Ch 151: Nice Servant. We’ll take her.

"Why did you choose a fast-food of all places to meet?" asked Maiya, looking annoyed.

Akeno smiled as she looked at the untouched cheeseburger and fries in front of Maiya.

"Ufufu, you do not like junk food? Granted, the quality is terrible. But once in a while isn't bad, and it helps me better appreciate the fresh food we usually eat."

Akeno started eating her own burger, keeping an eye on the entrance.

"Maiya, if you don't eat your fries, can I have some?" asked Chisato with a grin.

"How about you finish your own first? You glutton." teased Akeno.

"You haven't answered my question." frowned Maiya, handing over her fries to Chisato. "Why a fast-food? There are too many people in there for a comfortable conversation."

"It is precisely because there are many people there that I choose this place." shrugged Akeno. "It lowers the odds that Kiritsugu will try something stupid. Like wanting to gun us down."

"He agreed to your terms." frowned Maiya. "Kiritsugu may be ruthless, but he doesn't lie."

"I'm not so sure about it." shrugged Akeno. "Someone willing to off a few hundred innocents for the greater good might also be willing to violate his own words… And they're here."

Maiya and Chisato followed Akeno's gaze and saw Irisviel and Kiritsugu entering the dinner area. Irisviel was a beautiful woman with red eyes and long straight white hair, looking to be in her twenties, wore a burgundy shirt tied at the neck by a black ribbon, a white skirt, white leather over knee boots and black stockings. A lot of the customers fell silent when they saw her. The man accompanying her, Kiritsugu Emiya, was a gloomy man with tanned skin, short black hair styled in a slightly spiky way and dark gray eyes. He wore a black suit and tie, a dark gray shirt and black leather shoes.

Irisviel and Kiritsugu spotted Maiya almost as soon as they entered, and after pausing for a second to examine Akeno and Chisato, they slowly walked closer with determined expressions.

Akeno smiled as she gestured toward two free seats in front of her.

Kiritsugu looked suspiciously at the first chair before pulling it and letting Irisviel sit on it, then took the second one.

"Thank you for coming." smiled Akeno. "As I'm sure Maiya told you, my name is Akeno Himejima, Lancer's Master, and my companion here is Chisato Nishikigi, Caster's Master."

"It's nice to meet you." grinned Chisato. "Do you want to eat? We bought some cheeseburgers for you."

Irisviel looked at the small pile of burgers and fries in the middle of the table but shook her head. "Thank you, but I'll decline. I am Irisviel von Einzbern. Maiya, are you okay?"

"Yes. They haven't done anything to me." nodded Maiya, before adding almost reluctantly. "They even healed my scars."

Irisviel raised an eyebrow as she looked back at Akeno, as this wasn't something she could manage.

"And where is Saber? I expected to see her here."

"She is a little tied up with something, you might say."

"Did you mistreat her?" sharply asked Irisviel.

"Aside from holding her against her will? No. I can hardly convince her to join my side by torturing her, now can I?" shrugged Akeno. What she said was true. Aside from restraining Artoria to a bondage bench in the Sanctuary's basement, she hadn't mistreated her. Yet.

"Why did you wish to meet with us?" cut in Kiritsugu, apparently not really interested in Artoria's fate.

"Not one for pleasantries, are you? But it's fine." smiled Akeno before she looked at one of her companions. "Caster, please."

Tamamo , sitting near Maiya with a human form hiding her fox ears and tail, used two small spells. The first muffled the sounds coming in and out of their table, making it impossible for anyone else to clearly understand what they were about to say. The second was a type of cognition interference that made people stop paying attention to them.

"It's done, you can speak."

"Thank you, Caster… Kiritsugu Emiya, can I call you Kiritsugu?"

He nodded curtly, not caring much about formalities, and she continued.

