Chapter 37: Plenty For the Both of Us
Plenty For the Both of Us
Illya, for the first time in a long, long while, was entirely content with her current situation.
She was away from the Einzbern, together with Sella and Leysritt, and would soon be living with her brother and his girlfriends in their house in Japan. She would be away from the depressing atmosphere of the Einzbern-castle, away from her evil family, and away from the daily torment.
The fact that her brother was entirely confident that he could change her and her maids into normal humans was a cherry on the cake at that point.
Even the fact that she was confined to her brother's Vault for the moment did nothing to ruin her good mood, for she knew that it was necessary.
She was not a fool. She knew very well that the Einzbern would raise hell to get her back once they realised she was gone, making her was very happy to be in a place that was completely beyond their reach. No matter what the Einzbern would try, they would never be able to get at her now that she was in a different dimension entirely.
Some might say that it was like exchanging a prison for another prison, but that wasn't true. It was exchanging a prison for a safe hiding place. Consent made all the difference here, not to mention her stay in the Vault would only be temporary, until they were back in Fuyuki.
It might take a few weeks before that happened, but boredom wouldn't be a problem either. There was plenty for her to play around with in the Vault, plenty of new things to see and discover –seriously, the place was huge and filled to the brim with all kinds of stuff– and she had Sella and Leysritt with her too.
The maids had woken up not long after Shirou had left the Vault, very confused about what had happened and very shocked to find themselves in strange surroundings. That they were still tied up probably didn't help them to calm down either.
Illya had tried to reassure them, and like the proper, composed servants they were supposed to be, they had calmed down at once, falling back into a proper maid mindset once they saw she was present as well.
Then, Illya had verified that their conditioning was indeed removed–Leysritt barely reacted to the news that she was conditioning-free aside from a small, happy smile, but Sella had been shocked enough for the three of them– before she had untied them.
After that, Illya threw some pillows onto the couch, placed herself down in-between her maids, and started filling them in on everything Shirou had told her so far.
She told them about the nature of the pocket dimension they were staying in, about Mjolnir, about the fact that Shirou was completely confident that he could change the three of them into humans, and several other things.
The maids' reaction? It was almost as if she had two Leysritts sitting next to her now, both looking forward into eternity with glazed eyes as they slowly processed everything Illya had told them.
"I understand, mistress." Sella spoke up after half a minute or so, her eyes zoning back into focus, which allowed Illya to distinguish her from her sister again. "It is not my place to question you or your brother, so I shall not protest. I am not sure I believe his fanciful tales however."
"So business as usual then?" Illya asked jokingly, knowing very well how sceptical Sella was of everything she couldn't verify for herself.
"I believe you, mistress." Leysritt piped up from Illya's other side, giving her a lazy smile.
"Yes! I knew you would, Leysritt. You were always much smarter than Sella!" Illya cheered, giving the maid a hug, ignoring Sella's insulted huff from behind her. "I love you!"
"Love you too." Leysritt murmured, wiggling happily in place.
"Mistress." Sella sighed. "I-"
"Ah! Don't worry, Sella, I love you too." Illya added quickly, turning around on the sofa to hug the older maid as well. "Even if you don't believe me."
"There is no need to pity me, Mistress. I would have been fine without a hug." Sella pretended not to care, but Illya didn't let go, knowing very well that Sella actually did like the hugs very much.
"Alright, what's next?" Illya asked eagerly after letting go of Sella again. "Shall we explore this place? Talk a bit more? Play hide and seek?"
"I would advise waiting for your brother to return." Sella said immediately, placing a firm hand on Illya's shoulder to prevent her from running away. "I don't think it is wise to start digging around in his possessions while he is not present. Even if he will not take offense, some of those possessions might be dangerous."
"Wait for Shirou to return? I thought you didn't like him?" Illya asked, lifting an eyebrow at Sella. "I mean, you threatened to beat him up only a few hours ago, and then he beat you up instead."
"Our battle was not a matter of me liking or disliking him. I simply had to test his mettle." Sella protested vehemently. "I am not upset about my defeat. I achieved what I wanted, which was to see his true nature."
"So you don't have any hard feelings about the fact that he beat you in a fight?" Illya asked curiously, before looking at Leysritt when Sella shook her head. "You don't either?"
"Honest battle. We lost." Leysritt shrugged ever so slightly, and Sella nodded in agreement.
"Quite so, quite so." The older maid crossed her arms, and Illya was surprised to see a slight smile on her face. "Mister, or should I say, lord Emiya engaged us in fair combat. He did not mock or deride us, and he did not play tricks. It was, as Leysritt said, an honest battle, one in which he proved himself stronger than us. All that we can do about it is grow stronger ourselves and ask for a rematch later."
"…Wow, that is surprisingly warrior-like of you, Sella." Illya said after a moment of surprised silence. "It's almost as if you are looking forward to another match with Shirou."
"Surprisingly, I am looking forward to it." Sella replied, looking almost as surprised as Illya herself at the fact that she actually desired something that wasn't connected to her duties. "How extraordinarily odd."
"I am looking forward to it too." Leysritt nodded slowly, before holding up her arms in a macho pose. "Need to grow stronger first though."
"That's amazing!" Illya clapped her hands in delight, not necessarily about the fact that her maids wanted to fight her big brother again, but more about her maids actually wanting something that did not involve their duties in any way. They had never before expressed such desires, and Illya was very glad they could do so now.
The breaking of their conditioning clearly had had more positive effects than she'd expected.
"Yes, it is amazing." Sella murmured, her smile slowly growing wider as her new freedom sunk in.
"So can we explore now?" Illya tried again, hoping that Sella would be distracted enough to-
"Not before your brother returns." It was not to be. Sella resolutely placed a hand on Illya's shoulder again the moment the girl tried to get up from the sofa. "This is a storage space for many Magical objects, some of which might be dangerous. Extreme caution is warranted around Magecraft, especially since there appears to be no security in this… 'Vault' whatsoever. Really, what was lord Emiya thinking when he put us in here?"
"Pocket dimension." Leysritt reminded her older sister. "Safe from the Einzbern."
"…Right, yes, of course. I suppose there is no better hiding place than a pocket dimension." Sella admitted her error, acknowledging that Shirou had likely thought things through in advance. "But this being a separate dimension is even more reason not to wander around blindly."
"Shirou would have warned me if there were any dangerous things nearby." Illya protested. "And I don't think this place is as unsecured as you think."
"How so, mistress?"
"Well, have you not noticed yet that everything we want suddenly appears close by? These pillows for instance certainly weren't present before you two woke up, but then suddenly appeared when I wanted them." Illya explained, patting said pillows. "I think this place responds to our wishes."
"S-So, if I were to express the wish to prepare tea for us, then…?" Sella ventured carefully, appearing quite alarmed.
"Then, if I am correct, the means to do so should appear." Illya nodded, not feeling particularly spooked about it herself way. "So maybe we can look around a bit and-"
"There." Leysritt interrupted her, pointing at something to the left. "A stove."
Illya and Sella promptly looked up, both of them well aware that there hadn't been a stove anywhere near to them before, and they saw what Leysritt pointed at, which turned out to be a bit more than just a simple stove.
The stove Leysritt had spotted was circle-shaped and the size of a small room. It had more than twenty burners, a removable stovetop griddle, electronic control panels for programmed cooking times, and convection ovens. It was made out of a shiny, silver-coloured material, and was well-stocked with a variety of equipment, most of which Illya didn't recognise.
To finish the picture, the stove was flanked to the left by a huge display case holding a collection of beautiful, exquisite kettles, and flanked to the right by a display case holding a collection of marvellous teapots and matching cups. Behind the stove, there was a massive cupboard storing more than a hundred different kinds of tea.
