Before Caster could start his explanation, Mash piped up, "Shouldn't we contact Dr Roman, Director?" she asked.
Marie pondered the question before replying, "Considering Chaldea's current state, I was only going to contact him in emergencies, but I guess he should be here for a discussion such as this," she replied. "Mash, shield on the table."
Moving the candles out of the way, Mash gently placed her shield on the table and the Director and I set about making the circle. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Caster and Richard watching us work with a curious gaze.
Once the circle was set up, the shield lit up, and the holographic image of Romani's panicked face appeared. "Hello, are you all there?" he asked worriedly.
Marie sighed at the Romani's display, "yes, doctor, we're here."
Romani let out a sigh of relief and slumped into his chair, "thank goodness, we detected an increase in magic output from harry, but we couldn't tell what was happening."
"We encountered an enemy servant, but thanks to Saber and Caster, we defeated her", I explained.
At their mention, Romani turned his gaze to the two servants, "thank you, it is an honour to meet you-"
"No need to be so florid with me," Caster interrupted, "just state your business quickly." Romani deflated into a sulk at his words but was saved from his moping by Richard, who introduced himself.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Dr Romani. I am the Saber class servant summoned by my master Harry Potter."
Pulled out of his funk, Romani replied, "yes, we registered a new spirit origin earlier. Have you revealed your true name yet?" he asked.
"Saber has, Caster hasn't", I answered. "We called because we were just about to ask Caster about the situation and figured you should be involved." Romani nodded in understanding and looked at Caster.
"Are we finally ready to start?" Caster asked, looking around at all of us.
"Yes, sorry for the delay, Caster. You can start now," Marie apologised.
"Finally. It started like a regular grail war at first, but then somewhere along the way; it got switched with something else; the city was engulfed in flames, and all the humans vanished," Caster explained.
"Do you know-?" Marie began to ask.
"No", Caster answered before she could finish. "After the initial confusion, Saber was the one to start the war again. She defeated and corrupted every servant but me, turning them into darkened versions of themselves."
"Just like Lancer!", Fujimaru exclaimed.
Caster nodded in agreement, "yeah, I only just managed to escape that fate myself. Since then, I've been hiding and ambushing them when possible so that this war can finally end."
"So, you've defeated Lancer. How many are left?" Romani asked.
"I've already dealt with Rider and Assassin, so that's three, including Lancer. That only leaves Saber, Archer and Berserker", Caster replied. "Saber never leaves the grail, and Archer guards Saber. Berserker sticks to himself mostly, and it's best we leave him alone."
"Why? Wouldn't it be better to deal with Berserker now rather than risk them attacking us later?" Marie asked.
"No, not with him. I don't know who he is, but even as a Berserker, his skills and instincts as a warrior are second to none. I doubt we'd even scratch him," Caster explained.
"Are they that strong?" Mash worriedly asked.
"To put it simply, however strong you're thinking he is, he's stronger than that," Caster said grimly, "but as I said, if we leave him alone, we'll be fine."
Marie steepled her fingers before humming in agreement, "alright, we'll ignore Berserker then. But that still leaves Saber and Archer, and if what you say is true, then we must deal with them. Do you have any plans to defeat them?"
"Not really," Caster replied casually. I blinked at his casual admittance, unsure of how to respond. Luckily, the Director spoke for me.
"What do you mean you have no plan?!" Marie ranted. "How could you go through a grail war and not have a plan for your opponents?!"
"Director, please calm down. I'm sure Caster has his reasons," Mash tried to placate Marie.
Caster merely looked at Marie with a raised eyebrow, "as I was saying, I don't have a plan, but I think I'm coming up with one.," he finished, eyes staring at Mash.
Mash squirmed under his gaze, eyes looking anywhere but Caster. Fujimaru shifted in her seat and leaned in front of Mash, glaring at Caster, "hey! Watch where you put those eyes, mister."
Caster raised his arms in mock surrender, "I meant that she is the plan; you said that when you approached the temple, Archer repelled you, yes?"
"Yeah, we didn't even start climbing before Archer attacked," I confirmed. "Has he never done that before?"
"Never," Caster answered, "Which is why I think it has something to do with her. Archer must have recognised her shield as a threat to Saber and decided to eliminate her before she could reach Saber."
