Chapter 54: The Quest of the Moon Princess
The Quest of the Moon Princess
Shirou was no stranger to dead bodies.
Of course he wasn't. Even if you discounted the Great Fire, where he'd seen enough burned corpses to last him four human lifetimes, he'd also spent enough time at the Clocktower to see firsthand the atrocities Magi and their ilk were capable of, the bloodbaths they could enact.
The Meluastea had ruled their fiefdom with an iron fist, their cronies had created dens of sin and evil that wouldn't be out of place in Hell itself, and even the 'good' Magi, like lady Barthomeloi and Waver, thought nothing of utterly destroying their enemies when the possibility presented itself.
The Purge of the Clocktower had killed almost as many people as the Great Fire, wounded scores more, and later condemned dozens upon dozens to the gallows, and Shirou had born witness to it all, standing next to lady Barthomeloi, who had changed a functioning Department into a scorched battlefield within hours and had near a hundred people condemned to death without blinking an eye.
And he couldn't claim innocence in the matter himself either. He might have been a victim in the Great Fire, but he'd very much been a willing participant in the Purge, and although he had tried to restrain himself in the fighting, he had killed a number of people as well, in quite graphic and disturbing ways at that.
So no, dead bodies were nothing new, nor were they at all disturbing to Shirou. They had never been before and certainly weren't now.
Which was fortunate, because otherwise, the sight of the woman's mutilated body, maimed and mauled beyond recognition, might have caused his breakfast to come up again.
Instead, Shirou merely lifted an eyebrow in surprise, before he approached the body, keeping a careful eye on his surroundings in case whatever had killed her was still around.
He did not call the police, nor did he sound the alarm. Instead, he used a few minor Runes to create a small Bounded Field around him, one that would discourage any passersby from getting closer, so there would be no witnesses to this event.
Witnesses might scream and shout after all, or they might attack him if they believed he was responsible for the woman's mutilated state. Worse, they might even call the police on him, further complicating matters.
All very understandable reactions for mundane people of course, but rather inconvenient to Shirou and in fact actively detrimental to the resolution of the situation as a whole.
Because this was no matter for mundane law-enforcement and regular police-officers. This wasn't a case of some slasher-villain cutting an innocent and defenceless woman to pieces for his own sick amusement.
Or well, the perpetrator might still be a slasher-villain, Shirou couldn't rule that out for sure, but in any case, this woman was certainly not a defenceless victim.
Rather, she was an inhuman creature of unknown origins.
The closer he got, the better he could smell it. An overpowering, intense scent of Mystery hung over the body like a fog, so strong that it made the back of his throat itch and almost made it hard to breathe. A scent more intense that anything he'd ever smelled in the past, up to and including lady Barthomeloi.
This was definitely the scent he'd picked up at the entrance of the park only minutes before. There was no denying it now. This woman was the origin. She was the inhuman creature he'd been looking for.
She smelled like dirt, sea water, and blood, which was a foreboding combination, and if the intensity was anything to go by, she was more powerful than any inhuman creature he'd ever seen before.
Fighting her would not have been fun.
Which made it almost fortunate that someone else had seemingly gotten to her first.
Someone had already defeated the woman, and quite recently at that. Shirou couldn't say who with any certainty, but it could have been a retainer of the Tohno, or possibly an agent of the Burial Agency. After all, if Dead Apostle Ancestors were indeed wandering about in the city, it wouldn't be strange for the Church to have a strong presence here as well.
However, as Shirou approached the woman, he slowly started to notice more and more oddities about the scene in front of him that did not add up, things that did not make sense.
For one, there was no damage to the surroundings. The pavement was still intact, the trees and shrubbery seemed no worse than they should in late autumn, and all the blood lying around belonged to the woman only.
Even though she was clearly a creature of immense might, it seemed as if she hadn't put up a fight at all when she'd been killed. As if she'd let herself be slaughtered without even an attempt at defending herself.
Additionally, the cuts that had sliced the woman up were strangely inefficient, to the point where it seemed either amateurish or viciously cruel.
When Enforcers or Executors fought Mystical creatures, it was standard practice for them to slice their opponents to ribbons, and preferably even to mincemeat. Usually, it was one of the few things that worked against beings with an innate Healing Factor, like Dead Apostles, Wraiths, and minor Phantasmals, alongside burning them or killing them with special weapons. It served to overwhelm or negate their pesky Self-Regeneration.
But such was not the case here. Yes, the woman had been cut into seventeen pieces, which was a good start, but not in an even, controlled way.
Rather, it was chaos.
Her entire torso was still intact for instance, as was her head, but the killer had in fact taken the time and effort to sever three fingers and two toes, to split her left arm in two, and to cut her right leg into three.
It was, as said before, very inefficient, and also counter-productive when fighting against beings with Self-Regeneration. Flesh wounds were useless, everyone knew that.
…Except that in this case, they seemed to have worked just fine.
That was already strange enough, but the last odd thing Shirou noticed was that there seemed to be no trace of the person or persons who had killed the woman. He could only smell her on the air, with not a trace present of any other kind of Magecraft or Mystery.
But… that would mean the killer was either so stealthy they could fool all of Shirou's senses, which was a stretch, or that they were in fact not Magical at all, which was an even further stretch.
But if it wasn't either of those options, it would mean that there hadn't been an attacker at all.
Had the woman done this to herself?
It was terribly confusing, and no matter how hard Shirou looked around, he could find no clear answer, not even when he stood right next to her.
"Who has done this to you?" He mused out loud to the woman, not expecting a response, before he knelt down next to her and placed his hand on her lower arm to take a better look-
She was still alive?!
Shirou shot back to his feet like he'd been stung, his heart leaping into his throat as Mjolnir manifested itself in his grip and thunderclouds gathered so fast overhead it seemed as if they'd teleported onto the scene.
Had anyone tried to ambush him at that moment, they would have been vaporised by divine power within the blink of an eye. Crushed by the overwhelming might of a startled Demigod.
But nothing happened.
All remained still, and the woman remained in pieces.
Several seconds ticked by with nothing happening, and eventually, once the first shock had passed, Shirou slowly dismissed the thunderclouds again and calmed his raging heart, though he kept Mjolnir with him.
This situation had just become far more dangerous, far more uncertain, and being armed was likely a good idea in light of that.
With his faithful hammer's comforting weight in his hand, Shirou knelt down again to resume his investigation, leaning over the woman to inspect her better, though he did not touch her yet.
