3.1

The meeting hall I'd chosen for the mercenaries to convene in was on the same floor as the 'duel ring', which made herding all the mercenaries there fairly simple. It was fairly modern as far as these things went, with tablet-like devices installed into the walls and conference table, a holographic projector embedded both within the table and on the ceiling above. I imagine that if I was still a salary man, such a setup would be fairly decadent as far as achieving the minimum requirements for a meeting went, but I'd still have bloody well cut myself to acquire it. I spent the minutes leading up to the meeting admiring it, thinking of all the times such a set up would have been incredibly useful in beating my former co-workers over the head with their own stupidity and incompetence.

The entirety of the Tresillo were present for the debrief, which my inner administrator found immensely satisfying. There was a nervous energy amongst them, the same sort of aimless anxiety one often had right before some momentous event like storming an enemy trench or presenting your proposal to the company CEO. Rodriguez was conversing deeply with Fang, the contents of their conversation somewhat difficult to make out beyond the fact it had something to do with the duel from earlier. Laurent was busily reviewing something on his computation device, a series of videos playing that were difficult to make out at this distance. Isabel seemed to be interrogating her squad on what had occurred earlier today, a frown steadily growing upon her brow. Amusingly enough, she seemed both immensely confused on the exact details of what had occurred while at the same time being not at all surprised that something of note had happened during her absence.

Of significant surprise was that it was not merely just the Tresillo here. At the corner of the room, a frown of distaste towards the half open bottle of beer in his hand, was Lancer. After the duel had concluded, the Servant had hung around my immediate area for a while as the crowd dispersed in preparation of the meeting, only to disappear midway through the waiting process. I didn't mind that at all, since that allowed me a few moments to myself without the blueberry irritant hanging over my head, but I was certainly surprised by who he brought back with him once he did return.

Bazett Fraga McRemitz had woken up, and despite the fact that she no longer possessed enough body parts to strictly qualify as a completely whole person, she seemed nonetheless all the more dangerous for it. Her limbs were wrapped with medical gauze, the cast on one hand misshapen in such a way that I was fairly certain she was missing at least a few fingers, while the other had been obliterated into a stump below the elbow, though most of it was hidden within a cast. There was another cast on her left leg and, judging by its placement, I suspected that at the very least her tibia was fractured, though the leg itself remained mostly intact. Lancer seemed content with staying by her side, the Eirish Servant supporting her weight, but while he seemed more concerned with his Master, I couldn't help but note McRemitz's stare was pointed straight at me.

The gauze around the right side of her face remained, though there weren't enough bandages and such to completely cover the burn marks peeking out from the edge. Her sole remaining eye, to her credit, betrayed none of the pain or terror that her new condition would have likely inspired in anyone else, instead revealing only a core of steel that I couldn't help but respect. Injuries like those would have rendered some of the bravest men I'd ever known incapable of dragging themselves out of bed without pissing themselves to tears, and that was with enough anesthetics to dull their mind into a soft, witless, haze. Judging by the way McRemitz stared at me, the calculation and intellect still present behind the shroud of pain, I rather doubted the woman was taking the recommended number of painkillers necessary to be functional. Whether that was a function of a magi skill I wasn't entirely aware of, or sheer bloody stubbornness, I couldn't quite tell. Nonetheless, whatever McRemitz was here for could wait, and I hoped that whatever questions she'd have for me would be answered by me going through the debrief with the Tresillo.

I wasn't so droll as to have them all seated on little aluminum chairs, all nice and proper like some alcoholic support group. Neither could I expect…shall we say, military irregulars, to stand at attention like I was used to with the 203rd. As such, the group was arrayed in a loose circle around the conference table, squad leaders and several of their right hands seated on padded seats while the remainder were given those aforementioned aluminum chairs on a secondary circle around the table. I was quietly irritated at the unprofessional nature of such a setting but said nothing to rock the boat; while I'd initially forced the mercenaries into a more formal military formation upon the start of our collaboration, the key was to integrate myself among their ranks and breed a certain degree of familiarity, not alienate them for no good reason.

I allowed my thoughts to settle, to arrange them all in order and into a viable plan of attack. A few moments after, I figured it was time.

"It's time." I begin, taping the desk at the head of the table. Appealingly, the mercenaries more or less dropped whatever it was they were up to, giving me my full attention as a twitch of my will caused a holographic projection to appear above us all. In this case, it was something of a satellite view over Fuyuki International Airport, the site of my first real operation with the Tresillo.