It was quite a sight, and it was made even more impressive by the fact that the whole setup had definitely not been there before. Illya, Sella, and Leysritt would surely have seen it sooner if it had already been present, but they hadn't.
"See?" Illya grinned at Sella, deciding to just roll with it. "The things inside this place move by themselves, and I think anything dangerous will stay well away from us. That means we can explore!"
"…Let me make a pot of tea while I think it over." Sella eventually said, before rising from the couch and mechanically walking over to the stove. "Any preference for tea, mistress?"
"What choices do I have?"
"Apple, blackberry, blueberry, caramel, chai, chamomile, chocolate, cinnamon, cranberry, echinacea, elderberry, ginger, hibiscus, lemon, lemongrass, mango, mint, orange, peach, pomegranate, pumpkin, raspberry, rose hips, turmeric, and vanilla." Sella obediently read out all the tastes one by one. "There is also green tea, black tea, hot apple pie-flavour, earl grey, Turkish apple, and cherry, as well as several recipes for herbal teas, such as tisane, tanna, matcha, and genmaicha. There is also-"
"Just a pot of green tea for me, please." Illya said quickly, before Sella could start reading out even more flavours.
"Can I have tisane?" Leysritt asked, her eyes glittering slightly in desire.
"One pot of green tea and one pot of tisane." Sella nodded, before she got to work, handling the kettle and the pots very carefully in order to prevent damaging them in any way, before gingerly attempting to make the stove obey her instructions.
Fortunately, the stove turned out to be obedient enough, and before long, Sella could serve the promised cups of tea. For herself, she also took a cup of green tea.
"Thank you, Sella." Illya smiled brightly, before taking a sip. "Mhm, delicious!"
Sella didn't reply to the compliment aside from a slight nod, still looking with wariness at the stove behind her.
For a few minutes, the only sounds inside the Vault were those of three women slowly drinking their tea.
"Have you decided yet whether you'll come along with me when I'm going to explore?" Illya brought the earlier subject up again when her cup was empty. "Come on, it will be fun!"
Sella, who had finished her cup at around the same time as Illya, flinched at the return of the subject she'd hoped to have buried, while Leysritt, who hadn't even drunk half of her tisane yet, glanced over at her mistress, before turning back to her cup, deciding to let her older sister handle it.
"Please just wait for your brother, mistress." Sella repeated yet again, her tone outright pleading now. "Please."
"But that could take hours." Illya complained, pouting at her maid. "I don't want to wait for so long."
"I'm sure that won't be needed!" Sella tried to convince her. "Lord Emiya didn't appear to be a man who would make you wait."
"Wait for what?"
"EEEH!" "EEP!"
Both Illya and Sella almost jumped out of their skins when Shirou suddenly appeared behind them, while Leysritt, who had already noticed him arrive, continued drinking her tisane in excruciatingly tiny sips, using the cup to hide her small smirk.
"Shirou!"
"Lord Emiya!"
"Hello again, Illya." Shirou grinned at his sister, before lifting an eyebrow at Sella. "There's no need to call me 'lord', miss Sella. Dad didn't have the title of lord, and even if he did, Illya would be the one who inherited his title, not me."
"I do not call you a lord because of your family line, lord Emiya." Sella explained calmly, persisting in her use of Shirou's title. "The Emiya-family is not lordly, in fact, its head does not hold any title whatsoever. Had your father been here, he would have been mister Emiya. Lady Illyasviel is a lady because of her Einzbern-lineage, not because of her Emiya-lineage."
"Then why do you call me lord?"
"Sorcerers deserve naught but the highest respect." Sella stated bluntly. "Therefore, you are a lord."
"Sorcerer…?" That really took Shirou aback, his mouth falling open in shock, but then he seemed to realise what she meant. "Oh, because of the Vault?"
Sella didn't respond to his question, merely bowing her head, her every move radiating deference and respect. Next to her, Leysritt slowly mimicked her, also bowing her head.
"Ah, you don't have to bow your heads." Shirou spoke, visibly unnerved by their submissive gestures. "Really, I'm not big on protocol."
"It is only proper, lord Emiya." Sella responded calmly.
"…Oh, alright, suit yourselves." Shirou sighed after a moment, recognising a losing battle when he saw one. "Though, if we are ever in public, it would be much easier for me if you pretended that I am not a Sorcerer at all."
"Not a…?" Sella seemed outraged by the mere suggestion, but when both Shirou and Illya gave her a pleading look, she gave in. "Very well. I shall exercise discretion in public."
"Thank you." Shirou smiled, wiping some imaginary sweat off his brow. "I would have been in a lot of trouble if it got out that I am capable of using an analogue of the Kaleidoscope."
"The Clocktower would have gone mad." Illya sniggered, and Shirou smiled as well at the mental image, though his smile contained a fair share of pain too, considering he would be the one who would have to clean up the mess. "But they don't suspect anything yet?"
"Nothing. Some people hate me and are looking for whatever they find to hurt me, others suspect I am hiding something and want to find out what it is, some are even investigating me because I have been hanging around the Department of Policies so much, but none of them have found anything they can use so far." Shirou replied soothingly.
"…You are a secretive man, mister Emiya, if you can hide your secrets in the middle of the Magus Association's headquarters." Sella said, looking impressed despite herself. "You may only be the Magus Killer's adoptive son, but you resemble him closely indeed."
"…I'm not sure how to react to that." Shirou frowned, and Illya had to agree it was pretty much a backhanded compliment.
"But anyway." Illya continued, wanting to cut to the case. "Shirou, is it alright if Sella, Leysritt, and I go exploring once you leave again?"
"Exploring? The Vault, you mean?"
"Yes! There's so much stuff lying around, and I want to see it all." Illya cried, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. "Please?! Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
"Well, uh…" Shirou did not seem to know what to say, and he looked over at Sella for help. "What do you think?"
"The most important matter is that it is safe." The maid replied calmly. "If you can guarantee lady Illyasviel's safety, I shall be glad to accompany her on her exploration."
"Of course it is safe." Shirou answered immediately, looking mildly insulted by Sella's insinuation that it could possibly not be. "I would not leave you here if there was any danger. Anything that's even remotely dangerous is locked away in other rooms, I assure you."
"Other rooms?" Sella asked sharply. "Forgive my interruption and my change in subject, but, other rooms?"
"This is only the entrance hall." Shirou explained shortly, gesturing around at said hall. "There are countless other rooms holding the more… special objects. And no, you cannot go there."
The last remark was made to Illya herself, who had been about to ask if she could go and take a look at some of those rooms. She would have protested, but he sounded serious enough that she instinctively knew he wasn't going to budge on it.
"But this hall is secure." Shirou continued after Illya nodded in acceptance. "As long as you behave normally and keep to the general rules of safety, you should be fine."
"Ah, just to clarify, what were those 'general rules of safety' again?" Illya asked, having no idea what those general rules could be. "I don't think the Einzbern taught them to me."
"Well, you know, don't touch anything emitting Magical Energy, don't play around with sharp things, be careful around electricity, don't mess with anything you don't understand, and don't trust anything that communicates with you if it isn't completely obvious where its brain and soul are located."
"…Are there things here that will communicate with us?" Sella asked after a beat of silence, in which both she and Illya had been staring at Shirou with wide eyes.
"No, there's nothing in this hall that's capable of thought." Shirou shook his head. "Aside from the hall itself, but you don't have to worry about that."
"That's easy for you to say!" Illya spluttered, while Sella deadpanned at the redhead and even Leysritt looked perturbed. "I'm not used to my halls being sentient."
"It's really nothing to worry about." Shirou repeated, scratching the back of his head, before sighing when the three girls kept glaring. "All it does is make sure that the things you want are close-by. I mean, it would take ages otherwise to find anything in here."
