"..."
Not to mention how speechless Shishiou was, the moment Ciel heard the title "Saber," her eyes slowly went blank. She stared at the blonde girl with utter shock, and her usually expressionless face rarely showed such a loss of composure.
Th-this was one of the Three Knights, Saber, said to possess the highest overall parameters?!
"Ooh, Saber... Master, this is your chance. Want to trade Servants?"
Iori grinned at her. "Didn't you want one of the Three Knights, especially a noble and outstanding Saber? This is the strongest Class, you know~"
"Ber..."
Ciel's cheeks reddened slightly. She turned her head away, not daring to meet Iori's eyes.
"Berserker is the strongest!"
Mordred, Sweating Bullets!
"...If this is true, then it is utterly horrifying."
At an open-air café, the four of them sat in two groups across separate tables beneath parasols. Having just heard Ciel's "speculation" about a certain priest, the mercenary Shishiou immediately grew solemn—making his already intimidating face seem even more oppressive.
"This matter is too serious. I cannot simply accept your word, Master of the Einzbern family."
He deliberately emphasized Ciel's identity: an Einzbern of the Three Great Families.
As one of the three families that had founded the Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family's understanding of the Greater Holy Grail was unmatched in the world. Strictly speaking, it had originally been an inherited artifact belonging to their family.
The Mage's Association had refused Ciel's request and would not even grant her a Master slot because they had considered Einzbern's obsession with the Holy Grail, fearing that they would take the opportunity to stir up trouble if allowed to participate.
Now, although the Mage's Association had grudgingly recognized Ciel as a Master through Lord El-Melloi II's connections, they still regarded her as an outsider.
Shishiou had been