6: Meuniere pulls his weight.
"...which is why we need you to secure that Leyline." concludes the Director as I'm shoved back into my body. My eyes widen, and I touch my throat unconsciously. I can still feel… that heat, the slow sensation of drowning on dry land. It's not the first time I've had my throat slashed, but it's not like it got any less scary.
Still, it's as good a time as any to get returned to.
"About that… We'll need a leyline and a catalyst to perform a summon, right? But if our enemy knows that, there's almost definitely going to be some kind of trap at the Leyline, and if we use Mash's shield as a catalyst we'll be sitting ducks." I interject.
"What else would you have us do? It's not like we've got many other options, right?" Olga Marie replies with a scowl.
"...Can summoning not be done without a catalyst?" I ask, stroking my chin. "Or rather, what exactly qualifies as a catalyst?"
"...It's possible to summon without a catalyst; the system would just treat your body as the catalyst. We're getting a bunch of nonsense readings from you at the moment thanks to the poor connection, but assuming you're an ordinary human and not secretly a demigod, the summoning would be unlikely to be successful." She says, frowning. "And even if it was successful, without a properly mystical catalyst, we'd be highly likely to just end up summoning someone useless - like a famous singer or actor."
Using my body as a catalyst? I've got the [Witch Factors] of three Sin Archbishops bouncing around inside me, not to mention Satella herself following me around! That's a bad end for sure!
"Right, so not using a catalyst… let's call that 'plan Z' for now." I say with a nervous chuckle. "What about these weapons, or the skeletons that were carrying them?"
"Cheap, mass-produced weapons like that? You'd be more likely to summon Thomas Edison or Henry Ford than an actual warrior." she scoffs. "And the bones would be basically the same as using the person they belonged to as a catalyst. Unless they were robbed from some legendary warrior's grave, they're no good."
"...I see. I've never been to Fuyuki, so I don't know if there are any famous people buried here…" I mutter.
"Director!" A man calls out from offscreen. "I happened to look it up before the mission - the Second Owner of Fuyuki is Tohsaka Rin, descendant of Tohsaka Nagato, a former pupil of the Wizard Marshal!"
Uh oh. A troublesome old man has come up.
"Really?" her face lights up. "Fine work, Meuniere! Any pupil of his is bound to have at least a few mana-infused gems lying around - and that means we've found our catalyst!"
"I'm not sure I follow…" I say. Well, the truth is, I think I do follow what she's saying, and it's seriously no good!
"Hm? It's simple, really. You'll just break into the Tohsaka residence and steal a gemstone or two. Something like that should be able to align the FATE system to summon an appropriately supernatural Servant. That being said, there's still a high chance of failure, but It's better than trying to summon while unarmed!" she says. That's what I meant. That's exactly what I was hoping she wasn't saying! Stealing is wrong, you know?
And yet, one set of coordinates and a long walk later, Mash and I find ourselves standing in front of the Tohsaka manor.
What's left of it, anyway.
The center of the house has been blown away, a V-shaped hole carved into the building and ground alike, stretching kilometers into the distance through home after home. A number of concentric half circles can be made out in the scorch marks on the ground, where the blast smashed through some fifteen or so barriers. At the center of the rings, a set of scorch marks in the vague shape of three human bodies can be made out - two adult-sized… and one child-sized.
...I really hate Fuyuki.
"...Well, any bounded field that would have protected this place is hopefully gone now." I say. "We might as well get to it."
Mash silently nods.
As I approach the gaping hole in the building, a faint glint catches my eye.
No.
Not a glint.
A mote of golden light slowly floats towards me. And then another. Two more. A dozen. Hundreds of little golden lights swirl around me.
"...Spirits, huh? What do you guys want?" I mutter.
"Eh!? Senpai, look out!" Mash yells, moving to try and get me out from the mysterious cloud of golden lights that she must be assuming to be an enemy attack. However, even as she moves towards me, the Spirits flit away, moving to one of the body-shaped scorch marks on the ground and swarming in place above it.
I sigh. "It's fine, Mash. It'd be easier if these guys could talk, though…"
I move over to where they're all going nuts, and finally I notice it. On the very edge of my awareness, not quite visible, not quite real…
I reach out towards the charred silhouette, and in a flash of light, I manage to grab and pull it free.
A beautiful gold and blue sheath. Pure and pristine, barely tangible to human hands, with the same kind of metaphysical weight as Mash's shield or Reinhard's sword. As I grasp it, the spirits shoot back to it, flowing into it like water into a sponge.
Well, this'll do.
"Catalyst, get!" I say, popping a thumbs up and grinning at Mash-tan.
"R-right..." she says, an absolutely befuddled expression on her face.
