Chapter 3
Part 4
Immediately, we made our way back to the Tower of the Moon.
Without entering the building, we made careful observations of the ground around the tower. Careful not to disturb the plant life ourselves, we looked for signs of those who had been less cautious in their walking.
And finally,
"Bingo," I muttered to myself.
On the ground, clear enough that even I could pick it up, were the unmistakable shapes of footprints. Since we were well out of the city, it was particularly unlikely that much of anyone would stick to the beaten paths. As such, it should have been possible to look for and follow the footprints left behind after the Assembly had concluded - that was the thought Gray's words had sparked in my head.
"Trim, can you follow these?"
"Understood."
At once, Trimmau laid a hand on one of the footprints. After a few seconds, she spoke again in confirmation.
"Footprints of ten individual persons detected. Among them, the Princess of Gold's can be distinguished."
"Good!"
Without thinking, I pumped my fist in celebration. While perhaps a little shameful, I'll have to ask you to forgive me. Despite the deadlock we had found ourselves in, there was finally a spark of hope.
"Please follow it."
"Understood." With a hand still on the footprint, the Mercury Maid melted from the hands and flowed downward onto the ground.
This kind of statistical analysis and pattern recognition was exactly where Trimmau was strongest. While following footprints was a sort of old fashioned method of investigation, the fact I had so cleanly overlooked it meant it might have been a blind spot for the culprit as well. For magi that were often wrapped up in more supernatural matters, the very concept of examining the ground they had been walking on was, plainly put, outside their field of view.
"Gray, come with me."
Having returned to its original shape as Volumen Hydrargyrum, Gray and I had to start running to pursue Trimmau as she slipped through the thick foliage.
Unfortunately, Trimmau and myself had not reached the point of having linked senses. That was of course because there was no bond of familiar and master between us. After all, Volumen Hydrargyrum was a Mystic Code rare enough even in the history of the Clock Tower. All I had accomplished was adding a personality and a human-like form on top of the foundation that was already there.
As such, there was nothing for us to do but follow after her. That being said, I wasn't really equipped for a trek through the forest. Shrubs and branches were constantly getting caught in my dress, so the independently acting Trimmau was easily able to outpace us through the greenery.
The scent of damp earth reached my nose.
In the depths of the forest, beyond where people went, there were all sorts of smells.
The smothering greenery. The rotting leaves and broken branches on the forest floor, mixed with the leavings of numerous nameless animals. From the start, the kind of forest that a magus might like was one rich with spiritual energy, home to numerous poisonous herbs and beasts of prey.
One could even say the Mystery of these untouched forests, and the slow process of taming those wilds, was the history of the West from the far past up until the Middle Ages. It was no wonder so many legends of old witches began in the depths of the forest.
As we doggedly pursued Trimmau through the forest, the air began to fill with white.
(...fog?)
Of course, the fact that we were close to a lake meant fog wasn't that uncommon. Even when we had first arrived we had been greeted by fog. The fact that for the majority of the year fog blanketed the countryside here was no doubt the reason why it overflowed with romantic legends of all sorts.
Even so, my heart began to race.
An incredibly unpleasant feeling. A baseless fear, like a child wary of the darkness of a back alley. Who was it that said such an intuition was rare among magi?
"Eh?"
Suddenly, I lost sight of the form of Trimmau ahead of us.
More than that, I felt the flow of mana between us get cut completely.
"...a Boundary Field?"
Similar to the one Mick had placed earlier - but this was on a much larger scale.
In an effort to determine the nature of the Bounded Field, I began to focus on my now overheating eyes. As I did so, the bizarreness of the situation took a completely different form.
Among the sound of loudly rustling leaves, a blade leapt through the air.
"...Miss, Reines-!"
Behind me, I heard a scream.
A solid sound rang out from above my head.
The shadow above my head where the sound originated split into two, one of which becoming the hooded form of a young girl.
"Gray...!"
In the girl's hands was a scythe.
Who would have thought that Add could transform into such a shape? At that girl's command, the foul-mouthed little square could transform into a tool for exterminating the supernatural.
In that case, what was it that had met that scythe in the air?
An ominous shape was wavering in the fog before Gray.
"Hahahahahaha! What even is that?! What an energetic guy you've run into this time! Hanging around with you guys is never boring, you know that?" Even Add's cheerful voice echoed hollow within the fog.
On the ends of the enemy's bizarrely long arms were not hands with fingers, but instead blades.
Its legs were at such an angle that they looked as if the joints were backwards, and and as such its upper body was huddled close to the ground.
