Expectedly, a lot of the guests in the hotel were either businessmen and women, presently in the city for work, or couples both young and old. This much became apparent at a cursory glance at the seating area when I arrived at the breakfast buffet a couple of hours after my slight nap.
Past the safety it provided me against other magi, most of this was of no concern to me.
I was more than happy to grab two pieces of toast, fried eggs and some bacon, with some coffee to wash it all down, and float over to an unoccupied corner of the hall right next to a window. The silence was welcome, and most guests that came after probably felt too awkward to join me... though, my morning was not without surprise as I had hoped it would be.
Halfway through my coffee, I noticed a familiar person enter the hall, all neat and tidy in her suit with squeaky clean boots that likely would have made some noise against the floor if not for the maroon carpet all over. She looked around curiously, possibly measuring escape routes and such like I had.
That was what I thought, until her gaze landed on a young couple gaily feeding each other.
Her lips seemed to quiver in an awkwardly cute manner not befitting someone with her beauty. Her shoulders slumped and she dispiritedly resumed her scan of the vicinity.
Perhaps I was reading too much into her actions, or being strung along with my knowledge of anime and manga in general, but... no, it couldn't be right?
Our eyes met. Hers seemed to shine as a thin smile crossed her lips. Before I could pretend I hadn't seen her, Bazett's cheeks grew tinted.
"Ah, she knows." I pursed my lips, hiding them behind my palm with a cough.
She'd figured out I knew why she'd become so woeful. Then, in a display of true courage, the grown woman flew to the buffet table. I averted my gaze fully at that point. Right the next moment, Bazett was taking a seat across from me with an ostensibly healthy collection of plain oatmeal and orange juice.
It became significantly harder to restrain my snicker.
"I wanted to discuss what you said last night!" She quickly excused her behaviour.
Correction, she tried to excuse her behaviour.
"Ar... Are you sure it's not cause you got lonely-"
Her collected expression broke before I was even finished.
"N-No! What are you even talking about? I am an Enforcer from the Clock Tower-" She quickly silenced herself, realising that she'd given away personal information that could prove detrimental to her efforts in the war, "Don't try to escape the subject!"
In the end, I failed to push down my laughter and broke out in a series of unnatural chuckles and snickers that possibly sounded like the last cries of a dying animal seeing the attention it drew from other guests.
Bazett grew even more flustered, "Why are you laughing? Don't make fun of me. I told you I wasn't-"
I waved my hand, coughing, "Okay, okay. I won't talk about it again."
"Talk about what?"
"W... What's with that breakfast though?"
She tilted her head as a confused hum left her lips.
I hid my lips again, "Seems like something an eighty year old would get fed."
"Oatmeal is efficient, and fulfilling. Not to say-"
"And even they'd say no." I clamped my lips shut, then my eyes too.
"You're-... I-Is this some kind of mental warfare?"
"Sorry, that's the last of it, I swear. I couldn't help myself with how adorable you were being." I raised my hands in surrender, trying to placate the flustered older woman.
My words seemed to have the opposite effect. She shot to her feet, clenching the table sheets. I realised why a moment later. By then, it was already too late. Instead of becoming a fierce beast with no shame however, Bazett Fraga McRemitz quieted down. With the same energy she'd risen, she sat right back down and began eating.
Pushing down my own embarrassment, I took a sip of my coffee.
"I won't be holding back when we fight each other." She said out of nowhere.
The word made my eyes go wide.
"We... We're not supposed to fight each other."
Odd as it was, that one instant where she'd prepared herself to actually fight me was far more terrifying than my short encounter with Caster and Kuzuki right up until the end where Caster truly prepared herself to fight. As a magus, I stood no chance against Bazett with my cursed energy reinforcement, and with what I knew of her servant, I doubted I'd get off easy even with Shuwen's help.
The woman sitting across from me offered no answer.
That meant I had to change my approach.
"I didn't think an Enforcer from the Clock Tower would keep petty grudges."
I did not know what an Enforcer even was, nor anything about the Clock Tower. The title sounded super important though and most magi were supposed to be depraved nobles.
My guess was correct. Her shoulders trembled. Only slightly, but they trembled.
"Then truly, you are a magus?"
Uh-oh.
"Best I can do is reinforcement." I said truthfully.
That was the only conventional 'spell' in my arsenal.
Though she smiled, there was no warmth in her expression. In fact, a shiver ran down my spine despite the heated hall being heated. At that point, I realised there was no reasoning with the beating potentially headed my way.
