--- Section 1 ---
Caesar is happy with what you've told him, so you'll confront Caren tomorrow. When you head back to the Granato, Mashu remains outside, watching the Storm Border hanging in the sky. Whenever she looks up at it, her head is filled with feelings of anxiety, like she desperately wants to do something about it, even though she knows she can't. You want to ask her what's really going on, with Lilith and everything, but thinking back to how serious she'd been when she told you to leave it to her, you decide against it. You'll head to bed now, but Mashu wants to stay out here for a while longer, so she'll catch up with you later.
Once you're inside, Lilith comes out of nowhere and joins Mashu instead. She teases Mashu for the fact that they'll try to sell her value as ten billion QP. Or rather, she teases her for the fact that Mashu obviously doesn't believe she's worth that much, but since that's what is required for their journey to continue, Mashu will just accept the matter and lie to herself that she really is worth that much. Or does she think she's actually not worth anything? Mashu thinks that due to the sin and responsibility she's fought for the sake of, if she were to value herself at nothing, it would be really disrespectful to everyone around her, which makes Lilith believe she thinks her worth comes only from the battlefield.
Lilith wonders if Mashu doesn't ever want to just give up on her shield and just be the normal girl version of herself. Wouldn't that be nice? Just give up the Shielder part of herself. Mashu says that would never happen, that she would never abandon her Shielder self. Her shield is an important memento entrusted to her by Galahad, and as long as she has it, she'll continue fighting as a Shielder. But Lilith has to correct her on one thing here: it's not about her still having the shield. Rather, it's about still having a mindset worthy of the shield. That's what would allow her to continue fighting as a Shielder. If she loses that, her value will drop from ten billion to zero in a heartbeat. People don't shine on their own, so Mashu best make sure she doesn't lose that shield of hers.
As Lilith leaves the scene, Mashu's face is stuck in a frown, and even as Habetrot calls her name, she doesn't react for a while. Finally, she snaps out of it. Habetrot tells Mashu that she really has to let go of this stoic attitude, because she's clearly hurting. Lilith's words clearly have an effect on her, so it's okay for her to be angry or depressed or whatever, but it's not okay for her to just keep acting like everything is fine, when it obviously isn't. Mashu thinks to herself:
Lilith's words, they're...still sticking in my chest like a bad aftertaste...
"So long as you have a mindset worthy of the shield."
Galahad, the Paladin.
Out of all the knights who journeyed for the Holy Grail, he was the only one who found the true Grail.
Within his unparalleled honesty and purity was the mind of a noble saint or martyr.
And I...I tried to be like him. That is the key to wielding the shield.
But thinking like that is---
She thinks back on her conversation with Tepeu, how he told her human lives are all equally precious and that nobody is more special than others. She thinks about how those words gave her the confidence to believe in her own sense of morals, and to believe that everyone really is of equal worth and equally worthy of love. That was the impartial mindset that she believed gave her the right to bear this shield. And yet, Tepeu had also told her that life isn't all fair and equal, and that it only makes sense for her to value someone close to her more than someone else. That's just how life is.
My confidence came undone by Tepeu's conversation.
What is right for life, and what is right for humans are two different things.
Who I am right now is not the same as who I was before.
I can no longer utter that everything should be equal and believe that it's right.
Despite the fact that that is the prerequisite to being a Shielder.
So maybe that's why, right now, I...
Lilith:
"Your worth won't be anywhere close to ten billion, but drop to zero."
Habetrot watches Mashu deep in thought, and has to hold back her attempts at condolences. After all, she knowsa too well what Mashu's situation right now is. She thinks back on a conversation with Da Vinci, wherein Da Vinci had told her to keep this a secret from Guda, and that Mashu's Saint Graph had begun undergoing further unification with Galahad after the events of the Sixth Lostbelt. It's to the point of no longer actually needing support from the Orthenaus, indicating that she's progressing steadily towards becoming a Heroic Spirit. Habetrot had first believed this to be good news, not understanding why Da Vinci took umbridge with this fact.
