Siegfried's words... the summoning system employed here provided knowledge much in the way that the Grail did in the past. As a result, the knowledge of heroes that Arturia had never heard of in life was as easily recalled as the meal she had eaten earlier in the day. And the name Sigurd... a spear-wielding warrior woman lamenting the name of Sigurd. It wasn't difficult, via process of elimination, identifying who the corrupted Lancer could be...

But there was little more time to converse. The wolves that the dragonslayer mentioned were already making their way towards the town, and it was her duty to put a stop to their advance. Even if her Master had not ordered such a thing.

"Yes, Master," she said, swiftly, reminding herself to mention the matter of the Lancer's potential identity before immediately breaking into a sprint towards the advancing silhouettes. They were large, dangerous beasts, undeniably, but that did not mean anything when it came to a knight. She would fight regardless of the opponent.

The moment the blonde girl came within striking range of one of the wolves, she raised Excalibur and brought it down, aiming to cut the beast completely in half by surprise.

"As expected of my rival", Elizabeth said while gnawing at her at her thumb with a thoughtful—or was it worried?— face as she followed the group.

"Perhaps I should ask Puppy to summon me as a Caster and have a cooking contest? I'm sure that my bloody sweets won't ever lose but", the draconic Lancer slapped her own face out of the blue before clenching her clawed fingers into fists, "I can't be distracted! This has to be a scheme to take my attention away from our true battlefield—the stage. I really can't underestimate the stratagems of someone who lived in a time as bloody as the Roman era. Well done Sab—I mean, Caster, but I'm not going to fall for your tricks tonight."

"Wait, huh?" Elizabeth only snapped back to the real world once Keisuke called her and Saber—the one that looks exactly like Caster, except for a certain region around their chests, for a reason that Elizabeth had yet to understand. "Wolves?" she asked, slightly disoriented before she set her sight on where Saber was charging forward.

"Ah, those... Right, you can leave them to me, Puppy!" Elizabeth said before charging off after Saber.

Keeping up with the blue blur that the sword-wielding girl becomes when she unleashes even a sliver of her power wasn't easy. In fact, Lancer couldn't do it at all. However, her wings were an advantage that almost no other Heroic Spirit has. The ability to fly high and then quite literally dive bomb towards the ground more than made up for the difference in their speeds.

Elizabeth landed shortly behind Saber and raised a pair of claws to her lips. "I don't like the idea of using my beautiful voice for something like this but you guys asked for it when you interrupted me while I was plotting a strategy to one-up Saber... I mean, Caster. This will be a special show only for your ears! Listen well, puppies!" She said before drawing a long breath and then letting out a supersonic whistle. While it was out of a human, and even a normal Servant's, hearing range, such a loud noise was sure to make the hearts of the wolves, as well as any animals in a long distance, skip a beat... literally.

---

Lancer seemed rather distracted for some reason... a cooking contest? Why would they ever be having that? She was willing to face off against such a fervent singer, that was certain, but did that rivalry really extent to other arenas? Moreover, how could this be a stratagem? It was a known fact that many medicinal substances tasted less than pleasant--barely distinguishable from poisons, as she should know--and it was simpler to impart the potions' properties to something far more palatable than to serve them as it was. The rest of the foodstuffs... well, Nero had been in the kitchen, so why not take advantage of it? There was no telling how long they would be in the singularity, or who they might be able to introduce to the wonders of Roman cuisine! Such a shame there had been no time to make any garum, even if Seneca had never been in favour of it...

Of course, trying to make sense of Lancer was leaving her rather out of the loop too, save for the obvious appearance of a bunch of wolves... and so, with an apology to Siegfried for putting him on the ground again... more for the sake of gesturing than actual need, Nero thought for a second, remembering the right word...

... and let the explosion loose.

It was a brief conflagration, a completely wasteful attack--there were certainly more efficient things to use--but it had a major advantage: it was quite hard to dodge explosions when you were inside them. Of course, Saber and Lancer should be fine, but the dogs should certainly not be so resilient to fire, or being knocked from their feet...



