FATE/IRREGULAR SUMMONS

Chapter 5: Sakura's Response

Caren sipped her tea, purposefully pausing for dramatic effect. She gingerly set the cup upon its plate, then said, "This Holy Grail War is already compromised… No, I suppose it's more accurate to say that the core principles behind these conflicts have never had any bearing from the onset."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, appearing genuinely confused. Medusa and Connla remained silent, not wishing to interrupt the impending discussion.

"Tell me, Matou Sakura," Caren faced the bewildered teenager. "How much do you know of the Holy Grail War and its rules?"

"The rules?" Sakura mumbled. "Well… Grandfather told me that it is my duty to the Matou family to defeat the six other Masters in a competition for the Holy Grail, which happens once every several decades. However, that doesn't mean we participants are allowed to do as we please. We must keep the other civilians out of danger at all times so that news of the War does not spread. If anyone winds up seeing too much, then they must be killed to ensure their silence.

"Each Master is granted a Servant that is exclusive to the seven classes, and the final Master-Servant pair standing is declared the victor… What else is there…? Oh yes, any Master who loses their Servant is allowed to seek asylum with the local Church. The impartial arbiter of each War, assigned by the Holy Church, is tasked with safeguarding the Masters who no longer can participate. Plus, no Servants are allowed to invade the arbiter's neutral grounds. And then-"

"Stop. That is enough," Caren snapped.

"Eh?"

"Now think about what I just said."

Sakura pondered over the priestess' first words – that the War's principles 'never had any meaning from the onset'. She wondered, "I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to tell me, Sister."

"Come now, can't you put two and two together?" Caren sighed in consternation. "Basically, it means all of those rules are worthless. My Servant and I already know this to be the case."

"How so?"

"'The competition for the Holy Grail happens once every several decades,' as you said. Yet it's only been 10 years since the last one. You should remember all about it – that's when your father Tohsaka Tokiomi sold you out to the Matous, and you began to undergo Zouken's grueling training to become a first-rate Magus."

Sakura's face paled in horror. "H-How do you-!?"

"I've done my research. At the very least, I know everything about the three primary Mage families that always participate in these battles. The other Masters are more or less unknown to me, but the Tohsakas, Matous and Einzberns are practically open books for the Church to peruse. Your histories, lineages, abilities and successors are all there. Not even your private lives are exempt."

"Ah…" the violet-haired girl started to feel lightheaded. "Our… private lives…"

"Such research is strictly for intelligence gathering. Rest assured, all information we collect is strictly confidential. I can guarantee that there will be no threat of blackmail on my part."

Behind Caren's seat, Connla quietly shot her false Master a dirty look. From what she could tell of the nun's personality, she had a feeling that was exactly what was going to happen.

"Anyway," Caren continued, "that's not what we're here to talk about. You should know that this War is happening far too soon in contrast to what history dictates, though given the odd circumstances behind the previous War, that may or may not be surprising. Still, that's not the only irregular factor I want to unveil to you. Earlier you were wondering how Bazett lost her arm, right?"

"Yes. What happened to her? Does it have something to do with the War?"

"Indeed. According to the rules, the Church's overseer is supposed to be impartial and not take any sort of action to benefit either himself or any of the participants. Now, do you know who the overseer for this War is supposed to be?"

"Grandfather told me it was some priest named Kotomine Kirei. I was to go to him if I had any issues."

Caren glared at Sakura and declared, "You better not, unless you're such a masochist that you want to wind up like Bazett."

The student's eyes widened, and she gasped, "Y-You're telling me… the arbiter did that to her…!?"

"Excellent. It seems you're capable of some level of critical thinking."

Medusa stepped forward, growing tired of Caren's harshness. Sakura raised her arm in front of her Servant, and Medusa wordlessly ceased her advance. Sakura then asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"Without a doubt," the nun replied without hesitation.

"But… why would he do that?"

"In order to steal her Servant. Why else?"

"No, this isn't making any sense… The arbiter can't have a Servant! It would go against the rules!"

"Are you starting to see why the War's core principles no longer have any bearing, Matou Sakura? Laws and rules initially created by humans may have some purity and integrity to them at first, but over time, their value degrades to the point that they are more worthless than pebbles in a driveway. Soon, anarchy reigns supreme once again, and humans thus return to their primal state unless new rules are enforced. Always has been, always will be. And with a battle like this one where the Masters and Servants will do anything they can to win the Grail, you can start to see how raw, uncontrolled hedonism is the real name of this particular game. The rules are naught but a hollow formality at this point."

