Chapter 6 / A Courage as Fragile as Life and Death
Ringing sounds. Roaring clashes.
Archer and Saber moved immediately before I could have a chance to react from behind. With a bow held before her, she fired off three arrows consecutively. All crashed along the careful blade, leaving nothing to show except an advancement in Saber's movement. Over her shoulder was a single thrust and she moved again to dodge out from the following slash. From that, the wall was scratched due to the narrow battlefield; a hole simulating what heavy wounds she would sustain if it connected.
More arrows flew from Archer - at least, I think it was one. She made the posture that suggested the case, one came after the other, but all my eyes could perceive were flickers of light. Saber had no trouble seeing them, breaking each wayward projectile with vigor and confidence. Every arrow was met with a step closer to Archer, but she did not falter. Not even as a meter was their difference and a blade rose to fall onto her.
A crash echoed down the alleyway hall. Although she couldn't push herself out, her bow was able to serve as her shield. A struggle shook, evident that she could not hold herself against Saber's strength. She turned on her heel, flinging the blade off from direness, only for it to return in a violent swing. Archer was able to narrowly avoid a wide cut at her torso, but the building next to her demonstrated a fate in which she could take and dust kicked up where they stood.
My eyes couldn't catch anything, merely hearing the rapid clashes before Archer was able to leap back a few paces out from the obscurity. She landed right next to me, breathing with soft heaviness, as she fired five simultaneous arrows from where she came. None of them sounded like they hit their marks and as the smoke cleared up, Saber stood without a sweat being broken.
I haven't moved a single step from this spot, but my heart was already pounding, seeing what the Holy Grail War had to demonstrate to me. With my breaths being shorter than usual, my hand held to my chest, trying to forcefully calm it down. My body stiffened in the meanwhile before the mere action of Saber readjusting the grip of his sword.
"This overwhelming presence…" I gulped, remembering what Archer said about the particular Servant class. "How strong is this guy?"
"He hasn't even done much to mention, Master," Archer scoffed, preemptively loading another arrow. "A quick skirmish to get a feel for the opponent's combat ability. Even so, it is as you say. Saber is holding back quite a bit and I fear we're in a disadvantaged situation."
"Even so, that's…"
To call it a quick skirmish so casually, that was something my mind couldn't keep up with in its entirety. Then again, knowing how Archer was unnaturally quick on her feet and how this was supposed to be a war of all things, it shouldn't have surprised me that this was a fraction of their strength.
Saber was about to run at Archer once more before the suited man cleared his throat.
"Heed my words, Saber. That's enough for now."
"Of course, Sir." Saber lowered his blade, but kept it close in his hand for any sudden advancements Archer may take. All I could pray for was that Saber wasn't trigger-happy on his sword swings. "Is there something you noticed?"
"One could say that. Now, let me see."
Suddenly walking up before Saber, the suited man was controlled and composed, speaking diligently and without a stutter. It would be wrong to say that he's confident, but rather to say that he was very calm. My spine was feeling chills, trying to stand before the Master whereas he did not even fear even Archer in the slightest.
Why had his ambience been more frightening than the man with a sword? Was this how proper Masters are supposed to act? If that was the case, it was pretty obvious I was a long shot before being in a similar headspace as him, but that's besides the point.
I wasn't sure why the man commanded Saber to stop, even to overtake his Servant to stand in the frontlines where Archer could easily take him down. Though, I suspect he wasn't a fool to not realize that and Archer probably held her suspicions, readying an arrow just in case.
"Child. A mere clash between Servants is nothing to be amazed at, or rather in your case, to be fearful of. You were scared for a moment, correct? An inexperienced person, both unknowing to combat and knowledge, would certainly tremble in the aggressive movements of Servants."
Although his words may have been taken as pompous, his tone elaborated none of it. There was no snide or egotistical manners behind his voice. It actually sounded like he was… concerned? I could only assume that underneath his glove, there were Command Seals just like mine, meaning that he was technically my enemy in this mundane war, but his hardened expression was contradictory to his worries.
"Feeling each impact through the air. Knowing that there is only one line of defense that could crumble, leaving you to the mercy of the enemy. It's not a subtle atmosphere that would be weighted down on the shoulders of a normal person. What do you say? Am I correct in presuming?"