The revelation that she was still alive made the already odd situation a thousand times stranger. Like he'd said, it wasn't uncommon for Magical beings to have self-regenerating powers and thus survive being chopped to bits, but even if this woman was the slowest healer in existence, she should have made at least some progress during the time Shirou had had his eyes on her.
But she hadn't.
Instead, she just laid there, alive yet in pieces, showing no signs of healing.
Normally, that would indicate the presence of some kind of Curse or spell, one that prevented her wounds from mending, but Shirou detected none of that on or around her body, even when he focused fully on finding Magecraft of that nature.
In other words, based on everything he'd seen so far, there should be nothing standing in the woman's way of healing herself. Nothing at all.
Shirou pursed his lips in confusion, before he reached out and picked up one of the woman's severed fingers to take a better look.
Once more, the sensation of her still being alive hit him full on, and this time, he also noticed that she was fully conscious on top of that, even if she couldn't show it.
"Odin's Beard!" Shirou swore, before looking the woman in the eyes, now knowing she was in fact looking back at him, trapped in her own body and unable to move or produce a sound.
That completely changed matters!
If she was still fully conscious and able to register how she was in literal pieces, this was no longer just some oddity he wanted to investigate, but a form of horrendous torture he needed to stop instead.
To be so terribly wounded and mutilated yet unable to heal herself even as she was forcibly kept conscious by her own inhuman nature…
Shirou shuddered, only able to imagine how much pain she had to be in.
Her intense and inhuman smell was quickly forgotten as a sense of pity rose in his chest, and it was that pity that prompted his next action.
He placed Mjolnir down next to him, took hold of the hand that had lost the two fingers, and placed the severed finger in his other hand against the corresponding stump.
Immediately, he could sense how the woman's Healing Factor tried to re-attach the flesh, but to no avail. Something seemed to be blocking its efforts, something that was no Curse, no spell, but far more sinister.
Then something clicked in his mind, and Shirou understood.
By some kind of Magic, some kind of unknown craft, the woman's assailant had not only cut her finger from her hand, but had also managed to convince both the hand and the finger that they had never even been part of the same body to begin with. That they were completely different objects that had nothing to do with each other, either in the past or the present.
A perfect separation, down to the deepest layers of Reality.
No wonder the Healing Factor wasn't working! At the moment, holding the finger to the stump was as effective as picking up any random rock and holding that to the stump instead. To Reality, the one was precisely as associated with the woman's body as the other, which was to say not at all.
She wasn't healing, because seemingly, there was nothing to heal.
It was a wonderous sight, fascinating even, to the point where even Shirou, uncaring for research as he was, couldn't help but stare for a moment.
But he quickly shook it off, and pressed the finger a bit harder against the stump.
"Tsk."
He made a dissatisfied sound however when that too failed to do anything, and on an impulse, he began using his own Healing Powers, encompassing the finger and the hand with a golden glow.
By now, his actions were driven as much by pity as they were by a desire to win from this unknown craft. He had set out to heal this woman, and he was not going to back down at the first sign of trouble. One way or another, he was going to fix her.
Unwise perhaps, considering he'd already marked this woman as an inhuman creature of immense power and unknown origin, but no one deserved to be tortured like this. If she turned out to be evil, he'd deal with her after he put her back together.
At first however, his Healing Power had no effect either. The unknown assailant really had made sure that anyone trying to help their victim would be met with failure, as Reality stubbornly kept denying that the finger and the hand belonged together in any way, shape, or form.
But Shirou was having none of that.
He increased the potency of his Healing Power, and focused all of his attention on the wound.
This woman needed his help, and by the Spires of Asgard, he wasn't going to give up until he'd succeeded in helping her. He wasn't going to be put off by some unknown craft, no matter how esoteric or powerful.
And if helping her involved denying Reality itself, well…
That was what heroes did best.
As he kept on trying to heal her though, he soon realised that he might have underestimated the mysterious assailant. He'd thought them to be a Magus or Magecraft-user, but to cut so deep, down to the very fundamentals of existence, was not something that could be achieved with a mere craft.
Something like this required Authority, the right to shape the World itself in a particular way, normally beholden only to gods and god-like beings.
To see such a power in the Modern Age was exceptional, and although Shirou knew he was being hypocritical, it was also supposed to be impossible. Only very few beings had any measure of Authority left, and even then, it was mostly stored in weapons or Mystic Eyes.
But he could not deny what he saw in front of him. The mysterious assailant had used Authority to butcher this poor, inhuman woman, thereby ensuring that Healing her would be next to impossible.
But that was alright. Shirou had Authority too, and quite a lot of it at that.
He was someone who distorted reality with his very presence, but more than that, he was the successor of an Allfather, a King of Gods. When it came to Authority, there were few who could hope to match him, even in his fledgling-state.
And whoever this assailant was, they were not one of those few.
Under Shirou's Authority, his laser-like focus, the perfect separation was soon undone, and the finger was reattached to the hand perfectly, as if it had never been cut at all.
He had won the first battle.
Now only sixteen more remained to make her whole again.
He probably should save her head for last though.
Just to be safe.
"Hm…"
"You know, I never did like it when people hum without explaining themselves."
"Huh?" Caren blinked once in confusion at Ayako's remark, before she caught up with what had been said. "Oh, I do apologise. It was not my intention to act coy."
"That would be a first." The brunette huffed, as the devious nun was normally more than happy to play out an act of false modesty. Since she was also the type to toot her own horn though, the brunette accepted the apology and walked a bit closer to the dining table, where Caren was currently seated. "Why were you humming then?"
"I was pondering matters of great importance."
"Okay, now you're actually being coy."
"Hehe." Caren smiled at the small rebuke, before holding up the very official-looking letter in her hand. "I was thinking about this."
"A letter?" Ayako narrowed her eyes a bit as she studied the piece of paper, before looking back at Caren. "Who from?"
"My bosses at the Burial Agency." Caren replied, offering it to the brunette. "You can read it if you want?"
"I'm allowed to do that?"
"Well, technically not. It is forbidden for outsiders to read church-correspondence at the pains of death." Caren replied glibly, as if it were no big deal, before she winked cutely at Ayako. "But I won't tell if you won't."
"Nah, I'll pass. I'd rather hear it from you. Less chance of dying."
"Coward." Caren scoffed, though without any heat. "It says that Dead Apostle Ancestors have been sighted in Japan, and that all church personnel in the country is required to support the dispatched Executors to the best of their ability in suppressing the threat."
"Right." Ayako nodded, sitting down at the table herself now. "So nothing new to us, right?"
