Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 97!
How has been your FGO 7th Anniversary so far? Definetly a blast if the servers didn't went down while I was doing my rolls (Still got Arcueid, so I forgive you this time Lasengle). But you know who I don't forgive?
FFN. This mf chapter was all on the finishing touches and ready to be released on the planned scheduled of Thursday, even some hours earlier than expected. And what happens then? The site goes down for two whole days! (clap clap clap) Oh boy, I swear that I would've lost my fucking mind if all of this chapter's writing would have been erased during the site's maintenance. So yeah, thank you FFN for making this chapter be released on a Sunday instead!
Now have this chapter while I go back to farming, because if there is any best period to grind and farm in gacha games, it's definelty in the anniversary. And also good luck to everyone pulling for Funny Vamp in the remaining days of the banner!
With that said, let's start it!
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author
The metalic sound of the footsteps echoed as the knight watched his king climb a stone made staircase next to the castle's wall, the leaves and branches of the autumn tree hanging over them as the roots were glued to the wall.
The knight observed how radiantly his king moved up the stairs at the sound of the stepping greaves. The golden crown adorning her head and the blue cape majestically dandling to the pace of the breeze. Across this entire piece of land in the middle of the sea, there was no other ruler that could be as just, noble and unplifting than the king in the knight's eyes. The leader he would indisputably follow everywhere until the end. For this humble man, there was no higher honor in all of Albion than to serve his king. The duty of his life as a loyal knight.
The king in return gazed at her trustworthy retainer who's company was almost indispensable for her, viewing the knight as an extension of herself. The sunlight shinned in a way that her face was almost impossible to see. A smile curled in the king's lips as she extended her hand torwards the knight and...
"Hmm..?"
Waking up, Lucius found himself back to the busy marketplace he was currently in. Lots of people walking back and forth while others would try to sell food and other trivial items under their tents, watchful to any possible burglars trying to ruin business. The knight of the silver steel arm was on a more disoccupied part of the market, sitting on a wodden box.
"Hello? Is anybody inside there?"
Lucius heard a voice speaking extremely close to him, moving his head to see a young man standing right in front of him.
"Don't tell me you were daydreaming till this point. That's kinda unpolite, don't ya think?" The young man said, a bit letdown with Lucius attitude, altough he quickly recovered from it with a positive smile. "Well, not that you missed much really! I also ain't that much worth remembering!" The young man scratched the back of his head with that self-depreciating comment. He had a simple short dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a simple light-blue chest plate over his orange skintight shirt, with the addition of an yellow hood. His arms had two orange bracers and his legs wore simple white pants with two equally orange long boots and black shoes. The young man wore a black skirt around his waist, accompanied by a wider and larger brown leather skirt with belts and pockets. He looked like an enthusiastic and lively young fellow.
"Not at all!" Lucius apologized immediatly for his unmannerly lack of attention to the young man. "I heard what you said. Just got a bit distracted for a moment. Sorry about that."
"Eh, it's fine! With everything happening here, it's kinda easy for your mind to go over another place while someone's talking to you." The young man replied, not taking badly Lucius minor diversion from the conversation. "Loud and crowded spaces aren't exactly the best to held a chatter."
"I agree very much on that." Lucius said before reminding of what they were exactly discussing about. "Looking back at it, you might have told me your name, but you haven't told me why exactly you want to speak with me. Don't think I didn't noticed I was being followed by you throughout the town for quite a while." The knight pointed out, having been aware that the young man he was speaking with has been quietly following him since the very start he stepped into this place.
"That's a sharp intuition that you got there. Aye, you got me. I was indeed following you." The young man admitted, not even seeing the point in lying as he complimented Lucius perception to his own surroundings. "But don't think it's for a bad and harmful reason that I was doing that. It's that I never saw your face around here when I do my visits, so naturally I got curious." He explained to him, taking a closer look. "I mean, that outfit armour you're wearing resembles those knights from the city. It's even strange how I don't see any royal guards around you."
"That's because despite the appearence, I am not one of those knights you speak of." Lucius clarified. "I am not linked with them."
"Oh? Oh oh? Then you're telling me you have no affiliation and are completely on your own?" The young man said with some intrigue, taking a small admiration on Lucius. "Guess by the looks I can already tell. You must be a big shot unlike me!"
"Gibberish." Lucius sighed with an humble smile, waving his hand as a way to tell the young man to not think of him that highly. "We've only just met. How can you be so sure in that statement?"
The young man chuckled a bit, pointing at his own eyes. "These eyes would never deceive me! Talking from loads of experience!"
"Hmm, if you say so." Lucius replied before moving to another topic. "There's a reason why I choosed to have this talk with you instead of starting a fight the moment I grasped your presence. I want to ask you something." The knight was direct in his intention.
"Sure! Ask me whatever you want and need to know!" The young man replied, the crowd of people walking behind them as the two's chat continued.
"About the Holy City. How exactly can I enter it?" Lucius asked without hesitation, going straight for the point.
"Enter as in...invading?" The young man asked back, seeing if that's what Lucius meant.
"You can suppose that, yes." Lucius confirmed it.
"Okay! You can ask me everything except that! I don't know how!" The young man stated, a bit bewildered at the fact Lucius wanted to sneak his way into the Holy City.
"But I presume there is a way to enter, no?" Lucius insisted on the young man to give him a different answer.
"Sure! If it's a city of course there will be gates and an entry! But I don't know that much of the Holy City in order to know if there's some secret passageway that you can use to invade." The young man replied, scratching his head. "All that I do know is that people who want to enter the Holy City and become its citizens do this thing called...Holy Selection or something?...I guess it was along those lines. As far as I'm aware of, that's the only way that you can enter the city." He revealed to Lucius.
"Any indication at where and when that Holy Selection takes place?" Lucius made another question, wanting to know more about it.
"If I recall correctly...it happens during the night. The hours exactly? I'm not sure." The young man lifted up his head, looking to the late afternoon sky. "But I'd say you're lucky that you won't have to wait that much for the night to arrive. As for the location of where that happens, I'm sorry to inform you, but you'll have to ask someone else for that."
Having got satisfied with the piece of information he received, Lucius got up from the wodden box. "No problem. This bazaar is full of people. I'm sure one of them will tell me the location where that Holy Selection takes place. And thank you for having told me those details. Take care." He told to the young man, about to leave now that their conversation had seemingly ended.
However, he stopped Lucius from walking away just yet. "W-Wait a moment please!"
"What is it?" Lucius took a halt, staring back at the young man.
"Look, as an Heroic Spirit, there's a group of other servants that defy the Lion King up in the mountains where I'm part of." The young man said, being actually a servant, revealed to the knight of the silver steel arm. "If you want to invade the Holy City on another way, how about you joi-"
"Not interested, sorry." Lucius told him, shifting his gaze away. "I want to be inside the Holy City as soon as possible. It's an urgency."