"Alright then, we'll be doing this in turns." I say, pointing to Laurent, who blinked owlishly before nodding with some degree of expectation. "First, we'll go over the results of the operation starting on 18:00 of yesterday, in regards to the operation at the airport. We'll start with a review of Ghost Team's preparatory efforts on tailing the target, code named Phantom. After that, we will discuss Sweeper and Cutter's joint efforts to identify and preemptively remove any of the protective measures the Einzbern group would have prepared for their agent beforehand. Finally, due to the fact the operation was aborted before Rodriguez could move in to secure the target, we will be discussing Lanza's pre-op details as well as any difficulties or notes they may have had for us."

I paused looking around the room. "Before we get into it, are there any questions before we are to proceed?"

There was an awkward pause, just long enough for me to turn my attention fully into the nitty-gritty mechanics of our debrief, when a voice called out to my left. I turned to the side, watching a giant of a man lean forward towards the desk, dull green eyes glancing to and fro around him towards his comrades, before they switched back to me.

"A few questions, Miss Sioux." He noted respectfully enough, and I turned my full attention towards him. In a way, Captain Rodriguez reminded me of a more gregarious, somewhat more irresponsible, Weiss. That was fair enough I suppose, considering that as much as leadership of the Tresillo was divided between the squad leaders, Rodriguez had been considered something of the de facto head of the group. Such a position brought with it a certain degree of responsibility that was nonetheless tempered by its diffusion among the other squad members, a phenomenon caused by the pseudo egalitarian structure of the company itself. He certainly had an irresponsible side, as I vividly recall the man collecting bets on whether I'd cave Lancer's skull in the duel or not, but nonetheless was tempered by a general likability and respect by the rest of Tresillo. That was only logical, a military man might be able to get away with his subordinates hating and fearing him, but a similar setup imposed upon the Tresillo, ostensibly a civilian company, would merely result in mass resignations. What was one to do then, order them to build non-existent latrines?

He seemed to take my silence as acquiescence, and carried onward. "Now, me and the boys have been talking, Miss Sioux. We understand that the boss left you in charge and all that, which was odd and all at the beginning but we got used to it, not that we especially doubted your leadership or strategies-"

"Hmm hmm?" I vocalized, which seemed to force the man into a pause. He continued again, his voice more cautious now.

"But as I understand it, we were only here to serve as security and general defense." He said finally. "The things you've been having us do, the….things we've been privy to as the operations have been going forward, it's obvious that we're no longer here purely for defense. While the stipulation of our contracts are wide enough to cover these abnormalities-"

"Told you we should have read the fine print." A voice mumbled amongst the crowd, though I couldn't verify who it was, owing to the scattered laughter that followed from the rest of the mercenaries. Rodriguez rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes. Fine. But the point being is that we'd really rather have some clue on what it is we're up against. We've seen the fight with the guy with the swords, reviewed Isabel's recordings of that situation, and if we'd run into that situation blind he would have gutted us all like fuckin' children."

Laurent spoke up, and I looked over to the right-hand side of the table. He was seated mid-way on the conference table, his team to the right of Isabel's. "Not to mention that duel you had with the guy in blue. The things both of you were doing-, I'm sorry Miss Sioux, but if I'd seen a record of that fight I would have called bullshit to half the things you were doing, never mind whatever it was the guy with the pike was doing."

A few eyes turned to Lancer, who merely waved with all the air and energy of a prize-winning Labrador. McRemitz quirked her brow at her Servant but contributed nothing to the discussion, merely settling down to watch me with calm eyes. Rodriguez nodded.

"Yeah, that was…to excuse my language, completely fucked." The Captain admitted. "Considering all this, I hope you understand that we need to know the extent of what we're dealing with here. If that girl of yours, our first target, suddenly started tearing into our squad with a fucking parasol then we need to know."

There were murmurs of agreement among the mercenaries, and my eyes scanned the crowd, searching for several faces. Laurent seemed in general agreement with the consensus, though his attention was focused elsewhere, the light of his holographic projection significantly more subdued as he scanned it for something I couldn't see. Fang seemed much more somber than the rest, leaning back into her seat, her and her squad positioned to the left of Rodriguez's own, dark eyes watching the proceedings with care. Isabel, perhaps alone amongst the mercenaries, seemed the least interested to be part of this conversation, though that in and of itself wasn't exactly surprising. She already knew the relevant details after all, though I don't think her own aloofness on the topic would win her any favors. Mercenary bands like these were hyper aware of any change in tone or mood amongst their members, and I imagine that if she failed to maintain a suitably homologous persona with the rest of her peer group that she'd be increasingly isolated as a result.

