Ch 136: A deal she could not refuse.

"I say, are you my Master?" said the Servant with a synthetic and androgynous voice.

"I am the one who summoned you, yes. My name is Akeno Himejima, and it is nice to meet you."

The giant nodded, then thumped a fist on his chest armor.

"Fairy Knight Britomart, has attended your summons. May there be glory in your adventures."

"Thank you, Britomart… I must admit that I am rather surprised. I wasn't expecting a servant with your… stature, considering the catalyst I used. Or perhaps, this belonged to someone dear to you?"

Britomart lowered her gaze, seeing the dress between his massive, armored legs.

"Oh, no. This attire was mine… Fortress Armor, disengage."

The helmet, chest, arms and legs of the armor suddenly opened, revealing a tall, silver-haired woman who hopped down from it. The armor and sword dissipated into blue mana particles.

"Fwaah, this feels much better." smiled Britomart. Her voice was far more feminine than when she was inside the… armor? Mecha? Akeno still couldn't decide.

"I can imagine." said Akeno as she examined the Fairy Knight.

Britomart was slightly taller than her at about 175 centimeters, with long silver hair styled into two side buns and twin tails. Her pupils were golden around the center, and blue on the periphery. She had long pointed ears, likely a sign of her being a fairy. Her body, wearing a pristine version of the revealing red and white dress at her feet, was extremely attractive as well, with a smooth skin without any blemish, breasts rivaling Akeno's, and long legs.

"Once again, I'm the Fairy Knight Britomart. More accurately, I'm the second Fairy Knight Britomart. My class is Lancer. I'll be in your care hereafter as well, Master."

"Thank you, Britomart. I will strive for you to find me worthy of your service." smiled Akeno.

"But there are many things that I do not know, and I hope you can tell me more about Servants, and the Holy Grail War."

"Of course, I will answer what I can." nodded Britomart.

"Let's get out of this basement first. We need to explore the city and collect information before the other Masters make their move and steal away potential allies. But your current attire, while beautiful, would stand out too much… Well, with your hair and ears, you're going to stand out anyway."

"This is no issue, Master, as long as we do not have to fight. I do not need to keep my body materialized to follow you."

As she spoke, Britomart dissipated into a cloud of blue mana particles and dissipated.

"Are you still there?"

"Yes, and the mana upkeep will be lower when I am dematerialized."

"Mana upkeep?"

"…Master, are you a magus?"

"No. I can use magic, don't get me wrong, but the place I come from is very different. I do not know how I compare with those you call Magus."

Akeno left the basement as she spoke and returned to the bedroom. Once there, she used Item Creation to make herself a pair of black leather pants and black leather boots, a white T-shirt and a light purple turtleneck, as well as a blue parka. And a pair of short black leather gloves, to hide the red command crests on her right hand. She started changing as Britomart spoke.

"I see. When we leave this dwelling, Master, you should only refer to me as Lancer. We never know if there might another dematerialized Servant nearby. We can generally sense them if they get too close, but Assassins are very good at hiding."

"Yes, I'll be careful."

"But to return to the matter of mana upkeep, we Servants require regular mana injection to sustain our existence. Most Archers and Assassins possess a class trait called 'Independent Action.' that reduce that necessity, but the amount of power we can bring to bear in battle is also reliant on the Master's mana supply. The stronger the Master, the stronger the Servant."

"It makes sense." nodded Akeno, getting her long hair out of the turtleneck she had just put on and reaching for the boots. "So how do I inject you with my mana?"

"There are two ways. The first is to use physical contact to connect our magic circuits together, and for you to circulate your mana. Typically, this is done with the Master placing their hands on the Servant's back. This method is slow and inefficient, compared to the second one. But since Master is a woman, we will have to make do with it."

"Magic circuits? I'm not even sure I have that. What is that second method?"

"That would be for the Master to lay with the Servant. The Master's seeds are very rich in mana. Let us hope that not too many of the other Masters are males."

[Why am I not surprised.] snorted Albion in Akeno's mind.

[Several grades of Magic Circuits can be found in the Yin-Yang store, but their installation will require a few hours. It will not be pleasant.] warned the System.

