Chapter 70
Rin almost slumped onto the table once she took a seat, but she managed to catch herself. Showing weakness to others, even her allies, wasn't something she could do. After all, a Tohsaka must remain elegant at all times.
Still, having her Servant beaten so easily and quickly wasn't something she could just shrug off. Even now, he was still healing in his spiritual form, her mana being siphoned by him to repair his body.
"Are you alright Tohsaka-san?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Answering her for perhaps the fifth time in an hour, Rin reassured Gray, who was wringing her hands after seeing Rin and her Servant in such a bad condition. Getting to the battlefield late a day after allying with them was something that Gray felt was unforgivable. The younger girl had fussed over Rin all the way until they reached the El-melloi groups base, and it had left Rin slightly irritated, though she was also grateful that someone was expressing concern over her condition, not that she would admit it to Gray's face.
"Ah, here's some tea."
Coming back from the kitchen, she placed a dainty porcelain cup filled with black, steaming hot tea on the table, the cup resting on a blue saucer with golden vine borders.
"Thank you."
Lifting the cup to her mouth, took a sip of the steaming hot concoction.
"Mmm."
It was pretty similar to her usual stuff she made herself, though she liked Archer's brew more. Well, it did help reenergize her by a bit.
The door leading to the living room creaked open, admitting in a tall, thin man with a drawn face and long, silky black hair. He was dressed in full formal wear, with a glaringly red tie juxtaposed against the rest of his black jacket, shirt, pants and gloves.
"Greetings Miss Tohsaka. I'm Professor El-Melloi, also known as Lord El-Melloi II of the Archibald family, the Lord in charge of the Department of Modern Magecraft of Theories, Norwich, at the Clock Tower of the Mage's Association."
He paused, then added.
"You can call me El-Melloi, but please remember to use the second when addressing me."
Rin was pleasantly surprised to find that it was him who was leading the mages faction investigation team in this war. She managed to set the cup down without dropping it, and recalled what she knew about him.
Lord El-Melloi II, true name Waver Velvet, was a participant in the past Fourth Holy Grail War, contending with her father for the ultimate prize. He had served as the Master of Rider, Alexander the Great. But he had been defeated in the end through unknown means, most likely by one of the few remaining Servants in the late stages of the War. The records compiled regarding the last War weren't very complete. Still, he had managed to survive, and ended up going back to the Clock Tower in London.
Her occupation as a magus necessitated her to acquire information about the Mage's Association, and the Clock Tower in particular. Hence, she had received a lot of news about the up and coming rising star of the Clock Tower from her contacts and liaison with the Clock Tower. El Melloi managed to turn the abandoned Modern Magecraft classroom into a talent generating machine that produced magi who attained the rank of "Brand" and "Pride without fail, the bottom two of the top three ranks for magi in the Clock Tower. The department flourished under his leadership, with flocks of new magi signing up for his class, creating a new generation of magi that was almost exclusively tutored by him. It was said that if he bothered to gather up all the magi he had taught, he would wield enough influence to challenge the three main factions in the Clock Tower just by himself.
Rin had set her eyes on him as a prime candidate for tutelage after she graduated, so she was pleasantly surprised to know he was her ally in this war. She had heard mostly good things about him, so he seemed quite reliable.
"I'm Tohsaka Rin, Second Owner of Fuyuki."
Compared to El-Melloi, her greeting was much shorter, with her simply inclining her head to him in acknowledgement.
"Is calling you Miss Tohsaka okay with you?"
"It's fine. More importantly, did Gray tell you about the appearance of Ruler?"
She pushed straight to the reason she was here, to discuss the new elements that had suddenly appeared in the War with him. While Gray was the Master, she wasn't the one who was in charge of the whole team. Rather, El-Melloi was the leader around here, and the other Lords had named him as so. It was unlikely the group would be able to function with someone else as the leader anyways.
"Yes, it seems we have a new player on the board."
