Even Artoria, who had relished Gawain's rotten potatoes, was moving like a machine at this moment.
Open mouth, eat. Open mouth, eat.
Her face was red as fire, the light had vanished from her eyes, and even her ahoge had drooped.
"Artoria! What's wrong? Hang in there!"
Artoria pushed away the bowl, which contained nothing but some chili oil now, her hands trembling.
"I'm full."
Sakura nudged Artoria's shoulder. "Miss Artoria? Miss Artoria..."
Of everyone remaining—Illya, Chloe, and the others—aside from Angelica and Miyu, who had not eaten the Mapo Tofu, nearly all the women had fallen to the terrifying dish.
They had not lost their ability to fight because of battle, but they were now incapable of fighting because of Mapo Tofu.
After resting for over ten minutes, everyone finally returned to normal.
Artoria, meanwhile, continued lying face-down on the table like a dead fish.
"I was gone for over half a year, and it seems there are even fewer people in Fuyuki City now."
Kirei Kotomine, who was washing dishes, nodded. "Of course there are. I only recently explained the Holy Grail War from half a year ago as a gas explosion. If the people of Fuyuki City hadn't been too lazy to care and simply fled, I wouldn't have been able to explain things here. Do you have any idea what kind of mess you made last time?"
At this point, Kirei Kotomine broke into tearful sobs. "Couldn't you spare a thought for me while you were fighting? I'm a public servant who was practically forced out of his post and had to switch careers to making Mapo Tofu, yet you still made such a huge commotion."
For an instant, Shirou saw the sorrowful image of this middle-aged man failing in his career, changing professions, yet still