[I see. I know what I'm buying first, then.]

[Akeno, you can also use the second way described by Britomart. Your vaginal secretions are also rich in mana.]

[Thank you, System. A good thing Britomart is a girl, and a beautiful one at that.]

"Lancer, have you ever had female Masters before?"

"No, this is the first time I am summoned as a Servant. Holy Grail Wars do not occur that often, and there are many Heroic Spirits. I am eager to experience it!"

"Well, for better or worse, I have been told from a reliable source that this one will be special. There will be fourteen Servants, two for each class. I have also met several other Masters, and I do not want to kill them. I want to subdue them, then convince them to join our cause, by any means necessary."

"I have no issue with that, Master. What cause are you fighting for?"

"We're going to save the world. The Holy Grail has become tainted with Evil, and I need to purify it, or something terrible will happen. The six other Masters I met have been given the same mission."

Akeno was done changing, checked her appearance in the bathroom's mirror, and took her smartphone again to call Noah.

"Akeno?"

"Yes. Are we in private?"

"Yes."

"I summoned Fairy-Knight Britomart. And yes, I was very surprised."

"Eheh. I'd have loved to see your reaction." chuckled Noah.

"I'm about to leave the house and scout the city. Do you have any suggestion?"

"Yes. I've carefully searched my memories while you were doing the summoning, and I have a suggestion for you. On the southern part of Fuyuki City, west of the river, is a residential area with large houses built in a western style. There are two points of interest in that area. And both are warded with multiple magic arrays, so don't intrude carelessly."

"The first is the Matou household. Someone named Sakura Matou, formerly Sakura Tohsaka, should be found living here. But I can't tell you if she's a little girl even younger than Nei, or a young woman. In both cases, her fate is tragic, and I want you to save her. But the Matou are dangerous and cunning, fighting with swarms of disgusting insects on top of magic."

"The other point of interest, and the one I think you should first visit, is the Tohsaka household. Depending on which timeline we're on, you will either find a family of three living there, with Rin Tohsaka, Sakura's older sister, being a young girl, or Rin will be living there alone as a young woman. She's an interesting and feisty young lady I want in our team, and she would be a valuable source of information for you."

"However, Rin Tohsaka has an important role in all the timelines I know about, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others make meeting her a priority as well. Rin's father, Tsukiomi Tohsaka, is a magus, with far more pride than is good for him. I don't recommend cooperating with him, but also don't to something that would make Rin hate you. Either Tsukiomi or Rin are going to be one of the local Masters you'll need to defeat."

Akeno nodded. This talk about timelines made it obvious that he minded his words, realizing that Britomart was listening. But from what he was saying, this Rin Tohsaka was a major character from the fiction.

"Understood, we'll be ready for a fight. I'll keep you informed."

"Good luck."

Akeno smiled as she ended the call.

"Is this strange black device some magic means of communication? And who is this person you called? He seems to know a lot."

"Yes, Lancer. This device is called a smartphone and is mainly used to speak to people regardless of distance. I can explain to you how that works later, but that person you heard is both my lover and my Master. He isn't in this world, but knows a lot about it. Although the knowledge he possesses is uncertain."

Reaching a street corner, Akeno saw a map of the city, indicating her own position. She took a photo of the map, then headed south.

"So this is the modern era. Those noisy metal boxes transporting people, and those buildings made of glass, this is very interesting…"

"Those noisy metal boxes are an issue, actually. Have you noticed most of them leave behind some foul-smelling gas?"

"Yes. Is the smell a problem?"

"Not the smell in itself, but those gases tend to gather in high altitude, and reflect back toward the ground some of the heat the planet receives from the sun. Just a few thousands of cars, that's the name of those moving boxes, wouldn't be an issue, but humanity must have close to a billion of them all over, and they are a major factor in making the world hotter than it should be. This cause issues, likes fertile grounds becoming too dry for crops to grow, sensitive people getting sick, and so on."

"Why not stop using those cars, then?"

"It's not that simple. The human society has become overly dependent on them to transport people and goods. And there's a recent effort to build new cars that do not emit any gas. Do you feel any threat around us, Lancer?"

