Rokuro-Kubi
Archer ran. Having astralized, he moved without being able to be seen or heard. He carried out a reconnaissance that had led him to the shores of Lake Biwa. In his youth, when he was still called Emiya Shirou, this large lake (the largest in Japan) was on the border of the prefecture of Kyoto and that of Shiga.
The former Alaya's Dog had memorized every detail of the map that had been given to them upon their departure. The most direct route between Kyoto and the Zone ran along the western shore of the lake, avoiding the town of Tsurugu, then following the border with Otomo before continuing straight north, crossing the former prefectures of Fukui and Ishikawa, having to go east to cross the Shubusangaku Mountains that separated the New Empire and the Zone.
On paper, it was a journey of 110 kilometers. It might not have seemed like much...and it would have been in 2004, just an hour and a half of travel within the speed limits, except there was no more car or paved road in this part of Japan. Since Rin did not know how to ride a horse, he had succeeded in convincing her to travel on foot with him for only escort. The advantage was that they did not need to follow the roads and could stay away from the woods where no one could suspect their presence...
The downside was that he had to carry Rin and suffer her complaints!
He sighed before focusing on his task.
The area between the lake and the coast was one of the few plains in Japan. All the available space was crisscrossed with fields where agricultural activities continued in peace, probably because the news of the disappearance of the treasures of the coronation had not yet arrived. The wagons filled with large braided baskets with a capacity of one Koku(1) the caravans of the hawkers and the carts of the camels crossed on the roads patrolled by the soldiers of the New Empire. He concentrated on the following:
[Rin, I don't see any signs of trouble in the area. There's no enemy presence, and I don't see any smoke column that can signal combat. The road ahead is clear for thirty kilometers. That may change in the future, of course, but at this point, I would say we're safe.]
There was a moment of silence then:
[All right, come back for me.]
Rin didn't hate that Archer carried her like a princess, snuggled up against her white knight's muscular torso... Um, that traitor, she meant that traitor Archer, of course. But she hated not to hate it... so, the Tohsaka heiress makes a few jabs to Archer from time to time so he doesn't forget her motion sickness, while her Servant zigzagged and leaped, bypassing villages by staying in the hedges.
Archer answered nothing, he replied only once to point out that she would bite her tongue if she continued to speak while he was running. Fortunately, this did not prevent the Red Devil from using their mental connection to give him a piece of her mind.
The journey continued for several hours. As Archer circumvented the obstacles, taking care not to be seen, they only covered about 40 kilometers in a straight line. They left the small town of Takashima on their right and continued north.
Suddenly, EMIYA stopped and took shelter behind a hedge. Of course, the break pleased Rin, but as no stop was planned, she turned to Archer to ask him for an explanation.
The Servant had a calm face, but Rin Tohsaka had come to know him. His eyes had shrunk and his lips formed a hard fold. She also noted the arms along the body, his hand opened...Ready to Trace his signature swords.
"I don't know, just an impression."
Rin looked around. They had arrived in a much poorer region than the fertile plain on the shore of Lake Biwa. The locals lived in huts that seemed ready to fly away at the first gale of wind. They were dirty and clothed with herds. Even at a distance, the wind brought her an infectious stir... the smell of pig farm (they raised pigs and poultry), the mud of the rice fields that the peasants were busy transplanting, manure. And it was enough to see the state of their clothes -short kimonos that stop at mid-thigh- to imagine the smell of bodies rarely washed.
But even more than their filth, it was the behavior of the poor inhabitants that intrigued Rin. A group of local peasants assembled around a solitary samurai. Perhaps their numbers gave them a sense of strength, but they insulted him. The samurai - very young, according to Archer - had allowed himself to be surrounded by the peasants. He seemed hesitant to draw his katana and this hesitation only fed the spirit of revolt of the poor people.
"What do you think, Archer?"
EMIYA remained quiet for a few seconds, then:
"Well, normally I'd say it's none of our business and I wouldn't even stop."
"But" insisted Rin.
"Peasant behavior is abnormal."
"Abnormal?"
"On the passage of a samurai, the people of the lowest castes bow down to the ground. Even looking up would be a serious insult that could lead to an immediate beheading."
"Of course, but revolts are not unknown even in the New Empire."
"You are of course right, Rin, and the present circumstances would be enough to trigger a spontaneous revolt. Except that the news of the theft of the objects of the coronation has not yet traveled here and their anger seems to have no cause..."
