FATE: Target of Grand Master

"Spying on Chester? Why are you spying on him? Aren't you comrades?"

"I'll answer that question."

Robin Hood, now free of the Faceless King, appeared on the windowsill.

"Robin Hood, save me!"

"Okay, okay, I'll be there to rescue you in a bit."

Robin Hood casually offered a word of comfort to the robin, then continued, "Simply put, our Master, Lan Muyan, doesn't trust Chester."

Xia Yan's expression was somewhat strange, as if to say, "The Eastern Army is about to reach your springs, and you're still fighting amongst yourselves?"

"Haha, you're probably thinking, at this critical juncture, we're still fighting amongst ourselves. But, is it possible that the Western Army is suffering defeat after defeat precisely because someone is pulling strings behind our backs?"

Xia Yan lowered his head and remained silent, seemingly pondering Robin Hood's words.

"Since you say you don't trust Chester, you must have some evidence, right?"

Euryale spoke up.

When Xia Yan returned earlier, he had already shared his experiences with Yuri Ellie, and the little goddess was now aware of the current situation.

"If there were evidence, it wouldn't be suspicion. It's precisely because there's no evidence that we're monitoring him."

Robin Hood also looked helpless.

"You guys must have some reason to doubt, right? Are you just blaming your teammates because you keep losing and think it's not your fault?"

Euryale's words were somewhat sharp, but Robin Hood didn't seem to care.

"If it were simply a matter of insufficient strength, we wouldn't say anything, but a series of targeted attacks can't just be a coincidence, can it?"

Xia Yan gestured for Robin Hood to begin his explanation.

"At first, we just thought that the Eastern Army's Master had excellent strategic skills. But in one battle, the Master changed the strategy midway through and wanted to lead Okita Souji and me to outflank the enemy forces and launch a surprise attack. Therefore, he borrowed troops from Chester. Our Master also knew that Chester would not lend us his Servants, so we temporarily borrowed Karna and Helena."

The Master had expected to catch the eastern forces off guard with a pincer attack, eliminating at least two or three enemy Servants. However, the eastern Servants suddenly withdrew shortly after the Master led us away; our encirclement only eliminated some Celtic soldiers and Yellow Turban puppet soldiers who hadn't had time to retreat.

Robin Hood paused, then continued, "However, at that time, we didn't suspect Chester. We assumed it was a prudent strategy by the opposing Master to retreat after noticing a sudden change in the Servants on our southern front. Subsequently, we joined forces with the Rebellion and launched simultaneous attacks on both the northern and southern fronts. The Rebellion had four Servants joining at the time. We originally thought the Eastern Army would concentrate its forces to hold one side, allowing us to at least gain an advantage on the other. However, the unexpected result was that two Servants were eliminated on Chester's northern front, while our southern front encountered the Berserker King Cú Chulainn after advancing a distance. After a battle, we were no match for the Berserker King and had to retreat. During the retreat, Rama of the Rebellion was also severely injured by the Berserker King. Since then, the Rebellion has been demoralized and refused to cooperate with our western army again. It was after that great battle that our Master began to realize something was wrong."

The most recent instance was today's surprise attack by the Eastern Army. We hadn't been away from the front lines to negotiate with you for very long, yet the Eastern Army had precise timing in anticipating our departure. Judging from the timing of their attack, they didn't act after discovering our departure; they knew we were leaving from the beginning. And the only ones who knew we were leaving the front lines and wanted to negotiate with you were us and Chester's men. If we still don't suspect Chester after all this, then our Masters shouldn't be participating in the Master Trial.

Robin Hood's description does align with the Rebel Alliance's attitude towards the Western Army.

No wonder the resistance was so resistant to cooperation; they were badly tricked before. If it were Xia Yan, he wouldn't choose to cooperate again either.

"But there's one thing I don't understand. Chester's main mission is also to eliminate the Mad King, so what reason would he have to betray the Western Army?"

In order to gain each other's trust during the negotiations, Chester, Lan Muyan, and Xia Yan had all confirmed each other's mission objectives.

"This is also what our Master can't understand. Even if Chester is colluding with the Masters in the East, his goal is to eliminate the Eastern Army, which is an irreconcilable contradiction. And if Chester wants to use the Eastern Army to suppress our strength, it would be too foolish to start fighting among ourselves when the East is strong and the West is weak, and we are facing a formidable enemy."

Xia Yan agreed with Robin Hood's point of view: betrayal must be driven by self-interest, and under the current circumstances, the Western Army simply cannot allow any room for betrayal.

However, Xia Yan will not immediately accept Robin Hood's words entirely, since it is only his side of the story.

Having obtained a great deal of information from Robin Hood, Xia Yan had no intention of making an enemy of him and generously released the robin.

"Our Master has a fairly good impression of you, but given Chester's precedent and Billy's sacrifice, he probably won't trust anyone else anytime soon. Anyway, you should all be careful."

Robin Hood left those words behind and departed from the window.

Is there a mole within the Western Army?

If so, is it Chester as Robin Hood described, or Lan Muyan who intentionally framed Chester?

It was already 2 a.m., and Xia Yan's brain was starting to sluggish, so he quickly washed up and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, Xia Yan was awakened by a knock on the door.

Upon opening the door, one sees Helena's petite figure.

"Good morning, Xia Yan. Excuse me, are you still resting?"

"It's alright, Mrs. Blavatsky. May I ask what's the matter?"

"Honestly, why are you all using Edison's way of addressing me? I'm a follower now, just call me Helena."

Helena gave a warm smile, then said seriously, "The Eastern Army has made a move. Chester requests that you come to the hall to discuss countermeasures."

Xia Yan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why did Chester need you to come and inform me?"

"It's not Chester's fault, it was my own idea. I guess you're probably still resting, and if you're a bit grumpy in the morning, it's not really appropriate to get angry at a petite girl like me."

After Helena finished speaking, she playfully stuck out her tongue.

"Okay, thank you for letting me know, Bra... Helena, I'll go right away after I freshen up."

"Okay, then Chester and I will wait for you in the lobby."

After quickly washing up, Xia Yan strode into the lobby.

Chester and Helena seemed to be having a serious conversation, but when they saw Xia Yan arrive, they immediately smiled.

"I asked the kitchen to make some simple meals. Time is tight, so I'll have to trouble you to eat and chat at the same time, Xia Yan."

Helena pointed to the Western-style breakfast on the small table next to her.

Xia Yan nodded. It seemed that the Eastern Army's actions this time were quite significant.