Saito and Louise had to wake up early in the morning to pack their supplies for the journey to Romalia; the nation in which the grail war is to take place. The previous grail war was fought in Albion, so it would seem that the nations alternate where to grail war takes place every cycle.
Henrietta was reluctant to see them off, the queen wanted to talk to Saber more regarding her kingship, although the latter seem to particularly secretive in regards to her past.
Before they left for the war, Henrietta insisted on Agnes travelling with the group, but after much argument it was decided that the responsibility should be shouldered by Louise and Louise only. The war only required her after all.
The luxurious noble Louise, of course rode inside a regally ornamented wagon. Wanting to learn more about her new familiar, Saito was forced to man the horse.
"What's wrong partner you seem gloomy this morning, are you upset that your precious darling is asking so many questions to her new familiar?"
"That's not it." Saito responded grumpily to the talking sword Derflinger, forcing him back to his sheath.
Obviously the feeling of jealousy was present. She was a familiar of Louise, a human one at that, in a situation not unlike his own. They both are sword wielding knights. But unlike him, she won the genetic jackpot with her cute looks.
And to top it all off she used to be a king of a strong country. His thoughts permeated with inadequacies.
However he felt that wasn't what was most damaging to his pride.
It was the fact that they both theoretically originated from the same world yet she's so curious about Saber's origins but not his.
...Well she cares about his world now, but initially she gave him the cold shoulder. He had to earn her warmth but this new girl just garnered instant reverence off the bat without having to do anything.
She barraged the blond familiar with questions both about her time as a king and her world in general, Saito couldn't even recall when Louise showed a least bit of interest in his world outside of actually travelling there.
Derflinger having been with his master for so long already guessed why Saito felt gloomy.
"You know Saber's era is not much different with the world Louise is used to. Your world is just too drastically different."
Fair enough, but still couldn't she at least be a bit considerate about my feelings? Saito thought.
The travel proved to be dull as one would expect on horse riding to another nation. Minutes turned to hours, hours turned to days before they finally arrived to Gallia.
Even then Gallia was not the target destination but they have to cross it in order to reach Romalia.
Finally fed up with boredom, Saito decided to break the silence.
"No doubt Gallia is participating too, wouldn't there be a high chance if they attack us?"
Saito forced a friendly laugh, expecting a lighthearted exchange.
But all he got was Louise to glare at him. "This war is one done by aristocrats and
royalty. It's just called a war but it's actually a tournament okay? So don't
be stupid. No nobles will resort in cheap tactics to win a tournament that is
meant to prove skill!"
Louise of course lectured him on the nobility of the upper class.
That of course went through one ear and out the other for Saito. After everything he went through he doubted these so called nobles were that noble at all.
Louise knew him long enough that Saito never thought highly of aristocrats or even royalty for that matter. So she assured him that the participants don't know who the other participants were. Just like they don't know who their enemies will be. So the possibility of a surprise attacks is impossible.
Unfortunately the two bickered louder than they both intended, attracting many curious stares.
The next day the duo resumed the trip. Once again Saito found himself manning the horse while both Saber and Louise had the time of their life in the wagon. Slowly Saito understood how Louise felt when he and Siesta sat together while she was forced to watch. Still he felt that if Louise knows how bad it felt then she should understand not to make him go through the same thing. Maybe it's her form of
vengeance? Saito hadn't really had good conversation with Louise for two weeks already. They only get to talk during food breaks, and even then it was mostly her scolding him over something menial. Sighing, he just continued, knowing it can't be helped, he just hoped that this trip will end already.
Meanwhile in the distant a white haired man studied the trail from 40 km away. His eyes were sharp enough to make out the fine details of the travelling wagon. Confirming his target, he released his finger on the bowstring unleashing a powerful arrow.