"According to our information, you are an assassin. Not one that kills for money, but your whole philosophy is to kill the few to save the many, and you seek the Holy Grail to find a less bloody way to make the world a better place. One that would involve less killing, and especially less collateral damage. Am I correct?"

"What is the source of your information?" frowned Kiritsugu.

"It's a secret. But does it really matter?"

"…I suppose not. Yes, you are correct."

"In that case, I can offer you a better alternative than the Holy Grail ever will."

"Something better than a magic construct that can grant any wish?" asked Kiritsugu, doubt evident in his voice.

"And that's the thing. You are incorrect in one crucial detail. The Holy Grail isn't able to grant any wish… Are you familiar with the concept of 'Garbage in, Garbage out?'. It's usually used by developers when clueless users blame the software for something they are responsible for, but it also applies in this situation."

"The Holy Grail, as a magical construct, is just as stupid as a modern-day computer. If can grant the wish of the person who reaches it as long as the person in question has a clear idea of what they want to achieve, and how to do it."

"You want gold bars to appear in front of you? The Holy Grail can do that. Immortality? The Grail can do it. Reaching what the Magus in this timeline call the Root? Can do. What the Grail cannot do, however, is come up with an answer to a problem when the person doing the wishing doesn't have a clue about what form this answer should take. If you were to reach the Grail today and make your wish, the Holy Grail would only offer you to apply your 'kill one to save a hundred' schtick on a global scale."

Kiritsugu, not wanting to believe Akeno, turned to Irisviel, and she looked back with a troubled expression.

"…I do not know. The information I possess about the Holy Grail doesn't contradict her claim."

"Luckily for you, what the Grail cannot give you, me and my backer can." smiled Akeno before taking a sip of carbonated poison.

"Pardon me if I remain skeptical on that." replied Kiritsugu.

Akeno nodded, as she had expected this answer.

"The core of your issue, Kiritsugu, is that you are weak. You resort to terrorist attacks and sacrifice innocents because you are too weak to confront your targets head-on. But what if I could give you and your wife combat power comparable to that of a Servant? Wouldn't that allow you to make the world a better place, while drastically reducing the number of innocent people you kill? This isn't a perfect answer for your wish, but it is going to be the best you can hope to obtain."

Kiritsugu took a cigarette pack from his pocket an took one. Ignoring the 'no smoking" warnings in various spots, he lit it and started smoking.

"I will humor you and entertain the idea that you really could really grant me that kind of power, what would you require in return?"

Akeno lowered her gaze for an instant to the back or Kiritsugu's left hand, where she could see two intact command spells, and the spent remnants of the third one.

"Saber's Command Spells, and your cooperation, both during the Holy Grail War, and for three years after its conclusion. however, your acceptance of that temporary relationship would have to be truly heartfelt, or you will not get anything. That is a quirk of the power transmission mechanism that cannot be overridden."

"…Why three years?"

"Do you know why this Holy Grail War has fourteen Masters?"

"No."

"The seven of us additional Masters have been sent to this world by the being beyond the Root to prevent two major catastrophes, and first and easiest of them being stopping other Masters like you from unknowingly unleashing Angra Mainyu."

"Angra Mainyu…" muttered Irisviel, troubled, and Akeno nodded.

"Yes. We have the means to send him back to the Throne of Heroes and Purify the Grail, but because of him, we can't afford to let any other Master reach the Grail first."

"What is she talking about, Iris?" asked Kiritsugu.

"I thought he was gone by now, but… during the third Holy Grail War, the Master representing the Einzbern Family modified the ritual to summon an additional Servant to his side. He summoned Angra Mainyu, the living manifestation of all of humanity's evils. When he and other members of the family realized what they had done, they managed to seal him within the Holy Grail using their Command Spells, but in the process the Grail became corrupted. It started oozing large quantities of a black mud-like substance, and anyone touching it quickly died. This war ended with every Servant dead, so there was no winner."

