She had even forgotten that Alvin's Master was still standing right there watching.
"Eh?"
Tohsaka Rin's eyes slowly widened. In those clear blue eyes was the reflection of the girl tightly hugging the boy.
In the snowy early winter, a Master and Servant meeting again after many years apart... just hearing it sounded like a beautiful scene.
But if you added the current Master watching from the side.
Then it was no longer a touching reunion.
It was a battlefield about to explode.
Even without looking up at Tohsaka Rin, Alvin could already feel her shock, and the anger underneath that was close to erupting.
After all, this was the Holy Grail War, and Sajyou Manaka was clearly one of the Masters participating in it.
They were enemies in this war... yet Sajyou Manaka acted as if nobody else existed, hugging a Servant from the enemy side and refusing to let go.
'What is this supposed to mean?'
Rather than being carefree, it felt more like she simply didn't take Tohsaka Rin seriously at all.
"Assassin... looks like you're pretty close with her."
Fortunately, the Tohsaka family had always valued elegance. Even in a situation like this, Rin still forced out a smile.
It was just that beneath the smile was a volcano ready to erupt at any moment.
Alvin gently pushed the girl in his arms away and said, "In the last Holy Grail War, she and I made it to the end together. Right, Manaka, where's your Servant?"
"I haven't summoned one yet."
Sajyou Manaka gracefully smoothed the wrinkles on her skirt. Her voice was still bright and sweet.
"Because... the only Servant I've ever wanted was one person."
She looked at Alvin with a smile.
"If I can't have Saber, then I'd rather not have a Servant at all."
"Miss Sajyou."
Tohsaka Rin finally found a chance to interrupt their conversation with a smile on her face.
"The Holy Grail War isn't some children's game, I think you should reconsider carefully, okay?"
"If you have a Servant, at least your safety can be guaranteed."
After all, in the Holy Grail War, there were many cases where people skipped the Servants entirely and directly killed the Masters.
No matter how confident Sajyou Manaka was, danger was unavoidable.
Rin's words sounded like concern, but she was also indirectly saying, Alvin already belongs to me, so stop thinking about him.
"Mmm, but I feel like if I summon a bad Servant, they might just hold me back."
Sajyou Manaka lightly tapped her lips with a finger and looked up in thought for a moment. Then she suddenly smiled brightly.
"How about this... Miss Tohsaka, after I summon my Servant, why don't we exchange Servants?"
"...", Rin opened her mouth, but no words came out for a long while.
Looking at Sajyou Manaka's innocent smile, for a moment she even suspected something was wrong with her hearing.
"H-Hah?"
Very quickly, confusion and shock burst out of her voice.
'Exchange Servants?'
'Does this woman even know what she is saying?'
Silence spread between them. Even Merlin and Illya at the side were stunned.
"Are you joking?"
After a long while, Rin finally broke the silence.
Sajyou Manaka gently shook her head, her smile still hanging there, "I'm serious. Actually, I still have many relics from different eras, maybe one of them can summon a Servant you'd like?"
'This girl...'
Looking at the girl in front of her, Rin quietly took a deep breath and tried hard to calm herself down.
Just as a smile appeared on her face, Sajyou Manaka spoke again, "Actually, only I can truly bring out a Servant's full strength."
She spoke as if it were only natural, "The White Dragon's power is certainly strong, but if the Master can't provide enough mana, they'll only drag him down."
She gently placed a hand against her chest and looked at Alvin with tender eyes.
"And I can guarantee that I'll provide him with enough mana at all times."
Trying to poach someone's Servant right in front of the current Master, for a moment, everyone present was struggling to hold themselves together after seeing Sajyou Manaka's move.
Rin's eyes flickered slightly as she unconsciously glanced at Sajyou Manaka's feet.
The magecraft she had just used still left traces of mana lingering in the air. As a magus, Rin could naturally sense how dense that mana was.
Without question, if Alvin followed Sajyou Manaka, he would definitely become even stronger than he was now.
If it were anyone else, hearing those words would probably shake them a little.
But Rin was different.
If she gave up on Alvin just like that, then she wouldn't be Tohsaka Rin anymore.
"Miss Sajyou should summon another Servant instead."
This time, Rin rejected her cleanly and decisively. She stared directly into Sajyou Manaka's eyes.
"No matter what kind of Servant you summon, I will never treat him like some item to be traded."
Sajyou Manaka lowered her eyes slightly and softly said, "What a pity..."
"Everyone... shouldn't we first discuss what to do about the Greater Grail here?"
At that moment, Merlin suddenly spoke with a smile.
If this were the past, he would've happily sat in the tower of confinement and watched the drama unfold.
But the current situation no longer allowed him to keep slacking off.
After all, his Clairvoyance could no longer see the future of this city, or even humanity itself.
"You were fighting Rider just now, right? How did it feel?"
Alvin seized the chance to pull the conversation back on track.
"We only exchanged a few moves. It's hard to judge Rider's strength for now, but...", Merlin paused slightly.
"Rider's Master... is probably more troublesome than Rider herself."
"How is that possible?"
