"Welcome to your new home."
My hands parted the doors of my mansion, letting my newest guest follow me inside. Seeing her marvel over the interior of her new residence like an overexcited child, I felt both joy and sadness at Mimi's expression. I had little doubt due to her having been a subject of Stylish's inhumane experiments that she was more accustomed to the sight of an operating table, and a cold sterile laboratory, rather than a warm, well-furnished house.
"Everything looks amazing, Shirou! Are you sure I can stay here?" My large eared companion asked me meekly, but with her eyes glinting happily and innocently. Her voice constantly shifted from excitement to unease, clearly hesitant to impose upon my goodwill.
I slowed my pace, opting to walk side by side with Mimi, and placed a comforting hand on the small of her back, urging her further into the mansion.
"Mimi, I wouldn't have offered in the first place if I had any issues with you lodging at my residence. It is only fair that I take responsibility for your current state of affairs. I killed Stylish, and you can't return to the Capital due to the experiments performed on you, and if I didn't save you from being consumed by him then you would be dead. The way I see it, I am the one that caused your distinct situation, so it is only right that I offer you my assistance."
Mimi smiled softly at my words and gave me a brief nod. I knew she would accept my hospitality after a small push, but I was still pleased with her choice to take hold of the olive branch I extended to her.
"Oi, should I expect this to be a normal occurrence every time you leave for an extended period of time?" A familiar voice echoed through the main hall of the mansion.
Turning towards the origin of the voice, a familiar head of light-auburn hair greeted me.
I barely caught Mimi's unsurprised expression at Chelsea's arrival. I winced internally at how I missed the fact her hearing was so sharp she must be able to hear just about everything in the mansion's area: footsteps, conversations, even the changes in my residents' breathing. I might have to erect several minor Bounded Fields around the rooms to ensure everyone's privacy. I was sure she didn't mean any harm, but even an unintentional, harmless breach of privacy was still a breach of privacy. There's no sense in alienating her due to her quirks, which was why I brought her here in the first place.
"Good to see you again as well, Chelsea. I would like to say no, but my past track record wouldn't support my words," I responded sheepishly in turn.
Chelsea shook her head in mock displeasure, before shrugging. "I am already aware of how your charms brings others to your side, so I guess I may as well get used to this."
My hand slammed into my forehead.
'This woman, I swear...'
"Could you not make it sound as if I'm forming a harem? It's not as if I've only brought females over to my side. Mimi here will misunderstand, so stop saying those kinds of things."
Chelsea crossed her arms, which accented her modest bust through her vest. "No, but you have to admit, compared to the amount of men you have as close confidants, you definitely seem closer to the opposite sex."
Hmm, she had a point there.
"That may be true, but still completely irrelevant. I was merely taking what past events offered me. For example, I never asked for you to try and spy on me, am I right?" I fired back at her. I grinned as Chelsea nearly tripped over my comment.
"You can hardly fault me for following orders at the time…" she grumbled, sucking on the ever-present lollipops she always had with her.
"Just stating facts," I happily remarked, leading the three of us in search of my other close confidants.
My search did not take very long. Yoru and Spear were both training their new students out back with Chouri watching from the sidelines, while Dorothea was experimenting in my Workshop, just as I expected her to be. She took a little more coaxing to get her to come join us. Seriously, the girl talked about how much she hated her current situation all the time, but she adores what my Magecraft and resources can do for her alchemy.
We gathered in the usual spot, which was the living room. However, it looked like we were still missing someone.
"Chelsea, where's Air?"
"She's been busy with a very special training regime that I've currently had her doing. You've only been gone for two days, but she's already made great progress!" The auburn haired assassin rubbed at non-existent tears. "I'm so happy to have such a devoted kouhai!"
A chill travelled down my spine. Surprisingly, the sense of foreboding I felt wasn't solely on myself. Slowly, my eyes travelled towards Yoru, and just as I thought, he felt the same thing that I did... No, he probably felt something worse.
"Chelsea, what kind of training have you been putting Air through?" Yoru asked for me, looking slightly perturbed.
A delicate finger traced the curve of his jaw. The poor young teen almost jumped straight out of his seat at the sudden intimate contact.
