Disrupted Plans

"Alright, let's start the strategy meeting."

With that uninspired sentence, Tsukahara Meiji helped Karl sit down in a room on the thirty-second floor of the Fulinmen Grand Hotel in Qianxi City.

Like all hotel rooms, it had the most basic functional furniture. There was no entertainment, nothing to enjoy. It was monotonous and simple, but this very simplicity made Karl relax from the bottom of his heart.

Although Karl had barely survived the poison, the intense exhaustion from the battle had made his Caucasian skin even paler. Furthermore, the drawbacks of Reinforcement Magecraft were gradually becoming apparent. The Reinforcement Magecraft Karl used was a magecraft that ignored physical burden and unleashed full power in a short period.

To give an example, it was like a machine that, by supplying a large amount of energy and ignoring its lifespan, instantly reached an "overload" state, providing far beyond normal performance.

Unfortunately, machines that overload for too long will break down, and Karl was no exception. The intense battle in a short period had placed an excessive burden on his body. At this moment, Karl's body clearly exuded fatigue, his bones supporting each other, barely maintaining his sitting posture.

Da Vinci, on the other hand, seemed quite adapted to modern times. He was a scientist himself and had been granted considerable knowledge by the Holy Grail. Regarding modern civilization, the old man squinted, looking around like a scholar, then, as if losing interest, his gaze returned to Karl.

Perhaps he was interested in magecraft.

Tsukahara Meiji was a little surprised by Da Vinci's attitude.

In his opinion, scientists should be very stubborn individuals, who would endlessly pester about the misuse of one or two words, never considering others' feelings. When laypeople communicated with scientists, they could only see the contempt in their nostrils; stubborn, paranoid, convinced they were right and proud of it, despising those who spoke plain sentences and simple theories.

In other words, scientists were extremely inflexible, only accepting their own viewpoints and those that aligned with them; a very narrow profession. To so easily accept magecraft that went against science, like Da Vinci did, was truly... abnormal!

Tsukahara Meiji held this attitude because his grandfather's close friend was a physics professor. Whenever Tsukahara Meiji asked him questions as a child, he would never answer them directly. Instead, he would deliberately use complex scientific terms, a torrent of words, considering it an "explanation" while completely disregarding whether the listener could understand.

He only had to ask why glass was transparent, and the professor would start explaining from the composition of subatomic particles. How could a nine-year-old child remember that? And if he interrupted, the professor would always adopt the helpless posture of an elder, letting out a long sigh, and say things like, "You can't teach this child," making it seem as if Tsukahara Meiji were some heinous villain...

However, Da Vinci clearly didn't have these flaws. Even with magecraft that went against science, he still researched and elucidated it in a short time, recording it in his brain as knowledge.

Perhaps this free and approachable attitude was why Da Vinci became the most outstanding genius in human history; he was willing to research and explore anything, even worlds that completely contradicted what he knew.

In this peaceful room, only three figures were present.

Karl, Tsukahara Meiji, and Da Vinci.

Da Vinci didn't know how to enter Spirit Form because he didn't understand magecraft. The Archer, to reduce the Master's burden, had quietly hidden beside Tsukahara Meiji.

"Tsukahara, is Archer here?"

"Ah, yes!"

Only then did Tsukahara Meiji understand Karl's mysterious silence just now. He probably wanted to confirm if Archer was nearby. However, Archer's skills included an ability similar to concealment, perfectly blocking Karl's perception, which was why he had asked him.

"I am here."

Robin Hood dispelled Spirit Form. His green hooded robe vividly reflected his presence in the space, cascading onto the floor like a small green waterfall, standing simply before the three of them.

It was a form befitting a petite woman, significantly shorter than Tsukahara Meiji. The loose robe concealed her body's lines, but they were certainly not overly baggy. The overall impression was one of smallness, making one question if such a frail body could truly survive such a brutal battle.

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

Karl's voice carried a tone of effort, forcing out a stabilizing sound, trying to communicate rationally with Robin Hood. This was already a very low-posture request for those proud Magus. However, the disdainful sound from the girl Servant's nostrils completely ignored Karl's gentleness: "Since I was summoned by my Master, I will naturally offer the Holy Grail to my Master. We will inevitably face each other in battle someday."

