Fate: Hammer Time

by TedTheRabbit

Shirou Emiya wanted to become a hero. That was clear to all who truly know him. For a long time though, he lacked the power to actually achieve that goal. No longer. No longer will he lack the power, now that the Hammer of the Odinson has chosen him as new wielder. Prepare for Thunder. ShirouxMultiple, Thor-Shirou.

30. A Royal Audience

A Royal Audience

---

In general, Magi were a rather solitary lot. They lived on their own, or perhaps with their immediate family, but it ended with that. Because of the need for secrecy, they couldn't allow anyone else into their lives. No friends, no distant family, not even teachers.

However, to pursue Magecraft, an education was still very important. One couldn't do research or strive to reach the Root without knowledge after all, and though it was possible to learn from one's parents, it wasn't ideal.

That was where the Clocktower came in, not just as a conglomeration of Magi from all over the world, but also as a university, where young Magi could learn the skills of the trade.

The Clocktower offered a variety of courses and classes on a plethora of subjects, ranging from Modern Magecraft Theory and Egyptian Lore to Curses and Enchanting. No matter the field a young Magus wanted to study, there was a large chance the Clocktower had information on it.

True, the harsh political climate might make it difficult to get the desired education and leave the place alive, but if one was skilled enough at political games or managed to stay under the radar for long enough, one could obtain all the desired knowledge and more.

Even someone like Shirou, who wasn't there for knowledge at all, had to admit the Clocktower really knew what it was doing when it came to education and research. Things were well organised, disciplined, and always clear.

It was a place of higher learning, entirely focused on having the experts impart their knowledge onto the ignorant masses for the purpose of countering the deterioration of Magecraft.

But if that were so…

…Then why had Shirou, a Magus who hadn't been at the Clocktower for much longer than a week and had no lineage or fame to speak of, been roped into teaching a Magus-noble?!

How, after being told for so long that he would go to the Clocktower as a student, had he ended up a teacher after barely a week?!

A teacher to Reines El-Melloi Archisorte of all people, the heir of Kayneth, the man his father had killed during the Fourth Grail War, and the little sister of Waver Velvet, the man his father had almost killed during that same War.

Was this poetic justice in some way? Punishment for his father's deeds?

If Fate existed, it surely was having a laugh right now at his expense.

Shirou let out a deep sigh. Today was the first lesson he had scheduled with Reines, and though he had rigorously prepared himself for it, he still felt utterly unqualified and ill-equipped to be teaching a Magus-noble about Magecraft.

Rationally, he knew that he had no reason to worry. Reines wanted his help with a lightning spell, and lightning happened to be his speciality. He didn't have to be concerned about her knowing more than he, because unless she'd researched lightning-based Magecraft for every single moment from her birth until today, there was no way she could possibly know more than him.

What also helped was that Lord El-Melloi had been kind enough to help him prepare his lessons, and after they'd finished, the man had told him he was more than ready to teach.

If such an accomplished teacher told him so with not a trace of hesitance, then surely, it had to be true.

Now if Shirou could just convince the anxious part of his brain of that, then he would be all set.

The redhead sighed for the nth time as he followed mister Ramirez, his temporary guide, up the stairs towards Reines' office.

"Are you paying attention to where we're going?!" Mister Ramirez barked angrily, seeing that Shirou had been sunken in thought. "I am not going to guide you again, no matter what that bossy girl says, so you better make sure to remember the route!"

It was yet another one of the man's angry rants, an expression of frustration at being reduced to an errand boy, and Shirou let it slide off him like water off a rock. Getting angry in turn would serve no purpose at all.

He did wonder though who the man really was. Ramirez was not the man's real name, Shirou had seen that at once, and the fact that he wasn't afraid to speak his mind about Reines hinted at the fact that he was fairly high placed within the Department of Modern Magecraft Theory.

But that was a mystery for a later date.

"Here we are." Mister Ramirez grumbled once they reached an ornate door, deep inside in the Department, before he left without another word.

With a mental shrug, dismissing the man from his mind, Shirou knocked on the door.

"Enter." Permission to come inside followed almost immediately, and Shirou opened the door to step into the office.

It was a lot bigger than Lord El-Melloi's office. More luxurious too, with a lot of beautifully crafted furniture, closets full of filled bottles and crystal glasses, and with Reines sitting behind a richly decorated desk at the back of the room.

It wasn't the most luxurious and decorated office he'd ever seen –that honour went to the office of the late Vincent Balefor back in the castle in Japan– but it was definitely number two.

It also visualised quite clearly that Reines was the true ruler of the Archibald-family, while Lord El-Melloi was just the figurehead.

Doing a quick check for any active Magecraft in the room, Shirou noticed a few standard Bounded Fields that were of no threat to him, but he also noticed something else, something that he did not recognise, in a side room of the office. Shirou could clearly smell it, and even see its Magical signature through the wall, but it wasn't something he'd encountered before, so he couldn't say anything about it.

All he could say was that it had a very metallic smell, almost like…

…Mercury.

And with that realisation, Shirou now had a pretty good idea of what was hidden in that side room.

"Welcome to my office, mister Fujimaru." Reines greeted him once he stood before her desk. "I appreciate your courtesy in granting me this favour."

"I thank you for your kind welcome, lady Reines." Shirou greeted back, before smiling wryly. "It is more Lord El-Melloi's favour that I grant than yours though."

"All the same." Reines waved his remark away, not bothered in the slightest by his direct admission that he wouldn't have been here if it hadn't been for Lord El-Melloi. "I see Ra-Ramirez has successfully shown you the way? I suppose he was quite rude about it. Please do not take his remarks personally, he was mad at me, not at you."

"I did not take it personally." Shirou assured her, noticing how she stumbled slightly over the man's name. "Mister Ramirez, or whatever his real name is, was merely a bit annoyed. I take no offense."

"Ha! Figures he can't even lie about his own name." Reines seemed to enjoy it tremendously that Shirou had seen through the man's efforts to hide his true name. "His real name is Rampusa, if you're wondering, but you did not hear that from me."

"Of course, lady Reines."

"Well then, shall we begin?" Reines clapped her hands twice, and a door opened in response, one that led to the side room that Shirou had noticed earlier. "Provide mister Fujimaru with a chair, one from the luxurious selection, and retrieve my notes on my latest project."

Her words suggested she was talking to a butler or maid, which wouldn't be all that strange for a noble lady to have, but what stepped through the door to follow her orders was definitely not a normal servant.

It wore a maid outfit, one of much higher quality than the ones Sakura and Ayako had, and it was roughly human-shaped, with a distinctly female face, but all similarities with a human maid ended there.

For one, its skin was completely silver in colour, metallic silver. Furthermore, the features of the face were hazy, her hair wasn't hair, but strange blobs, and it completely lacked any form of heartbeat or bloodflow.

This was no human, Shirou realised. This was a golem, and a very high-level one at that.

A golem that had been created using Volumen Hydrargyrum, the most valued and most powerful Mystic Code of the Archibald.

Invented by Kayneth himself and immediately proclaimed to be his Supreme Mystic Code, Volumen Hydrargyrum, 'Marrow of the Moon Spirit', was a Mystic Code that united attack, defence, searching, and transport in one.

Ten litres of Mercury imbibed with Magical energy that could take every form the user desired, from spears and blades to shields and platforms to stand on. It could cut through almost everything, block almost every attack, transport the user across battlefields, effortlessly search through entire areas, and was generally only limited by the user's imagination.

Kiritsugu had described it as one of the most annoying and tedious tricks a Magus had ever used against him, with the only weaknesses being its limited attack range, relative slowness in shifting its defence position during multiple attacks, and its utter uselessness against enemies too fast or too strong for it.

In short, Volumen Hydrargyrum was one of the best Mystic Codes the Archibald had at their disposal, if not the best, and Shirou had been a bit wary of facing it…

Only to find it repurposed into a maid-golem, which he had no idea how to deal with, or even what to think about.

…At least Reines was a woman of culture?

"Oh, right, I haven't introduced you yet." Reines snapped her fingers in realisation, her words sounding sincere enough that Shirou was willing to accept she'd actually forgotten. "Mister Fujimaru, this is Trimmau, my maid and bodyguard."

"Howdy, lad." The Mercury Maid whispered softly, for some reason speaking in an overly American accent as she greeted him.

"Ah, howdy yourself, miss Trimmau." Shirou responded awkwardly, taken aback even more when Trimmau's eyes seemed to shine with happiness at his words.

"Ignore that bug." Reines huffed in an annoyed tone. "That fool Flat Escardos made her watch all kinds of films during her development, and now she can't stop sprouting film-quotes. Just be glad she's in a good mood today and not in a mood where she thinks she's a killer robot from the future."

"Ah, so the greeting came from a Western then?" Shirou asked, to which Trimmau seemed to nod ever so slightly. "And the killer robot would be the Termi-"

"NO!" Reines suddenly shouted with very real panic in her voice. "Don't say that word around her! She will rampage if you do!"

"Rampage?!" Shirou's eyes boggled when Reines nodded. "Yet you keep her around?!"

"She's very useful." The noble girl promptly defended her maid. "She can take on almost any form, can understand and follow numerous commands, and was made from Volumen Hydrargyrum, the Archibald-family's Supreme Mystic Code."

Well, that confirmed it, this maid was indeed Kayneth's ultimate weapon. Or had been Kayneth's ultimate weapon.

Shirou wondered what Kayneth and Kiritsugu would think of the Mystic Code's new purpose, and had to suppress a smile at the thought.

"She was made from the Archibald's Supreme Mystic Code?" He nevertheless asked, knowing he had to pretend to have no idea what she was talking about.

"Yes, Volumen Hydrargyrum." Reines repeated, her little chest puffing out in pride. "It was already awesome, but I improved it. She is much better like this, aren't you, Trimmau?"

"Locked and loaded, ready to go." The maid whispered in response, nodding slowly.

"…Alright, if you say so." Shirou still wasn't sure what to think of it, but he decided to just go with the flow. The Archibald could do what they wanted with their own Mystic Codes after all, including turning one of them into a maid if they so desired.

"Anyway, Trimmau, a chair and my papers please."

"As you wish, my master." The maid sounded as if she tried to make her voice artificially deep, before she turned around in a flourish to follow orders.

A few minutes later, Shirou was seated opposite of Reines, going over the girl's notes on her lightning spell, while Trimmau stood off to the side, watching the proceedings with a neutral gaze.

Was it just Shirou though or did her gaze actually have warmth in it?

Well, anyway, ignoring any strangely sapient Mercury Maids for the moment, Shirou could already spot a fair number of mistakes Reines had made during the development of her spell.

It was clear that he hadn't received all of her research, but that was only to be expected. A Magus did not share their research with outsiders. A few basic notes was the absolute maximum of what they were going to show, even to someone they had chosen as teacher themselves.

Not that it mattered to Shirou. He didn't really care what Reines did and did not show him. He would just do his best to guide her in what she wanted to be guided in, and as he'd just said, there were plenty of mistakes in her basic notes already.

"I can already see a few mistakes in your work. Do you mind if I correct them immediately?"

"Please do." Reines nodded eagerly.

Projecting a red pen, Shirou began crossing out the mistakes and wrote short comments explaining what it should be instead, as well as providing a little background. If she still had questions after reading those comments, she could ask him directly.

It took him slightly over thirty minutes to find and correct all mistakes, before he returned the notes to Reines.

"Please take a moment to look at what I've written down." He explained to her when she took the papers from him. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Of course." Reines nodded rapidly, before she went to work.

For another thirty minutes, the only sounds in the office were the tapping of Reines' pen against her desk and the periodical 'hm' and 'ah' as she discovered things in Shirou's comments she hadn't known before.

In the meantime, Shirou read a book and Trimmau stood still as a statue, watching over the session like a hawk.

It wasn't much of a teaching-session like this, quiet as it was, but making sure Reines was working with correct notes and a correct background was important too.

It was entirely possible after all that her project's failing was caused by a small mistake in the fundamentals. Ignoring the basics was a very foolish thing to do, and Lord El-Melloi had already said that he shouldn't be afraid to spend multiple lessons on those basics alone.

So with that in mind, Shirou stayed quiet, letting Reines go over her corrected notes in peace. If she had a question, she could just ask him for help whenever she wanted.

"I understand." Reines suddenly muttered after another hour, rousing Shirou from his book. "Yes, I believe I do understand, this might be… Yes."

Her voice became increasingly triumphant as she muttered, and when she looked up at Shirou, her eyes were full of confidence.

"I think I understand." Reines repeated for the third time. "I have rewritten my spell using your notes, and I think it's perfect now. I must test it at once."

"Test it?" Shirou frowned, suddenly feeling concerned about what, or who, she was going to test it on. "I don't think your office is the place to test lightning spells."

"Not here." Reines corrected him irritably, before rising from her chair and walking around her desk. "Of course not here. We shall go to the training chambers."

"Training chambers?"

"Yes, the training chambers." Reines nodded. "It seems our session today will take a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I am certain you do not mind."

The little minx didn't pause for a second to give him a chance to respond, walking away quickly, practically forcing him to follow her.

"May the Force be with you." Trimmau wished her mistress good luck, following behind her as well, walking to the left and slightly in front of Shirou.

The walk to the training chambers was not a long one. They were located in the same hallway that Reines's office was, practically right next door.

They were also a lot smaller than Shirou had expected. Barely any bigger than Reines' office frankly, which was still big of course, but nowhere near the immense hall he had expected.

The equipment present was limited to several human-like dummies standing around and some materials in the closets such as glass jars, protective clothing, and several bladed weapons. An odd collection, but there was probably a reason behind it all.

"Thunder roar, lightning strike, clouds fill. Power, move in accordance with my will." Reines chanted her Aria, pointing her index and middle finger towards the closest dummy. Power gathered in her fingers as she spoke, and once the last word had left her mouth, that power exploded forward in the form of a lightning bolt, obliterating a poor dummy's head.

Shirou did not know exactly what the spell was supposed to do –that information was probably inside the notes that he hadn't been allowed to read– but since Reines was grinning widely in victory, it was probably the result she had been hoping for.