"Hm? Really? What could it be so? Don't tell me..." The young man begun to ponder inside his own mind. "Do you have any sort of unfinished business there?"
"..." Lucius preferred not to respond, ignoring that question, taking a brief look at his own prosthetic silver arm, Airgetlám "I should be going. See you around."
Looking at the knight walking away, the servant also wished him goodbye. "Good luck on entering the Holy City! Hope you get the things you want in there! And if you need any help or assistance, don't hesitate looking out for me and my group!" He said, watching Lucius step into the crowd of merchants and walkers before dissapearing in the middle of it. The young man, now alone, couldn't help but smile at the intricacy hovering around Lucius being. "I'm sure we'll meet again another time."
"Magical Fuel...Mana Batteries...Water and Food Supply...all seems to be in check, Da Vinci!" Peko inspected the chaldeans buggey car as they had stationed the vehicle at the entry plaza of the town, having made it as the final stop before heading torwards the Holy City, now being only five kilometers away from their current location.
"The wheels pressure are also on a stabilized level and the surface sustains no damage." Da Vinci replied back, also checking on the car alongside the boy, standing on the other side of the vehicle. "All in all, we've done a good maintenance job with this beauty!"
"We surely did!" Peko smiled at the italian inventor before his hand felt he had touched something metallic in the middle of the fuel deposit. "Eh?" Staring at the opening and to the inside, the boy seemed to have noticed a hidden mechanism in the middle of all the other pieces of the car. "Is that...some sort of weapon?"
"Nothing left to check on your part, Peko?" Da Vinci asked him, snapping Peko out of his thoughts.
"U-Uhm? Y-Yeah! All in great conditions!" Peko replied, closing the car's fuel tank, quickly forgetting about what he had saw.
A bit more ahead, Ritsuka, Mash, Nala and Fou were all taking at the surroundings that the plaza had. From the two and even three-story stone buildings of middle-eastern architecture. The main roads were broad, full of people wandering in them while the secondary roads were slightly narrow, with some alleys and shortcuts in the middle of buildings, interconnecting every area of the town. It also had palm trees and exoctic bushes, many of them put in vases and paved ground. Altough not as big as the Holy City that they had saw in the distance before, or Ozymandias glorious egyptian capital of his kingdom, this town was still a center of mankind, full of life.
"Uff! Even at the end of the day, the temperature still is insufferable." Nala let out a breath as she was still feeling the hot weather of the sun, despite no longer being midday nor the team being in the desert anymore.
"Fou..." Fou rested his tired body on top of the girl's body, waving his own tail in order to refresh himself by creating a small breeze.
"Guess the temperature must be the same in this entire Singularity." Ritsuka replied, still looking at the square they were in. "But it surprises me to see a fully populated town in the middle of a wasteland. The fact that there's also some vegetitation here is quite amazing!"
"A bastion of humanity placed among a region full of dryness and destruction." Mash commented. "An huge contrast to what we saw outside in the Singularity's original territory thus far. It's a bit inspiring knowing that some small towns like this one still managed to prevail."
"Are you done with the verifications?" A muslim merchant asked to Da Vinci, approaching her and Peko as he led a small group of people.
"Yes. We verified everything." Da Vinci replied back. "Thanks for offering us your protection Mr...ehmm-"
"Saruhan." The muslim merchant revealed his own name to her.
"Right. Thank you for lending us your protection as we stroll through the town, Mr. Saruhan!" Da Vinci said, she and the party having been approached by Saruhan and his group the moment they had stopped the vehicle in front of the town's entry gates."
"Oh, please. The pleasure is all ours! Me and my guild love to help well-off merchants from afar from being robbed. It's important to have bodyguards in a place full of pickpocketers like this." Saruhan sounded happy and well-disposed individual in general. "From this point of view, this is clearly a very favorable business to both of us!"
"Yeah. Sure thing." Da Vinci replied, the muslim merchant's attitude kinda rubbing her in the wrong way. "Speaking of which, about the payment-"
"Ah, don't worry about that aspect for now, beautiful lady!" Saruhan interrupted her, giving Da Vinci a presumptuous smile. "First, we shall assure your safety as we escort your group through the streets. You can pay us after that."
The italian inventor accepted that suggestion. "Okay. That sounds fine by me."
"Just to say that we are expecting you to do your job as professionals." Peko told to Saruhan and the other members of his guild, standing next to Da Vinci.
"But of course we will, young man! The efficiency of our work was never once questioned, so rest easy!" Saruhan replied with both hands up and a bit of a nervous smile. "Which by the way, where are we heading here?"
"Maybe the marketplace of this town. It could have some interesting things for sale." Da Vinci expressed their destination within the town.
"That's a good idea. Getting a bit more resources is never a bad thing." Peko agreed with the italian inventor.
"Right then! To the bazaar it is!" Saruhan clapped his hands together. "And about that 'car?' of yours, my men will handle to find a nice spot to-"
"Thanks, but that won't be needed!" Da Vinci told to the muslim merchant, taking a small device out of her pocket. "I already have a method to guard the vehicle." Pressing a button from the device, the car started to shake a bit before its parts begun to contort and fold, making the vehicle turn into a neat small cube that Da Vinci picked it up and stored in another pocket of hers. "Pretty simple!" She giggled, having shown the results of the device she created.
"Ya 'iilhi!" Saruhan exclaimed in pure surprise just like the rest of his men. "That must be some advanced type of sorcery!"
"So, gonna go?" Peko asked to the muslim merchant and the other members of his guild, taking them out from their bewildered state.
"Hum! S-Sure! The market is through here!" Saruhan replied, beggining to walk up front pf everyone. "Follow us and don't get lost!" He told to the chaldeans as they did so, the other members of the guild positioning themselves around the party as they entered the main street of the town, leaving the plaza.
Walking down the road, every person made way to Saruhan and the chaldeans without the muslim marchant having to say a word, the street getting clear and open for them.
"Everyone here seems to have level of respect for you." Mash noticed, looking how easily Saruhan made the crowd move away from their path.
"That's because my guild has a very high recognition. Everyone knows who we are in this town." Saruhan explained, smilling pridefully. "We are basically the most wealthiest people in this town! You won't find any one more influential than us in here!"
Nala gave a glance to the crowd. For someone who speaked of themselves rather highly, the people would stare at Saruhan and his men with faces of nervousism and apprehension. "They look like to fear this guy more than admire him if anything..."
"If it's okay, can I ask how exactly did this town survived parishing away in the middle of such dry land and inadequate life for a human to prosper?" Mash made a question to the muslim merchant, wanting to know how was it possible the existence of an inhabited urban area in a zone where there was no signs of vegetation or humans.
"Anything our dear clients wish!" Saruhan replied, accepting to answer the Shielder's question. "The truth is, way back in the beggining when all of the territory around bygone Jerusalem became a wasteland, this town had also collapsed into ruins and was abandoned. What really saved this place was it's relative geographical proximity with what is now the Holy City."
