[FDJ]Chapter 78: Meeting

That person is the most famous hero of the 12th century in the Middle East. Suzuki Yuki couldn't believe that the historical figure he had been forced to repeatedly study was now standing less than 10 meters away from him. The Chaldea organization had a concise evaluation of him, but they certainly didn't underestimate the Islamic hero. With just a single sentence mentioning his Ruler class, it made it clear that Saladin was different. He was on par with the Christian saints, and his participation in the Holy Grail War would surely uphold order and justice.

"Eleanor, are you currently in your Servant state?" Saladin approached the two of them, disregarding the nervous and astonished expressions of his entourage, and greeted Rider Eleanor.

His disguise could fool Suzuki, but it couldn't deceive Eleanor, who had already become a Servant and possessed knowledge of the future. Saladin, being aware of the nature of Servants and having activated his magecraft, proved that he was involved in the mysterious side. His feigned surprise was merely a show of weakness, and even approaching the Servant for the meeting was part of it.

This approach was a death sentence against a treacherous and despicable Servant, but it was highly effective against Eleanor. Even though Eleanor realized that Saladin's friendly and weak façade was only for his ulterior motives, she couldn't refuse the praise of others.

"Of course, time will surely take away my beauty. At this moment, the me who is still alive is probably carrying a face with wrinkles that resemble a 60-year-old orange peel, enduring the final two years of my house arrest. The weather in England is terrible, with constant rain after a comfortable summer. I didn't know where I had accumulated such good fortune to experience a premature death in a short cloak."

"You're still as witty as I remember," Saladin gestured twice, dismissing the extremely nervous attendants around him. He gestured towards a seat lower than his own, indicating for the two of them to sit. "The weather in Egypt isn't great either. It's not just hot and dry, but there are no entertainment activities during the summer. The oppressive hot wind even makes the camels restless. As you know, human endurance is far inferior to that of camels."

"Hehe... How coincidental. The Holy Grail War took place in the Jerusalem region in the year 1187. This summer, Sultan Saladin won't be bored," Eleanor said as she followed Saladin's instructions and took a seat, leading Suzuki with her.

Saladin's temporary "palace" hall had only ten seating mats. Altogether, there were fewer than 30 people present, regardless of their status. Among these people, Suzuki didn't notice any magi. From the servants to the guards, they were all ordinary people. Only Saladin vaguely gave Suzuki the feeling of someone knowledgeable about magecraft.

"Is this your Master? The attire gives away that he's not from this era," Saladin finally mentioned Suzuki, seemingly aware of some of his background but speaking cryptically, making his true intentions unclear. "What should I call you, young man?"

"I am Suzuki Yuki, from the Chaldea organization of the 21st century, sent to prevent the formation of Singularities that affect human history," Suzuki Yuki replied officially, being straightforward. He regarded Saladin as a saint and didn't consider the possibility of him disrupting human history.

"Human history, is it? It aligns with the results of my recent divination," Saladin said. Even with his vast knowledge, he couldn't distinguish between Japanese names and other East Asian languages. They all sounded unfamiliar to him.

Eleanor was similarly unaware of this, despite having a grasp of basic knowledge. She wouldn't notice the vague inconsistency in Suzuki's name.

"My Master and I have come here to protect human history. Before arriving at this place, we met with the representative of Jerusalem in this era and heard his veiled threats, indicating that most of the Servants are under their control," Eleanor said. With just the information provided by the chess pieces, she already understood Suzuki's character. She took the initiative to complement his shortcomings as part of her duty as a Servant. She selectively answered questions, as there was no need to reveal too much information during their first meeting. It was only now that Eleanor confirmed Saladin's aptitude in divination magic. Who knows if the Egyptian Sultan sitting in the position of power also had ill intentions towards the Holy Grail?

Using the connection between their Command Seals, Eleanor directly conveyed a warning through magical energy, requesting to handle the negotiations herself. Suzuki Yuki, upon hearing the warning, remained silent and continued to observe the others in the hall. Eleanor had detected the magical energy traces of the other Servants before entering.

"Is that so? To be honest, based on my divination and the information gathered from my contacts in Jerusalem, there is a 20-year-old magus in the Kingdom of Jerusalem who summoned six Servants at once. Furthermore, the seventh position was mysteriously filled, preventing us from summoning any Servant to fill that vacancy," Saladin spoke amicably, not revealing Eleanor's intentions.

"Can you confirm which Servant should have occupied the vacant seventh position?" 

"Saber. The Knight of the Sword," Saladin replied firmly.