Rin proudly crossed her arms on her chest and withdrew into her own thoughts her eyes reduced to thin slits:
"You mean they'd be influenced?"
Archer merely nodded.
"All right, go help that samurai, but don't kill anyone."
"Yes, Master."
Archer leaped forward, materializing Kanshou and Bakuya.
Normally, He was partisan to leave people to fend for themselves. A bitter experience... many centuries in the service of Alaya... had taught him that men could not be protected from their own stupidity. And that saving a handful of people was only a form of selfishness, a means of giving oneself a good conscience, which did not prevent the death of many others.
Nevertheless, a part of him always pushed him to help. Normally, he managed to suppress this inner impulse... Except that once again he gave in...
Archer had a smirk...
He let himself be influenced by Emiya Shirou. Obviously, he couldn't spend several weeks in the company of this idealistic idiot without any consequences.
But, in the end, was it not normal for him to copy the ideals of his young and stupid version?
After all, he was just a Faker.
Tohsaka Rin was above all the last descendant of a long lineage of Magi. And as such, she had to adopt in all circumstances a behavior worthy of a Magus.
This meant that Rin was literally forcing herself to regard any situation as a form of accounting, with on the one hand the actions that could benefit her family's reputation, and on the other hand, anything that could harm this same reputation.
However, Rin was a good person.
When she had ordered Archer to intervene, the Red Devil had almost convinced herself that Archer was only fulfilling part of her contract with the Tennō.
Nevertheless, the young woman couldn't hide from herself that she was doing this because that's what Shirou would have done in the same circumstance. Since her meeting with the idealistic redhead teen, she accepted this side of her personality more and more easily. After all, Shirou was right, there was nothing wrong with helping others... Nevertheless, Tohsaka could not help but feel a sudden shame: What would her father have thought of her behavior?
She shook her head with annoyance, refusing to continue down this path.
But a small voice - that of reason- whispered to her that Tohsaka Tokiomi was perhaps a 'perfect' Magus but that had not prevented him from dying, killed by his own pupil. The motive for this murder was the theft of his Servant. It must have been some kind of family curse... but at least Rin had escaped death. She may have made the same mistakes as her father, but her good heart had provided her with friends who had saved her: Saber, Shirou... and Lancer.
Maybe her father and the other Magi were wrong all along.
Perhaps utilitarianism, forceful selfishness, and the lack of compassion of the Magi were only beneficial in the short term, and - on the contrary - condemned them in the long term.
Archer's arrival provoked a movement of surprise among the peasants.
From where she stood, Rin could not hear her Servant. But it was apparent that his words made a strong effect on the inhabitants. First, the most aggressive farmers retreated. Then, as their leader seemed to respond, EMIYA turned to him to point his blade at the peasant's throat. There was a moment of silence, then an old arthritic man rushed to the leader of the rebels... his father in view of the resemblance... and forced him to kneel before Archer.
When Archer returned to Tohsaka, she asked him what he had told them. The Servant of the Bow replied with a snarky self-satisfied smile:
"I embarrassed them. People believe that laughter is man's prerogative. It's not. Animals don't know shame."
His smile became more pronounced:
"By the way, Rin, the old chief has proposed that I take his son, the shame of his life, as a slave, to put him at the service of the 'noble lady' whom I escort."
Rin turned horrified eyes towards the village where the old man continued to shout at his son... she swallowed at the sight of their stinking rags. Her pout of disgust made Archer laugh:
"Oh, I thought you'd love to have a devoted porter."
She send back to him a look devoid of sweetness, while a vein had begun to beat on her temple:
"I hope you refused."
"Of course, he would only have delayed us. However, I accepted the village chief's proposal to house us for the night. He said they offer us their best home."
Rin sigh:
"Even if it's the cleanest, I doubt it will live up to the standards of the 21st century... and will there be cockroaches? Rats?"
"It's still safer than staying in the wild."
One of the villagers guided Rin and Archer, leading them to the village. Seen up close, the place was even more repugnant. It could be described as a gathering of notebooks grouped around a square and surrounded by dikes delimiting rice fields. As the afternoon drew to a close, the working day was not yet over, with most of the men and women working diligently to replant the rice in plots of semi-liquid mud. In fact, apart from the village elders, gathered in the square and seated in seiza, the village was deserted.
The elders welcomed Rin and Archer, offering them to sit among themselves and participate in their debates. Not wanting to offend their hosts, Rin accepted.