"This town got saved from absolute ruin because of the Holy City then?" Ritsuka asked to Saruhan.
"Yes. Firstly, since it was closed to the now deceased Holy Land, this town was never fully abandoned as it was frequently occupied by the crusaders who used it as their base during the conquest and subsequently after the conquest was done as well. It served as a customs area for merchants and refugees that wished to enter the Holy Land for a short period. The rebuilding process during this was slow. But then, he came." Saruhan's voice got slightly serious on that last part.
"The Lion King?" Peko replied, deducing the ruler to be the 'he' the muslim merchant was referring too.
"Yes. And fastly with his knights, the Lion King managed to destroy the entire army of crusaders and replace Jerusalem with his Holy City." Saruhan said.
"Of that part we knew it already." Da Vinci told him. "Tell us on how exactly the Lion King had influence on this town.
"Of course beautiful lady! Sorry for not thinking people like you would be well informed about that by now!" Saruhan apologized in a servile way. "Many of the merchants that had deals and contracts with the crusaders at the time tried to help them, only to be decimated by the Lion King as well. That would end up stagnating the things a bit in the town. However, the Lion King is an attencious monarch I have to say. Some days after the creation of the Holy City, he sent knights and resources to here, helping us rebuilding the town back to its original state in a matter of a single day! We couldn't help but to be grateful to the Lion King!"
"And that's it? He didn't want anything in return after helping on the town's reconstruction?" Ritsuka asked.
"Oh, there was indeed. The Lion King sent us a deal after the town had finished being rebuilt. He and his kingdom could guarantee us safety and resources to keep things around here alive and the town in exchange would simply need to just distribute refugees every three days to the main gates of the Holy City in order to partake in a thing called The Holy Selection." Saruhan explained the aftermath of the town's reconstruction and the relations held between the town and the Lion King's kingdom.
"The Holy Selection? What is that?" Da Vinci asked to the muslim merchant.
"I don't have much of an idea. Some sort of acceptance ritual I suppose. Or maybe a tribute? Eitherway, I've heard its through the Holy Selection that the refugees become citizens of the Holy City and are allowed to enter, sheltering themselves from this end of the world scenario. Curiously, speaking of that, another Holy Selection's will take place today at night." Saruhan revealed to the chaldeans, looking at the people on the street. "That's why you are seeing loads of people here now. Many of them are refugees that take a final stop here before heading to the Holy City's main gate to participate in the event."
"So that's how someone enters the Holy City..." Mash murmured.
Saruhan was still capable to hear her. "Hm? You guys plan to become citizens of the Holy City? Eh, good luck waiting in line and among the thousand of tents stationed at the gates then!" He said with an annoying smile. "I doubt the Holy Selection as special treatment for you to pass, hahahaha!"
"Heh, tha'd be too much good to be true..." Ritsuka cackled a bit shyly before staring to Da Vinci by his side. "Psst! Da Vinci. You seriously don't believe this guy to be a good person, do you?" He asked her, keeping his voice down.
"Not even drunk." Da Vinci replied, having the same opinion on Saruhan. "And he isn't exactly doing a great job at sounding like someone trustworthy."
"Yeah. There's clearly something fishy about him and his guild." Ritsuka replied, having the sensation to be careful even if Saruhan and his men where doing their duty as chaldeans 'bodyguards'.
"Does the little miss need something?" One of Saruhan's men asked politely to Nala, acting all nice and gently with the girl, which in return just bothered her.
"Yeah. Can you cary my purse for me?" Nala replied, not even looking at the man.
"Really? That would be an ho-"
"I'm lying. I don't have a purse. Sorry about that." Nala told him with an annoyed expression, verbally hitting the man down. As she casually moved her head to the side, watching the products displayed on the market tents, there was something that ended up catching her attention. "HM!" Immediatly heading to one of the tents to the right side of the street, the abrupt and quick way Nala made it ended up catching the rest from surprise.
"U-Uh? Nala! Where you going?" Peko asked to his sister, heading to where she was. "You want something?"
"Mhm! I sure want it!" Nala nodded, grabbing one of the items of the tent and showing it to her brother: a small wodden figure of a lion.
"That's...what you want?" Peko said, not expecting that Nala would take some interest in a mini wodden sculpture of an animal.
"What? You don't like it?" Nala asked him.
"Well, I kinda think its..." Peko tried to find the better word to describe it.
"Hphm! You meanie! I was thinking about giving this to you as a gift!" Nala huffed with a dissapointed face to Peko, sharing her motive for wanting the wodden lion figure.
"WHA-?! For me?! As a gift!?" Peko said in shock, starting to fumble in his words. "I-I-It's a great g-gift! I-I'm surely I'll like it!" He quickly changed his opinion about it.
"You never saw me saying bad stuff about your gifts to me, did you?" Nala said, still upset.
"Humm, I think no- Wait...since when do I give gifts to you?" Peko asked, never remembering giving one to his sister.
"See? You are even a more terrible brother for not giving me any!" Nala exclaimed, even more dissapointed in Peko.
The boy on the other hand tried to defend for himself. "H-Hey! Don't try and make me feel guilty about this all of a sudden!"
Mash approached the two, seeing the lion figure Nala wanted to buy. "It's kinda cute. Whoever did it had some great skills in doing so."
Ritsuka also went nearby the tent alongside Da Vinci, accompanied by Saruhan and his men. "Even for a simple toy, I think I also like it. You should accept the gift Peko. That way, you can start your collection of wodden animal figures!"
"Like if I had time to do that!" Peko exclaimed, doing a comedic angry face.
"There's no bad in buying it." Da Vinci commented, checking on the small lion figure. "Fou could also need a friend."
"Fou? (Don't I get to give my opinion on it then?)"
"But you know what the best part is?" Saruhan speaked, stepping to the front of the tent. "With me, you can get that for free!"
"Great! I knew you had to have some usefulness somewhere." Nala said happily, causing Saruhan's smile to crack a bit for a second.
"Yes! I have lots of merchants here I'm in good terms with." Keeping up his smile, the muslim merchant sneakly showed the blade of his hidden sword to the other merchant, giving him a menacing look. "Isn't that right?"
Threatened, the owner of the tent quickly nodded his head, laughing a bit nervously. "E-Exactly! Saruhan is a very good friend of mine, so if you are friends of him, you also get to have these for free!"
"Neat! Thanks for the offer!" Nala told to the owner before giving the wodden lion figure to Peko. "Here you have it!"
Peko accepted the gift, not having much chance to refuse it. "I'm sure it must have its charm..."
"And what about you?" Saruhan, asked to Ritsuka, Mash and Da Vinci. "You seem like you also want to get some items from here."
"Eh? Me? I don't want nothing in particular really." Mash told to the muslim merchant, denying the offer.
