Section 2

We begin to walk back to Hunspach. Our job was completed, we learned who was behind this and what she is trying to do. The village investigation was a success, even if we could save no one.

"Oh right, Edmond. I should form a contract with you, shouldn't I?", Ritsuka asks while looking at his Command Seal.

"I would be happy to do so. The extra mana would be helpful."

"Alright, forming the contract…done. Do you feel a link?"

"Yes, you are now my Master, Fujimaru Ritsuka."

The comm blares to life and a hologram appears. "Great job, you've formed a contract with a Servant and learned the identity and objective of the enemy. Now, you just need to figure out what to do next."

Olga speaks up. "I think we should return to town and rest up a bit. I'd rather not break the rules, but I think we need to try and figure out what town will be next, and intercept the attack at night, which will mean we will break the curfew."

"Leave that to me. As a Servant, I can go into spirit form and survey the countryside. I will alert you if I see anything and report back. With that said, I doubt Altrouge will act so soon."

Alice tilts her head slightly. "How often are the attacks? I'm assuming not every day?"

"No, the attacks are about every week, but now that you've arrived, I'm assuming she will make them more frequent. So maybe every two to three days now? That's only an estimate. We will find out when the time comes."

"I see. I wonder how many deaths are needed to fill the grail for her wish?", I question, putting my hand to my chin.

"Normal humans don't give off too much mana, so she'll have to kill a lot of people to do so. Every so often she will kill someone with lots of mana they don't know they have and it'll be a boost to the grail. I'd give it less than ten more attacks until it's full, based on how many people she's already killed.", the Count then flies up ahead of us. "I fear she may soon hit a 'jackpot' of mana and fill the grail too fast one day, and we can do nothing to stop it. So if possible, I'd like to find her hideout and kill her soon."

"No wonder you haven't already killed her if you don't know where she is. Does she change locations or leave her base often?", Nick asks the Count.

"Every so often she will join her minions in an attack. Most of the time she will just send a horde to a village and kill them that way. And she also sometimes will send one of her bodyguards to attack alongside a bunch of Ghouls, Corpses and Undeads. That is mainly saved for bigger settlements though."

Mash looks surprised. "Bodyguards? Someone as powerful as her needs bodyguards?"

"Of course. There are a few stronger vampires than her in existence, so bodyguards are needed just in case of an assassination attempt."

Nick joins in now. "Yeah, you're right about that. From what I've heard from the Burial Agency, she's not well liked among the vampires aside from a few. The guards are there to ensure her protection."

"So we will need to kill her bodyguards before even considering going after her…"

Dantès only nods his head to answer Ritsuka's question.

"Got it, this'll be tough then.", Olga touches her hand to her chin. "We'll need of more Servants for this."

"We can figure more out as we go. We only just got here, I definitely don't want to take our time, but we don't have to rush either." Alice suggests to the group and we agree.

"Well, if there are any other Servants around, I'll make a pact with them just like all the others. Hopefully they are friendly."

"You never know, in Trifas, some of the Servants were hostile because they were forced to be, so the same could happen here! Or maybe they are just plain evil.", Mash looks at us. "Either way, if they try to bring us harm, we can defeat them, I just know we are strong enough!"

"What kind of Servants can we expect, Dantès?", I ask.

"If we're lucky at all…saints, vampire hunters, priests. They would have a better chance of beating the dead around here. You see, vampires are weak to holy objects like holy water and crosses. Of course, there are weapons for fighting vampires too such as black keys and various spells. I myself have anti vampiric attacks, not exclusively for vampires but they do the job."

"Unfortunately, I have not seen another Servant around in my time here so far. I cannot be sure that there are any more here."

The Director's head pops up "Actually, is Altrouge a Servant?"

"Not that I can tell. She's just a vampire who happened upon the Holy Grail I assume. Why or how she's here is unknown to me. Why a Singularity? Why specifically this time period? I assume it is something to do with power, but I don't know much else."

"We'll figure it out! I know it!", Mash hypes herself up. "Senpai! You'll help too, right?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'll do my best to help!"

With that, we reach the town. Our new companion goes into spirit form so as to not draw attention. We go back to our rooms and rest for the time being. Except for two, that is.

"Hey, Mash, would you like to…um…do something with me?"

"Sure! Of course, Senpai! Err wait, what do you mean exactly? Do you mean like a date? Or just as friends hanging out?"

Ritsuka's face lights up like a tomato. "Ah! No, just two friends hanging out, that's all!"

Rituska puts his hand to his head, scratching his hair in nervousness. "Well, uh, what do you want to do?"

Mash cups her chin and looks toward the blue sky. "Maybe we could just walk around and see what may interest us?"

"Yeah, that works! Come with me!"

The two begin to aimlessly walk the town. They look around and chat about anything that comes to mind.

"So, Mash, what was life like at Chaldea for you? Before we all came here of course?"

"Boring…? I guess that would be the best way to put it. I was able to read all I wanted, and mostly do whatever I wanted, but it was lonely. The staff seemed scared of me because I was a Demi Servant. Or maybe they just looked at me differently. Either way, I wasn't able to interact with others besides the Doctor due to them not wanting to talk to me. But now that you all are here, my life has gotten significantly more fun!"