"So that is why everything was conveniently located nearby when we wanted it." Leysritt concluded with a sudden and scary eloquence, hitting her palm with her fist in realisation. "The hall was moving it to us."
"That is correct." Shirou nodded, not nearly as surprised as Sella and Illya by her sudden eloquence. "It's a very useful function, although, if it bothers you, I could shut it off now."
"Hm." Leysritt shook her head. "Please leave it in place."
"Of course."
"Don't just decide that on your own!" Sella protested, giving her sister an incredulous glare. "Why are you suddenly talking so much anyway?"
"Felt like it." Leysritt shrugged, an enigmatic smile on her face, which rankled Sella even more.
"…So, anyway, feel free to explore." Shirou said after a moment. "Just don't do anything foolish, and please don't break anything. Sella, I'm counting on you to keep these two in line when I leave again."
"Eh? EH?! U-Uh, y-yes! You can count on me, lord Emiya." Sella, upon being assigned the role of leader, spent the first moment being confused, then surprised, and then both proud and motivated.
She had always responded well to being praised.
"Where will you be going, Shirou?" Illya asked, having collected herself a bit again after the double whammy of learning that the hall was sentient and having Leysritt speak so much. "Can you not stay for a little while longer?"
"The purge of the Meluastea is about to start, so there's much I need to do. In a few minutes, I'll be accompanying Lady Barthomeloi to see lady Archelot." Shirou explained, bowing his head in a gesture of apology and regret, and thus missing how Illya perked up at his words. "I accused the Department of Botany of being involved with the Meluastea, and now Lady Barthomeloi wants to hear from this lady Archelot, who is the former head of that Department, in private."
"You are going on a trip with Lorelei Barthomeloi?" Illya squealed, having stopped listening after Shirou revealed that little fact. "Oh my God, Shirou, are you courting her?"
"No!" Shirou yelped, taking a step back as if Illya had taken a swing at him, the shock writ clear on his face. "Heavens, no. Of course I'm not!"
"Right, you already have Sakura and Ayako." Illya snapped her fingers in realisation, before balling her hand into a fist and bonking herself on the head. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to imply you were unfaithful. She is courting you then?"
"Also no!" Shirou snapped. "Where are you even getting those ideas from?"
"Well, if she's invited you to an outing with her…"
"It will be purely business!" Shirou stressed, though the unnerved look in his eyes indicated to Illya she may have hit a nerve somehow. "She will have her bodyguards with her, we will travel by car, and all I am supposed to do is present my accusations to lady Archelot and see what she has to say in return. There's no need for anything to happen between me and Lady Barthomeloi!"
"Okay, okay, I was only teasing. No need to get all worked up." Illya held up her hands in surrender when she saw how serious he was, giving him an innocent smile. "Honestly, big brother, I meant nothing with it."
"…Teasing?" Shirou blinked several times in surprise, before rubbing the back of his head again, laughing sheepishly. "A-Ah, o-of course. My apologies, I took it too seriously."
"Well, I suppose the Vice-Director does that to people." Illya nodded sagely. "Even in the Einzbern-castle, we heard the rumours about her. Is she as imposing in person as they claim she is?"
"Well, I'd say she is both better and worse than what the rumours say." Shirou mused. "She is pretty reasonable actually, and she is willing to change her mind when necessary. On the other hand, even the most overblown of rumours can't prepare you for what it's like to stand in her way when she'd made up her mind. She's like a tank rolling over everything in her path."
"…I guess it's good you aren't courting her. Ladies generally don't like it when you compare them to tanks." Illya sweatdropped, before recollecting herself. "But I guess the Vice-Director wouldn't have lasted long in her position if she wasn't at least a bit reasonable. I never put much stock in the rumour saying she is a monster anyway."
"Oh, I don't know about that. Being reasonable doesn't seem to be a necessity in the Clocktower." Shirou huffed. "The previous Vice-Directors were apparently stubborn bastards, and it seemed to work well enough for them. Then again, Lady Montmorency told me they were never actually involved in ruling, so perhaps that's why they never messed up."
"Lady Montmorency?" Illya blinked at her big brother as he mentioned yet another big name. "Shirou, what are you doing exactly that you know both the Vice-Director and the Second-In-Command?"
"Oh, you know of Lady Montmorency too?"
"Who doesn't? She's pretty much the de facto leader of the Magus Association." Illya huffed, remembering all the times that her grandfather had talked about that impressive woman with a mixture of admiration and fear. "More importantly, why do you know her? And to the extent she's telling you about her previous bosses at that?"
"We've met a few times, for a variety of reasons." Shirou explained while making a dismissive hand motion, as if it didn't matter at all that he was acquainted with one of the Magus Association's most feared people. "I fixed an elevator for her once."
Shirou's answer did not make things any clearer for Illya, but before she could ask for clarification, her brother held up a hand.
"Sorry, Illya, but I really can't stay to chat any longer. I know you have questions, but the visit to lady Archelot will be soon, and the purge of the Meluastea will begin after that. I need to go, but I promise to answer any questions you have once I return."
"Alright." Illya chirped, feeling a bit disappointed he couldn't stay longer but not about to let that ruin the mood. In lieu of a goodbye, she shouted several encouragements. "Bust some heads! Save some people! Make dad proud."
The first encouragement she shouted was for herself, because she liked the idea that arrogant Magi would be punished for their crimes.
The second encouragement was for Shirou, whom she knew wanted nothing more than to save people.
The third encouragement was for them both. If the spirit of Kiritsugu was watching them, they had to make him proud of them.
The smile she received in return was warm enough to heat up the entire hall.
"Sella." Shirou then said in a commanding tone, and the elder maid, who had taken a few steps back while the siblings were talking, snapped at attention. "I already told you to keep these two in line. Here, take this cell phone. If anything happens, don't hesitate to call me. I'm on speed dial, you can just press these buttons."
"A phone?" Sella looked at the small device with a wondrous gaze, turning it this way and that in her hands, before turning to Shirou again and giving another bow. "You can rely on me, Lord Emiya."
"Oi, Shirou, don't I get a phone?" Illya pouted at her big brother. She didn't want to be petulant, but she also wanted such a fancy machine.
"Of course you do." Shirou assured her, before indeed handing her and Leysritt their own phones. "I simply needed to give some instructions to Sella first."
"Oof, big brother. It's almost as if you trust Sella more than me." Illya pouted, before she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Do you trust her more than me?"
"When it comes to keeping discipline and obeying the rules? Definitely." Shirou nodded, and Illya found she had no rebuttal to that. "Take care, Illya. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Ah, yes, bye." Illya waved, Sella and Leysritt mimicking the motion, before Shirou disappeared, as quickly and quietly as he had appeared.
"…So." Sella began after a few moments had passed. "Does anyone want another cup of tea or…?"
"No." Illya shook her head, having made up her mind, before giving her maid a big grin. "Let's go exploring."
"Very well." Sella nodded, looking as if she'd expected that answer already. "Though I warn you, mistress. If you are not careful or break something, I will not hesitate to tell your brother."
"Eck! He has turned you to his side!" Illya flinched at the remark, before she slumped. "Ah, well, I suppose that was inevitable. He is so much cooler than me, no wonder he won you over."
"He is so much more responsible than you, you mean."
"Fortunately, Leysritt is still on my side." Illya continued, ignoring Sella's pointed remark. "Right, Leysritt?"
"Yes, mistress." Leysritt nodded, and Illya let out a whoop of joy.
"You two." Sella sighed in consternation, but there was no denying the smile on her face.
Tobias Verrati had never wanted to become an Executor in service of the Burial Agency.
For most of his life, he hadn't even known what an Executor was.
