Disclaimer: FATE does not belong to me, all its history and characters belong to Type-Moon.
Chapter 7, Murder at the Fargo family home.
Currently, Shirou, Svin, Caules, and Flat, were in the room of the young Yggdmillennia. For his part, Flat was playing with Sieg, while Shirou was sitting on a chair, and Caules was sitting on the bed.
"So, summarizing..." said Svin, who was standing in the middle of the room, and taking the lead in the conversation, he clarified the situation, "you went to the Yggdmillennia complex meeting, and, at one point, you fought with your sister, Fiore..."
Caules nodded.
"After that, you wandered around the castle where they had gathered and came to a basement. Within, you discovered that the Musik were making homunculi to use as disposable batteries for some ritual."
Caules nodded again.
"You used that place to hide while you were there, and the day before your return at the Clock Tower, one of the tubes broke, and he came out of there."
Once again, the Yggdmillennia nodded.
"He, Sieg, asked you for help because he didn't want to die. So, even though this would bring you thousands of problems, you decided to help him, and since you had nowhere to leave him, you ended up bringing him here. Have I been wrong about something?"
Caules shook his head.
"That's great!" Flat said.
"No, it is not!" Svin said, then he turned to the brown hair, "do you know what will happen if they discover you? You stole a homunculus from the Musik family!"
"Yes, they could accuse me of treason," said the young man brown-haired, looking down.
"Then, why did you do it!?"
He clenched his hands, "Because I couldn't let him die, just like that!"
Flat approached Caules and placed a hand on his shoulder as he smiled at him, "Relax, we're with you, right Shirou?"
The redhead nodded.
"Do you see it? Believe it or not, even Svin, with the angry look he has, agrees with what you did."
"¡Flat!"
"Aren't you?" the confused boy asked.
Svin tried to deny it, but, seeing his friend's gaze, he dropped his facade, "AHHH, good! I guess I am."
Flat smiled, "Do you see?"
Caules smiled, "Thank you."
Raising his arms to the sky, Flat declared, "Good! Let's take Sieg to see the city."
"Wait, Flat! What if we meet a Musik?" Svin said.
"Don't worry, we just have to hide his hair. The Musik only know how to make decent homunculi thanks to the Einzberns, who gave them a small piece of their research, so if we hide his hair, we can tell he's a homunculus from the Einzberns in case anyone asks us," Shirou said.
"Do you know them?" Caules asked.
Shirou nodded, "I investigated them a year ago."
"Did you investigate them?"
"Yes, for a job..."
"A job?" Svin asked suspiciously. "Wait, if it's for a job, then…"
Shirou shook his head, "Not that kind of work. I don't plan on doing anything against the Musik family."
"So, if Shirou is right, then Sieg is safe, truth?" asked Flat.
"Well, there is the problem of how I am going to manage to keep him. Only students who have a recommendation are allowed to have apprentices."
"In that case, register him as your butler, since he's a homunculus, no one will suspect," Svin said.
"That's perfect!" Flat said.
"You know we haven't asked Sieg any of his thoughts on this, right?" Shirou said.
That made all four pairs of eyes turn to the homunculus.
A little nervous at the look of the four, the boy replied, "I... I don't know what to do, but if that way I can avoid going back to that tube, then I appreciate it."
Flat smiled, "Well, he already said it, now let's show him London!"
"Hmn... I can't come with you. I have to go back to the dorm since Rin will come to my room because we're working on a project."
This caused Svin to narrow his eyes.
"I have to register him as my butler, so I can't either."
"In that case, Svin and I will show it to you."
"W-What!? Wait, why me!?"
"Svin, can you accompany them, please? I fear what those two might do if we leave them alone," Caules asked pleadingly.
Sighing, Svin smiled resignedly, "Well, I guess that's true. Flat, Sieg, come on…"
"Okey, Sieg! Raise your fist to the sky and say, Okey!" Flat said as he struck the ridiculous pose and placed a hat on the boy.
"O-Okay…!" Sieg said a little doubtfully.
With that said, Flat, Svin, and Sieg, left the bedroom.
"Shirou, before you go, there is something I want to talk to you about..." Caules spoke before the redhead also left the room.
The redhead looked at him curiously, "What?"
Caules looked down, "I didn't save Sieg because I felt bad for him."
"What do you mean?"
The boy sighed, "I was once again looked down upon by the head of the Yggdmillennia, old Darnic. Besides, my sister also criticized me after that, even though she decided to stay away from the magecraft world."
"I understand, but what does that have to do with Sieg?" the confused boy asked.
"When I saw him come out of the tube, asking me to help him, well… I saw myself a little reflected in him. Like me, nobody expected anything from him, he was just cattle to activate a ritual, that's why... that's why I saved him."
"And…?"
"What!?" Caules asked in surprise.
The redhead smiled, "I don't know why you are saying this to me, but I have been reading a little, in one of those books that you lent me, I think that the one that talked about the story of Francis Drake, I read a sentence that seemed to be interesting: The greatest saints can commit the worst sins, and the greatest sinners can be capable of the greatest acts of humility," Shirou placed his hand on the chestnut's shoulder, "What I mean is: It doesn't matter what reasons you rescued Sieg, or what you think they make of you, it's the act itself that matters. In my eyes, you did the right thing."
Caules smiled, "Thank you. I wanted you to know because, well, we are the only ones in the class, so far, who are only talented in one area. We are not like the others... but still, you are making a reputation for yourself," Caules smiled determinedly, "I won't be left behind. That's what I wanted to tell you."
The redhead nodded, "I'm sure you can. By the way, why is his name Sieg?"
"Oh, I got it from one of the books I read," Caules smiled a little sadly, "Sieg, he's the diminutive Siegfried, the hero who always lived up to everyone's expectations."
"Caules…"
The brown-haired young smiled, "Sieg will only live for a few years, as you said, the Musik homunculi are just a copy of the ones the Einzbern do, but I hope that as long as he lives, he can achieve whatever it is that prompted him to want to live."
"Then let's make it worthwhile," the redhead smiled.
"Yes," he nodded.
While that was happening...
Din! Don!
