Chapter 4: The road of revenge
Caster was dreaming. She dreamt about the meeting of her Master with a strange woman. A woman whose name she didn't know and her Master didn't bother to ask. He and the strange woman didn't tell each other their name, but Caster could see there exist some kind of understanding between them.
Fleeting eye contact, and various expression. That was the extent of their communication. Contrary to the woman indifferent mask, her Master was expressive.
Even though he boasted that he could buy a mansion in one night, all he did was found a dirty and small bar, the kind that allowed gambling and played the whole night of poker with kindred spirits.
Naturally, he had the woman who saved the last bit of his fortune accompanied him. They still haven't told each other their name. The woman watched her Master silently. He appeared relaxed, with absolute confident in his victory. Once in a while, he would laughed lightly. His focus shifted from the cards to the crowd, and rested on her figure. She haven't drank a drop of the wine he had the bartender prepared for her. Her slender finger traced the outline of the cup.
A boring woman. Or was it that she was feeling empty.
Her Master stopped playing. He only took a portion of his winning and sat down next to the woman.
"Let's have a bet. Guess what I do for a living."
The woman didn't say anything at first. She just eyed him silently. She titled her head and asked: "What is your job?"
"Isn't it boring knowing the result right away?" He shifted his upper body to faced the woman directly.
The woman shook her head: "Thinking about something unknown is the most boring. Waiting is not."
"Fair enough." He said softly and drank the rest of the wine. "I am a gambler, you should know this already."
"And then?" The woman nodded.
He beckoned her with his hand and moved his face closer to her. His expression as if he was about to disclose a big secret. She also moved closer. The distance separated them was now a single glass of wine. They could even felt the other breathing on their skin. Her Master smiled mischievously.
"Nothing. I was simply fortunate enough to be born the son of a wealthy politician. The hope and dreams of the parents were put into the diligent little sister, while I was allowed to waste away doing nothing and having nothing to my name."
The woman didn't pry further. The corner of her mouth perked up: "What a coincidence. I have nothing too."
How long had they been staring into each other eyes, Caster wondered.
"Hold out your hand." He said suddenly.
She didn't ask a question nor objected, and simply did as he asked. Her Master put a one yen coin into the woman hand and whispered: "Merry Christmas."
The woman's expression did not change, but her voice was filled with interest. "A Christmas gift of one yen. This must be the most simple present I've ever received."
"But this one yen used to be my last. One yen is enough for me to conquer the world. One yen is what you saved for me. And now, it's in your hand."
The woman stared at the coin in her hand: "Do you say that to every women you meet?"
"Not every women I meet is willing to stop this one yen falling in the street for me."
It was a miracle. Was it true love or simply the flame of their lust, Caster didn't know. When both hands of the clock pointed at the number 12, the bar went quiet for an instant. Then the cheer erupted. Amidst the sound and hidden from the celebrating people, they lightly bit each other lip.
In the depth of the night, he quickly found a hotel room using his winning. The moment they went through the door, both of them gave in to their desire. Sucking on the other lips greedily, they fell on top of the white bed sheet.
"Your body is cold."
"Then warm it up."
In the end, they still didn't know the name of each other.
...
"Did I wake you up?"
Still with his arm around her, he asked and stopped singing. He had been singing that familiar tune for a while when she was still asleep. It was a tune Caster just heard earlier today. The song he used for his ringtone till today.
"It's alright."
He patted her cheek gently: "Since I didn't have anything, this is all I can give you."
"What is your name."
"Yatogami Yuzuru."
"Kiss me."
She offered her lips to him. Once again, they embraced each other tightly.
Yuzuru didn't know the reason, but Caster required a lot more sleep than a normal person, even for a child her age. Caster seemed to be flustered even when she was asleep for some reason. They were on the way back after he met at Johann's bookstore at Kanda. He didn't know whether it was because she wasn't used to sleeping in the moving car, or she was having an unpleasant dream. Either way, Caster seemed to be moving her body awkwardly in her sleep. If it weren't for the seat belt she would had fell off long ago. From her appearance to her manners, Caster was no more different than a child to him. She would sleep when she was tired and cry when she got angry. No, even when she was a Servant, she was truly just a child. Yet that same Caster had a wish for the Grail and didn't hesitate to fight to obtain it with her own hands.
