240 Meeting Again (II)

"Ohh, by the way, Lancer, Sakura-chan is..."

As if remembering something, Irisviel turned her head to Arkhan and asked with a curious expression.

"Sakura is my Master's newly acquired disciple. Since I had some free time today, I took her out for a stroll." Arkhan's tone was calm.

Artoria, who had already devoured most of her hamburgers, turned her head to look at him. Her intuition told her that he was definitely hiding something.

"Ahh, so that's how it is..."

A hint of surprise appeared on Irisviel's face. In the next moment, she affectionately kissed Sakura on the cheek, as if a parent discovering their child's accomplishments.

"Sakura-chan, you're amazing! Being taken as a disciple by a Lord of the Clock Tower is a rare opportunity. You must work hard!"

From childhood until now, aside from her parents, this was the first time Sakura received a kiss from someone else. The intense shyness turned her ears redder.

"Heehee~ You're such a shy child. But this makes you even cuter than before!" Irisviel chuckled.

"Hey, can you eat a bit more properly?"

Arkhan furrowed his brow as he glanced at the tomato sauce near Artoria's mouth.

"Remember, you're the King of Knights; can't you pay a bit more attention to table manners? And what's with your clothes? Who wears a tank top and shorts in the dead of winter?"

"I eat and dress however I want. What's it to you?" Artoria cast him a sidelong glance, her tone indifferent. 

Hearing the nonchalant response, Arkhan's expression instantly darkened, and a commanding aura soon enveloped him, causing Artoria, Irisviel, and Sakura to subconsciously hold their breath.

"Turn your face here."

Hearing his solemn voice, Artoria instinctively turned her head. He picked up a tissue from the table and carefully wiped the tomato sauce from her face.

Watching this scene, Sakura couldn't help but show a trace of envy in her eyes. Looking at the remaining half of her burger, she hesitated for a moment. Imitating Artoria's eating style from earlier, she quickly finished her burger, leaving many traces of tomato sauce and breadcrumbs on her lips.

Just as she was about to call Arkhan with anticipation, a delicate hand holding a tissue suddenly reached over, wiping away all the food residue from her mouth.

"I didn't expect Sakura-chan to love hamburgers so much."

Irisviel tossed the tissue into the trash bin and cautioned.

"But hamburgers are junk food. Eating too much is not good for your health. When you go to the Clock Tower in the future, don't consider fast food like this as your primary meal, okay? You'll easily gain weight."

Sakura stared blankly at the tissue in the trash bin, feeling helpless.

When Arkhan finally finished wiping off all the tomato sauce on her face, Artoria regained her composure. However, she didn't get angry at his bold physical contact.

"Is this how you treat her?" Artoria calmly asked him.

"She's much easier to deal with than you, that's for sure." Arkhan rolled his eyes.

"I see..." Artoria picked up another burger, though this time her movements were a bit slower. "Have you slept with her?"

"!!!"

As if a thunderbolt had struck on a clear day, Arkhan and Irisviel were instantly stunned, frozen in place.

"Sa-Saber, how could you... how could you say such..." Irisviel blushed, despite being a mother who had given birth, physiologically, she was only nine years old!

Arkhan furrowed his brow and raised his hand to use magecraft to block Sakura's hearing.

"What nonsense are you talking about?! She and I are siblings; how could we do such a thing!" Arkhan exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"What's the big deal? Isn't that sort of thing quite common in our era?" Artoria responded nonchalantly.

Arkhan instantly fell silent.

"Since you're reluctant to lay hands on your own sister due to blood ties..." Artoria glanced at him, and her eyes and expressions suddenly revealed a hint of a flirtatious demeanor. "Then what about me?"

"Eh?!" Irisviel exclaimed in shock.

As a newly created homunculus who had just come into existence nine years ago, Irisviel was thoroughly scared silly by Artoria's string of outrageous and relentless lecherous remarks. Her eyes were vacant, her expression dazed, wearing a look of complete confusion, as if saying 'Who am I? Where am I?'.

Arkhan frowned slightly and gazed at Artoria expressionlessly.

"Do you want me to help you win the Holy Grail?"

"Yes." Artoria answered in an instant and nodded calmly.

Soon, she began narrating the battle from the previous night.

"Last night, I teamed up with Rider to take on Archer but got interrupted by Berserker. Rider used his Noble Phantasm to trap Berserker, while I had a one-on-one duel with Archer, but it seemed his condition wasn't great after his previous battle with you."

"I took advantage when he wasn't paying attention, unleashed my Noble Phantasm, and severely injured him. Unfortunately, he managed to escape. But, given his current condition, unless his Master is willing to use up all of his command spells, Archer couldn't recover to his peak."

"Isn't that good? Archer is almost eliminated by you guys, right?" Arkhan said indifferently.

"But there's still Rider and Berserker." Artoria looked at him expressionlessly. "Both of their Noble Phantasms are very troublesome and effective against me. Even in a one-on-one situation, I don't have absolute confidence to defeat either of them."

"So, you want me to become your ally?" Arkhan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Even if the cost is your own body?"

"This body is just a copy of myself in this world. If it can be used to secure victory in the Holy Grail War, I don't see any problem." Artoria spoke calmly.

Arkhan stared at her for a while, then sighed.

"I should have just stabbed you to death on the dock that day."

"So, what's your answer?" Ignoring his remark, Artoria asked again, her eyes showing no ripples.

"I really don't understand why each of you is fixated on that damn cup."

Arkhan massaged his temples, a headache forming.

"I've told you, that cup has been contaminated and can't fulfill your wishes."

Hearing that topic again, Artoria frowned slightly. Earlier, she thought Lancer was trying to find excuses to undermine her resolve. However, after witnessing his power, she finally realized that he had no reason to go to such lengths.

Did the Holy Grail truly have problems?