Nonetheless, the point was made. I raised my hand, the Tresillo quieting down as I did, which gave me some room to think.

What they were asking for wasn't exactly unreasonable. If I was in Rodriguez's place, I would have definitely done the same. Working with the limited amount of information they were currently privy to was untenable. If I told them to retreat and leave the field upon an enemy Servant's entrance into a fight, they had to know the basis of my decision making, had to know that I wasn't just arbitrarily picking out random choices without rhyme or reason. If they didn't, then even though I made the correct decision at the time, I would nonetheless alienate my forces and breed discontent, an unacceptable turn of events regardless of the reason. Worse, their distrust of me could lead to insubordination on the field, idiocy that could get themselves or those around them killed. Thankfully, I knew this was coming in one form or another, so I wasn't entirely unprepared.

"That's fair." I noted, allowing my hand to fall to my sides as Rodriguez gave a sigh of relief. "While the rest of your compatriots in Van Dyke International and the US Group are involved with other directives relevant to Mr. Galliasta's interests, we are on a similar directive expressed along a far more offensive doctrine."

"Mr. Galliasta wishes for the elimination of certain rivals within his field of expertise, a state of affairs that those aforementioned rivals are also aware of." I began. "While it was hopeful that this situation could be resolved amicably, our employer presumes that such a course of events would be, while not necessarily an impossible course of events, most definitely highly improbable. Thus, I was hired with the intent to neutralize these targets before they can do the same to us, and I deliberated that of the mercenary groups within Galliasta's employ you lot seem the most promising."

If there was anything decades in politics had taught me, it was the ability to say the absolute minimum amount of information while pandering to the egos of those listening. Nothing I'd said so far was necessarily wrong, only true within a somewhat stretched understanding of the given data sets. It was the subsequent information I was about to say that would be composed of out and out lies, and as such I had to be more careful.

"From last night's event, it is clear that the opposition has hired outside agents, which would be the man with swords from last night." My hand gestured towards Lancer and his Master, the former watching amusement, the latter with her brow raised. "As such, we've come to an agreement with other persons of interest so as to eliminate these threats. We are likely going to meet multiple such agents, and in such a situation we would require all of you to focus on secondary objectives while we engage them, or vacate the immediate battlegrounds entirely if we are incapable of giving you further orders."

I leaned back for a moment, satisfied as the seed was planted. I noted the gaze of some of the mercenaries stray from mine, looking over towards Isabel, who merely dug into her seat at the attention.

The nature of secrets and truth was such that while everyone would believe a probable lie, no one would be willing to believe an improbable truth. Even assuming that I was given leave by my Master to explain to the Tresillo the truth of the world, a non-zero possibility considering that Galliasta's previous explanations had hinted that other mages were aware of the activities of magi, the odds were that they weren't likely to believe it. Most likely, they would consider it a lie or a fabrication, and the amount of effort needed to convince them of the truth of such things likely wasn't worth it.

In such a situation, better to give them information that would be far easier for them to swallow. The idea of super mages wasn't exactly foreign to them, the idea of conflicts and brutal power plays hidden behind the polite facade of society would definitely not be foreign to them, considering their line of work. However, telling those lies directly would open me up to too much scrutiny, in that they could simply refute or disbelieve the gist of my argument. Such a situation could quickly grow untenable, regardless of whatever else, I required their trust if I was to maintain their assistance in this war. Forcing myself into a situation where they either have to believe me or lose trust in me. That simply wasn't acceptable.

But if I could construct a situation where the overall lie was composed of two different bits of information, from two different sources, then they would be that much more invested in the truth. With me admitting that I and several other people involved in this war had been hired for the express purpose of combat, and the information I'd instructed Isabel to leak to the others about some of the enemies we face possibly being Jiuzhounese super mages, the trap was set. They could recall that information on their own, digest it, and come to the conclusion I wanted without actually saying so out loud. A conclusion that they themselves came to would mean that they would be much less likely to disbelieve it. Human beings were fatally self-centered, it was the rare individual to be capable of separating their egos from their ideas, and if they were prompted towards a certain idea but were allowed to make the final leap towards reaching it, they were all the more likely to clamp onto it like a starving mutt to a gnarled bone.