It was...some sort of strange puppet.
"What is...?" Gray's eyes opened wide.
"An automous puppet?!" Even my voice suddenly leaked out.
Weren't Automata capable of fighting independantly already a lost art? Cases like Trimmau, where the core was really something entirely different were one thing, but the Concept of Homunculus creation was steeply in decline. As knowledge of the human body deepened and spread throughout humanity, from the point humanity accepted that there were no Mysteries to be found within their own bodies, it had lost the grounds to be a field of Magecraft.
No, even if we accepted my brother's theory that the human body still was as a black box, and the Mystery within it was not yet entirely erased, the fact that modern magi in the field couldn't compare to even antiques from hundreds of years ago was an undeniable fact.
In that case, this was-
(Antiques? No, it looks far too new for that...)
As I assessed the situation, I felt my back teeth grinding.
Without Trimmau, most of my combat magecraft was gone. My magecraft was more geared towards laboratory work.
(Dammit, this is why I had asked my brother if my balance of classes was good!)
Whether it was best to allot my classes in a way to learn the secrets of the El-Melloi family first or not, he had stubbornly refused to tell me. Of course, I was doing it mostly to dig at his sense of inferiority towards his predecessor, but he still was dragging it out for too long!
"...Miss Reines, please step back!" Gray said as she leapt forward.
Despite how difficult it must have been to swing that large scythe about in the crowded terrain of the forest, her small frame was able to bring it around swiftly. As if to lend credence to the claim she had trained with it since she was but a little girl, the girl and scythe moved together like clockwork.
Three times the girl's scythe and the puppet's blades met.
The scythe's arcing swings met the Automata's straight slashes with an incredible speed. In contrast to the majority of magi, it was not a simple strengthening of the body, but its marriage to precise technique that made up Gray's terrifying combat ability.
(...but...)
Gray's specialty was combat against spirits.
Her fear of ghosts and her incredible abilities were both born of her time at one of the foremost graveyards of the British Empire.
Even in the Castle of Separation, against a number of spirits sufficient to be called an army, she wasn't driven back a single step. In a way, those same skills should have been applicable to a fight against another magus, but against an Automata one had to wonder how much of her strength could be brought to bear.
Without a word, the Automata sank closer to the ground.
Had Gray realized that this wasn't an opponent she could defeat without serious effort? If so, it wasn't beyond reason that she was considering one further transformation.
The Automata's limbs opened, showing yet more blades.
More than just two arms and legs.
Even its expertly crafted face opened to reveal yet more eyes.
"Wha-!"
The idea of a three-faced six-elbowed man was, more practically, the idea of a divinity that could see all things and reach all things. Was that the goal of this Automata's creator, to recreate that image? If that was the case, it seemed less like a nod to orientalism and more like something far more modern.
The puppet jumped.
It could no longer be said to have the shape of a person. Like some sort of spider, or praying mantis, its six blades reached out to meet the scythe.
Three times.
Eight times.
-in one breath, seventeen times.
The increased field of view and number of arms gave the Automata a distinct advantage, and this time Gray was beginning to lose ground. While one might have praised Gray for managing to hold out against six blades with only one of her own, even I could tell that the girl's movements were starting to fall behind, and that she had switched into a totally defensive stance.
With the intensity of their struggle, even the trees around them were set to trembling, causing leaves to start dancing down around them.
And in short order, those falling leaves were cut to pieces by the same glittering arcs leaving scars in the fog.
"Hey, Gray?!" As Add cried out, a blade crossed her right arm, and blood began to stream down it.
Perhaps because of the sudden pain, Gray flinched back, and in that opening the Automata closed the gap between them. A monster, which could be described as little more than a storm of blades. The eyes on the surface of Gray's scythe turned to glare at the puppet, but as if it was completely unaware, the cold blades continued their spin in a diagonal descent.
But.
A moment before the blades made contact, a light struck the puppet.
The strike broke the puppet's posture for a moment, time enough for Gray to knock it away with a one-handed swing.
"...Miss Reines..."
"I can at least do this much," I replied with a sniff, one arm still pointing towards the puppet.
Though saying that, the magecraft I had used was nothing to be spoken of. It was nothing more than a bundle of magical energy given shape, enough to create a physical impact. If it had got out that a Lord, even one in my circumstances, had relied on such a basic piece of magecraft, the shame would surely never end. For someone like the rumored Luviagelita, it was possible to refine that skill to the point of becoming a widely renowned curse, but as I was now that was beyond possibility.
