Chapter 3 here we go. Summer break was not a summer break for me.


"Welcome to Castle Einzbern." Ilya said as she and Feng made their way to the base of the building.

Feng whistled in appreciation. He could tell just from stepping in the area that the Bounded Field surrounding it was well-maintained. It said nothing about the castle that stood in front of him, though he was equally impressed with that. "You live here?"

"Yes."

"With just your Servant?" Feng asked. It wasn't really his business, but a girl living by herself anywhere would be a cause for bother.

Ilya shook her head. "No. My maids stay here with me as well."

"Ah, I see—" Feng stopped as a weapon was placed in his path.

"Milady, who is this?" A maid stepped out into the open.

"Oh, Leysritt, put the halberd down. Sella, this is Yun Feng, the Master of Assassin. He'll be allying with us until the rest of the Servants are dealt with."

Feng relaxed as the halberd was put away. "Call me crazy, but I don't think any Master in his right mind would ever try to assault this place."

"You're right. I only have one real use for you right now." Ilya said.

Feng instantly deflated. While normally, he would complain about being ordered around by a little girl, she could probably leave him and Assassin squashed into a pulp at this moment. "What do you need me to do?"

"I want you to create a one-way teleportation circle out of the castle and into the city." Ilya said.

Feng blinked. "I can do that, but do you just plan to walk back?"

Ilya nodded. "I enjoy a walk quite often. I just want something convenient just in case."

"I see. Give me a couple minutes then." Feng started chanting rapidly as he set up two circles. "The bigger one is the one you'll use to teleport. I've set it up so that you can activate it by simply channeling a certain amount of mana into it. The smaller one is a two-way circle meant only for sending messages. I'll send one to you when I've set up the second point for teleporting to the city."

"Thank you very much. I'll see you around!" Ilya smiled.

Feng smiled weakly. "Anytime, I guess."

As soon as he was out of the area of the Bounded Field, he teleported home right away.


As soon as they got home, Feng crashed into the bed. "Assassin, first thing in the morning I'm skipping school and we're heading to the city to set up a circle for Ilya."

"Hm. I see. Feng, do you think it's wise to ally yourself with that girl? You do realize that you're just being used, right?"

"You didn't see the parameters on that monster of a Servant. Unless we learn about its abilities first, we'd be crushed into a pulp. I do not want to try my chances with that."

Assassin put his hand to his chin. "So we're going to beat that Servant using cunning?"

"That's the plan. I personally think she's a contender to win the whole thing, so I want to be extremely careful. For now, we'll just go with her wishes. I know you don't like it, but I'm still trying to win."

Assassin bowed. "I understand. Do you want me to make a meal for you in the morning?"

"You sure you want to, Assassin? I thought it would be demeaning if you were to do it by yourself."

"I'm used to it, Feng. And I have little to do at the moment besides discuss tactics and such. At least let me be useful in a different way."

Feng glanced up sleepily. "I see. Thank you, Assassin."


After walking around the city for about an hour, Feng finally found a good spot for a teleportation circle and sent a message to Ilya. With nothing else on their agenda, they began their tactical meeting.

"Alright, let's start discussing. We might eventually end up facing all six Servants if we're extremely unlucky, so it's important to figure out a strategy for each one." Feng surmised. "Let's start with the most obvious of them: Saber. What do we do if our opponent is of the Saber class?"

Assassin thought about it for a moment. "Well, if it's a Saber class, the toughest thing that we'll have to deal with is his or her overwhelming strength. But that applies to most, if not all Saber classes."

"It might actually be better just to flee the fight or go for the Master." Feng looked over at Assassin. "Unless you actually want to fight? I should have figured as much. In that case, what I'll have to do is bring your parameters up to a point where you can fight the Servant, seeing as your parameters aren't necessarily the best for fighting against Saber class Servants."

Assassin nodded. "That's fair. Might I suggest the same for the Lancer class as well?"

"That makes sense. What about the Archer class?" Feng mused.

"In that case, it's a matter of being able to close the gap between me and the Servant. At a distance, I can't do anything to an Archer class Servant."

