I'm back! Happy New Year, everyone!
To celebrate the new year, and to make up for the long waiting, this chapter would be twice as long as the other chapters! Enjoy!
Chapter 15: Class-up
"Um, sensei… I know that it might be because she's a monster, but… isn't Yuki growing a little bit too quickly?"
It's been four days since Yuki hatched from her egg. Even though she couldn't take part in battles personally, being carried around in EMIYA's coat pocket seemingly included her as a member of his party, and it allowed her to gain levels just like the other members of the team.
The problem with this was that she leveled up way too fast compared to the other members. It took Tersia, Farrie and Welt half a month to reach level 20; however, the little fox only needed three days of training to reach that level.
And the higher level she gained, the bigger she became. Two days ago, she could still fit in EMIYA's pocket, but when she reached level 10, she was already as big as a dog. And now, at level 25, she was towering over the whole team with the size comparable to a freaking stallion. Her appearance also changed drastically from how she looked like just a few days ago; her body was now covered in elegant thick bluish-white fur, and the tuft of hair on top of her head had become a wavy long crest which reminded the ex-Guardian fondly of his adoptive sister's hair when she was possessed by the spirit of Shitonai.
EMIYA couldn't understand what was going on anymore. He had seen mikons before, but most of them were just tiny kits no bigger than a football. The biggest one he had seen was just as big as a husky at most, and those were already very, very old compared to other mikons. He had never heard of any mikon that was the size of a horse.
And for some reason, her parameters, compared to those of other members of the team, were completely off the chart. Even though she was just at level 25, every single stat of her parameters was at least one and a half times higher than that of the disciple with the highest level in the team, which was Welt, who went with EMIYA to the boss battle in the Wave and gained a lot of levels from his killing of the horde of Wave enemies.
Just what kind of monster is Yuki?!
Another bigger problem for him was that the bigger she grew, the more food she consumed. Before, a little bit of food was enough for her to get full, but as she grew, she started consuming more and more food, and right now only a meal at least three times the size of what her human companions would eat could somewhat satisfy her hunger. It didn't help that the fox had a really picky diet. The only food she would eat was EMIYA's cooking; she wouldn't touch any other kinds of food no matter how delicious they might be. And the dish she liked the most was the curry he usually cooked.
That was the reason why Team EMIYA hadn't stayed at the inn a lot recently. Not only because the inn didn't have any place for the fox to stay, but also because moving back and forth to provide enough food for everyone was just too troublesome. Sure, EMIYA liked cooking, but there are always better things to do than staying all day in the kitchen.
He had once thought of the option of selling the mikon, but then he pushed the idea away immediately. The two girls of the team were very protective of the (not-so-)little monster, and he's pretty sure they would react… violently if he even mentioned that idea to them.
Therefore, their training time now had another purpose besides level grinding, which was to procure cooking ingredients. Turned out monster meat in this world was really nutritious in general, and would be really tasty if cooked in the right way.
It helped a lot that the team had become much, much stronger than they had been a month ago.
"Hyah!"
Just look at how Tersia decapitated the two wolf-like monsters she was fighting with one single swing of her sword. It was just beautiful.
"We're so lucky that we have you, sensei," she said while lowering her sword at the horde of enemies in front of her again. "Otherwise we wouldn't know what to do with how much Yuki is eating now."
"Well, if I'm not here, you wouldn't have Yuki anyway, would you?"
The monsters the team was fighting were a pack of lupine, a wolf-like creature the size of tigers. This particular horde of lupine was terrorizing Lafan Village south of Castle Town recently; a lot of people had been murdered by these monsters when they crossed the forest, and the wolves had recently become brave enough to go straight to the village to attack people in there, stealing their fowls and domestic animals. And EMIYA found this a perfect opportunity for his team to finally reach the level limit, as well as to procure the necessary ration. Right now, they were defending the entrance of the village from another assault of the rabid, hungry wolves.
"Stay vigilant; we're not done with them yet," the ex-Guardian warned his disciples while eyeing the enemy force carefully. Not counting the two Tersia had just killed, there were still more than thirty lupines in front of them, each of which was baring their teeth and glaring at them with their bloodshot red eyes.
The positive thing was, it seemed these rabid animals still knew who they should be afraid of. They realized that the enemies in front of them weren't the weak, pitiful human beings they were used to; these ones were dangerous. None of the wolves dared to recklessly rush in; they just circled the front gate of the village warily while shooting glares at the team in calculation.
Finally, three lupines at the front of the line decided that they had had enough and charged ahead with reckless abandon. They leaped at the team with their fangs bared, obviously aiming to sink them into the necks of the enemies, ripping them apart to bathe in the hot blood which would have come out, just like they had already done to a lot of their victims before. They aimed for EMIYA, who despite looking stronger, hadn't killed any of them yet.
However, Tersia didn't even let them get close. With quick footsteps, she jumped between the wolves and her sensei and withdrew her sword to her side in a reverse grip. With a deafening roar, she delivered a brutal horizontal cut, tossing the three incoming enemies into the air. And from behind her, three very precisely-shot arrows from Welt's bow flew ahead and hit the three monsters with such a powerful force they impaled them onto the trees a few meters behind the pack.
And it seemed that was the cue. The pack of monsters, upon seeing their pack members murdered, let out a chorusing howl and charged all at once.
"Here they come!" EMIYA yelled, brandishing his Legendary Sword, which had just taken the form of the Twin Siderite Swords. "Farrie, now!"
"Yes, sensei!" the cleric nodded in determination. She rammed the staff on her hands onto the ground, and the orb at the tip started glowing brightly. "As the source of your power, I order you, decipher the laws of nature and give power to my companions! All Dritte Boost!"
The massive support spell swept through the clearing and immediately, the members of Team EMIYA felt their bodies become much lighter. In front of them, the movements of the enemies seemed to slow down, as if the air had become jelly around the pack of monsters. The only thing EMIYA and his team needed to do now was to swing their weapons and bring the helpless enemies down, one by one. Even Yuki herself joined the fight; being a nice, sweet little girl she was, she didn't use her deadly claws or fangs, but the playful slaps with the power of jackhammer blows coming from her fluffy tails were more than enough to send the enemies flying with at least a broken spine.