Altrouge had arrived at the apartment half an hour ago. Hearing the sound of the doorbell, The Eclipse Princess opened the door.
"Oh, you came Tohsaka."
Indeed, the Tohsaka heiress was on the other side of the door.
"Yes. Shirou still hasn't come back?" the young magus asked.
"No, but he just called me, and he said he is on his way."
She nodded, "This bedroom is really different compared to Norwich."
"Shirou makes a very good meal, so I'm not complaining about my current stay," the Princess replied.
"Does Shirou prepare your food? Is there no kitchen at the place where you are staying?"
The Princess looked at her confused, "Of course, there is a kitchen, don't you see? It's there," Altrouge pointed to the room's kitchen.
"Wait, are you staying here!?"
The Princess nodded.
"But I didn't see you when I came here yesterday..."
"It's because I hadn't arrived yet. Why are you so surprised?"
"There is only a single bed... Shirou sleeps on the couch, right?"
Altrouge shook her head, "Not at all, although he tried, however, that could be detrimental to his training, so I forced him to sleep on the bed."
Smiling uncomfortably, Rin asked, "So, do you sleep on the couch?"
"No, why would I? The bed is big enough for both of us."
Rin's awkward smile fell apart and a bit of blush graced her cheeks, "S-So, you have that t-kind of r-relationship?"
The Princess looked at her confused, "No," then she smiled the same way she smiled when teasing her contractor, "why? Are you worried?"
"W-Not at all!" the young heiress crossed her arms and struck a firm pose, and this would have worked had it not been for her obvious nervousness and blush.
Playing with children is much more fun than playing with the elderly. She couldn't help but amused herself at the girl's expense, "Hmm... how cute."
Rin was about to reply, but at that moment...
"Fou…."
"Hmm?" said the magus upon seeing the cute creature.
"Oh, this is Fou, my fierce hound," the Princess boasted.
The Tohsaka heiress couldn't contain herself, "How cute," Rin tried to grab him, but Fou dodged her by jumping toward Altrouge.
"He doesn't like to be treated like a helpless little dog, in fact, it annoys him." Altrouge turned towards the door, "Looks like he's here."
"Hmm?" Rin said.
"Fou, Rouge, I'm here. Has Rin already come?" Shirou said, opening the door.
Rin turned to the redhead with a mix of embarrassment and anger on her face, "I'm here, Emiya-kun."
"Emiya-kun?" Shirou said confused. Ohhhh, I know that look. What did Altrouge do to anger her? Shirou smiled nervously, "R-Rin, are you okay?"
She gave him a too sweet and tender look, "Of course Emiya-kun, why do you ask?"
"W-Well, you're addressing me by my last name…"
Rin looked at him intensely, "I just decided that for today I will call you that, Emiya-kun. No problem, right?"
Listening to his instincts for self-preservation, Shirou nodded.
I'll go to sleep, wake me up for dinner.
You're good? Shirou asked.
She nodded slightly. We, the true ancestors, sleep for long periods to evade our vampiric urges.
I understand, I'll wake you up later.
"Well, shall we start, Emiya-kun?"
"H-Hai."
Rin unwrapped the plans, and the drawing of a sword whose blade had, within its structure, the shape of a kaleidoscope was shown in front of the two.
"Well, let's get started."
After that, and for several hours, the two young magi were trying to understand the blueprints of the sword. But in the end, they did not understand even half of it, and even so, it was not an afternoon without results…
Shirou returned to where Rin was sitting, he was carrying two cans of orange juice from the refrigerator.
"Thank you," Rin said, accepting it.
"You're welcome," Shirou replied, taking the one he had brought for him.
"So how about we summarize our progress for today? So we can be sure of what we've accomplished."
Shirou nodded, "Sure."
"First and foremost, the sword must be made with various jewels," Rin said.
The boy nodded, "Also, it must be an alloy strong enough to withstand the large amount of mana it uses, and due to its shape, it must be an alloy with a certain degree of malleability."
Rin nodded, "Also, the sword uses a magic square, a kind of special magic circle, complex enough to be able to absorb mana from other worlds and reflect it on ours."
"So, what do we do now?"
After thinking about it for a bit, Rin declared, "Well, I'll take care of deciphering and understanding the magic square; things like how it is used, what does it imply, the magic theory behind it, and all that kind of stuff. And you, on the other hand, will have to discover which alloy the sword uses."
"And then we will start creating prototypes?"
She nodded, "We have no choice but to make it through trial and error." Rin stretched her arms, letting them fall on the furniture, then she closed her eyes and seemed to release the stress as she drank from the orange juice can.
It was still summer, although that would change in a week, so they were both quite heated.
Shirou couldn't help but look at the girl in front of him: her beautiful pale blonde hair fell to her shoulders and slid onto the sofa, little beads of sweat slid down her smooth skin and as she stretched back, he could see how her chest rose and fell with each beat. He blushed, maybe Rin didn't have the same type of figure as her rival, but, in his eyes, saying that she wasn't attractive would be a big lie.
Furthermore, the Tohsaka heiress was not only attractive in a physical sense. He had known her for a whole year and had been able to observe the girl's behavior: She was a monster like a magus, had such a talent for magecraft that he had only seen it equaled by Luvia's, but despite that, she was quite diligent when it came to working. She did not simply trust her talent, and although she pretended to be elegant and perfectionist, which she was to a certain extent, she was also a person with a short and explosive fuse. It was difficult for her to admit some things, but she was kind when she wanted to be, and she also valued the efforts of others, unlike certain traditional magi.
So absorbed was he in his thoughts that he didn't realize that the girl had opened her eyes a while ago and was looking directly at him, and he at her.
"Shirou?" she asked, making him react.
"Huh? Is something wrong, Rin?"
She smiled, it was the same smile she showed every time she managed to defeat the Edelfelt heiress, and so, with a simple and graceful movement of her hand, she fixed her hair while smiling, "Nothing, Shirou, it was you who worried me."
Now Shirou? Does it mean that she's not angry anymore? I really don't understand it… The blacksmith's apprentice thought, confused.
"Well, it's getting late, so I'd better get back to my room."
"Don't you want to stay for dinner? Taking advantage of the fact that it's almost time," the redhead politely offered.
