26th Day of the 1st Moon
Tristan
"How did I know I'd find you here?"
The sound of Caster's voice behind me snapped me back to reality.
"What can I say, Caster" I mused. "I find the scenery here to be quite beautiful."
"I can't take you seriously when you say things like that, looking as you do now."
"You said the same thing when I told you to dye your hair blonde" I laughed. "But it worked, didn't it?"
"…Perhaps…" Caster allowed a trace of a smile to form as he stood beside me. "But if this is your plan to avoid dealing with issues involving your… dynastic lineage… shall I inform you on the odds of succeeding?"
"No need. I know this won't work forever, but if it gives me even a single moment of reprieve from having to deal with any of that mess, especially with the court, then I'll consider this worth it. Besides, you Heroic Spirits get to be summoned in your prime form, so why can't the likes of us masters do the same?"
"I find it hard to believe anyone's prime would be when they were sixteen years of age."
"Eh… perhaps you have a point" I mused, taking a sip of wine. "I would accept the argument of my prime being my early thirties, considering that's when I claimed dominion over the Moon Cell. But that's something very few people know, relatively speaking. When I was sixteen, I had managed to make a name for myself on a far grander scale, in a way."
"No palace servant to attend to you?"
"I think I'm capable enough of pouring my own wine" I laughed. "Speaking of, would you care for some?"
"If the Emperor himself is offering, who am I to refuse" Caster mused. "I see you were expecting this, considering the second cup is already here."
"Just a hunch" I shrugged.
Silence returned as the cool, evening breeze swept through the garden. Figured best to enjoy it now while I could; the northern expansion was set to begin in two days, and it would be a while before I returned to the palace once it started.
"You know, I'm still not sure exactly what it is I'm looking at here" Caster eventually spoke. "A lake of some kind, obviously, but I can't say it looks like any lake I've seen before."
"Well, the lake this is a replica of isn't found in China, so that doesn't surprise me."
"A place from your precious Rome then?"
"…Closer to Rome than China, that's for sure. But no, actually. This is the Lake of Diana, located in the Paimpont forest, in a country known as France. Well, as I said, a replica of it, anyways."
"You ever been to this lake before?"
"No" I laughed. "In fact, it isn't even possible for anyone to see it in person anymore. Not really. There is a lake still where it would have been, but the true Lake of Diana was mystical, you see. Ever since the end of the Age of Gods, the… true essence, true beauty of the lake, let's say, has been lost. The only reason this replica could be made was thanks to the records of the Moon Cell."
"I see… A true pity that must be for you, master."
"It's not a major loss" I shrugged. "There is so much beauty in the world as is. It simply isn't possible to witness it all anyways, even with something as powerful as the Moon Cell."
"How much of that is due to your work, rather than the lack of hours in a life, I wonder?"
"Fair enough…" I chuckled into a now empty cup. "But you didn't track me down to simply join me in gazing at a replica of a mythical lake, I'm sure."
"Reports on the soldiers came in this afternoon. Training overall has gone well, and the soldiers will be ready for the start of the northern expansion."
"And the officers?'
"…I would say most are rather lacking, disappointedly. In terms of the system, you did not get lucky with an initial lineup of officers under your command."
"Do any of them have potential?"
"I left a list of those I think have some merit to the in your chambers. Of course, some actual combat would be required to truly see what they are capable of. The list is rather small, however. With your permission, I would like to tour the land and seek out those with talent from among the local gentry clans."
"Only from the gentry clans?"
"You have already pushed agricultural and economic reforms" Caster sighed. "Not that I disagree with the actions you took, but pushing multiple major changes in rapid succession has shaken the court. Best adhere to tradition for now, while you are conducting the northern expansion."
"I suppose that makes sense" I nodded. "Very well, consider permission granted. Now to hope that I don't run into any trouble up north…"
"So long as you only delegate responsibility to those you believe have talent, and assume direct control over the rest, you should be fine. That, and I am only a warp gate away" Caster mused. "Although, do be sure to take notes on the happenings of the expansion. It will be easier to justify promotions and demotions to the court if you can back it up with examples of success and failures from out in the field."
"Is that really going to be an issue though, considering any replacement officers would be coming from the gentry clans?"
"Depends on which clans receive promotions and demotions."
"Seems that no matter the era, politics remains a pain in the ass" I lamented.
"Well, I am glad to hear that hasn't changed. Wouldn't be fair if we from the past were the only ones who had to suffer, playing such games."
"Ass" I laughed, to which Caster merely shrugged, a sly grin across his face. "How goes the civil reforms anyways?"