"And the Grail didn't appear during the fourth Holy Grail War. All the Masters killed each other and there was no victor. I believed that Angra Mainyu had returned to the Throne of Heroes when the Holy Grail was unsummoned at the end of the third War, but if what they say is true… We shouldn't get anywhere close to it. No good would come from it." shuddered Irisviel.

"Not only is the black mud very dangerous, but it will infect anyone using the grail to make a wish." said Akeno. "Furthermore, due to the taint, the Grail will fulfill wishes in a malevolent way. Someone wishing for wealth will have a close relative dying to gain their inheritance, that kind of thing."

"Why were the Einzbern even able to summon another Servant?" frowned Kiritsugu. "I know they have been closely associated to the Holy Grail Ritual, but what you just told me suggest a degree of control that I am not aware of."

"I do not know." sighed Irisviel, thinking about the current leader of the Einzbern family. "Acht didn't tell me everything about our past."

"I do know." pointed out Akeno. "Rather, my backer does, and we had a chat about it this morning. But it needs a bit of context. First, are you aware that the planet is alive? That it has its own consciousness?"

Kiritsugu and Irisviel nodded.

"Yes, Gaia, half of the Counter-Force." replied Irisviel.

"Every planet of the solar system is alive, or at least was at some point. And every one of them got assigned a guardian entity by the Root. They are the beings referred to as 'Type'. Type-Earth, as an example, is Arcueid Brunestud, the strongest of the True Ancestors. You may have heard of her."

Kiritsugu and Irisviel nodded again. Every Magus past a certain age had heard of her at least once. She was one of those semi-mythical beings they feared more than they respected.

"For some reason, Type-Mercury is hanging around somewhere in South America and has the appearance of a giant silver spider with blades all over its body. It is rumored that if Type-Mercury were to go on the offense, it would be able to slash apart every living being in the whole continent, down to the smallest bacteria. But I digress. The one that is relevant with the Holy Grail Ritual is Type-Moon." said Akeno.

"Type-Moon is different from the others. Instead of being a guardian, it is an observer, tasked by the Root with observing and recording humanity. And at some point in the not-too-distant past, Type-Moon decided it needed to directly record a number of human souls, seizing them instead of just watching."

"To achieve this, it set up a competition. 214 humans were kidnapped and brought to the moon, which happens to be hollow, and those 214 people were each allowed to choose one historical figure to act as their champion, created from the records Type-Moon had made. This was the birth of the Throne of Heroes, and the creation of Servants. Then started a giant battle royale. The victor got granted a wish, and the 213 dead humans got their souls recorded within Type-Moon's archives."

"And the Einzbern, using some method my backer doesn't know about, somehow managed to obtain information on the system Type-Moon had set up, and created a barely functional replica of it. The Holy Grail Ritual."

"Thanks for the history lesson." said Kiritsugu, his tone making it clear that he didn't really care.

Kiritsugu said nothing more for a while as he inhaled his nicotine, looked at Maiya for a few seconds, then Irisviel, and sighed.

"I will agree to transfer Saber's Command Spells to you, since it is clear that we're not winning this. So, I lose nothing by giving you those before retiring. But I will need clear, irrefutable evidence that what you are saying is true before I even consider being your dog for three years."

"That is fair." nodded Akeno. "I do not think Maiya or Irisviel would volunteer themselves to show you the benefits that I can offer?"

They both vehemently shook their heads.

"How about we exchange contact numbers, then? I will have Lancer and another enhanced Servant from my faction spar against each other and show off some of the abilities they will have gained, but it will likely take a few days to prepare a demonstration."

Kiritsugu looked at Irisviel, then back at Akeno.

"Fine by me… Do you want the Command Spells now?"

"If you wouldn't mind, yes." nodded Akeno.

Kiritsugu extended his left hand toward Akeno, and she presented her own left hand, not certain how to do the transfer. But Kiritsugu simply willed for them to be transferred, and it did the trick. Akeno now had five Command Spells on her left hand.