"Don't you worry, Yoru, Chelsea-senpai hasn't done anything that you need to worry about. I've been perfectly fine... actually, more than fine. She's taught me so much in so little," Air softly told my surrogate brother, giggling dangerously. Her body hovered over him gently, pressing her soft curves onto his skin. The hand that was used to trace his jaw cupped his cheek, tilting his head up to look at her.
'Rest in peace, Yoru.'
Yoru had interacted with females before, but he's never been the genuine target of a women's wiles, and it easily showed. The boy was a blushing mess, and was gaping like a fish up at Air, making the young girl beam in joy at the effect her actions and new appearance were having on the boy. Gone was her pink coat, hat and boots, instead, she wore a pink and white form-fitting tank top, white shorts, a light purple scarf that was loosely wrapped around her neck, with a pink ribbon tied into her hair to finish it off. I had to admit, the new look suited her, and from the victorious look on Chelsea's face and the stuttering mess that Yoru was, I wasn't the only one who thought so.
"A-Air!? What are you doing? What's with the new outfit?" Yoru finally managed to choke out.
A completely fake expression of confusion spread across Air's face. "I'm here for Shirou's meeting, of course. Is there anything wrong with my outfit? Do you not like it?"
I couldn't believe this was happening right now. I was gone for two days... two days, and Chelsea already managed to change Air so much. My gaze accused the assassin of her crimes. She had the audacity to just stare back, pretending she didn't know what I was trying to convey to her.
"I, uh, I think it looks really… nice." Yoru commented, which was a correct, yet at the same time, wrong answer. How could his answer have been both?
Ah, there it is. Air slid around and sat in the lap of the young teen, her arms now wrapped around his neck. The poor boy may have saved himself from unintentionally offending her, but now Air can press her advantage. That doesn't even take into account the trouble Yoru has brought upon himself in the forms of Luna and Fal.
The dark aura coming off of the two girls was impressive. 'Hell hath no scorn like an upset woman', after all. Fal looked as if she was ready to split open some skulls, while Lune just looked downtrodden, but was writing strange-looking characters down into a notepad that she must have pulled from her coat. It's contents looked suspiciously similar to a cursed letter...
You please one, but piss off the others. Such is the ways of the unintentional harem…
I coughed into my right fist to focus everyone's attention. "Well, now that we are all here, I would like to introduce our newest guest, Mimi."
Upon my introduction, the former employee for Stylish gave a slight, shy bow to the other occupants of the room.
"Shirou brought you here because he felt sorry for you. Typical," Dorothea put down her cup of tea and approached Mimi, circling around the large eared girl before returning to her seat, seemingly satisfied. Her comments were mean, at least to me. Mimi didn't seem to mind the treatment... did they know each other as former members of the Empire? No, Dorothea said her former unit has never been formally introduced to the Empire. She was probably just familiar with what Stylish's experiments could entail.
A soft exhale escaped the alchemist's lips. "I can't really blame him for doing so. Even though I originally planned on working with Stylish to improve my own practice of alchemy, some of his experiments are a bit much, even for my tastes." Dorothea moved her eyes onto me. "So, I assume since she's here that Stylish is dead?"
"He is indeed, Night Raid and I encountered the mad scientist and put an end to him and his personal army." My right stretched out in front of me, my fingers opening up and clenching tight together multiple times as I stared at it.
"I also used a unique ability of mine to steal his scientific knowledge. So, Dorothea..."
The vampire tilted her head towards me. "Yes?"
"You said you were originally going to use Stylish's knowledge to improve your alchemy? Well, we can still do that." I tapped the base of my skull. "It's all in here, and with it, we can hopefully make some strides towards our joint project."
An excited glint shined in her eyes. "I don't know how you managed to do that, and frankly, I don't really care... But if you truly have his knowledge, then I think we could complete your goal within a couple of months at the latest!"
That was music to my ears, Dorothea told me she was making progress before I left, but I opted for leaving with Lubbock before observing whatever it was that she had managed to accomplish. If she was telling me that it would only take a couple more months versus the predicted eight months or a year to create my own Teigu, then her discovery must have been important.
"Wonderful! I'll be stopping by the Workshop later so that we can talk about your discovery from before I left and where to move on from here. Good work!"
