King of Heroes - Chapter 5/City of Crime
=5=
The couple walked down the street. The everpresent neon lights of the Shinto district illuminated the road around them. Despite the relatively early hour, there were no crowds on the walkway. Those still out were going in a hurry. Everyone avoided eye contact with other people.
The events of the last few weeks made it clear that the city was no longer safe. It didn't reach the point where people were afraid to leave after dark, but there was tension in the air.
A man in a dark hoodie rushed over to the couple. From the pocket, he pulled a switchblade which he swung in front of them.
"G-Give me y-your wallet! A-And the purse!" He screamed. "Fast!" He gave another wave with the knife. His eyes were wildly snapping around. His pupils dilated any time any light flashed nearby
"Here." The man practically pushed his wallet into the robber's hands. The lady just took a step back.
"I… I don't have a purse!" She cried. "My husband was paying for everything today."
"L-Listen you bitch! Y-You thin… thinks you can m-mess with m-mmee?" The man slurred. He waved the knife around, almost cutting the husband who tried to take a step back. The robber's hand shot, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him forward. "N-No running. Or… Or he gets it!"
The woman let out a scream. The next thing anyone knew, the robber was on the ground, unconscious.
Kingsblade was holding a dagger with pommel pointing down and standing right behind where the robber was standing a second earlier.
"Sorry about that…" He sighed and let the sword disappear into golden light. "I had to sneak behind him without agitating him anymore."
"He was clearly on some strong drugs…" the husband grumbled while picking up his wallet. "Thank you."
"Yes… Thank you, mister. You're… Kingsblade, right?"
"Yeah. Well, that's the name the press chose." The hero rubbed his neck. "I just roll with it. Anyway, gotta run. Stay safe!" He called as he already… vanished from view. Despite the almost empty street, it felt like they lost him in the crowd. The crook was also gone.
Far away, from a hotel window, a man put down a set of binoculars.
"He seems to be active every night now." He commented.
"Well, at least he is the heroic kind." A blonde girl shrugged.
"I'd prefer it if he was the recluse kind. Or maybe a collector?"
"I… I think it's nice. He is trying to help people." Another girl, with grayish hair, commented. "I prefer that to… him." She growled.
The blonde patted the smaller girl's head. "Don't worry. We won't let him do anything to you."
There were some more muffled shouts from inside the girl's cloak, but nobody paid it any attention.
=5=
The next morning found Shirou preparing breakfast. The side effect of his nightly activities was that Sakura usually managed to get to the kitchen first and start making breakfast before he got there. Now that she was living with him full-time, the girl was pretty adamant about earning her keep by doing housework. Fuji-Nee liked to joke that they were already like a married couple.
The night was especially long for him as he worked to dismantle the drug-trading ring. Interrogating the junkie that tried to rob the couple led him to a few more dealers but none of them knew anything of use. They all got the stuff from the dead drops around the city and ordered everything through phone calls. Tracking those was a pain and a half.
Since Tohsaka also moved in, he began preparing some of the more exotic breakfasts he found looking through his father's cookbooks. Not that Kiritsugu ever used them for anything. Today he was making what was called "English Classic". Bacon, Sausage, Egg, Toast, Grilled Tomato slices, Fried Mushroom. He didn't manage to get any beans though, but he replaced them with rice which should work just as well.
He was taking the tomatoes off the fire when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Sakura said as she ran past the living room.
"Be careful!" Shirou called after her. He finished setting up the plates and checked on the coffee for Rin.
"Senpai!" Came from the doors. "Some people are asking for you."
The young Campione put down the cup and walked to where Sakura would be waiting. On his way, a small golden portal opened and he pulled his favorite Treasure, the katana granting enhanced speed.
Sakura was standing by the doors, seemingly unharmed. Just outside, there were three people. A tall man with long black hair and a pair of glasses, a girl with drill-like blonde hair and a blue dress, and finally a girl in a gray cloak with the hood hiding most of her facial features.
"My lord…" The man bowed. His two… attendants followed suit.
"Uh…" Shirou's brain started to go miles a minute. There was a limited number of people who called him anything close to that and he quickly got a pretty strong idea of who those people were. "Am I correct you are from the Mage's Association?"