It was an unexpected moment for radio contact to be made, Meran monitoring the situation and picking up on their uncertainty. She was sure the fighting was well in hand, or would be, so it was better now than later: "Sigurd is the hero of the Völsunga saga; in many regards similar to Siegfried: he also killed Fafnir. The story diverges in many respects, as he would be Norse as opposed to German, and events certainly diverge beyond that point.

"The latter part of the story centres around Sigurd's courting of the shieldmaiden Bryinhildr. It did not go smoothly, involved a lot of betrayal and adultery, and they both died. Most likely, it is the valkyrie Brynhildr that you are fighting now--and Siegfried most likely resembles Sigurd.

"Though Sigurd would wield Gram, not Balmung."

The immediate reaction by his Servants was was more than appreciated by Keisuke as the group continue on towards the town. The first wolf that had been taken by surprise by Arturia was immediately cut down, and Elizabeth's followup may as well have destroyed the hearing of the remaining three, seeing as how two of them seemed completely stunned in place, their ears bleeding as they shook in place. Of course, that itself didn't last for long as Nero's conflagration found its mark, incinerating the two that were stunned and blowing the fourth a fair distance away from the town. It paused for a moment, as if trying to collect its bearing after the sudden series of events, but soon began to run off, howling through the night. In its wake, however, came more undead rising from the earth, as if they had been waiting for the initial wave of wolves to fall.

"I'll leave the rest to you, then!" the Enforcer shouted as Tomoe picked up Siegfried and began to dash towards the town at full speed. Meran's words were not lost on his ears, however, and the Master nodded as he took in that information that was given to him.

"Brynhildr, then? Do we have any details that might alight towards a Noble Phantasm? We should be prepared to deal with it as soon as possible, in case we have to engage her in combat once more."


Reaching the town before her Master (or the rest of the group, who was a fair deal away), Tomoe quickly leaped to the town's gatekeepers before slowly placing Siegfried and the basket of assorted goods down near them.

"Who...?" one of the men asked before Siegfried raised a hand to stop them.

"This woman and her allies saved me while fighting that woman as usual," Siegfried said as Tomoe leaped onto the top of the walls and drew her bow. "I owe them my life, so please, do not think ill of them."

"E-er... Of course," he responded as Tomoe began to launch arrow after arrow at the oncoming horde. "A-actually, you mentioned being 'saved' just now. Are you injured?"

"Yes, somewhat. But given enough time, I should recover well enough to support this place once more."

---

Keisuke's brow furrowed as the undead began to rise from beneath the snow, in a matter not unlike the ones they engaged on their arrival here. It was likely that they would fall with relative ease just like them, of course, but the issue was that they were appearing in the first place.

"Hm... Troublesome. They're being treated like cannon fodder, though, which means it should simply be a matter of regrouping at the town and mowing them down," he remarked, slicing through a zombie as he began pushing through to their destination. "There should be a link between the wolves and the undead, though, if this is how things are panning out..."

@VitaVitaAR@KoL@Raineh Daze

Saber glanced up, surprised, as flames immediately washed over her. However, they never touched her. A barrier seemed to suddenly come into view, Arturia's A-Rank magic resistance nullifying any effect the fire may have had, even as it melted the snow away around her. Even if it hadn't proven harmful to her, the knight couldn't help but feel that a move like that was potentially rather reckless. Effective, but... reckless. There wasn't time to mention that, however. The single remaining wolf fled, howling, but in its wake there came a large number of undead, rising from the earth.

There wasn't any room for hesitation, nor was there any reason to hesitate. The sword-wielding Servant immediately burst forward and pierced one of the first undead through the chest. As she did, light suddenly swirled around her blade.

"Haaaaah!"

They released in an instant, light erupting forward, ripping the zombie on her blade to pieces, vaporizing much of it as the beam tore through the air and blasted apart multiple undead on its way. The King of Knights didn't pause there for a moment, hacking apart another of the undead as it advanced, dashing to the side and cutting away at the frozen, animated corpses with each moment. The latest of the undead was pierced through its stomach before Arturia swung the sword violently upward, cleaving its body in half from the waist upward and allowing the corpse to fall to the side.