"In other words, I need to teleport you to the Archer if we're outdistanced. That covers all the Knight classes, so what about the other ones?"

"Well, there's Rider, Caster, and Berserker. We're allied with Berserker, so it's between Caster and Rider."

Feng thought for a moment as the two of them turned a corner. "Aside from Berserker, Caster will probably be our greatest threat. I don't really mean to be rude, but your resistance to magecraft is honestly kind of pathetic. I can remedy a bit of that like with all your other parameters, but it'll still be weak at best. I think it'd be best if we let Ilya and Berserker handle that one."

"And Rider?"

"Nothing as of yet." Feng admitted. "I'll have to take more time to think of in-depth planning. Riders are so unpredictable in who they are and what their steeds are."

"That seems reasonable." Assassin suddenly paused. "Feng, I see a Master over there. The Servant is hidden from your eyes, but that girl is most definitely his Master."

Feng turned to see none other than the person he hated more than anyone else in the world appear. "You're kidding me."

Tohsaka Rin glared at him. "That's my line!"

"Exactly why are you here, Tohsaka?"

"Hmph. Why should I tell an enemy Master anything?"

"Fair enough. Temporary parley?" Feng suggested.

Rin seemed to chaff at that suggestion. "Why?"

"Probably because fighting right here and now would cause way too much chaos. I'm not particularly interested in creating havoc if I can help it. Pretty sure even a third-rate Master would know that."

The newly discovered Master sighed. "Fine. What do you want?"

"First things first, why don't we discuss this somewhere that's not out in the streets? Like that coffee shop over there?" Feng suggested.

It was at this point that the Master of Assassin almost knew he had suggested a terrible idea. Mainly because the Master in front of him seemed to get all teasing and flirtatious. "Oh my, have you secretly been hiding feelings for me all this time, my dear Yun Feng?"

"What are you talking about? If you buy something, you're paying for it. This isn't a date." Feng was clearly irritated already, judging by the twitching eyebrow.

Rin sighed. "Fine."

They got to a café before continuing their discussion, where only one topic came up.

"Ceasefire while we're at school?" Feng offered. "I'm not in the mood to make an alliance, so a no-fight zone is the best you're going to get, Tohsaka."

"I was actually thinking the same thing, Yun."

"Well, that's settled. I'll see you at school tomorrow, unless you're planning on skipping again?"

Rin smirked. "Admit it, you just want me to not go to school so you don't have to deal with me."

"… Go to hell, Tohsaka."


"I should've guessed that he's a Master."

"Rin, are you sure it's wise to let him go?" Archer asked.

"It's not, but he had his Servant with him, so we can't just blatantly attack without a plan. We don't even know which Servant he has."

Archer frowned. Rin had a point. The other problem he had though, was with timing. Did I end up in a significantly different timeline? It doesn't matter for the moment, I suppose.

The next day, Assassin went with Feng to school. Mainly because of Feng's suggestion.

"I thought you agreed to a ceasefire at school." Assassin wondered.

Feng nodded. "And while I know enough about Tohsaka to know that she'll agree, there's no guarantee that there isn't another Master either at school or willing to attack during school hours. I'd rather be prepared in case of surprises."

The two of them remained quiet about halfway to school, when Feng found himself surrounded by five of his schoolmates.

"Do you want me to do something, Master?" Assassin asked. "They seem rather hostile."

"Let it go. This is actually a regular occurrence." Feng replied. "So, is there something you want? I'd rather you get to the point instead of dilly-dallying. Of course, if you're planning to pull the old 'you're Chinese, so we don't like you' spiel, the comments about my ears, or just want revenge for the last time you ganged up on me, I'd rather you skip the talking altogether."

"Oh, and is that going to save you from the beating we're about to lay down on you?"

There was one problem with being a Chinese person in Japan. Some people didn't like him solely based off his race, with Japan and China having strained relations after World War II.

