"There certainly are many different races. So those horned people are Sarkaz? At the moment, only Kal'tsit and Master seem especially out of place. One has cat ears, while the other has… donkey ears? Or rabbit ears?"
While in spirit form, Archer analyzed the battlefield.
It seemed that his arrival had disrupted their operation, forcing them into conflict with those people.
And the reason Kal'tsit and the others came here was to find that white-haired woman with skin pale enough to look unhealthy.
Apparently, because of rumors spread around by Kal'tsit's group, the woman had no choice but to move together with them.
An armed organization, bringing children onto the battlefield, coercively recruiting people, all for the sake of medical research…
He could only say that his first impression was not very favorable. For now, he would continue accompanying his little Master and decide later whether to sever the contract with a Noble Phantasm after understanding the situation better.
Aside from language and some simple knowledge, the Holy Grail had provided almost nothing useful, so he would have to investigate everything step by step himself.
"Um… Mr. Archer? Are you still nearby?"
The childish voice pulled Archer's thoughts back to reality, and he looked toward the source.
Amiya stood beside Mon3tr, glancing around as though she could vaguely sense Archer nearby but could not determine exactly where he was.
Anyone with even basic understanding of magical energy manipulation would not be this clumsy…
This made Archer feel that his Master was somewhat unreliable, but she was still his Master in the end, so he decided to at least hear what she wanted to say.
"What is it?"
Only two very short words.
Because he was in spirit form, only Amiya could hear Archer's voice, so Mon3tr and Kal'tsit nearby did not notice anything.
"N-Nothing really. I just wanted to talk with you."
Clearly, Amiya was intimidated by his tone. After all, he had just been threatened by Rhodes Island's operators, so it was understandable that he was not in the best mood.
Although she still was not very good at handling situations like this, she still forced herself to say what she wanted.
"So what do you want to talk about? My identity? Or the thing on your hand?"
Archer did not refuse Amiya's request. Gathering more information would benefit him as well.
At the same time, he deliberately slowed his speech.
"Um… your identity, I guess? How did you appear? And why do you call me 'Master'?"
Amiya had originally expected to be refused, so she looked surprised when he agreed.
And the two topics he mentioned were exactly what she wanted to ask about, so she immediately followed his lead.
"The Holy Grail War, though it looks like you do not know what that is. In short, you can think of me as a somewhat special mercenary, and that red thing on your hand is our contract."
When Archer noticed that mentioning the Holy Grail War only increased Amiya's confusion, he decisively changed his explanation.
Explaining such things to a child was troublesome. Terms like mercenary and contract, however, were probably understandable to her, since the people around her had already used those words repeatedly earlier.
"Hmm… like the spirits in storybooks that travel together with the main character?"
After hearing Archer's explanation, Amiya immediately found a comparison in her little head that made more sense to her.
"Judging by the standards required to summon me, you are more like some great Demon King villain instead."
Archer mercilessly shattered his young Master's fantasy of him being the heroic protagonist's companion.
From these few exchanges, Archer currently viewed Amiya as the type who was inexperienced, innocent, and somewhat naïve and idealistic.
She felt completely incompatible with him. In comparison, the nearby Kal'tsit seemed more like the sort of person capable of summoning him.
Still, Amiya's Command Seal pattern caught his attention.
Command Seal designs usually reflected the holder's origin, or even something deeper.
A child and a crown?
It was difficult to connect the two together at all.
"Eh? So Archer, are you a bad person?"
Before Archer could continue thinking about the Command Seal, Amiya asked another question.
Judging from her tone and the way she spoke, Amiya really was just casually chatting. From her perspective, this was probably the easiest way to close the distance and show goodwill.
"I was in the past. As for now, that depends on how you want to use me, Master."
For Archer, this was actually quite nice. He had no interest in playing mind games with a child.
Being direct was better for both sides.
"Use you? Does that mean I can ask you to help handle some things?"
That was little Amiya's interpretation of the phrase "use you."
"…Yes. So? Do you want me to help deal with those enemies?"
Archer was still somewhat unaccustomed to such childish innocence.
The reason he asked this was because the moment Amiya realized she could request his help, her gaze shifted toward the hostile Sarkaz in the distance, as though she wanted him to help handle them.
For him, such a request was not difficult at all. At most, it would only count as a warm-up.