I could see the idea taking root easily enough, with some of them glancing towards each other with knowing looks. The additional upside to all this was that they were all smart enough not to be so mad as to ask any of us whether we were really super mages of some sort, that was just far too suicidal for any of them to even consider. The implication of what we were was enough, and should be sufficient to silence them on the matter for the foreseeable future.

Rodriguez frowned, gears turning in his head just like everyone else. All I'd need to do was softly guide them to the proper conclusion and everything would be just fine-

"Excuse me, Ma'am." Another voice called out, and I turned my attention to Laurent, his eyes curious and piercing. "If I may add to the Captain's clarification of the current situation, I have my own question I'd like to ask."

I blinked. "Very well. Go on then, Lieutenant."

He seemed nervous, at the very least he was perspiring slightly, but nonetheless seemed determined to march on. I was rather perplexed at the man's nervousness, at least until he opened his mouth. "Ma'am, what is the connection between you and the late Kaiserin?"

I blinked again, even as I idly noted that some of the mercenaries acted with a degree of shock and alarm at Laurent's words. Nonetheless I ignored them, gracing Laurent with a considering gaze. "Well, who isn't a fan of the Chancellor in this day and age." I smile. "Nonetheless, back to Rodriguez's point-"

But it seemed that it was too late. Now that the question had been asked, a floodgate seemed to have burst among the Tresillo, murmurs and questions flooding the forum as suspicion that had been buried by common sense and politeness now erupted into the surface. Laurent continued, his eyes filled with the kind of determination possessed when one had gone too far to back out now. "The resemblance between you and the Kaiserin is uncanny, ma'am. I've been reviewing footage you see, and you could pass for her daughter."

The murmurs only increased, and I smiled tightly. "Well as the public record shows, Degurechaff never bore any children. Now, as I was saying-"

But it seemed that I'd lost him now, Laurent distractedly staring at his computation device, eyes rushing through a holographic panel with an almost manic fervor. I frowned in confusion at what exactly he was up to, and with a thought I gained access to his gear, allowing me awareness of what exactly he was doing, moments before it was too late to do anything about it. My eyes widened imperceptibly as the table's holographic panel projected a miniaturized replica of myself high above us all.

"-ciples of Germania follow the precepts of Self-Determination, Reason and Equal Opportunity for all." The treacherous, much younger, version of my past self said. Spectral eyes made a sweeping gesture across the crowd, and I could only breathe a sigh of relief that the recording was old enough that one couldn't quite make out the finer details. "While it was never the intent of the State that Malagacy be considered as some colony or protectorate, for it to be considered as somehow a lesser partner among a league of equals, I have since tried my best to rectify that mistake. With referendum vote cast last July, it has become clear that the People of Malagacy had spoken and exercised the collective Self-Determination of an entire Nation."

The spectral version of me smiled, and while others have since ascribed that smile a variety of emotions, thoughts and feelings, I knew damned well that I was basically me grinning through the pain at this point. "Germania would thus like to welcome Malagacy as the eighteenth member of OZEV-"

The feed cut off then, leaving my figure frozen in space for all to see. From afar, I could see McRemitz growing more and more confused at the ensuing chaos, even as Lancer seemed to be devolving into a quivering, amused, wreck. They were the least of my concerns however, as the addition of video and audio proof of the similarity to myself seemed to have loosened a flood of conspiracy and idiotic talking points to overwhelm the debriefing.

"You know, wasn't there that rumor about some people making a cloning breakthrough? Some firm out from Leipsic?"

"Nah, must be hot air and crap. Why would Germania send a super clone to Fuyuki of all damned places?"

"Maybe it's because of Jiuzhou? You've heard that new leader of theirs and all the anti-Akitsushima crap he's been spewing."

"Then OZEV would push for economic sanctions or something, they wouldn't send a fucking kill squad-"

"Degurechaff wouldn't have sent a fucking kill squad. God knows what they'd do now-"

Laurent coughed, hands outward, seemingly in an attempt to control the chaos he'd unleashed. "Even with just a casual glance ma'am, it seems abundantly clear that you have a striking similarity with the late Kaiserin. Speaking mannerism, physical appearance, gestures, posture, it's almost uncanny."