The arrow instantly arrived to its target location, however before the arrow could obliterate the wagon a while flash dashed out from within shattering the arrow upon impact with her sword. However it did little to delay the relentless assault, a hail of arrows followed afterwards, smashing its way through the wagon and the horse. Happening all in a span of seconds; neither Louise nor Saito could gather their thoughts before several more arrows locked in on them. The first thing Saito thought was to grab
Louise to safety but that seemed to be unneeded as Saber is carrying her bridal style whilst jumping away.
"SAITO-!" Louise cried out frantically praying her familiar wasn't killed off by the explosions. Saber casted her eyes around diligently, scanning throughout forest.
She found the raven haired boy to be safe, but she did not make any move to help him.
"L-Louise!"
"Hey partner you needa keep your eyes on the road or you're gonna get us both killed."
The projectiles that were gunning for him were far too fast for him to accurately determine what they were. They felt like missiles but the in this world missiles weren't possible.
A miniature firestone?
Firestone has far bigger area of effect so a smaller compact version wouldn't be out of the question. However what's truly frightening for him wasn't the explosiveness of the attacks, but the speed in which they came. He didn't even know what direction that came from or where they came from, it seemed like a bombardment from the skies.
"Are you alright?" The beautiful blonde knight who claimed to be Mordred asked with a smirk.
She almost sounded sarcastic, almost.
Saito who could barely catch his breath found Saber casually walking towards him, still with Louise in her arms.
A pang of jealousy hit his heart seeing Louise being held like a newlywed bride. That should be him saving and holding Louise like that. In his mind that's how it's supposed to go.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine…"
Saito sounded like he was in a bad mood. Which made Louise upset, since she felt responsible for Saito's near death experience.
Yet once again she dragged him to near death. But this time it wasn't about saving her friends or even the country for that matter. This time it was purely 100% honor, and for that Saito shouldn't risk his life.
"Saito you should go back to Tristain."
"Wait what? I'm fine; I didn't take any serious injuries."
However Louise wouldn't hear any of it. She felt this "war" was purely out of honor and pride, something that is of course foreign to Saito. So obviously he should not fight or risk his life for such a meaningless conflict.
Winning or losing doesn't even determine the fate of a single person in Tristain. This is merely the duty of being a noble, not anything heroic.
Both Saito and Louise already guessed that the attack was meant to eliminate potential competition. Whoever was behind the attack obviously had no intentions of playing fair. Saber is one person, she can't protect both Louise and Saito if another attack like that were to happen again.
Louise is a mandatory contestant so the choice was obvious.
"Hey listen here, you just got lucky okay? You saw how helpless you were? So go back you'll only get in the way!" Louise crossed her arms; she could not help but raise her voice.
Obviously she wanted to tell him to get to safety, but due to her explosive nature, she found herself once again getting annoyed at Saito's denseness.
Saito was visibly shaken. It was one thing to have his lover being saved by another person while he stood helpless. Whom he already felt inadequacy to prior, but it was another to be told that you're useless in front of said person.
"Fine then! It's not like I wanted to come anyway you woke me up early in the morning!"
Truthfully the raven haired teen wanted to protect Louise, even more so after that attack just now, but her constant aggressiveness caught him at a bad time. So with emotions taking over the wheel, he stormed off.
Louise did not understand the sudden outburst from Saito. So she only fired even more insults.
"Are you sure it's alright for him to just leave? You two are lovers are you not?" Saber weren't clarified the exact relationship between Saito and his master but based on their interactions she assumed them to be married couples.
"Ahh geez whatever! He should be glad now he can flirt with that maid and that elf in peace!"
Noticeably disgruntled, Louise stomped off towards the road even though her horse and wagon got destroyed.
In a similar predicament, Saito had no idea how he would be able to return home. He found himself walking hours upon hours back to towards the castle. But it would take at least another six or so hours before he would arrive. To make things worse it was already nightfall, noticing this, Saito hurried to find shelter.
"I didn't think you would be such a fool to leave alone." a gruff strange voice loomed out from the darkness.
