Ch 144: Saber is a devotee?

It didn't take long for Britomart to be once again wearing the black leather collar and black latex gloves and stockings. This time, however, Akeno had added a leather harness around her torso, emphasizing her heavy breasts.

"You're beautiful, Britomart." smiled Akeno as she took a step back and looked up and down at her Servant.

"Thank you, Master."

"Britomart, I am going to ask to keep calling me Master in normal times, but when we are intimate like this, you should call me Mistress. Do you understand the meaning behind it?"

"I am not sure, Mistress. Servants usually call the Magus summoning them Master regardless of gender."

Aken nodded as she hugged Britomart.

"My cute Britomart, when a Servant calls a Magus who summoned them Master, it is an acknowledgement of a relationship of mutual interest. The Servant fights for the Master, and the Master supplies the Servant with mana. And both get a chance to make a wish upon obtaining the Holy Grail. But I want for our relationship to be much more than just common interests."

"I want you, Britomart. All of you, heart, body, and soul. I want you to devote your life to me and Noah, not because you want something in return, but because making us happy will also make you happy. Of course, that doesn't mean that we won't take care of you, and return your affection. But, this kind of relationship goes far beyond a mere Holy Grail War."

"I understand, Mistress. I think I would like to have that kind of relationship, too." smiled Britomart.

Akeno kissed her, and Britomart answered eagerly. She was a quick learner.

"That's great, Britomart. And I am gratified that you are willing to stay by my side."

"Yes, Mistress. I will serve you and Master. Not only as a knight, but as a woman as well."

Akeno kissed her again, and used a hand to start playing with Britomart's breasts, while the other fondled her ass.

"For the next two weeks, Britomart, We will not only have fun together, but I will only give you some training, and teach you what you need to learn to become a perfect servant for Noah and me. Are you willing?"

"Yes, Mistress. Please teach me." smiled Britomart.

"Great." Akeno created a ball gag, with a white rubber ball, from which a penis-shaped protrusion extended.

"Open wide, my cute Britomart."

Akeno tightly secured the gag inside her Servant's mouth, filling it to capacity.

"There's a hole through the gag, so you can breathe more easily."

Britomart nodded, and Akeno fastened black leather cuffs on her wrists, binding her arms in front of her.

"Get on the bed, on all four, and present your butt to me, Britomart."

Akeno undressed as her Servant climbed on the bed and took Corruption from her inventory.

"Mmph" moaned Britomart in her gag as she saw Akeno equip the item. She had already learned to love that toy, for the great pleasure Akeno gave her with it. Her vaginal muscles were twitching in anticipation.

Akeno sighed with pleasure as the inner dildo of the strap-on entered her fully, and the tingle of nerve connections happened. She ran her hands on the black dildo a few times, then climbed on the bed behind Britomart. She was on her knees and elbows, eager to be penetrated and fucked.

"Such an eager slave girl." praised Akeno as she ran her hands on Britomart's ass and hips, bringing the head of the dildo just a centimeter away from her Servant's hot opening.

"Britomart, from now on, you must ask for permission before you cum. Do you understand?"

"Mmph." nodded Britomart.

Akeno smiled, and started slowly penetrating her Servant's eager pussy. She could feel her tighten around the black and purple dildo, as if it were part of her. A very sensitive part of her.

As she started thrusting away, she starred lovingly at Britomart's back, and the small heart-shaped Crest just above her ass. The Crest was currently al level 8, and she wanted to fully upgrade it within the next two weeks. Britomart was only two levels away from receiving her first Curse. Akeno intended to start with Bondage Bunny, to reinforce Britomart's nascent liking for bondage. On the last day of her training, she would replace the curse with People Pleaser, so make Britomart more eager to please her. Not that it would really be needed at this point.

And she would leave it at that. Akeno didn't need more to have Britomart as a perfectly loyal and dependable Servant, and she didn't doubt that there would be many more occasions to test the more severe curses later, on other girls.

…

When Sakura felt reasonably certain that everyone in the Tohsaka residence was sleeping, she opened the window of her room, and sat on her bed, waiting.

"Master." muttered Assassin as she materialized in front of Sakura.

"Assassin." nodded Sakura. "I am glad you found me."

