A few days had passed since the razing of the first United Roman Empire camp. The Roman army had been able to set up extraordinarily quickly at the other encampment thanks to Rider and Archer’s work earlier. The captured ships had been sent out to scout the nearby islands as Evander worked with his men and officers to set up proper routes for logistics and supplies. Packs of soldiers had been sent to nearby villages to requisition more supplies as necessary, as well as gather what information they could.

Of course, that left plenty of time for Morgana and the Servants. The Servants as usual kept a watch out while Morgana tried to patrol the camp as they did before, but at this point the latter was becoming increasingly unnecessary. Soldiers and officers alike were practically singing their praises, and whatever criticism now were more muted grumbles than anything they needed to be wary of.

Then he remembered what happened prior to trying to take Okumura’s Palace, when the Phantom Thieves’ popularity was sky high. That had marked a turning point for them toward the worse. They couldn’t let their guard down – praise could very easily turn to scorn and hatred if they put a toe out of line.

Morgana could only sigh. Things were definitely complicated. While he lived for the praise he rightfully deserved, the harsh lessons he learned back in Tokyo still stuck with him.

For now, they didn’t have much to do. In Evander’s own words, ‘I cannot command you as easily as I do my own men. Go and do what you believe is best. Consult with me if you wish to make greater maneuvers so we can coordinate.’ It was certainly a far cry from the rather distant attitude he had towards them before the invasion, but they would take it.

For now, Morgana sat at the edge of a cliff with a fishing pole dangling into the waters below. He had managed to procure one from the soldiers. Unfortunately, it had been a bit too unwieldy to use for his diminutive figure so he had to chop it down to about half its size. Thankfully, it still seemed relatively sturdy despite that, much to his delight.

It had only been a bit since the communication with Ren, Roman, and Ritsu. Though at this point he was used to his best friend being absolutely reckless, seeing Ren in such a haggard, wounded state never stopped being alarming for him. Though when he first came back from being captured by the police had still been the most terrifying for him to witness. On the surface, he seemed to come back only slightly worse for wear.

But during the night, Morgana could hear his quiet whimpers and cries as he slept. It took a month for them to subside and even then, he couldn’t be sure Ren didn’t have those kinds of nightmares. He never spoke about them, or at least not at length. The closest he did was when they discussed the plan afterward and everyone praised him for maintaining his cool.

He had seen a lot of sides of Ren – including when he had broken down from the incineration of humanity. Now he could only wonder: Were there even more sides that he wasn’t seeing? Everyone did – that was the point of a shadow, after all – but would it end up being a detriment? Not to them, of course. Ren would sooner cut his own arm off than let that happen.

And that was what worried him.

What was surprising had been both Rider and Archer’s reactions. Rider has visibly started, despite her usually stoic nature. Archer on the other hand looked panicked as well, but also seemed far more exasperated than the purple-haired Servant. That was something he certainly found curious, but he had been too busy trying to get information from Roman and Ren to really comment on it. Regardless, it seemed he wasn’t the only one on his end who thought his best friend was reckless as all get out.

“Mind if I join you, Master?”

Startled out of his ponderings, he glanced over to see Archer holding a fishing pole. The catlike being grinned. “Sure!” he replied. “Fishing’s always more fun with others.” Archer nodded in gratitude before casting his line out. Morgana glanced over at Archer. Looking closely, his rod definitely seemed fairly modern. If anything, it definitely looked like one of the more high quality fishing rods Ren had used before. “Where did you even get that anyway?” he asked, slightly bemused.

“Projection,” Archer explained simply.

Morgana blinked in surprise. “Wait, you mean like the same way you can just… make swords out of thin air?” he asked.

Archer paused before answering. “The way I utilize swords is different than how I create fishing rods,” he replied carefully. “With fishing rods, it’s more that I create them from prana after using the requisite blueprints from structural grasping.”

That… seemed both simple yet complex at the same time. He wasn’t precisely sure if he comprehended that. However, how Archer differentiated his swords compared to the fishing rods was something he quickly caught. After hesitating for a second, he decided to ask anyway. “Would your swords have to do with your Pa- er, Reality Marble?” Morgana asked quietly.