Sakura hesitantly started at her teacup and murmured in a horrified whisper, "Then… is it possible that Grandfather was lying to me…? Does he know something that I don't…?"

"Wait," Medusa sternly interrupted, then demanded to Caren, "What guarantee is there that you are telling Sakura the truth, human? For all we know, you could be making up lies to goad her into doing what you want."

"You doubt me?" Caren calmly stared upon the blindfolded woman. "Since you're supposed to be one of those oh-so 'omniscient' gods of bygone days, go ahead and tell me – how did Bazett wind up losing an arm that just happened to possess her Command Spells?"

"I don't know. Still, it's not sufficient proof that Sakura should just go along with you."

The nun narrowed her eyes and bitterly spat, "Is there a brain in that skull of yours, or is it as completely empty as I suspect?"

"Wha-?"

"Take a look at my Servant, and then remind me again what class she is."

Medusa turned her attention towards Connla, who had remained silent and impassive this entire time. The long-haired goddess lightly clenched her teeth and muttered, "Lancer…"

"That's right, a Lancer. Not just any Lancer, but a second one. You said you had met the other one before, didn't you?"

"Ugh…"

"A second Lancer..." Sakura wondered, then stood up and approached the child before kneeling to get a good look at her face. "That can't be. There can only be one of each Servant class for a total of seven."

"There's no mistaking it though, Sakura," Medusa implored. "I fought that girl to a standstill, and she was most definitely summoned in the Lancer class."

"But… how? There shouldn't be any way to summon any more Heroic Spirits beyond the seven… And for some eighth Servant to be such an adorable little girl too," Sakura added with a smile. Connla pursed her lips and glanced away from the curious teenager, unaccustomed to receiving such compliments.

Caren crossed her legs and asked with a wry grin, "Is that enough evidence for you, Rider?"

"Hmph," the goddess grunted. She didn't want to openly admit that a human was correct, yet she couldn't ignore this glaring contradiction either. She put a hand on her hip and curtly demanded, "What do you want Sakura to do?"

"She just needs to join my cause in going against Kotomine Kirei, his pilfered Servant, and those who disregard the rules once held sacred. I'm sure there will be plenty of unsavory characters that will try anything that they put their mind to, which could make the New Fuyuki Fire of 10 years ago look like a total joke in comparison."

Sakura became pensive. She knew of the great blaze that devastated the city. Although the public at large didn't know the source of the blaze, Zouken confided that it was due to the Grail being destroyed and having its contents spill all over the place. Sakura was always worried that, should the Grail appear again in her lifetime, a similar calamity would occur. Zouken always told her that he was taking precautions to ensure that she had nothing to fear once it came into her possession. He never elaborated on what those 'precautions' were however, so Sakura could only work her hardest to be a proficient Mage who wouldn't allow another tragedy to happen. Her duty was to win the Grail on Zouken's behalf and wish for the 'utopia' that he always desired.

With Caren saying that the War's rules were irrelevant, and that there were people who would gladly cause greater catastrophes to Fuyuki's citizenry, those concerns began to stir within her troubled mind once more. She thought about her friends at school, and of her long-lost sister. As if that wasn't enough, a terrible fear that Sakura had kept buried for 10 years was being forced back to the surface.

"Ms. Matou?" Connla asked, noticing the student's worried expression.

"S-Sister Hortensia…" Sakura uttered. "I… I truly, truly believe in what you're saying… I really do. But at the same time… I can't go against Grandfather…"

"Sakura?" Medusa wondered, and she put a hand on her Master's back. "Is something the matter?"

"Rider… The truth is… ten years ago, I had an uncle who took part in the Fourth War. He promised me that if he won the Grail for Grandfather, he could save me from being fed to the 'bugs'. But that uncle… lost. I then watched him… as he was eaten by the 'bugs'… and I realized that it was pointless to go against Grandfather's will…"

No one could say anything to relieve her of such a horrible memory. Even Caren understood Sakura's trepidation at resisting the 500-year old patriarch's commanding dominance over the Matou family. If her uncle had died going against Zouken, Sakura was thus terrified that she would be met with a similar fate.

