Caster mused for a few minutes as he pondered the small set of possible locations to set up base in his mind. While the forest did seem enticing at first, he had to push those thoughts out of his mind. As easy as it was to set up there, the ability to siege against such a location and break through it from all sides was much too threatening for his tastes. No, in fact, of the remaining two, the burnt-down mansion seemed to best suit his taste for this particular scenario. The fact that Fio had mentioned the remaining location to be the 'site of the original town hall' made him worry about it; for all he knew right now, that location might have already been turned into something unsuitable for defense.

At the same time, though, the ruins of a mansion wasn't exactly the most reaffirming of options, but... He could make do with that, for sure. Might take a bit of remodeling, but it could work just as well, if not better, than what he was used to. Of course, checking out the third option was still there, but that was troublesome to his Master, especially given the fact that she was carrying all of his research materials. Maybe another time, then.

"Understood; personally, I would like to examine the latter two options, if it comes down to it. For now, though, I believe I would like for us to be unburdened before scouting out any of these aforementioned locations. Would it do us well to return back to your initial household for the moment?" he asked, looking around the area warily. Being ambushed like this was a death sentence, especially if the creator of this sigil was still lurking around the area...

With her servant suddenly stripping in a rather flashy manner, Hakuno very quickly turned her head away, focusing on the corner of her room as Saber got changed. She hoped there wasn't any noticeable blush on her face, as the last thing she needed right now was for Saber to get the wrong idea or something.
With her Servant now dressed and (thankfully) not commenting on its quality, Hakuno looked her over quickly. As she thought, Saber's... proportions were quite noticeable in these clothes. She'd need new ones bought as soon as possible, though Saber would no doubt insist on the patrol thing first, knowing her.

...The comment was not entirely necessary though, Hakuno decided glumly.

"R-right, well... let's go!" Hakuno said with some forced cheer, and headed for the front door once more.

Fio shrugged.

"It doesn't make much sense to be carrying all this stuff around when we go out to investigate things," she said with a shrug, raising the bags slightly, "I guess we'll have to head back."

When her servant returned to spirit form, Fio headed back. Jeez... maybe having such a methodical Servant was going to be more annoying then anything. I mean, he had a point, but going all the way back before visiting the sights was going to kind of be a pain. Oh well. With a sigh, Fio headed back. Maybe it'd give her time to try and work out what was up with the sigil that was marking part of a bounded field. What purpose could something like that have? It wasn't active, at least, as far as she had been able to tell. Her Servant didn't seem to think it was either, and as Caster he naturally had a pretty good idea about that kind of thing. So the question was what its purpose was and when it would be activated. She could guess that there were other sigils, but it was difficult to say.

It wasn't long before they had returned to Fio's temporary home. She placed the bags aside, for Caster to pick up and investigate.



Saber shifted uncomfortably in her clothing, but nevertheless she was quick to follow her Master out the door. Outside, she was instantly on guard. Her Master naturally needed the best defense possible, and so the black-haired Servant rapidly circled around her, watching every possible angle as carefully as she could. Threats could come from anywhere, after all, and it was important to keep her Master completely safe. At least as safe as she could be when they were outside and without further defenses. Saber had faith in her abilities, however.

... Still, her constant circling and vigilant watch on her surroundings must have seemed rather strange.

"Excellent," the runemage said, not turning away form her work inscribing on the ceiling, "It's unlikely that we'll be able to gather much information before nightfall, as the war normally takes place when people aren't around to observe, but until then, it's simply more time to prepare."

The Irish girl looked away from her work to observe Archer's choice of fitting attire. It was... garish. Garish, overly decorated, and she wasn't entirely sure how he'd gone about acquiring it, though 'outright theft' seemed most likely for someone that was, in every possible respect, legally dead.

"You aren't history's greatest pimp, are you?"

"Kid... thanks to those poses, that may be the dorkiest thing I've ever heard..."

Rider kicked up out of his chair, grinning like a man who'd just met a kindred spirit as he jumped and clicked his heels together.

"BUT I CAN'T SAY I DON'T AGREE! SADDLE UP, WE GOTTA WIN US A GRAIL WAR! YEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAW!"

The night wears on. Many servants have already been summoned, although it's difficult to tell if they all have due to the uncanny nature of the holy grail war. In the catacombs below the city - with only sparse light sources ranging from holes to the world above to the occasional bulb or lantern light the long passages with rectangular sects carved in the walls for the occasional skeleton to rest - a lone female pulls back her sleeve and checks her watch. She nods once to herself, confirming what the watch tells her: it's time. After briefly fumbling through her bag by the light of her headlamp, she strikes a match with an audible but faint 'tcch' and begins to pace about the room, lighting a series of generic dollar-shop candles which have been deliberately placed about the potentially eerie room in no particular pattern. After lighting the first candle, the female blows out the match and tosses it aside to take the candle and light the remainder by the gentle flame atop.

The room comes to be lit, as dull as it may be. The female stands before the revealed summoning circle, neatly drawn out and sculptured with a jelly-like metallic substance of sorts. The female stands at about 5 feet and 7 inches, wearing her standard assortment with her hood raised over her head; the low-positioned candlelight's shine into her hood, revealing her alien red eyes to the few remaining skeletons who would look. An open backpack sits to the right of her, leaning into the corner of two walls with a sect of rope attached to one side and a water bottle to the other. Inside, a series of resources can be seen: tourists and topographic maps of the area, crudely drawn maps of the catacombs, and a selection of empty vials with some remaining metallic residue, to name a few.


The female raises her right hand nonchalantly to almost whack her hood off her head before she grasps her beanie which lies underneath to pulls it off and toss it atop her backpack. White hair, worn in a bun that's become somewhat messy after being restrained by a beanie for some time, comes to accompany her red eyes. Her right hand reaches for her left as her left hand raises to chest-height, where her right grasps the cusp of her worn glove and pulls it off, pulling it inside-out in the process. She idly tosses it atop her beanie with her right hand as she presents her palm to the summoning circle, showing the three command seals on the back of her hand in turn; they loosely represent a shattered regal insignia of some description. She takes a deep breath in to dispel her nerves, incarnating in the form of minor shaking, before she takes a deep breath out, straightens her posture to a much more proud one, and opens her eyes wide. She still wasn't sure if this would work and it's showing in subtle ways - this was what she learned when she infiltrated the clocktower, and it was all he had to run off.

"For the elements, silver and iron." the female begins to chant as she produces a similar vial to the empty ones in the bag, albeit filled, with her right hand, to pop out the cork with her thumb. She begins dripping the substance upon the circle, causing it to light up a little bit more each time.
"For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts. For the ancestor, my great master, Schweinorg. Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom.
Fill,
fill,
fill,
fill,
fill.
Repeat five times; but when each is filled, destroy it." The circle turns from glowing a bright white to a bright purple as the female continues her chant: "Set." She pauses before she continues to the next stage of the chant. "I hereby swear, I will be all that is good in the eternal world, I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world. I hereby propose, thou shalt come under my command, and my fate shall be thy sword. Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me!"

The female - a certain Annalena von Einzbern, the renegade of the Einzbern family - raises her unused hand, with the half-empty vial in hand, in front of her eyes to shield herself from the maelstrom of light.