Disrupted Plans

"Then let's begin the war council."

With that utterly unromantic sentence as the opening, Tsukahara Meiji helped Carl sit down in a room on the thirty-second floor of the Fulinmen Grand Hotel in Qianxi City.

Like every other hotel, it had only the most basic functional furniture. There was no entertainment, nothing worth enjoying. It was dull and simple, yet that very simplicity allowed Carl to relax from the bottom of her heart.

Although Carl had barely survived the poison, the intense drain of battle had made her pale Caucasian skin even whiter. Moreover, the drawbacks of Reinforcement Magecraft were gradually revealing themselves. The Reinforcement Magecraft Carl used ignored the burden on the body, forcibly drawing out all of one's strength for a short period.

To put it another way, it was like a machine being flooded with energy while disregarding its lifespan, instantly pushing itself into overload and producing performance far beyond normal limits.

Unfortunately, a machine would break down if it stayed overloaded for too long, and Carl was no different. The fierce battle had placed an excessive burden on her body. Exhaustion was obvious in every part of her, and she barely maintained a seated posture by propping her bones against one another.

Da Vinci, on the other hand, seemed quite accustomed to the modern world. He was a scientist by nature, and the Holy Grail had granted him a considerable amount of knowledge. Squinting, the old man looked around with the air of a scholar studying modern civilization, before apparently losing interest and turning his gaze back to Carl.

Perhaps he was interested in magecraft.

Tsukahara Meiji was somewhat surprised by Da Vinci's attitude.

In his eyes, scientists should have been an incredibly stubborn sort. They would endlessly nitpick the misuse of one term or another, never considering other people's feelings. When outsiders spoke to scientists, all they saw were those disdainful nostrils—stubborn, obsessive, convinced they were right, proud of it, and contemptuous of those who spoke in plain sentences and simple theories.

In other words, scientists should have been an extremely narrow-minded profession, incapable of adapting and able to accept only their own views, or views identical to their own. For someone like Da Vinci to so readily accept magecraft, something completely opposed to science, was truly... abnormal!

Tsukahara Meiji held this view because his grandfather's closest friend had been a physics professor. Whenever Tsukahara Meiji asked him questions as a child, the man never answered directly. Instead, he deliberately rattled off complicated scientific terms and long-winded explanations, believing he was clarifying things while completely ignoring whether the listener could understand.

If Tsukahara Meiji merely asked why glass was transparent, the man would begin with the composition of microscopic particles. What nine-year-old could remember all that? And if Tsukahara Meiji interrupted him, he would surely put on the helpless expression of an elder, sigh deeply, and say something like, "You're beyond teaching," making it seem as though Tsukahara Meiji were some unforgivable villain...

Yet Da Vinci clearly did not have those faults. Even when faced with magecraft, which ran contrary to science, he could still study and understand it in a short time, then commit it to memory as knowledge.

Perhaps that free and approachable attitude was why Da Vinci had become one of the greatest geniuses in human history. No matter what it was, he was willing to study and explore it, even a world completely contrary to everything he knew.

Only three people were present in the peaceful room.

Carl, Tsukahara Meiji, and Da Vinci.

Da Vinci did not understand magecraft and did not know how to assume Spirit Form. Archer, meanwhile, had silently hidden near Tsukahara Meiji in order to lessen her Master's burden.

"Tsukahara, is Archer here?"

"Ah, she is!"

Only then did Tsukahara Meiji understand Carl's strange silence just now. She had probably wanted to confirm whether Archer was nearby. However, Archer possessed an ability akin to concealment that perfectly blocked Carl's senses, which was why she had asked him.

"I'm here."

Robin Hood released her Spirit Form. Her green hooded robe vividly announced her presence in the room, spilling down to the floor like a small green waterfall as she stood plainly before the three of them.

She had the petite build characteristic of a young woman, much shorter than Tsukahara Meiji. The broad robe concealed her figure, though it certainly was not overly large. Her entire appearance gave off a small and delicate impression, making one wonder whether such a frail body could truly survive such brutal battles.

"I know you don't trust me, but you understand, don't you? Your Master and I are not enemies."

Carl's voice carried a strained note as she forced out a calming tone, trying to communicate with Robin Hood through reason. For a proud Magus, this was already an extremely low posture to take. Yet the young female Heroic Spirit let out a disdainful sound through her nose and completely ignored Carl's gentleness. "Since I was summoned by my Master, I will naturally offer the Holy Grail to my Master. One day, we will meet with weapons in hand."

br/

"At least until that day, we are allies."

