(((Chapter 15)))

Sweat dripping down her forehead, Rin Tohsaka gritted her teeth, her whole body taut like a wound spring. Pinched between her fingers was a small, colored bead, which she was to place within a gap of similar beads arranged along the ritual circle. It was the last piece to complete the array-if she made a mistake at this point, she would have to scrap her work and start from the beginning.

A small, keening sound came from her throat as the bead slowly inched its way into the destination. When she was finally able to slot the bead into its proper place with a small click, she breathed out a long sigh of relief.

Then she pumped her fist in the air in silent triumph. Then, not even daring to breathe, she tiptoed back out of the ritual circle.

Ascending to the elevated portion of the room, Rin looked down and surveyed her work. Carefully, she stripped off the gloves from her hands as her eyes traveled all over the ritual circle. Runes of power at the center, to illuminate her purpose, traced through a mixture of blood and chalk and crushed pieces of bone and skin; then on the second layer, protective arrays made from the meticulous arrangement of phantasmal beast parts, acquired in that near-disastrous hunt days ago. And then lastly, the star-studded formation of gems on the outside, each cut by her artifice to match her specific design, all made to power her magecraft at the center.

Of all the materials she'd just used, she, like all the Tohsaka before her, preferred the weighty surety of the gems. Mined from the heart of the earth itself, and resistant to the pull of time, gems afforded an avenue of power that rewarded patience with considerable power.

Magecraft through the use of living organisms, or from the degraded remnants stemming from such things, showed themselves to be more potent, on a strict conceptual basis of power. Storing power in inanimate objects was an alternative, though generally considered inferior, with certain exceptions.

Personally she preferred her gems, which would last a long time, or at least long enough for her lifetime. Much of the materials she used for her day-to-day research were gathered from the Tohsaka hoard that never quite depleted itself over centuries of use. And now she had a means to ensure it would never run out, so she would always be prepared with her stock of gems no matter what

It even formed the core of her current research. Dragon's blood could curse one with invulnerability, the deadliest poisons could become the greatest panacea; a thousand meanings could and were attached to every herb, every flower, every root, granting nigh-unlimited use as catalysts; even gems had qualities that could grant small blessings. Her goal was to prove she could attach a certain "quality" to gems she synthesized herself.

"...Seems alright," she said in conclusion. The arrangement was yet complete, as it needed the remaining materials they'd gathered, as well as the intended recipient, one mysterious "Bob", of the many Command Seals.

"Hmph." Thinking on that mysterious older man brought forth complicated feelings. He was her benefactor in some ways, and was a person who wouldn't (or perhaps he just couldn't) judge her based on her last name alone. Then again he was also a cunning man who hid plenty of things from her, which was a fine way of indicating he could not be completely trusted.

Still, she could at least be thankful to him for agreeing to participate in the ritual. She felt excited, more than she'd ever felt with any of her projects before. This was, after all, the first time she would ever try her personally crafted ritual on a flesh-and-blood being, different from the incarnated spirit container of her Servant. If she could perfect this, then her method would be proven once and for all, and she would be able to inscribe it as another notch on the Tohsakas' headstone: the Mystery of the Insertion of Various Skills into a Physical Body Through Gemcraft.

She temporarily dubbed her ritual with the shorthand "Servant Skill Infusion: SSI", but if she were to perfect this it would just become "Skill Infuse". Magi would bow and grovel at her doorstep for a chance to discover her secrets, and ambitious Masters would pay everything for her to bestow all sorts of skills on their Servants.

Rin couldn't wait to start. After changing and refreshing herself, she came back up to the main area of her mansion. Thinking he would be at the kitchen at this time, perhaps about to feed his Servants like he had yesterday, she went there first.

There, only her Archer waited, busy with breakfast.

"Where is he?" she asked, after consulting her mansion's defenses. After a first pass, she saw that no one else was in the mansion but the two of them. "What the-where the hell did he go? I told him not to leave! We're starting the ritual today!"

