Chapter 15 : Intrusion

In the darkness of the night, four men and women, including myself, were looking up at a building.

There was one man and one woman wearing school uniforms and one man wearing knight armor. Anyone who didn't know the situation would probably think they were a very strange group.

One of them, a young man dressed as a knight, spoke.

"...Is this really the place?"

"What, you can't trust me?"

"That's not the case though..."

The young man replied with a confused look on his face to the confident words of the girl in uniform.

Both of them had an aura that vaguely reminded me of the color red, and although they would probably deny it, there was something similar about them. Servants are chosen from Heroic Spirits that resemble their Masters, so this was only natural.

The girl's name is Tohsaka Rin. I call her Rin.

He is the head of the Tohsaka family, which manages Fuyuki, and is also a Master who will participate in the Holy Grail War.

And the Red Knight is an Archer Servant given to her.

His true identity is unknown. Due to amnesia, even he doesn't know who he is... but how much can we trust him?

It was not surprising that he doubted the word of his Lord.

We had come to this place together with our current allies to defeat the enemy Servants.

The large grounds are surrounded by a wall, but it is not high enough, so anyone who wanted to get over it could do so without being a magician or a servant.

Directly in front of us was the main gate, but the door, or rather the fence blocking it, did not seem very sturdy.

"But Tohsaka, this is just a school, right?"

A boy in uniform, Shirou - my master, his name is Emiya Shirou - interrupted the two.

As he said, there was a plaque engraved with the words "Soubu High School" embedded in the gatepost. It wasn't a particularly sacred place, and it was far from being a place suitable for a magician to live.

"Well, that's true. There are no spiritual veins nearby, and the structure isn't particularly suited for defense. That's why it was completely off our radar. That's what they exploited."

Perhaps there was some doubt on her face, because Lin began to explain to everyone, including me, who had not spoken.

"The familiar that was watching us was extremely skilled at hiding. We were able to reverse detect its magical powers and it led us here. If we hadn't noticed it, we would never have ended up here. That's Saber's great work."

"No, I was just doing my part."

Archer and I took turns on the watch. In this regard, Archer was better than me, although it may have been a matter of class.

The familiar in question was cleverly positioned, and magically and optically camouflaged, successfully deceiving the Archer's eyes. It was just luck that I noticed it.

However, even though they were allies, to be able to praise someone else's Servant so openly was...

Like Shirou, she also seems to be a soft-spoken person. This is probably a fatal flaw for a Master.

But as a knight's master, he is perfectly fine. If it were me, I would like to avoid serving a servile master who is jealous of others.

"When I investigated the flow of magical power in this area, I found that several small tributaries, small enough that you wouldn't notice them unless you looked carefully, were connected to the school. Considering how unnatural they were, there's no doubt they were artificially created. Although it's not the most efficient, this way you can store up power without anyone noticing. It's a clever method."

Rather than being angry about being outwitted, Rin seemed impressed by her opponent.

While a knight judges his opponent by his strength and skill, a magician assesses his opponent by his wisdom and wisdom.

It seemed that this time her enemy was worthy of inciting her fighting spirit, although I think that being fired up to face such a superior opponent is more in keeping with the temperament of a warrior than a magician.

However, there is no doubt that she is an excellent magician. Without her, locating the enemy's location would have been impossible.

Perhaps due to their youth, they do have some forgetfulness at times, but that can be easily managed by Archer or myself.

"...Are the barriers that were placed around the city also the work of Servants here?"

"Probably. Considering the precision of the concealment, there's no doubt that it was Caster's doing. To be honest, I don't want to think about the fact that there are multiple Servants capable of such a feat as creating branches in the spiritual vein."

"I see. Well then, I guess I need to stop him after all."

Shirou nodded at Rin's explanation.

At first, Shirou was reluctant to participate in the Holy Grail War, feeling that there was nothing he desired that was worth using the Holy Grail for.

However, the other day, he learned that the recent spate of unconscious people in the city were all victims of Servant Soul Devourers, and he decided to fight.

It was simply to prevent rampaging Servants and those who would become victims of their Masters from going berserk. And to prevent such people from receiving the Holy Grail.

As long as he could obtain the Holy Grail, I didn't care about the Master's reasons for fighting. However, I did like this boy, who was willing to fight for a complete stranger.

"But still, why has it suddenly become so active?"

Up until now, the rate of soul-eating victims was about one per day.

However, yesterday and the day before, over a dozen people had fallen unconscious each time. That was what Shirou was talking about.

By the way, even though they are called soul eaters, they don't actually eat souls, they only steal magical power. However, if a large amount of magical power is stolen, the victim goes into shock, and it looks as if their soul has been stolen, hence the name.

So far, no one has died in any of the incidents, but that is only the case for now, and there is still a chance of death.

"...One possible scenario is when a large amount of magical power is suddenly required. When an emergency occurs that requires immediate action."

"Anything else?"

"If she has already accumulated enough magical power and no longer needs to sneak around, I don't think the chances of this happening are high."

"why is that?"

Interrupted Rin, who was explaining to Shirou.

"This is an opponent who has been acting very cautiously up until now, right? I don't think he's the kind of moron who would let his guard down just because he's accumulated a little bit of power. Even if a cautious person like him had accumulated enough magical power to become complacent, I think he would have noticed, and even if we consider the efficiency, it shouldn't have been that much."

