Chapter IX

Getting out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing pants and my red shirt, I stretched my hand up toward the ceiling and groaned when I felt and heard a pop in my upper spine. "Ohh, yeah, that spot was annoying the crap out of me," I groaned with a satisfied sigh.

"Ready for the day?" asked Atalanta, dressed in an outfit that consisted of a white shirt, black leggings, black boots, and a green jacket. Her cat features were already gone and hidden away as she adjusted her jacket sleeves.

"Mmhmm," I nodded as I grabbed my boots near the closet and laced them on. "We're meeting the one we're supposed to work with on this mission at a cafe. Their choice, apparently."

"That so?" hummed Atalanta, looking off to the side.

I looked at her for a moment before trying to stifle my laughter as I shrugged my blazer on, "Yes, we can get breakfast while we're at it."

"Very good then," she nodded in satisfaction.

Grabbing Mugetsu and putting it in a carrying case, I slipped it onto my back as we left the hotel and headed towards the location of the cafe given to me, I looked to see a frown on Atalanta's face as we walked. "Something the matter?"

"What exactly does this person, Al-Melloo want you to do exactly?" she asked.

"El-Melloi," I corrected her, amused. "And he wants us to look into some serial killings that have been taking place in the city. Normally, the Mages Association wouldn't care for a serial killer amidst the mundane population. But, the victims have been personnel sent by the Association and given the reports as well as the fact that the Grail War is occurring, El-Melloi suspects that it may be a Servant who is responsible."

"How undignified," scoffed Atalanta in distaste, "either the Master of this Servant is unable to sufficiently supply their Servant with enough mana or the Master delights in the suffering of others. Either case, it is repulsive."

"Won't hear me disagreeing," I shrugged helplessly, "regardless, given that the Servant in question has been able to get past people trained in combat from the Association, with one of them even being an Enforcer, El-Melloi doesn't want to take any chances. So we're here to back up another guy he sent over to investigate."

"Do you at least know who the person is?" she raised a brow.

"Yeah," I nodded, "he's-" I paused as we turned the corner, seeing the man in question sitting at an outdoor table and not far off, the source of my bafflement, a young blonde woman was chasing a cat on all fours in circles. "What the hell?" I titled my head at the sight.

"She must be a child," deadpanned Atalanta. "That or lame in the head…"

Shaking my head in amusement, I walked over to the man who looked like a goth-punk guy just as he ended a call on his flip phone. Seriously? Who uses those? Even my parents had smartphones. "Hey Sisigou," I greeted the man.

"Ashford?" the old man was taken back. "Holy crap, how long has it been?"

"Since Castle Dullahan? Two years, give or take a month or two," I gestured to one of the open seats, "May I?"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Sisigou nodded. "I'm guessing you're the backup Lord El-Melloi told me to expect."

"Yup," I nodded, slipping the carrying case off my back as I set it to the side as Atalanta waved a waiter over and ordered for both of us. "Though to be honest, I didn't think you'd get yourself tangled up in a Grail War, not after what happened with Clarreck. Oh, and my parents send their regards."

"I could say the same to you," Sisigou shook his head, "What Clarreck did was beyond stupid and after that, I've avoided the other Grail Wars if I can. But the Association gave me an offer I couldn't refuse." He nodded at Atalanta. "Is she your Servant?"

"Yup," I nodded in return. "Archer."

"A pleasure," Atalanta bowed her head in greeting.

"And I'm guessing that's your Saber over there?" I jerked my head at the blonde woman who had since stopped playing with the cat and was glaring warily at me and Atalanta.

"Yeah," Sisigou replied before turning to address his Servant, "Saber, if you're worried, stop glaring and get over here already!"

Scoffing, Saber stomped over and took her previous seat, sitting in the chair in reverse. Folding her arms on the top of the chair's backrest, she continued glaring at me in suspicion. "Who're they?" she asked her Master.

"Our backup," Sisigou replied, "so calm down, will you? They are in the same faction as we are."

"Given the witch who's also in it, that isn't saying much," Saber scoffed.

"You don't like Semiramis either?" Atalanta blinking before smirking as our orders arrived, "Well, at least you have good taste then."

"She rub you the wrong way too?" Saber's eyes lit up in interest.