"No. I do not feel any magic nearby."

Akeno took her magic glasses and put them on. With them, she could vaguely see the outlines of Britomart's body, floating around her and examining the surroundings with both vigilance and curiosity.

They kept discussing about various things related to modern society as they entered the southern district, and the commercial buildings were replaced by residences. After choosing random streets and looking at the nameplates fixed aside the doors, they found the Tohsaka residence. A large two stories house surrounded by tress. Its architectural style was from a century ago, and the Tohsaka family was obviously wealthy back then. But now, the residence gave the impression of not being properly maintained.

"What do you think, Lancer?" asked Akeno.

"It's a fairly well protected house, typical of a Magus family. but I can still probably sneak inside without being detected."

With her glasses, she could see several overlapping auras around the large two stories residence. Several of the sources of those auras were visible, in the form of precious gems hidden in various places. There was one in a tree, another half buried in the ground, and so on. For a moment, Akeno smiled, thinking about easter egg tradition of hiding chocolates for kids to find.

"We don't need to sneak in, though. Let's see how accurate Noah's information are."

Akeno was about to press the buzzer when she was interrupted.

"Hey, wait wait wait!"

Akeno turned her head and saw Chisato running toward her from a side street as she waved her hands at Akeno. She had changed from her school uniform into a casual street wear with a red top, black skirt and white coat.

"Master, there's a Servant near that person." muttered Lancer.

"Hi again, Chisato. You look nice." nodded Akeno.

"Hi, Akeno. Thank you. You look great, too. Sorry, but I can't let you steal Rin! My partner wants her!"

"Oh? I will remind you that I reached this place first. What makes you think you have the right to interfere?"

"Well…" Chisato blushed a bit, then grinned. "How about we decide this at Janken? The winner gets to meet her."

"Heck no! My lover knows about you, and he has warned me never to play Janken with you." snorted Akeno.

Chisato deflated and puckered her lips. "It's not fair! Wait, you have a lover who knows about me? Is this Issei?" she asked, her grin returning.

"Issei? You mean Issei Hyoudou?" asked Akeno, confused.

"Who else?"

"There's no way I'd take this pathetic pervert as my lover! Or, is this what happened in that alternate timeline?" asked Akeno, feeling sick at the idea of that pervert touching her body.

"Alternate timeline, is that how we should call what happened in… that? I don't mind, it's fitting. But, yes. Issei was recruited into the Gremory peerage because of his Sacred Gear, and he became the red dragon emperor. Rias was the main wife, but you and Koneko-chan, Xenovia, Irina, Asia and even Rossweisse were his concubines. I take it things happened differently?"

"Thanks Satan, they happened differently. Noah, that's the name of Lilith's Champion, took Ddraig from Issei, as the result of a trade, mind you, no killing was involved, and he gave the Boosted Gear to Rias. She used Ddraig to give a beating to that ass Riser herself. She is the Red Dragon Empress now."

"A trade? Did he scam Issei? What could be so valuable to trade against something that important?"

"Value is relative. Take a guess, what could be valuable to a breast-obsessed idiot like Issei?" smiled Akeno.

"I don't… Did he play matchmaker to give Issei a girlfriend?"

"A stack of porn magazines."

Chisato burst into laughter.

"Ahahah! That's a great one! But seriously, what did he trade for the sacred gear?"

"That wasn't a joke, actually. Issei really traded his sacred gear for a stack of porn magazines."

Chisato looked at her incredulously.

"Yes, I know. Sometimes, reality is stranger than fiction. Anyway, I'm beyond relieved that Noah saved us from falling into the hands of a member of the Perverted Trio. I'll show him my gratitude next time I see him."

Akeno profited from the fact Chisato seemed distracted to press the buzzer.

"Hey! We weren't done deciding who would get her!"

"Don't speak to her like she's just an object for us to pick up, Chisato, that's rude. But speaking about Rin Tohsaka, do you know her age?"

"Not precisely? She should be a young woman."

"Noah couldn't tell me, because there's several Holy Grail Wars happening in Fuyuki City. In one of them, Rin is a little girl, and her Father Tsukiomi is one of the Masters. In another, Rin herself is the Master."