"...Master, you are a debauched person."
That was uncalled for, especially when he was in a rare moment of worry for her. He still didn't know what exactly was she dreaming of, but he seemed to be there. Let's just hope there was nothing bad.
Tapping his hand on the glass to a tune, He let his mind darted back to their meeting with Johann earlier.
...
The message signified the began of the Holy Grail War had been sent to all Master, as well as the location of Johann's bookstore in Kanda. When a Master wished to forfeit the war and sought protection, they shall find it at his place. Yuzuru of course didn't have any intention to forfeit, but he headed for the bookstore nonetheless. He was supposed to head there immediately after he summoned his Servant, but looking at Johann's face once and Yuzuru understood that the other man was the type who couldn't get up before ten am. Going to Kanda in the morning was just a waste of time, so he decided to secure his base first and get rid of the catalyst Johann gave him in the process. He was a little surprised when he got to the bookstore. The interior was exactly the same as the place in Chicago. Yuzuru didn't know there were multiple places like this all over the world, or Johann just teleported the store with him wherever. Either way, he had no way to find out.
As expected, even though he tried to hide it, Johann was displeased when he showed up with Caster and not the Servant he wanted. But the both of them skirted around the issue skillfully. What he didn't expect was to hear that name got involved with the war.
"Karen..."
"Yes, miss Katerina Bright was the first to summon her Servant, Assassin."
Since Johann claimed to be the supervisor of this Holy Grail War, he had information about the Servants and their Masters to a certain degree. After Assassin, the Servants was summoned in the order of Berserker, Rider, Lancer, Saber, Caster and finally Archer. He also told Yuzuru about Berserker and Saber's Master. On the other hand, the identity of Lancer and Archer's Master remained a mystery. Even if he didn't want to admit it, the information Johann provided could help him immensely in formulating a plan for this war, as Caster was not proficient in head to head conflict.
"You have been quiet."
When he left the bookstore, he found Caster sitting down at the doorstep, playing with a stray cat.
"Who was he?"
"He claimed to be the supervisor of the Holy Grail War from the church and is cooperating with us for the moment."
"Master, did you know..." Still playing with the cat, Caster said softly. "This little one said before today, this place was just a vacant plot of land."
It was not that surprising. After all, that place was supposed to housed the book of mind for all the normal person in the world. Yuzuru even felt that it was expected for it to be teleporting around. Rather than that, he was more interested in her source of information.
"You speak cat?"
"With my skill in Animal Dialogue, all animals are no different from humans when they communicate with me. Well, the information they could convey is limited by their own intelligence and perception of course."
Caster stood up. Come to think of it, he was so absorbed that he failed to notice that Caster hadn't step her foot into Johann's bookstore even though she came with him. Compared to him who was trying to outsmarted Johann and drew more information out of him, animals might be a more reliable source of information to her while taking less effort since he didn't believe they have the concept of 'lying'.
"That place is really strange." Standing beside him, Caster continued. "It does not exist in this place entirely."
Since he had no knowledge in magecraft, he didn't have any idea what she meant by that. Caster pondered her explanation for a while.
"It's like a painting made from multiple drawings on separate piece of transparent papers. Each painting only have a part, but when you stack the whole thing onto each other you get to see the whole picture."
He could imagined it, but he still didn't understand it. Caster laughed. Her eyes was gleaming and they seemed to tell him 'Praise me'.
"Rather than these boring stuff, all you need to know is that your Servant is seriously amazing."
The childish Caster and the dependable Caster. To his surprise, Yuzuru couldn't just decide which one he would prefer more. One thing for the certain was that for the first time in a very long time, he was once again excited to have someone walked alongside him.
On the coast of Japan, February 15th, two hours after Berserker returned, the message signified the start of the Holy Grail War came to Leonardo Bistario Harwey, but her voice reading it to him sounded distance. There was only one thought currently on his mind.
Dan Blackmore and Saber. His Servant was strong, that was expected of the Saber class. The problem was that they were too well prepare. Unlike the Berserker with her one tracked mind, Leo analytical skills were impressive. From her words alone, he understood how strong Saber was. No, how both Saber and his Master were.
