"Boudica, is this a Servant battle?"
"Yes... those people fighting over there are figures recorded in history. They might be warriors, or perhaps knights, but they are heroes summoned as Heroic Spirits."
"I see. Then, if a mad Servant meets a mad Master, a disaster would occur, wouldn't it?"
At Shirou's words, Boudica thought for a moment before concluding.
"Even if the Servant is mad, it would be fine if the Master is sane. But if the Master were mad... yes, something terrible would surely happen. A Master has three command rights over a Servant. The Servant can resist the first one, but the second and third are considered impossible to resist. Well, there might be the occasional Servant who can resist Command Spells, but you can think of those red marks as the number of command rights."
Boudica affirmed his thoughts without denial.
Shirou felt relieved that he was the one who had become a Master, but...
The more he watched their fight, the more he felt his blood boiling.
It might have been a competitive spirit wondering how far the swords he created could go, or perhaps he felt the blood of a combat race—unknown even to himself—stirring within him.
Not that Shirou actually had the blood of a combat race, but seeing the sparring between Servants as a battle, he might have been thinking that he could intervene.
"Shirou... they aren't fighting in earnest. It feels more like light sparring."
"Yeah..."
Seeing Shirou look dejected, Boudica felt her heart flutter for some reason at his appearance.
'Ah, this is driving me crazy. Is it because I had a daughter? I've always wanted to raise a son, but how should I put it... I feel an urge to just pounce on him?'
For a moment, Boudica was confused whether this feeling was love or maternal instinct.
"Is that Sir Gawain..."
Artoria, meanwhile, couldn't help but understand Gawain.
Even if he was her knight... he was human.
Thinking of his two younger siblings killed by Lancelot, he might have been a knight who made a mistake out of emotion.
'Sir Lancelot is truly the problem...'
During the rescue, Sir Gareth, who had tried to persuade Lancelot while unarmed and defenseless, ended up with her skull crushed. Lancelot's actions had greatly tarnished chivalry.
Killing an unarmed knight... that was truly trash behavior.
No matter how dog-like Merlin was, even he wouldn't do something like that.
Well, in conclusion, Merlin was more evil, but considering the situation where the pride of chivalry was cut in half while exercising it, Artoria felt the urge to beat Lancelot even more, but she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Excuse me... you said you were Artoria, right? You're definitely incarnated. What's your reason for coming here to watch this?"
"Ah, first of all, it is for Shirou's safety. Secondly, while I personally just wanted to see it, I had no choice but to come based on Akira's prediction that an acquaintance of mine would appear... Well, I don't know the extent of Akira's abilities, but while it certainly isn't Clairvoyance, you could say he has grasped even Rider's True Name."
"Heeeh? Still, seeing you with this person named Akira, are you two in love? Or just a relationship where you want to stay by his side?"
At the word "love," Artoria blushed, but she answered Boudica honestly.
"I found myself wanting to watch over him... He persuaded me so thoroughly. I don't know what he sees or where he is heading, but regardless, I found myself wanting to know more about Akira. Though I do not think it is love."
At Artoria's words, the corners of Boudica's mouth seemed to twitch upwards.
"I see~ So it's not love, huh~"
Her tone seemed to say, It's love, it's definitely love~, causing Artoria's face to turn redder as she slapped Boudica's back.
"Who goes there! Who is secretly watching the battle!"
Shirou flinched at Gawain's voice. Boudica gave him a look that said, We got caught because of you.
Artoria gave him a look that said, Isn't this because you were teasing me!
Shirou let out two deep sighs and had no choice but to reveal himself.
"Sorry, I just came because I wanted to watch. Rin... I'm here."
Meanwhile, Rin and Luvia, who were grabbing onto each other, froze and looked at Shirou.
"Shirou? Why are you here??"
"Medea told me a fight broke out, so I came to check it out."
"Ahem, should I call you Shero? By the way, you seem close to this gorilla. Who is she?"
"Umm... it's complicated to explain. A childhood friend who was close with Rin and Sakura? No, friends who are disciples of the same master? It's ambiguous... Anyway, we're definitely friends who know each other, right?"
"Shirou? Why are you answering so vaguely? Are you not sure?"
Rin was shocked by Shirou's words.
She had been with Shirou for about 10 years, so she couldn't help but be shocked by his answer.