After exchanging numbers, Kiritsugu and Irisviel left with Maiya.

"Geez, Akeno." complained Chisato, gathering the packaged burgers and fries into a bag. "You could have warned us beforehand that you wanted him to cooperate with us long term."

"Yes, sorry." smiled Akeno. "This was a last-minute improvisation. But he would make a good agent, and he has to have some contacts. That may prove useful down the line."

"That's assuming you can get him to feel loyal enough to Noah to benefit from his abilities in the first place."

"Yes. But I did warn them about this, did I not? They can't complain if they aren't honest enough. Besides, there is the issue with Irisviel and Iliya both being homunculi, and plagued with a lifespan of about two decades, according to Noah. If I let it slip that Noah's gifts include immortality, they will come around at some point…"

"Do you intend to steal Irisviel?" asked Tamamo, frowning. "She's already a wife, stealing her is no good!"

Akeno smiled, thinking back about her own mother. "I won't make a move on her, but if she or Kiritsugu are the ones coming to me, then she's fair game. Besides, depending on how things go and unless Noah wants to have Irisviel for himself, maybe they can still remain husband and wife while accepting Noah's authority." Said Akeno as she took her phone from her pocket. It has started ringing.

"Yes, Asuka? Have you found Sakura?" asked Akeno, hopeful.

"Not yet. She clearly doesn't want to be found. But Aife reported to me. That man whatever his name is has received the damaged head of a staff."

"We are only a few minutes away. Let's meet up in front of the building's entrance." said Akeno.

"Okay." said Asuka, ending the call.

Akeno smiled to Chisato and Tamamo.

"Atrum Galliasta apparently has received the catalyst for Medea. Let's pay him a visit, before he summons her."

"Yes! Let's get those kids to a safe place." smiled Chisato and Tamamo.

As they quickly walked, Akeno sent a message to Rin.

"Galliasta has the catalyst, we're making our move."

As they had previously discussed, Rin, upon receiving this message, would excuse herself from school, with Medb's permission, and would join them. Once Galliasta was dealt with, she would call her contacts in the Mage Association to organize the evacuation and treatment of the children being kept as reagents, and erase the memories of the women the ruthless magus had brainwashed.

It didn't take them long to join with Asuka. Aife was standing beside her, wearing blue jeans, black military leather boots and a black T-shirt with the logo of some metal band from the nineties. It suited her well, but then again, most Servants had the kind of beauty that would make even a potato sack look nice.

"His Workshop occupy the 28th to 30th floor." nodded Asuka as they entered the building.

"What security measures does he have in place?" asked Akeno as they waited for the elevator.

"He can sever the elevator's cables if we attempt to directly reach his Workshop. An illusory maze that would make normal people and unskilled Magus fail to locate his door and strand them in a seemingly endless corridor. Another magic barrier that will perceive hostile intent. But I already deactivated it and the few traps he had protecting the access via the stairs. We should stop the elevator at the 20th floor and take the stairs. Overall, his protections are pitiful, even for a Magus of this era."

"Well, everything we know about him points to him being very arrogant. An overconfidence in his preparations makes sense." said Akeno, pressing the button to the twentieth floor as they entered the elevator. At the same time, she prepared herself to fly and support the elevator's weight, should it be necessary. She was strong enough to lift close to two tons while maintaining flight.

Her wariness proved to be unjustified as the cabin stopped harmlessly at the 20th floor. There were a lot of company offices in this building, and the heavy traffic during lunch would have made them inconspicuous, if not for all of them being beautiful young women. Before any fly could start buzzing, they opened the door to the stairs and started climbing.

"He should be on the last floor." said Aife, preceding them.

"Britomart, would you mind neutralizing his assistants in the 28th and 29th floors before joining us?"

"Not at all. Should I simply knock them out, of kill them?"