Rin was about to politely decline, however, she decided to accept his offer after remembering Rouge's words, and, after that day, Rin stayed for dinner every time she went to the boy's room.
Two days had passed since the beginning of classes...
At this moment, Shirou was in his room, he was sitting with Fou on his lap, and Altrouge was right in front of them. The apprentice blacksmith had received half of the Emiya crest just over a day ago, and his chest burned with pain.
"Well, what do you know about reality marbles?"
"Only what they taught me in the Clock Tower:
It is the magecraft that allows the materialization and projection of the inner world of a person on the outside, through the thaumaturgical theory of the world within the egg. As such, reality marbles represent the pinnacle of all bounded fields where the boundary becomes space itself," Shirou recited what had been passed down to him in his General Fundamentals classes.
Altrouge nodded, "The theory, although basic, is correct. But tell me, Shirou, why are those who develop a reality marble automatically receiving a sealing designation?"
"That's because the creation of a reality marble can't be achieved by studying magecraft, right?"
The Princess nodded, "In part, that's how it is, but, what the Association cares about most is the way you get a reality marble, a big change in world view, you could call it that..."
"A big change in world view?"
Altrouge nodded, "In most cases, those who obtain a reality marble do not see the world in the same way as other people, and this is generally not achieved naturally. For example: Because we live for thousands of years, the dead apostles do not see the world in the same way as an ordinary human, do you understand?"
He nodded.
"You also changed because of something, right? Some event that changed the way you see the world..."
Shirou remembered, for a few moments, the fire of Fuyuki, that fiery hell, and the implantation of Avalon inside him, the sea of curses, all that happened at the same time, "Yes, you see, I…"
…
After a few minutes…
Altrouge nodded, "A traumatic event like that would certainly change the way you see the world, and that's what the Association is concerned about as well."
"Hmm?"
"They are concerned that, by being different, they will endanger the existence of the world of magecraft."
Shirou made a face, "I see… Going against the grain of general thinking can certainly be dangerous for the Association."
She smiled, "But that is precisely what is needed to develop a reality marble. Following the World Egg theory, the actualization of a Reality Marble is the result of switching the Self and the World while keeping the boundary the same. The size of the Self and the World is switched, enclosing the World in a small container while the Self is expanded. The contained World is the World Egg and the name of the theory."
At that moment, Shirou realized, "I see! That is why the point of view of the World must differ, for the change between the Being and the World to take effect."
"Exactly, if you see the World in the same way as other people, then there would be no change, to begin with."
"For most of the 27 dead apostles, creating a reality marble is only a matter of time, but, for humans, creating one is much more complicated. This is due to the change in point of view and a large amount of mana they spend and the effect of Gaia on them."
"That's why you use an incantation to be able to mentalize yourself, right?"
"An incantation?"
The Princess nodded, "When you used your reality marble to seal your wounds, you said an incantation," making a gesture where she seemed to be remembering the moment, the Princess said, "I think it was like this:
I am the bone of my sword,
Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
Shirou felt his heart ignite upon hearing those words.
"Your reality marble will probably be complete when you finish your incantation."
"And what should I do to develop it?"
Altrouge held up two of her fingers, "The first thing you should do is polish your way of seeing the world. You have to be very clear about what you want to achieve: what your goal is and how you see the world to get there or, in a few words, shape your heart and connect with your origin."
"I am… the bone of my sword."
Shirou closed his eyes and, for a few moments, managed to connect with the depths of his being. It was fuzzy, not yet completely defined, but there he was: a land of steel covered by the fire of a great forge, and he was at the top of a hill of metal, and in the distance, he could see weapons simple as the knives he had used for cooking.
CLINK!
After hearing a rumble, the redhead turned around and could see Neocaliburn nailed to the hillside.
CLINK! Clank!
The mountainside began to adorn itself with the swords he had seen, forged, and projected. How close they were to him seemed to depend on the power of each sword: the original Caliburn was further away than the reforged version of it, and a degraded version of Merodach was closer than the previous two swords, like a sword used by a deity, Marduk, it was probably a divine construct, and Shirou couldn't fully understand it, lastly, the Monohoshi Zao was further away than the previous ones, and the Vorpal sword was between it and Caliburn.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
He was at the top of this hill and, like the rest of the world, was not completely defined either: his being was half translucent, like glass. And suddenly…
"Huh?"
He went back to the real world.
Altrouge was smiling, "You saw it, right?"
The redhead nodded smiling, "A world of swords," curious, he asked, "what is the second thing I should do?"
"To live."
"What?"
She laughed, seeing her contractor's incredulous expression, "You have to live experiences; only then will your world be complete," Altrouge got up from her seat and started to train the boy, "let's train."
"How?"
"You have to be able to focus in the middle of a battle if you want to use your reality marble in the middle of it, so I have prepared certain spells, most courtesy of Kaleido, for this apartment to serve as a training ground for us, without someone like Barthomeloi can find us. Now, let's get started."
If training with Kiritsugu was difficult, training with Altrouge was insane. She put him in life-and-death situations so that in this way, he would have experiences where his life was in constant danger, all this as long as he developed faster.
Thus, two days later, Shirou was sitting at one of the tables of that small bakery where Luvia and he had met for the first time, and a delimited field prevented someone from interrupting them.
"Well, the main clauses are:
Until we deem it necessary, we will keep our alliance a secret. So that we can catch other families off guard if necessary.
We will inform each other of the jobs our families will take before accepting them so that we never find ourselves on opposite sides of the same job.
If necessary, our families can help each other to fulfill jobs that are beyond them. And this help cannot be denied if it is the heirs of the families who request it.
Any intention to stab us in the back, and any kind of conspiracy made with the knowledge of the heirs of the family, will cause the contract to be broken. However, if they are carried out without our knowledge, compensation will be required from the affected family.
Finally, the only way to cancel the contract will be under the approval of both heirs.
And the cost of breaking the contract will be..."
"The destruction of our ridges, that is the function of an auto-geis scroll, truth?"
Crests are the most important item for any magi family as they represent the family's research and history.
