I'm Shenji, what are you doing?

At dawn, Joan of Arc arrived in Tulifas and immediately encountered the unexpected difficulty of finding a place to stay. As the old man said, there is no place in Tulifas that can be called a tourist attraction. Perhaps for this reason, there are only three hotels here, and they are all full.

"This is also the first time this has happened to us... I'm really sorry."

Ignoring the frightened hotel receptionist, Jeanne glanced at the men and women talking and laughing in the lobby.

There is a weak magic reaction, and it seems to be a magician.

Most likely a magician from Yggdomirenia. It seemed that they were all staying at the hotel in Tulifas.

"No, there's nothing we can do about it. Do you know of any other places where we can stay?"

"How about going to church?"

Yes, there is also the church. Jeanne felt a little ashamed of herself for not even thinking of this. He seemed to be confused by the knowledge of the present world. Normally, people would seek refuge in the church first.

After asking the receptionist for directions to the church, she started walking towards the church. Perhaps overhearing their conversation at the hotel, she noticed a few people following her.

"I really hope you can use legitimate means to conduct information transactions. I am obviously not a magician, but a servant."

Sure enough, it's because of this casual clothes. After all, if you are a Servant, it is really unlucky for you to have a spiritual body that is natural to you but becomes impossible to achieve due to possession.

No matter what, it was already known that he was going to stay overnight at the church. And for health reasons, I still want to avoid sleeping in the open as much as possible.

There was no other way, Joan of Arc walked to the church. She knocked on the door of the small wooden church and made a request to stay for a few days. The nun readily agreed.

"Only the attic room is available, okay?"

I can't make extravagant expectations from my current position, and there's no need to live in a very particular way.

"Just a place to rest is enough. Thank you very much."

The nun called herself Alma Petolecia. Her behavior is really elegant. She was born and raised in this simple city, and she seems to have nothing but the blessing of God.

"Then please go this way"

Joan followed Alma who led the way and climbed the stairs leading from the second floor to the attic.

"Are you here for sightseeing?"

"No. I want to learn the history of medieval Romania."

"It would be better to go to Sighisoara. Although there are still some medieval buildings here, they don't seem to have any historical value."

"Someone has already gone to investigate in Sighisoara."

"Oh, that's right. It's true that no one has set foot in Tulifas yet."

Climb the creaking stairs to the attic room. According to the nun, it seems to be rarely used here. But both the bed and the bedside tables were spotless. It looked like it had been cleaned diligently.

"If you don't mind, I've prepared some food too."

"No need. The intervals between my meals are very irregular, so I can't bother you."

She was very grateful for the nun's offer. But it is also true that I think that I might sneak out in the middle of the night and I can't bother others casually.

"It's okay. Just reheat it."

"Reheat it...?"

Seeing Joan tilt her head in confusion, the nun asked in disbelief:

"Isn't there a microwave?"

"Ah, microwave oven. Really, that's it."

There is no need to go out of your way to light the stove again just to reheat it.

"Ah, but it would be great if I could still have dinner with you."

After thinking for a while, Joan decided to accept the nun's kindness. They agreed that when the nun came to call them, if there was a response in the attic room, they would have a meal together; if not, they would put it in the refrigerator first. This way, you don’t have to go to all the trouble.

"So, um... Oops, why did I forget such an important thing. What's your name?"

"Ah, yes. Just call me Joan of Arc."

She said her name simply. Even if it is leaked, it doesn't matter, because I don't have obvious weaknesses like Black Saber.

"Joan of Arc, what a good name."

"Thank you very much. Next, I have another request. Can I pray in the church during the period before dinner?"

"Well, of course. That's what the church was built for."

After Joan of Arc packed her luggage in the attic, she came to the altar and knelt down. She clasped her hands, lowered her head slightly, and closed her eyelids.

The feeling is exactly the same as before. The moment the prayer begins, I feel as if I am isolated from the world, even outside the past, future and reality. It’s not about purpose, it’s just about praying for the Lord. Whenever you do this, your heart will naturally know what you should do.