He had grown up in a simple, bog-standard orphanage, with many other orphans, in a large town in Southern Italy. He had never known his parents, as they had passed away when he was only a baby. His father had been killed by a stray bullet during a shoot-out between gangs, and his mother had been killed by a hitman soon after, a hitman hired by her own sister, so that said sister could take her house.
Tobias supposed he should be glad his aunt had bothered giving him to an orphanage instead of having her husband drown him. He should be even more glad that the orphanage had been rather good to him.
The trio of elderly ladies in charge of the orphanage truly cared about the children and did their very best to take care of them all. They had been very poor, but they had housed them, fed them, played with them, and educated them in the basic skills of reading and writing. The ladies had never complained, not even when the number of children under their care exceeded twenty, and though Tobias hadn't properly appreciated it back then, he certainly did now.
Tobias had grown up poor, but he'd never felt like he really missed something in his childhood. It also helped that the town as a whole was poor, and that most children, even the ones with parents, lived exactly the same lives as he did. The only exceptions were the rich kids, from the families that ruled the town and the surrounding area, but those rich kids never came within ten kilometres of Tobias' orphanage, so he couldn't even be jealous of them.
The elderly ladies had also given him a religious upbringing, with the Bible, Jezus, God, and the church being central to his life. However, Tobias had never been able to bring him to care about religion much. He mostly just went through the motions whenever they went to church and tried to suppress any evil feelings he might have had. Faith was just an abstract concept to him, something he had not understood.
Which frankly made it a bit odd that he had become an Executor in service of the Burial Agency later in life.
It had all happened so suddenly. One moment, he'd been fifteen years old, helping the elderly ladies as much as he could around the orphanage while also looking for a job to earn some money, as innocent as any child his age, and then, the next moment, everything had changed.
An extraordinarily rude man had barged into the orphanage, and demanded to adopt Lisa, a girl of twelve years old, whose doll-like features had indicated that she'd grow up to become a beauty without compare.
Even a blind, deaf, and stupid person would have seen that the rude man had bad intentions, and the elderly ladies had not hesitated to refuse him, before pointing him the door.
The man hadn't listened however, and had made to grab Lisa anyway, who had been sitting at a table in the main hall at the time, helping Tobias with cutting the vegetables for that day's dinner.
Tobias did not remember well what had happened next. The rude man had made a grab for Lisa, Lisa had screamed in fear, Tobias had felt afraid, terrified, angry, and the next moment, the rude man was on the floor, a hole in his chest, while Tobias stood over him, the vegetable knife in his hand covered in blood.
The hours after were a blur too. Tobias remembered one of the elderly ladies gently taking the knife from him, while Lisa hugged him strongly, and Pedro, another teen from the orphanage, covered the body with a bedsheet. He remembered the police arriving and taking him with them. He remembered being brought to an interrogation room, and being told that the rude man was a cousin of the mayor, and that he would likely be sentenced to prison for a very long time, for a brutal, unjustified murder.
At the time, he had been too numb to realise what had been going on, but every time he thought back on it now, he got cold shivers down his spine. He had only just escaped a life-sentence, and considering he was an enemy of the mayor, prison would not have been fun for him.
It had never gotten that far however. In fact, the case had never even made it beyond that first interrogation.
A stranger in a cloak had burst into the room, and before any of the officers present could react, had seized their minds and ordered them to return to their posts and not speak a word about anything.
The cloaked stranger had then introduced himself as an Executor, one of the warriors of God, and he had asked if Tobias wanted to join his organisation.
"We need killers like you." The man had said, the expression under the hood being a mixture of grief and bitter amusement. "We need people whose first instinct is to murder whatever threatens them or threatens the people under their care. That you have a natural talent for the Sacred Arts is also a plus."
Tobias, still in a daze, had had trouble following what the man said exactly, but he did understand that the man's offer was likely his only option left at that point, after he'd murdered the mayor's cousin.
"If you accept, I'll kill that fat lard of butter that this town calls a mayor." The stranger had added, and that had sealed the deal completely.
Tobias had become the apprentice of an Executor, and five years later, became an Executor himself.
He still wasn't sure about his relationship with God, whether he even really believed that God existed at all, but he did know that the things that went bump in the night did in fact exist, and that by killing them, he was doing good work.
He just hadn't expected actual wizards to be one of those things that went bump in the night.
Though the correct term turned out to be 'Magus', since Wizards were apparently an entirely separate class of beings that were far above his ability to handle. According to his teacher, there was only one true Wizard out there these days, and one sort-of-Wizard, and both would crush him under their heel without even noticing he was there.
Magi were a different matter though. Tobias had hunted those often enough, and now he was doing so again.
He'd just returned from a mission that consisted of hunting down several Ghouls when he'd been called in by his superior, who had told him in hushed tones that they wanted him to destroy a nest of Magi that had made themselves guilty of acts so horrid that even the main Magus-coven, the Clocktower, could not abide them anymore.
They had promised him a hefty reward if he accepted, so Tobias –who was always looking for more money to send to the orphanage– had left his gear in his suitcase and had joined his new team for the mission. The nest was located in the inlands of Southern Spain, so they had taken the plane, rented a car, and were now driving towards the nest.
As said before, their main mission was to destroy, but if possible, they were also to gather information about the Magi and their masters.
Apparently, one single family was behind the whole mess, and that family was… Come, what was it again?
Ah yes, the Meluastea.
Truly an evil name.
"We're almost at the hide-out."
The calm remark, made in a carefree voice, came from Will, one of Tobias' partners for the mission and also the one driving the car. Tobias had met the small, blonde-haired boy a few times before, but this was the first time he'd ever gone on a mission with him.
Will was, quite frankly, an enigma, always smiling no matter what happened, and Tobias never quite knew how to deal with the boy.
"Took you long enough."
The complaining response came from Halt, an old Executor with grey hair and a grey beard, who had wrapped himself in a cloak on the backseat and had his eyes shut. He had been asleep for most of the trip but had awoken when Will had made his announcement.
"I hate to agree with Halt on anything, but I am looking forward to cracking some skulls as well."
Horace, the large, muscled teen sitting in the passenger's seat, cracked his knuckles, grinning eagerly as he stared off into the distance, where the sun was only just rising.
As the nest had been reported to be very small, only the four of them had been sent to destroy it. It might seem a little callous of the superiors to send so few, but Tobias had faith that the four of them would be enough.
Will and Halt were masters of long-range fighting and were excellent scouts at that, while Horace was a champion with the blade, to the point where some said he could reach the rank of Blademaster before he turned thirty. Tobias himself wasn't too shabby either, excelling mainly at mid- to close-range fighting.
With the four of them, they shouldn't have any trouble with the nest, provided it was as small as the report said it was. Tobias had no reason to doubt the report though, so he didn't worry too much about it.
Rather, he worried about his teammates. They had quite the reputation in the Burial Agency, and from his earlier brushes with them, Tobias knew he shouldn't talk too much when in their presence, lest he provided them with ammunition for one of their infamous teasing-rounds.
But he was a quiet person by nature, so that was fine.
"Will, what's this?" Halt barked when the blonde-haired boy pulled the car over and parked at the side of the road, about ten minutes later. "There's nothing here."
Halt spoke the truth. From their position, there was nothing for as far as the eye could see. The road they had been driving on was the only sign of civilization in sight, with everything else being merely a sandy plain that stretched on to the horizon in all directions.
To put it simply, it was a desert with a single road leading through it.
"It's here, Halt." Will replied calmly, his expression hardening as he looked out of the car's window. "You would see that too if you used your senses."
Halt lifted an eyebrow at Will's serious answer, and he too looked out of the window. Almost immediately after, his eyes widened, and then he grabbed his and Will's bows from the trunk in almost aggressive motions.
"I take it you found the nest?" Horace ventured, looking around with some confusion as his friends scrambled to arm themselves. "I thought the report said it was well hidden, and that you two wouldn't be able to find it without instructions."