Soon, what used to be a pack of more than thirty lupines was reduced to two last wolves which looked like they would rather run away than continue to fight.
EMIYA glanced at his three disciples with pride in his eyes. They had gone a long way since he first met them, and even though they might still have trouble against human enemies, now he could safely say that they would be able to protect themselves even against hordes of enemies in the Waves, or even boss monsters.
Speaking of boss monsters…
The ground suddenly started trembling. The air became harder to breathe, and the team felt themselves being bombarded with heavy pressure from every direction around them.
"Here comes the big one," the Sword Hero muttered.
Two pairs of red, glowing eyes appeared from within the darkness of the forest. And with a bone-chilling growl, another lupine walked out from behind the trees. This particular one had two heads just like the Orthrus Naofumi and Raphtalia had gotten trouble with half a month ago, but was way bigger and looked way more menacing; it towered over even Yuki, the biggest member of Team EMIYA right now, and its long and sharp claws, together with the deadly fangs dripping with saliva in its four jaws, showed that it definitely wasn't something they could joke around with. From what EMIYA could see, this monster was the leader of that horde of lupines, and from how it looked, it should be at least level 60, way above that of anyone on the team.
However, if there were anything Team EMIYA was good at, it would be fending off enemies more powerful than them. Since the first days of their journeys, they had fought boss monsters with enough power to trample them to the ground over and over, and they had emerged victorious thanks to strategies, skills and sheer determination. There's no reason for them to be afraid of any enemy now, no matter how powerful they might be.
The giant wolf let out a deafening howl with both of its mouths, and the air shook menacingly around them. But that kind of danger wasn't something they hadn't had to face before. Gripping their weapons tightly and giving each other a final glance, the team charged.
It was a bloody battle.
The boss wolf was stronger than they had imagined. Compared to the other lupines of the pack, it was smarter and way more experienced in battle, and of course, much, much more powerful, too. At least more than four times did it nearly decapitate Welt, and it actually managed to injure Tersia so badly she needed a very big healing spell from Farrie to stay alive. It was even smart enough to aim for the healer, the member with the lowest combat capability of the team and the one keeping the whole team alive, first, after noticing how she kept providing the whole team with support magic.
But that wolf, no matter how powerful and experienced it was, in the end, was still just an animal. The way it fought was, after all, the wild and savage fighting style of a feral beast, which was crude and straightforward. An experienced fighter would be able to figure out its fighting pattern and devise a proper counter after trading just a few blows. And because of that, in the end, it was Team EMIYA who came out victorious.
Tersia dropped herself unceremoniously on the ground in exhaustion. "Man, that thing really &%^#ed my #$%^ up. Never thought that there would be a day when I was that close to dying…"
"Language, Tersia-chan," Farrie chided her while crouching down to apply potion on her wounds. However, a smile could be seen on the healer's face.
EMIYA also smiled in satisfaction. This was also the reason why he pushed the team to fight opponents stronger than them. It's very easy to get the wrong idea when you were suddenly blessed with great power; no matter how powerful you might be, if you just go around throwing attacks mindlessly, a weaker but more skilled enemy could still prevail and defeat you. Pushing yourself to fight stronger enemies would not only give them more experience in battle, but also remind them that they are never allowed to let their guard down, no matter how weak the enemies in front of them might be. And it seemed a month and a half hammering that into the head of these youngsters was actually very useful.
He walked towards the corpses of the lupine pack on the ground and let the Legendary Sword absorb some of them. During the month of training, he had discovered a pretty useful function of the Sword, which was the ability to dismantle the corpses of the enemies they killed and turn them into different kinds of loot. Sometimes it even turned some of the loot into different weapons and armor pieces which the members of the team could use, although they would still prefer selling them for money and use what Erhard made for them instead, as the stuff the blacksmith made was of much, much higher quality in general.
With the corpses of the monsters though, EMIYA still preferred dismantling them by hand. The Sword might be useful for disposing of small monsters, but it's a different story when it comes to the big ones; it tended to waste a lot of parts that might be very good as food, such as the liver or the heart. Then again, it's not that hard to understand when he thought of the cuisine of the Western countries in his world; when it comes to food, the Westerners still have a lot of things to learn from the Asians.
From behind, the mayor of Lafan Village was walking towards the team. He bowed deeply at EMIYA.
"Lord Sword Hero. How can we thank you enough for what you have done for us?"
The ex-Guardian waved him off. "You don't need to do anything. We basically do this for ourselves, anyway."
The man's face dropped a little bit. "Oh… well, if there's anything you need us to do, please just give us a call, okay?"
He looked at the corpse of the giant two-headed wolf. "This thing and its pack has been terrorizing our village for weeks since you were summoned, sir. We don't even know where they came from; they just… popped up from nowhere. There has been no trading from and to our village recently; have you guys been just a week later, citizens of our village might have all died from starvation. Therefore, if there's anything we can do for you, it would be our greatest pleasure; you basically gave us a new life, Lord Sword Hero."
EMIYA deadpanned. "Please. I'm just a soldier; please don't start calling me 'God of the Heavenly Fox' or something like that. It's just… wrong."
Then he glanced at the huge corpse behind him. "Although… on second thought, maybe there's something you can help me with…"
"Uh, sensei… is this even edible?"
The three members of Team EMIYA glanced at the content of the huge cauldron the ex-Guardian was cooking with wary eyes.
The dish he was making had the lupine meat they had just procured as the main ingredient. But different from the curry he usually made, which bloomed with a vibrant golden color, the cauldron was filled with a grayish-brown sludge-like substance which didn't seem tasty at all.
EMIYA gave the cauldron a final stir, then smiled lightly and gave Welt a plate with a ladleful of the strange soup. "Better try it before you say anything, isn't it?"
Glancing at his teacher warily, Welt grabbed a spoon and hesitantly tried a bite. His eyes immediately widened.
"Wow."