"As long as you can support Ascalon and the other Rhodes Island operators, and avoid letting them get seriously injured… if it feels difficult, you can ignore it too."
After thinking for a moment, Amiya voiced her request.
From the fact that he could easily fight against Kal'tsit's Mon3tr, his combat ability was obviously not low.
But it was equally obvious that expecting Archer to fight an entire squad of Sarkaz alone was unrealistic, which was why she only asked him to support the Rhodes Island operators.
"That really does make things difficult for me. Compared to team combat, I prefer fighting alone. How about calling your people back instead? It would make things easier for me to act."
Archer genuinely found Amiya's request troublesome, though the reason was rather unusual, leaving Amiya tilting her head in confusion after hearing him.
"Sigh. Covering them is troublesome, but not impossible. Stay properly under that thing and do not run around carelessly."
Seeing his Master's expression, Archer decisively gave up on persuading her.
Sometimes actions were more convincing than words.
Without waiting for Amiya's response, Archer maintained his spirit form and moved toward the battlefield.
Strictly speaking, he belonged to a third-party faction, so directly joining Rhodes Island was absolutely impossible. Doing so would only complicate matters further.
Fortunately, the difference in clothing between the two sides made it easy for him to identify who was who, avoiding the problem of accidentally attacking the wrong people.
"Trace on."
After reaching a suitable position, Archer stood on elevated ground and exited spirit form.
As the short chant ended, a massive black gunblade appeared in his hands, which he raised and pointed toward the Sarkaz group.
Bang—
A gunshot rang out.
The arm of a Sarkaz caster who had been raising a staff to cast a spell flew off together with the staff itself. Before the man could even scream, his body was swallowed by the unfinished spell he had been casting.
"So it really is not quite the same as a magecraft system. Otherwise, that shot should have directly disrupted the spell's operation."
As Archer fired at the more dangerous-looking enemies, he evaluated the situation.
A power system somewhat different from magecraft, alongside weapons and combat methods so outdated they were almost shocking.
Yet the equipment used by Rhodes Island operators looked unusually advanced, making it difficult for Archer to determine what era this even was.
"This job feels like it is going to be troublesome… I will deal with things one step at a time. At least getting along with this Master has not been unpleasant so far."
The more information he learned, the more troublesome this assignment felt.
Especially because this situation differed from his usual work. Under normal circumstances, he should never have been summoned by a Holy Grail War system at all.
Even if the Grail really had summoned him, he should have been given a complete set of modern knowledge, not merely fragments like this time.
And there was no mission objective either. The whole situation felt like being assigned to a new position by a superior without anyone explaining what the actual job was supposed to be.
"Thank you very much for your assistance, sir. Amiya has already explained the details to us… we sincerely apologize for what happened earlier."
With Archer's support, the Sarkaz mercenaries were quickly driven back. While the Rhodes Island operators cleaned up the battlefield, one of them stepped forward to speak with Archer.
The main purpose was to show goodwill. After all, they had pointed weapons at him earlier. Now that the misunderstanding had been resolved, it was natural to clear the air and avoid lingering hostility.
"It does not matter. If there is nothing else, I will be leaving now."
Clearly, Archer did not care much about such matters. This was far from the first time something like this had happened, so he was already used to it.
There was another reason as well. He noticed that the magical energy he was drawing from Amiya felt somewhat strange, and he wanted to check on her condition first.
So after speaking, he entered spirit form once again and quickly returned to Amiya's side.
"..."
At that moment, Amiya and Kal'tsit were talking with another woman named Warfarin. Compared to the battlefield earlier, the atmosphere here was much more peaceful.
That was, if Warfarin's expression had not looked so distorted.
"Archer?"
Amiya seemed to sense Archer approaching. She raised her head, looked around, and called out:
"Archer?"
This time, however, her call drew Kal'tsit's attention. Kal'tsit slightly frowned and called Amiya's name, as though she had thought of something, but in the end she still did not stop Amiya from speaking with him.
No one knew what the man's objective in targeting Amiya was, but since Amiya, who carried the Demon King's power, had chosen to approach him and show goodwill, Kal'tsit could only try to trust Amiya's judgment.
After all, she could not protect Amiya forever. It was better to let her try now while they were still around in case anything went wrong.
"Those people have been dealt with. Personally, I suggest you leave this place quickly. I cannot guarantee that they will not return with more people."