We could have searched the rest of the house for other useful tools, but since it was the residence of a magus, I figured we were just as liable to get killed by some horrible flesh-melting curse as to find something useful. And I'm not in a hurry to get melted again.
Slowly, we make our way to the Leyline - taking the occasional detour to avoid fallen buildings or large fires, and occasionally pausing to deal with small squads of skeletons.
"Um, senpai..?" Mash asks eventually.
"Wondering what all that was back there?" I ask.
"Yes. I'm very confused. How did you know that those lights weren't the bounded field responding to your presence? How did you pull that strange sheath out of midair? What were those little creatures?"
"Mm. Well, like I said earlier, I have an affinity for Spirits. Those guys were lesser Spirits, so they got excited to see me, and then they led me to the sheath, which… I'm not sure how, but I think it was metaphysically inside one of the people who died in that house. The Spirits helped me pull it out, and so here it is." I explain.
"I see. That's probably related to why Fou-kun likes you so much, then." She says, smiling.
"...Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to that little guy. He wandered off when I started talking to Dr. Roman. I hope he's alright…." I mutter.
"I'm sure that Fou-kun will be fine. He's a very smart creature." She responds confidently.
...I sure hope so.
Eventually, we arrive. The magic circle is set up, the sheath is laid in the center of it, and then, as I begin to repeat the chant after Mash-
Clang.
Mash shoots forwards and barely deflects a throwing dagger as the enemy erupts from the shadows.
Well, I had an invisible hand covering my throat this time, so it probably would have been fine regardless, but it's the thought that counts.
"Enemy signature confirmed - our attacker is an Assassin-class servant! Your orders, Senpai!" Mash calls out.
That's right. This is the moment of truth. My first real chance to fight back against the forces responsible for [Apocalypse Conflagration].
I won't fail. This time, for sure-!
We'll definitely defeat him, this Assassin Servant!
A/N: Technically still Friday in some parts of the world! Victory!
Me, at the 800 word mark of this chapter:
"Oh shit I forgot Fou!"
I'm ruling that the Fairies in Avalon and the lesser Spirits in Re:Zero are roughly analogous existences. (Lancelot's personal skill is translated interchangeably as both "Protection of the Spirits" and "Protection of the Fairies")
Next chapter aiming for Wednesday.
REVIEW RESPONSE TIME (Unmarked spoilers for Re:Zero LN may follow):
MrNoname said:
I really like what's being done here but I wonder if subaru may end up summing himself or even the archbishops. I also wonder how Chaldea will learn of subarus ability as they have many smart servants like sherlock and leonardo who figure everything out. I also wonder about that healing earlier as Subaru should be impossible to erase from reality permanently thanks to his connection to the witch who would be very displeased if they threatened subarus soul.
Right on the mark. As Subaru says in this chapter; summoning without a catalyst is nearly guaranteed to bring someone super troublesome; the witch factors serve as catalysts for all their prior holders.
NoNameAvailable Bis said:
Ouch, yeah, this is going to be a rough one. As Zennishi said, so many ways to die. I'd probably add "turned into a bloody pulp by Berserker" to the list - that one seem really painful, in fact.
Berserker's off partying in the forest, though. It'd take something like, say, a horrible scent that he just can't ignore even from miles away to get him to come out.
Oh wait.
Kind of hope someone like Reinhard doesn't show up as a servant, he seems like he'd be a complete tension-killer. Then again I suppose becoming a servants do serve as a power limiter for some beings, so it's possible he'd be hit by the nerf bat.
Reinhard is unlikely to make an appearance for a while, and even if he does show up, his ridiculous divine protections aren't actually all that out of place for a servant (laughs in protection from arrows). He'd be high tier no doubt, but think more Siegfried (in lore, not in game lol) than Gilgamesh.
Anyway, at the very least, saving Olga Marie, check! At least for now.
*Villainous laughter*
BlueCore said:
Nice, cursed arm was a like a DS mob hiding next to the bonfire.
"Be wary of right arm." "Thief ahead by the way be wary of right arm." "Friend ahead but be wary of right arm." "right arm ahead therefore try shield" "curse, right arm ahead." "I can't take this..."
Nexxoz Highdraco said:
Mari esta con vida o almenos eso me dio a entender. Good fic.
Unfortunately my Spanish is terrible. (I took two semesters of it and then immediately forgot everything I learned.)
HOWEVER! We have the technology!
Nexxoz Highdraco, post Google Translate, said:
Mari is alive or at least that's what she gave me to understand.
Yes! Olga Marie is, in fact, alive (albeit having lost an arm).
That's all for today. See you guys Wednesday, and stay safe out there!