Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks for the heads up!
By the request of a friend, I've made an EPUB for Requiem Vol 1
****************************file/d/1JbA...ew?usp=sharing
I can also do an EPUB for Vol 2 as it's being translated if the EPUB above is to people's liking. Thank you for your work Coggy 🙏
Is the chapter finished?
No.
Was I able to TL and edit for two days and get to a break point worth uploading again?
A little bit. Click here.
The woman looked behind me to where Voyager stood peering into the violent scene, before turning her gaze towards my person. For a brief moment I was certain that she was looking behind Karin as well, but I figured she was just on the lookout for any curious onlookers coming in from the main street.
“........”
She gradually nudged Kuchime over, slowly pushing down on his backside with the sole of her shoe, all while firmly keeping her eyes locked on mine. It seemed as if she was thinking things over, or simply waiting for something to happen.
A few seconds of silence and inaction passed us by.
Finally, she bluntly broke the silence while continuing to avoid answering my question.
“Hey, kid… You’re the Daughter of Utsumi, aren’t you?”
“...! How…?”
She kept going before I had the chance to calm from the shock and open my mouth for a proper response.
“You made a pretty awful mistake at the Colosseum, don’t you think? You not only failed to capture the lone suspect at the head of it all, you also allowed for countless people to become victims of said suspect, all resulting in Caren Fujimura winding up dead.”
….I was at such a loss for words that I couldn’t even attempt to say anything in response to her claims.
To my surprise, the woman seemed to know who I was, while I on the other hand had no idea what was going on.
“Hey! What the hell are you saying all of a sudden, you damn jerk!” Karin shouted out with a violent tone to her voice. “Don’t you know Eri-pie’s a victim too!? She was under suspension on the day all that happened, she just happened to be at the Colosseum! She did what she could as one person who happened to get dragged into the panic there! You think you get to complain about what she did like you’re all high and mighty!?”
“Wooow, don’t you just care about her soooo much. If no one else is willing to tell it to her, then I’ll be the one who does it. As many times as it takes. So she never pussies out from that kind of situation for the rest of her life.”
“WHAT did you say!? Don’t you DARE go making assumptions about us!”
“Karin I… it’s fine. Everything she’s saying is true…”
Even so, her blunt manner of speaking and that sharp tongue pierced right through me.
Clinging to Kuchime, Karin frantically pulled at the Holy Shroud until it was loose enough for a tiny opening to form around his mouth. With a wheeze, his labored breathing finally resumed as his body went limp.
The strength of a Middle Schooler would not have been nearly enough to loosen the binding of this Holy Shroud. The woman in control of it had to have intentionally adjusted the restraint, keeping him alive like one would a fish on the chopping board.
“--The guy here is Malenkov.” The woman told us.
“Huh? He’s… Malen… kov?”
“He calls himself ‘Akiba’s Malenkov’. He’s a street guitar player, goes from place to place in Shinjuku’s entertainment districts to perform.”
“Kuchime, that’s the kind of thing you do? Wait, can you even talk right now?” Karin poked at his head.
“Hah… I-I’m fine, I’m fine. Everything’s totally not broken. *HACK*... Right, that’s in fact the type of thing I do. It’s a good way to earn some money ya know… When the folks around here have imbibed a bit too much, I’ll play them those dear songs from the anime they used to watch before the war, and they got locked into a trance listening to them. They get all earnest, they even start to cry. Really makes playing worthwhile, ya feel me…”
“Talking like that somehow makes you seem rather persistent… Or maybe you just have too much energy, Kuchime.”
He was in pretty terrible shape, but he didn’t seem to have any broken bones at least.
Karin seemed more or less relieved by this and no longer seemed intent on calling Kōyō forth, meaning the worst case scenario of an all-out battle had been avoided.
“Hmph. Just so you know, his REAL name is Kuchime, got it? If he’s guilty of something like doing lewd stuff in front of a kid or getting it on with one, I’ll hand him right back over. But before that, how about we start with a little bit of an interrogation?”
“...Interrogation, is it?” The woman seemed a bit hesitant about the situation.
I figured she was going to coolly dismiss Karin this time, but that didn’t actually happen.
Maybe she understood that Karin and I were involved in the incident we were talking about earlier, meaning we wouldn’t back down unless we got a good explanation as to what was going on.
She let out an exasperated sigh and began to talk.
“This guy works for me. As an informant.” She gave us a totally unexpected answer. Karin was as dumbfounded as I was. “When I talked with him for my investigation into the ‘Command Seal Hunter’ he gave me false intel. Thanks to that, Akihabara is still standing on shaky ground… Ask Himuro the rest.”
“Himuro is HERE!? Like, inside the Reijinza!?”
“Yep, she is.”
The fact that she had been entrusted with something as precious as the Holy Shroud, combined with the way she mentioned Himuro by name, made me certain that this woman was in fact a Nightwatch.
But I had absolutely no idea that this person even existed.
She may have said to ask Himuro for the rest, but there was no way she would meekly offer up that kind of insider information.
“...Are you going to do your interrogation there?”
I asked meekly, with a sense of timidness. We were calling all the questioning “interrogation”, but in this case it was really going to be a cruel form of torture, to force the person being questioned to spill the beans.
“Nah, no way. My partners’ll be here in a bit. They’ll take him in. I told you before, this ain’t some show for brats to be watching.”
It’s definitely not wrong that we are all children, but the woman’s words seemed to be dressed with a nuance towards Voyager in particular. I’d thought she had been completely disregarding us since we first showed up, but it would seem that the exact opposite was happening instead.
“It would be better… NOT to do such cruel things… right sis…?”
“....”
Voyager had said it to the woman with sadness in his voice.
He had called her ‘sis’.
That means she’s a big sister now.
Despite being the same boy who had been so detached from everything in the face of the tragedy at the Colosseum, this time he seemed to be able to sense that there was an uneasiness in the air around us.
Perhaps, ever since forming a contract with me, something had begun to change in him…?
“You know, that man makes really, really, nice music. He plays wonderful songs.” Voyager was soft-spoken, uncharacteristically elegant, as he recalled the scene in front of the station where we had watched Kuchime’s performance. “But he… His song seems a little sad too. It’s probably that he… He’s been searching for the person he TRULY wants to hear it this whole time.”
In the middle of another coughing fit Kuchime let slip a weak laugh.
“...I’ll spare his fingers and ears.” The woman said without a hint of emotion.
Such truly heartwarming kindness.
“Heh… Hey, I’m glad to hear it… Thank you kindly, kiddo.”
“Wait a sec, you stop acting like some kinda done-in yakuza right now! Are you TRYING to rush into old man mode!? It’s like you’re suddenly growing old man hair all over your body!”
“Just let it go… You’ve got no idea, ya hear me… *cough*”
(While I’d love to let Karin argue all she’d like for a few more minutes we…)
We didn’t have time for that.
I had to hurry up and make up my mind.
“Karin– I have a favor to ask you. A serious one.”
“Damn it, what could it be that you have to ask now?”
“I want you to take Voyager and go to the Reijinza Kaikan, ahead of me. I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”
“...You want me to WHAT?”
“You’ve been listening to everything that was just said too, right? If her suspicions of him are true, we can’t just let Kuchime go free this easily. In order to be certain about him, we have to leave things to this person– So go, and take Voyager with you.”
Karin did as I asked, keeping her head turned back towards us the whole time as she went.
With Kuchime on the floor between us, the woman and I now engaged in a one-on-one dialogue.
“You’re the Nightwatch of Shinjuku, aren’t you? And the Holy Shroud is something that you got from Himuro.”
She nodded wordlessly in response.
“--If you don’t have any other business here, just go already.”
“I still have a favor for you. Please, can I talk to this man–! Would you be willing to let me talk with Kuchime, just the two of us? Please! Even just one minute would be fine!”
“No way. Are you some kind of idiot, kid?”
“I-It’s because it’s a private matter!
“Look, I’ll give you the time, but I ain’t moving from here, and I won’t be loosening the Shroud at all.”
“....I understand.” I resigned myself from the conversation, and crouched down next to Kuchime, who was lying on his side. “Kuchime… I just want to ask you a single question. What do you think of Karin?”
With a look of feigned ignorance, Kuchime stayed in his silence and gave a slight smile.
I moved to make my intentions even more clear.
“If you’re just screwing around with her with that suggestive attitude of yours… I don’t want you to ever meet with her again. No, I won’t let you meet with her again.”
There was a short moment of reserved silence before he let out a sigh of resignation and a grumble. Just like he did that time before, his eyes turned downcast towards the ground.
“Good ol’ Karin… has a nice voice, don’t you think?”
“...Yeah.”
“The truth is I… I just want to listen to her singing voice for a little while longer. That’s all I want.”
“Is that… so.”
It was an unflashy confession, one made as an extension of our idle chatting and nothing more.
Kuchime had an attitude I couldn’t quite grasp, and yet, for some reason, it seemed as if he was saying what he truly thought just then.
If he had been using Karin to get closer to myself or Voyager, I had been thinking of how I would give him an incredibly vicious beating, so his words had let me down a little.
“That’s your minute.” The woman said with a snap of her fingers.
Without the need for any sort of enhanced hearing, we could hear the distinctive sound that comes from the brakes of a large vehicle, followed by the sounds of footsteps ringing out one after another as a specialized team of the authorities approached with their unique equipment in hand.
But there was still one more thing I needed to confirm with her, to ensure it was no mistake. Something that was extremely important to me, a personal matter regarding myself.
“Um, I have to ask–” I felt a premonition that this was a topic I should not touch upon… And yet, I also felt as though I could not help but to ask her anyway. “Earlier, when you referred to me, you called me the ‘Daughter of Utsumi’! ...People who know my personal history always, without fail, refer to me as the blood relative of Manazura Chitose, her insolent granddaughter– so why?”
As I asked, troops from the authorities clad in black surrounded Kuchime, tying him down with the latest model of restraints and loading him into a self-moving stretcher, as if he were just a piece of luggage.
The Holy Shroud, now finished with its duties here, folded itself up neatly into a compact form that easily slid into the suit breast-pocket of the woman, who was still standing in the alleyway.
“I don’t think there’s anything weird about it. It’s because you, kid, are Utsumi and Nami’s only daughter.”
“...kh…”
This person… This person knows my mother and father.
As she turned away to leave me, I desperately called out to her–
“A name! P-Please, could you tell me your name?”
“That’s not really necessary at this point. If you’re leaving the Manazura household behind, not to mention taking the liberty of abandoning your duties as a Nightwatch, our worlds no longer have reason to crossover with one another. Go live a peaceful life, as another member of the general populace.”
“No that’s…”
There were no words with which to reply.
She began to walk away, having erected a barrier of rejection towards me, before suddenly stopping in her tracks, muttering something with a grumble.
“...What…? You know that kind of thing is ridiculously meddlesome, right? …Fine, fine, I get it.”
(Who is she communicating with? It doesn’t sound like she’s talking to herself…)
…Of course not.
She had to be having a conversation with her Servant, who had never shown themself.
After a short argument, she reluctantly swung back around towards me, and said very bluntly:
“‘Makki’. That’s the name. Bye, Erice.”
Do I have TL notes for this specific chapter?
Yes, right here even. Specifically about the nickname mentioned, which you may have never heard of (I certainly had not).
Malenkov: I couldn't find ANYTHING about this on English wikipedia and the like. At all.
I literally asked two Japanese coworkers who this guy was and they did not know. LOL
Turns out, there was a fairly famous Japanese guitar player/singer named 加藤武男 who started guitar in the 1940s, and then was popular from the 50s-early 2000s, dying in 2009. His life, in my opinion, definitely inspired Kuchime's character in a few pretty obvious ways, so I recommend looking up his wikipedia (JP Wikipedia) if you're interested in that kinda thing. The name Malenkov is because people thought he looked like the Soviet politician of the same name.
Last edited by Coggy; December 10th, 2022 at 12:47 PM.
Ok, I didn't know about Katou Takeo, but now the nickname suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Wow Makki is way more crass than I expected.
later in the bookThe contrast between her now and her as Yukika is really hard to wrap the mind around. Fuyuki must have gotten hit by the war really hard.
so he's a pervert, got it“The truth is I… I just want to listen to her singing voice for a little while longer. That’s all I want.”
Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart
canon finish apo vol 3
Wow Makki is way more crass than I expected.
later in the bookThe contrast between her now and her as Yukika is really hard to wrap the mind around. Fuyuki must have gotten hit by the war really hard.Chapter 16The only way I can make sense of this and the fake name is that she's trying to emulate Makidera to cope, but without the proper respect to Makidera's attitude and personality.
Yeah, I knew her style of speaking was gonna be a bit hard for me to TL, but I'm overall happy with it so far. A thing about her crassness is it's a lot of really overly informal or outright rude Japanese, mixed with insults. That kind of "thug speak" is always a pain IMO.Wow Makki is way more crass than I expected.
later in the bookThe contrast between her now and her as Yukika is really hard to wrap the mind around. Fuyuki must have gotten hit by the war really hard.
Still not as bad to TL as when Karin goes full zoomer netslang tho.
Yeah, speaking of I almost put a TL note for this tooChapter 16The only way I can make sense of this and the fake name is that she's trying to emulate Makidera to cope, but without the proper respect to Makidera's attitude and personality.Chapter 16But I was going to change her nickname to just "Maki", since that's Makidera's nickname and it's obviously a reference to that, but it seems the commonly accepted for this character has been Makki since that's how it's romanized in her art/profile. Maybe I'll change later, idk.
