(A/N) Hello everyone! We meet again, which means I haven't yet succumbed to my own laziness.

I'll start with a short notice that I'll be placing on all of my upcoming updates: I've put a list of stories that I really want to work on (but won't be able to right now due to time constraints) on my profile, along with why I would or wouldn't be inclined to go through with writing the fic from a more objective standpoint. I've also opened a poll where everyone can vote on which story they're most inclined to see started if either I finish an ongoing one or I magically find a couple extra hours in a day. If that sounds like something you'd like to influence, be my guest!

Originally, the chap wasn't due for an update for another couple days yet (not that I'm responsible enough to set hard deadlines for myself lmao) but the E.N.D chapter was sitting a little longer than I'd hoped. This one's out early, but E.N.D will be updated next as soon as my brain starts to work again.

Not much else to say here, but there'll be a lot more to say in the A/N next chapter lol.

Or, probably at least. I suck at predicting reader responses.

Enjoy!

P.S., shoutout to the kind reviewer that pointed out a currency flub from the chapter before last. I meant to point it out last time, but it slipped my mind.

P.S.S., If I ever write something terribly erroneous that makes you go "Wait no that's not right," do not hesitate to let me know. I'm perfectly aware that I have the brainpower of a housefly, and I'll fix what I can.

X

I pretended not to notice Kiritsugu's glare boring into the side of my head. It wasn't my fault that the man wasn't able to capitalize on a golden opportunity shoved in front of his face on a silver platter.

Not that many could see the opportunity for what it was. A great majority of the time, "I'll owe you one" was nothing more than a half-assed and empty promise used by those who didn't have a great deal to offer in recompense in the first place.

For someone used to dealing with the Clocktower, it was practically worthless. Why bother with a favour –something so immaterial and unquantifiable– when you could have a predetermined exchange where both parties knew exactly what they're getting out of it? Besides, considering how willing magi were to screw over others, it'd be a miracle if a favour was delivered on at all.

But this was Aozaki.

It wasn't even a matter of knowing that she, for all her faults, would probably make good on her promise. It was the extent of what could be asked of her by virtue of her own competences.

Her terribly convenient competences.

Ironically, this particular "I'll owe you" could get me far more than what either Kiritsugu or I could afford otherwise.

On her part, the woman seemed about as surprised as my father by the quick response. I would suppose that few that were even remotely familiar with her mannerisms would take anything she said so whimsically at face value. "…Alright then. We'll meet you back here when you two gentlemen have everything wrapped up."

"One more thing," I interjected before Kiritsugu could drag me out the door and nag me into the ground. All movement around me stopped. "I'm going to tell you exactly what we're going to ask of you when we get back. This whole ordeal is going to be a right pain in the ass, and we need to know that your 'favour' will be worth the effort.

As much as I was playing up my expectations, I wasn't about to assume that Aozaki would part with what I wanted so readily. I let her know how big of a task she offloaded onto us, so I'd have to hope it would be enough of a push for her to see things my way.

Both Galliasta and Archis looked a little disturbed by my colourful language coming from the body of a seven-year-old, but this lady wasn't fazed in the slightest. "Have something in mind already, do you? Alright, then. What's it gonna be, kid?"

"Two bodies; exact replicas of the originals. They need to accommodate the full consciousness and functionality of the genuine vessel without problems for the length of a human lifespan."

She blew me off instantly. "Even for me, something like that isn't possible. Sorry. My own field of magecraft has not yet progressed to the point where it can reproduce 'true humanity' without blemish, if that's really what you think you need."

She looked me dead in the eyes when she said it, too. What a frightening woman.

"I don't believe you."

"…"

"…"

She laughed it off. "I don't know what to tell you. There really isn't anything I can do, here. I get that you're disappointed, but maybe we can work out–"

"Sounds like horseshit to me."

I didn't bother letting her finish. She was currently the only approachable living creature that I could think of that had the means to give me what I wanted– what I needed. If I had to annoy her until she was driven to chose between honesty and offing me so I'd shut up., I would do so.

Her smile was strained. "This is a big deal, I understand. How about–"

"Two bodies."