The fight was opened with the opening shots by Blackmore. He aimed for her head, chest, stomach and knee. All weak spots for a human being. Berserker didn't evade nor blocked the bullets because it could not harm her. So he had Saber attacked and this time Berserker was forced to block, as well as revealed the extent of her defenses. Their exchanged of blows after that was just a feint. The real move was the grenade. From that point on, Saber preferred the thrust because he realized only concentrated attacks with high precision could damage her rather than something like an explosion wave, and the attacks needed to be stronger than the pieces of the grenade as well.
Then why did Saber used the slash when Berserker was in the air and suffered damaged to his shoulder as a result. Leo could think of several reasons, but what he most afraid of was that Saber used it and expected to be counterattacked. They moved to a higher point and forced Berserker to jump. Then Saber risked it to test Berserker's eye hand coordination as well as her instantaneous reaction speed. It was hard to push someone like Berserker to her limit when she had her feet on the ground, but in the air it was a different story.
And his next attacks were the most successful. Not only did it damaged Berserker, but it showed that it was capable of being a fatal one had she not defended herself. They confirmed Berserker did not have any kind of invulnerability nor immortality she could count on. Because she had constantly caught the sword and risked damage to incapacitate Saber before, but she retreated that time. Saber found out Berserker's speed and endurance just like that. He must have been a hero acquainted to battle.
No, even that was an understatement. Leo was certain Saber was a famous hero. None of his actions were meaningless. Through that short skirmish Berserker had been exploited from the start to finish. Of course, it could be that he was too much of a worrywart and Saber did it purely on impulse, but the long years of being a cripple had taught Leo one thing. And that was the worst possibility will always came true.
It was a good thing that he called Berserker back when he felt she was about to unleashed her Noble Phantasm after all. Against armed enemies such as Saber, it could served as a trump card. But in order to win he needed her to use it to disarm Saber at the most opportune moment and went in for the kill, not carelessly somewhere he was not present.
But right now, it was not the time for action, but rather contemplation. Their fight played back again and again in Leo's head. Saber was a famous hero. He needed to figure out that hero's identity. Because he understood what kind of man Dan Blackmore was. He will not sit and wait for Leo to come to him, he will come here to finish his job he failed years ago.
The Holy Grail could grant him a new body, but his soul could only be healed when these eyes stared at the moment of Dan Blackmore dying breath.
"Finished."
Caster muttered as she took out a pocket watch. Constructing a workshop this way took more time than she expected and even though she started right after they went back, it was still already a little past ten. But it was surely impregnable no matter how she looked at it. She was even abled to put in some little touches to go along with her Master's mischief. All in all, she did more than satisfactory. If they were to rely on the defenses of this workshop for the duration of the war, Caster had no doubt that she would be able to keep herself and her Master safe until the end with relative ease. However, this was nothing more than a strategic base and their last resort. Rather than being holed up in a safe place as a king, Caster preferred to move around the board as a queen. Fortunately her Master shared the same sentiment as well.
Quickening her pace, she ran to where her Master was. In this workshop, any and everything was under her constant surveillance. He was reading, no, looking at a notebook with a cute picture of a bear on the cover in his room. She tried to suppressed the urge to giggle. Something that cute did not suit him at all.
For some reason, he never failed to notice Caster when she approached. Was he wary of her, or was he paying special attentions to her. At the moment, Caster did not have the mean to confirm or deny any possibility. But it did not matter. If he paid attention to her, that mean he cared and if he was wary of her, then she only needed to make it not so anymore. Caster was always someone who was able to see the wonders of the world and those lived in it, despite them not seeing it themselves.
"This is empty." Her Master showed her the empty pages he was just staring at.
"Naturally, since I don't know the content."
Yes. In order to perfected this workshop, Caster had spent her time going around their place, memorizing every little details. But there was no way she could replicate something he kept in his room which she had no knowledge of. But now that she saw him, there was an incline about the content. She had saw her Master various expression, both in real life and in her dream. The only time he had such nostalgic expression was something related to his family. Her Master didn't talk about them to her once, but just from they way he talked to his sister, Caster understood that he treasured them greatly. Even though his feeling might not be mutual.
Caster was thankful she transformed into her extravagant self. It would be pretty awkward for her to act like this in her original form. She looked at her Master and declared selfishly, as if she didn't care about his feeling.
"That didn't matter. What's you should be doing right now is giving me my reward for a job well done."