"I will let you decide. If they partook in the murder of kids for some damn mana crystals, their lives are worth nothing to me."

"Maybe they have been brainwashed?" suggested Chisato as they kept climbing the stairs.

Akeno hesitated for a second, then nodded. "Knock them out, Britomart."

"Yes."

When their reached the door of Galliasta's suit on the 30th floor and Aife opened it, the girls heard the faint sound of a door being kicked in by an armored foot downstairs.

Akeno only paid attention to the scene in front of them. A tall, tanned man with long blonde hair gathered to the right side of his head was straightening from the magic formation he was drawing on the ground, looking at them outraged. He was dressed in a shite shirt, black sleeveless coat and black pants, and his fingers, wrists and neck were adorned with gaudy jewelry. His obviously wealthy, yet vulgar appearance screamed 'Womanizer' at a glance, and Akeno could see a half-dozen scantily dressed women around the large room.

This floor was the same place Noah had shown them using light magic, with small shallow pools filled with water at ankle-deep level taking up a significant amount of the floor's surface. Akeno guessed it would be a nice place for a reception or something.

"Who are you? Have you never learned to wait for permission before entering?" exclaimed Atrum, mentally taking control of his workshop's defenses. His face grew alarmed when he realized he felt no response from his defensive arrays.

"Atrum Galliasta." Said Akeno, not wanting to waste any time. "We want you to complete that formation and summon your Servant. Once the Servant appear, you will immediately transfer the Command Spells to me. If you attempt to use your Command Spells, give an order to that Servant, or attempt to use magic to do anything, we will make you regret it. We brought three Servants with us, and a newly summoned one will not be able to save you against such odds. If you cooperate, we won't kill you."

"What the hell?" angrily retorted Atrum, glaring at her.

[You have resisted an attempt to Charm you.] said the System.

Akeno used Shunpo to appear near him and backhanded him.

"Do not play games with us, either. The next attempt will cost you your balls." promised Akeno, taking a sword from her inventory.

"And what guarantee do I have that you would spare me?" asked the Magus, one hand pressed against the right side of his soon to be swelled face.

Atrum was arrogant, but he was also a coward, and his thought process was obvious as his eyes frantically darted between Akeno, Tamamo and Aife, who weren't retraining their auras, and Britomart bulky armor as she hunched through the door t oenter.

Tamamo made a few hand gestures, and the six women fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

"We can sign a Geis, if you really insist." shrugged Akeno.

"I insist!" demanded Atrum, seeing an opportunity to escape death.

He quickly took a piece of paper and started writing on it, creating a short contract with her occasional input, and presented it to Akeno with a sullen face. The magic contract was essentially as she expected, retraining Akeno, her fellow Masters and the three Servants from harming him, in return for summoning a Servant with the Catalyst and transferring the Command Spells to her without giving the Servant any order.

Akeno verified the terms, satisfied that she her and companions were specified by name or Servant Class, and not by a vague reference such as "Akeno's companions", and signed the contract.

The Magus finished the magic array, then started the summoning.

As soon as the summoning was over, and before the female Servant, her body covered by a dark blue hooded robe could speak, Atrum Galliasta walked closer to Akeno and extended his left hand, its back marked by new Command Spells.

"There, it's done. Now, take her and leave my workshop."

Akeno ignored him and walked closer to the Servant with a soft smile.

"I am sorry for the unusual circumstances of your summoning… Caster, I assume?"

"I am summoned as a Caster, yes. My name is Medea." nodded Caster.

"I am Akeno Himejima, and it is nice to meet you. I wish for you to accept me as your Master. We are on a mission to save the world, and we need you."

Caster slowly turned to examine every person present, as well as the unconscious women on the floor. Her expression was half hidden in the shadow of her hood.

"The Command Spells already have been transferred to you. Why are you asking me?"

"Because there is a huge difference between a Servant cooperating out of common interest or being coerced by Command Spells, and one willingly following my lead. I do not see my Servants as pawns for me to use. To me, they are partners and family members. And if I can help you realize your wish, I will."