The Edelfelt heiress nodded, "Do you agree to these clauses, Emiya?" Luvia offered him a vellum scroll where everything was written and a needle.
The redhead took the needle and the parchment, Luvia had sent it to him two days ago, and he had met Kiritsugu on the outskirts of London to have the contents inspected, and, after verifying that there were no cheatings and everything was correct, they had come to this conclusion. Shirou took the needle, pricked his finger, and, with his blood, signed the contract. Repeating his actions, Luvia also signed the contract with her blood.
With the blood imprinted on the contract, their crests gleamed for a few moments.
"Well, it's done, from now on, Emiya and Edelfelt will be allies."
"It will be a pleasure working with you, Edelfelt."
"Luvia... Since we are now partners, call me by my name. You still haven't regained all my trust, but I'll make an exception and call you Shero again."
"In that case, it will be my pleasure, Luvia," he smiled as he extended his hand.
The girl smiled placidly, "Anyway, Shero," she said, accepting the handshake.
"Yes?"
The girl finished eating the cake she had ordered, "Are you going to the Fargo's house tomorrow?"
Shirou nodded, "That's right. The teacher asked me to go with him."
"In that case, be careful, Shero. The murderer is most likely within the family."
This surprised the boy, "What do you mean?"
"Nothing specific, but it's not uncommon for there to be betrayals between members of a magi family. So, be careful."
He nodded, "I understand, thank you."
After this, they both amicably parted, and each went to their respective destinations.
…
"I'm back."
Altrouge greeted him, "Was the alliance formed correctly?"
Shirou nodded as he made his way to a certain part of his workshop.
"Are you going to continue with your other projects before Rin comes?"
Shirou nodded, "I have to work as hard as I can to reach them, now that I'm deep inside this world, I need to be prepared."
On the table, there were some drawings; these were: an oriental arch, a modified version of the Black Barrel, and a drawing of a series of bounded fields.
Altrouge held one of Shirou's schemes and asked, "What are these?"
"Those are two swords that I am planning to forge, and one of them is for Sieg."
"The homunculus from the Yggdmillennia?"
He nodded, "It's so he can defend himself in case none of us are present."
"And the other?"
"It's for, well, it doesn't matter, it's a sword that I'm still far from being able to forge."
"Are you planning to talk to the gravedigger tomorrow?"
"Gray?"
The Princess nodded.
Shirou nodded, "I'll try to talk to her tomorrow."
Thus, the day passed, and the week was almost over. The next day…
Shirou was walking calmly towards Mystile, where he would wait for his teacher, and, there, in front of the university city, he found Gray, also waiting for his teacher.
"Good morning, Gray."
"Good morning, Shirou."
Without saying anything else, they both waited for the young Lord.
…
…
"Will the teacher be long in coming?"
"I think... the teacher lives in an apartment and not in the El-Melloi House."
This surprised the apprentice magus, "Really?"
Gray nodded, "That's right. He says it's a way to pay off his debt to the El-Melloi family."
The boy looked at her confused, "I had heard that the teacher was occupying the position of Lord El-Melloi on his sister's whim; however, I did not know that he owed a debt to the El-Melloi family."
The gravedigger nodded, "That's right, but…" Gray looked down, "I haven't been able to find out much about that so far."
In the distance, they watched a car approach.
"It must be the teacher."
Shirou, seeing that he wasn't going to have time to ask her about the reason for her relationship with Avalon and that he hadn't been able to do so all week, was forced to take other measures.
Although a bit embarrassed, the boy had no choice, "G-Gray!"
"Hmm? Yes?"
"I need to talk to you about something, but it's a bit of a long topic to talk about now, would you mind if next week we went somewhere where we can talk calmly?"
For a moment, a slight blush graced her cheeks, "S-sure. I-It's okay."
"Then…"
However, they were both interrupted by the young Lord.
"I see that you two are already ready, in that case, get in, we'll go to the Fargo's house."
The boy looked at the girl, "Shall we talk about this later?"
She nodded, "S-Sure."
So the two got into the car, and the young Lord drove to Fargo's mansion, and after just over half an hour...
"Wow… that's a huge house," said the apprentice blacksmith, amazed.
Lord El-Melloi II nodded, "Yes, its shape was probably considered at the time of its construction so that it could be of use to the Fargo family magecraft."
"The Fargo family magecraft?" asked Gray, "it has to do with astrology, doesn't it, Sir?"
The young Lord nodded, "The Fargo family is part of the Faculty of Astormancy run by the Animusphere family, and as a family affiliated with the Animusphere family, they follow the old way of thinking about astrological magecraft."
"The old way of thinking about astrological magecraft?" asked the redhead.
"Are you referring to that ancient belief that the Earth was the center of the universe, Sir?" Gray asked.
El-Melloi II agreed, "Since the belief that the Earth is the center of the universe was disproved, astrological magecraft has split into two ways of thinking: the ancient, followed by the Animusphere family and the Fargo family, and the new one, which follows the principles of current astrology".
The young Lord stopped the car in front of the Fargo family mansion.
Waver analyzed the building, "Hmm… the rotunda represents the sky, and the building represents the earth. Come on…"
The three entered the house; and were greeted by the Fargo family's maid, Claire, who seemed exhausted. She wore a traditional maid outfit, her hair was black, and her eyes were slightly yellow.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Claire, and I will serve you during your stay."
The three of them bowed slightly in recognition.
Quickly, the maid called the Lady of the house.
Mary lir Fargo, the head of the family, entered the room where they were meeting and almost collapsed in front of the lord. The girl was a beautiful Lady with blond hair and blue eyes, and she was wearing an elegant blue blouse and a white skirt.
Later, two more people came in:
One of them, Fernando Lee, was an investigator and friend of the deceased. He had the appearance of an older man, he wore a classic black suit and glasses.
And the other was Alec, nephew of the former head of the Fargo family. He was a relatively young man, blond, just like his cousin, and he wore some gold accessories, and he called himself a third-rate magus.
The two argued over who had killed Mr. Ernest, the deceased. Alec, for his part, declared that, with his uncle murdered by Mr. Fernando, his investigation would benefit. However, Claire intervened in favor of the investigator by stating that Alec owed Mr. Ernest large amounts of money. Fortunately, Mary stepped in as well and avoided a fight between the two.