"Indeed." The blonde girl interrupted before the man could even start speaking. "I am Luviagelita Edelfelt, but you are free to call me Luvia, Your Majesty." She gave him a brilliant smile as she curtsied. "I am the heiress of the Edelfelt family. Future Lady Edelfelt. Charmed to meet you." She extended her hand to him.
"Likewise?" Shirou took her hand, though he felt something more was expected. Basing his next action on the trashy shows Kiritsugu watched, he lightly brushed his lips over her knuckles.
"Oh my, Oh my…" She fanned herself. "I did not expect you to be such a gentleman, My King."
"Excuse me, My Lord. May we come in? As you've correctly assumed, we are from the Mage's Association here to… discuss certain topics with you."
"Fine." Shirou chose to play it diplomatically. He was suspicious, but not enough to turn them away without hearing them out first. "We were just eating breakfast."
"Oh, forgive us for interrupting then. We can wait for you to finish." The blonde, Luvia, smiled. "We do not wish to impose."
"It's fine. If you give us a moment we will get you something. Right, Sakura?" He turned to where the girl stood a moment ago, only to find her missing. Taking a deep breath, he smelled the fried rice. "That clever little…" He chuckled. "Looks like my Kouhai is already on it." He stepped to the side to let them enter.
Luvia marched inside, head held high.
"Lord El-Melloi II, your Majesty." The tall man shook his head and simply extended his hand. Shirou guessed he was at least somewhat used to Luvia's antics. "And this is my apprentice, Gray."
"It… it's a pleasure to meet you, Sir." The girl bowed, allowing her hood to fall further over her face.
Shirou gave her a second glance and shrugged. "You can put your cloak on the hanger over there if you want." Magi were weird sometimes and he didn't know what her deal was.
Tohsaka was already at the table in the main room, sipping on her coffee as she waited for them. She was dressed in her favorite red turtleneck and short black skirt. When the three guests sat at the table, Sakura served them a meal. She then took a seat next to Shirou on the opposite side of Rin.
Luvia cut herself a piece of the grilled tomato and put it in her mouth. She chewed on it for a moment and then swallowed. "This… this is so good!" She took a bite from the sausage. "Tell me, Lord Emiya, is your Authority related to cooking? This is practically divine~!" She moaned.
"I just like cooking. Besides, it was a joint effort." Shirou rubbed his neck and tried to look anywhere but at the girl. His gaze fell on Lord El-Melloi's apprentice who was trying not to attract attention. In front of her was an empty plate. Which was strange because it was full a moment before. She also pulled her hood down to not meet his eyes. "Do you want seconds?" He chuckled, watching the younger girl squeak and nod.
Most of the meal passed in silence. Rin and Sakura kept sending glares to the guests, which Luvia returned. Lord El-Melloi kept silent and focused on his meal, though Shirou could tell that the man had made sure never to lose track of the situation. Finally, the apprentice was engrossed with the food. After the meal, Shirou gathered the plates and bowls and left them in the sink before returning to the table.
Silence permeated the air.
"Very well." Lord El-Melloi began after a moment. "I will begin. First, the Mage's Association would like to apologize for the lack of contact over the last few weeks. Normally a delegation would have been sent immediately, but…" Here, El-Melloi paused. "I must admit, the reveal of your name has caused a lot of uproar. It took a lot of back and forth before the delegation was finally selected."
Rin snorted. "Sorry. You mean it took a lot of backroom deals to decide who will be sent to a potential death?"
That stopped El-Melloi in his tracks. His lips thinned into barely a line.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Luvia interfered. "After all, to serve directly under a King is an honor in of itself. That is why I volunteered to join the delegation. Isn't that right?" She challenged.
"Regardless," El-Melloi interrupted any further confrontations. "The Mage's Association would like to maintain positive relations with Your Majesty. If there is anything you would like to request, we will do our best to accommodate."
"And in exchange?" Shirou raised an eyebrow. Under the table, his hand shifted lightly as he brought his authority to the forefront of his thoughts.
