Chapter 40: Wrap It Up With a Bowtie
Wrap It Up With a Bowtie
"Well, that was easy."
Those were the first words spoken once the group had reassembled, and rather unsurprisingly, they were spoken by Flat.
Most of the people involved in the purge were present at the scene. Shirou was there, and so was Lord El-Melloi, as were Lady Barthomeloi and Lady Montmorency, as well as Grey, Reines, Svin, Flat, Lehrman, Caren, Bazett, and even Sisigou and Adashino, though there were several others present too.
They were currently standing together, in a rough circle, inside the Department of Mineralogy, the Department that had once belonged to the Archibald, had then been taken by the Meluastea, and was now once more reclaimed by the Archibald, or by Waver Velvet at least, in the name of the Archibald.
It had been barely two hours since the Department of Archaeology had been conquered completely, and already, most of Mineralogy had been taken as well. As Flat had said, it had been very easy.
There were several reasons for this.
The first was of course because Shirou and Lady Barthomeloi had led the charge again. Bounded Fields and other defences were worthless before them, and it wasn't long before they had destroyed all resistance.
The second reason was that Reines knew the lay-out of the Department like the back of her hand, having lived there for the first seven years of her life, and as such, was able to lead them around quickly and decisively, which helped speed up the conquest even more.
The third reason was that Mineralogy was less than half the size of Archaeology, both in surface area and in number of people, meaning that there was simply less to conquer in the first place.
The last reason, and perhaps the most important one of them all, was that most members of the Department of Mineralogy actually hated the Meluastea.
Shirou did not know the precise numbers, but he did know that a good two-thirds of the families involved with Mineralogy had outright refused to fight for the Meluastea when the attack had begun, and many of them had even actively fought against them once the opportunity presented itself.
Once he and Lady Barthomeloi had gotten through the first defensive line of Meluastea-supporters, they had been surprised to find that virtually no resistance remained. The members of the Department of Mineralogy who were loyal to the Archibald had already dealt with them.
It seemed that the Archibald had been kinder masters than the Meluastea, or if not kinder, than at least preferable in some other way, as Lord El-Melloi and Reines had been received with hopeful looks and even some cheers once they'd entered the Department.
Reines ate it all up of course, happily waving to everyone who was cheering for her, while Lord El-Melloi had to cover his cheeks to hide his blush, something Svin and Flat were only delighted to tease him about.
Even now, many of the people working for Mineralogy were going around, happily removing every trace of the Meluastea and their flunkies, some of them even whistling a joyful tune while they were at it.
Shirou watched as the seal of the Meluastea-family was removed everywhere and replaced with that of the Archibald, monuments and statues that had been built in honour of the Meluastea were destroyed, and every bit of research that the flunkies of that family had participated in was either delivered to the Enforcers or burned on the spot.
It was quite the sight, and though Shirou knew many of them, if not all, only preferred the Archibald out of selfish reasons, he was still happy to see that even most Magi could not abide the Meluastea.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
As Mineralogy was now largely cleared and there was no longer any threat, the large group quickly fell apart into multiple smaller groups, and before long, Shirou found himself standing together with Lord El-Melloi, Lady Barthomeloi, Reines, Grey, and the snake-lady whom Lord El-Melloi had introduced as 'Adashino'.
"You have quite the job ahead of you." Lady Barthomeloi spoke to Lord El-Melloi, a hint of pity audible in her voice. "We might have purged your Department of all overt supporters of the Meluastea, but there is a clear discrepancy between the number of supporters we have dealt with over the last hour, and the number of supporters that were supposed to be present according to Lady Montmorency's reports."
There was? That was news to Shirou. He thought they'd gotten all of them now.
Which, now that he thought about it, was probably very naïve of him.
"Of course." Lord El-Melloi, unlike Shirou, was not at all surprised by Lady Barthomeloi's statement. "I expect that many of the Magi shouting the loudest about their delight over the Archibald's return were the ones who were consorting the most with the Meluastea. The rats have left the sinking ship, and now we must track them down before they spread their diseases."
"We're going to get rid of even more members?" To Reines, this was clearly bad news, if her dismayed expression was anything to go by. "Is there any way we can solve this without killing or arresting people? I mean, I get that we don't want traitors in our ranks, but we can hardly afford to lose even more people. Mineralogy will be decimated."
"You already lost them." Lady Barthomeloi countered, her tone firm but not unkind. "Now you must try to limit the damage. Never let a wound fester, for it will kill you if not addressed."
"Right." Reines sighed deeply, her dismayed expression turning forlorn.
"Ah, miss Reines, please try to stay positive." Grey attempted to console the little lady, gently taking her hand. "I-I mean, uhm…"
Grey tried to think of a positive angle, something that would somehow cast the current situation in a better light, but she clearly drew a blank, and eventually gave Lord El-Melloi a helpless look, pleading for his aid in improving Reines' mood.
The lord's stony expression did not change, but after he'd taken a drag of his cigar, he did nod his assent.
"Pull yourself together, Reines." He told his honorary little sister in a stern tone. "It is unbecoming of a lady to act so morosely, especially in front of others."
"Ah, but-"
"There is no use in moping. Rather be grateful that the disloyal and rebellious elements of Mineralogy will be purged for us before we even take it into our possession. Stop complaining about matters you cannot change and look to the future. Good gracious, if you were one of my students, I'd be most cross with you."
"You're already cross with me though?!" Reines spluttered.
"Tsk."
"Don't 'tsk' at me!"
"Thank you, sir." Grey smiled, happy to see that Reines was in good spirits again, and that there was not a trace of morosity left on her face.
"As touching as this is, we have other matters that demand our attention." Shirou interrupted the scene, conscious of the fact that Lady Barthomeloi was getting restless. "Most notably, the fact that Mineralogy has not been fully cleared yet."
"It hasn't?" Grey asked, her eyes widening beneath her hood, which she'd kept on for the entire battle so far. "But… I thought you said we did clear it."
"The upper part." Shirou nodded, before he pointed down at the ground, or rather, below it. "But there are several rooms underground."
"Indeed." Reines nodded, her blonde hair swooshing from the movement. "Six, to be precise. Six rooms in which the more… 'specialized' research is done, or at least, that was the situation when I still lived here. It may have changed since then though."
"Would the Meluastea have been motivated enough to change anything?" Lady Barthomeloi was clearly sceptical of that claim, and though Shirou's first inclination was to agree with her, as the Meluastea had seemed rather lazy to him, he couldn't be entirely sure of it.
Sure, he could see the rooms as they were now, mostly, and he could see the people inside as well, but since it was the first time he'd been in this department, he couldn't tell if anything had been changed or not.
"Does it matter if they have changed anything though?" He then asked. "Regardless of how things are currently, we will still have to take the underground back from the Meluastea's supporters."
"You are correct of course." Lady Barthomeloi nodded, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "It was merely a curiosity."
"I would really appreciate it if you destroyed as few things as possible." Reines pleaded. "Those chambers have been built and stocked over the course of centuries, and a lot of items are very valuable and fragile."
"I always endeavour to cause as little damage to my surroundings as possible." Lady Barthomeloi stated in no uncertain terms, before giving Reines a low-level glare. "However, property will not take precedence over the success of the mission or the health of my followers."
"Of course, of course!" Reines hastily agreed, nodding her head so fast her hair bobbed. "I would never suggest otherwise."
"We will take care not to damage anything if we can avoid it." Shirou spoke up as well, lightly bumping Lady Barthomeloi's shoulder with his own to get her to stop glaring at Reines. "In fact, I think most of the rooms don't even hold supporters of the Meluastea."
"T-They don't, m-my lord." A stuttering voice suddenly spoke up, and everyone turned to the side to see a black-haired young woman with a very dark complexion walking up to them, or rather, inching towards them. "T-The M-Meluastea mostly didn't b-bother with the underground ch-chambers. T-They just stole everything that t-they found interesting, a-and ignored the rest."