"I assume this is an improvement?" Shirou asked, walking up to the dummy to inspect it.

The lightning bolt had been respectable, but very meagre compared to what Shirou could produce on his own, saying nothing of what he could do with Mjolnir. He knew perfectly well that he had an unfair advantage however, so he reserved his judgement and asked Reines about her opinion. Perhaps that lightning bolt had been very good by normal Magus standards.

"It was a considerable improvement indeed." Reines nodded, looking extremely satisfied and proud with herself.

"I am happy to hear that, but don't think that just because you managed to cast your spell once you can now take it easy." Shirou warned her, looking up from inspecting the dummy. "You must keep working on it until you have mastered it."

"Oh? Then perhaps I should leave these helpless dummies alone and practise on a moving target instead." Reines idly mused, aiming her fingers at Shirou. The gesture was playful however, and the remark clearly made in jest, so Shirou just smiled in return and answered honestly.

"Your lightning bolt would do nothing to me even if it hit." It wasn't just his Magic Resistance and his endurance, but also his very nature as successor to the God of Thunder that made any lightning-based attack useless against him. Much the same went for wind-based Magecraft.

"Oh?" Reines did not know what to make of that statement, lowering her hand again as she studied him for a moment.

Then she shrugged. "If you say so. Let us return to my office."

And off she was again, once more not even waiting for a response.

Shirou rolled his eyes in exasperation, before he and Trimmau followed after the little lady again.

"You have my gratitude, mister Fujimaru." Reines said when they sat at her desk once more, Trimmau standing in exactly the same position as before. "I had not expected your tuition would yield results so swiftly."

"Nor did I, but it seems you were already very close, except for a minor mishap in the basics."

"Leaving me to wonder how many more of my projects failed because of 'minor mishaps in the basics', as you so eloquently put it." Reines huffed in annoyance, before giving him a beautiful smile, folding her hands below her chin, as if trying to invoke the power of 'kawaii'. "Will you assist me with them as well?"

"You can discuss that with Lord El-Melloi." Shirou deflected the question, remembering Grey's advice to never make any promises to anyone and to refer people to Lord El-Melloi on as many matters as he could.

"With big brother? Sure." She agreed easily enough, no doubt convinced she could bully the lord into doing whatever she wanted with little trouble.

Shirou wished he could say that was just her being arrogant, but she was probably correct in believing that.

"Ah, to finally complete my projects." Reines sighed contently, really not doubting for a second that Shirou would continue to help her. "I am so going to rub it in Gladys' and Millicent's faces. I'm already looking forward to it. They'll be so mad."

Shirou had been with Lord El-Melloi and Grey long enough now that he knew that Gladys and Millicent were elders of the Archibald-family, which made Reines' obvious animosity a bit odd.

Or perhaps not, considering what Magi were like.

"You don't seem to like Gladys and Millicent much." He voiced his thoughts out loud.

"Millicent and Gladys are spineless opportunists." Reines sneered slightly, annoyance and anger clouding her expression. "They were more than content to push the position of Lady Archibald onto me when the family was in free-fall, ditching all responsibilities, but now that big brother has put things back in order again, they are grasping again for whatever they can get their grubby little hands on. They vie for my position as heir and are always trying to make a fool of me. Frankly, I despise them."

"Ah." Shirou had no idea how to react to that, and after a moment of silence, he changed the subject again. "Do you already have an idea what our next project is going to be?"

"Not yet." Reines' morosity disappeared in an instant, and she bounced happily in her seat, grinning widely in anticipation. "There are so many possibilities. We could work on more spells, or on an Enchantment. Golems are also very popular these days, and though we'll likely never be able to produce another Trimmau, even a pale copy of her would be worth a lot of money and prestige. I would prefer working on a Mystic Code though. Especially a Mystic Code that would be convenient and useful in everyday life, like Trimmau."

The maid hummed happily at being called convenient and useful, and Shirou had to admit the maid was getting cuter and cuter the longer he knew her.

"So like, a suitcase that is bigger on the inside than on the outside?" He suggested. He had no intention of admitting he already had such a thing, but he wanted to gauge the reaction of a proper Magus when she heard about the concept.

He didn't think he'd ever heard his father or anyone else ever mention the concept of something larger on the inside than on the outside, so he had no idea how widespread such things were.

"That would be convenient indeed, and very useful, but it's impossible." Reines laughed in amusement, shaking her head.

"Impossible? How so?"

"Ha? Well, that should be obvious." Reines answered, her smile disappearing as she frowned at him. "You cannot make things bigger on the inside than on the outside."

"Why not?" Shirou pressed her, suddenly feeling very concerned.

Reines looked at him for a few seconds longer, studying him as if she saw him for the first time. More unnerving however was the fact that Trimmau turned towards him as well, her gaze holding a sliver of surprise.

"Magecraft, or Thaumaturgy, is the artificial re-enactment of Mystery, which is ordinarily possible only by inhuman beings." She suddenly began to lecture him, holding up a finger in a teacher pose. "It is the ability to bring about what is possible through science with supernatural means; although the process is considered a miracle, the result is not."

"I am aware of what Magecraft is." Shirou nodded impatiently, wondering where she was going with her impromptu lecture.

"Are you?" Reines sounded very doubtful, as she leaned over her desk and poked her finger against his forehead. "What aspect of making something bigger on the inside than on the outside do you not consider 'miraculous'?"

"Huh?"

"What mundane process is there by which you can make something bigger on the inside than on the outside?" Reines clarified, looking at him with some kind of amused pity. "I might not be well versed in technology myself, but I do think Waver or Flat would have told me if such a convenient appliance existed."

"So it's a True Magic then?" Shirou asked, keeping a firm hold of his emotions to prevent himself from giving anything away, such as the fact that he already had such a suitcase!

"Yes, I believe it would be an expression of the Kaleidoscope." Reines nodded, placing a finger on her lip in thought. "It's not exactly parallel dimensions, but it does involve space, and that falls under the Second as well."

"I see." Shirou nodded slowly, putting a calm smile on his face to hide the fact that he wasn't nearly as calm on the inside.

In fact, he was only barely suppressing his need to ram his head against the desk, wondering how he was going to deal with the fact that not just his Vault, but his suitcase too was apparently an expression of the freaking Second True Magic.

When he had first arrived at the Clocktower, he had been worried the staff might search his suitcase and steal things, but apparently, he should have been more worried about them discovering the properties of his suitcase itself.

Shirou wanted to smack himself for his oversight, and that feeling only intensified when he realised that he had given Shinji one of those very same suitcases.

Whenever the blue-haired boy was, Shirou really hoped it was far away from any Magi who might be able to detect Sorcery being used in their proximity.

"But I think that's enough for today." Reines smiled brightly. "The hour grows late, so you may leave. I'll see you at the end of the week."

…She really had no doubts whatsoever that the tutoring sessions were going to continue, had she?

"She's made you an offer you can't refuse." Trimmau sounded far too amused, but unlike Reines, she was cute enough that it was endearing rather than irritating. "May the odds ever be in your favour."

"And in yours." Shirou replied, before he rose from his chair and left Reines' office, having recognised the small blonde wanted him out as soon as possible so she could get to work on her more secret endeavours.

That was fine with him. He needed a cool drink, so he was off to the cafeteria.

He had only just sat down at a table though, a cooled can of spring water in his hand, when he sensed someone approaching him directly. Upon turning his head around, he spotted a giant of a man rapidly coming closer.

As there was no aggressive intent whatsoever coming from the giant, Shirou remained in his seat, waiting patiently for the man to reach him.

"Lorelei Barthomeloi made her glorious return to the Clocktower two days ago." The giant rumbled in a deep voice once he'd arrived at Shirou's table, not wasting a moment in dropping the bomb. "You have been granted an audience with her, Shirou Fujimaru."

The booming announcement echoed through the hall, audible to everyone present.

"You have been summoned to appear before lady Barthomeloi in three days. At three o'clock, a guide will be sent to this place to show you the way. Do not be late."

His piece said, the giant marched away again, not waiting a single moment for any questions Shirou might have.

And as the news that he, Shirou Fujimaru, had been granted a personal audience with the Vice-Director of the Clocktower herself spread across the cafeteria like a wildfire, Shirou slowly rubbed his forehead, trying to stave off the headache that was threatening to build.

He hadn't thought he would be able to keep his meeting with the Vice-Director a secret, but to have a giant announce it in the middle of the cafeteria had not been part of his plans.

Safe to say, his hope to stay under the radar until Illya was safe had been thoroughly dashed now.

He really hoped his girls were having a better time than he.

---

Hojojutsu, the art of restraining prisoners with rope, was an old, refined, and deeply respected martial art in old Japanese culture.

It had originally emerged from sheer necessity. Effectively tying up prisoners with rope in such a way that they wouldn't escape even after days of squirming around wasn't nearly as easy as was commonly believed, and years of training was required to do so with a steady rate of success. That was why masters of the art were deeply respected for their skill and dedication.

There was a time when every ruler in Japan, no matter how petty or small, had at least one Hojojutsu-master in their service, to ensure prisoners could always be restrained, no matter the circumstances or the means available.

As the centuries progressed however and restraining prisoners with rope became less and less common, the art of Hojojutsu fell out of grace.

In the modern world, no politician or police officer would dream of using rope and ancient techniques to restrain prisoners. They had perfectly good metal cuffs and doors for that. Hojojutsu, like so many arts and crafts from the past, had become entirely superfluous.

But when the original use of Hojojutsu disappeared into the grinding gears of modernity, people discovered a very interesting alternative use of the art.

Rather than restraining one's enemies, something entirely of the past, it was far better to use the techniques to restrain one's lovers, for extra fun and enjoyment in bed.

As time progressed, the original use disappeared, and the new uses took over.

It was perhaps only natural then that Hojojutsu underwent a significant evolution. As it was now used on one's lovers rather than enemies, anything that was unacceptably painful or dangerous had to be removed from the handbook at once. Additionally, the techniques had to be fit to use in combination with soft rope, rather than the hard, coarse rope that had been used in the past.

The changes were such that it was decided that the new handbook had to be published under a different name.

Rather than Hojojutsu, the art of restraining prisoners, it became Shibari, the art of restraining lovers.

Also known as Kinbaku, Shibari became often associated with perverted and erotic practices. Of course, there were other uses for the techniques, such as massages, but it was undeniable that eroticism was Shibari's main reason for existence.

How many teenagers had had erotic dreams involving the rich, extensive possibilities of Shibari? How many fantasies had it occupied? What delightful depravities had it been the origin of?

It was undeniable that Shibari was popular among numerous perverts who would be all too willing to learn the art, yet all too often, one crucial fact was forgotten in those fantasies.

Shibari may be used as an interesting bedroom-kink in modern times, but it still found its origin in Hojojutsu, an art that took months to learn and years to master.

As such, properly using Shibari was exceedingly difficult.

As two certain girls were now experiencing for themselves.

"Alright, and now I wrap the rope around your wrists again, then I loop it, turn it, and now I just tighten it a bit more…"

"Ouch, Sakura! Not so tight!" Ayako complained, squirming a bit, though she didn't get far. Being laid down on your stomach and having your girlfriend sit on you while she was tying your wrists together on your back tended to make it difficult to go anywhere.

"Eck! S-Sorry, I won't pull again. Ehm, let me just try this, this, and that, and… t-that should be it. Could you please try to escape now?"

Ayako did as she was asked, trying to pull her wrists apart despite the rope binding them together, squirming and turning her arms this way and that, and before long, she had her wrists free.

"Oh no, you escaped again." Sakura pouted, looking at the bundled length of rope that no longer held her girlfriend captive. "Tying you up is hard."

"Well, the book said it would be difficult at first." Ayako said soothingly, reaching back and taking one of Sakura's hands in her own. "You just have to keep trying. You are already improving; it keeps taking me longer and longer to get out of the ropes every time you try."

"Right, I just have to persevere. The book said that once you do your first knot properly, the rest will go easier every time." Sakura nodded, slamming her fist into her palm in a show of determination, before she looked down at her 'victim' with concern. "Are you fine with continuing though?"

"Definitely, take all the time you need." Ayako confirmed immediately, placing her hands on her back, horizontally with her forearms together, so Sakura could start on her knots again. "First my wrists, then my ankles, then my legs and arms, and then we can try those artful-looking rope-outfits that cover just about everything except the important bits. I'm still good to go for a long while."

"Thank you, Ayako." Sakura smiled, reaching out to pat the brunette on the head, trying to show how grateful she was for her patience and her willingness to help.

Ayako wasn't doing it just to be helpful to Sakura though. Being helpful to her girlfriend was a large part of it, but there was definitely a selfish motive too for her to have the Shibari-session continue.

Before Ayako and Sakura had begun their Shibari-training-session, they'd bought over a hundred metres of soft rope, to ensure they wouldn't run out any time soon.

Then, they had pushed all furniture in the living room to the sides, creating a large open space in the middle. In that space, they had placed together three of the spare futons Shirou had lying around in his house, creating a soft patch on the floor. To this soft patch, they had added blankets and pillows to make sure they could lie down in all kinds of positions without experiencing discomfort, even after a while.

Lastly, they had both stripped down to their underwear, purple for Sakura and maroon for Ayako. When all of those preparations had been finished, Ayako laid down on her stomach and Sakura took place on the small of the brunette's back, from where it would be easy to practise the knots on her wrists.

So when Ayako gave Sakura permission to continue trying her knots on her for as long as she wanted, she was definitely also doing it because the feeling of Sakura's soft, panty-clad bottom on her back and her bare, plump thighs against her sides was positively heavenly.

And Sakura was more than aware of the brunette's feelings too, if the constant shifting of her bottom and the squeezing of her body by those heavenly thighs was anything to go by.

And so the girls continued their practise. It was an incredibly erotic picture, and there were few people who could have beheld it without feeling something.

Alas, there was only one person who had the privilege of watching the two beautiful girls practise their erotic arts, and while that person was definitely feeling a lot at the sight, she chose to bury it all under indignation, as she was wont to do.

