Chapter 372: The First Battle Ends

Chapter 372: The First Battle Ends

"What a spectacular battle. Truly worthy of Allemagne's greatest hero." (Allemagne is the French word for "Germany," and it's normal for Jeanne, the Holy Maiden of France, to speak French. It shows that the world isn't all about speaking Japanese.)

Faced with Ruler's praise, Black Saber nodded silently.

"But it's only Saber, right? What about me? Wasn't my battle spectacular too?" Shinji blinked his eyes as if to say—praise me, praise me.

Although Jeanne had received mathematics lessons from Shinji, she had no intention of being biased.

"Your battle was also spectacular, but compared to Saber's, there is still a certain gap."

"That's a good evaluation."

Shinji was quite satisfied with this evaluation. He casually patted Siegfried's shoulder and smiled.

"It's normal to be a bit behind Brother Sieg. Brother Sieg is one of the greatest warriors of Northern Europe, a true hero. Brother Sieg, you're truly a man~ Brother Sieg, the great hero~"

Towards the end, Shinji even started singing.

Gordes stared at Black Assassin, unconsciously grouping him with the weirdo like Astolfo. Although, after some reflection, he found some sense in Assassin's words, he found it hard to reconcile the silly, playful person in front of him with the imposing figure from earlier.

After staring for a while, Gordes regretfully realized that this approach wasn't working and had to pull himself together to face Ruler again.

"Arbiter, would you be willing to accompany us from now on? If you plan to oversee the battle in Trifas, then staying in Yggdmillennia's Millennia Castle might be a good choice."

With a wave of Gordes' hand, a black Mercedes parked in the distance quickly drove up and stopped by the roadside.

"No, doing so would be unfair. My detection abilities are tens of times that of an ordinary Servant. No matter where the battle unfolds in Trifas, I can rush there immediately. Please do not worry."

Ruler unceremoniously refused. This Holy Grail War was an unprecedented clash between two forces, and she couldn't show favoritism to either side, not even superficially.

"Let's go, Saber."

Gordes' voice indeed held suppressed displeasure. His objective was clear from the start: to secure Ruler. However, Red Lancer had disrupted his plans. Even if he wanted to use Black Saber's strength to subdue Ruler, it was already too late. Gordes, being a magus, wasn't foolish enough to let his Servants fight in broad daylight—especially with the ever-unpredictable Assassin around.

"And you, Assassin? Are you coming back with us, or will you continue escorting Ruler?"

"I'll go with you. There won't be any more Red Servants threatening Ruler before dark, and I've done what I needed to do," Shinji said as he opened the car door.

There, a black handbag and a backpack lay side by side.

Jeanne opened her (Leticia's) handbag, took out a black notebook, and looked at the half-filled handwritten exercises Shinji had left behind, feeling a pang of bitterness.

It had taken half an hour to complete just one page previously; how long would it take to finish these twenty-plus pages? Sigh~

This showed that Jeanne was a very diligent and hardworking student, who loved learning. She never even thought about asking someone to do it for her or simply not doing it.

One had to admit, she was a good student, just a bit dense.

Shaking her head to dismiss the stress from the exercises, Jeanne opened Shinji's backpack. Inside were sandwiches wrapped in food bags, a vegetable salad in a box, fresh milk in a glass bottle, and some unidentified food items that looked like snacks.

"Isn't this a bit too extravagant?"

Even though she had learned about modern life through Leticia, Jeanne, who came from a rural background, still found Shinji's provisions overly luxurious.

If this was just a midnight snack, how extravagant must his main meals be? Although Assassin didn't want them, should she enjoy these "luxurious items"?

As she hesitated, the grumbling protests from her stomach became the deciding factor.

"Thank you, Lord, for this food."

Jeanne picked up a sandwich and gently bit off a corner.

The softness of the bread, the crispness of the vegetables, the tenderness of the ham, and the sweetness of the jam mingled and clashed in her mouth, bringing Jeanne a pleasure she had never experienced in life.

"It's delicious."

...

After devouring half the food in the backpack, Jeanne contentedly patted her stomach.

"Now my stomach feels much better..."

Suddenly, she shivered and looked in the direction Shinji had gone with her blue eyes.

"Did he leave these things because he noticed something strange about me?... Well, it doesn't matter if he did. It's getting late; I should head to Trifas."

Under the pale purple sky, the girl picked up her bag and set off once more.