Fergus, who had fallen asleep due to magical energy depletion. Scáthach, holding Fergus and landing on the ground, looked around.
Due to Artoria's sword strike, the Dragon Tooth Warriors were already annihilated. The Servants weren't fighting each other either. Amidst this, Medb soon walked out of the castle, dragging a man's corpse. She was covered in blood, breathing so roughly that her veins showed purple through her skin.
"Haah... Haah... Got him. This bastard..."
Having been poisoned by Vāsuki's venom for too long, she was staggering despite having strong resistance. In her hand was the corpse of Kotomine Shirou with a hole in his chest. Having committed the transgression of attempting to steal the Grail, he was summarily executed, and the Caster and Assassin who aided him were also judged.
"Good work, Medb. Rest now."
Scáthach immediately created an antidote on the spot using primordial runes and injected it into her neck.
"Since Vāsuki's poison can't be saved, this is a Hydra antidote. It will take over three hours to detoxify, so rest well."
"Uh... Thanks..."
Losing all strength and collapsing, Medb fell asleep leaning against Scáthach's shoulder.
"... Heh, reminds me of the old days."
Scáthach smiled faintly, recalling the time when the two of them collapsed exhausted during their intense training in the Land of Shadows in their youth, and held both of them simultaneously.
"Really... In the end, I wasn't much help this time either. Aren't you all too strong?"
Deirdre, walking out, ignited flames to burn Shirou's corpse, then immediately made trees sprout to create an impromptu mobile bed and laid the two down.
"What, the Servants' skill levels were on par with yours. Although there were those like the Son of the Sun or the Fastest Hero who would have had a hard time against you."
"Not me."
Aífe walked over with a snort and kissed Fergus's fallen cheek.
"So, how are you going to handle the cleanup? It seems all the Command Spells were on that guy."
Medea, who descended from the sky, spoke while looking at Shirou's burning corpse. Then, as Scáthach extended her hand, Shirou's Command Spells transformed into magical light and floated in the air. With her red eyes glowing, she gestured, and the Command Spells disappeared beyond the sky.
"They likely returned to their original Masters. They'll regain their senses as they reclaim their Command Spells. After that, a proper Holy Grail War will occur."
"In some ways, you're even better than me..."
"It's just because of the primordial runes; your knowledge and application of magecraft, Medea, are also top-class. There are those like the Mage King who rely on their innate birthright."
"That does feel somewhat unfair..."
In terms of pure magecraft skill, Medea was superior to Scáthach, but combined with Scáthach's wisdom from the Land of Shadows, the primordial runes were too overpowered, making it a frustrating reality that Scáthach was stronger in magecraft than Medea. In versatility, understanding, design, etc., Medea was the best when it came to magecraft, but due to time constraints, she was being outperformed by Scáthach or Aífe who used primordial runes...
"So the war is temporarily suspended. Where is she?"
"She's in front of the Grail."
Hearing Deirdre's answer, Artoria went to get Jeanne Alter. Jeanne Alter was sitting in front of the Grail.
"What are you doing here? There's no one to steal it now."
"... No, it's just that I really did nothing. I just held the supervisor position well, didn't I do anything?"
"Heh, nothing? Thanks to your La Pucelle, weren't we free from interference from the others?"
"Fergus was there too."
"Ahem... Anyway, that's that."
Having had virtually no chance to be active, she was terribly discouraged. Spartacus and Jack also blocked Achilles and Atalanta from the middle, and after La Pucelle's duration ended, they fought those who resisted. In contrast, she, who was waiting at the Grail's location in case Medb failed, had done nothing particular.
"Don't be discouraged. It's not that you weren't at a level to act, but rather that we did what we wanted to do. You are a separate person in a neutral position, aren't you? You simply did what a faction in a free position like ours should have done. Moreover, you have a living body; if you were careless, even Laeticia could die, so being cautious is also correct."
"That may be so... But the current me is firepower-oriented, not defensive. There's no meaning in being Alterified."
"It's because your side is relatively more honest."
"About what?"