Then there was Feng's ears. Few people ever made comments about it out of respect, but the ones who did often had questions along the line of what the hell was wrong with his ears. For one thing, they were pointed. Not particularly so, but there was a sharp enough angle that people noticed. There were also the people who made fun of him for it, but he was used to those comments. Nothing he could do about it.

Feng sighed as the first fist flew towards his face before ducking under said fist and using the momentum of the strike to throw the offending attacker towards the person right behind him. Before anyone else could react, he dropped down and swept everyone off their feet before continuing his walk, whistling all the while. Ah, that was cathartic.

"Feng, I think we need to have a discussion again regarding your abilities." Assassin would have seemed cross, if he didn't sound so impressed.

Feng shrugged. "There's not much to say. My home in China doubles as a monastery where monks learn martial arts. I've learned also, but it's not like it'll be that useful in a fight between magi."

As he stepped through the gate to school, Feng noticed Tohsaka close by, paying her no heed.

It was almost coincidental, but it was really no surprise that both of them stopped at the same time, given the foul nature of the Bounded Field that they had just stepped into. Nor was it a surprise to either Servant there that the two Masters seemed to have a nonverbal agreement to meet up immediately after their first break.


"I'll get straight to the point. This isn't your Bounded Field, is it?" Rin asked.

"No. It's not yours either?" Feng replied, though he figured he knew his answer already.

Rin snorted. "As if I would create a Bounded Field that easy to detect."

Feng frowned. "It's not fully developed. Plus whoever made this field clearly doesn't have the ability to set it up. I set up a couple of Bounded Fields on campus, and none of them have been affected."

"What exactly do your Bounded Fields do?" Rin's eyes narrowed. This seemed like an offense that needed to be corrected.

"Nothing harmful to anyone, I promise. They're small and in out-of-the-place areas so no one runs into them. Not that it would even harm them if they walked into them. Maybe leave them a bit more energetic, but that's it."

Rin relented. "Fine. Care to help me with examining the Field?"

Feng sighed in exasperation. "Much as I hate working with you, I have to agree in this case. It's not like we have much of a choice. If we have a reckless, third-rate Master on our hands, it'll be a disaster. I heard about what the last third-rate novice did in the previous Grail War, and I do not want to see a situation like that again."

That got Tohsaka's attention. "What exactly did you hear about it?"

"You know that huge panic that happened on the river that year? That was apparently a Master and Servant duo deciding that the best thing they could do was create as much chaos and death as possible. We might get something as bad here, if we're unlucky."

The Tohsaka heiress sighed. "Alright. We'll cooperate this once. After school, meet here and we'll go around finding out more about the Bounded Field."

"Agreed."

The sound of papers falling interrupted their conversation, and the two Masters turned to see one Matou Sakura picking up papers from the ground. There was a collective agreement between the two of them to help the younger Matou sibling whenever possible, albeit for different reasons.

While Feng was uncertain as to Tohsaka's reasoning, his reason was that he felt bad for the girl, having to deal with the ass of a brother that she had.

"Here, let me help you with that, Matou."

"Ah, thank you Tohsaka… and Yun? It's surprising to see the two of you together."

Feng sighed. "Unfortunately, we just got stuck together for a group project, which I think is because our homeroom teacher hates me. So here we are, at each other's throats for the upcoming future."

In the opinion of both students, the group assignment they were given was quite possibly the worst combination possible. Feng would have even taken Matou Shinji as a partner for the group project, and that was going extremely low.

"You're one to talk. I'm the one that has to deal with you." Rin retorted.

"That's what you think, insufferable wench."

"Pointy-eared freak."

"Irritating prick."

"Annoying know-it-all."

Sakura giggled. Unlike most people, she actually found their banter charming. Feng sometimes wondered if there was a screw loose in her head somewhere.

Meanwhile, in the background, Archer and Assassin found themselves chatting with each other.

"Our Masters really don't seem to get along at all." Assassin remarked.

"They're both very strong-willed, so it shouldn't be that surprising."


After school, the two of them met up at the entrance to begin their hunt for the source of the Bounded Field. Thankfully it only took a couple minutes to find the first circle. Keyword being first.

