Escape(part-2)

'Well, I guess it's up to me.' Astolfo the Rider of black took it upon himself to explain about what was happening

Rider spoke too honestly, and to make it worse had added in his own thoughts ("It was really quite refreshing!") into his report,all the Masters, who learned Saber of Black's true name, had also looked at Rider of Black with reproach. After all, it was Siegfried, the 'dragon-slayer' of the Netherlands. To the Black Faction, he was certainly a Servant that could serve as their trump card., the glare Darnic shot at the pink-haired Servant was so baleful that not only did it look like he was trying to bore a hole through him,

"...and that's when you showed up with everyone and said 'Rider, what is it that happened here?' in that scary way of yours," Rider of Black finished, making his voice deep and gravelly in a poor, but vaguely amusing attempt to mimic Darnic

"Rider, if this is another one of your ridiculous tall tales, I swear—" Celenlike

"It is nothing of the sort," Misa spoke up. "I assure you, Lady Celenike, everything Rider just reported is true."

The woman just snarled at her her mouth set in a twisted scowl. So judging from her reaction, it would be seem like she was having trouble planning what torture would be best for them

"We have lost our Saber," Darnic snarled. He glared at Gordes' unconscious form. "And over something so trivial…"

"Darnic," the suspected Caster of Black spoke up. "If that homunculus truly does possess Saber's heart, he would serve quite well as a reactor core."

The blue haired mage's eyes turned back towards the homunculus boy, the glint in his gaze not the ambivalence of inconvenience but the avarice of desire. "Rider, hand him over."

"No way!" Rider shouted defiantly, his frivolous gaze suddenly showing unyielding determination in the face of his superior. Rin would have never expected such resolve from the previously eccentric hero. He really was a noble Servant after all.

Misa turned to Vlad and Darnic. "My lords, please permit this boy a chance to live as he sees fit."

Darnic glared at her, but he did not get the chance to speak.

"Really, Misa," Vlad sighed. His voice dripped with frustration, but it was more a parent's irritation with a willful child than someone truly furious. " Do you truly wish to give that mere homunculus a chance at life?"

" I do "

"Then tell me commander of homonculi what is your reason? "

This caught Misa off guard it was true she had no reason to help him but deep within she had a wish to be albe to live life freely to not have to die for someone else whims to just live of course she would dismiss those thoughts as pointless but this boy he choose to follow those wish

Maybe because she was curious to see him achieve that or maybe she wanted him to achieve that she didn't know and she couldn't say that as a reason so she just pulled up a quick excuse

" H-he is my brother ! "

There was a moment of silence as everyone (including Misa) tried to process what they heard (in Misa's case what she said)

Seig stared at her with wide eyes

" Wait for real !?" Rider asked suprised

"Umu yes we are from the same glass chamber "

" Actually the glass chambers have nothing to do with this -" Caster began before Rider interrupted him

" So they are not created in that glass thingy ? "

" They are created in an common pool before we separate them into different flasks an-"

"That means they are siblings right!?

" Technically yes but—"

" See even caster agrees" Rider enthusiastically announced

" I-I never— "

" Enough of this nonsense capture that homonculus and -" Darnic ordered when

"That is quite enough!" A voice rang out silencing the entire party.

Illuminated by the faint light of daybreak that leaked through the gaps between the trees, a young woman emerged her slightly swaying hair shone like golden silk threads. Her amethyst-colored eyes were completely pure as they looked at

She didn't have the precise and molded beauty of a homunculus, or the kind of cuteness that made one's heart flutter just by being nearby like Rider. She possessed a wondrous beauty that scarcely felt real.

The girl's body was clad in armor—she was unmistakably a Servant.

" Thank goodness… I managed to arrive here in time" She sighed in relief before looking upon the Black Faction with immovable certainty. "Forcefully involving this boy in the Great Holy Grail War will not be allowed."

The holy maiden who had been summoned in this Great Holy Grail War as Ruler: Jeanne d'Arc. She carefully inspected the parts of the forest that had been the stage for two fights, the battle between Berserker of Red and Lancer and Rider of Black and the battle between Rider and Archer of Red and Saber, Berserker and Archer of Black, and placed a hand to her chest in relief.