Even so, I didn't want to show any leverage towards the enemy Master. I merely kept my mouth shut, not saying anything that could jeopardize Archer's position. The last thing an opponent should know is that the contracted Master they're up against is scared, but he took my lack of a response as a response of its own.
He chuckled, reaching into his suit's jacket. I was wary about what he was going to pull out. A knife? Maybe even a gun? Would other high-leveled Masters have some other weapons that I don't know about? My foot stepped back in that caution, only to see that it was only a book.
"You don't need to answer. From my perspective, it is clear that you are an innocent civilian that got caught up in the Holy Grail War. You are in a place where you should not be present."
He opened up his book, a perfect size to be taking some notes, and started writing in it using a pen he pulled out from his pocket. I couldn't possibly deduce what he was trying to record, but once he finished it, he tore off the page and folded it nicely.
"Thus, I'm going to ask you one thing." Although I wasn't close to him, he still extended his hand out with the paper. "Withdraw from the Holy Grail War. It's for your own safety."
He sounded genuine, but I flinched at his offer. And here I thought the other Masters of the Holy Grail War were monsters who were seeking the goal of an limitedless wish, but it would be wrong to let my guard down at the moment. Archer held her words in reserve, keeping a closer eye on Saber who remained at his stand.
"And what is that? What are you handing over to me?"
"An address. Follow this location and you'll find someone that will assist you in exiting the Holy Grail War and remain safe for its remainder of the event. Although, it will come with a few things you'll have to comply with, especially considering you are not a magus yourself."
"Seriously?" I frowned with some skepticism. I glanced between the paper, the man, and Archer. It was difficult trying to wrap my head around this apparent act of generosity and in doing so, it was probably easier to think it could have been a trap.
"I would provide you with a phone number to make easier contracts and confirmations, but the man who is at this destination is not someone who knows how to use telephones in this modern era. It would be much easier to present yourself unannounced."
"And you're simply deciding to help me out like this? How do I know to trust your words, especially as an opponent I have to face?"
"Caution," the man nodded softly to himself as his hand lowered slightly. "That is a good attribute to have in this situation, but it is unneeded. We, as magus, are supposed to keep our craft a secret to society. It would not be difficult to understand that there might be some unnecessary chaos if the reality of magecraft was leaked to the public."
"And you're trying to restrict that information."
"That's correct. You do not belong in this world, so I'm merely helping you out."
"But if I resign from the Holy Grail War, what's going to happen with Archer?"
Call me a fool, but I made a promise to Archer about winning the Holy Grail for her. Perhaps she wasn't accepting of that belief, but I still wanted to help her with any method that I could. Pulling out from the Holy Grail War would be crossing out whatever words I told her, making them feel emptier than a husk.
"What does it matter to you?" the man scoffed. "There's no need for you to learn anymore about the Holy Grail War and its antics. Simply resign and you'll be on your way back to normalcy, where you belong. This should be the perfect opportunity, theoretically speaking, yet you hesitate. Why?"
"Perhaps he has heard about what spoils would go to the victor?" Saber spoke up. In a way, he was right, but it wasn't for me. "A Servant would see to it that their Master at least knew what they were being pulled into, especially for what reasons they could have to stay."
"The wish at the end of the war, right?" I answered openly, letting them know I had the bare minimum under my belt. "Yeah, probably a tempting bait for anyone in my position right about now."
"Presumingly that you are not one to fall for it?" The suited man picked up my word's true meaning, one that wasn't meant to be noticed. "From what I have learned, it is far more trouble for someone of your abilities, or rather lack-thereof, than what it's worth. Other Masters may not be as willing to assist someone like me, but instead to ravage your life as a pretense of war."
"Do you really think I'll be able to randomly trust you?" I nudged my head over to the direction they were standing. "You just did something to that person, making them disappear without a single trace. From my perspective, it looks like you're trying to cover your tracks, making sure that people aren't accidentally becoming witnesses here."
"Why don't you take the paper and find out? To see if we're—"
An arrow flew into the paper - or rather, it was aimed for him, but he managed to avoid the impromptu attack in time. It stuck it right into the wall, letting the suited man casually glance over it, then he returned the gaze back to Archer.
"Rather rude, wouldn't you say?"