The red-mantled hero said nothing. For a few tense moments, the only sounds were of the waves lapping at the rocks beneath them. After a few more, Morgana gulped and was about to change the subject when he heard a dry chuckle from Archer. “You put two and two together extremely quickly, Master,” he quietly remarked. “However, it is something I wish to discuss another time. Is that alright?”

Morgana blinked in surprise then nodded with a sigh. “Sure, I get it,” he agreed. Talking about one’s own Palaces was definitely a difficult matter to put it mildly. Futaba could talk about hers just fine and was even curious about it, but then she was an exception in many ways, mentally and emotionally. However, he couldn’t imagine most other people would be comfortable talking about their Palaces, if they even believed they had one. Especially one as all-encompassing as Archer’s.

Archer nodded in gratitude before glancing back down at the catlike being. “That being said, Master,” he continued. “You seem troubled yourself.”

The Master blinked, then chuckled ruefully. “That obvious, huh?” he asked rhetorically. He huffed as he sat down on a nearby small rock. “I was just thinking about what Ren pulled off. Going off by himself and fighting off hundreds of soldiers and a Servant by himself. Honestly, it’s so like him to do that – hell, I’d be more surprised if he didn’t do that.”

He pulled up his line to make sure his bait was still on the hook before casting it back out again – a pitiful distance compared to Archer’s line. “This isn’t the first time he’s done something reckless like this either,” he added. “Ren’s always been reckless about things when he believes it’s right or only thing to do. I’ve gotten used to it but…” He sighed in frustration.

“He does this often?” Archer asked as he tugged on the line a bit to wiggle the bait.

Morgana paused to think for a second. “Not… often,” he admitted. “Ren is normally pretty daring overall, but he doesn’t take, like, really crazy risks. I mean, sure, there was that one time we were at gunpoint with a yakuza-“ Archer immediately swiveled to stare at Morgana with eyes as wide as saucers. “But otherwise he doesn’t do anything too far. Except…”

Archer noticed the pause and glanced at Morgana. “Except when?” he gently prodded.

The catlike being sighed. “Remember when we told everyone in the briefing about Sae’s Palace?” he asked quietly. “Part of the plan was… was to have Ren get arrested. Ren himself volunteered himself for it. We were a bit worried but we immediately agreed anyway. He’s our awesome leader, after all. He’ll be able to handle it. We still did all we could and prepared all we could, making sure to have all our bases covered.”

His paws clenched tightly on the rod. “After that, he… he doesn’t talk about it,” he murmured. “But from what little I heard, it was rough in the interrogation room. He was talking a tightrope, made even worse by the fact that he was drugged. If he slipped up with remembering something or said the wrong thing, the rest of us would’ve been caught and he… Akechi would’ve killed him.”

The red-mantled hero was silent as Morgana rambled. “Now he’s putting himself into more and more danger,” he muttered. “I should be used to this by now, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating! Make it even worse that he had to do it when I’m not there! If I was by his side, I could’ve at least made things easier for him, put in my fair share of work, just – something! Instead, I’m here in the middle of the Mediterranean, hundreds of kilometers away!”

Morgana sighed as he relaxed his grip. “Ugh, yeah, yeah, I know,” he muttered. “I know that I have to be here in order to make sure the United Roman Empire doesn’t just take the other way and attack Rome by the sea. And even if I wanted to, there’s really no way of rushing over there to help. So all I can do is get these islands conquered and rendezvous with him as quickly as possible. We already got one island down, just need to move on to the next.”

Then he stopped and laughed a bit ruefully. “Sorry,” he apologized. “Didn’t mean to ramble so much. You probably just wanted to fish.”

Archer merely chuckled. “Not at all, Master,” he reassured the catlike being. “I understand the feeling all too well. Or rather, I understand being in Ren’s position.”

Morgana blinked up at Archer. “You do?” he asked.

The Servant nodded. “When I was younger,” he said. “I was… an impetuous fool. I always wanted to save others, as much as I could. It mattered little what happened to me, so long as they were saved. Whether friend or foe, close to me or strangers, great or insignificant. If I could save a life, I would.”

“That sounds…” Morgana didn’t know what to say here. On one hand, that sounded uncomfortably like Ren, with how willing he was to help and protect others however he could. However, their leader also had their limits. The Phantom Thieves had realized long ago they couldn’t help or save everyone – it was only their small group. They had made that clear to Archer in almost their first conversation together in Chaldea.