"The report was wrong!" Halt barked as he stepped out of the car, not a trace left of the old grouch he'd been only minutes before. "There are massive traces of Thaumaturgy coming from underground. Something's happening, something massive."
"Do you think they spotted us?" Tobias asked, taking a single Black Key in hand. "Are they destroying evidence?"
"They might be, or there's a power struggle going on." Halt replied, rushing forward. "In any case, we have no time to lose. Let's go!"
No more words were said. None of them had any idea what was going on exactly, but they all knew that speed was of the absolute essence. Regardless of what was happening exactly, it was clear that something had gone very wrong.
The entrance to the hide-out was easily found. It was a hole in the ground after all, one from which an immense amount of Magical Energy was bursting forth. The hole was too dark to see anything inside, but once Tobias lit a torch and threw it in, they saw it was a tunnel going directly down for several meters, before becoming horizontal and leading further into the Earth in a gentle downwards slope.
"An uncovered hole?" Will asked sceptically once they had seen everything there was to be seen from above. "They didn't bother to hide the entrance to their lair?"
"They did." Halt corrected him grimly, pointing at an object half-buried under sand a few metres away. "That's a hatch. It should have been on this opening, probably covered by a thin layer of sand to hide it, but someone ripped it open with brute force. The Bounded Fields and Defensive Spells have been crushed as well."
Tobias agreed with the old man's assessment, and he found himself torn between being glad someone had already done the heavy lifting for them, and being nervous about what had done all the heavy lifting for them.
"Let's find out who's been stealing our kills then." Horace clearly did not share Tobias' nervousness however, and he jumped down the tunnel, descending into the Earth with a whoop of joy. "Wahoo!"
"Seventeen years old and still a child." Halt scoffed, before turning to Tobias and Will. "I'll watch our backs until you two are inside as well. Will first, and then Tobias. Support Horace as much as you can."
"Yes sir." Will nodded, before he jumped down, and Tobias followed him without a word.
Once they had landed, Tobias immediately noticed Horace standing a little further down the tunnel, looking ahead with narrowed eyes.
Tobias followed his gaze, and then spotted the immense amount of damage that had been done to the tunnel. Cracks and holes were everywhere, blood had been splattered all over the walls, the electric lamps that should have provided light were smashed to bits, and there was a foul stench in the air.
The stench of a graveyard.
"Dead Apostle." Tobias concluded, and both Will and Horace nodded.
"Then don't just stand there." Halt, who had come up from behind, scoffed at them. "Go on! Horace, you take point, Tobias behind him, and Will, you're with me, a little bit behind those two. We provide ranged support."
"Aye, Aye, Halt." Horace nodded, before storming forward, sword in hand. Tobias followed behind him, taking three Black Keys in each hand, holding them between his fingers like claws, and he vaguely noticed Halt and Will nocking arrows on their bows.
They progressed through the tunnel like that, at a respectable speed, but still slow enough to thoroughly check their surroundings for any ambushes or traps.
They didn't find any ambushes or traps however. All they found was more destruction, more blood, and now even some body parts strewn about haphazardly.
Then, after what felt like an hour but was actually only a minute or so, they arrived at a large room. It was well-lit and filled with all kinds of objects.
It was a disaster.
Tobias had read in the report that the Magi in this hide-out had captured innocent people for their experiments, and he had hoped to save at least a few of them, but every human being in the underground laboratory had been mauled so thoroughly it was completely impossible to tell the difference between the abductors and the abductees.
Every single object had been smashed, burned, ripped apart, or crushed. Documents had been torn to bits. Fires had been set throughout the room. The damage was immense, and the trail of destruction continued from the laboratory into a second tunnel on the other side of the lab.
It was not hard to draw a definite conclusion now.
"Someone beat us to this nest." Will concluded, and the other three nodded.
"But what?" Tobias asked the question they were all wondering, but he received only shrugs in response.
"That would be me!"
The sudden screech made every hair on the back of Tobias' neck rise and almost froze the blood in his veins. Having been trained very well however, Tobias didn't break his stance and held his Black Keys primed as something approached from the tunnel that led deeper into the nest. Next to him, Will, Halt, and Horace followed his example.
They did not have to wait long before a gigantic black bird emerged from the shadows.
Its size would have already made it unnatural, but the almost smirking expression, the blood-covered claws that seemed made out of silver, and the sheer vileness radiating from the animal confirmed that this was not a normal avian. This was something far worse.
"Gransurg Blackmore!" Halt spat at the bird, and Tobias' heart almost stopped at the news that this was a Dead Apostle Ancestor. "Why are you here?"
"Why, for the same reason you are, I gather." The bird replied as it landed on the ground, reaching only to Tobias' waist in height, yet seeming to glare down on them all. "To destroy these Magi and erase their crafts."
"Why do you care-?"
"For reasons of my own." Blackmore interrupted Will harshly, continuing to glare at them. "You took too long, so I did it myself."
"The abducted people-"
"I made no distinction. I killed everyone and destroyed everything." Blackmore's words were merciless, and Tobias' fingers itched to throw his Black Keys at the bird. It would only result in his death however, so he held himself back.
"Is this a statement from-"
"You should leave at once." Blackmore advised them in a falsely kind voice. "You have thirty-seven seconds, and then this place will explode. If you remain here, you will explode with it."
Then the bird was gone, having flown past them so quickly they couldn't even perceive it.
For a moment, they stood still in stupefied silence.
"RUN!"
Then they turned around and ran for the exit. None of them questioned the warning Blackmore had given them, for they all felt the power and heat increase behind them. The nest was about to blow, and they needed to get out of the tunnel before it did.
When they had been going inside, it had taken them a minute to go from the entrance to the laboratory. On the way back, they took twenty seconds to cover that same distance.
"Climb as fast as you can!" Halt barked, sending the boys up the ladder first. "Climb!"
Tobias climbed, he climbed as fast as he could, determined not to die as collateral damage in an explosion set off by a Dead Apostle. He flew up the ladder, following behind Will and Horace, and he felt more than he saw how Halt followed him just as quickly.
In the end, they just made it. The moment Halt emerged from the tunnel and threw himself to the side, a massive pillar of fire shot out of the opening, as if the base had turned into a geyser.
Tobias, Halt, Will, and Horace, upon confirming that they were all in good health, collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, and it was only after a solid minute that Horace spoke up again.
"So…" He began slowly, lifting his head slightly. "Who's going to tell Kayla and bishop Dilo about this?"
Will and Halt froze, and then turned to Tobias.
Tobias himself could only sigh, and then he nodded in acceptance.
At least neither Kayla nor bishop Dilo were people who punished failure too harshly.
Shirou had a problem.
Not a huge problem or anything, no, certainly not. It was a moderate problem at best, nothing that would require a red alert.
On the other hand, it would also go too far to say that it was a minor problem. It wasn't, it was moderate at the very least. The situation he'd found himself in might not be harmful, but it was still very inconvenient and perhaps even a bit distressing. If he'd had a choice at all, he would have opted to stay far away from it.
He didn't have a choice however. There was nothing Shirou could do about it. He couldn't run away from it, he couldn't fight it, he couldn't avoid it, and he couldn't talk his way out of it either.
The root of the problem was a direct order from Lady Barthomeloi, and one didn't just refuse an order from the Vice Director without suffering some form of unpleasant consequences. As such, Shirou had had no choice but to obey and take whatever issues might spring from it in stride.
They, Shirou and Lady Barthomeloi, were currently on their way to the residence of lady Raquel Archelot, the former head of the Department of Botany. Shirou had accused her department of supporting the Meluastea, and now, they were going to question the lady about it.