"I will not allow a single one of these animated dead to reach the town walls!" Saber declared. It was not a matter of the danger. Even if they did, the other defenders would take care of them. But her pride as a knight pushed her further, to do everything she could to prevent even one of the corpses from threatening a single person.

"That's easy, Puppy. The thing that wolves and the undead have in common is that both of them are descended from Loki's children", Elizabeth shouted over to Keisuke, before splitting a couple zombies in half with a strike from her spear's shaft. "Caster likely knows more about this than I do. I just remember it from one of the books I read while I was imprisoned. Talking about this..."

"Argh, this isn't going anywhere! You take one down and three others come to fill the void", Elizabeth said in an exasperated voice. The Lancer-class Servant scratched her head as her patience for this low-class audience began to run dry.

"You guys want to get through those walls so badly? Then, how about trying to break into this?" She said before smashing a zombie with her spear, throwing it high in the hair, right in the path of Archer's arrows.

Following her last attack, Elizabeth flew up again before landing in front of the village's gate. "Archer, I'm going to rock you for a bit, alright?" She said before spinning her spear overhead and planting it on the ground. As soon as she did so, a huge crimson-colored magic circle sprung the ground behind Elizabeth, filling the area with a large influx of mana that only a member of the dragonkin would be able to output and the overwhelming smell of blood.

A moment later, the wooden walls of the village disappeared, being substituted by the much taller and sturdy ramparts of Csejte, Elizabeth's prison castle.

"You can try to get in, but let me tell you that this the most effective prison in all of the Servant World, even Alcatraz, and Chateau d'If are better known for the people they let escape. The journey into Csejte is a one-way trip only, so are you ready for it?" Elizabeth finished her declaration before boldly pointing her spear at the approaching zombies.

"And you, get in while you can", she added a moment later, gesturing for the villagers to get Siegfried inside of the castle's gate, which was placed right where the village's former gate was.

---

"This is really a waste of my talents," Nero complained, standing in front of the rising castle, "There's nothing beautiful about putting down the dead again." The dead were disgusting, who would want to include them in any form of art? Still, in a battle of numbers, neither Saber nor Lancer were well equipped to deal with hordes.

Well, she was, particularly the dead. Holy sacraments of all kinds were the realm of the priests, and the powers of Rome's religious leader were not to be impugned! All that required was that Saber prevent any interruption and Elisabeth keep the zombies out whilst she got to the end of her casting.

If there was any doubt as to what she was doing, the sudden and immediate switch to Classical Latin over any contemporaneous language should have made it clear, along with the length of the chant. Assuming a lack of interruption... well, nobody could say that a sudden low-lying layer of stormclouds raining lightning bolts down on the area was just chance weather. Not when they kept striking the undead specifically.



"A Noble Phantasm? I am afraid not, Brynhildr is associated with no artefact in particular. From the stories, impassable flames are to be expected, and if a valkyrie a spear of some sort, but her defining feature would be her own betrayal."

"Loki's children... Wait, are you referring to Fenrir or whatever that thing's name was?" the Enforcer asked as he weaved through the undead in front of him, lopping off their heads with quick, clean cuts as he arrived at the newly-replaced gates of the town. "Ah, not even a day into the job and we're already talking about apocalyptic enemies..."

With a bit of a sigh, Keisuke moved to help Siegfried inside the town's walls as the onslaught of undead continued on. To say this wasn't just the slightest bit absurd would be a lie, but given what was to come, it would probably be the least of his worries in the near future.

"But even so... No clues on the Noble Phantasm? That does make it hard to prepare anything as a direct counter... Hm. It does seem likely that we'll simply have to catch that Servant off guard and simply push through with brute force, then. How unpleasant."

At this, Keisuke turned towards Siegfried, then up at the sky.

"These battles usually last until morning, correct? How much longer will the night last?" Keisuke asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the Saber. "Beyond that, how long do you believe it will be until you are combat-ready?"

Siegfried paused for a moment, staring at the sky in turn as the faintest of light could be seen shining over the horizon.

