Hours had gone by, the sun was now peaking in the sky, and they had found absolutely nothing. Shirou had searched the Matou home, complete with a hole where the garden was, and found none of the bugs that had been there previously.
It made him tense. Wherever Zouken was, he'd most certainly not be letting this go. Attacking a workshop like this was more than likely to have grave consequences for not just the people responsible, but everyone they knew.
Magi could hold grudges, and they tended to pay back those who'd wronged them.
For now though, with Zouken still missing, Hazama had brought Shirou into a holding room. The Enforcer looked around the small room to see a camera in the corner, a red light buzzing as a sign of being recorded.
The room itself was nothing special. Painted white, with a table and two chairs in the middle of it. He himself was cuffed to a leg of the table. A one-way mirror on one side of the room, where he thought several people were watching him sit quietly.
How he'd ended up here was simple enough; since Hazama had listened to him, they'd gone and quarantined the area around the Matou mansion. A few JSDF personnel had looked around with him, and none of them found anything of note.
That led to the sensible thought that Shirou was just talking out of his ass, as some would say.
He couldn't really blame them, they were working with incomplete information - none of them had ever worked to fight and/or capture a rogue magus.
The door to the room opened, and Hazama came in with a severe look on his face, "What are you up to, Emiya?" There was no prelude, no build up. Unlike the other times when he was captured, be it intentionally or not, the interrogator would ask some probing questions, try to get a baseline for whether he was telling the truth or not.
Hazama just asked what he wanted to ask.
Apparently, Shirou voiced his confusion, as the other man rolled his eyes.
"We both know that your wacky magic bullshit could probably bust you out of here any time you wanted, so I'm doing the both of us a favor and not beating around the bush." He sat down on the empty chair in front of him.
Shirou shrugged, "I meant what I said that people will die. We're dealing with a magus that has no morals other than how anything he does would benefit himself."
"And what proof do you even have?" Hazama rubbed his forehead in frustration, "Because all we have is you blowing up three residential areas, a church, and the local temple."
"And what proof do you even have?" Shirou shot back the same response, feeling somewhat guilty. The man was correct, and that was the problem.
The Enforcer had blown up those areas to stop the leylines from powering the Matou defenses, something that was worth it in his opinion. But now that he'd failed to capture his target, what exactly had that accomplished?
Nothing.
Nothing but wanton panic in his hometown.
Hazama was silent for a moment, before breathing a sigh of frustration, "Look, Emiya, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way is you tell us exactly what's going on in that damn head of yours and we all go our separate ways. The hard way is that we hold you here till you do that."
The soldier leaned forward, "Sure, you could break out, but that just means that you're trying to hide something. If you were innocent, then you'd have nothing to hide."
Shirou sat, quietly analyzing the situation. On one hand, the JSDF were just doing their job. Hell, he was the reason why they were here in the first place. Telling them about Zouken would possibly allow them to help him in his search.
On the other hand, magi were dangerous, the Matou head much more than the norm since he's been alive for so long. Telling them might just put them in unnecessary danger.
Pros and cons.
The choice was taken away from him when the door opened once more. A familiar face walked in, one that Shirou hadn't seen in years.
"Get out of here, brat." Raiga Fujimura was positively ancient looking, but his eyes were as hard as he remembered.
"Wait one damn minute," Hazama stood up as he looked at the yakuza leader, "Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?!"
"Not someone you should be worrying about, boy." Raiga scoffed before throwing something to Shirou. The magus caught it. A key, presumably to the cuffs. With a shrug, he unlocked the cuffs while ignoring Hazama's protests.
Thankfully, the soldier didn't have a gun on him this time or it would've been more awkward than it already was.
Still paying no mind to the JSDF, they both walked out the door. Shirou could see several other personnel looking at him in frustration, while a couple of burly yakuza members stood close to them. Said members followed them as they passed.
When they finally left the building, a car was already waiting for them. He recognized it as one of the cars he'd used to fix up when he was younger. A quick analysis of the car showed that it now had some bulletproof glass.
