Assassin's gaze had grown distant and unfocused; she unconsciously shifted in her master's lap, pressing her body closer against his chest.
After hearing about what the other houses were up to, Ryuuto's smile faded. "Now for the final surveillance target... what's Caster been doing?"
Yes, Morgan was also one of Assassin's surveillance targets. She'd been tasked with monitoring her every move from very early on. When he first ordered her to keep an eye on Caster, even Assassin had been surprised—she'd assumed her master and that woman were completely of one heart and mind.
Hmph... so that's not the case at all. If that's how it is, then I truly am the master's most loyal servant! With this thought, she'd thrown herself into monitoring Morgan with fresh determination over the past few days.
She closed her eyes, gathered her thoughts, and then spoke. "Caster is still working on her 'plan' in her room."
"Hmm..." he nodded without much reaction, "What about yesterday morning? Did she say anything when I arrived in Tokyo?"
"Yesterday morning, she mentioned that she couldn't use a Command Spell to stop your actions, Master," she replied honestly.
"...Oh." Hearing this, his face lit up with the brightest smile he'd shown all day, clearly pleased with that information.
Seeing how excited the boy had become, Assassin's cheeks flushed slightly.
With an eager expression, she said, "Master... do you plan to punish Caster for betraying you? If so, I would be more than willing to handle it..."
"..."
Just a slight twitch of his eyebrow was enough to make Fanatic immediately stop talking, the color draining from her face. "...I-I'm sorry. Please forgive me, Master."
The girl's back muscles tensed beneath his hands. Being the exceptional assassin she was, she could instantly sense when her master was displeased.
"...Hey, no need to get so nervous, Assassin." Realizing he'd unintentionally revealed his emotions, he softened his expression and gently patted her back. "Relax. I just don't like when others try to take my toys away."
"Yes, I understand. I apologize, my Lord."
'He's calling me Assassin, not Fanatic. Just now, Master was truly...' She made herself smaller, silently berating herself for her earlier slip-up.
"Well... still," he said with a slight frown and a sigh. "I can't just keep ignoring her willfulness forever. When I get the chance, I should probably give her a little warning. But that'll have to wait until after we take Einzbern Castle..." The boy's lips curled into a small smirk.
...
"Come on, Caster. We're heading out to take down Einzbern Castle."
After enjoying a potato feast specially prepared by Princess Morgan, he dragged the confused Caster out of the hotel.
Winter nights always come early. They had barely left the hotel when the sky went dark, making one wonder if there was even a sunset at all.
"Tonight we're conquering Einzbern Castle," he explained to Morgan as they walked. "Look, it's been days now. The Holy Grail War hasn't made much progress, and that's a problem. Tonight, let's make the Einzbern Master of the Three Families bow out."
"What about Assassin?"
"Fanatic? I gave her something else to do," he said with a casual whistle. "Just the two of us can handle a small place like Einzbern Castle."
"...Yes, understood."
Though his casual attitude made the serious Morgan a bit uneasy, she held back from lecturing her Master. From her perspective, his words meant "Caster is so powerful, I only need her."
But what he was actually thinking was the complete opposite: "Assassin is way too strong—if I bring her along, the other side won't stand a chance!"
Fanatic, who mastered 18 Noble Phantasms covering everything from enemy detection and stealth to assassination, hypnosis, poisoning, cursing, and controlling familiars, was basically invincible. No exaggeration—if she got serious, she could wipe out all six other Masters in a single night. If Caster knew what he was thinking right now, that jealous and petty queen would probably give him the silent treatment for a week. With that in mind, he started sweet-talking her again.
"You know, Caster, you're really the only one I can trust to watch my back," he said with a grin. Looking at her beautiful but cold face, he continued with a completely straight face, "What do you think? After the Holy Grail War ends, why not just stay with me and be my woman? The world today is way more interesting than locking yourself away in some garden, right? And I promise I'll treat you well—both with nice things and, you know, physically..."
