Welcome to the start of the Snowfield Servant Arc!

Enjoy!

Hans's P.O.V:

We re-emerge in, according to Jeanne, the town of Snowfield, Nevada. I look around it, and it's practically a ghost town now. Is this because of the Saber's?

I sigh, really wishing we could be done with this mess already.

We duck inside a abandoned building to escape the notice of the Saberobots, keeping mana usage down to a minimum. Not that there are that many Saberobots here anyways, seeing as this place is all but abandoned.

I can't help but think back a bit to the war as that thought passes through my head. During it, it was said that a group of American Heroic Spirits had been called together and embarked on a march to Washington DC from California in an attempt to back the capital of the USA from the Sabers.

They got as far as Boston, if memory serves, before they were defeated. Rather miraculous, really, when you consider how far that would have meant they would have had to travel.

Then again, Americans from back then made that sort of trip. They probably knew how to do it.

Their path itself might've been the same. It was everything else that was probably different.

At that moment, i'm snapped out of my little reverie by Gilles.

"Caster. We need you to start tracking them." He says.

I sigh, hating the fact that I don't really have a choice whether or not I want to.

"Alright, fine. Someone find me some chalk first, though." I say, and after a moment, Nameless returns with some.

I just decide to get it over with, and start directing the others for the materials to attempt a small divination ritual, something I can do, at least. I myself proceed to work with the chalk, drawing the magic circle. It's not much, but at least it won't draw the Saberobots attention.

That's when I see Nameless whisper something to Jeanne, who nods, and then I see Nameless walk off somewhere.

I want to ask him where he's going, but I realize that that would probably be out of character for me, so I refrain from doing so.

Soon enough, though, the others return with the materials, except for Nameless.

At that point, I ask Jeanne where he went.

She says that he'll be gone for a bit longer, as he couldn't find the thing I was looking for.

Fine with me. That gives me more time to relax a bit.

I stretch, and decide to rest a little...

Elsewhere:

Nameless's P.O.V:

It was while I was going to get the materials Caster needed to do his divination ritual that I got that feeling.

The feeling that we were being watched.

I couldn't shake it either, which meant that it couldn't have been a Saberobot, as those things I can shake.

Same with a regular human.

Which left only one other possibility:

A Heroic Spirit.

My mind races, trying to determine what class they were. I ruled out Assassin almost immediately because while they do have presence concealment, by the time I should be able to detect them, it should be too late.

Seeing as i'm still alive right now, and not missing my heart, poisoned, or otherwise, I think my theory is correct.

But of the many questions that sprung to my mind, the most important was: "Are they a threat to us?"

Generally, the answer should be yes, and that could still be true, especially if they were amongst those who defected to the Saber Regime.

I figured that I should at least report my suspicions to Jeanne, who could identify the threat. Telling Saber might be a good idea, but letting him know would cause him to go off recklessly on his own, and telling Caster would have just been plain unnecessary, as he wasn't built for combat.

I walk up to her and whisper:

"There's another servant watching us. Can you identify them?"

"No, my True Name Discernment... it... can't seem to identify it." She says, shaking her head, somewhat in disbelief. I wonder, what sort of servant can do that?

Normally, a Ruler should be able to instantly identify a servant...

"Tch. Alright. I guess i'll go after it myself, then." I say before heading off in the direction of which I felt those eyes from.

As I do so, I picture two weapons in mind.

"Trace...on." I say, calling my two swords to me as I start to run towards a street to the north, about 3 or 4 blocks away.

Bingo.

I see them now, on top of a two-story apartment building, and now I can see the source now clearly.

It's a soldier, judging from the military fatigues, about two meters tall, clad in bandages, so much so, I can't even tell if they're a man or a woman. I size them up, assuming that, judging from the contemporary military fatigues, this Heroic Spirit is one that uses guns, which probably makes them an archer. The question in my head now is:

"If it comes to a fight, can I take them down?"

"You. Who are you, and what do you want?" I growl, raising Kanshou towards him.

"We... have no name. We are merely observing you." It says in a raspy, guttural tone.

"Well then. Let's not make a fuss, lest we get the Saberobots over here. Unless you have some way of proving that you aren't a threat to me, I recommend you surrender before I have to kill you to prevent you from becoming a intel leak." I say.

Let's see if they're smart enough to agree.

"We... cannot surrender, as we have been given a mission. We do not serve the regime, however." It says.

"Tch. Alright then. You asked for it. Too late to back down now." I say, readying my blades into a combat stance.

Looks like i'll have to fight after all.

Alright, we'll leave it here for now!

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Next time!: Archer Vs. Archer!