"Don't worry, we're not done yet," Wayland said, turning his attention back to Bazett. "You mentioned earlier that Eliza was cursed. Was it a Church curse?"
"Yes," Bazett nodded. "The Executors were already hunting her when I first encountered her."
"Bazett, your division deals with the Church's affairs on a regular basis. You should be intimately familiar with their operations. Which department do these Executors belong to?"
"Which department?" Bazett looked confused by the specificity of the question. "Based on their combat prowess, they aren't from the Burial Agency. And their vestments don't match the style of the Chivalric Order of Heretical Inquisition. That leaves only two options: they're either standard field-agents, or they belong to the Eighth Sacrament."
Wayland nodded slowly.
The Church had three primary organizations.
The Burial Agency was a gathering of the Church's most lethal combatants, a group that operated on a strict 'might-is-right' philosophy. They were specialized in hunting vampires,specifically the "Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors",and one of their members was even a Dead Apostle himself.
The Chivalric Order of Heretical Inquisition was the backbone of the Church's combat forces, consisting of Inquisitor-class Executors. Despite the name 'Chivalric Order,' their uniforms were a pure, brilliant white rather than the standard black.
The Eighth Sacrament was, put simply, the department responsible for the recovery and management of Holy Relics. Kirei Kotomine, his father Risei, and Shirou Kotomine were all members. Their power levels varied wildly, and they almost always served as the Overseers for the Holy Grail Wars.
Bazett had omitted one detail: Caren Ortensia was also a member of the Eighth Sacrament.
"Setting that aside for a moment," Wayland said, choosing not to call Bazett out on her omission. He couldn't exactly explain how he knew Caren's identity anyway. "What we know for sure is that Eliza's 'curse' originated from the Holy Church. But in the Church, a curse is more accurately described as a 'Purification.' Using their specific doctrine as a magical foundation, Church magecraft is known as the Baptism Chant. It's essentially 'Holy Light' magic."
"We know all this," Pascal interrupted. As the natural rivals of the Church, the Clock Tower provided detailed lectures on these subjects.
"Purification has a beneficial effect on normal humans. It only acts as a 'curse',a destructive force,when it interacts with spiritual bodies, demons, or vampires."
Wayland paused, his voice dropping an octave as he delivered the punchline. "There's only one logical explanation for why Eliza was 'cursed' by a purification spell: She isn't human."
Pascal and Bazett both froze.
"You..." Pascal started to speak, but the words died in his throat.
"And there's one final piece to this puzzle," Wayland said, taking a deep breath. "In this world, too many coincidences eventually become a certainty. Do you remember why the Seven Holy Paladins are in Oxenholme? They're hunting a traitor who stole one of their legendary Mystic Codes. What if that Mystic Code... is Eliza?"
"That's impossible!" Pascal blurted out, his brain struggling to process the idea.
Bazett, however, looked thoughtful. She stared at Wayland with a look of undisguised shock.
"Let's look at the hypothesis," Wayland continued. "If she *is* a Mystic Code, then the behavior of the Seven Holy Paladins makes perfect sense. The hunt by the Eighth Sacrament and the effects of their purification spells are explained. Even the Sealing Designation from the Bureau of Secret Remains becomes understandable.
"As for the person who contacted the Bureau... I suspect it was the traitor himself. He might have been a mole from our own Association. An ancient organization like the Paladins would have brutal methods for dealing with traitors; escaping them would be nearly impossible on his own.
"There's also another possibility: the traitor managed to contact the Bureau through some other channel and revealed Eliza's true nature. Giving her to the Sealing Designation Division was a gamble. It provided her with the best possible protection, while simultaneously setting the Clock Tower and the Seven Holy Paladins against each other."
"But that doesn't explain why she's gone," Pascal pointed out. "Did the Paladins find her while we were fighting?"
"It's possible, but I think it's more likely the traitor took her."
Wayland continued his analysis. "First, the Paladin we fought was severely injured. Second, the Paladins have already locked onto the traitor's scent; their primary objective is to catch him. As for why he would take Eliza back... we have to look at why he betrayed the organization in the first place.