The two of them went inside, while the bodyguards got on a pair of motorbikes he'd initially missed. From the inside of the car, Shirou could now look around without giving anything away. Hidden among the streets, more yakuza were hiding, though not enough to be completely hidden from view.
Completely hidden bodyguards would just make any would-be attackers to either think that nobody was guarding the target, or think that security was too good to even try.
With the amount that he could see, he was sure that anyone would underestimate the amount of people there. That would be a mistake - the ones that could be spotted were ones that were meant to be spotted. The actual protection detail would be nearly invisible at a cursory glance.
"Alright brat, tell me the details."
"Target is dangerous, and has been established in the city for well over two hundred years."
"How dangerous?"
"Enough that my old man wouldn't have taken the job."
"Location?"
"Unknown."
The old man sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Fuck's sake Emiya, you're killing me here."
"Sorry, but Zouken's too dangerous to let live right now."
"Zouken? As in, the Matou?"
"One and the same."
The yakuza head seemed to sit up straighter. There was a gleam in his eye that reminded the other man of some magi he'd met, magi who would have done anything to get their revenge. It was the first time he'd seen the look on Raiga's face, even after knowing the man for years.
"To the compound, fast as you can." He called out to the driver. Then, he turned back to Shirou, "Tell me everything." The car started to move, definitely faster than what was allowed. The magus nodded, and started talking.
He didn't have any reservations about telling Raiga about anything regarding magecraft, or at least, their target. He'd been head of the Fujimura for a long time now, and doubtlessly knew that something was going on in the city.
Moreover, the men that Raiga had knew the dangers of their job, how they could be killed at any moment. Those serving in the JSDF did not; they were a defense force first and foremost and weren't really expected to get into too many combat situations.
The yakuza lived and breathed conflict. They risked life and limb to do what they wanted every single day.
As he spoke, the look of Raiga's face grew more and more vicious. By the time he'd finished, the old man looked positively apocalyptic.
"Two fucking hundred years of eating people in my city?" The seething rage despite the quiet voice was sharp, and despite knowing that nothing Raiga could do would harm him, Shirou was still wary with just how angry he was.
"Boss, we're here." The driver thankfully called out as they rolled into the Fujimura compound. As they left the car, the driver gave Shirou a pitying nod, which he returned with a more resigned one.
The compound was busier than normal, or at least, from what he could remember. Maybe over fifty people were running around with various packages that they were carrying into trucks, while a dozen or so had a rifle clenched in their arms.
None of them looked particularly threatened by the guns. If anything, they seemed much more resolute as they carried the packages to their destination.
"Disaster relief packages, nothing illegal today." Raiga spoke, noticing where the younger man was looking, "Your stunt caused a lot of people to be displaced. The police aren't letting them go back to their homes till the structural integrity of the buildings can be verified."
Shirou grimaced in ever building guilt, to which the yakuza leader scoffed.
"They'll have to bear with it. A home can be replaced, a life can't. If the price of finding and killing that fucking worm is their house, then I'd gladly pay out of my own pocket." The vitriol that the older man was displaying was honestly more than a bit shocking at times.
When he was younger, the magus never really saw the old man be this angry about something. Sure, he was more than a little abrasive, but that seemed to be more of a family trait than anything - just look at Taiga. This, though? There was some history that he didn't know of.
He left it be, for now. Anything to finally kill Zouken.
A stray thought came and made itself known as they walked further in, "How did you manage to get me out of there? I didn't think you had any connections in the JSDF."
"I don't. Your friend came through for that."
He frowned, "My friend?"
They reached a pair of paper doors to the head's office, which Raiga opened with a bit more force than necessary. Sitting on one of the pillows, was another face he didn't think he'd see again in a while.
"Emiya."
"Wizard Marshal."
Zelretch sat, sipping tea as if nothing was wrong. That tripped all sorts of alarms. There was a reason why he hadn't expected the Kaleidoscope to be here.
"Zolgen's not in Fuyuki anymore."