Assassin was a tall woman with pale skin, with light purple hair so long they reached her ankles when she stood upright. A red tattoo, a simply few lines representing a snake, was on her forehead, and her eyes were hidden by a wide blindfold made of purple scaly leather. She wore a short black dress leaving her shoulders bare, lined with purple, and corresponding stockings and opera gloves.

"There are other Masters in this house. And other Servants. I do not recommend fighting against such odds, especially considering my current state. Are you safe here?"

"I… believe so. I do not think they intend to harm me."

"Should I remain hidden?"

"Yes, for now… Assassin, for the time being, I want you to keep absorbing mana from civilians, like onii-sam… no, Shinji Matou had you doing, but be careful not to kill or seriously injure any of them and leave them in places where they will be quickly found. Sending them to the hospital for a few days is fine, but anything more isn't. And you have my permission to rebel against him, if he goes too far."

"Understood, Master. Are you aware of his plans for your school?"

"Yes. If he really tries something that stupid, let the other Masters and Servants deal with him, and stop him if they don't. You should not have to interfere at all."

"Understood, Master. I'll be going, before the other Servants sense my presence."

"Thank you, Assassin. Be careful."

Assassin dematerialized as she jumped through the window. She evaded without much trouble the defensive wards and escaped through the forest.

Although she did fail to spot a small stone, engraved with a rune. It wasn't really her fault, as the stone was turned upside down, and its magic signature was negligible. The same stone she had failed to spot on her way in.

In her dematerialized state, Scathach watched Assassin go, wondering if she and Sakura would turn out to be enemies, or allies. Considering what she had learned by reading Sakura's lips from a distance, she decided not to tell Rin for now, and simply see how events would unfold. Some setbacks would help Rin become more mature.

In her room, Sakura closed the window and went to bed.

She truly felt gratitude toward Rin and Akeno for getting her body rid of the Crest worms, especially after learning just what fate her grandfather, no, Zouken Matou, had in mind for her. And their companions seemed to be upright individuals.

But their goal of purifying the Holy Grail, of stopping Angra Mainyu from being released, was not something she could accept.

Sakura hated her own weakness. Being weak was what had caused her to be thrown into the bug pit, and violated by obscene things for three days straight. Being weak was what allowed Shinji to use her as a plaything almost every night, with her grandfather Zouken Matou being aware of it, and not caring. Being weak was the reason she had led a barely alive existence for over a decade, and almost having her very body stolen from her.

Even now, she was still at the mercy of her sister and her friends.

But Sakura was done with being weak.

Her Servant Assassin was one source of strength she could rely on. But that wouldn't be nearly enough.

Deep inside, Sakura felt her connection to Angra Mainyu. Zouken Matou's schemes had failed in the end, but not before succeeding in making Sakura the Master of Angra Mainyu.

With that kind of power at her disposal, no one would ever make her a victim again, and she would be safe.

…

Aria sighed as she surveyed her readings, searching for any sign of unusual human activity.

Her Gundam, Black Widow, a nickname she came up with because the technical designation of the black and red mecha was CB-001.5D2 1.5 Gundam Type Dark, and there was no way she would repeat that nonsense every time, was the stealthiest Gundam yet created by Celestial Being, and the only one equipped with the same optical camouflage that their flagship could use. It was somewhat lacking in armor, but fast, agile, and packed a mean punch with its rapid-fire particle beam rifle, beam saber, and its complement of four funnels, each armed with a pulse canon.

As she and her Gundam used one of the belt's countless asteroids to hide, she reminisced on her last conversation with Chisato, Takina and Noah. Noah had given her a lot of things to think about, from the Dialogue with the Jupiterians, to clues about Ali Al-Saachez's location, to the location of Allelujah Haptism, one of the Gundam Meisters that had been lost during the last battle. He was being held in one of A-Laws's highest security prisons.

Aria would have to find a way to tell Sumeragi-san, their Tactical Forecaster, aka Tactical Officer and Commander, without revealing that she was more than just a simple pilot prodigy found and recruited by Celestial Being. If only Kurumi was there, it would have been easy for the genius hacker to cook up some "evidence" to justify the moves they wanted to make.

Her musings were interrupted when her long-range scanner spotted four contacts. Aria sent a short transmission by laser toward one of the belt's biggest asteroids, twenty kilometers away, and seconds later, communication antennas retracted, and two massive doors shut down, their exterior made to look like the pock-marked rock around them. In seconds, the secret Celestial Being outpost where the Ptolemaios 2 was being built returned to being just a large asteroid among many smaller ones, the people inside interrupting their work to suit up and be ready to fight or evacuate as needed.

