"Not picky? That's good. So non-spicy is acceptable, right?"
Ordering a few signature dishes from the menu, Ryuya put it down and continued, "Speaking of which, Sajyou, are you also participating in this Holy Grail War game?"
He was slightly surprised to learn Manaka was involved. In Ryuya's view, the Princess of the Root, Manaka, had no reason to participate.
First, as someone connected to the Root, Manaka should understand that the current Holy Grail was nothing but a polluted, deformed machine. The so-called ability to grant any wish was a laughable hope, completely impossible.
Second, Manaka was the Princess of the Root. She lacked emotions and viewed everything with a mechanical gaze. She shouldn't possess emotions like wanting to grant wishes.
In the original world, Manaka participated because she saw the male King Arthur and developed an emotion called 'love', leading her to want to help him win the Grail.
But in the Snowfield City World, knowing Manaka's Servant was Tiamat, Ryuya was curious about one thing: why was Manaka participating? And she had even formed an alliance with Tiamat, Female Gil, Artoria, Mordred, Morgan, Sola, and others.
This was just too strange.
"Ah? Participate in the war? Of course, it's for the hope of victory."
While eating her dessert and setting down the cat in her arms, which was now completely paralyzed with fear, Manaka answered as if it were the most natural thing.
"For victory?"
"Yes, the temptation of being the victor in this contest is something even I... cannot resist."
The wish from the Holy Grail itself was irrelevant. What mattered was achieving victory, which meant winning Ryuya's love… a continuation of the outcome from the previous Holy Grail War.
Having learned from Sola about the rules the women had set for this war, Manaka naturally wouldn't pass up this opportunity.
Ding ling ling...
Just as Manaka was about to say more, the black watches on the wrists of all four present, including Ryuya, simultaneously chimed.
[Distance to battle start: One minute.]
With the mechanical voice, the first battle of the Holy Grail War began!
[Distance to battle start: 59 seconds, 58 seconds, 57 seconds...]
As the countdown progressed, the signal from the watches informed everyone in Snowfield City that the battle was imminent!
"Eh? The battle is starting already?"
Having finally gotten to go out for a meal and shopping with their father, only to have it interrupted by the sudden battle before they could even enjoy it, Sakura and Rin looked at their watches in a fluster, "Didn't they say it would start in a few days? Did Merlin-nee get it wrong?"
They clearly remembered the official start time Merlin had told them and found it strange.
"Merlin... while she's a bit unreliable, she's not that unreliable. I suspect Alaya is just getting impatient."
Letting out a mocking laugh, finding Alaya's petty tricks boring, Ryuya's expression remained unchanged, and he didn't stop eating, "Sajyou, you won't target my daughters now, will you?"
"Of course not. Even when the battle officially starts, I will first defeat Crimson Moon and Hope before declaring war on your daughters, Ryuya-sama."
"After all, skipping Servants to attack an ordinary Master directly doesn't suit the demeanor of a lady."
Smiling at Ryuya, then glancing at the black Master watches on Sakura and Rin's wrists, a glint flashed in Manaka's eyes.
That was a lie!
Facing Sakura and Rin without the protection of the two powerhouses, Crimson Moon and Hope, directly destroying their Master watches was the most logical and clever move.
Setting aside luck, just the fact that it would eliminate two Planetary Singularities, and Hope, who was practically a half-Star God, made it an incredibly profitable move.
Unfortunately, Sakura and Rin were currently by Ryuya's side. Clearly, no one could destroy their watches in front of him.
'In that case, I can only think of a way to defeat Hope and Crimson Moon head-on, and then destroy Tohsaka Rin and Takami Sakura's watches.'
Sighing internally without showing it on her face, Manaka maintained her princess's noble elegance on the surface.
Meanwhile, at the Einzbern Castle...
"Wow, it's starting, it's starting! Place your bets, place your bets! Let's see who wins!"
With Ryuya not home, the Einzbern Castle was sparsely populated. Female Gil and Enkidu had taken their Masters, Caren and Sola, out shopping.
Siduri, Ereshkigal, and Tiamat had also gone out. Crimson Moon and Hope had gone to the city library to read... At this moment, those left in the manor were Irisviel, Blue Artoria, Camelot Artoria, Nero, and Arcueid Sisters.
As a pure troublemaker, Merlin was currently holding a betting pool she made, trying to get the homunculus maids to place bets and have some fun with her.
"Sorry, Merlin-sama. Hope-sama strictly forbids us from doing such things."
The maids would not entertain Merlin's request for gambling.
"Tch, how boring."
"Hey, Hayasaka, do you want to play?"
Seeing the homunculi wouldn't join her, Merlin couldn't be bothered to press them and turned to Hayasaka instead.
She remembered this woman was Ryuya's maid from the 'real world', so perhaps her perspective was different.
"Bet on what?"
Belonging to the neutral faction along with Vivian, Hayasaka had no reason to fight. In any world, she was an excellent maid, and doing her job well was enough.
But right now, looking at Nero and the others who were confronting each other, Hayasaka recognized Nero's Master.
That was...
Eriri Spencer!