Shirou detected no lie in the woman's words, and he was just about to ask her who she was when he was interrupted by a ruckus next to him.
"Delilah!" Reines cried happily, rushing up to the woman to pull her into a hug, something 'Delilah' didn't protest against or was at all surprised by, showing that she was fairly familiar with the little lady's mannerisms. "It's wonderful to see you again! How have you been?"
"Not all that well, but that's not important right now." Delilah said, pushing Reines back a bit. "My lady, is it true the Archibald will reclaim this Department?"
"Yup!" Reines grinned, before pointing at Lord El-Melloi. "Waver over there, my big brother, will become the new head. He's in charge now."
"I see." Delilah mumbled, giving Lord El-Melloi a cautious, yet hopeful look. "Waver? Waver Velvet?"
"The one and only." Lord El-Melloi confirmed, taking another drag of his cigar.
"I see." The woman repeated, wringing her hands. "And the Archibald-elders?"
"They will probably move back in as well, though they will hold no authority." Reines explained, rubbing her cheek with a laconic smile. "It's a long story."
"One you can tell later." Lady Barthomeloi interrupted sharply, motioning for Reines to be quiet, before turning to Delilah. "Who are you?"
"My deepest apologies! I am Delilah Aubert, head of the Aubert-family, vassals of Mineralogy!" Delilah bowed deeply before the brunette, rapidly introducing herself. "Forgive me for taking up your valuable time!"
"Don't take anymore of it." Lady Barthomeloi warned her. "We are hunting the servants of the Meluastea. We have no time to answer your questions."
"That's what I wanted to tell you about." Delilah remained bowed, and kept talking quickly, as if trying to get her message out before she was sent away. "M-Most of Mineralogy hates the Meluastea and would rather have the Archibald back."
Reines beamed when she heard that.
"S-So when you attacked, we tried to capture or kill the Meluastea's supporters. Of the six underground chambers, we managed to secure four. Two of them have been taken by the Meluastea's followers though, and we have been unable to defeat them so far."
"Which chambers were taken?" Reines asked sharply, her wide smile falling away to make place for a worried expression. "Please tell me Geology isn't one of them."
"It isn't. The chambers that are currently occupied by our enemies are the Golem-Workshop and the Graveyard." Delilah answered, and Shirou immediately looked downwards to see if he could find those two chambers.
"I see." Reines mumbled, her expression becoming contemplative as she digested this piece of news. "That's… not as bad as I feared."
"Sir, what are the Golem-Workshop and the Graveyard?" Grey asked after a while, when it became clear Reines wasn't going to explain anytime soon.
"The Golem-Workshop is exactly what the name implies, a place dedicated to the development and creation of Golems." Lord El-Melloi answered promptly and without hesitation, reminding everyone that he had been a student at this Department for most of his youth. "As for the Graveyard, it is where research is done into the nature of Spirits and the Fae, though some also use it to study Souls and the concept of Death."
"You mean Necromancy?" Lady Barthomeloi asked with a raised eyebrow. "I hope you kept yourself to the limits that have been set on that particular craft?"
The limits she referred to were the limits that had been set on Necromancy by the Edict of Glasgow, when the Clocktower, Atlas, and the Wandering Sea had convened to decide on general rules after yet another failed experiment in Necromancy had almost wiped out the world because of a zombie-plague yet again.
More Crafts had been discussed at Glasgow of course, including but not limited to Gemcraft, Disease-craft, Geology, Mystic-Code-production, and the various kinds of Runes, but it had been Necromancy that had been subjected to the most limitations in the end.
The Craft itself wasn't forbidden, no one had been willing to go that far, but certain aspects of it had been outlawed. Most notably, the enslavement of Souls, the summoning of evil or unstable Spirits, and Resurrection that was not done using the Third True Magic.
There were far more nuances and caveats of course –nothing could ever be easy in the Moonlight World– but Shirou didn't know any more details than that.
"The Graveyard, despite its name, didn't practise Necromancy at all." Lord El-Melloi explained calmly. "I was never a member, you understand, but from what I heard, it studied Death and matters related to it, but nothing more. At least, that was the case when I was still a student. It is not unthinkable that the situation is different now."
"It is." Delilah confirmed sadly. "The researchers of the Meluastea have turned the Graveyard into a place of crude, brutish Necromancy. There is no respect whatsoever anymore for the dead, as those monsters bind and enslave every spirit and spirit-like creature they can find."
"…I see." Lord El-Melloi took another drag from his cigar, and then closed his eyes in sadness.
"All the more reason to remove them quickly." Lady Barthomeloi did not seem to know what to do with a saddened Lord El-Melloi, so she moved the conversation along. "Miss Delilah, you will provide us with every bit of information you possess concerning the Golem-Workshop and the Graveyard. Once you have done so, Fujimaru and I will deal with the traitors."
"Ah, of course." Delilah nodded rapidly, not questioning for a moment whether two people would be enough to deal with the matter. After all, one of them was the Queen of the Clocktower herself.
"Please be careful when you are fighting though." Reines begged Lady Barthomeloi again. "The Archibald are already poor, and a lot of the stuff down there is fragile, and expensive."
"I shall use no more force than is absolutely required to bring my opponents down." Lady Barthomeloi promised, and Reines, grateful the woman had listened at all, nodded in gratitude.
"You should take Grey along." Lord El-Melloi suddenly added, having regained his composure. "She's quite talented at Necromancy herself, and fighting fellow practitioners and their arts will be good practice for her."
"O-Only if I won't be a bother." Grey squeaked, and Lady Barthomeloi, after casting a glance at Shirou, who nodded, made an assenting hand motion. "Thank you! I promise I won't get in your way!"
"I have full confidence you won't." Shirou smiled at her.
"Excellent." Reines piped up again, taking Waver by the hand. "So while you three take care of that, Waver and I will take Delilah and make a round through the Department, to see what needs to be done to return it to a proper state."
"We will?" Waver asked, blinking in surprise, before nodding once. "We will."
It wasn't the first time he'd taken over a Department after all –though he had bought Modern Magical Theories, rather than conquer it– and he had a good idea as to what needed to happen to get settled in as new lord.
"Can I ask what you have in mind?" Delilah inquired cautiously.
"Oh, nothing much. Just take stock of which families remained loyal to us, which didn't, what the Meluastea stole, what needs to be repaired, that sort of thing." Reines said dismissively, her tone very nonchalant, though Shirou could see that nonchalance was entirely faked.
Yes, he could see it clear as day. Reines might act like she had everything under control, but in actuality, she was extremely nervous about what she would find once she looked at the state Mineralogy was currently in. She was terrified of the damage the Meluastea had wrought and was constantly praying under her breath that the losses weren't too bad.
She was scared, and was trying to hide her fear under fake bravado and laconic words so she wouldn't look weak in front of the Queen, one of her vassals, and her older brother who was also her direct superior in a way.
Delilah fell for it, nodding once, but Lord El-Melloi gave his honorary sister a side-ways look, clearly well aware something was up, before he nodded too.
Shirou felt reassured though. He'd been wondering if he should do something to set Reines at ease, but if Lord El-Melloi was on the case, he could leave them behind without worry.
A few more words were exchanged, and then the two groups went their separate ways. One went down into the Earth, to find the last of their enemies, and one went on a tour through the Department, to get a feel for the place again and verify the loyalty of the employees.
It was safe to say that the latter group had the more difficult task.
"Ehehehehehehe." Illya laughed softly as she placed the golden cup on the table, alongside the numerous valuable objects she'd placed on it before, and then she burst out in loud cackles, throwing her head back and spreading her arms out to the side as she roared in laughter. "Hahahahahahahaha!"
"Mistress…" Behind her, Sella frowned deeply at Illya's inelegant behaviour, while Leysritt just seemed confused as to why her mistress was laughing so much. "May we ask what is so funny that you have been laughing for several minutes now?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry." Illya apologised once she got herself under control again, turning around to grin at her maids. "I was just enjoying the feeling of holding millions of Euros in my hands. I mean, the Einzbern are rich, and they didn't skimp on my possessions, but this is just so ridiculous I couldn't help but laugh."
