82: A Teaching Moment

Jeanne continues to hold her banner aloft, the shimmering barrier protecting us from further shots - but they don't come. Berserk Archer makes no attempt to follow up on her Noble Phantasm.

"Did she run away, or is she waiting to take another shot?" I mutter.

"Watcher-" Merry gives another small shudder. "Watcher says that Berserk Archer withdrew after firing the attack."

"...Is that so?" Professor Velvet mutters, eyes narrowed. "I'm beginning to connect the dots, I suppose."

Jeanne deactivates her Noble Phantasm. "...Zhuge Liang, correct? What exactly have you figured out?"

"Lord El-Melloi II. Or Professor Waver Velvet, I guess - by the modern day I've apparently handed off my Lordship. Regardless, Kongming has chosen to take the backseat in our manifestation." The Professor says, lighting yet another cigar. "...That dragon isn't Fafnir. I'm convinced that dragon is not the dwarf-turned-dragon spoken of in the Volsunga Saga."

…What? "What do you mean by that, Professor?" I ask.

"His tactics are wrong. Sure, hit-and-run tactics might be the instinct of dragons, but Fafnir is not a dragon. He is a dwarf that became a dragon. At his root, the true Fafnir is a member of a people famous for short legs and stubbornness." He scowls. "If he only received the wound that made him change tactics yesterday, he shouldn't be this good at it yet. The ability to judge the split-second window between the invocation of Siegfried's Noble Phantasm and the beam actually being fired, and to retreat in that exact window of opportunity without any hesitation getting in the way - that's the type of ability honed over hundreds of battles. A sloppy retreat against the likes of Siegfried of Lancelot is a death sentence."

There's something about this scenario. An unsettling discontinuity, combined with a creeping feeling of familiarity that makes me want to puke.

His wings were healed. His hands weren't. He arrived with a sonic boom, but his retreat was noiseless. And the timing - there's something about the timing. The first time, Fafnir was content to pour fire down from above for an almost comical amount of time - but since then, have I seen him show up for more than thirty seconds at a time? More importantly, Lancelot fought him. Have I seen a single one of Dark Jeanne's servants side with him since he was injured?

The Berserk Archer, whose name I don't know - but Mash said she was already fighting against Lancelot. And he evacuated Martha, that one time.

…Did he evacuate her? I never saw her after that, did I? Did anyone even mention her after that? Dark Jeanne went to the trouble of summoning a second Berserk Rider and everything.

Sigurd and Siegfried are different Heroic Spirits. Each is a dragon slayer, because there are two Fafnirs. Or are there more? Fafnir became a dragon due to his greed. Because his greed was the greatest in the world. I saw it in the first loop, how even stripped of his status as the Evil Dragon, the dwarf named Fafnir rapidly began to transform once more.

But that curse, the [Evil Dragon Phenomenon] - would it always cling to him? What if someone greedier came along? I summoned Roy Alphard in the very first loop. Would I really be so lucky that the summoning of archbishops was limited to me?

It can't be Regulus. He was even less likely to use hit-and-run tactics than the dwarf named Fafnir.

(Prelati knew about [Return by Death] before we formed our contract.)

But what about his predecessor?

(Prelati confronted me in a meadow, offering a picnic - or was it a tea party?)

The Witch of Greed was an almost all-knowing genius. A stubborn dwarf couldn't learn perfect hit-and-run tactics in a single day, but what about her?

(Prelati offered a deal - eternal suffering, death loops without end, in exchange for a perfect victory.)

-No, it's impossible. There's no way that woman would settle for being a background character, after all. Not to play second fiddle to someone with such a similar plan to hers, especially if it meant losing the data of what happened in my missing loops.

That's the difference between the two, after all. For Echidna, suffering was a means to an end, a way of acquiring the knowledge she loved above all other things. For Prelati, the suffering was the point.