Even though the stew didn't look that attractive, the taste was incredible. The meat was very tender and full of tasty umami flavor despite looking like sludge, and the herb that looked like lemongrass added together with the other vegetables gave the stew a unique aroma that they never smelled before.
Seeing the reaction coming from Welt, Tersia also grabbed a plate for herself. Then after a bite, she shook her head.
"You know what? I think I'm gonna start calling you the Heavenly Chef, sensei. What kind of chef can turn something that doesn't even seem edible into such a tasty masterpiece?"
EMIYA bopped her head with his ladle. "Don't you dare start calling me with that name in front of anyone. Besides, I'm not even the best cook in my world; there are people whose cooking skill is so great I can never dream to catch up with."
Farrie looked at him curiously. "Really? There are people who can cook even better than you in your world?"
"Of course," the ex-Guardian snorted. He shuddered when remembering the sparrow-like chef from literal Hell's Kitchen who managed to scare even a certain yandere dragon girl and one of the bravest female generals in history to near death when teaching them how to cook. "Comparing to those people, I'm just a grain of sand in a giant desert. If you taste the food they cook just once, I bet you won't even want to touch what I cook anymore."
That last part was a lie, though. Even after legendary chefs like Beni-Enma were summoned to Chaldea, a lot of people, Servants and normal humans included, still preferred his cooking over theirs, especially the Artoria clones and Servants who took the bodies of people he knew in the past. They said that even though the food made by the other chefs was very delicious, his cooking had something closer to home that was irreplaceable to them.
Just as usual, Yuki happily devoured her portion in a blink of an eye. Already full, she was going to place her giant bowl back in its place before she saw something.
"Hm?" EMIYA turned his head when he felt the giant mikon nudging his face with her bowl. "Still hungry? Seriously…"
He clicked his tongue, but still refilled the bowl without a question. After all, she had just leveled up; she might need a little bit more food after growing. Luckily he had planned for this and made way more food for them than usual.
Then he blinked in surprise when the fox grabbed the bowl with her maw and ran away. She arrived at the corner of a building nearby in a flash, and a light startled "eep" rose.
Oh?
A pair of children emerged from the corner in fear. They seemed to be siblings; the smaller girl was crawling on the ground with a terrified expression on her face, while the boy was standing in front of his sister with his hands spread protectively, even though his face showed that he was also scared shitless. Based on their clothes, their family must be really poor, and their haggard face showed that they were really hungry. Yuki placed her bowl in front of them and stared at them happily, her three fluffy tails wagging behind her.
EMIYA shook his head with a smile. He started walking towards the children, who looked even more terrified when they saw the Sword Hero coming at them.
"Don't worry," he crouched down in front of the boy, who shied away a bit in fear. "Yuki only hurts bad guys; you're not bad guys, so she's not going to harm you. See?" he smiled at the kids. "She just wants to offer you some food. You're very hungry, aren't you?"
The two kids still glanced at the huge mikon warily. Undaunted, Yuki reached out and gave the little girl an affectionate lick on the cheek. She giggled, and finally, the fear of the children disappeared. They reached towards the bowl of stew at Yuki's feet, but…
"No!"
A woman was running towards them from behind. It seemed she was the mother of the two kids, and she also looked exhausted with hunger. She grabbed the two children and bowed down hastily at EMIYA. "Sir, please forgive my children! They don't know anything!"
She turned around and tried to run away, but the ex-Guardian was faster; he grasped her shoulder with a speed faster than anyone could see, stopping her from escaping. "Hey, hey, I'm not going to hurt you," he said hastily when the woman turned towards him with fear in her eyes. "What happened? Is there something wrong?"
"Please, don't hurt my children!" the woman pleaded, and it looked like she was going to break into tears. "They're just too hungry! We haven't had anything to eat for a week! They didn't mean to…"
EMIYA's eyes softened. Now he understood what was going on. This woman and her family must be victims of the rabid pack of lupines; their activity had stopped people from going out to work for weeks. No wonder why they looked so starving. There must be more people like this, because he could already see some more heads poking out from corners of the houses nearby.
"Sensei! What happened?"
The three disciples had arrived, and Farrie seemed to be the only one of them who didn't need to ask to understand what was going on, because her eyes widened in realization. EMIYA looked at them, and with a nod, he stood up.
"Farrie, go to the village leader and borrow me the biggest pot that he has, and Tersia and Welt, get the stove ready. We're going to cook more food."
The number of hungry people turned out to be more than the Sword Hero had thought. By the time every one of them got their portion of food, his storage of ingredients had been reduced by at least half. But at least, they all left the food table with the same happy smile on their faces.
Right now, EMIYA was with Yuki at the stable the mayor had lent him to make as the mikon's bedroom for the night. The fox was too large to be in the house with him, so this was the only way to have a place for her to sleep. After cleaning up, Tersia and Farrie went for a bath, and Welt was at the mayor's house to make the bed for all of them. Besides, Yuki really liked it when EMIYA put her to bed at night.
The ex-Guardian rubbed behind her ears after arranging a pile of straw for the fox to make up as a pillow at the corner of the stable. She licked his cheek happily as an answer.
He shooked his head with a smile. "Really now, what can I even do with you? You're the weirdest monster I've met since I was summoned to this world. You're way too smart and adorable for a monster of your caliber. Are you sure you're not a human in disguise as a mikon?"
She gave him a glare, as if saying: So you won't love me anymore if I'm not a human?
EMIYA laughed, and ruffed her long mane. "Come now. We still love you, even if you're a monster; it has been like that all the time, hasn't it?"
Then he paused. How was he able to understand her, anyway?
It seemed that the bond between them was deeper than he thought.
Suddenly, Yuki started glowing. The blue light coming from her got brighter and brighter, until it became a blinding aura covering her whole body, lighting up the whole stable. EMIYA had to snap his eyes shut to prevent his eyes from being fried. When the light finally died down, he cracked open his eyes in vigilance, and…
There was no sign of Yuki the giant fox in the stable anymore. In her place right now was a very pretty prepubescent girl with long, white hair reaching her waist, bright blue eyes and three fluffy white tails wagging behind her. She blinked once, twice, three times, and her mouth drew a big "O" of surprise. She leaped up and embraced EMIYA's neck with her pearly white arms with a bright face full of happiness, ignoring completely the fact that she was stark naked.