"You find amusement in obscene amounts of money?" Sella blinked twice at that information. "You have never indicated such a thing before."
"Because I've never held obscene amounts of money in my very own hands before." Illya snickered, before she gestured at the table behind her. "Come on, look at that and tell me you don't feel like laughing at the absurdity of it all."
The table itself was honestly nothing special. It was very big, big enough for twenty-four people to sit at with room to spare, made of solid oak, and carved by an expert hand, but it wasn't particularly remarkable. An upper-middle class family would have been able to afford it.
What Illya was referring to when she spoke of absurdity were the numerous objects stacked on top of that table.
Over the past hours, ever since Shirou had left to go on that purge of his, Illya, along with her maids, had been meticulously combing through the piles of treasure in the Vault, looking for the shiniest and most valuable objects she could find.
Her yields were massive, and the table had been filled with countless items that looked ridiculously expensive, to say the least.
So far, she'd collected golden cups inlaid with gems, silver necklaces with the most intricate patterns imaginable, Enchanted rings that almost glowed with power, gemstones that seemed to be made out of pure starlight, sceptres made from materials she didn't even recognise, and countless other trinkets, baubles, and knick-knacks.
Considering most of them were Enchanted too, with various kinds of Magical properties, Illya was absolutely certain that the collection she'd built so far could easily net her more than a billion euros if sold to the correct people.
So yes, obscene amounts of money indeed.
"I will acknowledge that seeing such a quantity of valuable objects so close together, in the possession of one man, does seem absurd to me, but I don't see why that would be a cause for laughter." Sella replied to Illya's earlier statement after studying the objects. "I am impressed, yes, but not amused. Money is no laughing matter."
"Yes, I know. Money is serious business." Illya acknowledged. "To be honest, it isn't even the money itself that amuses me. It's on a higher level than that. I laugh because it is so much. I laugh at the very concept that anyone could be so rich, and especially at the idea that is only a fraction of a fraction of my brother's actual wealth."
"I see…" Sella said slowly, before she nodded. "I won't claim to understand perfectly what you're talking about, but I suppose there is humour in what you say."
"Glad you're seeing it my way." Illya beamed at her honorary older sister, before turning towards the other maid. "What about you, Leysritt? Do you understand what we are talking about?"
"…" Leysritt didn't reply at first, and instead just looked back calmly, giving no sign of being about to say anything, before she suddenly held up a dagger-shaped Mystic Code. "Is this valuable enough for your purposes, mistress?"
"Eh? Ah, I suppose it is." It took Illya a good three seconds to regain her bearings after the jarring shift in subjects, but as soon as she had, she took the dagger from Leysritt and placed it on the table, not even pausing to verify if it was really valuable in any way.
If Leysritt had offered it to her, then of course it was going onto the table. To do otherwise would disappoint the ditsy maid, and that wasn't something Illya was willing to do. Her heart wasn't made of stone after all.
"Is there any purpose to building this collection, mistress?" Sella then asked, carefully studying said collection again. "Do you wish for your brother to sell all these items?"
"No, not necessarily." Illya shook her head. "I just want to show them to him. He told me he doesn't really know what's in here, so I wanted to help out. Shirou can decide for himself whether he wants to sell them. I don't think he has a need of money, so he probably won't
"I see." Sella breathed out a soft sigh of relief. "I am happy to hear you say that, mistress."
"Oh, why?"
"I must admit I do not feel entirely comfortable with the idea that any of the objects in this pocket dimension will become available to the Magi of our world." Illya's honorary older sister admitted, slowly rubbing her cheek with a pensive expression on her face. "I cannot claim to be very well-informed, but if the Einzbern are the norm for Magi, I would rather that they possess as few powerful and valuable items as possible."
Sella's warning was on point, and Illya froze as she realised the maid was entirely correct. It was indeed a bad idea to start selling stuff to Magi, especially if you had no idea who you were selling to.
"A-Ah, but wait!" Illya exclaimed, perking up as something occurred to her. "Such a thing would easily be avoided if Shirou only sold his items to Magi he trusts, right?"
"I suppose, but if lord Emiya trusted them, would he ask them to pay a fortune, or would he sell the items for low prices, or perhaps just give them away as gifts?"
"Urk!" Illya almost swayed in place as Sella pulled the rug out from under her. "Y-You got him all figured out, don't you…?"
"Lord Emiya does not have a complicated personality."
"I suppose not." Illya mumbled, before she shook her head to recompose herself. "Ah well, it hardly matters whether he sells anything or not in the end. I'll just build my collection and stop thinking about money so much."
"Mistress, if you really wish to obtain money, have you considered the gems?" Sella asked, pointing into the distance, where mountains of gems could be seen peaking over the piles surrounding them. "I confess my ignorance as to whether they can be used for Magecraft or not, but certainly, they are worth quite a sum?"
"They can be used for Magecraft." Illya nodded, having already verified that. "But I didn't really consider them, as selling them would flood the market and bring the price down by a lot."
"I see." Sella inclined her head. "Pardon me for making such a foolish suggestion."
"Oh no, not at all." Illya quickly assured her, running up to her maid to pat her on the back. "I mean, it's not a bad idea, and selling them bit by bit might work, I'd have to discuss that with Shirou."
"But you do not wish to add them to your collection?"
"Oh no, I am after the super-valuable stuff right now. You know, the rare stuff. Things that don't lie around in massive piles for the taking."
"The thrill of the hunt." Leysritt added with a smile that contained a tad of bloodthirst, making her fellow Homunculi deadpan at her again.
"…I suppose." Illya agreed after a few moments. "Though I wouldn't have put it quite like that."
"You really should work on learning to read the room, Leysritt." Sella sighed, shaking her head at her sister, before turning back to Illya. "Let us continue the search, mistress."
"Yes, let's!"
Illya promptly got to work again at shifting through the numerous piles in the Vault. So far, she'd already searched through eleven of them, yet hundreds more awaited her still.
Safe to say, she wouldn't be getting bored any time soon.
"I wonder how the purge is progressing." Illya said after a few minutes of silence, during which she'd been searching diligently. "I mean, it's probably going to take weeks, but maybe he can take a break soon to visit us?"
"I do not know, mistress." Sella replied honestly, before inclining her head again when Illya gave her an insistent look. "I'm sure it will be alright. Your brother said it might take a while, and that as long as the pocket dimension remains in the same state, we could safely assume he is still alive."
"'Still alive' doesn't mean much though." Illya said grumpily, before she shook her head. "Oh well, I suppose there's no point in worrying. Shirou is the strongest there is after all."
"…Perhaps." Sella allowed, not knowing enough about the outside world to dispute that claim. "Perhaps."
"Please take a seat here and make yourselves comfortable. The detectives will see you as soon as they can."
The kind police-officer who had led them to the third floor of the police-precinct walked away after that last assurance, leaving Sakura, Ayako, and Issei alone in the interrogation room.
The interrogation room, which Sakura was pretty sure should only be used on hardened criminals, not innocent teenagers.
Granted, the room they were in wasn't quite the spartan, oppressive kind of place that you saw in detective-series, and there was no torture equipment visible anywhere, but that didn't mean it was in any way comfortable.
To the contrary, it was unnerving.
Currently, the three teens were seated at one end of a simple table, on chairs that, while not outright painful to sit on, were certainly not of great quality. The walls were painted in a dark grey, and there were no windows anywhere. The only light in the room was produced by a single lamp hanging from the ceiling.
They had received glasses of water and a snack for each of them, and the door of the room wasn't locked, but Sakura still felt like a suspect about to get the third degree, and from Ayako's and Issei's facial expressions, they felt the same way.
