——No, it’s not that I don’t have self-esteem...
——She seems to be really good at this.
——She probably knows a lot about Servants and Heroic Spirits.
——Also, he knows Fuyuki very well.
Based on these judgments, the swordsman directly showed his usual self.
"Um, you must have been changed by goblins. Goblins are very scary! You can't guess what they want to do, and many goblins treat humans as casually as graffiti on paper." " Swordsman?"
"What do you want to say?"
Ayaka and the red magician each looked at the swordsman with suspicion, but he still continued speaking unabashedly in his cheerful tone.
"Replication of containers. Illusions. Phantasmal beasts. Vampires. In this era, there is also medical technology to transform human faces, right? If you want, you can do it just with magic or makeup. I want this world There are as many Ayaka solutions as there are stars in the sky. But that’s not the problem.”
The swordsman continued while nodding his head.
"Ayaka may be strange to you. It's natural to think so. But to me, from the time she was summoned until today, the Ayaka I have seen is the only one and is worthy of my trust. .”
"Are you asking us to believe what you say as a Servant?".bμν.
"Isn't it good? I will vouch for you."
"guarantee?"
A hearty smile appeared on the swordsman's face and he continued.
"Just to prove that Ayaka is a good person, I didn't kill all of you guys."
"……Eh?"
With this voice that sounded like she was shocked, Ayaka raised her head.
As if he did not hear the Master's voice, the swordsman continued to speak lightly.
"You called us here because you said you wanted to form an alliance to fight together, but here you are questioning my Master. This is a sufficient reason for me to kill you."
"Wait, what did you say..."
"It's okay, Ayaka. When I want to do it, I will also mobilize all my partners. I will never lose."
The swordsman shrugged, as if to indicate that such a thing was trivial.
The surrounding air suddenly became colder.
Not just the woman in red, but the magicians who had not joined the conversation and were doing their jobs silently flipped the 'switch' even though they did not turn around.
Although Hippolyte's expression remained unchanged, his body's center of gravity had changed.
Although the battle was imminent, Ayaka did not notice the change in the atmosphere as always; the swordsman showed a confident smile, and the expressions of the police team and Tini's subordinates became stiff.
However, the first one to take action was Ayaka, the only one who did not notice the change in the atmosphere.
What was reflected in Ayaka's mind was the scene she had just seen in her dream.
Tanaka stands in some fort or street, turning many people red.
Ayaka, soaked in cold sweat, tightly grasped the swordsman's wrist.
"Swordsman!"
Then she shouted with all her strength.
"Even if it's a joke! Don't say such things!"
"...Ayaka, do you think I'm joking?"
"If you are serious, that's even worse! I told you before! If you need someone to do the dirty work, let me do it! That's right, I can't stop you with my power! But, since I am you Master, shouldn’t I be the one to give orders about who to kill!? Or am I just so untrustworthy!?”
Ayaka's expression was more serious than ever.
Silence dominated the scene.
Against the background of shocks, flashes and storms coming from the forest to the west, only this butterfly
The space within the magic barrier was shrouded in strange silence, and a few seconds that seemed like eternity passed.
Then, in order to break the tense atmosphere, the swordsman changed his confident smile; this time he put on a smile like that of a child who had succeeded in a prank and said to the red magician.
"Did the acting look real just now?"
"Eh?"
Ayaka groaned incomprehensibly, and the red magician looked dumbfounded before lowering his gaze and sighed as he answered the swordsman.
"...Well, at least, I know that you are not evil magicians. Also, although I don't know whether this child is a human or some other existence, in any case, he is a layman who is in a very dangerous situation. There is no doubt about it.”
"Ah. Then, I want to formally apologize to you. Although it is only a temporary expediency, it is still rude to show you murderous intent. Please allow me to use my subsequent behavior to apologize to you."
"Well, cheating on each other is already commonplace for us, so it seems weird that you're apologizing to us. But I'm not going to tell you not to worry about it. We just have a lot of things waiting for you to do."
With the conversation between the swordsman and the woman in red, the atmosphere gradually returned to its previous state, and the magicians also said, "Oh, I really thought I was serious." "The heroic spirits are really scary, I don't think they can at all. Win." "Oh, only Tohsaka can handle this kind of bargaining..." He whispered like this without stopping the work at hand.
"...Huh?...Is...such a thing?"
After thinking for a moment, Ayaka finally noticed that she was involved in the swordsman's acting.
"...Swordsman? (ㅍ_ㅍ)"
The swordsman looked away from Ayaka Yu who was staring at him with a dissatisfied expression.
"Swordsman?"
"Oh, from the results point of view, it's pretty good... Ouch!"
The swordsman groaned as Ayakashi grabbed the three-stranded braid on the back of his head.
"...Well, well, although I also understand that you deliberately acted for my sake..."
"Hahaha, I think Ayakashi's ability to be so perceptive is a very good quality, hehe."
"The feeling of wanting to thank you is mixed with the feeling of 'Stop joking, I'll kill you all, even if it's a joke'." What should I do? "
Seeing Ayaka's veins popping out and her smile trembling, even though the swordsman was being pulled by her pigtails, an idea flashed through her and she spoke as if she had come up with a clever plan.
"Singing at a time like this, right? When I was imprisoned, I made up this stupid song like 'Here I am, come and save me' because I was so lonely." Also, I'm sorry for making you angry, I apologize! "
Seeing the swordsman speaking so seriously, Ayaka gradually lost her temper, but also noticed that she had not completely let go.