"Mama! Yuki is a human now! Yuki is so happy!"
In the ex-Counter Guardian's head, there were only three words that could explain the scene in front of him.
What. The. Hell.
"So tell me again. You're saying that this little girl here is actually the mikon you carried around the other day, and for some kind of freaky reason, she has just spontaneously transformed into a person without even a warning."
At the confirmation of EMIYA and his companions, Erhard rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples to soothe the headache which was threatening to raise.
"I'm never going to have a normal day around you Heroes, ain't I."
"You don't seem to be surprised from that, though," EMIYA pointed out. The blacksmith shook his head.
"Well, of course I wouldn't be surprised. Considering what Shield Boy showed me earlier, I don't think anything in this world could surprise me anymore."
Tersia blinked. "What happened?"
"Two days ago, he came here to buy clothes for three little girls with wings," Erhard sighed. "When I asked him where he found those girls, they suddenly transformed into some kind of giant, fluffy filolials I've never seen before. I guess the same thing happened to your little monster here."
EMIYA facepalmed. So turning monsters into people wasn't what happened only to him; it seemed that it was a shared function of all Legendary Weapons. He started questioning the purpose of the creation of the Weapons even more. Were they really created to protect the world from destruction, or were they the creations of some kind of perverted otaku who happened to like furry?
"By the way, if you want to buy clothes for her, then I have to disappoint you this time," the blacksmith continued. "This shop is not a clothing shop, and considering what happened to the filolials of Shield Boy the other day, I'm pretty sure that there's no armor that I have that wouldn't be shredded into pieces when she transforms. But I would suggest you go find Ecclesia; she's a witch, and thus is in a much better position to talk than me when it comes to magical clothes. I also suggested her place to Shield Boy when he asked me about clothes the other day, so I'm pretty sure she's prepared for things like this."
Then he smiled evilly. "Oh, by the way, good luck on your journey to becoming a parent. I'm pretty sure she would learn a lot from her ma—"
"Don't you dare start," EMIYA threatened when he opened the door to exit the shop. "Getting her to stop calling me mama was already a big enough chore for me."
"Well, you've come to the right person, Sir Sword Hero."
Ecclesia said happily when EMIYA explained the problem to her.
"The other day Sir Shield Hero did come to me to ask for clothes for his three filolial girls. And luckily for you, because of him, I finally had to pull this thing out of my shed."
She waved her hand toward a machine at the corner of the store. It looked just like a normal spinning wheel that weavers usually use, albeit with a giant gemstone at the center of the axis.
"Had it not been for his request, I might not have even thought of fixing this thing," she explained. "This is a special spinning wheel used to create threads from magical energy. If you make threads out of your own magical energy, it will turn back into magic when you change your shape. And when you turn back into your human form, the magic will be released and reformed as your clothing. The gemstone used to perform the magic used to be broken quite some time ago, but I fixed it thanks to Sir Shield Hero's help."
"Why do you even have something like this in your possession, anyway?" asked EMIYA suspiciously. "Monsters transforming into humans isn't something you would see every day, is it?"
Ecclesia just smiled mysteriously. "Oh, but humans transforming into monsters is not something that rare in this world. You know, most witches in this world can do that, although most wouldn't like to because it's a little bit taxing. Besides, demi-humans can also take their therianthrope forms during battles, so they would need to come up with a solution for their clothes being ripped off upon transforming."
The air was quiet when EMIYA digested this piece of information. Human transfiguration is one of the most difficult types of magecraft in his world, and the ability to transform freely is usually reserved for some of the most powerful Phantasmal Species. The closest thing he knew to this type that a human could utilize was the Beast Magecraft of the Glascheit family, and even that could only do things like enhancing the user's abilities to the level of different animals; doing anything more would eat up the user's mind. Compared to his world, this place is just so… different. Even though he had been in this place for more than a month, there were still things he couldn't get familiar with yet.
Ecclesia led Yuki to the spinning wheel and made her spin the wheel with her own hand. In just a few seconds, a rainbow-colored string emerged from the wheel, which was promptly and deftly caught by the witch and made into a shiny big roll of threads.
Farrie stared at the roll of threads on the witch's hand. "Um… we have the thread now, but wouldn't it take a long time to turn this thread into cloth to make clothes? I heard it might take days before we can make a sheet of cloth, and we also need special machines, too."
Ecclesia turned towards her and winked. "Ah, that's true, but have you forgotten that I'm a witch?"
Twenty minutes later, Team EMIYA left Ecclesia's shop with a new, big shiny, rainbow-colored roll of magical fabric on their hands. It cost them fifty silver pieces, but based on the quality of the cloth, they could say it was more than worth it. Ecclesia even slipped in a basic spellbook for Ice element for Yuki, which they were more than happy to accept.
The old witch followed their backs until they disappeared behind the wooden door of the shop. Then, she let out the chuckle she had been holding back for a while.
"It seems you're going to find the protégé you've been looking for sooner than you thought, Mirellia."
"Papa! How do I look?"
EMIYA smiled fondly at his "daughter", who was spinning happily on her heels in her new clothes.
Right now, Yuki was dressed in a sleeveless blouse and a blue short skirt, together with black leggings and a long coat with huge, puffy sleeves. The tailor had actually outdone herself with this beautiful set of clothes; finishing everything in just one day was a really impressive feat. Of course, this was nothing compared to the clothes that Miss Crane had made for the Servants and the staff of Chaldea, but EMIYA could still tell that the quality of these clothes was by no mean the kind of goods that they saw every day in the market.
And the little kitsune looked so adorable in her new clothes it's understandable why Farrie and Tersia were swooning around her from the sheer cuteness. With this outfit, she looked just like a virtual idol. He wondered if this tailor girl were secretly a dead otaku who was somehow reincarnated into this world to be a tailor.
