Masara moved quickly yet cautiously along the alleyways of Kazamino as she headed toward the meeting point. Despite it being her first time there it had been simple enough to memorize the maps of the city and find the quickest route to her destination. All to meet a certain individual.

They called her the grief seed merchant. A strange girl who operated in Kazamino who kept calling herself a Magus and denying any rumors of her being a Magical Girl. As her title implied, she sold grief seeds but not for the wares that were often exchanged by an Adjuster.

No, what she wanted was simple.

Money and a lot of it.

It would seem suicidal to sell grief seeds for such needs, as they were such a valuable resource for Magical Girls, yet this merchant always seemed to have a large stockpile on hand. This was made stranger by the fact that Kazamino wasn't even that big a city in the first place, there would only be enough grief seeds there to support a few Magical Girls at most. There would be no way the merchant would've been able to hoard so many seeds from a single location, not if she had to use them herself, but she was never seen straying far from her territory.

This only led into her claims that she wasn't a Magical Girl at all. Knowing this, more than a few Magical Girls had tried to invade the merchant's territory to get their hands on those seeds. Not a single one ever came back.

That was why Masara was cautious as she carefully made her way to the meeting point. Thanks to her wish she had plenty of money for grief seeds, despite the exorbitant prices the merchant would charge, though this would actually be her first time buying them. It wasn't necessary in the past, she was more than capable of fighting off the witches of Kamihama by herself, but ever since that yellow tonfa wielding Magical Girl started following her around… well best to keep a few extra just in case.

She heard a rustling above and immediately turned with her grief seed in hand, ready to transform. A figure dropped from above onto the alley below. They had long pale red hair, tied into one long ponytail by a green ribbon. They wore a light seafoam hoodie, denim shirts, and long black boots. Most strange enough though was the spear that she held in her hand.

For all intents and purpose, it looked like a regular weapon made of steel. Sturdy and most definitely sharp at the end yet that alone wouldn't have made her a threat. However, Masara couldn't help but keep her guard up despite that. She also couldn't assume that the merchant was alone either. There were rumors that she was constantly followed by a figure in Red and Black that was ready to strike at any time. Whether it was another Magical Girl, Magus, or something else, no one really knew.

All anyone knew for certain was that the merchant was more than she appeared. Anyone that had seen what she was capable of never came back to tell anyone else about it. There were never really left any witnesses once the fighting started.

"You came early," the merchant commented with an annoyed expression on her face. "When I tell you to come at five, you come at five, not ten minutes early."

Masara reached into her pockets with one hand, the other still on her soul gem, and took out a box of Pocky.

The merchant's eyes lit up as she tossed the Pocky to them. They put their spear against their shoulder and caught the box. It didn't take long for them to rip it open and put a stick in their mouth.

It was well known that food was the best way to get them into a good mood. Dropping it on the other hand would be a death sentence.

"Glad to see some girls out there that have respect for the resident Magus," the merchant replied with confidence, almost bordering on arrogance.

"Do you have the seeds?" Masara asked plainly.

"Right to business huh? And straight faced too. I like girls like you, makes things simple." The merchant lifted up the side of her hoodie revealing a black crop-top underneath and a large medley of grief seeds hanging from within. It was enough that even Masara's eyes were raised. "Fifty thousand yen each. Cash only."

Very exorbitant prices that very few Magical Girls still in school would be able to afford. Masara on the other hand was not most Magical Girls.

With an emotionless face she reached into her coat, pulled out a thick stack of notes, and walked up to hand them to the merchant.

"I'll take ten."

The merchant whistled as she quickly began counting the notes. "Rich girl too. Been a long time since I had an order this big."

"Will it be an issue?"

"Nope, none at all." The merchant pulled out a leather satchel and filled it with the agreed upon grief seeds. Once it was filled, they quickly handed the satchel to her and began walking away. "Make sure you go back the way you came. Last thing I want is to have to get rid of a customer like you."

Masara simply turned around and walked away.

The sale had gone wonderfully, much better than Kyoko had initially expected when she had been first contacted by that magical girl. Ten grief seeds sold at once, five hundred thousand yen that she now had on her.