"…"

I knew that Aozaki lost her patience with me the moment she talked to my old man right over my head. "Mister Emiya, wouldn't you consider–"

"How about you give us what I asked for in the first place?"

"Brat." She didn't sound angry per se, but her utter lack of positive inflection told me that she was very close to snapping– an Aozaki trademark catastrophe waiting to happen.

Kiritsugu had as good a poker face as any. I couldn't begin to guess what was going through his head, but he seemed content to let my devolving discussion with the irritated Grand Color go on.

I couldn't say I was pleased with the said discussion, though. Why was she being so difficult? Why was she so insistent on not being able to do something I knew she was capable of?

I became much more aware of the other two magi in the room, all of a sudden.

She didn't want anyone to know then. Would it make a difference, though? She was already a sealing designee.

"…Would you mind if we talked alone, for a moment?"

I couldn't say if it was because my childlike visage making her lower her guard –which I doubted– or her being confident in her ability to kill me easily –much more likely– but she seemed to be willing to hear me out.

"I don't understand what you think you'll get out of me, but if it'll get you off my back, then sure."

She was a devil-may-care type of person by nature, but rarely a flippant one. If I could afford to be a more hopeful individual, I'd risk to wager that she was trying to mask curiosity with disinterest.

She walked into the same backroom as the other day, not bothering to check if I was following her.

She didn't have to, I guess. Follow her I did.

I'd feel bad about leaving Kiritsugu with the other two, especially since I kind of forced him into this mess to begin with, but the two runaways looked more uncomfortable being stuck in the same room as the Magus Killer than the other way around.

X

"You seem awfully sure that I can build a fully functional human vessel. Why."

It wasn't phrased as "Why do you think that?" so much as "Tell me why before I have one of my nightmare-fueling abominations jump out from under your bed and eat you." It was kind of nice that she gave a fair warning instead of gunning straight for the follow-through. A much-welcomed change of pace. How novel.

"You seem awfully set on telling me that you can't. Why?" I shot right back.

She took off her glasses, hung them by the loosened collar of her shirt and rubbed her brow tiredly. "I kind of had a feeling by now... but for a short-stack, you really are an unbearable little shit. Has anyone ever told you that?"

Were it to happen any more frequently, it would be perpetual. "Once or twice."

"Because you are. You really, really are."

"So you've said."

Neither of us spoke for a good few seconds, which gave me the time to acknowledge that I willingly stepped foot in a room that would trap me alone with The Red. My self-imposed goals were really starting to make do some unreasonable things. I would have to chalk it up to necessity for now and worry about my sanity at a later juncture.

She took a deep breath. "How about this: you tell me where you heard about the bodies, and I might be inclined to cooperate."

I had to remind myself that she was the one who was going to return favours and not the other way around. I needed to be more careful around this conniver lest she successfully manipulates her debits.

"We've been looking for someone to solve a problem of ours for a while now, so Kiritsugu rummaged through his bag of contacts until a little bird chirped that you were our 'solution'."

She didn't sound convinced. "The Clocktower had me designated for sealing the moment they thought I could achieve an artificial state of human equivalence with my puppets. Even then, they still think it's a work in progress. Who might this 'little bird' be?"

So that she could lay it six feet under went unsaid.

"I don't know, and neither does Kiritsugu," I answered honestly. "Please understand that anonymity is of utmost importance to some of those contacts. We can get information, but who they are is beyond us."

That sounded like it could be true, right? I wouldn't know, because I made all of it up.

As often as the Counter Force ran into Aozaki Touko, I had to kill her every now and then, too. The real reason I knew that she had crafted a perfect human vessel was that I normally had to kill her multiple times if I could expect her to stay dead. Seeing an exact copy of the woman pop up right after labouring to execute her didn't get old, nor did it become any less infuriating.

"This was a setup, then. You were after me from the beginning."

I shook my head. "It's no coincidence that we know who you are and what you can do, but it is one that we encountered you under these circumstances. We're just trying to seize our opportunity now that it's here."