"I've met snakes that are more honest than she is," Atalanta scoffed.

Saber grinned, "Huh, well, I guess maybe I can work with you, just stay out of my way, all right?"

"I am an Archer," Atalanta waved off, "my best role would be to offer support from the rear or from a distance."

"Works for me then," Saber shrugged as she reached for her glass of orange juice and took a large gulp.

Sisigou and I stared at our respective Servants before sharing amused smirks.

"So am I correct in assuming that Lord El-Melloi has briefed you on the situation?" asked Sisigou, steepling his fingers as he placed his elbows on the table.

I nodded as I began eating, "Yup. Third-party Servant going around soul-eating? Doesn't get any more serious than that. Though at the rate they're going, their trail and the Grail War, it wouldn't be long before they start setting their sights on the rest of us."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Sisigou sighed. "I was also thinking that when we're done here, we can go check out the crime scenes to see if they left any clues. Maybe we can find out the Servant's identity while we're at it."

"A good place to start as any," I shrugged.

After a moment of silence, Sisigou took in a deep breath and asked, "So what have you been doing since I last saw you? I heard that you were with Barthomeloi when she hunted down Rosethorn last year. He was the Twelfth, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," I nodded, remembering that hunt well, "the son of a bitch converted several towns surrounding his territory to his coven, but somehow they were able to suppress their vampirism until they started attacking."

"Huh, that must've been annoying," Sisigou chuckled.

"Extremely," I shook my head. "If it had been one town, it would've been manageable, but eight towns full of vampires who can suppress their natures was… difficult."

"Seriously? You had trouble with some measle vampire?" scoffed Saber. "Weak."

"Standard Dead Apostles are easy to deal with," I shrugged, not perturbed by her insult, though I had to motion Atalanta to stand down, "but we were facing a Dead Apostle Ancestor and his army. Apostle Ancestors are noted for their threat to humanity itself and a high ranked Apostle Ancestor is equivalent to a high-quality Servant."

"Wait, seriously?" Saber's eyes bugged out.

"Yeah," Sisigou grimaced, "I haven't been on a true hunt myself, but the Vice Director of the Mages Association absolutely despises vampirism and has a task force whose sole purpose is to help her kill Apostle Ancestors."

"Help her?" Saber noted curiously. "Not kill them themselves?"

"Barthomelloi usually reserves herself the pleasure of fighting and killing the Apostle Ancestor to herself while me and the others deal with the Apostle Ancestor's coven," I shrugged. "As a result of many hunts, it's possible that she is able to go toe-to-toe with Servants and has a decent chance of winning, compared to other mages."

"Seriously?" Saber blinked incredulously.

"Well, it would be a long, difficult and bloody battle," shrugged Sisigou, as he sighed, "but yeah, Barthomelloi is probably the only person out there who is fully human that can fight against a Servant if she had the opportunity or felt the desire to."

"And you work for this lady?" surmised Saber, looking at me with a brow raised.

"Under duress," I shrugged with a smirk, one that Kairi had as well.

"What?" Atalanta turned to me, a brow raised incredulously.

"Haha, well, it's well known among magi that Barthomelloi doesn't take "no" for an answer," chuckled Sisigou. "Due to both her family's reputation and prestige, her individual skill and ability, and since most mages aren't even close to Barthomelloi's level of reputation or disposition, declining her would be akin to suicide. Either by her killing you herself for smearing her family name or you and your family become pariahs to mage society."

"Sounds stupid," Saber looked bored.

"It's certainly annoying," I smirked.

"Why do you think I left the Association?" Sisigou remarked wryly before looking at my empty plate. "You good to go?"

I looked at my side to Atalanta to see her wiping her mouth with a napkin, her plate just as empty as mine. "Yeah, we're good," I replied as I grabbed my carrying case and put it on my back as I stood up.

"Why don't the two of you go sightseeing," Sisigou suggested to our Servants, "We're probably going to be a while, anyway."

"Works for me," Saber shrugged before looking at Atalanta, "You?"

Atalanta looked to me, Master?

I tilted my head at Saber, considering her for a moment before looking back at Atalanta, Go ahead, I trust Sisigou and Saber doesn't look the type to go around stabbing people in the back. If anything, she'll probably be more upfront about it. And if we get into any trouble, I can always use a Command Seal to summon you to me.