"It shouldn't last much longer than this, at least; the dawn is more or less upon us already, and those healing restoratives that Caster has prepared combined with my natural regeneration means that I should be able to fight again come nightfall."


Just as the morning sun began to rise over the horizon, Tomoe began to notice that the number of undead rising from the earth was gradually diminishing. It truly did seem like this was a matter of staving off the horde until night passed, a matter made quite simple by the reinforcement of Elizabeth's Noble Phantasm. Though she knew not of what Nero was planning for the moment, the Archer refused to let up the assault for even a moment as she continued to bring down undead after stray undead. Saber could deal with protecting Caster as she did... Whatever it was that she was doing with the lightning, after all, so it would be left to her to eliminate any stragglers once it was done.

And done it was, as the sudden barrage of lightning strikes from the skies above rained down like a god's wrath made manifest. It was a bit of a terrifying sight, in a way, but knowing that such strength was on their side was a comfort all it's own.

As the sun finally began to rise over the landscape, it would be clear to those defending the town walls that the undead were now naught but stragglers futilely attempting to attack the near-impervious reinforced walls surrounding the town.

Their job, it seemed, was done, and so Tomoe calmly launched herself over the ramparts and onto the ground in front of Siegfried, Keisuke, and the guards from earlier (along with a few people who had woken to see what the commotion—and the new walls—were all about).

"Master, the enemy has been routed," she stated curtly, bowing as Siegfried nodded and shook her hand. Of course, when the others arrived inside, they would be met with applause, however uneasy.

After all, Siegfried had been their savior until now, and it would be rude to disparage the ones who saved him (and themselves), but even so...

"What strange clothes!" one young girl pointed out, clutching onto her mother's skirt as she pointed at the group. Keisuke held back a slight grimace and instead forced himself to smile as Siegfried walked forward amidst the nervous chuckling of the townsfolk.

"These men and women helped us out last night, and I would not be here if not for their timely arrival," he stated simply, motioning towards the ground before smiling. The Saber quickly turned towards Keisuke, as if expecting a followup, and it took a few moments for the Enforcer to read the situation and step forward to speak himself.

"We mean no harm, and shall only be here for a day, at most. Think of us only as travelers, please," he stated as an old man walked forwards from the crowd.

"I am the leader of this town, Adalbert Larsen. Of course, Lord Siegfried's allies are our own. Please, if you have any needs, do not hesitate to ask for assistance," he stated, slowly making his way forward to be made known by the party in question.

"Of course, Mr. Larsen," Keisuke responded, bowing deeply in response before turning to the rest of the Servants behind him. "I think I'll be going around gathering information as best I can today, then. The rest of you are free to wander about as you please. Maybe the townspeople might take a shine to you."

Tomoe nodded in agreement before turning towards the other Servants and thinking to herself for a moment.

"Hm... Siegfried is likely to be guarding our Master, and he has Command Seals to call us if he needs aid... I believe that it would be the best if we split up to talk with the townsfolk as well. In any case, I shall be off, then," she stated before walking towards the dispersing crowd of people.

After all, the day was young, and they still had work to prepare and lives to live.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL

"All's well when it ends well, is it not what you people say?" Elizabeth said after the whole commotion was done for. She could feel her energy being recharged to boundless limits by the heated reception of the fans villagers, which was pretty evident in the way her tail swished to and fro while she listened to the finals instructions and comments from both her Puppy and the Booby Archer.

Elizabeth's first action as soon as they were free to do as they wished was to go after Caster. "Hey, can I ask you something, Caster? Do you... remember anything about me at all? It's a long story but I just want to be sure that, even though this you may not be the same that I know, that you still remember me. I mean, what would I do, if my number one rival forgot that I exist?" She asked in a slightly more serious than usual tone.

---

Remember her? She was hardly the type to easily forget the more interesting people that she had ever met, and Caster's eyes briefly flicked up to the horns. Even if the outfit was new, she could say with certainty that she would never have forgotten meeting somebody with such interesting physical features in her life, and it wasn't like she had all that much opportunity to encounter anybody else since dying. Even more confusing that Lancer thought of herself as a rival; what need did an Emperor have to rival someone of much lower stature from centuries later?