Shirou hadn't really seen a problem with that at first, so he had accepted without a fuss. They would speak to lady Archelot, and then they would start the fight against the Meluastea in the Clocktower once it was confirmed that the Department of Botany was also in league with the criminals.
According to Lady Montmorency, lady Archelot's residence was close to the Clocktower, so there shouldn't be any problems with the timing. They would quickly visit lady Archelot and be back in time for the purge.
Now, one might ask themselves at this point, if that was all well-arranged and well-planned, then what was Shirou's problem? What was the issue of moderate severity that he had been rambling about before?
Quite simple. When Lady Montmorency had said that the residence of lady Archelot was only a five-minute walk away, Shirou had not expected that they would actually be walking there!
As in, he and the Vice-Director, Shirou and Lorelei Barthomeloi, walking through the streets of London together, side by side, as if they were a couple!
Lady Barthomeloi had arrived at the main entrance at eight o'clock sharp, without a single bodyguard –she had declared with the utmost confidence she didn't need them, and Shirou couldn't disagree with her on that– and had not hesitated for a second to lead Shirou outside, to walktowards the residence of lady Archelot.
Illya had been right! This was indeed like he was having a private outing with the Vice-Director! Illya had been right, and Shirou, who had been so sure that they would travel by car and that there would be many bodyguards accompanying them, had been utterly wrong.
Shirou had no idea what he should do. What did one do when one was walking with the Vice-Director, looking for all the world like they were on a date with her?
Because that was what it looked like. Even though most people didn't even give them a glance –the majority of people walking in London at eight in the morning had far more important things on their mind than looking at their fellow pedestrians– there were still some looks thrown their way from nosy people.
A few from scandalised old women, but mainly from men, men who looked at him with gazes full of envy.
Those men were fools! There was nothing about him to be jealous of! That he was on an outing with the Vice-Director was something they should pity him for!
But then again, those men only saw the outward appearances, and there was no denying that the Vice-Director was gorgeous to a point almost any straight man would have been glad to have her walk next to him.
It was made even worse by the fact that Lady Barthomeloi was wearing entirely different clothes what than she normally did. Normally, she wore a shirt with a jacket over it, gloves on her hands, tight pants on her legs, and boots that came up to her thighs. Clothes that covered every inch of her skin except for her face, as was proper for ladies of high status.
Right now however, she was wearing a red shirt with short sleeves, leaving her arms bare, a black skirt under it that fell to just below her knees, and ankle boots on her feet. Her hair was tied into its usual ponytail though, with its usual ribbon keeping it in place. She had foregone her gloves entirely, leaving her hands bare as well.
Those clothes, combined with her confident tread, her graceful poise, her controlled demeanour, and natural beauty, made her look dangerously hot.
And Shirou wasn't talking about her body-temperature.
The fact that the way she walked also made her skirt flip up enough for him to periodically catch a glimpse of a creamy white thigh didn't make things any better.
At this point, even Shirou himself could almost picture them as being on a date together.
It was ridiculous of him to think that way, he knew that. One, he already had two girlfriends, whom he was very much loyal to, and two, she was a woman who stood at the top of the Magus Association in both Magical and political power. She could very well defeat him in battle, crush him in politics, or give him a Sealing Designation if she ever uncovered even one of his secrets.
By all rights, he should have wanted nothing to do with her, yet…
"Good gracious, mark me down as scared ánd horny."
Why did Shinji's words from when he had been violently rejected by a particularly muscular girl keep coming to mind?
"Is there something wrong?" As if she had picked up a trace of his thoughts, Lady Barthomeloi turned to him with a question, very quickly shocking him out of his pondering. "You seem to be preoccupied with something."
"Ah, no! Nothing's wrong! I was just…" Shirou began, hastily trying to think of a reason he was sunken in thought, before he had a flash of inspiration. "I was just wondering why you would bother going to lady Archelot's house yourself."
It was something he'd actually been wondering about for a while now. Lady Barthomeloi was decidedly not the type who'd bother to visit an old head of a possibly corrupt department herself to talk about said possible corruption. He may not have known her for long, but to do something like that was not in her character.
His question turned out to be a difficult one, or perhaps one that was too intrusive, as Lady Barthomeloi didn't reply for a while. Only after more than ten seconds did she open her mouth again.
"Normally, I would not do this." She agreed with him. "I would have taken your words seriously, as you have proven yourself to be trustworthy, and subjected the Department of Botany to a thorough investigation during the purge."
Shirou nodded. That did sound more like her.
"But lady Raquel Archelot…" Again, Lady Barthomeloi fell silent, unusually hesitant, before she suddenly grabbed him by his collar and pulled him into an alley. The next moment, Shirou felt Bounded Fields go up around them, but since he felt no aggression from Lady Barthomeloi, he didn't react to it. Still, he almost recoiled when Lady Barthomeloi levelled a glare at him that would have killed lesser men on the spot. "You will not as much as breathe a word about this conversation to anyone else!"
"Understood! My lips are sealed!" Shirou agreed instantly, his heart almost leaping into his throat at her incredibly threatening tone. He must have given off a truthful impression nonetheless however, as Lady Barthomeloi nodded in acceptance of his words.
"Lady Archelot is an old friend of my mother's." She continued, to which Shirou blinked his eyes in confusion. "She is also my godmother, though there has never been, and there never will be, a possibility for her to carry out that role."
"A friend of your mother?" Shirou asked, hoping he wasn't crossing a line but unable to keep his curiosity down. "But I thought the Barthomeloi didn't allow for contact outside of-?"
"My father was the Barthomeloi. My mother was not." Lady Barthomeloi said firmly. "Enough about this. I told you this because you had a right to know after I ordered you to come along to lady Archelot, but you do not require more information. We shall continue."
And that was that. The next moment, she'd dragged him onto the main street again and they continued their walk.
For a few minutes, it was silent between them, with Lady Barthomeloi not being in the mood to talk and Shirou being completely absorbed in the wealth of information she'd just given him, before the brunette suddenly spoke up again.
"Fujimaru." She began, this time not even bothering to turn her head to face him. "You are experienced in the matters of clandestine operations and stealth, correct?"
"I… do have some experience." Shirou nodded, trying to hide his pained expression at the thought of Rakurai.
"Would you say that the garments I have currently clad myself in have increased my ability to traverse the city without being noticed by any Magi who might be present in our vicinity?" She asked, finally turning her head the slightest bit towards him.
"Increased your ability to…?" Shirou mumbled, baffled by the question, before he realised what she was talking about. She was asking whether her clothes helped her in going undercover. "Ah, yes. I do think they help you go unnoticed. If there are any Magi present here, they would never expect the Vice-Director to be walking around without an escort and clad in… your current garments. As long as you don't attract attention, they will just see an unknown woman and won't give you a second glance."
"Exactly as Lady Montmorency predicted." Lady Barthomeloi nodded in satisfaction.
"…Lady Montmorency told you to wear those?!"
"Correct." Lady Barthomeloi nodded sharply, not noticing or perhaps ignoring his flabbergasted tone. "She reminded me of the necessity of 'keeping a low profile', as she described it, and suggested I should bedeck myself in these garments. I shall admit I doubted her, but if you concur with her opinion, then it was I who was ignorant."
"Right." Shirou mumbled, still stuck at the fact that it was Lady Montmorency who had made Lady Barthomeloi wear those clothes. What on Earth could that old woman have been thinking?!
"She also advised that we should mention the name of Barthomeloi as little as possible." Lady Barthomeloi then added. "I was not convinced of her reasoning before, but I am now."
"Don't mention the name…?" She just kept on surprising him. It was that she still looked entirely sincere, or he might have started to suspect she was messing with him. "Then what should I call you?"
"Lorelei will do." Lady Barthomeloi suddenly said something absolutely outrageous without batting an eyelash, and Shirou realised with shock and no small amount of horror she was being completely and utterly serious.