"Mash…"

"Senpai, don't look so sad. I made it sound worse than it was. It wasn't all boring for me. The Doctor would sometimes watch movies and hang out with me. It was really fun to do that sort of thing with him. In fact, one of the first things I watched with him was a movie that was Sherlock Holmes related. He was a fictional detective! Dr. Roman also gave me books to read, those were always interesting. I love learning new things!"

Ritsuka smiles. "Well, I'm glad we were able to make things better for you. And Doctor Roman seems like a great person to do all that for you, not that I doubted him being a good person though."

"Hey, Mash? When is your birthday?"

"July 25th, I will be turning 18 this year. What about you?"

"Mine is July 30th. Who knew our birthdays were that close? I'm turning 20 this year."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now I really need to get you a good present, Senpai!"

"I'll do that too. Chaldea has a shop, so I'm sure even if it's minor, I can get you something."

"I know this will turn out great regardless of what you'll buy for me, Senpai!"

The two continue to walk, time flies by in what feels like an instant.

"It seems like things are going fine over there for all of them. Though, it was odd that Nick's bodycam went out like that for a bit. I wonder what happened?", Romani takes a sip out of his coffee. "Da Vinci, what do you think about this Singularity?"

"It's pretty interesting with these vampires running about. I wonder what Servants they will encounter!"

"Maybe we could call over some of the Servants that are related to vampires to get advice?", a staff member suggests.

"That's a good idea. Wouldn't hurt to ask, let's do it!"

After calling over the Servants to the command room, they are all questioned.

"How to deal with the dead? Personally, black keys, prayer, and holy items work quite well as I'm sure Vlad Tepes knows from one of our previous encounters with each other."

"I was not in control of myself at that time, but yes, I do remember that incident. As the priest said, holy items, and prayers work well. On top of that, stakes, fire, sunlight. Those could all work too. I will admit however, Dead Apostles are not the same as vampires like my legend. So the things I mentioned may not work on them."

Amakusa looks over at Vlad and moves his arm around in the air as he talks. "You're right about fire and sunlight. Stakes on the other hand, I'm not sure about, unless they are soaked in holy water or something. In any case, even if Chaldea has no way to use those methods, simply cutting off their heads, or dealing normally lethal damage to their heads such as bullets should do the trick for the most part as. Much easier said than done though."

"According to Edmond Dantès, he is able to harm them as well with his flames, so that area is covered. Nick's sword seems to be anti-vampiric, Alice has all sorts of weaponry, and Ritsuka can summon Servants to aid him. The only ones who don't have a counter to the Dead Apostles are the Director, Serena, and Mash. But Mash is still proficient in defense. All in all, five out of the seven so far can properly defend against the dead." Romani puts his hand on his mouth like he's thinking about something. "I'm worried about Serena though, I understand she can get scared, but if she freezes up like that with no one else around, she could very well be killed."

Da Vinci puts a hand on Romani's shoulder. "She'll be fine, I'm sure. She can see the future, so she should be able to hold her own enough, even if it's just running. And if not, she has plenty of companions to lean on."

"Yeah, you're right. But I can't help but worry, that's all.", Da Vinci smiles in response.

"She's quite capable, she lasted against me for a short while in pure swordplay. Her eyes certainly help, but she has some skill herself, it could improve greatly however. She should be fine, though I do see your point about her freezing up though. I can't blame her though, Servants are terrifying to a normal human such as herself."

"Now you're really not helping things, Amakusa Shirou."

"Well, what can I do?"

"Anyway, you two are free to go, we will relay this information to them. Thank you for your help."

"It was no issue at all.", Vlad III leaves the room.

"Please ask again if you need any more help.", Amakusa waves as he leaves.

He steps into the hallway and runs into Jeanne d'Arc.

"Good evening Ruler, tell me, do you know of ways to kill vampires?"

Jeanne tilts her head in confusion. "Holy items would do that, it worries me that a priest like yourself would not know that."

"No no, I do know that, I was just curious if you knew any other methods."

"Sorry, I am not the one to ask. I am a saint, not a vampire killer. Aside from holy objects, I do not know…on a second thought, a holy based Servant would be good. Even as a saint, I myself would be able to extinguish them with my powers in this new life. So would you to an extent. If they happen to run into a saint, they should be able to defeat this Singularity easier though."

"That would be fortunate wouldn't it? From what I've heard, they've met up with one Servant so far. 'Edmond Dantès' was his name. The Count of Monte Cristo."

"Edmond Dantès? I have heard of him, but I am not too familiar with his tale."

"Me neither, but he has powers to kill the undead according to the Doctor. If he can help, then I'm all for it. Humanity must be saved!"

"Do not start with that again, or I will oppose you and many will back me up this time."

"I wasn't going to go there. I've given up on that goal of mine. (For now)."

"You and I were still enemies until just recently, but now we're here trying to figure out strategies for our Master. Sieg still hasn't forgiven you for taking my life right before his eyes during the Great Holy Grail War…"

"I wouldn't expect him to forgive me for that, as I now understand why he's always fought me with such fury. But, we have to coexist here despite that."