"…I wasn't aware of that." frowned Chisato. "Aria told me about the Masters and Heroic Spirits of the war she knows about, but if there's more than one happening…"

They both stopped talking as the door of the residence opened, and a beautiful young woman wearing a red turtleneck, black skirt and black stockings glared at them. She had a beautiful face, aqua eyes and dark gray hair, some of it styled into two side tails by black ribbons.

"What do you want?" she asked with an annoyed expression.

"Hi. are you Rin Tohsaka?" asked Chisato with a grin.

"Yes. You are?"

"Yes!" Chisato fist-pumped in the air, while Akeno made a step forward.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Akeno Himejima. I wish to speak to you about the upcoming Holy Grail War, and that person is about to leave."

"I'm not leaving!" protested Chisato.

"You are! I was there first!"

"Not happening! Don't force me to use violence!"

"That's an empty treat! I know you're a pacifist, and it is still daylight. We're not going to fight during the day."

Seeing the two strangers bickering, Rin shook her head and felt very tempted to just close the door. She wanted to ignore them, but she couldn't pass up the mention of the Holy Grail.

"You two idiots, stop that and get inside. We can't speak about that in the streets." she sighed, cursing her misfortune as she unlocked the outer gate. She kept in hand a few of her magic-infused gemstones, just in case.

"Thank you." smiled Akeno as she bowed her head slightly.

She and Chisato entered, and Rin led them inside to a small living room. The furnishing was old, and had obviously known better days, but was clearly on the expensive side of things.

Rin pointed to a sofa for them to sit and took an armchair facing them.

"Who are you, and why did you come to meet me? Are you from the Mage Association?".

"I am Chisato Nishikigi, it's nice to meet you, Rin. I've come to recruit you!"

"Please pay no attention to her. Her antics are cute, but I am the one you should ally yourself with."

"Don't you two start this lovers' quarrel again, or I'm kicking you out." warned Rin, having no patience for foolish people.

"Okay. Chisato, do you mind if I explain a few things to her first?"

"…Go ahead."

"Thanks. Rin, we aren't part of the Mage Association. We are here because the upcoming Holy Grail War is going to be very different from what you likely expect. The Grail has been tainted with Evil during a previous War, and seven Masters have been sent from other timelines to purify it. So, this war will not have seven Masters, but fourteen. Chisato and I are two of those additional Masters. We are rivals of sort, but at the same time, the seven of us will cooperate with each other to prevent other Masters such as yourself from winning that war, or something really bad will happen."

"Yes, it's as she said." nodded Chisato.

"Do you have any evidence to support your claims? I haven't even decided if I want to participate in that war or not."

"I actually don't have any evidence I could show you." shrugged Akeno. Chisato also shook her head.

"If you have no evidence, for all I know, you may be rivals trying to get me out of the way with fairy tales." replied Rin, her right hand in one of her pockets.

"I understand why you may think that… Do you mind if I call someone? The person who I represent knows more." asked Akeno, taking her smartphone.

"Feel free." shrugged Rin.

Akeno nodded in thanks and called Noah again.

"Noah?"

"Yes. Do you need anything?"

"Yes. Are you in private?"

"Give me a few seconds… Now we can speak."

"Activate the video, please. I am in the Tohsaka residence with Rin and Chisato. We found the Tohsaka residence more or less simultaneously."

"…Okay."

Noah's face appeared in the smartphone's screen, and Akeno turned the phone toward Chisato first, then Akeno.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, Chisato, Rin. I am Noah Enfield. I look forward to meeting you in person once I gain access to this world."

"Nice to meet you, too, Noah. You're quite handsome. I think Aria would like you." grinned Chisato.

"Aria? Is that the name of your partner?"

"Yes. And since Akeno called you, Rin, can I do that same with Aria, too?" Asked Chisato, turning to Rin.

She nodded with resignation, thinking that her day was turning stranger and stranger.

A few moments later, Chisato's smartphone also displayed a video showing the face and shoulders of a beautiful young woman with vibrant blue eyes and semi-long red hair in a bob cut.