It was enough to make her feel giddy with the weight of that stack of cash bouncing around in the inner pocket of her hoody. In fact, she was so giddy that she had used Reinforcement on her legs so that she could quickly get home to slap a certain individual with that fat stack. It only took her ten minutes to arrive at the front of her home thanks to her Magecraft.

The place was reminiscent of a samurai's mansion, albeit a small one, and was one that perfectly suited their needs. Granted Kyoko would've been perfectly fine just slumming it out in whatever hotel room they could find, but Archer had insisted that they build a home with the funds that they had gathered.

Not that she would complain. It was certainly comfortable even if she didn't quite understand his obsession with koi ponds, archery ranges, and that one wooden shed she was forbidden from entering. She had tried getting in there once only to get caught and then sent to the dojo for a session of training. Even as a Magus it took a long time to recover from the welts and it served enough as a warning to stop from ever trying again.

"I'm home old man," Kyoko called out as she slid open the front door and took off her shoes. Even from the entrance she could sniff out the familiar scent of his cooking in the kitchen.

"How was business, Kyoko?" a familiar voice called out from the kitchen.

Kyoko snorted. "Like you weren't watching."

"Even I can't read lips or count the bills she handed you from that far away," Archer replied as he poked his head out of the kitchen. He had recently begun letting his hair down while in their home, making it rather reminiscent of the boy that she had seen in her dreams. She kinda liked it. It made him seem more… domestic.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you could. You always have something up your sleeve," Kyoko said as she snuggled herself into the kotatsu in the living room and smugly placed the stack of cash on the table. Thank the Root for Archers and their Independent Action ability. His effective range, the bounded field around their house, and their irregular yet frequent patrols made it difficult for most Magical Girls to get in without them knowing. The ones that did never lasted particularly long. "Sold ten seeds."

"That's a lot."

"Yep, we can finally start digging that Koi pond you were looking forward to. Never thought building a home for fish could be so expensive. And why do you need them, don't they need constant care and eat nonstop?"

"Sounds like someone I know," he replied in that familiar cheeky tone of his.

"Oh, screw off Archer."

Kyoko grabbed the remote and switched on the flat screen TV. The first thing that would appear from the screen was a news report of the disappearance of a young girl in a nearby city. She shook her head and immediately changed the channel.

Nothing new, even if she did have a slight suspicion as to who it was that had gone missing. There was a newbie a week ago, a meek girl that had been a few thousand yen short for a seed. Kyoko still let her have it anyway on top of some advice on how to hunt witches. At that point it was on the girl if she still couldn't survive.

Eventually after switching channels Kyoko settled on some random magical girl anime.

"I can't be the only one that sees the irony in this," Archer commented as he walked out of the kitchen with two large bowls of udon and several sides as accompaniment.

Kyoko shrugged. "It's a dark comedy. Stupid girls doing things over stupid ideals with a world that has been so drastically twisted that everything works out for them. In the end everything else has to pay because of the world working for them and they don't even know it because they're trapped in this happy little dream of theirs."

"That's one way of putting it," Archer replied as he set dinner down on the kotatsu.

Kyoko didn't hesitate to immediately grab her chopsticks and slurp down the still steaming noodles. As always, his food was legendary, better than what she could get from any restaurant in the city. After several straight minutes of eating she took a brief break, took off her hoodie, and used it to wipe down some of the sweat that had gathered on her neck.

"The witches have been moving strangely," Archer suddenly commented casually between small bites of his own food.

"How so?" Kyoko asked. Archer was an observant person, but he usually preferred to stay silent about most things he saw and deal with it himself. If it was something he had to inform her about, well it was certainly trouble.

"They've all been moving toward one direction as if they're being led. We'll have to take care of any we can find close to the borders before they cross it and we lose the right to hunt them."

"And we're going to need them considering how many we just sold," Kyoko replied. Thankfully, she no longer needed seeds for herself which made any grief seed they did gather up for sale. It was easy money using the skills they already had. It was still worrying and annoying that someone or something out there was stealing their witches though.

"Do you have any idea where they're going and what's luring them away?" Kyoko asked

"Not yet. We could leave one of the weaker ones alive so that I can follow it."

She wasn't the only one that had gained something from their bond. After a few years since her contract with him. Perhaps it was remnants of her time as Magical Girl, but he had become as skilled at detecting witches as any Magical Girl. There were still some Witches out there that gave him trouble to find, but at least he wasn't blindly combing the city street to street anymore.