Her Master laughed and put down the notebook. Caster had already suspected it when he let her sleep freely in the car earlier today. Her Master was definitely the type who will spoil his daughter rotten if he had one.
...
Even though it had already eleven pm, the shopping mall they passed was still bustling with activities. But their destination wasn't them. He led her to a small store in a back alley. The door was so small that the two of them could not go in at the same time. It was not the place Caster imagined when her master said he knew a good place for high quality book. No, the words 'high quality' should not be in the same sentence with this store in the first place. Caster squinted her eyes and looked at the signed, ravaged by time and environment.
"...Uncle Tom's cabin?"
"I know how you feel, but it's uncle Tom's bookstore." Her Master pushed the door open and walked inside. Having no other choice, she had to follow him reluctantly.
From the naming sense alone, she already felt that this place was bad news, in some way or another. However, the inside of the store was better than she expected. The bookshelves were organized neatly and the temperature and humidity was controlled by machines. The old man behind the counter noticed them and looked at. He frowned when he saw her Master.
"You still owe me." Caster's eyes widen when she heard her Master words. It was not the words of a customers and the tone sound more like a loan shark. Yet he said it with familiarity. Master was surely a bad person.
The two man ignored her fantasies and continued.
"Money." The owner did not lose to her Master in spirit. He said one word but he had already conveyed enough. Now she did not know who was owing what anymore.
"Where's the goods?"
"Hardback. Original print. With a copy of the author signature." The owner pushed a small package forward. It was her supposed reward for the workshop. But she did not feel good receiving it after she listened to this conversation at all.
"Wrap it for me."
They went in, demanded the book, paid and left in less than three minutes. The whole thing left Caster flabbergasted.
"Master, was that some kind of forbidden book or it was just a code for something else?"
"Of course it was a book. Didn't you see?"
"There was everything wrong with what I saw."
"Don't worry. It was something you really really like. Try not to open it in public though."
His Master gave her a meaningful smile. A thought hit Caster's mind. It was that, wasn't it. That was definitely a dirty book. Caster stared at the wrapping. But when they went out of the back alley, there was something else that caught her eyes. She pointed at that place and requested her Master to take her there.
"Did your animal friend tell you about this?" Yuzuru looked at the scenery around the bar Caster wanted to go to. He knew this place.
"You should know this, right. This was the place you deceived miss Katerina." Caster clutched the book tightly. Since she walked in front of him, it was hard to make out her expression. But he could tell that the existence of the book had left Caster's mind.
"Call it the place we first met. The way you said it make it sound like I took advantage of her or something."
Brown color vegetables and beefs soup. A plate with pieces of bread dyed with the smell of honey. A small jar of fruit jam. Caster ordered all of them and was eating happily. Come to think of it, he didn't have dinner either. But he was more curious about how did Caster learn of this place and Karen's name. However, Caster realized she had the advantages and was the one leading him around this time.
"Master, asking about another woman while on a date with me is not allowed."
"Since when did I need your permission? Also, we are on a date?"
"A man and a woman goes out together this late at night, and now sharing a table at this kind of questionable place, don't you think it's a date? Or it doesn't count unless it end in the bed like with miss Katerina?"
Yuzuru surrendered. For some reason Caster knew about everything. When he questioned her further, Caster let her displeased showed clearly. With no other choice, he agreed to go along with her whims for now, with the promise that she told him everything when they got home later. The topic ended for now as Caster masterfully changed the subject and he could finally relaxed.
"If you don't like this place, you could always treat me to the tiramisu and rainbow spongecake at Elandi's. The little ones all recommended that place."
Being able to talk to animals sure was convenient. Not only could she established a surveillance network, they already taught her some pretty useless things. Even though he thought that, he still made a mental note regarding what kind of sweets Caster liked.
"Give me a break. That place must have use gold for their flour with the price they're going with."
"Nothing less than sweets at Bendaru's can pleased me." Caster declared triumphantly, her fist raised in the air.
"Instead of gold it's silver this time. Are there any difference? I ask you, are there really any difference?"
Emptied his drink, Yuzuru continued: "And beside, aren't you eating an affordable meal just fine."
Caster looked straight into his eyes: "Because I could taste the happiness in these simple things."
"The perverted literature girl is unexpectedly romantic."
