"Um... sir, where are you planning to go next?"
Among the refugees, a gaunt man in his forties or fifties finally gathered the courage to approach the group.
The person he tried to approach was Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Mash stayed close at Fujimaru Ritsuka's side. She offered the man a friendly smile, but still held her shield in hand.
"Hm?" Fujimaru Ritsuka naturally noticed the man approaching, and he was somewhat surprised as well.
The armor Anno and the others wore was not entirely the same as that of the Holy City's Purge Knights, but it bore some resemblance. After what had happened at the gates of the Holy City, the refugees should have feared such figures.
Yet before they had returned, the refugees had been too frightened to approach. Now that these figures representing "danger" had come back, the refugees had actually worked up the nerve to make contact.
Of course, not everyone was alike. Some refugees still feared Anno and the other Knights of the Round Table. Fujimaru Ritsuka noticed several refugees secretly climbing up the mountainside and disappearing after they saw Anno return.
"Sir, why have you come to ask Chaldea's Master about this?"
Before Fujimaru Ritsuka could answer, Leonardo da Vinci popped out from who knew where, draped herself over Fujimaru Ritsuka's shoulder, and smiled at the male refugee in his fifties.
"Ah? Uh, um, h-hello."
The man was clearly startled by Leonardo da Vinci suddenly appearing. He instinctively backed away several steps, unease written across his face as his whole body trembled. After hesitating for a long while, he finally managed a greeting.
Fujimaru Ritsuka turned his head to look at Leonardo da Vinci's beautiful face, then at the refugee standing opposite them, still shaking in fear. He pressed his lips together.
This was... the sense