"Master, please tell me you have a plan!"

Fighting the mass of assassins had been fun. Took me back to the days of my training, and to my days alongside my fellow knights. Even when it came to light that they were immune to wind magecraft, fighting them had been fun; arguably more so, given the additional challenge of having to play bodyguard. But this? Running through the streets in the dead of night, carrying a not really conscious ally over one shoulder, trying to ward off daggers with only my lance and having to deal with Archer trying to shoot us from across the city with arrows? The fun was long gone now. Now, there was only weariness. Weariness, and the beginning of exhaustion.

"What do you mean 'tell me you have a plan'" master sounded indignant as she scattered another batch of daggers. "This is the plan! Run like hell and get the two of us, by which I mean us masters, out of here!"

"For the record" I grunted, twisting my body out of the way as another arrow came whizzing past me, barely missing Saber's master. "This is a shitty plan!"

"Fuck you; I'm not Nathan!"

She was exhausted. Were it not for the sheer abundance of mana in the city, thanks to the leylines, there was no way she'd still be casting spells, weak as they now were…

"Grr! And what is with this" still apparently had the energy to complain though. "Why is Archer only targeting us, damnit!?"

"Why would he bother attacking Rider's familiars?!"

"Why would he not shoot at Rider?! Clearly, he's the biggest threat, and the bounded field is gone! Not like he can't see him; I'd bet my family's entire fortune he can!"

"Alliance then, maybe" I pointed out the possibility as I lunged over and skewered the lone assassin who had dive-bombed towards my master. "Probably?! We know Rider isn't against the idea, at least!"

"You think that-" another wind wall briefly shot up in protection. "Rggh! As if that priest would ever agree to an alliance with anyone!"

"Not even to kill our not-really-a-friend friend?!"

"…It's all his fault, damn him" she growled in frustration. "I'm going to strangle him when I see him! Like, what the fuck?! Become 'God'?!"

'When I see him'… Implying we were all going to make it out of this alive and see the rising sun. Awfully optimistic of you, master. But then again, who was I to judge people on optimism, of all things.

"You think he's alive?!"

A serious question. We'd both seen him intercept the attack meant for master. My master. It had been stupid and reckless… but had he not done so, master would have died, then and there. Even considering the circumstances, it was a failure on my part. It should not have been needed. I never should have been so out of position. Getting to fight as a knight again though, even if not under my king… it had gotten to me.

A shameful display. One completely unbecoming and unfitting of a proper knight…

"Damn well better be, or I'll actually learn necromancy, raise him, then kill him again myself!"

"Hopefully Saber finds him and runs as well then! Not like we could send him a message when I took the barrier down!"

"Yeah, well you can- air step!"

Master shot up into the air, never breaking her run as she climbed higher and higher, one of Archer's arrows slamming into the ground. Chunks of the road broke apart and went flying. Thankfully, it seemed to actually cause more of a problem for the few remaining assassins than it did us.

"Oh sure, lecture us about property damage! Hypocrite" master continued to vent her frustrations.

"Where the hell is everyone anyways" I asked, more so curious than anything. "I thought cities like this were supposed to be buys 24/7?!"

More exploding arrows rained down from above, this time focused on me, rather than master. I was thankful for that, even if it was extra work to make sure nothing befell the one I was carrying. The less I had to do for master, the longer I'd be able to hold out without a command spell. While it wouldn't be the end of the world, being forced to use one now, after all we got through without, would have been a defeat in its own right. I had a feeling master was also of a similar mind on this subject.

"They are! I bet anything that stuck up bitch has something to do with this!"

"How far out do you think she's set up?!"

"Don't know, don't care! Just keep moving!"

"I really hate your plans, master" I teased.

"Shut up Lancer!"

I tried to stifle my laughter, but judging from master's glair I hadn't been totally effective at it. Was it a nice, or smart, move on my part? No, not really. Rather, not at all. But I couldn't help but tease her slightly as we continued to run for our lives, back towards our base. Hanging around that man, hearing him speak, that wicked glint in his eyes that at times revealed itself. …That smirk that crossed his face on multiple occasions. It really did remind me of that troublesome mage. It dragged out some of my… not so knightly habits, remembering the good old days…