"Me neither. I'm good." Da Vinci also responded, not having taken particular interest in the items of this tent.
"And what about you young man?" Saruhan looked at Ritsuka, being the only one who was still indecisive.
"I..." Not knowing what to chose as he gave a quick look at all the items disposible, Ritsuka decided to pick one randomly. "I want that over there!"
Saruhan looked to where Ritsuka pointed only to then give the master of humanity a weirded look. "You want a slice of bread?"
"Yep!" Ritsuka confirmed it.
"Of all the things you could choose, you pick that one?" Nala told him, deadpanned.
"I think there's no wrong if you chose having something with a little more value, master." Mash said, clearly seeing Ritsuka didn't want to look bad by wanting a more expensive thing.
"You're right Mash." Ritsuka told her before going back on his decision. "I want to have two slices of bread instead!" He exclaimed, dumbfounding everyone.
"Holy- are you really that modest!?" Saruhan said in absolute bafflement. He ended up giving a smile however. "But I have to say, that's impressive from your part though." He told to Ritsuka before telling the other merchant to handle him two slices of bread.
Done with it, all of them stepped out of the tent, back into the middle of the street.
"Now we can eat along the way!" Ritsuka said happily.
"I suppose that's a nice way to view it." Da Vinci found it a tad sweet Ritsuka's made-up justification for wanting the two slices of bread.
"Guess you really think ahead of the curve just like that!" Peko laughed a bit.
Da Vinci then looked at Saruhan. "By the way, how much more until we reach the marketplace?"
Saruhan smiled slyly as he heard that before disguising it with a friendly smile. "We're almost there. I know a shortcut that will get us way faster! We'll show you where it is!"
Travessing an alley, the chaldeans were now going down some stairs alongside Saruhan and his guild, expecting to be reaching the marketplace by the end of it.
"For a shortcut, it's taking quite some time." Nala said, starting to doubt of Saruhan's decision to bring them here.
"Are we almost there?" Ritsuka asked to the muslim merchant.
"Yes. It's just at the end of these stairs. You'll see." Saruhan told to Ritsuka before going back to face the path ahead, already smirking mischievously. "Too bad that you won't reach it!" He had led the chaldeans to the perfect place for the crime to be committed. Now that there were no one around, he and his guild would take the chance to kill them. However, before he could grab his sword and give signal to his men, he saw two people going up the stairs in front of them.
A muslim woman and her young son. The two seemed poor, walking up the stairs quietly.
Saruhan paid them no mind. "Whatever. Once they pass by us and go away we will kill these fools here."
The moment the group and the duo passed by one another, Ritsuka and the young boy looked briefly at each other. But before Ritsuka could look away, the young boy stretched his arm and grabbed a slice of bread from Ritsuka's hand out of nowhere, shocking the master of humanity.
"What the-" Dumbfounded, Ritsuka was still pushed away by the young muslim boy who started to run away with the slice of bread.
"Rushd!" The mother of the boy yelledd, being as baffled as everyone else, not expecting her son to have done that.
"He stole Ritsuka!" Peko exclaimed, seeing the other boy trying to flee.
But he didn't go much further as one of Saruhan men tackled the burglar boy into the wall, causing him to fall on the ground.
"You little shit!"
"How you dare stealing from our clients?!"
"You brat!"
Quickly, the rest of Saruhan's goons surrounded the boy and begun to kick his body as punishment, with the boy having no way to defend himself.
"Stop that! Rushd didn't do it out of evil! He's just hungry!" The poor mother of the boy tried to run to his son's aid, but was forcefully stopped by Saruhan.
"Silence woman!" He shouted, pushing the muslim woman from the stairs.
And of course neither Ritsuka nor the rest of the party was okay with that.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?! It's just a slice of bread, man!" Ritsuka scolded Saruhan, not understanding why he and his men were being so violent to a boy and his mother.
"You don't get it! Petty thiefs and burglars are a pest in this town! More so the younger ones! Little bastards always trying to steal our honest and hard-earned money! A nuisance for merchants like us who want to keep the business stable!"
"Okay! And that still gives you the right of kicking a child to near death?!" Da Vinci argued back, disgusted by the actions of Saruhan's guild.
Doing a hand gesture, Saruhan instructed for his men to stop kicking the boy. "But we won't kill him. See?"
"You big sack of pile of shit..." Nala hissed with anger, seeing the hateful muslim merchant approach the beaten boy.
"We are just going to teach him some manners. That's all." Saruhan said before spatting on the muslim boy and grabbing him by the wrist. "You filthy scum!"
"Nghn..!" The boy tried to escape from Saruhan's grip, being way too strong to be able to.
"You and the harlot of your mother must be new here for you to have the boldness of trying to steal MY customers in front of ME!" Saruhan said loudly and with rage. "Delinquents like you can't just be left around scot free. You have to get some real punishment." Speaking coldly, Saruhan took out a shinny and sharp dagger from his pocket. "So that hand can never practice another stealing again!"
Seeing and hearing what's about to happen alarmed the entirety of the chaldeans.
"He's about to chop his hand off as punishment?!" Mash exclaimed, utterly shocked.
"Please! Don't do that, I beg you!" The mother begged at the bottom of the stairs, crying while bleeding from her head. "Leave my son out of it! Do any of the punishments you want to do on me instead!"
Having watched enough of it, Peko was about to summon his sword and confront Saruhan. "That's it-"
"Enough!"
A silver steel arm appeared all of a sudden, grabbing Saruhan's wrist, stopping him from using the dagger to cut off the boy's hand.
"Nngh!?" Saruhan looked at the man that stopped him, the grasp being way stronger and tighter than the one he was doing on the boy's wrist. "W-Who the hell are you?" Frightened, he looked up to the man who had grabbed his hand.
Seeing that arm, Ritsuka immediatly saw who the man that came to the muslim boy's rescue was. "That's..."
"So this was what the commotion was all about. Glad to have decided to investigate." Lucius said, standing above Saruhan on the stairs.
"Lucius-san!" Mash shouted.
"And by the looks of it, I've made it in time." Lucius speaked, staring at the chaldeans with a smile. "We meet again, people of Chaldea."
"As if it has been that long since the last time we saw each other." Nala replied to the knight, smilling back at him. "But still, you couldn't have appeared at a better hour!"
"Ggh! O-Oi! Your hand is hurting me! Let me go this instant!" Saruhan struggled to get free from Lucius grip.
"If you're a man with honor, then let the boy go and I'll let you go in return. That way, nobody gets hurt." Lucius told him, only releasing Saruhan if he released the boy.
Being too stubborn and arrogant to make Lucius request, the muslim merchant instead tried to get help from his clients. "Hey! You there! Help get this man off me!"
"No. You're on your own." Da Vinci told him. "We don't want to be associated with the likes of you."