"The Mage's Association knows better than to try and demand anything from a Campione," Lord El-Melloi was quick to assure. "We merely hope to maintain good relations and help with any issues."
Luvia nodded. "The Association believes that it is much better to help resolve any problems that arise in advance so that the Campione does not need to bother."
"And by bother you mean destroy a city, correct?" Sakura scoffed. "Senpai would never intentionally harm innocent people. He is a hero." She beamed, earning a head pat from Shirou whose gaze didn't leave the guests.
"Ohohoho? Someone has a very high opinion of their King." Luvia chuckled. "And what about you, Miss Tohsaka?" Shirou noted that there was some animosity there. A shared history?
"I… trust Emiya-kun." Rin spoke after a moment of hesitation. "He is by no means perfect. In fact, he is one of the most insufferable, stubborn, ridiculous… Anyway, he has flaws but he also cares about those around him. Perhaps a bit too much sometimes." She sent Shirou a glare while the Campione was busy giving Gray some scones from who knows where.
Lord El-Melloi kept a schooled expression. "Miss Edelfelt shall remain in Fuyuki as the point of contact. If you don't mind that is." He waited until Shirou gave a nod. "Very well then. Do you have any questions right now?"
"Where will she be staying?" He asked.
"Oh, the Edelfelt family maintains a manor inside the city. You're free to visit whenever you like. Maybe you would appreciate the company of someone from… higher spheres."
Rin clenched her fists. "I doubt a hyena like you would know anything about higher spheres unless it's about who to rob next."
"And what is that supposed to mean!?"
"Enough." Shirou cut the discussion. "Thank you for the invite. I will consider it at a later date. For now, I believe we should part ways."
Once Luvia, El-Melloi, and Gray were gone, Shirou sighed. "That… was awkward."
"Ugh! That stuck-up, pampered, drill-haired bitch." Tohsaka snarled. "She just barges into our lives and thinks she can try and manipulate Emiya-kun without consequences?"
"Now, now…" The boy tried to pacify her. "She was just trying to be friendly. After all, she is the representative."
"Edelfelts are a family of hyenas. They come at the end of any conflict between magi families to pick and choose from what remains. Besides, she started it."
"She was… harsh toward Rin, Shirou." Sakura backed the other girl.
"Yeah, I noticed. Do you have any idea what that was all about?"
"It seems clear to me." Tohsaka huffed. "She sees us as rivals. Understandably, she would be intimidated by my beauty. If she hoped to manipulate you with her looks, then both Sakura and I are obstacles to her goal."
"Manipulate me?"
"Senpai…" Sakura shook her head. "You were feeding Gray scones by the end of the meeting."
"Well, she comes from England so I thought it was a fitting dessert."
The purple-haired girl shook her head with a small smile gracing her lips. Senpai can be so clueless sometimes…
=5=
The evening found Shirou stalking through the docks. He dashed over the rooftops of warehouses as he scanned the surroundings. He suspected there was a transport of something illegal arriving that night. Raiga informed him ahead of time that a local construction company had ordered regular transport of building materials from Greece.
Tonight, an extra transport was arriving on a ship that did not belong to Gravehill Industry. It was marked the same as all other deliveries, but it was outside the clear schedule and it seemed strange to take the shipment so late into the night.
According to one of Raiga's men, the usual dockworkers were told to go home and that it would all be handled by a 'specialized crew'.
As he arrived near the dockside, he instantly spotted two guys on the industrial crane. They were both dressed in normal dockworker outfits, but one of them had binoculars and the other a sniper rifle.
"What the fuck?" Shirou couldn't help but curse. Since when could criminals get their hands on sniper rifles? It seemed he hit a jackpot and this was another stint supported by Zouken's insane plan. Whatever he was smuggling, it was bound to be big.
The second crane was unloading the ship, but there was no lack of people on the ground. The workers seemed to just wander around while the containers were stacked side by side. Shirou noted that unlike everywhere around, none of the boxes were put on top of one another. All of them were on the ground level.
"First order of business: remove the sniper." He didn't fancy himself going against someone who could pick at him from such a distance. "Trace. On." He felt his circuits flare as he reinforced his body. His favorite mystic code sword appeared in his hand.