Rin blurted out almost immediately.
"A magus stronger than a Servant?"
Merlin's words had completely gone beyond her understanding.
Normally, no matter how powerful modern magi were, they couldn't compare to Heroic Spirits from the past.
After all, modern magic circuits were on a completely different level from the Age of Gods.
"The person behind Rider really is strong."
At that moment, Sajyou Manaka suddenly said quietly,
"If it's in Fuyuki, then in a one-on-one fight, nobody should be able to beat her."
Even Manaka saying that was pretty rare.
A thought flashed through Alvin's mind as he instinctively looked at her.
"Do you know who she is?"
Sajyou Manaka was a magus connected to the Root. Arrogance was carved into her bones. If even she said that, it was enough to imagine how terrifying Rider's Master really was.
Sajyou Manaka gently shook her head, "She wrapped herself in 'black mud,' so I couldn't sense her presence."
Alvin slightly raised his brows, "But if she's really that strong, why did she choose to retreat just now?"
"Maybe she didn't want to face two Servants working together for now?", Merlin guessed.
Britain's court mage, plus Britain's White Dragon, if those two joined forces, it wasn't as simple as one plus one equaling two.
After all, Merlin and Alvin could be considered old acquaintances.
Following the winding scorched path from earlier, Alvin looked deeper toward Mount Enzou and quietly said, "If the enemy doesn't want to take risks, could it be because there's still room for her strength to grow?"
A thought crossed Illya's mind as if she had realized something.
"Now that I think about it, Rider's Master seemed especially concerned about the Greater Grail... she also showed strong emotions about not wanting the Greater Grail purified."
"Because the black mud inside the Greater Grail has already completely fused with the 'Tide of Chaos.' She wants to fully absorb the power created by the fusion of those two masses of black mud," Merlin explained.
"So that means she'll definitely look for another chance to come to Mount Enzou?"
Alvin thought for a moment.
"What if we arrange people to guard Mount Enzou in advance... would that work?"
Merlin gently shook his head.
"She probably won't return to Mount Enzou anytime soon. Besides, I've already set up a detection barrier. If she gets close, I'll sense it immediately."
"If that's the case, why do you still look so worried?", Alvin asked doubtfully.
Merlin froze for a moment and looked at Alvin with some surprise.
Soon after, a meaningful smile appeared on his face, "You really do understand me well, Alvin."
Nightmares didn't understand human emotions, and likewise, they wouldn't let humans understand theirs.
From beginning to end, Merlin's expression hadn't changed much at all, yet Alvin had still guessed his thoughts after just one glance.
"Well, we've dealt with each other more than once," Alvin shrugged.
"So tell me, what are you worried about?"
"Judging from the abilities Rider's Master displayed just now... even without the 'black mud' inside the Greater Grail, she may already be enough to give birth to a Beast," Merlin's tone became more serious.
And unlike before, this Beast might receive a special territory boost in Fuyuki.
Merlin had already sensed this while fighting Rider's Master earlier.
"Is there any solution?", Alvin asked.
"Find her before the Beast is born, and stop her from becoming a complete Beast," Merlin answered.
"Can your Clairvoyance see her?", Alvin asked again.
"If only it could, but I'm only in a Servant body right now. Besides, you should know my Clairvoyance was never that useful to begin with," Merlin sighed lightly.
The corner of Alvin's mouth twitched.
'This won't work, that won't work, how are you worthy of the Grand Caster title?'
After discussing it for a while, they ultimately decided that Merlin would place detection barriers around Mount Enzou. As for the rest, they would wait until they found Rider's Master before making further plans.
After all, aside from them, the identities of the other Masters and Servants were still unknown. More investigation was necessary.
Merlin raised his staff and drew a rainbow light across the air. A pink glow like fireflies drifted into the snow covering Mount Enzou.
"I've arranged multiple detection barriers in advance. If anything unusual happens..."
He gestured toward Illya.
The moment the silver-haired girl stepped onto the stairs of Mount Enzou, countless crows flapped across the sky above them, stirring waves of magical energy.
"Master, we should head back too. This snow probably won't stop anytime soon."
Merlin lightly tapped the ground with his staff. Pink illusion petals mixed together with the blizzard.
Illya looked at Alvin somewhat reluctantly, but in the end, she still left for the time being.
Sajyou Manaka remained where she was.
She walked up to the boy and gently brushed the snow from his forehead with a smile, "I'll always wait for you, Alvin."
Alvin hesitated, "Manaka..."
"Shh!"
Sajyou Manaka raised a finger and lightly touched the boy's lips. Smiling, she said, "You don't need to speak so absolutely."
She untied the pale blue ribbon around her neck and gently wrapped it around Alvin's wrist. Snowflakes landed on her eyelashes, faintly reflecting the glow from the detection barrier in the distance.
Sajyou Manaka lifted her lovely face and softly said, "I believe the feelings between us won't be cut off so easily... so I'll keep waiting for you."
The snow grew heavier and heavier, gradually blurring her figure.
At some point, Sajyou Manaka's figure quietly disappeared into the wind and snow.