"But this is the first time I've been summoned, Lancer. As cute as you are, even I cannot remember meeting someone born so long after me."

"Worry not," Arturia said, doing her best to assure the crowd as they dispersed, "We will root out the source of these creatures and destroy it."

For now, it seemed they had time to themselves. For a moment, the blonde knight glanced towards her allies... To be honest, she wasn't sure what they would do if left to their own devices. The Roman Emperor was extremely exuberant and lacked any kind of restraint, and... well... it wasn't hard to understand Elizabeth Bathory's habits, even if the dragon girl had clearly been attempting to reform. That didn't mean leaving either of them to their own devices was a good idea, especially not when they were together.

After a few moments, the Saber-class Servant decided that it would be for the best to remain with them, to attempt to keep an eye on their behavior. More then, that, though...

... As long as she was here... Perhaps it would be possible for her to see how these people lived...

"... Perhaps we could visit the local market?" she asked, turning towards her fellow Servants.

Admittedly, this was in part for a desire to have food prepared with extremely fresh ingredients. This location seemed like it was a prime source of red meat and fresh fish, after all. The cold would keep it well-preserved, and it was likely harvested daily... fresh ingredients like that could be used well for preparing delicious meals!

As the rest of his Servants split off from the group to go around the town, Keisuke and Siegfried slowly began to walk along the outskirts of the town. The buildings closer to the wall were obviously a bit more worn-down than the ones closer to the center, which was to be expected. But even with that fact in mind, it wasn't as if the threat of any enemies attacking in broad daylight existed. After all, he had Siegfried to help defend him as he traveled the area to examine the town's defenses.

Yes, that was more or less the goal of his current exploration: gathering information on how to have the town defend itself sufficiently against such issues. Elizabeth's Noble Phantasm wouldn't exist forever, after all, and Keisuke himself would prefer it if he could recruit Siegfried to help resolve this whole matter directly rather than just strictly defending the town.

"Hm... I think a bounded field around the town could work as a basic method of keeping those undead out, letting the guards simply clean up the next day, but maybe..." he pondered to himself before Siegfried quietly gripped onto a shoulder.

"Hold a moment; I sense the presence of an unfamiliar presence," the Saber stated calmly before taking a few steps in front of Keisuke. "My name is Siegfried, slayer of Fafnir. Nameless Servant, could I request you reveal yourself? I would rather not cause an unnecessary scuffle within the town here in searching for you, and given that you aren't immediately out for my blood I would hope to assume that you are at least willing to speak."


Tomoe, unlike the other Servants in her group, had opted to split off and head towards the blacksmiths of the town. It was a given, of course, that she would be interested in a culture so different from her own. The Grail had not given her any knowledge of past eras such as these, and given the situation the Archer believed it would do her well to learn something about this world, so as to know how to combat her opponents better.

Granted, it didn't matter as much because she was a Servant and could shrug off attacks from normal human weapons with ease, but understanding how an opponent fought and what they fought with would never be a waste of time.

Once she entered a building that had a simple 'smith' sign on its storefront, though, Tomoe found herself looking straight at what seemed to be a grouchy old man tending the storefront. There were a variety of weapons on display, but before the Archer could even examine the first one, she heard the storekeeper scoff.

"Crazy girl. How'd you even survive that horde? No armor or anything," he grumbled. The Archer paused in place for a moment before standing up straight and walking over to him.

"Pardon me, but did you just say something about me?"

"You heard me," he spat, glaring at Tomoe for a moment before forcefully drawing her katana from its sheath. "What the heck is this weird sword? So light and flimsy... How do you expect to cut through armor with this thing, anyways?"

The Archer had, of course, been far too focused at the prior affront to her pride that she hadn't stopped the old man from taking her sword, but his comments were far too aggravating for her to let them slide. Moving faster than the human eye could perceive, Tomoe snatched her weapon back from the old man before he could realize what was going on, glaring at him with irritation.