Aria made sure her own Gundam's stealth features were still engaged, and let only the tip of a finger peek from the shadow of her asteroid. A high-definition camera let her acquire visual contact with the intruders. Four dark red Ahead mobile suits, the standard troops for A-Laws. This far from any known A-Laws base, this was likely only a patrol.

Aria also used other cameras and passive sensors to examine again her surroundings, just to be certain that this patrol wasn't a decoy to hide more groups of enemies creeping in.

The patrol went by, apparently unwilling to enter the asteroid belt and only skirting its periphery. Which was quite understandable. The average soldier did what he was ordered to do, while taking the minimum of risks he could get away with. They didn't actually want to find rebels or anything during patrols. Because rebels had this infuriating tendency of shooting back.

The A-Laws patrol flew away toward other sections of the asteroid belt, and Aria waited until they were well out of scanner range before sending another transmission to the outpost, and the work resumed.

Lessons had been learned from the loss of the first Ptolemy. The new ship entering the later stages of its construction wouldn't be a simple stealth transport, only able to service Gundams between sorties and act as a mobile command post, but a full-fledged warship, with vastly improved shields, better mobility, and with enough high-powered particle beam canons and missiles launchers to tear apart a trio of enemy battleships in less than a minute.

As Aria relaxed, her thoughts returned to her conversation with Takina, Chisato and Noah. Especially the part where Takina had, after a glance at Noah, stated that he intended to keep her in his harem.

Well, keeping her might not be the most apt word, since Noah had quickly pointed out that he wouldn't try to stop Takina from returning to her side, or stop any romantic or physical relationship with her or Chisato. But he did admit that, at the very least, by the time Takina reunited with her and Chisato, she would often want to return to him, for dates or sex sessions. And his island might become Takina's primary home.

Aria had been angry. At the same time, she knew she was not in a very good position to be. It was hard to object to it when Takina wouldn't even be alive without him, after all. But she still felt like she was being scammed, when she already had accepted to let Chisato surrender as payment for this favor.

She had ended the call fairly depressed, wondering if she was about to be cuckolded, when Susanoo had spoken to her. He had said to Aria that he and the other Gods didn't want to dictate relationships between Champions, as long as the work they had been chosen for wasn't neglected, and Champions didn't start fighting each other. From the way he saw it, she had four options.

Accept that Takina and Chisato would share their affection between Noah and herself, and prevent her resentment from interfering with their mission.

Negotiate with Noah so that he would give up on Chisato and Takina, before Noah and Akeno trained them into devoted slaves.

Challenge Noah in a duel or competition with the two girls at stake, with the understanding that the most probable outcome if she lost would be Aria herself becoming part of Noah's harem, willingly or not. In that case, Noah would inherit responsibility for the Lycoris Recoil world, as well the one she was currently in.

Lastly, willingly joining Noah's harem. Susanoo assured her that she would be able to spend as much of her free time as she wished with Chisato and Takina, and the girls would still love her. And she would be able to meet and possibly forge emotional or physical relationships with Noah's other girls, too. Likewise, Noah would ultimately become responsible for Aria's worlds as well.

Susanoo finished with a few reassurances. He told her that Noah, while not perfect, was someone he wouldn't mind entrusting his Champion to, if things came to that, and that he would still keep an eye on her. If things really didn't work out, he would ask Lilith to have Noah sever ties with her, as well as Takina and Chisato.

If she was being honest with herself, the latter two possibilities were not entirely unattractive to her. She didn't really care about being the top dog, and handing over the responsibility to another would feel freeing, if a little cowardly. Besides, the perspective of meeting in person girls like Asuna, Akeno and Rias, and possibly being affectionate with them, that was something she could get on board with.

But she was a lesbian, and she didn't like the idea of having intercourse with Noah. He was very handsome, but he was still a guy.

With another sigh, she decided to stop thinking about matters she couldn't do anything about at the moment and focus on what she could do. After some more thinking, she realized that she would have to tell the crew of the Ptolemy after all. It would be inevitable anyway, as Chisato, Takina, Kurumi, Chris and Tsery would eventually return from the dead.