Taking a few yards of distance, the puppet slowly swung its head side to side. As expected, it was completely uninjured.
As it continued to watch us, as if it was enjoying our fear, Gray whispered.
"...Add."
As she spoke, it felt like a sudden chill descended on us.
Around Gray, something like an invisible whirlpool whipped up as the girl and her scythe began to absorb the latent magical energy in their surroundings. Against spirits that had no physical body, that was enough to deliver a fatal blow. Such was the ability of a Gravekeeper. However, against an enemy like the Automata in front of them, it would do no more than enhance Gray's own abilities.
Even so, she felt it necessary.
The Automata's face curled into a smile.
Three faces laughed as one.
And then ran.
Once again, blades met.
The puppet's blades once again slammed into the girl's scythe. Using the point of contact as a fulcrum, Gray leapt into the air, elegantly somersaulting over the puppet. As she did so, her scythe whirled again in a crescent arc. Though it seemed like nothing more than acrobatic flair at first glance, it was actually a strong counter, combining the strength of her whole body with her downward momentum for one crushing strike.
A sharp, metallic sound rang out as the blade that was meant to receive the strike snapped.
"Ihihihihihihihi! If it's a brute force contest you want, we ain't losing!"
"...once more!"
In timing with Add's shout, Gray brought the scythe around for another strike.
However, this time it was her turn to be stopped dead. The puppet, which was supposed to have been knocked out, instead split apart wide at the mouth - and from within the puppet's gut, a spear-like weapon shot out.
No matter what historical battle you looked at, there was no great warrior you could find that could have answered that sudden surprise attack. So Gray's smooth dodge around it must have been more than just the previous strengthening. Perhaps she had a natural resilience, or perhaps some sort of magical support I was unaware of was at work.
Backflipping away, Gray opened the space between them again with a startled grunt.
The Automata, however, did not pursue. Instead, as she leapt backwards, it leapt as well - up into the trees, landing on a large branch. Faster than I could track with my eyes, it leapt from branch to branch deeper into the fog.
"It ran away?"
"...so it appears," Gray responded in a small voice, returning Add to his original form.
Maybe her timid voice was due to the fact she had let her guard down. Though as far as I was concerned, I was just impressed that we had got through the encounter practically unscathed. More importantly, if I hadn't brought Gray along, then this would have been the end for me in every sense of the word. I took the opportunity to give a small prayer of thanks to my overly cautious, past self.
"So, as for Trim," I wondered. It seemed she had disappeared somewhere. After a moment of thought, I pulled a chain out from my bag. The chain, which had an amethyst set in its end, was a tool used for dousing - searching for things like underground water or ore veins. Thanks to Gray's absorption of the surrounding magical energy earlier, the Boundary Field was beginning to thin. It appeared like I would be able to push through it with the tools I had available.
Fastening the chain around my wrist, I let the amethyst on the end hang directly down.
"Adjust."
The chain immediately began to waver.
Shifting my eyes to look in the direction the chain was moving, I poured more magical energy into my already warm mystic eyes before giving the chain a strong flick.
"
Thou, betray thy sign!
Now, show your presence!
"
The fog shook.
Though it didn't completely clear, it thinned greatly, opening our field of view far enough that we could see the forest ahead of us.
"Let's go!" With that one warning, I took off into the forest.
As expected, we arrived at our objective shortly.
The forest opened up, and we were then standing on the edge of a natural spring.
Within a forest choked with greenery and foliage, this place alone seemed special. Considering the lively gushing of the spring before us, that may have been the case. In both Eastern and Western folklore, springs like this naturally coincided with portals used by spirits to enter our world. In the West especially, the gushing forth of springs was often the work of the gods, and it appeared among the miraculous works of many a saint.
But.
"...Trim?"
Trimmau stood before us, unmoving.
The maid's Mercury skin reflected the autumn sunlight as she quietly stood, staring at the ground by her feet. Was she even seeing anything? As a non-living construct that was just imitating the shape of a human, her eyes didn't actually function as sense organs.
In any case, I needed to restore the mana link between us-
"-----!"
My breathing stopped.
"No...way..."
Gray's moan behind me thawed the tension in the atmosphere.
It was something that shouldn't have been possible. Trimmau's hand was coated with a thick red. But more than the dizzying colour on Trimmau's hand, my attention was rapt on the thing I saw in the spring itself.
That was, more than anything else, a fatal blow.
"...Caleena..."
Or was it Rejina?
Of the twin maids that served the Princesses of Gold and Silver, one was now floating lifeless in the water before us.
Originally Posted by Sandstorm77
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