Ryuudou Temple.
The temple's new air was… the furthest from religious piety, an observation made as Shirou arrived at the party with Saber accompanying him.
Like all the other guests, he had a suit on. Or rather, he poorly tried to match his dad's usual outdoors clothes and managed to find some well-fitting dress pants and polished shoes. The tie had been a size too large, but thankfully he knew how to adjust it. The same could not be said for his dad's button-up or coat, the former of which he had to fold near his shoulder lest the sleeves extend past his fingers and the latter being so big, the shoulders hung loosely. Save for wearing probably one of Kiritsugu's older trench coats, he couldn't hide the amateur-trying-to-seem-professional look he got going on.
Still, the mask hid his identity well, even covering all the way to the back of his redhaired head, so he didn't need to worry about all this biting him back if he came across someone who knew him.
He sure as hell didn't recognize anyone as all the other formally-dressed partygoers had on their own mundane masks.
If Shirou could be perfectly honest, he didn't know what he was looking at. The building that had replaced the temple looked almost like a dated Sengoku-era castle modernized with traditional-esque graffiti, but the people entertaining themselves could be typed as the upper-business class elites that lived and worked in Miyama Town.
A hundred or so rich and important-looking guests milled about, chatting and drinking through flute glasses. Expensive wine and cigarettes carried around by waiters here and there, several tables dotting the once-tranquil yard of the shrine-turned-modern gathering hall?
Heck, the place seemed to have been expanded a bit. What used to be a natural forest on one side and a garden near the topmost torii gate had been paved and decorated to serve as the stage to a live formally-dressed group of musicians playing classical tunes. Opposite that, a large area had been deforested and similarly paved to serve as a parking lot and driveway with several expensive vehicles lined up on display.
That a new path for vehicles had been paved circling behind the mountain shrine just to lead up to the garage made it very clear that, no joke, the place of prayer had been transformed into someone's vacation home.
Shirou couldn't help grit his teeth as he sympathized more with Issei now. The boy's quiet home had been upturned into someone's party hall just like that.
"You're stalling, Master. Is this view bothering you that much?" Artoria's voice next to him snapped Shirou out of it. She'd forgone wearing armor or her dark-as-night under-armor dress when Shirou begged her to try and not stand out.
She settled, albeit frustratingly, on using a formal suit Shirou used to wear in the past. He didn't say he used it when he was in middle school. He was too scared to offend her with a comment on her size and stature, but then again, she made it look good. From a glance, she looked like a beautiful young man in a suit with the most aloof scowl around. The bun behind her head would give away the gender, but the air about her was so intimidating yet beautiful that one would find it difficult to mistake her for a child pretending to be an adult.
It still didn't change the fact that she looked like a small bodyguard standing next to her sloppy charge when he stood beside her, but with just a single look ala those piercing eyes, any bystander would be looking away from them entirely.
"I… I'd been to the shrine before… But it hardly looked like this. Rather… I don't feel like a shred of the shrine remains after looking at all of this…" Artoria didn't say anything back at first. She looked like she'd spit on the floor if asked for an opinion about it. Then again, her general hostile air was as subdued as best as Shirou could have her.
"Your instinct is correct. If this used to be a place of worship, it is now one of decadence." Artoria took one sweeping glance around, not once stopping to stare at the businessmen networking with their peers or the occasional eagle-eyed solo bystander giving them looks. She then took the lead into the devil's den, forcing Shirou to keep up two paces after her. "You'd best keep your wits about you, Master. The stench of snakes is rich atop this mountain."
"I don't think Ryuudou temple had that bad of an infestation before," Shirou whispered under his mask, though he doubted that actual reptiles were what Saber meant as he tried to keep a straight posture upon matching her speed. Awkward as it was to now be in the center of a formal party, the teen tried his best not to stand out.
Too many others were already doing that for him. He swore he walked past someone high-ranked from the police department earlier. The commemorative badges on his officer uniform were a dead giveaway. That and Shirou keenly recognized the mayor's voice as he drunkenly chatted with said officer.
'The masks were a courtesy,' The boy understood that much now. Those who were at this charity banquet were only here as a formality. He prayed he was only overthinking.
"I see you've arrived, milord's guests…" Sudden as a breeze, a very young girl slid into view before them.
