Chapter 29

She materialized near the front gate in the middle of the Ryuudou Temple courtyard, her dress dripping blood as she clutched her staff in shock for a moment. That feeling quickly passed as she realized what had happened, her entire body trembling as powerful sobs forced their way through her throat, the tears rolling around in her eyes, but failing to fall.

"Idiot, idiot! How could I have been so careless, to let my Master die like that? I should've cast some protection on him, yet, yet *hic*, kuh!"

She couldn't say more, her chest squeezing tightly as she knelt on the stone tiles.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

She screamed her frustration and anguish into the skies, uncaring of who heard her. The scream quickly dissipated in the open courtyard, vanishing like it had never existed in the first place. But someone had heard it.

*Shrk*

One of the wooden sliding doors of the temple opened, and a man stepped out of it into the courtyard.

He was met with the surreal sight of a girl with an ornate staff and strange clothing, with the bottom half of the white dress drenched in blood that dripped onto the stone at regular intervals. She was audibly sobbing and sniffling after making that cry earlier, strands blonde hair stuck to the dress with the dried remains of her Master's blood.

After staring at her for a moment, he slowly approached her from behind. Distraught as she was, she didn't notice him at all. He circled around her and reached her front, then knelt on the ground in front of her. Finally noticing his presence, she looked up with puffy eyes, wondering who had come.

He was relatively tall, though not as tall as the priest from the church. A stoic expressionless face, with a pair of rimless glasses and clad in a dark green suit, pressed and neat. His face was quite thin, and his entire body was lean, the suit hanging slightly loose on his frame.

"Are you ok?" His voice was monotonous, not the extent of a robot, but close. It was deep as well, but the words were spoken clearly enough for her to hear them.

Then she remembered. The Command Seals, her Master's death, and his final wish.

This was not the time for tears, but for action.

"W-will you be my Master?"

The young girl asked valiantly, uncaring of who the man was or what he was like, simply trusting her instincts and knowing time was short. Even with the power of the Command Seal and the barrier around Mount Enzou that helped keep her from dissipating, she still had to act fast.

The man tilted his head at her absurd demand. She looked at him expectantly, pleading with her eyes as she stared deep into the deep pit of his lifeless dark eyes. And then he felt something move within him.

"Alright. I will become your Master." The moment he felt it, there was no hesitation. For the first time in his empty existence, he had felt something. Even if it was just a false flag, a wavering illusion, he would still pursue it down to its conclusion.

"Eh?" She was surprised he agreed so readily. Had he given it any serious thought? Well, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Kay, give me your hand, Mister, uuuhhh…"

"Souichirou. Souichirou Kuzuki."

"I see, Mr. Souichirou it is! Alright, here we go."

The uncontracted Servant took his large, bony hand into her own white and soft hands, the gloves stripped from them to let her come into contact with his flesh.

"Could you help me by saying something? Just repeat after me." It was simply a measure of self-hypnosis to help her establish the link.

"I, Souichirou Kuzuki, have contracted with Artoria Pendragon, Servant of Caster, to become her Master."

Red marks appeared on his hands, the elaborate curved top of the staff containing the blue crystal as the first mark closest to his knuckles, the middle of the staff with a branch, horn and sash wrapped around the brass ring as the second mark around his wrist, and finally the long slender body of the staff with the two feathers at the bottom as the third.

"Hah, thankfully that went well. So, do you have anything you want to ask?" While she was glad he had agreed to be her Master, she was sure he had questions. After all, you didn't just see blonde girls holding a weird staff in a white dress drenched with blood every day. She was amazed he hadn't just called the police on her right away, and was even more amazed that he had simply agreed to help her. Still, something told her that he was not normal either. Those eyes, and the stoic air surrounding him like armor, they honestly made him quite scary to Artoria, even though she was a Servant.

"No. Now follow me to the baths, and let's get you cleaned up."

He abruptly stood up and walked off in the direction of the temple.

"Huh?" She just kept kneeling, dumbfounded at his reaction. Round eyes stared at his back as her mouth flapped open like a fish.

"It's imperative we wipe away the pool of blood as well, and it will be easier to explain your presence if you're not wearing a bloody dress."

He explained it as if he was simply commenting about the weather.

"O-oh, I get it. Um, you don't have to worry about the dress, I'll deal with the dress myself. I'll clean up the pool of blood too, I just need a mop and a bucket."

She dematerialized, and then reappeared in front of Kuzuki, the dress now pristine and unblemished. He didn't even blink an eye at it, simply nodding slightly.

"Alright, then take the room on the right of the corridor, and you can rest there. I'll mop up the blood." Saying so, he strode off with long strides to get the necessary tools.

"Ah, wait up! I'll take care of it myself, I'm used to it, don't worry. I mopped the floors a lot back when I was young, you could even say it's one of my special skills!" She quickly rushed to catch up to him, confused by his lack of confusion. Suddenly, several more footsteps could be heard from inside the temple. Artoria turned into spirit form immediately.

"Souichirou-san, did something happen? We heard a loud cry just now and came to investigate."

It had actually only been a few minutes since she had screamed, and the monks had finally reached the courtyard from their quarters after grabbing some staves.

"No, everything's fine."

"Then, what about that pool of blood on the stone tiles there?"

"Ah, I just happened to accidentally step on a crow just now. You might have heard its scream earlier. I was about to go to get the mop to clean up the mess."

The monks stared at the blood dubiously before looking back at him. However, his expression remained impassive, so they decided to take him at his word. He had lived here for some time after all, and if he was hiding something, it was probably for a good reason.

"If you say so." They headed back to their quarters to continue meditating, as Artoria watched the proceedings invisibly.

"What kind of Master did I just contract with?"

Still, she remembered the commands etched into her Saint Graph with the last of Atrum's strength, and she clenched a fist in determination, fire filling her heart.

"No matter what kind of person he is, I'll do my best and fulfill my former Masters wish!"

Then, she silently cried in the courtyard as the moon hung over her in the clear night sky.