"You talk about him stealing but you yourself ain't no better if not worse!" Peko accused Saruhan of his hypocrisy. "You were setting us up for a trap, weren't you?"
"That's why we are not going to help you. Do it yourself!" Mash added.
"Tsk!" Irritated that the chaldeans were able to see his intentions through, there was only now one option left for Saruhan: his men. "Kill them!" He ordered to his guild.
As one of the men tried to approach Lucius to attack him, the knight quickly bashed Saruhan's body into him, making the muslim merchant drop the boy from his hand. Shortly after, using the great strenght of Airgetlám, Lucius took balance and threw Saruhan far away from the stairs.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Yelling, the charlatan merchant flew into the middle of the marketplace, crashing onto a lot of tents, causing a huge ruckus and drawing everyone else's attention.
"BOSS!"
His men quickly runned into the marketplace, right to the spot where their leader had landed.
The chaldeans and Lucius shortly followed, getting to the area as well.
"Hm. In a way, he did guide us to the bazaar." Da Vinci said.
With the help of his lackeys, Saruhan got back on his feet, his nose now broken as well as other damages on his face.
"Is the boss alright?"
One of the men asked him.
As Saruhan passed his tongue on his teeth, one of them ended up falling from his mouth. This angered him on a whole new level. "YOU DAMN FOREIGNERS ARE GONNA PAY FOR THIS!" Whistling, the muslim merchant called for reinforcements. In seconds, the center of the destoyed marketplace got filled with arriving bandits, all showing up to support Saruhan and fight against the chaldeans.
Ritsuka sighed in reaction to the situation. "What is this? A movie?"
"Here's your son, miss." Mash handed the muslim boy to her mother before joining the rest of the party. "I spot thirty enemies ahead! Engaging in combat mode!"
"Now these are gonna be people I'll enjoy knocking down!" Nala summoned her sword, ready for the fight.
"It wasn't my intention to have destroyed all these tents. I caused more damage than I wanted to." Lucius lamented a bit.
"You can apologize that for later! Now we have more important matters at hand!" Peko replied to Lucius, getting his sword ready.
With the two sides prepared, the fight begun with a lot of people watching on the sidelines. There was no need to say that the chaldeans and Lucius absolutely demolished Saruhan and his guild, knocking out all of the bandits, altough non leathelly. Saruhan had spent the entirety of the short fight shouting and hiding himself behind his own men. So when the last one was down, he had nowhere to run.
Ritsuka took the chance to charge at him, casting a spell on his arm, strengthening it. "Look here!" He called Saruhan's attention.
"Huh?" As he moved his head to look at Ritsuka, Saruhan took a jab right in the left check, throwing him to the ground. "Blargh!"
In that moment, the whole crowd cheered and applaused Ritsuka and the rest of the party, joyous that they ended up being the winners.
"Looks like Saruhan not being liked was a common sentiment around here." Da Vinci commented, looking to the people's smiles.
"Let's hope they don't have to put up with him anymore." Lucius added.
"Amazing Ritsuka! That punch you just gave him was that of a finisher!" Peko went torwards his friend, congratulating him for the way he knocked out Saruhain.
"Yeah! You sent him to the hospital with that one!" Nala also said to Ritsuka.
"Training a lot as of recently, master? Where did you learn that?" Mash asked him, curious.
"Three hours per day and a lot of video montage!" Ritsuka answered to the two questions.
"N..nghng...bwah!" Painfully getting up from the ground, everyone faced Saruhan as he tried to speak with his face mouth beaten up. "F...Fwiends..! T-Theshe pewople...a-attacked meh..! P-poor Sh-..Sharuhan...Pwease, I n-need yu..."
"Get lost!"
One of the citizens exclaimed, throwing a stone torwards Saruhan, hitting him in the shoulder.
"?!"
"Yeah! We ain't your friends!"
"You and your gang would intimidate and steal us! Off with you!"
"Right! Out of our sight, Saruhan!"
"You pig!"
"Scoundrel!"
"Lying thief!"
As the entire crowd had turned against the merchant and begun to throw stones at him, Saruhan runned away in a hurry, trying to dodge from the stones thrown at him.
"Y-YOU'LL PAY..! EACH ONE OF YOU!" He cried out, escaping from the raging mob of the marketplace, swearing to have his vengeance one day.
"And that, is the last we will gonna see of him." Nala said, putting both hands on her hips.
"Phew! Wasn't expecting to become the town's hero the first moment we stepped in here." Ritsuka commented.
"And we got to make all of this people happy." Mash said, liking to see the joy in people's faces now that Saruhan was gone. "I know it isn't the same as resolving a Singularity, but I like to think that's the reaction the inhabitants of the previous ones got once we cleared them."
"Hey."
Being called, the party turned around to look at the muslim woman and her son.
"Thank you for having saved and protected my child." The mother thanked them. "How can I repay you?"
"Here's the food everyone!" Da Vinci brought a basket full of rice cookies who where stored in the car, heading to some banches were the party was sitting, making company to the woman and her son.
They had moved to a smaller square around the town, the day being now on its twilight phase as the sun had nearly dissapeared behind the horizon by now and the night was about to arrive at any minute now.
"Thanks Da Vinci!" Ritsuka said, grabbing the basket from her hands and taking out one of the rice cookies and tasting it. "Hmm! It tastes great!" He liked it.
"Are they good?" Mash asked, approaching Ritsuka as he offered her a rice cookie for the shielder to bite. "So crunchy and delicious..." She commented, having enjoyed it as well.
"I also would like to have a taste of it!" Peko told Ritsuka, approaching him with Nala.
"Give us one too!" Nala added.
"Okay okay. Just take it easy. There's enough for everyone." Ritsuka said as he lowered the basket a bit for the twins to take rice cookies for themselves, experimenting its flavor.
"Hm! Not bad at all." Peko said.
"We might need starting having these on the cafeteria." Nala commented.
Fou also took a bite, liking it. "Fou fou!"
The muslim boy watched them eating, standing some distance away from them. His face looking sad and dead at the same time, wanting to eat a rice cookie as well but not having the courage enough to ask them. Overall, he looked to have no desire in speaking with the chaldeans.
Noticing the reluctant and closed expression of the boy, Ritsuka walked torwards the boy and offered him a rice cookie. "You also want one, right?"
"Hm?" Looking up, the muslim boy didn't said anything, only slightly surprised that Ritsuka went to talk with him.
"We got this basket of food for you and your mother after all." Peko also speaked friendly to the other boy. "You can eat as many cookies as you want!"
"..." The muslim boy just gave an empty glance at Peko before looking to the ground, still not saying anything. It was easy to say he was introverted.
"Gonna keep up with that serious and cold posture forever? If you don't want it, it's your lose then!" Nala told him, trying to break the muslim boy's reserved and quiet attitude.
"Hey! There is no need to speak with him like that!" Peko told his sister. "It's okay if he doesn't want to talk."