A voice from the crowd spoke up, a man from Rodriguez's squad that I couldn't quite recall the name of, and for a moment I hoped that he was to be the voice of reason. Unfortunately, it was not to be. "Oh come on, Anton! Of all her speeches you pick that one? Here, let's do the Argent one."

His computation device whirred into life, and another figure of myself joined the last. I was much older here, wrinkles visible upon my face, my blonde haired turned silver as I wore a predominantly white outfit, a long white coat going down nearly to my ankles. This time, the recording was recent and modern enough for fine details to emerge, and the resemblance was indeed, uncannily similar. Sapphire eyes took the scene at large, observing an unseen crowd before she spoke.

"The necessities of statecraft require an eye to the future that may not necessarily result in immediate gains." She said, eyes severe and uncompromising. "It is why environmental protections set forth decades ago had defeated an impending climate disaster before it ever materialized. It is why the scaling back of fossil fuels in favor of alternative energies has resulted in Photovoltaic plants powering over thirty four percent of Germanian homes. It is why the billions invested into weather controlling solutions has resulted in the ability to influence the weather of an entire subcontinent, to the benefit of both our agricultural and energy sectors."

"These projects were not easy to commit to at the beginning, but they were composed of a multitude of small, but gradually increasing, steps that made seemingly impossible dreams that much closer to reality. These steps were not based upon the irrationality of tribalism and nationalism, but with a love and vision dedicated towards all mankind. With the launch of the 'Argent' and its sister ships, we make another step towards ending mankind's reliance upon earth-bound resources and the inherent scarcity they impose upon our growth, and another step towards becoming a truly interplanetary civilization-"

There were other words to my speech, but it seemed that the Tresillo weren't quite paying attention anymore. It seemed clear enough that this debate over who and what I am had been going on in the shadows for quite some time, and now that Laurent had gone so far as to put it out in the open while in my presence all bets were off.

My eyes flickered over to Laurent, who now seemed thoroughly lost at the chaos he'd unleashed, his gaze flickering over from companion to companion until it finally rested upon me, whereupon he froze in place. Rodriguez was giving Laurent the stink eye, a look of such immeasurable anger and frustration that for a moment I was almost compelled to feel pity for him. Isabel was thoroughly concerned now, her posture upright upon her chair, seemingly ready to take flight at any moment. Fang, to her credit, was enforcing some degree of discipline among her men, but even her eyes were plastered onto mine, some emotion buried deep beneath dark eyes that I found impossible to parse.

Nonetheless, the circus had gone on for long enough. I raised my hand, focusing my will so I would not cause unnecessary amounts of damage, and snapped my fingers. The lights flickered, drowning us in shadow as the Tresillo's computation devices rebooted themselves all at once, the sudden darkness silencing the ongoing argument for a single, brilliant, moment. Seconds later the lights returned, as did vision for the rest of the mercenaries, who now looked around and about cautiously, before turning their gazes to me with no small amount of concern.

"It is certainly interesting to see that when not involved in the course of their own duties, the Tresillo are rather imaginative, gossiping, hens that enjoy their daily dose of conspiracy and amateur guesswork." I note, my smile casual and easy, though the sight of it seemed to strike a chord of fear amongst the men and women arrayed around me. I clasped my hands together, settling them upon the table, which only seemed to concern them even further. "That is my own failing, unfortunately. I had presumed that for the Tresillo to realize its concurrent objectives in accomplishing both the responsibilities entrusted upon them by Mr. Galliasta as well as the objectives I demanded, that it would be best to allow you all some time to rest and plan out your approach accordingly. I had presumed that all of you would have at least the minimum level of maturity to sit quietly at this table instead of out at the back, where the incompetents and children may play without a worry in the world."

"Ma'am I-" Laurent began speaking, only to be slapped upside the head by Isabel, a degree of panic in her eyes that I gave no comment to as I continued.

"Alas, idle hands are the devil's playground, and my failure to recognize this is something I deeply regret and I shall rectify this mistake post-haste."

They were murmuring apologies now, Rodrigues giving Laurent a death glare even as the lieutenant's gaze was pinned directly upon the ground. I continued. "As such, there shall be some changes around here. A few exercises, nothing too severe, but enough that the next time we meet I would no longer be speaking with overgrown children in mage uniforms but the professionals that Mr. Galliasta assured me you all were."