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

Karl emphasized this point again. Robin Hood remained silent, giving off a "no need to talk if we don't agree" vibe. From beneath her hood, her small, delicate nose haughtily glanced to the side, a somewhat cute posture that made Karl feel extremely awkward.

After all, it was his Servant who had caused trouble. Tsukahara also felt a bit embarrassed, especially since he and Karl were allies. If they couldn't unite closely, then what was the point of forming an alliance? Acting together shamelessly without mutual trust wasn't an alliance; it was just being cute.

So, he quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "My goal is to help Karl revive the Winsted Family! So, it doesn't matter who gets the Holy Grail! Any-anyway, let's talk. About the Holy Grail War, about Servants, ah, hahaha, to be honest, I'm still a rookie Master! Please explain it to me quickly, hahaha."

Anyone could tell he was trying to smooth things over, and he was doing it skillfully, incorporating principles of interpersonal relationships and game theory: a friend's friend is a friend, and an enemy's enemy is also a friend. However, anyone could also see that Archer neither wanted to build relationships nor play games. She maintained a non-violent, non-cooperative attitude.

To ease the sharp atmosphere between the two parties, in the latter half of his sentence, Tsukahara Meiji voluntarily took on the role of a "newbie," shifting the focus of the conversation from "alliance" to "explaining to me."

"...I understand."

As if understanding her Master's earnest efforts, the girl, armed with her green hooded cloak and stern, cold demeanor, sighed deeply and reluctantly agreed. Unable to be powerless against her Master, she casually picked up a bag of sunflower seeds from the table, scattering them on the table, and began shelling them with nimble one-handed movements.

Condensing all her dissatisfaction with her Master's naivety into her fingertips, she squeezed them with her fair and strong index and middle fingers. With a click, the sunflower seed kernel was exposed, and she casually tossed it into her mouth. Was she trying to signal her "lowering of guard" with this action? However, from beneath her hood, her sharp gaze could still be felt.

Feeling her resistance, which embodied the essence of a child's sulking, Karl found it both amusing and helpless. His mouth felt bitter, whether it was a after-effect of the poison or purely psychological, he forced himself to explain:

"Then, let's start with the Servant's attributes. My Servant's position is Caster, meaning at least we can rest assured that there won't be prolonged battles where the Caster's workshop becomes difficult to attack or defend."

The words that emerged from his bitter lips also carried a bitter tone. Although he said that, Da Vinci, as a Caster, was truly the worst.

All his stats were E-, data that couldn't even match a normal human. His combat power was truly not to be expected. This meant that although Karl wouldn't encounter a Caster as an enemy, a Caster wouldn't be his ally either... This was quite awkward.

"As for me, I summoned Archer, that, Robin Hood... perhaps?"

Tsukahara Meiji ended his affirmative sentence with an uncertain question.

After all, the historical heroic outlaw Robin Hood was a complete man. It was difficult to understand why the one he summoned was a woman.

If Robin Hood was a man, perhaps famous heroes also had female aspects? King Arthur, and so on, perhaps they were women too?

Tsukahara Meiji felt ashamed of his impolite thought and apologized to those Servants in his heart, fearing they might cause trouble behind his back—he had confused Servants with malevolent spirits!

"My story?"

Upon hearing the topic shift to her, Robin Hood's tone immediately became colder, but...

Tsukahara Meiji felt that she wasn't unwilling to speak...

Because her intense hostility was clearly directed at Karl.

"I don't have any stories to tell outsiders."

As expected, Robin Hood's words, sharp as a blade, chilled the atmosphere once more.

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

Loyalty to one's Master was a good thing, but being too loyal could be troublesome.

Like now.

Karl was already starting to worry about how he would communicate with her.

The Archer was his last guarantee for winning the Holy Grail War. No matter what, he had to gain her help and, with her power as the core, establish a viable combat plan.

Furthermore, he also needed to consider Da Vinci's fighting methods.

One couldn't always rely on their strongest trump card, so even with such a weak Servant, Karl had no choice but to fight and win.