Her dreamy gaze turned into a glared for a quick second, but it quickly vanished and continued in a pompous tone: "These people, sitting in this small bar after a day of hard work with their friends. They can laugh loudly, drink freely. No matter what era or what country, to the common populace, this is happiness."
Caster spread her arms wide, as if trying to hug the whole scenery into her heart. Around them were the sound of the people laughing, shouting, getting angry. The faint smell of alcohol tickled his nostril. Yes, there was a time he enjoyed these little things too.
"See, Master. The world around you is lively. You don't have to pay attention to only the woman sitting there in the past."
There was a small commotion at the table next to him. Dispute over a gamble. Driven by the alcohol, it turned into a small scuffle. A man got punched straight in the nose and fell down no more than two meters away from Caster. He opened his eyes and just happened to see she winked at him playfully. Perhaps wanting to showed her his manly spirit, he got up just to be put down again by a bottle swung from behind into the back of his head.
Yuzuru turned back to Caster and lightly raised his cup: "I see. You made a good point."
Their glasses made a sound hitting against each other. Only until now Yuzuru noticed that he had been so caught up by the topic of Karen that he didn't notice Caster sneakily ordered the same type of drink as him. They were alcoholic. But she emptied her glass before he could say anything and urged him to do the same.
"It taste good." Perhaps it was the first time Caster drink alcohol that way, the blood quickly rushed to her face and dyed her cheeks with a red tinge. "Charles also liked places like this. He brought me to these kind of place all the time and tell me to enjoy myself."
That was a crime. That was definitely a crime wasn't it. What was that guy thinking letting a small girl into a bar drinking. Was that also the reason for her perversion. Truly family education were the origin of all depravity. Yuzuru could feel millions thought crossed his head all at once. And as a result, he couldn't form a reply to that shocking statement. That was not the only reason. Perhaps the real reason he was rendered speechless was Caster's expression. It was something he had seen before on a different woman. It was the expression of someone remembering their past love.
Letting the girl remembered a man in the past while they were on a date was the fault on the man's side. Since he promised Caster that he would go along with her and treated this as a date, Yuzuru began to think of ways to cheer her up.
In the end, he had no choice but to relied on the same old trick. He pulled out two dice cups from under the table with a few dice inside them. Thankfully the owner still left them at the same place. The customers are free to use them however they liked was one of the good things about this place.
"Want to play?"
"Yes. But you'll have to teach me the rule."
"We are just playing for fun." Yuzuru said words someone with 'gambling' in his title would never even thought of. "Let's keep it simple and see who get higher, no, that would be too easy. Lower score wins should be better."
"In other words, six one... No." Caster looked at the dice in the cup for two seconds and muttered. "The lowest possible should be the dice stacked onto each other for a total score of one."
Yuzuru laughed without saying anything. Women who were too sharp when playing games on a date was not cute at all, but he could let this one slide as long as Caster enjoyed herself.
"Then what should we wager?"
"Didn't I just said we are playing for fun? The number of time I lost a gamble could be count on one hand you know."
"But the risk makes it fun."
Yuzuru considered for a second. Well, she did ask for it herself so there was no need to hold back. He flashed a mischievous smile: "Then if I win, I get to kiss you. If you win, you get to kiss me. That's fair right."
"Master is an opportunistic person after all." Caster giggled. "It sound good, but the girl should be playing hard to get on a date. Reward you with a kiss if you win is fine, but if you lost, you have to stand on the table and said loudly 'I'm a M looking for male S to train me'."
"The risk against me get so high all a sudden. Also, I though you were just a regular pervert before, but you sure have a heavy taste aren't you?"
"I'll go first." Caster didn't give him the time to retort her and shook the dice cup. With her eyes closed, she put her ear against the cup, listened to the smallest of impact of the dice inside. At first he thought his eyes was playing tricks on him, but now he was certain her golden hair was giving off a faint light and fluttered as if there were a wind blowing through them.
This girl, not to mention her cheating level physical specs, she was even using her magic just to win the game against him. She kept rolling for a few minutes, until she found out the center of gravity of every single die inside the cup. She looked at him and smiled provokingly and slammed the cup down to the table. Caster raised the cup up slowly with an excited gaze but Yuzuru had already knew the result from the sound alone. Just as he thought, inside the cup was a straight tower, with the red dot facing the top.