Rodriguez spoke up, a foolishly suicidal move, but one I could respect I suppose. "I can prepare a list of men available for any duties you'd expect for today ma'-"

"Ah, ah." I tutted, and the big man flinched. "Did you not hear the Chancellor's speech? What we do, we do for all mankind. Tribalism and other such irrational impulses must be buried in the twentieth century where they belong. There is no 'Us' and 'Them'. Only 'Us'. I will have no need for the Tresillo today, not when you'll all be too occupied on other, more important, matters."

This time, there was no resistance. I gave no additional punishment to Laurent beyond the temporary confiscation of his computation device. His own comrades would administer whatever particular punishment they saw fit.

"You know, Caster, I have to admit. I assumed that the high point of my day was our little spar earlier, and that nothing today was going to top it." Lancer commented, humor evident in his tone as he made a token attempt to not laugh. "But really, you've just been full of surprises."

"I'm glad I can be of some service to you, Lancer." I smiled acidly towards the man, who merely smiled cheerily back, impervious to my ill will. "Perhaps you'd like to join the men in their exercises? They should still only be working on their first task: thirty rotations up and down the building might not seem a lot, but with how tall the Tower is I expect them to take a while to do so without their magic."

"Hmm. And how many floors is the Tower again?"

"Fifty. Give or take, I couldn't quite recall."

Lancer cackled in laughter, the man following me into one of the many side rooms available on this floor, the Servant supporting McRemitz as she ambled in after me. The room was fairly sparse as far as accommodations and such went, something of a smaller version of the conference room I'd just held the Tresillo in, but that seemed suitable enough for our purposes. I moved to take one of the nearby seats as Lancer helped McRemitz into one opposite me, before taking a few steps away and leaning on a wall, that same amused smirk on his face.

"I had doubts over Lancer's assessment that you were not the Witch of Betrayal, but considering that performance earlier I can't help but believe that he's probably right." McRemitz shrugged.

"Is that so?" I asked curiously. "I must admit to being somewhat surprised. If the agreed upon deal was you with Cu Chulainn and Galliasta with Medea of Colchis, I imagine such a team would be nearly unbeatable. Would you happen to know why he changed his mind?"

McRemitz bristled for a moment, though I didn't quite understand why, before she relaxed once more. "I don't know. I'll be sure to ask him that next time I meet him."

An uneasy silence fell between the three of us. Well, between me and McRemitz in any case. Lancer seemed to be enjoying himself, still high off the incident with the Tresillo, and uncaring of the discomfort between his Master and me. After a few moments, I eventually speak up again.

"Is there anything I could do for you?" I ask kindly. "I'm not privy on what, exactly, the extent of your injuries are but I imagine that they are rather severe. If you'll forgive me, I'm somewhat alarmed that you're even on your feet at the moment; I've seen lesser men drop dead to injuries half as severe as yours."

She smiled grimly. "I suppose I have a hardy constitution then. But yes, you're right, the sooner we get this out of the way the better off we'll both be Chancellor Degurechaff."

A pause, before her singular eyes turn to meet mine, a cold calculation present. "Did you have something to do with my injuries?"

I blinked. "Pardon?"

McRemitz leaned back, blinking languidly like a crocodile lying in wait. "According to reports I've gleaned from your mercenaries, you make extensive use of modern weaponry, explosives, guns and the like, an observation verified by Lancer himself during his duel with you. You have a notable ability to coordinate multiple teams of agents in concurrent operations across an urban environment, as well as the historical ruthlessness to employ them in whatever way you deem fit."

I blinked again. "Well, I wouldn't know anything about historical ruthlessness per se, but I can promise you that I had no interest in causing you any harm Miss McRemitz."

"You need not have intended any harm on me, Chancellor." The woman responds. "You need not have set the trap to hurt me, you only needed to have set up the trap. We've yet to actually meet at the time, and any preparations you'd have made to turn the Ryuudou leyline into a walking death trap is consistent with your modus operandi. Additionally, we found this upon the temple itself."

Her uninjured hand dug into a pocket, pulling out a handkerchief that looked vaguely familiar. She turned it around, revealing a crude drawing painted in blood, which sparked something in my memory.

"Oh, that's mine." I note at the broken familiar, before frowning. "I was wondering what had happened to it. You destroyed it?"

Lancer spoke up now. "We found it hanging around the temple, not too long before we found every monk in there butchered. Adding those up together, my Master believes that you were involved in everything that occurred in that temple, monks and traps both."