"Do you not know the meaning of the word 'courtesy'? Are you the only blacksmith in this town? Have you no one to humble you for such arrogance?" she asked angrily, flicking the katana off towards the side as she stared the man down in anger. "Where I come from, you would be shamed and beheaded on the spot."

"Huh? You, a traveler, lecturing me about what I can and can't do?! Anyone could tell that your sword won't even cut the flimsiest of my shields!" he spat back, wholly undeterred by Tomoe's outburst.

"Would you like to test that theory?" the Archer responded, taking the man's comment as a challenge. With a confident smile, the old man glared at Tomoe and pointed to a door leading out behind the store.

"Gladly. If I'm right, you get right out of this shop this instant and never come back."

"And if I'm correct, you shall prostrate yourself and learn to stay your tongue in the presence of others."

"Deal," the old man chuckled, getting up from his seat and walking to the door he had pointed to moments earlier. "You'll regret this, girl."

"Likewise," Tomoe said, following the shopkeeper out back as she sheathed her katana. "My pride shall not be so easily trampled, but yours might be dust by the time I am done here."

Ah, she'd been noticed... Well, that was fine. She hadn't expected to hide, if she was being frank. No, her reason for coming here had nothing to do with subtly observing these Servants... though she was also feeling rather curious.

No, she simply regarded the shoddy undead with distaste.

The figure that emerged from the shadows was... short. She didn't particularly have any sort of imposing look to her, and yet... something seemed subtly darker about her nature. The small, pale girl regarded the Saber-class Servant and the human man standing behind him with a grin. Yes, indeed, this was interesting... the hero Siegfried was here, in addition to the other Servants she had spotted. A single Master using multiple Servants... of course, she had been summoned here under unusual circumstances as well, but regardless of that she found the fact that a solitary master was seemingly in command of more then one heroic spirit was rather fascinating.

There was little reason to hide her identity, in the face of another Norse Servant.

"It's a pleasure to meet someone as famed as Siegfried, fufu~" Caster said, cocking her head to one side as she licked her lips. Placing one hand to her chest, she continued, "I am Princess Skuld, summoned as Caster~ I couldn't help but notice the shoddy, half-baked excuses for the undead swarming about this region, so I took it upon myself to remove such distasteful wretches. But it seems I am too late..."

Yes, indeed, Skuld could fashion much more worthwhile undead under her own power. As for the Master... well, she wanted to speak to him later, that much was certain. She wanted to know just why such a man was here, and what he was doing. Did he perhaps have anything to do with the terrible undead that were rising around the town? Certainly, he did not seem the type to be responsible for their creation, even ignoring the fact that the servants that had taken care of the problem were his own. So from where had he originated? He definitely didn't belong in this era, either.

"G—gah! What do you think you are doing, calling people cute out of the blue like this? You dummy Emperor!" Elizabeth's face was as pink as her hair after Caster's surprise move. She knew that she couldn't underestimate the blonde Emperor but she wasn't expecting this kind of surprise counter at all.

"W—well, if you don't remember it, I guess that there's no point in arguing. Actually, who knows what could happen if I told you about what happened at the Moon Holy Grail War?" Elizabeth muttered, thinking out loud.

"Very well then, Caster, what happened in the future doesn't matter for us Servants. But even so, it doesn't change the fact that you are the only one worthy of being called my rival at the stage. As long as this performance lasts, I'll make it my personal mission to keep you safe and make sure you understand what I mean," she said while waving her tail to and fro to show that she was being serious about her words. "If I let this chance escape, who knows how much I'll have to wait before we meet again at another Holy Grail War?"

"Ah, right on time, Saber!" Elizabeth said, gesturing for the other Servant to come closer just as she finished her fiery declaration. "The market, you say? That's actually quite a good idea. Off we go, then!" she added with an enthused tone while shamelessly wedging herself between the pair of blonde royals on their way to the town's marketplace.

"Actually, now that I think about it. The two of you look quite a lot like one another, don't you? Could it be that you are distant relatives or something like this?" Elizabeth said with a voice that more or less betrayed the fact that she trying to hit on them while walking down the partially empty streets.