"To hold a bait in front of my Master, using his inexperience to trick him into another situation. There's no way that you aren't thinking of something else here." Archer loaded up another arrow to threaten him, leaving Saber no choice except to step in to stand as his Master's guard. "A man like you has nothing but the sly tricks up his sleeves to get what he wants. Is that not correct?"
"Even if I'm a newbie to the Holy Grail War in your eyes, I'd still be an idiot to follow your words blindly after introducing yourself as my opponent. Especially after what you did to that person!" I pointed to where the swordsman had held their victim to the wall. "Are you planning for me to be the next victim, in order to be silenced!?"
"Not in the way that you're thinking, but it seems like the opportunity for a peaceful resolution has disappeared. It's shameful, considering what I spoke of was my true intentions, but your decision to believe me was already made when you discovered us in the middle of our business here."
Saber took a step forward, causing me to back up slightly. It might be crazy to think that he could close the gap between us in a blink of an eye, but I didn't want to be too comfortable here. A split second might have been the difference between a hit and a miss.
"Let us do this the hard way. I will show you the brutality of the Holy Grail War." He leered at his Servant at the corner of his eyes, all while keeping his own guard against any uncalled attacks. "Saber, heed my words. Continue in your fight against Archer."
"Of course."
I tried to get myself ready in order to face off against the opposing tag team, but a simple thought stroked across my mind first. Turning to Archer, I dropped the prevailing question.
"Wait, where's Shiro and Kuko?"
"I left the cat with your sister and told her to stay put. It might have been somewhat reckless, but considering how hastily you decided to depart, it was all I could do." Her eyes narrowed onto Saber who was preparing his sword again. "My plans are to evacuate you as quickly as possible, so that you could at least return to your sister in order to keep her safe."
"Well, Shiro's a smart kid, so she's not going to get randomly hurt in the streets. She's got her phone too, so she won't get bored. That much I can attest to, but you're still right about the plan. Just knowing their faces is enough for me, but something tells me we aren't leaving so easily. Do you really think you can tackle this challenge?"
"I've been in odds worse than this one." Her eyes swung over to me. "Simply focus on leaving as I keep Saber back."
"Wait, but what about—?"
The desire to extend my concerns to Archer had been present, but it was cut off by Saber's sudden movements. He didn't open up with a dash forwards, but instead he grabbed something off his belt and tossed them into the air. As they twirled upwards, I could see that they were daggers, but they were falling back down to him. Somehow, my sights managed to catch the movements in slow motion, but I myself couldn't do anything else. As time resumed normally, it actually happened in a flash.
He punched the daggers into us, faster than Archer could fire her arrow. She was still able to beat down a few of them, shooting with extreme precision to knock their projection away, but one of them slipped past her and flew into me. Through some miracle, I managed to pull myself into the wall to dodge it, but its sharp edge scratched my cheek.
I crashed against the surface, frozen in that close call as my body slowly slid right down to the uncleaned ground. Something was dripping down my face, but it couldn't have been sweat. It was coming from the middle of my cheek and when I reached out to touch it, there was a warm feeling to it. My hand pulled out to see my fingers were stained in red.
I was… bleeding?
Then that means if I hadn't dodged in time, I would have been…
"A-Archer! B-Be careful!"
Though, I fear that my words were those of a peanut gallery to some professionals. My eyes flung over to the quick movements of Archer and Saber, quickly duking it out in close quarters. She was at a disadvantage at that range and I'm certain she wanted to back off, but considering how that would put me in harm's way, she was forced to hold the line and use whatever melee abilities she had with her bow.
In terms of battlefield, Saber was at a disadvantage because of the length of his main-hand weapon. The alleyways were too narrow for his blade to swing its full length, limiting his potential might, but thrusts were still fair game. Archer dodged the ones that were dodgeable, neatly evading right by his sharpened hailstorm. She slammed herself onto the ground to avoid one more before swinging her bow upwards to stagger Saber backwards.
Unfortunately, she hadn't been strong enough to even push him back. His blade was caught on her frame, but his foot was still free, leaving an open gap to strike Archer in the stomach. My heart sunk, but my body moved, lunging out to catch Archer before she crashed into me. I fell over on the ground, but Archer used the momentum's stop to jump off me and fire arrows at Saber, only to be met with the expected results.
Saber threw up some more daggers as Archer landed a distance away, leaving me inbetween the mess. I needed to keep my head down, but as the daggers fell downwards and he punched them forwards, Archer loaded up and matched his rate of fire. I really had no other option than to duck my head and pray.