"Honestly, nothing comes to mind other than you bullying me by dressing me up as a girl."
"Ah?"
And then Rin understood.
There was a period when her mind was polluted by Illyasviel's influence, and dressing Shirou as a girl became a hobby. So, it was ambiguous to say they remained good friends.
"Sorry, but it's Shirou's fault for being pretty even when dressed as a girl!"
"No, why!?"
"Excuse me, just how pretty was he for you to say that?"
"Ah, Luvia wouldn't know. I do carry it around as a charm, though..."
At Rin's words, Shirou shouted.
"You use a photo of me cross-dressing as a charm!?"
Meanwhile, Archer reportedly almost bit his tongue and coughed up blood.
'Huh? Why are that red Servant's eyes trembling like that? Was he shocked by the conversation just now?'
Boudica felt doubtful, but upon seeing the photo Rin showed, she couldn't help but be flustered as well.
'Is that a boy? That's a girl!!!'
If the current Shirou was a man with a dependable physique, it could be seen that in his childhood, he was made up to look like a pretty girl.
"This is the same person? I can't believe it!"
Luvia was horrified.
"See... even this gorilla has that reaction."
"Aaaah... my dark history is being exposed."
"How much will you sell that photo for!"
At those words, Rin and Shirou shouted in unison.
""As if we'd sell it!!!""
Archer held his head, feeling a strong urge to commit suicide, but he endured it.
Conversely, Gawain looked at Artoria, his eyes trembling.
"This aura of a King. Ah, don't tell me...?"
"Sir Gawain."
"I am glad to meet my King here. However, I am currently serving a Master. Please be warned."
"Leaving me aside, your Master comes first..."
It was a statement that cut deep, and Gawain collapsed.
"I apologize..."
As a result of dealing with Lancelot emotionally, he was killed by Mordred while exhausted.
Gawain, who should have been by the King's side until the end, was ultimately killed helplessly by the traitor Mordred. Because he couldn't be there or protect the King, his chivalry was made even more miserable.
"It is fine. You are human too, Sir Knight; it couldn't be helped."
"Suddenly, I want to kill Sir Tristan..."
At Artoria's words, Gawain began to emit a murderous intent towards Tristan for some reason. Shirou, who was watching the situation, spoke up.
"Hold on a second, the conversation is flowing strangely. Can you explain the current situation?"
"Hmm... well, it's a Holy Grail War, but more like a light spar? Well, Shirou, you have zero interest in the Holy Grail War anyway, right?"
"Even so, should I say I want to spar once... or that I want to try exchanging blows with a real sword?"
Meanwhile, Artoria let out a deep sigh.
'Indeed, he has no experience fighting with a real sword.'
"Then, how about sparring with Archer? Being of the Archer class, his strength might be low, but since Archer is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, he would be suitable for sparring with Shirou."
And Archer received a wound to his heart.
From Archer's perspective, he was given the disease (insult/fact) and then the medicine (praise).
"This Holy Grail War... something is very wrong!"
"Personally, I think it's fortunate that it's a meaningless slaughter."
"Well, I came here to learn about the Holy Grail War too, but I really came to fight this gorilla here."
"Who are you calling a gorilla! You actual gorilla!"
And as Luvia and Rin began to fight, pulling each other's cheeks, the two Servants just smiled and scratched their cheeks as if asking if there was really a need to fight.
"Well, fine. Since it's come to this, I'll spar with you."
"Oh? Really?"
At Shirou's words, Archer smiled contentedly, while internally wondering how he should roll the boy around.
And so, 1:30 AM passed.
Rin and Luvia were still fighting, while Shirou began his spar with Archer.
And Shirou drew the sword from its sheath.
Archer was surprised when he saw the sword.
That weapon was Noble Phantasm class.
It was a mystery, a novel weapon made by awakening the magical energy or potential of metal, but it was undoubtedly a sword.
"It's my greatest masterpiece, though if you look at other weapons, it's nothing more than a failure. But this should be enough, right?"
Archer had no choice but to swallow hard.
If he was one who created fakes, he felt a strange sense of disgust at the existence before him who created the genuine article.
And so, as Shirou and Archer's swords clashed, a battle began—one that couldn't be distinguished between sparring and a real fight.