Archer gave a humorless smile. “Idiotic to the extreme,” he finished for the Master. “But the point was, I’m no stranger to the stunts Amamiya seems to pull. But at the very least, he is far more sensible about it than I was in my youth.”

Morgana sighed. “Yeah, I guess,” he muttered. Then his curiosity got the best of him as he peered up at Archer. “What’s a reckless thing you’ve done?” he asked.

The red-mantled hero didn’t answer immediately, clearly deliberating what to say. While normally he would have an answer, given the powers of his Masters, it would lead to more troublesome questions and inquiries than it was worth. Instead, he simply replied, “Using my Reality Marble in Lyon.”

The catlike being groaned in frustration. “Not what I meant and you know it!” he cried.

Archer began chuckling when suddenly, his line went taut. Smirking, he easily pulled and jerked the line until out sprang a large grouper. “This should cover our dinner tonight quite well,” he commented, looking over the fish with approval. “If you’ll excuse me, Master.” With that, he walked away, prize in hand and his rod vanishing.

“Wha – no, we are NOT done here!” Morgana screeched in outrage, stopping to give a quick glare of resentment at his own fruitless rod. “Get back here and give a serious answer, Archer! Or at least create a better fishing rod for me! ARCHER!!”

A mild sea breeze carried Archer’s chuckles away. It was a restful day for all of them.

----------

Legate Evander glanced up as Morgana and the two Servants filed into his tent. He nodded in greetings. “Good to have you here,” he stated.

Morgana hopped up on the table, crossing his paws with a nod. “So, what’s our next destination?” he asked, glancing down at the map spread on the table.

In response, Evander pulled out a sheaf of papers – reports from the soldiers. “Normally, we would continue northwest to Sardinia and Corsica,” he stated, pointing to the larger islands. “However, it seems there are interesting rumors from the villagers here. Tales of goddesses on one of the islands past them.” With that, he took a wooden piece and placed it in what appeared to be blank ocean, just past the midway point of the two islands. “Normally, I would dismiss such notions as complete nonsense,” he admitted. “However, in times like these, well…. It’s hard to say what’s real and what’s not.”

The catlike being had to agree to that. With their appearance, as well as their enemies apparently being the king Leonidas and Julius Caesar, coupled with the inhuman soldiers, it was getting harder to remain skeptical about such things. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt to check it out, if only to prevent it from biting them in the rear later. “So, do we know anything about these goddesses?” he asked.

Evander frowned as he sifted through the reports. “Not a huge amount,” he replied. “A few sightings of supernaturally beautiful young women on this island. One of them is considerably younger than the others and may have… purple hair? Otherwise, no further particular details.”

At that mention, Rider stiffened for a quick second before relaxing back into a more passive stance.

Archer frowned. “This doesn’t sound like much to go on,” he pointed out. “Did none of the villagers try to get a closer look? Do they know for certain it’s young women there or maybe it’s just some figment of their imaginations? It all sounds like typical sailor tales.”

The legate nodded. “Under normal circumstances, I’d agree with you,” he acknowledged. “However, multiple villagers corroborated the story here, with the same kind of sightings. One villager – a young man, apparently – declared he would go to this island to meet these goddesses and set off the next day. He hasn’t been seen since.”

“Could a storm not have sunk him?” Rider asked quietly. “Or perhaps caught by pirates?”

Once more, the legate sifted through the reports and pulled a few more out. “The villagers didn’t report any inclement weather, nor were there apparently any sightings of pirates in the area,” he responded. “It is no guarantee, of course, but there’s enough here that at the very least, I believe it warrants a look. The plan is that we will go ahead to scout this island while the main body of forces secure Sardinia and Corsica.”

That caught Morgana by surprise. “Wait, shouldn’t we accompany the soldiers to secure the islands?” he asked.

Evander shook his head. “Apparently, the enemy presence there is very light,” he replied, placing surprisingly few figures on each island. “Most of their manpower must’ve been funneled here. If we move quickly, our forces should be able to take these camps before they can receive any reinforcements.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Morgana frowned, then nodded. “Alright, less than we’d like but it’ll have to do,” he stated. “When are we leaving?”

“We’ll be setting off in a few hours,” the legate replied. “It’ll be clear skies so we can easily continue sailing through the night.”