Well, I only had to grow strong enough to be able to beat her. Rather, it was only a question of my own mentality going into the fight. The Ten Shadows were mythical beasts made in the Age of Gods. Modern magecraft had no way of resisting them even slightly... Hopefully.
After breakfast, I retreated to my room.
Shuwen was already inside, looking over Fuyuki with his hands behind his back like a proper cultivation elder. He acknowledged my presence with a grunt, and I nodded back shortly before sitting on my bed to 'meditate'.
Truth be told, it was just me pushing the summoning of my tamed Shikigami to the final step before manifestation and then tracing back, trying to reverse the summoning itself. As before, the understanding came easily, too easily for me to even believe I had accomplished it.
I knew for a fact that the information stored in my inherited Crest was limited to knowledge of the summoning and nothing else. I had dreamt again, of my ancestor sitting around fishing while making stupid Jojo references to some man whose face was obscured by a straw hat.
He was stupid. Genuinely stupid.
But I had to respect his dedication, the dedication that led to the Gods themselves rewarding him. Such a thing was likely impossible without facing trials that would have broken me. I couldn't help but be weirded out by the fact that he did it all because he thought it would be fun though. That sounded like utter madness.
-
"Master, if you wanted to scout the city, I could have done that by myself."
Shuwen noted calmly, matching my pace. His clothing was drawing some... interesting reactions, especially from the elderly folk who would often mutter some curse or make a distasteful face. Moreover, if I could notice them, then so could Shuwen.
I shrugged idly, "I've decided I won't spend this life cooped up, even if I end up getting my ass kicked somewhere along the way cause of that."
My affinity for pain was the same as any normal person, just that I was more willing to bear through considering my situation. I was also willing to bear through the humiliation of being weirdly turned on by Bazett's threats.
With a slight sigh, I quickened my pace.
The Shinto District was an uninspiring clutter of high-rise offices, malls, and apartment complexes near the outer edge, sprinkled with shopping stores built under a certain city plan. The lack of colour and aged architecture made this part of Fuyuki feel decidedly monotone and lifeless. The general preference of the people to maintain silence and mind their own business didn't help either, though they were a lot more expressive than I'd been expecting.
Eventually, I arrived at a desolate park close to the hotel I was staying at. It was even more lifeless than the rest of the district, with dead trees and deader grass. Once I stepped inside, even the air grew depressing and heavy.
"Hm. What strong oppression."
I raised a brow at Shuwen's words, swallowing a sudden lump in my throat.
"Nature here is tainted by grief and hate." The old man noted, raising his head to the sky, "It's as if I've stepped into a different world."
Was that what I was feeling?
My eyes found a black plaque, against a plain obsidian monument erected in the middle of the park. When I approached, Shuwen let out another grunt.
"That explains much." He stroked his chin.
I did not get how a monument dedicated to the victims of a massive fire incident nearly a decade ago was capable of affecting the area around it to such a degree. Though, I did know that that 'fire' had been caused by an incomplete manifestation of the Holy Grail I was here for. Maybe, just maybe, its contents spilling out here were the actual cause.
"Listen, master. Passionate emotion lingers long after death. It is what causes evil spirits and the likes to form. A manifestation of desire."
"Could happiness do that too then?" I questioned absently.
"It is rarely strong enough to surpass the place held by true grief and hate in the human heart."
"That's a bit depressing."
Though I was bland and unresponsive half the time, that felt a little sad.
"It does not have to be the case for you."
That was true.
"I see." I nodded, "This was educational."
Though only barely, I felt like I had been told of a facet of this world's functioning. I'd never even known this was a thing in a world like Fate. Emotions tainting the world sounded fantastic. In fact, it was something inherently close to a domain expansion. Instead of emotions, the world would be tainted by a sorcerer's cursed technique.
Hm, was that even possible with this Crest?
Before I could ponder further, I caught sight of a teenager in red, some of her hair done in two ponytails, much of it left to fall down to her back. She hadn't noticed me yet, but turned the moment I focused on her back, almost as if my gaze had set her off.
Her blue-green eyes narrowed considerably.
My gaze fell to the white cross sewn into her crimson sweater over the chest. Then, I noticed the dark skirt and the extremely recognisable stocking-clad, thick thighs.
...
...
What the hell was she even doing here?
She saw Shuwen and clutched the red marks on the back of her palm, biting her lip with an annoyed expression.
-
Hope you enjoyed.
You can find a couple chapters ahead at patrer0n.com/Bleap though they're not that many since I only just came out of a super depressive episode.