All right. She looked at Saber, "Is there any place you'd like to go?"

Saber grinned enthusiastically as she grabbed the Archer Servant by her sleeve, "C'mon, this place has to have somewhere fun! Let's go find a carnival!"

As the two Servants turned the corner, I saw a glimpse of Atalanta's rather resigned expression, causing me to chuckle. "That Saber of yours can be quite the handful, can't she?" I asked in amusement, placing a hand on my hip.

"You have no idea," Sisigou sighed, palming his forehead in aggravation.

Heading to the first scene of the crime, we had found dry blood in large splatter patterns all over the place.

"This is a lot of blood," I noted, "especially in that one spot, as if they were tortured."

"Most likely," Sisigou agreed, taking a knee and took a bit of dried blood between his fingers and studied it a bit. "Hm, a few days old, must've been one of the first victims. Whoever did this probably tortured this one to get information on the others. And given how wide the blood pool must've been, they were at it for a while."

"Unfortunate sod," I shook my head.

"Yeah," Sisigou nodded, "unfortunate in that the torturer wasn't professional about it. A real professional probably would've been able to get the information they wanted with half this bloodshed if they were so inclined." He looked around at the other bloodstains on the walls and grimaced. "Still, we won't know the extent of how this much blood got all over the place without looking at the body."

"Well those bodies aren't going anywhere," I shrugged, "and there's no telling how mucked up the other scenes are."

"Yeah," Sisigou nodded, "we should at least go to the other locations to at least confirm our information. To make sure that all the murders are the work of one person."

"Won't hear me arguing," I shrugged before making my way to the door.

"You hear from anyone else that was on the team for Dulahann?" the Necromancer asked as we walked the streets of Sighisoara.

"Hm?" I blinked before looking up in thought, "Oh, well Pasternak got trapped in a marriage contract, Ramirez went back to America, Jensen is still with the Enforcers on some mission to Shanghai, and I think Emiya is still working out from Japan."

"Yeah, Emiya and I met up a few months back on a job," Sisigou nodded. "A Sealing Designate who left a mess before escaping."

"Oh?" I turned to him in intrigue, "Who was it?"

"You work at the Clocktower, shouldn't you know already?" the taller man raised a brow.

"Remember who I'm working for," I deadpanned. "Anything beyond Apostle Ancestors aren't even worth noticing for her task force unless the Queen decides it is. Gossip is one of them."

"Ah, right, right," Sisigou chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head in an abashed manner. "I almost forgot." But then he seemed to have realized something. "Wait, hold on, back up. Pasternak got trapped in a what?"

"Marriage contract," I nodded, confirming what he heard. "Apparently some flame of his turned out to be someone who specialized in geis contracts and she had managed to rope him into a marriage contract. He's currently trying to get out of it."

"I wish him luck," the biker looking Necromancer chuckled.

"Hmm, yeah," I nodded absently before a silence fell over us.

…

"... so did you know Emiya got married a while back and even has a kid or two?"

…

"Wait, what?"

…

A few hours later…

"And just like the first set of bodies, he too had his heart gouged out," Sisigou hummed as we left the building of the last victim on our list.

"Then that means we have our next destination," I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck, "the city morgue."

"Right," Sisigou nodded as he rose to his full height. "C'mon, we should get our work done before our Servants burn the city down."

I laughed, "Yours might, but Archer would more likely try to stop Saber from destroying the city than actually join in."

"Yeah, Archer seems like the more reserved type," Sisigou agreed as the two of us left the building and we started making our way towards the city's morgue. "She suits you to a tee, Ashford."

"As does yours, old man," I smirked, "A rebellious young woman to fit with that biker outfit you've got going since I've known you. If I didn't know any better and if our situation was a sitcom, I would say that she was part of your gang or something."

"Biker outfit?" Sisigou frowned, though I detected a hint of a grin before he looked down at his own attire. "Wait, do I really look like I'm from a biker gang?"

I paused, raising a brow at my elder, "Uh, yeah. I thought that was what you were going for, black jacket, black pants, black boots and sunglasses. Cut your hair short and take into account that sawed-off you've got hidden there, you'd look like an Arnold Schwarzenegger wannabe from the Terminator movie."

