The hours passed by rather quickly, with Hakuno mostly spending her time resting and recovering as advised by Archer before they were to enter the Arena that afternoon. Rising from her bed, she decides to leave when Archer pipes up.
"Master, did you remember me mentioning about how knowledge is the key in fighting your enemy yesterday?" Hakuno nods as Archer continues. "For that reason, you've got to drain the campus of information every single day." Hakuno's eyebrow twitches at his request...no, his command. Ok, she knew that it was mandatory to get info on the enemy and train but, wasn't he asking for a little too much?
"Because every time you enter the Arena, you forfeit any investigation for that day, understand?" Archer asks. Kind to think of it, the day always ends after Hakuno returns from the Arena regardless of how long she stays in there. Did that time that time technically moved slower within the Arena or was it just a rule made by the system?
"Probably to prevent masters from re-entering the Arena too often in a day. It'll be troublesome to keep track of them and monitor their vitals if they were to continuously enter and exit the Arena. After all, your body will be paralysed for that brief moment while you enter, right? And they will be constantly moving about too." Ah, he had a fair point.
"That being said...we have a lot to do today as well, and I believe that you have some scouting to do on your opponent." Hakuno laughs sheepishly in return, before nodding. Satisfied with her response, Archer vanishes into astral form, with Hakuno heading towards the door to exit the room. Of course, even with Archer sounding rather demanding, she knew that he, in a way, was just looking out for his rookie master.
As soon as she got out however, she was greeted by an unexpected guest standing across the door, fiddling with her terminal. Blinking, she takes a moment to realize that the person who was standing there was indeed waiting for her and not someone else. "...Nagisa?" she slowly asks, getting the girl's attention.
The girl raises her head, a wide grin plastered on her face as she stuffs her terminal into her pocket and walks over. "Hey there Hakuno! You look well!" "Um...you too?" Rather than that, why was she even here in the first place? Was there something important that she wanted to relay to her?
As if she were reading her thoughts, the female master responds. "Ah...you're probably wondering why I'm here. I heard from Sakura that you were feeling unwell, and you didn't attend classes today either. You feeling alright?" Oh, so that was why she came, though she didn't think that Nagisa would be that concerned for her wellbeing.
"Well...I was just feeling a little tired, so my servant advised me to rest up for today," came her reply. "Oh, I see. Seems that you've been training hard in the Arena then!" "Y-Yeah...on another note, is there any reason why you're here?" Nagisa would probably tell her that she was just checking up on her due to worry, but Hakuno wanted to know if she came with other intentions than just that.
"I mostly came to check on you and all...but there's something I'd like to ask as well." That was unexpected. Hakuno couldn't think of any questions she might ask...apart from maybe intel on Gawain, seeing that she had a front row seat to watch him in action yesterday. Nevertheless, the brown-haired female prompts her to ask. "Something you'd like to ask? What is it?"
"I heard from a few fellow masters that you got into a little brawl with Shinji yesterday in the Arena. Is that true?" Hakuno tries not to stiffen as she sweatdrops. Who on earth got that information and how were these rumours able to circulate around the school so fast? It couldn't be that Shinji went around and told people that Archer and his servant fought, right?
...Actually, scratch that. It might be a possibility considering his ego. For all she knew, he could probably make up some story of his servant kicking Archer's ass in the Arena, but perhaps choosing to spare her out of sheer pity...and not because the SE.RA.PH chose to intervene before things could escalate and get any uglier than it was. Yup, she could definitely picture him doing something like that now.
Either way, there was no doubt that she would receiving quite a bit of attention from this rumour. The girl was starting to get a headache trying to imagine what kind of pains she'll be going through because of her opponent. Nope, let's not go there for now.
"Err...I wouldn't say that it was a brawl but...we did tustle around for a bit," she finally says after a while. "Whoa, you actually fought against Shinji! For you to come out of the Arena unscathed is impressive, since he's strong and all!" "I..I wouldn't say that its an 'impressive' achievement actually." Technically speaking, her servant didn't emerge completely unharmed from the battle, but to put it bluntly, she was still alive and walking perfectly. ...And she was thankful for that.