Despite Caren's empathy, she closed her eyes and scoffed, "He wants a utopia? What nonsense. The only 'utopia' he'd create is an end-of-the-world scenario where the only living things remaining are insects feeding off of billions of corpses like your uncle's. A decrepit fossil like Matou Zouken doesn't even deserve to know the words 'Holy Grail', much less covet it."

"Is that… what you think?" Sakura whimpered sullenly.

"That's quite enough, human," Medusa retorted to the priestess. "Even if the truth you show us is valid, Sakura doesn't need to hear any more of your venomous drivel. If you expect her to relent to you, that means she will be sacrificing all of the suffering she's had to endure this entire time. You might not think it, but her trials and tribulations do have meaning."

"Even so, she must have found some kind of pillar of strength that she could rely on. That explains how she can be so strong-willed, if a bit on the indecisive side. Otherwise she would have been reduced to a catatonic shell of her former self, wouldn't you agree?" Caren asked. Her bright yellow eyes turned toward Sakura as she titillatingly added, "A pillar of strength… like a certain classmate of yours?"

"Ah…" the student gasped. The image of a particular boy her age with messy, rust-colored hair doing his utmost to leap over a high jump crossbar immediately flashed in her mind.

"Master," Connla rebuked in a stiff tone, already knowing where this conversation was headed. "You really shouldn't provoke Ms. Matou like that."

"Why not?" Caren asked. "Even though he's incompetent as a Mage, he is undoubtedly the Master for this War's Saber Servant. You witnessed his Command Spell for yourself, didn't you, Lancer?"

"Well that's true, but-"

Sakura let out a small cry of astonishment. "Senpai is a Master!?"

"Of course," Caren declared. "If you don't believe me, then take a good look at the Command Spell on his hand the next time you two meet. Oh, and maybe you'll happen upon a foreign blonde-haired 'friend' of his that suddenly popped up around the time the War began."

As Sakura remained kneeling there in shock, Medusa asked Caren, "What are you getting at? Why are you telling Sakura so much?"

"Let's put it this way," the priestess took another sip of her tea, apparently unperturbed by all of the emotion surrounding her. "Matou Sakura would never dream of having to fight Emiya Shirou in a death match. That would be much too heartbreaking for her, wouldn't it? Yet she's too scared to go against Matou Zouken. What if I made my proposal as a way for her to escape from this cruel fate and actually team up with Emiya Shirou for a change? Not just him, but also Tohsaka Rin, who has recruited the Archer-class Servant."

Sakura widened her eyes and dropped her jaw a bit.

Caren muttered, "I can't make a guarantee with the other Masters, but I'm sure at least those three will be able to see eye-to-eye and come to a compromise. That would account for half of this War's eight Servants likewise teaming up to go against the impending barbarism that otherwise threatens Fuyuki."

Medusa said, "Let's say our little alliance does wind up succeeding in stopping the Holy Grail War. What will happen afterwards?"

"My intention is to not just disrupt the Wars, but to put a permanent end to them. The Grail is a gift from the gods that is simply too dangerous for humans to possess, no matter how much strength and wisdom we may flout. Once I have seen to this War's safe conclusion, I will speak with the Mages' Association and see about eliminating the Heaven's Feel system so that no more Wars will ever occur. It is what the Church and the Association believe will be best for the future of our world."

Although the Rider wasn't entirely convinced of Caren's assurances, she knew it wasn't her place to make the decision for Sakura. She stood back and waited to see how her Master would take in all of this shocking news. After a long silence, Medusa eventually murmured, "What do you think, Sakura?"

"Well…" the teenager whispered. "I think… That is to say…"

Connla leaned in to see what her expression was, and Sakura looked into the girl's brown eyes. Soon, she asked the Servant, "Say, Lancer… Do you agree with Sister Caren's goals? Are you fighting to eliminate the Holy Grail War?"

"Uh… Y-Yes, I am. I don't want more tragedies like what happened to my Master to ever occur again. She's suffering so much because she believed in the rules and the people around her, only to be so horribly betrayed. I must do what I can to help discard this false tradition called the Holy Grail War. Only then do I believe her broken heart will begin to recover."

"And you've been fighting all of this on your own?"