Seriously, just looked at her crazy eyes and expression. It was disturbing.
"Am I in heaven?" she was mumbling with a blissful but deranged look on her face. "The other day was three little filolial angels, and today an adorable girl with mikon ears and tails? They're just so cute I want to take them home to hug whenever I sleep!"
"Please, don't," EMIYA deadpanned.
He paid the tailor two hundred silver coins for the clothes, and the seamstress bowed them from the shop.
"So the next thing we're going to do is…" Welt asked when they traveled down the cobbled road of Castle Town. EMIYA nodded.
"Yes. It's time for your class-ups."
The sister of the Church welcomed him at the front gate of the building, just like the last time he went there.
"Welcome, Lord Sword Hero. What service are you looking for… oh. It seems that you have a… new companion, sir."
She was glaring at Yuki with eyes full of hostility. It wasn't hard for EMIYA to realize the implication under that look of the woman. He nodded calmly, meeting her eyes with his own gaze, not even flinching.
"Yes. She's a new disciple that I recruited after the Wave. Is there any problem with that?"
It seemed that the nun had realized immediately her mistake. She hastily fixed it with a smile.
"Oh, no, sir… please forgive me for my rudeness. Here, please get inside…"
She stepped aside to make way for EMIYA and his companions. The team walked into the building and crossed the great hall to get to the Dragon Hourglass. When they walked through the hall, EMIYA could feel the stares of the other nuns boring at them, especially at poor Yuki. Even though very vague, he could hear whispers coming from the walls where they were standing.
"That thing…"
"Why is the Sword Hero…?"
"How dare it walk into this holy place…?"
The other members of the team didn't seem to notice it, but it looked like Yuki herself could feel the weight of the hateful glares boring down on her, because the ex-Guardian could feel her grip on his sleeve suddenly getting tighter. He looked down, and saw the fox girl looking at him, her eyes wet as if she was going to cry.
"Papa… did Yuki do something wrong?" she asked in a small, trembling voice.
"No, you didn't," EMIYA shook his head. He rubbed the little girl's head and whispered. "You're a good girl, Yuki. Just keep up with it until we get out of here, okay?"
He knew why they were looking at the girl like that. Based on outer appearance, the little kitsune had fox ears and tails just like any other demi-humans, and during his last visit, the Pope hadn't even tried to hide the prejudice the Church had towards the demi-humans and their patron, the Shield Heroes. It's useless trying to argue with them about this; after all, race discrimination, especially ones that are caused for religious and political purposes, are always things that are nigh impossible to completely get rid of from people's minds.
And that was one of the reasons why EMIYA trusted Farrie, at least more than any of the other Church members. Even though she was also a member of the Church, she didn't show any sign of that discrimination on any demi-humans they had met during the last month. And Tersia also trusted her, and that was enough for him.
"Huh? Shirou-san?"
The familiar voice calling his name made his head snap back. He saw Itsuki and his party standing at the entrance of the building, and while his companion looked annoyed, especially Bakta, Walther and another man with a big mustache wearing plate armor, who looked downright angry, the Bow Hero himself looked kinda wary and a little bit afraid when he saw the Sword Hero and his team. Obviously he hadn't been able to forget what happened during the meeting at the royal castle.
Looking at how the Bow Hero and his team were gathering, it's very likely that they were also here to have their own class-up. EMIYA pondered. Even though he didn't like the boy that much, right now he might be the one who knew about this more than him. And he's going to take advantage of that as much as possible.
"Itsuki," he walked towards the boy. "Are you here to have your class-up?"
"Yeah. So what?"
Itsuki still glared at him with wary eyes. EMIYA sighed and shook his head.
"My team reached the level limit yesterday, and I would need to have class-ups for them, too. But… well, I don't have any experience about this, so I thought it might be better if someone more experienced could show me something."
The best perk of being an ex-Counter Guardian who worked as a freelance magus before that was that manipulating people was not something unfamiliar to him. Therefore, he could realize easily whenever someone was trying to manipulate him, and also know the way to hold someone firmly in the palm of his hand. And among people, a naïve glory hound like Itsuki was the easiest target. The trick was a few compliments and flatteries to boost their ego, and soon they would be dancing around your palm like dolls in a music box.
And it seemed he was right on point. Itsuki's back straightened up a bit when he heard those words, and he smirked with a haughty voice.
"Hmph. So even the mighty Sword Hero has something that he doesn't know, huh."
EMIYA just shrugged. "Well, no one is perfect, you know."
"It can't be helped, then," the Bow Hero walked forward past him. On his face, there was a smile of satisfaction. "I guess I will have to show you something. But I will only do it once, so pay attention."
He walked toward the Dragon Hourglass, and after saying something to the nun guarding it, he turned to his party.
"Mald, you first," he called, and the burly armored man walked up to the Hourglass. He placed his hand on it, and the object started glowing. At the same time, something EMIYA couldn't see seemingly appeared in front of Itsuki. He took a thinking pose, and pointed at something in the air.
"Hmm… with these stats, the best class should be… something that can tank hits. Yeah, so… General, it is. Mald, you are going to be a General!"
Seeing the questioning look of EMIYA, he smirked. "Class-up here is just like a job system. Before reaching level 30, the companions are all freelancers, but after having their class-up, they will be assigned a job with a development tree corresponding to that job. From then on, they will grow themselves and become stronger through the class chosen. For example, Mald here is a General, so he will prioritize growing in attack and defense."
Ah, that made sense. EMIYA nodded in understanding. That system was just the same as the Servant classes in a way. Each person had their own strength and weakness; by assigning them a class that fits their abilities, they would be able to utilize all of their strength and grow up in a way that would benefit their potential the most.
Walther was the next one who went to the Hourglass to have his class-up.
"Let's see… We're in need of a frontline fighter who can deal quick damage, so your job should be… Swordfighter! You are going to be a Swordfighter, Walther!"
The noble brat pumped his fist in thrill. "Ha! Now let's see anyone trying to humiliate me again!"