She reached for another cigarette, frowning when she found an empty box. Secretly, I rejoiced over the mercy shown for my nose and lungs.

I barely caught her sotto voce cursing of names I didn't know. "Either way, none of that matters. I've made the bodies before, but they've never been used– they're untested."

So she had yet to pop her 'puppet body cherry' at this point in time. Whether it was reluctance to face failure or simply not having the resources to proceed further, I didn't know nor care. I knew that it would work by virtue of having seen it work, so that's all I needed. "That's fine."

She stared me down. "What do you need these bodies for, anyway?"

"Two individuals around my age. If they're left as they are, they won't last for much longer," I answered without giving too many details. The less Aozaki knew about my personal life, the better.

"I don't think you understand the risks, here. If it doesn't go as planned, they die."

And it was a risk that I would be much more reluctant to take under different circumstances. As it stood, it was a forgone conclusion that it would work in my mind. "Then it works out for you, doesn't it? You'll rid yourself of your future debt to me and receive proof of concept for your work at the same time."

Her impassive frown flipped into a nauseating smile. "Awfully nice when you make it sound like I'm the one benefiting the most here, isn't it? Might you have any idea how much it would cost me to make a single one of those bodies?"

No, actually, I didn't.

"The raw materials are worth a 'Kischur's Jewel' onto their own," she informed me.

Ah. That was a lot. What a pain. I would have to do my best to bring the odds back into my favour. "It isn't just Kischur's Jewel that's at stake here. Since a Lord is involved, one screwup would be enough for the Observatory to treat you as a Philosopher, rather than a Hermit."

It would be a lie to say that I was familiar with any of the Mage's Association's institutions on even an average level, but the Kalion Observatory could almost be called an exception to that rule. As the "central body" for the Enforcers, their types would show up once in a while whenever Alaya threw a hissy fit. Whether I worked with or against them was always a tossup, but they could be trusted to be there. They weren't first responders or anything of the sort, though you wouldn't know that for all the messes they were forced to clean up.

With my familiarity came a basic understanding of some of the terms they employed. Chief among them were the codewords "Hermit" and "Philosopher", which weren't as self-explanatory as they seemed. "Hermit" was how Aozaki was perfectly happy to be categorized, since it meant that the Observatory was confident enough that she'd keep to herself; they wouldn't waste resources hunting her down.

"Philosopher" was basically the equivalent of "priority target". It insinuated that the sealing designee was liable to cause problems for the association in order to further their own goals. Going against a Lord would be enough of a transgression for Aozaki to get the "upgrade".

It was an upgrade that no one wanted.

"Yes. Which is why you're doing this, not me."

Tch.

She laughed at my– no, it wasn't a pout. It was frown. A completely normal way for any man to express his dismay.

It was unfortunate, but I might have to accept that I wouldn't get everything I wanted right here and now. It was time to scrape up what I could.

"How about one body for now, then," I bargained. "You might not value our help, but it's something you'll need either way. We can work out something else for the other body another time."

For now, Sakura was the priority. We still hadn't made contact with Illya yet, and her modified homunculus body would hold strong for another few years.

"Works with me," she agreed easily, as if she hadn't lead me by the nose the whole time. "…Oh."

I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she froze. She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I can't seem to remember… what's your name again?"

You never asked. How rude.

"Emiya Shirou."

For however long it was that I refused to have any relation to that name, it was bemusing to have to refer to myself as such so openly.

"So you really are his son, then."

"I suppose," was the best answer I could come up with. In a sense, I was, just as in others I wasn't.

"Hn!" she patted me on the head before I could react, then Aozaki unhooked her glasses and made her way back to the main room. "I'll be waiting, Shirou-kun."

I shivered. How regretful that she learned my name. The sound of it leaving her lips was chilling.

X

"Can she really do that? Can Aozaki Touko really save Illya?"

I nodded, albeit reluctantly. "She won't give us both bodies for only this much, though. I told her that we could make other arrangements once we've finished cleaning up the mess with Meluastea."

His lips thinned. He was fighting an internal struggle, and I knew immediately what it was.

"Sakura needs a body first, old man."

"I know."

"We'll save Illya soon."