"Well, there might be something new." Caren cautioned her, before looking back at the letter. "My bosses didn't just reveal the presence of the Ancestors, but also indicated their current number."
"Number?" The brunette cocked her head to the side, frowning in thought. "There's two, right? Vlov Arkhangel and that Roa-guy. That's what Nasu said."
"Those are the ones that Nasu-san mentioned by name, yes, but he never said there were only two." Caren shook her head, biting her lip. "According to the latest reports, there are three."
"Three?!"
"Including Roa."
"What the hell?! Are they having a party there or something?!" Ayako spluttered, her face becoming an unhealthy white. "W-We have to warn Shirou!"
"Of course." Caren agreed, placing the letter on the table again, happy the other girl was taking such prompt action. "He always carries his mobile phone with him, correct?"
"Yeah." Ayako nodded, looking around the dining room. "But where is mine?"
"Where you last left it, I presume."
"Gee, thanks. Wish I could remember where that was."
The brunette was notoriously scatterbrained when it came to remembering where she put her things, and after a bit of grumbling, she started searching for her phone in a practiced pattern that spoke of experience.
After a moment of looking on, Caren joined in, as it really was important they warned Shirou quickly.
"Say, Caren." Ayako spoke up again after a minute of silence, pausing her search for a moment. "You are knowledgeable when it comes to the Moonlit World, right?"
"I wouldn't say that I am an expert on everything, but I have had a decent education at least, yes."
"What are Dead Apostle Ancestors?"
"…?"
Now Caren paused too, looking up from her task to give the brunette a surprised look.
"Don't look at me like that." Ayako huffed in response, crossing her arms with a frown. "I know that they're basically super-vampires, and that they're currently considered the greatest threat to humanity in existence, but I don't really know anything else about them."
She was aware of the basics, but the precise ins and outs of what Apostle Ancestors actually were had never been properly explained to her. Normally, that was fine, as 'vampire-king' was description enough, but in this case, she wanted to know more. Now that Shirou was going to fight them, she wanted to understand why Ancestors were such a big deal.
To her credit, it didn't even occur to Caren to make a joke out of the matter.
"…Dead Apostle Ancestors are, as you said, the greatest of vampires, which we call Dead Apostles." She replied slowly, closing her eyes as she dug deep into her memory, back to her education at the convent. "Some call them the rulers of the 'common' Dead Apostles, using titles such as king, duke, count, and baron, but they generally don't do much actual ruling. They are largely solitary, very individualistic, and very, very strong. Partially due to their age, but mostly because of their 'Idea Blood'."
"Idea Blood? What's that?"
"If only we knew." Caren huffed, smirking slightly as she remembered how many researchers at the Burial Agency had torn out all their hair in desperation whilst trying to discover the true nature of Idea Blood. "All we know is that it is some kind of metaphorical Crown that makes an Ancestor into an Ancestor."
"So, like a power source?"
"I believe it's more akin to an Authority."
"What?! Like gods?!"
Since her boyfriend was the successor of a god, Ayako was better informed about the Divine than she was about most other aspects of the Moonlit World, and the idea of vampires holding divine might, of them having similar powers to Shirou, was decidedly not a pleasant one.
"It's almost certainly not on the level of actual gods, but yes, it is likely very similar." Caren nodded, unaware of Shirou's true nature and thus pleasantly surprised with the fact the brunette seemed to be aware of how bad it was for Dead Apostles to possess any form of Authority. "Hence, their position as strongest among Apostles."
"S-So that's why they all still exist even after thousands of years." Ayako mumbled, leaning against the wall as a dazed look appeared in her eyes. "No wonder humanity cannot defeat them."
"Hey now, do give us some credit. The Burial Agency and the Magus Association haven't been entirely powerless against them." Caren huffed, straightening her back as a bit of professional pride rose in her breast. "The Church has managed to destroy and Seal a number of Ancestors over the years. In fact, over the last decade alone, four of them have been slain."
"Oh, so you killed four?" Ayako perked up a bit at the good news. "That's not bad, I suppose. But then, why-?"
"The reason there are still twenty-seven Ancestors left now is because they always fill their ranks again after one dies." Caren replied before the brunette was even done asking her question. "If an Ancestor perishes or is Sealed, the next Dead Apostle always stands ready to take their throne."
"Ah, I understand." Ayako nodded, noting it didn't seem much different from the rankings in top-sport. There were always ten best archers in the world, or ten best football-players, or ten best golfers, and if one of them died or quit, the eleventh would rise up to become the tenth, thereby keeping the list at ten. "So if you kill one, the twenty-eighth most powerful Dead Apostle becomes an Ancestor in their place?"
"Not necessarily."
"Oh?"
But apparently, there was a problem with her metaphor.
"Personal power does play a part, but the most deciding factor to determine the next Ancestor is the inheritance of the previous Ancestor's Idea Blood."
"You can inherit Idea Blood?"
"I understand that it seems hard to believe, that an Authority can pass on from one individual to the next, but I assure you that it is possible." Caren knew that it seemed ludicrous, the idea that near-divine power could be passed on like a mere Crest, but it was the truth. "Ancestors often have a Successor in place to inherit their Idea Blood in case of their death, a Successor who is immediately raised to the level of an Ancestor and will then also take their position. For example, when the Nineteenth Dead Apostle Ancestor died recently, she passed on her Idea Blood to her right-hand man, who then became the Nineteenth himself."
"Ah, I understand." Ayako nodded, deciding not to mention that such a process of inheriting Divinity was in fact very familiar to her.
"Because of that rigid structure, Successors can sometimes be even more powerful than Ancestors." Caren continued. "Take the Successor of Ortenrosse, the King of the Ancestors. She is more powerful than many other Ancestors, but she is nevertheless not an Ancestor herself, because she has no Idea Blood."
"Can't she just take Idea Blood from one of those weaker Ancestors then?"
"She could, but she is Ortenrosse's Successor, not someone else's, and the king's favour is not lightly spurned."
"So you mean this is all politics?!"
Ayako had expected some level of intrigue within the ranks of vampire-nobility, as that seemed to be the standard in every vampire-book in existence, but this almost seemed as if they were building contrived political structures just for fun.
"Pretty much, yeah." Caren nodded, not even trying to deny or obfuscate it. It was politics, power games played by functionally immortal beings, and it should be called as such.
"Great." Ayako deadpanned, placing her hands on her sides and looking up at the ceiling for a moment, letting out a big sigh. "Well, I suppose I should just be glad that Ancestors are killed often enough for them to need such structures. Four of them in this decade alone, right?"