"Hmm, this is nothing for a genius alchemists such as I! I'll be expecting you later," Dorothea responded with a 'Fufun!' while puffing out her meager chest. She brought herself up onto her feet and left the room.
Ah, there's one last thing she needed to know.
"I'm sure you could already guess, but we will also be working on a way to help Mimi as well!" I called out to her retreating form.
That earned me a slightly irritated glare, but a small huff later, Dorothea nodded and continued on her way.
"Well, she's as moody as always," Yoru commented, biting into a bread roll, Air still sitting comfortably in his lap.
"Well, I can't say I like her that much either, but she's here with us under contract... Unlike everyone else that's working for Shirou," Spear responded in turn. A small smile graced her lips as she looked around at the remaining gathered individuals.
"Indeed, Dorothea's stay with us is definitely under different circumstances. Her hostility towards all of us was evident at the start, but now I feel as if she is slowly growing accustomed to us," Chouri added his own two cents into the conversation.
Chouri's observation about Dorothea was on point. The girl was troublesome in the beginning, trying to pick fights with just about everyone. However, at heart, she was very similar to a lot of the magi back from my world. Their desire to reach new heights in their chosen craft oftentimes caused them to overlook their circumstances, actions, and consequences if it could be beneficial to their craft. And that was exactly the situation that Dorothea has found herself in. She's a glorified laborer, under contract to provide me services within her specific skillset. Despite the fact I was only using her for her alchemy, she's slowly grown to accept it because being forced to work under me has given her a new way to experiment with her craft: my Magecraft. As long as my Magecraft could benefit her, then she'd tolerate the rest of us, simple as that.
"Yes, Dorothea can be a handful, but she has been making great strides towards my objectives so I can put up with her behavior. Chelsea, on the other hand…"
Everyone's attention shifted towards the headphone-wearing assassin, a look of genuine confusion on her face as she pointed at herself.
"Me? What about me?"
Now that I had had the time to put some genuine thought into the matter and having met Mizuko myself, the fact that the two of them had stayed in contact while Chelsea has been under my command could be overlooked. However, if I did that, then I would lose a chance to tease her. By the way, now that I thought of it, Spear had constantly been on the brunt side of Chelsea's own teasing. It would be nice to give the blonde some sort of edge to use in her rivalry...
"While I was over at Night Raid's headquarters, I was able to meet a very interesting individual," I started.
"You're going to have to be more specific than that. Night Raid is full of unique and interesting people," Chelsea deadpanned.
"I'm getting there! Let me flesh this out a little. They received some new members, and one of them was a girl no older than Spear, with short blue hair that came down to her neck."
A glint of recognition flashed through Chelsea's eyes, brief, but it couldn't evade me.
"Purple eyes, slim body, very outgoing personality..."
As I continued to list of some more of Mizuko's characteristics I could see a little bit of nervousness creep into Chelsea's frame. The occasional fidget in her right index finger was always a huge tell of hers.
"She also called herself your kouhai." I clapped my hands together. "Ah, now I remember! Her name was Mizuko!"
By this point, Chelsea looked ready to make a run for it. She should know that there's no escape.
"U-Umm, Shirou, you see… the thing is, uh...?"
"Spear, grab her," I ordered.
The speed that Spear was able to snap out and latch onto the scruff of Chelsea's vest ensuring that the assassin couldn't run anywhere astounded me. Why couldn't she move like that all the time?
"Chelsea, where do you think you're going? I don't think Shirou was done talking to you."
The aura around Spear was genuinely terrifying. Women were just so hard to comprehend sometimes, or was it just the women in this realm? Back with Semiramis, I never found it to be so confusing.
"Shirou, tell Spear to let go! I promise I won't run!" Chelsea pleaded.
"I think not. Spear has obviously been wanting to do something like this for a long time and it would be cruel of me to refuse her," I immediately replied, which gave me a smile from Spear and a small pout from Chelsea.
"Then maybe she should just learn how to beat me in a fight."
Oh, Lord. I knew how this was going to go down, and I would much rather not have events transpire this way.
"Spear! Chelsea!"
My voice sliced through the air with no room for argument, stopping Spear and Chelsea from escalating into some form of altercation. In the brief moments before my words left my mouth, Spear had already turned Chelsea towards her and a very intense, and most definitely bloody, 'cat fight' was about to take place. If I didn't assert my authority… well, I'd rather not think about the mayhem that could have happened.