Feng groaned. "So whoever this magus clearly has an idea of how to use circles to expand the reaches of a Bounded Field. We're dealing with someone who knows what he's doing, but doesn't have enough of a brain to know when to do it."

"I've never seen or heard of writing like this." Rin frowned.

"I have. And I don't like it." Feng grimaced. "This style of circle goes back to Ancient Greek days, dating back to the Age of Gods. We're dealing with either a Servant of Greek nature, or a Master who hails from Greece. I think the Servant being of Greek nature is more likely."

Rin stared at Feng. "How do you know that?"

Feng shrugged. "My family may come from China, but we're actually descended from a family of Ancient Greek magi. I've studied enough texts to recognize Greek-styled circles."

"Interesting. You've noticed the nature of this Field, haven't you?" Rin asked.

Feng nodded. "Soul-eating. The problem is, I don't know which form of soul-eating this is or which Heroic Spirit is the one responsible. Ancient Greece was full of stories like this."

"Can you do research on it?" Rin asked.

"I'll get on it." Feng nodded. "Need me to stay or are you good to go?"

"Just go. I don't need a babysitter."

That was all the prompting Feng needed before he teleported on the spot, landing back in his home right away.

Rin stared, dumbfounded for a second at where the Chinese-Greek magus had been standing a few seconds ago before shaking her head and continuing her search.


"Where did I put it…" Feng muttered to himself.

Assassin looked on, curious as to what Feng was searching for. "Are you perhaps looking for a book?"

"I am. It's an index with a list of every single Greek seal that our family owns, which should let me identify what the Bounded Field is. Oh, there it is." Feng pulled a book from the shelf before leafing through it. "Illusions, Sleep-inducing, Thought-influencing… Ah, soul-eating. Here we go— Oh no."

Assassin understood the look on his Master's face. "What's wrong?"

Feng opened up the book to the page in question. "Blood Fortress Andromeda. That's what that Bounded Field is. Modelled after the home of the three Gorgons, Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale, Blood Fortress Andromeda will instantly dissolve anyone in the field. But that's not the problem. The problem is the Heroic Spirit. There aren't any that should be able to utilize it."

"Could one of the gorgons be the Servant?" Assassin asked.

Feng paused. "Maybe, but if so, I need to tell Tohsaka right away… maybe not, actually. Might be nice to see her on the receiving end for once.

"Feng…"

"Oh fine. I'll go tell her right now."

Teleporting back didn't take as much mana, as Feng utilized the two circles that linked the locations to get back to school immediately, where he was treated to the sight of two Servants dueling. One of them was clearly Tohsaka's, while the other Master was nowhere to be seen.

"Do we intervene, Master?"

Feng shook his head. "Observe for now. We won't get many opportunities like—"

Assassin turned to his Master, surprised to see his eyes widen. "Feng?"

"Who the hell is that Servant?" Feng had to ask, looking utterly furious.

"What's wrong?" Assassin asked.

Feng took a deep breath. "Those weapons in that Servant's hands? Those are Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, the couple swords forged for an ancient king in a providence of China."

"And?" Assassin asked.

"The swords never had a proper wielder. In fact, there is no one who has ever actually wielded them in history."

"I'm seeing the problem, but why are you getting worked up about it?"

The Yun family heir took another deep breath. "The reason I'm so mad about it is because those swords are currently sacred treasures in the possession of the Yun family, back home in China. The seal that holds them there has not been broken for centuries."

"So in other words…"

"Yes. That Servant has some sort of connection with my family."


Spooooky. So a couple points need to be made.

First, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye are the actual names of Kanshou and Bakuya, the twin swords that Archer uses. (You can search up the story anytime). We've never really gotten the story as to how Archer managed to get his hands on them, so I decided to construct a bit of a story about it.

Secondly, Feng's history. Anyone who thinks deeply enough about it will probably be able to figure out who I'm linking Feng's ancestry to. The question is how. Brownie points to anyone that figures that out.

Hopefully I won't take a lifetime on the next chapter.

Until next time,

WX