The destruction had been limited to trees mowed down in the midst of battle. Furthermore, the range of destruction through the forest wasn't extensive. If Lancer of Red—the great hero Karna, who was clad in the sun itself—had participated, the forest might have been turned into scorched earth.

Leaving aside the Masters of Black Faction who were secluding themselves in the Fortress of Millennia, she hadn't caught any sight of the Masters of the Red Faction who should have initiated the attack. But it wasn't that strange if she considered it from the viewpoint that this war was just starting to unfold. Masters in the Holy Grail War mainly consisted of magi, so they likely wouldn't be experienced with battle itself.

"…In any case, it was a normal battle."

Yes. Though the number of Servants was large, the battle was conducted normally. Archer who sniped from long range, Berserker who charged forward, Caster who controlled golems through magecraft, Lancer who summoned stakes and skewered the enemy—including Rider and Saber as well, none of them were absurd Servants who slipped from the limitations of Heroic Spirits. That went for both the Black and Red Servants.

…Of course, since they were Servants, their power was tremendous. Rider of Red especially stood out among them. By Ruler's estimation, he boasted ability and power that rivaled Lancer of Red's.

That was understandable. After all, he was a great and famous hero. The progress of a battle completely changed just due to his existence. Should Rider and Lancer both be present on the battlefield, the Red side would be superior in terms of the [quality] of Servants.

Naturally, that was only a comparison in simple power. The affinities between Servants, the abilities of their Noble Phantasms, magecraft, location; there were countless factors to consider. Depending on what kind of Servants the still unseen Assassin of Black, Saber of Red, Caster of Red and Assassin of Red were, the situation could change further still…

At any rate, the situation was fixed to the limits of a normal Holy Grail War. Even if it dissolved into an all-out battle between all fourteen Servants, the town of Trifas was isolated from the outside with its population of twenty thousand. If she used her privilege as Ruler, she could also likely limit any damage done to the minimum.

There weren't any suspicious factors. There weren't any, but—

Nonetheless, a sense of doubt whose source she just couldn't grasp whirled within her heart. She had held out through the night like this and investigated the traces from the battles, but in the end she hadn't obtained any clues. The only clue that she obtained was the fact that Lancer of Red had come to take her out. Ruler also understood quite well that Lancer of Red possessed a pure and noble character. As such, it was probably due to the order of his Master that he had tried to kill her.

…As expected, she needed to make contact with the Masters of the Red Faction somehow.

In any case, tonight's battle was over now… The moment she thought that, her body lost a little strength… It appeared that she was 'sleepy'. To put it more accurately, it wasn't Ruler, Jeanne, who was sleepy. The one who required sleep was, in the end, only Laeticia's body. However, in the first place, Servants lacked the ability to sleep. Perhaps due to that gap, it was somehow a refreshing urge for her.

"Ugh, no… not yet…"

This sleepiness was not something that Jeanne could deal with just through willpower. She had to return to the town and make it all the way to the church and the bed in the attic there. But her body was rapidly wishing for sleep too much.

She leaned her hand against the trunk of a large tree, and when that turned out to be not enough, she reluctantly punched her cheek. The pain managed to clear her mind… A physical body was truly inconvenient. Due to her incomplete summoning, she could endure it for long periods of time, but if she crossed over the limit, she would probably lose consciousness like a switch being cut.

Leaving the matter of finding a way to deal with this problem for the future, for now she used the holy water she carried and once more began identifying the location of each Servant. If she found no problems, she would end her work here for tonight.

Five of the Black Servants and one of the Red Servants were located in the fortress. The Red Servant should be Berserker. It had been a large capture operation, but it appeared he had succeeded in safely changing Masters. This was not a violation of the rules, as changing to different Masters or Servants was a natural occurrence—no, wait.

"There's one missing…?"

There should have been six Black Servants in the fortress. What had happened to the last one? She expanded her search range further and further, but she couldn't find the sixth one.