He threw EMIYA a meaningful glare when he said those words. The ex-Guardian ignored him, though. Not because he underestimated him, but because, from what he had seen about the noble brat during their test match, he wasn't fit to be a swordfighter. Anyone can hold a sword and swing it back and forth to hurt people, even the ones who had no talent, but it would require diligence and effort to actually master the art of the sword. From what he had seen, that boy didn't have any intention to spend any effort to hone his sword skills.
Still, there was something bothering the Sword Hero. "Don't they have any say about this? I mean, they might not want the job you assign to them."
"So?" Itsuki shrugged nonchalantly. "For the sake of the team, we need balance. As the leader of the team, I am the one with the power, and with great power comes great responsibility. I know that they know I only want the best for them."
EMIYA frowned. In terms of practical and tactical thinking, what the Bow Hero had just said was completely true. However, it was the arrogant and conceited tone in his voice camouflaged by the Spider-Man quote that irked him to no end. He might have stated that he cared about the best of his companions, but the ex-Guardian knew from his own experience that most people who said those words out loud with that tone only cared about themselves and their own ego.
He decided not to say anything, though. Whatever happening to the Bow Hero and his team wasn't his business, after all.
One by one, Itsuki's companions got their class-ups… except for a certain one who was dressed in a squirrel kigurumi. The hoodie of the outfit covered the whole face, so EMIYA didn't know whether that person was a girl or a boy. That one wasn't in Itsuki's original party; EMIYA didn't see him… or her… during the companion choosing ceremony. Maybe that one hasn't reached the level requirement yet?
"Rishia! Are you going or not?"
From inside the kigurumi, a feminine voice rose in panic. "Fueh! I'm… I'm coming, Itsuki-sama!"
Itsuki turned back to EMIYA. "There you go. I have already shown you what to do. Feel free to go ahead, but don't do anything stupid!"
Then he walked out of the Church, with his companions right behind him. The girl inside the kigurumi, Rishia, tripped on her own feet and fell on her face on the way out.
When the Bow Hero's party disappeared behind the Church's great doors, EMIYA turned back to his team, and grimaced when he saw the faces of the three teenagers. He shook his head at them. Not here, not now.
Then he turned toward the nun guarding the Hourglass. "I guess we want to have our class-ups next, please."
The nun hesitantly glanced at Yuki, who was hiding behind EMIYA. "Uh…"
"Don't worry," the ex-Guardian cut in before she could finish. "She's not going to have her class-up today. Her levels aren't high enough yet. Or is it because I have a monster companion that you are going to deny me a treatment that you already generously gave a fellow Hero of mine without any condition?"
The nun flinched. The Sword Hero was speaking casually, but in his tone, there was something that made her choke. The man was just too shrewd; if she refused to let him use the service after offering it to the Bow Hero, it would mean showing favoritism, and she didn't know what would happen if the Pope heard about this.
"All right," finally, she relented. "You can have your class-ups, sir. Please go ahead. I believe you knew what you need to do?"
EMIYA nodded. Turning toward his companions, he asked. "Now, who wants to go first?"
"Me!" As usual, Tersia was the first one to come up. She skipped toward the Hourglass and placed her hand on its surface, and the object started glowing brightly, just like what happened with Itsuki's companions.
All of a sudden, a screen flashed into life in front of EMIYA. It was more than what the ex-Guardian had expected; it was basically a skill tree with hundreds of different branches corresponding to different jobs. There were common jobs for fighters, such as Gladiator of General, but there were also mundane jobs that were only suitable for civilians, such as Chef or Bureaucrat. There were so many things to choose from.
A pop-up screen appeared before him. [Do you want to let your companion choose their class?]
"Sensei! Please choose the best class for me!" On the pedestal, Tersia was waving at him. EMIYA pondered, then selected his option.
"Eh?"
Tersia exclaimed in surprise when the class selection screen suddenly popped up in front of her. She glanced at her teacher in confusion. The Sword Hero smiled at her.
"You choose it yourself. After all, the one who knows you the best is yourself, isn't it? I believe you can decide whatever is the best for you."
Everyone in the chamber stared at him. However, each person in the room had a different thought in their head. The Church employees were surprised and shocked, but the disciples of the Sword Hero all shared the same look of love and gratitude to him. Tersia smiled back at him, then turned back to the Hourglass. "All right! Then…!"
The Hourglass glowed even brighter, then died down as suddenly as it started. When the light faded away completely, EMIYA glanced at Tersia's status screen, and was taken aback.
All of the girl's stats had increased dramatically. Almost every stat had climbed up about one and a half times compared to what they used to be, except for her attack, defense and HP stats, which almost doubled the old ones. So that's what a class-up is…
There's only one thing, though…
"Why that class?"
Tersia beamed at him while bouncing back down the pedestal to where he was standing. "I thought I wanted power to protect everyone close to me, so when I saw the Guardian class, I knew I needed to take it! Isn't it cool, sensei?"
"Yeah… cool…"
Even though he wasn't a Counter Guardian anymore, the name of the job still upset him whenever he heard it. It reminded him about what happened during his life; there were too many sad things he really wanted to forget but was not able to. But still, that's Tersia's choice, and it made her stronger, so he's not going to complain about that.
The next one was Welt. The boy walked up the pedestal with nervous footsteps, and when he reached the Hourglass, he glanced around worriedly before taking a deep breath and hesitantly placing his hand on the object. EMIYA noticed that he took a really long time before deciding on the class he would get. And when he finally chose his class, his speed and dexterity were the ones going up the roof. When he got down from the pedestal, the ex-Guardian looked at him in question.
"Agent, huh?"
"Y-yeah…" the boy smiled nervously. "That is a class that utilizes both bow and sword, and I… I guess I like to learn how to fight like you do, sensei. With both a bow and a sword."
EMIYA nodded in approval. From what he had observed during the training month, Welt could handle a sword pretty well in addition to his skill with the bow. The combination of these two weapons could make him a pretty deadly force as he would have access to both melee and ranged combat techniques, something other archers wouldn't even dream of having.
He didn't know whether Welt could ever gain the needed personality to master the class efficiently, though. The boy was too honest to even think of being a spy or an assassin.
