Chapter 191
Crumbling marble floated, slotting into each crack perfectly like jigsaw pieces in a puzzle. White lines laced through the air, coordinating each movements as the walls and doors gradually restored themselves. In mere seconds, the massive holes in the main foyer disappeared, smooth and untouched just like before.
The white familiars reformed from the spread out lattice of wires, burrowing into her hair and returning to their nesting place in their masters snowy tresses.
"The guests have reached their quarters and are currently resting."
There was note of hesitation that anybody else would miss, but Illya had lived with Sella long enough to pick out the inconsistencies in her pitch.
"Is something amiss?"
"Ah, Saber insisted on staying with her Master. They await you in your room."
"I see."
It wasn't a problem if she was present. In fact, it was actually more convenient, since she wanted to ask Saber some things as well.
When she opened the doors to her room, both Master and Servant were peeling mikan (tangerines), snug in the kotatsu as they sipped warm mugicha (barley tea) from white ceramic tea cups rimmed with gold.
"So you peel the skin off like this, so it comes off as one piece, then it becomes easier to throw away later, and it doesn't make a mess either."
"I understand, to think there was such an ingenuous method for peeling fruit. I will apply myself wholeheartedly to acquiring this skill."
Behind them, Berserker lounged on the bed, headphones blasting music into her ears as she read a book. From a distance, Illya could just make out the words 'Mortalis:stella' on the cover. Since when was Berserker interested in Latin?
Setting down her hat next to her, she slid into the kotatsu feet first and rested her chin on the table while closing her eyes, letting the warmth permeate her body and soak into her bones.
Wait, this isn't the time to be resting! Why is he using my kotatsu with his Servant? Where did the fruit even come from?
Her eyes snapped back open, but before she could yell at Shirou for using the kotatsu without permission, a perfectly peeled mikan slid in front of her.
"Here you go, I can peel some more for you if you want."
Faced with his guileless smile, she could only close her mouth and accept the offering quietly, chewing on the tart sweetness of the orange fruit the juices wet her throat.
While she munched on the mikans, she mused on how to start the conversation with Shirou. There was just too much to go through. Should she ask about the fire? The night her father, and his adoptive father died? Not to forget, the way he abused his body almost daily, or that strangely vivid high-jump practice? In that one session of memory extraction, she had become intimately familiar with him on a level that even aged couples were hard-pressed to achieve, but so what? Who was she going to punish for taking away her father? After seeing his life, she couldn't make him the target of her revenge anymore. There just wasn't any point. She had felt his emotions too, on the porch under the moon.
Like it was her own memory, she had experienced everything, watching her own father smile peacefully as Shirou said those words, bowing his head as if he were simply going to sleep. Immediately, tears began to well at the corner of her eyes as the bittersweet pangs buried in her heart convulsed, mixed with the impressions of Shirou's own sorrow buried in that moment. She lowered her head a bit to hide her expression, her lower lip trembling as she swallowed the mikan with a lump in her throat.
"Are you okay?"
"MMfff, it tastes good onii-chan!"
When she lifted her head, nothing was out place on her face as she reached out for another one.
"Here you go. So Illya, what did you do in the ritual?"
After swallowing the latest slice, Illya answered him.
"I went through your memories to look for important information."
It wasn't really a lie per se, but she still didn't want to tell him about Kiritsugu and herself just yet.
"You went through his mind?"
Saber levied a glare at Illya, though the pile of mikan skins resting near her hands weakened the effect.
"Relax, it wasn't anything invasive. I merely used hypnosis to make him spill out what he knew."
It was completely different from that of course, and Saber could detect the lie as well, but before she could continue questioning the albino girl, Shirou cut in.
"It's fine Saber, I'm not hurt or anything. Let's just think of it as repayment for healing my body."
"But Master-"
"Besides, I'm sure she wouldn't try to harm me right after saving my life."
Saber pouted a bit, but she relented.
"I suppose so."
Shirou smiled, and while his hands continued peeling, he decided to ask Illya something that had been on his mind for a while.
"Also, I'm kind of curious, how old are you? I'm pretty surprised the Einzberns would send someone as young as you to be their representative."
"Onii-chan, you shouldn't ask a woman her age!"
"Ah, my bad, I didn't mean to offend."
Illya puffed up her cheeks as Shirou scratched the back of his head, and her mock anger quickly subsided in front of his sheepish grin.
"Well, I'm actually older than I look though. My body's physical aging process is slowed by the modifications made to it by my…the Einzbern elders. So you should really call me onee-chan!"
Puffing out her chest proudly, she smirked and stood up, barely taller than Shirou sitting down in the kotatsu.
Saber didn't fail to miss the pause, though it wasn't a surprise to her. Being groomed into a Master wasn't something everyone would go through willingly, and she couldn't imagine what had been done to her to turn her into the monster of a Master she was today.
There was also the matter of role as the Lesser Grail, but since Illya didn't seem willing to talk about in front of Shirou, she would keep her peace about it too. Looking at her brought back memories of her previous contracted Master, and with it came fresh waves of bitterness.
While Saber quietly brooded, Shirou laughed a little.
"Haha, guess I'll have to call you onee-chan from now on then."
"No, it's fine, you can just call me Illya, preferably with the chan as well~"
Out of the corner of her eyes, Berserker watches as her Master went over to his side of the kotatsu, she squatted next to him and slipped under the covers, sitting next to him.
Looks like I won't have to do anything.
It was a bit unnerving to see Illya switch from threatening Shirou to cuddling up to him in a heartbeat, but she knew it couldn't be helped. Her instability from her upbringing and losing her parents to the Grail War was a bit too much for Berserker to handle, so she would take the current development as a positive one. Hopefully, she wouldn't suddenly want to kill him again in the near future.
In the room next to theirs, the warm atmosphere was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the lights were dimmed, overshadowed by the swords staking out a magical circle around the bed in which a lean man rested.
Caster placed her hands on the ground after the last sword was placed and muttered a few words.
Translucent trails of golden lights flowed from the cardinal points towards Kuzuki, aurelian mana drifting in the gold currents like dust, gently gliding as they slipped into his body.
Looking down at her handiwork, Caster sighed. She really should have taken those lessons about magecraft more seriously. Making thaumaturgical arrays was only taught to her by ██████, and to be honest she had only been half paying attention most of the time. At the moment, she was simply brute forcing the intricate parts through the sheer power of her swords.
Putting a hand on his forehead and neck, she felt his temperature and pulse. The Einzbern magus seemed to have done her job adequately at the very least, since there didn't seem to be anything wrong. She had run a quite scan of his body earlier as well, and didn't detect any surprises either, so she supposed Kuzuki was safe from her control as well, unlike Shirou.
Sitting just outside the circle, she leaned against the wall and shut her eyes, the staff laid across her lap horizontally.
It's been a long night, going from one fight to the other with barely a moment to rest…
While they were still in enemy territory, under the control of a young girl who could easily kill them all with her Servant if she wanted to, she got the feeling that they would be fine for now. Their mana signatures next door didn't seem to be spiking, so they were probably getting along fine, she hoped.
I wonder if the grave is still there
Resolving to visit Ryuudou temple later, she spiritualized, her body fading from the world while she stood guard by her Master, unseen.