Morgana nodded. They had more than enough time to prepare, then. “Alright, just let us know when you’re setting off,” he answered. “We’ll see you in a few hours.” Evander nodded as the three walked out of the tent.

The camp was bustling as usual. However, they could see soldiers hauling crates and rolling barrels toward the ships as engineers double-checked the ships for any problems as well as securing on-board weapons. Rows of soldiers marched past them so they could board as well, receiving assignments from their officers.

The catlike being sighed. “I’m gonna go contact Chaldea and let them know what’s going on. What about you guys?”

“I will prepare tonight’s dinner,” Archer replied. Morgana nodded. The grouper should be pretty good.

Morgana noticed that Rider seemed distracted. “Rider?” he asked. “Everything alright?”

The woman stirred, then nodded. “Yes,” she replied, a bit too quickly. “Forgive me for my distraction. I will resume patrolling until it is time to leave.” Before Morgana or Archer could respond, Rider turned around and vanished in a golden light, leaving the two alone.

“You know anything about that?” Morgana confusedly asked.

Archer frowned at the spot where Rider disappeared before turning. “It’s not my place to answer,” he replied simply. “Just know at the very least that if it was something harmful to us, she would let us know.” With that, he walked off towards their personal campfire. Morgana could only stand there, stupefied, as the two Servants had apparently made their excuses and bailed as soon as they could.

The catlike being could only sigh in frustration. While he had no right to talk about keeping secrets, he hadn’t expected either Archer or Rider to be so tight-lipped about it. He knew better than to force the issue out of them, but it didn’t prevent it from frustrating. Just another thing to add on top of his best friend’s recklessness.

It seemed trouble and secrets just honestly followed them wherever they went.

Deciding there was no reason to stand around any longer, he wearily went back to his tent. Any soldiers who noticed him passing by cheerily greeted him, and he greeted them back in turn. Suspicious or not, it was certainly a nice change from all the wary glares and glances they had been given before. Still, he wouldn’t be truly comfortable until he could rendezvous with the others in the end.

Finally getting back into the tent, he hopped on the smaller cot before bringing up his communicator. It was designed by Da Vinci for both his cat and Metaverse form, which was certainly handy. She apparently wanted to make it a collar, but it would be ultimately too clunky to use well. Morgana was certainly thankful she didn’t make it a collar – he was rather attached to the yellow scarf around his neck. He tapped the button to activate it and to his surprise was greeted with…

“Bonjour, monsieur Morgana!”

The beaming visage of Marie Antoinette. “Oh, Marie,” he stammered in surprise. “I, uh, I didn’t expect to see you there. Where’s Roman and Da Vinci?”

“The two stepped away to grab some dinner,” Marie cheerfully explained. “Da Vinci asked me to watch the console in the meantime and to alert her if there’s anything happening. Ah, those two are so adorable I can’t stop smiling~” At the last sentence she practically cupped her cheeks and wriggled in happiness on the spot.

Morgana could only give an exasperated smile. Well, he wanted to talk to Da Vinci and Roman to report in, but if Da Vinci believed Marie was fine at the console, then he might as well put his faith in her judgement. “I’m just calling in to let you guys know we’re setting off in a couple hours,” he reported. “Apparently there’s an island with goddesses or something? We’ll be heading there with the legate and both Archer and Rider. The main forces are going to secure Sardinia and Corsica while we’re gone.”

As Morgana reported the situation, he noticed that Marie was typing down what he had been saying, all without losing the bright smile on her face. It certainly reminded him of Da Vinci – albeit far less dangerous. Wait, she’s a full-on queen. Wouldn’t that make her more dangerous then…? But she seemed rather innocent. But maybe it was all an act…?

He huffed a breath before dismissing all those thoughts. He was definitely overthinking it.

“You seem to be taking to this pretty well,” he commented as he watched Marie type happily away. She seemed surprisingly fast at typing, doing so without much issue. “I didn’t expect you to be, uh, this gung-ho about it.”

Marie glanced over in surprise. “Hm? And why wouldn’t I be?” she asked in genuine curiosity. “Chaldea has been a unique place ever since my summoning, and this time is far different than my own! I have been trying to explore and learn in my spare time and while at times complicated, everything here is très bien!”

