The Paladin on the Infinite Tour.

Alexia looked in the direction of the footsteps in surprise, and saw Saber standing there in the shadow of the room, still covered in blood and wearing tattered clothes.

"you--"

"Don't worry, Prince, the current Saber is not our enemy. Let's consider him my second servant." Sajo Aige said while shaking the command spell on the back of her hand.

"Miss Illya used a command spell to summon Saber back before to protect herself, but the Saber who came back looked like she was dying. I thought she could still be of many uses, so I turned her into It’s my stuff—I’ll ask for your help from now on, Saber.”

"......"

Looking at Alexia and Sajo Aige in silence, Saber's heroic face showed a bit of humiliation, and then she nodded in frustration.

"...Saber, Artoria Pendragon, will become the sword of both of you from now on."

24. There is also a Holy Grail

After that, Exia took Sajo Aige and Saber, who took Illya, back to Sajo's house.

As soon as she got home, Shatiao Aige rushed to the kitchen and said that it was already late and it was time to prepare dinner, otherwise everyone would starve.At the same time, she casually told Saber that she could find a place to stay, and she would arrange the specific resting place after dinner.

"Whoo~~~~"

Sighing and sitting down on the sofa in the living room, Alexia looked at Saber who was also sitting on the sofa opposite her and Illya who was placed on her lap. She pursed her lips and said, "I'm sorry, Saber." .”

"What are you apologizing for, berserker?"

Saber asked rhetorically.

Alexia thought for a while: "Well...it's nothing, I just think I should apologize to you - after all, a knight like you should be quite resistant to serving two masters, right?"

"...It's just that my skills are not as good as others."

Saber responded after being silent for a while.

She doesn't think that Alexia has anything to apologize for. All the reasons should be attributed to her being weak. If she could be stronger, she wouldn't be beaten to death by Alexia. In this way, Wouldn't he be unable to protect his master, so that he is now captured by Sajo Aige and forced to become her servant?

Although Illya was able to survive in exchange, this fact still made Saber feel extremely ashamed.

"..."

Without saying anything else, Ixia lowered her hands and looked up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes slightly and began to sort out her feelings that she still couldn't calm down.

Then--

【Still can’t accept it, partner】

Ddraig on his left hand made a sound.

"what sound?"

Saber suddenly became alert, and Exia waved her hand quickly: "It's nothing, it's the dragon in my body that is talking - don't speak suddenly, Ddraig, there are outsiders here."

【Is it?But you are really worried. I don't think it's the right thing to let you get into trouble by yourself.Also, the son of a dragon in this world, when we meet for the first time, I am the dragon in my partner’s body, just call me Ddraig]

Saber: "..."

Looking at the green light that lit up on Exia's left hand, Saber didn't know what to say for a moment. Although she was well-informed, but a person was inhabited by a dragon...she really It's the first time I've met.

[Let’s get back to the subject, partner—are you still unable to accept it? 】

"...How can I accept it?"

Alexia collapsed on the sofa: "The prize of the Holy Grail War is actually that kind of thing... I don't want to break up with Bianca and the others."

The second source of magic power that she used to become stronger came from the heart of a little girl - if Bianca and the others were to find out about this, Alexia would be sure that she would be beaten violently.

What's more, he himself didn't want to do such a disgusting thing at all.

[I think so—compared to this, you should have noticed it, right?Those two things that your master didn’t say completely]

"Ah, those two things you mentioned? I thought about it after I calmed down a little on the way back."

Sajo Aige said that she had told Alexia all the "necessary things", and the rest of the things she didn't say were all "unnecessary things" that were useless to Alexia.

But this was probably judged by her own standards, so among the things she didn't say, there were still "necessary parts" that Exia considered.

First of all, the first thing - about why she wanted to save Illya's life, she didn't say it until the end.After seeing Alexia fall into shock, she naturally brought the topic to Saber.

Why didn't she kill Illya and let Illya continue to live as a [living corpse]?Shajo Aige did not give answers to these questions.

