[FMMISM] Chapter 63: Missing Zealot

The next morning.

At this moment, the cold air in the Einzbern Castle dining room was shattered by a sharp 'clap' noise.

"Itadakimasu!"

Ragna, seated at the head of the long table, clasped his hands around his chopsticks.

At the luxurious European-style dining table, beside Ragna, sat three stunningly beautiful women, each with a steaming bowl of ramen in front of them.

Just a moment ago, Ragna had solved a mystery that had long intrigued him.

During the Fourth Holy Grail War, Irisviel had surprisingly not brought any of the Einzbern homunculus maids to Japan.

If that was the case, what did Irisviel and Artoria, two women who couldn't cook, eat every day while living in a huge castle?

Obviously, the answer was takeout.

Although it was still 1994 and takeout apps didn't exist yet, Japan was a land of convenience stores.

Since the late 80s, 24-hour convenience stores have sprung up all over Japan, and Fuyuki was no exception. As a result, for the past few days, the princess and the king in this castle had been surviving on takeout.

They would call a convenience store or restaurant to deliver to the edge of the forest, then have a familiar pay and bring it back—that was their way of life.

Ragna must admit once more that magecraft was indeed convenient. He even thought he should ask Yahweh to help him buy train tickets next time.

When ordering breakfast, Ragna immediately used his authority as the master of the castle to force today's breakfast to be tonkotsu ramen.

As she looked at the steaming bowl of rich ramen in front of her, Artoria frowned.

Although Lancer Artoria's body was much fuller and more fleshy than Saber Artoria's, her dietary preferences hadn't changed. At heart, she still preferred lighter food, so eating greasy ramen first thing in the morning was something she just couldn't understand.

'What kind of education leads someone to eat ramen in the morning? I really want to see the faces of Master's parents...'

'But... it smells so good... Forget it.'

As Artoria was about to pick up her chopsticks, Ragna, slurping his noodles, suddenly spoke up.

"Zealot didn't come back last night."

Upon hearing that, Artoria and Irisviel simultaneously had the same thought—who was Zealot?

"Was she killed by other Servants? What a waste. I guess one Servant (herself) is enough for Master after all."

Morgan, calmly eating her ramen, replied casually.

"She didn't die and is still alive. I can feel her Saint Graph is still stable, but for some reason, I can't contact her." Ragna explained. "That's why, today, we have to gather information about Zealot in Fuyuki. After all, she knows quite a bit about us. It would be disastrous if she fell into enemy hands."

"Do you think this Zealot would spill our information?"

Artoria, who had grasped the situation from his words, took over the conversation.

Ragna shook his head and said, "No, if she's captured by the enemy, she might be tortured to death for refusing to say a word."

"Since there are four of us here, let's split into two groups to get the job done faster." Ragna thought for a moment, then continued, "I'll team up with Iri to search Fuyuki at night, while Caster and Lancer will work together to handle the investigation during the day."

Artoria: "No."

Morgan: "No."

Irisviel: "Understood."

In an instant, the Pendragon sisters simultaneously looked at Irisviel with oppressive gazes.

"Hmm?"

Irisviel was somewhat puzzled.

'I didn't expect Lancer and her sister to have such a poor relationship... Does she really dislike working with her sister that much?'

With such a thought, Irisviel forced a smile and spoke up.

"I think I'd rather team up with Lancer. We've been working together for so many days and have developed some good chemistry. As for Lord Ragna, you can team up with Caster. How does that sound to everyone?"

"Iri, think about it again." Artoria said seriously.

"That's right, think it over carefully, little girl." Morgan followed.

"..."

Seeing this, Irisviel felt dizzy and wondered what they really wanted.

After a long pause, Irisviel suddenly had an epiphany and quickly spoke up again.

"S-Sorry, I think I'll stay home instead. I need to fix the bounded field in the forest that Miss Caster damaged last night. As for the investigation, I'll leave it to you three, who are more combat-capable…"

Irisviel paused for a moment, then continued.

"But if it were up to me, I think Lord Ragna should team up with Lancer during the day and with Caster at night. That should work well, right?"

Apparently, this was her way of getting back at Ragna for depriving her of a good night's sleep the previous night by decisively throwing him under the bus.

"Very well said, Iri." Artoria finally nodded in satisfaction. "You have no reason to fight, so you should stay at the castle and let us handle the frontline."

In the next moment, she extended her pink tongue, licked her lips, now delectably moist with pork bone oil, and glanced at Irisviel's ramen.

"By the way, Iri, if you can't finish your meal, just split it with me as usual."

"Um, here you go." Irisviel nodded and handed her bowl of ramen to Artoria.

"I don't have any objections." Morgan nodded, begrudgingly accepting the plan of sharing her Master with her sister.

She rested her chin on one hand, her pale fingers gripping the chopsticks as she stirred the noodles with a somewhat annoyed expression.

"Arthur, don’t forget that the time after Master’s dinner is mine."

"Objection!"

At this point, Ragna, who had been silent, stopped eating and finally addressed the three women.

"Ladies... why don't you ask for my opinion first? Am I not someone with personal rights?"

After making such a valid point, the Pendragon sisters, with perfect timing, raised their high heels and each kicked Ragna's shins beneath the dining table.

'What the hell?'

Ragna realized that in front of these two women, he really had no say at home.

Needless to say, before he became a slave to these women, he needed to find Zealot as soon as possible.