"Well, it's nice that you are having so much fun," a very displeased voice suddenly cut through the pleasurable haze that Ayako and Sakura were in. "But must you do it while I am present?"

Tohsaka Rin was sitting a few metres away, in one of the chairs that had been placed against the wall, torn between staring at the other girls, covering her face with her hands, or looking away while pretending the sight didn't move her at all.

She was fighting a losing battle however, and as the urge to look became increasingly stronger, the black-haired girl lashed out in an attempt to distract herself.

"Nee-san, we decided on having a Shibari-session today a while ago. It is not our fault you suddenly dropped by." Sakura scolded her, annoyed at having been distracted from her knots. "Nor is it our fault you insisted on staying."

"Yeah, what Sakura said, you really roped yourself into this one." Ayako agreed wholeheartedly, not nearly as annoyed with the interruption as Sakura, seeing that she could still enjoy her girlfriend's butt and thighs even while talking. "Besides, if you are bored or if this is too embarrassing to watch from there, you could always join in."

"A-A-Absolutely not!" Rin's denial was immediate and not nearly as strong as she'd wanted it to be, though she bravely kept trying. "It is bad enough you made me strip down to my underwear as well. I am not joining your perverted bondage-play."

Indeed, Rin was also only clad in her underwear. Red in her case. After she had arrived at the Emiya-estate –and had gotten over the shock of having Sakura answer the door in her underwear—Ayako and Sakura had pestered her until she took her clothes off as well.

'It would be too embarrassing if she did not.' Had been the most convincing argument, and Rin had capitulated fully when Sakura had told her in no uncertain terms that if she wanted to stay, she had to follow the rules of the house.

"Well, if you're not joining us and you're not leaving either," Ayako began, noting that for all her protests, Rin had not even tried to give the impression she was going to leave any time soon. "Then can you at least be silent?"

"But that's boring." The black-haired girl complained. "You two don't say a word while you're busy, and I'm not allowed to say anything either. Can we at least hold a conversation?"

Whether it really was boring however, or Rin just didn't want to deal with the fact that she was staring a bit too much at certain body-parts of the other two girls was a question she really did not want answered right now.

"Then how about we discuss more scenarios for our roleplaying?" Sakura suggested innocently.

"Roleplaying?" Rin's eye twitched. "You know, for someone who promised s-s-se-se… intercourse was still some time away, you really are spending a lot of time on preparing for it!"

"Preparation will make the first time especially amazing." Ayako grinned, a shiver going through her body as Sakura shifted her butt again. "Not to mention it is always good to have plans for all the times after the first time as well."

"…Perverts."

"If we're discussing roleplaying, then I might have an idea, Sakura." Ayako turned her head as far as she could, ignoring the petulant Rin for now.

"Oh? I'm listening." Sakura smiled, returning to her attempts to tie Ayako's wrists together.

"In this one, we are two wretched peasant women in the seventeenth century, living on the land of our Daimyo." Ayako began explaining, noticing Rin's ears were perked up as well, metaphorically speaking. "We have a simple farm, growing crops on our fields and keeping a small number of animals."

"Peasant women with a farm. Understood."

"Then, because of a terrible disaster, a flood perhaps, we lose most of our crops, right before the winter."

"Oh no!"

"Yes, our fields have been devastated. With a great deal of effort though, we manage to scrounge together enough for us and our remaining animals to survive the winter, and to have enough seeds to sow the fields again next spring."

"So it's all good?" Sakura cocked her head to the side, probably wondering where the story was going.

"Nope. It's only just enough. That means we don't have any money or goods to pay the yearly taxes to our Daimyo."

"Oh, I think I can see where this is going."

"So we have four choices. The first choice is that we use the seedlings for next spring to pay him, meaning we can't grow crops next year."

"Absolutely not."

"We can also give him the food we meant to give to our animals, but then those animals will starve to death."

"Equally not an option."

"Then we can give him a part of our food and go hungry ourselves during the winter."

"That… might be an option."

"Or we can go to the Daimyo and offer him an alternative form of payment." Ayako finished, smirking meaningfully at her girlfriend. "I'm sure he won't insist on the tax if we slowly slide off our patched, worn kimonos during our negotiation. My, I wonder what kind of 'payments' he will demand from us instead-"

"I'LL KILL HIM IF HE TOUCHES YOU!"

All three girls froze.

Then, one shrunk in on herself when the other two turned towards her.

"Got a little too into it, Rin?" Ayako asked, though she was happy to see the black-haired girl jump to their defence so readily, even if it was a little misplaced.

"S-Shut up."

"You don't have to worry, Nee-san. I'm quite sure Ayako envisioned Senpai to be the Daimyo." Sakura said soothingly.

"Indeed." Said brunette nodded.

"And you shouldn't be too careless yourself in trying to kill him." Sakura's voice then shifted from a warning tone to a suggestive one. "Before you know it, your harvest might fail too, and you'll join us in our honoured Daimyo's bed."

"For the last time, I'm not joining you!" Rin shouted, though much less energetic than before.

"But then what will you do when your harvest fails? Certainly you don't mean to not pay your taxes at all, Nee-san?"

"Ugh." Rin shook her head, before resolutely turning away. "I'm not even going to discuss this with you anymore."

"What if you can be the Daimyo's wife?" Ayako tried, only to receive an insulted huff back. "Aw, I think we might have pushed Rin too far."

"It was all a bit too much for Nee-san." Sakura nodded, still working on the knots on Ayako's wrists. "She's a little angry with us now."

"Think she'll forgive us if we give her a kiss?"

"Maybe," Sakura nodded, and Rin went red again. "But that's going to have to wait. I finished tying you up again, could you try to escape?"

"Sure thing." Ayako first moved her arms a bit to test whether she was comfortable in her tied-up position –she was—and then began squirming and struggling against the rope.

The previous times, she'd managed to free herself quickly, taking a few seconds at the least and half a minute at most, but this time, she found it significantly harder to get out of the rope.

Several minutes went by as she fought against her bindings, but they didn't give an inch. Eventually, Ayako had to stop out of exhaustion and the rope was as tight as when she'd started.

"Alright, I give up." She surrendered, resigning herself to the fact that she wouldn't be going anywhere until Sakura said so.

"I did it!" Sakura threw her arms into the air with a shout of celebration, positively glowing in victory. "Did you see, Nee-san? I did it!"

"I saw, I saw." Rin huffed, having mellowed out a bit over the past minutes, her mood having improved, which was greatly aided by the fact her chief tormentor was writhing helplessly on the ground. "Well done."

"Alright, now your ankles." Sakura took a new piece of rope, turning around on Ayako's back, creating delicious friction that made the brunette's entire body shiver. "Hold them still, please."

"You might actually get good at this, Sakura." Ayako laughed, happy her girlfriend had succeeded. "Quite convenient for when Rin keeps saying no."

'SMACK'

"Ouch!"

Ayako cried out in surprise when Sakura suddenly slapped her butt, hard enough that it had undoubtedly left a red handprint on her skin. "S-Sakura!?"

"There are some things you don't joke about, Ayako." Sakura scolded her, before raising her hand again.

"EEP! I-I understand, Sakura, I won't do it again! I won't joke about forcing Rin again! Please don't- OUCH!"

But Sakura's hand fell despite her pleas, and a smacking sound echoed through the living room again. And then again, and again, and again.

Rin –who had frozen in place at her little sister's sudden action—leaned forward, watching with open interest as the brunette Shibari-victim was introduced to the next step of bondage, her panty-clad bottom turning red as she was spanked harshly.

And as Sakura mercilessly served her punishment, Ayako marvelled at how something so painful could nevertheless feel so good.

---

In a village in Spain, close to the border with France, a single person stood, surrounded by at least two dozen of the Dead, the mindless familiars of a Dead Apostle, who looked at her with nothing but bloodlust in their eyes.

Surrounded like this in the middle of the night by creatures far beyond humanity. For a normal person, it would have been a death sentence.

For Bazett Fraga McRemitz, experienced Enforcer and member of the Fraga-family, it was just another job.

With an angry screech, the first creature stormed forward, wildly swinging its arms around in an effort to hit her. Bazett dodged the swing by bending backwards, before killing it with a swift kick to its chin, sending its head flying from its shoulders.

Dropping into a crouch immediately to dodge the swipes of four more of the creatures, Bazett lashed out with Rune-enforced punches at the legs surrounding her, swiftly crippling them.

She was unable to finish them off however, as she had to jump away to dodge a slam from a particularly big one, the creature having linked its hands together to bring them down like a sledgehammer.

Fortunately, this left it open enough for Bazett to flip one of her long legs up and bring down a heel kick upon the small of its back. The feeling of the spine shattering was very satisfying, and Bazett finished the big creature off with a blow to the back of the head.

The Dead weren't intimidated or dismayed however –they never were– and relentlessly charged forward.

At this point, Bazett was starting to get tired. Not just from this group, but also from all the other groups before it. A place with around eight-thousand inhabitants might be classified as a big village at most, but if all eight-thousand people had been turned into the Dead, and you had to kill every last one of them with a group of just ten Enforcers and eight Executors, eight thousand suddenly turns out to be an awful lot of people after all.

After crushing one's chest and decapitating another, Bazett hastily retreated to prevent being surrounded. There, she killed the three creatures that were the fastest in pursuing her with a flurry of furious punches.

When yet another lunged at her, she had the good luck of being able to divert its path straight into another of its kind, both of them smashed to bits by the sheer force behind their movements.

She then punched another's arms upwards and killed it with a swipe across its throat with the Black Key she'd been allowed to borrow from one of the Executors she was working together with right now.

It was quite unusual for Enforcers and Executors to work together, but this was an unusual case to say the least.

This particular Dead Apostle they were hunting was a very bizarre one, acting out in strange ways that seemed entirely counterintuitive to its continued survival.

Far from trying to stay under the radar like normal bloodsuckers, this Dead Apostle attacked everything in sight without a care, sending out armies to attack entire villages at a time.

Worse, it was but one of a number of unusual vampires, all of whom were behaving like Berserkers, which of course had disastrous consequences for the Secrecy of the Moonlit World.

These strange Dead Apostles had become such a problem that even the Church, slow and ponderous as they were, had recognised it, sending a team of Executors to assist Bazett's group in hunting them down and destroying them.

So far, that cooperation between the forces of the Church and the forces of the Magus-association had been going rather well.

The team of Executors that had been sent to assist them with this mission was made up of reasonable individuals who just wanted to get the job done as quickly and cleanly as possible. From the moment they had joined up together, they had been nothing but pleasant and trustworthy.

And now they showed themselves to be so yet again.

"Watch your back, miss Enforcer." Kayla, a female Executor of about Bazett's age with blonde hair and rough features, shouted out as she jumped from a building and smashed into the creature that had almost gotten its claws into Bazett's back, instantly killing it. "There are a whole lot of them."

"Thanks, I hadn't noticed." Bazett remarked wryly, entrusting her back to the other woman and attacking more recklessly to kill the monsters faster. "Have they found the progenitor yet?"

"No. It's hiding itself very well, and our sensors aren't very good, unfortunately." Bazett couldn't see Kayla's face, but her tone conveyed her annoyance perfectly well. "We are running out of time though. We haven't lost anyone so far, but Brutus and Riley have been wounded to the point of immobilisation and need significant healing before they can return to the fight."

Bazett grunted wordlessly. That was not good. They had healing artifacts and healing spells, but after several days of continuous fighting, they were running critically low on both. It truly was of the utmost importance that they found the Apostle soon.

Even if they managed to clear this village completely, if it managed to run and turn another village, they wouldn't be able to pursue it anymore. They would be too tired and depleted.

"If we don't kill the Apostle before it escapes this village, we will start losing people at the next." Kayla summarized Bazett's thoughts in a sentence. "Arg, but this monster is way too intelligent to catch."

"Keep fighting." Bazett hissed as she used her Black Key to destroy another one of the Dead, leaving only seven of them in fighting condition. "If we give up, we're doomed."

"I am more than aware of that." Kayla snapped, before yelling wordlessly as she threw three Black Keys down the street, managing three perfect double-hits, killing six of the Dead, reducing the number of creatures to one.

"Nice throw!" Bazett used her own Black Key to bisect that last one, before holding the weapon out to Kayla. "Thanks for lending me this."

"Keep it. You will need it." Kayla hissed darkly, looking out over the city as the countless fires spreading everywhere provided all the light they needed to see in the dark of the night. "Look."

Bazett did look, and groaned when she saw two more groups of the Dead running past them, about a hundred metres away.

There truly seemed to be no end to them.

"Less groaning, more fighting." Kayla was already running towards them, and with a sigh of reluctance, Bazett followed quickly.

One of the two groups turned towards the women upon hearing them approach, while the other group kept running in the same direction as before, apparently not having noticed them yet.

"Don't attract the attention of the second group. We cannot handle both at once." Bazett grumbled to Kayla, who nodded in agreement. "Someone else will-"

"Noil Me Tangere!"

The redheaded woman was interrupted by a voice crying out. A voice belonging to the only non-combatant member of their taskforce. Someone who should have been nowhere near the battle, but safely behind the lines instead, tending to the wounded.

For a moment, Bazett thought she'd misheard.

But no, upon turning towards the source of the cry, both women instantly spotted the small form of the of-so-familiar white-haired nun, standing boldly in the open in her indecent mockery of church-robes.

"What is she doing here?!" Kayla's nostrils flared in anger at seeing Caren Ortensia standing in the middle of the street, holding out a hand towards the group of the Dead that had been running away, all of whom were now turning around to face her. "Does she want to die?!"

"I caught it!" Ortensia did not give the impression of a suicidal person however, appearing quite lively and spirited as she pointed to the group that had just turned around, calling out towards Bazett and Kayla. "I caught the Apostle! It's trying to hide between the Dead!"

"What?!" Bazett immediately jerked towards the group of the Dead, and indeed, in the very middle, bound by the Holy Shroud Ortensia always carried with her, was a form that was distinctly different from the Dead surrounding it.

It was the Dead Apostle!

"Kayla!"

"I see it!"

With a mighty heave, Kayla launched no less than five Black Keys at the creature, spread out in a pattern to ensure it would be hit even if it tried to dodge.