I cowered as close to the ground as I heard the metallic clanking next to my ears. When I opened my eyes, daggers and broken arrows rained from above. Forced to move out or feel the dagger's land straight onto me, I rolled away and kicked myself onto my feet. My body kept as close to the wall as possible as more arrows flew right past me.
It was merely a trivial matter to Saber. He ran forwards headfirst, now being the one playing the game of dodging. There was even the audacity to redirect the arrow's pathing by merely throwing his armored hand to its side, but my eyes kept on him as he ran right past me.
Behind his glasses, his eyes met with my own, merely for a brief moment. My heart kept pounding, blocking everything else in my ears from hearing my surroundings. Even my own thoughts were being blocked out, merely from Saber's gaze towards me. I couldn't help but to feel the wound on my cheek, being a reminder of what they might have been truly trying to tell me.
Saber could kill me. It wouldn't even take him more than a few seconds.
With the only reason he wasn't trying to kill me, it was because his Master told him to deal with Archer instead. Their mercy was trying to let me go with that resolution. All that weight started to crash down on me, knowing that if I persisted in this Holy Grail War, there would be people as mannered as they were. Perhaps it was my nerves getting to my head, but that was all I could think about.
That I could die.
It was the first time I realized what that actually felt like. The words, the ones I promised to Archer that first night, were starting to crumble, but seeing Archer take Saber's blade in its heavy weight shook me up even more. My grit steeled itself, causing me to pull myself onto somewhat stable feet.
The surroundings started to experience their hasty movements, with scratches and cracks with every unintended impact. They leapt around against the walls, constantly shifting the distance between each other to fight for control of the clash. As I merely watched as a spectator as Archer and Saber tried to land fatal attacks on each other, it didn't change the fact that I couldn't do anything.
Or was I really shackled to nothing here?
If Masters were contracts for Servants to stay here, then I don't need to confront Saber or assist Archer directly in her fight. I knew Archer told me to escape to where my sister should be, but I was worried that Archer wouldn't get out safely herself. If I could stop Saber's Master, then I wouldn't be dead weight in her eyes.
I have to prove myself to her; I'm not someone that would roll over here. I had little fighting experience through Archer's few training sessions, but all I had to do was land a heavy blow with all my might and make sure I grab the upper hand. I was still young, so maybe I could use the innate agility with youth to compete against his age.
Clenching my fist as my weapon, I immediately turned around to face the suited man—
—only for my fist to to be grabbed, being lifted up into the sky. A deft strike drilled into my gut, making me light-hearted for a moment, before my breath tried to stagger itself. My wary gaze slowly glanced up, seeing how the suited man was already one step ahead of me.
All he did was hold my wrist into the sky and although my feet were still touching the ground, my body was already going limp from that punch. I couldn't fight back against him, striving to break free with what little energy I had left, but it wasn't enough. All I could do was grunt meaninglessly while glaring with a single eye; the other had been wincing in the bodily pain.
He pulled me closer, making it so tempting to punch his face in if I had the might.
"Now that you're in no other position than to listen, how about you answer me a few questions?"
"W-Weren't you going to let me go?"
"The price of departure has steepened with your little antics."
I wasn't sure that the price was that low to begin with. I struggled at my hands once more, but failure was its only result. Not interested in what he was saying, there was one more heave downwards and to my surprise, it came out easily.
Far too easily and more than what I expected. The suited man let go at the same moment, letting myself plummet to the ground, smashing my elbow on the pavement. My momentailty daze allowed him to lift me up by the collar and throw me against the wall. My head banged against the clay bricks; it made my vision all blurry and it cleared up, all I could see was the man's disapproving expression.
"Will you answer me?"
"Why should I? You aren't letting Archer and I go, right?"
"Merely rhetorical. Now's not the time for you to be cheeky, child."
His other hand swung past my face, only for me to realize he was holding something. It was one of the swordsman's daggers and it took a moment to feel that another wound on my cheek opened up. It started stinging, shutting me up in fear of what else he might do with the dagger.
My chest instinctively tightened; my breath, held. All while my ears could hear how Archer and Saber were still at each other's throat. Echoing blade on bow, arrows on blade.