Her taciturn Servant only shrugged.

Their next subject was a magus from the Enfriede clan. The last of his family line, he had died buried under the rubble of his own modest apartment.

"See that?" Shishigou said, pointing to several stains on the floor-or what remained of it, anyway. "Stonegazer gizzards. Very valuable. Damned waste."

"Huh..."

The grizzled man shook his head. "Must've been pretty brave, to find something like that in the Labyrinth without his own Servant. Or-well, he could've traded for it, beats me."

"You sure do know your lore," Shirou remarked. Much of the debris and rubble had been cleared away hours before by automata; then the familiars had come in to test if there were any active magecraft still lurking around buried, ready to ensnare the unaware. Only after that were they allowed to go in and start cleaning up. All told, it was an arduous task to sift through the ruination: on Shishigou's part to dispose of the corpse, and on Shirou to help put away any inactive belongings and collect them for the Overseer's office.

That's a thankless job, you know, Shishigou had pointed out. It's a job for the help, and Servants; and, like you're not actually a Servant, you know?

No, no, it's fine, really. It's a way to get out from Tohsaka's hair, for one, he'd replied. And so, he'd accompanied Shishigou on his little job.

He was currently still masquerading as Rin's Archer. His cover story was of Rin sending him "voluntarily" to help clean up. People glancing askance at such a notion (and there were many) would think of it as a punishment from the Master for an erring Servant. And of course, since Rin could not possibly recall him via Command Seal, he could stay out here for a while, until such a time that Rin came out herself to retrieve him. Or if the day was over, whichever came first.

He, of course, was wearing his mask, to keep up the pretense. Shirou could give Rin that, at the least. It also helped deflect questions from the overly curious.

Watching Shishigou perform his gruesome tasks with the corpses, surrounded by the stench of death and inevitable decay, was an uncomfortable experience. The man looked almost gleeful to be in the presence of so many "job opportunities", equating all the dead as ways to augment his income. Then again, Shishigou's case was far less disconcerting than all the other ways the dead were handled all around-for example, some magi brought chained phantasmal beasts to outright devour any unclaimed cadavers.

So far it seemed to Shirou that the magi in this city treated the dead with less reverence than in his own experience. They were almost too practical about it, and with no perceivable religion that any of them practiced, whatever sentiments these magi ascribed to the recently deceased was only for close friends and family. Shirou at least saw some exhibit grief upon finding this or that body, which came a long way from making him write off the whole lot of them entirely.

Most of the magi expressed more horror on finding their properties destroyed.

"Spent almost my whole life with the morbidly oppressed," Shishigou replied, as Shirou worked to clear away the broken remnants of a study table and the burnt-out shells of several book-cases. "Everything I learned, I learned out hunting in the Labyrinth, and not burrowing my head into a book inside a stuffy room. Heh. In a way, I'm like that Emiya."

"Why do you say that?"

"Word is he never got to summon his Servant until just a few years back, give or take. It's the same with me. I only really got around to summoning Saber when my back almost got broken by a giant terraphobe. That's when I knew I couldn't do it alone anymore." With his hands wrist-deep in the corpse's guts, Shishigou chuckled. "Of course, summoning a Servant's got its whole bag of worms by itself, so..."

"Oi, you calling me a bag of worms?" came a voice, followed by Shishigou's Saber materializing behind him.

"Well, technically we're all a grab bag for worms when we die," Shishigou said shrewdly. "But... I certainly wasn't really saying that about you, Saber."

The messy-haired, slender Servant snorted. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. But you should be a whole lot more grateful, old man. I'm the only thing stopping you from becoming worm food these days."

"And for that, I am grateful for this unexpected windfall," Shishigou said, glancing at Shirou. "-Along with all these corpses, too, of course."

Shirou shrugged, but said nothing as he stooped to carry off more junk. One other benefit to coming all the way out here was to maintain his body's integrity, so it could be ready to move and act at a moment's notice. He was glad to see that the scythe's curse had not left a permanent mark on his body.