Finally, it was Farrie's turn to have her class-up. She took a deep breath, and walked toward the pedestal.
But immediately, EMIYA felt something unsettling. Right when she took her first step on the pedestal, looks of hatred and envy immediately bombarded her from every direction. Together with them were malicious whispers from every corner of the chamber.
"So… that traitor…"
"No way. That loser can class-up?"
"I wonder what she had to give the Sword Hero to help her get to that level…"
Farrie's footsteps trembled with each word she heard. From what EMIYA could see, it looked like the only thing she wanted right now was to run away from this place, as quickly as possible.
When she reached the top of the pedestal where the Hourglass was, the nun guarding it bowed down slightly and whispered something into her ear. Farrie's face went chalk-white in an instant; her eyes widened in horror, shock and shame. She turned around and ran out of the Church before EMIYA could even do anything.
"Farrie!" The ex-Guardian called after her, but she didn't seem to hear anything. In a blink of an eye, her back disappeared behind the wooden doors of the building.
"Why you…!" Tersia turned toward the nun, who was looking away with a smug smile on her face, in anger, but Welt grabbed her shoulder.
"Let's go after Farrie-san first!"
"Damn it! Where the hell did she go!?"
Tersia exclaimed in frustration as they frantically searched the streets of Castle Town for Farrie. After running away from the Church, the girl had disappeared; they couldn't find her anywhere. They had searched everywhere, from the royal training ground to Ecclesia's shop, the places where they thought she could be, to no avail.
EMIYA could understand why the sword maiden was so worried. Even the stupidest person could realize when their best friend was being bullied. And considering how fragile Farrie was in personality, he hated to think of what might happen.
Farrie… Don't do anything stupid…
The team reached the square, where the big clock tower of the town was. There was still no sign of the cleric.
Suddenly EMIYA felt something wet falling on his cheek. He looked up, and even without his Clairvoyance skill, he could still see the shape of a young girl sitting at the top of the clock tower.
"Sensei?"
"I found her," the ex-Guardian whispered. He added before Tersia and Welt could say anything. "Don't worry. Just leave her to me. Trust me."
Farrie was trembling like crazy.
The truth was, she was sent to the Sword Hero's team as a spy.
The Church had assigned her a mission to join up with one of the Heroes, but not simply to assist them as she had told EMIYA before. She was supposed to gather information for the Church about the Heroes' abilities and strength, and form a bond with the Hero she followed in order to use that bond to manipulate them, swaying them to the Church's side. She hated that idea, not only because she was the most inept spy that could have existed, but also because she knew that they only assigned her this mission because they hated her and wanted her to get out of their sight.
Farrie was always one of the best magic users that the Church had in their ranks. However, in a place full of prejudice and pettiness like the Church, that only made her the biggest target of envy and spite coming from her fellow trainees, and even some of the senior members. Her effort to form bonds with them was no use; if anything, it just made them hate her even more. Things only got worse after she showed sympathy to a demi-human beggar on the street in front of some other trainees. She knew that it was taught in the Church's Bible that demi-humans are enemies of humankind, heretical blights of the world that invaded to destroy the lives of humans, but she couldn't help feeling pity when she saw the thin, starving demi-human boy reaching out for her with his shaking hands. Since that day, it wasn't envy that targeted her anymore, but pure hatred.
And on the day of the Summoning, she couldn't say anything when the whole Church unanimously voted for her to be the one joining the Heroes. She knew that was just a ploy to throw her away from the Church and at the same time get some use out of her. But because this was a mission from the Pope himself, she didn't dare question it, as the will of the Pope was the will of God. And she had chosen the Sword Hero because her best friend Tersia was also with him.
However, a month with Team EMIYA had shaken her resolve to the core.
Being the nice and honest girl she was, Farrie hated deceiving people. Even telling a small lie was excruciatingly painful for her, and that's the reason why she had always avoided answering directly whenever EMIYA questioned her about the reason why she wanted to be his companion. She really didn't want to lie to him, especially after how well he had treated her. The man might be cynical and pragmatic, but he was really nice and protective to people close to him, as he already showed during the meeting for reward money. This man was one of the rare people in her life who would accept her for who she was, and would help her grow up instead of shunning her.
And right now, she was afraid. Not of what he would do if he realized that she had been tricking him; what she's afraid of was losing the bond she had built with the Sword Hero and the team during the last month. It was the first deep bond she had had with anyone besides her best friend Tersia, and she did NOT want to lose it. The nun at the Hourglass had threatened to reveal everything to her sensei, and she knew for sure that would completely destroy the bond she had been able to build during the last month.
She looked up. The sky was starting to get dark; at the horizon, the red light of twilight was starting to cover her vision. Someone had told her that no matter where she went, her deceased mother would still look after her from heaven, and someday if she does a lot of good deeds, she will be able to meet her again. She knew that was just a children's story, but it was still a source of comfort to her whenever she felt down.
"Mom… what should I do…?"
"Yeah. What should I do with you, I wonder?"
Farrie's body jerked up in surprise. She lost her balance, and fell down the edge of the clocktower's terrace she was sitting on…
…or would have, if two strong hands hadn't grabbed her waist and pulled her back before her butt slipped completely from the low balcony. She turned around, and saw the stern eyes of her teacher staring straight into hers.
"Sen… sei… what… are you…?"
"That question should be left to me, actually," EMIYA said while pulling her back into the terrace. "What the hell happened? Why did you run away from the Church like that?"
Farrie's back stiffened. She had dreaded this question for a while, and there's no way she could answer him truthfully. "Um… it's nothing…" she stammered nervously while turning her head away.
EMIYA sighed. "You are the worst liar ever existed, do you know that?"
Seeing her face, the Sword Hero snorted. "Oh, please. Just seeing how you reacted at the Church was more than enough to know that there was something wrong with you. It was something that nun whispered to you when you went to the Hourglass, wasn't it?"
He sat down next to her, on the balcony of the terrace. Farrie turned away from him; it's obvious that she didn't want to talk about it.