I don't doubt that even if I had accepted his offer - even if I had given into my worst excesses of self-sacrifice and transformed my history into a hell that the King of Demon Gods couldn't bear to look at - it would have amounted to nothing. There's another way to win, or Prelati is lying about the enemy's susceptibility to horror. The final sadistic punchline at the end of that path would be something along those lines, that all of it was meaningless and I should have refused from the start.

So it isn't Echidna. The howdunnit might be right, but the whydunnit is wrong, so I'll discard her as the culprit. But there's another possibility. One more potential whodunnit on the very edge of my awareness, exiled to the realm of deliberate ignorance. I don't want to confront it. I don't want to think about it and so-

Mash lets out a small grunt as she sits up, and I let the thought slip away from me. All my focus is on her, the pain and sorrow in her eyes, mirroring the regret in my own - and words tumble out of our mouths with no regard for anything else.

"Senpai, I-!" She shouts.

"Mash, I-!" I shout.

"Because I was too weak-!" "Because I didn't trust you-!"

"Even though I said I could protect everyone, even though I have this shield-!"

"Even though I promised not to use [Cor Leonis] again, over and over, I kept doubting you-!"

"Why wouldn't you doubt me! I can't do anything! I don't know anything! All I have is this shield, this shield which can't even-!"

"You can! You can block anything! You blocked Excalibur! The problem is me, because I kept undermining you! If you had confidence, that shield could block anything, because-!" I stop myself. I almost said something unforgivable.

"Because what!? Mordred said the same thing, but I don't know! Please! Please, Senpai… do you…?" She trails off, staring at her shield, still lodged in the ground there.

A hideous dilemma unfolds in front of me. I need to trust Mash. If I don't trust Mash, she can't possibly have confidence in herself.

But if I tell her, she'll lose herself again. The blending between the two, that I saw last loop - it will happen again, and at the very end, the only one standing in the room with me, was-

Can I trust Mash Kyrielight? Knowing everything, knowing the cost, knowing how dangerous that knowledge is to her, can I truly trust her to know whose shield that is?

"-If it's just that, then I've already figured it out." Professor Velvet says, and we both whip our heads towards him. He can't know! With what clues!? Just Lancelot-? "Good grief, smart kids with bad habits are always the most troublesome. That shield… is [Lord Chaldeas], the unbreakable shield of Mash Kyrielight. That's all there is to it, so stop overthinking it. Whether Subaru is sharing the burden or not - if it's active, what the hell does it matter? You'll block everything anyway, worry about that when the shield isn't active. Just let instinct take over, and for fuck's sake, block now!"

Her eyes widen, and she moves without a second thought, the shield coming down in front of us just as a blast of cursed fire arrives. "[Lord Chaldeas]!"

"Tch, just a bit too slow." Dark Jeanne says, strolling down the deserted road towards us. In flickers of motion, Vlad III, Saint Martha, and Edmond Dantes appear next to her. She pauses to look at the third. "Hey, where the hell is Berserk Assassin? Didn't I tell you to get everyone except Gilles, Avenger?"

"Hmph. Haven't I already said that that woman disgusts me, my so-called master?" The Count scoffs. "And of course, that isn't the question an Avenger would ask. An Avenger never forgets, so remember, Dragon Witch. Berserk Saber and True Berserker have fallen. Berserk Assassin, Berserk Caster, and the second Berserk Assassin are not present. You summoned nine servants, so why are only three present? You must remember, my Master, if you are to become a true Avenger."

"Who the hell do you think you are, a math teacher? Just break that girl's shield so we can kill them, Count!" Dark Jeanne rolls her eyes. "Don't make me use a command spell."

"...A disappointment as always, my so-called Master." Berserk Avenger mutters, stalking towards us, and leaping into the air. "[Enfer Château d'If!]"

Cursed fire begins to rain upon Mash's wall once more, and her breath starts to quicken-

"Easy, Kyrielight. Calm down. Don't think about anything. No, actually, you should think about something else entirely. This attack is trivial, so just ignore it." Professor Velvet says, turning his back to the wall to begin rummaging through the wreckage of our wagon.