"Heed my words," he started, clearing his voice. "You are not a magus. That much, it has already been established. And as such, how did you stumble your way in the Holy Grail War?"
I gritted my teeth, trying not to take the coward's way out, but that too was rewarded with its own consequence. My silence was met with a brutal strike to my jaw, dropping me onto the ground without a moment's notice. A foot stomped on my chest, limiting my movements.
"Did you not hear what I said?"
If I kept up persistence, surely it would count for something, right? I couldn't be playing into the man's hands like this, or else who knows what else he might try and do? I kept my face turned away from the suited man, trying to not see any of his threats, but that led into a constant anticipation. There was no time to consider if that was worse or not before a sharp feeling punctured on the calf.
It hurted.
"Ah… Ah…!"
It hurted like hell.
"AAHHHH!"
My scream emerged out so suddenly, I had no time to even take it into account. As blood curdling as the injury was letting out, I suppose my body wanted someone to hear out in order to save me from this gruesome encounter, but only Archer was around to hear it.
A few arrows were spared in the midst of her fight with Saber, but none of them were able to land their mark thanks to Saber constantly being in her way for a clean shot. All I saw were the strays flying over my head, down the alleyway.
All in the meanwhile of my crying, the suited man acted like this normal. He didn't flinch, nor did he hesitate. His attitude was cold and relentless, leaving the dagger in my leg while pressing down even harder on my back.
"You know, now that I think about it, there was a situation that happened about a week ago."
He had the gall to be going on a tangent while trying to torture me!? Is this what these insane Masters are capable of doing, free of guilt!? It was difficult to even listen when agony was weaving through my leg in its turbulence, but his ramblings were staying close to me.
"I was preparing a summon ritual of my own in an undisclosed area when suddenly, I had to be called over from an emergency. That someone had broken into my domain's barrier, and being the careful man that I was, I went over to check what the problem had been. When I returned to the summoning ritual, somebody had already slipped in and summoned a Servant. Which is odd, considering I didn't detect anybody foreign with magic properties in my area."
My eyes widened, realizing where he was heading, but he likely already knew the answer to this little riddle. In that case, why was he wanting me to say it out loud to him?
"I… I didn't…"
"Were you the one to take that summoning ritual from my possession? If that's the case, it's only right that you return what you stole. Is that not the common logic that normal people abide by?"
To return Archer to him? That idea immediately disgusted me, but perhaps there wasn't anything too displeasing about it. The suited man was evidently experienced and knowledgeable about the Holy Grail War, so Archer's chances of winning were significantly better with him than with me.
Given her shown attitude towards him, I had a feeling that they weren't going to work well together. Should I have listened to the man before Archer had a chance to shoot that paper away? Was it not too far off that we could have believed his concern that a civilian got involved in all of this? My hesitation was surely the root of all of this confusion, leaving no one to really blame except for myself.
Questions of doubts started flooding my head, encompassing the pain that was starting to wallow. It still stung like hell and my leg could barely be felt through its feeble attempt of adrenaline, but the suited man was sure not to let me get too comfortable, digging his heel further into my spine.
However, something struck me as odd.
"Don't… you already… have Saber?"
"Excuse me." He lifted his foot, only for him to slam it onto my wrist. With the bones cracking audibly, there was no doubt something broke there as I grunted in torment. "I believe I was the one asking the questions."
As such, he managed to evade the question, being the one who decided the flow of the conversation. Still though, if a single person could have two Servants, wouldn't that make it a bit unfair? Or rather, was my opponent so strong that he could handle two Servants at once? Were other Masters as capable? More and more questions kept rising up, leaving no answers to be left in my pocket.
"And yet, something tells me you aren't going to surrender Archer."
"Why would I give her up… to someone like you!?"
"Rather foolish, but…"
Even so, I still knew where I needed to stand, but all that bravado was met with him grabbing my head and pulling it back. His foot finally alleviated, but it was so he could get a good look at my face. To be honest, I didn't know what type of expression I was wearing, but the suited man sighed as his reaction.
"I already knew I wouldn't get much from those two questions. However, I'd like to ask you something more important. Have we met before?"
I blinked, knowing the words, but not the meaning. What type of trick was he trying to pull on me this time around? There was no fathomable truth I could see, but it was likely a muddled sight.
"Excuse me…?"