"Well I was just summoned, so my battle against Rider is the only real encounter I've had so far… But I am indeed the only Servant supporting Master and Ms. Hortensia in their objective. Even if no one else listens to us, my duty is to do what I can to save as many people as possible. However powerful and insurmountable my opponents may be, I cannot falter. It is what Master expects of me."

Sakura paused, continuing to stare into the child's eyes while lost in deep thought. The silence continued for at least another minute. Her expression was so stoic that it was impossible for the others to determine what was going through her mind.

"… Rider."

"Yes?" Medusa asked.

"We're going to join Sister Caren's cause."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I've made up my mind."

"Excellent," Caren said with a beaming smile. "I knew you would understand. Of all the Masters, I believed you possessed the most reason to hear me out."

Sakura faced her and asked, "So what's going to happen next?"

"We rest up for today. Afterwards, we will coordinate a strategy to reach out to the other Masters in a similar fashion, sans Kotomine Kirei of course."

"All right."

Caren yawned, then said, "I am quite tired from all of this excitement. You must be as well, so go ahead and pick whichever room you desire to sleep in."

"Y-You want me to stay here? But I was planning on returning home."

"Are you mad? If Zouken finds out about our conversation, there's no telling what that degenerate pile of bugs will do to you."

"Um…"

"I have to concur," Medusa said. "This manor is the safest place for you to be right now, Sakura. It is far removed from town, so Zouken and the other Masters will be hard pressed to find you. If by some chance we are discovered, I will protect you with everything I have."

"Oh, okay. I know Grandfather will be displeased if I don't go back home, but I'll trust you, Rider."

Caren got up and began to head upstairs. She told her new ally, "Very good. With that, I bid you good night, Matou Sakura. Come on, Lancer."

Connla followed her, leaving the other two behind in the lounge to mull over the conversation they just had. Sakura exhaled a weary sigh, feeling the nerves and excitement from before settle down and leave her completely exhausted. She said to her Servant, "Now that we're not going after the Grail anymore, I'm starting to feel a lot better now."

"It seems like you didn't want to obtain it for Zouken's sake whatsoever."

"I was trained to help Grandfather fulfill his wish, but once they told me that Senpai was Saber's Master, I just couldn't bring myself to do it anymore. Deep down, I fervently prayed for a way to avoid fighting him, and I think this is my chance to do so. If Sister Caren and I can convince Senpai to join us, then going against Grandfather's wishes will be worth it."

"Very well. I shall not object to your decision," Medusa lightly bowed. "But whatever made you change your mind? Is it really because of Emiya Shirou?"

"Well it's partly him, but also…" Sakura paused and closed her eyes. "I didn't want Lancer to be fighting such a monumental battle alone."

"Meaning you saw something of yourself in her?"

"Exactly. I know what it's like to struggle against such a cruel world without support from anyone. The whole time I looked into Lancer's eyes, all I could see was sadness and anguish hiding behind a façade of calm professionalism. If she really is such a talented warrior as you claim, then she must have sacrificed her entire childhood to achieve such skill at her age. It makes me curious to know what her True Name must be."

"I am quite as baffled as you are. Maybe she will indulge your curiosity now that we are allies."

"Who knows. But I need to say this to you right now, Rider - please give Lancer your full support. However strong she believes she is, the fact is that she cannot win on her own. I would feel a lot better if you helped her in the battles to come."

"I shall do so."

Sakura stared at a small Christian cross figurine that Caren had decorated the room with earlier. The memory of a black-haired man with a gentle smile came to her, and a similar smile broke at the corner of her lips as she whispered to herself, "Uncle Kariya… I'm sure this is what you would want me to do…"

Medusa pressed her hand upon her bosom in a gesture of loyalty. "Even if our path leads us to Hell itself, I will support your decision the entire way."

"Thank you, Rider."

Meanwhile, Caren and Connla retreated to the second floor and went to the nun's bedroom. The priestess sat upon a reading chair and rested a bible on her lap while grumbling, "Phew. Dealing with such sentimentality gets rather tiring. Still, it's the results that count, and I couldn't have asked for better."

"Ms. Hortensia," Connla muttered, "don't you think you should have chosen your words more carefully?"

"No, I shouldn't have. Strong-willed yet indecisive waifs like Matou Sakura are always the most irritating to negotiate with."

