On the road to Star Stripe, Wu Ling lounged sideways in the Soulcraft vehicle, completely at ease. He pinched a grape between his fingers and popped it into his mouth. Sweet and tart juice burst across his tongue, and he smiled in satisfaction.
Of course, compared to the grapes, what satisfied him more was the head lying on the floor opposite him.
It was the head of Gavin Vance, the current patriarch of the Speed Clan. His once ruddy face had gone gray-white from blood loss. His wide-open eyes were still full of disbelief, as though he had witnessed something beyond comprehension.
"Master, the Speed Clan had roughly two hundred direct clan members. Including their families, the total was around five hundred. They are all dead," Sasaki Kojiro said casually from the seat across from Wu Ling. He took a sip of wine as if reporting the weather.
Wu Ling nodded with satisfaction, then asked with a smile, "How were the swallows this time?"
Sasaki Kojiro leaned back against the inside of the Soulcraft vehicle, ate a grape, drank another mouthful of wine, and briefly recalled the fight.
"Average. They felt a little slow. The largest and oldest one was barely worth looking at. He could not slip through space or breathe fire, so aside from speed, he had nothing. Still, to be safe, I used the secret sword. In the end, he had no way to resist before I cut off his head."
"Ha ha ha. Aside from speed, he had nothing. That is exactly right."
Wu Ling laughed at Sasaki Kojiro's comment. Now he understood why Gavin Vance's dead eyes showed disbelief rather than hatred or rage. So it had been because of this.
After all, although Gavin was only a level 81 Spirit Emperor, he held the title of the fastest man on Soul Land. It was said that if he flew at full speed, he could cross the entire continent in three days. The price was that his attack and defense were both extremely weak.
A man like that would never have imagined that one day he would be cut down by a sword. Even worse, after his death, the swordsman rated his speed as barely worth looking at. If Gavin could hear that in the underworld, he might be angry enough to come back from the dead.
Sasaki Kojiro did not understand why Wu Ling was laughing so happily, but seeing his Master in such a good mood gave him the courage to make a request.
"Master, may I ask you something?"
Wu Ling's laughter faded, though amusement still showed on his face.
"You are my Servant, and there are no outsiders here. Just say what you want."
Hearing that, Sasaki did not relax. If anything, his eyes drifted a little.
"Well, Master, next time, could you avoid pairing me with that Caster named Medea? This is the first time I have seen her, but for some reason, the moment I look at her, I feel uncomfortable all over."
As he spoke, his eyes kept darting toward the space behind Wu Ling, as though he feared Medea would step out of the Throne of Heroic Spirits at any second and hit him with a Magecraft blast.
Wu Ling froze slightly when he heard the request. Then one brow rose. His thoughtful gaze reflected Sasaki Kojiro's troubled expression.
He knew very well that his Servants were summoned directly from the Throne of Heroes. Aside from memories from their lives, they should not possess memories of a particular Holy Grail War. Yet Sasaki still felt this way. Could this also be a kind of "fate"?
At that thought, Wu Ling's smile grew brighter. With the attitude of someone enjoying the show, he comforted Sasaki.
"Relax. You are Assassin class, and she is Caster class. It is normal for Assassin to go soft when he sees Caster. Even when you attack, you only get blue numbers. Back then, seeing blue numbers made me uncomfortable too."
"...Master, I understand Assassin class and Caster class. But why should Assassin be afraid of Caster? And what are blue numbers?"
Sasaki Kojiro looked baffled. No matter how he thought about it, a physically frail magus should be the one afraid of assassins. How had it become assassins being afraid of magi?
Wu Ling sat up, patted Sasaki on the shoulder, and gave him the expression of a man saying, I understand, brother.
"It is the system. All system settings, brother. But since you said so, I will not force you in the future. Conveniently, I have another job for you."
Sasaki Kojiro thought it over. In the end, he realized he still did not understand what his Master was talking about. Whether he understood or not did not matter much to him. As long as he could swing his sword each day, admire the moon, and drink a little wine, he was satisfied.
"No problem, Master. Who do you want killed?"
Wu Ling waved a hand, picked up another grape, and tossed it into his mouth. Then he turned his wrist, and a handgun appeared on the table.
"This time, it is not killing. I want you to go to Ferrous City, the metal capital, and negotiate with someone. The Soulcraft vehicle should pass by there in about an hour.
"You know our situation. Hassan of the Hundred Personas is not suited to appearing openly. Medea still needs to research with Rose. Berserker Lancelot and Berserker are even less suitable. I do not trust Angra Mainyu with this, and it is not yet Karna's time to appear. So I can only ask you."
Sasaki took a sip of wine.
"Finding people and negotiating, hm? To be honest, aside from cutting people down, I prefer staying in one place. But since it is your order, Master, it cannot be helped."
Wu Ling smiled faintly. His shadow stirred, and Azure climbed out from within it.
"This is Azure. I created him back then using you as a foundation. You only need to escort him. When the time comes, he will handle the negotiation. If it succeeds, you and Azure can stay there. But if it fails... Elder Ghost."
At Wu Ling's call, Ghost appeared inside the vehicle within a few seconds.
"Your Highness, what are your orders?"
Compared with before, Ghost's posture was slightly lower. After fighting alongside those three Heroic Spirits two days earlier, he had deeply understood that the Saint had already become a true power in his own right. His attitude needed to shift accordingly.
"Back when ordinary soldiers still used ordinary weapons, the importance of the metal capital already went without saying. Now that Soulcraft devices exist, it matters even more. We cannot hand full manufacturing authority to them, but if we let them produce components in batches, we can still greatly shorten production time.
"I hear that the current president of the Blacksmith Association, Master Loftus, is obsessed with forging. Azure will take this finely made handgun and its design drawings to negotiate. If he joins us, good. But if he refuses, Elder Ghost, you will need to act. This time, there is no need to wipe everyone out. Just replace the president."
Ghost nodded silently to show he understood, then vanished once more.
"Then I wish you all success."
After saying that, Wu Ling picked up another grape and placed it in his mouth.