Chapter 86
Archer stood at her side, dematerialized, the two of them situated in a cafe opposite the fast food store Lancer was in. Rin sat alone at a dark brown wooden coffee table, a scarf wrapped around her face, a light orange scarf wrapped around her to hide the lower half of her face, even with the illusion magecraft cast to change her features.
Taking small sips of her bitter arabica bean cappuccino, she kept watch over Lancer out of the corner of her eye, the foam staining her pink lips white with each sip. She and Archer had been there for almost an hour and a half, with her eating lunch at the coffee shop while still keeping Lancer in sight.
The Servant in question was still scarfing down burgers, and at this point Rin was sure she was on her fourth or fifth run of the entire menu. She could see the pained expressions of the staff, casting furtive glances at the troublesome customer in the booth. Quite a lot of customers had also noticed her abnormal eating habits, and she was attracting a large audience, whether they were there because of her looks or her eating performance.
At this point, Rin was internally debating whether she should save the restaurant or not. It didn't seem like she was slowing down, with the empty plastic cups, wrappers and cardboard boxes in front of her piled up like a small hill, and it was well on its way to becoming a mountain. She was sure if any normal human ate that much junk food in the same time period, they would die of digestive issues and have instant diabetes. A heart attack was also possible.
When she saw the staff in the kitchen start to converse with each other and gesture towards the ingredients, with suspiciously empty fryers and open cupboards, she decided to act. She was the Second Owner after all, and if any trouble appeared in this territory, she was in charge of dealing with it. This may have been a special case, but she was pretty sure that Lancer's massive appetite fell into the category of exposing thaumaturgy. If she continued to eat any more, people would probably believe that magic was real, and that it existed in her stomach.
"Archer, get ready."
"I'm always ready."
Taking one last sip of her coffee, they advanced towards the fast food chain where the enemy Servant Lancer sat, consuming food and drink at an inhuman pace.
Before they had even reached halfway, Lancer swivelled her head to lock on to them. Even if her body was dulled by the sensations she was experiencing, her warrior's instinct was still sharp enough to detect the arrival of possible enemies. Their scrutiny did not go unnoticed.
She gazed longingly at the menu, before wolfing down the whole burger she had in hands in one gulp, her throat stretching dynamically like she was deepthroating the layers of bread, meat and sauce, before she wiped her mouth with a paper napkin. Her face fell into an impassive state once more, an inscrutable mask of steel that she had worn during her reign as a tyrant.
For Archer and Rin who had seen her ahegao face moments ago though, they were seriously impressed by how fast she could switch gears.
"Master of Archer, what business do you have with me?"
While they may be enemies, fighting in broad daylight wasn't an option, so she could only try to talk with her to retrieve information. If she was lucky, she could perhaps receive some crucial intel from her. In addition, there was also something else she wanted to confirm.
"I was just passing through. Rather, I should be asking what you are doing, Lancer. Have you declared war on this shop as well?"
To Rin's surprise, Lancer nodded gravely.
"To conquer my own weaknesses, I came to this store to declare war on the sins that plague me."
It didn't look like you succeeded though, Rin and Archer both thought while keeping poker faces.
"I also instropected and learnt more about myself with this opportunity, as well as about the modern world."
The only thing you did was eat burgers, fries and fried chicken. It was getting harder to keep their poker faces at this point.
"In the end, I realized it was futile to resist my nature. I could only give in and become my truest self."
Why did you even try in the first place?! At this point, Rin had to grip her skirt tightly to stop her hands from chopping Lancer's head, while Archer did his best to not materialize from thin air.
"But that aside, I'd like to know about you, Master of Archer. Come, sit here. Since we are denied the right to fight during the day, why don't we talk?"
After hesitating for a moment, she decided to take the seat offered after checking it for any wrappers or crumbs of food from the feast earlier.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Why do you fight in the Holy Grail War?"
Rin raised an eyebrow at Lancer's question. She had expected something more related to the tactical side of the war, instead of her motives.
"My reason for fighting?"
"Yes."
Should she say something like that to Lancer? There was really no real advantage Lancer would gain even if she did know, and it wasn't like she had a special motivation for winning the war, but even so…
Well, perhaps her Master could make use of the information, but she highly doubted it unless he or she was a master manipulator of humans.
"...I don't have a wish for the Holy Grail."
At this, Lancer's eyes widened just a fraction.
"My father passed away while fighting in the last Holy Grail War. He never really told me why he fought in the Grail War, or why it was worth dying for. I was only seven at the time, seeming to understand the Holy Grail War, yet not truly knowing what it was."
"At the time, I was naive and innocent. I believed that if I showed enough effort, father would come home soon. I practiced diligently, day after day with jewels, through failure and pain as Magic Circuits burned in my childish body. My belief in my own power crumbled when faced with the horrors that the Caster summoned. If that man hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here today."
Her memory returned to the day, her child-like figure running through the dark back alleys, following a trail of magical energy with the compass her father had given her to find her lost friend. She had come face to face with the deranged killer and she later learnt, Master of Caster. Escaping with the latest batch of children he had kidnapped, she had somehow managed to avoid being killed with her amateur skills in magecraft, but she was faced with an impassable wall in the form of a monstrous tentacled creature.