To her, a moment of prayer is as valuable as a breath. She could not live a single day without prayer. Joan of Arc, who was born as a child of a peasant family, did not even know the various prayers. Although she tried very hard to remember them, she seemed to be born with a lack of talent in reading and writing.

At best, it can only be signed. Although she was troubled by this, she finally came to the conclusion that as long as she prayed to the Lord, it would be fine. It is said that her comrade, Gilles de Rais, who fought alongside her, laughed loudly and assured her that "as long as she can write these, it will be enough."

"Joan of Arc?"

When I came back to my senses, I seemed to have been praying for a long time. the nun said with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your prayers."

"That's not the case. As long as I concentrate on praying, I will lose track of time without realizing it. I don't want to faint because of an empty stomach."

"Then, it's a good thing I came to call you. Dinner is already ready, come on."

"Thank you so much."

Alma took her to the dining room. The tables and chairs made of oak are simple and old, which is very suitable for this small church.

"What about the rest?"

"Ah, I am the only one in this church. Since Father Lacusta passed away five years ago, the successor has been undecided."

Originally, Tulifas was just a small city with a population of about 20,000. In addition, other churches have been established one after another. At most, the only people who visit this small church are old people living nearby.

There is no difference in the size of a church used for prayer, Joan thought.

"Come, let's pray together."

"OK."

After setting out the food, Alma and Jeanne sat down face to face and silently recited their words of thanks. By the time she finished praying, Joan's hunger had reached its limit. She used her knife and fork to cut open the steaming cabbage meat and stuffed it into her mouth.

"how is the taste?"

"Very tasty."

After throwing out such unclear words, Jeanne immersed herself in dinner again. Every time I took a bite, my tightened stomach expanded. It was an endless hell where the more I ate, the more I felt hungry.

"There's still some if you want to eat."

"You're welcome."

Answer immediately without any confusion. Jeanne d'Arc, who was originally a peasant girl, was a big eater who would not flinch even against rough soldiers with extremely strong appetites. Besides, the simple taste of Romanian family dishes aroused her appetite more than the exquisite aristocratic meals.

Joan of Arc looked back on the dinner with a happy face. Seeing her like this, Alma, who was cooking the dishes, couldn't help but smile. Afterwards, Joan of Arc borrowed the bathroom to wash her dirty body carefully from head to toe.

After nightfall, the magician and the servant will start to act. Joan's true duty begins then.

◇◇◇

The sky was an unchanging gray, and according to the weather forecast, it looked like there would be some rain in the middle of the night. Lion Jie Jieli and Red Saber were walking on the streets of Tulifas. Of course, they were not sightseeing, but on-site inspection of places suitable for fighting and places not suitable for fighting.

But a place suitable for fighting may not be usable directly. Tuliphas was actually under the control of the Yggdomirenia clan. Needless to say, there are minions of their clan lurking among the residents in the streets, and there is also a high possibility that a trap has been laid in a place suitable for fighting - just like last night's battle. As expected, a large number of detection barriers and visual deception barriers were set up at the investigated locations.

"I'm so fed up with this shit."

"It looks very uncomfortable, Master."

Mordred shouted from the wall to Lion Zed, who was crawling on the ground and groping for ways to destroy the barrier. There was no sympathy in her voice.

Lion Jie sighed and quickly decided to abandon this place. Get twice the result with half the effort, there is no need to spend a lot of effort to secure this kind of place.

"Saber. Where is it easier for you to fight, on the plains or in the streets?"

"Hmm - let me think about it... it should be flat ground. As I said before, my Noble Phantasm is an anti-army Noble Phantasm. The more open the ground is, the more I can use it to my fullest, which is very advantageous."

"In that case, it would be better to just give up fighting in the city of Tulifas and go around to the outside."

"Outside?"

Part of this Tulifasian city is surrounded by the fortress of Myrenia. Located outside the city wall are buildings that have been gradually added over the past three hundred years. Moreover, the fortress is located at the easternmost point on the north side of the city. Further east of the city are vast forests and grasslands. However, there are cliffs next to the forest, so it is very difficult to sneak into the fortress, but——

"Then lure them out of the city to fight."

"I see. To me, it's much better than fighting in this oppressive city."

