Chapter 112

"Master, you also saw the scene where Assassin went crazy and was ordered by the Lord to commit suicide." Vlad III sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, and looked at Fujido Yurika, who had removed her ponytails due to the rules of the guest room, in the moonlight and the firelight in the fireplace. "As for the Assassin group and the Caster group that harassed other participants before-"

"What do you think of them?"

Since officially revealing his real name, Vlad III has changed his attitude towards this suzerain from that of a subject to that of a junior, and has carefully taught her his own experience in all matters - although the difference in times means that these contents may not necessarily be effective when applied in practice...

But for the Holy Grail War, which involves participants spanning a huge period of time, this is undoubtedly a great help.

As the relationship between Fujido Yurika and Vlad III gets closer, Vlad III naturally notices Fujido Yurika's true nature - although she is a descendant of vampires, Fujido Yurika herself is a very calm and gentle person; just like ignoring Vlad III's overly bloody deeds during his lifetime, there will always be a protector who can understand that everything he did was to protect his homeland.

——But it was still a little difficult for Fujido Yurika to get used to the scene of Vlad III sewing when she returned to the guest room every night.

"The Caster team has formed an alliance with the other teams." After removing her twin ponytails, Yurika Fujido abandoned the tone that was necessary when playing a vampire. She answered Vlad III's question while brewing black tea. "The White Faction did not join the battle from the beginning, and the Red Faction was busy fighting among themselves - which made this Holy Grail War look like an ordinary Holy Grail War instead of a faction war."

"So, which group do you think Caster has allied with?" Vlad III withdrew his gaze from Fujido Yurika and continued his work from the previous nights. "Did Caster form an alliance with other groups voluntarily or under duress? Also, how do you judge the status of other camps?"

"Let's not consider the almost disappeared White Faction and the Red Faction that is busy with the civil war." Fujido Yurika put two cups of black tea on the tray on the stand next to the sofa and sat down next to Vlad III. "Archer, Lancer, and Assassin's lord seem to be from the same era as me."

Vlad III: "What do you mean?"

"Saber, Rider, Caster's lords - they have a temperament very similar to yours." Fujido Yurika opened a box of 'Berry Good Morning Cereal' endorsed by her in the guest room, mixed it with milk and solved her dinner problem, "That is a temperament that only guys who have fought desperately can have."

"Compared to this, the guys in peacetime are just like weak lambs—"

"You're really talking about yourself, Master." Vlad III stopped what he was doing, turned his head and smiled at Fujido Yurika who was stuffing cereal into his mouth angrily. "So, what kind of impact does this difference have in this Holy Grail War?"

“Assassin’s protector is a girl who lives in peacetime like me—but she is similar to Rider’s protector in some ways.” Fujido Yurika looked at the flickering flames in the fireplace in front of her, “I think you should be familiar with that aspect—”

"Faith...?" The moment Vlad III got the answer, the smile on his face turned helpless. "Indeed, I once told you that I once fought against the pagan army in my lifetime - this is the power of believers and the power of religion."

“Let’s not talk about whether Assassin’s and Rider’s protectors’ beliefs are related to the famous religions. The point is that although they both have the same characteristics, Assassin’s protector is still a person of peacetime.” Fujido Yurika pointed out, “It can be seen from the fact that she was able to issue three Command Seals in a row to order Assassin to commit suicide the moment Assassin went crazy—”

"Compared to the knowledge that she could not obtain the Holy Grail or that she would fail, or the intuition that she would die if she did not do this—" Fujido Yurika put down the spoon in her hand and turned to look at Vlad III, her blue eyes sparkling, "She obviously made this choice based on her own judgment."

"It is enough to understand from the words she used when she issued the order when using the Command Seals that she issued this order not because she was at a loss as to what to do due to the sudden situation, so that she fired three Command Seals in a panic; but——"

"She may have been prepared for Assassin to go crazy." Vlad III teased Fujido Yurika, "From this perspective, Assassin's Lord is much more knowledgeable than you. In the Holy Grail War, most Servants would not reveal their real names even when facing the Lord, but only announced their ranks."