Bound as it was by Magdalena's Shroud however, it couldn't dodge even if it wanted to, and three Black Keys pierced its torso.

The Apostle's death-cry was quite epic to hear, loud, shrill, and ear-grating. To Bazett however, who had personally witnessed the atrocities it had committed and who had hunted the monster for far too long now, the tortured death-cry was the sweetest sound in the world.

With the master dead, its familiars lost all coherence, attacking each other in their lust for flesh, pretty much forgetting all about the three women in their midst.

Bazett and Kayla wasted not a second in dragging Ortensia away, the nun smiling at them all the way with closed eyes and an expression far too peaceful for the situation.

"Ortensia!" Kayla snapped once they had reached a safe place, her features taut with worry and rage. "What on Earth are you doing here?!"

"Helping you catch this rather annoying Apostle of course." Ortensia replied with a sweet smile, as if she had done nothing more than help her neighbours catch a stray cat. "What else would I be doing here?"

"How did you know it was hiding between its familiars?" Kayla asked a question Bazett would also like to know the answer to.

"I knew because I found this." Ortensia reached into her outfit's cleavage, possibly making it even more indecent, before pulling out a bundle of papers.

No wait, not just a bundle of papers, but a comic book, similar to the ones Lord El-Melloi possessed, though Bazett didn't think he owned a copy of this particular one.

Why did she think that? Because the title of this particular comic book was 'Vampire', and she knew the lord well enough by now to know that he wanted nothing to do with the bloodsuckers, even in literature.

"Where did you find this?" Kayla asked, taking the comic book from the smaller woman and giving it a bemused look. "How was this… 'book' of any use in discovering the Apostle's trick?"

"I found it in its hideout." Ortensia answered, revealing that she'd been out and about long before finding the comic book.

"How did you find its hideout?"

"Purely by accident. I got bored at the tents and I decided to go for a walk."

"On the frontlines?!" Kayla looked as if she wanted to pull her hair out, and Bazett couldn't disagree. The little nun was far more trouble than her innocent appearance suggested.

"No, no. Certainly not. Behind them." Ortensia smiled.

"Even there you could still have been attacked by stragglers." Bazett hissed, unable to believe anyone could be so stupid.

"I had God to protect me" Ortensia dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand, and a muscle below Kayla's eye started twitching uncontrollably. "Anyway, I stumbled on this building, see, and there were a lot of bodies in there, drained completely of their blood, and a lot of damage to the furniture and the walls."

"…And you also found this?" Kayla held up the comic book, having given up on trying to make Ortensia see the dangers of walking into a combat zone.

"That, and many more of its kind." Ortensia nodded, the smile slipping off her face. "The Apostle was apparently taking notes of the information he found in them, and in this particular comic book he found the trick in which the vampire hides between its 'zombies' to escape its hunters."

Kayla looked at the comic book with renewed interest, opening it for a quick scan, but after reading a few pages, her brow furrowed once more.

"This is nonsense." She stated bluntly, squinting her eyes as if that would change what she was reading. "Walking in the sun? Sparkling? Can be killed by a wooden stake? Afraid of garlic?"

"Yet our elusive Apostle clearly thought it all to be true." Ortensia smiled brightly, reaching into her cleavage again to pull out more sheets of paper. "I have his notes here. You'll see he spent quite a lot of time thinking of ways to avoid wooden stakes, garlic, and holy water."

Bazett took the notes from her and studied them for a moment, before looking back at the diminutive nun, who, despite her ever-present smile, did not look like she was joking.

It was a clever scheme from the Apostle to hide between its familiars in order to escape, Bazett could admit that much, but the rest of these notes and ideas looked as if they had been cooked up by someone who had never heard of Dead Apostles before.

Could it be…?

"Do you think this Apostle was a mundane person before it was turned?" The redhead asked the question out loud, eliciting a shocked look from Kayla and a wider smile from Ortensia. "It would explain its ignorance."

"That's impossible." Kayla shook her head violently, fear finding its way into her eyes. "Mundanes do not have the magical power required to become Ghouls, never mind Apostles. They become the Dead, always, without exception, and we should be glad for that. If mundanes could change into fully fledged Apostles, they would overwhelm us in no time by numbers alone."

"Then how do you explain this?" Bazett took no joy in arguing against Kayla's words, but to dismiss a theory merely because it would be disastrous if it was true was foolishness. "If mundanes can now change into Apostles-"

"Then we're screwed." Kayla bit out, crumpling the comic book in her fist. "Screwed I tell you!"

"What if this Apostle wasn't created 'naturally' though?" Ortensia suddenly proposed, using finger quotations around the word naturally, since Apostles were hardly natural in any way. "What if they were… 'helped along' a little?"

"…Explain."

"There are Magi who do research into Dead Apostles, aren't there?" The question was aimed at Bazett, who nodded immediately. "Then might it be possible that such a Magus succeeded at changing a mundane into an Apostle?"

"I do not know." Bazett admitted, her mind running at top speed. "I don't think it's impossible. Magi have a nasty habit of succeeding at things they really shouldn't succeed at."

"Well, that's nice." Kayla growled, having calmed down somewhat but now mainly irritated. "So while we don't have to deal with an upcoming wave of Mundane-Apostles, we do have a Magus on the loose who sees nothing wrong with letting their dangerous creations run free."

"It's not quite as bad as a wave of mundane-Apostles, but it is still bad." Ortensia nodded in agreement.

"Then just killing the bloodsuckers is not enough!" Kayla slammed a fist into a nearby wall, easily breaking the stones and making a massive dent, blowing air out of her nose like an angry bull. "We have to find this Magus as well, and kill them."

"That won't be easy." Ortensia cautioned her. "Especially not since there very well might be more than one Magus behind this."

"Not to mention we have no clue where to start looking." Bazett added. "The Magus Association won't stand for us turning their headquarters upside down, and that is likely what we'd have to do to find the perpetrators. We don't even have a name."

Perhaps she could ask Lord El-Melloi to help her? Certainly, he would know some useful people who wouldn't want such a careless Magus to walk around freely.

"I might have a clue." Ortensia slowly spoke, losing her smile for the second time since the conversation started. "It is not much, but there is a name on one of the note-pages the Apostle wrote."

It took some searching and shuffling, but eventually, Bazett found the page the nun had been referring to. On it, in the lower right corner, a single word had been written.

Alva.

"That can mean all kinds of things though." Kayla protested.

"Perhaps, but I think I recall a Magus-family by that name." Ortensia furrowed her brows in thought. "There was something with it, something about Dead Apostles."

"You have a good memory." Bazett complimented the smaller woman. "The Alva-family is a Magus-family of the Clocktower. One of their branch members, Allesandro Alva, received a Sealing Designation several years back for illegal Apostle-research. He fled to Japan, where he continued his research, until he was killed several months ago, in a fight with a local Magus."

"…It appears your memory is better than mine." Ortensia complimented her back, looking impressed with Bazett's extensive knowledge.

"Hardly. I was one of the Enforcers sent to retrieve Alva from Japan. The local Magus was willing to hand his corpse over to us."

Bazett made no mention of either Lord El-Melloi or Fujimaru. That she was revealing her own dealings was fine, but she wasn't going to spill other people's secrets.

"Well, anyway, that family has dealt in Apostle-research before?" Kayla asked, trying to get the discussion back on track. "So they might be behind the creation of this Dead Apostle too?"

"All the other unusual Apostles as well, I presume." Bazett nodded. "I reckon that's exactly why they behave so strangely. They were created from mundanes, people who should never have been able to become Dead Apostles. They act so oddly because they don't know what is going on."

"That is... almost pitiable." Kayla's mouth twisted in distaste at the notion. "What are we going to do about it? Tell the bosses?"

"This information getting out would surely create friction between the Church and the Magus-Association." Ortensia mused, making a very strong point for secrecy. "What's more, other Magi might be tempted to replicate the research, because they are cruel and evil. Also, the Church would show much less lenience to innocent people caught up in Apostle-hunts if it turned out they could become Apostles as well."

"So we don't tell anyone?" Kayla didn't like that option, and neither did Bazett. "We cannot let those Magi get away with it scot-free."

"We tell the right people." Ortensia replied calmly, not intimidated by Kayla's vehement words. "People who won't overreact, who can keep a secret, and who can help us fight this new threat."

"I will tell Lord El-Melloi then." Bazett repeated her earlier thoughts out loud. "He is very discreet, and he is well-connected too. He'll be able to help us."

"I know a few people in the Church of high standing who can keep their mouths shut." Kayla supplied, calming down now that they were actually making plans.

"Hm, good, good." Ortensia nodded with evident satisfaction. "I myself know no one who meets the criteria though, so if I could come with you, Kayla…?"

"Not a chance." Kayla denied her instantly.

"Then, with you, miss Bazett?"

"Uh, sure." Bazett agreed, staring in surprise at Kayla, wondering why she'd refused the nun's request so bluntly. She was a little annoying, sure, and airheaded, but to refuse her so completely... "If you're fine with going to the Clocktower."

"I have never been there before, but I've always wanted to visit it."

"Well, okay then."

With that matter decided, the two taller women returned to mobbing up the Dead that were still walking around, while also searching for survivors in the rubble that used to be a town.

They found several people still alive, hiding away in their houses, completely in shock, and it was only a quick Hypnosis that prevented them from breaking down entirely when they realised they were finally safe.

Their memories would have to be modified very thoroughly later.

It was after a while that they arrived at a main street, where there was nothing but ash and corpses waiting for them. Clearly, someone had been at work here already.

"Executor Kayla."

That someone turned out to be Rembrand, the most senior Executor in the Church-force and also the elected leader of the entire hunting party.

Unlike the three women, who all had several minor wounds, ruffled and torn clothes, and were covered with ash and dirt, Rembrand had somehow managed to stay absolutely spotless. There was not a tear in his clothing, a wound on his body, and not a drop of sweat or smudge of dirt to be found anywhere on his person.

It was that the women had seen him in the thick of the fighting multiple times, or they might have suspected he had not fought at all.

But no, he always took care to maintain his appearance even in the most desperate of situations, and never allowed any blood or dirt to come close, mainly because it would ruin his extensive make-up and elaborate hairstyle.

"Sir." Kayla saluted her superior, and Bazett and Ortensia followed suit a second later.

"At ease." Rembrand studied the three of them for a moment, lingering longer on Ortensia, whom he had explicitly ordered to stay behind the frontlines, before he resumed the debriefing. "Your report?"

"We managed to kill the Apostle."

"That was you?" Rembrand smiled at the news, pearl-white teeth shining brightly in the light of the rising sun. "Good work. Where did you find him?"

Kayla promptly gave a report of what had taken place, including every detail she could remember, except for the part about Mundanes becoming Apostles and the piece of paper with 'Alva' written on it.

Rembrand was very much the loyal follower of Cardinal Laurentis after all, a man who, while utterly loyal towards the Church and its values, wouldn't hesitate for a second to call for the immediate disposal of every innocent person who had ever been close to a Dead Apostle in the past or present if he ever learned that mundane people could become Apostles as well.

In other words, he was not someone who they wanted to share their findings with.

"Your decision to step onto the battlefield was extremely foolhardy." Rembrand scolded Ortensia after Kayla finished her report, talking down at the nun as if she were a child, which, to be honest, she pretty much looked like. "It might have yielded good results this time, but non-combatants engaging the enemy are nothing more than a hindrance for the actual combatants in almost all situations."

"I was never in any danger." Ortensia assured him calmly. "I had God on my side, and the Shroud of Magdalena for emergencies."

The Shroud of Magdalena was a cape-like piece of clothing that had the ability to restrain men and make them entirely harmless. The restrained men couldn't be attacked while bound, or the effect would be nullified instantly, but it was still a useful tool for a nun without fighting abilities.

Rembrand looked at her for a few seconds longer, before he shook his head, knowing from experience it was no use to argue with the nun. She wouldn't listen anyway.

"Well done on keeping her safe." He spoke to Kayla and Bazett instead. "Is there anything else you would like to report?"

"Not at the moment, sir." Kayla replied in an even voice.

"Very well. Continue searching the town for stragglers and survivors. Kill the former and rescue the latter." Rembrand ordered, before walking away again.

"Well, that was that I suppose. All that's left now is collecting my paycheck and then finding the next job." Bazett said, talking loudly, purposefully not mentioning the upcoming investigation, mindful of Rembrand still being within hearing distance. "I should see if Lord El-Melloi has something for me."

"I guess I'll speak to Bishop Dilo about more assignments." Kayla went along with talking loudly, referring to the one high-ranking church official she knew who would not immediately share the disturbing discovery of mundane Dead Apostles with the rest of the Church.

"I guess I'll be meeting Lord El-Melloi as well." Ortensia smiled brightly. "Is he nice?"

"Very nice." Bazett nodded with a grin. "He might try to hide it, but he's such a sweetie. It's adorable, really."

"Oh? Then I look forward to meeting him."

"You should. His first apprentice is a total cutie too by the way. His second apprentice isn't though. He once beat me up over a simple misunderstanding."

"How barbaric!"

---

When Shirou returned to his room after receiving the message from the giant in the cafeteria, the first thing he did was reach for his phone.

It was very late at night now in Fuyuki, and he was loath to disturb the girls when they were probably either sleeping or about to go to sleep, but he could really use some relaxation, and hearing their voices would go a long way to calm him down.

Of course, if they didn't want to talk to him and would prefer to go to sleep, he would hang up at once. Not that he thought that would be the case, but he didn't want to appear as if he took the girls' time for granted.

The phone went over three times before someone on the other end picked up.

"Good evening, this is the Emiya-estate. You are speaking with Sakura." From the sleepiness of her voice, Shirou could hear at once that he had indeed either woken the girls up or prevented them at the last second from going to sleep.

"Good evening, Sakura. It's me." Shirou said sheepishly, bowing in apology even though she couldn't see him. "Is this a very bad time for me to call?"

"Senpai?!" Sakura's voice instantly lost all sleepiness. "What? No, of course not! You can call whenever you want. Uhm, please wait a second, I'll wake up Ayako and Nee-san."