"All that I'm saying is that we are offering you food. You prefer stealing and running away for some instead?" Nala said to the muslim boy. "You can take and eat it! No one's fooling you or gonna beat you for that!"
Being pressured by Nala's words, the boy's shell cracked a bit as he picked up a rice cookie and took a bite, devouring it in seconds. "T-Thank you..." The muslim boy immediatly grabbed took out other two rice cookies from the basket, eating with huge appetite, killing his hunger. "Thank you so much!" He got a bit emotional while eating, glad that he could enjoy this food normally, without getting in trouble.
"It's pretty good, isn't it?" Ritsuka smiled to the muslim boy.
"See? It wasn't that hard now, was it?" Nala smiled warmly, having given the push the boy needed.
"You were also pretty agile when you tried to steal from my friend back there." Peko speaked to him. "What was your name by the way? Rushd, isn't it?"
The muslim boy nodded, deciding to be a bit more social with Peko and the rest despite not smilling yet. "Yeah. That's my name..."
Sitting on a bench, the muslim woman saw her son speaking with them while Mash, Da Vinci and Lucius stood next to her. "My son typically isn't someone to take an act of kindness from others. This is the first time I also see people being nice to him. Thank you for having given him food."
"No trouble miss! But we also have some for you!" Da Vinci replied, giving the woman an apple for her to eat. "Here. Take it."
The woman kindly accepted. "It's a great thing that even at the end of this apocalyptic world, there's still nice people like you."
"We couldn't have just let Saruhan hurt your son." Mash told the woman. "You two seem to have suffered a lot already."
"We came all the way from a far village, wishing to escape this desolated region by seeking refuge within the Holy City." The muslim woman explained to the shielder.
"You plan to become citizens of it by taking the Holy Selection?" Lucius asked to the woman.
"Yes. I want Rushd to grow and be raised properly in a place where he doesn't have to rob others to survive. Where he can see trees grow and animals roaming, far away from all this death and danger. My son needs to have a long and prosperous future, which is what the Holy City is said to offer." The woman told him.
"Why exactly go to the Holy City? Why not stay here and live in this town?" Mash asked her, thinking that with Saruhan and his guild gone, this town wouldn't be a terrible place for them to live in.
"I believe it has to due with possible external threats from the wasteland making the town subject to attacks." Da Vinci pondered.
"You're right. Altough this urban area may seem lively and prosperous, it has to be on lookout for any possible attacks from creatures or enemies of the Lion King during all nights. Take the Blight for exemple." The muslim woman explained. "If it managed to get its way into the town..."
"It would spread quickly, prompting the Lion King to burn down the town and kill all of you just to be sure it wouldn't infect further." Lucius concluded the hypothetical scenario.
"That's why many of the inhabitants here are only refugees who proceed to leave and travel quickly to the Holy City's main gate once the night of the Holy Selection is nigh. There, protection from the Blight is guaranteed." The woman told them, getting up from the bench. "That's why me and Rush should be heading there right now before we miss the event."
"Then don't worry about that no longer! We can give you and your son a quick ride there as we also plan to enter the Holy City!" Da Vinci offered to help the woman her child to reach the Holy City's entrance.
"So you are thinking about entering the Holy City too?" Lucius asked the italian inventor, getting to know where the chaldeans would be going.
"Yes. We want to go there for a reason." Mash told the knight. "You were also heading there, Lucius-san?"
"I was." The knight admitted.
"Grande! That way, we can all take a ride together to the Holy City's entrance! It will be a bit tight inside the car with all of us tho..." Da Vinci murmured, staring to the side. "Also, can we get to know th reason why are you heading there?" She asked to Lucius, wanting to see if an answer for that would lead to a clue of his true identity.
"Maybe the same as yours." Lucius answered, smartly dodging the question.
"Okay. Congratulations on that one." Da Vinci replied, not seeing that answer coming.
Before the conversation could continue, the hologram of doctor Romani appeared. "Hi everyone! How's the tour on the town has been so far?"
"Hi there doc! Enjoyed the break?" Ritsuka greeted Romani.
"A talking ghost?" Rushd said in bewilderment, looking at the hologram.
"More or less so. It would be a bit hard explaining to you." Peko told him, knowing that Rushd wouldn't be able to understand no matter how simple they explained to him.
"So, what happened while I was gone?" Romani asked to the group.
"Quite a handful of things, doctor." Mash told him, proceeding to tell him of their experience on the town.
A minute or two later and with everything shared to Romani, the doctor crossed his arm and closed his eyes, looking dissapointed. "I seriously can't believe it that you guys decided to have a guy like Saruhan guiding you through the town instead of me! ME! Who could, you know, easily scanned the map area of the town!"
"In my defense, it was Da Vinci's idea." Ritsuka told to Romani.
"No it wasn't!" Da Vinci replied, defending herself.
"But you accepted having him and his men escort us." Nala told her.
"Because he was annoying and wouldn't stop insisting and you know it!" Da Vinci justified. "That didn't meant I believed him!"
"And I expected so much more from you, Leonardo..." Romani shook his head in shame.
"As if you ever caught me sleeping with my head on the keyboard unlike someone else!" Da Vinci shouted at Romani.
"Please guys. Let's keep it down. What matters is that everything turned around okay and the townsfolk got happier out of this." Peko said, calming the group in order to avoid an argument.
"Exactly. We ended up helping the people in some way." Mash agreed. "Now we should focus on heading to the Holy City."
Romani composed himself with that. "Right. Professionality." He then stared to Lucius. "So this is the knight you guys told me about. Lucius isn't it? You do have the chivalrous look indeed."
"Thank you. And I believe you to be their leader." Lucius replied. "If so, then I think they're in good hands."
"Hehehe, oh please. I know my job is hardly appreciated but there's also no need for that much compliment." Romani smiled dorkly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Are you a sort of angel?" The muslim woman asked him, mesmerized by Romani's hologramic presence.
"No. Altough I'm also a very powerful and benevolent being." Romani responded cheekily.
"That's enough Roman." Da Vinci pulled down Romani back to Earth. "How about you analyze the entry of the area we're about to go to?"
"Oh, silly Leonardo. If only you knew I was already starting to do that." Romani told her. "And as me and the staff here begin to look for any details, you should be getting into the car and head there."
But before they could do that, there was something Peko wanted to do first. "Ritsuka. Can I talk with you for a bit?" Peko grabbed his friend, indicating he wanted to speak alone with him.
"Sure thing! What is it Peko?" Ritsuka asked as the two went to a more isolated area of the square.
"As you know, Mash is dying. And there is nothing we can do to save her from that as of now." Peko said sadly, mentioning their friend's condition.
"I know..." Ritsuka responded with sorrow as well, but confused to why Peko would bring that up out of nowhere.
"That's why I want to make sure that until that doesn't happen, we should spend every moment with Mash laughing with joy from here on." Peko said, taking out an item from his pocket and showing it to Ritsuka. "So that she can never forget them."