"You think her shield is her Noble Phantasm," I realised, "but how does that help? Mash doesn't even know what servant she bonded with, let alone her Noble Phantasm." Seeing Mash shrink in on herself at my words, I felt terrible saying that. Seeing her distress, Fujimaru put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
"If she is a Heroic Spirit, then she should be able to use her Noble Phantasm. A heroic Spirit and Noble Phantasm are the same thing," Caster explained. "Maybe it's enthusiasm? Or maybe you're too reserved. Either way, you have to deal with it before we face Saber."
"We can deal with that later. For now, we need to continue strategising," said Marie. "Caster, can you tell us the true names of Archer and Saber?"
"Despite how often we fought, I never figured out Archer's name. But I know Sabers, and you're not going to like it. His name is Arthur Pendragon," Caster answered grimly.
His revelation of Saber's identity had left the others and I speechless. I was not expecting to face a Heroic Spirit of his calibre so soon, especially with our lack of power. The others were no better than I; Marie slumped back into her chair; eyes glazed in shock. Romani reacted similarly but had started muttering incoherently.
Mash reacted the worst of us; she had hunched over and was hyperventilating while Fujimaru tried to comfort her. Richard had widened his eyes before he narrowed them in suspicion, "are you sure?" he asked, the question snapping me out of my shock.
"There is no way to mistake that sword for anything else," Caster replied confidently.
"Then he is being manipulated or has been corrupted somehow. There is no way King Arthur would voluntarily perform the acts you described," Richard vehemently argued.
"It doesn't matter if they are being manipulated or not. We have to face him either way," Marie interrupted. "What plan have you come up with, Caster?" she asked.
"It's bare bones, but I was going to have you guys hold off Saber long enough for me to deal with Archer. Once I've dealt with him, I'll come to help you finish off Arthur," Caster answered.
The room was silent before Romani coughed to get our attention. "Just a few questions with your plan, Caster. Firstly, how can you be sure you can handle Archer by yourself? And secondly, how can you willingly send Mash into a life-or-death battle against King Arthur?!" his voice rose as he finished, his eyes wide in shock and worry.
"Because she's a servant now!" Caster loudly retorted, "all she's done so far is stay back and guard her master, and that's fine. But eventually, she will have to fight, and it's better she starts learning before she's killed later on."
The room once more went quiet, Caster's words echoing in my head. Practically speaking, Caster was right. Mash needed to learn how to fight if she was going to confront King Arthur. On the other hand, we would be forcing her to do something that went against her very nature as a person. My inner turmoil raged until it was interrupted by a small voice speaking up.
"Doctor, It's okay. If this is what it takes to protect sempai and master, then I'll do it."
I whipped my head round to stare at Mash, unable to comprehend what she had said. She sat on the sofa, staring straight at Romani, her eyes full of fear but also determination. In my two years at Chaldea, I had never seen Mash act like this.
Romani was equally shocked by the fish impression he was currently making. "M-Mash a-are you sure?" he finally asked, his voice tinged with doubt.
Mash closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them, "I'm sure," she answered determinedly.
Romani opened his mouth to retort, but Marie spoke up first. "Enough, Doctor. Mash has made her choice; there is nothing we can do other than support her decision."
Romani looked like he wanted to argue more, but he glanced at Mash's determined look and slumped back in defeat. "Okay, Mash, we'll support you. We'll keep a close eye on your vitals until you get back. If we detect any trouble, we'll rayshift you all back immediately."
Mash smiled lightly and bowed her head, "Thank you, Doctor." Romani smiled back at Mash before looking at the Director.
"Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?" he asked.
Marie cupped her chin in her hand, "hmm, no. That's all we need to discuss; any further planning can be done once Mash has unlocked her Noble Phantasm."
Romani nodded, "very well. Let me know how that goes, and I'll speak to you later." With that, he waved goodbye and the hologram faded. With the call finished, Marie turned to the rest of us.
"Okay, now that that's finished, let's eat and get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow, especially you, Mash," she ordered. Her declaration was met with murmurs of agreement, which were drowned out by a loud gurgle coming from the sofa.
"Hehe, sorry," Fujimaru laughed nervously, her face red in embarrassment. With her stomach vocalising its need for food, we sent about cooking the tinned food and settled in to enjoy a nice dinner.
The ending sucks, but at this point, I just want this chapter to be over.
Anyway, I have a choice here. The next chapter could be a continuation of the Fuyuki singularity or an interlude of how Harry got to Chaldea.
Now while I won't go with the most popular answer, I will read your opinions.
Say what you would like in the comments, and I'll see you next chapter.