After approaching and confirming that Amiya was unharmed, Archer felt that things were not quite so simple. After reporting the matter Amiya had entrusted to him, he began examining his own magical energy.
"Understood! Doctor Kal'tsit! That gentleman suggests we leave quickly!"
After hearing Archer's words, Amiya nodded to show she understood, though she was not sure whether he could see her. Left with no other choice, she turned and relayed Archer's words to Kal'tsit.
"The mission has already been completed. We should indeed return to Rhodes Island… after we get back, I will have to find Logos and determine what exactly happened to your right hand."
After learning that the enemies had been repelled, Kal'tsit nodded and pointed toward Amiya's right hand.
Although she was pointing at Amiya's hand, her gaze clearly drifted toward the surrounding area. The implication could not have been more obvious.
"Okay."
Amiya could only accept it. She also wanted to know what exactly had happened to her.
At the very least, she could confirm that some sort of connection truly existed between herself and Mr. Archer. Combined with the fact that she did not sense any direct hostility from him, that was why she chose to communicate with him.
Well, not targeted hostility. Mr. Archer simply radiated negative emotions equally toward everything around him, which made him look like a bad person…
He probably only looked like a bad person, right?
Thinking that, even Amiya herself was no longer entirely sure. But at least she could still sense him nearby. He simply did not seem willing to respond to her.
At the very least, he was relatively friendly toward her. And he was willing to listen to her requests. From that perspective, he should count as an ally, right?
Just as Amiya was struggling with whether Archer was a bad person and whether he counted as a friend, the man himself suddenly appeared before them.
"So it really is the magical energy drawn from the Master that has the problem?"
After exiting spirit form, Archer could sense the flow of magical energy within himself much more clearly.
It was obvious that one massive source of magical energy sustained his existence and activity, while another smaller source supplied the magical energy he actually used.
The former was ordinary magical energy. The issue lay with the latter. In other words, the magical energy drawn from Amiya was abnormal.
It differed slightly from normal magical energy. If Archer himself had not previously drawn magical energy from external sources and tampered with his own Magic Circuits before, he probably would not have noticed it.
But he had only discovered the issue. What effect this energy would have on him remained unknown.
When it came to combat and killing, he was an expert. But discussions involving other matters were outside his specialty.
For now, he could only take things one step at a time.
"You… what are your plans? Do you intend to continue accompanying Amiya?"
The instant Archer materialized, Kal'tsit decisively stepped in front of Amiya.
Negotiation was necessary. With that ability to hide himself, if he wished, he could completely ignore them and follow Rhodes Island directly.
So it was better to settle things openly here.
"You really seem dissatisfied with me. I suppose not accompanying her is an option. But if other Servants set their sights on her, I will not be able to help in time."
Returning from examining his magical energy, Archer merely raised his head and glanced at Kal'tsit calmly in response to her question.
"Servants?"
Before Kal'tsit could feel relieved that they might finally distance themselves from this suspicious man, his final sentence immediately made her tense again.
Although she did not understand what a Servant was, that did not stop her from worrying about Amiya's safety.
Within only a few seconds, Kal'tsit adjusted her mindset and said:
"No, I hold no dissatisfaction toward you. But as Amiya's guardian, I have the responsibility to examine the people, matters, and things surrounding her."
The abrupt shift in topic sounded forced, but it was a decision born from necessity.
Based on what Amiya had said earlier, along with the man's own explanation, his existence itself might be what he called a "Servant."
Until they understood both his existence and these so-called Servants, keeping him close was the best option.
After all, if every Servant could withstand Mon3tr as easily as he had, then Rhodes Island would have virtually no means of resistance.
This was for Amiya's sake, and for the safety of everyone on Rhodes Island.
"If you say so. I am merely a mercenary anyway. Since I have already received payment, naturally I will complete the job properly."
Looking at Kal'tsit's sudden change in attitude, Archer naturally understood what she was thinking, though he had no intention of exposing it.
From the fact that she did not even know the concept of Servants, it seemed they truly knew nothing about the Holy Grail War.
At first, he thought these people were using Amiya to participate in a Holy Grail War. But judging from how fiercely protective they were of her, he had already discarded that possibility.
And now, combined with their ignorance regarding Servants…
Could it be that these people genuinely knew nothing at all and had only accidentally summoned him?
Thinking this, Archer felt that the situation had evolved from merely troublesome into something completely incomprehensible.