{Whose name..?}
"Remember again, remember everything about him."
{Who..?}
"Keep this name in your heart!"
{Tell me... your name.}
"My name!!"
{Say it! Tell me!}
"Drake. D..."
Cold moonlight poured into the room, and the winter wind carried a biting chill.
Green eyes suddenly opened, gazing at the ceiling with a trace of confusion.
"Xia..."
A divider
A monstrous beast opened its cavernous jaws, thrashing wildly through the water as it roared loud enough to shake the heavens.
Not far from the beast, a golden-haired girl stood by the lake, arms wrapped around herself, her entire body trembling slightly as if she were trying to suppress something.
"Roar!!!"
The beast had clearly noticed the girl by the lake. It threw back its head with a furious roar, then instantly swung its massive body toward her!
Its gaping jaws, razor-sharp fangs, and blood-red eyes—almost in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of her, lunging at the delicious morsel before it!
When the golden-haired girl seemed to sense the danger and abruptly looked up, it was already...
Splurt!~
Blood sprayed everywhere!...
A divider
"Artoria!!!!"
In the snow-swept Einzbern Castle, a patient lying on a bed in a secret chamber cried out. The patient instantly leaped from the bed, looking around in terror as if searching for something.
His anxious demeanor, grimacing face, and slightly reddened eyes all showed just how terrible he felt.
"Haah... haah..." Xia, who had leaped from the bed, panted heavily as he looked around at his surroundings.
An empty stone room, cold walls, and a single white bed in the middle.
"Ha... ha... Was it a dream...? Hahaha... damn!" After seeing the room and realizing it had all been a dream, Xia's breathing gradually steadied. He gave a bitter laugh and trembled as he covered his face with his hands.
Fear, worry, lingering dread, and guilt surged through Xia all at once.
The blood spraying in his dream, the golden Holy Sword falling from the sky and sticking between the stones, and... the golden figure swallowed by the beast.
"Damn it! That dream just now... what was that about?! Was it mocking me about something?!" Xia growled through gritted teeth.
Xia sat silently in the secret chamber for a long while.
Then he raised his head and looked out the stone chamber's window at the sun hanging high in the sky.
He gently closed his eyes, feeling the warm sunlight streaming through the window and its peaceful warmth.
He lightly touched his wound. It was where Artoria's Holy Sword had...
"Artoria... did you hear my name...?"
Shaking his head, Xia composed himself a little and forced the violence inside him down as far as it would go. Then he kicked open the stone door and walked out.
The door flew across the room and crashed into the opposite wall with a tremendous boom!
At the same time, Alice and the others were quietly enjoying afternoon tea on a balcony when they heard the loud crash from the basement.
"Oh? Looks like our guest has woken up... and he doesn't seem to be in a very good mood. Right, Saber?" Alice said with a smile after taking a sip of hot tea.
Kiritsugu, sitting beside Alice, furrowed his brow slightly at the noise. He glanced at Saber, who had been dazed ever since waking up yesterday, then paid her no further attention.
"Um... since Xia's awake, does that mean I can leave now?" A timid voice spoke up just as the atmosphere on the balcony fell silent again. Its owner seemed afraid that one wrong word would get him killed on the spot by the man across from him...
The little guy who had asked the question successfully drew everyone's attention.
"Go see your Servant first. Tell him about our agreement, and then you can leave," Kiritsugu said coldly. He stood and headed downstairs. Alice led the still-dazed Saber after him, while poor Beiju, the Master, could only trail along dejectedly.
When Kiritsugu and the others reached Xia's room, a servant told them that Xia had already gone outside into the snow.
With no other choice, they hurried to the place the servant had mentioned. Outside the castle, they spotted a lone figure in red standing in an open space, head tilted back as he gazed at the sky.
"Hey, Xia!" Beiju called from a distance, then quickly ran toward him.
Hearing the call, Xia turned around in confusion. A figure flashed in front of him—and then pain struck his stomach!
"Ugh!" Xia groaned, and he and the little Master who had barreled into his arms rolled several meters across the ground!