Anyhow, TL should continue at a steady progress for a while now. Was really happy working on this again, so I'm hoping I get back into a proper groove with TL. I can say that my TL speed has increased greatly since before I got here, since I feel I just have a generally better grasp of the language. Does this mean anything for the release speed?
Hopefully, but also editing still takes time and half the time I feel like I should've edited even more in-depth, so...
Last edited by Coggy; July 22nd, 2022 at 11:06 AM.
Since you haven't posted any updates in a bit, I was wondering whether you are still working on the TL?
It hasn't even been that long. Patience. If Coggy dropped it, they're active enough to make a statement.Since you haven't posted any updates in a bit, I was wondering whether you are still working on the TL?
Yeah, haven't dropped it, just got really busy for the past few months because of everything that came along with the move (+some controversy with a different tl project), though I've picked up pace again and am back to tl'ing/editing a substantial amount everyday.
Am currently working on finalizing the last 10 or so pages of Chapter 11 cause I want to post everything left for it in one dump instead of split into parts. Am hoping to be done with said editing in the next few days, but I might finish earlier depending on some IRL stuff going on this weekend.
Apologies for the MASSIVE delay though! I really didn't want to be taking this long, but whoops, overpromising and underdelivering on speed could be my motto for this one I think. Am probably going to look for an editor for the future chapters among my friend groups just so I can focus on the TL itself and always have someone to help me with term checking and the like, but we'll see how it goes.
Well I'm just glad to hear it wasn't dropped. Welcome back!
It's good to hear that! There hasn't been any word on volume 3 too, and I don't see any sense in rushing it if the source material itself isn't in a rush either, so take your time~
That being said, it's been a while since vol. 2 and there's no announcement or anything of the sort, I can't help but wonder if the author is fine…
The chapter is finally finished! Click here, it goes all the way to the end of 11.
“Quite so. This is goodbye, I suppose.”
In a private room within the Reijinza Kaikan, Himuro nodded her head. It was an entirely insincere gesture.
She was wearing a classical schoolgirl-style yagasuri hakama, as well as a face that was expressionless, simply unapproachable. At the same time, she also wore the same face, same voice, and same role over the Caren Series.
But despite all of that, their personalities and manners of speaking were utterly different. Strange.
I had always believed my teacher to have a touch of human kindness due to the way in which she pursued her obsessions, and just like her, Himuro’s personality being entirely mired in a coolly indifferent style of acting was, in my opinion, also very much human.
However, such a thing was the vice of humans who attempted to appraise themselves by their own standards of judgment. For her, as the human interface for the Holy Grail, such traits were not something to be admired for.
“The girl, Makki, had no intention of coming into contact with you in any way, but now that contact has been made there is nothing to be done about it.”
First, there was the Nightwatch with an intimate understanding of the underbelly of society, Makki, a person who was but a stranger to me. And now… the fact that this “cafe” and its services were directly managed by Himuro… My image of her character as the straight-laced type had been shaken.
“...Himuro, you’re not always around at this business, right?”
“Indeed, I am not. The job I do here is not full-time, though this store has its use as a place to meet with important persons for negotiations, while also acting as a lawful source of information that is both applicable and valid to utilize. When the time arises that I must leave for outside business, I entrust care of this store to the manager here.”
“Ah, so it’s that kind of thing…”
I had made my way into the “cafe” with heavy steps and a hung head, but what awaited me inside was a spectacle beyond my expectations.
The adult stylings and music. The dark brown of the mahogany furniture. The gaudy red and gold of the luxurious decor. The fragrance of the roasting coffee and the melodic flow of popular music…
Wait, this stuff is just like a normal cafe…
Instead, the problem came from Karin and Voyager, who had been guided into a semi-private room when they arrived ahead of me.
The cafe’s “waitresses”, who were dressed in aprons made in a style that blended Western and Japanese clothing together and designed to resemble the uniform of a maid, were all crowded around the young blonde boy sitting upon the sofa.
Set before him was an extra bit of service, a parfait seemingly gifted for him to eat at whatever pace he pleased. The hostesses of the cafe all gave off a sense of distance to him that said nothing but “too close” as they surrounded him, pampering away without reservation.
Out of nowhere, I heard the distant sound of voices whispering “Grim Reaper…” at me, but I pretended not to hear them.
“...What are you doing? Who do you think you are? Are you a prince now?”
“*Chew, chew* *sluuurp* …Do you know what this is, Erice? A banana… and cream and… pudding parfait. That’s what this food is. It’s super super tasty. It’s really not bad at all.”
“That is NOT the part I was talking about, okay? Do you understand?”
“It’s amazing. It has so many flavors in it. We have to do more… research on it.”
“.....”
For someone that’s usually quiet without much to say, when he DOES speak he sure likes to run his mouth.
Meanwhile, Karin was being Karin and, obviously having forgotten my earlier concerns, was having a rousing chat with the hostesses. She looked like a total regular.
It’s a matter of fact that minors are typically prohibited from entering this cafe, but Himuro had been aware of the situation at hand and chose to let them in.
Because it mainly operates during the night there are few customers during the day, causing the staff to have a lot of free time throughout the morning. It would seem the combo of the seldom seen young boy and girl arriving at the shop had resulted in them being received as welcome guests.
And, as I had expected, the hostesses here consisted not only of humans, but of Servants too.
(The gorgeous woman over there, moving so gracefully…. That’s the famous female spy, Mata Hari! To see her performing a dance on the stage here… She’s a celebrity among Heroic Spirits…! And not to mention, that dangerous looking woman with the brunette hair and a rifle at her side… is that the female sharpshooter, Annie Oakley?
This is a first… is she the actual bouncer for this store, or is she just here for show?
Wait, no, I don’t think that’s a real gun…
And even though both of them are wearing those orthodox hakama, they really do stand out…)
(Both of those Heroic Spirits were involved in showbusiness, so they should be compatible with the service industry…. I guess?)
That sense of conflict that came from the Servants in the arena, between their pride and remorse, floats through my mind once more.
However, this store is different from the hostess club “cafes” of history.
The misfortune brought by those businesses’ unstably meager wages, the type that would cause the hostesses to become reliant on providing “excess service” in order to make ends meet, had not been reproduced here. In this place, supply and demand are exchanged under proper administration, after the mutual understanding of both the customer and the storefront had been reached.
And the person in charge of this store, as of the present, was the one I was currently in the middle of confronting, Caren Himuro.
“--Indeed. The assignment of the Holy Shroud to Makki’s possession was requested by myself, and granted approval by Chitose. Therefore, Erice, your wish for said request to be overturned will, as a matter of principle, not be granted.”
“...Seems that way, huh?”
“Ever since the incident some days ago, the public has had an exponential growth within its sense of insecurity, one that must be resolved without a moment’s hesitation. This application of the Shroud was a necessary action in order to preserve public order. Please, do understand.”
“...I understand.”
I already understood all that.
I knew that it was asking too much to have Caren’s belongings given over to me.
We had gone through so much trouble just to get a meeting with Himuro that it would’ve been completely nonsensical to just give her a greeting and then be on our way back home, so I decided to make my request just in case, but in the end it was a pointless conversation.
If you are going to be the owner of it, I was wondering if somehow you might allow me to be the one to use it?
“Ever since the incident there’s been an increase in your duties as City Management that’s been keeping your hands full. You’re saying that you, personally, don’t have the resources to directly solve the issues at hand through the use of Mystic Codes, isn’t that right?”
“That is exactly right, Erice. The innumerable letters of complaint that you sent have been weighed in comparison to the demands of countless other citizens, and appropriate measures have been taken as a result.”
So they were withholding their response because it was a lower priority for them… huh?
That was absolutely a lie.
That sort of thing could have been handled in the background of this little tea time in the split of a nanosecond.
Once again, Chitose is the one who instigated this!
“...Well, I need to thank you for what you did with Miss Rurihime’s situation but…”
“It was for the best. We have been receiving regular reports from Tenman-gū’s Rurihime. Her inheritance of your duties seems to have been a favorable one. Servant Minamoto no Kurou Yoshitsune is also acclimatizing. After her training period has reached its conclusion, it is our desire that she begin activities as the Nightwatch of Akihabara.”
“...Yeah.”
That was good news. There should be no problems then.
It seemed like the right time to part with the store too, as the conversation had gone over rather polite and smooth, save for the fact that the answer to all of my requests was “no”.
And right when I hoped that she would spare me another of her sarcastic quips–
“It’s regrettable, isn’t it?” Himuro muttered those few words as she took a glass of iced tea into her hands. “I had rather anticipated ‘working’ together with you, Erice.”
“Is that… How you really feel?”
“Caren Fujimura appraised you so exceedingly high you see.”
I couldn’t help but let a bitter laugh slip out.
“My teacher was always scolding me. The results of my work were never something for her to praise. Her evaluations of it were always a failing grade– or one that was could barely be called a passable score.”
“....”
For a brief moment Himuro quietly fixed her eyes on me. Even if her behavior was nothing more than a performance put on by her fine-tuned personality, just what was she thinking at a speed of thought several hundred million times faster than that of a human?
“It was a pre-established configuration, the settings for the automatic succession sequence created with concern for kernel loss, and it did not leave the memories of Caren Fujimura’s personal feelings about you within our Series’ shared domain. As such, I am certain… Caren did not wish to hand those feelings over to anyone else.”
“....”
–I bit into my lip. To not show her any unsightly tears.
Makki’s words, wedged deep within my heart, began to ache.
From there, we exchanged any unreported information relating to the incident.
From Himuro’s side came the state of affairs surrounding the authorities’ investigation, as well as the analyzed data of the city’s surveillance network. For my part, I discussed what I knew about the movement happening within the underbelly of society that I had learned from an informant I was intimately acquainted with.
The investigation had gone exactly as expected, having made little progress and had uncovered no direct leads that pointed towards the culprit.
As we parted, Himuro said:
“Oh, in the case that you are interested in working at our café as one of its ‘Waitresses’, please feel free to contact me at any time. I shall be waiting for you to do so with pleasure.”
“Look up the Labor Standards Act.”
“Oh how sudden. To think the great Utsumi Erice had such care for the law?”
I suppose this too is just a part of Himuro’s sense of humor, but I really wish she would’ve stopped holding such a serious face when she said it. It made me take the joke too seriously…
Just as we were taking our leave from the private area, a wild Karin and Voyager appeared from where they had been waiting in another room.
“Yo, Himi-pie! Gotta thank you for the waffles. They were great.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
“You seem to be in good spirits Miss Karin, and Mister Voyager as well. If you enjoyed the meal I have cause to rejoice. Miss Karin, please send my regards to your father…”
“Wah– Blech, you can cut that out. A-Anyway, did you hear what you needed to Eri-pie?”
“That’s a loaded question. Which part that I needed to hear about specifically?”
“C’mon, isn’t it super obvious? That pudding haired big sister type from earlier. Who the heck was she?”
“There was pudding…” The boy tilted his head as he repeated a sweet tasting memory to himself.
But, pudding haired… Now that she mentions it, the roots of her hair were a bit unevenly dyed, so the black had returned to contrast with the blonde a bit.
Although, I have my own Mystic Code equipped in a way where the design resembles an extension of my bangs. Could that have been a type of Mystic Code too?
Well, no, that’s beside the point:
“I can’t just ask about that sort of thing so carelessly, Karin. It’s no good to pry into the work of the Nightwatch without caution, just talking about their work is a no go and might get in the way of it. First and foremost, I’ve already–”
“I see, so you wish to know about Makki, the agent that works for me full-time. That should be just fine, no?”
“Eh? Huh? I-It’s okay? Could you really tell us?”
Karin looked to me as her face changed into one of triumph, ready to gloat.
According to Himuro, Makki did not specifically ask her to remain silent on the matter. The only condition was that we could not ask questions that related to ongoing investigations.
It was a fairly standard condition to give, but it was enough to cause Karin’s face to 180 into a look of total dissatisfaction, given that the number one item on her list of questions (and likely the one thing she was even expecting to hear about) had to do with Kuchime’s arrest.
(As for me, I can’t just leave things like this either… I’ll go through with a more thorough investigation after this is done.)
“This is a topic that even some of the hostesses here would know of, those with the most discerning of ears at least.” Himuro said as a preface to the conversation. “Since the time in which Mosaic City was being founded, Makki has been acting as an agent for Chitose, providing her with assistance. This began even before my implementation as a City Management AI.”
“The Nightwatch has existed since even before the Management AI?”
So basically, that would mean that lady… would mean that Makki is something of a senpai to me… I’m starting to understand less and less.
“In those days the title and occupation of Nightwatch did not exist, however there was the rather free role of Spellcaster.”
“Hmph. She’s older than she looks. Must’ve been rejuvenated by some eternal youth treatments. She’s really overdoing it, don’t you think?”
“Karin… That’s a bit…” (...Of a strange thing to get so stuck on.)
Sometimes the next-generation will just casually talk about other peoples’ problems regarding their age, with no real ill will behind it. Whether one looks young or old is up to the person in question’s preference.
As for the old generation, the act of falsifying one’s outward appearance was an unnatural thing, one done with a feeling of guilt, though they didn’t have those negative values in the beginning.