"Did we miss something?"  loudly asked Rin as she entered, followed by Scathach. "Ah! Galliasta you scumbag! It's a pity you're still alive!"

"T-Tohsaka! Is this your doing?" angrily asked Atrum.

"Well, Rin, I accepted signing a Geis to get him to cooperate." shrugged Akeno. "I wasn't certain I would be allowed to perform a second summoning, and I didn't want to risk it. Medea is too important. So, I let him do it."

"A Geis?" frowned Rin.

"Yes, but one that doesn’t affect Medea, yourself, or your Servant, so…" suggestively said Akeno.

"Understood. Lancer, Please." nodded Rin, and half-a-second later, Galliasta had his heart pierced by a red spear.

"Did you find Sakura?" asked Akeno, not paying attention to the collapsing Magus.

"No. She knows the city well, and how to mask her presence." sighed Rin.

"You killed a man using a loophole in your agreement." frowned Medea, staring at Akeno.

"Yes. A Magus who used brainwashing to turn those women into his playthings. A Magus who kept dozens of kids captives in the floors under our feet and used their souls as fuel to create mana crystals."

"Master, you should have made that man suffer more as you killed him." smiled Medea, staring at Akeno.

"Welcome to our family, Medea. You will not regret it." grinned Akeno, extending her hand to Medea, who awkwardly shook it.

"Welcome, Medea." nodded Rin. "I'll go downstairs to coordinate with the Mage Association and save the kids."

Rin left without waiting an answer, and Scathach followed.

"A large family, it seems." muttered Medea as she watched them go.

"You have no idea." snorted Akeno. "Do you have a wish you would like fulfilled?"

Medea paused for a few seconds, her head lowered as she studied Akeno from under the rim of her hood, before she replied with a low, wistful voice.

"…I would like to experience a normal, peaceful life. Ideally, I would find a husband, and spend my days caring for him. Maybe children, too."

"A comrade!" shouted Tamamo as she jumped Medea and hugged her.

"I, too, dream of becoming the perfect housewife! Let us meet our husband soon and spoil him!"

"Husband, singular?"

"Yes!" replied Tamamo, her eyes shining. "Our fate has been decided already, as my Master Chisato surrendered herself to Akeno, and we will all be part of the same man's harem."

"A harem! And who is that man?"

"Ahem, I'll explain as we go check on the kids, Medea. It's a long story." interjected Akeno.

It took a while to speak about the gods and other worlds, the Champions, their mission and the current Holy Grail War, but eventually, Medea was up to date. They looked around the laboratory-like room full of strange equipment, and the kids being held captive, while Rin was in a corner, speaking on the phone.

"… So, as you can see, Medea, you will have a lot of freedom and will have plenty of time to live a peaceful life on our island, once the two crises are over and done with. But until then, I will count on you."

"Of course, Master." nodded Medea with a smile.

Rin came to them.

"Akeno, I have contacted the Association, and they are sending one of the higher ups, as well as some of the Magus currently in Japan. I also had to inform Kirei. He is the overseer in charge of supervising the Holy Grail War after all. For some reason, he and more staff from the Church were eating lunch not far from here." shrugged Rin.

"That was a correct decision, Tohsaka-kun." rumbled a voice to the side. Rin flinched as she turned to the person who had suddenly appeared. Akeno could feel the power emanating from the two-meter tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in a magician's dark blue robe. He seemed to be in his fifties, with short white hair and a short but spiky white beard. Overall, he gave Akeno a feeling of contained violence comparable to that of the Cardinal-Priest Vasco Strada in her own world.

"L-Lord Zelretch." exclaimed Rin before she bowed in a hurry.

"At ease, Tohsaka-kun. We aren't in the Tower, so such formalities are unnecessary." said Zelretch with a small smile.