Although the dream in which the man named Saint-Germain appears is one reason, if there is an opportunity before that, the farce just now will not be just a farce, he will really make up his mind to fight everyone present - always For her part, Ayaka understands that swordsmen really have this quality.
Just like the swordsman said, her observation skills are really good.
——It is not a question of good and evil.
——But there is really no hesitation in the swordsman.
Worry about the possible consequences of his actions, guilt, uneasiness - the swordsman ignored them all.
Or, choose to accept the consequences and move on.
Ayaka couldn't conclude that this was a bad thing.
In fact, I have been saved many times by this trait of his.
Precisely because of this, Ayaka thought so again.
He must not let him bear a meaningless reputation because of himself.
This was decided when we formally contracted with him as Master.
Even if we fall and fall, we must join hands and share weal and woe.
Seeing Ayaka who was once again determined, the magician in red spoke.
"...You were already in the United States before we came here. So it is difficult for us to think that you are bluffing us. If you want to contain the teacher and Flatt, you should use other candidates. And We shouldn’t choose Sajo-san who can confirm the situation with us just by making a phone call.”
"Huh? Can you directly contact...her?"
"We also asked her. But she didn't have a clue. Although Sajo-san is one of our family members, we still suspected whether she had done something, but it turned out that there was no connection."
"This, this is it..."
There is someone with the same name as myself.
Ayaka, who clearly learned this fact——
I found myself surprisingly calm.
--how so?
——How could I feel so at ease...
Normally, it would not be surprising to cry and scream "Who am I?" or become hysterical.
However, now that I have clearly understood this contradiction, I feel at ease.
What makes me uncomfortable is that I can't understand why I feel at ease.
- No, that would have been weird. Clearly strange.
——Why I never take the initiative to recall my past.
——...even now, looking for some reason to come...
——Oh, now isn’t the time to think about such things...?
Although the fog had begun to shake violently because of the red magician's words, he still couldn't take another step toward the memory of the past.
In fact, Ayaka neither had the guts to say in this situation, "You should give priority to helping me recall my past memories," nor could she think of any other reasonable reasons; thus, she could not refute the doubts in her heart.
Putting Ayaka's question aside for the time being, the magician in red asked the swordsman who hoped to become a powerful warrior.
"Speaking of which, even though you look like a knight-like heroic spirit...if you had participated in any battles while alive, you would have understood, right? On the battlefield, unknown elements are very dangerous."
"Ah, if you put it that way, the woods to the west are all unknown territory."
The swordsman said sarcastically while turning his gaze towards the forest. The storm wrapped the forest tightly, making visual confirmation from a distance very difficult.
Despite this state, the sound of impact and thunder could still be heard from time to time; golden flashes and the appearance of something huge moving around could still be seen.
"I'm not an idiot who would rush into a place like that from the front."
"Yes, you are all smart."
The swordsman said this with a smile and looked at the people around him.
"So, you need someone to be the big fool, right?"
Hearing this, the noble-looking man who had been using butterfly magic to maintain the barrier said to the swordsman.
"There is no doubt that we cannot keep asking our allies to serve as bait or stepping stones. That's right - judging from your style, this is especially true for you who should be a famous prince and noble somewhere. "
"How could it be? I heard that my beloved King Arthur took the initiative to join the battle and personally destroyed the humble King Vortigern and the rebellious Lord Mordred. I often lead the charge on the battlefield, beheading generals and capturing the flag. But, even though I admire the tyranny of my ancestors Arthur and Alexander the Great, I still haven’t reached the level where I can conquer a country single-handedly.”.bμν.
Rather than praising himself, the swordsman's speech seemed more like praising the heroes of the past.
The swordsman noticed the little reaction of the red magician when he heard King Arthur, but perhaps he felt that now was not the time to talk about this, so he hid the words in his heart. Even so, I couldn't hold it back in the end.
"Speaking of which, you, the lady over there who knows Fuyuki! You don't even know what happened to King Arthur—hey
Yeah yeah yeah yeah! "
"Not now! It's time to say this!"
The swordsman, whose pigtails and wrists were grabbed by Ayakashi, still looked at the red magician reluctantly, but because Ayakashi had settled the matter at hand first, and then you two can talk slowly. I tried my best to persuade him, so I agreed to talk about it later.
"It seems that the battle situation in the temple area to the west of the city is still very tense. Let's go while they are locked in a protracted battle, right?"
"...A protracted war on that scale is...?"
After hearing what the swordsman said, Ayaka looked at the situation in the forest to the west and murmured to herself, but she didn't look like she wanted to say it directly, so she listened to their conversation quietly.
Participating in the war meeting was a young man named Werner Sissamund, who controlled butterflies. A magician in red named Tohsaka Rin. There was also a female magician named Luvia Selinta Edelfelt in a blue dress and several people who claimed to be Tini Cherk's cronies.
Finally, there is Vera Levitt, whom the swordsman also knows.
Father Hanse said, "I won't dictate your course of action. We have no other way to carry out the secret work except defeating that thing, right?" "Then he watched from a position slightly away from the battle meeting.
Although as he walked away he said, like he was joking, 'I'll do a good job of clearing this up in the report. If it's not done well, the Holy Church might wipe out the entire city, hahaha", but no one really took this as a joke.
The swordsman muttered, "As for the Holy Church, he really knows how to do it...", then changed his mood and asked Werner.
"OK, let me hear your plan. Wait for them to decide the winner and then catch them all? Or should you turn the city or this canyon into a fortress to defend the city? In this Holy Grail War, I am not the general in charge of military strategy. , but appeared as a swordsman. Just follow your strategy as you are proficient in modern magic, right?"