The pair just sat there in silence for a while. Then suddenly, the healer blurted out.
"Sensei… if someday I told you I had been lying to you all along… what would you do?"
EMIYA looked at her for a while. His eyes bored into the girl's face, as if drilling into her soul. Then he closed his eyes.
"It depends on what kind of lie you're talking about. Haven't you been lying to me for quite some time already?"
Farrie was shocked. That was something she really didn't expect to hear. "But… how…?!"
EMIYA rolled his eyes. "I already told you, you are the worst person at lying I've ever met. You couldn't even hide your intention even if you tried. Besides, did you really think that I wouldn't be suspicious when the biggest religion of the country suddenly assigned someone in their ranks to follow me without any ulterior motive?"
Farrie couldn't find any word to retort. "Then… why…?"
"… didn't I say anything?" the Sword Hero continued her sentence without even missing a beat. "If you were someone else, someone with malicious intent, I wouldn't have hesitated to end your life with a blade to the back. However, I don't think you deserve that."
Hearing those words depressed the girl. "So I'm just so useless you didn't even think you need to do anything to stop me…"
EMIYA shook his head. "Completely opposite. Among you three, you are the one with the greatest potential. If there's anyone I should fear in the future, that person would be you."
Farrie's face turned slightly red at his words, even though she should be afraid and depressed. "But…"
"The reason I don't need to try anything to hurt you was because I know you can understand what is right and what is wrong. I believe that when the time comes when you have to choose, you are going to stand for the right thing. And because of that, there's no need for me to be afraid."
Those words from the ex-Counter Guardian were gentle and kind, but each of them was just like a hammer blow to the girl's resolve. And before she could even know it, she had buried her face into his chest and cried her heart out. All the pain and frustration stored in her heart for years poured out of her mouth in that single moment. Between hiccups and sobs, she told him everything, from how the people in the Church hated her for being so naturally good at magic to how they all voted for her to spy on the Heroes out of spite.
EMIYA just let the girl express herself in silence. Finally, when she stopped crying, he looked straight into her eyes.
"Farrie. I don't say that you need to abandon your belief. I'm just saying that when you need to choose between following your belief and doing what is right, just consider it carefully before making the decision, because while it might look like the easier choice at that time, it might be something that will haunt you for the rest of your life. I trust you can understand what that means, can't you?"
She nodded weakly in return.
"Now then, let's get back there to have your class-up. We have wasted quite a lot of time already, haven't we?"
Farrie's eyes dropped. "Thank you, sensei, but… I don't think I should. I don't know if I wanted a class-up or not… And I don't even know which class I should advance to…"
EMIYA shook his head. "You're still afraid of those people at the Church, aren't you? Then what you should do right now is continue to become better than them. If they throw you away just because they hate that you are better than them, then they're just a bunch of idiots. The more people hate and envy you, the harder you must try so that one day they cannot hate you anymore, and must accept that you simply are better than them."
Then he smirked. "Besides, if you don't know what you should advance to, then I will be the one who chooses it for you. I already knew which class you should have."
The giant wooden doors of the Church once again opened, and walking in were EMIYA and Farrie. But different from before, her footsteps were now firm and confident. She walked up the steps leading to the Hourglass, ignoring the hateful glares coming from the other nuns, and placed her hand on the object without any hesitation this time. She glanced back at the Sword Hero with a smile when the Hourglass started glowing.
EMIYA answered her with his own encouraging smile. Then, returning to the popup screen in front of him, he declared loudly so that everyone in the room could hear.
"I have decided, Farrie. From now on, your new class will be… Bishop!"
A chorusing gasp echoed around the room. Every eye in the room turned toward the Sword Hero and his companion with shock and anger. In the Church, a bishop is a rank only below the Pope himself, and assigning someone like the loser and blood traitor Farrie that class was no different from spitting at the faces of every other person in the Church, saying that they only deserved to be below her.
Farrie walked down the pedestal with a face full of gratefulness and happiness. Then, after throwing back their final triumphant smiles, the pair walked out of the Church, ignoring the silent rage of the nuns and priests of the holy place behind them.
In his chamber, Pope Balamus frowned when the pair finally left the Church.
He had been observing the situation through his special crystal ball since the Sword Hero and his companion came to get their class-up ceremony. And right now, he was worried.
No, he wasn't worried about losing Farrie. Under his command, there were still a lot of talented mages; losing one of them didn't mean anything. What he was worried about was the Sword Hero.
The enigma called Emiya Shirou was something he couldn't read at all. The man was incredibly competent as a warrior, and from what he heard from his Shadows, it was completely impossible to approach him without him noticing. That's why among the four summoned Heroes, the Sword Hero was the only one the Church couldn't get any information about whatsoever.
And from what he had seen, the man was also an extremely skilled manipulator. Just looked at how he managed to anger the whole Church with just a simple action. And that act of defiance was also a hidden declaration to the Church in general and to the Pope himself, that the man named Emiya Shirou is never going to fall into the Church's control.
That man was just too dangerous. If this goes on, he's going to be the biggest threat that could ever exist to his plan. And someone that dangerous should not stay alive if they couldn't put him under control.
From what he knew, the Sword Hero had declared his intention to go to Zeltoble to find more allies. If that's the case…
He waved his hand. A Shadow faded into existence in a blink of an eye in front of him, waiting for his order.
"Send words to Mirso Village," he said in a cold voice, "tell them…"
The Shadow nodded, and disappeared in a gust of wind. The Pope sunk back into his comfortable chair; if he couldn't put a dangerous Hero under his control, then at least he could manipulate him to fight another dangerous enemy of the Church, and hopefully… die while trying.
Team EMIYA was standing in front of the gate leading out of Castle Town.
This place was where they met each other for the first time. And for a month they stayed here, they had been through a lot of things, good and bad, and had made a lot of memories together.
And now, it's time for them to depart.
"Ready, you four?" EMIYA looked at his four companions. They cheered.
"Yes!"
The ex-Guardian looked at the sky. The sun was blazing above them, signaling a very nice day ahead.
"Then let's go! To Zeltoble!"