Frozen air, frozen silence. The forest was simply dark and silent. Rider of Black, Astolfo, who had been emotionally sobbing just earlier, finally stood up.
He pulled up the fallen homunculus. His stature, which should have been slightly smaller or about the same as Rider's, had grown considerably. It appeared that, due to taking in Saber of Black's—Siegfried's heart, his body had undergone a radical transformation.
Still unable to believe it, the homunculus clenched and unclenched his hands again and again. The dull pain he felt when his heart was ruptured still remained, but it had already been reduced to a level that wouldn't impede him.
"It seems that Saber's heart is functioning properly."
Rider nodded, appearing impressed. The homunculus put his hand against his heart, and indeed felt a strong pulse from it. His blood was so hot that it made him sweat all over his body.
"Yeah—"
The homunculus felt slightly moved as he spoke without experiencing pain. To think that inhaling and exhaling could be so comfortable!
Somewhat excited, he surveyed his surroundings until his attention was caught by a tree.
The homunculus adjusted his breathing and activated his Magic Circuits. He gently placed his hands on the tree, confirmed the tree's material properties, and then released his prana to destroy it. The tree easily broke like a twig, but the homunculus' body magnificently endured the force of operating his Magic Circuits.
Watching him, Rider nodded in a somewhat lonely manner.
"...Yeah. Like this, you'll probably be okay by yourself from here on. Since Saber died, someone has to go back and explain what happened right away, or things will become complicated."
Rider was correct. The Masters at the Fortress of Millennia were probably confirming the status of all the Servants one by one. Saber had been sent to chase after Rider and the homunculus, so there was a high chance that a new pursuer would be sent at this rate.
"I have to take back this guy too."
He lightly tapped the head of Saber's Master... Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia, who was unconscious after having been struck by Saber. The man's physique normally wouldn't make carrying him a feasible feat, but Rider was a Heroic Spirit. Carrying the man on his shoulder was no problem for him.
"Oh, that's right. We don't know what you might encounter along the way, so I'll give you this sword."
Rider casually handed over the slender sword hanging along his waist. Bewildered, the homunculus accepted it. Though it was slender, the steel blade felt heavy in his hands.
"But, this is yours—"
"Yeah, but I have my lance and book besides my sword. And that's not even including my Hippogriff as well. Honestly, I don't use my sword that much."
Rider gave a full-blown smile and a peace sign with his fingers—unable to see a reason to refuse, the homunculus hung the sword along his waist.
He was a bit worried about his balance due to the added weight on one side of his body, but he would probably get used to it before long.
"...I want you to use it with great care. It seems I misunderstood Saber. Umm, how to put it...? I mistakenly thought he was a sullen, straight-laced and boring guy."
"I get it. Thank you. You truly saved me."
"It's fine, it's fine. I wasn't very useful in the end."