"Because the eaves of the houses built around Tulifas around the 16th century are all close to each other. If you want to demolish the buildings together, that's no problem."

"No, no, of course there would be a problem."

"Oh. In the end, no matter the enemy or our side, they all want to win even if they do this kind of thing."

A magician is a being who is not bound by human ethics. No matter how many civilians are sacrificed, as long as the principle of concealment can be maintained, there will be no problem. Having said that, everything has its limit. When a person dies, at most people close to him will lament. But if ten or a hundred people die, public agencies will be dispatched. As a result, when the situation reached a point where one person could no longer hide, the Magic Association took action. Therefore - the battle should be carried out at night, and barriers should be set up to disperse the crowd before the battle.

However, this time it's the Holy Grail War. Since the heroes from myths and legends were summoned and allowed to wreak havoc, it is not surprising that they thought it was helpless to sacrifice a street. What's more, every plant and tree on this street belongs to Yggdomirenia.

Noticing that Mordred suddenly fell silent, Lion Zed, who was concerned, turned around and saw displeasure clearly showing on her face.

"It's really unpleasant."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I just feel bad that doing this will sacrifice the people. Why don't magicians have such a natural sense of ethics?"

Showing disgust, Saber uttered these words.

"I can't help it, magicians are just that kind of creatures."

"Huh, disgusting. I hate that, Master."

"Okay, okay, I will try to be careful not to involve civilians, Your Majesty the King."

Saber's dangling feet, which were sitting on the wall, suddenly stopped.

"What did you call me just now?"

"Huh? I call you the king. Because just now, you called the common people 'the people', right? It is the privilege of great men to call them the people. And - isn't it also your wish to become a king? Anyway, you will be one one day. I'm here, it's okay to call you that now, right? Is there any?"

Saber's expression froze.

"...Yeah, no, not really."

"In short, your basic policy is not to affect civilians too much. Is this okay?"

After coughing twice, Mordred returned to his usual expression. She proudly stood on the wall, looked down at Lion Jie, and said:

"That's right. Attacking ordinary people to replenish magic power is also prohibited.

"I know, I know. So, that's the basic policy."

Lion Jie is also a relatively good magician. These two methods were incorporated into his tactics as extraordinary means. But if the key servant refuses, then nothing can be done. Leaving aside what if the servant wanted to attack civilians first to replenish his magic power, if she didn't want to, she might as well give up. Shishi Jie's policy is not to mobilize Saber according to his own ideas, but to make Saber act according to her own wishes as the top priority.

If it were a normal Holy Grail War. Since they have to face six enemies, regardless of whether there is a bond or not, both sides must trust each other with their lives. But this time, the probability that the master died but the servants survived was extremely high. To put it to the extreme, even if they switch sides and join the enemy's Master who has lost his followers, there will be no problem.

In other words, for Masters who have not established a trusting relationship with their Servants, what awaits them will be the blade of betrayal. In particular, this red saber only regards the relationship between the master and the servant as an alliance. If they disagree and her interests are harmed, she is likely to abandon the master.

That is not betrayal, but abandonment. This is an indispensable element for being a king.

"Did I trick you?"

"That's a persecutory delusion. Well, there's no chance here. Next—"

Hearing the sound of flapping wings and chirping, they both looked up to the sky. A pigeon dropped a piece of paper at their feet and flew away. The ones who would deliver the news in this way were undoubtedly them... the benefit sharers, Father Shirou and his entourage.

"Contact me..."

As soon as he read it, Shishi Jie's expression became tense. This must be bad news, Mordred thought, jumping off the wall and stepping forward to peek at the paper.

"Brserker went berserk and attacked the fortress?"

"Hey, it's too loud."

Lion Jie hurriedly stopped her. This is not a line that can be said out loud in broad daylight. But Mordred replied nonchalantly:

"Even if someone who doesn't know hears it, they will just think they are talking to themselves. What about the rampage?"

"Ah...I'll explain it to you later in the workshop."

"Say it now, now."

Lion Jie sighed openly at the stubborn Mordred. But the latter didn't take it to heart at all.