Dashing around, he hid in the shadow of a warehouse as he made his way toward the crane. The stacks of crates provided enough of a cover while he was far. When he got close to the base of the crane, he decided that he was mostly safe.
He put away his sword for a moment and instead brought out a black longbow. In a golden flash, an arrow materialized.
Aim. Visualize the path. Release!
The arrow flew. It didn't even touch the grated floor of the crane, instead hitting right into the sniper rifle and stabbing halfway into it.
"Mechanism jammed. No more shooting for you." Shirou muttered under his breath as he summoned another arrow. Two more shots in quick succession pinned both men to the crane control booth.
With the main problem gone, he dismissed the bow and once more pulled the katana. The dockworkers were now alerted to his presence due to the screams from the sniper nest.
A flashlight beam hit his position and Shirou launched into action. With a single dash, he was at the dockworker who spotted him. He elbowed him in the gut which sent the man to the ground. A quick strike with the blunt end of his sword and the man was out.
A gunshot echoed through the docks.
Shirou watched as the sliced bullet fell to the ground. In the next second, he was at the shooter's side, slicing through his gun. A blink later the man was unconscious.
The other 'dockworkers' pulled out their sidearms and aimed at Shirou. In response, his sword glowed whiteish blue as he pushed more magic power into it. To the men around, it looked like a stray beam of moonlight descended between them.
A single slash and the one nearest to Shirou was without a gun.
A single slash and his friend was unarmed.
A spin kick sent both of them flying into the nearby container, denting the wall and leaving them unconscious.
Shirou dashed between the containers when more criminals rushed in. This time, a few of them were carrying rifles.
Zouken really went through a lot of work to arm them… Shirou leaped onto a stack of containers and doubled back. This time, he descended upon the back rows. Three fake workers with rifles found their weapons pierced by a single stab.
A gunshot shattered the sword as Shirou cut through a bullet fired from inside the nearby warehouse. The combination of overloading it with magic energy and the high power of the projectile was enough to finally break the weapon.
"Kingsblade." The man who walked out was a veritable giant by Japanese standards. Shirou estimated he was close to two meters tall. He wore a black long coat. In his hand, there was a silver revolver with smoke coming out of the barrel. "The boss said you might be coming."
Shirou tried to call his katana back, but his authority wavered. It was still there, but something stopped him. With no time to spare at the moment, he simply grabbed another sword. A European longsword with a golden crossguard. It appeared from a ripple next to his hand. "Where did you get all those guns?" Shirou waved his hand around.
"Our boss was happy to get us the best equipment for the work."
"And who is your boss?" Shirou pointed the sword at the man.
"Heh. Sorry, I don't snitch." The man reached under his jacket.
Shirou gripped the sword tighter and prepared to launch forward. The other workers all stepped back from the exchange. Now they knew who they were up against and few fancied their chances against someone who could cut metal in half and pull swords out of nowhere.
"Put down your weapons. I don't want to have to hurt any of you."
"Heh. You know, I think I might give you a little piece of information if you want." the leader laughed. "Okada! Open the box."
"Hai!" One of the workers began to unlock the doors. Shirou kept a careful eye on both him and the leader.
"See, I thought you might be interested in our merchandise."
The doors were opened and Shirou's eyes snapped to the inside of the container. Inside, he saw a slew of people packed together.
His blood boiled.
"You're trafficking people."
They were mostly young men and women, tied up. Shirou didn't want to look closer. Their condition was terrible and that was enough for him.
"Yeah. The boss needs them for something. Didn't care to ask." The leader dared to chuckle. "Anyway, I had strict instructions in case you showed up. As the boss said, no simple man can rival a King." With Shirou distracted with the state of the victims, the leader had enough time to jab a syringe into his chest. The content was shot into his bloodstream.
To Shirou, the docks were filled with the smell of cut grass and blood.
Most of the workers threw away their weapons and ran off. The leader began changing. His skin, starting around the injection, began turning green. His veins bulged as blood turned yellow. The man's shirt tore under the stress of his stomach bloating.