…She had a bad premonition. That Servant had died—was not what had happened. If one of the fourteen Servants lost, Ruler would definitely be able to sense it intuitively. At present, no Servants had been defeated.

But something was strange. It wasn't her intuition as the Servant Ruler, but her instincts as Jeanne d'Arc that whispered to her that something had occurred somewhere without her knowledge.

Once more, the gazes of every Servant and Master present fell on them, some focused, some wary, others simply curious.

"You are a magus of Yggdmillennia, correct? I am—"

"The mediator of this Great Holy Grail War, Jeanne d'Arc-sama. It is truly the highest honor to meet the famous holy maiden. My name is Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia. I serve as the chief of the magi that reside in the Fortress of Millennia."

Forestalling her introduction, Darnic gave an exaggerated bow. His use of her true name was probably a warning rather than an attempt to show familiarity. But then, the fact that her true name was known to others didn't matter to her. Rather, if she didn't disclose her true name, it would probably be difficult for every Master and Servant to place trust in her. That was why she had given her name as Jeanne at the church.

"…I'll say this just in case, but I don't intend to support either the Black or Red camps in the Great Holy Grail War. I have only come here because there are two or three things I wish to ask you about."

Darnic responded to Jeanne's words of indifference without losing his smile.

"Naturally, I am aware of this. However, for the time being, I believe that you are mistaken Ruler " Darnic nodded and spoke with a smile that gripped Ruler with wariness." as you can see Ruler this boy is an homoculus"

Ruler turned to look at the boy and realized he was an homunculi from his excessively uniform looks and Magic Circuits within his bodies.

"We thought it was best to keep the number of humans involved down to the absolute minimum."Darnic continued this followed the fundamental rule of the Holy Grail War to avoid involving unrelated humans as much as possible. But—

"Homunculi are also unrelated lives no different from anyone else."

Ruler curtly replied.

By its nature, the Holy Grail War was both the smallest and greatest war in the world. Seven Masters and Seven Servants should have been sufficient for it to be conducted… Though this time, the circumstances differed far too much.

"Hoh. So as a saint, you also work your hardest for artificial life forms. Then have we violated your rules?"

Darnic gave her a sarcastic smile, and Ruler's expression stiffened slightly as she responded.

"—I won't go as far as to say that."

…But, considering the current scale of battle, it could be argued that employing homunculi like this couldn't be helped. It was true that there was no room for Ruler to judge it as a violation of the rules. She couldn't force them, and it was difficult to call the homunculi children. They had merely been created that way.

"Unlike our enemy, the Association of Magi, the existence of our clan hangs in the balance. I would appreciate it if you would take that point into account."

…Their presence was miniscule as a threat, but even so, their combined hostility as a group created an intimidating air on its own. However, Ruler had experience with being surrounded on all sides by enemies during her lifetime.

Not especially worked up by it, Ruler calmly stepped forward to the king. Since she wasn't a retainer, she didn't bow her head, but the king didn't raise a single eyebrow at it.

" Even so ,Holy Grail Wars have rules," Ruler continued. "And one of the most important among those is that those involved must not involve outsiders. And this boy did not choose to participate."

"But he is not unrelated," Caster argued. "After all, he has inherited Saber's heart."

"Regardless, possessing it does not make this boy a Servant," Jeanne fired back. "Putting aside the fact that this chivalrous knight still lives, no faction has the right to forcefully involve innocents, no matter how potent their magecraft might be. Caster, I'm sure you knew that."

"Yes, that is correct," the man replied, unfazed even after being called out on his false claim. "But he is still a homunculus, and that is all that matters to me."

"This homunculus was an asset we created for the Great Holy Grail War," Darnic interjected. "No personality, or past; he was created solely to fight for us."

The homunculus boy cringed, looking at the ground, shame etched across his face.

It is the wish of a Heroic Spirit, and more importantly, the will of a human being," Jeanne stepped forward. She twirled her flag and pointed the spear tip at the Servants of Black. "Upon this flag, I swear on my True Name, I will never turn him over to you."