Rin was staying over again?

Shirou didn't mind it of course, but it seemed as if the black-haired girl was spending more time at his house these days than her own.

"I'm back, Senpai." Sakura's voice returned a minute later. "I'll put you on speaker. Let's see, here! Senpai can hear you now, Ayako, Nee-san."

"Hello Shirou!" Came Ayako's exuberant voice. "It's lovely to get two calls from you on one day, but why are you calling at this hour? Rin can barely stay awake anymore."

"I am perfectly- 'yawn' -fine, Mitsuzuri." Rin's grumbling voice answered, sounding not very awake yet, but determined to deny that until her dying breath. "It's absolutely no problem for me that Emiya-kun calls at this ungodly hour."

"Sure, sure." Ayako laughed, before she suddenly hissed loudly. "Ouchie, ouchie."

"Ayako? What's wrong?" Shirou asked sharply, worried about the sudden noises of pain the brunette was making.

"A-Ah, n-nothing. I-I just sat down on the couch." The hurried explanation did not make things clearer for Shirou.

"Why would sitting down on the couch hurt?" He asked in perplexity.

"Ah, w-well, that is… That's because..."

"Because Ayako was a naughty girl." Sakura interrupted Ayako's spluttered response, sounding supremely self-satisfied as she answered his question. "I might even say she was a knotty girl."

…That still did not make things any clearer for him. Ayako behaving badly should not in any way have any kind of influence on her physical state.

"Well, if it keeps up, perhaps you should see a doctor." Shirou suggested after a moment of confused silence.

"I'm sure it will pass!" Ayako squeaked, while Sakura chuckled under her breath.

Something was going on there that he didn't get, but since he deemed it unlikely he'd be able to get a straight explanation out of them, Shirou hesitantly decided to drop the matter.

"Why are you calling, Senpai?" Sakura brought the conversation back on track. "Not that we aren't delighted to hear from you again, but Ayako is right in that it is the second time today, and at quite a late hour at that."

"Moral support." Shirou again felt a flash of guilt at calling for such a selfish purpose but was able to push through it. "I don't know how to bring this gently, so I'll just say it outright. My meeting with Lorelei Barthomeloi is in three days."

Sakura took in a hissing breath through her teeth, Ayako coughed loudly as her saliva went down the wrong pipe, and Rin eeped in shock.

He had of course long since told the girls about the power-structure at the Clocktower. He had told them about the main families that called the shots, the factions that were competing against each other, and even about the infamous Queen of the Clocktower.

At the time, they hadn't been too impressed. Rin already possessed most of the information, and if it didn't involve Shirou himself, the other two didn't much care about a viper pit halfway across the world.

But then it had started to involve Shirou himself, when he received word that he would be summoned to an audience with the queen herself soon. At that point, Sakura and Ayako had started to grill him on every aspect of Clocktower-politics that might be even the slightest bit important for his upcoming audience, while Rin did her very best to find anything of use in her family's books and journals about how to behave oneself while meeting Magus-royalty.

All to make sure he would get through the meeting successfully and unharmed.

It showed just how much they cared, and Shirou still felt warm inside whenever he thought about it.

"She has already returned?" Sakura sounded nervous, her voice lowering as if she was afraid that mentioning that woman would summon her somehow. "That… Are you sure you'll be okay, Senpai?"

"I'll have to be. I don't think they'll give me a choice on whether to accept the 'invitation' or not." Shirou said wryly, before mellowing his tone a bit. "I'm sure I'll be alright, Sakura. I prepared for this, you helped me a lot, and ultimately, I don't think Barthomeloi summoned me just to bite my head off."

"Still, stay cautious in case she does try to bite your head off." Ayako advised, sounding like a wrestle-coach spurring on a student. "Keep your head high in there, don't give her an inch, watch out for unexpected moves, and don't be afraid to lay her low if you have to."

"Don't lay her low!" Rin's panicked voice interrupted, sounding aghast at Ayako's suggestion. "Good gracious, don't listen to Ayako! Stay respectful at all times, Shirou, don't make any aggressive movements, and listen to everything she says."

"Or Senpai can take the middle road of staying respectful but firm?" Sakura suggested in an amused tone. "You know, as is appropriate when meeting someone of higher standing than you in a university or business?"

"I think I'll do that." Shirou laughed, his mood already having improved leaps and bounds by the girls' antics. Gods, they were amazing. "She is older and more accomplished than I am after all, so some respect isn't out of place. Acting completely submissive is probably too far though, I doubt anyone with real power and authority would like that."

"Unless it's Rin acting like that." Ayako huffed. "If it's Rin who acts completely submissive, everyone with two eyes and the slightest bit of a heart in them will melt from how cute she is and will want to dominate and protect her."

"W-W-What are you saying!?" Rin shouted, sounding extremely embarrassed by Ayako's words.

"Ayako." Sakura's voice suddenly held a hint of a threat. "While I do not disagree with anything you said, you still shouldn't just say it out loud. Do you want me to subject you to another round?"

"Guh?! Eck! N-No!" Ayako screamed, and though Shirou couldn't see her, he got the idea she had just jumped up from the couch and hidden behind it. "I won't say it again!"

"Sakura, what do you mean you don't disagree?!" Rin's aggrieved voice sounded again. "It is not true!"

"Girls." Shirou said sternly into the phone, quieting the three on the other end of the line. "Don't bully Rin."

"I'm sorry, Nee-san." "Sorry, Rin." His girlfriends apologised, and the black-haired girl let out an insulted huff, though she didn't reject their apologies.

"Now, to get back on topic, I called you for moral support." Shirou went on, smiling widely again. "I have to say that it's been a great success so far."

Perhaps they thought he was being sarcastic, because it remained quiet for a moment, before Sakura hesitantly spoke up.

"It was?"

"Absolutely! I'm feeling much better than before. Your antics always cheer me up." Shirou assured them, not wanting them to believe he was being sarcastic when he wasn't.

"Well, I'm glad we can provide you with entertainment." Rin snarked, before she mellowed out a bit, a teasing note entering her tone. "It's good to hear you are feeling better though. Really, Emiya-kun, letting a simple meeting with Barthomeloi unnerve you like that, how sad."

"Weren't you the one squeaking in fright when you heard someone else was going to have a meeting with that woman?" Ayako was having none of Rin's cheek however, parrying the black-haired girl's tease with a teasing remark of her own.

"I was just surprised!"

"Of course." Shirou agreed instantly, cutting off another round of squabbling before it could start. "Of course it was merely surprise that caused you to react like that, Rin. I never thought otherwise."

"Hmpf." The only reaction was another insulted huff however.

"Thank you, all three of you." Shirou said warmly, and though he couldn't see it, three pairs of cheeks lit up in happy blushes at the other end of the line. "Now, it must be very late over there, so I'll no longer keep you. Good night."

"Senpai, again, we don't mind it when you call late at night. We're always happy to hear from you." Sakura's voice became soft and tender, so much so that Shirou almost blushed himself.

"Especially if you need some company." Ayako added, sounding as soft and sweet as Sakura. "We are your girlfriends after all, standing ready to support you at all times sort of falls under the job-description, just like you always stand ready for us."

"It's getting really sappy in here." Rin snarked, though she was ignored.

"I am very happy to hear you say that." Shirou's response was heartfelt, his heart almost bursting from the happy and loving feelings. "Of course I'll always stand ready for you."

"And we for you." Sakura finished. "Good night, Senpai."

"Good night, Sakura, Ayako, Rin." Shirou replied, before they hung up.

No doubt the girls would head to bed now, their hearts light from the happiness that the call had brought them. A perfect end of the day.

Here in London however it was only slightly after midday, so instead of going to bed with his excellent mood, Shirou would have to get back to business. Lord El-Melloi should hear about the upcoming meeting as soon as possible.

Before he left for the lord's office though, he should first hide his suitcase somewhere safe. If it was really as special as Reines had claimed it was, he couldn't take the risk of a guest finding it and discovering its special properties.

Shirou took a step towards the suitcase, reaching out to take its handle…

'Knock-knock'

…When someone knocked on the door.

A normal person might have been taken aback by the speed at which Shirou turned around.

That normal person would have been shocked tremendously by the hammer that he suddenly retrieved from nowhere and aimed towards the door as if it was a gun.

That person wouldn't have known however about the Bounded Fields Shirou had placed on that door, the ones that were supposed to warn him about someone's approach long before they even got close.

They also wouldn't have known that those Bounded Fields told him no one was there, despite the knocks he just heard.

No, wait! That was no longer true. Now that Shirou focused, there was in fact someone standing in front of his door that his Bounded Fields picked up on.

From one second to the next, a person appeared, right in front of the entrance to his room. It wasn't teleportation however, it was just that his Bounded Fields only now picked up on that person being present at all. It was as if they had been distracted and now snapped back to attention.

That was impossible though. They were magical constructs without a conscience, they couldn't get distracted, by anything.

It had to be some kind of counter spell, something that allowed this mysterious person to escape his Bounded Fields' detections as long as Shirou himself didn't pay attention.

Wondering just who could have that effect on his defences, Shirou stalked towards the door and opened it in a flash, holding Mjolnir in front of him, coming face to face with…

"Shirou, my dude! How are you doing?" Came the peppy voice of the small, frail, incredibly troublesome teen who Shirou had been 'privileged' to call his classmate over the past week.

"Escardos." Shirou deadpanned at the boy, dismissing Mjolnir again as the mysterious person turned out not to be a credible threat. "What did you do?"

"Huh? What did I do?" Escardos appeared genuinely surprised by Shirou's question, not a trace of deceit to be found on him. "Why are you asking?"

"There was something strange just now, before you knocked." Shirou clarified. "What was that?"

"I don't know. Wasn't me this time." Escardos shook his head. "Whatever you are talking about, in this particular case, I'm as innocent as a baby."

Once more, there wasn't a trace of deceit coming from Escardos, and Shirou tentatively decided to believe he hadn't done anything on purpose.

Which meant Escardos had somehow avoided Shirou's Bounded Fields without intending to, which opened up an entirely different can of worms.

The redhead had known that Escardos was a strange one –the constant smell of a garbage heap coming from him and the ragged break lines Shirou could see all over the boy's spiritual presence indicated that quite clearly– but he hadn't expected that to translate into sudden powers and abilities.

Shirou made a mental note to add more defences to his room, specifically attuned to the boy in front of him to make it fully Escardos-proof, before he stepped back, gesturing for frail teen to enter.

"Please come in." He said, and Escardos, despite looking taken aback for a moment, gladly accepted, entering the room with a hop in his step and a big smile on his face.

"Really chill of you to invite me in." The frail teen grinned, looking around the room with greedy eyes. "It took le chien ages to let me see inside his room, and miss Grey still refuses to even let me come anywhere close to hers."

Shirou completely understood why. If it hadn't been for his Japanese upbringing, he probably would have thrown Escardos out as well before he could have even glimpsed what lay behind Shirou's door. He was just too troublesome.

Then again, it wasn't as if Shirou had much to hide. As long as Escardos didn't pay too much attention to the suitcase, there was nothing in Shirou's room that could pose a problem.

"Hey, that's a cool suitcase!"

But of course Escardos went straight for the suitcase. The suitcase that had been magically enlarged on the inside through an analogue of the Second True Magic, of which the discovery would undoubtedly lead to Shirou getting Sealed. That suitcase.

"Escardos." Shirou grabbed the boy's shoulder, doing his utmost best to look exasperated rather than nervous. "Please don't get distracted. You haven't told me why you are here yet."

"Ha?" Escardos blinked once, before his eyes widened in realisation. "AH! I forgot! I was supposed to bring you to Waver as soon as possible."

"Lord El-Melloi?"

"It's been the talk of the Clocktower that you have been invited to an audience with the Queen herself. Waver wants to talk with you about that, pronto!" Escardos hastily explained, not giving the suitcase another glance, to Shirou's immense relief. "Let's go, before he gets mad at me again."

The boy grabbed Shirou's hand without as much as a 'by-your-leave' and started pulling him along, straight out of the door.

"Here we are." Escardos was panting loudly by the time they arrived at the lord's office, about five minutes later, leaning his hands on his knees in exhaustion as sweat dripped down his brow.

They hadn't gone much faster than a light jog at any point during their travel, and most of it slower than that even, but apparently Escardos had no more stamina than Lord El-Melloi.

"Don't tell him we're late because of me." Escardos pleaded once he got his breathing under control, before pushing the door open and entering. "Waver, we're here."

"Flat, Fujimaru. Excellent." Lord El-Melloi nodded approvingly from behind his desk, while Grey, who once more sat in the corner of the room, lifted her hand in greeting. "Flat, you are dismissed."

"Yes, yes, secret apprentice stuff that the whole Clocktower already knows about." Escardos grinned, before sashaying out of the office again. "Try not to die, Shirou. You're a lot of fun and I'd hate to lose you."

The door closed behind him, but Escardos' ominous warning echoed for a moment longer.

"Lady Barthomeloi won't kill you." Lord El-Melloi was quick to assure him though. "As long as you don't attack her first, she won't strike at you no matter how badly you mess up the meeting."

"She might challenge me to a fight in the Arena if I insult her enough though." Shirou huffed with a wry smile.

"Yes." Lord El-Melloi didn't even try to deny it. "But she still won't kill you. Beat you up perhaps, but she has never actually killed someone in the Arena who wasn't already sentenced to death."

"That still doesn't sound very good."

"It isn't. Powerful lords and heirs might be able to shrug off being challenged and defeated by her, since losing to the most powerful Magus of the generation is hardly a shame, but you will be mocked over it for the rest of your life."

Lord El-Melloi didn't pull any punches today, but Shirou was grateful for that. It was best if he knew the stakes of what he was getting up to. Sugar-coating things wouldn't help him here.

"She might also choose not to fight you but place you in disfavour with the Barthomeloi instead, which will ruin your life as well." Lord El-Melloi went on, dishing out yet another punch. "In other words, don't mess this up or you're done for, one way or another."

"I'll do my very best not to mess this up."

"Good. Make sure to prepare yourself for the meeting behorehand."

