"How is Kiritsugu..."
Irisviel looked at her husband lying in shock on the bed and asked Tenkei Shiomi, who was examining his condition.
"He avoided Kirei's vital strike, but his ribs and internal organs suffered varying degrees of damage." Shiomi's hand rested on Kiritsugu's chest.
When he lifted his hand, a glowing Rune remained behind.
"With this Rune, he should be able to get out of bed and move around after a day or so," Shiomi said. "As expected of a hereditary Magus. The Magic Crest he inherited began activating the moment he was seriously injured, initiating self-healing."
Even so, the healing effect was harsh and demanding.
It first depended on the amount of Mana the bearer possessed, and second, on the quality and level of the Crest itself.
If the wound had been fatal, Kiritsugu Emiya likely wouldn't have survived.
Shiomi's Rune could only maintain continuous healing under the assumption that he was still alive.
"Thank you very much." Irisviel was at a loss for words.
She knew her husband was wary of Shiomi, but it was a different kind of wariness than what he felt toward Kirei Kotomine.
Shiomi's power was too unpredictable. It was best to avoid a head-on conflict from the start.
"Don't worry about it. I just wanted to do a favor." Shiomi shrugged. "That way, I'm not liable for any damage to the castle, right?"
Irisviel blinked, then gave a wry smile and nodded. "Of course..."
With the Einzbern family's wealth, damage on that level was hardly worth mentioning.
But it was clear this Master didn't think like a typical Magus, so all Irisviel could do was smile helplessly and accept the implication behind the gesture.
Afterward, Irisviel left Maiya to look after Kiritsugu and accompanied Shiomi to the adjacent parlor.
Artoria and Morgan were there, drinking tea.
"I heard Caster already took off. My husband's really something—he even had the time to help treat people from another camp," Morgan said gracefully, sipping her tea. "Aren't you worried someone else might take Caster out first?"
"I don't care who takes him out. It's not like I need another Command Spell," Shiomi replied, one hand on his hip. "Besides, you're one to talk about being leisurely. Aren't legendary nobles supposed to be laid-back?"
Morgan calmly glanced at him. "So what, you want me to sit around doing nothing and wait outside?"
"That's not what I meant." Shiomi knew he couldn't win this exchange and turned his gaze to Irisviel and Artoria. "As you heard, Caster escaped. He probably realized things were going south when I launched that wide-range Magecraft and pulled back early."
Artoria nodded. "That was inevitable. Caster claimed to be fully prepared, so retreating intact was probably part of that plan."
"Talked all big, but that's all the courage he had," Shiomi muttered.
At that point, Irisviel asked, "Then what now? With Caster still out there, he could strike again. And our alliance…"
Kiritsugu had suffered grave injuries due to incomplete intel and a rushed engagement. Even if he recovered, he wouldn't be at full strength back on the battlefield.
If possible, Irisviel hoped to maintain this alliance for a while longer—at least until the others were eliminated.
"I don't mind. Lancer stepped in to help earlier, so I let Kayneth off the hook for now," Shiomi said, then looked at Morgan. "Would've been great if you'd finished him off right there."
"Wouldn't it be more satisfying to handle it yourself?" Morgan accepted the jab with a cool smile. "Seems I misunderstood. My husband prefers to let others do his work."
"...Forget it." Shiomi gave up.
Morgan kept calling him "my husband." At home, he could pretend not to hear it and let it slide.
But now, in front of Irisviel and Artoria, every time she said it, goosebumps rose all over his back.
He wasn't thick-skinned enough to shrug it off.
Especially not with Artoria here—someone directly connected to Morgan.
...Directly connected?
Shiomi suddenly froze. As the tension from the battle faded, the dream from the night before resurfaced in his mind.
The End, the Land of Rain... What kind of place was that?
There was no mention of such a place in the legend of King Arthur.
But then again, legends were full of contradictions and vague accounts. So Morgan...
"What are you thinking about?" Morgan asked, sipping her tea.
Shiomi snapped out of his thoughts and realized he'd been standing there lost in thought while everyone else was watching him.
He glanced at the untouched cup of black tea in front of Artoria and thought, You two were going at it like storm and fire just yesterday, and now you're calmly drinking tea together. Guess your relationship isn't that bad after all.
"Nothing, just thinking it's best not to leave too much time for complications to arise," Shiomi said as he turned around. "Might as well deal with Lancer's Master before dawn."
"My husband really is fond of battle."
Morgan's tone was teasing, but she stood up without the slightest hesitation, making it clear to everyone just how in sync this Master and Servant pair truly were.
"Still, back-to-back battles are bound to wear us down. After taking on both Caster and that Executor, do we really have energy left?" Morgan brought up another important point.
Shiomi replied nonchalantly, "Same goes for Kayneth. If you hadn't gone easy on him, he'd be dead in the hall by now. Everyone's drained—seems fair."
Even if Kayneth had escaped with his life, the flurry of Magecraft Morgan unleashed in just one minute had likely left him heavily exhausted just from defending himself.
Putting aside that everyone was equally worn down, even if Kayneth were at full strength, Shiomi had no doubt he could beat him.
To Shiomi, academic Magi like that were just too easy to handle.
Besides, having Kayneth constantly watching him was starting to get under his skin. He couldn't stand being stared at.
"In that case, I suppose I have no choice but to go along," Morgan said knowingly.
"But before that, I need to take Sakura and Caren home to get some rest," Shiomi added. "After that, we'll pay a visit to the Hyatt Hotel downtown."
That was where Lancer's Master, Kayneth, was hiding.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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