Archer, however, briefly frowned. The old men seemed as if absent, their discussions were without interest and they seemed to want to prolong the debates, making the same arguments repeatedly.
[Something abnormal is going on.]
The Magus in red nodded:
[Yes, they speak to say nothing.]
Archer raised his eyes, the sun was very low on the horizon and had taken on a red color. The shadows grew, stretching eastward.
[You will have noted that they have not yet taken us to our dwelling. It looks like they are trying to save time while waiting for the sun to set.]
[Why] asked Rin.
[I ask myself the same question.]
The Tohsaka Heiress remained silent for a moment.
[Okay, we're not going to stand by and say nothing...I'm going to try something.]
Taking advantage of a break in this nonsensical conversation Rin raised her hand:
"Excuse me, venerable village elders, but I have a request."
All the old men turned to her, and for the first time, Rin felt very uncomfortable. Their leader bowed respectfully:
"What can we do for you, noble guest?"
"My guard and I are exhausted by our long journey and would like to rest. Would you be kind enough to take us to the house that has been prepared for us?"
The old man seemed troubled and shameful:
"I understand that our discussions must be of little interest to you. Unfortunately, to my great embarrassment, I must admit that the only reason we're keeping you here is to allow our young people to clean the house before you move in. I would die in dishonor if I were to take you there before we have transformed this unworthy house into a habitat worthy of guests of your quality."
Rin smiled and thanked saying that "everything was fine as it was and that she could wait" then the Magus resumed her private conversation with EMIYA:
[Archer, what he says makes sense but... when they turned to me to look at me I felt a sense of unease... almost fear.]
[Rin, that's normal. They looked at you like a hungry person would look at a slice of meat grilling.]
The comparison startled the Magus, and she had to struggle to keep the neutral expression of her 'miss perfect' mask.
[A slice of meat? But...]
[Rin, they're not human. No, don't ask me what they are... not yet... but keep this in mind: there are far too many old people for such a small village.]
[Should we not leave?]
Archer turned to look at the sun almost touching the top of the hill:
[Too late, as soon as the sun is gone their powers will return and they will attack. Prepare yourself, they think the surprise effect will work in their favor. They are wrong...]
As the last rays of the sun touched the village, the debate between the elders of the village became increasingly incomprehensible. Soon the old men seemed to take on a form of collective madness. The head turned slowly in one direction and then in another, their teeth collided in a repeated and horrifying jaw noise.
Archer raised slowly, arms along the body as his lips whispered the first verse of his Aria:
"I'm the bone of my sword."
Kanshu and Bakuya appeared in his hands.
Rin rose in turn, focusing on her switch image, a knife stabling her heart:
"Ein großer, ein kleiner!"
On her arms and legs, 40 hand Magic Circuits and 30 sub Magic Circuits come to life. Thanks to the Reinforcement Magecraft, her bones now had the hardness of the steel and her muscles developed greater power. So prepared, she could confront any human and even a supernatural menace.
Their preparations had not lasted a moment too long. The heads of the old men detached themselves from their necks and rushed towards them. Archer drew his two Chinese swords with staggering dexterity, repelling attacks from all directions. Dodging, blocking, retaliating, he smiled:
"As I suspected, they're Rokuro-Kubi!"
Rin raised her hand and casted a round-up of Finn shots in the direction of two flying heads. Though occupied by the undead, the Tohsaka Magus turned to her Servant to ask him to repeat.
The latter did not ask himself:
"The Rokuro-Kubi are harmless undead by day. But at night their heads come off. Do you remember what I said earlier, that there are many old men in such a small village? Given the hardness of agricultural works, it should only remain a few survivors. In fact, they all died except that they made a small arrangement, at the expense of travelers. The other villagers are under their control. When an isolated traveler arrives in the village, they attack and sequester him to deliver him to the Rokiro-Kubi."
The fight quickly turned in favor of the Master and his Servant. The Rokuro-Kubi were probably terrifying to an ordinary traveler, but not to Archer.
The latter had already killed three monsters, and Rin one.
The surviving monsters, about twenty flying skulls, gathered to prepare for a new assault. But they had made a tactical mistake by grouping together. They just make a bigger target.
Archer breathed in and briefly closed the eyes crossing the Married Blades on his chest:
Spirit and technique, flawless and firm
Our strength rips the mountains.
