"That's unexpected. It's only been a day—don't tell me you've already taken down Assassin?"
Pushing open the church doors, Ciel looked at Shiomi and Morgan from her place at the altar, visibly surprised.
"That's not possible. Doesn't the Church have a Spirit Board to track Servant summonings?"
Shiomi shook his head, denying her assumption.
"The Spirit Board only confirms whether all the Servant slots are filled—it doesn't track when they're defeated," Ciel replied, her gaze shifting to the person in Morgan's arms. "So... what brings you two here?"
"Lancer has fallen," Shiomi said. "She's Lancer's Master—Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a combatant sent by the Mage's Association."
Ciel's expression showed a flicker of surprise before she pieced the situation together.
"Judging from that, I take it neither of you were the ones who defeated Lancer," she said.
"Bazett has lost her combat capability—her injuries are severe. As a fellow Clock Tower Magus, I'd like to request the Church's aid in treating her," Shiomi said.
"Of course," Ciel agreed without hesitation. "Providing refuge for Masters who've lost their Servants is one of the Church's responsibilities. Still... I didn't expect you to let an opponent go, Mr. Shiomi."
After all, under normal circumstances, even if a Servant lost their Master, staying in Fuyuki meant they weren't completely out of the War. If another Servant lost their Master, a new contract could be formed, and the battle would continue.
"There was no need for that. I'm not here for the Holy Grail," Shiomi replied calmly. "Besides, her injuries are severe. Even with the protection of a Magic Crest, she's not going to recover anytime soon."
"Just teasing," Ciel said with a slight smile as she walked over and took Bazett from Morgan. "Mm... She's definitely in bad shape. I'll take her to the back for treatment. If there's nothing else, make yourselves at home."
Shiomi watched as Ciel carried Bazett behind the altar, then found a chair nearby and sat down, with only the aisle separating him from Morgan.
The church was empty now—no need to raise their voices to be heard.
"We were outplayed," Morgan said. "Caster's side likely predicted you'd try to rally other camps and preemptively moved against Lancer."
"Maybe. Bazett is a Sealing Designation Executor—her combat ability as a Master is hardly lacking. And in the last Holy Grail War, a Lord died from lack of field experience..."
In that case, it wouldn't be strange for Marisbury to act more cautiously.
The Lord of the Department of Astromancy hadn't shown himself at all, merely observing the battlefield through magecraft.
Shiomi understood. If he had the King of Magecraft as his Servant, he might hesitate to step onto the front lines too.
"Reaping what we sow?" Morgan teased.
"Hard to say," Shiomi replied. "The plan's fallen apart. We'll need to rethink our next move."
Lancer's defeat meant Marisbury would soon begin to act as well.
The Holy Grail War didn't wait for anyone. As long as they stayed out of sight of ordinary people, battles could break out even in broad daylight.
With that thought, Shiomi looked up.
"What is it?"
"I'm thinking Caster's next target might be the Einzbern," Shiomi said.
Then there was Assassin, still unaccounted for—clearly still operating in the shadows.
Once word got out about Lancer's fall, things would only get more unpredictable.
"Is there a way to locate Caster's workshop?" Shiomi asked.
"If we'd been tracking them from the beginning, sure," Morgan replied. "But doing it without Caster noticing? As far as I know, no one has that kind of skill."
It was a basic truth.
Most Magi couldn't even track a Caster to begin with.
"Then—" Shiomi started to ask.
"By the time my husband was helping with the injured," Morgan said bluntly, "they were already on the move."
The tracking magic she'd cast on Caster had already stopped returning feedback.
The possibility that they were still at the same location could be ruled out. That only left one explanation—Caster had severed the tracking.
"Eh… But you volunteered to help carry Bazett…" Shiomi thought she was blaming him for being indecisive and missing the window to act.
"Even if I hadn't helped, my husband wouldn't have refused a request from his senior," Morgan said with a knowing look, though her tone was calm.
She meant that all she'd done was what Shiomi had intended to do anyway.
"Caster or Assassin…" Shiomi nodded, then fell into thought.
He was caught in a mild dilemma.
According to Ciel, Assassin had already attacked Rider's Master. So Rider would likely be focused on retaliating.
Which meant...
"Let's check out Caster's workshop first," Shiomi said, standing up. "It hasn't been long—if we hurry, we might still catch their trail."
"Let's hope so. Don't forget, Caster's eyes see everything," Morgan said casually.
"Top-tier clairvoyance…" Shiomi looked over and asked, "How does it compare to fairy eyes?"
Morgan frowned slightly, clearly displeased. "If you're trying to poke fun at me, just say it. No need to dance around it."
"No, no, I didn't mean it like that," Shiomi said, quickly waving his hands.
"Clairvoyance and Fairy Eyes are completely different," Morgan replied. "The eyes I possess can only see through lies and reveal the truth. They don't see the past or future."
Shiomi gave a wry smile. "Still sounds amazing. I don't even have Mystic Eyes, you know…"
"I'm glad to hear that, husband." Morgan lowered her eyes slightly, sounding somewhere between a sigh and a quiet reflection. "But…"
"But?"
"Forget it. It's not something to bring up right now," Morgan said.
"Alright." As always, Shiomi didn't press. He stood up from his seat. "Let's go. If we wait any longer, we'll just be sitting ducks for Caster and Marisbury."
"We've got no souvenir to bring Sakura anyway—might as well go meet up with her directly," Morgan said.
Shiomi thought for a moment. "Yeah. Let's get everything ready today and go see her tomorrow."
With that, the two of them stepped out of the church and drove off.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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