"Kuhaha! Just how long do you think you can keep this up!? You already-" The Count of Monte Cristo calls out mockingly.

"Bahahaha! That's what his laugh sounds like!? What a buffoon! Who does he think he is, a Team Rocket member!?" The Professor shouts over him, finally hauling out the shattered front seat from the wreckage. There's a glow of magecraft, and its shape alters - a chair!? He just wanted a chair!? "You're doing great, Mash. Well, that's to be expected, though."

"Lord El-Melloi, I don't think-!" Mash starts to cry.

"What have I told you about thinking!?" The Professor roars a cliche villain line without a hint of irony. "And like I said, it's El-Melloi II. But you should call me Professor, I think."

"Professor, you can't just-" I mumble. "I mean, her arms are shaking already-!"

"That's just nerves. She hasn't even broken a sweat yet." He counters. "Mash, tell me, what's your favorite novel?"

"U-um, I love the Sherlock Holmes series, professor!" The Shielder says in response to the non-sequitur.

"You know, I'm something of a detective myself." He replies, stroking his chin.

"That's… from the old Spider-man movies?" Mash says.

"O-old!?" He coughs a few times.

"Seriously Professor, what is the plan here!?" I shout. I feel like my brain is about to break from his sheer nonchalance in this situation.

"Hm… Stall until Berserk Avenger runs out of mana, or something." He mumbles, pulling out a sheet of paper and starting the construction of a Fulu talisman. "Back to the subject of Fafnir-"

"Do you really think he'll just keep attacking until he's out of mana!?" Wouldn't he have to be an idiot to do that? Besides, he's powered by the grail, right-?

"Kuhahaha! I admire your hope, girl! But no matter how long you wait, no salvation is coming!" Berserk Avenger laughs, forming another dozen after images to launch useless fire against [Lord Chaldeas]. He really isn't slowing down, huh?

"Well, Berserkers will go berserk, after all." The Professor says.

"Professor, I'm… really… getting tired now-!" Mash shouts.

"Alright, I'll make it better - hey, Subaru, go ahead and use that ability of yours now."

"What!?" Mash and I both cry, staring at him-

"Eyes front, Kyrielight!" He roars. "He won't get hurt! You get that, right? Just how long has your shield held back this chucklehead!?"

"T-two minutes, Professor!" She says.

"And are you hurt at all?" He asks calmly.

"N-no… sir." She says through heavy breaths.

"Exactly. Now, use it, Subaru. Didn't I tell you that Kongming's skills won't let me make a tactical blunder here? Trust your servant."

"...[Cor Leonis]." I say, and slowly, I begin to take Mash's tiredness upon myself. Panic begins to rise, but-

"Look at him, Mash." Professor Velvet says, and hesitantly, she looks back at me. "He isn't hurt. Your shield is unbreakable, after all."

Finally, the panic resides, and the only burden left in our bond is a steadily growing physical exhaustion.

"It's working… Professor, it's working!" I say.

"Of course it is. Mash Kyrielight is Chaldea's ace Servant, after all." He says with a small chuckle. "But don't expect this to be the last time. This is something you'll have to practice when you return to Chaldea. Bad mental habits don't just disappear, you know."

…Bad mental habits, huh?

Speaking of which… should I end it here? Take this result and run? Mordred is gone. I don't want to accept that result. But then what? I'm still no closer to figuring out Fafnir, no closer to finding a counter for Lancelot that isn't the intervention of a third party. This interaction… will it go this well next time? Can I truly advance, if I die here?

The rain of fire outside the wall finally comes to an end.

"Good job, Mash." Professor Velvet says, extinguishing his cigar. An uncharacteristic grin streches across his face. "...Now, watch carefully, Master. I will achieve victory in the next three moves."

A/N:

Waver continues to be the strongest servant in this loop by defeating INTERPERSONAL DRAMA.