Da Vinci:
She's steadily ceasing to be a Demi-Servant, instead turning into the real deal.
Heroic Spirits are extended boundary records, which means they are phenomena recorded into the time in which they existed and were active in history.
They are stored in a higher-dimensional "fount" known as the Throne of Heroes.
Servants are familiars summoned and employed through the use of these records.
Habetrot knows all this, reiterating the fact that Servants can be summoned both to the past and the future, and that while it's common to use evocation to summon those of the past, being able to summon from the future is what really makes Servant summoning incredible. And surely that's a good thing too, for Mashu, right? Then she can help people throughout all of time! But Da Vinci clarifies that would only be the case if she was acknowledged as a Heroic Spirit in death.
Da Vinci:
That won't happen, because she is in the process of becoming a Heroic Spirit while still alive.
She won't enter the Throne of Heroes, since she's not going to be able to die at all.
If it worsens, she will become bound to her span of life from between 2015 and 2016.
And then that one-year span will be the only place where she will be able to exist.
From her awakening as a Demi-Servant in Singularity X in January 2016...to the resolution of the Incineration of the Human Order in December 2016.
After that...she will return to January 2016.
Even if the remainder of Chaldea keeps going past 2017, she will always be returned to the start.
And then that time of hers--that Record Zone--will repeat forever.
She will thus cease to die, becoming an event.
Habetrot can't believe this. Mashu's just gonna keep looping through these troubles and saying farewell to her friends forever? That can't possibly be okay. But that's what it means to become a Ghost Liner will still alive. Neither Da Vinci or Romani had ever anticipated that Mashu would attune so well with Galahd's Saint Graph, but here they are. Actually, after the Incineration was resolved, they had all believed that Galahad's Saint Graph had sort of disappeared, since it fell completely silent, but turns out that wasn't the case at all. That's what Da Vinci had later realized, in the Fifth Lostbelt, and tried to warn Mashu not to make further use of Galahad's powers, and instead rely on the Orthenaus.
More than anything, Habetrot wants to know how they could just have let this continue for so long. But the answer is simple: they had to. Without Mashu, there is no way you would've made it this far, and there's no scenario where Mashu would choose herself over further aiding Chaldea. All this said, there is still some hope, and Da Vinci is now entrusting it to Habetrot. She's taken the Holy Sword Essence off the Storm Border, even though they still planned to use it, and is giving it to Habetrot for when the time comes and Mashu makes the "wrong" choice.
Mashu, this is something you have to do on your own. It's hard for me to give you any advice.
I don't know what effect my words will have, nor how that would affect the Holy Sword as a result.
And as long as I don't know that, I can't do much more than watch over you.
Oh, but I should make this clear... I'm not doing this as your guardian fairy, but as your friend.
If one thing's for sure, Mash, you're not worthless at all. Keep that in mind, if nothing else.
--- Section 2 ---
Lilith has prepared everyone breakfast: katsudon. You don't think that's a good idea for breakfast food, but when she threatens to take it away, you all give in and ask to be able to eat it. Then, you head to meet with Caren. First thing she notes is that you all look sick from eating too much. She understands your situation perfectly: you're all idiots.
Now for the main event. Caesar presents the Servant Mash Kyrielight to be of 10 billion QP value. She's someone who overcome the seven Singularities and saved Pan-Human History. Sure, anyone could save the world, but to do so when it's in that sort of state? That's something no ordinary person could do. He then turns to ask for Guda's opinion, who speaks the highest of her anyone could possibly do, and Lilith notes that she doesn't get humble about it in her typical way.
We get a short flashback to the day before, when Caesar started just hurling the most exaggerated compliments at Mashu. He points out her humbled reaction, and says that's a big problem. As such, you're all gonna shower her with compliments until she learns to act like she's actually worth that much. It doesn't take long however until she's fully stunned by the onslaught.