“Erice? Allow me to say that, in spite of your intimacy with Chitose, it is of no surprise that you would not have any knowledge of Makki, despite her being someone you could call your ‘colleague’ within the Nightwatch. She is known to frequently make expeditions to the outside of Mosaic City as experiments, staying on-site for extended periods of time in order to conduct her investigative activities. Her current homecoming only began recently.”
“Did you say outside of Mosaic City…!?”
“Wha– No way! How the heck does she do that!?”
This topic became one that I was no longer a stranger to. The simple fact alone was one worthy of admiration. Karin was amazed by this information as well.
“It is not unreasonable for you to be shocked by such a thing. Makki is possessed of the ability to evade great peril. If she was not, she would have been incapable of surviving within that place– at the site of such a fierce and bloody battle like Fuyuki.”
(----!)
The instant I heard that name made my hair stand on end with a shudder.
“...Fuyuki…? Did you say Fuyuki? As in one of the battlegrounds of the Holy Grail War th–”
“Indeed. Agent Makki numbers among the few who can call themselves a survivor of Fuyuki.” Himuro let us see a slight smile flash upon her face. It was the first time that day her lips had stopped being so stiff. It was as if she was laughing at herself for making the mistake of saying too much to me.
Just like the nod, an entirely insincere gesture.
“The experience of having been at that place would be a truly gruesome memory, one impossible to wipe away, no matter the person. The woman in question has no desire to speak of her past. And because I myself only know about such things as a result of what I heard from Caren Fujimura, I have nothing more I can say on the matter…”
What follows is an unspoken “Please, accept my utmost apologies…”.
As she concluded her speech, Himuro hung her head with grace.
*
After all was said and done, Shinjuku produced zero results.
We couldn’t get our hands on the ‘Holy Shroud’, and I didn’t think that the Nightwatch we met through that sudden chance encounter, Makki, was likely to become our ally. I proceeded to go around to some of the underworld’s leading figures, as well as to my informant acquaintance, to look into the ‘Command Seal Hunter’, but the harvest wasn’t particularly bountiful there either.
At a nook within Tsunohazu our party sat side by side on some concrete playground equipment to rest our feet for a short while in a small park.
“Eri-pie, aren’t you gonna head home? I mean like, to your parents’ house in Hanazono.”
“What? There’s no way I’m going back.”
“You don’t wanna go and let Grandma Chitose see your face or anything?”
“...What is this? Are you being serious?”
Karin, whether fortunately or not, had not been present at that scene.
She was not witness to the shocking moment in which Lucius turned his spear upon Voyager. When I told her about what had happened after the fact she was hardly able to believe the situation could occur.
And besides, even though Chitose tends to stay at home under normal circumstances, right now she’s likely extremely busy, so she wouldn’t even be there. All we’d find is an empty and gloomy flat with nobody inside it.
“If you’re so insistent on homecomings, wouldn’t it be good to go home yourself? To your house in Shibuya.”
“Ew, no way. They’ll totally ban me from going out again this time. I wanna see my cute little bros but I’ll just have to put up with it strong as I can~ Hang in there Karin, hang in there…”
While insisting upon this point she took Voyager firmly into her arms and started to ruffle his hair while hauling him around.
“Eriiiice….” The boy who was being jerked around gave me a look with moistened eyes that cried out he wanted it to stop.
Reluctantly, I began to reach out with him with the feeling that I had no choice but to do something about the situation, when something caught Karin’s attention.
“Hm? What’s this under your scarf… leather goggles? And if it ain’t the ones I saw in Erice’s room before. You mean to bring these with you?”
“I got them, from Erice.”
“Ooooh! Isn’t that just the coolest! They look good on ya!”
“They do… right? I’ve… been thinking so too.”
The boy’s expression did an about-face as he smiled wide with a giggle.
Seriously, what an upbeat little guy.
“Hold it a second Karin, don’t go making any suspicious moves. And that goes for you too, Voyager. I’d like to avoid getting chased around by people looking to take us into protective custody again, got it?”
…Those goggles are a memento of my father’s. Or so I was told.
An antique aviation design. He would use them when he rode around on his motorbike. I had hoped that if, by some miracle, a defective thing like myself had a Servant summoned to them, I would be able to give those goggles to that Servant.
That’s why this morning, when I finally handed them over to him as I was leaving my apartment, I was at a suitable level of emotionally moved.
Although, the size is just a bit too big for Voyager, so he has to either hang them around his neck or wear them on top of his head but… well, if the one wearing them likes them I’ve got no problems.
That person– Makki, she didn’t try to hide the fact that she was acquainted with my father. Not only that, she specifically called me by my father’s family name of Utsumi. And she even knew my mother’s name, Nami.
Grandmother, Chitose, she changed her family name back to her maiden name of Manazuru after giving birth to my father.
Was doing so a demonstration of her determination as the heiress to a Magus’ family lineage, or was it due to a more personal separation involving her family…? Whichever it was, I have no idea.
Regardless, if Chitose continues to keep her mouth as closed as it’s always been about my parents’ past, then I want to meet with Makki again.
It’s not that I want her to tell me some heartwarming story about them.
I want to hear from her what Chitose and Lucius have never told me, what my teacher wouldn’t tell me until the very end. I just want her to tell me what happened when my parents died.
And, if possible I… I want to know more about her past, the thing that Makki herself does not want to touch on. For the sake of getting closer to Fuyuki.
“Karin, and Erice… both went away from home, so that makes you the same as me. Right?” Voyager said with a look of self-satisfaction.
“Hehe, runaways is it? Well, if Voyager is saying so too. Er, that is what he’s saying, right? Eri-pie?”
“Hmmm, running away from home and… Voyager’s exploration as a space probe? I wonder if those are really the same thing…?”
A number of days or weeks from home, to which you can return anytime, is incredibly different from a more than likely permanent trip. No, I think what Voyager wants to say is–
“...But in the end, you know what we’re doing? We’re just running here and there around Mosaic City, blocked up by Bounded Fields so we can’t even get out far enough to run away from home.”
(So that’s how Karin feels…)
She gave a lonely laugh at her own words, and it felt like the weight of reality had finally fallen onto me.
How could we do something like set our sites for Fuyuki?
The voice of self-depreciation had been ringing within my heart the entire time, telling me I was being nothing but an enormous fool. Even though I already knew all of that, I had started walking.
It was at that point that Voyager gently shook his head.
“This is just a swing-by.”
“...A swing-by?”
A very abrupt choice to use a space term. I believe it’s also called a fly-by.
“Yep. You know, at first, you have to go here and there around the closer stars. But, before long you go higher and higher, reach a lot deeper, the whole time getting further and further away until—” He stood in place and pointed straight at the sky. “You go. And we’ll go too.”
“.....”
Neither Karin or myself had the words to reply, instead looking at his fingertips. The tip of a small and all too fragile finger points the way.
The Command Seals on my left hand began to dully ache.
He told me he had forgotten something.
He said the thing that was forgotten was my wish.
He said we were going to destroy this world. But, this world has been destroyed enough already.
(Ahh… This is… the Wish of Ruin… the bloody revolution my master dreamt of… the very thing that is the black dog’s seduction.)
If I could return to the Holy Grail everything that had spilled forth unto the earth I would undoubtedly reduce all of my loved ones, I would reduce my beloved homeland, I would reduce everything to ashes, and I would make an enemy of the World itself.
It would not bring back that which I have mourned.
*
Karin, who usually acted without restraint or any fear of causing trouble for others, had been acting completely docile today.
Despite the fact that I had made up my mind to go to Fuyuki, my dejected attitude had caused us to stumble from the start, until even she was discouraged by it.
As I was starting to suspect that was the case, I suddenly reconsidered what the reason could be.
(Ah, no, I’ve got it all wrong… can’t be due to my attitude, since it definitely has to be because of the stuff with Kuchime. That’s probably it…)
If falling in love was starting to weigh so heavily on her mind, then I can say I’m growing less and less interested in the situation.
I walked around the city with Karin and Voyager, riding as passengers on the trams from one spot to another, but the city was perfectly calm and peaceful. If I were to sense the presence of a strong murderous intent or the feeling of death itself my Dread Spirits would have an immediate response, but there was nothing of the sort.
I suppose that means it’s just a matter of course that Himuro would be dedicating the majority of her resources to the restoration of the city while the city’s investigators and their Servants were positioned around and taking the utmost precautions.
(Phew… getting myself so worked up about this won’t be changing things for the better…)
I relaxed my shoulders and let out a disappointed sigh.
“Hey, Karin? How about we head over to a fruit parlor? There’s a huge store in front of Central Station, right? It’ll be my treat.”
“For real? Alright, Madame Eri-pie’s come out! Such a rare sight, ya feel me? Is it seriously okay for you to treat?”
“It’s not that rare. No, actually, it’s not even rare at all. I couldn’t even tell you what percentage of the wages I receive are marked as ‘eaten up by Karin’. Besides I… want to go ahead and rethink my plans from here. It shouldn’t be anything unnatural for a couple of Junior High School girls to go to a place like that, right?”
“Probs. I’ve never really been to a place like a fruit parlor, so…”
“Yeah. I haven’t been either. But don’t you think Voyager would like it? And with any luck Kōyō will be allowed to enter the store as well.”
And so we made our way back towards the station, entering into the fruit parlor attached to the same building as a huge greengrocer. We could smell the delicious aroma coming from the shop as soon as we reached the storefront.
“A flute parser?”
“You don’t know what a fruit parlor is, do you? It’s an English word though? Er, wait, maybe it’s actually Wasei Eigo? In any case, it’s a fruit-based dessert shop. And you’ve been eating nothing but snacks since this morning…”
Just as expected, the spacious seating area was filled with women, as the male Servants who were present had read the room and made their physical forms disappear. There were also families, their children included, so our group didn’t feel out of place being accompanied by Voyager.
To be honest, I’m really not good at going to places like this. I don’t even like tropical fruits, but it’s not bad to know that there are still such friendly and peaceful places around to experience.
(Be that as it may… there’s still the usual initiation processes for a place like this…)
Some of the Servants who were more well-informed, enough that they seemed to know my face, did not disguise their disgust as they gazed at me, though keeping their stares hidden from their Masters. A bad omen had appeared, and it was a question of what in the world it had come here for.
We had unconsciously made our way to the back-end of the restaurant in order to get away from the bustling crowd, and there, at the table across from ours, a pair of eye-catching female Servants sat facing one another in the midst of conversation.
“Ain’t that Circe? No way, it’s totally her right?” Karin had recognized her right away. It was the woman who ran the live-broadcast at the Colosseum and the self-proclaimed Great Witch.
(Circe… she who lived on the island Ææa in Greek mythology, and an exceedingly dangerous witch...)
Her legend is especially famous for the episode in which she turned a group of sailors into pigs, but the true threat comes from the knowledge she possesses– Her ability to manipulate and transform both matter and life, as well as the arts she uses to do so at will is power nearing the realm of True Magic. I couldn’t tell you why they were selling her as some kind of groundbreakingly happy-go-lucky type character at the Colosseum….
And yet, that girl was not the slightest bit different from the image I had of her at that time, currently utterly immersed in her conversation as she rambled on and on. In contrast to her boisterous energy, her companion’s reactions were rather weak, offering only slight nods in reply.
Said companion was wearing a dark colored robe like a haori, with the hood hung low over her eyes. A Servant from Greece or related to the general Mediterranean Sea, the same as Circe… at least that’s what I was thinking, but she also had a peculiar atmosphere that made it so I could not say with certainty that’s all there was to her.
(An unknown female Servant… and one who’s totally unbothered in the face of that witch… who could it be…?)
I leaned forward a bit in my chair to try and get a peek.
A ceramic-like pale complexion with a melancholy tone to it, alongside long unkempt wavy hair. She has a bigger stature than Circe’s, though still fairly petite in size nevertheless. The embroidery on her robe seems to be geometrical patterns, but they aren’t something I’m familiar with so I can’t identify a particular cultural sphere from which they originate.
(...Agh, I shouldn’t have done that.)
Before I’d even noticed she was staring right back. Peeking out from deep in the dark shading under her hood, a sharp pair of amber eyes was watching.
I had a hunch that she was offended by my prying eyes… or possibly even a Servant with knowledge of my unfavorable reputation, but that wasn’t the case. The woman’s gaze was focused upon the one sitting next to me with eyes sparkling at the sight of his grape parfait, Voyager.
After a bit Circe seemed to finally notice the situation, stopping her one-sided conversation and swinging around towards us.
“--Are you listening to a word I’m saying? Hm? Did you find a dessert that really catches your eye? You can order whatever you want, you’re treating us both after all, so… Hey, wait a sec, where are you going!?”
Without paying any mind to Circe’s displeasure the woman made a start from her chair and moved to standing in front of our table instead.
A suspicion-filled Karin’s words rang out “Something wicked this way comes…”
And, like a specimen in a museum, Voyager is examined with careful deliberation.
An unknown presence, one that creates a hanging atmosphere that contains both the feelings of awe in which a Heroic Spirit is naturally clad alongside a chilled fighting spirit different from the rest, and it causes me to feel a crawling under my skin. A bizarre sense of perfectly clear reasoning coexisting with confused, chaotic passion, the two sides not melting into one another.
(What in the world… is this the feeling of pure, distilled intimidation? Is this… the Majesty of a King…?)