At this point, Sakura had to wonder whether the police treated all their witnesses like this. The three of them had only found the corpse and reported it to the relevant authorities, yet right now, it seemed as if they were under suspicion for having committed the murder themselves.
Preposterous of course, they hadn't killed anyone, but because of Shirou's vigilante-work, Sakura was painfully aware that the police in Japan didn't always care about pesky things like guilt or innocence if it was inconvenient for them. If they wanted someone to blame, they would find someone, one way or another.
The plum-haired girl took a deep breath and confirmed for the third time in as many minutes that her knife was still in her pocket. Should the worst come to the worst, she was prepared to do what was necessary.
They could make their way out, and then take refuge in the Emiya-estate, which would change into an impenetrable bastion when its inhabitants were threatened. There, they could wait until Shirou returned to Hypnotise everyone involved, which would hopefully settle the matter.
But perhaps she was getting ahead of herself there. No need to get too martial minded while nothing had happened yet.
Sakura shook her head slowly, trying to rid herself of all these nervous thoughts, and instead focused on what had happened over the past hours and what she would tell the police during the interview.
It had been about five hours now since they had discovered the body, or at least, its head. After digging up said head, Issei had warned them to keep their distance, so they wouldn't disturb the crime scene any more than they already had.
It had turned out to be the correct decision, for when the first officers arrived, bringing with them the tarp and other equipment for sealing the crime scene, they praised the teens for leaving the place of their discovery as undisturbed as possible.
After that, the three of them had been taken back to the Ryuudou-temple by several uniformed officers, away from the gruesome sight of a corpse being unearthed.
Not that Sakura was affected much, but she appreciated the kind gesture nevertheless, even if it was likely just as much about getting uninvolved people away from the investigation as it was about protecting them.
After a short discussion with Issei's father, the three of them had been taken to the station to give a proper witness-report. Issei's father would follow behind shortly, and both Ayako's parents and Fujimura-Sensei had already been called, meaning they too would arrive in short order.
That brought them to the present, where they were patiently, or actually not-so-patiently, waiting for the inspector to arrive.
"My, this was certainly a shocking experience." Issei suddenly began, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose, his voice oddly casual. "To think that following that rotting stench we all smelled would lead us to a half-buried corpse… I never would have expected such a thing."
It seemed like an odd thing to say, but Sakura and Ayako both recognised Issei's statement for what it was. An attempt to get their stories straight, to make sure they didn't mention that Sakura had smelled the corpse from far away when Issei and Ayako could not, and that it had been buried besides, which made it even stranger that Sakura had been able to smell it.
Nothing good could come from mentioning that, so they wouldn't.
Simple enough.
"Can't believe no one found it sooner." Ayako also agreed, her voice sounding just as casual as Issei's, though it was noticeably more forced. "It sure got us into a difficult situation though. Really, what would my aunts and uncles think if they heard I was in an interrogation room? The sooner these detectives arrive, the better."
Sensing Ayako's unease, Sakura gently took her hand and squeezed, which Ayako replied to by softly bumping her head against Sakura's. Issei pretended not to notice anything.
In the end, the three had to wait for about ten minutes longer, and then Sakura could hear voices approaching the interrogation room, agitated voices.
…Voices she recognised.
"-Can't believe that idiot brought witnesses, teenage witnesses, to the interrogation room! I told him specifically to bring them to a side-office! Does he have a brain in his head or is it filled with nothing but his precious hentai!?"
"He means well. He's just a bit clumsy with these things."
"You can't keep defending him, Senpai. This isn't the first time he's done something like this, and it has always brought us unnecessary trouble. In fact, these witnesses have full right to lodge a complaint against him after he put them in there and left them alone."
"I will talk with him again and make sure he understands what the consequences of his actions will be if he keeps this up. Now, let's first do what we need to do before we start addressing the issues within the precinct itself, shall we?"
"As you say, Senpai, though believe me when I say that this matter is far from over. I don't care if he is a council-member's son, if he keeps dropping the ball, I will make sure he is thrown out on his ass."
By now, Sakura had no doubts anymore about who these people were, and when the door was opened and two detectives entered the room, she wasn't at all surprised to see Shirou's old enemies standing there.
"Hello there, you three. I'm sorry it took so long for us to arrive, but we… Ha?!"
"Hm? What's wrong… You?!"
"Osaki-san, Yomaura-san." Sakura smiled as pleasantly as she could once the detectives entered her view, though she held no illusions about said smile not being extremely brittle. "This is a surprise."
A surprise indeed. Sakura honestly hadn't expected to see those two ever again, though perhaps she should have anticipated it nonetheless, considering she was in the police-station and all.
The detectives hadn't changed much in the few months since Sakura had last seen them. Osaki was still his black-haired, serious-looking self, while Yomaura was still a redhead and had a temperament as fiery as her hair colour.
It would seem they were the detectives in charge of this investigation, if their presence and their words were anything to go by.
It seemed things had gotten a lot more complicated all of a sudden.
"This is a surprise indeed." Osaki scoffed in answer to her earlier remark, crossing his arms with a heavy frown on his face. "Can't say it's a pleasant one though."
Yomaura didn't even speak, but merely frowned, even deeper than her colleague, showing perfectly well what she thought of Sakura's presence in the room.
"Do you know these detectives, Matou-san?" Issei asked, reverting to using her actual name in the current professional setting, as he said he would. "I wouldn't have thought you were the kind of person to get involved with the police."
No, Sakura supposed he wouldn't. Being involved with the police wasn't a small thing in Japan, and it generally only happened to very specific types of people, who would then be marked as pariahs by society for the rest of their lives.
The only reason that hadn't happened to Sakura was because her involvement with them was strictly on the Moonlit Side of the World, which meant no one except her, Senpai, Ayako, and the detectives themselves knew about it. Not that she could tell that to Issei though.
"I know them, though only through Senpai." Sakura explained, and she was relieved when Issei made a noise of understanding and then let the matter go.
Shirou had some connections with the Yakuza after all, so Issei probably assumed that was how the detectives knew him, and thus her as well.
"Did you have anything to do with this murder?" Yomaura suddenly asked harshly, apparently not in the mood for pleasantries or for being subtle.
"Hey now!" Ayako, rather predictably, reacted badly to the question, but fell silent when Sakura gently took hold of her elbow.
"I had nothing to do with whatever happened there, Yomaura-san." She said, clearly and concisely, leaving no room for misinterpretation or doubt. "I only found the body, nothing more."
"Hm." Yomaura looked very sceptical of Sakura's claim, but eventually, perhaps deciding there was no obvious reason for Sakura to kill anyone, she nodded her head in acceptance. "Very well. Forgive my rudeness, we ask everyone these questions."
Sakura was not at all sure whether she believed that, but she decided to keep her silence. No need to stir up any more trouble after all.
"Let us start again." Osaki tried to smooth things over, gently placing a hand on his partner's shoulder and pulling her backwards. "I am Osaki Koyo, and this is Yomaura Taya. We are detectives in service of Fuyuki-City's law-enforcement agency."
"Well met." Issei promptly replied, his tone pompous and strong, as it always was when he introduced himself to adults. "My name is Ryuudou Issei, from the Ryuudou-temple."
"I am Mitsuzuri Ayako. We already know each other, Osaki-san, though I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Yomaura-san yet." Ayako said stiffly, her overly formal tone indicating she was still cross about Yomaura's brazen accusation against Sakura earlier.
"Matou Sakura." The plum-haired girl said shortly, before falling silent again. Further introduction was rather unnecessary, considering they'd met before.
"Now that we have been introduced, let us leave this room." If Osaki was in any way affected by Sakura's curtness, he did an excellent job of hiding it. "This is generally not the place where we question witnesses. The officer who brought you here made a mistake."
"Phew, I'm glad to hear that." Ayako laughed, though there was something forced about it again. "I was getting the creeps from this room."
The brunette played it off for laughs, but from her tone, Sakura could tell that the wait in the interrogation room had actually gotten to her, and she promptly took her girlfriend's hand again, trying to comfort her a bit.