Despite everything, Morgana had to chuckle at the queen’s curiosity and enthusiasm. “Chaldea is pretty eye-popping, no matter how you slice it,” he admitted. “Glad to see you’re having a good time though. You gonna be at the console more often?”

The Rider nodded, beaming. “If I can help it, oui!” she happily confirmed. “It is most fascinating to see other times and locales, even when I’m not with you! This will be a truly novel experience!”

“Well alright then,” Morgana chuckled. As lackadaisical as the queen was, he had a good feeling she would take whatever duties she had quite seriously. In this case, she would have absolutely no problem calling Da Vinci or Roman over if things were going wrong. “Have you talked to Ren or Ritsu yet?”

Marie shook her head. “Not yet,” she replied. “However, according to what is displayed here, neither monsieur Ren nor Mademoiselle Ritsu have encountered any troubles. I’m sure they will contact me before long. From what I hear, it would appear they had a rather arduous battle.”

“That’s one way to put it,” the catlike being sighed. “Still, I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to talk to you once they contact you. Or you could contact them if you wanna.”

“Non, they need their rest,” Marie refused. “There will be plenty of opportunities later on, but for now, it is better for them to recover.”

Can’t fault that logic. “Fair enough,” he replied. Then a scent hit his nose and his mouth almost immediately started watering. “For now though, I’m gonna hang up. It seems Archer made dinner and frankly, I’m starving. Catch you later?”

“Oui oui,” the Rider cheerfully replied. “Have a good meal, monsieur Morgana! We shall chat when we have the next opportunity!” With that, the communicator closed off as Morgana hopped off the cot. With almost a dopey smile, he walked out of his tent toward where Archer had been cooking. A good dinner before setting out on a mission. This was surprisingly much better than he expected overall.

----------

As the communication ended, Marie sat back in the cheer, stretching happily. All around her, the staff members of Chaldea were currently working at their desks, dealing with more specialized tasks and feeding information to her own console. She noticed that one or two gave glances her way, each of them with a different intention – some were looking at her with suspicion or condescension. Some were looking at her with curiosity. No small number were looking at her with desire or admiration in their eyes, both innocent and not so innocent alike.

Ah, this felt familiar. She felt many of those same kinds of stares back at her time in court. Still, at least this she could deal with. Many of those stares had been far more intense during her time – unbearably so, in fact. This was honestly nothing.

“Didn’t expect to find you manning the console.”

Blinking in surprise, she turned to see Cu Chulainn, grinning casually as he walked up. Marie smiled in return. “Ah, oui, it is not something you would expect someone like me to do,” she admitted. “But mademoiselle Da Vinci asked me as I was nearby, and I saw no reason to refuse. It is not too complicated a matter, thankfully – no more so than the devices in our bedrooms.”

Cu blinked in surprise. “Oh?” he asked in curiosity. “You actually use that thing?”

The Rider nodded enthusiastically. “Oui!” she replied happily. “It is a most fascinating thing with elaborate records! Both for books and articles to read and for videos! I even tried to find more information about monsieur Ren and monsieur Morgana, however it would seem that is hard going.”

“Huh, really?” Cu asked skeptically as he approached the console to look at the screens. The Throne didn’t give a huge amount of knowledge that it didn’t consider relevant, but it didn’t take him incredibly long to get the general gist of what he was looking at. “You’d think with a pair like those, their names would be plastered front and centered everywhere – or at least their aliases,” he mused.

Marie nodded in agreement. “Indeed, such dashing figures would be the talk of everyone,” she replied as she pouted and spun in her chair. “But it seems what I can find is sparse at most. Must be politically silenced.”

The Lancer raised an eyebrow. “Speakin’ from experience?” he asked quietly.

The French queen paused, then giggled. “It’d be unbecoming for a lady to share all her secrets,” she replied simply.

“And speakin’ of secrets,” Cu continued as he glanced back at Marie. “You didn’t tell the cat about Romulus.”

Marie was silent for a second. The information from Leonidas had been reported to Chaldea a while ago, and the fact that the progenitor of Rome stood against them was of no small concern. Already, there had been discussions on how to properly deal with him when the time came, ranging from diplomacy to a sudden strike from Chaldea before he could properly prepare any of the necessary defenses. The final judgement came from Artoria.