Within the past memories of Servants with whom I had crossed paths, that sensation seemed to be the closest one I could recall. Without even thinking, my body leaned forward as if to provide cover for Voyager, who was staring with a puzzled look.
With no regard for my movements, her mouth opened.
“--You. You are, if my estimations ring true… You are the Servant Summoned twelve days ago, called in the middle of the night at Akihabara. That was you… am I correct?” She asked in a detached voice that gently flowed, one faintly tinged with passion.
“Mhm. That’s right– at Erice’s call, I forged a contract.” Voyager replied frankly and without any hesitation.
This is just an ordinary exchange, so why did it make my chest tighten?
“Very well, then you shall become the final Servant– whether you aspire to such a thing, whether you do not aspire to such a thing.”
“The final Servant… is me, is it?”
“...Mm.”
At the end of that exchange the girl, with a sudden sense of self, seemed to realize what she had just done out of nowhere. She saw Voyager staring back at her as he marveled, as well as the dumbfounded amazement of Karin and I which had entered into her field of vision.
In that moment she hid her blushing cheeks, pulling her hood forward and shrinking into herself.
—The girl’s name was Euclides.
She had been introduced to us specifically as “‘Euclides’ of Alexandria” by Circe.
It was the name of a celebrated mathematician and astronomer from the cultural sphere of BC era Greece. In English, the name is read as “Euclid” which, for the record, has become synonymous with Geometry itself. I think that if you were to list out the wise men who laid the foundations of our knowledge in ancient times, you could list Plato as a philosopher and Archimedes as a scientific engineer, you could then list Euclides among the mathematicians and not one person would be foolish enough to object.
It was rare enough to find a Servant who was a pure, genuine mathematician without any relation to tactics or strategy, but above all–
(A Foreigner Class Servant! As far as I know, she’s the only one in Mosaic City. And, once again, she’s a girl…)
There were few Foreigner Class Servants, and they were avoided as symbols of disaster that brought enormous suffering upon friend and foe alike in the last war. And Euclides, who was supposed to be a man as recorded in our history, is in fact a woman. Even that sort of discovery was buried in the midst of various other surprises.
After an invitation from Circe, now with spirits high, we ended up sitting alongside her.
“Naturally, rumors of the ‘Grim Reaper’ going around hunting Servants down have reached my ears, but to think it’d be a girl like yourself. Well, no need to worry here, I’m totally harmless to both humans and animals, got it?”
“Who I hunt is… it’s all depending on the orders of the Master.”
Keeping my guard up I gave a cautious answer that caused Circe to respond with a “Seems I got that right, hm?” and a wry laugh. The massive order of desserts she called for were lined up on our table, steadily coming one by one.
“Come on, it’s okay to go and eat as many of the dishes as you’d like, got it? Today is Euclides’ treat after all!”
“Ooh, double lucky! Wait don’t tell me, the commentator job you were working the other day– you decide to drop out all of a sudden or somethin’ like that?” Inquires Karin.
“Yep! That’s just the thing! And I took the chance to call up this hiki homebody here on my way to Shinjuku.”
“I… had a book I wanted to read. Though it is certainly true that there was something we needed to have a consultation about…”
Euclides had been entirely unaware of the Grim Reaper side of me. And yet, somehow, what she did know about was Voyager’s existence.
“When you call him ‘The Final Servant’, what does that mean…?” Wanting to know the true meaning behind her prophetic words from earlier, I forge straight ahead and ask her about it.
“Your group is… You are middle school students, are you not? What happened to school? I don’t find skipping to be praiseworthy.”
Upon being called out straight to our faces, both Karin and I cringe with a jolt before shrugging our shoulders. At the same time, in comes Voyager with a far too candid follow-up. I mean seriously, he really held nothing back.
“Erice, she, you know, really hates school.”
No way, I don’t hate studying and stuff at all.
But it was too late, the woman’s eyebrows had furrowed and she had drawn away from us in shock. Her lips were trembling.
“So that’s how it is…? That sort of thing is… Not very Euclidean of you…”
I thought I was about to get reprimanded by some stranger in a place like this, but instead the reverse came true as the girl suddenly became crestfallen and dropped into a depression. Not only that, she was even timidly pushing strawberries around with her fork.
“Ooooi! Won’t you come on back to us, Eucie!? I’m talking to YOU Euclides! You’re not feeling like this is your fault, are you? The education system has totally sunk to terrible lows though, right!?”
Circe gleefully cheers her on as if this were someone else’s problem.
One way or another, Euclides ends up regaining her composure and turning to face Voyager.
“Your True Name is ‘Voyager’, is it not? Allow me to give a tentative self-introduction of my own–” With her hood down Euclides reveals to us a clear view of her self, one that has the appearance of a young lady while still giving off an exceedingly mature look. Her physique is fairly slim and her eyes contain an expression of wickedness, giving the impression that she is in a horrendous mood at all hours on the clock. “I am Euclides. A Servant that descends from beyond, a Foreigner. There is a library in Tama at which I have taken to occupying the role of custodian, on occasion. I wonder if you’ve heard of it, perhaps? ‘Alexandria’. While, yes, the name of my old home, that name has also been taken by the largest library in Mosaic City. It is there that I help to edit teaching materials and textbooks, while also providing consultation services to the patrons welcomed within our halls.”
“I see… In regards to the library, I think I know it. The building with the statue of the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, right? And what of the Masters of both of you, where are they today?”
“He is an elementary school teacher. As such, he has to teach classes. That is why during the day we usually conduct our movement separately, doing various things. Today, since I secured his permission, he gave me the ability to come this far alone with Independent Action.”
That would mean they were consuming some percentage of their Command Spells in order to move about in remote locations.
Tama is a residential district that carries the left-over atmosphere of a Pre-War commuter town, a vast town rich with nature, abundant with average citizens and students. On the other hand Circe, whose homebase should be in Akihabara, says:
“A shop owner– My Master came here to Shinjuku with me, got it? Isn’t that a bit of a separate matter?”
With that simple explanation given she urges Euclides to continue, and in response The Great Mathematician munches on a half of a strawberry before swallowing it down and continuing the conversation.
“Some days ago, I was approached by medical personnel, an obstetrician, seeking a consultation with me. In recent days there has been a series of cases in which newborn babies born within Mosaic City have had the Servant that was supposed to be Summoned alongside their birth, for some reason, fail to materialize.”
“...So that’s it. Well then, I understand. Since the time of Mosaic City’s establishment, such medical cases have had a certain rate of occurring. However, you’re talking about how there has been a rapid increase in the last few weeks. It’s not become a major problem yet, but from a statistical standpoint the situation is an abnormality. There’s also–” I already had an idea of where this conversation was leading us. That is because, since the very beginning of my work as a Nightwatch I… I personally have been nothing less than a person of interest in this incident. “Not a single instance has been reported– of a return from Servant Loss.”
“...Mhm.” She nodded, her gloomy face dulling as it shadowed even deeper. “Circe and I have been researching the source of the matter. We have yet to reach any conclusions though… That’s right… you all were at that place too. Within the Colosseum.”
“Erice, you have to explain to me now.” Voyager says urgently.
Karin as well seemed to have figured out the severity of the ongoing situation, holding the tip of her finger to her mouth in quiet contemplation. I’d come all this way just to take a chance to relax, I can’t believe it turned to this sort of conversation.
“...I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted your story.”
“You seem to be rather knowledgeable. It’s fine. You exposit the details to him.”
“Right– Listen well, Voyager. Servant Loss is, quite literally, the loss of one’s Servant. In the incident at the Colosseum there were countless Masters who lost their Servants. There was an unusually massive amount of Servant Loss that occurred.”
“....That’s right. Lots of people… died.”
“Yeah… But you know what? If you’re inside this Mosaic City, a Servant will be Summoned again. Though it’s unlikely that an identical Servant to the one from before will be Re-Summoned. But even so a Servant will be Summoned again. The period of time for the Re-Summoning is different from person to person too. For some people it happens the very next day, for others not until after an entire year.
–And for some people, it finally happens after fourteen years.
Circe took over the explanation from there.
“...So, I even personally investigated things using my tournament connections, and you know what? In the whooole time following the incident, not a single case of a Re-Summoning has been reported. That means those guys’ Loss Status is continuing even as we speak.”
“That’s… weird, isn’t it?”
“Mhm. Weird indeed.” Euclides adds. “First of all, in terms of statistical probability based on population size, it is simply not possible. If we are to additionally take into account the circumstances surrounding the newborns, the situation could only mean one thing– To make plain what I mean, starting from some fixed point in time Servants are no longer able to be Summoned within this Mosaic City. Such a line of thinking is merely natural.”
“...And that’s why… I’m the final one?”
“.....”
(Voyager, the Final Servant…?)
The “twelve days ago” Euclides mentioned must reference the night in which I battled Kundry to a crushing defeat, the night when Voyager materialized before me. It was unthinkable that in that time, with hundreds of thousands of citizens in Mosaic City, not a single Servant had been Summoned. And there was still something I was questioning.
“--The fact that he and I had signed a contract. Did you know about it?”
When I direct the question towards Circe, the Falcon Witch responds by curtly shaking her head and pointing at the gloomy mathematician sitting at her side.
“It was my intuition. Merely intuition. I thought that you, the Servant from that problem, I thought, that was you, right? Aggh– no, I don’t wanna… That’s… so non-Euclidean… Iäiä… vulgtmm… vugtlagln…”
Seemingly unable to consent to her own actions, the girl suddenly buried her head in her hands and brought it down onto the table in prostration while grumbling and muttering strange phrases.
“What, this again? Teehee, come ooon, intuition is really important ya know! Not to mention you, boy, I know just how special you are ya hear me? I don’t sense any magical power belonging to one of the known Classes coming from you. And the Foreigner is a pretty special class itself. Don’t you think that maybe there’s something that draws you two together as fellow non-standards of the Holy Grail War?
“That must be it! Great work always comes from a witch, right!?”
“I am THE Great Witch, you know? Alright come on, go on and praise me more!”
Karin nods with admiration and Circe breaks into a broad smile. She has a point and yet I feel like…
I feel like we’re being pushed around by the witch’s sophistry
In any case, even the Heroic Spirit of a mathematician is still a Servant in the end, still a Magical existence; and as such they are not an existence unrelated to thoughts outside those of logic and reason.
“Right, right! And while we’re at it, how about this Great Witch bestows upon that young Servant a brand new Class name– I’ve decided! ‘Voyager’! How’s that!?”
“...That’s good. Really good. Thank you.” Voyager says so with a smile.
“Don’t mention it! Ehehe!”
“No, that’s the EXACT same isn’t it?” I had a premonition that if this were left unchecked it would continue to derail things infinitely. I turned to Euclides, who was hanging her head with teary eyes. “Did you report this information? Miss Euclides?”
“I did. I reported it to the City Management AI of Tama, Caren Gotou, as well as to the City Management AI of Shinjuku, Caren Himuro to be doubly safe. Because it’s so important. Because it’s an anomaly happening throughout the entirety of Mosaic City.”
“Right… got it. Thanks for that.”
Although, Himuro had nothing to say about such an abnormal disaster when we spoke.
It has not yet reached the point of actual harm, after all. If she was intentionally withholding information, it instead makes me understand just how real the severity of the situation is.
As I am now, even with the information I wouldn’t be able to take the first step towards a method of dealing with the matter.
Seeing that there were now few customers within the store, Karin took the chance to call for Kōyō, but she did not materialize.
Karin had even specifically told the customers in our surrounding area “In a sec something big’s gonna materialize, sorry for the bother” to get their consent set for Kōyō’s appearance, and yet she still did not show her form. It would have been nice if even just the tip of her snout appeared to get a taste of some of the fruit but, nothing.
The conversation flowed back towards the topic of Masters, causing Circe to beam with pride as she spoke.
“My Master is a particularly skilled chef, you know? The chain known as ‘Kykeon Stock Ææa’? That’s our chain of stores. As of now, my Master is the owner. I’m the co-proprietor. You can find one anywhere in Mosaic City! Teehee! In Akihabara we even had TWO stores, ‘Kykeon Stock Akihabara’ and ‘Kykeon Stock Colosseum’, but well… it’s unfortunate, but the Colosseum seems to have been closed indefinitely, yeah? Therefore, it has been our decision to reassign the staff. And as such, today we’re here to inspect this block’s location, ‘Kykeon Stock Tsunohazu’.”
…Now I understand. That means she likely chose this famous fruit parlor as their meeting place so she could study and observe one of their rival stores. I had been thinking she was just a witch that only cared for lazing about and indulging in pleasure, but in reality she’s rather business minded.
The witch, who had spoken everything all at once, suddenly changed, her face abruptly turning to a more gloomfilled one. She still wore a smile on her face, though she looked at me with a tinge of loneliness.
“You said your name is Utsumi Erice, correct? Let me thank you. You fought for us. Risked your life to save the audience gathered at the Colosseum.”
“I… I didn’t do anything a person should want to praise me for. During that incident, I failed. Not a single thing went well.”
I am the Grim Reaper– and completing the duties of the Grim Reaper is something done without the praise or admiration of others. But even so, Circe never ceased her gentle smile.
It was as if she was looking at an unworthy disciple, a smile filled with understanding, acceptance, and affection.