…

Genos grunted as three bullets impacted his chest.

"Master!" shouted Archer, unable to divert her attention from the Servant she was fighting. A beautiful blonde woman wearing a blue dress, partially covered with plate armor, and yielding an invisible sword.

Archer was holding her own, constantly switching between her weapons according to the distance between her and the enemy servant. But she was still under intense pressure and couldn't afford to be distracted.

"I'm okay!" shouted Genos as he sprinted toward the nearest cover, another burst of bullets passing through his previous location. He saw too late the thin string at knee level and triggered two claymore mines. Thanks to his cyborg body, Genos only received minor damage from this, but he felt humiliated, like he was being toyed with.

He decided to stop caring about damage to the port's infrastructure and deployed his plasma canons from his forearms. Abandoning his cover, Genos fired a few bursts of superheated hydrogen plasma at the Enemy Servant, forcing her to retreat a few steps and giving some breathing room to Archer, and switched to firing at any elevated location he figured the sniper might be using.

Genos didn't think he managed to hit the sniper, but his bombardment seemed to have made the opposite Master rethink his decision, because no more bullets came, and seconds later, the Servant with the invisible sword nodded to Archer and dematerialized.

"Master? Should we pursue?" asked Archer, her long silver hair swaying in the wind.

"…No. There will likely be more traps. If they are smart enough to prepare this area as a battlefield, they probably are also smart enough to have set surprises on a prepared escape route."

"As you wish." said Archer. Then she smiled. "That Servant is a worthwhile opponent, and an honorable one."

"Have you determined her class?"

"She should be a Saber. Her sword style is too defensive to be a Berserker."

Genos took his smartphone to check on the time. Most of the night was already over.

"…Let's return home for now. I'll be running and taking an indirect route. Please make sure that we aren't being followed."

Archer nodded and dematerialized, and Genos started running, first following the streets he came from, then taking random turns.

…

"How is Maiya?" worriedly asked Kiritsugu as he entered the room. He had just come back from removing the traps that hadn't been used in last night's encounter, as he didn't want civilian workers to die when they came to work… or rather, to witness the damage done to the warehouses and loading cranes.

"She's going to be fine, but it was a close call." replied Irisviel with a sigh as she pushed some of her long white hair behind her ear. "Two meters closer, and… she's still going to have a few burn scars on her arm and shoulder."

"I understand. Thank you, Iris. I'll go see her now." said Kiritsugu as he entered the room Irisviel had just left.

Iris looked at the other person present. Their Servant. Saber was now dressed in a black suit and tie, like a bodyguard.

"I am glad that Maiya is going to recover." said Saber.

"Yes, thank you, Saber." tiredly smiled Iris, as she took a seat at the table and gestured for Saber to seat near her. She took the teapot that Saber had prepared and served them both a cup of tea.

"You still do not like my husband's methods, right?"

"Of course not. They are those of a reprobate." snorted Saber. "The Master we fought today at least had the grace to show himself, and didn't resort to explosives or guns."

"I wouldn't say that guns, by themselves, are dishonorable, Saber." said Iris with a gentle voice. "There are plenty of Heroic Spirits that use them. Or are you going to label them as cowardly?"

"…I concede that point. But using them the way Kiritsugu and Maiya do, relying on ambushes, isn't something I can approve."

"You really are the King of Knights." smiled Iris as she sipped her tea. "I admit that our methods are distasteful. But our goal is worth it."

Saber didn't reply.

"What do you think of the Servant you fought, Saber?"

"She is strong." smiled Saber welcoming the change of subject, and happy to speak about an honorable and worthy foe. "If not for her Master calling her Archer at the start of our battle, I wouldn't be able to guess her class. She is equally skillful with her katana, her naginata, her bow, and even with her bare hands. She surely was a great Asian warrior in her time."

"Asian? She does have the looks, but her silver hair…"

"Irisviel, only Asian warriors, and most likely Japanese ones, would use a katana and a naginata."

"That's a fair point. I'll search the internet for famous Japanese female warriors, then. Maybe I'll find one who used many kinds of weapons. That might give us a clue about her identity."

Saber nodded and sipped her tea.

"We have yet to confirm our participation with the Church's Overseer." said Saber.

"Kiritsugu doesn't intend to. He does not particularly care about the rules, as you may have noticed by now." smiled Irisviel, and Saber nodded with a sigh.