He'd only gotten a few paces before he noticed someone following him.

"Something wrong, Saber?" he asked, turning around to address Shishigou's servant. She frowned, then crossed her arms as she looked away.

"... Where's that Servant of yours?"

He cocked his head. "I'm not sure who you mean."

"Obviously it's the Saber, who else?"

"Saber?" He looked up at the faraway rooftop, where he recalled Saber claiming she would be, to watch over him. The decision was odd, as she wasn't an archer-type to take advantage of such a distance. Then again, they were still on almost non-speaking terms. "She's somewhere close by-is all I can say. Why do you ask?"

Saber snorted and tossed her head. "Nothing really. Just... That guy seemed really familiar... and not in the good way. It's almost like fa-almost like that Emiya's Saber, I mean. Bah, forget it. I'll just try finding that guy myself." She dematerialized.

Shirou stared at the space where she'd been, then shrugged to himself. He had enough on his plate with having to puzzle out his own Servants.

Interlude

In retrospect, it was quite simple. There was no reason for the anomalous Master with the multiple Servants to be so cryptic if it did not mean this "Bob" had employed some strategem. A Master obviously could not be left alone by himself.

Ergo, the Servants were here, in some capacity, ready to step in when needed. It took a while, but she did spot the unmistakable form of the other Saber on a rooftop a far distance from the disaster area.

With increasing trepidation, she scaled the building in one small leap, before announcing herself by materializing and taking one loud step on the rooftop floor.

She felt the Saber's eyes drift towards her before turning away, as if it were only to let her know it was aware of her arrival.

"...Is it you?"

The features were similar, too similar to be dismissed entirely. The skin was far paler than it should be, the eyes had thin reptilian slits, and the hair tied into a familiar bun was bleached of all its natural color. The armor looked like it had been dipped in hot pitch, which then bled with angry, red veins that coursed throughout the plate.

Yet even with the shift in color, a great veil of majesty still shrouded this one. For her, it still exuded the same feeling of awe-inducing power, inspiring in her a gut-wrenching longing.

"I do not know what you mean," the other Saber replied.

She blinked. "Don't play dumb. I know you recognize this face. I know you recognize this armor-" the armor shimmered around her, red-and-silver, and then she summoned her sword, which she throws onto the ground, clattering, like a challenge, "-And you certainly recognize this sword. So don't play dumb."

The other Saber stared at her, eyes searching her face for a moment, before it shook its head. "I am not the one you think." Then, it looked away.

She laughed, weakly. Her fists clenched, to halt the trembling. She'd begun to breathe heavily. "That's right. That's so... right. I think. I mean, there's one of you out there, with that Emiya. But I can't really talk to them, now can I? But you... you're here. I can talk to you. I can-"

"Is it really good for you to be here?" the other Saber interrupted.

"I-what?"

The black Saber raised a gauntleted hand, then gestured over the rooftop's edge. "Something seems to be happening with your Master."

She blinked. "Huh?" She turned to look, and there, sure enough-

shift

The armored Servant vaults over the rooftop. When it lands far below, it disappears into its astral form.

The form of the black Saber watches her leave with an impassive face.

Then it sighs.

"Was that alright?" it says, in a voice which surely did not belong to the Saber, though it seemed to come from its throat.

"That is obvious," comes the disembodied voice of the "real" black Saber, from somewhere behind.

A complex expression comes over the face of the visible "Saber", one that certainly looked out of place on the normally stoic Servant. "I certainly didn't expect to be confronted like that by Mr. Shishigou's Servant. I only hope I was able to act your part well enough. Was that girl someone you know?"

There is a long silence, which the "Saber" took to the other one refusing to answer a question again, like it usually does.

Then the black Saber says, "...No. It's just some random kid." And that is all she says.

Shirou

It was very hard to miss the unmistakable forms of the Knights striding through the wreckage. Towering at a full nine or so feet, in bristling full plate, looming way above the average of each magi that was here, each Knight cut a formidable image: of implacable strength, of invincibility. When a Knight approached near, it was hard to miss; seeing it up close in all its glory brought more than a slight trepidation.