"Chelsea, relax. You're not in any serious trouble. I was simply annoyed you contacted, and kept on contacting someone outside of our circle without my permission or anyone else's knowledge." I firmly grasped her shoulder, separating her from Spear. "You must thank your kouhai later, because only after meeting her did I realize you meant and caused no harm. Don't harm this strong relationship of yours."
"S-Seriously?! I mean... I don't mind being let off the hook, but I kind of expected you to be more upset," Chelsea told me nervously.
"Oh, believe me, you don't want to imagine the... punishment I have in store for you, Chelsea," I said, grinning savagely, making her shiver in fright. "Truth be told, I took a liking to Mizuko. A very interesting girl, full of potential, I was amazed at her control of Black Marlin. Truly astounding."
The lithe figure of Mizuko easily dancing around her enemies with various kinds of water-made contraptions flew through my head, far from Liver's rigid and constrained forms. Her delighted and free expression were charming to my eyes, like a traditional Eastern dancer from my world. Of course, a traditional dancer oftentimes moonlights as an assassin, so it fit her even better.
"She was given Black Marlin? I knew that she had the potential to handle a Teigu, but to think it would be that one... That girl always loved to dance..." Chelsea muttered under her breath with a forlorn look in her eyes.
I patted Spear's hand which held Chelsea, gesturing her to let go. She did so immediately.
"Why are you surprised about Black Marlin? I thought you were communicating with each other?"
"We did, but we didn't talk about anything actually important," she replied. "They were just... you know, social letters. Girls stuff, like the cute boys we liked, fashion, general things you wouldn't understand, or even be interested in."
My right brow rose on instinct when Chelsea mentioned 'cute boys' and from the way she blushed slightly, I already knew which 'boy' they were speaking of.
"Yes, yes it was you! I would talk about you sometimes. Happy?"
My stare persisted.
"W-Well, a lot of the time, but that's not important!" Chelsea admitted. "The fact that Mizuko is now the user of Black Marlin is more important. The one who eliminated her old unit was the Three Beasts, the same with me. That's why we're so close now," Chelsea began telling me.
I felt bad, slightly, hearing that juicy bit of info, because I heard this not from Mizuko herself. But if the senpai she trusted so much deemed it fine to share, then I'd gladly accept... although Chelsea had a habit of being loose with her mouth when her guard was down.
Alright, now I really felt bad for Mizuko.
"Mizuko was fairly green when her first unit was wiped out. The only reason she survived was because she was gathering supplies from the forest and saw her unit being decimated from the cover of the forest when she was returning." A new softness entered Chelsea's eyes. "I took her under my wing for a bit; my old unit was taken out earlier that same week. I trained her in the arts of assassination, and although she wasn't as good as me in that department, she was still better than most and had a nact for combat. She could pick up any weapon and become skilled with it in about a week. I was a little jealous of her natural combat skills. One day, I asked her why she learned how to use so many weapons, and she told me this."
Chelsea cleared her throat, "I quote, "The day, when my unit was slaughtered before my very eyes, I realized something. I realized that water was deadly, the flow of water can bring life, but it can take it away just as easily. If I can use these skills to flow like water, then I could be the one to decide who lives and who dies." Those words concerned me for a while, but she always had a good head on her shoulders, so after a couple of months I decided to stop worrying over it. With Black Marlin under her control, it seems that she can finally make that desire of hers come true."
'Fascinating, truly fascinating...'
So many tended to break, or… I glanced over at Yoru, sought vengeance when put in such situations, but Mizuko found a strange form of admiration instead. No, perhaps she was already different...? A desire to be like the water which cut apart her old unit... I would call it morbid, if it wasn't so intriguing. Such a way of thinking could almost be considered 'distorted'. That form of distortion could lead to something almost considered among the realms of True Magic: a Reality Marble. The only factor that could be holding Mizuko back from unconsciously creating her own Reality Marble would be her lack of Magic Circuits.
"Oi, Shirou?"
I had to shake myself out of my own thoughts, blinking my eyes a few times to make sure I was back among the world of my peers. "Yes, Spear? I'm sorry, the magus within me was let loose and I found myself distracted."