"We should probably save this kind of talk until we've at least taken out half our enemies," Morgan cut him off bluntly. "If you want me to be your woman, you need to show me you're actually worthy of winning my heart. For starters, maybe fix that immature habit of hitting on women right before a major battle."
With a look of arrogance—though with the tiniest hint of secret pleasure—she criticized him coldly and without mercy.
Then she added, "And try not to make it so obvious that you hate the potato stew when someone serves it to you."
"..."
This woman is seriously hard to deal with, he thought as he stuck out his tongue. Better change the subject. "Hey, Caster."
"What is it?"
"About that sister of yours—the one you don't get along with..."
He spoke casually, almost like he was just asking what she wanted for a midnight snack. Looking straight into Morgan's eyes, he asked, "What was King Arthur's actual name again?"
A brief pause followed.
Arthur was just a title, or more accurately, a pseudonym. The King of Knights' true name, hidden in history, was Artoria—Artoria Pendragon.
Very few people knew this name, but without a doubt, both the transmigrator Ryuuto and the King's sister Morgan knew it perfectly well.
Caster gave him a side glance. "Arthur's real name is just Arthur, isn't it? The King of Knights who led the Round Table—Arthur Pendragon."
A long silence hung between them.
"Oh yeah, right. Arthur's real name is obviously Arthur," he nodded, hiding the smile that was trying to form at the corner of his mouth.
After traveling for two hours, they finally reached the forest on the outskirts of Fuyuki City. At night, the winter forest was literally just an endless sea of trees. It was weird how Einzbern Castle was built in this ancient forest, so different from the bustling city nearby.
According to legend, the Einzbern family had somehow gotten their hands on Das Rheingold from the old "Song of the Nibelungs" story. This Das Rheingold wasn't actually tons of physical gold, but more like a magical artifact—a Mystic Code or Noble Phantasm. You could think of it as basically the Western version of a magic treasure bowl.
"Endless gold..." he practically started drooling at the thought.
As they walked side by side through the dark forest, listening to Caster's explanation, he got more and more excited. What red dragon doesn't love gold? Especially since he was the great red dragon from the Bible—the one who killed his own mother for treasure.
Maybe all those stories about dragons being greedy gold-hoarders were just because he had such a bad reputation.
"Perfect, I'm definitely taking that Einzbern gold," he decided happily. "But before we grab the gold, let's make sure the princess becomes mine tonight... hehehe."
The witch glanced at the clearly pleased boy beside her and sent him a telepathic message, sounding a bit annoyed: "Master, aren't you planning to kill the enemy Master? You seem awfully confident—I'm assuming you actually have a real plan?"
The forest was completely packed with magical traps no one could get through, plus countless hidden familiars scattered everywhere.
The castle's owner had already spotted them coming when they were still a kilometer away from even entering the forest. So Morgan's concern made total sense.
"A plan? That kind of thing? Nope, don't have one at all," he replied with a grin, turning to look ahead.
They've arrived.
Standing in front of them in the darkness were two women as beautiful as pearls—the silver-blue Lance Knight and the pure white Winter Princess.
"Hmph..." Morgan's lips curled into a smirk.
"You've got some nerve barging into Einzbern territory like this," Irisviel von Einzbern frowned, glaring at the intruders with a serious face. "Lancer and I are clearly being underestimated."
"Iri! We meet again! I've missed you so much!" He waved enthusiastically at the Einzbern princess, his face lighting up with a huge smile.
"...Hmph." Irisviel let out a cute little huff and turned her face away, completely ignoring his friendly greeting.
Ever since he had stepped foot in this forest, Irisviel's heart had been pounding beneath her voluptuous chest, which she held tightly with crossed arms.
To her horror, she had just realized that the moment she saw the handsome face of the black-haired boy, her mouth had started watering uncontrollably.
She bit her lower lip out of embarrassment and frustration. 'Why is my body reacting like this?'
Maybe it was because she'd never experienced such an intense kiss before. After all... her husband Kiritsugu was a warrior of justice who knew absolutely nothing about romance. Despite being married for 8 years, she had never even had a French kiss. Which meant that Ryuuto was actually the first man who had shown her what a real kiss felt like.