“Nono, look here– I couldn’t do a damn thing, you know? I was only trying to get my own Master out of that hellish place, and that alone took everything I had.”
“An admirable thing to do.”
“Errgh, I wonder about that… I know I didn’t do super good at it…” She leans back in her chair while deprecating herself. She fiddles with her, which is done in a Taisho style allowing two braids to hang in front of her chest. The gesture of a maiden. “You know, my Master has been waiting this whole time. She parted with her beloved during the Pre-War period, but she still carries the belief he’ll come home to her. That’s why she’s been waiting the whooole time for the day he will finally arrive in Mosaic City, waiting a whole fourteen years.”
“A Holy Grail War Refugee… I presume?”
She nods with an “mhm”.
Those who lived in the neighborhoods of the metropolis in the Pre-War times are not the only peoples among the citizens of Mosaic City.
The number of refugees who had been forced to roam the lands in order to avoid both the catastrophes brought on by the World Holy Grail War and the natural disasters that occurred was not a small one, and those who wandered were eventually welcomed into Mosaic City in the Post-War period. At the misfortune of those refugees, Mosaic City eventually ceased to accept such peoples. Mosaic City hardly receives refugees these days, save for in exceedingly rare cases like that of the ‘Wandering Jew’.
“And so that girl goes all over the city: every day, every week, every month, all in search of her lover. I even tried to tell her that, should a visitor come from outside of the city, the Caren Series could surely tell her about them. But she just wouldn’t listen to me, you know? And now we’ve started this expanding chain of stores to see if they could help in her search, even if just a little bit.”
“So that’s what that stuff is… I really figured it was just one of your hobbies.”
“Hmm? Naturally, it’s a hobby too!”
Without any hesitation the witch replies to Karin, her demeanor changing to one that’s both bright and carefree, before humming out the tune from the Kykeon Shop commercials.
“--Hmm, I see, so your little group is planning to go to Fuyuki is it?”
“....”
We made the decision to share our goal with Circe, a choice we did not make lightly, and yet even so Circe’s reaction was one that seemed to readily accept it. Euclides remained with nothing to say on the matter.
Were they underestimating the reality of how impossible it is to get there? Or perhaps, as would befit a Servant of Mosaic City, they were fundamentally uninterested in a future that was unlikely to cross paths with that of their Masters’?
“Voyager, a little guy like you is a ship that can conquer the sea of the stars, aren’t you?”
“Yep. I’m… a ship.” He puffs his chest with pride.
Now that he’s wearing those goggles he looks more like a little pilot than a ship.
Voyager, Pioneer, Challenger, Enterprise– These machines that set their sights towards the universe are a mish-mash of aluminum alloys and electronic equipment, entrusted with the indomitable spirit of adventure by humanity and the descendants of the seafaring vessels from the Age of Exploration.
“--Very well, then you are fit for the task. As a show of thanks for the work you did with your captain in the Colosseum, I shall bestow upon you a piece of advice! It’s the least I could do, really. Normally when you beg a witch for advice you must pay their price with your very life but… You have already paid that price, Grim Reaper.”
“Add vice? Oh, you mean a hint, right?”
“That’s just the thing, little Voyager!”
“...Thank you very much, Circe the Witch.”
“THE GREAT Witch!”
I thought it would be best to respectfully accept her favor.
Among the Servants in Mosaic City, there are those who feel ashamed of the fact that they cannot use their power as they wish due to the limited Magical Energy they receive as a result of their Summoning here.
Be that as it may, the wisdom of the witch gifted to the valorous Odysseus upon his departure from Ææa has the same merit as the myth itself.
–And, in conclusion, we heard some momentous things from Circe the Witch.
While it was not something directly connected to Fuyuki, it was still a conversation with relation to our enemy. I was certain I’d be citing what we heard again to Voyager and Karin, who had yet to fully digest the contents of the conversation.
As we made our departure from the fruit parlor the witch tossed a harmless question my way.
“Oh Erice, by the by? Did the person who named you happen to be someone fluent in the Greek language?”
“...Eh? Not that I’m aware. If I had to say, they probably had more of a preference for French literature.”
Who exactly the person that named me was is something that I could not say for certain. Even so, at the time I answered as if I knew. In my parents’ home there were quite a few Western books that had been left behind by my father. In addition to books written in English, there were a lot of different books written in French as well. Among the French literature was The Little Prince by Exupéry.
“Ah, I see. That’s alright then.”
“...Is there something you noticed?”
I had no choice but to go along with the conversation. I hadn’t planned on doing so, but I had become acutely aware of a curiosity welling in my heart.
“Oh, it’s nothing all that important but– Well, the sound of the word ‘Erice’ brings to mind the land of the dead in which heroes spend their afterlife. In Japanese they call it ‘Eriyusion’, but if you wanted to call it by its proper name you would say ‘Elysium’. I just find it a little ironic that you, with a name like that, are the ‘Grim Reaper’ of this city.”
“...It is a common name.” At this point, Euclides hesitantly added her voice to the conversation. “...In the French language ‘Élysée’ carries the meaning of ‘Elysium’. The famous avenue in France is known as ‘Champs-Élysées’, is it not? And the ‘Jardin des Champs-Élysées’ is the paradise to which the spirits of those slain in war return after passing through the Arc de Triomphe. If you want the details, ask Bonaparte about it.”
“And that is the wisdom of a bookworm. You even know a lot about stuff outside your area of expertise, don’t you now? Don’t you think you should ask to be the commentator next time when the Tournament reopens?
“Bwegh… That wouldn’t be very Euclidean…”
A smiling Circe giggles with a ‘Teehee!’ before adding a conclusion to the conversation.
“In Fuyuki that girl was… I heard that Medea had been summoned there. Well, I’m sure she’s already long dead or returned to the Throne of Heroes, right? But if you DO see her, be sure to give her my best regards.”
…I will. Even if that person were to be an enemy of mine.
Because it’s so frustrating when you can’t see the people you want to see. Because it becomes too much to bear.
Last edited by Coggy; December 10th, 2022 at 12:45 PM.
I'd recommend using either collapse 3 or the spoiler tag to make it a bit less liable to disappearing.
Thanks for the advice! Gone ahead and done that for every post just to be safe.I'd recommend using either collapse 3 or the spoiler tag to make it a bit less liable to disappearing.
Next, here are some TL notes for this chapter! There's a lot of content, so I put together some of the highlights.
So first and foremost, the use of the word "Spellcaster" in the line 当時 は 夜警 という 呼び名 も 職種 も あり ませ ん ので、 フリーの魔術使い です ね」. It specifically says "Furii no Majutsutsukai", which I did not know was a Spellcaster. At first I had wondered if it was like a Freelancer or other term I've seen but when I went to double check the glossary/other sources a friend of mine who is big into El Melloi/Case Files pointed out to me it's a term there as well. Just something fun I thought I'd point out for anyone who might not know the term, I def didn't remember it from anywhere before doing my research.
Next, there was a term in the part 3 upload where I realize I forgot to post about. I have decided to go with "Wayward Servant" for 踏み外したサーヴァント as I could not find anything else at the time of TL'ing it. If anyone knows of a different term/more commonly accepted one for that phrase, please let me know.
Also in the same part 3 post there's a line where I wrote "–The only thing that could alleviate the sorrow of the people was beauty." for a line which reaids "─ ─ ─ 人々を癒やすものは、ただ美し" in Japanese. The word "癒す" commonly means heal, cure, alleviate (as in fatigue, pain, saddness, etc.) or even "satisfy". I considered "Satiate" as it seems an Erice term, but given the context it does feel as though she's referring to keeping the people somewhat happy, so I decided to go with alleviate their sorrow.
Next, during Erice's monologue about the "black dog's seduction" some of the lines/phrases in there are the same as in Vol 1 so I decided to just match what the translator for that had done. Hopefully it's noticeable that there are similarities.
For Euclides' name, Erice actually does make a point that Circe specifically introduces her as "エウクレイデス" so I think the intention from Meteo was to have her go by that name since she's a Foreigner/genderbend. I know it's a bit common to call her Euclid (on the rare occasion people talk about her) so sorry if that seems like breaking the mold. Also in the line where Erice is explaining the name of Euclid being her English/non-Japanese one she says "紀元前 ギリシャ 文化圏 の 数学 者・天文学 者 として 著名。 英語 読み の〝 ユークリッド〟 と いえ ば、 幾何学 の 代名詞 にも なっ て いる". I debated just making this "Father of Geometry" since it seemed a bit weird and upon doing a lot of research and asking the native speakers I know it seems as though Euclid isn't typically called that here, but in the end I just kept it more textually accurate which is about it being synonymous.
Next when Euclides introduces herself as a Foreigner she says "降臨者", which is the term that doubles as/is often glossed with katakana as Foreigner, but I felt the literal translation needed to come across as well here since she herself is likely a vessel for an Outer God, and this specific kanji I can only really find on Abby's profile when calling her a "visitor from the void" and on summer Abby as "The Foreigner who descends".
BTW Kykeon Stock is a parody of a soup chain in Japan called Soup Stock.
Lastly, the part about Erice's name was a pain in the ass to translate. That is all.
Last edited by Coggy; December 10th, 2022 at 01:05 PM.
Thanks much for the update, Coggy!
I approve of Meteo's insistence on using Circe everywhere he can because Circe is fun.
Thank you very much for the translation.The chapter is finally finished! Click here, it goes all the way to the end of 11.
“Quite so. This is goodbye, I suppose.”
In a private room within the Reijinza Kaikan, Himuro nodded her head. It was an entirely insincere gesture.
She was wearing a classical schoolgirl-style yagasuri hakama, as well as a face that was expressionless, simply unapproachable. At the same time, she also wore the same face, same voice, and same role over the Caren Series.
But despite all of that, their personalities and manners of speaking were utterly different. Strange.
I had always believed my teacher to have a touch of human kindness due to the way in which she pursued her obsessions, and just like her, Himuro’s personality being entirely mired in a coolly indifferent style of acting was, in my opinion, also very much human.
However, such a thing was the vice of humans who attempted to appraise themselves by their own standards of judgment. For her, as the human interface for the Holy Grail, such traits were not something to be admired for.
“The girl, Makki, had no intention of coming into contact with you in any way, but now that contact has been made there is nothing to be done about it.”
First, there was the Nightwatch with an intimate understanding of the underbelly of society, Makki, a person who was but a stranger to me. And now… the fact that this “cafe” and its services were directly managed by Himuro… My image of her character as the straight-laced type had been shaken.
“...Himuro, you’re not always around at this business, right?”
“Indeed, I am not. The job I do here is not full-time, though this store has its use as a place to meet with important persons for negotiations, while also acting as a lawful source of information that is both applicable and valid to utilize. When the time arises that I must leave for outside business, I entrust care of this store to the manager here.”
“Ah, so it’s that kind of thing…”
I had made my way into the “cafe” with heavy steps and a hung head, but what awaited me inside was a spectacle beyond my expectations.
The adult stylings and music. The dark brown of the mahogany furniture. The gaudy red and gold of the luxurious decor. The fragrance of the roasting coffee and the melodic flow of popular music…
Wait, this stuff is just like a normal cafe…
Instead, the problem came from Karin and Voyager, who had been guided into a semi-private room when they arrived ahead of me.
The cafe’s “waitresses”, who were dressed in aprons made in a style that blended Western and Japanese clothing together and designed to resemble the uniform of a maid, were all crowded around the young blonde boy sitting upon the sofa.
Set before him was an extra bit of service, a parfait seemingly gifted for him to eat at whatever pace he pleased. The hostesses of the cafe all gave off a sense of distance to him that said nothing but “too close” as they surrounded him, pampering away without reservation.
Out of nowhere, I heard the distant sound of voices whispering “Grim Reaper…” at me, but I pretended not to hear them.
“...What are you doing? Who do you think you are? Are you a prince now?”
“*Chew, chew* *sluuurp* …Do you know what this is, Erice? A banana… and cream and… pudding parfait. That’s what this food is. It’s super super tasty. It’s really not bad at all.”
“That is NOT the part I was talking about, okay? Do you understand?”
“It’s amazing. It has so many flavors in it. We have to do more… research on it.”
“.....”
For someone that’s usually quiet without much to say, when he DOES speak he sure likes to run his mouth.
Meanwhile, Karin was being Karin and, obviously having forgotten my earlier concerns, was having a rousing chat with the hostesses. She looked like a total regular.
It’s a matter of fact that minors are typically prohibited from entering this cafe, but Himuro had been aware of the situation at hand and chose to let them in.
Because it mainly operates during the night there are few customers during the day, causing the staff to have a lot of free time throughout the morning. It would seem the combo of the seldom seen young boy and girl arriving at the shop had resulted in them being received as welcome guests.
And, as I had expected, the hostesses here consisted not only of humans, but of Servants too.
(The gorgeous woman over there, moving so gracefully…. That’s the famous female spy, Mata Hari! To see her performing a dance on the stage here… She’s a celebrity among Heroic Spirits…! And not to mention, that dangerous looking woman with the brunette hair and a rifle at her side… is that the female sharpshooter, Annie Oakley?
This is a first… is she the actual bouncer for this store, or is she just here for show?
Wait, no, I don’t think that’s a real gun…
And even though both of them are wearing those orthodox hakama, they really do stand out…)
(Both of those Heroic Spirits were involved in showbusiness, so they should be compatible with the service industry…. I guess?)
