"...I say, Saber. This is already the twenty-fifth hamburger and fried chicken combo. Is your stomach a bottomless pit? How can you eat so much!"
Sighisoara, inside a fast-food restaurant of a world-renowned brand.
Both the customers and staff were casting strange looks at a man and a woman sitting by the window.
The man looked fierce and menacing, wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, with a hideous scar on his face.
Compared to him, the girl's appearance was surprisingly beautiful. Her pale gold hair was tied in a ponytail. She wore a tube top and a red jacket on her upper body, and hot pants on her lower half, giving off a feeling of passionate vitality.
Such attire, and such a pair, were conspicuous when placed in Sighisoara, a city with a slow pace of life.
The real reason they were drawing everyone's attention was because the girl could eat too much.
She consumed an amount of hamburgers, fried chicken, and cola enough to stuff several grown men. If Sisigou did not look so fierce, the manager of this restaurant would have asked the girl to do a promotional event for them.
As the only modern human with money between the two, Sisigou was not happy.
Since accepting the Mage's Association's commission, apart from demanding a Hydra juvenile from Bram as payment, he had borne all other expenses entirely by himself.
After summoning Mordred, she clamored for him to buy her a set of modern clothes. Then came the food expenses, and the hotel expenses specially booked because she was not used to living in a cemetery.
This had caused Sisigou's already limited funds to shrink by two-thirds.
If this trend continued, he really would have to take Mordred to the forest to dig for potatoes.
Sisigou began to sigh. He did not know what other people's Servants were like, but it had to be better than his, which felt like raising a daughter.
Shouldn't these expenses spent on a Servant count as business expenses? Can the Mage's Association reimburse me?
Sisigou pondered this question.
Mordred clearly could not stand him sighing.
Grabbing two chicken legs, tilting her head back, and with her mouth still full of a hamburger, she shouted.
"You are not allowed to be disgusted by me!"
"Yes, yes. Not disgusted."
Sisigou had figured out how to get along with Mordred. He waved his hand dismissively.
"Waiter, five more hamburger meals."
"You! Hmph!"
Although dissatisfied with her Master's attitude, seeing that he ordered several more meals, she lowered her head again, taking a fierce bite of the chicken leg in her hand.
Looking at her, although she was eating a lot, she seemed absentminded.
It was as if her current behavior was not out of hunger, but more like simply finding something to do so she would not have to think about certain things.
Sisigou, who had experienced being an adoptive father, noticed this.
Sisigou brought up a topic after Mordred finished three more meals.
"Well, Saber. Speaking of which, did you not mention earlier that you have a brother who was also summoned to this Holy Grail War?"
Raising his hand to lightly tap the table, Sisigou casually set up a soundproofing magecraft around the two of them.
This was a fast-food restaurant with high foot traffic. It was best not to let ordinary people hear things about Servants and Heroic Spirits.
"Ah? Oh, it should be. The night you summoned me, I sensed someone with an aura very similar to mine. Why are you suddenly asking this, Master?"
Mordred lifted her head to look at him in confusion.
"I see. Then it seems someone pulled from the same summoning pool as me."
Sisigou muttered to himself and continued asking.
"Then, can you sense which Knight of the Round Table was summoned?"
"I do not know. It is just an intuition. I am not a prophet."
Mordred curled her lip.
"Then I roughly understand."
Sisigou looked at Mordred and said.
"So, Saber, you are feeling apprehensive and nervous about going to the church to meet that person you mentioned, right?"
"How could that be! I am Mordred! I would not cower or not dare to see her just because the person I am going to meet is my Royal Mother."
Out of habit, Mordred instinctively tried to deny Sisigou's words. After looking up and seeing the meaningful look in Sisigou's eyes, her tone dropped.
"Why ask this question, Master? I really want to kill you."
The small blonde girl lowered her head again.
Although she did not want to admit it, as her Master, Sisigou had very good affinity with her, and he had rich life experience. It was normal for someone like him to accurately guess Mordred's current mood.
Even if he could guess, what did it matter?
Thinking of herself in her previous life, she believed she had done a very good job. Even Gawain, Lancelot, Tristan, and other knights had personally admitted she was strong and not inferior to them. But even when she grew into such a knight, Morgan never gave her a second glance.
Even when she ultimately defended her Royal Mother's Britain with her own power, on that Camlann Hill, in the final moments of her life, Morgan never appeared to see her one last time.
She knew, through the knowledge granted to her by the Holy Grail, that even after her death, Morgan did not appear to collect her corpse.
In the end, she was left on that bloody battlefield.
That was why she became a Heroic Spirit, entrusting her wish to the Holy Grail and accepting the summons of future magi.
That wish was to see Morgan again.