"Now that I got a closer look at you, I get the sense that we've met each other before. Or at the very least, I've seen you somewhere. You wouldn't happen to show your face recently in the news, right? For an interview or whatnot?"
"N-Not that I know of…?" His random question caused me to start answering with honesty.
"Hmm. Then where else could I have possibly seen your image?" His eyes narrowed onto my face, scratching for any and all scrutiny. "No, it's not simply that. Your presence. That irregular feeling that Saber mentioned. You seem familiar, as if we've met a long time ago. An odd memory is trying to be recalled, but it's unable to do so clearly."
Now I know this guy was messing with me. "A long time ago" was when I was a kid! There was no reason as to how he could have met me and even then, I think my parents would have said something if a stranger like him suddenly approached me one day.
"I don't know what you're talking about…! Now leave me alone!"
As perplexion caused him to loosen his guard, I threw everything I had into a headbutting thrust. I managed to push him away for a bit, but my body slumped immediately onto the ground when he let go of my hair. A sour grunt left my throat, but I tried to get away from him as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately for me, he was far too quick to recover. His hand reached out to me before I could get on my feet, but an arrow flew over to force him to back off. Saber, at the same time, jumped back to his Master's side, but there was nothing to indicate that he was tired in the slightest. On the other hand, Archer came up to support me, panting heavily with rasping breaths.
"Archer? Are you all—?"
"What happened to trying to escape?"
Her sharp tongue dug harder than the dagger to my leg. "I… I just wanted to help you somehow. I thought if I took on Saber's Master, I could—"
"If Saber was at his best, I wouldn't have been able to keep up with him. My confidence in my speed would have given me a chance to escape after you. Have you forgotten about that feat of mine!?"
"I… I'm sorry, but if that's the case, maybe now is the best time to—"
"Hold it. We're not done here." The suited man shook his head softly, pulling out his book once more. Instead of ripping out a page, he kept his pen on his paper without writing a single thing yet. He glanced up from the lined papers, over to me. "Not only do I not have my important conclusion yet, but the child here has not determined that he is in a precarious situation, even when beaten down like that."
Sadly, I would be an idiot if I didn't already know that. I simply didn't want to show that fear before Archer, but I might have been more of an idiot to make my attempt in looking cool in front of her in a fight that I had no business in being. Right now, I couldn't even stand up properly, falling over the wounded leg every time.
So much for looking cool, I guess. It doesn't really work well when I would rather pass out from the pain that's lodged in my leg. All that was keeping me awake was the constant throb of my heart, echoing through my eardrums, and my scraping breaths, clawing at my lungs.
"What do you suggest, Sir?" Saber asked.
"He certainly has a stubborn personality, paired very well with a stubborn Servant. Taking shots at me while I try to convince him to peacefully depart the war. It's rather unfortunate, but I'm still intending to let him know what he truly signed up for."
"And that course of action would be?"
"I'm still pondering. I would rather not break him into submission since that would… defeat the entire purpose of what I'm trying to do here. And what about you? Is there a particular reason that you've been holding back against Archer?"
Saber remained silent, but silence was apparently always an accepted answer to the suited man. "I see. I'll leave it at them, if you cannot help it then. I suppose you still have your pride as a hero. To beat down an opponent so easily with no restraint, that's not your style."
"There is another reason, but I will keep that to myself."
"Is that right? Very well, let those secrets be kept to your heart." He started writing another thing now and it seemed like he was intending to keep these notes to himself this time around. "As for you, child. The next place will be your other leg if you do not resign. Be it in handing Archer over or merely surrendering your running, my patience is beginning to wear thin."
If I didn't know any better, it was already loosening when he stabbed my leg! I gritted my teeth, wincing to try and stand up properly. All my weight was staggered on my good leg, leaving off as much pressure on the other as possible.
"Master, if you have anything willpower left inside of you, you will use it to run away." Archer snarled at me, as if I was a nuisance. "Knowing when to retreat is important in a fight and for you, it should have been the prioritized action in the majority of cases. An enemy Master of this caliber is what I presume to be normal."
"I don't want to leave—"
"Don't be immature, Master." She glared from the corner of her eyes. "If you fall, then it's only a matter of time before I will as—"
The moment her attention left Saber though, I noticed movement from the corner of my eyes. Saber had stepped up and thrown up two daggers, looking to launch them at Archer in the midst of her distraction. With a clenched fist, he casually out to his Master.