And the other thing is - is there only one Holy Grail?

This is actually an extended question, and its root lies in what Shajo Aige said. She said this before when she called Illya - [Little Holy Grail].

The Holy Grail is the Holy Grail, why add a [small] word for no reason?And since it is the [Little Holy Grail], is there a corresponding [Greater Holy Grail]?

In addition, if you can think of another thing that can also be associated with this matter, it is... [The Little Holy Grail is actually useless to Exia]!

(To sum up Aige, we can see that the effect of the Little Holy Grail is simply a container, collecting the souls and magic power of defeated servants, and has no other effects.)

If you don't take into account the possibility that "Sajo Aige is hiding something", then the Small Holy Grail is not actually what Exia needs. After all, the Holy Grail he needs is, to put it bluntly, an "external energy supply device" ], and the Little Holy Grail is just a simple container.

If anything, the collected magic power of the servants meets the requirements. After all, the servants themselves are a collection of magic power.

But if that's the case, then Exia would rather not have this second source of magic power!

Therefore, if we think on the premise that Shajo Aige has nothing to hide, and then add in the knowledge about the Holy Grail War that Shajo Aige first popularized for him, we can naturally come to the conclusion that "there may be more than one Holy Grail".

(The question is... is this guess of mine true or false? Should I ask Miss Ai Ge directly?)

[She is obsessed with you anyway, so she probably knows everything about you, so why not just ask? 】

Ddraig said.

[You are companions, and there should be more trust and reliance between companions—well, if you want to say that you don’t trust strangers in another world, then forget it]

"..."

After being silent for a while, Alexia stood up and walked to the kitchen under Saber's puzzled eyes. She looked at Saber Ai, who had already put on a pink apron and was chopping vegetables there. Song.

"That...Miss Aige..."

"Hey, Prince - it hurts!"

Shajo Aige subconsciously raised her head, but she was just distracted when the kitchen knife cut a small cut on her finger. The painful Shajo Aige quickly put her finger in her mouth!

"Hey, are you okay?" Alexia hurriedly walked over, "Have you cut your hand? I'm sorry, because I suddenly talked to you, I'm going to give you the band-aid."

"No, no, it's okay. It will be fine soon."

Sajo Aige shook her head and smiled, taking out her fingers at the same time. You can see that the fingers with some saliva are healing at a speed visible to the naked eye: "I am actually quite good at healing magic. After all, Ayaka was clumsy in the past. , I often fail when doing magic, so I rely on my treatment~~~By the way, why did the prince come here suddenly? It will take a while for dinner to be ready."

"Ah, well... I just thought of something and wanted to ask you - there should be another Holy Grail, right?"

"correct."

Unexpectedly, Shajo Aige casually answered in the affirmative.

Alexia, who was originally waiting to play Tai Chi with Shajo Aige, was immediately stunned.

(That’s it!?)

25. The love of Shajo Ai Ge

The environment in the kitchen became quiet for a moment.

Sajo Aige's unexpected straightforward answer made Exia not know how to answer the question for a moment - he had never encountered anything like this.

Looking at Alexia who fell into silence, Shajo Aige sighed slightly with regret: "You have indeed noticed... It is really unrealistic to hide it from you, Prince-sama. Really smart."

"It's not a matter of being smart or not, it's just a conjecture... Compared to this, why don't you say anything?"

Alexia asked.

"You told me that you told me all the parts that would be useful to us, but [there is more than one Holy Grail] should also be a part that is useful to us, right? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because no matter how many Holy Grails there are, there will only be one Holy Grail that will fall into your hands in the end." Shajo Aige said with a smile, "So I don't think I need to tell you this kind of thing."

"...Are you planning something? Miss Aige."

After pondering for a second, Aixia suddenly asked: "You must have concealed a lot of things from me, right? Someone taught me before that if one of the two parties is hiding something, it must be something else." picture."

"In addition to the number of Holy Grails, you also concealed from me the reason why you kept Miss Illya alive... I think this should confirm that you are planning some kind of purpose, right?"