"Can we see the room where the murder occurred?"
Mary nodded and led the trio, and before entering the room...
"Seven body parts were found, weren't they?"
Young Fargo nodded.
"5 in this room, and another 2 in other parts of the house."
"That's right," confirmed Fernando.
"Then it must be the spell of the 7 planets," the young Lord deduced.
"The one who relates the parts of the body with the positions of the planets of the Solar System?" asked Gray, "you explained it in the last class."
Lord El-Melloi II nodded, "It's astronomical magecraft. The building is built to maximize this type of magecraft, by looking at the positions the body parts were placed in, we can figure out the assassin's intentions
"Ha! Is this all you can think, Lord?" Alec said, "even a third-rate magus could have easily come to that conclusion."
"I am a third-rate magus, but I did not reach that conclusion. The Astronomical Magecraft is not my thing," thought the young blacksmith apprentice, but kept it to himself.
"We are part of the Animusphere Faculty, at the time we saw the ritual, it was the first conclusion we reached," said Fernando, "if it was so easy to solve this mystery, we would not have called you."
"What do you mean?" asked the young Lord.
In a slightly chatty way, Alec replied, "See for yourself."
Alec undid the barrier that protected the room where the murder took place and the young Lord, as well as his two students, entered it.
"This is… I see. I understand why you are confused."
"Professor, please, help us find out who the murderer is."
Waver nodded, "Allow me some more time to uncover the culprit."
After this, the three of them were taken to a room where they could think.
"This place feels like a prison," Gray whispered.
"Lady, prison is the right word..."
After settling into the room, Waver and Gray began to argue about who the killer might be.
"All four were at the night where the murder took place. So anyone could be the killer..."
The young Lord nodded, "That's right. Magi can create inexplicable phenomena through magecraft, so asking how they did it will get us nowhere."
"But asking why they did it, yes it will, right?"
Waver nodded, "On the one hand, Fernando wanted Mr. Ernest's results. On the other hand, Alec owed the Lord a lot of money, and by killing him, he would get part of the inheritance, with which he could pay off his debts... Also, Mary would get both if Mr. Fargo died."
This surprised Gray, "You are also suspicious of Miss Mary!?"
The young Lord lit a cigar, "It is a possibility... When Alec went to attack Claire, she acted somewhat slowly, these were the movements of a person who has been injured, so there is a possibility that Ernest abused her."
"Eh!?" this time it was the redhead who was surprised.
Breathing out the smoke, the Lord spoke, "So you're finally back."
"What do you mean, Sir?" Gray asked, confused.
Shirou smiled sheepishly, "He means I've been spaced out since we arrived, right?"
Waver nodded, "I guess you discovered something?"
"Yes, but I'm not sure what. Since we arrived, I have smelled a different magical energy signature."
"Smell? Or yes! Shirou, you replaced your sense of smell to be able to distinguish magic energy, didn't you?" asked the young gravedigger.
"In a nutshell, You're like a hound," Waver said.
"Well, I guess that term is not entirely wrong..." said the boy, somewhat uncomfortable at the term used to describe him, "however, it is exactly that. Since we arrived, I have felt a strange magical energy signature, and it does not belong to anyone inside the workshop, and it doesn't belong to the corpse either. This signature permeates the area where the body pieces were found."
"Someone from outside came?" Gray asked.
"In most cases of dismemberment murder, magecraft is not the most widely used tool. It must have been a very specific magecraft to kill Mr. Fargo off guard."
Shirou shook his head, "I don't think so, teacher."
"Hmm?"
"As you have suggested, I don't think magecraft has anything to do with this murder. The magic signature is very weak. I don't think the person who came used magecraft..."
This drew the Lord's attention, "If no magecraft was used, and with the position of the body parts..." Waver stood up from his seat, "I will talk to Mary. Shirou, you and Gray go to the murder room, use your Structural Grasp on the ground and let me know if you notice anything strange."
Waver left the room.
Gray and Shirou looked at each other for a few moments and nodded, also leaving the room, heading for the murder room.
"Shirou, do you think Mary knew that Claire was being abused?" Gray asked.
"It's likely..." then Shirou looked down, "but it wouldn't matter much, within a traditional family of magi, the word of the head of the family is practically the law. Children have no say in the decisions on family issues. For them, rebelling is impossible from the start."
"That's terrible, they don't treat them like humans."
Shirou nodded, "The reason why you see us so free in the Clock Tower has to do with the fact that the heads of our families are not present at that time, if they were, I assure you that most of the heirs would behave differently. Well, I'm lying, people like Rin or me are the exception, in her case, because she's already the head of her family, and in mine, it's because Kiritsugu isn't a conventional magus. He doesn't demand of me in the same way that other parents do with the rest of their children."
"I see," although Gray's gaze showed doubt and sorrow for a moment, then she spoke with determination, "We have to solve this case!"
Shirou nodded and they both reached the murder room.
"Shirou..."
"Yes?"
Gray began to look around the room curiously, "Don't you feel something strange in this room?"
The boy shook his head and watched as his partner moved instinctively around the room until finally stopping in one place, "Is there something there?"
"I'm not sure, but that weird feeling is stronger here."
"The professor asked me to use my Structural Grasp on the ground, maybe…" Shirou used his magecraft just below where his partner was standing and was able to analyze the structure of the tiles Gray was standing on, thus he realized the existence of a tile different from the rest that was not attached to the floor, which allowed it to be removed, "I think there is something under that tile, maybe a compartment or something..."
"Should we withdraw it?" the grave digger asked as she looked at the tile Shirou was looking at.
"I think it's best to inform the professor, if it's related to the murder and magecraft, who knows what could happen if we remove it."
They both nodded and looked for the Lord, they found him interviewing Lady Mary.
"My father always talked about eternity, he seemed to be obsessed with it, he thought that through it he could reach it."
"The Root, the Akashic Records..."
Mary nodded, "The dream of every mage... but, it is as you taught me, in this world nothing is eternal, not the light of the stars, not our world. Reaching eternity for yourself is nonsense."