"I cannot believe you are only having that insight now. But better late than never."

"I apologize, I am very slow to pick up on these things. But now I must be on my way, Jeanne. I promised Semiramis that I would help remodel our room."

Jeanne smiles. "Well, have fun. There is something I must discuss with Astolfo."

"Well take care then, Ruler."

"You too."

And the two part ways.

The girl slumbers in her throne. An easy way to conserve and regain magical energy. After stalking Chaldea and being attacked by Avenger, she rests to regain power so she is at full strength to take over the world once her wish is granted.

"Are you not bothered by Chaldea at all? Will you not even smite them in an instant?", a voice with no body echoes in Altrouge's head.

"Not at all. As I said, I want Chaldea to despair when they realize there is nothing they can do to stop me. It's more fun that way. I know you like it that way too. I know aside from that True Ancestor man, none of them can hope to defeat me."

"And what of the True Ancestor? Do you think he can beat you? You seem unsure."

"There's certainly a chance, but a low one. I don't recognize him, nor does he look like a normal True Ancestor. You wouldn't know, but most of them are blonde."

"Hm? But you have black hair. Are you not a True Ancestor?"

"I am, but I am also half Dead Apostle. That is where my black hair comes from. I was created to be a vessel for my father, but due to me being half Dead Apostle and half True Ancestor, I was deemed unstable and instead my father resorted to making another child, my sister Arcueid. He threw me to the wayside like I meant nothing to him. I must complete my goal in order to prove that I am worthy to everyone, that I am powerful enough to be acknowledged by my father, and to make my sister kneel before me. Finally after all that, I will carry out what my father wanted and rule humanity!"

"What about my end of the bargain? I gave you power, so I will get my end of the deal too, don't forget, I can take my power back and you'll be left with nothing."

"Of course. After I rule over humanity, you can do as you wish to them as promised. I am the 'Master of Blood and Contract' after all, I do not intend to go back on our contract. Don't worry, we will both get what we want in the end."

"Hehe, I like you, girl. I look forward to our plan's completion once this Holy Grail thing gets filled."

"I look forward to it too. Believe me, this'll all work out in our favor."

Ritsuka and Mash walk through the town, nearly done with their walk. The time is 4 P.M., the town is bustling with life, people going about their day running errands, selling goods, kids playing.

A man comes running through the front gate, screaming about something no one can understand at first. Naturally, everyone in the area comes over to see what is going on, including Mash and Ritsuka.

"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP! A MONSTER, THERE'S A MONSTER!"

Ritsuka runs over and goes to comfort the man. "Please calm down and explain carefully. What monster?"

"Well, I was on a walk as normal. And I noticed an open cellar next to one of the attack towns , it was-uhm-oh, 'Riedseltz' that's it. Anyway, I went over to investigate, I thought an animal may have gotten in. But when I looked in, it looked like more of a corridor than a normal cellar. I heard a woman scream in there, so I went to investigate. But when I got far enough in…", the man starts to breathe heavily and can't seem to talk. A woman walks over and gives him some water to calm his nerves. He takes a drink and starts to breathe as calmly as one can in this situation.

"When I got far enough in, there was a man. He looked to be in his thirties. He had white or gray long hair, down to his shoulders. He also looked out of date. Like, a nobleman or something, he had a black, fur cape, and clothes of nobility. But what really intrigued me was his red eyes, they seemed to glow in the dark right at me. I know colored contacts can't do that! And-and when I tried to talk with him and ask what was going on, he raised his hand toward me and-and-! FIRE SHOT OUT RIGHT AT ME! BLUE FLAMES OUT OF HIS DAMN HAND! I barely managed to get out of there with my life, but he didn't seem all that interested in pursuing me either. I know humans can't do that, nothing that authentic looking, even with pyrotechnics. I ran as fast as I could without stopping until I reached here."

The townspeople look at eachother with skepticism in their eyes. They clearly are unsure what to think. They don't know that vampires exist, and only think these towns being attacked are realistic causes, but Ritsuka knows this isn't the case, he really did encounter something not human down there.

"Here, let's get you to a bed so you can rest, you must be tired right?", one of the men approaching says.

Reluctantly, the panicked man follows and some other worried people join the two. Some townspeople remain standing there, some walk off to do what they were doing before, and others talk to others around them, debating if what he said was true or not, if he just saw something and mistook it for something else, or even if drug use was involved.

"Senpai, that was…"

"Yeah, definitely a vampire or some kind."

Then, I guess we know where to go next? Right, Master? Edmond's voice echoes through Ritsuka's head, he must've been nearby in spirit form, listening in.

Yeah, we should inform the others, and plan for what to do next. But, this vampire should take priority, something about it feels off. Like he wasn't just some random vampire like the one we fought before in that town. Ritsuka responds to the Count.

Agreed, if he has a base to himself, he must be on the smarter side, and that means he's a higher rank than the average Dead Apostle around here. It's not worth leaving him alone, it could bite us in the ass later.

Ritsuka relays what his Servant said to him, and Mash agrees. The three head back to the others at the inn to inform them of what just happened, and plan their next move.