"Yes, though this decade is a vanishingly rare exception. Normally, we are happy if we can kill one Ancestor every century." Caren let out a sigh of her own, before she perked up a bit. "The reason the count is so high in recent times is entirely because of the illustrious Queen of the Clocktower, Lorelei Barthomeloi. Of the four slain Ancestors we mentioned, she killed three, by herself, and by all accounts, she is hungry for more."
"Damn, gorgeous and dangerous. What a combination." Ayako laughed, her mood improving by leaps and bounds at the news that Shirou's newest friend was kicking so much vampire-ass.
"Gorgeous?"
"O-Oh, never mind."
Realising she'd said too much, Ayako quickly clammed up, deciding not to mention the pictures of the Vice-Director they had received from Shirou nor the stories about racy underwear that had accompanied them.
"…Unfortunately, the ones that are killed are almost always the Upstarts." Caren continued after a moment, letting the matter of the Vice-Director being gorgeous drop for now. "They are the Ancestors from the AD-era, and much weaker than the Elders, who are from the BC-era. It's been over a thousand years since an Elder was last slain, and by all accounts, they have only grown mightier since. They have slain numerous heroes and Saints, and have nearly brought down the Church itself on several occasions. To challenge them, is to court death."
"There… There are no Elders in Misaki-Town, right?" Ayako asked nervously, thoroughly spooked by the description.
"No. Both Roa and Vlov Arkhangel are Upstarts, and if the third had been an Elder, that would have been mentioned explicitly in the letter." Caren reassured her, for once not in the mood to be teasing. "Elders are good at hiding, but if they were on the move so openly, we would have known. This can only be an Upstart."
"Phew." Ayako let out a relieved breath, sagging slightly. "Man, that's a relief. It sounds like those 'Elders' really are the worst of the worst out there, right?"
"…"
The white-haired nun suddenly went quiet, suspiciously quiet, and Ayako stiffened again.
"Caren?"
"…" She didn't reply, instead choosing to turn away slightly.
"Caren?!"
Still no reply was forthcoming, and a bead of sweat went down Ayako's temple at the sight of the other girl being so hesitant to answer.
"Caren, what are you not telling me?!"
"Well…" The nun hemmed and hewed, shuffling her feet. "Like you said, the Elders are terrible creatures of immense power, yes, but…"
"But? But what?" Ayako demanded when Caren's voice tapered off. "Please don't tell me there are even worse creatures out there?!"
"Alright, I won't tell you." The white-haired girl promptly and happily accepted.
"Caren!"
"Alright, alright! Keep your head on." The nun capitulated at last, holding up her hands in surrender. "There are anomalies on the list of the Twenty-Seven. Anomalies that are worse than any of the Elders."
"Such as?" Frankly, Ayako didn't actually want to know, but she asked all the same, well aware that the Moonlit World was her world now, and that ignorance was a dangerous thing.
"The Crimson Moon, Primate Murder, and ORT." Caren summed up, her voice almost becoming a whisper, as if invoking their names would attract their attention. "And before you ask, no, they are not in Misaki Town. None of them are."
"How do you know that?"
"Because if they were, there would be no Misaki Town anymore."
"Oh…"
The utter certainty in Caren's voice, how she saw Misaki Town's destruction as a foregone conclusion should any of those three appear there, took the wind out of Ayako's sails.
Shirou and Rin had told the brunette much about the Moonlit World, but either they had decided to leave out those three anomalies to spare her for now, or Ayako had not been paying enough attention, because while the names at least were familiar, she couldn't recall any details.
"None of those three are actually Apostles though." As if seeing her confusion, Caren continued her explanation, and Ayako gratefully paid attention again. "The Crimson Moon is the Ultimate One of the Moon, so basically a Moon God, Primate Murder is a Beast of Gaia, and ORT is also an Ultimate One, though from somewhere in deep space. To call them mere Apostles is not just incorrect, it's an insult."
"Yet they are on the list of super-vampires?"
"They are on the list because they have all beaten one or more Ancestors and thus have taken possession of their Idea Blood." Caren replied, before she smiled wryly. "Although to them, Idea Blood is merely a trifle."
"A trifle?" Ayako deadpanned, before she smiled, shakily, in a mixture of incredulous amusement and sheer disbelief. "Oh sure, why not?"
"Why not indeed?" Caren sighed, sympathising a bit with the brunette, as she'd had a rather similar reaction herself to being taught about the horrors of the world, and she kindly patted the other girl's head.
Secretly though, she couldn't help but feel a bit pleased with herself. The nature of Dead Apostles and the Ancestors was a complicated subject, even to people of the Moonlit World, but she'd just managed to successfully explain it to a layperson, and without one nasty joke or mean remark at that.
She would have to tell Shirou when he got back. He'd be so proud of her!
A bit more practice and she might get promoted from nurse to actual teacher!
…Alright, maybe she'd need more than just a bit of practice, but still. She'd done well in this instance at least.
Though technically, the explanation wasn't quite finished yet.
"Perhaps now you understand why the Burial Agency hates the Ancestors so much." Caren spoke up again, drawing Ayako's attention back to her. "They are immensely powerful, nearly impossible to kill, and even if you do manage to kill them, they have their Successor in place."
"Oh no, I fully understand." Ayako assured her, which was another happy feather in Caren's cap. "Awful creatures. I hope they'll all be killed soon."
"Quite. It would have been better of course if they'd never been created at all, but we'll settle for extermination, I suppose."
"Yeah, I suppo- Wait, created?" Ayako froze mid-sentence, before she rubbed her ear, wondering if she'd heard that correctly. "Did you just say 'created'?"
"Yes, created." Caren confirmed.
"The Ancestors were created?"
"They certainly didn't sprout up from the ground themselves."
"B-By whom? M-Magi?"
"Certainly not. I may not have a high opinion of Magi, but even they wouldn't create something as evil as the Ancestors. In fact, they probably don't even have the power to do such a thing to begin with."
"B-But then, w-who did?"
"Probably the True Ancestors, though we are not entirely certain." Caren supplied the most common theory.
"True Ancestors-? No, never mind." Ayako began asking the next logical question, before she shook her head, burying her curiosity. "You know what, I don't even want to know about them. Not today."
As important as the information might be, the brunette had had quite enough for one morning. She did not want to hear anything else about horrible creatures that were making life hell for humanity, not until Shirou was back and she could hold his hand.
"Ah, but I do think you should know-"
"No."
"It's only-"
"Nope!"