Hands behind her back as she leaned in to inspect his mask from below, the first thing Shirou noted was the lack of a mask. The first and only person aside from Saber to not wear one. Thanks to that, Shirou could clearly see this person was hardly older than a high schooler. He couldn't tell if she was naturally about as tall as Saber given her choice of footwear was obscured by her long skirt, but the youthful glint in her eyes betrayed her age.
Secondly, she wore a very formal attire. Not the type you'd see on the average teen. It certainly would look particularly regal on someone at least twice her age, what with the detached sleeves over her expensive blouse and silky skirt. All of it tied up by an obi around her small waist made her seem like the youngest daughter of an influential traditional Japanese family.
Lastly, her face. Shirou didn't recognize it, but her face carried the same air a local celebrity would. Not in that she looked gorgeous. She did, but it was more the confident and polite camera-smile the green-eyed girl offered his way. The professional bow added to it when she greeted them once again in a low voice.
"I'm glad you could both make it to our charity, Sir Master and Lady Servant. But seeing as this isn't the place for pleasantries, please, follow me. The other pairs are this way." That she addressed Shirou and Saber a nod each as she identified their roles had the boy on edge. Looking over her shoulder, she added. "And as apologies for the late introduction, let me, Sumeragi Kaguya, CEO of Sumeragi Industries, answer to any of your needs, dear special guests."
Now that really had Shirou on edge.
'Sumeragi? As in… that Sumeragi? She… she's the CEO? This kid?'
His eyes were now frantically darting left and right under the mask. He still hadn't found Shinji, his friend having not arrived at the same time with him. Meaning he was alone with someone important, someone likely involved with the arbiter who extended the invitation. Or maybe that was just a cover and she was the arbiter herself.
Thinking it best not to say too much so as not to give anything away, Shirou tried to respond.
"N-no apologies necessary. I actually feel sorry to have arrived so late… We aren't late, are we?"
He could feel Saber's eye roll without looking, but Kaguya's disarming giggle had his full attention.
"Not at all, Sir Master. You are but the fourth pair to arrive, rest assured. Your colleagues are also waiting within the main building. Let me, the humble lady of this manor, be your guide."
She led them right into said main building without a moment's hesitation, merely standing in front of the double-glass doors flanked by sunglass-wearing guards in black suits. For a second, Shirou expected there to be something like an ID check or a review of their invites before the double-glass doors just automatically slid open for Kaguya.
This place was super high-tech. He'd seen high-tech doors in the mall. Those didn't compare to the ones he walked through with Saber as they opened and closed with a hiss in less than a second and without a hint of mechanical cranking in the walls. Inside the main hall, as soon as the doors shut behind them, the sounds of the party outside were cut off.
The cold silence accompanied by the echo of footsteps had Shirou swallowing hard.
The building felt larger from the inside, but maybe it was due to being more spacious. It wasn't empty, per se. A cursory glance around had Shirou catching sight of various art pieces and relic-looking objects. He wondered if the curator of the place was a collector of sorts. Off to one side, he saw small art pieces, paintings and historical-looking objects marked with various symbols and runes. Some markings were even etched on dried parchments-looking material pressed into framed glass displays.
To another, they looked to be sculptures made of metal and clay. Some of people, others of animals. There were even miniatures of some high-rises Shirou recognized as the newly built skyscrapers in Miyama town with a few more prospective displays of other buildings with a nameplate labelled 'future projects — Fuyuki town'. That was somewhat unsettling to look at.
Eyes moving to the next, he spotted one that looked relatively humanoid and made out of solid metal. However, it was cut in angular polygonal shapes and posed crouched, perhaps kneeling, that Shirou almost didn't see it as such. He only managed to when Saber paused to look up at the piece, her reflection bouncing off the surface of a gallant gigantic sword three times her height.
"…" What really caught Shirou's attention aside from the blade's reflection of his Servant's beautiful face was the scowl she wore as she stared at the piece's nameplate.
"Something wrong?"
"… Not at all, Master." The scowl vanished, the platinum blonde striding on after their guide who awaited before a large door. "We'd best hurry along."
Shirou took a glance at what seemingly bothered her before following after, one more look spared at the giant art block statue's title.
'A Knight Among Knights — Lancelot'