"Haha, you don't need to be modest! In times like these, it's worth puffing your chest out with pride!" Well...it wasn't like she couldn't brag and say that she was proud of her and Archer barely escaping close death either. However, choosing to keep her thoughts to herself, she kindly decided to remain quiet as Nagisa continues to talk.
"Speaking of which, how's the intel gathering on his servant? His servant displayed some flashy moves yesterday at the cafeteria herself. Were you able to find any info on her?" Nagisa raised a question that Hakuno herself wasn't sure of how to reply. It wasn't like she didn't know a thing about his servant...but it wasn't like she had a lot of info on her either.
"I...don't have concrete intel on her yet," she lamely confesses. "Until now?! It's already the 3rd day though!" Ugh, she was painfully aware of that. But what could she do? She only found out about her opponent yesterday, and it didn't seem like Shinji's just gonna dump a whole pile of info and give out his servant's identity anytime soon.
"Ah...but don't feel too discouraged! You still have some time before the Elimination battle!" "R-Right...thanks." Now that she thought about it, how was Nagisa's investigation on Leo and Gawain going? Should she ask about it? Maybe she could get a tip or two out of her if she asked.
Upon inquiring, Nagisa lets out a sigh. "Leo huh...I did my own research on his servant in the library but...I've yet to encounter him in person after that day in the cafeteria. It almost seems as though he vanished somewhere!" O-Oh...so it was rough on Nagisa too. The girl nods her head awkwardly, unsure of whether to feel bad or not for asking.
"But don't get me wrong! It's not like I'm gonna give up, and you shouldn't too!" Patting her encouragingly on the back, a look of recollection crosses her face, as if she remembered that she had something to do. "Ahhhh...that's right! I have to see Fujimura-sensei! I wanted to ask her something from her lesson earlier that I didn't understand!" Nagisa begins to take a few steps away from her, looking apologetic.
"Sorry Hakuno, but I've gotta go! See ya!" The girl excuses herself before running down the hallway back to the first floor, leaving Hakuno slightly dumbfounded. "...That was rather eventful. And I hope that you've already had your fill of chatter for the day I suppose?" her servant pipes up, clearly giving her the hint. After all, she had to do some proper investigation today on Shinji's servant. "Right...sorry about that."
The man shakes his head, sighing. "It's fine...so long as you do your end of the job. At any rate, we'd best try to find him-" Archer doesn't finish his sentence when he sees something from a distance, squinting. "Huh, it looks like the guy managed to start a ruckus right off the bat." The girl tilts her head to the side in confusion, obviously not getting what he meant.
Turning her head, she tries to identify what Archer was pointing out when she sees two individuals walking out of a classroom, one of which she easily recognizes as Shinji, currently chatting with someone else, though it's hard to tell who exactly he was talking to. "We might be able to get some information. Let's head there now, Master."
The girl frowns at his suggestion. "Head there now? What if he spots us?" She doubted that he was in a good mood after his attempt at killing her failed too, and it wasn't like she wanted to see or talk to him at the moment either. Her servant's eyebrows twitch at her cluelessness as he facepalms. "...That's why we have to be discreet. There's such a thing as stalking someone, no?"
The girl takes a moment to finally register his words. Basically, Archer was telling her to go over and spy on him. A weird option but...if it meant potentially getting some info out of him, she didn't really mind. Bobbing her head in affirmation, Hakuno walks over to the scene, careful not to get his attention as she inches towards him in attempts of hearing the conversation better.
"Have you been inside of the Arena yet? It's an interesting place, isn't it? I thought that it was amazing at first, but it's really pretty primitive...like an ocean pulled from a story. I even saw a Master who managed to summon Armstrong!" Once again, Shinji seems to be conversing with the individual in his usual, overly smug attitude, though the conversation itself seemed more like him bragging aloud.
