"What the hell is wrong with your body, Ellie?"

Artoria has a very keen sense of observation, so the subtle changes in Alice Phil's body, who has always been by her side, have not escaped her eyes, even if the other party is careful to hide it.

"Ellie, you seem to have been trying to avoid anything today, whether it's driving a car or taking your keys...... You may not be able to care about things at this level, but if you don't even do the most critical magic array production yourself, is your body already so bad?"

Artoria knew something about Alice Phil, but she only knew that the other party was an artificial person from Ainzbelen. On a deeper level, Artoria didn't know much about it, and she didn't have the intention of figuring it out. After all, she could only stay in this life for a few days, and it was impossible for Artoria to waste her energy on unnecessary things.

However, Alice Phil's situation today is really worrying, and since it is her responsibility to protect her, Artoria has an obligation to find out the truth. This was also necessary for the implementation of future plans, and Artoria was emotionally willing to do so out of appreciation for Alice.

"I'm sorry... saber。 I really haven't hidden anything from you, though. ”

Alice Phil sighed helplessly, then turned to Artoria and stretched out her hand.

"Saber, can I shake your hand with all my might?"

"Yes. ”

Although she didn't understand why, Artoria reached out anyway. Alice Phil's delicate fingers, which were too beautiful for a human, gently grasped Artoria's hand. Then, it shook so gently that I didn't even feel any pressure.

“....... Alice Phil?"

"I'm not kidding you, I did give it my all. ”

Alice Phil said with a wry smile helplessly.

"Just spreading your fingers is already exhausting all your strength, and it's impossible to hold or hold anything. It's even worse to drive a car. When I woke up in the morning, I was exhausted just by changing my clothes. ”

"What's wrong, Ellie!"

Artoria asked a little surprised about Alice Phil's condition, but Alice Phil shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

"It's just that I'm a little unwell and I block out the sense of touch. Although closing one of the five senses will greatly inhibit the Ling, it will not have much effect on other actions. This kind of convenience is also one of the advantages of androids. ”

"Is it really that simple......

As for Alice Phil's explanation, Artoria does not believe that androids do not have the meaning of simply trying to survive. This is something that Artoria feels the most, because Mordred belongs to this kind of being. His birth was not the result of Artoria's will, but the inevitable choice of history, the established future...

"Don't worry, Saber. Have you forgotten? I'm not an ordinary human. This discomfort is just a defect in my construction. It doesn't matter, don't worry too much about it now, I'll adjust it myself. ”

“......”

Even though she knew that it was just Alice's cover-up, Artoria stopped asking. Because if you ask again, you will expose the fact that Alice Phil is a "made" artificial human. Even though the other party knew that she knew about it, Artoria knew that what Alice Fell was most proud of was that she was "not just a doll made up." ”

"Ah, that's a real trouble for you, Saber. Like today, driving cars and making magic circles and so on. I will ask you for all of this, my Knight King. ”

“...... These are the things I should have done, I asked questions that I shouldn't have asked, sorry. ”

"Alright, alright. So, now let's hurry up and make a magic circle. As long as I can take a good rest in this magic array that connects to the leylines, my condition will also improve. ”

"Understood, may you be well soon, Ellie. ”

Don't talk about these things anymore, since Alice Fell didn't want to talk about it, then Artoria couldn't ask more. Artoria believes that Ellie will one day be honest with herself, but hopefully it won't be too long. Sweeping away distractions, Artoria focused on drawing the magic circle.

The eight-pointed star as the outer array has long been completed, and Artoria is now working on the addition of the magic core. The inner magic ring was evenly drawn with the mercury that had already been blended, and when the outline of the magic ring was revealed, Artoria immediately engraved the basic spell needed by the Spirit Gathering Circle on the edge of the ring.

"That, Saber......"

On the edge of the eight-pointed star, the magic of the four circles and four symbols appeared impressively. In order to borrow the magic of the Great Source, Artoria did not hesitate to draw the most common textures of the sun, moon and stars in the drawing of [Potential]. Finally, when it's the turn of the outside work, the fixed text and magic properties are perfectly engraved in it...

"I said... saber...”

The core of the Spirit Gathering Circle had been mostly completed, but after a little thought, Artoria finally decided to engrave the text of sacrifice and prayer. It doesn't necessarily have much effect, but it's also my own intention, and it's always better than nothing.

"The friendship between the silver and the sword is a contract between me and the earth. I am the King of the Divine, shining brightly on the sea beyond to the end of the stars. May this body connect heaven and earth, may this sword extinguish eternal evil, and may spend all his life glorifying and blessing those in the array. Whoever stands in this array, let me make the highest prayer, respond in time and space, and come out of the throne..."

“saber...”

After drawing the circle that represents the cycle and locking the loss of mana in the array. Artoria let out a long sigh of relief, and then noticed Alice Phil with a surprised expression.

"What's wrong, Alice?"

“saber... It's a Heroic Spirit Summoning Array?"

“？！”

Artoria, who reacted, realized that what was originally a simple Spirit Gathering Array had been drawn by herself as a Heroic Spirit Summoning Array. I seemed to be indulging in the fun of drawing just now, but I didn't expect this kind of nonsensical mistake to happen. This seems to have been formed unintentionally, but I'm afraid there will be no mistake in this world to draw the Spirit Gathering Array into a summoning array. Although the two are similar in nature, the steps are still quite different. Either way, it gave Artoria a hint of conspiracy.

"I was really surprised when I saw Saber draw a magic array, I didn't expect to be able to complete the formation of the Heroic Spirit Summoning Technique alone. ”

"Maybe it's because I remembered the formation drawn by Kiritsugu when I first summoned it, but I'm so sorry... Ellie, it seems that the painting is terrible. ”

Saying an explanation that she didn't quite believe either, Artoria immediately expressed her apologies.

"Uh-huh... It doesn't matter, the Heroic Spirit Summoning is just a séance ritual in a sense. So in essence, the summoning array can also be used as a spirit gathering array, so Saber doesn't have to mind too much. ”

"Really... What a blessing!"

The two looked at each other and smiled, like sisters on a harmonious relationship, and there was a peaceful atmosphere around the small warehouse. But how much more of the happy time spent with Alice Phil in this warehouse and the smiles of the two of them will be in the future?

"Uh......!"

Suddenly, Alice Phil's magic circuits all over her body ached violently as if they were spasms. Of course, this anomaly did not arise for her own reasons. Instead, the magic that fills the surrounding air creates an abnormal chaos, causing the magic circuit that is in tune with it to fall into an anomaly.

Artoria took Alice's hand gently, as if she wanted to share the pain she was suffering. Signaling Alice not to panic with her eyes, Artoria turned her head and looked at the west with a serious expression. With her keen instincts, she immediately judged the direction in which this anomalous magic was activated.

"It's by the river..."

After judging the direction of the mana fluctuation, Artoria immediately spoke to Alice. At this time, Alice's health was very unsatisfactory, and she didn't want her to be too tired. But in the end, the choice of whether to play or not is no longer up to her, and Artoria respects Alice Phil's opinion.

"Go, Saber. Promise me, whoever your opponent is, show me your true power tonight!"

There was no time to take care of the physical weakness and the entanglements that were still entangled in her heart, looking at the figure in front of her, Alice Phil said seriously.

"If that's your hope, then... As you wish, Alice!"