That was as much a confirmation as anything. Surprising, but on the other hand, Ruler had a significant advantage over other Servants.

"Whoa… you're actually serious…aren't you?" Caules gasped. "You.."

"But even if I am to grant him his freedom it would be at a loss to me Ruler say me this who shall take responsibility for this?"

"My king…" Misa stood upright. "I will accept any punishment please spare my Brother."

Vald contemplated her with a complicated expression. The break is small, less then a heartbeat, but stretches for an eternity

In Lancer's mind he heard his own voice "Sultan….Kill me if you must… But please spare my Brother."

" He will have his freedom." Lancer finally declared

"What?" Darnic exclaimed.

Vlad shrugged. "We will find another reactor core. It is of little consequence. "

The King of Romania turned back to Ruler. "Ruler, as a fellow believer of God, will you not join forces with us?"

"…Since I believe in God, I pray that I can convey to you that I aim to be fair and impartial."

The edges of Lancer of Black's mouth loosened into a smile at Ruler's resolute gaze. He probably thought her words were the nonsense of a foolish country girl.

"Now then, dawn is almost upon us. First of all, what is your business here, mediator?"

"You battled against the Red Servants earlier this night, correct? The opponents should have been Rider, Archer and Berserker of Red."

"Yes, what of it?"

"In the end, it appears that the battle concluded with Rider and Archer withdrawing and Berserker being captured—but just what happened after that?"

"…"

Archer of Black reacted slightly to Ruler's question. No, it wasn't just him. A slight agitation was also visible among the homunculus

But the one who showed the most dramatic reaction was Lancer of Black.

"…How unpleasant."

Just by Lancer saying that, the area was filled with killing intent. It was unreasonable like a child's temper tantrum, but its power was equal to a wide-range, saturation-fire weapon. Ruler nonchalantly accepted the killing intent released by a weapon with its own will.

It wasn't as bad as the ill will she had received when she had sought an audience with the Crown Prince Charles at the Château de Chinon despite being a mere village girl, or when she was imprisoned and put on trial for heresy.

If there was even the slightest uncertainty, it was that it was greater than when she had been executed.

"If you cannot provide an answer, it can't be helped. Our conversation ends here. I'll go and investigate it on my own."

The instant she was about to turn her back to him, Lancer's killing intent immediately softened.

"—Pardon me. It seems that I teased you a little too much."

Even Ruler couldn't help but be stunned that Lancer called the killing intent just now 'teasing'. No, perhaps he was telling the truth. To a king, all human emotions were a part of his rule. For example, he cried for his retainers even though he felt no sadness and he accepted tributes even though he felt no happiness from it. Perhaps anger was also just a mere performance for him.

"Saber committed suicide."

"Wha…"

Even Ruler was left speechless at those dispassionately spoken words. Lancer of Black shook his head and sighed as if sad.

She promptly stopped shut her mouth as she started to say, "That's impossi—". …It appeared that he was telling the truth when he said that Saber of Black, Siegfried, had lost his life. But there was a contradiction. Saber of Black was on the verge of death, but he was still alive.

…There was no way a Master wouldn't be able to sense the state his or her Servant. If that situation were to arise, it was probably because the Servant's line1 had been severed.

But Ruler's perception ability exceeded that of the [spirit board]. True, it was feeble, but she could affirm that Saber of Black hadn't completely disconnected with this world. It was unclear where exactly he was, but—in any case, he should still be alive.

"Who would be able to explain the situation more concretely?"

"The one who reported it was Rider of Black, Astolfo… It appears that he instigated it, though, ."

"…Is that so?"

"—Now then. Ruler, I'll speak frankly. The swordsman who could truly be called a vital cornerstone for us has been meaninglessly lost. Therefore, I want to replenish my forces with a fighter of equal power as Saber. Is that not only natural?"

Ruler frowned as the conversation seemed to turn suspicious.

"As I said before, I am Ruler. I am this war's absolute mediator summoned by the Holy Grail… I have my own objective, and it does not involve joining you all."

"Do not you have a wish? Since you were summoned by the Holy Grail, you should have a wish of your own."

