2:20 a.m.
When Manaka Sajyou returned, she found her Servant waiting at the entrance of the inn.
He stood there quietly, his slender figure seeming to blend into the surroundings.
"Saber, I'm back."
The girl, who had looked calm only a moment ago, immediately broke into a bright smile and jogged over to Shirou.
"...Manaka."
Shirou sounded somewhat displeased. "Why couldn't I contact you?"
"Sorry. Did I make you worry?"
"Of course I was worried. I came back and found you gone... We're in the middle of the Holy Grail War. It's dangerous outside."
Manaka Sajyou answered with an innocent, carefree look, "Hehe, but Saber didn't make me promise not to go out before you left today, did you?"
"That's true."
In the end, Shirou was only a Servant, so he had no real right to question his Master's movements.
But he still asked, "Where did you go just now?"
Before this, Shirou had gone up to the roof of a nearby tall building.
Using his superhuman eyesight, he had searched the surrounding streets, including the church on the hill, but he had not seen Manaka anywhere.
Which meant she should have left Sighișoara.
But if that were the case, there was no way she could have returned this quickly.
Of course, Shirou could never have imagined that Manaka had not moved across the ground at all, but had gone to the Empress's "Garden," several kilometers above the earth.
"Just like Saber and the others have a mission to fight, I have work that only a Magus can do as a Master, right?"
She skillfully brushed the question aside.
Manaka Sajyou smiled up at him, clearly unwilling to explain why she had gone out.
"Let me come with you next time," Shirou said.
Manaka hesitated slightly before refusing him. "There's no need. Saber only has to focus on his own battles...
So, how was tonight? You had fun again, didn't you?"
"Well..."
Shirou nodded.
Perhaps because of the influence of the Dragon's Heart, Shirou was enjoying battle with even greater focus than before.
Whether it was Karna or Siegfried, fighting them had been immensely enjoyable.
"But..."
"Don't just stand around outside. Let's hurry in."
Manaka took Shirou's hand and walked into the inn.
As they walked, she murmured happily.
"Relax, Saber...
You only need to enjoy the Holy Grail War as much as you want. You don't have to think about anything unnecessary.
As a reward for working so hard, I will definitely offer the Holy Grail to you."
Manaka Sajyou once again told the boy that she would offer everything for his sake.
Shirou: "..."
He had once asked Manaka what her dream was, only to be told, "My wish is to fulfill Saber's wish.
Since your wish, Saber, is to enjoy the Holy Grail War, all I can do is offer the Holy Grail to you."
Shirou felt that this was wrong.
But if asked exactly what was wrong, he could not explain it right away.
In the past, Shirou had also treated Morgan's wish as his own.
Shirou did not think the two were the same, but... what exactly was the difference?
"Manaka-san."
Just as Manaka Sajyou was about to enter the room, Jeanne came out from next door and called out to her.
"I heard from Artorius that you went out without leaving any message, correct?
Artorius spent the whole night looking for you. Do you know how worried he was?"
"...Huh?"
Manaka blinked.
Jeanne walked over and took her wrist. "It seems I need to speak with you about the principles and discipline a Master should observe during the Holy Grail War."
Shirou glanced at Jeanne.
Please handle this.
Yes, leave the lecture to me.
Jeanne nodded confidently. "Please come to my room, Manaka-san. I think we should sit down and talk properly."
"W-wait, Ruler..."
Manaka Sajyou cast a pleading look at Shirou.
The red-haired boy waved and said, "Don't give Ruler any trouble, okay?"
Manaka Sajyou was dragged off to the room next door by Jeanne.
That night, Manaka was lectured by Jeanne until past four in the morning, and in the end, she never made it back to the room she shared with Shirou.
...
"I never expected Saber to be eliminated so early..."
In a room within the Fortress of Millennia.
Darnic, the head of Yggdmillennia, was discussing future strategy face-to-face with the "Black" Archer.
If Lancer, Vlad III, was Yggdmillennia's "king," then the Archer before him was Yggdmillennia's "strategist."