"Is that a ball?" Ritsuka asked, seeing a sphere the size of a tennis ball in Peko's hand.
"A toy people play with by kicking with their feet. I heard its like some type of sport. And I want all of us to play it. You, me, Nala, Mash. Even Rushd. I thought it could be something fun." Peko said with honesty. "I know it isn't exactly the best time to be doing this but-"
"I'm sure Mash will like it." Ritsuka interrupted Peko, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We can get some time to play it."
Peko couldn't help but smile hearing that. "Thanks Ritsuka! I knew you would get it!" Lowering his head, Peko rubbed the back of it. "And still speaking about Mash...There's something I've been thinking on lately."
"Which is?" Ritsuka asked to his friend.
"What if we used one of the Holy Frails to make a wish in order to expand Mash's life? It could do that, couldn't it?" Peko shared the idea with him.
Ritsuka gasped as soon as he heard that. "That's a great idea, Peko! We could save Mash that way!" He said, aware of the grail's powers.
"Despite being a good suggestion, I'm afraid it isn't that simple." Da Vinci speaked, having listened to the two's conversation from behind. "While holy grails do realize wishes, the wishmaker needs to have a clear plan and path in order to make that wish realizable."
"What do you mean by that?" Peko looked at Da Vinci.
"Also, eavesdropping now?" Ritsuka said, never thinking Da Vinci would be a person to listen other's conversations in secret.
"If I participate in the chat, it ain't exactly eavesdropping by my own definition." Da Vinci made an excuse. "But back to what you were talking about, using the grail's powers to expand Mash's life, I'm afraid that wouldn't work. People may say the grail has incredible power, but is by no means omnipotent. It has its rules and limitations on what wishes can and cannot be granted."
"You're telling us the grail can't expand Mash's life?" Ritsuka asked.
"If you don't know exactly how to achieve it, then no. It isn't just grab the grail and say 'I wish for this or that to happen'. You need to have a clear idea and plan on how to get the wish you want." Da Vinci explained the mechanics and usage of the Holy Grail to both of them. "And does any of you have an idea on how Mash's life could be expanded besides making a wish to the grail?"
"...No." Peko replied, not knowing how.
"And that's the problem. If you don't know how, so doesn't the grail. But even if you had a plan to make Mash's life expansion achievable, the grails we've gathered across the Singularities have lower mana energy than a lesser grail, meaning that their only purpose is to be used as batteries and signals for Solomon to come up to us once we reunite all seven of them. The grails we have simply cannot grant wishes." Da Vinci explained the other aspect on why they wouldn't be able to expand Mash's life if they tried using a Holy Grail.
"Then...Mash will still die." Peko said, dsicouraged by the reality of the grail's capabilities by Da Vinci.
"But there has to be a way..." Ritsuka murmured, looking to the ground. "It must have!" Staring to the friend on his side, he tried to cheer Peko up. "We're still gonna find a way! Don't lose hope on that!"
"I know." Peko said, lifting up his head to smile at Ritsuka. "I am also with that feeling too." He took a step to the front, looking to the overall square and twilight sky. "I can't help but think, being all this time with you helped me shape in a lot of things." Peko confessed, putting a hand close to his own heart. "When I saw how brutaly that knight killed those refugees back there in the wasteland, it terrified me. And having to bury the corpses is still a thing fresh in my mind that I don't know if I'll ever forget for as long as I live. If it was old me, I'd probably cry and tremble in fear, imploring to go back home. But now, after every hardship we've been through, I couldn't help but think: 'It will be fine. We'll get to turn things around.' And I owe that way of thinking to you."
Ritsuka walked up torwards his friend, now standing by his side. "I'd say you yourself did that, Peko. You decided to not cower or run away when confronted with difficulties, surpassing them instead." The master of humanity said, giving him a smile. "As long as you fight for a better outcome, the challenges and horrors you face get more beareble."
"Perhaps. But I think I wouldn't been able to grasp that if it wasn't for someone pushing me at the beggining." Peko replied, looking back at Ritsuka, being that someone. "I than you a lot, Ritsuka." He said to him with all the sincerity he could before looking at Da Vinci. "Also, humm, Da Vinci. Is there any problem if I-"
"Not at all. The night is only now beggining. You can all play with the ball for some minutes before we go to the Holy City." Da Vinci gave permission to Peko to play ball with the others.
"Thank you, Da Vinci-san!" Peko laughed cheerfully before heading back to the center of the square.
"Jeez!" That kid makes me feel like a mother." Da Vinci smiled tiredly, putting her fingers on her forhead. "You all do."
"He surely has grown during all of this." Ritsuka replied, proud of seeing Peko's evolution.
"You would be surprised with how many time he spends in my workshop after the end of your previous Singularity. I think Tesla had some influence into that part of him." Da Vinci said, thinking on how the other genius and inventor had a hand in Peko's development. "But I'd say that maybe for Peko, his biggest inspiration so far has been you, Fujimaru."
"You think that?" Ritsuka asked, sounding at peace with himself.
"There's no denying it and you know that." Da Vinci told him. "And he surely wasn't the only one to have grown."
"What's that in your hands?" Nala asked, seeing what Peko had in his hand.
"A ball?" Rushd said, also taking a look at it.
"You know what it is, don't you Rushd? Have you played before?" Peko asked enthusiastically to the other boy.
"Y-Yeah...You pass it around to others by kicking it with your legs." Rushd said, remembering the game.
"Then can you show us how it's done?" Peko gave him the ball, to which Rushd nodded and grabbed it.
Dropping it from his hands, the muslim boy begun to give it some kicks on the ball, having a good control of it, never letting go away from his foot or touch the ground. Rushd was able to give consecutive touches, impressing Peko and Nala.
"Amazing! You're good at this!" Peko said, bewildered with the boy's skills.
"Do you have glue on your foot or something?" Nala was also amazed by it.
"You're doing well son!" Rushd's mom cheered for him on the bench.
The muslim boy was enjoying it. So much that he was finally able to smile. "To you now, Peko!" Rushd controlled the ball with the chest before passing it over to Peko, caughting the other boy off guard.
"W-What-Hey!" Reacting a bit late, Peko tried to receive and control the ball nicely, ending up doing three clumsy touches on it before sloppily passing to Nala. "H-Here!"
"Wha?!" Nala also received the ball all clunky, trying her best to control the ball before actually managing to do that. "Oh! I'm doing it!" She said in surprise of herself, stars shinning in her eyes. "This is actually cool!"
"It is!" Rushd chuckled, liking to see Nala play. "Pass it to me now!"
Giving it a few more touches, the girl passed the ball to him. "Here you have it!"
"Nice!" Rushd exclaimed, receiving with his head before controlling the ball with his feet.
The trio begun to pass the ball to each other, Nala and Rushd doing it better than Peko. Despite that, they were all having fun.