"…I know."

After that, we were quiet the whole way back to the hotel. It took longer than usual since we took public transit rather than the car to avoid any attention from being drawn to us.

Kiritsugu unlocked the door, and we stepped in.

"Ah. Welcome back," greeted Sakura. Her tone was tepid at best, but by far an improvement from how she was when she last saw the old worm.

I ruffled her hair in what was becoming a customary practice for me. She didn't seem to mind, so it was fine, right? Sorry Sakura, please excuse this one's bad habits.

"It's good to be back. Were you alright on your own?"

"Yes."

"What have you been up to?"

"Waiting."

Lamentably, there was still much progress to be made.

The old man went to grab the suitcases that we hadn't bothered to unpack. "We're done here. We'll head back to Frankfurt right away, so let's pack things up."

I lost myself in thought. Assuming we were successful in our efforts to keep the two girls alive, what would become of the Grail War? I wasn't optimistic enough to think that purging the two Lesser Grails would be enough of a wrench in the plans of the two remaining founding families to put a full stop to it then and there. Delay it, maybe, but another Lesser Grail would take their place somehow.

An unknown factor.

Zouken was only one man– a shell of one, at that. He wasn't the issue here.

The Einzbern family was the problem. They might've burned bridges with the Association, but that didn't mean that they've left themselves vulnerable. They were organized, numerous, and most assuredly dangerous.

How much of a hassle would it be to wipe them out?

…More than I could currently handle. They weren't fighters –most magi weren't– but power outweighed specialization in this case.

I'd have to bide my time, then. When we go for Illya, I'll re-evaluate my chances and see if I can handle the extra burden. If not, I'll go back on my own some other time.

"Let's go, Shirou."

"Sorry," I apologized, grabbing what was left and joined the other two near the car.

Worries for another time. For now, let's hunt a Lord.

X

Meluastea's German estate was close enough to what I expected. It was in the middle of nowhere, ostentatiously decorated, and was the size of a horse farm.

Of course, I already knew that since we took a nice long look at it before now.

We picked up some clothes in the city before coming here– Kiritsugu said it was important to keep a good image in front of an employer. Not that I knew why that was relevant in this instance since we were about to do something very un-employee-like, but I didn't find it worth the effort to argue.

I decided then and there to never let the old man buy me clothes ever again. While he dressed the part of a stereotypical hitman, trench coat and all, I was stuck looking like a grade-schooler fresh out of private school.

Seriously, what the hell? When did I say I was fine with this? Pleated shorts? A cashmere sweater? Knee socks?

Nonetheless, it took a backseat to the nervousness I felt knowing that Sakura was with us.

She looked every bit the preppy tyke I did, only with a long skirt instead of pants. Unlike me, she let Kiritsugu comb her hair up into a ponytail.

I had to remind myself that the man raised a daughter before he met me.

Maintaining appearances will be important. If we leave Sakura behind, the target might find it suspect and raise his guard more than he would otherwise. We won't be engaging him directly if we do everything properly, so it shouldn't be an issue. Other than that, try not to act strangely.

I knew the plan, but that didn't mean I was looking forward to it. The old man assured me this was the easiest way, but I'd much rather bomb the place from a distance.

If only I had the arm strength to use my bow…

A pair or strangely-dressed maids met us at the gate. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary from the shoulders down –though the French maid outfit was a bit outdated– but their entire heads were covered by white veils. It must have been thin enough for them to see, but their faces weren't visible beyond the faintest shadows.

Meluastea doesn't have any known contacts in Germany. Hope for him to be on his own, but don't expect it.

Hired help. Though it meant he wasn't technically alone in the estate, it wasn't as big of an issue as it would have been had other magi been present.

Assuming there was a workshop here, it was highly unlikely that the Lord would employ people who were knowledgeable of the moonlit world to look after the place unsupervised for any extent of time. It would be the equivalent of a pirate asking another pirate to look after his treasure. Not gonna happen unless you want the other guy to steal it.

"We're here to see Lord Meluastea," Kiritsugu told them.

They didn't miss a beat. The odd maids bowed and pushed the gates open for us to go through.

