Caster already knew Louise was the master of Saber. Seeing the blonde knight prioritizing her safety first and then escorting her away, was all the confirmation he needed. His hawk-like eyes did not miss a breadth of a second.
His intended target was Saito to begin with. But that was not his call; rather it was his cowardly master who chose to remain in secrecy.
His master's plan was rather simple. Capture Saito, a person that Louise hold dearly and use him as a hostage. Of course Caster himself felt nothing towards playing such a dirty role. He did not consider himself to be a heroic spirit that is respectable nor honorable. He did what is necessary to attain the greater goal. Any means necessary is his motto and he did exactly just that. So when his master proposed such an idea that one can only expect from criminals and mercenaries he obliged without a single word.
Caster paused himself when he finally closed in on Saber. The blonde knight had already sensed him coming.
In contrast to the cowardly Caster, Saber was honorably standing, without attacking right off the bat. She did not jump from the shadows like a bandit. She stood and faced Caster, sword in hand, waiting, as if they were in an official duel. Saber's master stood behind her, the strawberry blonde girl with the cute face.
Sizing up his prey, Caster smirked. The blonde swordsman has some similarities to someone he knew. The knightly servant in front of him was no doubt one of the round table knights. The style of clothing and the western sword suggests so at least.
"Your heroic pride is going to be the end of you, strange knight."
"S-Saito!" Louise cried out, her eyes became watery upon seeing his lifeless body dangling under Caster's arms.
"Don't need to be so loud, he's alive." as if on cue Saito groaned inaudibly. Caster chuckled at the boy in his arms while walking up to Saber.
"What do you want nameless servant?" Saber clutched Clarent tighter as she assumed a combat stance. Saber already grasped the situation; the smug smile was not helping Caster hide his intentions at all.
"I think it's pretty obvious what I want, tell your servant to come here." With his free hand, Caster formed a violet jagged dagger.
"Projection?"
Saber thought it was a weird magic to use in a fight, normally projection magic is only used for rituals that requires a hard to get materials. But to use it in combat is unheard of.
Louise anxiously glanced at Saber who remained emotionless. She wasn't sure if Saber had a plan or remained calm just to throw the enemy servant off. Her heart was about to jump out her chest. The longer Saito remained a hostage the more anxious she got.
Tightening her fist Louise barely managed to choke out the words "L-Listen to his demands…"
Nodding, the white and red knight walked forward. Her speed is one of the best for a servant, and Caster's is one of the worse. Casters are not a combat class, so naturally their strength, speed and defense is nowhere comparable to the three knight classes. She thought of making a swift movement to cut off the arm of Caster as soon as he's within range. Even though it would be a surprise attack, she no longer felt obligated to keep her oath as a knight now that Caster has shown that he does not care for honor.
But Caster made the first move, lunging forward he stabbed the dagger into the chest of Saber. Or he would have had Saber not possess the skill instincts. A skill which acted like a sixth sense, allowing Saber to foresee all impending attacks before they are even made. Saber sidestepped the attack and swung her blade downwards.
For Saber to free Saito with a single swing, it requires extreme precision almost impossible for a human, but for a servant this is nothing.
Unfortunately, Saber misunderstood the nature of her enemy. This Caster was not one that she's used to dealing with. He actually excels in melee combat. As soon as Caster realized Saber was going for the arm that he held Saito with. He tossed Saito forward, using him as a shield, causing both parties to jump back several meters.
His speed was faster than Saber had anticipated.
Saber gripped her sword more tightly, realizing she lost the element of surprise.
"I never thought you were going to give up this easily. None of the round table knights would." Caster chuckled smugly. Having full faith in his analysis, Caster was well prepared against a surprise attack.
"You're correct I'm one of the Knights of the Round Table, Mordred Pendragon to be exact."
Saber did not lose her calm demeanor. She stood resolute, with her patented grin.
"The Knight of Treachery huh…?" Caster mumbled the words with disbelief. Looking at the knight in front of him, she looked exactly like someone he knew long ago. He could never forget her face… the red knight in front of him was just as beautiful as she was. Just as awe-inspiring as her father.