Sisigou opened his mouth to protest, but hesitated as he seemed to think better of it. Scratching his head, he looked off to the side. I blinked.

"Wait, are you pouting?" I grinned.

"Just shut up," Sisigou grumbled.

"Holy shit, you are!" I laughed. "What, did you get inspiration from something else?"

"N-No," the necromancer fervently shook his head, "now c'mon, we're already here at the morgue."

I shook my head as I tried to stifle my laughter, I followed after him into the building. Using runes to get by the building's personnel, we managed to get the coroner to allow us to see the corpses of the recent murders.

"Well, that's… interesting," I struggled to come up with a word that best described the state the body was in. The corpse in front of us was revealed to have been quartered with a large hole where the body's heart used to be.

"Mm," Sisigou grunted in acknowledgement as he examined the corpse. "My hypothesis was correct, this work is sloppy. There are easier ways to cut up a body that would've spilled less blood. It's as if a child did all this." Turning, he looked to the next corpse and took the cover off to examine that body too. "No technique, just needless power. No doubt about it, this was definitely a Servant," he shook his head.

"Well, the Priest has already said that the other Servants in our faction besides ours haven't admitted to eating souls," I said aloud, just to get my thoughts rolling. "While I don't know your Servant, mine would rather kill me and lose her chance at the Grail than even consider an order to eat someone."

"Yeah, mine's the same way," Sisgou nodded. "So that leaves the Black faction, but it wouldn't make sense given that this is their territory. They should be well aware where all the leylines are in the country, much less the city."

"Well, I know for a fact that the Black faction's Servants save for one were back in their home base when the recent murder occured," I said. "I don't know if you're aware, but our faction's Berserker went… well, berserk, and made a mad charge for the enemy's territory. Archer and I were already in the area and the priest sent Rider as back up to get Berserker to stop and go back."

"How'd that end?" Sisgou raised a brow from behind his shades.

"Our berserker was obsessed with battle and fighting oppression. How do you think it went?" I deadpanned.

"Oh…"

"Yeah," I sighed, "anyway, while Rider and Archer were off fighting the enemy's Berserker, Saber and Archer, I spotted the enemy's Rider, Lancer and Caster take down our Berserker and take him prisoner."

"So that leaves Assassin of Black as the culprit of these murders," surmised Sisigou. "Huh, you'd think an Assassin would at least know how to torture someone."

"Depends on the True identity of the Assassin," I shrugged. "We do have a queen for our faction's Assassin after all. Maybe Assassin of Black is merely someone who went around killing people in their sleep rather than actually fight them, so they wouldn't even have the background experience of torture."

"Good point," Sisigou ceded as he began his way towards the exit. "Well, now that we know at least what we're fighting against, the next stop is to get them to step out and face us." On the way though, one body caught his attention. "Huh."

"Something wrong?"

The old man stared at the body for a long moment, causing my curiosity to be piqued as I walked over to the corpse in question. This one didn't look like the rest, in fact this one was still intact and didn't have a hole where their heart used to be, unlike the others that did.

"It's nothing, sorry about that," the Necromancer shook his head before he went to the exit. "C'mon."

I spared the corpse one last look before following the senior magus.

"As I was saying," the old man spoke, "we're going to have to deal with Assassin of Black."

"And two magi with quality circuits and hearts are more than likely to be a target for a Servant that has been going around gouging magi's hearts out," I grinned, my hand almost reaching for my 5.7 sidearm in anticipation.

"Right you are, kid," Sisigou smirked.

"I'm not a kid," I deadpanned, my grin dropping.

"Anyway," Sisigou ignored me and moved on, "we better get back to our Servants, let 'em know the plan. I assume you and Archer will set up in a bird's nest somewhere?"

"It'd make the most sense, with Archer's eyes over the city, we can relay to you and Saber Assassin of Black's location than if we were to go wandering around the city hoping that Assassin will take the bait," I replied.

"Right," Sisigou nodded.

A moment of silence passed before a thought occurred to me. "Hey Sisigou, can you tell me who recruited you into this Grail War?"

"Hmm? Oh, er, Belfaban. You know, the old man who heads Spiritual Evocation."

