A few minutes later, inside the buffet restaurant.
When the Aozaki sisters returned, ready to settle the score with a certain succubus, they found only Shiki sitting there, keeping watch.
"Shiki, where are they?"
"The succubus said she was sleepy and wanted to go back to rest, so Naoki took her and Lia back. What's up?"
"Tch! She escaped so fast!"
"This is all your fault, Aoko."
"Isn't it you who insisted on holding me back and forcing me to tell the truth?" Aoko said irritably, showing a few bruises on her arm.
Seeing the two bickering as usual, Shiki asked, "What's going on? What business did you have with that succubus?"
"Well, about that…"
After organizing her words, Touko recounted what Merry had said earlier to Shiki. And as her words concluded—
*CLACK!*
The steak knife Shiki was using stabbed straight through the table.
Her Mystic Eyes flickered with an icy blue light, and Shiki gave a faintly eerie smile. "I see, that's her plan, that succubus… She better not let me see her a second time."
"If you're going to beat her up, let me know."
"Me too."
To unite three women who originally had a tense relationship against an outside party—Merry, it must be said, was a genius in some respects, even if the result was her becoming everyone's target.
Initially, the three had no intention of claiming the Holy Grail; they had gathered here for Naoki's sake. If Naoki was fine, they hadn't planned to sacrifice much in the Holy Grail War.
But now things were different. Their goal was clear—take down that trashy Merry!
"By the way, you two came back arguing. Did something happen between you?" Shiki suddenly changed the topic. Though the sisters' quarrels were commonplace, she was still mildly curious about the reason.
"Nothing, just the usual."
"She transferred Mana with my student. Oh, by the way, Shiki, 'Mana transfer' means this—come closer, it's like this, this, and this."
Aoko, who had hoped to brush it off with a single sentence, felt deeply uncomfortable after Touko's words, especially under Shiki's gaze. It should be noted that Shiki was still angry, and her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception hadn't been deactivated.
"Got it?" Touko looked at Aoko with deep regret. "Shiki, you know Naoki's a good kid. Handsome, good at housework, his cooking's getting better, and he's strong. From any angle, he's a great guy to bring home, right? And yet, he ended up in the hands of Aoko, this old spinster—it's just absurd."
"You mean, in your hands?" Aoko shot back irritably.
"Sure, Touko, you used to outshine me in everything, but now the tables have turned, haven't they? In every way, I'm clearly better. If we compare, ten out of eleven people would say I'm prettier."
"Where do you get the confidence to say that?"
Touko couldn't fathom where her sister's blind confidence came from. Even if a younger guy had given her some "nourishment." still—
(Ugh, now that I think about it, she does seem a bit more vibrant than before. Her skin's better too, almost like back in high school… Tch!)
Pursing her lips, Touko seemed to vent her frustration by devouring a few pieces of grilled meat. But then, an idea struck her. "Aoko, I just thought of something. Naoki's still my student, so if you become his wife… wouldn't you have to call me 'teacher' or 'big sister'?"
"Do you want me to knock you out and send you dreaming right now? It's nighttime, but you haven't slept yet." Aoko rolled her eyes at her. "But Shiki's awfully quiet. I thought you'd come at me with a knife—your look earlier was terrifying."
"You and Naoki getting married has nothing to do with me. Should I congratulate you on your wedding?"
"No, we're not married, and no plans for it for now…"
(Come to think of it, Shiki's always been indifferent to everything. Telling her about me and Naoki probably doesn't faze her much, since she only sees Naoki as a whetstone for her blade.)
If anything, it was like the feeling of a classmate you spent a year with being in a different class the next semester.
"Well… just out of curiosity, Shiki, do you have… um… someone a bit special to you? Someone you care about enough."
"Naoki?"
Shiki answered with slight hesitation. It wasn't that her heart raced when mentioning Naoki or anything like that; she simply had a strong impression of him. For Shiki, that was already extraordinary.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
While Aoko and the others were talking about Naoki, the subject of their conversation, Naoki himself, was walking through the streets of Shin Tokyo with Merry and Artoria.
"Phew, we should be safe this far."
After confirming again that the women weren't chasing, Merry let out a small sigh of relief.
Though she had anticipated it, actually experiencing it still made her a bit nervous. It should be noted that Aoko and Touko had two Servants with them, one of whom was a god-slaying figure like Scathach. If Aoko got angry and sent Scathach after her, Merry might lose more than half her life.
(Ugh, I went a bit overboard with the teasing. But this way, Riddel will definitely hear about it too. Even before the first round begins, the atmosphere's already this tense—it's bound to escalate into something very interesting.)
Looking at Naoki walking beside her, Merry gave a faint smile. "Looks like, King, if you want to marry me, you'll have to work twice as hard."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Nothing, just mumbling to myself. Anyway, where are we going next?"
"Didn't you say you were sleepy and wanted to go back to rest?"
"I'm not sleepy anymore." Merry laughed. "Besides, I think we should move to another place now."
"Agreed, Master."
Artoria spoke up. "I sense a Servant's aura in the crowd, even stronger than the two from before, and it's not far from here."
If the streets weren't filled with people, Artoria would likely already be fully armed and drawing her sword.
As their words finished, Naoki quickly spotted two familiar figures in the crowd. Though they were dressed in casual clothing, he could still recognize their faces.
One was a blonde youth in a black leather jacket.
The other was a dark-skinned man with white hair, wearing a cloak, with a friendly face.
Gilgamesh.
King Solomon.
(To meet almost everyone on the first night… Fuyuki City really is too small.)