". . .I wasn't so fond of shields. And wearing capes into battle is. . ." When Artoria spoke during the meal, it was mostly to earnestly answer her masters question like that. Aside from that she ate rather silently, comments on the anime aside. Even so, there was a certain amount of elegance even when she ate chinese food. Thankfully she was using the chopsticks perfectly normal, the Holy Grail being reliable as ever.
"...Hmm." Rarely she would nod or make expressions as if she was in deep thought. It certainly didn't have to do with the anime, but rather what she was consuming at any given moment. One could probably chalk it up to enjoying the meal, but Caster was so irregular it was probably hard to tell.
By the time Caster was nearly done she had begun to smile a little bit. Even with her own limited interactions with the girl, she had already 'felt' many abnormalities within this magus.
"It was good, Charlie. Food is important to continue fighting." It seemed her master didn't like her actual first name, so she had stopped using it shortly after their summoning. While it was true that eating had some benefit in maintaining her form, this incarnation had plenty of energy. Perhaps she could've mentioned the meal as unnecessary, but refrained from ever bringing it up.
A few moments after both had finished their meals, Caster stood up.
It would be better if her Master was slowly eased into their role. Making reckless mistakes was one thing, but actually experiencing the war would be important for winning it. Real battles were about determination at the decisive moment. If her Master wasn't for combat, then their chances for final victory would lower drastically. It didn't seem such, but-
More importantly than that, she wanted to judge her Master.
"We should begin patrolling. There's no reason for us to avoid the first night, Master."There was no way to offer her own power right now. This body was that of a small girl, after all. There was no worth to a King who couldn't protect anyone. But at the same time, it had become more complicated. With the presence of Merlin, she was definitely a lot more reassured in this form. It wasn't a matter of the power she was borrowing, but more that he was so reliable. Even if he was just a little bit mischievous and troubling, there were few people that she could trust to be the Kings power. He was definitely one of them.
"I believe we should inspect grounds favorable to Magi, starting where the leylines have Fallen." The detection abilities of Caster eclipsed that of any other class in the war. Usually merely finding the enemy wandering about was difficult, even with the use of familiars. But in her case, it would be much easier. This was to say nothing of territories, of course. Those were far more troublesome to detect for a modern magus, yet for her it would be far easier. It was something to have a little bit of pride in, even in her current state.
Certain land favored certain Magi, Merlin had said. Different attributes, elements, and paradigms. An astrologer would be in a tower or a place close to the stars. A spiritualist would be in a temple or graveyard. It was the same philosophy as constructing Temples, Magi just had some extra considerations. Finding the camps of all their rivals would go far in giving their own a distinct advantage.
A leyline foci was certainly the greatest prize, but modern magi couldn't control them so easily. Still, it was important to keep tabs on the entire network. Some Noble Phantasms may do something, or a Magus could possibly attempt to piggyback the network. Caster had no intent in using them herself, but monitoring their state was important. They could go to each nexus in the city and check up on them from a distance. As this was a war composed of foreigners, she imagined the current Masters didn't even know their locations. That, too, would be another advantage.
Just being able to get a good grasp of the city on foot would be nice.
"Are you ready, Master?"