The Servant leaped forward, throwing Kanshou and Bakuya at his opponents. The two blades stuck in the mass of the monsters, cutting into the adversaries banding together, as scythes among the wheat. He created two more identical blades and threw them out.
Our swords split the water
Our names reach the imperial villa
In Archer's empty hands appeared two more copies of the Twin Blades.
Utilizing reinforcement Magecraft, EMIYA transformed the last set of swords in Overegged version of the Married Blades.
The two of us cannot hold the heavens together.
Triple-Linked Crane Wings
Rushing at the Rokuro-Kubi, he struck several as the two first pairs came back to him, magnetized by the overegged pair he held in his hand. The Yin and Yang blades struck the undead exploding the bewitched skulls.
After only thirty seconds, there were only four survivors left. The Rokuro-Kubi, suddenly realizing they were facing an adversary too dangerous for them, fled. But Archer threw the swords which he held in his hand and then, Tracing a new set of chines swords that he threw too. Describing arabesques of perfect precision, too fast to be dodged, each blade hit a target.
It was all over.
Saber and Shirou had left more than a day late on Rin and Saber. However, they had received assistance from the Republic of Japan. A helicopter had dropped them off north of Kyoto about 50 kilometers from the Zone.
As a result, they were even ahead of their friends. Nevertheless, their route was not intended to cross theirs immediately. They were further west of the road used by the Red Devil and the Servant of the Bow.
The helicopter had left them at the entrance of the lands of the Daimyo Buntokapi, a lord whose domain formed the border with the Zone. This frontier territory was larger than those of the other lords of the New Empire, but in fact, it remained wilder and less populated because of its proximity to the territory controlled by the Onis, a result of their constant assault of the civilians in this region.
A fact that Saber could not ignore. In the two hours since the helicopter landed, the female knight had remained on alert, ready to materialize Excalibur.
Yet it was Emiya Shirou who reacted first. In order to be able to follow the rapid advance of his former Servant, he had used Reinforcement Magecraft. One of the few techniques he really understood. And his 'improved' eyes allowed him to spot a column of smoke in the distance.
Saber smiled and shook his head with resignation when Shirou asked her to take a detour... Artoria was not surprised.
"I would say that we have an important mission to accomplish, but I doubt if I can convince you."
Shirou had the good taste to make a sorry face like a child caught in the act of stealing jam. Scratching his neck, he had an awkward smile:
"It's never wrong to help someone, is it?"
Saber raised her eyes to the heaven in an expressive mimic... At that moment, it was difficult to recognize the stoic knight whom Shirou had invoked at the beginning of the last Grail War:
"I expect nothing less from you."
A hand on the hip, a finger raised - an unconscious copy of a Rin's mimic - she fixed her conditions:
"We'll see. But if there's danger, you let me do it and you stand back. Are we agreed?"
Shirou nodded vigorously and smiled, happy that the knight let him help the innocent:
"All right!"
Saber gave him a suspicious glare and then sighed... she was certain that if innocent people were in danger, Shirou would instantly forget all his good resolutions and throw himself into the fight without thinking. Yet he was sincere in promising to follow her lead on this one. He was always sincere, one of the most touching of his personality... but he forgot all the promises he made when he saw someone in danger.
This mixture of sincerity and selfless dedication was both what Artoria loved most about Shirou and what often angered her. How many times did he stupidly risk his life for complete strangers? Saber had stopped counting, but the memory alone was enough to twist her heart with apprehension. She didn't want to see him again covered in blood, almost dead...
Shirou was a strange mixture between Lancelot, Perceval, and Gawain. He had the unfailing will of the first, the infantile temperament of the second, and as the third, he was the perfect incarnation of the knight in shining armor.
Yes, he would have been perfectly integrated into the Round Table...
Except that he alone would have doubled King Arthur's worries, leaving her on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
As they advanced rapidly to the east, Artoria and Shirou discovered the origin of the smoke. A village belonging to the Daimyo of Tsuruga was burning. Tense, Shirou took the dirt track that left the main road and drove in this direction. He had mechanically taken the lead and Saber was obliged to remind him that he had promised to leave the lead to her. He acquiesced, but the legendary King Arthur had no illusions, he had responded without really listening to her, all his attention turned towards the burning village.