‘Until we know better what the circumstances surrounding Romulus are like, there is little we can currently do, not without fully abandoning the Roman Empire,’ she had declared. ‘For now, we must have faith in those that have been dispatched and offer what support we can.’ And that was that. It wasn’t the most popular decision – even Artoria seemed displeased by her own statement – but there was little else that could be easily done.

“I did not believe it would be a good time to tell him, not with an imminent objective and their current surroundings,” Marie justified. “Nor would I be the most fitting one to tell him. Later, perhaps. But not now.”

Cu stared at Marie, then shrugged. “Eh, if you say so,” he accepted easily. “Seems like it’ll be a tough fight for them though.”

“Oh, without a doubt,” Marie agreed without hesitating before glancing up in curiosity. “Did you wish to join them?” she asked

The Lancer nodded. “Yep,” he admitted without shame. “Sounds like it was at least a bit more interesting than waiting around here. Hell, our Master fought off two hundred Roman soldiers and stared down a goddamn Servant. Not the smartest move ever, yeah, but you gotta admit, that took some balls. Wish I’d been there to see it so I can clap the kid on the back – after knocking him on the noggin, of course.”

Marie giggled. “Honestly, monsieur Cu, I do not know whether you’re proud or angry at him,” she pointed out.

The Irish hero grinned. “A guy can be both,” he replied easily. With that, he stretched. “Welp, doesn’t seem like anything’s going on so I’m gonna go get some grub,” he said. “You want anything while I’m there?”

The Rider opened her mouth, then an idea hit her. “Oooh, do you believe they would have escargot?” she asked excitedly.

A moment passed as Cu stared at Marie, trying to decide if that was a joke or not. “… Miss, you’re as cute as you are weird,” he bluntly stated.

Marie only giggled in response.

---------

Sleeping on boats was not something Morgana had gotten particularly used to. The creaking of the timbers, the rocking of the boat, the shouts nearby of the various soldiers and officers as they barked information and orders to one another as they sailed the seas. However, there hadn’t been any choice – with the sheer distance from Sicily to the island with the goddesses, the trip would have to take multiple days even in the best-case scenario.

Thus, the three traveled with the detachment of Roman soldiers in three warships. A very small force had been left to garrison Sicily – approximately a hundred men. Even with the reinforcements that rendezvoused with them, they were a measly three hundred and fifty. More than when they set out for Sicily, but still a tiny number regardless. The plan for most of the soldiers was to slam hard against any United Roman Empire presence on Sardinia first, then sail north as quickly as they could to capture Corsica.

As for the Chaldeans, Evander would accompany them with twenty soldiers towards the island. Smaller numbers would show they weren’t there as a threat to the goddesses, but the Chaldeans would be doing the majority of the fighting if worse comes to worse. It was a sensible plan, at least.

And absolutely none of that comforted Morgana as he stirred uncomfortably in his hammock. It had been difficult trying to get some half-decent sleep with everything going on around him. Compounded with his worries and it was a wonder he got any sleep at all. He had already gotten up several times in the middle of the night to readjust his sleeping stance, knead his hammock and blankets, and tried to doze back off with limited success. Times like this, he wished he was more like a cat so he could properly sleep.

‘Master, the island is in sight.’

At Archer’s communication, Morgana groaned, shutting his eyes tighter. ‘If it’s visible to your eyes, then I don’t care,’ he snapped. ‘Wake me up when the Romans have actually spotted it.’

‘They have spotted it,’ Archer clarified, a tone of amusement creeping into his voice. ‘We will be in distance to head ashore within an hour. I suggest waking up. I’ll see if I can get some coffee at least to help with it.’ With that, the red-mantled Servant withdrew to prepare the morning’s meal.

Morgana could only groan again in frustration before reluctantly getting up. Adjusting for the rocking of the hammock, he gently leaped off to the deck below, barely prying his eyes open as his figure blurred and he took on his Metaverse form once more. A much better landing than his first night where he forgot where he was and stepped off his hammock into thin air.

Rider had to help him with the resulting splinters. That was beyond annoying.

Stepping topside, he wrinkled his nose at the salty sea air. A pleasant enough scent at first, now it was just getting monotonous. It turned out the big problem with boats was that it was simply boring. There really wasn’t much to do at all. Morgana tried fishing again but nothing bit, and trying to converse with Archer or Rider proved a rather futile endeavor. In the end, he had to settle with prowling and letting his mind wander.