"Allow me to try something, Sir."
"Permitted."
Saber fired one of the daggers at Archer and she was able to reflexively knock it away with the frame of her bow, but the second dagger had been timed differently. As Archer's bow was in an undesirable position now, she was wide open to the second flying blade. If it kept going, it would have hit Archer, injuring her in some capacity, but my body moved before I had a chance to think.
My hand reached out.
And somehow, I caught the dagger.
Unfortunately, it wasn't clean. It tore right through my palm and it took a moment for the agony to scream from my body. I dropped to the ground with my head unable to register what happened, but my eyes were able to paint its entire picture.
There was so much blood. Every drop was leaking out, splattering onto the ground in a quivering shake. My voice couldn't even show my pain; it was far too much in shock for it to notice what was going on. However, it was that sight and that feeling in which everything started to collapse on myself.
A scream of anguish. A scream of terror.
Just give up. Leave all of this behind. That's what the voices inside my head were saying. The man was correct in saying that I did not belong in this world. I shouldn't have taken Archer's request for the Holy Grail so lightly if this had been one of the realistic results.
This wasn't worth it. A normal person was right to be a coward here.
Archer didn't have any sympathy for my idiocy, merely trying to focus on getting Saber to back off with hailing arrows. It worked, forcing them to take a few steps back, but something told me that they willingly stepped off instead of Archer making them do so.
"Was that a bit too much?" Saber asked his Master.
"We can't be too sure. He might bounce back once the pain sets in again. But then again..."
The suited man suddenly stopped his sentence. I was still trying to cope with the sudden hole in my palm, not knowing if I should even pull the dagger out or not. Wouldn't that hurt even more? Though it wasn't like I could walk around with a dagger in my hand. Sweat dripped down from my forehead onto the dagger, only for me to hear why the suited man stopped.
"Big Bro? Big Sis?"
"Oh my, what do we have here? A sibling?"
Anxiety filled my chest as I slowly turned over to where we came from. I wanted it to be my imagination so desperately that I refused to even look with my eyes open, but my body was already breaking down the connection between desire and need. Archer snapped her head backwards at the same time, surprised to see what I was dreading.
"S-Shiro… W-What are you…?"
"Shiro, I thought I told you to stay put!"
"W-What… What's happening with Big Bro?"
Kuko jumped off her shoulder, noticing my distress and picked up on who might have been the ones to do it. He ran up to my side like a guard dog, hissing at Saber and his Master. As if they could have been scared by a simple act like that. Kuko didn't have the size to be fearsome anyways, but my eyes were trapped on my little sister's expression.
She was as terrified as I was. Seeing how much blood had been spilling out from my hand, it was not a sight for a child of a young age to witness - much less, even someone of my own years. Her hand shivered as they covered her open gasp, crying for my sake.
But as a child of innocence, she wasn't worried about who might have done it. Upon noting my trauma, she pulled out her phone and started calling for help. "D-Don't worry! I-I'll call Mommy and Daddy right now! They'll know what to—huh? My phone's not working!"
Her hand shook even more, but fear struck down on me when I heard a footstep from the other side. A cleared voice echoed down the alleyway as I glanced back, seeing how the suited man was starting to walk away with the notebook closed in his hand.
"Saber, heed my words. Take the child with us. We'll continue this through another manner."
Saber raised his eyebrow, almost like a questioned defiance. "Excuse me, Sir? Are you… sure about that? I know you might have plans and all, but surely…"
"Do it, Saber. I'll meet you back at our quarters. We've already gotten what we came here for, so all that is really left is to rendezvous to check up on everything else. I suspect it'll take a while, so we'll have a little excursion in teaching this Master about the harshness of the Holy Grail War."
Without looking back, the suited man disappeared and it left Saber with a conflicted grunt. When he said to take the child, surely he couldn't mean—!?
"Archer, protect Shiro quickly!"
"Too slow."
Saber already thought Archer might jump back to save my little sister and fired over daggers in order to hinder her movements, or else risk having them hit Shiro. They allowed Saber to close the gap and slam his blade on Archer's bow again, but this time, it hadn't even been a contest. He easily overpowered Archer's close range and threw her over to the side, crashing her body into the wall.