"You ever ask him why it took an additional twenty years for this Grail War to start? I mean, the Wars themselves were supposed to have a sixty year interim for the Grail to gather the required mana, right?"

"That's the idea," Sisigou nodded as he fished a pack of smokes from his jacket.

"Then why did Yggdmillenia wait those twenty years from their initial announcement that they had the Grail?" I repeated my question. "You'd figure that they would capitalize on that and try to snowball things to ensure the Association would play their game and start a Grail War then. They lost most of their territory in the skirmishes and have a city and town or two along with their main territory of Trifas in the twenty years that passed."

"And it was only because they offered your boss access to Romania in her hunts of Apostle Ancestors that they were allowed to keep said territory," he nodded before lighting up the cigarette he had placed in his mouth. Another moment of silence passed as Sisigou took a long drag from the cigarette. "To be honest, kid, I was curious myself. The topic did come up in my conversation with Belfaban, but he could only offer speculation. It could have been that the Grail itself was malfunctioning and since it would be suicide for the Yggdmillenia to ask the Einzberns for help, it took them twenty years to fix it."

"Hmm," I hummed as I got lost in thought.

"What about you?" Sisigou asked after a moment.

"Hm?"

"How'd you get roped in?" he elaborated.

"Oh, I was on vacation with my sister when I happened on Berzinsky in Bucharest. We exchanged a few words, he said something to piss me off and I killed him just as he finished the summoning incantation," I replied offhandedly. "Next thing I know, I have a set of Command Seals on my hand and Archer as my Servant."

"Oh? What'd he say to piss off the normally calm and collected Crimson Wolf?" Sisigou asked me with a brow raised.

"He wanted to use my sister as research," I growled, looking to the side in an attempt to contain my rage and anger.

"Oh…"

"Yeah."

"Well, that guy was always a weird nut anyway," Sisigou shrugged. "I swear, everytime he spotted a lizard…" It was then he seemed to have an epiphany given the expression on his face. "Hey kid, not to be the crazy conspiracy theorist or anything, but you being in this War, you don't think that Barthomeloi pulled strings so that you can be a Master this entire time, do you? I mean, stuff like this is kinda in her wheelhouse of tricks."

"But for what though?" I raised a brow. "Not to stroke my own ego, but I am rather proficient at what I do and me being in this Grail War means that I'm not there to help wipe out the rabble when she goes on her hunts to ensure the entire coven dies while she's off killing the boss or off killing one of our own becoming a Dead Apostle or the random Sealing Designate. Barthomeloi may have had a hand in overseeing my education and training, but I highly doubt she'd send people from her brigade into a ritual that the Association doesn't have control of to test me further. Maybe if the Grail Wars were still being conducted in Fuyuki if the Nazis didn't steal it and the Yggdmillennia clan from them, but not in a scenario that's high risk and low reward for one of her investments."

Even with the sunglasses, it was easy to tell that Sisigou's mind was going a few dozen kilometers per minute. But then he shook his head and sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he shrugged and another passed before speaking again. "I forgot to ask, how're your parents?"

"They're good," I replied. "Dad's still doing business with mundane people, investing in big tech companies and such. We did get really lucky investing in Apple and Samsung…"

"What does a fruit have to do with anything?"

…

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. Sometimes, it was really annoying how a large majority of the magus community was out of touch with the rest of the world. And while old man Sisigou was better than most, he was not up to date on a lot of technological advances.

"Apple is the name of the company, that's all."

"Oh."

"Anyway, Dad likes to flare up the rivalry the two companies have, in both the company executives and the general populace who like to argue which product is better."

"Makes sense," Sisigou nodded, "rivalries tend to make better products sometimes."

"No, Dad just does it for amusement," I dismissed with a shake of my head.

"Oh." Then the Necromancer began laughing, shaking his head too. "You know what, it makes sense Galen is like that."

"And as for Mom, well… she's… Mom…" I said, unable to convey my meaning into words.

Sisigou grimaced, "Yeah, your mom is one lady I do not want to piss off. Hell, I remember when she went to town on the McLamadas…"

I blinked. "The who?"

"Exactly," the old man tried to suppress a shiver but failed.

"Right…" I raised a brow at him.

