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"I'm back, Kisaragi Rin."
When Yukinoshita Yukino pushed open the door, Saber said loudly and energetically, her nose twitching subconsciously, wanting to know if her Kisaragi Rin had secretly eaten any delicious food while she was away.
"Master, I'm back," Medusa also whispered.
Kisaragi Rin, who had finished assembling the Noble War Chariot, was holding a large bucket of popcorn, feeding it to Lily in her arms, while Medea and Esdeath leaned on either side, yawning and accompanying their Master to watch a movie.
The timeline for the Fifth Holy Grail War in the Fate World was still early, and there weren't any particularly interesting films, so Kisaragi Rin was watching discs brought from the Main World.
Kisaragi Rin glanced at Yukinoshita Yukino and quickly received a glare in return, an expression that clearly said, "I won't greet you."
Yukinoshita Yukino: Holding a grudge…
"Saber, Medusa, you've worked hard," Kisaragi Rin responded to them.
Yukinoshita Yukino: Grudge +1
Handing the popcorn to Saber, both of them found a place to sit.
Kisaragi Rin placed Lily in Medea's arms, then went to the other side and said, "Miss Yukinoshita Yukino, I admit my mistake. Can you please sit down and calm down first?"
"No," Yukinoshita Yukino sat down, but she had no intention of calming down just because of a single sentence.
"Lord Kisaragi, I've gathered a lot of intelligence during this outing and request to report to you."
Despite her anger, official matters still needed to be handled. To some extent, both Kisaragi Rin and Yukinoshita Yukino enjoyed teasing each other with their titles.
"You may report," Kisaragi Rin nodded. Only Lancer, Archer, and Assassin remained among the Servants.
"A very brief battle broke out at the arcade in Fuyuki City. From the moment we sensed the magical energy burst until we arrived, only a few minutes had passed, but the battle had already ended."
"The battleground was mostly confined to a burger shop inside the arcade. The very brief battle had left quite profound marks within it."
"When we arrived, we only saw a pair of Master and Servant. It's worth noting that the Master was a dog, but we can't rule out the possibility that the dog was just a smoke bomb released by the real Master, after all, they all seem to like finding things to disguise themselves."
Thinking of this, Yukinoshita Yukino's expression became a bit strange. Although this method was effective, so many people using it at once made her somewhat speechless. She couldn't help but wonder if these Masters were really from a training class, just as Kisaragi Rin had said.
"Continue."
Kisaragi Rin temporarily withheld judgment on whether a dog could be a Master in the Holy Grail War, continuing to listen to the intelligence Yukinoshita Yukino brought back.
"We sensed Steve Rogers's presence on the battlefield, having just left. However, from the Servant's performance and the nearby destruction, it's clear that Steve Rogers was not one of the combatants. His role might have been similar to ours, simply attracted by the battle…"
"The Servant we encountered should be a Lancer, because she was holding two spears."
"Wait a minute, 'she'?" This time, Kisaragi Rin interrupted before Yukinoshita Yukino could finish.
Lancer, female, two spears… As these clues appeared in her mind, Kisaragi Rin asked in surprise, "Is she purple-haired, wearing black tights, and has a very good figure?"
Yukinoshita Yukino: "…"
"That's right. You already know who she is?" Yukinoshita Yukino became even more curious about Kisaragi Rin and how he knew so much information…
"Hmm… Her name is Scáthach. She's a rather powerful Servant. I just hope she hasn't unsealed her suppressed power right now."
Kisaragi Rin pondered Scáthach's information in her mind. The combination of her various inherent Skills and Noble Phantasms was truly troublesome. Kisaragi Rin wouldn't have been surprised if this dog had summoned Enkidu, but it summoned Scáthach?
Kisaragi Rin only hoped she wouldn't unseal her suppressed power, otherwise, with that wisdom that foresees everything, how could this Holy Grail War even be fought?
"Wait, I have a Workshop on me; I can counter-predict."
"As for how to fight?"
"It seems I can only have Esdeath constantly ready to use Time Stop, and then activate it to hit her hard."
After thinking, Kisaragi Rin indeed came up with several countermeasures and quickly calmed down. She looked at Esdeath and said seriously, "Esdeath, Time Stop cannot be used casually anymore. We must reserve it for this Servant."
"I understand." Esdeath, having been stabbed to death by the Lion King, had somewhat curbed her excessive arrogance. Noticing the importance Kisaragi Rin placed on Scáthach in her words, she immediately agreed.
Although Esdeath's power was Time Stop, there were actually many ways to counter it if one knew the information.
For example, suddenly attacking while Esdeath was on Time Stop cooldown, or predicting Esdeath's Time Stop and dodging into a Reality Marble or similar space just before it's activated to deal with those seven seconds, or simply attacking from range without entering the Time Stop's area…
The practicalities of these methods aside for now, as between valuing an enemy and underestimating an enemy, Kisaragi Rin preferred the former.
At that time, she could even say to the enemy, "I thought you could bring me more surprises."
With knowledge of the information, there were simply too many countermeasures. And this information about Time Stop, it goes without saying that Soichiro Kuzuki would definitely throw it out to prevent Kisaragi Rin from acquiring the remaining three Servants in the Holy Grail War, thereby expanding his strength once again.
The most effective part of Esdeath's Time Stop now was undoubtedly the "nuclear deterrence" it represented when held in hand and never released.
"As long as you have a way to solve it." Yukinoshita Yukino's mood now was truly indescribable. On one hand, she was still cross with Kisaragi Rin for tricking her into eating that bizarre dish, and on the other hand, she had infinite trust in Kisaragi Rin when it came to serious matters.
Just like earlier, when Kisaragi Rin said Scáthach was a powerful Servant, Yukinoshita Yukino's heart tightened, then seeing that Kisaragi Rin already had a solution, she immediately relaxed.
Such trust… it almost made Yukinoshita Yukino feel a bit ashamed.
Yukinoshita Yukino vigorously shook her head, dispelling all those strange thoughts, and continued, "The other party in the battle should be Assassin. From logical and battlefield analysis, the destruction on the battlefield occurred from the inside out. If it were Archer, it's unlikely they would fight Lancer in a cramped arcade, and the scope of destruction wouldn't be so small…"
"That's because you don't know that all the Archers in Fate like close combat," Kisaragi Rin thought, recalling the famous Archers in Fate.
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