"Of course."

"Also, and this might be insensitive of me to say, but if this goes awry, please try to keep as many people out of it as possible. I am your sponsor, so I'll stand by you no matter what, but Grey, Svin, Flat, and the rest don't have any stake in this. Please try not to drag them along if things go wrong."

"I'll do my utmost to keep them out of this whole business." Shirou promised.

"Thank you." Lord El-Melloi nodded, before looking off to the side, pursing his lips. "I'll also deal with the rest of the Archibald. No doubt they'll want to know why the Vice-Director suddenly wants a meeting with my newest apprentice."

"Good luck with that." Shirou winced in empathy. He had really only met Reines and walked with an Archibald-elder called 'Rampusa' for a few minutes, but that was enough to know that a meeting with them had to be terrible.

"I expect I will need all the luck I can get." Lord El-Melloi sighed dramatically, before focusing on Shirou again. "I will call upon you again on the day of the meeting itself. Make sure you wear your best clothes, have showered and brushed your teeth, combed your hair, and generally made yourself look presentable."

"I will." Looking neat and presentable was the least you could do when meeting with a person of higher standing. Shirou had dressed up a little when he went to teach Reines as well, and he would definitely put more effort than that into preparing for a meeting with the Vice-Director.

Lord El-Melloi and he spoke for a few minutes longer about protocol and what steps Shirou should undertake during the next three days, before the redhead was dismissed again. Meanwhile, Grey watched silently from the corner, her eyes glittering in concern.

It heartened Shirou to see her so concerned for him, but he had no time for a chat with her. He had a lot of preparation to do.

---

The chairman of the Archibald-family-meetings was shocked awake when Reines stormed into the Archibald meeting hall, a place she only visited when the family had a conference or when she needed to speak with the ancient Magus, who could always be found in the hall, without exception.

The chairman, being centuries old, had lost nearly all strength in his body, be it physical or Magical, and since he categorically refused to prey on others to regain power, he hadn't been able to leave his seat in decades.

All he did these days was preside over meetings, give advice to the younger generations of Archibalds, and use whatever magical power was left to him to enhance his already strong senses to search the Clocktower for threats and mysterious events.

Of these three tasks, it was giving advice to future generations that he found most important. Despite his age, he had lost very little of his wits, and he had gained much in wisdom and good sense. His arrogance had been shed long ago, and a decent amount of humbleness had taken its place.

That was why the Archibald who listened to him usually flourished under his guidance.

To know what happened to those who didn't listen, one would only have to look at Kayneth El-Melloi. That boy had been far too stubborn for his own good, disregarding all good advice, and as a result, he had blundered from mistake to mistake in his short life.

At one point, the chairman had been insistent upon Kayneth acknowledging young Waver Velvet as a good student, his years of experience telling him that boy could make it very far with the right guidance.

Instead, Kayneth had humiliated the boy, in one stroke ensuring that Waver Velvet would hold a grudge against him and that no other promising student from a poor background would ever dare to approach the Archibald again.

At another point, the chairman had tried to make it clear to Kayneth that it was vital to develop good relationships with the lower-ranked families as well as the high-ranking ones.

Kayneth had laughed at the very notion, and had relentlessly bullied all the lower families in his power base.

Lastly, the chairman had tried to warn Kayneth that his fiancée did not return his love, that he was better off seeing his marriage purely as the business transaction that it was, because she would never return his affections.

Kayneth had fallen head-over-heels in love with the woman instead, which had perhaps been the most foolish mistake he had made up until that point.

It wasn't that the Chairman didn't believe in love. He did. He just believed it was dangerous if the love only came from one side while the other saw the relationship as purely business.

Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri could have drained the Archibald dry and Kayneth would have let it all happen with a dumb smile on his face.

Those mistakes were nothing however compared with the mess that Kayneth had made of the Grail War.

The chairman had known from the very beginning that trying to dissuade Kayneth from participating in that wretched slaughter was a hopeless endeavour, so instead, he'd tried to impart some battle-advice on the man.

Never take anything you cannot afford to lose with you into war.

Kayneth had brazenly taken the Archibald-Crest with him, even though there was a considerable chance he would not survive.

Always respect your allies, especially the ones who are loyal to you and you cannot afford to lose.

Kayneth had treated Lancer like a dog, and even though the Servant had been too honourable to dispose of his Master and find a new one, it might very well have ended that way if Kayneth had summoned a Servant that was slightly less honourable or if he'd done something Diarmuid truly couldn't abide.

Never underestimate your opponent. Never look down upon them before you have defeated them completely and utterly.

Kayneth's refusal to believe that anyone else in that War had been his equal had seen him become the first casualty among the masters. Underestimating Emiya Kiritsugu had not only cost him his life, but the Archibald-Crest as well.

Pride and arrogance have no place in a war. Dignity is the first casualty, and prioritising luxury and comfort over practicality is absolutely insane.

As if the arrogance with which the lord of the Archibald had strolled into a deadly battle wasn't bad enough, he'd also had to expose himself to ludicrous levels of danger just to try and kill his former student, all because his pride had been hurt.

The overly fancy and luxurious hotels and manors the man had stayed in spoke for themselves at that point.

Kayneth might have been an extremely talented Magus, but his arrogance and refusal to learn meant the chairman had been quite happy to see him go nonetheless. A shame though that the Crest had also fallen victim to Emiya in the process.

Comparatively, Reines listened far better than her predecessor ever had. She had the sense to recognise good advice when it was given, and was astute enough to not listen to the Chairman blindly but form her own, well-founded opinions as well.

This was a girl who would leave her Crest at home when going off into danger and was willing to sacrifice luxury and dignity to achieve a goal.

She still tended to underestimate her opponents and she had trouble respecting people she saw as beneath her, but she had been improving in those areas as well.

With his and young Waver's guidance, she would make a fine family-head indeed.

But patting himself on the back would have to wait. Reines was staring at him with an imploring gaze.

"What is it, little one?" He asked her, taking note of her agitation. "Is this about young Fujimaru being invited to a meeting with the Vice-Director?"

"It is." Reines didn't even seem surprised he knew about that already. "This could be a disaster. The Vice-Director… She'll eat Fujimaru alive."

"Now, now. There is no need for exaggeration." The chairman chided her gently. "Many people meet with her and walk away without undue trouble, young Waver amongst them."

"Waver is an experienced hand at the power games of the Clocktower. Fujimaru clearly has no idea how he is supposed to behave in the presence of his betters." Reines shook her head in consternation, dead set on believing the worst. "And even if he does, that will not matter if the Vice-Director is set on killing or otherwise punishing him."

"What would she punish young Fujimaru for?" The chairman lifted a bushy eyebrow, wondering why Reines would immediately assume that Fujimaru being summoned was a bad thing.

"I do not know, but why else would she call him for a meeting?" Reines' agitation was such that her voice rose in volume, something that happened only rarely.

"To reward him for the capture of Vincent Balefor." The Chairman stated.

That put a stop to Reines' frantic pacing.

"You believe she summoned him because of that?" She asked hopefully, stepping closer to him.

"Why would she not? It was well known that she put an unofficial bounty on Balefor's head."

"So, it's just a matter of due rewards then?" Reines rubbed her hands nervously, though she had a hopeful glint in her eyes. "She isn't going to kill him and punish the Archibald?"

"I would assume not, considering there is nothing to punish us for."

"Yes, of course." Reines nodded, calming down considerably as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. "We haven't done anything wrong, and even if we did, punishment and killing would have been handled by Montmorency, not by the Vice-Director herself."

Ah yes, beautiful Montmorency. The Chairman smiled at the thought of that woman. That lovely flower that held the reins of the Clocktower firmly in her hands, her confidence and quiet strength radiating off her every moment of the day.

Then he shook off the momentary lapse in attention and continued speaking.

"There is another possibility." He told Reines, whose gaze snapped back to him in concern. "Keeping in mind that I have only ever seen pictures of young Fujimaru, he seems to be quite comely, handsome even. From your reports, he also appears to be capable, patient, and as warm a person as a Magus could be. Perhaps when he enters lady Barthomeloi's office, he will find not torture equipment, but a set table for two with candlelight and roses waiting for him."

"Now you are jesting!"

"Yes." The Chairman admitted bluntly, though with a smile still.

"The Vice-Director would sooner marry a Meluastea than an Asian." Reines continued, harrumphing at the thought of any flirtations between Fujimaru and Barthomeloi. "Think of the public opinion and the gossip."

The Chairman did not think Lorelei Barthomeloi placed all that much value on the public opinion, but he didn't refute Reines.

"Besides, he is capable and skilled, that is true, but not nearly powerful enough to be considered by the Barthomeloi as a potential marriage candidate."

Wrong again. Fujimaru was scarily powerful, more than enough to be considered a worthy marriage candidate by any family.

Again, he did not tell Reines.

Not because he had his own intentions with the knowledge, but because telling her would result in the knowledge spreading to the other elders, who would want to profit from it, and that would inevitably end up placing Fujimaru squarely against the Archibald.

That was an outcome that had to be avoided at all costs.

"I think you were correct before." Reines then said with the air of someone wrapping up a conversation. "She wishes to speak with him about Balefor, that is all."

"Will you bring this matter up with young Waver? To verify that our guess is correct?"

"Why would I? He does not control the Vice-Director's whims, nor is he aware of her intentions, and he was undoubtedly caught by surprise as much as we were." Reines waved away his suggestion. "I don't think there's anything he can add to the discussion."

The ancient figure shook his head slowly. There was the arrogance and underestimation he'd been talking about before. Reines thought the matter was over, that she had seen and understood everything there was to see and understand, so she didn't want to spend another thought on it.

"I'll return to my projects now. Thank you for indulging me."

And off she was again.

The Chairman wasn't angry about her short-sightedness though. She was just a child, abandoned too early by her caregivers, which meant a certain amount of foolishness was entirely normal and expected. At her age, children should still be learning, still be making mistakes and mishaps that their elders would help them resolve. They shouldn't have too much responsibility. They were simply not ready for that, even if they were Magi.

In a righteous world, Reines wouldn't have all these responsibilities piled onto her. She would have been free to play and experiment, to learn, as children should, while a proper adult took care of all the difficult matters.

The world wasn't righteous though, nor was it kind. Reines had been abandoned, thrown into the deep end, and the only one who genuinely assisted her was someone she'd had to blackmail into doing so.

The Chairman could only pity her, and he cursed Kayneth yet again.

---

"So you're saying he was invited to a meeting by the Vice-Director?" Lady Saward asked with a small gasp of shock. "Oh my, then he is a dead man."

"Perhaps," Millicent Raverth Archibald mused, pouring some wine into a glass for her old friend, before sitting back on the couch. "In any case, he is beyond our reach now."

"We can't 'recruit' him anymore? Pity. He looked pretty skilled, and handsome too." Lady Saward sighed in consternation, fanning herself with a piece of paper. "Most of them are rather small and unappealing, but some of those Asians are aesthetically pleasing indeed."

"Fujimaru is definitely easy on the eyes." Millicent agreed with a throaty laugh. "And according to little Reines, powerful enough to be able to cast spells without Arias or Catalysts."

"Then perhaps it is for the best that we did not try to recruit him." Lady Saward shook her head, picking up the glass of wine and taking a sip. "Such power would have attracted far too much attention."

"That is true." Millicent sighed, lazily reclining on the couch with her own glass. "I suppose I'll have to accept I will never see that powerful body toiling as we hold his leash, his furious gaze burning into our skin as those muscles flex and ripple in the most amazing of ways."

The white-haired woman sighed again, her hands slowly wandering over her scantily clad body until they found her intimate places, where they-

"Cease those unseemly actions." Lady Saward cuffed Millicent over the head with an open hand, her face twisting in disgust at her wanton behaviour. "You know you shouldn't do that around me. I have no desire to see another woman's body."

"My apologies." Millicent sat up again, rubbing the back of her head where Saward had clouted her, before returning to business. "Can the project still continue without Fujimaru?"

"Of course it can. Recruiting the boy was a long shot anyway, with how Velvet watches over his own like a hawk. My students will just have to fill the gap and work twice as hard to bring the project to a good end."

"Is there any chance that we could use your students for the more forbidden research? Or that we could pawn them off to the Meluastea? Torben Meluastea has been pestering us about our contributions, saying that they are too low. We need to give him something if we want to keep the Meluastea's support, and more workers would be an adequate form of payment."

"No." Saward immediately and strongly denied. "Showing my apprentices that I am engaged with people who perform illegal experiments would give them far too much power over me. Besides, my star pupils would bash my head in for real if I tried putting them on something like Apostle-research."

"Hm, then I suppose we shall have to pay Torben in money. Our debt to him has to be settled somehow."

"Can you not sleep with him? That old horndog will probably gladly subtract half our debt for that."

"Perhaps, but I noticed he is far more interested in you. It might free us from our whole debt instead of half if it is you who sleeps with him.

"I'll keep that in mind then."

Lady Saward had no trouble speaking about using sex as a means of payment, and she would have no trouble following through with it either. Her body and sexuality were weapons that she could use, and she would be a fool to ignore that.

In the game that was life, every advantage had to be used to its fullest extent. Whether that was sexuality, physical power, magical power, cunning, intelligence, a penchant for brutality, or whatever else, you had to make the most of what you got. The powerful made the rules, and the sheep got sheared.

At the moment, she was the one doing the shearing, and she liked the status-quo just fine as it was. No need to change or upset it.

Having sex once with a man who was only slightly past his prime was a small price to pay to stay on top of the pile.

---

The day of reckoning was upon him. It was almost three o'clock, on the day of his audience with the Vice-Director of the Clocktower, and Shirou was sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for his guide to come pick him up.

He had arrived quite early, just to be on the safe side. He didn't want to come over as deferential or a pushover, but there was nothing wrong with showing basic respect by arriving on time, especially to someone of higher rank and standing than he.

Even Thor had knelt to Odin and Frigga after all.

Eventually, after almost half-an-hour of waiting, the clock struck three, and the stream of people walking through the main hall parted like the Red Sea to allow passage to something, or more likely someone, coming from the Department of Policies.