Saito's head darted everywhere, his body tense with nervousness.
"If you could locate me this easily then what kind of Heroic Spirit would I be?"
"H-Heroic spirit?"
With a sigh, the stranger sounded as if he pitied the boy. "So you were dragged into a war without even knowing what it entails?" Laughing sarcastically the man jumped down from a tree.
His hair was white as snow with a tanned complexion. Donned in black leather, his frame was extremely well built, almost like a professional body builder. He is Emiya the caster class servant. Being summoned in his natural class he gets a higher mana stat, which can allow him to utilize his skills more effectively.
The loss of some combat stats while under caster class would be negligible due to how his abilities work.
"You're trying to kill Louise?" Saito glared at the strange man who only had a black sleeveless shirt. Even in the darkness of the night Saito could tell her was fairly tanned. His body was nothing short of well built. He wasn't over the top muscular but he has extremely well defined muscles nonetheless. His face was serious yet sarcastic and his white as snow hair erected tall just like his confidence.
"Yeah I guess so. My intentions were to find who the master was. I assume I got it wrong huh?"
His voice sounded sarcastic, Saito didn't know if he should believe what he said. So instead of coming up with a proper response, he instead lunged forward with Derflinger.
The mysterious person sidestepped the attack tripping Saito in the process.
"A servant mistaking your target, I find that hard to believe."
Saito swung his blade down as soon as he stood back up but the mysterious servant simply disarmed him in a speed that only appeared as a blur.
In an instant, Derflinger was sent flying 20 meters away, while a hard force impacted his abdomen. His mind went blank, he hadn't realized it right away but the force was actually a punch. He never got hit by something so hard or fast before.
"S-So this is a servant huh…?" gasping for breath, Saito could only look up helplessly at the tall man.
"Indeed a mage can never hope to face a heroic spirit in combat."
"W-wha?"
Saito couldn't really believe what he's hearing. He knows some particular strong mages, like Louise, who can wipe an entire fleet with a single spell. But even so someone as fast as this person could easily kill her before she even pulls out a wand.
Saito forced himself back up once again. The runes on his hand glowed radiantly as he held up Derflinger.
"I shall test your abilities for myself." upon declaring so the man extended his hand forward forming a sword, the same exact one as Derflinger.
"Wait what? Imitation magic? Alchemy?" Saito couldn't believe his eyes as a sword formed from blue particles materialized in front of him.
Immediately the black suited man re-engaged the fight. This time however, he is armed with Derflinger? His cloned version doesn't seem to be able to talk, but it did clash equally with the original Derflinger.
"Hey partner, we don't know what he could do with that fake of mine!"
"I know but if we don't try something we're gonna die!"
Whatever high level alchemy the tan servant used was none of Saito's concerns. Right now he's focused on surviving and warning Louise of this enemy.
The servant, however, was clearly holding back physically. The same overwhelming force that hit him earlier was no longer present. With gritted teeth, Saito knew if he had any chance at all, it would be while the opponent was being overconfident.
The servant used just enough strength to equalize Saito's power. But what troubled Saito the most, was that he was able to perfectly mimic his stance. Blow for blow Saito's swordplay was matched evenly by the strange servant. The issue wasn't like Agnes out-skilling him in combat or matching him in technique, the issue was this heroic spirit was mimicking his every move and fighting as if he was Saito.
Saito himself fights with instincts as his combat skills were acquired from Gandlfr's runes. So he didn't really have a unique style, his swordplay was merely just top notch. Even so the movement the servant did was the exact same as Saito's. Step for step.
"What in the world…!?" Saito breathed out through gritted teeth.
It was then; the servant finally stopped and with a swift kick knocked him into a tree.
"Alright that's enough games." The servant casually walked over and the fake Derflinger in his hand disappeared back into the blue particles.
Saito forced his head upwards but he was unable to react to what came next. A swift chop to the head and he found only darkness, his limp body slumped to the ground.