A few minutes later, the three teens were seated on much more comfortable chairs in a side-office on the fourth floor of the precinct, with more snacks and fresh glasses of water. It wasn't long after that that their guardians also arrived.
"Ayako!" Mitsuzuri Chiaki, Ayako's mother, immediately hugged her daughter, to said daughter's embarrassment. "Oh, my dearest girl, I heard what happened! It was so awful! You must be shocked!"
"M-Mom, it's not that bad!" Ayako protested, her cheeks getting red as her mother kept hugging her tightly. "Mom, please!"
"To think that there was a deceased person so close to our temple, and one who has probably died through violence at that." Issei's father, who was basically a carbon copy of Issei but older, placed a hand on his son's shoulder, shaking his head in dismay. "Once we return home, I'll have everyone participate in a cleansing ritual, to banish the foul energies and grant peace to the poor soul."
"Excellent idea, father." Issei nodded, placing his hand on his heart. "I will do my utmost to live up to your expectations."
"Heya, Sakura." Fujimura-Sensei did not bother with teary hugs or grave statements, but instead gave her a cheerful greeting, before looking around the side-office. "Hm, not bad, this place. You know, when I heard that you'd been taken by the police, I feared for a moment that they had put you in an interrogation room, but I'm glad that isn't the case. I would have had to break some bones if they did, and that's so much trouble."
"…Of course." Sakura completely agreed that breaking bones was trouble, and as such, made no mention of the fact that they had been put in such a room at first. "We are perfectly alright, Fujimura-Sensei, especially now that you're here."
"Hehe." The teacher grinned widely, placing a hand on Sakura's head and tussling her hair a bit, before she turned towards Osaki and Yomaura. "Well then, let's get this over with. It's late, and the kids have just had a bad experience they need to recover from."
"Of course, Fujimura-san, we completely understand that this is difficult." Osaki said soothingly, clearly already familiar with the brown-haired teacher. "But taking witness-statements is something that must be done immediately after the fact, with events still fresh in their memories. If we wait until tomorrow, they might forget something crucial."
"I know how this stuff works." Fujimura-Sensei answered promptly, giving an impatient wave of her hand. "I'm not telling you to stop. To the contrary, I'm telling you to get a move on and ask your questions so we can leave as soon as possible."
"Of course." Osaki nodded, before directing all the guests towards their chairs and then taking place opposite of them, motioning for his partner to do the same. He also placed some kind of form on the table and held a pen at the ready to start writing. "Now, to start, you are Matou Sakura, Mitsuzuri Ayako, and Ryuudou Issei, correct?"
"That is correct." Issei nodded.
"I am Mitsuzuri Ayako." Ayako confirmed.
"Yes." Sakura smiled another brittle smile, though this time the brittleness came mainly from having to deal with her family-name.
"Very good." Osaki made a note on the paper. "You are here as witnesses for an official police-investigation, correct?"
"Correct again." Issei confirmed for the three of them.
"Are you aware that you are not under arrest, that no charges of any kind have been brought against you, and that you are free to leave at any time?"
"The officer who brought us here told us that." Ayako said, and Sakura noticed the muscle beneath Yomaura's eye twitching at the mention of that particular officer.
Another note was made.
"Lastly, do you consent to being interviewed without the presence of an attorney?"
"I… suppose we do?" Issei answered, though hesitatingly this time, and he looked back at the adults for help.
"You may interview them without an attorney present this one time." Fujimura-Sensei came to his aid, levelling a stern glare at the officers. "I must insist however that you limit yourself to questions about the events of tonight, and that the kids retain the right to remain silent. Furthermore, once this interview is over, any further contact between these three and yourself will be done via an attorney."
As the daughter of a Yakuza-Oyabun, Fujimura Taiga was very well aware of all dirty tricks the Japanese police had hidden up their sleeves, and she was determined to head off any underhanded moves that these detectives might employ.
It was possible there would be no underhanded moves of course, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared.
Osaki dutifully wrote down Fujimura-Sensei's statement, not giving a single sign of being irritated or otherwise bothered by her words and tone, and then officially commenced the interview.
"Can you give a description of the events that led towards you discovering the body?"
"Of course." Issei promptly did so, telling them about their nightly stroll through the forest, about them suddenly smelling a rotting stench once they'd walked a certain distance from the temple, and about them discovering a dead person's head.
He took care not to reveal too much, though Sakura knew being so prudent was not necessarily required with these two detectives, as they already knew about the existence of the Moonlit World. Nevertheless, Ayako's parents and Issei's father certainly didn't know about magic, so they stuck to their cover story.
At the end of Issei's tale, Osaki continued writing for a few seconds more, before he went on asking questions. Yomaura remained silent beside him, merely watching them, probably hunting for discrepancies or mistakes in their statements.
"When you found the body, was it buried completely or partially?"
"Partially." This time, it was Ayako who replied. "Most of it was buried, but the head was exposed. We didn't disturb the scene. All we did was brush some dirt aside to make sure that the head was human."
"So it was already exposed?" Osaki seemed to consider that of some interest. "Strange. Normally, criminals do a proper job of burying their victims."
"It might have been the animals of the forest who dug it up once they caught wind of the smell." Issei's father supplied a possible explanation. "It is not unusual for foxes and crows to scavenge, and they hardly care what kind of meat they eat. Human or deer, it is the same to them."
"Were there any traces around the body that indicated a human presence?" Osaki asked his next question after giving the man a nod. "Footprints perhaps?"
"We saw nothing of the sort." Issei answered, pensively rubbing his chin.
"Do you have any idea who this person could have been?" Osaki asked this question to Issei and his father in particular. "Has anyone from the temple perhaps gone missing recently?"
"Everyone is accounted for." Issei's father didn't hesitate for a second. "And before you ask, all our regular visitors are also in good health, and all of them have visited the temple over the last week."
"Does the police not know who it is?" Fujimura-Sensei asked curiously before Osaki could move on to the next question. "The dead body, I mean."
"The coroners and our researchers are currently working on identification-" Osaki began, before Yomaura, who'd taken her phone out of her pocket a few seconds before, held said phone under his nose, forcing him to read something.
"…My apologies. It seems our researchers have finished. The dead person has been identified as Carlton Paris." The black-haired detective informed them. "Have you ever heard of this person, or met him perhaps?"
"Can't say I have." Issei replied promptly.
"I have never heard of him either." Ayako agreed immediately, though Sakura noticed a very slight twitch in the brunette's fingers, a tell-tale sign that she wasn't being entirely honest.
"Neither have I." Sakura put the twitch aside and replied. "He sounds foreign. Was he a tourist?"
"Paris-san was born on the island Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, but he had been a Japanese citizen for over a decade." Yomaura replied. "He lived in Tokyo for several years before coming here though."
"He lived in Fuyuki-City for seven years before his death, though mostly among the upper class." Osaki added, his eyes still on his partner's phone, before he looked up. "With that in mind, is there anything you'd like to add to your answer concerning your familiarity with the man?"
"Hm, no, I don't think so." Issei said after a moment of pondering. "My apologies, but I really do not know this man, and neither do my friends."
"We really just found the body." Ayako said, a faint hint of an apology in her tone.
"Very well." Osaki nodded, before turning to Issei's father specifically. "Ryuudou-san, as the murder appears to have taken place close to your temple, it is likely we'll have to question all members soon. Could you tell your congregation that we will come to visit and take everybody's statements within the next few days?"
"I will." The monk nodded.
"Thank you. Now, is there anything else that you would like to add to your statement before I bring this interview to a close?" Osaki looked all three of them in the eyes one by one, and when they all shook their heads, nodded in acceptance, before returning his notepad to his pocket.
It seemed like the interview was over, but Sakura could see in his eyes the desire to ask further questions, and she was willing to bet they concerned the possibility of this case being in any way related to the Moonlit World.
As he didn't seem to be certain whether he could ask though, she decided to throw him a bone.