"If you would just-"
"La-la-la, I can't hear you!"
"Oh, come on now." Caren pouted, tugging on Ayako's elbow to get her to take her hands off her ears, though without success. "It's good news this time!"
"…" Ayako stilled, before she gave Caren a suspicious look, slowly lowering her arms. "Promise?"
"I promise." Caren nodded quickly, placing her hands on her heart. "I only wanted to tell you that the True Ancestors are almost extinct and are pretty much irrelevant. There's only one of them left, and to the best of our knowledge, she does not harm humans if she can at all help it."
"Oh?" Ayako perked up, her interest rekindling at the news that there was a creature out there that was not actively hostile to humanity. "Do tell me more, Caren-Sensei."
"Yes." The honorific was sweet as honey to Caren's ears, and she straightened her back in pride. "I'm talking about Arcueid Brunestud, the Princess of the Moon…"
It took Shirou about thirty minutes to completely heal the mysterious woman.
He'd reattached her fingers and toes, he'd fixed her arm and her leg, he'd reconnected her limbs to her torso, and finally, he was putting the last touches on healing her neck, thereby putting her head back on her shoulders.
With that, her once-mutilated body was once more whole, in one piece, and with a final burst of power, Shirou removed all imperfections that might have been left, restoring her to pristine condition.
The mysterious assailant might have wielded some mysterious Authority that cut right into the deepest layers of Reality, but Shirou's ability as a repairman knew no limits.
Cars, televisions, air conditioning systems, and even inhuman creatures, he could fix them all.
Whether healing her had been the right decision or whether he should have burned her to a crisp instead would soon be revealed, and Shirou was not too proud to admit he took a small step back in preparation, picking up Mjolnir again. His armour was a single thought away from being materialised, and several Mystic Codes and even Noble Phantasms were ready to be Traced in the blink of an eye.
The overpowering inhuman scent that hung over the woman like a vaporous cloud had become stronger and stronger with every piece he reattached, so strong it nearly made his nose itch, and if this was going to devolve into a fight, he needed every weapon and advantage he could possibly get.
Lest he be killed within seconds.
For a few moments after he'd reattached her head, it remained quiet. The woman lay perfectly still, with the same vacant look in her eyes as when she'd still been in pieces, with only the breeze making her hair flutter slightly.
Then she blinked.
It was her first movement, a tiny one, yet immediately after, her scent intensified so much Shirou's eyes watered and he nearly gagged.
"Hrmhn?"
After that first blink, her eyes came back into focus, and she let out a soft, almost adorable groan, before she blinked several more times, her eyes turning every which way in their sockets.
"I…"
Her lips then moved, forming a single word, but her voice broke quickly. Nevertheless, she tried again, speaking slowly and clearly.
"I… can't… move?"
Indeed, the rest of her body was still frozen in place. Not even a finger had twitched despite the recent unification of her body parts, no matter how hard she seemed to be trying.
"Ah." Her eyes then suddenly turned to him, and the pleading look was so startling that Shirou nearly took another step back. "Please… help?"
There was no inquiry as to his identity or his intentions, no suspicion or caution, and Shirou flailed in confusion for a moment, until he remembered she'd been alive and awake during the entire procedure of him putting her back together.
She knew he had been helping her, and apparently, that had gotten him enough trust and goodwill that she was willing to forgo introductions for now and hope that he would continue to aid her.
"Ah, right."
Unable to refuse a direct call for help, Shirou knelt down next to her again, placing Mjolnir aside once more.
She had already been healed, which meant there was no need to use his Healing Powers again, but if he was right about her current 'ailment', then instead…
"Uhm…?"
She made a confused sound when he began massaging her right arm, but he ignored it for now, trying to get the blood flow going again and to reactivate her nerves.
Those weren't things that inhuman creatures of such great power normally had to worry about, but after being cut to pieces in such a deep and invasive manner, it was no surprise that her neurons needed time to get firing again.
"Tell me when you feel something." He instructed her, continuing to roughly press his fingers into her muscles, hoping he was correct, because otherwise, things could get awkward real fast.
"I'm… feeling… something." Her response was nearly immediate though, if still a bit slow, as her fingers started twitching slightly, which was a hopeful sign. "It's… warm… and… A-Ah, ouch?! P-Pinpricks!?"
"Yeah, that's what happens when the blood starts pumping again." Shirou laughed, happy to know his hypothesis was correct and she was merely numb. "What else did you expect after I had to put you back together?"
"I wouldn't… know. I've… never been… injured for so long."
An ominous statement, and although he pretended not to hear it, Shirou carefully filed it away in a corner of his brain.
For a while, he continued roughly massaging her muscles, going from her arms to her legs and then her shoulders, and before long, she was mostly capable of moving again.
"The rest will recover in time." He stated confidently, getting back to his feet.
"Hm." She gave him a grateful nod, before she suddenly lifted her hand, looking expectantly at him.
Understanding what she was asking, Shirou took the hand and carefully pulled her back to her feet too. Predictably, she stumbled on her unsteady legs, but he gave her his arm to lean upon, which helped keep her upright for the few minutes she needed to recover her balance.
"Thank you very much." She beamed at him once she was steady on her feet, no longer having trouble moving or speaking.
"I-It was no trouble."
Now that she was smiling so brightly, Shirou was suddenly struck by the fact that the woman was surprisingly beautiful.
Her face was very pretty, with distinct royal features that were brought out even more by her red eyes, her hair was blonde and silky, and her body's proportions were dangerously alluring.
Her outfit was pretty simple in comparison, consisting of a long sleeve white shirt, a long purple skirt, and black boots, but they fitted her perfectly, making no secret of the fact that her breasts were bigger than any of Shirou's girlfriends or even just female friends in general.
She was, in a word, gorgeous.
Which was bad news.
Shirou was well aware of the old truth that in the Moonlit World, the more beautiful a woman was, the more dangerous she could be, which meant that this woman was dangerous indeed.
She seemed sincere enough in her gratitude, and the fact that she was having a conversation with him in the first place instead of attacking him right away was a good sign, but her beauty and her overpowering scent attested to the fact that great peril lurked underneath.
But he wasn't going to start a fight if he didn't have to, so he bowed his head in greeting instead.
"My name is Shirou." He introduced himself, once more leaving aside either of his last names. "Well met."
"Oh, right!" The woman nodded seriously, before placing a hand on her heart in a sign of respect. "My name is Arcueid. Nice to meet you, Shirou."
Arcueid… The name did ring a bell, but Shirou wasn't sure where from. It was a memory from before Mjolnir's arrival, before he had obtained nearly perfect recall, that he had half-forgotten by now.