That sense of conflict that came from the Servants in the arena, between their pride and remorse, floats through my mind once more.
However, this store is different from the hostess club “cafes” of history.
The misfortune brought by those businesses’ unstably meager wages, the type that would cause the hostesses to become reliant on providing “excess service” in order to make ends meet, had not been reproduced here. In this place, supply and demand are exchanged under proper administration, after the mutual understanding of both the customer and the storefront had been reached.
And the person in charge of this store, as of the present, was the one I was currently in the middle of confronting, Caren Himuro.
“--Indeed. The assignment of the Holy Shroud to Makki’s possession was requested by myself, and granted approval by Chitose. Therefore, Erice, your wish for said request to be overturned will, as a matter of principle, not be granted.”
“...Seems that way, huh?”
“Ever since the incident some days ago, the public has had an exponential growth within its sense of insecurity, one that must be resolved without a moment’s hesitation. This application of the Shroud was a necessary action in order to preserve public order. Please, do understand.”
“...I understand.”
I already understood all that.
I knew that it was asking too much to have Caren’s belongings given over to me.
We had gone through so much trouble just to get a meeting with Himuro that it would’ve been completely nonsensical to just give her a greeting and then be on our way back home, so I decided to make my request just in case, but in the end it was a pointless conversation.
If you are going to be the owner of it, I was wondering if somehow you might allow me to be the one to use it?
“Ever since the incident there’s been an increase in your duties as City Management that’s been keeping your hands full. You’re saying that you, personally, don’t have the resources to directly solve the issues at hand through the use of Mystic Codes, isn’t that right?”
“That is exactly right, Erice. The innumerable letters of complaint that you sent have been weighed in comparison to the demands of countless other citizens, and appropriate measures have been taken as a result.”
So they were withholding their response because it was a lower priority for them… huh?
That was absolutely a lie.
That sort of thing could have been handled in the background of this little tea time in the split of a nanosecond.
Once again, Chitose is the one who instigated this!
“...Well, I need to thank you for what you did with Miss Rurihime’s situation but…”
“It was for the best. We have been receiving regular reports from Tenman-gū’s Rurihime. Her inheritance of your duties seems to have been a favorable one. Servant Minamoto no Kurou Yoshitsune is also acclimatizing. After her training period has reached its conclusion, it is our desire that she begin activities as the Nightwatch of Akihabara.”
“...Yeah.”
That was good news. There should be no problems then.
It seemed like the right time to part with the store too, as the conversation had gone over rather polite and smooth, save for the fact that the answer to all of my requests was “no”.
And right when I hoped that she would spare me another of her sarcastic quips–
“It’s regrettable, isn’t it?” Himuro muttered those few words as she took a glass of iced tea into her hands. “I had rather anticipated ‘working’ together with you, Erice.”
“Is that… How you really feel?”
“Caren Fujimura appraised you so exceedingly high you see.”
I couldn’t help but let a bitter laugh slip out.
“My teacher was always scolding me. The results of my work were never something for her to praise. Her evaluations of it were always a failing grade– or one that was could barely be called a passable score.”
“....”
For a brief moment Himuro quietly fixed her eyes on me. Even if her behavior was nothing more than a performance put on by her fine-tuned personality, just what was she thinking at a speed of thought several hundred million times faster than that of a human?
“It was a pre-established configuration, the settings for the automatic succession sequence created with concern for kernel loss, and it did not leave the memories of Caren Fujimura’s personal feelings about you within our Series’ shared domain. As such, I am certain… Caren did not wish to hand those feelings over to anyone else.”
“....”
–I bit into my lip. To not show her any unsightly tears.
Makki’s words, wedged deep within my heart, began to ache.
From there, we exchanged any unreported information relating to the incident.
From Himuro’s side came the state of affairs surrounding the authorities’ investigation, as well as the analyzed data of the city’s surveillance network. For my part, I discussed what I knew about the movement happening within the underbelly of society that I had learned from an informant I was intimately acquainted with.
The investigation had gone exactly as expected, having made little progress and had uncovered no direct leads that pointed towards the culprit.
As we parted, Himuro said:
“Oh, in the case that you are interested in working at our café as one of its ‘Waitresses’, please feel free to contact me at any time. I shall be waiting for you to do so with pleasure.”
“Look up the Labor Standards Act.”
“Oh how sudden. To think the great Utsumi Erice had such care for the law?”
I suppose this too is just a part of Himuro’s sense of humor, but I really wish she would’ve stopped holding such a serious face when she said it. It made me take the joke too seriously…
Just as we were taking our leave from the private area, a wild Karin and Voyager appeared from where they had been waiting in another room.
“Yo, Himi-pie! Gotta thank you for the waffles. They were great.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
“You seem to be in good spirits Miss Karin, and Mister Voyager as well. If you enjoyed the meal I have cause to rejoice. Miss Karin, please send my regards to your father…”
“Wah– Blech, you can cut that out. A-Anyway, did you hear what you needed to Eri-pie?”
“That’s a loaded question. Which part that I needed to hear about specifically?”
“C’mon, isn’t it super obvious? That pudding haired big sister type from earlier. Who the heck was she?”
“There was pudding…” The boy tilted his head as he repeated a sweet tasting memory to himself.
But, pudding haired… Now that she mentions it, the roots of her hair were a bit unevenly dyed, so the black had returned to contrast with the blonde a bit.
Although, I have my own Mystic Code equipped in a way where the design resembles an extension of my bangs. Could that have been a type of Mystic Code too?
Well, no, that’s beside the point:
“I can’t just ask about that sort of thing so carelessly, Karin. It’s no good to pry into the work of the Nightwatch without caution, just talking about their work is a no go and might get in the way of it. First and foremost, I’ve already–”
“I see, so you wish to know about Makki, the agent that works for me full-time. That should be just fine, no?”
“Eh? Huh? I-It’s okay? Could you really tell us?”
Karin looked to me as her face changed into one of triumph, ready to gloat.
According to Himuro, Makki did not specifically ask her to remain silent on the matter. The only condition was that we could not ask questions that related to ongoing investigations.
It was a fairly standard condition to give, but it was enough to cause Karin’s face to 180 into a look of total dissatisfaction, given that the number one item on her list of questions (and likely the one thing she was even expecting to hear about) had to do with Kuchime’s arrest.
(As for me, I can’t just leave things like this either… I’ll go through with a more thorough investigation after this is done.)
“This is a topic that even some of the hostesses here would know of, those with the most discerning of ears at least.” Himuro said as a preface to the conversation. “Since the time in which Mosaic City was being founded, Makki has been acting as an agent for Chitose, providing her with assistance. This began even before my implementation as a City Management AI.”
“The Nightwatch has existed since even before the Management AI?”
So basically, that would mean that lady… would mean that Makki is something of a senpai to me… I’m starting to understand less and less.
“In those days the title and occupation of Nightwatch did not exist, however there was the rather free role of Spellcaster.”
“Hmph. She’s older than she looks. Must’ve been rejuvenated by some eternal youth treatments. She’s really overdoing it, don’t you think?”
“Karin… That’s a bit…” (...Of a strange thing to get so stuck on.)
Sometimes the next-generation will just casually talk about other peoples’ problems regarding their age, with no real ill will behind it. Whether one looks young or old is up to the person in question’s preference.
As for the old generation, the act of falsifying one’s outward appearance was an unnatural thing, one done with a feeling of guilt, though they didn’t have those negative values in the beginning.
“Erice? Allow me to say that, in spite of your intimacy with Chitose, it is of no surprise that you would not have any knowledge of Makki, despite her being someone you could call your ‘colleague’ within the Nightwatch. She is known to frequently make expeditions to the outside of Mosaic City as experiments, staying on-site for extended periods of time in order to conduct her investigative activities. Her current homecoming only began recently.”
“Did you say outside of Mosaic City…!?”
“Wha– No way! How the heck does she do that!?”
This topic became one that I was no longer a stranger to. The simple fact alone was one worthy of admiration. Karin was amazed by this information as well.
“It is not unreasonable for you to be shocked by such a thing. Makki is possessed of the ability to evade great peril. If she was not, she would have been incapable of surviving within that place– at the site of such a fierce and bloody battle like Fuyuki.”
(----!)
The instant I heard that name made my hair stand on end with a shudder.
“...Fuyuki…? Did you say Fuyuki? As in one of the battlegrounds of the Holy Grail War th–”
“Indeed. Agent Makki numbers among the few who can call themselves a survivor of Fuyuki.” Himuro let us see a slight smile flash upon her face. It was the first time that day her lips had stopped being so stiff. It was as if she was laughing at herself for making the mistake of saying too much to me.
Just like the nod, an entirely insincere gesture.
“The experience of having been at that place would be a truly gruesome memory, one impossible to wipe away, no matter the person. The woman in question has no desire to speak of her past. And because I myself only know about such things as a result of what I heard from Caren Fujimura, I have nothing more I can say on the matter…”
What follows is an unspoken “Please, accept my utmost apologies…”.
As she concluded her speech, Himuro hung her head with grace.
*
After all was said and done, Shinjuku produced zero results.
We couldn’t get our hands on the ‘Holy Shroud’, and I didn’t think that the Nightwatch we met through that sudden chance encounter, Makki, was likely to become our ally. I proceeded to go around to some of the underworld’s leading figures, as well as to my informant acquaintance, to look into the ‘Command Seal Hunter’, but the harvest wasn’t particularly bountiful there either.
At a nook within Tsunohazu our party sat side by side on some concrete playground equipment to rest our feet for a short while in a small park.
“Eri-pie, aren’t you gonna head home? I mean like, to your parents’ house in Hanazono.”
“What? There’s no way I’m going back.”
“You don’t wanna go and let Grandma Chitose see your face or anything?”
“...What is this? Are you being serious?”
Karin, whether fortunately or not, had not been present at that scene.
She was not witness to the shocking moment in which Lucius turned his spear upon Voyager. When I told her about what had happened after the fact she was hardly able to believe the situation could occur.
And besides, even though Chitose tends to stay at home under normal circumstances, right now she’s likely extremely busy, so she wouldn’t even be there. All we’d find is an empty and gloomy flat with nobody inside it.
“If you’re so insistent on homecomings, wouldn’t it be good to go home yourself? To your house in Shibuya.”
“Ew, no way. They’ll totally ban me from going out again this time. I wanna see my cute little bros but I’ll just have to put up with it strong as I can~ Hang in there Karin, hang in there…”
While insisting upon this point she took Voyager firmly into her arms and started to ruffle his hair while hauling him around.
“Eriiiice….” The boy who was being jerked around gave me a look with moistened eyes that cried out he wanted it to stop.
Reluctantly, I began to reach out with him with the feeling that I had no choice but to do something about the situation, when something caught Karin’s attention.
“Hm? What’s this under your scarf… leather goggles? And if it ain’t the ones I saw in Erice’s room before. You mean to bring these with you?”
“I got them, from Erice.”
“Ooooh! Isn’t that just the coolest! They look good on ya!”
“They do… right? I’ve… been thinking so too.”
The boy’s expression did an about-face as he smiled wide with a giggle.
Seriously, what an upbeat little guy.
“Hold it a second Karin, don’t go making any suspicious moves. And that goes for you too, Voyager. I’d like to avoid getting chased around by people looking to take us into protective custody again, got it?”
…Those goggles are a memento of my father’s. Or so I was told.
An antique aviation design. He would use them when he rode around on his motorbike. I had hoped that if, by some miracle, a defective thing like myself had a Servant summoned to them, I would be able to give those goggles to that Servant.
That’s why this morning, when I finally handed them over to him as I was leaving my apartment, I was at a suitable level of emotionally moved.
Although, the size is just a bit too big for Voyager, so he has to either hang them around his neck or wear them on top of his head but… well, if the one wearing them likes them I’ve got no problems.
That person– Makki, she didn’t try to hide the fact that she was acquainted with my father. Not only that, she specifically called me by my father’s family name of Utsumi. And she even knew my mother’s name, Nami.
Grandmother, Chitose, she changed her family name back to her maiden name of Manazuru after giving birth to my father.
Was doing so a demonstration of her determination as the heiress to a Magus’ family lineage, or was it due to a more personal separation involving her family…? Whichever it was, I have no idea.
Regardless, if Chitose continues to keep her mouth as closed as it’s always been about my parents’ past, then I want to meet with Makki again.
It’s not that I want her to tell me some heartwarming story about them.
I want to hear from her what Chitose and Lucius have never told me, what my teacher wouldn’t tell me until the very end. I just want her to tell me what happened when my parents died.
And, if possible I… I want to know more about her past, the thing that Makki herself does not want to touch on. For the sake of getting closer to Fuyuki.
“Karin, and Erice… both went away from home, so that makes you the same as me. Right?” Voyager said with a look of self-satisfaction.
“Hehe, runaways is it? Well, if Voyager is saying so too. Er, that is what he’s saying, right? Eri-pie?”
“Hmmm, running away from home and… Voyager’s exploration as a space probe? I wonder if those are really the same thing…?”
A number of days or weeks from home, to which you can return anytime, is incredibly different from a more than likely permanent trip. No, I think what Voyager wants to say is–
“...But in the end, you know what we’re doing? We’re just running here and there around Mosaic City, blocked up by Bounded Fields so we can’t even get out far enough to run away from home.”