The other Servant leaned closer, observing the handkerchief once more before frowning. He looked at me, then back to the piece of cloth, then back to me. "Wait, are you Germania-chan?"

"What's a Germania-chan?" I asked, confused. "But this is mine yes. I have no idea what exactly happened on that damned mountain, and I've been rather too busy to give it any significant thought. I did visit the temple earlier that day, but I certainly didn't butcher every monk within the vicinity."

"Oh?" the Master asked, leaning towards me once more in interest. "And were you the one who set up the traps?"

I suppressed a look of frustration. I understood that the woman was likely out for blood considering the injuries induced unto her, but honestly all this suspicion was unnecessary. If I wanted her dead she'd already be dead. "That, I can't confirm. I wanted to do a general sweep of the city before I delved into any of its seedier underbellies, and while I know about the tunnel you guys probably took, I didn't explore it sufficiently to determine whether it was trapped or not. The murders definitely happened after I left though."

"And how would you have known that?"

"I spoke to one of them. Young, a kid really. If you want, you can follow up with the survivors of the attack, I know that he's one of the ones to have been hospitalized, it's just that I've not had the opportunity to follow up on that."

McRemitz quieted down at that, looking thoughtful, which I considered a victory all on its own. I pressed forward. "Believe me when I say that I had nothing to do with your injuries. My Master and I stand with you against whoever did this to you, and you will of course have our support against this foe when we hunt them down."

I was completely honest of course, but that wasn't to say that my offer was devoid of self-interest. So far as I could tell, the other Masters of the war were largely inexperienced. Emiya seemed intent in trying to figure out a way for us all to co-exist, Tohsaka's assets had been co-opted by the Church without her full knowledge while Einzbern- well. Einzbern seemed like a frighteningly vicious little girl, but there was a degree of innocence to that which brought to mind something more similar to a wounded animal. Dangerous if cornered, but if you don't give her reason to, will generally leave you alone.

Whoever had nearly killed McRemitz at the temple was of a different breed. Ruthless, practical and willing to engage with and eliminate the opposition without direct confrontation. It was almost jarringly different from the personality matrices of every other Master I'd identified, and the fact that this Master remained unidentified and thoroughly hidden in the shadows disturbed me greatly.

Even if McRemitz didn't trust me, we would both gain greatly by seeing this hidden Master dead. Doubtlessly she knew that too, otherwise she wouldn't have confronted me so recklessly.

"Very well." McRemitz nodded, standing suddenly, with Lancer moving in to assist her. "Is there anything else I should know?"

I paused, considering her question for a moment. Was there anything she needed to know? There was the meeting I'd be having with Tohsaka and Einzbern, but I wasn't about to tell her that. Instead I shrugged.

"Nothing pressing for the moment. I would suggest you take the moment to rest for now, Miss McRemitz." I say, not unkindly. "The war is still calm for now, and it would be better to conserve your energy before the fighting begins."

She holds my gaze for a moment longer, seemingly searching for something. Whatever it was she was searching for, she seemed not to find it, pulling away from me with an irritated grunt, limping out of the room with a dutiful Lancer in tow.

I waited a few moments longer, until at least McRemitz was out of sight, before leaning back into my seat with a groan. What a terrible morning. I really was a bit of an idiot for picking a fight with Lancer; it was hours away from the meeting with Tohsaka and I was already feeling wrung out and beaten down. I shuddered to imagine the state of me by the end of the day. I needed a break.

For a moment I paused, my eyes sliding towards the projector. My hand dipped into one of the many pockets within my flight suit, pulling out the computation device I'd confiscated from Laurent. A minute of tinkering had me successfully connect the device to the holographic projector, returning it to where the recording had previously stopped.

"-and the second nation within the African continent to join this coalition of man." My younger self continued, the cheers and applause from a lifetime ago echoing across the room. "It is my hope that this referendum would prove to the Empires of Albion and Magna Rumeli that colonialism as an institution-"

I zoned out my speech, my attention to the small group behind me. Holographic projections had a naturally reduced quality compared to that of a regular screen, but even as reduced as it was, I think it would be impossible for me to not recognize the woman so close to my side. I spent the next while staring at the projection, watching her smile and clap on my behalf, until the speech was finally over and we begin to walk away side by side, hands clasped together just outside of view.

Edited on 9/14/2020 - Adjusted Photovoltaic energy values from seventy four to thirty four percent for the civilian sector