To be honest I believed the idea that my mom took out a mage family. But the McLamadas? I don't recognize the name and unfortunately a lot of mage families had some pretty weird family names. Pretty sure they were made up too when the family was established however long ago.

"And you?" he asked almost so quietly I had to strain my ears to hear what he said. "After what happened in New Mexico…"

That, that one almost made me miss a step. "I'm trying to move on from it," I sighed before giving him a trying smile. "Thanks for asking."

"Shit, kid, sorry for dampening the mood," Sisigou rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "You know what, if we both survive this War, we'll head down to a pub or bar, whatever, and the first round's on me."

"Fair enough," I chuckled.

I never minded the old Necromancer's rough and sometimes awkward personality. Compared to the stiffs that made up the magus community that liked to strut around as if they did something that was brag-worthy to a Barthomeloi, namely the one I worked for, or they were so paranoid that they made the crazy guy who boarded up their homes into a bunker against aliens made out of giant spaceships look sane, Sisigou was one of the few people I could talk to. That and he was part of the team that Mom took to America to save me from my second kidnapping from that weird-ass cult. Not that all cults aren't weird, but the one that kidnapped me really took the cake.

The sun was setting when we managed to find our Servants sitting on a park bench, though Saber seemed to be grumpy with how angry she was eating some snacks from a paper bag, gnashing on the treats. While beside her, Archer seemed to have busied herself by people watching, though her eyes perked up when she saw us.

"Faelan," Archer nodded as she stood up and stepped to my side.

"So what'd you two do all day?" I asked her.

"Absolutely nothing!" complained Saber as her own Master took the seat Archer had just vacated. "This town has nothing! No highrises, no amusement parks, nor even an arcade! Nothing! It's like this place sat unaffected by time while the rest of the world advanced!"

"Welcome to mage society," I joked with a grin, causing Sisgou to chuckle.

"Huh?" Saber raised a brow at me.

"I'll explain it later," I waved off. "Anyway, some cities like this one are known for keeping their old architecture."

"Laaaaame," Saber groaned petulantly.

Archer rolled her eyes, I may like children, but even I do not stand brats.

I shook my head in amusement, eyeing my Servant from the corner of my eye, Play nice.

"Well, luckily you won't be bored for very long," said Sisigou. "Faelan and I visited the city morgue to examine the corpses. Most of them either fought back or were tortured, but most, if not all of them, were chopped to pieces and their hearts gouged out."

"Why the heart?" asked Saber as she popped another one of her treats into her mouth.

"For Servants, it's the location of their Spirit Cores and for mages, it's the source of life," her Master replied. "Assassin of Black most likely took them to gain energy."

"Assassin of Black? You're sure it was them?" Archer raised a brow.

"Yeah, Faelan and I talked it over on the way here," the Necromancer nodded. "None of the Servants on our side did it and as your Masters, we'd probably know if the two of you went around eating hearts. Add in the fact that Faelan said he saw all of the Black faction's Servants when you tried to stop Berserker save for one, well process of elimination."

"How fitting that the most cowardly of Servant classes would stoop so low as to harvest people's hearts," Saber scoffed, crumpling her empty bag and tossed it into a nearby trash can without even looking.

"And given that there are two mages still here," Atalanta pointedly looked at Sisigou and I, "it's quite likely you two will be the next targets."

"And given all the publicity of the serial killings, only an idiot would go out at night," I nodded before looking over at the sun that was close to setting. "Which given the position of the sun, shouldn't be too long."

"This oughta be fun!" Saber grinned as she stood up from the bench and punched her open palm, donning her armor in a flash of red lightning. "I call dibs on the killing blow, Archer!"

Beside her, Archer sighed. Forget what I said about her being a brat, she's just a problem child…

Omake: What Would Happen if Faelan Met Jack the Ripper?

"Goddamn fog," Faelan coughed as Atalanta led him out from the poisonous fog that had enveloped the city.

"You good, kid?" Kairi Sisgou panted, trying to catch his breath.

"I should be asking you that, old man," the Ashford Enforcer managed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What with your smoker's lungs, I thought Saber would've been dragging a corpse after the first few minutes."

"Wait a sec, he's right!"

Saber of Red came to the realization that she and her Master would've been disqualified for being the second death in the war, she turned to angrily berate her Master, only for her to kick his feet out from under him and slashed upwards. Good thing too, if she hadn't, the Necromancer would've found a knife in his throat.

