Chapter 12:
In the falling dusk, standing on the dimly lit cobbled pavement amidst the bustle of commuters hurrying home before the station, the boy raises his eyes to the sky.
Although it is dimly lit by moonlight, it is a lonely sky without any stars.
He lifts his heels and stretches himself a bit taller, pointing the sharp of his nose to the sky as if to stab the moon.
“--Alright then, this time… where shall we go? Erice.”
“Thinkin’ about that right now.”
“It’s already, the end of the day isn’t it?”
“I can tell that just from looking. But it’s normal for me to act at night. Although, I guess even you might be tired, right?”
“Seriously….”
I’m not wearing him out by dragging him around everywhere despite the fact he can’t go into Spirit Form, right? He won’t suddenly become incapacitated, will he? Even now, I’m incapable of taking care of my own Servant.
“Mmm, I can smell something all savory~ Yakitori, maybe? Let’s go grab a bite guys! I could go for a meal somewhere~!” Karin cried out directly into my ear as I sat with my butt hanging from the guardrail. My eyes came to a stop on a ramen stall with red lanterns lit up around it.
“You were doing nothing but stuff your face just a bit ago. Your stomach has to be full of enough fruit to last a lifetime ya know? Do you want to make Euclides cry again?”
“Treating someone, followed up by treating someone again huh… Well, that is what it is, but I’ve got a second pocket for dinner!”
Such terrifying digestive power. If all those nutrients aren’t going to calories or magical energy, just where the hell ARE they going?
“Oh speaking of Miss Eucy, we missed our chance to ask about why she had to suddenly cancel like that.”
“Ah- You’re right. Though I bet she’d probably say ‘It wasn’t very Euclidean’ or something like that.”
She herself seemed to have been pretty upset over the fact that such a horrifying act of terror could happen at the exact time she had to take an absence from her commentator role.
On the other hand, I was actually a bit relieved by that fact. Against such a powerful enemy as Nzambi, if the situation had been changed by her having the chance to manipulate a Foreigner Servant it would have turned into the level of disturbance I wouldn’t have been able to quell with my own hands.
Even when that
wasn’t the case…
Oh wait. Speaking of absences–
“Karin, what’s Kōyō doing?”
“Ahh, about that, looks like she’s in a bit of a bad mood. Having a bad reaction to it… Me too, about that Servant Loss stuff from earlier. I wanted to discuss it with you. It’s something we can’t just leave alone, right?”
“...I see. Of course. I mean, I thought that was only natural.”
The only thing that could offset the feelings of despondency from losing one’s Servant is itself a Servant. Everyone in Mosaic City believes this. If the proper care isn’t given to it and the Loss state is allowed to prolong there will be citizens who fall into serious conditions.
I shudder as memories of the Meister burying himself in the shadows of therapy groups floods my mind. I find myself agitated by the eeriness of whatever it is that’s taking place here. As it is now, I can understand their feelings of horror and isolation… as I should be able to.
–Voyager. He who descended from the sky above, my Servant.
The Golden Boy, who looked as if he would shatter into pieces if I were to but hold him tight. Just the act of having him stand by my side is enough, the Servant I had constantly wished for.
And I was already feeling overwhelmed by the prospect. We don’t have that same relationship of mutual support as Circe and her Master do…
(...Hm?)
My bangs faintly swayed. A message had come in via Mystic Code.
A hidden line on the
.
The sender was an information broker, the Borgia Siblings, and they were looking to talk not over text but through voice chat. That meant this was business that would require my immediate judgment.
{Good evening, carissima Erice.} {Good evening, cara Erice.}
“Good evening to you, Signora and Signor Borgia.”
As I moved off of the sidewalk I gestured to Karin and company that I was on a voice call.
{We have information we believe you would desire.}
“I’m listening.” I had thrown a lot of requests at the Borgias, a lot of which were of the ‘doesn’t hurt to try’ variety. I asked in a hushed voice– “Are there any developments regarding Kuchime’s arrest?”
{My apologies to disappoint, but it’s not about that. This is in regards to trends within the Riedenflaus family.” “It would appear one of the Riedenflaus pupils recently transferred locations.}
“You mean…”
{As I understand, they’re a newcomer Tournament Champion, or some such.}
(They mean Koharu!)
–Koharu F Riedenflaus.
We had exchanged our private contact information, and I had told her about my recent state of affairs. I had also sent messages asking about her condition, but to this day I haven’t received a single reply.
{The destination of the transfer is a remote island in the vicinity of Akihabara.}
“You mean to say… a retreat? One of your safehouses?”
{There’s the patented sharpness of our cara Erice.}
“P-Please hold on a second. If that’s the case, it has to be a safehouse under the jurisdiction of yourselves, does it not? If the fact you leaked this information got out to the Riedenflaus–”
{This request was of a more general type. The example used of ‘Champion’ still lies in the realm of being conjecture, you see? Judging by their treatment, the one being transferred does not seem to be special or someone with VIP status. As there is no proof, it is just fine for us to relay this information as a sort of service.}
“Huh…?”
That was simply not possible. It was just a matter of course for the Borgia Siblings to have caught onto whoever it was that had been transferred. This was just them dressing up their words so as to not leave behind any loose ends.
{On that matter carissima, and this is only a suggestion, we still have a slight allowance among the number of people at the safehouse as of now. How does a little vacation sound?}
“! I’ll go!”
Surprised by my sudden exclamation, Karin and Voyager paused their small talk as they turned to look at me.
The expense of staying at a retreat safehouse with such secure Bounded Fields applied, a place that had been entirely cleared of people, was a pricepoint you couldn’t even begin to compare to with things like the Suite Room at a high-class hotel. It had been recommended to me before in a joking manner, but the truth was it wasn’t the kind of thing I could just do for personal use.
Even so, I wanted to meet her.
I had to make sure Koharu was safe.
{I see– In that case, at the crack of dawn tomorrow would you be so kind as to board a boat at the designated location?}
*
Originally Posted by Coggy
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