But he refused to let his face betray his emotions. Forcing back the brief sentimental memories, he doubled down on his demands.
"Drop your weapon and come forward then, Knight of Treachery."
"As if! You bastard!"
Caster couldn't help but chuckle. Artoria's daughter was much more vulgar than she was. But regardless after Saber had failed her surprise attack she had to give in to Caster's demands. Even if Mordred wanted to refuse, all Caster had to do was give her master a little "encouragement."
"You there, master of Saber. I can snap his head right off any time I want."
"And if you do I'll end you right there." Saber replied with a devilish smile, holding her sword up readying to dash forward.
"Do you want to lose this boy for a chance of killing me?" Caster ignored Saber's threatening stance and stared straight into Louise's pink orbs.
"I-I…" Louise closed her eyes. She wasn't sure what happened; she didn't even command her servant to do anything, but a strange sensation panged the back of her hand. Looking down, she found a mark of the red symbol faded into the air.
And before she even realized it, Saber was mechanically walking forward.
Returning her sword back to its spirit state, Saber continued moving in a stance that would not allow for defense.
Smirking at the sight Caster stabbed the jagged dagger into the chest of Saber. Purple light spilled forth in the phantom wound. The injury was painless, however Saber could tell there was some unknown curse coursing through her body.
Louise yelped as sudden pain overwhelmed her hand, the markings appearing on the back of her hands disappeared as the mysterious purple light continued to radiate.
"W-what's going on...? Help me S-Saito…" she murmured as she fell to the ground, almost losing her consciousness.
"Rule Breaker, it is of course a mere imitation, but this imitation still possesses the effect that severs all magic." Caster explained with his usual demeanor. Saber glared at him with contempt, she could do nothing as the bond between her and her masters dissipated.
"Y-You got what you want! Give me back Saito!"
"Yes, off course, I may not be your conventional hero but I do keep my word." Caster tossed the raven haired teen towards Saber, the unconscious boy landing next to Louise with a thud.
Without a word Saber glared menacingly at her former master. If looks could kill, this one would do it. Louise could only shiver from the imposing glare of her former servant.
The pink haired mage did not know how fortunate she was.
Biting her lips, Saber was actually contemplating on executing her ex-master right then and there. But the possibility of reforming a contract visited her mind so she silenced the thought.
"I'm sure you have a reason to fight in this grail war, since you still have a day's worth of mana, you should follow me if you still have a desire to attain the grail." Caster's calm voice sliced through the tense atmosphere but Saber still remained silent.
"Saito…" Louise repeatedly murmured his name while cradling his unconscious body. Derflinger quickly unsheathed and said, "Worry not girl he's alive no real harm done."
With a relieved sigh, she looked up at her former servant. Although she did not fully grasp the situation, she felt the bond between her and Saber was now a thing of the past.
"What will you do now Saber?" Louise asked in a meek voice. She already learned earlier from Saber herself, that she did not answer her summoning out of her own good will. There was a reason why she agreed to be summoned. Louise now regretted not asking why this grail thing was important to her.
Saber's face darkened, her glare intensified but Caster remained unfazed.
"You bastard of a heroic spirit, I should kill you here and now and make your death memorable to you when I send you back to the throne."
"Of course, if you waste whatever mana you have left killing me, then you really will disappear."
Caster remained as confident as ever. Perhaps it's one of his skills; even in the face of certain doom he remained calm.
"I don't think it'll take much energy to kill you." Saber reformed Clarent. She was sure from their earlier exchange, that she could take out Caster in matter of minutes. Even if her prior assessment of his combat capabilities were shown to be incorrect, she still knew after the quick exchange, that Caster still had a limit to his combat prowess.
"That could be true, you could have offed my head from this distance in an instant, but you didn't."
Saber didn't say a word to her enemy. She knew what Caster was alluding to. But was it an offer she wanted to take up on? Either way she wanted to remain in this world and win the grail.
Caster turned to spirit form and walked away. Saber shot one last glance at Louise, before she too disappeared into her spirit form.
Saito woke up with a massive headache. The beaming heat from the sun scorched the side of his face.
