Shin-to, the rooftop of City Hall.
"Souji! Souji! This thing called a cellphone is amazing! Even if you don't know where the other person is, you can talk to them directly! I just spoke with Naoki earlier!"
Arcueid excitedly showed off a cellphone to Okita.
"Though I can do something similar, modern technology is so convenient. No wonder mysteries are slowly fading. Everyone seems to have one of these phones, right?"
"Master, I understand your excitement, but why did we have to come to such a high place?"
Okita could never quite grasp her Master's thought process—why did she love standing in high places to look down? Of course, it's not that she disliked being on the ground; it's just that whenever she had free time, she'd head to high spots.
"Huh? Souji, isn't the view up here amazing? And from a high place, you can see everything happening around you right away."
"Generally speaking, that's true."
Behind the two, as if stepping out of another dimension, Naoki suddenly appeared.
Seeing him, Arcueid immediately pounced with a bear hug. "Naoki! Long time no see!"
"Not that long. Didn't we just meet two days ago?" Naoki caught Arcueid as she lunged, patting her head, then looked at Okita. "Assassin, it's been a while too. Arcueid must have been a handful."
"No, not too much… Master."
Seeing Naoki appear before her, Okita felt a mix of emotions. She recalled what Rei had done to her. Though memories weren't shared, the body was the same, so after a moment of confusion, she understood what had happened.
Afterward, Okita told her Master, but to her surprise, her Master wasn't angry. Instead, she openly admitted it was with her consent.
[After all, Naoki and I are practically family now. My stuff is his, and his stuff is mine, so no need to worry about whose Servant you are.]
Faced with such reasoning and a Master who didn't care about the Holy Grail War or even her Servant's relationships, Okita was truly at a loss.
Meanwhile, after pouncing on Naoki, Arcueid took a few deep sniffs. "Alive~ Hmm, this scent—Naoki, your existence is starting to resemble mine, but your purity is still far behind. The transformation is a bit slow."
Naoki was now a Half-Fairy. His fairy half had reached about half of his being, and to fully transform the other half into a fairy would take another five years.
"Anyway, come on, Naoki, call me Big Sister first!"
"Huh?"
Naoki froze for a moment—call Arcueid 'Big Sister'?
"Why?"
"Because you're a fairy now, right? And since I'm a much older fairy than you, you should obviously call me Big Sister!" Arcueid puffed out her chest proudly. "Don't be shy, Naoki, just say it."
"I'm going home."
Naoki took a step back, a glowing circle resembling a spatial shift appearing behind him. Seeing this, Arcueid quickly grabbed him, pouting. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? I haven't told you the important thing yet!"
"Calling you Big Sister?"
"That's obviously important too—but no, there's something really important!"
This was what Arcueid had mentioned to Naoki over the phone earlier: [There's something very important I need to tell you. Meet me at the top of Shin-to City Hall.]
After struggling to hold Naoki back, Arcueid put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "Ugh, Naoki, calling me Big Sister won't hurt you. Just say it once."
"The problem is, you don't have a 'Big Sister' vibe at all. If anything… Little Sister?"
"I'm older than you!"
Arcueid puffed out her chest again—obviously referring to her age, not her figure, but her gesture made it hard for Naoki not to think otherwise.
Sighing in resignation, Naoki asked, "So, what's the important thing?"
"About your fight with Solomon. I actually learned some things from Gaia." Arcueid said with a serious expression. "I'll get to the point, Naoki. Gaia hopes I can stop your fight."
"Gaia?"
"Yes, for Gaia, your fight won't bring any benefit to her. The loss to either of you would be significant, so the Counter Force doesn't want you two to fight. Not just Gaia—the other side feels the same."
Solomon was one of the Seven Grand Servants, an ultimate weapon used to confront Beasts.
Naoki was a Holy Sword User, an individual capable of saving the world during a major catastrophe.
To the Counter Force, this was like two of its best employees trying to destroy each other over a major project—a foolish waste of resources.
Thus, the Counter Force directly contacted Arcueid, the only one who might be able to stop them both—first with a warning, and if that failed, with force.
"That might not be possible." Naoki shook his head. "I have my own convictions, and King Solomon and Marisbury have theirs. A conflict of ideals can't be resolved with just a few words from an outsider."
"I thought so too, so I'm just passing this on to you. Gaia does want me to beat you both up if it comes to that, but—"
"So that's the Counter Force's plan?"
On the other side of Arcueid, Solomon's figure suddenly emerged from the void. His gaze swept over the three people present, then settled on Naoki. "It seems our fight will have quite a significant impact on the future."
"—You called him here, Arcueid?"
"Since it concerns both of you, I called you both at the same time."
Meeting Solomon's gaze, Naoki smiled. "So, what's your stance? Fight? Or not?"
"My Master's convictions will hold firm to the end. As for me… my stance depends on your performance in two days." Solomon said, looking at Naoki. "Whether our fight truly needs to escalate to a life-or-death battle, I'll decide again in two days."
"I swear here, whatever the final outcome, it will be one the Counter Force can accept."