Shirou returned from carting off the Enfriede scion's assorted junk to find that a Knight had approached Shishigou. Wondering if he should listen in on the conversation, he trod forward slowly.

Shishigou raised his voice. "...Listen, you. I already gave my statement to that other Knight, sir... whats-his-face, Sir Mayori-Marory-"

"Sir Mallory?" the Knight said, in a booming, metallic voice.

"Yeah, them, whatever." Shishigou looked up and caught his eye. "So I don't know what you want me to do."

Shirou sensed the faint presence of something brush past him, before Shishigou's Saber, in full battle gear, appeared in between the two figures.

"The hell do you lot want now?" said the small Knight, whose sheer presence was by no means undersold by its diminutive size. Saber oozed out hostility, a familiar taste of danger that Shirou had experienced himself quite a few times.

"Ah, sir Mordred. My apologies. I am sir Cradoc, of your father's Knights."

Mordred? Shirou thought. Wasn't that...? He filed that thought away as he continued to listen.

"You Knights all look the same, by the way," Shishigou remarked. He shook his head. "Both you, and that other guy who spoke to me. Even speak the same, by golly."

"So? Whaddya need from my Master? Is it some bullshit again about those hokey suspicions?" Saber demanded, crossing its arms.

The Knight raised its empty hands in a show of assurance. "Please understand, my lord, that this is a rather delicate investigation we've been given. As a matter of fact, we have already received Magus Kairi Shishigou's testimony from sir Mallory's report."

"What sort of investigation has you rattling the day of an honest peddler like me?" Shishigou asked.

"The worst kind, I am ashamed to say. Kidnappings."

A short, tense silence followed. Even Saber looked taken aback, as it was not able to summon any words. Shishigou shrugged.

"That's a serious thing to tell me about, but I ain't done nothing. What, just because I'm a necromancer, you think I'm a suspect?"

"Hah!" Saber slapped a hand to its armored chest. "How stupid! Master's not the type to just go out and find people to kidnap and harvest. He's a necromancer, so he'll have killed them first!"

"Uhh... Saber, that doesn't really help-" Shishigou said.

"Oh, my pardons, but I did not mean to imply that you are still a suspect, Magus Shishigou," said sir Cradoc. "It is your expertise that I have come here to request."

"My-oh, you wanna hire me?"

"Well... no. This is a request, by the joint authority of the King, and the True Master of Saber. We would really appreciate your assistance."

For a moment, Shishigou stared. Then he laughed, a loud, braying sound that pierced the ears. "Oh, that's rich! That's... that's good comedy right there. You're a good comedian, sir Caddy."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Listen, sir Knight," Saber now said, marching forward. "You ain't got the authority over the magi and the Servants in this city. None. Zero. None. I know 'that' King, and its Master would like to think otherwise, but it's the fact. You don't have authority here. Just a huge, overbearing standing army that can't even do the oppressing job even halfway decent."

The Knight heaved its great, plated chest, as if it were sighing. "...Magus Shishigou, I take this to mean you refuse?"

"Of course he-"

"Saber." The smaller knight paused. Shishigou coughed. "Listen... sir Knight. I'll get back to my first question. Exactly what is it you want me to do? What help can a necromancer like me give?"

"The Knights have been authorized into a small task force to investigate the matter. However, owing to certain...factors that are quite outside our control, we have realized that we need the aid of independent contractors."

"Factors?"

"The Knights are too... prominent. Our investigative efforts will end up being hampered by virtue of our being as we are."

Shishigou wiped the blood from his hands. "Okay, okay, I get it, you're too big for the job, eh? That's understandable."

"...Yes. We have heard from our Master-that is to say, the True Master of Saber, Emiya Kiritsugu-that you are an excellent independent, with a large web of connections. You would be a great help in finding leads, and other sources of information that would help."

