Leaving others aside, Rider, who had just fought a fierce battle with Rin, greatly agreed with Rin:
"Oh! That truly is a case of heroes seeing eye to eye! Whenever I think of heroes and magnates from different eras being able to gather here with me, my excited blood can never calm down! Ah hahahaha…!"
After a burst of hearty and unrestrained laughter, Rider looked up at Rin on top of the container with nonchalant ease, and invited Rin just as he had invited Saber and Lancer:
"Little girl, the martial arts and strength you displayed in our recent encounter are worthy of challenging any hero. Your courage and fighting spirit show your bravery. What's even rarer is that your thoughts align with mine. How about it, are you interested in joining my Royal Army? I will treat you as a friend, entrusting my life to you, and treating you as an equal."
For a person of this age to receive an invitation from the King of Conquerors, who once conquered the world, was undoubtedly an acknowledgment of Rin. Iskandar regarded Rin, Saber, and Lancer as heroes equally worthy of contending for world domination.
"No, King of Conquerors." Unfortunately, Rin could not agree to such a thing. "I am someone who dislikes constraints and will not join any group of anyone. To contend with the Servants of the Holy Grail War is my cherished wish, but I am a person who likes to act as I please. Rather than being recognized as a warrior, I'd prefer to be called a fiend, after all, I just like doing things that seem meaningless."
Rin's gaze shifted towards Saber and Irisviel, and she smiled sweetly:
"Irisviel, Saber, we meet again. Just as I said, the time for our reunion was not far off, it's just that our respective positions have been completely overturned."
"Rin!" Saber looked at the girl and said in a deep voice. But her heart was in shock! Their distance before was so close, even almost zero-distance contact, yet her perception had completely failed to detect her. And it was the same even now; she couldn't feel any presence from the crimson-clad girl standing against the wind, neither a Servant's nor a Master's aura. She could only perceive her existence when she saw her with her eyes!
Recalling when she met Rin this evening, she hadn't sensed her in advance either, only noticing her after the other party had greeted her. And she had unconsciously overlooked this point.
She was still careless!
Saber became even more vigilant, also feeling some anger and disappointment at having been deceived… "Rin! Were you deceiving us?" With anger, Saber asked in a deep voice.
Rin, with a hint of melancholy, gently closed her eyes and sighed, then calmly and gently asked Saber in return: "In what way have I deceived you?"
"This…" Saber was about to speak, but then thought about it. Indeed, Rin had not done anything deceptive during their afternoon together. If one were to say she hadn't revealed her identity, Saber and Irisviel also hadn't asked Rin if she was a Master or a Servant. It couldn't be called deliberate concealment, let alone deception.
"Then, were your actions today meant to gather intelligence on the enemy?"
Rin slowly shook her head, "There was nothing to gather. I also didn't give you any information. I simply invited you to tour the city together, to have dinner with you and Irisviel, and then to go see the sea together, after which we parted until we met again just now. That's all, isn't it?" · c 丿
Saber recalled the events from evening until now. Rin had shown no hostility, nor had she probed for any information. Even when they exchanged names, she intentionally didn't inquire about Saber's true name… Thinking of this, Saber let out a sigh of relief. Although she had always maintained a certain vigilance towards Rin, in Saber's heart, she was also a good person, and Saber didn't want her perception of her to change.
Saber was still somewhat puzzled, but she no longer had any intention of questioning, merely hoping for an explanation, and asked Rin:
"Then, what exactly was the purpose of your actions this evening?"
"There's no special meaning to it."
Rin said with utmost casualness and ease:
"Even if we become enemies in the next second, why can't I be friends with you and Irisviel before that second arrives? Saber, we fought to a draw at the dinner table. Next time, after you and Lancer determine a victor, let's compete again with our fists and swords."
"This..."
Saber didn't know what to say either. Such a free-spirited philosophy and code of conduct made it difficult for the king of knights, who was always strict with herself and devoted to her duties, to follow. However, she didn't dislike it.
