In an house in Fuyuki City, a man in black cautiously knocked on the door with a specific rhythm.
A short-haired woman opened the door, and after confirming the person outside, she quickly unlocked the door's deadbolt and let the man in. She carefully checked the surroundings before closing the door and quickly locking it from the inside.
"The entire set of equipment is ready. Madam and the others have also arrived in Fuyuki and started their operations. This way, the other Masters will think that Madam is the Master of Saber."
The short-haired woman entered the room. The man in black was standing in front of a bed, looking at a pile of firearms on it. After listening to the woman's report, he simply replied.
"I understand."
The woman walked to the television and started a video playback.
"Last night, there was a commotion at the Matou Family. This is the recorded footage."
The television showed Takatsuki splitting the barrier with a single slash and then unleashing a so-called Noble Phantasm attack on Matou Zouken.
However, after the Noble Phantasm was unleashed, the image disappeared.
"The camera was destroyed due to the Noble Phantasm's activation."
The man walked to the television set.
"What do you think?"
The woman stated her conjecture: "It's too deliberate. Not only the blatant attack, but also directly unleashing a Noble Phantasm, it's too early. Moreover, we can't deduce the opponent's class."
"Hmm, in the Holy Grail War, concealing a Servant's true identity is a hidden rule of the Holy Grail War. Why would they so blatantly expose themselves to everyone? And… the opponent is also a sword-wielding Servant, but Saber has already been summoned by us. The opponent cannot be Saber."
The man made a conjecture: "Could it be Berserker? No, their performance doesn't seem to have any madness. The Noble Phantasm they unleashed is called 'Revolving Sword of Victory.' I remember this should be the sword of Gawain, one of the Twelve Knights of the Round Table, right?"
"According to our investigation, that's correct."
The man nodded: "Have you shown this video to Saber?"
As Artoria, the Saber class, there was no one in this world who knew the Knights of the Round Table better than her.
"Not yet. This just happened last night."
The man nodded: "Then, I will take it to Saber to watch."
He walked to the bed, picked up several firearms one by one, and familiarized himself with their feel before asking.
"Where is that thing I asked you to keep?"
"Here."
The man took a heavy box from the woman and opened it. Inside was a special pistol.
After taking it out and practicing with it for a while, he fell into thought…
Meanwhile, at the Matou Residence.
Durandal was doing her morning exercises while contemplating the scene she had witnessed last night.
After receiving treatment last night, Sakura fell into a deep sleep.
Unlike Matou Kariya's treatment, Sakura's treatment concluded quickly. After all, Sakura's internal condition was not as severe as Matou Kariya's; the most serious issue within her was a bug lurking in her heart.
The Old Bug believed it was well-hidden, and extracting it from Sakura's body was an extremely difficult task; in fact, even detecting its presence was almost impossible.
However, in front of Takatsuki, its concealment was quite laughable.
Durandal looked at Takatsuki; just now, while treating Sakura, she had seen that ethereal arm again.
"The worm you mentioned earlier, hidden within Sakura, has it been dealt with?"
Watching Medea help Matou Kariya settle the sleeping Sakura, Takatsuki said, "Don't worry, I launched an attack from within Sakura's body; it won't leave any residue or traces."
The worm's true form could be said to be extremely fragile; even an ordinary person could crush it.
Takatsuki's method was simple: he made Heaven's Stairway's arm ethereal, allowing it to pass through flesh and directly contact the worm's true form within her body.
Even a subtle touch from a fingertip was enough to unleash Killer Queen's ability, completely eradicating it.
Although the explosion in her heart would cause Sakura some discomfort, it wouldn't leave any hidden dangers, especially with the strongest healer present.
While Medea wasn't skilled in combat magic, in terms of healing, she could cure anything short of death.
So, with her watching over, Sakura's body would definitely not have any problems.
From then on, the Matou Family was truly occupied by Takatsuki and his group.
Durandal never asked Takatsuki what that illusory figure was.
"Good morning, Sister Durandal, are you already doing your morning exercises?"
Medea appeared at the doorway, yawning.
"Good morning, Medea. I'm already used to exercising every day. If I don't, I always feel like something is missing. However, there's no dedicated training room here, so I'm still a bit unaccustomed."
Durandal felt a bit nostalgic for the treadmills and punching bags in Destiny.
"You're already a Servant; exercising won't be of any use, right?"
"Hmm? Why do you say that?"
Durandal was momentarily stunned; she wasn't very clear on the concept of Servants.
"Because, Servants are records on the Throne of Heroes, existing in Throne of Heroes. Being summoned down as a Servant is just one aspect; after participating in the Holy Grail War, we won't bring back our memories when we return."
"So, that's how it is."
Durandal pondered for a moment; the thing called Throne of Heroes sounded very familiar to her.
"But I…"
Just as Durandal was about to say something, she saw Matou Kariya coming down from upstairs and didn't continue speaking.
"Good morning, both of you."
Matou Kariya now felt refreshed and invigorated; a year's worth of suppressed frustration had completely vanished. Compared to before, simply following Takatsuki now was far better than making a deal with the worm.
"Good morning, Mr. Kariya. Has Takatsuki not woken up yet?"
"He's already in the kitchen."
Durandal pursed her lips; Takatsuki's cooking skills were something she hadn't expected.
"Eh? Is that so? Then I'll go check on Takatsuki."
Medea skipped towards the kitchen.
Matou Kariya nodded to Durandal and was about to leave, but Durandal called out to him.
"Mr. Matou Kariya, please wait. May I ask if you could summon Berserker to spar with me?"
"Are you sure? Berserker has no sanity; even if it's a spar, he'll go all out."
Matou Kariya didn't expect Durandal to make such a request.
"It's fine, or rather, I couldn't ask for more. I also want to improve myself through combat. It's rare to encounter an opponent with superb martial arts like Berserker."
Matou Kariya agreed with Durandal's words.
"I have to agree on that point, because Berserker is Lancelot of the Knights of the Round Table, possessing a unique skill called 'Eternal Arms Mastery,' which allows him to utilize his full martial arts."
Although she already knew Berserker's true identity, Durandal was still a bit surprised: "Is it really okay to reveal Berserker's true identity and unique skill like that?"
He gave a wry smile.
"I've already decided to follow Lord Takatsuki, so this is naturally nothing."