But—the Holy Grail War's hidden rule had still been broken.
"Incredible... Caster could actually control a monster like that?"
There was unmistakable fear in Irisviel's voice.
Shirou shook his head. "No, 'control' isn't quite right. It was simply summoned here by that Grimoire.
"To put it simply, only a tiny passage to another world was opened earlier. But now, because of the effects of the three Command Spells, the Grimoire has expanded the original passage."
"This monster... what will it do next?" Irisviel asked in astonishment.
"There's only one thing it can do, of course. Think about why Caster used the children as sacrifices."
Saber and Irisviel's faces instantly went deathly pale.
Shirou said in an even tone, "Caster invited the monsters into this world under the pretext of a meal. Naturally, there's only one thing it intends to do next.
"A monster of this size wouldn't even need a whole night to devour the entire city."
—The Sea Monster had been summoned to this world not to fight, but simply to feed.
As if to prove the boy's deduction correct, the fully formed Sea Monster ignored Shirou and the others, who were closer to it, and began leaving the forest toward the densely populated city.
"..."
Artoria's clenched fist trembled. She absolutely could not let such a monster rampage through the city where people lived.
Amid her fury, the girl regained her composure.
The Sea Monster was indeed terrifying, far beyond the understanding of modern society. But in Britain, where the atmosphere of the Age of Gods still lingered, Artoria had fought monsters of comparable size before.
With the Anti-City Noble Phantasm she possessed, she could completely destroy the Sea Monster in a single strike.
But the problem was the Sea Monster's current position. Miyama Town was directly behind it.
The Sea Monster was simply too enormous, forcing Saber to spread the range of her Noble Phantasm attack as widely as possible. But if she did that, she might also catch the innocent civilians behind it in the attack.
Saber needed someone to cooperate with her and first lure the monster away from Miyama Town.
And here, there was only one person capable of doing that.
After a brief silence, Saber turned toward the red-haired boy she had just rebuked as someone with ulterior motives.
"I—"
"My name is Shirou."
Shirou met Saber's gaze and introduced himself.
"Huh! Weren't you called Shinji?"
"Eiri, stay quiet for now."
"Ah, okay. Sorry."
Irisviel obediently covered her mouth with both hands.
"Shirou..."
Saber softly repeated the name with a complicated expression, then lowered her head.
"I'm truly sorry about earlier. I suspected you of ill intent before I had understood the situation."
Shirou said, "Have you finally calmed down?"
Saber replied, "Yes."
"That's good. There's no need for you to apologize."
Shirou nodded in satisfaction and replied calmly.
Saber had mistaken him for a criminal earlier.
But that couldn't be blamed on Saber.
After all, Shirou himself had almost mistaken Saber for someone else at first.
Besides, when he had approached Irisviel back then, he had indeed harbored evil intentions—even thoughts of killing her.
So they could call it even.
"You don't intend to hold my earlier offense against me?" Saber asked in surprise.
Shirou's indifference even in the face of slander caused the girl to admire his magnanimity, while also filling her with an indescribable sense of shame from the bottom of her heart.
Artoria thought, This must be what they mean by judging a gentleman with the heart of a petty person.
Although I did it to protect my Master, what I did was truly... too awful.
We had been comrades who had entrusted our backs to each other only minutes ago, yet because of a tiny misunderstanding...
No wonder a fickle and indecisive king like me had ultimately met such a tragic end.
"..."
Suddenly, a nightmare from the past appeared before Artoria's eyes.
It was the desperate final scene the magus had shown her when she drew the sword on the Day of Selection at the age of fifteen.
The dusk battlefield on the Hill of Swords, with endless mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
More than ten years after she drew that sword, the magus's prophecy had finally become reality.
Former comrades had turned against each other, and the united kingdom had fallen apart.
And the root cause of all this disaster was her inability to understand the human heart—
"A King Arthur shouldn't be making that expression."
Shirou interrupted the girl's painful recollection.
The instant Saber raised her head, she froze.