Rider rubbed his bearded chin, watching Rin with an amused smile.
"A young lady who is a completely free-spirited chivalrous hero? Hmm, in that case, it's not suitable to recruit you anymore, but I admire people like you."
At this point, Rider unconsciously fell into thought.
"Which heroic woman, so bold and true to her heart, could this be? Black hair... could it be Mulan from the Hua Xia nation across the sea from this island country?"
"Pfft, hahahaha...!"
Rin truly couldn't help but be amused by this adorable King of Conquerors. She bent over, clutching her stomach, and repeatedly waved her hand at Rider.
"Rider, you're truly too interesting! I won't tell you the answer; you can guess. If you can guess it, I'll join your army and obey your every word, how about it?"
"Hmm--you're testing my historical knowledge!" Rider's two thick, heavy eyebrows raised. He turned to look at Waver Velvet, who was sprawled on the war chariot's board like a dried-up dead fish beside him. He reached out, grabbed him, and shook him.
After a dizzying shake, Waver finally regained some consciousness from his dazed stupor, then was fully awakened by Rider's strong body odor.
"Little Master, don't just lie there sleeping. Go check the level of that little girl up there."
Any Master is granted the ability by the Holy Grail War to view a Servant's attributes. This applies not only to their own Servant but also to others'. A noble phantasm and true name are absolutely invisible without special abilities, usually only allowing one to see ability parameters and class. Masters with excellent abilities can see class skill levels, and a Master of Rin's unique caliber can even see retain skills (retained skills).
Waver activated his Master's spiritual vision and looked up at Rin. Rin happily gave him a smile, but unfortunately, due to the difference in power levels, the beautiful smile startled Waver, and then Waver's expression turned to one of horror.
"Can't see her?!"
Waver looked at Rin in panic and disbelief, saying, "I can't see anything at all! Neither her ability parameters nor her class are visible at all?!"
It wasn't just Waver; at this moment, Kiritsugu Emiya, observing through a sniper scope, and Kayneth and Kirei Kotomine, observing Rin through the shared perception of Lancer and Assassin, were all in the same situation.
Rider looked at his little Master as if he couldn't understand, saying:
"You're a Master, aren't you? You should at least be able to see something, right?"
"Oh, come on! I already said I can't see her, can't see her, can't see her! There's no perception information, neither as a Servant nor as a Master... No! It's more like that girl doesn't even have the most basic existence information. If she couldn't be seen, she would be as if she didn't exist!"
This was the result of the concealment magic and Presence Concealment Rin had cast on herself. After the awakening of the dragon blood in Rin's body, the biological aura she emitted to the outside world was no longer human but should be classified as non-human. This would always attract unnecessary trouble when living in a human city, so Rin had cast a perpetual motion perception-concealing magic on herself. Others could not perceive Rin's existence by any means other than the basic five senses.
"Strange, could this little girl be the real Assassin?" Rider looked at Rin doubtfully. Rin just smiled and watched the reactions of the people below without answering.
"Perhaps she has some kind of concealing noble phantasm on her. Maybe she's a Heroic Spirit with a legend of disguise and transformation," Waver offered his opinion.
"That would be difficult then. If that's the case, this little girl could truly be any human hero. Just seeing that the king of knights, whose name is passed down through the ages, can be a young girl shows how unreliable those historical records are."
"Are you dissatisfied with me being a woman, Rider! If so, then try taking a sword from this little girl in your mouth, King of Conquerors!"
Saber was very displeased with Rider's words. While lowering her voice, she raised her sword. Her left hand was still too weak to grasp the sword, with only four fingers resting on the hilt, but the fighting spirit rising from the trembling blade was more solemn than when she fought Lancer. She never regretted abandoning her female identity, because what she cared about was the honor of galloping on the battlefield. Being surprised by her being a woman was undoubtedly an insult to her.
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