"Well enough, I believe. Civil administration is admittedly outside my field of expertise, so to speak, but while you may find dealing with the court to be a pain, their bureaucratic capabilities are rather apt. In that sense, you lucked out, and personally speaking, I'd much rather have to deal with restructuring the military than restructuring the bureaucracy."
"Agreed. Here's to hoping the luck lasts…"
"Avoid giving the eunuchs too much power, and the court will manage itself for some time."
"Yes, well, I'm certainly knowledgeable enough to avoid making that mistake" I laughed. "Last thing I want to deal with right now is mass court corruption."
"Then I believe matters are settled. Anything else can wait until your return."
"Excellent" I nodded, beginning to pour myself another cup as Caster turned to leave. "What's the matter, Caster? My company not good enough?"
"What can I say, master" Caster didn't stop to turn and face me, but I could hear the grin in his voice as he spoke. "The night is still young, and if I had to choose between your company, or that of a beautiful woman, it seems rather obvious to me the outcome."
"Fair enough" I laughed. "The blonde hair really does suit you, you know?"
"Still can't believe I let you talk me into that…"
"Hey, but it worked!"
Caster didn't respond, either deciding it was better not to, or he'd already entered the palace before I'd gotten the final words in. Welcoming the return of the silence of the night I closed my eyes, took a sip of wine and-
…And immediately opened my eyes again as a ringing sound went off in my head. A call from the Moon Cell, which in all likelihood meant Daedalus.
"Administrator, what's up" I asked as the call connected.
"What's up? What's up?! Well, I'm glad to hear that you're able to have such a relaxing time to the point you can answer a call from us with a what's up" Administrator grumbled through the link. "As for why I'm calling, start with the positive. The system is currently still stable, and considering how late into the war we are, I don't see that changing. The situation will still be monitored, of course, but as of this moment I'm confident in saying that the system will remain stable and that the war is good to go until the end."
"That is good news" I nodded to no one in particular as I took another sip of wine. "Now, the bad news?"
"Oddities within the system" Administrator grumbled again. "Within the first couple hours of the war starting a master died, meaning it could have only been their own servant who killed them."
"Right… but we knew that was a possibility, no? The only way to get catalysts to work and be a requirement was to remove the system's compatibility requirement. Heroic Spirits summoned for this war had no guarantee of working together with their masters."
"Yes, but that doesn't explain why the area the deceased master started in generated a part of the world mere minutes after he died."
"…You mean a servant activated one of the control spires" I stood up.
"Not just one. A total of six spires are no longer responding to commands from the Moon Cell. We can still track the information of the land, but we have yet to figure out a way to get it to return to its base setting. Perdix has been working on it, but so far has made little progress. Whoever this servant is, they have a way to corrupt the control spires and act as their own master when it comes to claiming territory."
"You don't even know who the servant is?"
"Which leads me to my next point. As expected, a few extra classes made it through the summoning process. That includes a Ruler, but we can confirm that the Ruler limiter we put in place is working, so that isn't an issue. However, there are two servants that the system has nothing on, and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. No name, no skill list, no stats. Nothing. All we know are their classes. One of the two is likely the one corrupting the control spires, considering the classes, but the other one is a complete mystery."
"Now, that is interesting" I mused, beginning to pace a bit. "For them to have no records within the Moon Cell… Even if we were dealing with the Counter Force their agents should have come from Earth, so the system should have some record of them to pull from…"
"Considering where you all are, the Counter Force shouldn't be able to interfere."
"So we believed, but who knows" I laughed slightly. "We could have been wrong."
"Leave it to the child to entertain fantasies" Administrator muttered. "We weren't wrong on that. If they turn out to be Counter Force, I'll eat my own sandals…"
"Now that is something I'd love to see, uncle" I heard Perdix laughing in the background.
"Stay out of this and get back to work" Administrator tried to sound angry, but it was clear even to me his heart wasn't into it.
"Back to the point of us losing control over the control spires, where are the corrupted ones?"
"Alaska. They fell rapidly, within the first few days of the war, but since then nothing."
"…And the mystery only grows" I let out a slight sigh. "Either they think they have enough territory for the moment, or…"
"Or gaining territory isn't their objective, and they've moved onward."
"Shame it's all the way in Alaska" I lamented slightly. "That sounds like it could have been interesting to deal with."
"I will keep you posted on the control spire situation. I considered contacting you about it earlier, but considering the number stopped at six, I'm willing to say the situation is stable for the moment. Oh, and there is one more thing I think you should know, although you won't like it."