"Although there are relics to help the Lord determine the identity of the person who was summoned, if it is a situation like now where only affinity is relied upon, then the Lord will have to rely on his own knowledge to guess the identity of the Servant."

"It's not that I didn't guess your identity." Fujido Yurika answered Vlad III calmly, "It's just that when I saw your expression at that time, I knew that you were dissatisfied with the current situation. Although I don't know why you can restrain yourself, you are indeed dissatisfied with this situation."

"And I don't know what would make you angry on the spot, so I would naturally choose to say nothing at that time."

"...You should be thankful that I am not a Lancer this time." Vlad III paused, looked at the moon outside the window, and bared his fangs to Fujido Yurika. "A Lancer-level Yu would not be as easy to talk to as the current Yu when it comes to the topic of Dracula."

"I probably won't get a response from you, a Lancer." Fujido Yurika put the empty bowl of cereal on the tray at the side and took a cup of black tea in her hand. "Our compatibility is based on the label of vampires - even the identity I made up for myself is that I am the descendant of Count Dracula -"

"Even if he is indeed a descendant of Yu, he may not be able to summon Yu." Vlad III pointed out sternly, "Bloodline is not a kind of relic - if bloodline is a relic, then the Holy Grail War does not need to be fought in a sense, for the magician who created this ritual."

"Why?"

"Because at least half of the magicians in the Clock Tower can trace their family bloodline back to Solomon - and Solomon is revered as the Magic King by the people in the magic world."

"And for Solomon, the goal that modern magicians spend their entire lives and even their entire clan's fate trying to achieve but still cannot reach is now just within his reach."

"So the compatibility between you and me is based on the fact that Dracula is a story made up by Vlad III, and the vampire descendant Fujido Yurika is an identity specially made up by Fujido Yurika for her idol activities." Vlad III turned his head and glanced at the black coffin on the bed. "That is, illusion and reality coexist - this is our compatibility."

"I see." Fujido Yurika closed his eyes and continued the previous topic about Black Assassin. "We witnessed the scene of Assassin's madness, so from the few words Assassin said before he committed suicide, we can conclude that he is the famous Phantom of the Opera in the opera."

"I just don't know if he was born out of the story, or if he was like you, a pre-existing person who mixed the story into his existence."

"It's enough to be able to judge this far." Vlad III continued his sewing work, "Let's go back to the original question - in your opinion, which group did the Caster group form an alliance with?"

"I guess it was with the Saber team." Fujido Yuri paused and gave his reasons, "Just talking about the attack by Caster team during the day - the only ones we know about are the Assassin team and ourselves who have already left. Caster's master is good at mental attacks, and there is almost no trace of battle from the outside."

"If he hadn't formed an alliance, he would have defeated all the participants in the battle with him."

"But during the daytime battle, he was just harassing the groups." Fujido Yurika pointed out the battle she and Vlad III witnessed together. "Especially when the Phantom of the Theater showed signs of going crazy, Caster's lord immediately chose to retreat. After all, Lord Vlad was a Berserker, but he didn't go crazy at that time."

"If it was Yu who went crazy, you wouldn't even have the chance to order your servant to commit suicide like Assassin's slayer." Vlad III looked at the bat-shaped cross-shaped Command Seal on the back of his slayer's hand. "Yu of Berserker is as well-known as Dracula, and Yu is also affected by the vampire's anecdotes."

"If I go crazy at that time, I will change from a king who still has reason to be rational to a devil who only knows how to suck blood." Vlad III rarely mentioned his true wish to Fujido Yurika, "I will respond to the call and participate in the Holy Grail War - it's just to wash away the stigma of vampire attached to me by future generations."

"Because, in a place that has nothing to do with me, my name being slandered is something I cannot tolerate no matter what." Vlad III's tone was quite calm. It was obvious that his rank as a Berserker allowed him to talk about this topic without considering it as a taboo as he did when he was a Lancer. "The image of vampires that people of your time, including you, admired -"

"It's definitely not a devil that only knows how to suck blood, right?"