"Still, I will send a familiar to inform the Overseer. It cost us nothing to do the bare minimum. And I may as well ask about those two women."

Saber scrunched her face in distaste as she remembered that encounter.

The door of the bedroom where Maiya was recovering opened, and Kiritsugu came out.

"I gave her a sedative to help her sleep."

Iris and Saber nodded, and Kiritsugu sat beside them, sighing as he served himself a cup of tea.

"Our first fight didn't go quite as planned. Iris, do you know anything about that Master, or his Magecraft?"

"Was it even Magecraft? I didn't feel any magic even when he got on the offense. And I do not know of any magecraft that would use metal armor like this man does."

"It can only be Magecraft, or at least, a Mystic Code. Humanity doesn't possess weapons that destructive, at least those that can be carried by a single person. I need to find out who he is." said Kiritsugu.

"Maybe he would have given you his name, if you had faced him properly." said Saber with a pointed look.

"We're not going to have that conversation again, Saber." frowned Kiritsugu.

Saber nodded reluctantly.

Kiritsugu drank half of his tea, and sighed. "The Holy Grail War wasn't supposed to start for weeks yet. I thought we could gain an advantage by coming early, but it looks like I'm not the only one who got that idea."

Iris and Saber nodded somberly. They had been on a shopping trip the day before to get some clothes, something that both Iris and Saber badly needed, when they had, by sheer coincidence, met another Servant and someone they presumed to be her Master in a clothing store. Irisviel recalled the incident perfectly.

…

"Umu, this one is nice too!" loudly praised a woman dressed in an elaborate red dress, her back facing the entrance as she took a burgundy leather jacket from its rack.

The first thing that struck Iris's mind was that this young woman had the same golden hair as Saber, and even the same hairstyle, a crown braid tied off with a ribbon. But the ribbon was of a different color, red for this woman, and blue for Saber.

That, and the feeling of charisma and power that Iris felt coming from this woman, instantly convinced her that she wasn't ordinary. Saber, by her side, had also stopped mid-step and stared at the woman in red, her right-hand twitching as if she wanted to draw her sword.

Their pause only lasted two seconds, but the woman apparently sensed something, as she turned and stared straight at Saber, and Irisviel was shocked. That woman in red didn't only share Saber's hair and hairstyle, she also had the same face! Only the eyes were different, light green in her case, instead of Saber's aquamarine.

"Oh? Did this Emperor have an admirer so devoted, that she chose to copy her imperial appearance? Umu! This Emperor will praise you for going this far in your worship!" grinned the woman in red with a nod of praise, putting the jacket back on its rack without looking away from the newcomers.

"Just who is copying who?" angrily replied Saber, walking closer. "And wearing this indecent dress! You have no right to wear something like this while having my face!"

Iris followed behind Saber, and had to admit that she had a point. The red and white dress this… doppelganger, was wearing was indeed indecent even by modern day standards, with a large opening showing the top of her breasts, and a long skirt that was semi-transparent when viewed from the front, revealing creamy white thighs almost all the way up to her crotch.

Just like Saber, that woman, that Iris concluded must be a Servant, was extremely beautiful, almost oozing charisma and sensuality, and every other human in the shop was observing her from a distance, seemingly unable to take their eyes away from her.

"What are you saying? This body is the manifestation of the hopes and dreams of this Emperor's loyal subjects! They should be able to lay gaze on it and rejoice as they dream to lay with this Emperor."

"Hum, I think we should go, Saber. It looks like tempers are about to go out of hand." said another person Iris hadn't really noticed, a young woman with long, light blue hair and dressed in a suit.

Saber looked at her in slight confusion, thinking that this stranger had just spoken to her, and her confusion grew when the other one replied.

"Umu! We will meet once again on the battlefield, my devotee!" laughed the blonde woman, that Iris decided to nickname as Red Saber. Her presumed Master made a polite bow toward Iris and Saber, and quickly left the store, Red Saber walking behind her.

"How could there be two Sabers?" muttered Iris, as Saber started to reign in her anger.

"How could she have my face?" muttered Saber indignantly, feeling like something had somehow been stolen from her.

"We need to inform Kiritsugu." decided Iris, taking her smartphone from her pocket. She barely knew how to use one, but Saber was worse with technology. But at least, she knew how to call someone.