(So that’s how Karin feels…)
She gave a lonely laugh at her own words, and it felt like the weight of reality had finally fallen onto me.
How could we do something like set our sites for Fuyuki?
The voice of self-depreciation had been ringing within my heart the entire time, telling me I was being nothing but an enormous fool. Even though I already knew all of that, I had started walking.
It was at that point that Voyager gently shook his head.
“This is just a swing-by.”
“...A swing-by?”
A very abrupt choice to use a space term. I believe it’s also called a fly-by.
“Yep. You know, at first, you have to go here and there around the closer stars. But, before long you go higher and higher, reach a lot deeper, the whole time getting further and further away until—” He stood in place and pointed straight at the sky. “You go. And we’ll go too.”
“.....”
Neither Karin or myself had the words to reply, instead looking at his fingertips. The tip of a small and all too fragile finger points the way.
The Command Seals on my left hand began to dully ache.
He told me he had forgotten something.
He said the thing that was forgotten was my wish.
He said we were going to destroy this world. But, this world has been destroyed enough already.
(Ahh… This is… the Wish of Ruin… the bloody revolution my master dreamt of… the very thing that is the black dog’s seduction.)
If I could return to the Holy Grail everything that had spilled forth unto the earth I would undoubtedly reduce all of my loved ones, I would reduce my beloved homeland, I would reduce everything to ashes, and I would make an enemy of the World itself.
It would not bring back that which I have mourned.
*
Karin, who usually acted without restraint or any fear of causing trouble for others, had been acting completely docile today.
Despite the fact that I had made up my mind to go to Fuyuki, my dejected attitude had caused us to stumble from the start, until even she was discouraged by it.
As I was starting to suspect that was the case, I suddenly reconsidered what the reason could be.
(Ah, no, I’ve got it all wrong… can’t be due to my attitude, since it definitely has to be because of the stuff with Kuchime. That’s probably it…)
If falling in love was starting to weigh so heavily on her mind, then I can say I’m growing less and less interested in the situation.
I walked around the city with Karin and Voyager, riding as passengers on the trams from one spot to another, but the city was perfectly calm and peaceful. If I were to sense the presence of a strong murderous intent or the feeling of death itself my Dread Spirits would have an immediate response, but there was nothing of the sort.
I suppose that means it’s just a matter of course that Himuro would be dedicating the majority of her resources to the restoration of the city while the city’s investigators and their Servants were positioned around and taking the utmost precautions.
(Phew… getting myself so worked up about this won’t be changing things for the better…)
I relaxed my shoulders and let out a disappointed sigh.
“Hey, Karin? How about we head over to a fruit parlor? There’s a huge store in front of Central Station, right? It’ll be my treat.”
“For real? Alright, Madame Eri-pie’s come out! Such a rare sight, ya feel me? Is it seriously okay for you to treat?”
“It’s not that rare. No, actually, it’s not even rare at all. I couldn’t even tell you what percentage of the wages I receive are marked as ‘eaten up by Karin’. Besides I… want to go ahead and rethink my plans from here. It shouldn’t be anything unnatural for a couple of Junior High School girls to go to a place like that, right?”
“Probs. I’ve never really been to a place like a fruit parlor, so…”
“Yeah. I haven’t been either. But don’t you think Voyager would like it? And with any luck Kōyō will be allowed to enter the store as well.”
And so we made our way back towards the station, entering into the fruit parlor attached to the same building as a huge greengrocer. We could smell the delicious aroma coming from the shop as soon as we reached the storefront.
“A flute parser?”
“You don’t know what a fruit parlor is, do you? It’s an English word though? Er, wait, maybe it’s actually Wasei Eigo? In any case, it’s a fruit-based dessert shop. And you’ve been eating nothing but snacks since this morning…”
Just as expected, the spacious seating area was filled with women, as the male Servants who were present had read the room and made their physical forms disappear. There were also families, their children included, so our group didn’t feel out of place being accompanied by Voyager.
To be honest, I’m really not good at going to places like this. I don’t even like tropical fruits, but it’s not bad to know that there are still such friendly and peaceful places around to experience.
(Be that as it may… there’s still the usual initiation processes for a place like this…)
Some of the Servants who were more well-informed, enough that they seemed to know my face, did not disguise their disgust as they gazed at me, though keeping their stares hidden from their Masters. A bad omen had appeared, and it was a question of what in the world it had come here for.
We had unconsciously made our way to the back-end of the restaurant in order to get away from the bustling crowd, and there, at the table across from ours, a pair of eye-catching female Servants sat facing one another in the midst of conversation.
“Ain’t that Circe? No way, it’s totally her right?” Karin had recognized her right away. It was the woman who ran the live-broadcast at the Colosseum and the self-proclaimed Great Witch.
(Circe… she who lived on the island Ææa in Greek mythology, and an exceedingly dangerous witch...)
Her legend is especially famous for the episode in which she turned a group of sailors into pigs, but the true threat comes from the knowledge she possesses– Her ability to manipulate and transform both matter and life, as well as the arts she uses to do so at will is power nearing the realm of True Magic. I couldn’t tell you why they were selling her as some kind of groundbreakingly happy-go-lucky type character at the Colosseum….
And yet, that girl was not the slightest bit different from the image I had of her at that time, currently utterly immersed in her conversation as she rambled on and on. In contrast to her boisterous energy, her companion’s reactions were rather weak, offering only slight nods in reply.
Said companion was wearing a dark colored robe like a haori, with the hood hung low over her eyes. A Servant from Greece or related to the general Mediterranean Sea, the same as Circe… at least that’s what I was thinking, but she also had a peculiar atmosphere that made it so I could not say with certainty that’s all there was to her.
(An unknown female Servant… and one who’s totally unbothered in the face of that witch… who could it be…?)
I leaned forward a bit in my chair to try and get a peek.
A ceramic-like pale complexion with a melancholy tone to it, alongside long unkempt wavy hair. She has a bigger stature than Circe’s, though still fairly petite in size nevertheless. The embroidery on her robe seems to be geometrical patterns, but they aren’t something I’m familiar with so I can’t identify a particular cultural sphere from which they originate.
(...Agh, I shouldn’t have done that.)
Before I’d even noticed she was staring right back. Peeking out from deep in the dark shading under her hood, a sharp pair of amber eyes was watching.
I had a hunch that she was offended by my prying eyes… or possibly even a Servant with knowledge of my unfavorable reputation, but that wasn’t the case. The woman’s gaze was focused upon the one sitting next to me with eyes sparkling at the sight of his grape parfait, Voyager.
After a bit Circe seemed to finally notice the situation, stopping her one-sided conversation and swinging around towards us.
“--Are you listening to a word I’m saying? Hm? Did you find a dessert that really catches your eye? You can order whatever you want, you’re treating us both after all, so… Hey, wait a sec, where are you going!?”
Without paying any mind to Circe’s displeasure the woman made a start from her chair and moved to standing in front of our table instead.
A suspicion-filled Karin’s words rang out “Something wicked this way comes…”
And, like a specimen in a museum, Voyager is examined with careful deliberation.
An unknown presence, one that creates a hanging atmosphere that contains both the feelings of awe in which a Heroic Spirit is naturally clad alongside a chilled fighting spirit different from the rest, and it causes me to feel a crawling under my skin. A bizarre sense of perfectly clear reasoning coexisting with confused, chaotic passion, the two sides not melting into one another.
(What in the world… is this the feeling of pure, distilled intimidation? Is this… the Majesty of a King…?)
Within the past memories of Servants with whom I had crossed paths, that sensation seemed to be the closest one I could recall. Without even thinking, my body leaned forward as if to provide cover for Voyager, who was staring with a puzzled look.
With no regard for my movements, her mouth opened.
“--You. You are, if my estimations ring true… You are the Servant Summoned twelve days ago, called in the middle of the night at Akihabara. That was you… am I correct?” She asked in a detached voice that gently flowed, one faintly tinged with passion.
“Mhm. That’s right– at Erice’s call, I forged a contract.” Voyager replied frankly and without any hesitation.
This is just an ordinary exchange, so why did it make my chest tighten?
“Very well, then you shall become the final Servant– whether you aspire to such a thing, whether you do not aspire to such a thing.”
“The final Servant… is me, is it?”
“...Mm.”
At the end of that exchange the girl, with a sudden sense of self, seemed to realize what she had just done out of nowhere. She saw Voyager staring back at her as he marveled, as well as the dumbfounded amazement of Karin and I which had entered into her field of vision.
In that moment she hid her blushing cheeks, pulling her hood forward and shrinking into herself.
—The girl’s name was Euclides.
She had been introduced to us specifically as “‘Euclides’ of Alexandria” by Circe.
It was the name of a celebrated mathematician and astronomer from the cultural sphere of BC era Greece. In English, the name is read as “Euclid” which, for the record, has become synonymous with Geometry itself. I think that if you were to list out the wise men who laid the foundations of our knowledge in ancient times, you could list Plato as a philosopher and Archimedes as a scientific engineer, you could then list Euclides among the mathematicians and not one person would be foolish enough to object.
It was rare enough to find a Servant who was a pure, genuine mathematician without any relation to tactics or strategy, but above all–
(A Foreigner Class Servant! As far as I know, she’s the only one in Mosaic City. And, once again, she’s a girl…)
There were few Foreigner Class Servants, and they were avoided as symbols of disaster that brought enormous suffering upon friend and foe alike in the last war. And Euclides, who was supposed to be a man as recorded in our history, is in fact a woman. Even that sort of discovery was buried in the midst of various other surprises.
After an invitation from Circe, now with spirits high, we ended up sitting alongside her.
“Naturally, rumors of the ‘Grim Reaper’ going around hunting Servants down have reached my ears, but to think it’d be a girl like yourself. Well, no need to worry here, I’m totally harmless to both humans and animals, got it?”
“Who I hunt is… it’s all depending on the orders of the Master.”
Keeping my guard up I gave a cautious answer that caused Circe to respond with a “Seems I got that right, hm?” and a wry laugh. The massive order of desserts she called for were lined up on our table, steadily coming one by one.
“Come on, it’s okay to go and eat as many of the dishes as you’d like, got it? Today is Euclides’ treat after all!”
“Ooh, double lucky! Wait don’t tell me, the commentator job you were working the other day– you decide to drop out all of a sudden or somethin’ like that?” Inquires Karin.
“Yep! That’s just the thing! And I took the chance to call up this hiki homebody here on my way to Shinjuku.”
“I… had a book I wanted to read. Though it is certainly true that there was something we needed to have a consultation about…”
Euclides had been entirely unaware of the Grim Reaper side of me. And yet, somehow, what she did know about was Voyager’s existence.
“When you call him ‘The Final Servant’, what does that mean…?” Wanting to know the true meaning behind her prophetic words from earlier, I forge straight ahead and ask her about it.
“Your group is… You are middle school students, are you not? What happened to school? I don’t find skipping to be praiseworthy.”
Upon being called out straight to our faces, both Karin and I cringe with a jolt before shrugging our shoulders. At the same time, in comes Voyager with a far too candid follow-up. I mean seriously, he really held nothing back.
“Erice, she, you know, really hates school.”
No way, I don’t hate studying and stuff at all.
But it was too late, the woman’s eyebrows had furrowed and she had drawn away from us in shock. Her lips were trembling.
“So that’s how it is…? That sort of thing is… Not very Euclidean of you…”
I thought I was about to get reprimanded by some stranger in a place like this, but instead the reverse came true as the girl suddenly became crestfallen and dropped into a depression. Not only that, she was even timidly pushing strawberries around with her fork.
“Ooooi! Won’t you come on back to us, Eucie!? I’m talking to YOU Euclides! You’re not feeling like this is your fault, are you? The education system has totally sunk to terrible lows though, right!?”
Circe gleefully cheers her on as if this were someone else’s problem.
One way or another, Euclides ends up regaining her composure and turning to face Voyager.
“Your True Name is ‘Voyager’, is it not? Allow me to give a tentative self-introduction of my own–” With her hood down Euclides reveals to us a clear view of her self, one that has the appearance of a young lady while still giving off an exceedingly mature look. Her physique is fairly slim and her eyes contain an expression of wickedness, giving the impression that she is in a horrendous mood at all hours on the clock. “I am Euclides. A Servant that descends from beyond, a Foreigner. There is a library in Tama at which I have taken to occupying the role of custodian, on occasion. I wonder if you’ve heard of it, perhaps? ‘Alexandria’. While, yes, the name of my old home, that name has also been taken by the largest library in Mosaic City. It is there that I help to edit teaching materials and textbooks, while also providing consultation services to the patrons welcomed within our halls.”
“I see… In regards to the library, I think I know it. The building with the statue of the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, right? And what of the Masters of both of you, where are they today?”
“He is an elementary school teacher. As such, he has to teach classes. That is why during the day we usually conduct our movement separately, doing various things. Today, since I secured his permission, he gave me the ability to come this far alone with Independent Action.”
That would mean they were consuming some percentage of their Command Spells in order to move about in remote locations.
Tama is a residential district that carries the left-over atmosphere of a Pre-War commuter town, a vast town rich with nature, abundant with average citizens and students. On the other hand Circe, whose homebase should be in Akihabara, says:
“A shop owner– My Master came here to Shinjuku with me, got it? Isn’t that a bit of a separate matter?”
With that simple explanation given she urges Euclides to continue, and in response The Great Mathematician munches on a half of a strawberry before swallowing it down and continuing the conversation.
