Chapter 12 : Dark Fight

The boy was alone.

To the boy, other people seemed very small.

People only envy those who are superior, and do not improve themselves.

They gather around those who are outcasts, poke them, and feel secure by arrogantly looking down on them.

Kindness is the price to pay in return.

They spread worthless malice to protect their weak selves.

That is what he thought of as pitiful beings.

Of course, he did not think that all people in the world were like that. But at least the boy had never seen an exception.

And after a while of feeling sorry for others, he realized that his own actions were no different from those of those pitiful others.

From then on, the boy began to work hard to discipline himself.

He judged others to be foolish and fake. So he had to be the real thing. That was his duty.

So the boy tried to be the real thing by simply controlling himself, being independent, and admonishing himself.

All the while, countless malice continued to gather around the boy, but he tried to forgive it, thinking it was just human weakness, and dismissed even that thought as arrogance.

And so he continued to take on the malice of others and deny his own kindness.

Suddenly, the boy realized that he could no longer understand kindness.

I moved a little too dramatically.

I came to my senses in the middle of the night on the street and finally felt a little regretful. I was on my way home from my daily routine of gathering magical power.

He wasn't wearing a robe or a uniform, but rather a rather flashy young man's outfit. From the outside he would look like a student out at night.

Up until now, my number one priority has always been to stay inconspicuous.

They could create a tiny branch from a larger spiritual vein and connect it to the workshop, or create a hidden barrier to absorb small amounts of magical power from people passing by.

Although it had to be said that the efficiency was extremely inefficient, he still managed to steadily build up his power without anyone noticing.

However, yesterday and today combined, he had stolen a large amount of magical power from dozens of ordinary people, rendering them unconscious.

It's not like there was any particular need to gather magical power in a hurry.

He couldn't control his emotions and ended up going too far. In short, he was just taking out his anger on someone else.

Although no one has died, the incident has caused quite a stir, with the news coming out about it. Things will likely get even more hectic tomorrow morning.

Although it is treated as a case of mass gas poisoning, anyone with a bit of perceptive intelligence would quickly realize that this is not the case.

And if the person who noticed was a magician, or rather, someone who knew about the existence of magic, they would have realized that this might have something to do with magic. Probably Hikigaya Hachiman too.

I think of that man and my emotions rise again. Calm down, you just failed.

I forcefully calm down my excited mood.

I shook my head and took a deep breath. Okay, it's okay.

It's a little early, but I'll go home for tonight. I don't think there will be any witnesses to this incident, but it's possible that other masters are investigating the incident. I was lucky that I didn't run into them while I was excited.

With that thought in mind, it was time to take a step forward.

And so.

The faint sound came from around my shoulder.

When I turned around to see what was going on, my knees gave way.

"--!?"

Unable to take a defensive stance, he falls face down, but doesn't even feel the pain of hitting the ground.

He turned his head and looked at his shoulder. It took an incredible amount of effort to just do that, and when he finally managed to look, he saw a knife sticking out of his shoulder.

"……a……"

A straight double-edged dagger was stuck into his left shoulder blade.

I can't scream. All I can do is groan. Not only do I feel no pain, I can't feel anything in my whole body.

It was probably, no, definitely poison. And when it came to poison that was effective against Servants, there were only a very limited number of people who could use it.

It goes without saying that he is the most likely candidate.

I moved my eyes without moving my head, and saw a thin man wearing a black robe and a skull mask standing just a few steps away.

(Assassin...!)

The words were about to come out of his mouth, but the poison stopped him. Thanks to that, he may not have known that he was involved in the Holy Grail War, but in this situation, he didn't feel like being grateful.

The Assassin (assuming) did nothing, just tilted his head while looking my way.

(What are you doing…?)

I don't understand why they wouldn't put an end to this situation.

I wondered if he was planning to beat me up, but there was no sign of that, and he just looked down at me as I fell.

…Perhaps he didn't attack me because he had certain proof that I was a Servant.

The camouflage is still effective, and they should be indistinguishable from humans by appearance.

If that's the case, is he currently waiting for instructions from his master? If so, there's a chance he'll be overlooked...