---

That much was enough to get her to blush? Lancer was adorable... and it only made her even more tease-able in the process. Though no doubt the direct approach would work well given who it was in particular, well... both for the sake of new experiences and an inkling of her own safety, there was no reason to let the pink-haired idol take the lead or regain her balance. All this moon talk was confusing the Emperor, however... how was there a grail on the moon? It would be remarkably hard to get something all the way up there and then set up a complicated ritual, though at least the World wouldn't be fighting back in that case... but could you even summon a Servant in such a situation?

With her serious declaration of protection over, and the girl sandwiched between two blondes, Nero had time to respond to her flirtatious attitude: "If Saber is a relative of mine, then her development missed something important." The 'something important' was quite noticeable with the cheery emperor deciding to take hold of Elizabeth's entire arm, "Umu, if you're going to protect me, then we should stay close."

"... I... am uncertain," Arturia confessed. It... wasn't impossible there was shared blood between King Arthur and Emperor Nero, but she had never learned if that was so. And if it was, it would be quite a distant relation, which made their similar looks all the more jarring. It couldn't be said that they were completely identical, but there was a similarity that went beyond coincidence in their facial features and hair. Of course, there were also numerous differences, one of which Caster rather quickly pointed out.

For a few moments, the blonde knight was silent, frowning. Drawing attention to such a thing was completely unnecessary. It didn't matter, not to her capabilities as a knight nor to anything else.

"... I am a knight before I am anything else," Saber asserted, folding her arms over her chest, "Such a thing is completely irrelevant to my abilities."

That was the end of that, at least in Arturia's mind, but the short girl could hardly prevent anyone else from bringing it back up at this point.

The market just ahead was somewhat bustling, with various stands selling various wares. One sold fish, fresh-caught from the local rivers and lakes, the cold temperatures helping to keep them from spoiling. Similarly, another stand was selling fresh red meat, the man and his daughter beside him eagerly advertising the freshness and quality of their venison.

Keisuke took a step back as Siegfried moved between him and the new Caster, the tension in the air palpable as he replied.

"Caster... Skuld. Given that you have introduced yourself by your True Name, I should assume that you have no ill will towards the inhabitants of this town. At the same time, it is not as if I am not aware of your deeds, and I am not so naive as to leave myself undefended as one such as you," the Saber replied, sword still sheathed as he stared at the little girl. "Despite your appearance, you are capable of far more than you let on, correct?"

Keisuke simply pondered the situation before taking a step to the side, opting to not remain wholly behind Siegfried's back. Now that he could see the Caster in full view, he did have to admit that the girl was indeed... Short. Almost childlike, in a sense.

Also that she probably needed more clothing, but given the outfits of his other Servants, that... Something like that could be put off for the moment.

"More than that, I am more curious about why you decided to make yourself known to us. I would presume that you knew we were here once the day had come, so it would have been simple to simply lurk about. Is it simply the fact that we two are here alone, or is there something that you wished to discuss without the interference of other Servants present?" the Enforcer asked, staring straight at the Caster with stone-faced resolve.


Once the pair had made their way to the backyard, the old man set up a shield against a log—a rather old one, however sturdy it seemed to be—and gestured for the Archer to cut through it if she could. Tomoe found it odd how he had moved so quickly despite the situation, but let out a huff and took a deep breath.

"Focus..." she muttered to herself, closing her eyes for a moment before drawing her katana and bisecting the shield in one fell swoop. The shield took a second before the seam began to show, and in a few seconds the old wooden shield fell apart into two clean halves. The old man stared at the shield in shock for a moment before grumbling and setting up another shield in the same spot.

"That one was rotting; surely you can't cut through THIS one!" he boasted as the Archer calmly cut that one through in a similar manner.

"Are we done here? I came to examine your arms, not to humiliate anyone," Tomoe sighed as the old man angrily set up a test dummy clad in armor and slapped it on the back.

"This is the last one! The last two were simply defective," the old man spat out, flustered at the situation as Tomoe glared at the test dummy.

"This is the last one, then? No more?" she asked to confirm, to which the red-faced old man nodded vigorously. "Very well. Let me demonstrate what this blade can do."