Oh well, it could hardly be important then. It'd come to him in time.
"Allow me to thank you for healing me." Arcueid went on, beaming at him again. "I probably could have put myself back together eventually, but you really helped me! I won't ever forget it, you have my word!"
"I was glad to help." Shirou assured her, deciding not to mention he'd come quite close to burning her to cinders rather than helping her. "But why were you in such a state anyway?"
"I was attacked, by a very mean person!" Arcueid's expression turned sour at the reminder of what had happened to her, and she started pouting fiercely, her hands balling into fists. "I wasn't even doing anything! I was just walking here, minding my own business, when the mean person suddenly attacked me! I ran away, but he chased after me, and when he caught up with me, he suddenly cut me into pieces!"
There was not a single lie in her words, and Shirou relaxed, though he also found himself feeling a little sorry for her. He'd feared at first that he might have undone the hard work of some Executor who had slain a dangerous creature after a lengthy battle, but if the woman really hadn't been doing anything out of order…
"That must have been tough."
"It hurt! A lot!" She complained loudly, stomping her foot in agitation, before she raised her head, looking to the East as a vicious expression appeared on her face. "But I have his scent! I'll track him down, and then I'll give him a piece of my mind!"
"What do you mean?" The promise of impending violence made Shirou harden his heart, and he frowned at her, tightening his grip on Mjolnir.
Yes, she had apparently been attacked first, by someone who had not hesitated to either kill her or, if they'd known about her Healing Factor, to leave her in horrible agony, but that didn't mean he could just let her run off to have her revenge. Depending on what she was planning, he might have to stop her himself.
If she wanted to beat her assailant up a bit, break a few non-vital bones, he would probably let her, but he couldn't allow senseless slaughter, especially not if she was going to be callous about the lives of the innocent people in her way.
And considering she was an inhuman creature, the chances of that were unpleasantly high.
"I'll find him and I'll scold him." But Arcueid surprised him again, showing a baffling amount of self-restraint for someone of her nature. "And then I'll force him to help me."
"Help you?"
"Help me." Arcueid nodded, before, rather than explaining, she turned back to give him a pensive look. "Say, Shirou, what are you doing here in Misaki Town?"
A surprising and seemingly irrelevant inquiry, but her tone suggested it wasn't just an idle question.
"I'm here on business." Shirou thus replied honestly, though he gave no details. Not that he could give many details even if he wanted to, considering he had no idea what he was looking for, but all the same, he shouldn't be too open about his secrets. Not to strangers in general, and definitely not to inhuman creatures.
"Is it important business?"
"I'd say it is fairly important, yes." Shirou replied truthfully, as preventing the end of the world was in fact placed quite high on his list of priorities.
"Ah." That seemed to disappoint her, as she slumped a bit, but she rallied again quickly. "But you can spare some time, surely?"
"Time? For what?"
"To help me." Was her candid response, as if it were obvious. "You are very good at healing, and I can tell you are very powerful, so I want your help. Now say yes."
There was not a trace of hesitation to be found in Arcueid's voice. She confidently declared that he was to help her, and that he had little choice in the matter. It didn't seem like protesting or a polite refusal was going to be accepted.
Now, as an aspiring Hero of Justice, Shirou was normally more than happy to help others, and keeping an eye on this inhuman creature in the form of a beautiful woman was probably also a good idea. However, in this case, he hesitated to agree.
Because, as said before, he was currently working on preventing the literal end of the world, and he still had made no progress on that whatsoever.
"I am sorry, but I don't think I can spare the time." He thus replied, trying to let her down gently. "I wish you the best of luck with your endeavours, but I cannot assist you."
"What? W-Wait, but you have to help me!" Arcueid was not easily dissuaded though, and she took a step forward, looking half-panicked and half-affronted. "My business is very important too!"
"I don't doubt it." Creatures as powerful as Arcueid rarely moved unless it was for a very good reason, but that didn't change the facts. "But I have to prioritise my own matters right now. If you are ever in need of healing again, you can come find me, but I cannot help you more than that."
His piece said, Shirou made to leave before Arcueid could protest more, but he'd barely turned away when she grabbed his wrist.
Her grip was strong, too strong to easily break, so Shirou stopped, giving her a dry look.
"You have to help me." She insisted, almost petulantly. "Or I'll…"
"You will what?"
"I'll… I'll steal your hammer!"
"Huh?"
Shirou barely had time to be surprised at her words before she lashed out with immense speed and snatched Mjolnir from his hand-
-Before the hammer promptly fell to the ground, nearly dragging Arcueid along with it.
"Geh?!" The blonde woman stumbled, her eyes going wide in surprise, before she gritted her teeth and started pulling, trying to lift the divine weapon again. "Grr, come on! Up!"
Her arms shook from the exertion, beads of sweat soon appeared on her face, and the stone beneath her feet cracked ominously, but Mjolnir refused to butch an inch. It stubbornly remained in place, no matter how much Arcueid pulled and pushed.
It was a strangely adorable sight, not to mention amusing, and Shirou let her struggle for a moment, before he leaned down and picked his faithful companion up from the ground without the slightest effort.
"Wha?" Arcueid looked almost insulted by the ease with which he'd lifted the hammer again, her mouth half-open and her eyes wide. "How?!"
"It's quite simple really." Shirou smiled at her, casually flipping Mjolnir in a single hand, showing off how easy it was to handle. "It likes me more than you."
The glower she gave him in response would have sent a wild boar running for the hills.
Shirou just smiled wider though, and Arcueid eventually let up on her glare, pursing her lips in thought.
"Ehm." Now that her attempt to take Mjolnir hostage had failed, she racked her brain for another avenue of negotiation, and soon, she seemed to have come up with something new. "Then, how about I help you in return?"
"Hm?"
"You have important business, I have important business. Maybe we can help each other?"
That… was a much better attempt at getting his assistance than trying to take his hammer from him, and Shirou found himself actually contemplating the offer.
Two pairs of eyes did see more than one, and since Arcueid was so powerful, she might have something up her sleeve, an ability or a piece of knowledge, that would change his random search into a targeted hunt.
Of course, she was still a complete stranger to him, so he did hesitate to confide in her, but then, Nasu's instructions were so vague and almost meaningless that sharing them would have very little effect, even if she had bad intentions.
Hence, he gave her a small nod.
"That does sound like a good idea." He agreed, making her beam widely, her eyes sparkling in excitement. "But I want to know what exactly you are doing here in Misaki Town before I agree to anything."