"I didn't see anything strange in that clearing, Osaki-san." She said, and while at first both detectives seemed confused at her statement, understanding dawned quickly. "I mean it. It seemed to be an ordinary corpse."
"Please don't call it a corpse." Yomaura muttered, probably out of reflex. "Call it a dead body."
"Ah, I'm sorry-"
"If that is all you have to say, we will cut this interview short." Osaki interrupted brusquely, and he rose from his chair to shoo them out of the side-office. "We will possibly call on you again though, through your attorneys of course, so don't leave the city and make sure you can be contacted at all times."
"Of course." Issei nodded, appearing slightly surprised at the suddenness with which the interview had ended. He was a smart man though, and Sakura could see he already had some ideas as to why things seemed to take unusual turns. "We wish you the best of luck in tracking down the murderer."
"Good luck indeed." Ayako nodded.
Osaki nodded back sharply, and then Sakura, Ayako, and Issei, along with their guardians, left the side-office again.
"Man, that was unnerving." Ayako whined once they'd left the precinct altogether, folding her hands behind her head. "I'm sorry for being so quiet in there, guys, but I really didn't know what to say. They were so intimidating."
"It is no problem, Mitsuzuri-san." Issei assured her promptly. "In fact, I-"
"Indeed not." Sakura quickly interrupted him, feeling that as a loving girlfriend, she was the one who should set Ayako at ease. "I think we managed perfectly well, and really, saying less is better in those situations. That's what Fujimura-Sensei always says."
"And I stand by it." The exuberant woman scoffed loudly. "Nothing good can come from saying too much to the police. Better to stay silent than to say too much when they're around."
"Ah, are you perhaps a criminal, Fujimura-san?" Mitsuzuri Ryozo, Ayako's father, asked sheepishly, a bead of sweat going down his forehead when Taiga's gaze zeroed in on him. "You certainly talk like one."
"No one has ever been able to prove anything." And with this totally not-reassuring answer, Taiga turned away again.
"I guess we better head home then." Ayako said to Sakura, who nodded in agreement. "Mom, dad, can I-?"
"Stay with Sakura?" Chiaki finished for her with a roll of her eyes, before she smiled. "Of course. It's not like you have done anything else since Shirou left."
"Ehehehe." Ayako rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"We shall head back to the temple." Issei's father said, taking his son's shoulder again. "We need to do a cleansing ritual tomorrow, so we need to be well-rested."
"Are you going back to the temple on foot?" Fujimura-Sensei asked sceptically. "That's at least an hour of walking, you know?"
"I imagine we know that better than you do." Issei's father said with a touch of humour in his voice, before pointing down the street. "But you need not worry. Issei and I have a ride."
Exactly on cue, the roar of a powerful engine sounded through the street, and the entire group turned to see a large motorcycle approaching them, carrying a person clad in a black biker suit on it.
At first sight, it seemed like a delinquent punk was having a laugh by making the streets unsafe at night, but when the motorcycle came close, pulled over near them, and the driver dismounted and took off their helmet, Sakura realised this was no punk at all.
It was a beautiful, mature-looking woman, with long, black hair, killer curves that the skin-tight suit did nothing to hide, and a general air about her that spoke of a woman more than capable of dealing with any number of delinquents trying to harass her.
Was this the person who would give Issei and his father a ride? But who was she-?
"Mother." Issei said happily, and every other person present, except his father, did an about-face at that little reveal. "I am most pleased to see you. Are you well?"
"All's fine with me, Issei." The woman laughed in a deep timbre, her tone warm and loving as she addressed her son. "How did it go with them coppers?"
"Everything went well, my dear." Issei's father replied, stepping towards the woman and exchanging a loving kiss with her. "We're all done, and we just need a ride home."
"Hop on then." The biker beauty grinned, and within moments, the three were on the bike together.
"Mitsuzuri-san, Matou-san, I wish you a pleasant evening." Issei said his goodbyes formally, bowing as well as he could while seated on a motorcycle. "Until next time."
"Uh, yeah, bye." Ayako mumbled.
"Have a pleasant evening." Sakura said, even though it was night already.
And then the bike sped off, leaving a rather astounded group in its wake.
"Those monks never cease to amaze me." Fujimura-Sensei was the first to speak up after that, and Sakura agreed wholeheartedly with what she said. "Whatever, let's go home as well. Goodnight to you both, Mitsuzuri-parents."
"And to you, Sensei." Chiaki laughed at Fujimura-Sensei's odd way of addressing them, and then she and Ryozo went home.
As Sakura, Ayako, and Fujimura-Sensei walked back to the Emiya-estate, Ayako grabbed Sakura's arm and leaned in close.
"Any chance I can convince you to wear a sexy biker suit?" She whispered.
"Done." Sakura whispered back immediately. "But in return, you have to dress like a sexy priestess."
"How very exciting."
And as the girls whispered to each other, giggling occasionally, Taiga looked ahead, pretending she couldn't hear what was said behind her.
It didn't take long for Shirou, Lady Barthomeloi, and Grey to arrive at the Golem-Workshop.
The Department of Mineralogy was much smaller than Archaeology, and as such, they only had to descend a few stairs and cross one hallway while following the signs before they arrived at their destination.
Still, despite Mineralogy's smaller size, the Golem-Workshop itself was very impressive indeed.
It was a large hall, with walls made out of a mix of Magically Reinforced gemstone –which had been artificially made and thus only held decorative value– and several kinds of precious metals, giving it an ethereal appearance, which would have been right at home in a children's storybook.
Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, torches lit with bluish flames lined the walls, and intricate patterns had been carved into the walls, which only accentuated the fairy-tale-like atmosphere of the place.
The atmosphere was rudely disturbed however by the objects and items that had been stored in the hall. A few Golems might have added to the ambience if tastefully placed at strategic locations, but dozens of them stacked on top of each other in unsightly ways only made for an ugly picture. What's more, the tools that were used for crafting Golems clearly hadn't been maintained well, no one had cleaned the hall in years, and the many workbenches and whiteboards terribly fell out of tone with the rest of the room.
The stench of sweat and other body-odours that assaulted Shirou's nose the moment he came in was only the icing on the cake at that point.
Shirou was very happy to note however that there was not a trace of blood to be found anywhere, and from what he could smell, Golem-Craft was indeed the only thing that had ever been performed here. There was nothing else; no Necromancy, no Dead-Apostle research, no dissections or vivisections, nothing but Golems.
No lives had been lost in this hall.
When he said as much to Lady Barthomeloi and Grey, the white-haired girl gave him a cautious smile of relief, while the brunette merely nodded in acceptance.
"Not all who follow the Meluastea do so because they have a penchant for cruelty." The latter began explaining, placing a hand on her hip as she scanned the seemingly deserted hall. "Some follow them simply because that family is, or rather was, very powerful in the Clocktower, and power begets followers, always."
"I suppose you have much experience with that." Shirou said, also scanning the hall.
"Too much." Lady Barthomeloi let out a very small sigh, but then immediately recomposed herself again. "I would ask you whether there are people present here, Fujimaru, but I can see them myself."
"Ah, me too." Grey nodded, before pointing at a pile of Golems. "They are hiding behind those Golems."
"Well-spotted, lady Grey." Lady Barthomeloi praised the hooded girl with a surprisingly gentle voice, before giving an idle wave with her hand.
An idle wave that generated a whirlwind powerful enough to sweep the pile of Golems aside, exposing the Magi hiding behind it.
"EEP!" One of them yelped in fear, and as they all stumbled back, Shirou took the opportunity to count them.
"Sixteen opponents." He mused, rolling his shoulder once. "None of them very powerful."
"Let us deal with them and move on-"
Lady Barthomeloi never got to finish her sentence.
"HAK!"
One of the Magi at the back of the group suddenly let out a strangled, tormented noise, and when everyone turned towards him, he fell forward almost bonelessly, dying before he hit the ground, revealing the man who had been standing behind him, a bloody knife in his hands.