"Best you can do is a draw." The smile in front of him was one belonged to a sly fox.
Yuzuru shrugged as he rolled the cup halfheartedly once. He raised it up to reveal the score before Caster's eyes and spread his free hand wide. There was no dice to be seen anywhere.
"Zero point. I won."
"...Dirty." Caster gritted her teeth.
"You used magic to roll but I'm not allowed to pull some trick?" Yuzuru tapped the table with his finger and leaned in closer. "Accept your loss and payed up."
Caster instinctively reached for her lips. Of course, seeing how flustered she was, Yuzuru didn't intent to push her too far. But it was also no fun letting her off after she tried to pull one over him too easily. However, a savior appeared out of nowhere in the form of a cat and snuggled close to her leg. Since he didn't recall the owner had a pet, the cat must had snuck in. Caster secretly picked it up and used her body to shield it from the eyes of others. Then she started 'nyaa'-ing. It was a surreal sight. Finished 'talking' to the cat, she put it down and it quickly disappeared. When Caster looked at him, it was not the look of the girl he spent the evening with, but a Servant discussing the battle.
"There are two Servants close by. One could be seen alongside the Master, but just from the animals description it's impossible to guess her class. As for the other one, they were tracking the first pair silently as well as shooting down the surveillance. Since they are quite adept at hiding and sneak attack, it's probably Assassin."
Assassin. Karen's Servant. Judging from her personality, she must had been close by also. As for the other Servant, they could be either Lancer or Archer from the process of elimination. These two alongside with Saber were considered the Knight classes and possessed high magic resistance, making them a bad match up for Caster. In other words, direct confrontation was out of the question. A plan started to form in Yuzuru's mind.
"Aside from territory construction, you can make items and drugs also right?"
Caster nodded and waited for his next words. After hearing his plan, she ceased her excitement and looked at him in displeasure.
"Not letting me take the central stage as the main heroine and still want me to work. Master is a bad Master that doesn't understand anything at all."
"...Are you the number one princess in the world? Do you want me to notice your hairstyle and do something if your right hand is absent? Playing around is fine but we still have a war to fight you know."
It was not a reprimand toward Caster since he liked it as well, but the conservation of resources in a war was still a valid point to consider, hence he said it in a half joking tone. Caster noticed it as well and pretended to blush while looking away.
"Number one... Even if it's the truth, you shouldn't said it so straightforwardly. I'll be embarrassed."
He lost completely. Yuzuru was confident in his ability to use words against his opponents but no matter what he did regarding this topic, Caster always found away to spin it to her benefits. Caster leaned forward and presented her head to him. It was not hard for him to guess she wanted him to pat her head as a reward as well as front payment for the work he entrusted to her. Caster seemed to enjoy it as she closed her eyes lightly, her hands curled up to make a fist and a small 'nyaa' escaped from her mouth. Hey, did you talked with the animals too much that you became a cat yourself. Cat ears and tail might suit her, but Yuzuru was smart enough not to say that out loud.
"A mutual destruction would be the best, but in any case, I'll leave the backup and escape route to you."
This was how they were going to fight as Master and Servant in this war. Playing around with each other selfish whims, putting their trust into the other abilities and seizing victory together.
The soul. It was either a mysterious phenomenon or the creator's most prided achievement. Any and all thing, from the moment they were born until the moment their soul returned to the cycle, or Akasha as the magus called it, the information encompassed all of their life existed in the soul. Naturally, the information about ESP was included.
A lot of people thought of rare and dramatic powers like in stories when they heard of ESP, but thanks to her eyes, Koreyume knew that it was not the case. ESP came in all shaped or form, and while not everyone had them, they were not as uncommon as one would imagined. Also, most of them were incredibly mundane. For example, one of her classmate in high school had the ability to 'never fall down the stair'. The people like him never had a chance to find out about their ESP, and spent the rest of their life as a normal person. Maybe they were. After all, if you were careful with your steps you don't need ESP to never fell down the stairs.
It was the main reason why she was so trusting and opened up herself towards Lancer. Since Servant existed as a spiritual being, and with the connections between the two of them as Master and Servant, Koreyume was moved by the concern and affections Lancer's soul expressed towards her Master even though they were just met. Under the smile of that fairy like beauty was her indomitable spirit of loyalty towards those she served. It was not blind following as Lancer was willing to correct Koreyume should she went down to the wrong path, but it was something much more precious.