"More bad news with the system?"
"Not the system, no" I swore I could hear Administrator chuckle to himself, ever so slightly.
…That wasn't a good sign.
"It's just that" Administrator continued, "well… I regret to inform you, child, but it appears that none of the Clock Tower lords have accepted your invitation."
…
…
…What?
"Unless the system is wrong, and I know it isn't in this case" the smugness in Administrator's voice couldn't be overstated. "It would appear none of the lords could be bothered to take you up on your ever so gracious offer of a chance to fix the leylines."
I could faintly hear the cup clattering against the paved stone as my mind tried to properly process everything Administrator had just said.
"…What?"
"What do you mean, what, child? You heard me loud and clear, evidently!"
"I heard you, but what do you mean none of the lords joined the war?!"
26th Day of the 1st Moon
Administrator
"That child… as irritating as ever..."
Honestly, how was I supposed to know why some random collective of magi didn't do as the child had predicted?! Of course I couldn't tell him why they didn't join the war! All I could do was relay the information the system was giving us!
"I mean, master did say that part of the reason for doing this in the first place was to test both his capabilities, and the capabilities of the system" Perdix spoke up again, though his visual focus remained on the bank of monitors he'd been at for the past ten or so hours. "Kind of hard to do that when the best possible test subjects don't show up."
"Bah" I waved a hand dismissively. "If he wanted test subjects, he should have invited the modern-day governments."
"That would test capability, but not the kind he wanted, I don't think. Mass cannon fodder doesn't yield the same test results as major, powerful forces."
"I am aware of the difference, Perdix. But unlike these magi, they would have shown up."
"…Yeah, that's true, I suppose. Especially this United States and China. Master always made it sound like those two places really hated him."
"Oh, they do, for all the right reasons…"
"You know, uncle, with the way you go on about master, a part of me wonders why you ever agreed to be his servant in the first place, yet alone for a second time. Even though the first time wasn't, well… you get it."
"Oh, I get it" I sighed. "Believe me Perdix, I'm wondering the same thing."
"…I think he's a good influence on you though" I could hear the giggling from the boy despite his obvious best efforts to hide it.
"Enough of that out of you, boy, or I'll send you down to help Icarus for the next few days and work on regaining control of the spires myself."
"Speaking of cousin, you didn't mention to master the third servant issue."
"There is no third servant issue. The system is displaying the full servant profile for this Salvador Dali person."
"I know that's what it's been saying since the beginning" Perdix hesitated. "But uncle… I really don't think Icarus was just seeing things when he says he saw the system initially bug out and display that… that… what was that class?"
"It's not a class. It's not anything. Faker isn't a thing, Perdix."
"You said the same thing about Foreigner initially, but the system is accepting that as a class, which is another thing you didn't tell master either, now that I think about it."
"Yes, and it's because the system still recognizes it as a class that I'm accepting it as a class now. This Faker thing Icarus claims to have seen wasn't seen by anyone else, and there is no record of it ever coming up within the system,"
"I'm just saying uncle, something weird is going on here. I know we couldn't ever fully test all aspects of the system, but this many abnormalities involving the servants, of all things, was far outside our predictions."
"…You have me there" I relented with a sigh. "Things are going on here that shouldn't be happening by our calculations."
"Then shouldn't we-"
"But the child's orders were to only inform him of issues pertaining to the system itself, that may result in the world being compromised to outside forces or collapsing in on itself. He gave specific instructions not to inform him of anything else as it could give him an advantage in the war, except for if a Ruler made it in and if it was successfully restricted or not. While I don't like the implications of this Foreigner servant's existence based on what you and Icarus have managed to surmise, there is nothing in their records to suggest an immediate system risk by their presence, limited the records may be."
"That… That is true… I hope master knows what he's doing."
"Oh, I highly doubt the child ever truly knows what he's doing" I snorted dismissively. "But that is how the child has always operated. It is simply something anyone dealing with him must come to accept, albeit begrudgingly…"
A/N
Wow, yeah... things have not been working out as I'd have liked recently LOL
Who would have guessed that 4th year of uni would be busy, busy, busy eh?
Anyways, things look like they are starting to die down a bit now, so I'm going to try to commit to a minimum of 1 post a week going forward. No guarantees or promises, but damn it I'm going to try. If they do happen to come out, expect to see them either Tuesday night or Thursday night (my time, so EST).
Beyond that, well... here's the next part. Hope it was worth the wait (doubt it was, but oh well o.O)
See y'all in the next post o7