Rubbing his temples he looked around, suddenly he shot straight up knocking something down along the way. He just remembered he was fighting a servant. He reached for Derflinger but found nothing but air. Glancing around anxiously, Saito found himself in a bed of a small inn. The room only had enough space for a single bed, and a small wooden desk with a single chair.
"What's the big idea, you stupid dog!" Louise screamed angrily. His head hit her face and probably bruised her pristine skin.
Saito blinked, stupefied for a brief moment, he finally mumbled,"Louise?"
"Idiot, who do you think it would be?" crossing her arms, Louise averted her eyes, she was blushing as red as cherry. She cried throughout the night while he was unconscious, as a result her eyes were still watery and puffy.
Even though his life wasn't in danger, the fact she dragged him into another near death situation was too much for her.
"Ahh?" Saito felt water on his left cheek, when he rubbed it away he shot a bizarre look at Louise. But seeing her in her miserable state, explained all it needed to explain.
"Louise, I'm back!" His cheerful voice filled with exuberance as he embraced Louise. Surprisingly, she accepted it with no complaints. His hand went immediately to her lush pink hair. But after a couple of minutes of stroking it, his curious hand wandered off further below the neck.
Louise of course did not let that slide easily. She instinctively pulled out a small whip but Saito immediately shrunk his hand back before she could retaliate.
Desperate to avoid incoming punishment, Saito asked about what happened after he went unconscious.
"The no-name servant dragged you around like a ragdoll, until he found us and threatened to kill you if I didn't surrender Saber…"
Even Louise wasn't exactly sure what Caster did, but the end result was now she was servant-less and had to withdraw from the grail war.
While Saito knew he should act like they suffered a huge loss, he felt thankful things ended the way they did. The whole fight was based on honor and pride so now that Louise is forced to withdraw; no longer does she have to throw her life away in the name of defending a country's honor.
With a disappointed sigh, Louise dejectedly said, "I thought Saber would win 100% too…"
"Sorry…"
Louise did not respond, even though she wanted to comfort him. Tell him that it wasn't his fault, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her pride wouldn't let her. Her pride was already hurt earlier after seeing what her servant was capable of; she was sure she would bring home the cup. But instead her enemy, a "noble" and his "heroic spirit" decided to cheap shot her. "Not quite noble or heroic", she grumbled while tightening her fist in anger.
Derflinger popped up at that second.
"How did you think Saber was going to win anyway?"
"It's because I saw her stats!" pulling out from her pocket she handed over a small booklet.
"Stats?" Both Saito and Derf found themselves asking in unison.
"Mhm!" Louise nodded handing Saito the booklet.
Inside were some names and letters scribbled down.
In small writing Saito could see text written with letter rankings, like that of a report card.
Saito didn't know what any of it meant. Well at least some of it had RPG tones to it so he got a general idea.
"Hmph, it's because I'm a master that's why I could see the status of a servant when I look at them, if I lose sight of them I can't see their stats anymore so I wrote it down."
"You figured that all out by yourself?" Saito chuckled; not quite believing Louise.
"Arrg…! Just because I was called Louise the Zero doesn't mean I don't have a clue about magical things!"
"But what does that have to do with magical things?"
Averting his gaze, she admitted the truth in a voice almost too meek to hear. "Alright, alright Saber told me okay…?"
"Wait, so did you see how strong that servant was?"
"Yeah of course, he wasn't anything impressive though, that's why it's so disappointing we had to submit to him."
Flipping the page, Louise pointed at the status sheet for Caster.
In comparison, there was no way the nameless servant would be able to touch Saber in combat. Suddenly the dishonorable blackmail didn't seem so strange anymore. Still he was a heroic spirit right? Why would someone be touted as a heroic spirit and commit such an act? Was he one of those heroes that go by the motto "any means necessary?"
In any case, it was too late to worry about that, officially they are out of the grail war after all. Thank Brimir for that Saito thought.
Louise was still visibly jarred at what happened. He always did think Louise was a bit of a sore loser. Well maybe not exactly a sore loser but someone who is really adamant on succeeding and proving herself. This may not have ended well after all, Saito thought with worry.