The blonde spearwoman raised her hands, waving them in the air frantically. "N-No need to apologize! But I must admit, what exactly were you pondering over that you were so distracted? Chelsea was telling us about her kouhai and then you just had this blank glaze glossed over your eyes."
It appeared that not only Spear, but Chelsea, Yoru, and even the three girls that have been fighting for his attention this entire time were curious as well.
"Yes, what about my dear kouhai caught your attention?" Chelsea asked sweetly. But of course, the message behind it was anything but sweet.
"Chelsea, no need to be jealous. Your kouhai was actually supportive of your advances towards me."
Spear looked ticked off at that fact, but Chelsea was nodding her head, as if she was praising a younger sibling for making a wise decision.
"At least she was, until she decided to try and make a move on me herself."
""WHAT?!""
The room shook, courtesy of both Chelsea and Spear's shout. It was uncharacteristic from Chelsea, and I had to rub Mimi's head, somewhat affectionately, and channeled my Noble Phantasm to cure her pained hearing. Tears had already welled up in the corner of the girl, but after a moment, a content sigh escaped her lips, bringing a smile to my face. It's my responsibility, after all, because my teasing was the one that created such beastly soundwave.
"I never thought Mizuko, of all people, would backstab me like this... We are going to be having words, me and her, the next time I see her...!" Chelsea swore.
From what I saw, Mizuko definitely would win in a straight up confrontation, Chelsea even admitted that her kouhai was better at combat than her, but the eerie aura that Chelsea kept giving off made me stand still in surprise.
"You can come up with ways to discipline your kouhai for her 'betrayal' later. But you should know that she could possibly be distorted."
The murderous look disappeared, replaced by genuine concern on the light-hearted assassin's beautiful face.
"Shirou, is there something wrong with Mizuko?"
Even though it was asked in the form of a question, her steely gaze demanded answers. To think she would look at me like that, even though not too far in the past she was willing to spill her own life and blood for my sake. Fascinating.
"Yes and no. It isn't anything technically bad nor is it good. This is all just speculation right now, but the fascination Mizuko felt as she watched Liver decimate her old unit could have caused a distortion in her psyche. I need to have her here so I could run some tests in my Workshop so I could know for sure. However, if she is distorted, then I'm just going to say she's lucky to be here, and not where I was from."
My words left a heavy atmosphere in the air, and everyone could feel it.
"And why would that be?" Spear asked the inevitable question.
I took a deep breath in, and then blew it out. "That's because there's an organization full of people with Magecraft like mine that would have no qualms with strapping her down onto a lab table, dissecting her, and performing experiments on her to discover what makes her tick and see if they could somehow find a way to become distorted themselves."
The killing intent that permeated in the air caused Air, Fal, Luna, and Mimi to start shaking heavily and take some steps back in order to distance themselves from the source of the suffocating feeling, that source being Chelsea. I never expected her to care for Mizuko so much, but it must've been my misjudgement.. Maybe it wasn't so much Mizuko latching onto Chelsea, but the other way around? It would make more sense from what I just learned about Mizuko's possible distortion, she probably would have been completely fine without Chelsea. On the other hand…
Chelsea's stone cold face filled my vision, and I knew at that moment that Mizuko was actually Chelsea's way of coping with the slaughter of her last team.
"Everything I just said is worrisome, but I wouldn't worry about any other magus coming to this land. There's only one other magus that has a chance of coming here, and he has no reason to whatsoever." My gaze hardened as I looked each and everyone's eyes, answering their worries. "It doesn't even matter if someone from my homeland did manage to arrive here through some miracle. If they would pose any threat to any of you, and even Mizuko and Night Raid, to an extent, I would end them."
My words seemed to have the desired effect. Chelsea's killing intent toned down significantly, and the looks of caution on the other's faces relaxed a little as well.
"Let's end this gathering here. I promised Dorothea I would look at her discoveries," I informed everyone as I stood up from my chair.
Chelsea was the first to leave, dragging Air with her. The poor young teen was probably going to be used as stress relief. Yoru left towards the kitchen with Luna and Fal at his heels.
"That sounds like a fine choice. I'll continue to look after our finances and continue trying to get into contact with that one group you were so curious about," Chouri said upon his departure.