When she realized that her Royal Mother had appeared in the same war, and was even her teammate, Mordred could not help but feel nervous.
The thought of her mother's face, those indifferent eyes, and how she would view the current her, made Mordred panic.
Therefore, upon learning from Sisigou that they were going to report today at the church where she sensed her Royal Mother's aura, she inexplicably grew nervous and apprehensive.
She delayed their morning departure, not getting up until nearly noon. Using hunger as an excuse, she came to the restaurant, dragging it out until now relying on the King's Stomach she inherited.
Sisigou pampered her, going along with her wishes even though he knew Servants did not need to eat or rest.
However, dragging it out forever was not a solution. They eventually had to go greet the referee and leave an impression.
Sisigou also felt his wallet could not hold out much longer.
He decided to help Mordred relieve this homecoming anxiety.
What method should he use to console a proud, rebellious knight?
He definitely had to use reverse psychology.
Sisigou made up his mind. After clearing his throat to attract Mordred's gaze, he chuckled.
"So, judging by your appearance, the Treacherous Knight, Mordred of Crimson Lightning, is afraid of seeing her mother?"
"My, my. Could it be that the last Knight of the Round Table is actually a coward who is afraid of her mother?"
"Hah?!"
Mordred bristled. She abruptly stood up, grabbing Sisigou's collar and saying fiercely.
"Do you know what you are saying? Master! Daring to say that about me, are you really not afraid I will kill you?!"
Facing Mordred, who looked like a furious little lion, Sisigou acted calm. He let her grab his collar, a smile on his lips that made her extremely displeased.
"So, will killing me change the fact that you are afraid? Even if you kill me to shut me up, it only further proves I am right: you are terrified of your mother, the Queen of Britain, Morgan."
"Master! You!"
Mordred gripped tighter, veins bulging on her forehead.
"You do not know anything! You do not understand our situation at all!"
"I indeed do not understand the estrangement between children and parents very well, because my parents did not care about me at all. Born into a magus family, there was no familial affection in my home."
Sisigou's tone was calm, but these words made Mordred's furious expression freeze, her hand instinctively loosening slightly.
"My parents had no feelings, but I do. I had a wife, a daughter, and later an adopted son. But they all died."
Sisigou continued narrating. His eyes were obscure behind his sunglasses.
"I do not want to elaborate on the specific causes of death. During the time I spent with them, I truly felt the emotion and love a parent has for their children. I could also understand that although they feared my ugly appearance and my identity as a Necromancer, they still believed in and loved me as a father, even though in the end, they all died because of me."
"Although I do not know what you and your Royal Mother experienced in life to make someone as strong as you so timid, I believe that since she is a mother, she must be able to feel your emotions and feelings. It is just that perhaps because of certain things, she cannot face them, or she does not know how to face you."
"So, if you have the chance, then be bold and seek her out, face her, Saber. If the essence of the Holy Grail War is wishes, then in a certain sense, it also holds the meaning of making up for regrets."
"Furthermore."
Without realizing it, Mordred had let go of Sisigou's collar. She looked somewhat dazedly at the man before her, who, despite his fierce appearance, carried gentleness in his actions and words.
"You are the Treacherous Knight, Mordred. The Mordred who protected Britain and the Round Table, who rebelled against destiny. You have never lacked courage."
Sisigou's eyes flickered. The corners of his mouth curved up. He reached out and rubbed Mordred's head. This time, Mordred showed no intention of refusing or resisting.
"Well then, Saber. Although it is not a battle, let me see your courage and boldness as a Knight of the Round Table."
As if recovering from Sisigou's words, Mordred gave him a deep look. As if making up her mind, she took a deep breath, balled her hands into fists, and stomped one foot on the table.
"Alright!"
Seeing this scene, the smile on Sisigou's face grew brighter.
Having made up their minds, the two did not hesitate anymore. After hastily finishing the remaining hamburgers, they paid the bill and rushed toward the Red Faction's church on the outskirts of Sighisoara.
When Mordred finally stood before the doors of the church, sensing that bloodline aura separated from her by only a wall, the hand pressing against the door hesitated somewhat.
When she turned and saw Sisigou's encouraging gaze, her eyes became firm once again.
Gritting her teeth, Mordred forcefully pushed the main doors open.
However, when she saw the scene inside the church, her expression abruptly became sluggish.
That figure of the white-haired beauty wearing a black dress, with a slender figure and noble aura, was indeed her Royal Mother. But why was she sitting on a church pew, with a man resting his head on her lap?!
Before Souya could react, a crimson lightning bolt accompanied by Mordred's roar rushed toward him.
"Bastard! Get away from my mother right now!"
"Clarent Blood Arthur!"