Easy enough so far.

We didn't even make it to the front steps before the door opened and Meluastea came out. "Emiya! Good to see you back so soon! I felt you arrive through the bounded field. Did everything go well? Where's the jewel?"

My old man slipped right into a lie. "As an extra precaution, we didn't come with it directly. We have to assume that there's always a chance that the security of our channels has been compromised, so to avoid any potential third parties intercepting us we had it shipped through a mundane carrier service. We're here to wait with you to make sure it gets here in one piece."

The Lord's expression cycled through a myriad of emotions including rage, fear, confusion, and finally understanding. "I… see. Your line of work is certainly of the convoluted sort. I don't envy you at all. Nonetheless, good thinking. It would seem that hiring a professional was the right choice."

I would have loved to see how he'd go about asking the Red to give back her brand new seven million franc rock. He didn't seem like the type that was able to handle her.

"It shouldn't be too much longer," Kiritsugu added for good measure. "A half-hour at the most."

Move quickly, but be sure not to make any careless mistakes. Time won't be on our side.

"Of course, Emiya. Would you like to join me for tea while we wait? It wouldn't do for me to be inhospitable."

"If you wouldn't mind."

We made it into the edifice proper without issue. That's one thing out of the way.

Kiritsugu engaged the other man in some sort of meaningless discussion that I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to.

That was my cue, then.

X

"Haha!" Meluastea laughed boisterously, twirling his moustache around his finger. His cup of tea had probably long since cooled on the glass table between us. A shame too, since the brew wasn't all too bad.

Sakura and I sat on either side of Kiritsugu, nursing our own cups between our small fingers. The Lord of Kischur probably didn't see us as anything more than tagalongs, but he respected the Magus Killer enough to provide for us as well.

How considerate. I would almost feel bad for what was about to happen.

BOOM

The head of the mineralogy department clutched onto the side of his loveseat in surprise as his estate shook.

"What was that!" he yelled.

"We're probably under attack," suggested Kiritsugu easily. "Shirou, go see what's going on, but don't engage the target if it's not immediately necessary."

I awaited Meluastea's reaction.

"An attack? Who would dare– will the boy be enough?"

"He can handle himself."

It took all my willpower to not shake my head at how easy it was to fool the man. Then again, what reason was there to suspect we were lying if he wasn't suspicious of us, to begin with? We didn't have the Jewel, but we openly left ourselves to his mercy until it arrived; he couldn't know that I planted bombs at his manor's entrance since they detonated remotely and were entirely mundane and undetectable by most magecraft. Beyond that, it really was much simpler to assume that someone else was after the Clocktower Lord than it was to believe that someone he was conversing with over a cup of tea somehow pulled a fast one somewhere else entirely from where he sat.

Maybe if he was given more time to gather his thoughts, the two occurrences put together might have been more alarming. The key here was that Kiritsugu was subtly forcing split-second decisions on his part by staying on the front foot of the conversation. The Lord might have felt relaxed, but in reality, he wasn't being given a moment to breathe.

When Kiritsugu explained that train of thought to me before we came, I was skeptical that he could predict the man's mannerisms so precisely. Now, I could only appreciate knowing exactly why Emiya Kiritsugu was so dangerous as to be called "The Magus Killer".

The old man liked to say it was because he was willing to employ modern technologies on the job. I'd say that it had more to do with the fact that the way he thought was simply abnormal.

Not that I was one to judge.

"I'll be right back," I told them, marching off. Rather than towards the entrance, I headed deeper into the building.

When you manage to get away, look for anything that would indicate any sort of illegal or otherwise forbidden activities that Meluastea might be involved in. The more we find now, the easier we'll make our lives once we have to bring this quandary back to London.

That was right. If I could find a workshop, I'd have to do it now before we blew the place sky-high.

I stopped.

The maids stood motionless across the hall, blocking my path. A freak gust of wind blew their veils up for just a moment before they settled.

That one moment was enough for me to see something that threw our entire plan out the door.

Porcelain skin, snow-white hair, and red eyes.

Einzbern homunculi.