As they got closer, they began to distinguish details. First, the terrorized villagers ran in disorder. Some were brandishing agricultural tools, using them as improvised weapons. Then the assailants were not ordinary bandits. They were samurai in armor, armed with bows and spears with their pair of sabers on the belt. Saber had seen enough battles to recognize veterans when she saw them in a war. And there, they were undeniably so. Some of the horsemen surrounded the village, firing flaming arrows on the roofs, while other samurai threw charges into the streets to assault the barricades. Given the minimal level of communication between the two groups, this was a unit of soldiers accustomed to such maneuvers.
Of course, they have spotted the two travelers on the villa's road.
A group of horsemen came towards them. Their leader wore metallic armor with lacquered bamboo shoulder pads (sode). His facial mask (mempo) represented a human face with thick whiskers.
He stared at the duo.
Shirou was dressed as usual with a blue and white long sleeve baseball jersey T-shirt and blue slim straight jeans. This western dress allowed the samurai to recognize a resident of the Republic of Japan. Saber's appearance surprised him more... he hesitated for a moment and then addressed them in an arrogant tone:
"A republican deadbeat and a despicable Gaijin (foreigner)! And the so-called Kihei Tennō lets you roam on our pure country, free from the pernicious and destructive influence of technology and those cursed foreigners who imposed it on the Japanese. You represent everything that real Japanese despise and banned. You are proof that Kihei no longer deserves to be called 'Tennō'; Tennō Buntokapi banzai (A thousand years of life for the Tennō Buntokapi)!"
Saber stiffened herself imperceptibly, although only her eyes betrayed that the insults had angered her. Rational and accustomed to battle, she quickly judged the situation. Combat was inevitable. In a sense, she was happy with it. Artoria Pendragon had some reasons not to love the feudal lords who turned against their overlord, some very personal reasons...
The Daimyo Buntokapi was one of the Japanese lords who had not complained about the disappearance of the treasures of the coronation. On the contrary, he saw this event as an opportunity to satisfy their ambitions. The Kingdom of Britain had had a few such lords, too happy to join Mordred. And their memory nourished in her an irrational desire to fight against Buntokapi.
More important, Shirou and she were symbols for the rebels, their presence 'defiled' Japan and was the 'proof' that Kihei Tennō was unworthy of the Emperor's title.
But if Artoria was not afraid to fight, she had never faced the samurai of the New Empire and was reluctant to attack head-on. From what she had learned, their 'Living Katanas' were minor Noble Phantasm. Nevertheless, samurais were relatively ordinary humans despite their magical armor and their utilization of the Ki ( the vital breath) in martial techniques. She would happily face one of them in a duel... but a whole cavalry unit... at the same time? She took a quick look at Shirou. Could her Master face one of these men? Ten? But Shirou replied with an imperceptible nod, silently confirming that he was ready to fight. His concentrated posture showed that he can Trace a weapon at any time.
The assault was unleashed without warning. The leader of the horsemen spurs his horse. Then, after a battle cry, charged Shirou.
However, the young redhead was not taken by surprise. Archer's great black bow materialized in his hands. The next moment, two arrows made of translucent Prana pierced the samurai's chest. With a strangled cry he dropped his spear and fell from his saddle.
The other samurais pushed their stallions forward...
Saber intercepted the first two assailants with a rapid movement of the Sword of the Wind King. They were cut in two at waist height. As their torsos fell to the ground in a splash of blood, the legs remained in their place on the backs of the terrified horses.
In ten seconds, three samurai were dead. But the others were already reacting. Several horsemen armed with spears rushed in the direction of Artoria ready to pierce her.
Further away, four horsemen armed with bows had begun to fire towards Shirou.
But the counter-attacks failed miserably. Saber disappeared, leaving behind only a fuzzy after-image... reappearing simultaneously at various points on the battlefield, her invisible sword sowing death.
As for Emiya Shirou, he jumped sideways, dodging the first arrows, and retaliated. His own projectiles flew with implacable precision. The samurais did not have time to understand what was happening to them...
The fight lasted less than a minute and the results were clear. Neither Saber nor Shirou had been touched once. On the other side, there were only horses running at random... all the riders were dead or severely wounded.
The disaster did not go unnoticed by the defenders of the village as the remaining assailants. As Saber and her Master advanced towards them, the samurai decided to suspend the assault and withdraw... unwilling to face the duo.
As for the villagers, they welcomed their liberators with demonstrations of joy.
(1) Old rice's unit of measurement in medieval Japan, no idea of correspondence... probably between 15 and 50 kilograms.