If Chouri could arrange a meeting with the Path of Peace, then that would be huge for me. Anywhere in the world, a singular group wouldn't last long under the pressure of society without a strong political clout, and the strongest one here without any affiliation with the Empire was the largest religious group on the continent: Path of Peace. I became aware of their existence when the Revolutionary Army had been looking to gain that group's support as well, so now it became a race.
I also heard that the group's leader was 'special' and capable of miracles, similar to myself. Now, how could I overlook that particular information?
"Spear, please escort Mimi to a room she can use while she stays here."
"H-Hai! Please follow me, Mimi-san."
When the two of them were out of sight, I squeezed the bridge of my nose, and let my feet carry me towards my destination. There was no need for me to explain my hypothesis on Mizuko, all it did was cause unneeded tension. Who knows, I could be completely wrong. Sadly, the clarity in which I was able to put everything together was probably due to my Revelation skill. Despite it's invaluable worth, the skill could be annoying at times for its general ambiguity.
It didn't take long for me to reach the shed that became my Workshop. I already knew that Dorothea was inside, and pushed the large doors open, allowing myself entrance.
My Workshop has changed a fair bit since I first formatted it to my use. With Dorothea's inclusion came her line of work. Shelves were covered with a myriad of items that I would have dismissed as useless but Dorothea saw as invaluable. I've given her a full third of the shed's area for her own purposes, but the vast amount of ingredients that Dorothea's craft required often times caused a lot of her possessions to end up in areas designated as mine. So in reality, the Workshop was split about fifty-fifty.
"Ah, you're finally here! Good, I was starting to get impatient waiting for you. It's rude to make someone work and then not even give a little bit of time to look over what they've done, you know?" Dorothea's voice chastised me from her own end of the Workshop.
She had one of the numerous Shingu that we recovered, a trident, in what almost looked like a summoning circle. Of course, there were differences than the ones popular in my world. Instead of a star present in the center of the circle, it was a multitude of interlinking circles, and all the runic writing I was familiar with was replaced with Dorothea's own markings.
"You're right, I apologize for my negligence. What do you have for me?" I responded with a small bow.
Dorothea did not expect my show of respect, as I could tell because she didn't fire off another verbal jab towards myself because her mouth was still agape. My apology was no act, though. She's technically right, and I should have seen her sooner, despite her contracted status of servitude.
"Tsk! Raise your head, bowing doesn't suite you! Especially when I know what you're capable of!"
'Still ever so sassy.'
That won't be leaving her any time soon. "If you say so. I just found it appropriate in this situation. I've wronged you and a basic verbal apology probably wouldn't get through that thick skull of yours. I will admit, in the past I've had to do plenty of bowing, and it wouldn't be an underestimation if it could be a skill of mine at this point." Memories of having to constantly bow for Semiramis' amusement flashed through my mind. My past Servant did have a love for the theatrics.
Soft chuckling echoed through the Workshop.
"Alright, alright, you're never wrong. But the sight of you bowing so easily to others while you're our leader may be viewed as a sign of weakness," Dorothea advised me with a rare motherly tone. "So don't bow to me. It pisses me off, especially with that contract you have me under."
The resentment over the Geis contract would still take awhile to get over. I hadn't told her this, but once I find her trustworthy, I would nullify the Geis. Telling her so now would probably just cause her to come up with some elaborate scheme to trick me. Not that it would work, but if she tried, I'd be forced to kill her, and then I'd be down a skilled alchemist.
"If that's what you want. I was trying to play nice. I'm a saint, after all."
That statement caused her to scoff.
"Now, what is it that you're doing here?" I asked, leaning over her shoulder as she worked.
"If my hypothesis is correct, then we need to find a way to break down the Shingus into a raw, workable material without damaging its [Concept]. Smelting won't work, as the [Concept] reacts poorly to physical changes, which is why you see Teigus and Shingus being destroyed because their cores are damaged," Dorothea explains. "If you want to mold it into something else, or even add another [Concept], a new way of forging must be found, different than the way the First Emperor creates these weapons."