…

Kirei Kotomine was about to retire to his quarters when a bird flew through one of the church's open windows and landed on top of the nearest pew. It wasn't a normal bird, but an assemblage of glowing white strings shaped like one. A familiar.

"The Einzbern family is announcing its participation to the Holy Grail War. Our Servant is Saber." said the bird with a female voice.

"I acknowledge your participation." formally said Kirei with a nod.

The bird nodded its head, and asked another question.

"Overseer, we met another Servant today, who identified herself as a Saber. Is there anything we should be aware of?"

Kirei frowned as he thought again about Rin and her companions. He had dismissed their claims of having two Lancers as some kind of scheme, but with this new information…

"Several Masters announced their participation earlier this night, and two of them claimed to have a Lancer as their Servant. I cannot reveal anything about their identities."

"...This is very troubling. Thank you, Overseer." replied the bird, before suddenly losing its glow and collapsing into a handful of long white hair.

"Very troubling indeed." muttered Kirei. There had been a Holy Grail War in Europe a few decades ago, one that involved fourteen servants arranged into two factions from the start, and the Counter-Force sending a Ruler on top of it, but it sounded like this one had the potential to be even more chaotic, increasing the risks of exposure to the public.

Already, the local authorities were finding a handful of unconscious people every night or morning. It had started five days ago, and the victims had all recovered so far, unable to explain what had happened to them. Some agents of the church and Mage Association passing as doctors has recognized in the victims signs of mana deprivation, and concluding this to be the work of a Servant. Luckily so far, none of the cases were too serious, but the civilians were starting to get on edge.

With a sigh, he decided to report to the Vatican. Maybe they would send some reinforcements.

…

In the forest behind the temple east of Fuyuki City, in a small clearing where one of the leylines ran close to the surface, a magic array drew itself on the ground, without any Magus being present. The array glowed with a silvery light, then disappearing in a flash, leaving behind it two young women. The first was a petite woman with long silver hair in a ponytail and golden eyes. She closed her eyes for a moment, just breathing deeply, appreciating the scent of the air.

The second woman, slightly taller than average, also standing quietly as she turned her head to examine their surroundings, had long blonde hair gathered in a large braid reaching her knees, amethyst-colored eyes, and was dressed in a blue and metallic gray outfit that was half plate armor and half dress. Her right hand held the shaft of a large battle flag, its white fabric coiled around it. A spear head at the top of the battle flag allowed the Servant to use it as a makeshift spear.

The two women looked at each other, and the blonde smiled politely.

"It seems we are meant to cooperate together. I am Jeanne, a Ruler. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Um." nodded the other. "I am Fairy-Knight Melusine. Also a Ruler. This is my first time being summoned. Please take care of me."

"This is the second time for me. I will gladly answer any of your questions. For the Counter-Force to send two of us must mean that the threat is particularly serious. We should first focus on getting out of those woods and finding the nearest village or city to seek more information." Said Jeanne as she looked around once again, searching for a path or trail.

"I can do that easily." said Melusine, materializing her Armored Unit. A mechanical frame sporting two large blue wings and a long white tail appeared, connecting to her waist and back, while two weapon modules floated by her sides.

The modules weren't directly connected to her, but she could control them as if they were part of her body. And in a sense, they were. As the only 'descendant' of the dragon Albion, and literally born from his left hand after his demise, Fairy-Knight Melusine was more dragon than human, and having wings and a tail felt completely natural to her. She extended her right hand to Jeanne, who smiled, and Melusine took her in a princess carry before taking off.

They located the nearby city almost immediately after flying above the treetops, and could vaguely feel that their preys where inside it.

Seeing the many streetlights and the size and shape of the buildings, Jeanne estimated that they were in a time period comparable or slightly more advanced than the last time she had been summoned, and one issue immediately came to her.

"Please land near the edge of the city, Melusine. We will need to change our clothes to fit in with the citizen, or we will stand out, and they will call the guards on us."

Melusine nodded and headed for a path between a temple she could see nearby, and the city. When her feet touched the ground, Jeanne, considered the warm weather and decided to copy the clothes she had worn last time, black leather shoes, dark blue socks reaching mid thighs, black shorts and a white sleeveless top. A short dark blue tie completed this outfit, giving her a fresh appearance.