"That's the only reason Fergus made you Alter. There's curiosity too, but it's because your side is a bit more honest. Being honest with oneself, that is the way to become closer in human relationships. I too realized that too late. Actually, most heroic spirits are like that. Everyone has regrets—if only I hadn't been betrayed... if only I hadn't left... That's how human relationships are. In a public setting, it might be different, but in private, it's okay."
".... Honest. That's why I died in life, you know."
"That's because those bastards were assholes."
"Pfft... That's true. But aren't they your descendants?"
"Who cares about Saxon bastards? They are not descendants of Britons. My Britain was already taken by them, so I don't care. No, conversely, isn't it because of them that England gets a bad reputation? In history, whenever there's blame, it's always England... Imperialism, colonialism... whatever happens, England is the problem, right?"
"That's true."
"Anyway, don't worry alone too much. We are... well, friends, aren't we?"
"Friends? ... Friends. Certainly, I had none besides Laeticia. Gilles felt more like an aide than a friend, and there were many who admired or hated me, but I had no friends in the army."
"That's right. Now, get up. We have cleanup to do, don't we? I'll help you."
"... Okay. Thanks... Now, I don't think I need this anymore."
"?"
Jeanne Alter stood up with a pleased smile, then pulled the Artorium from her own head and immediately stuck it into Artoria's head. Light enveloped the two, and they returned to their original forms.
"Thank you, Artoria. Even if I'm not an Alter, we are friends, right?"
"... Heh, of course. An Alter is me yet not me, but simultaneously also me. However we became close, we are friends."
"Thank you... for becoming my friend. Then, let's go quickly!"
Jeanne, feeling immensely relieved, went outside with Artoria to handle the cleanup of the Grail theft incident. To Sisigou Kairi, the only intact Red Master, they attached Scáthach to help find the other Masters in the present time, and the Red Servants also left to find their real Masters for now. The Black Faction had prevented the Grail theft, but as per Fergus's earlier declaration, they decided to retrieve the Grail under the condition of returning it to the winning faction while addressing safety concerns.
Additionally, they decided to take Sieg with them, and things were temporarily settled. Since there were issues with the Red Masters, they declared a two-day truce and left. First, they created a dwelling in a forest near Trifas, dug an underground tunnel to store the Grail, and made a temporary base.
"Haah... It's exhausting."
"That guy is sleeping well."
Sieg, who had shaken off Nessa and jumped into the battlefield overnight, awakened his Dragonkind Reactor Core and transformed into Siegfried to fight Mordred. As a result, Sieg was in a deep sleep. Aífe sighed, looking at Sieg who had fought without listening.
"What can you do? His fellow homunculi were dying; I understand his feelings."
Deirdre understood and defended Sieg, who had rushed out upon seeing the homunculi die. Everyone understood Sieg's feelings, so they decided not to say anything when he woke up, and Nessa, who had lost sight of Sieg, apologized.
"I'm sorry. I had a moment of weakness..."
"You, who were a villainess under Cathbad's brainwashing in the old days, are too soft-hearted now, aren't you?"
"I, I was originally like this, Scáthach..."
"Heh. The Holy Mother of Ulster, you mean?"
"Don't tease me!"
While chatting and passing the time, Fergus soon recovered his magical energy and woke up.
"My, my, as expected, my magical energy issue is a flaw."
"Are you alright?"
"Huh? Jeanne, you're back?"
"Yes... I think I'm fine now."
"Hmm... Hm, good eyes. I like them."
"Mr. Fergus, are you really okay?"
"Yes, this much is no problem. It was just magical energy depletion; I am strong."
"....."
"What's wrong?"
"No... it's nothing."
Fergus tilted his head at Jeanne's reaction. And his wives looked at Jeanne and thought.
She's totally smitten... they thought.
"That's definitely cheating... It's instant death level."
Medb, who was waking up as the antidote worked, spat blood from her mouth and fainted again.
"Uh... is this okay?"
"Cause of death is heart-throb, don't worry about it."
Reika, who was watching from the side, asked about Medb's condition, and Scáthach answered casually as if it were an everyday occurrence. Reika thought she might also fall if she didn't get a grip, and decided to try to forget by looking only at Spartacus, who was the polar opposite. Where exactly did he look 600 years old? Reika simply couldn't understand...