"Sorry, I was just messing with you. I dig the sea theme. Overall, the game's pretty well done." "What's this? So you managed to summon a decent servant then. It's no wonder that they call you Asia's premiere hacker." The voice that replies to him sounds so familiar that Hakuno finds her inching closee towards Shinji. Who on earth was he talking to?
"You know, I may have had to take crap from you in the past, but this time the winner is me! With her armada to back me up, I'm invincible. Nothing you can do can even touch me!" Hakuno instantly takes note of the subtle yet important detail Shinji had uttered out. So his servant controlled an armada? She must be a well-known Legendary Soul then.
"Oho, you must be pretty confident in giving out information about your servant to an enemy, Matou-kun." In that moment, Hakuno finally is able to identify the individual who was talking to him, her eyes going wide in pleasant surprise. That elegant voice can only be Rin Tohsaka's; only she has the ability to crush Shinji's pride so effortlessly with a single word.
From the side view, Hakuno could clearly see Shinji's eyes the size of saucers and his face going bright red as he suddenly realizes how big of a mistake he had just made. "Err...y-yeah. Yeah, that's right! One-sided fights bore me, so think of this as a gift! B-But is it really?! I might just be lying, so you should probably forget what I've said!" he says, looking flustered as he attempts to cover for his slip-up of the tongue.
"That is true. A single word alone could never expose a servant's true name after all," Rin begins in a light-hearted manner as Shinji's shoulders begin to relax. "...However..." She pauses, possibly for dramatic effect while watching Shinji stiffen once again as a smile crosses her lips. "...A class that controls an armada and is tied to a ship will probably thin out the number of candidates there is." Hakuno hadn't noticed it before but, even without seeing Rin in action, she could tell that she was a powerful magus herself.
"Now then...how will she attack, bombardment...or frontal assault? It'll definitely be physical in nature." Tilting her head to the side, her smile becomes that of a wide grin as she 'innocently' stares at Shinji. "Well, I guess the only thing left for me to do is prepare some physical barriers to counter your servant's attacks. A good tactic, wouldn't you say?"
In that moment, Shinji's face goes from bright red to a terrifying shade of blue right before her eyes, though it wasn't really surprising. Anyone would cower under such a situation. Once you learn something about an enemy servant, you can make plans to defeat them. If both sides are strong, but only one plans, the results of the battle would be obvious. So that's what they meant by knowledge is power; she understands perfectly now.
As if wanting to taunt Shinji even more, Rin goes on. "Oh, one more thing. I wonder if the Invincible Armada is relevant to anything..." Shinji looks mildly confused and afraid at the same time when she says this. "I mean...others will start making references to that right? Won't that just piss off your servant?" For a moment there, it almost seemed as if she glanced over at her, and was directing that line towards Hakuno, though she can't be too sure.
"W-Well...whatever. Knowledge means nothing if you can't do anything with it. There's a good chance that you and I will never even have to face each other." With that final pathetic attempt at a comeback, Shinji starts walking away...towards Hakuno's direction. And of course, since there was nowhere to hide herself in such an open space, he sees the girl right off.
The man halts, looking bewildered. "H-Hakuno...! You...!" He points a finger towards her. "You were there listening the entire time, weren't you?! WEREN'T YOU?!" Hakuno winces at the tone of his voice, hoping that the ruckus he was causing wasn't attracting too much attention. She didn't need anymore eyes on her after the rumour yesterday after all.
"H-Heh...well, it's not like you can stop the Invincible Arm- I mean my servant..." The guy sweeps a stray hair from his face in attempts of regaining his composure as he laughs. "Whatever. My victory is all but assured. Catch you later. Oh, and try not to disappoint me."
The man bids a hasty retreat as he walks downstairs, not another word to be said. It seems as though he didn't bring up this morning's matter. Was he going to deny it? Or could it be that he was penalized after trying to kill her? Was that why he's keeping quiet about it? Either way, she was glad that he's not bringing it up. She didn't need to recall the unpleasant experience once again.