Shiro staggered backwards, seeing the scary swordsman do such a thing to Archer, only for him to quickly close the gap to be right in front of her. Tears started to flow out from her for a brief moment, before Saber knocked her out with relative ease. A simple chop to the back of her neck caused her to be unconscious, but it looked like Saber was being careful not to put too much into it.
Nevertheless, he lifted Shiro into his arms as Archer tried to recover. All I could do was stay on the ground, powerless to do anything else but tremble.
"I'm not sure how my partner wants to execute this plan of his, but if you wish to see your precious kin, you'll see to it that you would concede in his conditions. He only means well, but you have taken his presence in bad faith, though I wouldn't blame you."
"H-Hold on for a moment…" I tried to get up, but the gravity of my injuries wouldn't allow for it. Everything was starting to spin in a hazy mess. "Don't… put a hand… on my sister…!"
"Do not fret. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to her, but I cannot promise much if you refuse to comply. If you wish to come seek her out, you'll come to your conclusions within the forest of my partner's domain. The Mihoji Forest, as they call it around these parts?"
"The… Mihoji…?"
"With that, farewell. I hope you'll come to realize this ultimum soon. I'm sorry to say that your choice isn't really a choice here."
Saber leapt up into the skies with incredible strength and speed, leaving Archer and I to watch as he was the one doing the escaping instead of us. I screamed out, trying to get him to stop, but things like that wouldn't have done much anyways. All I was left with was the sustaining regret in my heart.
This was our first battle with an opponent of the Holy Grail War.
It was an utter disaster with equally disastrous results.
"Damn it… Damn it!"
With my frustration welling inside of me, I found the courage to pull out the dagger, letting out a wailing scream that echoed down the alleyway. I didn't bother looking at the wound closely; I didn't want to see through my hand. No one ever did, far from reaching a point where the opportunity could happen.
As I tossed the dagger to the side, I stumbled back onto my knees. My head was dizzy from suffering through all his attacks, but I couldn't rest here. Those bastards had my sister and if I didn't do anything about it, something bad might happen to her.
And it would be my fault.
"Do you see what happens when you don't stick to a plan?" Archer growled at me, dusting herself off from Saber's charging strike. "Things go south. Disadvantages are opened wide up and you fall deeper into the loss. You're not taking this Holy Grail War seriously."
"B-But I'm…"
"Look at that wound of yours. That's the proof of your idiocy. Do you really believe I wouldn't be able to deal with such an attack, instead relying on a normal Master to suffer it in my place? What if it hadn't been your hand? What if the dagger landed in your chest instead?"
Archer was beyond pissed, but it was obvious that it wasn't because I did something seemingly chivalric to save her. She was mad that her Master could be such an idiot, not thinking about anything relating to the plan. I glanced down to my bleeding wound.
This was the price in trying to protect Archer and trying to stay by her side as an equal whereas in reality, I didn't even have the requirement to arrive at the starting line of that race. I should have been scoffed at, dismissed by the crowd and pushed away like the nobody I was. There was no competition, except against myself, and I still managed to lose.
I couldn't say a single thing, biting down on my tongue as my eyes panned further downwards. They were… starting to get heavy. My body was… starting to get tired.
"Perhaps it was wise for you to surrender your position. In that regard, I wouldn't have the need to deal with a Master as yourself."
"Ar… cher…"
I swayed forwards with no one to catch me. Collapsing in the middle of the alleyway, I could only see Archer's feet moving away from me. Kuko came up to try and cheer me up by nudging his head against my body, but I was too distracted to even notice him.
"I'll go rescue your little sister. She has nothing to do in this Holy Grail War and her inclusion was something formed from your troublesome mistake. I'll figure out what to do afterwards concerning you, but don't think it'll be too good on your end."
Her feet left my sights, leaping up into the air without ever touching the ground again. A pondering thought grazed along my heart, burdened with how useless I had been to how much of a demerit I was to Archer. I wanted to scream, cry, and wake up in my bed, thinking this was all some nightmare, but alas, all I accomplished was having Archer turn her back against me.
"I'm… sorry…"
And rightfully so. For apparently, my courage was much more fragile than I could ever expect, especially in the face of life and death. My words were truly as she believed, accumulating to empty promises and broke words. And for that, I was sorry.
That was all I could be.
… The world started fading into darkness.