If he was going to be helping her, he first wanted to know what they would be doing.
"You first." Arcueid turned it on him however, and while that aroused his suspicion at first, he soon realised it was only childish curiosity that drove her to demand he be the one to explain first.
Actually, the more he spoke with her, the more he started to get the idea she was more childish than malicious in general.
"Very well." He thus agreed once more. "I am in Misaki Town because a… friend, of mine informed me that I must seek information here. Something of great importance is set to happen soon, and apparently, the first clue to preventing it is hidden in this city. What I want your help with, should we enter an agreement, is finding this clue."
"I see." Arcueid hummed, though it was clear from her expression she still had a lot of questions. "And what is this clue?"
"That is the problem. I do not know."
His admission of ignorance caused metaphorical question marks to appear above Arcueid's head, as she stared at him in bewilderment.
"You do not know?"
"I have been assured that I will recognise the clue once I see it, but so far, I haven't had any luck." Shirou sighed, before waving a hand. "Granted, I have only been searching for a few hours, but still."
"Well, that's inconvenient." Arcueid huffed, unknowingly parroting both Rin and Ayako. "Do you have any other clues or hints?"
"I do not. I have to admit it is quite frustrating."
"I can imagine." She nodded, looking very sympathetic for a moment. "Searching for a quarry without success, without any idea where to look even, can be quite… maddening."
Her tone spoke of personal experience, and Shirou wondered if her mission in Misaki Town might be of a similar nature to his own.
"I'm sorry to be so vague."
"Oh no, I understand." She assured him kindly. "In fact, I think I might be able to help you."
"What?" That surprised him, and he unconsciously took a step closer to her. "How?"
"I have certain ways of gathering information that are exclusive to me only." She responded mysteriously, giving him an enigmatic grin. "This 'event' that you want to prevent, is it very big? Will it have a large influence on the world if it does go ahead?"
"Oh yes." Shirou nodded emphatically. Destroying the world was very much a way of influencing it after all, in a very big way.
"Perfect! Then let me gather information for a moment."
Arcueid held up a hand to motion for patience, before she closed her eyes and relaxed as much as she could while standing up, seemingly sinking into a trance on the spot.
For about a minute or so, she remained frozen in place, only her hair and her skirt fluttering in the wind.
Shirou studied her curiously, but while he could tell she was communicating with something, he couldn't say with whom or how.
Which was rather ominous, now that he thought about it. There weren't many things left in the world that could overcome his enhanced senses and his Clairvoyance, and the things that could were powerful indeed.
"Aha!" Then Arcueid came out of her trance again, grinning widely. "I got it!"
"You do?" Shirou perked up hopefully. Honestly, he hadn't expected much from this strange girl, but if she had indeed succeeded…
"You are here to prevent the destruction of the world at the hands of forces unknown." She stated confidently, hitting the mark in one.
"Y-Yes, I am indeed."
While there was a chance that it was only a lucky guess, that chance was almost infinitesimal, so he was rather startled to hear how she'd figured out his motives so suddenly.
"And you need information, information on where to find worthy weapons to fight the threat." Arcueid continued, now sharing things Shirou hadn't known before. He was looking for a weapon? "Hehe, and I know exactly where you can get that information. That clue you were looking for in this city, I know what it is."
"You do!?" Shirou almost couldn't believe his sudden luck, grinning widely when he got a confident nod in return. "What is it then?"
"Me!" Arcueid proclaimed proudly, puffing out her chest in pride. "I am the clue! I am the one who is supposed to tell you where to head next to find the things you need to prevent the destruction of our world!"
And with that proclamation, the pieces finally fell into place.
Arcueid was the clue.
She was the one who he had been looking for.
So that was why Nasu had assured him things would work out. It was because Arcueid would explain matters herself.
So that was why Shirou was on such a tight schedule, to ensure that he would find Arcueid when she needed his help. If he'd gone only hours sooner or later, he might never have found her.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
"Of course, I am willing to tell you everything you want to know." The blonde woman continued, narrowing her eyes and smiling smugly. "Buuuuut…"
"Don't tell me. I need to help you with your business first." Shirou took a stab in the dark, resigning himself to his fate with a laconic smile.
"Yes!" She cheered, looking delighted she now had something to hold over him.
The survival of his mission, and indeed the survival of the world, were now in her hands, and she clearly intended to milk it for all it was worth.
"If that is your price, I am willing to pay it." He nodded, before frowning slightly. "However, like I said before, I first need to know what you are doing here before I can agree to anything."
"Right, sure." She nodded, calming down a bit as her expression turned sour and the mood suddenly plummeted. "I am here to hunt an old enemy of mine. Are you familiar with Michael Roa Valdamjong?"
"…I am." Shirou nodded, blinking once at the immense coincidence. "You are here to hunt him?"
"Yes." Arcueid nodded grimly, growling like a big cat, thereby revealing that she had unusually long and sharp canine teeth.
"And once you have him, what do you want with him?"
"Want?" Arcueid asked, her expression turning ice-cold even as her eyes blazed with fury. "I want that traitor dead! I want him to suffer! I want him hauled before me in chains, begging for mercy, before I kill him so thoroughly he can never return!"
There was real hatred in her voice, revulsion even, and Shirou wondered what Roa had done to earn himself such ire from this seemingly good-natured woman.
Even the mysterious assailant, the one who had cut her into pieces, was only going to get a scolding, yet she wanted Roa humiliated and vanquished with prejudice. Whatever he had done, it had to have been seriously bad.
However, Shirou couldn't just let Arcueid storm off on her own. By now, he was pretty sure she was a member of the Burial Agency, as they were known to employ inhuman creatures at times, but even to the inhuman agents of the Vatican, Ancestors were formidable opponents. She wouldn't be the first to make a mistake in the pursuit of revenge, and by all accounts, Roa was mighty indeed.
"Hunting an Ancestor, even an unofficial one, is no small matter." He thus warned her, worried she might be blinded by her anger.
She was powerful, yes, but not unbeatable, as evidenced by the state he'd found her in.
"Hunting Ancestors is what I do." Arcueid spoke dismissively however, waving away his concern.
"And I am sure that you are skilled at it." Shirou allowed. "But certainly, the Burial Agency wouldn't ask you to fight one alone? Don't you have reinforcements?"
"The Burial Agency?" Arcueid blinked in confusion, before she frowned deeply. "What do they have to do with this? They don't tell me what to do."
"Oh, I am sorry." Shirou apologised, wincing as his assumption turned out to be wrong. "Are you with the Magus Association then?"