"Ah, everyone, this is Lord Zelretch Kischur Schweinorg, the Vice-President of the Mage Association."

"No need to introduce yourselves." cut in Zelretch with a smile. "I have been keeping an eye on Fuyuki City since rumors of an abnormal number of Masters and Servants reached the Tower. Your briefing to your newest Servant and your previous meeting with the infamous Mage-Killer have been most interesting, Himejima-kun."

Akeno reigned in her irritation as she displayed her Queen's smile. "Lord Zelretch, peeping is unbecoming of someone of your stature."

"Please to not hold this against this old man. When you will reach my age, you will find people-watching to be one of the few remaining hobbies that can still catch your attention. You have my word however, that I do not watch you when you are in the privacy of your home."

Akeno sighed in defeat. "The gods are already watching. What's one more, really? …Why did you come in person, Lord Zelretch?"

"I first wanted to see with my own eyes who was audacious enough to threaten the Mage Association if the handling of Galliasta's victims was performed… poorly." said Zelretch with an expressionless face, his eyes challenging Akeno to repeat the threat Rin had relayed.

Akeno sighed, but straightened her posture further.

And she didn't miss the way Zelretch had shifted his posture to keep Scathach in his field of view. Vice President of the Mage Association and holder of the Second True Magic or not, he was wary of Scathach. Not that Akeno blamed him for it.

"Lord Zelretch, I would rather see it as a warning, not a threat. But we will at some point enquire about what happened to those people, using some means to detect lies, and if the answers turn out to be something about reagents or human experiments, the social status of the people responsible will not protect them from the repercussions. We do not wish to enter a conflict with the Mage Association, but if the Association decides to give harbor and shelter to the people responsible for atrocities, The people I represent will not shy away from a confrontation. The Mage Association could use a few reforms, if what I hear about it is correct."

Zelretch looked at Akeno for a few seconds, his stony expression not giving any clue of his thoughts, then suddenly chuckled.

"Indeed, a few reforms might be beneficial. I am growing fond of you, Himejima-kun. But you seem to have some experience as a leader."

"I my own timeline, I act as the aide of a Duke-ranked heiress. For this reason, I have accrued some limited experience in diplomacy."

"I see. What do you need from the Association to help solve that second crisis, whatever it is?"

"I appreciate your offer of support, Lord Zelretch. For now, the only thing I know about it is that it will likely be related to a place named Chaldea, and that joining the Association might be necessary to reach that location."

"A research center in Antarctica, financed and managed by the Animusphere family." nodded Zelretch, looking at Akeno, Rin and their companions thoughtfully. "The work they perform over there is experimental in nature. It is a proof of concept just as much as a really usable facility, really, and I hardly see how a station with observation tools could become a major threat, but… How about this? After the Holy Grail War is over, you and your companions will join the Mage Association as students. If you can contribute to the advancement of Magecraft in any way, not matter how insignificant, I will arrange for you all to go to Chaldea as special investigators."

"Deal!" immediately nodded Akeno.

Zelretch smiled, and he was about to add something else when the doors of the elevator opened, and seven people came out. Kotomine Kirei, five other male priests and a single woman. A beautiful young woman with waist-long white hair, slightly wavy on their later half, and golden eyes.

Kirei seemed to recognize Zelretch and stopped a respectful distance from him.

"Lord Zelretch, seeing you here is a surprise."

"The abnormality of this Holy Grail War caught my interest. I will take charge of the children and the six women upstairs and ensure that those who have relatives are reunited with them, and those who don't are well taken care off. Since a Magus of the Association was the cause, it is our responsibility to clean the mess."

"I understand. Has the Magus in question been punished?"

"With extreme prejudice." quipped Rin.

"Then I have nothing to say." nodded Kirei.

Zelretch turned to the hundred plus children of various age who were in a comatose state, suspended from the ceiling by wide rubber straps, and they just disappeared. He did the same with the two unconscious women wearing lab coats.

