The next day
Rin found an envelope inside her mailbox the next morning. At first glance, it contained only blank papers, but when she ran Mana through them words appeared.
"Rin, is everything alright?" Saber asked from the door.
"Yes. Just something I was expecting. I'm going out this afternoon."
"Oh. I will make sure to accompany you then."
"No, this is a joint research project," Rin shook her head. "I cannot bring other people in."
"Magi and their secrets," Saber said with her hands on her hips. "Very well then. If you do not return by sundown, I shall come for you."
"Thank you, Saber," Rin smiled, "but do not worry. Nothing will happen to me, I made sure of it."
"If you are certain."
"Of course I am."
She would come to regret those words soon, even though she couldn't have changed a single thing had she not spoken them.
Following the instructions she received, Rin left her apartment and went into the London subway, moving onto the last carriage, which was conspicuously empty, whereas the others were more or less packed with people returning from work. This too was anticipated in Gerard's instructions.
She slipped inside and waited, while the vehicle traveled through the city's underbelly, until it stopped and the lights went off. The doors to her compartment slid open and Rin stepped out, stealing a glance at the other carriages where nobody seemed to have noticed a single thing.
As soon as she was completely out, the doors slid closed behind her and the train sped away as if it had never lost momentum at all.
She frowned. Manipulation of Inertia? This kind of Magecraft had nothing to do with the DuFall family's Craft, at least as far as it was publicly known. Then again, the DuFall were very old blood.
She was left standing before a cavity in the wall of the subway and Rin was forced to acknowledge both the foolishness and the cleverness of such a location. Well hidden but easily accessible, far too close to the eyes of the general public to be comfortable, but that closeness made any overt attempt at breaking in nearly impossible.
Fishing a lighter for her pocket, Rin tried to shed some light in the passage in front of her, but it was for nought. One step past the archway the darkness could not be cast aside by a mere flame. Sighing, Rin put away her lighter and stepped further into the darkness.
She couldn't see anything, but she was fairly sure that she would not hit anything, though she still traced the wall with a hand to avoid getting lost. She was certain of having gone straight the entire time, however, there was a jarring sensation of having changed direction several times despite that.
Say what you want about Gerard, but he was indeed a first-rate Magus.
An undetermined amount of time later, she found herself out of the darkness and in front of a sturdy, old-looking metal door, left ajar to invite her in.
She took that invitation at face value, stepping past the door and into a lavishly decorated Victorian-style room.
"Good afternoon, Rin," Gerard greeted from his seat in front of the fireplace, putting down his book and standing up. "You are perfectly on time."
"Of course," she nodded. "Did you expect otherwise?"
"From you? Not at all. Would you like something to drink? I just opened a bottle of a very fine wine."
"I'd rather get this transaction over and done with," she replied sharply.
"Well, if that's how you want it to be, suit yourself. Come, follow me."
He led her to a corridor and from there to another room, furnished only with a stone altar and a small table with all manner of containers on it.
"Undress and lie on the altar, please."
On the way to her shirt, her fingers hesitated. Was she really going to go through with this?
What a silly question. From the moment she had signed that Contract, she could no longer back off.
Even though she knew this, her face still flushed when she slid out of her shirt and skirt, revealing the simple white underwear beneath. Her socks joined the rest of her clothes, just like her bra a second later.
Another moment of hesitation went by when she went for her panties.
"Leave those on if you want," Gerard said.
"W-what?" she asked, looking up at him and simultaneously covering her breasts. "Why are you still dressed?"
"Because we are not going to do it just yet," he replied as he unbuttoned and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. "You are too tense, Rin. It's not like I expected otherwise but we aren't going to get anything accomplished with you in that state. Go lie on the altar, face down."
"W-what do you have in mind?"
He rolled his eyes. "Nothing nefarious, I assure you. It's just a massage to make you relax a bit. I understand this isn't something you would have wanted, Rin, but there is no reason to make it more difficult than it should."
Privately, she objected. She would rather this were as difficult as it could possibly be for the sake of her conscience. However, she was too practically-minded to sabotage the procedure, especially since it had been her request in the first place.
"Fine," she nodded, breasts still covered. She walked to the altar, which was inscribed with runes she didn't know, and lay down on it. The coolness of the stone gave her goosebumps.
Gerard walked up to her, picked a jar from the table and covered his hands with the cream within.
"What is that?" she asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Just an ointment to stimulate the blood flow. Really, it's something you can buy at any average shop, Rin. Now, shall we get started?"
He began from her shoulders, kneading her muscles, which Rin had to admit were very tense. He then moved to her arms and then down her back and sides, stopping just short of her butt. He then moved to her feet, working his way up her legs and thighs, again stopping before getting to truly intimate areas.
Rin felt herself relaxing, despite her misgivings. Though she did not like the situation any more than before, Gerard was being surprisingly decent about it and she had to admit that he knew what he was doing so far.
She was slowly getting warmer as the tension of the past months was slowly getting worked out of her body…..
"… ake up, Rin."
"Mwah?" she blinked, startled, with a trail of drool running down her lips. "Did I fall asleep?"
"Out like a light," he nodded. "You haven't been resting properly, have you?"
Her glare told him to mind his own business.
"The hour has passed," he told her, unconcerned by her enmity. "Feel free to take a shower in the bathroom next door before dressing up."
"Uh… thank you," she replied awkwardly, unable to keep up her hostility in the face of his unexpected politeness.
"Don't mention it. I'll be waiting for you in the entrance hall."
He slipped out of the room with one final nod, leaving Rin alone.