Today too, she used her mystic eyes to observed the souls of the people in the room. Most of the soul was shinning brightly, maybe it was the resilience of their youth. People who dedicated six years of their youth to education for their dream. It was one thing to dream, but putting the work was never easy. Their determination, perseverance and patience was something worthy of respect. Even though they were currently arguing with each other for something as trivial as the festival.
Normally she wouldn't spy on others like this, as it would be terrible if she got absorbed and missed someone called out to her or important point of the meeting, but now she had Lancer to pay attention to her, so she should be allowed to slack off once in a while right. After all, it was boring to wait. The sound of the bell never signified the start of the meeting, it was something Koreyume learned from her experience at the campus.
"What are they arguing about, Master?" She heard Lancer's voice in her head. Of course she couldn't let Lancer just showed up alongside her no matter how much she wanted to, so Lancer was currently in spirit form.
Even though Koreyume was blind to the way of politics, she could answer Lancer's question based on her past experience: "The festival is organized by the student council, the sport clubs and the cultural clubs. The student council are the one with official authority, the sport clubs have the most manpower but are not uniformed due to competition, contrary to the cultural clubs which generally get along well with each other."
Koreyume smiled wryly, as if to say 'Why can't they just get along?' and continued.
"The sport and cultural clubs doesn't like each other so they're competing for the good spot and time slot. The student council claimed to be neutral, but they wanted to use their authority to further their own agenda."
Lancer was silent at first. Koreyume thought she didn't interest in these kind of topics but she replied in a low voice: "Politics, huh... Someone once told me that wherever there's more than one human in the same place, there will be politics involve. I understand that it's hard to find a solution to satisfied everyone, but..."
Lancer trailed off. She didn't say anything more, but Koreyume understood. People trampled on each other wishes just to further their own. Now that she thought about it, wasn't the Holy Grail War essentially of the same nature. It's a sad sight. Even though it was something supposed to give people hope and made their wish came true, the fact that it existed alone was enough for humans to fight each other over it. But thinking about those things was of no use to her now. Koreyume shook her head.
...
Aside from the news, Koreyume rarely used the television for anything else. On the contrary, she remembered her mother enjoyed watching movies. Her favorite was the one titled 'Roman Holiday', as she had made Koreyume watched it with her on numerous occasions. Koreyume didn't remember much of the detail, but she recalled the movie's atmosphere carried an air of softness and elegance. An alluring pink colored love story. Having escaped the meeting for the festival, they were not currently being chased by men in black, neither was Koreyume a princess nor Lancer a reporter. Even so, walking side by side with Lancer, she felt that this situation and the one in the movie was not that different. At least in spirit.
They were on their way home from a large shopping mall mainly for Lancer's daily necessities, and Koreyume wanted to do her own shopping as well. Lancer didn't express her interest in the matter, but she didn't object either. Even though the war had officially started, neither Koreyume nor Lancer felt any particular tension at the dark and empty street late at night. Koreyume didn't intent to let the fear of battle influenced her decision in any ways, it was for that reason that she still had the mind to come to the meeting for the festival today. Speaking of which...
"Can Servant detect other Servants?" Other Servants were not as likely as them to walk brazenly in the open like this, but she was still curious.
"We can. Just as magus can detects each other due to magical energy, Servant can detect each other."
A good magus can detect another good magus but may fail to detect a third rate one, it seemed that Servant operated on the same principle. Since they were all masses of magical energy given form, it was hard for them to miss each other. Lancer smiled wryly.
"I'm not confident in my magical energy though, so I won't know a Servant approaching unless I see them with my own eyes. While someone specialized in magic like Caster might be able to sense even the current location of all the Servants in the city." Then, as if to reassured her, Lancer added. "Don't worry, it was not because you are insufficient as a Master, my aptitude for magic is just naturally impaired."
Even though you are a magical being right now. Koreyume giggled to herself. She had asked that question considering it to be pointless chatter, while she was interested in what Lancer revealed about herself. This made Koreyume realized that she was interested in Lancer as a person, and not a simple Servant fighting the war for her. It also reminded her she didn't know what Lancer's wish was. The reason for Lancer fighting in the Holy Grail War. Koreyume was hesitated to voice this one question. But she opened herself up to Lancer, so she wished for Lancer to be able to do the same to her. Lancer might not willing to answer it if she asked it straight away, but Koreyume might be able to ease her into it.