"..."

Shajo Aige did not answer immediately, just silently holding the kitchen knife, and then as if she couldn't bear it anymore, she put down the kitchen knife and leaned against the edge of the pool behind her, looking at Alexia helplessly: "It's only been a day... .....No, to be more precise, it’s only been an hour, right? You’ve seen through my inner thoughts like this, and the prince is really powerful.”

"I told you that this has nothing to do with me being great or smart." Ixia said seriously, "What do you want to do, Miss Aige."

"My purpose has been told to you from the very beginning."

Shajo Aige put her hand on her chest.

"I want to be with you forever. Because I love you so much, I want to be with you from now on until eternity in the future - that's my only purpose."

There is no falsehood in this sentence, and Alexia can hear that the emotions contained in it are all the most sincere feelings of Shajo Aige and the purest love for Alexia.

"...Does this have something to do with you hiding something from me?"

"That's it."

Shajo Aige turned around and washed the residue on her fingers, and said at the same time: "There is indeed another Holy Grail. It is located in the underground cave of Mount Enzo, and is one of the cores of the entire Holy Grail War [Great Holy Grail]. ], its body is a super large magic circle, its function is to absorb the magic power of Fuyuki City's spiritual veins."

"In fact, that is the [Second Magic Power Source] that the prince needs, and it is also the Holy Grail that I will finally hand over to you - taking me with you."

"......what?"

The last sentence added made Exia frown: "What do you mean?"

"That's the literal meaning." Shajo Aige said sternly, "You are a person from outside the world, and you will leave this world one day. And just like those who have seen the light can no longer endure the darkness, I don't want to let this happen Leave you."

"So I'll leave with you."

"...I won't take you away."

"I know, you have already rejected two people before, and it is impossible to suddenly accept me to travel with you - so I will become the Great Holy Grail."

"—!"

The words that came out of Sajo Aige's mouth made Exia stunned once again!

What did she just... say?

Alexia felt that her ears were not very good and she must have heard wrong just now.

"Miss Aige, you...tell me again, what are you going to do?"

"I will become the Great Holy Grail." Shajo Aige recited with a smile, "Since you don't plan to take away anyone, but only intend to take away the Great Holy Grail that can become your second source of magic power, then as long as I become the Great Holy Grail , then I can leave with you, and I can always be with you from now on!"

"!"

Alexia's eyes trembled instantly!

And Shajo Aige also continued to explain there: "It's just that becoming the Great Holy Grail is not an easy task. After all, the magic circuit that is the essence of the Great Holy Grail is actually the winter of the Einzbern family. Saintess, if I want to perfectly replace her, even I would have some trouble doing it."

"So I have to study Illya for a period of time first. She is a replica of the Winter Saint, and she is very close to the prototype. If I study all her magic circuits thoroughly, then I can transform myself to the same extent. , I can become the new Great Holy Grail.”

This is not something that Shajo Aige cannot do. What took Einzbern 200 years to do, she can reproduce or even surpass it on her own.

"And once I become the Great Holy Grail and absorb the original Great Holy Grail, the prince can—"

"Snapped!"

Alexia suddenly pressed Shajo Aige's shoulders and forcibly interrupted her explanation.

Feeling the pressure coming from his shoulders, Shajo Aige's expression changed slightly: "Well...it hurts a little bit, Prince, my shoulder will be broken."

"Do you know...what are you talking about."

"I know."

This is committing suicide in another sense.

Alexia gritted her teeth: "Since you know, then why did you... You said you like me, Miss Aige, but I have no idea why you like me so much. We have just met each other. Oh my God? Today is only the second day we met. Why would you..."

"It's not two days."

Shatiao Aige shook her head.

"For you, it was only last night that you met me. But for me, it was already [16 years ago] that I met you."

"......what?"

"I became interested in you from the moment I realized that I would meet you who I cannot observe, and then, the moment you came into this world last night, I completely accepted the idea of ​​you. All your memories.”