The stray button was what broke Shirou from his trance. The people trapped in the containers were in danger.
Moonlight reflected from the sword as Shirou took a step forward. With a kick, he launched himself at the man. The sword stabbed right through the stomach. The leader's entire body was now bloated. When the blade pierced him, a viscous yellowish substance erupted. The sword was almost swallowed inside but Shirou managed to yank it out, making the cut even broader. He prepared to cut the man's head when something shot from the hole.
A massive centipede flew right past Shirou. He held his sword on guard as the beast's legs attempted to cut him. Sparks flew as each next leg slammed against him.
He barely got his bearings as he had to dodge to the side as the monster did a one-eighty turn and charged at him again. In Shirou's hands, the sword began to glow as he pushed magical energy into it. All he had to do was call the true name and the monster would be annihilated.
A stray cry distracted him. His head instantly snapped toward the source of the sound and he noticed the open doors to the container.
"Klikliklikli." The beast laughed. "What's the matter, Kingsblade? Not used to fighting with hostages around? Klikliklikli."
It once again charged at him. Shirou stepped to the side and deflected the countless bladed legs with his sword. The monster was so long that by the time his end finished taking a swing at Shirou, he was back. The Campione had to twist around and deflect another series of strikes.
This time, his opponent relented earlier. It instead chose to circle him. The monster coiled and began taking potshots at the hero. Shirou managed to deflect the enemy and keep it at bay with wide swings, but with each series of slices, he had to close his guard just a bit more, giving the Centipede that much more control over the battlefield.
"Kilkilklikli." The beast laughed as Shirou once again failed to strike at it. It was not a matter of speed, but rather that the Centipede was quite literally everywhere. It ran circles around Shirou allowing it to counterattack before the hero could begin an attack in the first place.
"Enough!" Shirou screamed as he once again had to deflect a series of quick strikes. "Gate of Babylon: Open!" Several golden ripples appeared directly above them. "If you want to-" Shirou pushed away several strikes, "-survive, you will surrender now!" The centipede attacked him from the back but Shirou pushed it away. He then swung at it. The tail that just tried to behead him flew several meters away, cut off.
The monster let out a string of curses worthy of a true dockworker. "If you drop those swords, you might also die!"
"I will take the risk." He said without hesitation.
The first spear flew from the golden ripple, pinning the Centipede's tail (what remained of it) to the concrete. A set of two daggers followed but it was able to deflect them with its bladed mandibles. Shirou caught one of them and kicked the other one directly into the concrete floor.
"Screw this! I ain't dying for some stupid plan!" To Shirou's shock, the monster sliced off its tail and dashed off. The hero tried to fire several more treasures but his opponent was able to dodge all of them and vanish into the night.
Leaving him for now, Shirou instead rushed to the container to check on the people.
"Don't worry!" He called as he pulled on the doors. Only one wing was unlocked, but it wasn't an issue for him. With a pull, he ripped the other wing away and tossed it into the distance. "I will help you."
A little girl, no older than twelve, crawled over to him. She was dirty and smelled, but he didn't care. "Are you… an angel?"
"No… not even close…" Shirou smiled. With barely a thought, a mystic code appeared in his hand. That was the same he used to help Sakura. A small crystal whistle. As the melodic sound echoed through the night, Shirou could watch the light envelop everyone in the container.
=5=
From a distance, two people observed the fight.
"Master… why didn't he just destroy the monster?" A girl asked, looking at the man in a white suit.
"It seems that the King sees himself as a hero and didn't want to risk all those people around him." He chuckled. "I will have to update my teacher about it. It seems his predictions have proven correct."
"And… he's healing them?" She frowned.
"Yes, little one. A bonafide hero, that one. Trying to save everyone he can. Like that police officer who lost his leg only to miraculously have it regrow overnight at the hospital."
The girl scoffed. "And yet he chose to leave me."
"Now, now. You will have your chance soon. Patience. I promise you will have your chance for justice soon."
That seemed to help her mood. She turned and began walking away from the window. Her black and red armor shined in the dim moonlight.
"You will pay for abandoning me, Shirou Emiya."