But now, standing on the prow, his sleepiness was immediately alleviated by the sight of the island. It was fairly small, enough that he didn’t have to turn too much to see both ends of it. He squinted to see the details, but beyond the peaceful sandbar and the forests beyond, he didn’t see anything that awaited them. ‘Archer, you see anything?’ Morgana asked.

‘The coast is clear – quite literally, in this case,’ Archer reported. ‘We will most likely have to beach and explore, though it is best to be ready for anything.’

The catlike being nodded. Through their mental link, he could feel Rider’s tension. He could feel it the entire trip, but she had refused to speak about it whatsoever. All he could do was hope this island explained precisely what the heck was going on. All around him, preparations were being made to disembark. ‘I’ll eat on the boat ride,’ Morgana decided. ‘We got no time to lose.’

‘Understood, Master,’ Archer accepted. Rider said nothing but the slight shift in her thoughts indicated her approval as well.

Before long, the rowboat was set down on the water. Evander stayed on the ship, with four Roman soldiers accompanying them. Morgana stood on the prow watching the beachhead intently as Archer kept a lookout. Rider sat in the back, unmoving and not speaking. The soldiers rowed easily, but it was also clear they were uneasy as well. A couple minutes later, they landed on the beach and… nothing. It was just as quiet as before.

Morgana frowned as he hopped off, his paws thudding into the sand as Archer also stepped off the rowboat, as well as Rider. The four soldiers stayed within the boat, not willing to disembark and explore quite yet. Then –

“Incoming Servant!” Archer called out as he summoned his twin blades. Morgana cursed as he brought out his slingshot and Rider brought out her spikes. Suddenly, something leaped from the forest and skidded to a halt on the sand, sending particles flying everywhere. As the sand settled, it revealed… a beautiful young woman with bright yellow eyes and voluminous orange hair, adorned in a short red yukata. However, it was hard to say what caught one’s attention first: Her fluffy fox tail and ears, the gigantic, adorable paws she had instead of hands… or the fact that she looked very similar to Tamamo.

“Nya!” the woman called out before leaping up, posing with a bright grin. “Welcome, welcome to the Shaped Island, oh visitors of Rome! I am one of the Tamamo Nine, the Wild Fox, Tamamo Cat! Nice to meet you!”

The Chaldeans and the Romans could only stare at her before looking at each other, mildly nonplussed. Before any of them could respond, there was the sound of flapping wings behind them. They whirled around to see a large feathered four-legged creature landing on the beach. Mounted on it was a girl with pink hair, wearing armor of rather fine quality. “Tama~!” she whined as she hopped off. “I told you we were supposed to do it in sync! Why’d you go ahead of me?”

Tamamo Cat blinked and tilted her head. “Wait, we were?” she asked innocently.

“Yeah!” the girl shouted back. “We were gonna do a synced awesome entrance and catch them by surprise! Ugh! Oh well. No use crying over spilled milk.” With that, the girl posed and also grinned happily at them. “Yahoo!” she cheered. “My name is Astolfo! And like Tama here said, nice to meet you~!”

Morgana could only stare between the two characters, utterly flabbergasted, before silently turning to Archer and Rider in question. Both Servants could only give him as flabbergasted an expression, just as bewildered as their Master was. They didn’t seem to be hostile – or if they were, the mood certainly wasn’t there for a fight.

“Must you two always be so noisy even when intruders step foot on this island?”

A third voice, melodious while carrying a hint of venom, rose above the others. Immediately, the Chaldeans and Romans were on guard, turning towards the source of it. Out of the forest stepped a young girl, her long purple hair done in twin tails. She wore a white dress, tailored with ruffles on the lower half, and a black and white headpiece. Her purple eyes shone with amusement and malice as she beheld them all, her bare feet stepping onto the sand.

“Why have you come here, strangers from a far away land?” the girl asked, her eyes landing on each of them – and resting on Rider. “Oh? And who do we have here…?” Her voice trailed off, both in shock and surprise.

Everyone turned to look at Medusa, who stepped forward, almost staggering. Only one word issued from her mouth in response.

“Sister…”