Melusine, for an instant, stared at Jeanne's bountiful chest. Her temporary colleague was definitely blessed in that regard. She looked down at her own slender figure and sighed. She saw in the distance a clothing store with a handful of outfits worn by what seemed to be life-size dolls.

She chose to copy one of the outfits. Seconds later, she wore a blue cotton skirt with a blue sailor uniform top, a light purple vest over it, brown leather ankle boots with medium heels and blue socks reaching her knees.

"The sun should rise in about an hour." said Melusine. "Should we secure lodgings for now?"

"We should wait until people are awake before we do" nodded Jeanne. "For now, let's explore the city. Maybe we will find the culprits on the act, whoever they are."

Melusine nodded. They had been summoned by the Counter-Force, but all they knew was that several interlopers had entered this timeline and summoned Servants, and they could vaguely feel them.

In theory, Whenever the Holy Grail War grew near, the Throne of Heroes first distributed stigmas to a number of Magus, or in rare cases, civilians who possessed a strong desire. When any of them performed the summoning ritual, the stigma evolved to become a set of three Command Spells. Once seven Servants were summoned, the unused stigmas disappeared, removing the candidates' qualification to become a Master.

But in the last two days, no less than seven Interlopers had come to this timeline. Worse, they had somehow managed to force their candidacy as Masters, successfully summoning Servants and receiving functional Command Spells without a stigma.

This irregularity had caught the attention of the Counter-Force, and so Melusine and Jeanne had been sent, with a special authority that only Rulers possessed. Melusine and Jeanne possessed their own Command Spells that they could use at their discretion. And those Command Spells were special, as the Counter-Force would replace any they used after three days.

The mission they had been given was to investigate the Interlopers' claims that some great crisis was about to happen. If the claim was substantiated, Melusine and Jeanne were to assist them in solving the issue. If they weren't, however, their mission was to drive the Interlopers back to wherever they came from, or kill them before they brought more instability to the timeline.

Both Rulers started to walk toward the city's center.

"You said you already have been summoned as a Servant. Was it also as a Ruler?" asked Melusine.

"Yes. This was… Not too long ago, I think. The flow of time is hard to estimate within the Throne of Heroes, but, it felt like a few decades. There was a rogue Ruler, Shirou Kotomine, who used some trick to remain long after he should have returned to the Throne, and twisted the next Holy Grail War ritual in Europe to have fourteen Servants and fourteen Masters."

"I was sent to prevent things from devolving into chaos. And I was a good thing I was, because there were no less than three catastrophes that almost happened during that war, and each of them had the potential to wipe out mankind."

"Three catastrophes?"

"Yes. The first one was due to an insane Master. He used his Command Spells to compel his Servant, Vlad Drakul, to turn into what was essentially a berserk True Ancestor, and ordered him to seek the Holy Grail at any cost. Had he succeeded, there would have been a real danger of a major vampire infestation."

"The second threat came from Caster Avicebron. He turned his own Master into the core of a giant primordial golem. Not only was the golem extremely strong, but it constantly created strange plants and animals around it. Avicebron was so disgusted by the violence human beings wrought on each other that he wanted to use that golem to return the world to how it was before the first humans were born."

"And the third threat came from the rogue Ruler himself. He wanted to use the Holy Grail to materialize all of humanity's souls. Had this happened, the humans would have lost their bodies, becoming incorporeal and unable to interact with each other. He would have achieved his goal of eternal peace, but at what cost…" finished Ruler with a sigh.

"And you managed to stop all those catastrophes?" asked Melusine, looking at Jeanne with deep respect.

"Not without help from a few of the Masters and Servants involved." smiled Jeanne, reminiscing fondly.

"…I'm hoping that those fake Masters do not have any crazy goal like this." muttered Melusine.

As they walked, the conversation turned to the city itself. Melusine had many questions, and Jeanne, who was already familiar with things like cars and electricity, tried to answer them all.

She was in the middle of revealing to Melusine the wonders of in-door toilets and plumbery, when she noticed something, just inside a side-street.

Melusine followed her gaze and saw what had caught Jeanne's attention. A young man was lying on the ground.

Jeanne and Melusine ran to the man, and it only took them a few seconds to understand what had happened. A Servant has drained the man of most of his mana. There was still enough that the man would safely recover, but it was concerning, to say the least, that they found a victim barely fifteen minutes into exploring the city.