With a nod, Tomoe took a step back and adopted a battle stance before dashing past the dummy, her sword outstretched beside her as she moved. At first glance, it looked as if her weapon had done nothing, which led the old man to smile triumphantly. It was only after a few seconds of that short-lived joy, though, that the dummy's top half slowly slid off and fell on the ground with an underwhelming 'thunk'.

"There," Tomoe said, calmly sheathing her katana before turning back to the old man. "Keep your word."

"I—You—Fine!" he spat before angrily lowering himself on the ground in front of the Archer and, through gritted teeth, promised to the Archer's terms. It wasn't as if she could enforce it, anyhow—

"And so it shall be. I shall speak with that... Mr. Larsen, was it? I'm sure that he'll make sure you keep your word," Tomoe said, a smug smile on her face as she calmly left the store. It dawned on her after a few moments, though, that she hadn't really... Accomplished her initial goal.

"Oh, what am I doing? I should be gathering information, not acting like some lord or ronin from a play doling out justice," she chastised herself mentally before walking away. "I wonder if the others have had any better progress; being sidetracked like that was a mistake, if anything..."

"Despite my appearance?" questioned Skuld, cocking her head to the side as she spoke. So they didn't think her appearance suited her nature, did they... It was difficult to hide the displeasure on Caster's face, even if it lasted only briefly. What did they imagine was the proper look for an evil elven queen, hm? Some buxom, overly large-breasted co-ah... No, now wasn't the time to dwell on such matters. Rather, it was the time to... explain herself, for once. Regardless of her role in life, she was not here for such purposes. No, she was planning on handling this... undead problem. At the same time, though... ah, she couldn't resist.

"Am I not the very image of an alluring, seductive queen?" she asked, running one hand across her chest as she licked her lips once more, "Certainly, you must simply be trying to hide your interest~ Fufufu..."

She paused for a moment, then cleared her throat.

"... Regardless, I chose to make myself known simply due to the circumstances. I had already planned to introduce myself after observing you for some time, but you located my presence before I had the chance," Skuld explained, gesturing idly with her right hand. It was the truth, she had been rather curious about this Servants and their... unusual Master, and therefore had elected to observe from a distance. She hadn't bothered to attempt to truly hide, because she felt she could simply explain if she was located. Regardless of anything else, the majority of these Servants, and their Master, hardly seemed to be the 'attack first, ask questions later' types.

"I don't think that the lack of, erm... plot on one's legend matters that much," Elizabeth said, regarding Caster's comment about Saber's figure while trying to not make the King of Knights feel too bad about the cold truth. "Being cute is what matters above all else, right? Wha—!" she added before almost jumping out of her scales as Nero employed another low blow against the poor dragon girl.

"Do—don't do this kind of thing without telling me first, you Dumb Emperor! Are you trying to send me back to the Throne with a jump scare or something like this?" Elizabeth said in an indignant voice, despite the fact that she didn't really try to free herself from Caster's grip. "Though, I suppose that if you are feeling cold, I could share a bit of my Idol's warmth with you."

"Anyway, what are we going to get from this place? Since it was Saber's suggestion I suppose she should be the one to decide, right?" The draconic Lancer said as the three of them walked through the market, peering at a number of stands. "By the way, you two don't think that we have time for a snack or two along the way back, do you?" she added while turning a narrowed eye look towards a group of, seemingly, street urchins that were curiously observing them from behind the corner of a nearby building.

---

An offer to share warmth, eh...? Well, despite her small size, she did feel remarkably warm, particularly compared with the outside temperature... "I'll be happy to share as much warmth as you like, Lancer." And that was enough teasing for now, though something told Nero that she should keep an eye on the very-pink girl. For instance, at this distance, it was impossible to miss where she was looking when snacks were mentioned. For someone that wasn't a vampire, it was still a bit of a concerning gaze. Someone else might have gotten the benefit of the doubt that they were only concerned about theft, but this one...

"I don't know what we could expect in terms of food, but I think we have time to see what we can find for ourselves and our Master."