I watched the assassin and simply waited. The short time that passed felt like several tens of minutes.

After several incredibly long seconds, the Assassin nodded and then, out of nowhere, a knife appeared in his right hand.

It seems the Assassin's Master has decided to eliminate me.

Of course. Even if they were unrelated, any witnesses would be eliminated. It's a standard decision for a magician. Even I would do it that way.

"ingredient……!"

I don't like it.

No, no, no! I don't want to disappear in a place like this!

He forces his body to move even though he doesn't feel any numbness, and tries to crawl and escape, even if just a little.

But of course, there's no way I could get away with something like that.

Assassin slowly walked towards me, and slightly raised his right hand――――

It suddenly exploded.

Assassin was blown away by a light that came flying from behind, piercing his chest, and he rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.

By all appearances, death was instant.

In fact, the magical energy that made up Assassin's body unravels and melts into light, disappearing.

He frantically tries to check behind him, but is once again blocked by poison.

Still, I managed to turn around, but there was no sign of a person anywhere.

Unless he hid himself instantly, it would have been a shot from a long distance, beyond the reach of his line of sight.

Incidentally, Caster's physical abilities are almost on par with those of a human, but as a Servant, they are still significantly higher than average. In particular, there is no comparison when it comes to eyesight. Dynamic visual acuity aside.

If he couldn't see me, then there was a possibility that the attack was coming from a distance of over a kilometer. Only Archer could do that.

That was as far as my brain could go.

I continued crawling while thinking.

If you look at the situation alone, it may seem like I was saved, but in reality, the threat has just switched from Assassin to Archer. There's no guarantee that I won't be shot next.

However, crawling was far more physically draining than I had expected. The Assassin's poison was still working on me, and I was beginning to lose consciousness.

Still, I force myself to move, and try to at least get into the shade.

Thinking about it rationally, if they had intended to get rid of me they would have done so long ago. However, I don't have the time to think about that right now.

Above all, "It might be okay" is too weak a reason to entrust your life to someone else. It's not a reason to stay still within the firing range.

I just managed to turn the corner. That was the limit.

Unable to stand up, he collapses.

It was a miracle that I hadn't lost consciousness. Not that it would do any good.

Could the whistling sound of air escaping be my own breathing? I don't even know.

How long had it been since he'd been lying on the side of the road like a corpse? Well, it probably wasn't that long in reality.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of sand being crushed under my feet.

Above your head, or rather, in front of your head. In other words, from the direction of travel.

Perhaps Archer had come to finish him off.

This is it...

Going beyond the fear of death, a sense of preparation for death comes to mind.

I'm tired now.

Though I'm not satisfied, life in this era has been enjoyable. At least it's much better than my first life. So maybe it's time for that.

My only regret is...

"...What are you doing?"

The voice that he had just thought of actually reached his ears, bringing his sinking consciousness back to the surface.

What caught my eye was a pair of sandals on bare feet.

Standing there was a man with dead eyes wearing a jacket over his pajamas.

"Master...?"

Hikigaya Hachiman crouched down and touched my blood-stained shoulder. Perhaps because Assassin had vanished, the knife I hadn't remember pulling out had also vanished.

"Can't you move?"

I tried to nod, but I couldn't. Master seemed to have noticed, as he slid his hands under my body and helped me up.

"I'm going home for now. We'll talk later."

Then he skillfully picked me up, unable to move, and stood up and started walking.

"...At times like these...Princess..."

"How can I possibly get that tired? I'm confident in my athletic ability, but my physical strength is average."

"...I'm...so...heavy..."

"No matter how light it is, it's still 40 kilograms. I don't think you can hold that much with just your arms... If you have the composure to joke around, then you're fine. Take a break."

It was certainly the limit. I'll take him up on that.

As he rested his head on Hikigaya Hachiman's back, he realized that he was dressed too lightly for going out in winter.

Why is this man here?

I realized only now that he had sensed my danger through the link of the Command Spells and rushed to my aid.

"You'll catch a cold dressed like this, you know?"

"...I told you to stay in bed. You have no right to tell me that."

It seemed he felt relieved to be able to have a normal conversation, and that was the end of the conversation.

This time I finally let go of consciousness.