——No, it’s not that I don’t have self-esteem...

——She seems to be really good at this.

——She probably knows a lot about Servants and Heroic Spirits.

——Also, he knows ‘Fuyuki’ very well.

Based on these judgments, the swordsman directly showed his usual self.

"Um, you must have been changed by goblins. Goblins are very scary! You can't guess what they want to do, and many goblins treat humans as casually as graffiti on paper." "Sword"

scholar?"

"What do you want to say?"

Ayaka and the magician in red each looked at the swordsman with suspicion, but he still continued speaking unabashedly in his cheerful tone.

"Replication of containers, illusions, phantom beasts, and vampires. In this era, there is also medical technology to transform human faces, right? If you want, you can do it just with magic or makeup. I want this world

There are as many Ayaka solutions as there are stars in the sky. But that’s not the problem.”

The swordsman continued while nodding his head.

"To you, Ayaka may be strange. It's natural to think so. But to me, from the moment she was summoned until today, the Ayaka I have seen is the only one and is worthy of my trust.

.”

"Are you asking us to believe what you say as a Servant?"

"Isn't it good? I will guarantee it for you."

"guarantee?"

A hearty smile appeared on the swordsman's face, and he continued.

"Just to prove that Ayaka is a good person, I didn't kill all of you guys."

"……Eh?"

With this voice that sounded like she was shocked, Ayaka raised her head.

As if he did not hear the Master's voice, the swordsman continued to speak lightly.

"You called us here because you said you wanted to form an alliance to fight together, but here you are questioning my master. This is a sufficient reason for me to kill you."

"Wait, what did you say..."

"It's okay, Ayaka. When I want to do it, I will also mobilize all my partners. I will never lose."

The swordsman shrugged, as if to express that this matter was insignificant.

The surrounding air suddenly became colder.

Not only the woman in red, but also the magicians who had not joined the conversation and were doing their own work, even though they did not turn around, they also silently flipped the 'switch'.

Although Hippolyte's expression remained unchanged, his body's center of gravity had changed.

Although the battle was imminent, Ayaka did not notice the change in the atmosphere as always; the swordsman showed a confident smile, and the expressions of the police team and Tini's subordinates became stiff.

However, the first one to take action was Ayaka, the only one who did not notice the change in the atmosphere.

What was reflected in Ayaka's mind was the scene she had just seen in her dream.

Tanaka stood in some fort or street, dyeing many people red.

Ayaka, soaked in cold sweat, tightly grasped the swordsman's wrist.

"Swordsman!"

Then she shouted with all her strength.

"Even if it's a joke! Don't say such things!"

"...Ayaka, do you think I'm joking?"

"If you are serious, that's even more outrageous! I told you before! If you need someone to do the dirty work, let me do it! Yes, I can't stop you with my power! But, since I am you

Master, shouldn’t I be the one to give orders on who to kill? Or am I just so untrustworthy!?”

Ayaka's expression was more serious than ever.

Silence dominated the scene.

Against the background of the shock, flash, and storm coming from the forest on the west side, only the space within the barrier of butterfly magic was shrouded in strange silence, and a few seconds that seemed as long as eternity passed.

Then, in order to break the tense atmosphere, the swordsman changed his confident smile; this time he put on a smile like a child who had succeeded in playing a prank and said to the red magician.

"Did the acting look real just now?"

"Eh?"

Ayaka groaned unintelligibly, while the red-clothed magician looked dumbfounded and then lowered his gaze, sighing and answering the swordsman.

"...Well, at least, I know that you are not evil magicians. Also, although I don't know whether this child is a human or some other existence, in any case, he is a layman who is in a very dangerous situation.

There is no doubt about it."

"Ah. Then, I want to formally apologize to you. Although it is only a temporary expediency, it is still rude to show you murderous intent. Please allow me to use my subsequent behavior to apologize to you."

"Well, it's already commonplace for us to cheat on each other, so it seems weird that you're apologizing to us. But I'm not going to tell you not to worry about it. We just have a lot of things waiting for you to do."

With the conversation between the swordsman and the woman in red, the atmosphere gradually returned to its previous state. The magicians also said, "Oh, I really thought I was serious."

Win." "Oh, only Tohsaka can handle this kind of bargaining..." He whispered like this without stopping the work at hand.

"...Ah?...Is...such a thing?"

After thinking for a moment, Ayaka finally noticed that she was involved in the swordsman's acting.

"...Swordsman?(_)"

The swordsman looked away from Ayaka Yu who was staring at him with a dissatisfied expression.

"Swordsman?"

"Oh, from the results point of view, it's pretty good... Ouch!"

The swordsman groaned as Ayakashi grabbed the three-stranded braid on the back of his head.

"...Well, well, although I also understand that you deliberately acted for my sake..."

"Hahaha, I think it's a very good quality for Ayakashi to be so perceptive, hehe."

"The feeling of wanting to thank you is mixed with the feeling of 'stop joking, killing all of you is a joke even if it is a joke.' What should I do?"

Seeing Ayaka's veins popping out and her smile trembling, even though the swordsman was being pulled by her pigtails, an idea flashed through her and she spoke as if she had come up with a clever plan.

"How about singing at this time? When I was imprisoned, I made up a very stupid song like 'Here I am, come and save me' because I was so lonely. Also, I'm sorry to make you angry,

I apologize!"

Seeing the swordsman speaking so seriously, Ayaka gradually lost her temper, but she also noticed that she had not completely let go.

Although the dream in which the man named Saint-Germain appears is one reason, if there is an opportunity before that, the farce just now will not be just a farce, he will really make up his mind to fight everyone present - always

For her part, Ayaka understands that swordsmen really have this quality.

Just like the swordsman said, her observation skills are really good.

——It is not a question of good and evil.

——But there is really no hesitation in the swordsman.

Worry about the possible consequences of his actions, guilt, uneasiness - the swordsman ignored them all.

Or, choose to accept the consequences and move on.

Ayaka couldn't believe that this was a bad thing.

In fact, I have been saved many times by this trait of his.

Precisely because of this, Ayaka thought so again.

He must not let him bear a meaningless reputation because of himself.

This was decided when we formally contracted with him as Master.

Even if we fall and fall, we must join hands and share weal and woe.

Seeing Ayaka who was once again determined, the magician in red spoke.

"...You were already in the United States before we came here. So it is difficult for us to think that you are bluffing us. If you want to contain the teacher and Flatt, you should use other candidates. And

We should not choose Shatiao-san who can confirm the situation with us just by making a phone call."

"Huh? Can you directly contact...her?"

"We also asked her, but she didn't have a clue. Although Shajo is a member of our family, we still doubted whether she did something, but it turned out that there was no connection."

"This, this is it..."

There is someone with the same name as myself.

Ayaka, who clearly knew this fact——
To be continued...