torn from some nightmare.
Thud.Crash.Rumble.
"That is—"
"Yes... an enemy."
At Mash's words, I gave a grim nod.
Yet from what I could sense, there was only one presence.
Had they sent a single Servant to shadow us and learn our position?
I drew my sword to meet the foe. At that very moment, the last tree that had concealed the enemy came crashing down.
Crack!Boom!
Dust billowed, then slowly settled. As it cleared, the silhouette of the approaching Servant came into view.
I recognized her at once.
Purple hair. A holy staff in the shape of a cross. And the very Servant who had stood beside Jeanne d'Arc Alter earlier.
"...Good evening, everyone. What a lonely night this is."
It was Rider, driven mad by frenzy.
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