"So Louise we should go back to Tristain right?"
He felt nervous when Louise did not respond. Her face hardened as if she was deep in thought.
"I want to find that so called aristocrat and humiliate him for resorting to such lows!" Louise declared as she stood up vehemently.
"Hey, hey that's not really necessary, be glad you got away with your life!"
She did not respond to his cowardice, it was to be expected of course. Saito only fights to protect the people he cares about. Louise walked towards a horse ranch.
"Ohh…" she stopped right at the entrance, she had just realize she didn't bring enough money to replace what was destroyed by Caster.
"We need to find a quick job." Louise absentmindedly told Saito, ignoring his complaints.
The town they were in was pretty small. Even though they were in Gallia they were still well respected since they are nobles from Tristain. Well at least that was true for Louise, Saito did not dress like a noble so no one knew the Queen of Tristain had made him a chevalier.
"So we can buy horses to go back right? Right? Aha…"
Glaring at him Louise said "no, I'm going to exact my revenge, you can go back if you want."
Slowly Saito realized why after all these grail wars there was not one survivor. All those nobles probably continued fighting even after their servants died. Such is the life of nobility. It's only honorable if you die in combat, not come back a loser.
While Louise asked around for jobs, Saito droned forward sighing as he did. He couldn't really muster the strength to convince her to withdraw. Perhaps he knew how pointless it was to convince Louise after she made up her mind. Especially when it comes to defending her honor.
"Hey partner do you know that Louise carried you all the way to this town by herself at night? She didn't sleep at all."
"Huh really?"
"Yep, she struggled hard walking dozens of kilometers with you on her back."
Saito felt really bad for causing Louise so much trouble. If he had swallowed his pride earlier they wouldn't have separated. Then she wouldn't be forced to surrender the grail or fight without a servant. And even worse, because of all that he made her strain herself carrying him to safety. His heart panged with guilt, he just wanted to run to her and hug her telling her how much he loved her.
Louise walked back over. Her expression did not lighten up at all. However, knowing her for so long, Saito could tell she somewhat cheered up.
"So, are there any easy jobs we could do?" Saito reminiscence his time working for Scarron. It wasn't particularly a bad time, for him at least.
"Hmm yeah, it's quick and easy too; we could easily buy another wagon and even two horses if we get it done."
"Oh, what kind of job?"
To be able to get that many ecus to buy that much stuff would usually mean months of work at a restaurant, and that's not counting cost of living either. Therefore it is impossible to actually get the money in time to continue fighting in the grail war.
That was actually one of the things Saito banked on to make Louise give up.
If she ran out of time while trying to buy a mode of transportation then she would be forced to leave, but unfortunately it sounded like she found some ways to get quick money.
"That blacksmith over there told me that his daughter went missing, if I can find her then he's going to give me his horses with a wagon too! Isn't it amazing!" Louise nodded to herself, expecting praise from her familiar.
But he was doubtful, at how she planned to accomplish such a task.
"Do you even have clues on where she's gone to?"
"Hrm… not really... but if it's some magical beasts we could handle it, that guy told me there's orcs around here so that's why he needed nobles to help search the areas."
"Ahh okay… I guess we have no choice."
Saito still sounded doubtful. If some magical beasts or orcs were responsible the girl is probably dead by now. If not, how are they going to search for a missing person in acres and acres of forests?
The duo decided to separate and ask around the town, but to no avail. No one really had a clue on the missing girl. To be fair, if it was as simple as asking the townsfolk, the blacksmith probably wouldn't hire them.
Louise and Saito eventually met back up to share information. What Louise found was that there were other girls of the same age missing. Saito also found something of interest. There had been a new noble that moved in around here. What's off about it was that the noble lived in isolation and never came out. The commoners only knew of the noble's existence when they happen to come across a giant manor hidden in the trees while they were searching for herbs. No one ever saw the manor built, but based on its size it had to belong to a noble. Rumors had it that the mansion appeared overnight. Deeming it was suspicious enough; Saito and Louise decided to travel there. It would take approximately seven hours on horseback to reach the destination but they had no other choice. That was the only lead they had.