He unfolded the chess board he had been carrying ever since he had entered the room and placed it on the center of the table between him and Rin. Ivory chess pieces appeared on the board, each piece unique and detailed, each piece scattered across the board. Rin could recognize seven of the pieces, but on the far end of the board facing the seven pieces, she could see two new pieces with designs that were somewhat foreign to her.
One piece looked like a holy woman holding a staff with her right hand, her left balancing a set of scales. A long billowing cloak trailed past her feet, a white gown covering her other piece was blackened, with chains wrapping around the piece, a long mane of hair falling front, obscuring its face. Leather bindings wrapped around its arms and chest, with a loincloth the only thing covering its modesty.
"As you can see, two new classes have been summoned into the War. One, the Ruler class, in charge of governing the Holy Grail War. The other, an ultra rare class that has only been summoned once before by the Einzberns, the Avenger class."
Rin nodded. She had made a point of studying the Holy Grail War, down to the very last detail, and while she couldn't exactly recall the most obscure things, the fact that Avenger was summoned by the Einzberns and the role of Ruler were things she remembered clearly like she had read it yesterday.
"So Ruler was most likely summoned in response to the appearance of Avenger. An extra class being summoned in the place of the regular Servant classes is already enough reason for Ruler to appear, which was only circumvented by the Einzberns with their knowledge of the system. With Avenger summoned after the seven classes already present, this only gave more cause for Ruler to appear."
El-Melloi agreed with her assessment. Ruler issuing a bounty on the Avenger-class Servant had all but given away the reason behind her summoning.
"Still, how do you plan on investigating the Greater Grail now? Ruler stated that she was going to carry out her own investigation, and banned any mages from entering the vicinity."
He replied immediately.
"We'll negotiate a deal with her. We can offer our support in her investigation in exchange for access. After all, our goals might not be perfectly aligned with each other, but some points certainly coincide."
Though they would certainly come into conflict with Ruler in the end, since her goal was to ensure a fair and impartial Holy Grail War, while the magus investigation team was there to check if the corruption was infesting the Holy Grail, and if there was then they would be in charge of stopping it and dismantling the entire system. If they confirmed the existence of the same substance that coated the knife in the Grail was well, Ruler could turn into their enemy. Taking apart the Holy Grail was very well the opposite of what she wanted, basically making the Holy Grail War continue in a fair manner, which required the Greater Grail to be intact.
But in the short term, they both wanted to kill Avenger and investigate the Greater Grail, so they could probably come to a short-term agreement based on that. They also had the option of sneaking in or defeating her with brute force, but if they were caught sneaking in, the consequences would be devastating, and he wasn't sure if even two Servants could stand up to her, especially with the Command Seals that Ruler wielded as a privilege of her class.
Rin nodded. She had come to the same conclusion herself earlier.
"Then let's find an opportunity to contact her and negotiate with her."
She had barely finished saying it when they heard a large crash in the courtyard just outside the front door. A spray of gravel scattered against the glass windows, clattering against it forcefully.
Gray pulled out Add in scythe form as Assassin materialized in front of her, sword drawn, while El-Melloi activated his Circuits, and Rin pulled out a few jewels out of her pockets, holding them between her fingers.
A second of silence passed.
*Kok*
"This is Ruler. May I come in?"
Speak of the devil. She had just rushed over after talking with Shirou, and arrived at the right moment for Rin and El-Melloi.
El-Melloi and Rin relaxed, while Assassin lowered her blade, though she remained materialized, and Gray leaned her scythe on the ground.
"Caules, is that Ruler?"
Caules checked the defense matrix cum detection system from his control center deep inside the manor.
"Yes, the signature seems to be that of Ruler. Also, the cameras are showing a woman in a bunny su-"
"I get it."
He waved a hand, and the door opened by itself.
Walking through the open portal, her bunny ears just barely fitting under the wooden door frame, was Ruler.
"Greetings, Master of Assassin and Master of Archer. I have come to secure your cooperation regarding the investigation of the Greater Grail."
The two of them looked at each other, blinked, then looked back at Ruler.