I woke up soaked in sweat.
After wetting my scratchy throat, the clock caught my eye.
1 AM. Did I sleep for about four hours?
Even after a shower, the uncomfortable feeling didn't go away.
I opened the hospital window. There was no wind, and the chilly air was palpable.
I didn't want to turn on the lights. Relying on the moonlight, the only source of light, I blankly wasted time.
I got hungry and went to the kitchen, where I found something strange.
"…What is this?"
A letter was lying on the dining table.
At the top of the text, written in elegant cursive, the sender's name was Morgan.
"To my dear brother…"
I slowly read through its contents.
The letter contained what she had been plotting behind my back, and what her final objective was.
That was 30% of it. The remaining 70% consisted of words of apology.
The purpose of the letter was to ask for my forgiveness.
Morgan did not make excuses while describing the hardships and adversities she had endured, things I couldn't even begin to imagine.
She wanted to convey her sincerity in the letter, even if just a little. She spoke only the truth, emphasizing only her own faults.
I'm sorry for being forceful.
I will not cause you any trouble. I just hope you will stay at the hospital. It's too dangerous outside.
I will never force a choice upon you again. I will not tire you.
So please, I hope you won't hate me.
The last page of the letter was a Geis scroll.
It was to prove the contents of the letter were true, stating that if there were any lies, her Spiritual Core would immediately collapse and she would die a painful death.
"…Hah."
After writing a letter like this, where in the world did she run off to?
The mana path that I could faintly feel was also completely severed.
Morgan and I had become complete strangers in the grand ritual known as the Holy Grail War.
I, a half-Servant; Morgan, a Servant and a Master.
Nowhere in the hospital could a trace of her be found. It felt as if I had returned to six months ago.
I folded the letter as it was and placed it back on the table.
"This is driving me crazy. Really."
I threw on some clothes and went outside. I desperately needed a change of pace.
I didn't want to think about anything. I wanted to forget it all.
Would the newspaper stuck in the mailbox help? I opened it, and the contents were a sight to behold.
"Hyatt Hotel. Blown up in a terrorist attack. 200 dead, the number of injured alone… 300? Insane."
What were they trying to gain by terrorizing a hotel?
The newspaper article called them an unidentified bomber. A terrorist not after money… it had the feel of the Holy Grail War.
"It has nothing to do with me."
Morgan would continue the Holy Grail War by herself.
She said in her letter that she would never do anything to forcibly restrain me.
Then for what reason was Morgan continuing the Holy Grail War? With her skill in magecraft, she should be able to return to the Fairy Kingdom right now.
"I desperately need a drink. Alcohol. Let's just drink."
Just as I was about to head back inside, I saw flashing lights from the bottom of the hill.
A heavy exhaust note from beyond. A car.
"A patient at this hour?"
We don't have after-hours services.
There's nothing else on top of the hill, so unless someone is visiting the hospital, there's no reason to come all the way up.
"Could it be the bomber? Looking for a hideout?"
I laughed at my own absurd words. As if I could meet a terrorist that easily.
It seemed they had come to see me, so I waited outside instead of going into the hospital.
Soon, a white car stopped right in the middle of the parking lot. It was parked over multiple white lines, taking up a whopping four spots by itself.
Quite the hopeless driving skill. Let's see their faces.
"Phew! That was really fun for a change!"
"Irisviel. I will be driving on the way back."
"Huh? But Saber, your left hand…"
"No. I. Will do it."
Two women who looked like they should be riding a carriage, not a car, got out.
One was a woman in a white coat, with white hair and crimson eyes.
She was beautiful. Despite not being tall, her model-like proportions made her seem long-limbed.
The epitome of a winter beauty, she got out of the driver's seat. The hopeless driving skill was hers.
The woman who got out of the passenger seat next was much more composed than the winter beauty.
Dressed in a black suit, she looked like a girl of about 15, but the mature, sophisticated attire suited her very well.
She was a girl to whom a subtle, restrained smile was more fitting than rich emotional expressions.
In a word, a knight. The very image of a girl knight.
Like a scene from a fairy tale, the girl knight escorting the winter beauty slowly walked towards me.
My brow furrowed naturally. Why would participants of the Holy Grail War come to my hospital?
'Morgan told me… the shorter one must be the Servant. They called her Saber.'
The winter beauty is a proxy Master.
I also know that the real Master is hiding somewhere else.
This is unbelievably annoying. It's irritating enough that they came, but why now of all times?
They were rude people who didn't care one bit about others' domestic affairs.
"If you've come for a consultation, you'll have to leave. We don't offer night services."
"Thank you for the kind explanation. But we haven't come for that reason."
The winter beauty offered a bright smile.
As if in response, the suit on the young girl transformed into armor.
"Did you come to fight?"
"No."
When I pointed at the armored Saber with my chin, the woman made an excuse.
"Saber? Could you put away your sword for a moment? We didn't come here to fight."
"I know. But this man is Morgan's Master. We must be prepared, at the very least. She could be hiding and preparing a trap as we speak."
Morgan is watching over me right now… what magnificent predictive skills.
I wanted to laugh at Saber for being so spectacularly wrong, but on second thought, it would be stranger if they knew about our relationship.
That we had a huge fight and broke up overnight? During the Holy Grail War?
Morgan and I wandered around Fuyuki every Sunday; if someone could come up with such an idea, they must be a magus of psychology.
I suppressed my emotions and continued my act.
"If you didn't come to fight, then why are you here?"
"Stop. Do not come closer."
"…You're the ones who approached. This is my hospital."
Ah. Why is this so irritating?
That Saber. Looking at her makes my chest feel tight.
I don't know if it's because she resembles Morgan, or because of that sword shrouded in wind.
Perhaps it's both.
As the tension between Saber and I grew, the winter beauty caught in the middle stepped forward.
"We came to ask something. There's something we're curious about regarding you. If you answer, we will reward you sufficiently."
"Coming to an enemy camp because you're curious is absurd enough, but you'll reward me? Did you take a bullet to the head, ma'am?"
"I will not tolerate any more insolence!"
Saber swung her sword.
Unlike her sharp tone, it was a soft attack, clearly intended as a warning threat.
To put it bluntly, even an elementary school student could have noticed and dodged it.
But I didn't dodge the sword.
Blood splattered from my shoulder.
"Saber?!"
"No. Irisviel, this is…"
The shocked winter beauty and the flustered Saber. They must have assumed I would obviously dodge.
But what can you do.
My desire to avoid a fight just vanished.
"You started this."