"Who is this person...?"
When Illya brought Medusa back to Reines's base, Reines looked at Medusa, who had been thrown to the ground, in complete bewilderment.
She knew Illya was already on Zuke's side, but bringing back a tall woman bound in chains was beyond her understanding.
"This person is Rider, her true name is Medusa. Papa captured her."
Illya glanced at Reines — her attitude toward Reines wasn't particularly good, since Reines was likely one of her potential enemies.
Although Reines was just Zuke's Master and theoretically only had a cooperative relationship, Illya could see that Reines had an exaggerated dependence on Zuke.
This kind of dependence could very likely transform into other emotions, and Illya was very clear about this.
However, since she was Zuke's Master after all, Illya couldn't explain nothing to Reines, so she simply explained Medusa's identity and background.
Of course, she didn't forget to remind her at the end:
"Never let anyone remove her eyepatch."
"Medusa... that legendary snake-haired monster who can petrify people?"
Reines also looked at Medusa on the ground with some surprise, couldn't help but click her tongue — she hadn't expected Zuke to capture another Heroic Spirit on his trip out.
Counting Mordred who had been defeated by Zuke once before, Zuke had essentially completely defeated three Heroic Spirits.
Although Reines had already anticipated that Zuke's strength was extraordinary, seeing him capture other Heroic Spirits as easily as catching chickens still made her somewhat amazed.
If not for the current lack of a new Lesser Grail, Zuke would probably have already eliminated these Heroic Spirits and made them nourishment for the Lesser Grail, right?
However, Reines soon thought of another very important matter.
Medusa was Rider, meaning this woman was one of the two Heroic Spirits she hadn't investigated yet.
And of the two Heroic Spirits she hadn't investigated clearly, one was summoned by Matou Sakura... could this Medusa be Matou Sakura's Heroic Spirit?
Thinking of this, Reines hurriedly looked at Illya and asked:
"Wait, Illya! Where did Mr. Zuke capture this Heroic Spirit?"
Illya looked at Reines with confusion, not knowing why she cared about such things.
However, Illya didn't know about the relationship between Matou Sakura and Reines, so she directly answered Reines's question:
"At the rooftop of a place called the Hyatt Hotel."
Hearing this answer, Reines's face immediately went pale — others might not know, but Reines knew that Matou Sakura was staying at the Hyatt Hotel.
It seemed because ten years ago Zuke had placed Matou Sakura in a guest room at the Hyatt Hotel, so Matou Sakura had developed feelings for that place and chose it as her base this time.
Before departing from the Clock Tower, Matou Sakura had already booked that guest room at the Hyatt Hotel to prevent it from being occupied by others when she returned to Fuyuki City.
Because of the El-Melloi family's connections in the Clock Tower, Reines had known about this for a long time.
So hearing that Zuke captured Medusa on the rooftop of the Hyatt Hotel, she could basically confirm that Medusa was Matou Sakura's Servant.
So where did Zuke go now without returning... could he have gone to see Matou Sakura?
Reines suddenly felt quite panicked. She was very clear about how ruthless Matou Sakura could be when angry.
People in the Clock Tower were secretly dealt with by her just for mocking the black feather that Zuke had given her, so if she found out that Reines had summoned Zuke first, Matou Sakura definitely wouldn't tolerate it.
Although Zuke probably wouldn't tell Matou Sakura about her affairs, the sense of security that Reines had originally felt because of Zuke's presence completely vanished at this moment.
"No, this still can't make me feel secure..."
Reines gritted her teeth inwardly. She had thought Zuke could give her unparalleled security, but she hadn't expected there could still be special circumstances where even having Zuke by her side couldn't make her feel safe.
The reason was simple... Zuke also had a good relationship with Matou Sakura. Reines couldn't guarantee that if she and Matou Sakura came into conflict, Zuke would side with her.
Thinking of this, a sudden thought flashed through Reines's mind:
"In that case... I just need to increase my importance in Mr. Zuke's heart."
Currently, Reines's relationship with Zuke was, after all, just a Master and Servant relationship, a fragile connection maintained by the Holy Grail War contract.
If she could advance her relationship with Mr. Zuke further... she should be able to gain deeper security, right?
Zuke had no idea that just because Illya brought back a Medusa, Reines had been overthinking a bunch of things in her mind.
At this time, he was still in Matou Sakura's room, holding the "Arrow" from the JOJO world in his hand.
"Zuke-nii, what is this...?"
Matou Sakura looked at the "Arrow" in Zuke's hand with some curiosity — she didn't know what it was, just felt it had a strange attractiveness.
"This is a tool that can help people awaken an ability called 'Stand,' but it requires that person to have the qualifications for Stand abilities."
Zuke explained, then raised his palm toward Matou Sakura, looking at the "Arrow" in his palm.
During the last Fate/Zero mission, Zuke had secretly tested Matou Sakura's Stand qualifications and confirmed that she didn't have that kind of potential.
Matou Sakura not only couldn't see Zuke's "Black Bird," she also wasn't guided by the "Arrow."
So when Zuke plucked a feather from "Black Bird" and gave it to Matou Sakura, he had to use "Soprano Sax's" reality illusion ability to give the feather "visibility."
But the situation was different now. After carrying Zuke's "Black Bird" feather for ten years, Matou Sakura's Stand qualifications had somewhat changed.
At least from what Reines had described earlier, Matou Sakura had indeed seen the maid outfit Stand on Reines, even though she couldn't see "Black Bird" ten years ago.
If it was really as Zuke thought, then perhaps he could change people's Stand qualifications through acquired means.
The next moment, under Zuke and Matou Sakura's gaze, the "Arrow" in Zuke's palm suddenly trembled, then pointed straight at Matou Sakura.
"As expected..."
Seeing the "Arrow's" reaction, Zuke showed an understanding expression.
It seemed that long-term carrying of "Black Bird's" feather really could change a person's Stand qualifications. He just didn't know what the principle behind this was.
To be continued…