"In other words……"

"Yes. The enemy is currently experiencing some kind of problem. So it's a good target."

She grinned back at Shirou's murmur.

"...But, wouldn't the other party be on guard in such a situation?"

Archer disagrees with her.

For some reason, he had always maintained an ambiguous attitude towards this battle.

He doesn't look intimidated. If anything, he looks confused.

Rin must have noticed something was off about him, but she didn't seem to intend to mention it.

"I suppose so. But at the same time, he's also anxious. That's probably why his familiar's disguise has become weaker."

"...That's right. Has the disguise of our 'home' been discovered?"

"There's no problem. If that familiar makes any movement it should set off an alarm."

For this sortie, we had made one special adjustment.

Currently, at the Emiya residence, which is under enemy surveillance, our magically created dolls are living their lives as usual.

As long as they were watching through their familiars, they wouldn't know we were here. We were taking advantage of the enemy's surveillance.

"Well, I think they would notice if they made it inside the building. So from here on it's a battle of speed. Find them before they get their bearings and take them down in one go. I'll check the formation. Saber, who has high magical resistance, will go first to eliminate the danger. Got it?"

"Understood. Should we head to the fourth floor of that school building first?"

"That's fine. It's only a rough guess, so I'll narrow it down further. Emiya-kun, you can detect traps. I'm counting on you."

"Understood"

"Archer, keep an eye on the rear and follow up with everyone, Archer?"

Archer didn't respond to Rin's words, but looked elsewhere with a stern expression.

"What's the matter, Archer?"

"...Saber, can you see that?"

I followed his gaze and saw something on the roof of a house far away. However, my eyesight is not as good as Archer's.

"...What is that?"

"I don't know, but it looks like a cannon to me."

"Cannons?"

Rin frowned upon hearing Archer's words.

"...That sounds scary. Emiya-kun, is there anything around the schoolyard?"

"Wait a minute... there and there, wow, there's so many."

Shirou, who had been staring intently at the schoolyard, cried out in surprise.

According to Rin, Shirou is surprisingly sensitive to abnormalities in the "world." Because of this, he seems to have a better sense for seeing through magical mechanisms than Rin.

Rin concentrated for a moment on the spot Shirou had indicated.

"...The barrier itself doesn't seem to have any particular power."

"It's probably linked to that cannon. It's a mechanism that automatically shoots at any targets detected by the barrier. It probably also acts as an alarm."

"We can't just ignore this... Archer, can you snipe?"

"If it explodes it will engulf the houses below. Are you okay with that?"

"Rejected."

Rin looked thoughtful at Archer's speculation.

If we continued charging forward like this, not only would we suffer heavy losses but our opponent would notice us.

If they neutralized the artillery in a distant location, it would take time for them to notice. There would likely be similar devices in other directions, so there would be no point in going around.

To be honest, I have no objection to a head-on confrontation, but there's no point in deliberately throwing away our advantages.

Above all, the opponent is a Caster. Not a warrior, but a magician. There is a risk that he will run away without fighting. That would be pointless.

"I'll go. We can't take up too much time."

Archer stands up.

"…That's right. We'll change formation and have Archer neutralise the artillery while we charge in at the same time. Archer will provide support from outside. You won't say that's not possible, right?"

"Of course, I am the Heroic Spirit of the Bow. You are the one who should not let your guard down. Don't forget that you have been manipulated once."

"That goes for you too...!"

The two had previously come into contact with someone they believed to be Caster and her Master, but at the time they had failed to realize that he was a Servant.

Archer looked down at me with a serious expression and then spoke.

"Saber, please take care of Rin."

"There's no need to be told that. You're the one who should screw up."

"...Please, I'm counting on you."

……?

Honestly, Archer's attitude doesn't make sense to me.

It was natural to be wary of the enemy, but something seemed strange.

I wondered if she didn't trust me, but if that was the case there was no way she would leave Rin's side.

As I watched him leave in a quizzical mood, I heard him mutter to himself as he was leaving.

"What on earth is going on...? I've never seen anything like this happen..."

"Ahh...!"

I tried to call out to him, but he had already left.

"Saber, what's wrong?"

"...No, it's nothing."

I replied vaguely to Shirou's words. I had no other answer.

We Servants have something inside of us. That's why we are Heroic Spirits. It would be against the rules to criticize someone for hiding something. However...

(...What do you mean? What do you know, Archer?)

"Archer is in position."

Soon afterwards, everything was ready.

Rin, who had been in telepathic contact with Archer, tightened her expression.

I look at it and grip my sword again to make sure.

Invisible Sword "Wind King BarrierInvisible Air"

This is not the name of this sword.

The sheath for this sword has been lost. However, because this sword is too powerful to be carried around unsheathed, its power has been sealed away in a wind barrier. As a side effect, the sword has become invisible.

I check my condition by feeling that invisible grip.

No problem. Forget about Archer for now.

"Well then, let's charge in as soon as we get the signal. Are you ready?"

Shirou and I nodded at Rin's words.

We are completely superior in terms of military strength.

We have also deceived enemy surveillance, and our location has not yet been discovered.

Everyone is in high spirits, yet remains vigilant and on high alert.

There is no point in losing.

"Situation, commence!"

With Rin's declaration, I took off sprinting into the darkness.