"Hi. I'm Aria Anderson. It's nice to meet you all." she said with a melodious voice.

"Your two friends tried to sell me some really dubious claims about the Holy Grail being evil, but they don't have any shred of evidence." flatly stated Rin.

"I realize that it sounds unbelievable and self-serving, but it's the truth. If you lay eyes on the Grail, you'll know it in an instant..." started Aria.

"But do you have any actual evidence you can show me now?"

"…I'm afraid I don't." admitted Aria, frustrated.

"Rin." started Noah. "I do not have any smoking gun to show you either. But if I tell you a few things about you and your family, would you be more willing to consider our words?"

"Maybe. But first, tell me who you really work for. Is it the Counter Force?"

"Not quite. The Counter Force would only act if it detected a great threat to humanity or the planet. Although its interference, by itself, would be evidence that things are going to go sideways. Tell me, Rin, have you ever wondered, what is beyond the Root?"

"The Root?" asked Chisato.

"The Magus in this world believe that there exists an almost unlimited number of timelines, all originating from what they call the Root. Many of them are trying to reach the Root, no matter the cost, to obtain so-called True Magic. Rin's father was someone like that… Rin, you asked us who we work for. We work for those who created the Root. Our roles could be said to be similar to Alaya's, even if we have no direct relationship with her."

"Okay, who's Alaya? Even I do not know." confessed Aria.

"What the magus of this world refers to as the Counter Force, is made of two beings. Gaia, the living manifestation of the planet's will, who wish to ensure the planet's long-term survival, even if it means purging the parasites harming her. That is, us puny humans. And Alaya, the living manifestation of Humanity's will to survive, who wish to ensure humanity's survival."

"When a True Ancestor, or a nature spirit turned into a demon, start causing trouble on a massive scale, Alaya promotes some random human into one of its Agents, empowering them with the means to defeat the demon or vampire."

"Most of the Saints of the Catholic Church were Agents of the Counter Force who later accepted joining their religion. As for the Agents who refused to join… The Church has many magic relics using their bones and other body parts. And they didn't wait for the Agents to die from old age. Can't have someone going around and proving that miracles aren't exclusive to the Catholic faith, it would be bad for business."

"Oh, and the God that is worshipped by the Catholic Church? That's Alaya. But the damn hypocrites are still willing to murder her Agents and actively go against Alaya's will to further their own interests."

Aria, Akeno and Chisato made disgusted and angry expressions, while Rin remained stoic. She already was aware of what had just been said, and the Mage Association had done more than its share of evil acts, too. And most Magus hated Alaya. To them, she was an obstacle on their path to reach the root and acquire True Magic. To Alaya, Magus who became too powerful were considered to be potential threats to mankind, and she sometimes would try to eliminate them.

"Back to the matter at hand, in the third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family tried to cheat by summoning an eighth servant. It was a disaster. The summoned servant turned out to be Angra Mainyu, Avenger Class, the living manifestation of humanity's evils."

"The Einzbern managed to seal him within the Holy Grail before he could start wreaking havoc, but in the process, Angra Mainyu also contaminated the Grail. It has become a cursed Monkey's Paw. Let's say for example that the victor of the Holy Grail War makes the wish of becoming the king of Fuyuki city. The Holy Grail would make his wish come true by killing everyone in the city but him. Or something along those lines."

"You are telling me that those who created the Root, asked you, Aria and others to send seven Masters to participate to this war, and that those Masters can purify the grail?"

"Close, but not quite. Akeno, Chisato and the others have been sent here to prevent two different catastrophes, and this Holy Grail War is but an appetizer, compared to what will follow."

"Ah?" exclaimed Aria. "You have details about the second one? All they told me is that Chisato would need to act independently for a while."

"I do. Rather, it can only be that. Because only that would take that long to solve. But I won't speak about it today, or Rin will likely start thinking I'm rambling."

"I already am." flatly said Rin.

"I see. So let's make things simple for you, Rin. I want you to assist Akeno to the best of your abilities, until the end of the second crisis."

"And what do I get in return?" asked Rin, frowning.

Noah smiled, and told her.

It was a deal she could not refuse.