Turning her head, she realizes that Rin was still standing there, shaking her head. " *sigh* It seems that there are a lot if masters here who don't understand the stakes involved," was all she said before she starts walking away as well, her hair lightly bouncing around her shoulders as she does so. Rin watches her back before she disappears to the third floor, possibly yo head to the rooftop.
"...It's as the ice queen said. That boy has no clue how important information is in this war. The guy's an idiot." Looking at the blank space where her servant is supposedly standing, Hakuno gives him a perplexed look. Was it just her or did it seem as though Archer was agreeing to Rin's statement...in a positive manner?
"Anyway, you can find information in both the Arena and on campus. From now on, be sure that you don't sleepwalk through your investigations, okay?" "G-Got it." The man, not finished with what he has to say, goes on. "I've said this before, and I will say it again, but obtaining information on your enemy is the key to victory. Be sure to thoroughly search the Arena for clues. It's better to be obsessive than dead."
Well...she wouldn't go that far to say that she'd rather be "obsessive", but Archer's right. She had to make sure to drain as much info as she can on Shinji and his servant, especially since it's already the third day of the preparation period. Looking ahead, her eyes unexpectedly lead to her towards the library.
Sliding the door open, she sees that the library is rather empty, with only a few NPCs and fellow masters hanging around the vicinity. Carefully searching through the rows of bookshelves, she locates the book which she was finding. Turning through the pages, she soon finds the section dictating about the Invincible Armada. "The Invincible Armada- the name given to the Spanish Navy during what was known to be the Age of Exploration. With over 100-thousand ton ships and 65,000 crew members, it almost subjugated all of England. Through the might of its navy, Spain was seen as the kingdom of which the sun will never set."
As soon as she finishes reading the section on the Invincible Armada, she hears a familiar high pitched sound coming from her terminal. Taking it out, she eyes the text written on the screen: 'Servant Matrix Information Level 2- Enemy servant info obtained'. So the terminal must've deemed this as valuable information on the opponent's servant. That was good, at least she knew that she was getting somewhere.
With nothing in particular to do, Hakuno decides to head to the Arena to begin her daily dose of training with Archer. ...And she hopes that Shinji wouldn't be in there at this time again either.
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The girl lets out a tired sigh, her shoulders slumping as she removed her stockings to check on her toes, wincing at the blisters she could see on a few of them. Today had been another torturous day in the Arena, and it didn't help that Hakuno had managed to trip over her own two feet several times in the process, her knees slightly bruised as a result.
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turns to see Archer holding a first aid kit box. "Here. You probably exerted your body too much compared to usual today. Even with the healing fountain's properties, it'll probably take a night's worth of rest to full recover," her servant comments, taking a few plasters to give to her, the girl accepting it with thanks.
"I mean...half of the preparation period's already gone. At our current state, we still don't stand a chance against Shinji and his servant," she protests, gingerly placing the plasters on her toes. Compared to the fact that her blisters hurt, she was more concerned about getting prepped before the decisive battle than her current wellbeing.
The man gives her a crooked smile in return. "It's good to know that you're taking this seriously, but don't overexert yourself too much. We still have 3 more days towards the preparation period, and I can't have you passing out on me again before the Elimination Battle." "Ugh...it sucks how you can still get injured in this place." "Hmph, that's just how it is. No use complaining about it."
Placing the first aid kit box on the table beside her bed, the man walks over towards his throne of chairs and deposits himself there, carefully watching her attend to her injuries in a quiet manner. After patching herself up, Hakuno decides to look through the matrix on her terminal before turning in for the night as well. Today had been a rather fruitful day, and she hoped that the rest of the preparation period would go just as smoothly.
Just for that brief moment before she fell asleep, she could feel her servant's eyes on her as the girl could've sworn that he clicked his tongue in irritation, murmuring something to himself. Although wanting to ask, she was way to tired to even move her lips, and soon drifted to sleep.