With an impressive swiftness, the Magus swung the blade sideways, slashing the throat of a female Magus who had been standing near him, and followed it up by stabbing into the eye of a third Magus.
Shirou realised a second too late what he was up to.
"STOP HIM!" He roared, exploding into motion so hard he cracked the stone underneath his feet, immediately followed by Lady Barthomeloi and Grey, who very nearly matched his speed as they too tried to prevent the knife-wielding Magus from completing his objective.
Both women had realised what said Magus was trying to do, what he was trying to conduct, and just like Shirou, they realised they had to stop him now.
They were too late however.
A fraction of a second before Shirou could stop him, the man planted the knife into his own chest, and it was with a maniacal grin on his face that he died, his body joining the other six on the floor.
Two seconds later, pandemonium broke out.
Grey watched with a sinking feeling in her gut as the knife-wielding Magus fell to the ground, dead.
Sure, he might not be able to hurt anyone anymore, but his death did not set her at ease one single bit, as she had a pretty good idea what he was trying to do. It wasn't unusual for Magi to use humans as fuel for spells after all.
She didn't know what kind of spell specifically he was trying to cast, but Sir had taught her well enough over the past months that she was able to recognise a ritual when she saw one.
And considering said ritual had been fuelled by human lives, Magus-lives at that, it was sure to be a very dangerous one.
Dangerous enough that even mister Fujimaru and Lady Barthomeloi were visibly cautious of its effects.
That was why Grey wasn't surprised at all to see the blood that had pooled around the seven bodies suddenly converge into one place, before the pool of crimson liquid rose into the air, floating there like a gigantic, red bubble.
Mister Fujimaru tried to fire a lightning bolt at the bubble, but before it could hit, the blob sped off again…
…Right at the pile of Golems that Lady Barthomeloi had so casually tossed aside earlier.
The sinking feeling in Grey's gut intensified when the bubble made contact with the huge, clay constructs, and it turned into outright fear when it merged with them.
The clay started bubbling as if it was boiling, and it turned from a muddish brown to as red as the blood that had merged with it. The clay bubbled and bubbled, and then began melting.
All the Golems, over two dozen of them, melted into puddles of red goo. These puddles then coalesced with each other, forming a veritable lake.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, the lake remaining completely still.
Then the goo rose, and rose, and rose, taking on a roughly human shape, and began solidifying, until before them stood the largest Golem that Grey had ever seen.
It had to be at least ten metres tall, and more than three metres wide. It had six arms as thick and massive as tree trunks, and its two legs were pillars that supported its immense weight with ease.
The legs ended in flat feet, like a Golem's legs were supposed to, but the arms, all six of them, ended in eerily human-like hands, with five fingers tipped with razor-sharp claws, which were opening and closing periodically.
The scariest thing though, the feature that truly, deeply unnerved Grey, was the Golem's face.
Normal Golems barely had a face. They had a slab where a face was supposed to be, which might contain some features that could be humanlike, if the creator was so inclined, but certainly didn't have to. Golems were used for hard labour after all, or for battle, and they didn't need a detailed face for that.
This Golem did have a detailed face however, and by the Root, it was horrendous.
There were deep wrinkles everywhere, the eyes were pink and held a cruel flame, the symmetry of the left half and right half was completely off, and worst of all, its mouth, wide and gaping, was filled with countless flat teeth, seemingly made to grind things to a pulp.
It was as if someone had taken the face of the Magus who had conducted the ritual, had melted all the skin off it, had added ridiculously huge teeth, and then covered it in clay.
"That thing is ugly." Mister Fujimaru said out loud what Grey had been thinking, his expression a mix of fascination and revulsion.
"Indeed." Lady Barthomeloi turned her nose up at it, sneering darkly as if personally insulted. "I will not stand for having it in our presence. Be gone!"
She launched several high-powered wind-blades at the Golem, each strong enough to cut through several centimetres of steel.
The Golem did not bother dodging, and was hit full on, the wind-blades making contact with its joints and its neck.
Nothing happened though. The blades did cut into the clay, but the moment they had passed, the clay simply pooled back together, so quickly that the limbs didn't even have time to fall.
"Regenerative powers?" Mister Fujimaru clacked his tongue once. "And very strong ones. This will be more difficult than I thought."
"We merely need to overwhelm its regeneration-"
Lady Barthomeloi was interrupted by the Golem itself, which suddenly launched itself forward with a speed that, while not lightning-fast, was much, much greater than a construct of its size should be able to reach.
The golem sped towards Lady Barthomeloi, and then brought down its foot on her, attempting to crush her.
The brunette was gone in an instant however, easily dodging the stomp that to her might as well have moved in slow-motion, and retaliated with more wind-blades, which again had no effect.
The Golem then lashed out with its claws, the six arms working together seamlessly to produce a storm of razor-sharp edges, but Lady Barthomeloi still smoothly dodged every attack, dancing around like a snowflake over a lake.
It resulted in her skirt flipping up quite a bit, but Grey did her very best not to look at that, and she noticed Fujimaru also trying his best not to look. Lady Barthomeloi was a very beautiful woman though, so both Grey and Shirou had a lot more trouble with not looking than they would have liked.
While Lady Barthomeloi was dodging the attacks perfectly well, the remaining enemy-Magi weren't so lucky or capable. They were caught up in the violence, torn to pieces by the weapon their supposed 'ally' had created.
Blood splattered all over the Golem's 'skin', and it paused, turning its head towards the shredded corpses as the blood was absorbed into its body. Its pink eyes shone with hunger as it looked at the dead flesh, and for a moment, it ignored its enemies in favour of reaching for the chunks of dead body.
It immediately paid for the mistake, as Lady Barthomeloi lashed out with a drop-kick, hitting a wrist and slashing right through it with her leg, severing the hand completely.
At the same time, mister Fujimaru launched a bolt of lightning at the clay giant's head, and then drew a Rune in the air, from which an enormous burst of white-hot fire was generated, aimed for the titanic torso.
It seemed for a second that the Golem would lose, and Grey opened her mouth in preparation for praising her two allies, when…
"Yeah, I expected as much."
Mister Fujimaru made that dry remark as he watched how his lightning bolt and firestorm had no effect on the creature, while the hand that Lady Barthomeloi had severed reverted to a fluid form, before speeding back to the wrist and attaching itself again, after which it formed back into a proper hand, claws and all.
"It really has very strong regenerative powers, and Golems are creatures of Earth and Water, meaning lightning and fire will do very little to them." The redhead continued, quickly widening the distance between him and his soulless enemy. "I don't think we can overcome its self-healing ability with our current level of attacks. Brute force is clearly useless."
"Though ugly, it has turned out to be a most impressive weapon." Lady Barthomeloi agreed, looking at the Golem in a new light. "I was wrong before. This giant deserves our full consideration and effort."
"Hold on! Did you listen to me at all? I said brute force won't work-"
But Fujimaru's protests were for naught. Lady Barthomeloi launched herself forward again, and with a muttered curse, Fujimaru followed close behind.
As for Grey, she quickly deployed Ad into his scythe-form and hurried after the other two as well.
"That's a scary Golem." The scythe commented, and Grey knew that he was observing the construct carefully, his tone indicating he considered it a difficult opponent. "Never thought I'd see something like it in this day and age."
Grey ignored her weapon for now, instead trying to keep track of the battle as Fujimaru and Lady Barthomeloi became veritable blurs as they attempted to take the Golem down.
Fujimaru blew away half its leg with a single punch, before retreating to dodge the swipe of a claw.
Right after that, Lady Barthomeloi destroyed the other half of the leg, yet before the Golem could fall over, the leg had regenerated already.
Lady Barthomeloi continued it up by freezing a part of the Golem in ice, but was forced backwards when the Golem carelessly shattered the ice, its damaged parts healing right away.
It was forced to take a step backwards itself though when Fujimaru threw explosions at it, taking whole chunks out of its body, but it lumbered forward again soon.