"Whoa! What the hell, Saber?! You almost cut me!" cried Kairi

"Yeah, almost!" Saber nodded, readying her Clarent in front of her. "And you!" She turned to the would be assassin, Assassin. "Unfortunately for you, this guy is my Master."

"Hey, you cut us," the child Servant pouted as she stared at the cut made on her right arm. "What a cruel thing to do."

The wound in question healed quickly enough as she regarded the Saber in front of her.

Atalanta gritted her teeth as she readied her bow. Fighting children was the last thing she wanted to do, but the child before her was a Servant.

"Master, your orders."

…

"Master?"

…

"Faelan?"

The members of the Red faction turned their attention towards Faelan as he had remained silent. Their bewilderment and curiosity doubled when they saw one of his brow twitching rather violently as he regarded the child Servant.

"Uh, hey Archer, is your Master okay?" Saber asked her fellow Servant.

"I… I don't know," she said unsurely. She had never seen this kind of reaction from her Master before. Hesitantly, she reached for his shoulder. "Faelan, are you-"

"What do you think you're doing, young lady?!" Faelan suddenly shouted.

"The hell?" Saber took a step back.

With everyone in the square looking at the Enforcer, none was more startled than Assassin of Black as he marched right over to her and stared down at her with a look of great disappointment and rage.

"Wh-what?" the child fumbled for an explanation as to why the Master was suddenly acting this way.

"Your clothes," Faelan frowned, his arms crossed as he regarded the Assassin known as Jack the Ripper, "what do you think you're wearing?"

The child looked at herself unsurely. She wore a black vest, stockings with pink shoes, and panties. These were the clothes she had managed to scrounge up when she had been alive. As an unwanted child, finding clothes was difficult for her.

"Uh, my clothes?" Jack tried.

Faelan's brow, which was still twitching the entire time, suddenly stopped as he sighed, palming his face. Mumbling to himself, he shook his head, grabbed the child's hand, and pulled the baffled child Servant along.

"Alright, that's it, we're going to a clothing store."

"Wh-what? No, lemme go!" Jack tried to pry her hand from the Master's grip but to no avail as she was comically pulled along. "Mommy, a bad man is taking me!"

To the side, Kairi, Saber, and Archer could only watch in complete befuddlement as they watched the Enforcer drag a Servant along.

"This is for your own good, little miss," said Faelan tonelessly as he broke into a nearby clothing store and pulled Jack to the kid's section.

A few minutes later, Faelan was dragging a pouting Jack the Ripper who was now wearing a brightly colored sundress. And Faelan looked extremely proud of himself that he managed to get the child to wear some proper clothing.

"Mguuuu," Jack glowered petulantly, one hand lowering in an attempt to rip her dress off, but a glare from Faelan stopped her.

"Don't even think about it, young lady…"

Foiled, the child Servant crossed her arms instead as she pouted off to the side.

"Oh, aren't you adorable!" Atalanta gushed as she dashed forward and gathered Jack in her arms. Which the Assassin Servant's response was to just lie and accept this punishment as she was growing tired of resisting by this point.

…

"What the hell…?" Saber looked at the scene in disbelief, before looking over at Kairi "Hey, Master, your friends are weird."

Breathing out a large sigh, Kairi could only palm his face in an attempt to alleviate his headache as he knew that Saber's words made it clear that she was not going to be associated with… whatever this was.

"Goddammit, I knew I should've haggled for more. I'm not being paid enough to deal with this crap…"

AN:

Yeah, so the Omake is the unofficial reason why I'm not having Faelan and Archer fight Jack, he'd be too busy trying to force/convince her to wear proper clothes.

And uh, so I got Semiramis in FGO like I wanted, but I got her on the 1x pull I pressed on by mistake. I swear, my luck gives me joy, a migraine, and sometimes, complete bafflement... Ah well, four down, three to go. All I need is Mordred, Achilles, and the main heroine in this fic, Atalanta. And with the 5 star ticket next year as well as the Apocrypha event, I'm hoping to complete my Red faction collection.

Next chapter will end the mini Jack the Ripper arc before the large battle between Red and Black factions.

See you all next week!