"—The Ruler class is an exception in this regard as well. Since Ruler is summoned as a mediator, possessing no wishes to be fulfilled in the present age is one of the qualifications for the class."

Those words caused a slight disturbance among the other Servants.

"…Ruler, you have no wish?"

"Yes, I have none."

Lancer struck his throne's armrest in irritation. Standing up, his former madness was unconcealed as he shouted angrily.

"Jeanne d'Arc. I know of your last moments! There is no way that you, who were betrayed by everyone, had everything taken away from you and met a violent death, do not have a wish! Answer me! I won't allow any falsehoods!"

If his previous killing intent was like a wide-range, saturation-fire weapon, his words this time were sharp like a stake. She could tell that the instant she lied or gave an answer Lancer could not accept, she would be skewered.

Ruler gazed at Lancer for a short while, and then spoke in a voice so calm it overpowered him.

"I have no wish. Everyone says that I should regret my last moments. That I probably wish for revenge, or wish to be saved. However—it's enough if I alone know the life that I lived. It's not that I don't have sympathy for others, but at the very least, I don't have even a single regret regarding my life, and I have no wish to make to the Holy Grail. If I were to have one, it would only be that this Holy Grail War be conducted correctly."

"You say that after having been forsaken even by God?"

"—That in itself is foolishness. The Lord did not forsake us. No, in the first place, the Lord has never forsaken a single person. There was just nothing he could do."

"What…?"

"Praying, giving offerings, everything is an act not for oneself, but for the Lord. We pray in order to heal the Lord's laments and sorrow. Yes, I definitely—"

I definitely heard the Lord's lament.

He shrieked. He lamented. He wept, and he felt sorrow.

The world changed straight into hell, and no one could stop it. No, perhaps that itself—was hell.

The Lord lamented in sorrow. People were not even allowed to live simply, and were compelled to become either beasts or food.

Conflict never ended, and blood continued to rain incessantly and soak the land.

That's why the Lord lamented—I heard His voice. I caught His small, feeble murmurs that everyone else failed to hear.

It was an obvious thing. To lend my ears to His voice and respond to it meant that I would throw away everything I had until now.

I had to throw away my life as a simple villager and the joy of loving someone and being loved back. Furthermore, there would be no compensation. I would surely be scorned by many people—both enemies and allies alike.

It was a very terrifying thing to contemplate. It was mad for a mere village girl from the countryside to leap onto the battlefield where people's killing intent swirled about.

—But the Lord cried.

Yes, I surely… can't bear it. I can't turn my back on His cries.

In order to stop the Lord's tears and soothe Him, I will oppose this world's hell. I will clad my body in armor, hang a sword on my waist, carry the flag—and devote my life to it.

Yes, the voice of revelation I received from the Lord contained no glory or victory, no obligation or sense of purpose. The Lord merely lamented and grieved.

—That's why. At the very least, having received that revelation, I thought I should stop the Lord's laments.

Lancer of Black glared fixedly at Ruler for a while, but eventually he shook his head

"—It seems that, even though we believe in the same God, we are incompatible."

"There are those who burned me at the stake even though they believed in the same God as me. So it's only natural."

Ruler spoke with a composed expression. Lancer of Black smiled pleasantly at those excessively joking words.

"…It can't be helped. But it's a fact that a Red Servant tried to kill you. We merely wish to win you over, but it seems they are different."

"So it seems. I also must investigate what the Red camp is thinking. I don't intend to oppose them but—"

"It's a different story if they attack you."

"…That's correct."

"I'll pray that the Red camp consists of fools aiming to kill you, then."

Lancer said that and smiled once more.

Wonderful," Darnic spat. "Now, if you would kindly leave, I have a Rider that needs to have its fingers broken.

"Yeah!" Rider of Black exclaimed. "That Rider needs to—wait what!?" he bristled like a startled cat.

Ruler exited with Seig in tow deeper into the forest while Misa headed along with a whining Rider back to the fortress

Form one moment they both turned to look at each other silently and then left for their seperate paths