Even when Lady Barthomeloi began using Curses to reduce the clay to dust, to hamstring its movements, to trip it up, and to attempt to stop its regeneration, the Golem continued attacking unabated.
Fujimaru then brought his hammer down on the golem's back, blowing a massive hole in its torso, but again, the damage disappeared seconds later.
"Even if I hit it with Mjolnir…?" Fujimaru seemed very surprised his weapon had so little effect, before he seemed to listen to something, and then sighed. "If I want it to be more permanent, I need to use more power? Well, even if you say that…"
"We cannot afford to use too much power." Lady Barthomeloi said sharply, even as she chopped the claws off the Golem's left hand with a flat palm. "We promised Lady Reines that we would be mindful of the destruction we cause during our battles."
"No more force than is absolutely required to destroy the enemy." Fujimaru agreed, jumping onto the Golem's shoulder and kicking the side of its head so hard it almost came off entirely. "But really, destroying this guy isn't difficult. Keeping it destroyed is the problem."
"Hiya!" Grey didn't have anything to add to the discussion, so she lashed out with her scythe at the large leg in front of her. It cut the clay perfectly well, but just like with the attacks from the other two, the damage was healed immediately.
"It's better at healing itself than the Dead Apostle Ancestor I fought against a few years ago." Lady Barthomeloi said, and both Grey and Fujimaru stared at her in stupefaction. "That Ancestor had many esoteric talents though, so it was a fiercer opponent than this lumbering giant which knows only physical attacks."
"It seems that most of its attacking power has been sacrificed for more defence and regeneration." Fujimaru explained, his eyes glowing as he looked at the Golem. "It isn't very smart though. Perhaps we could trap it?"
"In a cage you mean?"
"Let's start with chains first."
Fujimaru promptly Projected a long, Magically-Reinforced chain, which wrapped around the Golem several times, forcing its arms against its body and binding its legs together.
It seemed at first as if it would work, yet when the Golem found it could no longer move, it responded by liquifying its clay for a moment, causing the chains to slide right off its form, before it solidified again.
"Alright, never mind what I said before. This guy is a clever fellow." Fujimaru commented, sounding impressed despite himself. "So it's strong, quite fast, it can regenerate, and it isn't stupid. To think modern day Magi could make something like this."
"With enough resources, several human sacrifices, and the motivation, I could make such a Golem as well." Lady Barthomeloi boasted, before she frowned. "Although… It might not be so proficient at self-regeneration. It is most curious how these Magi managed to produce something so sophisticated."
"From what I can see, a lot of individuals worked together to create this." Fujimaru grumbled, frowning deeply. "Many of them weren't human."
Lady Barthomeloi didn't reply verbally, but she did frown, and her attacks became much fiercer after Fujimaru had spoken.
It still did nothing though. No matter what they tried, the Golem just kept regenerating.
Eventually, Lady Barthomeloi and Fujimaru began debating the use of large-scale destruction-Spells, and Grey realised she had to think of something quickly, before those two would be forced to destroy the Golem Workshop entirely.
So far, they had done a good job of leading the Golem around without causing too much damage, but if they couldn't defeat the thing with normal spells, it was only a matter of time before the massive explosions, seas of fire, and the really esoteric spells started flying.
Fujimaru and Lady Barthomeloi would destroy the Golem Workshop in their efforts to take the Golem down, and that would make Reines sad.
Grey didn't want Reines to be sad.
So she wracked her brain even as she darted around the Golem's feet, slashing and cutting with all her power in an attempt to bring it down. She dug deeply into her memory, trying to find something that would help her in this situation.
Then it hit her!
Several months ago, when she'd just come to the Clocktower, she had attended one of Sir's lectures, the first one she'd ever been present for actually.
Of course, at the time, she'd been very nervous, and too pre-occupied with keeping a low profile and hiding her face to really pay attention to what Sir was saying, but she did remember a few things from that lecture.
Most notably, that it had been about Golems, and about the way they were constructed.
…She might have an idea.
"Mister Fujimaru!" She called out, addressing him rather than Lady Barthomeloi, as he was more likely to listen to her. "In Jewish folklore, Golems had a small plate on their forehead on which the incantation was written that gave them life! If you break that plate, they will fall apart immediately!"
"There is no plate on its forehead though." Lady Barthomeloi, who had apparently listened along, argued, scanning the Golem's face.
"Maybe it's somewhere else." Fujimaru suggested, before he gazed intensely at the Golem. Barely two seconds later, his face lit up. "Found it!"
"Where is it?" Lady Barthomeloi asked sharply, a ball of energy forming on top of her index-finger in preparation for a precision-shot.
"In its right-shoulder- No, wait, in its left-leg- Huh, in its stomach?" Fujimaru started out confident, but then he quickly became confused, his eyes flitting all over the Golem's form. "The plate is moving!"
"Of course it is." Lady Barthomeloi clacked her tongue. "We have dealt the Golem considerable damage. If the plate had been stationary, we would have destroyed it by now. The only way it could have survived is by moving around."
"Can we still destroy it?" Grey asked, well aware she had no long-distance precision Magecraft herself. She had Ad of course, who in his final form could fire a ray of destruction, but that would do far too much damage to the hall.
"The plate moves in response to threats." Fujimaru replied. "If we want to hit it, we need to close the distance without showing any aggression, before striking very quickly."
"That should be doable." Lady Barthomeloi's eyes flashed as she quickly devised a strategy. "This Golem is slow in movement and slower to react. Approaching it will not be a problem."
"Be cautious though." Fujimaru warned them. "There is something I'm not seeing, something about this Golem that's very dangerous."
"We will deal with it as it comes." Lady Barthomeloi dismissed his warning however, and then rushed off, rapidly getting closer to the Golem, though without showing any aggression.
The hunt for the plate had begun.
Since the Golem was actively hunting for them, approaching it was a very simple matter. Shirou just took a leap, and then he was hovering above it, lazily dodging its relatively slow swipes by flying from the left to the right and back.
Keeping his eye on the plate was far more difficult however. The cause for that was the fact that the Golem's entire form seemed to glow a bright red to Shirou's eyes, and the plate was only a slightly deeper red than the rest, easily disappearing into the background unless he really strained his eyes to keep seeing it.
Of course, neither the Golem nor the plate were actually red, but that was the best way for Shirou to describe what he was seeing, and how difficult it was to keep track of his target. He didn't know how, but the person who'd constructed that thing had found a way around Shirou's senses.
It wasn't perfect though. As said before, Shirou could still spot the plate if he focused enough, but it surely was impressive nonetheless. It also made him wary, because if the plate and its function had been hidden from his eyes until Grey alerted him to its existence, then what else was the Golem hiding?
Caution was required here.
That need for caution was one of the reasons Shirou did not immediately unleash an attack at the plate, the other reason being that any sign of aggression would make it move away at a blinding pace.
He could try to destroy the entire construct at once of course, but with how resilient it had proven to be, that would require a massive attack that would surely destroy most of the hall as well. Reines would be heartbroken if he did that, so he didn't.
He would deal with the matter with the appropriate level of prudence, and he would-
What was Lady Barthomeloi doing?!
As Shirou watched in shock, the brunette took a massive leap towards the Golem, landing on its mighty shoulder, where she balanced carefully, making sure not to show any hostile intent.
The Golem tried to squash her with one of its gigantic hands, but she nimbly jumped to the other shoulder, and back again when it tried crushing her again.
It was almost beautiful to see the Queen dancing over the Golem's body, gracefully dodging its every attack, her long, shiny hair dancing behind her as she moved around like a professional ballerina.
No, scratch the 'almost', it was simply beautiful, no doubt about it.
"Fujimaru!" She called out to him after dodging another blow. "Where is the plate?!"
"…In its left leg!" Shirou shouted back after a moment of searching, frowning deeply as he realised Lady Barthomeloi had no angle of attack.