Shinji Matou At Your Service

"What a spectacular battle. Truly worthy of Allemagne's greatest hero." (Allemagne is the French word for "Germany," and it's normal for Jeanne, the Holy Maiden of France, to speak French. It shows that the world isn't all about speaking Japanese.)

Faced with Ruler's praise, Black Saber nodded silently.

"But it's only Saber, right? What about me? Wasn't my battle spectacular too?" Shinji blinked his eyes as if to say—praise me, praise me.

Although Jeanne had received mathematics lessons from Shinji, she had no intention of being biased.

"Your battle was also spectacular, but compared to Saber's, there is still a certain gap."

"That's a good evaluation."

Shinji was quite satisfied with this evaluation. He casually patted Siegfried's shoulder and smiled.

"It's normal to be a bit behind Brother Sieg. Brother Sieg is one of the greatest warriors of Northern Europe, a true hero. Brother Sieg, you're truly a man~ Brother Sieg, the great hero~"

Towards the end, Shinji even started singing.

Gordes stared at Black Assassin, unconsciously grouping him with the weirdo like Astolfo. Although, after some reflection, he found some sense in Assassin's words, he found it hard to reconcile the silly, playful person in front of him with the imposing figure from earlier.

After staring for a while, Gordes regretfully realized that this approach wasn't working and had to pull himself together to face Ruler again.

"Arbiter, would you be willing to accompany us from now on? If you plan to oversee the battle in Trifas, then staying in Yggdmillennia's Millennia Castle might be a good choice."

With a wave of Gordes' hand, a black Mercedes parked in the distance quickly drove up and stopped by the roadside.

"No, doing so would be unfair. My detection abilities are tens of times that of an ordinary Servant. No matter where the battle unfolds in Trifas, I can rush there immediately. Please do not worry."

Ruler unceremoniously refused. This Holy Grail War was an unprecedented clash between two forces, and she couldn't show favoritism to either side, not even superficially.

"Let's go, Saber."

Gordes' voice indeed held suppressed displeasure. His objective was clear from the start: to secure Ruler. However, Red Lancer had disrupted his plans. Even if he wanted to use Black Saber's strength to subdue Ruler, it was already too late. Gordes, being a magus, wasn't foolish enough to let his Servants fight in broad daylight—especially with the ever-unpredictable Assassin around.

"And you, Assassin? Are you coming back with us, or will you continue escorting Ruler?"

"I'll go with you. There won't be any more Red Servants threatening Ruler before dark, and I've done what I needed to do," Shinji said as he opened the car door.

"Wait, wait, your bag," Jeanne reminded him.

When Shinji met Jeanne, he was carrying a backpack, which he had placed in a concealed spot along with Jeanne's luggage before entering the battlefield.

"Keep it. It contains my midnight snack, but since it's already morning, I plan to go back and have breakfast with my Master. If you don't mind, you can have it as your breakfast. You must be hungry. If you don't want it, just throw it away. Also, remember to do the homework I left for you; I'll come by to check when I have time!"

With the roar of the engine, the Mercedes, driven by a homunculus driver, headed towards Millennia Castle, and from the rolled-down window, Shinji and Gordes' mutual jabs could be faintly heard.

"Are you an idiot, Assassin? Servants only need sufficient mana supply; they don't need to ingest food."

"You're the idiot. Don't you understand the simple truth that good food can make people happy? I've told you, although our existence is special, Servants are essentially still human."

"And what is that homework?"

"Not telling you."

"You—!"

The voice grew fainter until it finally disappeared.

Jeanne once again looked out at the traces of the battle between the two. The marks were scattered and chaotic, with no fixed direction.

These were not damages born out of malice to destroy something but merely the aftermath of a simple battle. Indeed, with just a casual strike, the signpost on the highway was cut in half, leaving a crater reminiscent of a meteor impact.

Thankfully, this wasn't an elevated road, Jeanne thought.

If it had been, it might have collapsed in their footsteps. Of course, Servants wouldn't die from that, but the reconstruction of the elevated road would take a long time. That would have been quite inconvenient.

In any case, the first battle between the Black and Red factions' Servants ended in a draw. Neither side suffered serious injuries nor expended significant magical energy. It was merely a light skirmish.

However, even this light skirmish was intense.

As the war escalates, there will likely be Servants and Masters trying to deceive each other. Was she, Ruler Jeanne d'Arc, summoned to oversee such actions?

She couldn't decisively say "no," but there was a vague feeling of disbelief. No matter what, there was something "different" about this Holy Grail War, something her inner self quietly voiced.

"Thinking about it now won't help. Regardless, I must give it my all."

Ruler clenched her fist and declared to herself. Even though the sun had risen, she still wore her armor, which made her feel inexplicably embarrassed. She quickly released the magical armor and changed back into her casual clothes, walking over to where her luggage had been placed earlier.

There, a black handbag and a backpack lay side by side.

Jeanne opened her (Leticia's) handbag, took out a black notebook, and looked at the half-filled handwritten exercises Shinji had left behind, feeling a pang of bitterness.

It had taken half an hour to complete just one page previously; how long would it take to finish these twenty-plus pages? Sigh~

This showed that Jeanne was a very diligent and hardworking student, who loved learning. She never even thought about asking someone to do it for her or simply not doing it.

One had to admit, she was a good student, just a bit dense.

Shaking her head to dismiss the stress from the exercises, Jeanne opened Shinji's backpack. Inside were sandwiches wrapped in food bags, a vegetable salad in a box, fresh milk in a glass bottle, and some unidentified food items that looked like snacks.

"Isn't this a bit too extravagant?"

Even though she had learned about modern life through Leticia, Jeanne, who came from a rural background, still found Shinji's provisions overly luxurious.

If this was just a midnight snack, how extravagant must his main meals be? Although Assassin didn't want them, should she enjoy these "luxurious items"?

As she hesitated, the grumbling protests from her stomach became the deciding factor.

"Thank you, Lord, for this food."

Jeanne picked up a sandwich and gently bit off a corner.

The softness of the bread, the crispness of the vegetables, the tenderness of the ham, and the sweetness of the jam mingled and clashed in her mouth, bringing Jeanne a pleasure she had never experienced in life.

"It's delicious."

...

After devouring half the food in the backpack, Jeanne contentedly patted her stomach.

"Now my stomach feels much better..."

Suddenly, she shivered and looked in the direction Shinji had gone with her blue eyes.

"Did he leave these things because he noticed something strange about me?... Well, it doesn't matter if he did. It's getting late; I should head to Trifas."

Under the pale purple sky, the girl picked up her bag and set off once more.