(Working title. Still not sure how I feel about it.)

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Orleans’ had certainly changed much in over 600 years.

But as Jeanne D’Arc, Heroic Spirit and Ruler-class Servant sat outside a small café and watched the daily goings-on, she couldn’t help but feel that there was some ineffable quality that remained here. That despite how much it may
have changed, this was still the very same city she remembered.

Jeanne found herself smiling to herself as she took a sip of coffee. There was certainly some comfort to be found in such things.

In truth, Jeanne was glad she’d decided to make a stop here. She’d wanted to see this city that the angels tasked her to save all those years ago.

Indeed, were it not for her mission, Jeanne might have wanted to visit the town of her birth… But alas, she DID have her mission. Her duty as Ruler, overseer of the Great Holy Grail War that would soon take place in Romania.

Speaking of which…

Jeanne sighed as she took a sip of coffee, glancing at a stylized map of the continent that was hanging on a wall inside the café. An indicator of the journey still before her.

Oh, Jeanne did not doubt for a moment that her revelations and honed senses as a Ruler would guide her to Romania… eventually. The problem was getting there before the war actually started. As a Servant, Jeanne knew she could simply walk to Romania, and with the quality and safety of the roads in this era, she’d make better time than a man of her own era could ever hope for. But even then, Jeanne had a feeling she’d still be lucky to make it to Romania before the Great War even ENDED, let alone started. Meaning that Jeanne required a different form of transportation.

In her own era, that would have meant a horse. But in this era, that meant automobiles. Or trains. Or planes (THOSE had been a surprising sight to see flying overhead). Unfortunately, it seemed gaining ownership or passage on any of these vehicles required money, of which Jeanne had none.

Which meant that Jeanne was stuck… what was the modern term? Hitchhiking, Jeanne was stuck hitchhiking. And considering it had taken her almost a full day just to find her way here to Orleans… getting to Romania within the next few days was still likely to prove tricky.

Honestly, making a stop in this city just to satisfy her curiosity and nostalgia was a detour Jeanne did not need.

But there was another reason Jeanne was in Orleans. One that was part of her holy mission.

She’d felt it yesterday as soon as she’d passed the city limits. A certain mana signature that was unmistakable to her particular senses as a Ruler-class.

There was a Servant in this city.

Jeanne couldn’t tell anything specific about them. Who they were, what class, or if they belonged to Red Faction or Black. However, just them being here in Orleans was unusual.

The summoning of a servant near here, Jeanne could understand. Summoning a Heroic Spirit in their homeland often ensured they were at the peak of their potential power, and there were a number of Heroes Jeanne could think of that a Master might want to summon in France. Saint Martha, Vercingetorix, the great Charlemagne, or one of his 12 Paladins, just to name a few.

But why would they stay here? Any Master and Servant currently outside of Romania should be heading there at all speed. But for whatever reason, this Servant was staying put in one place.

Or at least in a general area. That was another problem. This Servant was giving off a very low amount of mana, and that in turn was making it very difficult for Jeanne to track them down. The best Jeanne could tell, whoever this
Servant was they were currently using almost no mana whatsoever.

And that was perhaps the most confusing thing of all. Heroic Spirits used mana all the time. To travel, to fight, to use their Noble Phantasms, or to simply continue existing in this world as a Servant. That was why all Servants needed a Master. Unless they were bonded to a human host like Jeanne was.

In fact, Jeanne was fairly certain that this Servant was currently using LESS mana than was required to maintain a Servant’s very physical form.

Jeanne rolled her now-empty cup around as she tapped her table in frustration.

None of this made any sense! That was why she needed to find this mysterious Servant as soon as possible.

And they were close. Within a kilometer, Jeanne could tell that much.

Idly, Jeanne glanced about her surroundings. At the café, the sidewalks, the streets and the park across the way, observing the people passing by. If she managed to get a glimpse of them, Jeanne was fairly certain she could tell a
Heroic Spirit apart from a normal human…

Suddenly, there was a flash across Jeanne’s senses…

A revelation…!

Just as when she was alive, ever since she’d been summoned as a Servant, Jeanne found herself occasionally receiving divine messages and flashes of insight. Often times they would appear vague, but always contained some form of vital information. It was these revelations that were guiding Jeanne in her journey to the Great Holy Grail War, and which told her that she would be needed there.

Generally, the revelations came in the form of visions, much like the ones Jeanne received long ago when she was alive. Usually quick glimpses of something of great importance.

But this time there was no vision. Instead there was simply a feeling of… warmth. Like the feeling of a caring, loving embrace…

Jeanne was at lose as to what this could mean. Was it that she would find this warmth somewhere…?

“Excuse me?” a light voice spoke up, knocking her from her thoughts.

Glancing up, Jeanne found herself looking at a young woman roughly her age giving her a curious look from across the small table. A woman with alabaster skin, soft sea-blue eyes, long white hair tied into two long braids going down past her waist, and wearing a light pink dress with a straw sunhat.

“Please forgive my intrusion, but I must ask. You are the Holy Maiden, Jeanne D’Arc, are you not?”

A woman who was also definitely the Servant she’d been sensing this whole time.

Jeanne simply found herself staring, flummoxed at what she was looking at.

“Who… are you?”

Then the woman smiled. A bright, friendly, kind, warm smile.

“Marie Antoinette, Queen of Lilies and Princess of the Crystal Palace. Rider-class, at your service!”


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Trying something a little different here...