"Waaah! Xia! Xia! I was so scared of them! Waaah! Especially that expressionless, stone-faced guy! He's terrifying! Waaah!" Beiju sobbed his heart out in Xia's arms!
"I'd just woken up and walked out of my room. Then I got to the living room and saw rows of men in black holding weapons! Then some weird old man with white hair came out and started talking about contracts and agreements. Before I could even figure out what was going on, they kidnapped me! Waaah!" Beiju wailed even harder. His tears flowed like a flood, endless and unstoppable!
"I know, I know! Now get off me! My armor! My battle clothes!" Xia pushed at his Master's face with one hand, trying to shove him away, while lamenting his ruined outfit.
Those wet tears! That sticky snot smeared all over his battle clothes! And Beiju rubbing his face against Xia's clothes like that!
"I'll kill you! Get off me! I really will kill you!"
"Waaah! Xia! You're so cruel! Are you going to abandon me and find someone new?! Waaah!"
Xia and Beiju wrestled for a full five minutes before Kiritsugu's glare, along with Saber's help, finally managed to separate them.
Before parting, they kept hurling insults at each other, things like "useless Master," "pathetic Servant who got taken out in one hit," "crybaby," and "perverted Servant!"
Their bickering caused Xia to completely forget one thing.
Just now... Artoria had come over and helped him up.
A divider
Only after Xia had changed into the formal clothes Alice had given him did he finally step onto the castle balcony. There, he met the man who would create the main story of the next Holy Grail War and become Saber's first Master.
Emiya Kiritsugu.
He pulled out a chair and sat down in front of the man.
Xia glanced at Artoria, who stood beside Kiritsugu. She was looking at him with a puzzled, observant expression, and Xia's heart traitorously began to beat faster.
"Just now... thank you for helping me up." It was a clumsy thing to say. As soon as Xia finished, he turned his face away, unable to look at Artoria.
Artoria had been studying him, but at his words of thanks, she was briefly taken aback. Then she recovered and hurriedly replied,
"No, there's no need to thank me..."
"Mm. All right. Then I won't thank you... Hm?!" After hearing Artoria's polite response, Xia had unconsciously added another sentence. When he realized what he'd said, he nearly slapped himself! What did he mean, "All right, then I won't thank you"?!
Embarrassed, the two blushed slightly and turned their faces away, no longer looking at each other.
"Hehe, why don't you two continue this conversation in private later, all right? Artoria, Xia?" Alice interjected with a smile as Kiritsugu glared at the young man and his Servant, who had been exchanging glances right in front of him.
After both of them nodded in agreement, the discussion of the agreement between Kiritsugu and Xia resumed.
Since neither Xia nor his Master had any interest in the Holy Grail, the negotiations went very smoothly.
Beiju, Xia's Master, asked only that the Einzbern family cover his living expenses from then on. In return, he agreed to join the Einzbern side and, after the Holy Grail War ended, willingly sever his contract with his Servant.
Xia, on the other hand, demanded that Saber stand by his side at the very moment the Holy Grail descended. In return, he was willing to fight for the Einzbern family.
"Deal!" And so, the bargain was sealed with a single word from Kiritsugu.
Then, while Xia grinned maliciously, Kiritsugu bundled Beiju off to his laboratory.
The reason was, "Beiju is too weak to bring out Xia's full strength, so he needs to undergo forced enhancement!"
Alice also claimed to be feeling a little unwell and hurriedly slipped away from the balcony. No one knew where she went...
And so.
Only two people remained on the balcony...
Xia, who had just awoken from his slumber.
And Artoria, who had likewise just awoken from the call in her dream...
Had her memories... really returned?!
A divider
This chapter is a transition...
Also, should I write a special chapter about Artoria's summoned memories?
Next comes the countdown to the Fourth Holy Grail War: the King's Banquet.
Also, I might post an extra chapter on Monday.
Of course, if anyone is dissatisfied with this chapter, I'll delete it and rewrite it from scratch!
And before the Fifth Holy Grail War, the story will mainly focus on romance...
If you enjoyed this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you can find it again!
Before you continue