"It is said that Berserker has a special level of madness. Because he can talk, at first glance I thought he could communicate with others, but in fact——"

Lion Jie suddenly spread out one hand.

"It seemed like he couldn't understand what we were saying. No matter what anyone said, Berserker would not change the purpose of the battle, nor would it stop. So, in order to achieve that purpose, he rushed out."

"Humph, then, what is the so-called purpose?"

"It's probably a fight. What else could it be? It's really a headache now."

"By the way, why do you have a headache?"

The stunned Lion Zed looked at Mordred.

"In a battle between seven versus seven, if one person stands out, of course he will die. At that moment, the battle situation becomes seven versus six. Since there is no substitute fighting power of the Servant, this is an absolute disadvantage. "

It is basic to avoid investing in combat power one after another. This is especially true if the combat power cannot be replenished. However, berserker began to go berserk. Since there is no way to rescue him, there is no doubt that Red Berserker will be killed first.

This is really troublesome information for Lion Jie, who is on the red side. On the other hand, Saber seemed to have lost all interest after knowing something she was already familiar with.

"Isn't this good? It's just a berserker. It's just a servant who will die sooner or later as soon as the battle starts. Leave him alone. Leave him alone."

As she spoke, she took a bite of the apple Shishi Jie bought from the market and immediately frowned. Then handed him the apple.

"It tastes bad. I'll give it back to you."

"...You are so heartless. Wow, it tastes really bad."

Lion Jie frowned after taking the same bite.

◇◇◇

Late at night, while Alma was sleeping, Joan left the attic and came outside. The nights in Tulifas were truly shrouded in a "deathly" silence. However, the demonic wind floating there and the stench of corpses and magic power are undoubtedly ironclad evidence that the Holy Grail War is taking place in this city.

Joan of Arc soaked her right hand with holy water brought from the church and then sprinkled it into the air. The water shimmered dimly and moved smoothly, beginning to paint a three-dimensional view of the city. This is one of the privileges approved by the operator (Joan of Arc) and the exploration function of the servant.

As a result of the exploration—only one red servant in Tulifas was identified.

"……Well."

She tilted her head in confusion and expanded the area of ​​exploration. Milenia Castle, where six servants gathered, the color is black.

"There are still six people from the red side and one person from the black side?"

The red camp, understanding that Tulifas was completely enemy territory, seemed to have distanced itself from the city and was spying on the situation. It is speculated that this red servant is a scout. but--

So, the one on Black also went for reconnaissance? The red camp is mostly stationed in the nearby city of Sighisoara. Strictly speaking, the Holy Grail War must be fought in a city. Therefore, the garrison in Sighisoara can be said to be against the rules.

"However, the strategy adopted as the status quo is also unavoidable."

After all, Tulifas was the administrative seat of Yggdomirenia. Different from Fuyuki's situation, where a certain degree of fairness was maintained by the existence of the Gosan family, Tulifas was an absolute king who belonged only to Yggdomirenia.

Moreover, the size of the city is also small. This is a city that seems to have resisted development for a long time. Unlike Fuyuki, there were very few places where outside magicians could hide. On the contrary, Yggdomirenia is only entrenched in the strong and dangerous Milenia Fortress.

No matter how hard they try to secure the Great Holy Grail. This is so unfair. I should be forgiven for being stationed in a city other than Tulifas.

The city is eerily peaceful. If it were a normal Holy Grail War, one or two small competitions would have already started...

"Since no one from the red side will take action, then the black side doesn't plan to take action either."

So, is tonight going to be a peaceful night?

As if to betray Joan, who had just thought so, the servants inside the fortress moved out together, but not towards Tulifas, but towards the outside——

"Towards the forest?"

The exploration scope has been changed to move to the ideal forest that spreads east of Tulifas. The red servant's reaction confirmed that the number was three.

The street market should be calm, and they seemed to be planning to go to the suburbs to start fighting.

"Hey, it's a good thing that the residents are safe."

But the destruction of nature is also disturbing.

Because of the red lancer, the forest was completely burned. I hope it won't turn into that situation. With this thought in mind, Jeanne ran towards the forest.