"Even when you were alive?"
"I'm just a small little girl who dedicated her life for fighting." Lancer smiled. Looking at her now, Koreyume certainly couldn't imagine the time when she was 'a small little girl'. "There are a lot of things I don't understand."
She remembered. Lancer was oblivious to the politics surrounding the festival earlier too. One could argue that those thing weren't needed for a Servant. But still...
"It's kinda sad." The fact that someone like her had to spent her life ravaged by the flame of war. And now she was summoned to serve Koreyume's selfish whims and once again forced to fight to fulfill the wish of another person.
"You don't need to worry. Lord Liu Bei treated me well. I am respected by others. The war didn't change how my life end, it merely changed the road I traveled."
Zhao Yun didn't die on the battlefield as many generals at the time, but rather she passed away quietly in the bed due to an illness. Did she wish to change that fate then. Koreyume finally decided to steel herself and asked the question that had been constantly on her mind since just now. When she heard it, Lancer turned away. Koreyume thought she wasn't going to answer the question and just as she was about to say 'sorry', she heard Lancer's voice. It was the same gentle and melancholic voice she used to talk about her teacher.
"Master, where are we in this world? Where was I when I was alive?" Lancer looked up at the sky above. Since they were in the city, it was hard to see the clear sky and stars. But the vibration of Lancer's soul told Koreyume that she was looking at a different sight. Perhaps she was looking at the sky she and her comrades once all saw. "The cloud may seem free looking from below, but it had to depends on the wind to carry it. Me, lord Liu Bei, you and perhaps everyone around us, we're the same as the clouds."
She turned towards Koreyume. Contrary to her expectations, Lancer's expression was serene: "I've won many battles. The me standing here is someone who conquered all adversaries. The territories I claimed for my lord stretched over the horizon. But in the end, it didn't matter at all. The only thing left behind when this life perished was just a small pile of bone in a tiny grave. A peaceful death or losing my life in battle were the same."
Koreyume was stunned by the sheer nihilism in Lancer' words. Even if she heard it directly from Lancer, she just couldn't believe that the Lancer who comforted her and the Lancer who said these things were the same person. Noticed this, Lancer grasped her hand and pulled her forward with a smile.
"However I was blessed to have met people with eyes that could see and understand there is a meaning beyond death, and there is hope. Not once, but twice. But the one I knew when I was alive suffered a sorrowful fate and burdened with countless responsibilities. In the end, she ended her life cursing the world around her." Lancer said with quiet resolve. "My wish, no, my childish dream as a girl had always been the same. To help the clouds move on not bothered by their circumstances. So that one day you will be able to look back at your life and said 'I am happy'."
Koreyume could felt it all. What Lancer determined to be the meaning of her life. Her reason for existence and her wish. It was the crystallization of Lancer's deep loyalty and affection. And she felt that she should answer in kind. She already knew what she needed to do in this situation. The small gesture that Lancer did that made her immensely happy. This time, she was the one to embraced Lancer. She was a little taken back at first, but returned the embrace shortly. Koreyume was thankful for the street being empty late at night, because the sight of two woman hugging each other in the open was certainly turned some heads. But even then it would not stop her from doing this.
Due to her heightened emotions, Koreyume was slow to notice. The sound of footstep approaching. The pace of the unknown person slow down when it came closer to their position. The owner of the footstep seemed to be interested in this scene. Embarrassed, they moved a little further to each other than usual. Koreyume looked up at the other person with an apologetic smile. It was a young man who looked to be around thirty years old. Even though he was relatively good looking, she was a little taken back by the vibe he carried. He would be perfect to play the role of the cold blooded serial killer in old detective movies. Even so, the man didn't continue moving.
"Assassin had been following you two."
His words were not much louder than a whisper, but it was more than enough to spark the flame of battle.
Authors Note: It's a little ironic to say that after that last scene, but due to personal circumstance on my end there won't be a chapter next week. I'm terribly sorry.
In the mean time, I'd love to hear what you think about the story and characters so far. What you like, what you don't like, what you'd like to see in future chapters. Anything at all. I'll be looking forward to reading them when I returned the week after.
See you next chapter.