She could still remember the slime dripping off the lurid green membranes covering the tentacles, the teeth ringing the central mouth while numerous fang-like hooked protrusions covering the tentacles scraped against the concrete, the limbs flailing wildly as it got closer and closer.
It was the end, or so she thought.
Then the roaring beast descended from the skies, obliterating the creature into slime and gore, and she saw the black smoke wreathing the armor of what now assumed to be the Berserker of that war. Strangely, the Servant didn't attack her, instead roaring as it jumped in search of more of the beasts, while the Master approached her. After that, everything was dark. The only thing she clearly remembered was the misshapen face, a familiar person, yet all the more horrifying because of it.
"The last time I saw my father, he gave me a book and advice about being a magus."
An elegant man with a well-groomed goatee ruffling her hair, kneeling down in the park as he looked down at his heir and daughter.
"Rin. As you grow up, keep the Association in your debt. Beyond that, I'll leave the rest to your judgement. You'll be fine on your own. One day, the Holy Grail will appear. It is the responsibility of the Tohsaka family to obtain it."
"Above all…"
"If you wish to be a mage, that is the path you must follow."
After giving her the book, he had left, the priest driving him away to his final battle.
Without even a word of affection or fatherly love, he was gone. Yet, the hand that patted her head was warm, gently brushing against her silky hair. And the words that he spoke to her…
She would always keep them in her heart.
"From then on, I became independent. Even when my mother broke down, even when that man became my tutor, I still persevered. A mage must always be elegant. I strived for that ideal, to become the magus my father wanted me to be."
"But to truly achieve my father's vision, and my journey to becoming a magus, I must obtain the Holy Grail."
"It is my family's responsibility."
"And most of all, for the sake of my father, I will win and take the Grail as the victor."
It was also partly because of her burning competitive desire to win, but she didn't mention it.
"So you have no personal desire for it." Lancer had listened to her story intently, and was pleasantly surprised to know Rin was such a magus.
A magus was heartless, a being focused solely on reaching the Root. That was what Lancer knew, and was truly what most maguses across the world were, no matter whether it was back in her era or now. The ideal of every magus was the Akashic root, and those who reached it were said to be the pinnacle of magi. That was why the masters of the Five True Magics were considered to be so great, either reaching the Root and gaining True Magic, or creating True Magic that successfully reached the Root. Walking besides death every second of their life, they were no longer human, no matter whether their appearance was human or not.
But Rin was no such person. Instead of understanding her father's coldheartedness, setting everything on the basis of being magi as the guiding point of his life, foregoing the happiness that he and his family would have experienced if his thoughts were that of a normal person, she instead stayed at least partly human. He could only ever think of Sakura and Rin's futures as magi, to the point that he gave away Sakura freely to Matou Zouken, even while knowing of the nature of their magecraft.
The magical nature makes those who surpass the rules of reason attract equally extraordinary experiences, just like how a Stand user attracted other Stand users. Tokiomi knew that the daughter he did not choose as his heir would be doomed to a life of disasters, and eventually would become a guinea pig at the hands of the Mage's Association, or have an equally worse fate. Hence, the adoption request of the Matou's family came like a true blessing, allowing Sakura to fulfill her innate potential to become a powerful mage, and protecting her from others wishing to use her as a result of her talent.
Rin on the other hand, became a magus while keeping her heart. If she had truly known the coldness in her father, she might have rejected the inhumanity of magecraft and left the path of a magus. On the other hand, she could have understood and become the emotionless, perfect magus like her father. Instead, she took neither option, becoming a magus that retained her humanity. Due to that, she could be said to be imperfect, a failure of a magus in the eyes of her father, though she would never know. Still, it was undeniable that it made her all the more endearing to those close to her.
For Archer and Emiya, they would never forget the person who saved them on the night they should have by all rights died on.
Sakura would hate her for getting close to her senpai, but deep down she would never forget their bond as sisters, especially when Rin refused to treat her as a true magus would. The small acts of kindness that bled through in her actions, helping her pick up the books she spilled on the floor, protecting her from boys hitting on her, taking her to the nurses office when she was sick and acting like a kind senpai. These all warmed her heart for a moment, extinguished though the warmth was when she entered the pit at night.
Ayako was glad for a friend that knew the different sides of her and didn't judge her for them, wholeheartedly grateful for having Tohsaka as a friend she could joke around and hang out with.
The track trio of Homuhara Academy, Yukika Saegusa, Kane Himuro and Kaede Makidera all liked her, despite how standoffish she could be at times with her honors student personality.
It was true that she didn't have close relationships with many, but for those who knew her, she was someone they genuinely treasured.
Except for Matou Shinji.
Lancer nodded, finding her way of being a magus interesting.
"I see, so that's how it is."
"A magus like that huh. Can you stay like that after twenty, no, just ten years?"
Rin tilted her head in confusion at her question.
"Ah, it's nothing."
Letting it slide, Rin felt slightly better somehow. Even though she was telling an enemy Servant, it felt like her chest was lightened somehow. Strange.
"Then, what about you Lancer? What is your wish?"