"I already told you before - not everyone is going to share the same cold, detached attitude that you have."

"This is a war, Lancer. We don't have time to screw around with formalities and niceties."

"I get that, but regardless of her storied history, Ms. Matou is still just an ordinary high school student. She doesn't have the same level of training and wisdom that you and I may have."

"True, but I had to get through to her somehow. If it meant putting my foot down and shoving all of the facts into her face until she squealed for mercy, then so be it."

"Mmmgh," Connla grunted. "I just get the feeling that you were enjoying yourself a bit too much back there."

Caren haughtily raised her chin and muttered with a wry smile, "Oh my. Whatever gives you such a low opinion of me?"

"Just… intuition."

The pair paused awkwardly, unsure of how to continue this conversation. The Servant coughed, then declared, "I'm going to give Ms. McRemitz a bath, then patrol for the night."

"Good idea. I am rather fatigued myself. I should get caught up in my prayers before heading for bed," Caren craned her neck to stretch the taut muscles, then opened her bible. "Now that we have Sakura and Rider on our side, we need to think about what to do next. Be prepared for another strategy meeting tomorrow."

"Understood. Good night, Ms. Hortensia."

That night, Bazett had a dream.

It wasn't any ordinary dream that would consist of random nonsense jumbled together into some loosely coherent story. This one was clear, concise, and potent.

She was experiencing a fierce battle from someone else's perspective. She immediately recognized her opponent – Cuchulainn, the greatest hero of Ireland, and the Servant Bazett most desperately wanted to summon in the Holy Grail War. Why was she fighting him, though? She couldn't remember doing anything to turn him into her enemy. He wasn't fickle enough to pick fights with random people without a good reason either.

No, none of this was Bazett's fault. In fact, she wasn't even present in this deadly duel. It was actually a memory of her Servant's life that she was witnessing. In other words, this was the moment of her Servant's death.

Although Masters were granted the privilege of controlling a Heroic Spirit as their familiar, such powers didn't come without side-effects. The most notable was that Masters were able to experience the lives of their Servants in their dreams, whether they liked it or not. Since many heroes lived in times of great peril and typically (but not always) died in violent ways, it took every ounce of willpower and fortitude for a Master to not have their spirit crushed from seeing such horrible visions.

This dream was no exception. Bazett felt every sense of her body flaring in tune to how her Servant reacted during the intense battle. The fear of death nearly crippled her mind. Then, a terrifying moment of despair and realization washed upon her as she stared upon the hero-light that Cuchulainn emanated around him. That was when he thrust Gae Bolg upon her. Although Bazett wasn't really dying, she could feel the incredible pain shoot through her chest, immediately followed by hundreds of small barbs detonating inside every inch of her flesh, exploding out as miniature spikes for a few moments.

Bazett collapsed to the ground, unable to move even the tip of her finger. Gae Bolg extracted itself out of her torso and returned to Cuchulainn's hand. The exhausted man crawled up to her, and they exchanged words that she couldn't make out. Then he slipped off her right glove and found the golden ring on the thumb, and his countenance immediately changed. She had never seen such a dreadful, guilt-ridden expression before. The combination of his swelling eyes of despair and creasing veins of fury distorting his face was the perfect fuel to inspire nightmares. Cuchulainn screamed in horror, then held Bazett close. She couldn't understand what the conversation was about, yet the scene seemed oddly familiar to her.

He's acting like… he's made a horrible mistake…

It finally started to make sense. She knew his legend well enough, and was aware that he had made a horrible mistake in his lifetime. The way Gae Bolg struck her down, the sight of that ring, and Cuchulainn's frightening reaction after seeing it told her everything. This dream recounted the story of how he fought a mysterious child warrior over a misunderstanding and wound up killing him, yet discovered too late that this child was in fact his own son.

I see… I'm not dreaming about Cuchulainn. I'm in the role of his doomed son…

After Bazett said her final words, Cuchulainn slit her throat with a knife, and the world went black. It only lasted for a short moment though, as she suddenly found herself in Cuchulainn's perspective this time. He was sitting in front of a beach on a rainy day, clad in nothing but a loincloth. His body was covered in red tattoos that she didn't recognize, and he smeared some crimson war paint on his fingers from a bowl next to him and streaked it over his closed eyes, then made a design over his eyes and upper cheeks that resembled jutted helixes. He opened his eyes and glared at the rolling waves.