"If he were a mole for the Clock Tower, he would have left her with us. So that only leaves one possibility: Eliza, as an Age of Gods Mystic Code, possesses some kind of incredible power. Whatever it is, it was enough to make him risk his life to steal her. But once he was out, the Paladins were on his tail, and Eliza became his greatest burden.
"In that situation, there are two choices: either force the Mystic Code to bond with you and use its power to fight back, or hide it until you can lose your pursuers.
"Or both. The traitor gave Eliza to the Sealing Designation Division to buy time, and then used that window to finalize a ritual to make her 'recognize' him as its master. If he succeeded, the power of an Age of Gods artifact would grant him the strength to escape the Paladins,and he wouldn't exactly be afraid of the Clock Tower's pursuit after that.
"The fact that he's taken Eliza now means his ritual was successful. He only needed one final piece to complete the transfer: Eliza herself."
***
By the time Wayland, Bazett, and Pascal arrived at the Oxenholme branch of the Department of Policies, it had begun to rain.
A light, cool drizzle fell over the city.
Wayland looked out at the cold and desolate streets. Somewhere out there, the man who had risked everything to defect from the Seven Holy Paladins was hiding.
He retracted his gaze and followed the others into the building. A middle-aged man in a black trenchcoat soon emerged to meet them. His hair was touched with grey at the temples, but he radiated an air of cheerful competence.
A magus assigned to govern an entire region was never a weakling.
While the Clock Tower headquarters was filled with thousands of elite Magi, most of the field units were composed of students. After graduation, those who showed exceptional promise,and who didn't return home to inherit their families' crests,were assigned by the Department of Policies to maintain order in the magical world across various regions.
Amad Harbor. Rank: 'Fes.'
In the world of Magi, 'Grand' was the highest rank, but 'Pride' was generally considered the practical peak for those active in the world. Most of the Clock Tower's Lords held the 'Pride' rank.
Magicians who achieved the 'Grand' title were few and far enough between that they rarely interacted with the rest of the community, appearing only as legendary figures whose movements were almost impossible to track.
'Frame,' 'Count,' and 'Cause' were the first three ranks, where the majority of Magi remained throughout their lives. Achieving the rank of 'Fes' was a significant milestone that required more than just raw magical power.
To be granted the 'Fes' rank, a magus usually had to possess an exceptional talent that set them apart from their peers. Bazett was a Designation-class Enforcer who could wield Age of Gods Mystic Codes. Others might be 'Restorers' capable of repairing damaged magic crests. Put simply, they possessed an aptitude that ordinary Magi could never hope to replicate.
"Director Harbor. Good to see you."
Pascal handled the greetings. Bazett was too laconic for formal introductions, and Wayland was a subordinate; in a formal setting, certain protocols had to be observed.
After the initial pleasantries, Pascal explained their objective.
"Director, we need access to the security footage from Oxenholme Station."
"Is this regarding the struggle between Magi earlier this afternoon?" Harbor asked.
"Yes. We have reason to believe another member of the organization was present in the station during the attack."
"I see. This way, please."
Harbor led the trio into the monitoring room. "The station is one of our primary monitoring zones. We maintain a cooperative agreement with the local government, which allows us real-time access to their security feeds."
"Convenient," Pascal remarked with a sigh of relief. "We need the footage from between two and three PM. Subtracting the staff, there were roughly ten passengers in the station during that window. Those are our primary targets."
"Understood." Harbor nodded and began working at the console, rewinding the feed.
The screen flickered to life, showing the station's waiting room.
"Pascal, check the staff first," Wayland cautioned. "We need to make sure no one was replaced by a shapeshifted impostor. Run facial recognition on the passengers too. A man on the run from an organization like the Paladins wouldn't have the time for a perfect identity theft; a high-speed disguise is much more likely."
"Got it."
Pascal manipulated the mouse, highlighting the staff and passengers and running them through the database. A stream of dossiers and identification photos began to scroll across the secondary monitors.
Wayland stepped forward, his eyes scanning the data in a series of rapid-fire clicks. Initial results showed no obvious anomalies.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]