Chapter 42 : Tears
"Haa...! Haa...!"
A staggering figure steps out of the burning church.
The figure took the form of a young girl.
The girl appears to be injured and is unsteady on her feet. Despite this, she continues to carry the person.
He wrapped the arms of a boy who was larger than him around his neck, supported the boy's body with his right arm, and dragged his motionless left limbs, moving his body with all his might in an attempt to escape the flames as much as possible.
When they finally reached a place where the heat could not reach them, the boy he was holding collapsed from exhaustion.
"Haa...! Haa...!"
The girl shook off the temptation to just pass out and forced herself up with trembling arms.
Not yet. I can't fall down yet.
"Please wait, Hachiman-sama... Medea will assist you now...!"
The girl - Medea - muttered, and turned her master, Hikigaya Hachiman, who was lying next to her, onto his back, placed both hands on his chest, and concentrated.
"Get better...! Get better...!"
Hikigaya Hachiman's injuries were severe.
Several of his organs had ruptured and a broken rib had punctured his lung.
His face was so smashed and caved in that it was impossible to tell what his face used to look like. The best thing about him is that his left arm is crushed.
"Heal…! Heal…! Heal…!"
But the light of life has not yet gone out.
In that case, this wasn't an injury she couldn't heal.
"Heal! Heal! Heal! Heal!"
In reality, she - no, even if it wasn't her, any magician with a certain level of skill could help her.
With the skills of the extraordinary witch Medea, it shouldn't be difficult. Or so it should be.
"Heal, heal, heal, heal, heal! Why?! That's crazy! I've healed much worse injuries before! I've even brought the dead back to life!"
But she is a traitorous witch.
Her magic is meant to trap someone.
"Heal! Heal! Heal...! Heal... please... heal..."
Her magic does not respond to the pure desire to save someone.
The witch who betrays everyone and is betrayed by everyone even betrays herself.
"……someone……"
A boy falls to the ground, motionless, and a girl clings to him, crying.
It reminded me of the way home I once walked.
"Please... Someone, please help Master..."
The crucial difference from back then is that the boy is really dying, and the girl is really a powerless woman who can't do anything.
"I don't care what happens to me... so please, just save this person..."
Anyone would have been fine.
As long as it was someone who could help him, he would gladly pledge his loyalty to anyone, even if it was the devil or the god he hated and cursed.
"Please... please... please..."
But miracles don't happen.
First of all, this is the Holy Grail War.
The battle is for the ownership of the miracle-working Holy Grail, and she is still not worthy of being crowned the winner.
Some time passed, and the girl's words changed from magic to simple sobbing and pleading.
"Big brother, it's an email."
I raised my head at the sudden, out of place, cheerful voice.
The sound was coming from the boy's smartphone in his jacket pocket.
Smartphone. Phone.
"!"
I hastily take it out.
Using this, I can call for help. I don't know how much conventional medicine can do, but it should be better than what I'm in now.
He picks up the thin precision instrument, brings his fingers close to a photo of his sister, and freezes.
I don't know how to use it.
The Holy Grail gave me the concept of the telephone as a tool, but it did not teach me how to use it specifically.
Normally, Servants wouldn't have any opportunities to use phones, and if it was just a regular phone it wouldn't be that complicated so it shouldn't be a problem.
However, smartphones are a bit special compared to so-called mobile phones. I have handled game consoles and remote controls in the media, but I have never handled a smartphone.
Calm down. Remember.
Even if you've never used it yourself, you've probably seen others use it many times.
When you touch your finger to the screen, a ripple-like effect occurs, and you are surprised and take your finger away.
If you look closely, you'll see the words "Flick to unlock" at the top of the screen. What does flick mean?
He forcefully suppresses his out-of-control emotions and remembers his life at school and his classmates there.
They were sure--
He placed his finger on the screen again and a ripple began to spread across the screen, centered on his finger.
Looking closely, he saw a padlock-like mark in the center of the ripples. Relying on his memory, he slid his finger over it, and the mark changed to an unlocked state, and the screen changed.
I let out a sigh of relief and quickly shook my head. What good was the point in letting my guard down over something like this?
I noticed a green phone-like icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.
I touch it lightly, hear a click, and after a slight lag the screen switches again, this time with the numbers 0 through 9 displayed at the bottom. It seems I've successfully reached the phone function.
The media stops there again.
All that was left was to input the numbers, but she didn't know any of them. The Holy Grail had not given her any knowledge of speed dialing either.
So here too I rely on my memories from school.
In conversations with classmates, the topic of phone calls with friends often came up. Words like "history" and "phone book" must have come up quite frequently.
Looking at the screen again, there were buttons at the top labeled "Call History" and "Phone Book." When I pressed the "Call History" button, a row of numbers, dates, and times were displayed.
When you touch the top row of numbers, several system messages will be displayed. Find the one that says "Call" and press it immediately.
When I put my ear to it, I heard a buzzing sound. It worked!
(Hurry, please, hurry up and get out...!)
What was actually only a few seconds felt incredibly long.
After the fourth ring, there was a click and then a person's voice.
"What if?"
"Help me!"
He shouted before the other person had even finished their sentence.
"that"
"Help me!"
Even though it was over the phone, she could sense the confusion on the other end, but she didn't have the time to worry about it.
"Please...! Master, please help me...!"
She simply begged desperately. Right now, that was all she could do.
Perhaps my desperation was conveyed, as the person on the other end of the phone apparently decided it wasn't a prank.
"...First of all, calm down. What happened? Do you know where you are? Why did you know my phone number... No, let's leave that for later. Anyway, please explain the situation."