Waver nodded, "Gather all the residents of the house, I think I have discovered this mystery."
Mary nodded, and along with Claire, they both went out to find the other two.
"Do you know who the murderer is, Sir?"
"I think so... Did you notice anything strange in the ritual room?"
Shirou nodded, "There's a different tile than the others, I think there's a compartment under it, but we decided not to move it since we didn't know what could happen."
"I also felt something strange where that tile is," Gray said.
The Lord nodded, "I see..." Waver began to draw a plan of the assassination room, "The strange tile, it's around here, isn't it?"
Shirou and Gray nodded.
"Did you already know, professor?" asked the redhead.
"No, but I imagined it, now everything fits. You see, there is a detail in the placement of the body parts: The heart is in the center of the room."
"And the heart can't be there?" Gray asked.
"It's not that it can't be there, however, in the old school of Astromancy, the center of the ritual is where the magus is placed. But, in this case, what was at the center of the ritual was the heart of Mr. Fargo".
Both Shirou and Gray approached where Lord El-Melloi was drawing a scheme with the body parts.
"Huh?" Shirou exclaimed, "there is nothing in the place on Earth..."
Lord El-Melloi exhibited a small smile, "Exactly, let's go..."
"AAAHHHHH!"
"That was!?"
"Mr. Alec!"
The three of them ran to where they had heard the scream and what they found was Alec's bled corpse. Mary arrived shortly after, followed by Fernando and Claire.
"A-A second murder?" Mary asked, scared.
"It looks like a mystery novel," said Fernando.
"Hmm? Hey Gray, I smell something!" Add spoke.
"I see. If Add reacted like this, it means my theory is correct."
"Your theory, professor?"
Waver nodded, "Yeah, come on, we have to go to the main room, I'll explain it to you there, and we'd better get there before the killer strikes again."
"What does it mean that Add reacted, Gray?"
"Add is a specialized Mystical Code for fighting against spirits, if he reacted, it means there is a spirit in the area."
"A spirit?"
The gravedigger nodded.
Everyone present went to the room where most of the body parts were located.
"Well, Lord? Why have you brought us?"
"As you can see, there are errors in the placement of the body parts."
Mary and Fernando nodded.
"But that interpretation is only correct if we judge it from the old way of thinking of magecraft, geocentrism, it's not like that?"
"Of course. As part of the Animusphere Faculty, we would never use modern magecraft with so little history."
"Maybe you two wouldn't give up your pride, but there was someone who did."
This confused those present.
"What do you mean, professor?"
"The person who gave up his pride to reach eternity… was none other than Ernest Fargo!"
"What!?" both Mary and Fernando asked.
"And the proof that I'm correct must be here!" Bending down, Waver removed one of the floor tiles and, below it, was a small blue sphere in a small compartment.
"That's…?"
"A container for a soul!"
Waver nodded, "His soul was just where the Earth should be."
Suddenly, the spell began to activate. In the center of the room, a spectral being with the appearance of an older man emerged; however, he was not complete, his entire stomach was open and the bones came out from its interior.
"Sir, he no longer..."
Waver nodded, "I'll let you take care of him, Gray. Everybody back off!"
As the Lord had instructed, they all fell back.
Shirou stayed ahead of the others and was between Gray and the rest of the group since he didn't know if his swords would work against spirits.
Vorpal was a sword that had a debilitating effect on phantasmal species and had shown such an effect on dead apostles, but he had no idea if it would have this same effect against spirits.
On the other hand, Neocaliburn was a holy sword it should affect evil spirits. However, Shirou decided not to participate for three reasons:
The first reason was that Gray had a Mystic Code specialized in defeating spirits, and he thought she was more than enough to defeat Mr. Fargo. The second reason was that facing the spirit required revealing his mysteries, in other words, he would have to show them his sword, and, although he trusted Gray and his teacher, he completely mistrusted the residents of the workshop. After all, hiding his mysteries from potential enemies was crucial for a magus.
For a moment, he realized something: he was thinking like a mage, really, living in the Clock Tower was affecting him, which worried him.
Finally, the last reason was the most important, even with the defeated spirit, this would not end...
"My daughter! GIVE ME YOUR LIFEEEE!"
The spirit's hands turned into blades, swiftly heading toward Mary, but Gray got in the way and, using Add's cage, she stopped the attack.
"Hey! That's dangerous!" screamed the Mystic Code.
The blades fell back, and Gray took advantage of it.
"Add, cancel the limit! First level!"
"Understood!"
Suddenly Add's form changed. The Mystic Code was released from its seal and took the form of a scythe.
"That is an incredible scythe," Shirou said.
"It's not a powerful Mystic Code for nothing…" Muramasa said.
"HA! HA! HA! Of course, I am! And this is an open bar feast for me!"
Ernest's spirit attempted to attack Gray with spectral leech-like creatures. These came from inside the spectrum, but Gray cut them very quickly. With agile and accurate movements, she destroyed every little specter it threw at her, and, using the columns in the room, she took the opportunity to rise and cut a cloud of leeches coming toward her.
"Gray… Rave…"
Everyone looked impressed as the girl destroyed every spirit that approached her.
"What a powerful mystic anti-spirits code!" Fernando exclaimed.
"Professor! Who is your student!?" asked Mary.
However, the young Lord did not reply.
At some point, her hood had fallen away, revealing her face. Her eyes glowed orange while, with each spirit Add devoured, its form increased even more.
"Deprave…"
Shirou was enthralled seeing how agile and graceful the Gray fought. For a moment, the image of another woman fighting with the same sublimity overlapped with her, but he rejected it. Although they were physically alike, the two were completely different people. Even their way of fighting was different from each other, and for him, both shone with their own light.
The spirit threw its blades at Gray once more, and she jumped to avoid them, and these ended up destroying the floor where they collided.
The gravedigger rushed in to finish off the spirit, "Grave for me..."
"Kiddo!" his ancestor caught his attention, pulling him out of his fascination.
He shook his head, "I know, I must be prepared for when shows up."
"I… I WILL BE ETERNAL!"
"Grave for you…"
With a vertical downward motion, Gray split the spirit in two...
"Stopppp!" the soul of Ernest was devoured by Add.