"That guy said it?" Shishigou chuckled. "Fucking hilarious," he muttered. He then met Shirou's eyes again. "Well, what do you think, Archer? Should I take on this volunteer work or not?"

"Hm?" The Knight turned, and Shirou met its visored gaze. "Oh, greetings, Servant Archer."

He bowed silently. After mulling it over for a moment, he opened his mouth, ignoring his earlier decision to keep silent. "It is your decision, magus. It is your time, after all." Shishigou's brow raised. "Still," Shirou continued. "I am... interested in what you've said, sir Knight. Who has been kidnapped? And why?"

"It is just as I have said, Servant Archer," sir Cradoc said. "People have been kidnapped. Children, most of all."

"Children?"

"Orphans, I'm guessing," Shishigou observed.

"Yes, it is as you say."

Shirou thought back to the bits and pieces of knowledge he'd obtained at Rin's library, regarding the city's inner workings. He'd been surprised to learn that certain institutions still existed in a fantastical city like this, where no one feared the specter of hunger and disease.

The presence of orphanages in the City was one of these, and in here they took on a more sinister aspect. Children came in not because of a lack of resources, but from the twisted, insane reason of total disinterest. Children incompatible with a magic crest, who were ugly, deformed, imperfect in any way for the criteria set by the parent, were discarded as readily as these inert mystic codes he'd just carried.

It sickened Shirou, but for now there was nothing he could do, all by himself. The only consolation he derived from it was that these magi had not gone on to perform twisted acts on children and babies, which would be well in line with what he expected of magi. If there were such inhuman bastards, then they hid their actions well away from the eyes of the public. Even then, he was not sure if the other magi would even care.

"...I can sympathize," Shishigou continued to say, stirring Shirou from his thoughts. "Grew up in one myself." Shirou's eyes widened, now seeing the leonine man in a new light. "But I'm sure you know as well as that Emiya that the sick truth of this city paints a hopeless picture. Wherever, whoever those kids were, there ain't any chance of getting them back alive, if at all."

Shirou clenched his fists. "I realize that," the Knight said. "However, honor demands we fulfill the directives set for us by our Master. Hopeless though it may seem, we are still determined to investigate this matter. If we cannot find these children, then we are at least directed to bring justice to any who are responsible."

"Hmmm..." Shishigou pursed his lips.

"Perhaps it would benefit you to lend your expertise, magus," Shirou then told Shishigou in a pointed manner. "I am sure you can find a reward here that no one else can see."

"Uh...huh... I see." Shishigou surely had understood Shirou's implication. The thought of being offered a Command Seal was more than a tempting offer. "Ah, well then. Sir knight, you've convinced me. I'll put my ears to the ground. I'll be sure to turn over any information I got to you. I've also got some people you can look at right now; I got a feeling they're the ones with the hands in the cookie jar. If not... well, with a little persuasion they can help you find some other roads to explore."

"Allow me to assist you too," Shirou said. "I believe I have certain talents that will better aid in the investigation.

"Oh no, that would be too much of an imposition, Servant Archer. What would your Master say?"

In the larger scale of things, getting involved seemed like a bad idea. But, he was still unable to figure out his role in this world, so this was a start, at least.

It was well in line with the work he used to do, for much of his life.

He smiled. "Oh, she won't mind."

Shurpuff says: Hello again!

Here begins the new arc! And as I've said before, I have been contemplating a move to P-reon, and over the past weeks I've gone along with it, with help from a few readers and pals, and I've spent a few more time fine-tuning the details-as well as writing more material! The page is still rather bare-bones at the moment, but I aim to be able to pretty it up soon. I only hope it shall be as successful as I'd like it to be.

But we'll see: whether or not it flies or flops is really up to you, dear readers. I will, of course, continue writing, flop or no, as much as I can. I've got some new stories lined up to publish, and I hope you guys enjoy them.

With that said, I shall officially declare that you can now find me P atreoN, under "Shurpuff". Please drop by, and as always, thanks for reading!