Caren definitely sees Mashu has worth, but she has to wonder if this act of saving the world couldn't also have been accomplished by any other Servant. You say that you don't believe so, but the uncertainty makes Caren rethink the situation. It stands to reason that if any other Master and Servant could have done this same task, Mashu's value should drop. So, she asks Kadoc to give his honest thoughts, and so he does. He says that if he's perfectly honest, he'd say some other pair could've probably done it too, and probably with fewer casualties and in a more speedy and efficient manner. But nevertheless, even though he can't explain why, he believes it was for the best that it was Guda and Mashu who did it.
Caren seems happy with that answer, but there's just one teeny tiny detail everyone seems to gloss over here: she's heard you're all convicted of genocide. She asks if you can possibly turn such a sin into a positive value. We get another flashback in which Caesar tells everyone that under no circumstances can we acknowledge Mashu's sin, or her value will drop immediately. He'll just come up with an excuse to circumvent it if it comes up. But back in the present, before Caesar can say anything, Lilith swoops into the conversation and says that Mashu can definitely turn her sin into something positive. After all, if she hadn't done what she did, slaughtered world after world, she would've died. That's how she proved Pan-Human History was the mightiest of all, and with might comes value, obviously.
Everyone gets mad with Lilith, including Guda, so she just takes her leave. You really can't be sure if she actually just did that to mess with Mashu just now. Mashu herself takes the stage to talk with Caren. She says that she can't overlook her sin, nor can she make it go away, but it's part of her and that's just how it is. Caren tells her a sin is a sin, and that cannot be changed, only your perception of it can. If Mashu is someone who has destroyed multiple worlds, Caren will just have to confirm she has the capacity for it herself, which will increase her value even more.
Caren:
Mash Kyrielight. Sin does not factor into someone's worth whatsoever.
For a weapon capable of destroying the world, its destructiveness is its value.
The atonement for one's sins is a different matter. And here in the hell of Greed...
Value means everything. And it would seem Caesar understood that very well.
Yeah, turns out Caesar was planning this all along? Because of how Mashu could only see a sin as a sin he had to set it up like this, so that Mashu's genuine words could get to Caren's heart. And Caren accepts it, setting a value for Mashu at 5 billion QP. You're confused, wasn't it 10 billion? But Caren says that the fundamental truth you've missed out on here is that everyone sees themselves as most valuable, so in Caren's eyes Mashu can only be second most valuable, and she already sees herself as worth 5 billion and one QP. The grand solution to this is obviously that Mashu and Caren together are worth over 10 billion QP, so you just have to beat Caren up and "steal" her worth.
[Battle against <"Greed" Caren>] (Habetrot cannot be used, Mashu must be a starting member)
Caren admits defeat and clears Moriarty of his sentence. She also gives you a Grail Drop, which turns into a scroll with a scale on it. She says it's a "Scales Certificate", which is something only the Wardens can give. It's apparently like a right of passage for the fourth circle but also an indication that Caren deems you worthy of power that you'll soon require. Anyway, since you're heading back to the first circle, Caren just flings you away, the same way she did her signs earlier, and off you go.
Shortly after, Lilith returns to Caren's place. She wishes to know why Caren handed over the Scales Certificate just now. Caren says that, as a Warden who has admitted defeat, she think it's time someone took Judge Metatron down a notch. Lilith asks if this isn't going to anger Metatron, but according to Caren she will judge even this matter fairly.
Caren takes the opportunity next to ask Lilith why it is she hates Mashu so, because it was really obvious from her glaring that she does. Lilith jokes that it's totally just because she's jealous that Mashu is getting all the attention from Guda, but Caren obviously sees right through it, and can tell Lilith really hates Mashu's whole being. She wants to make sure Lilith won't try to kill her, to which Lilith says she won't. She'd rather see her suffer. God might grant her a swift death, but she won't. And with that, she takes her leave again.
Caren:
It would appear Mash Kyrielight has drawn the attention of quite the troublesome she-demon.
The demonic woman who rules the night. The cataclysmic Woman of Storms from the Age of Gods.
One has to wonder, how did their fates come to be intertwined?
Originally Posted by InsertNameHere
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