Bazett could feel an unprecedented fury boil within the man's soul. If Cuchulainn had possessed the body of a Phantasmal Beast rather than a human's, no doubt he would have destroyed the entire planet in the most epic display of unbridled rage.

Then something strange happened. From out of the crashing waves, a horde of blank-faced warriors marched forth wielding various weapons such as spears, swords, axes, and bows. Cuchulainn stood up and brandished Gae Bolg, glaring at the oncoming procession with absolute contempt. Right now, he wasn't the honorable, world-famous Lancer that Bazett knew him as. The guilt over killing his son and the hatred he harbored for himself had transformed him into something purely bestial.

Bazett knew what was going on now. She remembered reading a story where Cuchulainn had gone mad after realizing the sin he had committed. Fearing that he would rampage upon his own country and slaughter his allies, the high druid Cathbad placed a spell on him that would make him see illusions of an army advancing upon Ulster from western Scotland. King Conchobhar went with the charade by hastily ordering Cuchulainn to stave off the invaders. This scene was the beginning of what would be a three-day and three-night 'battle' between Cuchulainn and the imaginary army that was conjured from nothing but the crashing ocean waves. All others were forbidden from treading that beach until his wrath had subsided.

Even with this knowledge, Bazett couldn't believe how much her beloved hero had transformed. Though she only saw brief flashes of the entire fight, the sight of him succumbing to the deepest throes of riastrad was too horrifying to describe in mere words. All of the texts she had read describing the phenomenon didn't help her stomach just how ugly he looked. Cuchulainn's muscles had actually grown exponentially so that he resembled a hulked-out version of himself; his teeth morphed into talon-like monstrosities dripping with blood from his punctured gums; his hair was so spiky that it could pierce through skin like needles; and one of his eyes was millimeters away from rolling out of the socket. The war paint and tattoos covering his body made him nearly unrecognizable to Bazett as a human being, let alone the hero she idolized.

Dozens of images flashed by her. All of them showed Cuchulainn in the midst of pure violence, rage, terror, and carnage as he thrashed about like a madman. Fortunately, the only victims of this mindless frenzy were the rolling beach waves. Eventually, the fourth morning arrived. The rising sun illuminated the beach's calm waters, and the gentle light revealed Cuchulainn's body splayed face-down upon the sand. He had returned to his normal self, completely and utterly drained of his strength. He would not wake up for well over a week after this.

The visions ceased for Bazett, and she returned to the dark void of dreamless sleep. Before passing out fully though, she heard an unknown little girl's voice echo in the darkness:

"Don't worry."

"Hmm hm-hm…" Connla hummed a tune to herself as she lathered some shampoo into Bazett's hair. She had brought her Master into the bathroom using a series of Runes that made the adult float in mid-air, then she undressed her and placed her in the tub full of warm water. For the next half hour, Connla gave Bazett a thorough washing until she was certain that she was clean. She had to be especially careful of the stub that remained as Bazett's left arm. Once she was done, Connla floated Bazett out of the bathtub and laid her upon a pile of towels so she could dry her.

It wasn't obvious to Connla at first since Bazett was so wet, but the Enforcer had started crying in her sleep. It was only until her face was fully dried that Connla finally got to see the tears streaming down Bazett's strained face.

"Master…?"

Connla had no idea what was going on or what she could do to calm her summoner. She took the woman's right hand and pressed it against her chest. The only thing she murmured was, "Don't worry."

It seemed to work, because Bazett soon stopped crying and relaxed into a more peaceful slumber. They remained like this for a couple of minutes until Connla was sure that Bazett would be okay.

I wonder what that was about, the Servant pondered.

The thing about Masters dreaming of their Servant's past was that the Servant had no idea it was happening. It was an involuntary consequence of the contract they forged, and the Servant obviously had no control over what the Master could potentially witness. Was it some mysterious way for the two to grow closer to each other, or was it part of some sinister plot to drive a wedge between them? No one knew for certain, but how each Master reacted was up to their own discretion.

Ultimately, there was nothing Connla could do about this. She finished drying Bazett off and dressed her before using her Runes to carry her back to bed. She tucked the last blankets over the woman's shoulders, then whispered in her ear, "Have a good rest, Master."