"Zolgen?" Raiga frowned.
"Zouken's original name from when we first met." Zelretch explained, "Aside from the Heaven's Feel Ritual, he and I made a geas. So long as he stayed in this city, I would not be able to enter the premises."
Indeed, the reason why he hadn't been involved in the operation despite the Magician's insistence that the Matou be dealt with was exactly that. He couldn't enter Fuyuki so long as both parties abided by the deal.
That he was here suggested that either Zouken was dead, which was highly unlikely, or he'd moved somewhere else.
"Shit."
"The geas was broken less than a day ago, from what I can tell. I don't know the exact time, but that doesn't matter anymore." Zelretch put down his cup, now empty. The look on his face was the look of a true magus. Cold, calculating. His words moreso.
"Two hundred million."
"What?" Shirou was confused.
"Two hundred million pounds sterling for the assassination of Zolgen Makiri, otherwise known as Zouken Matou. That's the bounty I'm putting up." Zelretch was serious about it. And Shirou had no doubts he'd pay up, "Plus, I'll cover any collateral damage should they come up."
"Why do this?" Raiga was a bit more skeptical, not knowing just who he truly was talking to. Any other magus would be cowed by both the presence of the Ancestor, as well as the sheer amount he was willing to pay, "From what the brat here told me, you're part of the reason why he came to this place. Why have Matou killed now?"
Zelretch looked at him from the corner of his eye, before a grimace formed on his lips, "He was always destined to fail." He started, "Whether he'd reach the Heaven's Feel or not, he'd always die. Be it through Emiya, the Clock Tower, my apprentice, he'd be killed soon after he does anything.
"A lot of the time, he wouldn't even make it that far. He'd just die around the 2030's with nothing to show for. But in none of those timelines did he ever leave Fuyuki. In fact, I can only recall one time where he wasn't in Fuyuki at all, and that itself was a failed timeline that would never have happened.
"The issue now is that this World is now following that path." Zelretch stared at the both of them, "And that is something I cannot allow to happen. Any price so that this World continues on, I will gladly pay."
"...The two hundred, and another hundred to help the efforts here, and you'll have a deal."
Zelretch smirked, "Then, Senior Enforcer Emiya, by the power of the London Clock Tower and the Mage's Association, I hereby grant you the authority to use whatever means necessary to bring in the Sealing Designate. Collateral damage is irrelevant, acceptable losses are irrelevant. Zolgen will be brought to heel, one way or another."
"That's all well and good, but neither of you have any idea of where the fucker is." Raiga had sat down behind his desk, and had started drinking straight from a bottle he had pulled out from somewhere. He had evidently decided that whatever talk the two were having was too much for him.
The other two looked at each other, the younger with a raised eyebrow. They both knew that there was only one thing different from everything that was supposed to happen.
"The Anomaly?"
"Yes. You'll have to go through it alone. You're possibly the only magus that I currently have any amount of trust in, bar my own apprentice. The Clock Tower is still being…testy." Zelretch frowned in a rare show of frustration.
Shirou understood right there and then, that despite being over three thousand years old, he still retained some human characteristics. Such as being annoyed that some people couldn't understand that the secret was already out, and it would be better to just come out into the open.
Shirou'd probably get flayed by the Queen should she ever hear his thoughts there.
"To Ginza it is then."
"...In other news, there has been a noticeable uptick in missing persons cases over the past day or so. The JSDF and the police have assured us that they're currently looking into the matter, but that the situation in Ginza still takes priority. Anything to add to this, ma'am?"
"I'm of the belief that the JSDF should be doing more, not going around parading in Fuyuki doing…"
A/N: A bit shorter today, college exams are a bit of a pain right now. Maybe a bit rushed, but I wanted to get this bit over quickly - the more I read back on the previous chapters, the more I realized just how much I've been dragging this part on.
A/N2: This was written during my exams last week, which I thankfully passed. If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
Thanks to my newest patron as well: Weise.
As well as an extra special thanks to: jadrien pang. Your support really helps a lot. Thank you again.