"This..."
Prompted by Iori, the homunculus girl grew serious. A faint glow of mana lit up in her beautiful red eyes as she stared at the distant church. A moment later, her expression turned surprised.
"This is... a barrier?"
"That's right. The chapel in the front is fine, but the church graveyard behind it is entirely covered by a powerful barrier. That means the priest has already summoned his Servant." Iori shook his head slightly. "It may not be an impregnable stronghold, but charging headfirst into a Mage of the Age of Gods' temporary workshop is just asking to die."
"...You were planning to ambush the priest?" Ciel looked at Iori in shock. "Why?"
"For your victory, my dear Master." Iori smiled faintly. "Even if we win the Red and Black War, there'll still be competition within the same faction. After all, there can only be one final victor... and this man is your greatest rival."
Ciel was still confused. "The priest Shirou Kotomine... judging by his record, he's just an ordinary priest devoted to helping the weak. He's never displayed anything unusual, nor does he have any experience related to the Holy Grail War."
"If he were really just an ordinary priest, why would the Church send him here?" Iori curled his lip.
"But there's no point discussing that now. He's a very cautious man. At this distance, his Servant should have noticed us long ago. Yet there's been no movement, which proves he won't leave his 'safe zone.'
The difficulty of launching an ambush and killing him outright is simply too high... I've decided to abandon this operation."
"Okay!"
Ciel chose to trust Iori. Though the boy could be somewhat As One Pleases in his actions, the silver-haired girl was beginning to feel that following his orders was