Lord El-Melloi II closed his eyes, "With this, it's all over."
Shirou shook his head, "No, you are wrong, professor."
"Huh? What do you mean, Shirou?"
The young magus apprentice looked towards the roundabout, "Although it is true that in an investigation related to magecraft, it is more important to ask why it happened than how it happened, that does not mean that how it all happened should be ignored," Shirou drew his holy sword, "Hey! How long are you going to be there!? Now that the spell of the 7 planets is undone, I can smell your magical signature with ease."
"Looks like I was discovered," with a leap, a mysterious hooded figure rushed from above towards the redhead.
Shirou managed to block the hooded person's short sword with his sword and pushed her back.
"So, a boy and a girl playing at being warriors..."
"Who are you?" Lord El-Melloi asked.
"She's the person who helped with the dismemberment of the body, and she was probably also the person who convinced Mr. Fargo to use the 7 planet spell."
"What!?" the Lord asked, confused.
The hooded woman smiled, "Even in a world of magecraft, obvious questions like, how do things happen? They shouldn't be ignored, brat," taking an offensive stance, the woman prepared to fight, "I was just coming to deliver a message, but I think I'll play around a bit."
She darted toward Gray, and the girl tried to stop her, but the woman surpassed her in speed, throwing her several meters away.
"Gray!" Shirou and the Lord both yelled.
"Don't be careless!" the woman lunged at the redhead and attacked him off guard.
Shit. Shirou tried to dodge his sword, "Time Alter, triple accel."
Thanks to the manipulation of time by his magecraft, the apprentice magus was able to dodge the woman's sword, and, after this, he threw himself at her...
"You seem to have some tricks, alright! As warriors, let's dance on the battlefield!"
For moments, both of them quickly exchanged attacks. The woman was good, but compared to surviving a fight with Altrouge, it was nothing he couldn't handle. He might match her in speed and agility, but she surpassed him in strength and experience. So both were stalled in a fight without changes, until...
CRASH!
Gray tried to attack the woman unawares; however, she managed to dodge her.
"Not bad! But, unlike the boy, you didn't attack me with the intent to kill me; if you come to the battlefield, you have to be willing to take lives!"
Gray positioned herself next to the redhead, "That's not my style."
"You have to attack her together, otherwise, you won't get anywhere," Muramasa said.
Both Shirou and Gray threw themselves at the hooded woman, and, thanks to the combination of both, they managed to keep her at bay.
"Hmm! You both aren't that bad, but still, both need to improve."
The woman stepped back, and her eyes suddenly sparkled.
"What!?"
"I can't move!"
"Shirou, Gray, watch out, it's a mystic eye!"
The woman laughed, "It's a belated warning, both of them are already under my control."
Lord El-Melloi clenched his hands helplessly, Waver knew that he and the Fargo family magi weren't capable of defeating the hooded woman.
"You may calm down, magus. As I said, I have only come to deliver a message," with that said, the woman pulled a small scroll from her suit and tossed it to the Lord.
Afterward, she smiled at the two teenagers, "Let's face each other again when both of them have matured," after speaking, the woman jumped using the columns and broke the glass in the upper window, fleeing the scene.
When the woman disappeared, so did the effect of her mystic eye.
"What was that?" asked the boy.
"And who was she?" the girl asked.
Waver was holding the scroll the woman had thrown at him, "I don't know, but I think we'll find out..."
Shirou wanted to say something but kept quiet until the three of them were alone.
After helping the Fargo family, Mary and Lord El-Melloi said their goodbyes. There he was able to confirm another of his deductions: Mary had sabotaged the ritual of her father that, from the beginning, was already imperfect. Since, in this way, she could free herself from the bonds that her father imposed on her.
Thus, the three got into the car.
"Nothing is eternal in this world," the Lord whispered.
"Seeking eternity like that is dangerous, he's the second person I know of that ends badly..." Shirou said.
"The second?" Gray asked.
He nodded, "I never met the old man's father, but he told me a little about him…"
"Emiya Norikata, right? He ended up dead and receiving a Sealing Designation. That's what I found while investigating," the Lord said.
Shirou nodded, "Kiritsugu told me that he ended up like that by pursuing immortality uncontrollably."
"That is why the magi create the magic crests, to bequeath their work..." said the professor.
"I wonder who that woman was? She gave him something, right?"
Waver looked at the little scroll, and since he was driving, he asked Gray to open it. She did and...
"What does it say?"
Gray proceeded to read it, "Just one sentence: Clue number 1, the great ritual will happen again, the winter tree marks the place."
This confused all three.
"The great ritual? What do you mean?" asked the boy.
"There are many great rituals that occur throughout the world. Yet again... and, winter tree? I don't understand it either..."
"Sir, there is a kind of symbol, is it… A hole inside a heart with wings like a dragonfly?" Gray spoke.
"That's strange. I've never seen that symbol..."
Thoughtfully, Shirou stated, "What seemed the strangest to me was that woman. It should be impossible…"
"What do you mean?"
He looked at the professor and explained, "The person we are up against should not exist, because she is… a person from the past."
"What?" they both said.
Shirou sighed, "My structural grasp is different from the others. As long as it is melee weapons, shields, or not very complicated weaponry, I can analyze it at a higher level and, by doing so, I can see: its history, abilities, and other stuff…"
Can a structural grasp be brought to such a degree? Waver thought. "That's surprising, but what does that have to do with what you just said?" asked the Lord.
"When I analyzed her sword, the information I got was: That it was the weapon of Hephaestion's younger twin sister. She was a member of the army of the King of Conquerors, Iskandar."
Waver stopped the car abruptly, "What did you say!?"
Shirou nodded, "I don't understand it either, but that's the information I received..."
This disturbed the young Lord, "But that's impossible! Because if she belongs to his army, then… No, it's impossible to summon Heroic Spirits without the grail ritual," this made the young Lord widen his eyes, "The ritual...? Couldn't it be that...?"
"The grail ritual? What do you mean, Sir?" Gray asked.
Seeing his apprentice's confused look, the young Lord had no choice but to reply, "I mean the Holy Grail War, this is a ritual was performed in Japan, and Shirou must know what it's about, right?" Waver said.