His True Name was Chiron, the sage of Greek mythology who had taught many great heroes, including Heracles and Achilles.
With the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse, he was the son of Kronos, god of earth and agriculture, and the goddess Philyra, making him a true Divine Spirit.
However, he had accidentally been struck by an arrow poisoned with Hydra venom. To escape the agony of the poison, he gave up his immortality, thereby losing his original complete Divinity and becoming someone who could be summoned as a Heroic Spirit.
Now he had manifested not as a centaur, but in human form, sacrificing a portion of his parameters.
After all, if anyone saw a centaur wielding a bow and arrow, his True Name would be all but certain.
Within the "Black" faction, Chiron's position could be said to be second only to Vlad III. Lancer greatly admired his strategic insight and placed deep trust in his noble and incorruptible character.
That was why Darnic had specifically sought out Chiron to discuss future strategy.
Faced with Saber's elimination, Darnic's expression was gloomy. In the original plan, the dragon slayer Siegfried was meant to be a fighting force preserved until the very end.
Now that they had lost Saber, they had no choice but to make full use of the power of the Berserker they had captured.
"...Has Spartacus been brought under control?"
Darnic nodded.
Caster was indeed exceptionally capable. In just one night, he had already completed the contract ritual for a proxy Master.
Next, they only needed to transfer the Command Spells of Gordes, who had lost his Servant, to Caster, and have him trigger Spartacus's second rampage.
Just then, the door suddenly opened, and both men looked toward it at the same time.
"Uncle, Archer, may I interrupt?"
The one who entered was Fiore, the Master of the "Black" Archer.
For a girl who usually handled matters with elegant composure, she seemed somewhat flustered today.
"Fiore, why didn't you knock?"
The girl did not answer. She moved her wheelchair to the table and spread out a newspaper.
"What is this...?"
"It seems a serial killer has appeared in Bucharest, Romania, then moved north from Bucharest. Now the killings have even reached Sighișoara."
As Darnic read the newspaper, his face grew uglier and uglier.
Although the details of the murders had been omitted, there were already more than ten victims, and the whole of Romania had fallen into a state of panic.
But what truly unsettled Darnic was not the serial killer.
It was that the victims were officially listed as tourists, but in reality, they were all Magi the Yggdmillennia clan had planted in various locations as informants, or Magi registered in the Clock Tower's roster.
"In other words, this serial killer is specifically hunting Magi, and has the ability to kill them."
If the killer were merely a highly skilled Magus, that would be one thing. But what came to Fiore's mind was a famous monster far more dangerous than any Magus.
Her fellow clan Magus, Hyouma Sagara, had once said he intended to summon a Servant.
Jack the Ripper.
Surely he was the one behind this series of murders.
"...Wait, Fiore. What are you talking about?"
Darnic looked completely baffled.
Jack the Ripper did not exist. He absolutely could not exist.
Because in this Great Holy Grail War, another Servant had already been summoned in his place. The "Black"...
"..."
Darnic froze.
Fiore nodded, her expression serious. "I'm afraid all of us made a mistaken assumption.
Although Hyouma Sagara's whereabouts are unknown, Jack the Ripper really has been summoned by someone as the 'Black' Assassin."
"How is that possible...?"
Darnic, and even the sage Chiron, were too shocked to speak.
If Jack the Ripper was actually the final Servant of the Great Holy Grail War, then...
Who exactly was that red-haired boy who defeated Saber last night?
"Uncle, what do you think? I don't believe we can simply leave Jack the Ripper's Master alone."
Fiore spoke with a grave expression.
Judging from the fact that the other party had simply watched an abnormal situation escalate to the point of being reported in the news, that Magus's mind was most likely far from normal, straying far from the fundamental principle that Magi should conceal Mystery as much as possible.
Darnic considered it for a while, then decided to dispatch several clan Magi stationed in Trifas to investigate.
"...If it really is Jack the Ripper, ordinary Magi likely won't be able to oppose him."
"Should we go investigate personally?"
Fiore's proposal was certainly reasonable, but leaving Trifas for Sighișoara was another matter.