With the people stepping aside like that, and in some cases literally throwing themselves to the side, it didn't take long for Shirou spot the individuals approaching him.

The first person he noticed was the giant who had brought him Barthomeloi's summons three days before, looking exactly the same as last time. His face could have been carved from stone, and his body, hidden under a tightfitting suit, looked as if it had been sculpted from marble by a horny, gay sculptor with an excessive appreciation for muscles.

More important however was the person the giant was accompanying, and guarding as well, if the body-language was anything to go by.

It was an elderly woman, appearing at first sight to be in her late sixties, yet a further examination at a deeper level of reality put her closer to a hundred years of age. She had bone white hair, blue eyes that contained plenty of life despite her age, and skin that, while wrinkly, was better than the nigh centenarian had any right to have.

It was the aura of authority around her however that confirmed Shirou's suspicion about her identity.

This was Mirei Montmorency, the second-in-command of the Department of Policies, and Lorelei Barthomeloi's right hand. Though she lacked any direct influence, she was the one who made the Clocktower run smoothly on a day-by-day basis, making her invaluable and almost irreplaceable to the Magus Association.

She was, in one line, the power behind the throne.

She was also definitely not someone who would be sent on a run-of-the-mill errand like picking someone up from the cafeteria, even if it was someone the queen wanted to meet with.

It was yet another unexpected happening on top of a massive pile of them, and Shirou was getting really nervous about it all.

It must have been visible on his face too, for Lady Montmorency smiled comfortingly at him once she came within earshot.

"There is no need to worry about little old me." She said soothingly, the smile remaining on her face as she spoke, her voice sounding strangely young for her age. "I am only here because I was a bit curious about you. You are not in any kind of trouble at all."

"Even if you say that…" Shirou sighed, before he bowed, deeply. "My name is Shirou Fujimaru. It is an honour to meet you."

"Mirei Montmorency. The honour is all mine." Lady Montmorency replied, before tapping her cane against the ground, casting a look around the cafeteria. "Now that the introductions are over with, come. I will bring you to Lorelei."

She was clearly in a hurry, and Shirou could understand that. They shouldn't be making the Vice-Director wait needlessly, that was rude. It might even be dangerous depending on her mood.

Nevertheless, once they started walking, the elderly woman wasn't very fast, so Shirou had to hold back quite a bit in speed, just like the giant.

"Haha, I do apologise." Lady Montmorency tittered, her eyes sparkling in amusement. "Elrick and you are no doubt greatly vexed by having to walk so slowly because of this old woman."

"It's not really a problem." Shirou shook his head.

"Oh? Then why do you look so troubled?" Lady Montmorency asked, having already seen right through him.

"…I'm merely thinking about the audience I was granted." Shirou admitted after a moment, rubbing the back of his head. "It was rather sudden, and I don't know what to think of it."

"Don't worry. You get used to randomly being summoned over time." Lady Montmorency said in a soothing tone.

"I hope I don't need to." Shirou replied immediately, before wincing inwardly, wondering if he hadn't been too frank there. "No offence."

"None taken. Most people would not fancy regular meetings with a Barthomeloi." Lady Montmorency gave a weary sigh. "Being invited more than once in short succession usually means you have done something terribly wrong."

"Hm." Shirou grunted non-committedly, not sure whether this conversation was reducing or increasing his nerves for the upcoming meeting.

"She's quite a demanding woman." Lady Montmorency went on, shifting the subject towards Shirou's host, a note of warning entering her tone. "Not in the sense that she wants you to work yourself to death, but she had a very rigid idea of how people of different ranks and standings should interact, and what they should say to each other. Very traditionalist, you might say."

"There is nothing wrong with adhering to the rules of one's society." Shirou commented neutrally.

"Hah! With non-answers like that, you might actually make it big in this place." Rather than being annoyed, Lady Montmorency gave a short bark of laughter at his answer. "There's nothing wrong with adhering to the rules, that is true, but be aware that her rules and your rules might differ greatly. Hers can be a few centuries behind what the young'uns consider normal these days."

Alright, but Shirou knew that already. Magi were very traditionalistic and liked to pretend they still lived in medieval times. It only made sense the head-Magus was exactly the same.

"Just let her do the talking and say as little as possible yourself." Lady Montmorency concluded. "If you absolutely have to talk though, speak with the utmost respect."

"Thank you for the advice." Shirou might have known most of it already, but he nevertheless appreciated that the lady was trying to help him a little.

Idly, he wondered how many people like him she'd led to the Vice-Director, or the Vice-Director's predecessors, over the years, and how many of them had never come back.

Not that he really wanted to know. Perhaps he could ask that question when he had safely returned, and he no longer had to account for death-flags.

"I am serious though." Lady Montmorency continued as they went up a long flight of stairs and Shirou offered her his elbow to lean on when he saw she was struggling with climbing the steps. "You must keep your temper in check, no matter how difficult it is for you."

"I can keep my temper in check." Shirou protested, wondering why she would think he couldn't.

"Six half-dead fools in the Healing Wing disagree with you."

"They attacked me first!"

"Making silly excuses doesn't change the facts, you hot-tempered youth." Lady Montmorency stuck out her tongue at him, and Shirou was tempted to stop supporting her and just drop her down the stairs again.

Doing so would only prove her right however, so Shirou suppressed all feelings of revenge and continued helping her ascend the stairs.

"Don't you people have an elevator or something?" The redhead felt the need to ask after the fifth flight of stairs, though he didn't expect a positive answer.

"We do." Lady Montmorency nodded, taking Shirou aback. "It was installed in 1997, when I began having trouble walking everywhere. It broke several months ago though, and we haven't been able to find anyone to repair it yet."

"Is there such a lack of elevator-repairmen?" Shirou asked in puzzlement. "That even the Clocktower can't find one?"

"No. The problem is that in 2002, a motion was passed that barred entrance to the Clocktower for anyone not involved with the Moonlit World." Lady Montmorency explained, starting to pant and gasp for air between sentences as they kept climbing and climbing. "Since elevator-repairmen tend not to be involved with our world, that means we cannot find anyone."

"Can you not just wipe their memories after they are done?" Shirou didn't doubt there were plenty of people who were willing to repair an elevator and have their memory wiped afterwards if enough money was offered in recompense.

"No such luck. That loophole is covered in the new law." Lady Montmorency shook her head, panting harder and harder. "I'll just have to get used to stairs again."

"I know a bit about electronic equipment myself, so I could take a look if you want?" Shirou offered. He had never worked on elevators before, but they couldn't be that different from air conditioners, washing machines, and motorised vehicles.

"If you feel confident about it, gladly." Lady Montmorency accepted with a nod, sweat flying off her face at the motion. "You can hardly break it more than it already is. –Oh, pfoo, we still have three flights to go."

"Do you need to rest for a moment?" Shirou asked in concern when sweat began dripping down her brows in alarming quantities. "I don't think anyone would blame you if you did."

"Perhaps not, but this is the first time since 1990 that I got so far on these stairs without having to rest even once." Lady Montmorency's eyes blazed with fire as she stared upwards. "A few more flights and I can say I have climbed the stairs without resting even once for the first time in over a decade."

"Is that really so important?!" Shirou half-shouted in worry, but she ignored him, limping further and further upwards, panting harder and harder, looking like she was about to keel over at any moment, when…

"Made it!" She cheered breathlessly when she reached the top, letting go of Shirou's arm and leaning heavily on her cane instead. "Haha, did you see that, Elrick?"

"I did, ma'am." The giant confirmed with his booming voice, looking down fondly at the short, old woman.

"That was entirely nonsensical!" Shirou scolded her, still feeling worried that she might suffer a heart attack or a stroke at any moment. "That could very well have given you a heart attack."

"But it did make you feel better, didn't it?" Lady Montmorency winked conspiratorially, before bursting out in cackles.

It took a moment for her words to register, but then Shirou's mouth fell open in shock.

Had she put on that entire scene, that ridiculous old woman-act, just to make him feel better?

It had worked, he didn't feel nearly as nervous anymore, but…

…Why would she, a Magus, do such a thing?

"It wasn't entirely for you." Lady Montmorency smirked when she regained her breath completely, reading the question off his face. "It was true what I said about making it to the top of the stairs without resting once, and that I haven't managed to do so in more than a decade. I set a challenge for myself and I lived up to it. That it provided enough excitement to settle your nerves was a convenient by-product."

…That might have been the first genuinely nice thing anyone had done for him since he'd arrived at the Clocktower, Lord El-Melloi and Grey excluded.

Shirou's opinion of Lady Montmorency went up a lot of notches, and even if it was all a trick to gain his trust, which he didn't deem likely based on the fact he sensed no deceit or lies from her, it was still a very kind way to gain his trust.

She acted more like a lovable grandma than a Magus, something that was surprising to see from the right-hand of the Vice-Director herself. Though you could probably get away with that if you were someone as important as Lady Montmorency.

"Come now, boy, let us not waste your good mood. Onwards to your meeting." The elderly woman laughed, before trotting away.

Shirou followed close behind, and the giant was close behind him in turn. They walked through the halls in single file, while people hastily made way for them when they passed.

When they ultimately arrived in an extremely ornate hallway, putting anything in the Department of Modern Magecraft Theory to shame with its opulence and decadence, Shirou was shocked to find another giant waiting there for them, looking exactly like the one behind him.

"Alrick." Lady Montmorency called out to the new giant. "Can Fujimaru enter yet?"

"He can." The giant nodded, speaking in exactly the same voice as his –presumable– brother. The only reason Shirou didn't wonder which one he'd met three days before was because he could perceive their different auras, as the giants were otherwise completely identical.

"Mister Fujimaru." Lady Montmorency then addressed him, sounding more formal than she had at any time prior during their walk. "The Vice-Director will see you now. Please keep in mind to behave according to the proper rules."

Shirou nodded, his nervousness returning as he looked at the ridiculously expensive-looking door, feeling like a gladiator about to fight an entire pride of lions.

So with an air of a man walking to his death, Shirou opened the door and stepped inside, leaving Lady Montmorency to shake her head in consternation.

Why did everyone always think Lorelei only called people to her office to kill them? She was arrogant and belligerent, yes, but not murderous, at least not towards humans and most animals.

There was no reason at all for the boy to look like he was going to fight a dragon. All he had to do was be polite, and it would be over before he knew it.

In fact, it would greatly surprise her if there was even just one injury between the two of them when that door opened again.

---

After he stepped inside the office, Shirou immediately closed the door behind him. Only then did he cast his gaze around the room, taking in as much as he could in that one sweep.

It was a wondrous sight, that much he had to admit. Beautiful furniture in all the right places, expensive trinkets everywhere, mysterious objects and devices littering the shelves and tables, exquisite artworks on the walls, enough wealth spread around that it was only surpassed by his Vault, stunning colours and shades blending together throughout the entire room, and a gorgeous woman sitting behind the desk, looking at him with a cool yet patient gaze.

It was clear that an ungodly amount of time and money had been spent on the interior of this office, and far from seemingly overly gaudy or decadent, it managed to stay just within the boundaries of tastefulness. Nothing was too much, and nothing was out of place. Even the woman went perfectly well with the scenery-

Wait, a woman?

Shirou was promptly snapped from his contemplations when he realised who that woman sitting behind the desk was, his heart starting to beat twice as fast, before he forcibly calmed himself and walked forward as if nothing had happened.

The note of satisfaction he saw in the gorgeous woman's eyes however indicated that she had seen his pause, and that she was quite pleased that he was so impressed by her office.

He supposed that it was normal for a plebeian like him to be amazed by a queen's throne room, for that was what this office basically was. She had probably already expected he would be struck silent for a few seconds.

He then took a good look at the woman herself, taking note of the perfectly symmetrical face, the high cheekbones, the sharp nose, and the flowing brown hair that all came together to form a beautiful picture.

He was too nervous to properly appreciate it however, and instead, looked at a deeper level than just the gorgeous surface.

"Ehk?!"

The sight almost made him trip over his own feet, and his mouth fell open slightly in shock.

She was a human, that was clear enough. In fact, it would have been hard to find someone who was more 'human' than this woman. Shirou had no clue how she managed to imprint her 'humanness' straight into the Inner World to a level he had never seen before, but she did, somehow.

She had to either take immense pride in being human, or hate anything not human with a burning passion that would put the sun to shame in terms of heat.

Or both. Those two possibilities had a high likelihood of being connected.

But then, if she was human, with nothing more added…

'Then how is she more powerful than me?!'

Shirou looked and looked again, but the results didn't change. His eyes weren't deceiving him, it was no trick of the light, nor was it a clever illusion.

Lorelei Barthomeloi truly was stronger than him.

Shirou was utterly baffled. He'd known of course that there were stronger beings than him out there, like Primate Murder, ORT, Zelretch, and, as he'd recently learned, Nasu, but he'd thought that he was the strongest human on the planet at least, and being proven wrong like this was anything but pleasant.

If the two of them came to blows now, Lorelei Barthomeloi might very well come out the victor.

Given that he had numerous secrets that were all worth Sealing Designations on their own if they ever got out, that was not good news by any stretch of the word, and Shirou immediately started planning for a possible confrontation between them.

All such thoughts were shoved to the back of his mind however when Lady Barthomeloi leaned forward in her chair and three Bounded Fields went up around the desk. Since she made no aggressive movements however and the Bounded Fields were purely to prevent eavesdropping by third parties, Shirou was able to remain calm.

"Welcome, mister Fujimaru. I am Lorelei Barthomeloi, Vice-Director of the Clocktower." Lady Barthomeloi spoke in a neutral voice, actually using the very words Lord El-Melloi had predicted she would use, if with a far more authoritarian tone than Grey had ever managed.

"It is an honour to meet you, Vice-Director." Shirou said, not managing to make his voice entirely deferential, but still respectful at least.

"Indeed." There was a ghost of an approving smile on Lady Barthomeloi's face as Shirou sat down. Apparently, he was following the routine well enough for her to be satisfied. Now he just had to keep that up. "I heard that you apprehended the Sealing Designee Vincent Balefor in Japan, and that you handed him over to Lord El-Melloi in exchange for a sponsorship from the Archibald-family. Is this true?"