Nodding several times, I muttered, "A way to keep the [Mystery] attached during the reforging process... It'd take quite the spiritual artifact to do so." My mind raced through all the possibilities, crossing off and adding on things I experienced in my previous world. It sounded simple, but was very delicate in reality. Plus, the artifact must be self-sustaining in order to avoid it being destroyed in the process, which already limited my options tremendously. My Magecraft wouldn't be capable of doing it alone, not even with the help of my Noble Phantasms.
"Luckily, I may have a solution for that issue."
Dorothea reached down into her right pocket and pulled out a small object covered in a simple cloth.
What was that supposed to be? I couldn't sense any magical presence at all from the object in her hand, but that smile on her face just had this 'I-know-something-that-you-don't' look to it and-
Dorothea unfolded the cloth and my senses were overwhelmed.
Under the cloth was a stone, simple in design, but the magical presence from that mere stone permeated the air surrounding it. What was that stone? Why couldn't I sense such latent magical power? That stone was basically an overcharged magical energy battery! Could it have been the cloth covering it? The Holy Church in my world possessed a Holy Shroud capable of hiding an object's magical presence, the Shroud of Martin, and this cloth she's holding was something of similar ilk.
"Impressed, are we? I thought you would be," Dorothea declared proudly. "This right here is a Philosopher's Stone, and before you asked whether I could get more, it took an excruciatingly long amount of time to come into possession of this beauty. I'm certain that if we use my Philosopher's Stone in tandem with your Magecraft, then we could make this part of the process work. The 'after that' step is where my hypothesis comes in. According to my calculations, I'm 82% positive that the breakdown process should proceed without fail. The part I'm still uncertain about is replacing the conceptual abilities already attached to the Shingu. We need to keep the [Concept] intact during the breakdown process so we have something of worth to use as an ingredient in the creation step. Alchemy is about equivalent exchange, after all," Dorothea explained.
That was definitely a bit to take in.
Both of Dorothea's hands climbed up into her hair and started grabbing at her blonde locks in frustration. "I just can't figure out how to create a new concept without slaying other top class Danger Beasts, but that would take too much time! My Philosopher's Stone can't do it either, especially since it'll be under constant strain from the smelting process."
I placed my left hand on her right shoulder, squeezing it gently to reassure her, which caused the alchemist to pause in her frustrations. "Leave that part to me. I've worked with spiritual concepts plenty of times in the past, back in my homeland. It'll be tough, but I'm sure I can do it. I have a lot of inspiration that I could use as well." My left arm glowed softly with my words, which caused Dorothea to nod.
"Then that'll be your job then. This speeds up my schedule quite a bit. Depending on when the rest of the materials I had Chouri order for me come in, we could maybe even start by the end of the month."
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "That's a lot better than I expected."
Dorothea shrugged, but had a proud smirk on her face. "Fuuhhh... It's no big deal, because I am the best alchemist in these lands!"
I'd let her have her moment of self-appreciation. She'd done well.
My head turned towards the door of my, or more correctly, our Workshop. Several presences have just entered the vicinity of the Bounded Field set around the manor, and I knew exactly who they were. What reason would they have to be coming here though?
"Dorothea, it seems we have some visitors. I'm going to have to leave our conversation here."
The small girl just waved her hand, motioning me to go.
I left the Workshop and strolled towards the front door of my manor, waiting for the inevitable arrival of my visitors.
I didn't have to wait long. It only took a couple of minutes for all of Night Raid to emerge from the thicket. The fact that i sensed no other presence besides them clued me in that they weren't followed, even though they were moving as such a large unit in broad daylight, I was impressed.
"Najenda, to what do I owe the pleasure for your visit? I believe it hasn't even been a full day since I've last seen you and the rest of Night Raid."
My response wasn't rude, but it cut straight to the chase. I was just with them, so there should be no reason for them to be here right now. What kind of game was she-
Leone casually walked forward and wrapped an arm around my neck, that familiar cat-like smile on her face.
"Yo, Shirou! Would you mind if we crash here while we get a new base for ourselves?" Leone asked with the utmost ease.
'Excuse me?'
A/N: Been a little bit but I've been really busy with college being back in session. Also I am proud to announce that FNR has more than 900 followers by the posting of this chapter. That is absolutely outrageous and I never expected to have such a large following, so thank you to all of my readers for making this possible. Leave a review or send me a PM with any thoughts and questions.