The world of Type-Moon starts with saving Altria!

"Sayaka, I find your words a little hard to believe."

"This, I, you..."

Sayaka's throat was trembling slightly and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. It was obvious that she wanted to make some excuse.

But she couldn't come up with any reason that sounded relatively legitimate, which made Mary doubt herself in a reasonable way.

"..."

Ian pondered for a moment, then gently patted Sayaka's shoulder.

"Sayaka, you...really didn't lie?"

"No!" Sayaka shook her head repeatedly, and then denied the assumption that she was lying. "I finally met someone who is not afraid of me, why would I lie!"

"..."

"I understand."

Ian reached out and gently stroked Sayaka's head, as if soothing a kitten.

"So are we going to set off now—to rescue your fellow Hassans?"

"Eh……"

Sayaka didn't understand what Ian meant at first, but after a moment, she understood - this meant he decided to help her!

"This one……"

The assassin girl took a look at the situation outside and then shook her head.

"It's probably impossible to get out now—it's almost noon, and there's going to be a big storm in the surrounding desert. It would be very dangerous to cross like this."

"Tomorrow! Once the sandstorm passes, we'll set off right away... Okay?"

Facing Sayaka's cautious yet expectant eyes, Ian naturally nodded without any hesitation.

"Okay, I see."

Ever since——

Under Sayaka's arrangement, Ian and Mary stayed in the place where she brought them.

Soon, as the sun set from its highest position, the surrounding environment gradually changed from bright sunshine to dim and dim.

The wind blows——

Sand rises——

Cold attack——

There were sounds like ghosts howling and wolves howling outside, as if countless ferocious beasts were rushing past, turning everything they touched into nothing.

However, although the sandstorm outside was terrible, Ian found that the house where Sayaka brought the two of them was fine.

The yellow sand seemed to intentionally avoid this place, leaving the three of them with an indescribable "safe area".

"This……"

Looking at the scene in front of him, even if he believed in Sayaka, Ian couldn't help but feel some doubts in his heart.

"Sayaka, what's going on with this house..."

“Hey… this…”

Looking at this scene of avoiding the wind and sand, Sayaka's expression seemed very embarrassed and a little awkward.

That was obviously a sign that he didn't expect Ian to ask such a question at this time.

"I'm not sure... why it works that way... but that's how it works."

"..."

Looking at the nervous Sayaka, Ian smiled and said, "It's okay. It doesn't matter if you don't know. I was just asking casually. There are many things in this world that are used for unknown reasons. The house Sayaka brought us to is just one of them."

"..."

Sayaka felt even more embarrassed after hearing Ian's excuse for himself.

Especially when he saw Mary staring at him intently, this feeling became even stronger, to the point of feeling uncomfortable all over.

But at this moment, Ian held Sayaka's hand, signaling her not to be nervous in the simplest way.

The latter had always had expectations of men, so she naturally blushed profusely. In the night under the sandstorm, she actually felt warm.

"It seems that what the first generation said is really right."

"Hmm?" Ian raised an eyebrow. "What did he say—can I know?"

"of course can!"

Sayaka nodded repeatedly.

"He told me...even though I have this kind of physique, I don't need to be afraid, because sooner or later, I will meet someone who is not afraid of this kind of thing, and then he will care about me very much."

"Now..."

Sayaka quietly observed Ian's reaction.

"That seems to be the case."

"Really?" Ian didn't say much. "Then it seems I'm still part of your Hassan legend."

"Ok!"

"Are you kidding..."

Mary's voice came faintly from behind Ian and Sayaka.

"He's mine—I'm the one who 'loves' him the most."

"Oh, yes, is that so?"

Sayaka quickly withdrew her hand.

only--

When Ian was entangled by Mary and pressed to the ground, the assassin girl secretly sniffed her own hand and showed a satisfied expression.

That's right.

He really wasn't afraid of his own poison—he had no reaction at all just now.

Great.

This is really great.

The dusty night ended in an atmosphere of ambiguity and awkwardness.

In the morning, Ian reluctantly buttoned the last button for Mary, and then he heard Sayaka's call:

"Lord Ian—"

"It's time to go."

"..."

"Master Ian, what's that expression on your face...does my address make you uncomfortable?"

"Not really..." Ian looked at Sayaka, who had dressed up, and was a little confused. "Why did you suddenly call me that?"

"Hey, this..."

Sayaka coughed a few times.

"Can I say it's a secret that can't be made public yet?"

"..."

"That's fine." Ian patted Sayaka's head, "Tell me when you think it's appropriate."

It must be mentioned that the impact of last night's sandstorm was far more terrible than imagined.

Not to mention anything else, the road the three of them took to get here had almost disappeared from Ian's sight because of the raging sandstorm - if it weren't for his good memory, he would probably have forgotten that there was a road here.

Fortunately, Sayaka seemed to be very familiar with the situation around here, so even in this almost completely destroyed environment, she knew exactly where to go.

"This way—Master Ian, Miss Meili, please follow me."

"it is good."

Under Sayaka's guidance, Ian embarked on a different path from before.

This doesn't look like something that will happen anytime soon.

Ian also naturally asked more about Sayaka's Hassan companions.

"Speaking of which-"

"Can you give more details about the incident where your companion was captured?"

Sayaka nodded eagerly, as if she had finally found a question she could answer properly.

"Lord Ian... We are a people who originally lived in the mountains. We can also be called 'Mountain People'... This area was not originally where we lived."

"Ah."

Ian didn't doubt what Sayaka said.

After all, he really didn't see any place suitable for living along the way. Even if there were houses like the one last night, there were no signs of human life.

"So... why are you here?"

"Because the First Master said that there are people and things we must protect that are being harmed—so, we who bear the name 'Hassan' must lend a hand and not stand idly by."

"Then, it was..."

Sayaka didn't say anything else, but Ian already roughly understood what she meant.

Since there are people and things to protect, I naturally can no longer continue to be a "mountain dweller" - leaving the mountains and setting off here led to the subsequent encounter.

"It seems that there are quite a few of you——"

"But why did this cause a conflict with those soldiers?"

"Because the first generation told us...that is our enemy." Sayaka spoke frankly, not treating Ian as an outsider at all, and told him everything she knew.

"Originally, we had some advantages."

"After all..." Sayaka's eyes lit up slightly, "The environment we live in every day is not much better than this."

"The place we went to last night was also one of our 'temporary settlements'—but this advantage was completely changed with the appearance of a red-haired archer."

"The red-haired archer?" The man frowned slightly.

"Yes." Sayaka nodded, "He was a ruthless man. Every time he shot an arrow, it would go towards the vital points to take someone's life."

"From this perspective, he is more like an Assassin than we are."

"This……"

This was the first time Ian heard Sayaka mention these things.

And from her description, the man always felt that it was somewhat familiar - of course, he knew that this might also be influenced by those "British soldiers".

after all……

Seeing that kind of equipment, it's hard not to think that all this is related to our British colleagues.

Plus, this is a singularity—

Whatever happens, it's reasonable.

"I see—" Ian nodded in response. "If that's the case, Sayaka, have you... figured out his situation? If you know his name, you should be able to take targeted measures, right?"

“That’s where it gets tricky.”

Sayaka looked embarrassed.

"Even now, we still haven't figured out his real name—otherwise, the situation wouldn't have turned out like this..."

"This is the only communication method that I can identify as belonging to us Assassins that the First-generation Master left behind."

"..."

The answer was not surprising. Ian now understood why Sayaka suddenly appeared and then showed such strong hostility towards the "British" soldiers.

But who is that red-haired archer?