"Also no." She shook her head again, frowning even deeper. "I am not with any organisation. You must know that."
"No, I don't. I am sorry."
"Do you not recognise my name?" Arcueid asked in confusion, placing a hand on her chest as she cocked her head to the side in curiosity, her anger mostly forgotten already. "Not to sound arrogant, but I am really quite famous in the Moonlit World."
"…I do not recognise it." Shirou admitted after a moment. Yes, her name did ring a bell, but he just couldn't remember where from, no matter how hard he tried. "I apologise if that insults you."
"I'm not insulted." She assured him quickly, before daintily clearing her throat, looking rather excited all of a sudden. "I suppose I'll just have to introduce myself properly then. It's been quite a while since I last did that. It must have been five centuries, maybe more."
"Okay?" Shirou blinked, suddenly wondering just how famous this woman actually was.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat again, before she drew herself up to her full length, grinning widely as she placed her hands on her sides, looking immensely majestic against the light of the setting sun. "Greetings to you again, Shirou. My name is Arcueid Brunestud."
"!"
Shirou froze stiff at her last name, a name that invoked nightmares to all Magi around the world, but she wasn't done yet.
"I am the Executioner of the True Ancestors, the Princess of the Moon, and I am what you would call the Ultimate One of the Earth. Nice to properly meet you!"
"…"
For a few seconds after her proclamation, it remained quiet as the grave, as even the wind itself went completely still.
'THUNK'
Then the silence was interrupted by a dry impact sound, as Mjolnir slipped from a strengthless hand.
Misaki Town was quite a large city. Not at the level of Tokyo of course, that would be ridiculous, but large all the same. Its population measured in the millions, and it covered a massive area of land, making it the largest city of its region.
Like all large cities in the developed world, Misaki Town had multiple high schools within its boundaries. It needed to, because there was no way that every student in the city, numbering in the thousands if not tens-of-thousands, could fit into a single building. It would be an architectural and logistical nightmare, to say the least.
The exact number of schools in the city was a point of contention within the city council, as its members disagreed whether to count private schools or not and if schools under repair should still be included, but it was certainly well over two dozen, even by the lowest estimates.
And among all those schools, Metropolitan Misaki High School held a place of honour.
It wasn't vastly superior to the other schools, especially not in terms of its classes, which were rather average to be honest, but where it truly excelled was its many after-school clubs.
After-school club-activities were a tried and tested Japanese tradition to shape the characters of the youth, to keep the students off the streets and out of trouble, and to give the parents a few more hours they could spend on their valuable work.
Many schools organised club-activities for these reasons, and Metropolitan Misaki High School had made it into an art.
It had a track-club, an archery-club, a chess-club, a go-club, a club for all other board games, and a literature-club, but also clubs for arts, swimming, martial arts, and even tea-serving. There was something for everyone, and as a result, only very few of its students were members of the infamous going-home-club.
On this particular day, most classes at Metropolitan Misaki High School had ended at around three in the afternoon, yet the vast majority of the students were still present in and around the building several hours later, participating in the activities they had chosen for themselves.
Under normal circumstances, the clubs were allowed to continue until well into the evening, and the building itself didn't close until the sun had long since gone down. Furthermore, the school's faculty council was rather relaxed about what the students got up to after leaving, especially by the standards of a Japanese high school.
But not today.
Not anymore.
"Attention, students. Please wrap up your activities." The message was announced over the intercom when the sun had just started setting, and it was received by many disappointed and wrought looks. "All students are to leave the building as fast as possible. Staff members will oversee your departure."
Similar statements followed, but nobody was really listening anymore. All club-activities were concluded swiftly by the teachers and the club-members were hastily dismissed and sent back home.
There was nothing relaxed or laid back about it. The rapid pace with which the students were escorted off the premises was almost reminiscent of an evacuation.
It was brusque, it was unkind, and above all, it was necessary.
Because there was a serial killer wandering the streets of Misaki Town.
Over the past weeks, numerous people had gone missing, dead and maimed bodies had been found all over the city, and there had been a few major incidents as of late, incidents that had claimed the lives of many and had almost certainly been caused deliberately.
Deaths and disappearances were stacking up rapidly, in quantities that were outright unacceptable to civilised countries. People were getting scared, and the day-to-day operations that were necessary to keep a large city going were suffering from it.
As such, the city-council had had no choice but to declare an emergency situation, decreeing that civilians were no longer supposed to be outside after dark, especially not on their own. Employers were to shorten the hours at work, shops had to close before sunset, and schools were obliged to send their students home before the clock struck six.
Most people obeyed the decree, spooked by the deluge of terrible news that flooded the city, but as always, there were a few that did not properly appreciate the threat and were rather displeased with the measures that were taken to fight it.
"Goto-Sensei, do we really have to go home already?"
"Ah, Sensei, please!"
"It's still early!"
On the grounds of Metropolitan Misaki High School, just outside the gate, a small group of students were pleading with their teacher to let them stay a bit longer. This teacher was normally quite soft-hearted, and they hoped to convince him somehow.
"Yes, you have to go home." Goto-Sensei had hardened his heart however, remaining deaf to their pleas as he locked the gate behind him. "Now go, before your parents get worried."
"But-!"
"No!" Goto-Sensei barked, rage flashing across his face as he threw his hand to the side, completely fed up with the whiny complaints. "Go home! This city has become too dangerous to be outside at night! Away with you!"
His tone was harsher than it had ever been before, and that, more than anything, sent the students slinking off, though with clear reluctance. He had to keep glaring at them for a while until they all left, and even after that, he kept the expression up for a while.
Only when they were all well and truly gone did Goto-Sensei allow himself to relax, letting the anger slide off his face, before he sighed deeply.
"I wish you were all this enthusiastic about your classes." He huffed softly to himself, smiling a bit at his own joke, before he placed his hands together and bowed his head, praying softly to whatever higher being was willing to listen for his students to return home safely.
Like most teachers, Goto-Sensei only wanted what was best for his students. Though he did not like having to interrupt their fun, in this case, it was both necessary and required by law. Now that the city had become so dangerous, going home quickly was genuinely the wisest thing to do.
Unfortunately though, most of his students, especially the ones he'd just chased away, did not see it that way.
"I can't believe we have to go home already!"
"I wanted to continue drawing. I was so close to getting the second eye on paper."
"Ah, that sucks."
"Who cares about a drawing?! If they keep interrupting our track-training like that, we won't stand a chance in the nationals this year!"