Shirou tilted his head, he knew the name of the ritual, but he didn't know the depth of it.
"I entered the ritual eight years ago when I was young, inexperienced, and foolish."
"What does the ritual consist of? What does it have to do with the woman we face?"
"The woman we face is possibly a heroic spirit, they are legendary heroes, figures who left their mark on human history, and the only way to invoke them today is through the Holy Grail War. In this ritual, 7 magi summon 7 heroic spirits and fight until 6 of them are destroyed. The last magus standing gets the Holy Grail."
"The Holy Grail?"
Lord El-Melloi nodded, "It is not the original Holy Grail. However, it is a powerful magical artifact, to the point that it is said can grant a wish."
"A desire!?" they both asked.
This reaction from both of them surprised the Lord a bit, but he still decided to continue his explanation, "That's right. Heroic Spirits are summoned as servants; familiars. They are summoned through 7 classes, though, in the war in which I participated, an eighth servant was summoned, this servant was summoned by the will of the grail to act as an overseer, the servant of the extra class, the Ruler. I was the master of the servant of the Rider class, a heroic spirit that use a mount to fight, and in my case, I invoked Iskandar, the King of Conquerors."
"Iskandar? The same one who created the army that Hephaestion's sister belonged to?" Shirou asked.
The Lord nodded, "Your father was the master of the Saber-Class servant, as you must know. Some members of the families, Tohsaka, Makiri, and Einzbern, also participated. Also, my master, the former Lord El-Melloi, was involved. And, finally, a man from the Church."
"Really? Is it true, Shirou?" Gray asked, fascinated that such a fantastic scenario could occur, one where legendary heroes clashed.
Shirou was speechless, looking at his classmate and his teacher.
"Shirou?" Gray asked.
"Ah, yes! I'm sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."
They both looked at him confused and, in the Lord's case, somewhat curious.
Shirou tried to act normal, but, in the back of his mind, everything was chaos.
What!? But Kiritsugu had told me that he came to Japan to retire! And, if the ritual happened eight years ago, then...!
However, his train of thought was stopped by the words of his teacher:
"The ritual ended up causing a great disaster in the city of Fuyuki, and the thaumaturgical lines of that city weakened so much that it was impossible to perform it again."
A great disaster in Fuyuki, and it was eight years ago… Shirou thought.
"That is why I do not understand how that woman is a heroic spirit. Since the ritual was canceled, it is impossible to summon one."
"What if someone managed to replicate the ritual? Sir, you said something about fake wars, didn't you?" Gray asked.
Waver thought about it for a moment, "Well, yes, fake wars are just that: an imitation of the real one, the only way to safely summon a servant is to participate in one of these, but... usually, these end up in massacres, and the Church has them closely watched, to interrupt them before they occur."
The conversation continued, but Shirou couldn't hear anything anymore, those words repeated themselves over and over in his mind...
Eight years ago... Holy Grail War... Kiritsugu... The great fire...
The trip ended and Shirou didn't even notice when he said goodbye to Gray and his teacher. The next day, on the last day of the week, Shirou spoke to Altrouge, hoping that she would have some answer on this; however, she could only confirm that Zelretch participated in the creation of the ritual, and only as another means of entertainment for himself.
On the first day of the week...
Shirou had barely been able to refocus on something other than the Holy Grail Wars, so much so that he investigated them; however, he only found information on the subcategories of the war, the so-called False Holy Grail Wars.
Right now, he was in his last class, which was already over, and most of the students had already left, and just when he was going to retire too...
"Shirou, Svin! Come both a moment."
The two mentioned went in front of the teacher, and he told them:
"I need your help."
"In what, teacher?" Svin asked.
"A place that I go to almost daily has run into some problems, so I offered to help them, but when I started to investigate the problem, I realized the magecraft might be involved."
"Do you want us to help you in case there is any magus involved?" Shirou asked.
The young Lord nodded.
"Excuse me, professor but, does it have to be us?" Svin asked.
"I called you here precisely because it's you two."
"Huh?" they both exclaimed.
"Over the past year, the two of you didn't do a single job together, even Rin and Luvia have been forced to work together a few times, although, we better not talk about it..."
"I don't mind helping, professor," said the redhead.
"I guess neither do I..." the blonde said reluctantly.
"Then we will meet tomorrow after class to solve the problem."
Right at that moment, Gray approached.
"Are you ready, Sir?"
Waver nodded, "We can go now, Gray."
She nodded, and taking advantage of the fact that the redhead was present, she said, "Shirou…?"
"Yes?"
"Remember when you told me you wanted to go somewhere where we could talk calmly?"
The boy nodded.
"I spoke with Luvia, and she recommended that we go to the Camac, is it okay for us to go during this week?"
Shirou smiled and nodded, "Sure, it would be perfect."
For those two, this conversation was normal, but for Waver, it was the gates of the underworld opening. Because at that moment Svin was behind both of them, hearing everything they had said and, to his misfortune, he had chosen these two to help him in his task tomorrow...
Waver looked at Svin and was about to ask him if he was alright, but then he saw his gaze... When it was heading towards Gray, it seemed to be empty, almost emotionless, and on the other hand, when his gaze turned to Shirou, seemed to be a volcano about to explode, only contained by the presence of the girl.
And he would have to deal with the two of them together tomorrow, oh yeah, fate was a bitch...
Author notes:
Well, this chapter is ready. About the last chapter, I think some of you took the reference to DMC very seriously ha, ha, ha. What happened is that when I am researching the 27 dead apostles, I read that Enhance looked a lot like Dante, so I took the opportunity to make the joke, but this story is not a crossover.
alharethabdelmonum: In fact, I use "Lord" with Barthomeloi because, despite being a woman, it is a title that does not change according to gender. That is, woman or man, the title is still "Lord". At least from what I read.
TheCyanNinja: Yes.
For now, the story will follow the Rail Zeppelin events line, but with changes that will have repercussions throughout the plot. And, well, I think that would be it for now.
Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions and corrections in the previous chapter. And, without more to say, I appreciate your comments and hope you enjoyed the chapter, see you in the next one.