"B-But Lady Barthome-"
A fierce glare froze his tongue in place.
"L-Lorelei."
The glare let up, and there was a nod of satisfaction.
"I-Isn't that too familiar?" Shirou asked, feeling he had to at least try to restore some sanity even as it was likely a losing battle. "W-We barely know each other, a-and it isn't proper-"
Shirou tried making his case, but unfortunately for him, Lady Barthomeloi was not the kind of person who went back on what she said.
"During matters of intrigue, propriety has to be discarded, Shirou." She replied offhandedly, her use of his first name hitting him like a punch to the stomach.
"I-Is that what Lady Montmorency said?" He asked.
"Yes."
'Damn you, Lady Montmorency!' Shirou promptly cried out in his mind.
What on Earth was that old woman thinking?! Had she set this up?! But why?! What did she gain from making this so awkward for him?! Was she just enjoying herself right now by imagining how flustered he had to be?!
The longer he knew the second-in-command of the Department of Policies, the less respectable she seemed to become. Was she a distinguished policymaker, law-enforcer, and administrator, or was she a wacky grandmother with a puppeteer hobby?
The answer to that question was no longer as clear cut as it had previously been.
To think that that woman would set up a situation in such a way that he would have to address the Vice-Director as Lorelei… It was incredible, and not in a good way.
Fortunately, he didn't have to address her so familiarly a second time, for it was only seconds later that they arrived at their destination.
"We are here." Lady Barthomeloi announced as they stopped in front of a very cosy looking terraced house. It had a very small front garden, a hedge that formed the barrier between said garden and the street, and a gate that let visitors pass beyond the hedge. The distance between gate and front door couldn't be more than two metres though, further indicating how small the garden was.
The house itself had three floors. It had large windows, though the one on the ground floor was shielded off by the hedge, ensuring no one could look inside. The walls had been made out of bricks, which gave them a good, old-fashioned look.
To any normal human, it would have looked no different from the many other terraced houses that could be found all over London. Just another place of residence for one of the many inhabitants of the city.
Shirou however saw far more than that. He saw through the walls and doors and could thus see that this house was filled with exquisite furniture and many other riches, befitting of a former head of a ruling family. He also saw the Bounded Fields and other Spells keeping the property safe. He smelled the Magical Energy radiating from the place, and he could discern that this house had been in the possession of Magi since it had been built, which was more than three hundred years ago.
Shirou could also see however that the house was positively drenched in evil. The foulness and horror covered the walls like black stains, and the smell was excruciating.
Even though that evil had been committed far in the past, the perpetrators having died centuries ago, and the evil power had lost all potency, it was still enough to make Shirou recoil in disgust.
Then he spotted the sword that hung from a wall inside, and his disgust became even worse.
The sword was a Mystic Code. A Mystic Code with a potent disintegration-Spell on it. If someone was stabbed with that sword, then their entire body would start falling apart at the seams. Essentially, the victim would turn to ash, slowly and painfully, starting from the wound and then continuing until there was nothing left of the body.
It was a nasty sword, made by a very nasty man. A man who also happened to be responsible for most of the evil drenching the house, and who had gone by the name of Pietrich Archelot.
Pietrich Archelot had been a violent, cruel, and hateful man, who had wished nothing but pain and misery on any enemy, real or imagined. He had been the head of the Archelot-family two centuries ago, and it had been a dark time for them, even by Magus standards.
The man had eventually been put down by an Archibald, who had destroyed most of Pietrich's weapons as well, but a few of his nasty creations, such as that sword, had survived.
'Judging the concept of creation.'
As Shirou looked at the weapon, a copy of it immediately appeared in his Inner World, standing next to countless mundane knives, a few swords from museums, and a large number of other blade-shaped Mystic Codes that had come mainly from Shirou's Vault.
'Hypothesizing the basic structure.'
The copy was far from perfect however. It was immensely good, to a point no other modern Magus could hope to do the same, but it was still inferior to the real thing.
'Duplicating the composition material.'
As Shirou continued looking at the sword though, the copy in his Inner World seemed to become better and better. With every second, the image became sharper, more defined, and more like the original.
'Imitating the skill of its making.'
Something incredible was taking place, something that had never been done before in all of the Modern Age. A Mystic Code was being copied on the spot, and with just a bit more time, it could become a perfect copy.
'Sympathizing with the experience of its growth.'
Shirou could see more and more as he continued looking at the sword, and after six steps, he was almost at the point where he would be able to Project a perfect copy. Only two more steps remained…
'Reproducing… something.'
But at the last moment, Shirou's unfamiliarity with the Spell he was using tripped him up.
'Excelling… Excelling every...'
The attempt ended in failure.
The copy in his Inner World was so good as to be indistinguishable from the original to any Magus who didn't specialise in Mystic Codes, but it wasn't perfectly similar, and Shirou, who was largely unaware of what had just taken place, felt a sudden feeling of irritation bubble up inside of him.
Irritation that came from a place deep, deep inside of his Soul.
"I understand, Shirou." Lady Barthomeloi suddenly spoke up, and Shirou's heart just about stopped in shock when he realised she was still standing next to him, had been standing next to him since he had zoned out, and had now been witness to him standing around like an idiot, staring dopily at a wall for a solid minute.
"U-Understand?" He almost squeaked, hoping against hope she wasn't too irritated by his absentmindedness. "W-What do you understand?"
"That this is certainly not a place for a member of a Ruling Family to live in." Lady Barthomeloi clarified, turning her nose up at the building. "I too am astonished by the lack of respect shown to lady Archelot."
Wait, she thought he'd been staring at the wall because he was surprised that the house was so unimpressive?
Well, okay, sure, if that's what she wanted to believe, Shirou was not going to disabuse her of that notion.
He did strongly disagree with her opinion, as the house looked perfectly fine to him, but perhaps this was not the time to bring that up.
"Lady Archelot led the Department of Botany for three decades, with patience, skill, and wisdom." Lady Barthomeloi continued, her expression becoming more difficult to read. "Yet at the end of her life, her family put her away in the worst building that they possess, outside of the Clocktower, and cut all connections with her. I had known about it before, but I thought they were merely ungrateful. Now I am not so sure."
"Could they have put her here to get rid of her? Because she protested against their increasingly illegal activities?" Shirou asked, realising what she was hinting at.
"Yes, and to snub her as well." Lady Barthomeloi nodded, giving the house another glare. "This house seems acceptable on the outside, but I have no doubt that you have already perceived the evil and foulness that lie on it like a Curse. For more than a century, the Archelot have kept it sealed off, fearing its fell power, yet now they have banished their former head to this place, condemning her to die in darkness."
So it had not been the house itself but the Curses on it that had made Lady Barthomeloi turn her nose up at the sight of it? It hadn't been arrogance but a distaste for lingering evil that made her clack her tongue in distaste?
Shirou had misjudged her, clearly, in believing that it had been arrogance, and though he would never admit out loud that he had had any opinion of her that was unflattering, he did offer his apologies mentally.
Now, would he offer to remove the evil that lied in the house? He could do it, the Cleansing Power would make short work of the lingering traces of Pietrich Archelot and his cronies, but he hesitated on going through with it. It was not his house after all, and the owner might not look kindly on him suddenly throwing massive amounts of power around.
"Would you like me to remove the taint?" He thus offered to Lady Barthomeloi, figuring he couldn't go wrong if he followed her recommendation.
"That is possible?" She asked, before lifting an impressed eyebrow when he nodded. "You have my blessing, but I would advise you to consult lady Archelot on the matter as well."
"Of course. Shall we go inside then?"
"We shall. We have wasted enough time here."