Sending Servants out under these circumstances would weaken the fortress's defenses.
Just as Darnic was seriously weighing his options, Caster sent a message through telepathy.
"I have two reports."
"Go ahead."
"Ruler is approaching the Fortress of Millennia."
Darnic immediately understood. "I see. I'll prepare to receive her at once. What is the other report?"
"The 'Red' Saber and his Master appear to have left Trifas."
"They moved... Do you know where they are headed?"
"They seem to be going to Sighișoara."
That made Darnic frown.
"Fiore, take Archer with you and depart for Sighișoara immediately."
For the "Red" Saber and his Master to head to Sighișoara at this timing.
They were either going to deal with the "Black" Assassin, or they intended to ally with his Master.
Either way, it was not a situation Yggdmillennia could simply ignore.
"Understood. Leave it to me."
The girl clenched her fists nervously.
Any Heroic Spirit capable of manifesting as Saber was certain to be a first-rate powerhouse, and on top of that, there was Kairi Sisigou, the Necromancer feared throughout the world of Magecraft.
But although Fiore was nervous, she was not afraid.
Aside from her trust in her Servant, it was also because she held absolute pride in her own abilities.
...
After lunch, Jeanne left the inn.
She had said she was going to Yggdmillennia territory to learn more about the situation from the Magi there.
Being Ruler really is tough work, Shirou thought. Every day is either a night shift or a business trip.
Since the budget inn where Shirou and the others were staying did not provide meals, they had to prepare all three meals themselves.
During the Holy Grail War, the person in charge of cooking had changed from Shirou to Manaka.
Manaka's cooking was excellent, so good that even Shirou felt ashamed of himself in comparison, though Manaka herself did not see it that way.
Incidentally, Ruler had a very good appetite, and the amount she ate was astonishing.
This probably was not Leticia's problem, but the Holy Maiden's own.
Watching Jeanne sweep through the food on the table, Shirou thought of Aesc and Artoria, and the corners of his mouth lifted unconsciously.
Manaka was the same.
She had been very unhappy after being lectured for hours the night before, but seeing Jeanne happily eat the food she had made put her in a better mood again.
After the meal, she even accepted Jeanne's offer to help wash the dishes.
Shirou thought to himself, Maybe they aren't as incompatible as I imagined.
Over the past two days, he had fought four or five Servants in intense succession, so he planned to give himself a break today.
After hearing that a serial killer had appeared in the city, Shirou decided to spend the evening removing this unstable factor.
Though the Holy Grail really did have a twisted sense of humor, no matter how one looked at it, this "trouble" had been caused by him.
On the day Shirou Amamiya was summoned to this world, he had saved a woman who had been used by a Magus as a sacrifice for a Spiritual Descent ritual.
At the time, Manaka had said they should kill the witness to eliminate any future trouble, but Shirou stopped her. In the end, they only used suggestion Magecraft to erase her memories.
That woman was the Master of Jack the Ripper, the true "Black" Assassin who had recently been committing crimes across Romania.
This was not something Shirou had figured out through analysis.
Rather, it was a scene he had happened to see last night while searching for Manaka from a high place in the city.
Late at night on the streets of Sighișoara, a good-looking Japanese woman had been wandering about. She was none other than the woman Shirou had saved not long ago.
And he immediately understood what had happened.
After Shirou and Manaka left, that woman must have unexpectedly received new Command Spells from the Holy Grail.
Her terrifying memories of being kidnapped had been erased through brainwashing, and without knowing anything, she had used herself as a medium and summoned Jack the Ripper through compatibility. Just like that, she was dragged into the Holy Grail War a second time.
In any case, Shirou had now confirmed the location of that woman and Assassin's hideout. It was time to deal with this "trouble."
"I caused Manaka trouble, didn't I? If I had gone along with her and silenced that woman back then, none of this would have happened."
Thinking that, Shirou said goodbye to his Master and walked into the fog-covered streets.
"Yeah. I should learn from this and handle things cleanly this time."