"It is, Lady Barthomeloi."

"Did you capture him with the specific intent of trading him for a sponsorship?" Lady Barthomeloi suddenly veered off course from what Lord El-Melloi had predicted, but Shirou didn't allow himself to be caught off guard by it.

"No, Lady Barthomeloi. I stopped Balefor because he was committing atrocities, which I couldn't allow. At the time, I was not aware yet that he had received a Sealing Designation."

"A most fortunate coincidence then, that Lord El-Melloi arrived soon after your battle to inform you of Balefor's wanted status." Lady Barthomeloi studied him like he was an interesting specimen under her microscope. "You must be a lucky man."

"Luck undoubtedly was involved." Shirou agreed. Without luck, no one fared well. "But I reckon it also helped that I sent the mercenary whom I obtained Balefor's location from to the Clocktower before I went to engage him."

"Yes, this mercenary." Lady Barthomeloi nodded slowly. "I have familiarised myself with the Balefor-case, but I admit I have been unable to determine why that man hired a mercenary."

"To capture a local Second Owner." Shirou replied, his fists clenching unconsciously as he was reminded just how close Rin had come to being abducted and used as a specimen or slave. "Which I also couldn't allow."

"Indeed." Again there was a slight curl at the edges of Lady Barthomeloi's lips, though her tone was still completely neutral. "So, in summary, you hunted down Vincent Balefor because you could not abide by his criminal acts. You obtained his location from a mercenary whom Balefor had hired to abduct a Second Owner. Then, you sent the mercenary to the Clocktower, where the Enforcers extracted a confession from him just in time to allow Lord El-Melloi to arrive in Japan almost immediately after you apprehended Balefor. Is this correct?"

"It is, lady Barthomeloi." Shirou nodded, not finding any obvious fault in the summary, though a lot was left out.

"Was this sequence of events intentional on your end?"

"…I'm sorry?"

"Did you plan for events to progress in the particular way they did?" Lady Barthomeloi clarified, her expression and tone turning stern. "While it is hard to believe anyone would be able to concoct such an elaborate plan and execute it flawlessly, it is not entirely out of the realm of possibilities."

"I did not." Shirou immediately denied the notion that he had planned everything beforehand like some mastermind-anime villain. "While I would like to say that I had so much control over the situation, it would be a complete lie. I was improvising most of the time, and the ways things worked out were fortunate, but purely coincidental."

Lady Barthomeloi locked eyes with him for a moment, her stern, authoritarian gaze meeting his own sincere one. For a few seconds, there was silence as the battle of wills took place. Then she backed down again, her gaze softening ever so slightly.

"It appears you are speaking the truth." She sounded approving, and with the faintest hint of a threat in her voice that told him what would have happened if she found he'd been lying. "I reiterate my statement about your good fortune, mister Fujimaru. You should make sure to dearly appreciate it."

"Ah, yes, I will." Shirou promised half-heartedly, before soldiering on with the conversation, remembering Lord El-Melloi had told him he should wrap up the meeting as quickly as he could. "Was that everything you wanted to discuss?"

"No." There was a very slight shake of her head, making Shirou slump in his seat again. "I wish to personally express my gratitude over your capture of Balefor. He was a dangerous man who broke the laws of the Clocktower and my personal edicts multiple times. His ongoing punishment serves as a warning towards those who would try the same."

"Ongoing?" Shirou's heart froze at the word that had been inserted so casually into the sentence. "But it's been months since I handed him over to Lord El-Melloi."

"We interrogated him for a long while, to extract all information he had in his possession." Lady Barthomeloi said, appearing unconcerned by his worried tone. "Based on his confession, we made a rough estimate of how many people he killed and how he killed them. He will now experience all the pain he has dealt to his victims before he is allowed to die. Richard Burgon suffered the same fate, but as his body count was far less, he has already been put down."

So there was some kind of reasoning to the torture they were inflicting on him? That was a silver lining at least, though it didn't make Shirou feel any better about the fact that he had delivered a man to a fate of months of torture.

The fact that the man had tortured countless people himself didn't matter. Shirou had no desire to sink to that level, ever.

"You disapprove?" Lady Barthomeloi asked with a hint of curiosity, having noticed his internal turmoil.

"I do not approve of torture on principle." Shirou replied tersely. "Can I convince you to grant him mercy?"

Lady Barthomeloi fell silent for a moment, pondering something, before she spoke up again.

"His punishment was not supposed to end for three more months, but if it displeases you so, I shall end it today and have him put down. Let that be your reward from me for your efforts in capturing him."

"That is acceptable." Shirou nodded immediately. It wasn't as if he needed anything from her anyway. She sure as hell wasn't going to help him free Illya after all, and there was nothing else she had to offer him as far as he knew.

His quick agreement got him an odd look from the Vice-Director however. Undoubtedly, she had expected him to refuse to waste his reward on releasing Balefor from his suffering. A reward from the Barthomeloi was sure to be phenomenal to any normal Magus, and having it spent on something so nonsensical as freeing an enemy from torment was something they'd never do.

The redhead wasn't going to take his words back though. He couldn't condone torture, and if there was anything he could do about it, he would do so at once.

Even if the one being tortured was a complete and utter monster.

Too bad though that Lady Barthomeloi didn't seem to agree with his point of view.

"I retract my earlier statement." She told him bluntly. "Vincent Balefor will suffer the entirety of his punishment. Your reward is still ungranted and you may still claim it."

"I must insist you reconsider." Shirou protested. "I am quite satisfied with the reward of not having someone suffer more than necessary."

"Punishment is entirely necessary." Lady Barthomeloi's voice had become cold as she waved away his words.

"Not to this degree. I would like to think the Clocktower is more civilised than that."

"You would call us uncivilised?" Barthomeloi's expression darkened greatly, and there was a very clear warning in her tone that he shouldn't take things too far.

"Torturing someone for months is not the act of a civilised institution." Shirou pushed on regardless, his own expression darkening as well. "As my reward, I want you to kill Balefor at once. You already agreed to this, and I expect you to keep your promise. If you don't, I will have no choice but to search for him and kill him myself, while also telling everyone that you have broken your word."

"…You will do no such thing."

Lorelei Barthomeloi narrowed her eyes to slits, and immense pressure descended on the office, enough to make any Magus gasp for air.

Shirou didn't react though. Even if she was powerful enough to show him every corner of the room, he wouldn't back down.

Something in his gaze must have made some sort of impression on her, for instead of crushing him like an empty soda can, she cocked her head to the side.

"If that is the reward you insist upon, then you shall have it." She suddenly changed her tune, before the pressure increased even more as her glare intensified. "However, you will never speak to me in such an impudent way again, or I will be forced to correct your ways."

"…Very well, Lady Barthomeloi." Shirou accepted her conditions, satisfied she had agreed to putting Balefor out of his misery at least.

With a consensus reached –in which Shirou obtained his desired reward and Lorelei had made it clear she would not accept such impudence from him again– the tension, as well as the immense pressure, disappeared again.

"I must admit to being surprised that you would grant mercy to a man like Balefor, and at the cost of a favour of the Barthomeloi-family at that." Barthomeloi said, her voice suddenly perfectly even again, as if she had forgotten anything had happened between them. "It is an odd thing to do for any Magus, let alone one with inhuman cultivation in his bloodline."

She hadn't forgotten. That remark was a purposeful jab meant to elicit a shocked reaction from him, Shirou saw that immediately. Still, knowing that didn't mean it was easy to suppress just such a reaction.

Why did that woman have to be perceptive as well as insanely powerful?

"Why would you think I have an inhuman cultivation?" He asked, wondering what had given him away and trying to buy some time to think.

"The Barthomeloi have a unique talent for finding the inhuman. One wouldn't be incorrect to call it an instinct." She explained offhandedly. "Aside from that, the colours of your hair and eyes are most unusual for your country of origin, and the combination is almost unheard of anywhere in the world. Such features are strong indicators of inhuman blood having been introduced somewhere in past generations, which, as you likely know, isn't an uncommon practice in your corner of the world."

"I see." Shirou mumbled, wondering how many people knew that as well and how bad it would be if it got out that he had inhuman blood.

It might not be entirely correct, but it was still uncomfortably close to the truth.

"I will not disclose this information to anyone." Lady Barthomeloi said, her tone so ambivalent it might have been meant as soothing or as an indication she was going to blackmail him with the knowledge. "I shall admit I bear no fondness or approval for those who sully their humanity by procreating with inhuman creatures, but distant descendants bear no blame in this. It is small enough to be ignored, provided there shall be no procreation with the inhuman again."

"That is most appreciated." Shirou nodded in gratitude, assuming for now she didn't intend to blackmail him, before changing his tone to a light-hearted one, feeling he should give a jab back. "I was a bit concerned that you were talking about it so openly, but then I remembered your three Bounded Fields against eavesdropping, so it appears I was worried over nothing."

"…?"

It went very still in the office.

Shirou cast one look upon the frozen Vice-Director and immediately kicked himself mentally.

He should not have said that!

He should not have said that!

He had tried to return the jab she had given him earlier by revealing he knew about her Bounded Fields, down to their number and function, but he had completely forgotten that normal Magi had no way of discovering such things.

He had outed himself as being abnormal!

Why couldn't he keep his big mouth shut?

How was he going to get out of this one? He hadn't thought sensing Magecraft was such a big deal, but Lady Barthomeloi had been quiet for so long since he mentioned he knew of her Bounded Fields that he almost began fearing it was actually some kind of insult at the Clocktower.

"How did you know?" Barthomeloi asked, fortunately sounding more curious than outraged, and Shirou explained at once, grasping at the straw that was offered to salvage the conversation.

"I sensed them." Through a mixture of smell, sight, and Structural Analysis in fact. It was a deadly three-way combination that ensured no modern-day Magecraft could be hidden from him. "When you activated them."

"You must be quite a skilled sensor then." The Vice-Director stated more than she asked, her gaze becoming contemplative.

"Well, yes. I have been told such before." Shirou slowly agreed, relaxing now that nothing violent had come from his slip-up.

"I see." Now there was definitely a look of approval in her eyes, and her gaze shifted towards something behind him. "What is the function of the silver device?"

She was testing him now? Shirou didn't know what to think of that, but turned around slowly anyway, figuring a look wouldn't hurt anyone.

The silver device turned out to be a sensor that could determine the number and quality of one's Magic Circuits. It wasn't a rare device, most Magus families had at least one, but the one owned by the Barthomeloi was the fastest, most accurate, and most compact of the versions currently in existence.

When he told Barthomeloi this, barely five seconds after she'd asked, an actual shine seemed to come to her gaze.

"Explain to me the properties of the black triangle."

"It serves to stabilise Magic Circles and it can draw Circles itself given enough time. The downsides of the machine are the immense power-requirement to operate it and the large possibility of random failure."

"The sword?"

"It can create wounds that are resistant to magical healing."

"The staff?"

"Its core purpose is to focus Magical Power and increase a Spell's potency, but this one was soaked with Dragon's Blood, meaning it can cast spells on its own. Once a spell has been cast using its innate power however, it takes a long time to recharge again."

"Please find the object that can produce a light that is visible only to the one holding the object."

It did not take long for Shirou to find the candle that had been made from beewax taken from bees that had also made the honey for the mead of Asgard's halls. The Asgard of Shirou's universe, not Mjolnir's.

"You are a skilled sensor indeed." Judging from her ponderous look, Barthomeloi was definitely up to something, and Shirou did not like how probable it was that he was involved in whatever scheme she was concocting.

Lady Barthomeloi rose from her chair, turning around to walk to the back of the room, where a large window was located.

The window had definitely been created with magic, considering it allowed her to gaze upon the streets of London despite her office being located in the middle of a large building, where there should have been no way for a window to be created.

It remained silent for a few seconds longer, before lady Barthomeloi spoke up again.

"You are dismissed."

Blinking at the abrupt dismissal, Shirou nevertheless didn't have to be told twice, rising from his seat and walking out of the office at once.

It wasn't that he was scared of her per sè –she was more powerful than he, but he was confident he would be able to get away from her easily enough should it ever come to a fight between them– but he was very nervous about what Magus-nonsense she might try to involve him in should he remain in there for too long.

On his way out, he walked into Lady Montmorency again. Before they could talk however, the elderly woman was called into the office by Barthomeloi.

The giants Elrick and Alrick nodded politely at him, and he nodded back, before he speed-walked away.

The meeting didn't go all that badly. It had been touch-and-go for a moment there, when he confronted her over Balefor and then revealed his sensor abilities, but it all ended rather well.

Now to hope that the rest of his stay would be going just as well.

And that he wouldn't be involved with any Barthomeloi anymore.

---

Done. A rather short audience, all things considered, but I couldn't really think of many things Shirou and Lorelei would talk about.

So we have Shirou teaching Reines, as a favour for Waver. As I'm sure none of you want to read a lot about those tutoring-sessions, I decided to allow Reines to succeed quickly once Shirou got on the case.

Also, Trimmau. The cutest mercury maid in fiction. Making her was the greatest idea Lord El-Melloi ever had!

Ayako and Sakura are getting up to some naughtiness in the meantime. It is also immediately clear who tops and who is the bottom in the relationship. Ayako might be exuberant, but Sakura… Let's just say it's always the quiet ones.

Bazett, Caren, and Kayla discover that, even though Allesandro Alva died in a fight with Shirou, his legacy is very much alive. The Alva-family (the ones in the previous chapter who turned their daughter into a Dead Apostle) is hard at work with their research.

Then a few more scenes of how everyone deals with the knowledge that Shirou was invited to an audience by the queen, and then the audience itself.

For their almost confrontation, please keep in mind that Lorelei being so obtuse is entirely in character. In canon, when Shiki killed her prey before she could, she wanted to murder the filthy kill-stealer. A man like Balefor, who openly thumbed his nose at her and got away with it, is not going to receive a quick end from her.

Hope you all enjoyed it a bit, nice to have seen you.

My thanks to my betas, Cali and LukeSky.

Ted teleports away.