"Are you saying you're getting to let this Witch walk free where it might eat civilians?" Kyoko asked.

"You and I both know it would be simple enough for me to divert it before it becomes a threat to people," Archer replied.

He was a bit of a bleeding heart that killed any Witch or familiar he found. In her opinion it was very inefficient to kill the latter when they weren't in your way, as they didn't drop grief seeds until they ate enough people and became Witches themselves. It was like killing the goose before it laid an egg, but it was something that he seemed firm on.

"Fine, we'll go with your plan," Kyoko replied.

"Try not to get into any trouble while I'm away."

"I can handle myself." She was perfectly capable of taking on weaker Witches and Magical Girls by herself. The only other threat would be the Incubators, but they stopped coming after she had lost her contract. Of course, they still put in plenty of effort at putting up Bounded Fields around their house in case they ever showed up again. Always best to keep an eye out for those rat bastards, never knew what they were planning or when they would pop up again.

"Arrogance is the enemy," he simply replied. "It only takes a single mistake in battle to get yourself killed, it doesn't matter how strong you are."

She rolled her eyes and simply focused on finishing her food. First hunger, then exhaustion, and now arrogance. How many things did he consider to be an enemy?

Once she finished with her food, she planned to get a bath and some sleep before they went to hunt. Before she could stand however Archer put a small box in front of her.

"What's this?" she asked as she eyed it carefully.

"Happy birthday."

Kyoko stared at his neutral expression for a few moments before carefully picking the box up and opening it. Inside was a simple yet well-made black ribbon. She had suspicions it had all sorts of spells and enchantments put into it, but she still appreciated it. He always did put her safety first after all.

She silently undid her old ribbon and turned around so that Archer could tie the new one into her hair. He did so quickly and once he was done; he created a mirror for her to look at.

The ribbon suited her quite well.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

A rare smile, a genuine one not laced with sarcasm or regret, appeared on his face.

"You're welcome."

And just like that, she was now fifteen.

Archer sat on the porch of the home that he had built in his home under the gaze of the full moon. His home… their home. To think that he had adapted to domestic life so quickly after several millennia of acting as a Counter Guardian. Old habits died hard after all.

Kyoko certainly helped in that regard. So this was how his father had once felt raising him… It was nice. Even if it was only a temporary reprieve.

"You should get your rest. We're not leaving until another hour," Archer said to his Master who had stepped onto the porch behind him

"Nightmare," Kyoko replied as she took a seat next to him. She was already dressed and ready for their late night of hunting. "Thought I'd join you out here instead."

The Servant remained silent as he took comfort in her presence. They stared at the moon in silence for some time.

"A Counter Guardian, huh?"

Archer closed his eyes. Four years it took for her to learn that. The Dream Cycle certainly took its time in this world.

"Yes," he eventually replied.

"Looks like we were both screwed by bad contracts."

"Yes…"

His body controlled like a machine, forced to fight in an endless war. Forced to slaughter countless people who never deserved it, no matter how depraved Humanity could be. If Kyoko had been shown that dream first-

"Wouldn't have made my wish if I had seen that first," Kyoko admitted.

"My apologies."

Kyoko snorted. "Why are you the one apologizing? You're not the one who signed my contract or made me waste a wish on something useless. Not like you can control the dreams I get either."

"You got them because you summoned me."

His Master waved him off. "Yea but knowing me I still would've accepted that contract if I hadn't summoned you. And without you," she looked back at their home, "I have no idea how I'd survive."

Archer snorted. "You'd survive. You're tough that way."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't be as comfortable, and I wouldn't have such good food. I owe you a lot Archer, so if there's anything you need."

If there was one thing that she was good for, it was that she'd always go out of her way to repay a debt. She refused to give out favors, but she also refused to owe someone if they did do something for her.

Stubborn, but admirable in its own way.

"Just staying in this world is payment enough," Archer admitted. Even if this world was as flawed as his old one, anything was better than returning to his duties as a Counter Guardian. Eventually this dream too would end, but for now he would enjoy it. "That means you'll have to keep yourself alive and healthy for as long as possible."

Kyoko grinned. "Of course. I aim to live a long comfy life. Just for me."