“Some days ago, I was approached by medical personnel, an obstetrician, seeking a consultation with me. In recent days there has been a series of cases in which newborn babies born within Mosaic City have had the Servant that was supposed to be Summoned alongside their birth, for some reason, fail to materialize.”
“...So that’s it. Well then, I understand. Since the time of Mosaic City’s establishment, such medical cases have had a certain rate of occurring. However, you’re talking about how there has been a rapid increase in the last few weeks. It’s not become a major problem yet, but from a statistical standpoint the situation is an abnormality. There’s also–” I already had an idea of where this conversation was leading us. That is because, since the very beginning of my work as a Nightwatch I… I personally have been nothing less than a person of interest in this incident. “Not a single instance has been reported– of a return from Servant Loss.”
“...Mhm.” She nodded, her gloomy face dulling as it shadowed even deeper. “Circe and I have been researching the source of the matter. We have yet to reach any conclusions though… That’s right… you all were at that place too. Within the Colosseum.”
“Erice, you have to explain to me now.” Voyager says urgently.
Karin as well seemed to have figured out the severity of the ongoing situation, holding the tip of her finger to her mouth in quiet contemplation. I’d come all this way just to take a chance to relax, I can’t believe it turned to this sort of conversation.
“...I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted your story.”
“You seem to be rather knowledgeable. It’s fine. You exposit the details to him.”
“Right– Listen well, Voyager. Servant Loss is, quite literally, the loss of one’s Servant. In the incident at the Colosseum there were countless Masters who lost their Servants. There was an unusually massive amount of Servant Loss that occurred.”
“....That’s right. Lots of people… died.”
“Yeah… But you know what? If you’re inside this Mosaic City, a Servant will be Summoned again. Though it’s unlikely that an identical Servant to the one from before will be Re-Summoned. But even so a Servant will be Summoned again. The period of time for the Re-Summoning is different from person to person too. For some people it happens the very next day, for others not until after an entire year.
–And for some people, it finally happens after fourteen years.
Circe took over the explanation from there.
“...So, I even personally investigated things using my tournament connections, and you know what? In the whooole time following the incident, not a single case of a Re-Summoning has been reported. That means those guys’ Loss Status is continuing even as we speak.”
“That’s… weird, isn’t it?”
“Mhm. Weird indeed.” Euclides adds. “First of all, in terms of statistical probability based on population size, it is simply not possible. If we are to additionally take into account the circumstances surrounding the newborns, the situation could only mean one thing– To make plain what I mean, starting from some fixed point in time Servants are no longer able to be Summoned within this Mosaic City. Such a line of thinking is merely natural.”
“...And that’s why… I’m the final one?”
“.....”
(Voyager, the Final Servant…?)
The “twelve days ago” Euclides mentioned must reference the night in which I battled Kundry to a crushing defeat, the night when Voyager materialized before me. It was unthinkable that in that time, with hundreds of thousands of citizens in Mosaic City, not a single Servant had been Summoned. And there was still something I was questioning.
“--The fact that he and I had signed a contract. Did you know about it?”
When I direct the question towards Circe, the Falcon Witch responds by curtly shaking her head and pointing at the gloomy mathematician sitting at her side.
“It was my intuition. Merely intuition. I thought that you, the Servant from that problem, I thought, that was you, right? Aggh– no, I don’t wanna… That’s… so non-Euclidean… Iäiä… vulgtmm… vugtlagln…”
Seemingly unable to consent to her own actions, the girl suddenly buried her head in her hands and brought it down onto the table in prostration while grumbling and muttering strange phrases.
“What, this again? Teehee, come ooon, intuition is really important ya know! Not to mention you, boy, I know just how special you are ya hear me? I don’t sense any magical power belonging to one of the known Classes coming from you. And the Foreigner is a pretty special class itself. Don’t you think that maybe there’s something that draws you two together as fellow non-standards of the Holy Grail War?
“That must be it! Great work always comes from a witch, right!?”
“I am THE Great Witch, you know? Alright come on, go on and praise me more!”
Karin nods with admiration and Circe breaks into a broad smile. She has a point and yet I feel like…
I feel like we’re being pushed around by the witch’s sophistry
In any case, even the Heroic Spirit of a mathematician is still a Servant in the end, still a Magical existence; and as such they are not an existence unrelated to thoughts outside those of logic and reason.
“Right, right! And while we’re at it, how about this Great Witch bestows upon that young Servant a brand new Class name– I’ve decided! ‘Voyager’! How’s that!?”
“...That’s good. Really good. Thank you.” Voyager says so with a smile.
“Don’t mention it! Ehehe!”
“No, that’s the EXACT same isn’t it?” I had a premonition that if this were left unchecked it would continue to derail things infinitely. I turned to Euclides, who was hanging her head with teary eyes. “Did you report this information? Miss Euclides?”
“I did. I reported it to the City Management AI of Tama, Caren Gotou, as well as to the City Management AI of Shinjuku, Caren Himuro to be doubly safe. Because it’s so important. Because it’s an anomaly happening throughout the entirety of Mosaic City.”
“Right… got it. Thanks for that.”
Although, Himuro had nothing to say about such an abnormal disaster when we spoke.
It has not yet reached the point of actual harm, after all. If she was intentionally withholding information, it instead makes me understand just how real the severity of the situation is.
As I am now, even with the information I wouldn’t be able to take the first step towards a method of dealing with the matter.
Seeing that there were now few customers within the store, Karin took the chance to call for Kōyō, but she did not materialize.
Karin had even specifically told the customers in our surrounding area “In a sec something big’s gonna materialize, sorry for the bother” to get their consent set for Kōyō’s appearance, and yet she still did not show her form. It would have been nice if even just the tip of her snout appeared to get a taste of some of the fruit but, nothing.
The conversation flowed back towards the topic of Masters, causing Circe to beam with pride as she spoke.
“My Master is a particularly skilled chef, you know? The chain known as ‘Kykeon Stock Ææa’? That’s our chain of stores. As of now, my Master is the owner. I’m the co-proprietor. You can find one anywhere in Mosaic City! Teehee! In Akihabara we even had TWO stores, ‘Kykeon Stock Akihabara’ and ‘Kykeon Stock Colosseum’, but well… it’s unfortunate, but the Colosseum seems to have been closed indefinitely, yeah? Therefore, it has been our decision to reassign the staff. And as such, today we’re here to inspect this block’s location, ‘Kykeon Stock Tsunohazu’.”
…Now I understand. That means she likely chose this famous fruit parlor as their meeting place so she could study and observe one of their rival stores. I had been thinking she was just a witch that only cared for lazing about and indulging in pleasure, but in reality she’s rather business minded.
The witch, who had spoken everything all at once, suddenly changed, her face abruptly turning to a more gloomfilled one. She still wore a smile on her face, though she looked at me with a tinge of loneliness.
“You said your name is Utsumi Erice, correct? Let me thank you. You fought for us. Risked your life to save the audience gathered at the Colosseum.”
“I… I didn’t do anything a person should want to praise me for. During that incident, I failed. Not a single thing went well.”
I am the Grim Reaper– and completing the duties of the Grim Reaper is something done without the praise or admiration of others. But even so, Circe never ceased her gentle smile.
It was as if she was looking at an unworthy disciple, a smile filled with understanding, acceptance, and affection.
“Nono, look here– I couldn’t do a damn thing, you know? I was only trying to get my own Master out of that hellish place, and that alone took everything I had.”
“An admirable thing to do.”
“Errgh, I wonder about that… I know I didn’t do super good at it…” She leans back in her chair while deprecating herself. She fiddles with her, which is done in a Taisho style allowing two braids to hang in front of her chest. The gesture of a maiden. “You know, my Master has been waiting this whole time. She parted with her beloved during the Pre-War period, but she still carries the belief he’ll come home to her. That’s why she’s been waiting the whooole time for the day he will finally arrive in Mosaic City, waiting a whole fourteen years.”
“A Holy Grail War Refugee… I presume?”
She nods with an “mhm”.
Those who lived in the neighborhoods of the metropolis in the Pre-War times are not the only peoples among the citizens of Mosaic City.
The number of refugees who had been forced to roam the lands in order to avoid both the catastrophes brought on by the World Holy Grail War and the natural disasters that occurred was not a small one, and those who wandered were eventually welcomed into Mosaic City in the Post-War period. At the misfortune of those refugees, Mosaic City eventually ceased to accept such peoples. Mosaic City hardly receives refugees these days, save for in exceedingly rare cases like that of the ‘Wandering Jew’.
“And so that girl goes all over the city: every day, every week, every month, all in search of her lover. I even tried to tell her that, should a visitor come from outside of the city, the Caren Series could surely tell her about them. But she just wouldn’t listen to me, you know? And now we’ve started this expanding chain of stores to see if they could help in her search, even if just a little bit.”
“So that’s what that stuff is… I really figured it was just one of your hobbies.”
“Hmm? Naturally, it’s a hobby too!”
Without any hesitation the witch replies to Karin, her demeanor changing to one that’s both bright and carefree, before humming out the tune from the Kykeon Shop commercials.
“--Hmm, I see, so your little group is planning to go to Fuyuki is it?”
“....”
We made the decision to share our goal with Circe, a choice we did not make lightly, and yet even so Circe’s reaction was one that seemed to readily accept it. Euclides remained with nothing to say on the matter.
Were they underestimating the reality of how impossible it is to get there? Or perhaps, as would befit a Servant of Mosaic City, they were fundamentally uninterested in a future that was unlikely to cross paths with that of their Masters’?
“Voyager, a little guy like you is a ship that can conquer the sea of the stars, aren’t you?”
“Yep. I’m… a ship.” He puffs his chest with pride.
Now that he’s wearing those goggles he looks more like a little pilot than a ship.
Voyager, Pioneer, Challenger, Enterprise– These machines that set their sights towards the universe are a mish-mash of aluminum alloys and electronic equipment, entrusted with the indomitable spirit of adventure by humanity and the descendants of the seafaring vessels from the Age of Exploration.
“--Very well, then you are fit for the task. As a show of thanks for the work you did with your captain in the Colosseum, I shall bestow upon you a piece of advice! It’s the least I could do, really. Normally when you beg a witch for advice you must pay their price with your very life but… You have already paid that price, Grim Reaper.”
“Add vice? Oh, you mean a hint, right?”
“That’s just the thing, little Voyager!”
“...Thank you very much, Circe the Witch.”
“THE GREAT Witch!”
I thought it would be best to respectfully accept her favor.
Among the Servants in Mosaic City, there are those who feel ashamed of the fact that they cannot use their power as they wish due to the limited Magical Energy they receive as a result of their Summoning here.
Be that as it may, the wisdom of the witch gifted to the valorous Odysseus upon his departure from Ææa has the same merit as the myth itself.
–And, in conclusion, we heard some momentous things from Circe the Witch.
While it was not something directly connected to Fuyuki, it was still a conversation with relation to our enemy. I was certain I’d be citing what we heard again to Voyager and Karin, who had yet to fully digest the contents of the conversation.
As we made our departure from the fruit parlor the witch tossed a harmless question my way.
“Oh Erice, by the by? Did the person who named you happen to be someone fluent in the Greek language?”
“...Eh? Not that I’m aware. If I had to say, they probably had more of a preference for French literature.”
Who exactly the person that named me was is something that I could not say for certain. Even so, at the time I answered as if I knew. In my parents’ home there were quite a few Western books that had been left behind by my father. In addition to books written in English, there were a lot of different books written in French as well. Among the French literature was The Little Prince by Exupéry.
“Ah, I see. That’s alright then.”
“...Is there something you noticed?”
I had no choice but to go along with the conversation. I hadn’t planned on doing so, but I had become acutely aware of a curiosity welling in my heart.
“Oh, it’s nothing all that important but– Well, the sound of the word ‘Erice’ brings to mind the land of the dead in which heroes spend their afterlife. In Japanese they call it ‘Eriyusion’, but if you wanted to call it by its proper name you would say ‘Elysium’. I just find it a little ironic that you, with a name like that, are the ‘Grim Reaper’ of this city.”
“...It is a common name.” At this point, Euclides hesitantly added her voice to the conversation. “...In the French language ‘Élysée’ carries the meaning of ‘Elysium’. The famous avenue in France is known as ‘Champs-Élysées’, is it not? And the ‘Jardin des Champs-Élysées’ is the paradise to which the spirits of those slain in war return after passing through the Arc de Triomphe. If you want the details, ask Bonaparte about it.”
“And that is the wisdom of a bookworm. You even know a lot about stuff outside your area of expertise, don’t you now? Don’t you think you should ask to be the commentator next time when the Tournament reopens?
“Bwegh… That wouldn’t be very Euclidean…”
A smiling Circe giggles with a ‘Teehee!’ before adding a conclusion to the conversation.
“In Fuyuki that girl was… I heard that Medea had been summoned there. Well, I’m sure she’s already long dead or returned to the Throne of Heroes, right? But if you DO see her, be sure to give her my best regards.”
…I will. Even if that person were to be an enemy of mine.
Because it’s so frustrating when you can’t see the people you want to see. Because it becomes too much to bear.
Thank you for the translation! Euclides* seems to be a fun character, I hope she comes to F/GO soon.
Last edited by Tswor; December 22nd, 2022 at 09:21 PM.
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