Although it was the face of an eight-year-old boy, for some reason, Artoria's mind involuntarily conjured an image of what he would look like ten years later.
Artoria recalled the beautiful black aurora that had occupied her mind and thought quietly:
He... Shirou might be the "ideal king" I've always dreamed of.
Volume One 058 Eiri: When are you two going to let me hold my grandchild? (7000)
"!"
Saber suddenly came back to herself from her inner turmoil, then gazed absently at Shirou Amamiya's face.
"An expression of hesitation and confusion doesn't suit a king. At the very least, he shouldn't reveal it in front of others."
Staring into those emerald eyes, Shirou asked, "Am I wrong?"
"...No."
Artoria stared blankly at the red-haired boy before her, unexpectedly at a loss for how to answer.
The boy's appearance was so young, yet his eyes were filled with penetrating force.
Under that gaze, Saber even felt as though her armor and undergarments had been stripped away, with every part of her exposed to the boy without reservation.
It was precisely because he had seen through her that he could say something like that—
"A king shouldn't reveal hesitation and confusion in front of others."
That had also been Saber's code of conduct during her lifetime.
Now, as Irisviel's Servant pursuing the Holy Grail, she leaned more toward being a "knight" than a "king" on a spiritual level.
That was why she had momentarily forgotten the principles she upheld as a king.
In the end, it had been Shirou who reminded her of something even she had forgotten.
Artoria thought wistfully, This child seems to know everything about me as if he had witnessed it all.
And yet—
During her lifetime, she had never been understood by anyone.
The ministers who fought beside her did not know her gender.
Her sister and son, who shared her blood, had turned against her.
The magus who had guided her onto this path did not understand human emotions.
From beginning to end, Artoria had been alone.
But now.
For the first time, Artoria felt that she had found someone who understood her.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between the red-haired boy and the black holy sword.
Even after searching through every corner of her memories, she could find no impression of Shirou.
She could be certain that this truly was their first meeting.
Although his identity remained highly suspicious, however—
The courage and encouragement now surging through the girl's chest were absolutely not false.
Artoria said solemnly, "I'm sorry you had to see such an embarrassing side of me."
"Are you all right now, Saber?"
Shirou's question was somewhat unnecessary—
The hesitation and confusion had long since vanished from Saber's face, replaced by her usual dignity and confidence.
She nodded firmly. "Thank you. I feel much better thanks to your encouragement.
"Next, I'll redeem myself for my earlier mistake and the damage I caused to your reputation through my actions.
"Shirou, could I ask you to set aside our past grievances for now and fight alongside me once more?"
"Of course. I'm looking forward to fighting alongside you again too, Saber."
That was the truth.
Although she was not Morgan, Shirou didn't feel disappointed. Instead, he felt much more relaxed.
Now he could devote himself to the Holy Grail War again without distraction.
And besides...
To say that Shirou hadn't been attracted to Saber at all would have been a lie.
It had nothing to do with that face.
The silver figure and the Golden Sword Flash from that night still occupied a place in Shirou's heart, even after so many days.
The Arthur of Pan-Human History...
He had thought Arthur would be the manliest of men, the knightliest of knights. He had never expected him to be such a beautiful and majestic girl.
Shirou's heart was filled with mixed emotions.
At that moment, the Silver-haired homunculus, who had been left aside by the two passionate people to breathe in the cold air, spoke sourly.
"Saber looked like she wanted to eat Shirou."
"...What!"
Artoria's cheeks instantly heated up. "Please don't say things that could easily be misunderstood, Irisviel!"
"Saber's face is so red~ You do think Shirou is cute too, don't you?"
"He is indeed very cute... But! That's completely different from this!"
Shirou quietly watched Saber being teased by her Master, and his stern expression softened somewhat.
"Oh my... Has my Master been captivated by Miss Saber?"
Shirou took a deep breath. "Big Sister Avalon, you were planning to mislead me into thinking Saber was Morgan, weren't you?"
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