"I will now take my leave." said Zelretch. "Farewell, everyone."

Without waiting for an answer, he, too, disappeared.

"Does he always act like this?" asked Akeno as she turned to Rin.

"We're not exactly rubbing shoulders, so how would I know?" countered Rin. "Kirei, sorry, it seems bothered you for nothing."

"That seem to be the case, yes. But is it a good thing that those children are now safe. What about this installation?"

"More people from the Association are on their way to dismantle it. There will be there within two hours." said Rin, and her eyes shifted to the white-haired girl. There was something about her that made her uneasy. Kirei noticed her gaze.

"Rin, this is Caren Hortensia, from the Church's Inquisition. She came here to assist me, due to the peculiar circumstances."

Caren nodded politely, but didn't say a word, and Rin, Akeno and the others nodded back.

"Speaking of circumstances, I noticed there doesn't seem to have been any case of unconscious people found this morning." said Rin.

"Yes, let us hope it will continue. Since you have matters well in hand here, we will go back. Please keep me informed if any other issue occurs."

"Yes. Bye, Kirei." said Rin with a slight roll of the eyes.

Kirei, Caren and the five priests took the elevator back to leave, and Akeno turned to Caster.

"Let's return home. Caster, can I ask you to assist us in searching for Rin's sister Sakura? She has gone missing last night. She is a Magus, too, and she likely has a Servant on her own, Assassin, though she didn't tell us about it, and we're pretending not to know."

Rin looked sharply at Akeno, as she hadn't been aware of the relationship between her sister and Assassin.

"…I will do what I can. Do you have a picture, and an object imbued with her mana signature? And do you think she may have been kidnapped?"

"I doubt it. The house was protected against intruders, there is no indications of struggle, and she took her clothes and some necessities behind. And our relationship is… strained. Let's go home first." said Rin. "She still has left a few things behind. A hairbrush would be enough?"

"It would be plenty, unless she protected herself against tracing Magecraft, or is in another Texture."

Akeno, Chisato and Rin nodded. Earth had many sub-dimensions called Textures, like the Land of Shadows.

"Let's get to it, then." decided Akeno. "While you are searching, I will have a long chat with Saber. If all goes well, she will join the search by tomorrow."

They nodded and took the elevator. As they were going down, Rin glared at Akeno.

"What makes you think that this Assassin is Sakura's Servant?"

"…Sakura wasn't scared at all during the incident with that trash in the library. She was the one in control, despite what Shinji believed. And Shinji having that book thing suggests that Assassin was summoned by the Matou." honestly said Akeno, as she watched both Rin and Scathach. She had a feeling that Scathach would be able to see right through any lie.

Rin nodded slowly, her gaze going unfocused as she clearly was remembering the confrontation with Shinji.

"Well, I'll have a good chat with her when we find her… Do you think that Assassin was the one draining the civilians?"

"I believe so, yes. If Shinji was foolish enough to try draining the whole school to death, he might have ordered her to drain a few civilians before. It would have been a simple escalation. A crazy one, admittedly. Murdering the whole school would have sent the Mage Association AND the Church after his head. He must have been completely demented to come up with something like that."

"Why did you even let him go back then?"

"I believe Sakura had the right to it. And I did not want to stain my inventory or the Sanctuary with his body, or for the school to be further disturbed by a dead student."

"The right to it…" muttered Rin. She seemed to suddenly realize something as she looked sharply at Akeno. "Has Shinji done more to her than taking her hostage?"

"Rin, this is one thing you should never ask about. If Sakura wants to tell you, she will. If not, pressuring her to tell you will not be doing her any service."

"And how do you know about it?"

"We were sent to this world by the gods, remember? They see everything. Just focus on making your relationship with Sakura better, please. That is how you can help her."

Rin looked like she wanted to object, but she realized she wouldn't get a more detailed answer and sighed.