Chapter 215: A tournament?
What reward?
Anna blinked her beautiful purple eyes, repeating the question in her heart.
She lifted her head and looked at Eikou — the young man a whole head taller than her, looking at her with gentle, caring eyes. Suddenly Anna blushed, unconsciously swallowing once.
"This reward… let's talk about it later..."
Out of habit, she pulled down the cat-ear hood over her head, hiding her expression, not wanting to answer further.
For such an adorable child, Eikou naturally didn't let his guard up at all; he simply smiled and nodded.
"Umu, then tell me after you've decided."
[After that, you make brief contact with Chaldea Academy, giving a summary of what happened yesterday.]
[From subduing Anna, to the rumors around Caren, and finally today's plan — which is to catch the rumored "Legendary Servant."]
"Now that you mention it, this is already my second day in the Singularity..."
Only now did Eikou realize it.
"If time flows the same on both sides, then Chaldea Academy must have already started classes, right?"
"That's right～"
Da Vinci laughed heartily.
"Though I don't want to pressure you, it'd be best if you finish conquering the Singularity soon. Otherwise your coursework will fall behind again by a huge chunk. Don't forget, you even took an extra three days off. How exactly do you plan to catch up with the rest of the class?"
Indeed—If he spent four or five days and still couldn't finish the Singularity, plus the three-day break he wanted to use for Morgan, he'd end up at least a week behind the other students.
Hmm, what a headache.
Was he really going to repeat the insane cram-study days like last time…?
"It's fine, Master. Leave it to me."
Artoria naturally approached him, "When we return to Chaldea Academy, I'll personally tutor you! Just like last time!"
"Thank you, Artoria..."
Eikou nodded.
"You and Artoria seem to have gotten closer, haven't you?"
After a moment, Da Vinci asked, "She's even started calling you Master, and she's acting much more enthusiastic."
"..."
"Did something special happen in the Singularity that you didn't report to the academy?"
Da Vinci chuckled softly.
[Of course, you omitted everything that happened last night involving Artoria. Even though it was important, it was still a private matter between a man and a woman — best not to mention it.]
[Mainly because you're too embarrassed. Chaldea Academy trusted you enough to send female Servants to support you, yet on the very first night you ended up sleeping together — no matter how you put it, it sounds bad.]
[So you only reported the basic events of yesterday in the Singularity. After finishing the report, the best choice was to get moving again.]
[Today is the day to capture the Legendary Servant, so you must depart as early as possible.]
[Everyone packed up the campsite briefly, and then you suddenly noticed something strange...]
...
"Huh? Where's my Water of Life?"
Eikou suspiciously rummaged through his backpack.
Everything was still there — except exactly two bottles of Water of Life.
He had even made a point of checking his backpack last night, yet the moment he woke up, only the Water of Life was missing.
Could it be… someone stole them?
"Maybe you remembered wrong? Who would even steal something like that?"
Artoria asked, "Did you accidentally drink them?"
"No, this isn't something you can drink by mistake..."
Eikou asked in doubt.
"Since I stole this stuff from Medb's shop, I have a very strong impression of it. If I had used any, I'd definitely remember. Looks like someone must've come into our camp last night while we were all asleep and stole my Water of Life? And only the Water of Life?"
"Hm..."
The ahoge on Artoria's head swayed left and right as if she was thinking. "I feel like that's not very plausible."
Alright, Eikou also felt that this explanation didn't make much sense. It really was a bit far-fetched.
But if he had to explain it this way, then the thief must have entered the camp at midnight while everyone was asleep, and must have been a hopeless alcoholic who acted purely on impulse.
Otherwise, why take someone's belongings without permission —and only take the one thing that even normal people wouldn't dare to drink: Water of Life?
"...Forget it."
Fortunately, the only thing lost last night was the mostly-useless Water of Life. Although he was curious about the thief's mentality, since it didn't cause any real harm, Eikou didn't intend to pursue it further.
...
[After packing up your belongings on the road.]
[You all continue onward.]
[It is still very early in the day, yet you still run into all sorts of Trainers along the way. They were all drawn here by the sounds and rumors, searching for the Legendary — that extremely powerful Divine Servant without a Master.]
[You see many familiar faces and party compositions, such as Trainer C from France, who built a Twelve Paladins team and pursues the cool and majestic beauty of a king; or Trainer J from Greece, who collects ownerless Servants belonging to the Argonauts.]
[There is also Trainer C, whose face is angelic but whose personality is devilish — Caren Hortensia.]
[You and Caren lock eyes from afar, both of you clearly smelling the gunpowder rising from each other's gaze.]
[Even though neither of you attacked, both of you sped up at the same time, in a posture perfectly displaying how neither wanted to let the other get ahead.]
[...]
[This childish, silent competition lasted for about half an hour.]
[Until you all reached the location rumored to be the home of the Legendary Servant — and what appeared before you was a massive Japanese-style coliseum, resplendent in gold, imposing, grand, and towering amidst the mountains and forests. One glance was enough to know this was the handiwork of some King.]
[Written clearly on the gate of the coliseum: Keian Command Championship.]
[You felt confused, so you asked Da Vinci.]
"Keian Command Championship? Sounds familiar somehow..."
Da Vinci looked puzzled, but she quickly recalled the related information.
"Wait a second, I remember now — some Heroic Spirits in our academy have records about this. If I recall correctly, in the Holy Grail War that took place in Japan during the Keian era, this mock tournament appeared before. I believe it was initiated by King Gilgamesh..."
Eikou instantly shivered and quickly said:
"The hell, don't tell me the Legendary Servant everyone's talking about is Pika— I mean, Gilgamesh? Sure, he's strong, but I don't want to be like Tokiomi and capture some young master that I have to serve and pamper on my team. That kind of person is seriously annoying!"
"No… King Gilgamesh at that time was a Ruler, in charge of being the referee for the tournament. And the reason he organized it was to subdue a Divine Servant who refused to obey commands — namely…"
"The deity of Mount Ibuki, Ibuki-Douji."
...