Eleanor pondered for a moment but chose not to delve further into this suspicious matter. She appeared somewhat apologetic and asked, "In that case, do you still have any remaining Servants? It would be quite difficult for us to protect humanity if it's six against zero."

"We do. After confirming that I couldn't summon a Saber-class Servant, I used..." Saladin paused for a moment and explained, "My family's secret technique to interfere with the rules of the Holy Grail War, granting me the opportunity to summon a special-class Servant. Originally, I intended to summon a Ruler-class Servant, but that was also prevented. The mysterious magus who appeared in Jerusalem seemed to have foreseen that we would seek the aid of a Ruler and blocked the possibility of summoning one. So instead, I summoned an old Knight without relying on a Holy Relic."

Upon hearing Saladin's explanation, Suzuki quickly glanced at Saladin's hands, but there were no traces of Command Seals. Although he couldn't completely rule out the possibility of hidden command seals in special circumstances, Suzuki couldn't equate the 40-year-old Sultan before him with a magus pursuing magecraft. He seemed more like a magus who utilized mysterious powers.

"Young man, there's no need to doubt. The Command Seals are no longer on me. As you can see, I am merely a magus who practices divination magic. My magical energy and circuitry are far inferior to most of the magi recruited by our side, and with my devotion to faith, I have no interest in the Root either. To better maximize the remaining value of my Servants, I transferred the Master authority and Command Seals to someone more suitable."

According to Chaldea's records, there were sporadic cases in modern Holy Grail Wars where Masters transferred their Servants and Command Seals to others to ensure their survival. Of course, such individuals ultimately went from being dead to "disappeared" in a decent manner. Transferring the authority of life and death to someone else was as ridiculous as tying a rope around one's neck and asking someone not to hang them. Chaldea emphasized this in its teachings, particularly stressing that as long as one had a Servant, even if they were of low quality, they should not be discarded. This simple truth held throughout history. Suzuki didn't think that Saladin, a 12th-century politician of his level, would overlook this, and it was too risky to evaluate him as a saint. If the magi who accepted his Servant had thoughts of betrayal, the guards here wouldn't be enough to protect Saladin.

"You only have one Servant? With six against one, what are your chances?" Eleanor listened to Saladin's dismissive tone and thought of a more troublesome special situation. She knew her son, Richard, too well. He was ruthless and showed no mercy to his enemies. The fact that they hadn't immediately engaged in battle with a six-to-one advantage indicated that there were significant internal conflicts within the alliance of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and Richard had other priorities besides defeating Saladin.

Saladin could sense the suspicion from both of them, but he accepted it calmly. "Did I lead the victorious army in the Christian war of 1187? If the two of you have come to safeguard humanity, then we are unbreakable allies, aren't we?" Saladin understood that he had no leverage to negotiate with Eleanor and Suzuki Yuki, but he held the correct position regarding Human Order. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to let Eleanor in.

Suzuki almost responded immediately but remembered Eleanor's advice and instead looked at Eleanor's expression as his Servant.

"An ally, you say? But the magus on the other side who summoned multiple Servants is my son. Sultan Saladin, are you choosing what's right or choosing family, faith, revenge... the things humanity pursues in their lives?" Eleanor's smile was beautiful and playful, and her attitude was already made clear when she brought Suzuki with her.

"But you are no longer human, Milady," Saladin replied, following Eleanor's lead. "We do have a chance of winning, so please rest assured."

Eleanor turned to her Master. "Master, what is your opinion?" It was customary to propose some conditions to squeeze the disadvantaged side, making both sides' alliances appear more formal.

"Alliance, no problem," Suzuki replied, surprising both Eleanor and Saladin.

"Master, is that all?" Eleanor believed that her previous behavior of deliberately challenging Saladin had already implied enough, and it was just a matter of explicitly stating conditions to constrain the other side. By not mentioning any conditions, the other party's confidence in the verbal alliance would also be low.

"Anything else...?" Suzuki had no understanding of politics whatsoever. In his knowledge of alliances, if a verbal agreement seemed unreliable, they could resort to a magical contract to enforce the constraints. Saladin appeared to have saintly qualities, and this verbal agreement didn't need to be restricted by a magical contract.

Saladin couldn't help but laugh first. The Sultan, in his forties, stroked his beard. "You two have had a long journey. You can rest assured in my camp. At tonight's welcoming banquet, I will introduce our Servants and Masters to both of you, and I will share all the information we possess. In the name of Allah, we form this alliance to safeguard Human Order together."

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