"How beautiful." Mash said to herself, liking the image of the three kids playing with each other.
Lucius also gave a little smile as he watched them play. Things like this warmed his heart. He then looked up to the sky, seeing that the day had gone completely to the night now. "..." That was the signal for him.
"Does the group has another slot for one more?" Ritsuka asked as he approached the trio, Da Vinci watching nearby.
"Fou fou!"
"R-Ritsuka!" Peko tried to receive well a pass to him, ending up failing and kicking the ball torwards Ritsuka.
"Hm!" Receiving it, Ritsuka touched the ball once before passing it to Nala. "It's yours Nala!" He said, entering the game.
Nala controlled the ball. "Thanks!" She touched a couple of times before passing it over to Rushd.
"May I join as well?" Mash asked, approaching the four of them.
"!" Nala's enjoyment suddenly took a fall.
"Of course! Get in as well Mash!" Peko told her, being the person he wanted the most to join them. He wanted this to be a moment Mash would hold dear in her heart before death could take her.
"Let's see what you got!" Rushd said, proceeding to pass the ball to Mash.
"O-Oh!" Not expecting to receive the ball already, Mash attempted to give it some touches. Only a few seconds in and she was already liking it. "Hehe. Alright!" Mash giggled, lifting her head and deciding to pass the ball to Nala. "Back to you, Nala!"
And as the ball went torwards the girl, she didn't react, instead, letting the ball hit the ground, killing the whole enjoyment and flow they were having with the game. "..."
"Something's wrong? You missed the ball." Rushd asked to Nala, some of the hair covering her eyes while she looked serious all of a sudden.
"Nothing really." Nala responded, rubbing a bit of her neck as she gave a quick glance to the muddled Mash. "I just got a bit tired of playing it. That's all." She said, walking away from the group.
Mash once again couldn't help but feel that she was the cause for the girl's reaction. "Nala..." Holding herself from trying to speak with her friend, the shielder just resigned herself into staring sadly to the ground.
"..." Seeing the reaction on his servant's face, Ritsuka couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Peko on the other hand got reasonably upset, walking torwards his sister and grabbing her by the hand, proceeding to talk privately with Nala. "What the hell was that?! Was there any need to kill the mood the way you did?" He rscolded her, furious that Nala ruined what would be a good moment between the group.
"So that it can all hurt more at the end?" Nala gave Peko a rude glare, taking her hand out of his grip. "Don't tell me how I should feel about others." She told him, looking away from her brother.
Peko wanted to give her a scolding but hold himself, feeling that wasn't what they needed now, cooling his head. "Fine then..."
"I'm not understanding. They all seemed so happy. Is there a problem?" Rushd's mother questioned, not understanding why the joy dissapeared all of a sudden within the chaldeans.
"No! Just time for us to head to the Holy City! We don't want to miss the Holy Selection after all, do we?" Da Vinci said, intervening to save the situation.
"Oh! You're absolutely right! It's night already!" The muslim woman exclaimed.
"I'll be preparing the vehicle!" Da Vinci said before looking at Ritsuka. "Fujimaru, warn the others that we're leaving!"
"Understood!" Ritsuka responded before staring to Mash. "Go and help Da Vinci with the car, Mash. I'll tell Peko and Nala to reagroup."
"Yes, master..." Mash responded, still feeling saddened by the outcome of their game.
Removing the cube from the pocket and putting it in the ground, Da Vinci made the vehicle go back to its original form, the exit of the town being right on the next street. "Alright, and what about you Luci-..." Da Vinci turned around to ask if Lucius wanted to take a ride with them since he also wanted to go to the Holy City's main gate, only to see the knight was no longer there, having walked away.
"More space in the car I guess." Da Vinci murmured. "But what eactly do you pretend doing there?"
Walking in the middle of the crowd, Lucius was on his way to the exit, his mind only focusing on arriving to the Holy City.
"The people of Chaldea are good and trusty. I could definetly have no problems by siding with them." Lucius closed the hand of his silver steel arm into a fist. "However, this is a journey I must complete alone. I have to redeem myself from that crime. For the sake of my kin-"
Not paying attention, Lucius ended up bumping shoulders with a person walking on the opposite direction to where he was going. It was only a small second. But within that short time frame, the knight noticed the individual he had bumped into was wearing what looked to be a yellow rain coat, covering his body except for the face. It was a young man. One with blonde hair. Lucius couldn't believe it the moment he stared at him, his eyes widenning.
In the next second, the knight stumbled and fell to his knees on the ground, baffled by the person he judged to have seen. The resemblance he saw in that young man was scary. "Are you-"
But turning around, he saw that the young man in the yellow rain coat had dissapeared amongst the crowd, nowhere to be seen, leaving a perplexed Lucius behind. The knight got back up, wondering what if he had seen was just product of his imagination.
"Was that...but how?"
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 97!
Chapter of the final stop before going to the Holy City. And this Camelot has a town of refugees and merchants some miles outside the Holy City since I thought an addition to it would be essential and nice to the world building of this fic's version of the Sixth Singularity.
Also, a chapter giving some focus to NPC?! Whaaaaaaat? Like, everyone that has played FGO and also seen the duology movies of Camelot must remember of our good friend Saruhan as well as Rushd. I think it kinda fit for Saruhan to have been some kind on minor/exclusive antagonist of this chapter lol. But I warn you! That won't be the end of him! No no no, Saruhan shall appear again! You see, this chapter was merely an introduction for the buildup of this Camelot's true antagonist, Grand Avenger, Saruhan! (If I was smoking crack that is) But yeah, I like it when the game does give some screentime to some NPC like they did in all Lostbelts and now on the two final Singularities. It gives the idea that it isn't only Chaldea and the servants that are in there, normal people are there too.
That's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 98! Peace!
P.S:
Nala: Oh! Hi Tomoe! Where you going?
Tomoe Gozen: Hi Nala! Master called me up to do part of some daily farming today! I'll be going to the control room now!
Nala: Kay! Have fun! (As Tomoe Gozen walks away, Nala sees the door to her bedroom slightly open and decides to enter just out of curiosity)
Nala: Hmm, her room looks nice. Hm? (Looks at Tomoe Gozen's futuristic and expensive gamer set in front of her)
Nala (excitedly): Oh! This migh't ve been an understatement! This room rocks! (Hops on the gamer chair and opens Tomoe Gozen PC, seeing all the games available) Hmmm, I think she won't mid if I just play for an hour or two.
An almost full day later
Tomoe Gozen (Arrives from the daily farming, exhausted): Aaah, that surely was tedious. It felt so repetitive. (Enters her room) But playing games surely isn't! (Opens up her PC, ready to spent the night gaming) Now, just sit back and enjo-...eh?
Tomeo Gozen: WHY AM I BANNED FROM ALL THE ONLINE GAMES?!