Carl emphasized the point again. Robin Hood remained silent, looking as though she had nothing more to say. Beneath her hood, her small, elegant nose tilted proudly to one side. The slightly cute gesture made Carl feel especially awkward.

After all, it was his own Heroic Spirit who had caused trouble, and Tsukahara Meiji felt rather embarrassed as well. Especially since he and Carl were allies—if they could not unite closely, what was the point of forming an alliance? Acting together while refusing to trust each other was not an alliance. It was just playing cute.

So he hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "My goal is to help Carl restore the Winsted Family! So it doesn't matter who obtains the Holy Grail! A-Anyway, let's talk. About the Holy Grail War, Heroic Spirits, that sort of thing. Ahahaha, to be honest, I'm actually a newcomer as a Master! Hurry up and explain it to me, hahaha."

Anyone could tell that he was trying to mediate, and he did so rather skillfully, incorporating principles from both social relations and game theory: a friend of a friend was a friend, and an enemy of an enemy was also a friend. Yet anyone could also see that Archer had no interest in improving relationships or gambling on a game of chess. She still maintained an attitude of nonviolent noncooperation.

To ease the sharp tension between the two sides, Tsukahara Meiji voluntarily cast himself as the newcomer in the latter half of his speech, shifting the focus away from the alliance and toward explaining things to him.

"...I understand."

Seemingly understanding her Master's good intentions, the young woman who armed herself with a green hooded cloak and a harsh, cold attitude let out a long sigh and reluctantly expressed her agreement. Unable to refuse her Master, she casually picked up a bag of sunflower seeds from the table, poured them out, and began shelling them one-handed with practiced ease.

Gathering all her dissatisfaction with her Master's excessive naivety into her fingertips, she squeezed hard with two pale yet strong fingers. With a crack, the shell split open, exposing the kernel, which she casually tossed into her mouth. Perhaps she meant to use this action to show that she was "letting down her guard"? Even so, Robin Hood's sharp gaze could still be felt beneath her hood.

Sensing the childish sulking behind her resistance, Carl found it both amusing and helpless. Her mouth tasted bitter, and she did not know whether it was a lingering effect of the poison or merely psychological. She explained through gritted teeth:

"Then let's start with the classes of Heroic Spirits. My Heroic Spirit is Caster, which means that at least we can rest easy knowing we won't face a prolonged battle where Caster's workshop becomes easy to defend and hard to attack."

Even the sound forced from her bitter lips carried bitterness. Though that was what she said, Da Vinci as a Caster was truly the worst.

Every one of his parameters was E-. Those were stats inferior even to an ordinary human's, so there was no point expecting much from his combat ability. In other words, while she would not have to face Caster as an enemy, Caster would not be her ally either... That was rather awkward.

"As for me, I summoned Archer. Um, Robin Hood... I think?"

Tsukahara Meiji added an uncertain question to the end of what had been a confident statement.

After all, the Robin Hood of history had been thoroughly male. It was hard to understand why the one he had summoned was a woman.

Robin Hood was a man. Could it be that all famous heroes had a female side? King Arthur and the like—could they all be women?

Tsukahara Meiji felt ashamed of his disrespectful thoughts and silently apologized to those Heroic Spirits, afraid they might curse him from behind the scenes—he had confused Heroic Spirits with evil spirits!

"My story?"

When the topic turned to her, Robin Hood's tone suddenly grew colder, but...

Tsukahara Meiji felt that she was not unwilling to speak...

Because her chilling hostility was clearly directed at Carl.

"I have no story to tell outsiders."

Just as expected, Robin Hood's blade-cold words lowered the temperature of the room once more, one word at a time.

"I already said there's no need to be so hostile."

Loyalty to one's Master was a good thing, but excessive loyalty could be troublesome.

Like now.

Carl had already begun worrying about how to communicate with her.

Archer was the last shred of assurance Carl had for winning the Holy Grail War. No matter what, she had to obtain Robin Hood's help and build a practical battle plan centered around her strength.

And Da Vinci's fighting methods... also had to be considered.

One could not always draw the strongest card. So even with such a weak Heroic Spirit, Carl still had reasons she had to fight—and win.