With that, they went inside. Naturally, Shirou let Lady Barthomeloi go first, both because it was simple good manners to let a lady go first and because lady Archelot was less likely to activate the Bounded Fields if it was the Vice-Director visiting her rather than a random kid.
And indeed, with Lady Barthomeloi taking point, they safely reached the front door, where she knocked several times.
It was several seconds later that the door was opened, and it was opened by a ravishingly handsome young man wearing a butler-outfit, who, upon recognising who stood before him, momentarily widened his eyes in shock, before immediately composing himself again.
"My lady Vice-Director." The man spoke in a smooth, baritone voice, befitting of his large size, before he bowed. "And the lady Vice-Director's companion. Welcome to the residence of lady Raquel Archelot. Please, enter."
He did not ask why they were here, but Shirou supposed one didn't just deny entrance to the Queen of the Clocktower, even if she showed up without an appointment. Perks of being Lorelei Barthomeloi and all that.
Lady Barthomeloi stepped inside without missing a beat, and Shirou followed after her. They had no coats to hand over to the man, with it being a warm sunny day, but they did take off their shoes.
Then they followed the… butler? Manservant? Personal assistant? Further into the house, until they arrived in the lavishly decorated drawing room. There, an old lady, though not nearly as old as Lady Montmorency, was waiting for them, sitting in a golden chair with a perfect poise and her hands folded in her lap.
When Lady Barthomeloi entered the room however, she was quick to rise.
"My lady Vice-Director." She said, bowing to Lady Barthomeloi as well as she could, though it was clear her body was working against her. "I am honoured by your visit. Truly honoured. Benjamin, pour three glasses of the 1897 wine, at once."
"As you wish, lady Raquel." The butler, Benjamin, nodded, before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Lady Archelot." Lady Barthomeloi replied to the greeting, and Shirou blinked once in surprise when a very peculiar undertone entered the Vice-Director's words. It was almost… sad? "You have my gratitude for your warm welcome."
Lady Barthomeloi was sad?
"Lady Barthomeloi, my residence is always open to you. Please, have a seat." Lady Archelot gestured at the chairs that were scattered throughout the drawing room, and Shirou, having been raised well by his father, first grabbed a chair for Lady Barthomeloi and then one for himself. In the meantime, lady Archelot sat down again on her golden chair as well.
Once they were all seated, Lady Barthomeloi wasted not a moment in making introductions.
"This is Shirou Fujimaru." She introduced him shortly. "Fujimaru, this is lady Raquel Archelot, former head of the Archelot-family, and former head of the Department of Botany."
"It is an honour to meet you, young Fujimaru." Lady Archelot rasped, looking curiously at him.
"The honour is all mine, Lady Archelot." Shirou replied, bowing his head in respect towards an elder.
Lady Archelot smiled warmly, and yes, it was actual warmth, and then she turned towards Lady Barthomeloi again.
"It has been a while, my lady." She spoke, and Shirou could swear he saw her eyes turning slightly misty. "I have not seen you since…"
"Since that day." Lady Barthomeloi nodded, sitting on her seat as if it was burning her, her body coiled and ready to jump up at any second. "I was… I regret that you were banished here so soon after that day. We… There was much to discuss between us."
"Banished?" Lady Archelot raised an eyebrow as if she had no idea what Lady Barthomeloi was talking about, and Shirou immediately picked up on the lie. "I assure you I went here quite voluntarily."
"Fujimaru?" Lady Barthomeloi asked sharply.
"That was not true." Shirou stated his findings, and Lady Barthomeloi seemed not surprised in the slightest to hear it.
"Not true?" Lady Archelot raised an eyebrow, the faintest hint of unease showing at the edges of her expression. "I assure you, mister Fujimaru, that no one forced me to go here-"
"Mister Fujimaru's ability to discern lies from truth is flawless, lady Archelot." Lady Barthomeloi cut her off. "If he tells me that you lie, I am inclined to believe it. Especially when it matches the rest of our evidence."
"Evidence?" Lady Archelot didn't seem to be following what they were talking about anymore, but the panic in her expression was nevertheless increasing rapidly. "You have been collecting evidence about me?"
"The Meluastea have gone too far." Lady Barthomeloi stated in lieu of an answer. "They have violated every law and edict of the Clocktower, and have as gone as well as to betray the Magus Association itself. They shall be purged today, and all their followers with them. The Departments of Archaeology and Mineralogy will be scoured clean of that family and all its influences, and so will the Department of Botany, which has been accused of being in league with the Meluastea."
Lady Archelot's eyes widened until they were as big as saucers, and then her expression turned resigned. Resigned, tired, and depressed.
"You know then?" She asked calmly, before sighing when Lady Barthomeloi nodded. "Of course. I always knew that you would find out sooner or later. In a way, it's almost a relief that you have."
"How could you let the Meluastea take over your department?" Lady Barthomeloi demanded, no longer doubting Shirou's accusations now that lady Archelot had outright admitted they were true. "Your record was impeccable, your sense of duty immaculate. You were good and true."
"Ha!" Lady Archelot scoffed, her lips forming a wry smile. "And what if I was? It didn't do much good when the hounds came. I had always known somewhere in my gut that I should have drowned Jack Colby the moment he met my poor granddaughter, but I let him court her, and now he has taken everything from me."
"Jack Colby? Heir of the Colby-family?" Lady Barthomeloi asked. Shirou did not know this Colby-family, but from the way both ladies were frowning, they couldn't be very popular.
"That is the one." Lady Archelot nodded, making a dismissive motion with her hand. "A rather insignificant family, or at least they were, before the heir got ambitious and hooked his claws into my sweet Marianne, who I had just made my heir. With her firmly under his control, with the backing of the Meluastea and aided by the Archelot-family members who'd wanted to see me gone for years, he drove me out."
"Then you should have come to me at once." Lady Barthomeloi stated, her hands slowly balling into fists. "I would have helped you gain back your position as head of the family, and I would have put the traitors down like the dogs they are. That you didn't tell me about the Meluastea's actions was foolish, and treasonous besides."
"I know." Lady Archelot nodded, accepting the rebuke without protest. "I should have gone to you. Undoubtedly, it would have prevented much misery and pain. But I didn't, not because I am no longer loyal, but because I couldn't condemn my family to a gruesome end."
"That…" Lady Barthomeloi's frown became even deeper. "That would not have been guaranteed to happen."
"You know the rules and so do I." Lady Archelot replied, crossing her arms in an almost defiant motion. "Had I gone to you, half of my family, my poor granddaughter included, would have been executed. What was left of the Archelot would have been deposed and would be cast down to live in shame for the rest of our existence. I could not see that happen, not because of my actions."
"So you left?" Lady Barthomeloi demanded, her eyes flitting around the room. "You let yourself be banished to this place, the place you hated, by Colby?"
"Essentially." Lady Archelot nodded.
Lady Barthomeloi's nostrils flared, and Shirou realised with shock that this was the most emotional he'd ever seen the Vice-Director become. Her emotionless exterior, normally so perfect, was showing cracks all over, and she looked like she was about to lose it completely.
Perhaps seeing that as well, lady Archelot rose from her chair…
Before kneeling in front of Lady Barthomeloi, so deeply that her forehead pressed against the ground.
"I do not expect forgiveness, or a lenient sentence, for me or my family." She spoke to Lady Barthomeloi, who had been taken aback enough by the gesture for her budding anger to be cooled again. "I am ready to pay for my crimes, and the downfall of my family has been inevitable since the day Colby took my poor Marianne as his wife. I shall not ask for mercy, or for my family to keep its position. I merely ask that you show mercy to Marianne, and Marianne alone."
It was a heartfelt plea made by a tired, old woman, who had given up on everything she had or used to have and could only plead for her granddaughter's life.
It was quite moving, and it left Lady Barthomeloi at a complete loss.