Chapter 17. The Black Shadow Falling on the Roof
"Why?"
It was a calm, dignified question, devoid of excessive emotion.
Yet, because of those words, Flat could not help but swallow hard.
"Why is it that when I come to take you back, acting on Lord El-Melloi II's request, I am met with such a refusal? I believe I also made it quite clear that the catalyst you obtained was nothing but a toy knife."
Inside the Bounded Field that concealed them both, the red-clad girl's gaze toward Flat was as weary as if she were looking at roadside gravel.
The personal email from the Professor displayed on her raised phone was an imperial decree that Flat could not refute.
Flat laughed dejectedly:
"Um, because I've already summoned my Servant. I can't exactly return them for a refund, right? I have to be responsible for my Servant... yes, that's it! I have to be responsible for my Servant!"
The watch on his wrist trembled as if moved by his words. Noticing the movement was large enough for Rin to catch, Flat hurriedly patted his wrist.
"?"
The red-clad girl tilted her head.
Since a moment ago, her relentless pursuit had forced Flat into a constant retreat.
Furthermore, she was not an enemy. She was a classmate, Flat's friend, and technically a senior in the study of Magecraft, even if she wasn't older than Flat in years.
After all, she was the only disciple for whom the original "Marshal of Magic" had personally appeared to testify for and take as a student.
Although learning that the reason for bringing a toy knife to the Holy Grail War was a misunderstanding, Flat was so moved that tears welled in his eyes because the Professor had sent her to bring him back!
If they weren't careful, the Master and Servant pair were about to become a duo of trembling companions.
"It seems you have indeed summoned a Servant. And you are currently linked to the Command Spells on your hand. However, it looks like they haven't hidden nearby in spirit form; you're actually acting alone?"
'No spirit form, great!'
He was nearly caught. If Flat hadn't been so creative, far-sighted, enthusiastic, and empty-headed as to ask Mr. Jack to turn into a watch, he surely would have been exposed by the woman before him.
"'Being responsible for a Servant'—I truly have no desire to understand a phrasing that sounds like it's meant for stray kittens or puppies. However, since you have a Servant and Command Spells, it seems it is impossible for me to kidnap you back. I beg to be excused from the life-risking ordeal of taking you back against your will."
To Flat's surprise, Rin did not dwell too much on the matter.
With just one sentence, she reached a conclusion on a problem that ordinary magi would have deviated far from due to a lack of proper understanding.
Miss Rin is quite open-minded!
"Fine, allow me one last attempt to fulfill the request."
With her eyes opening and closing, Rin looked down at Flat and issued an ultimatum.
What was revealed in her every word and action was an elegance that could be called beautiful.
"Do you have any interest in returning to the Clock Tower of your own free will? —For instance, let's make a bet, shall we?"
For example.
"At times like this, we should have a duel. If you win, I'll stop bothering you. If you lose, you return to the Clock Tower."
So she said.
A magus.
Standing at the peak of the hierarchy of this group, as the disciple of a Magician who is practically a hermit at the Clock Tower, Rin stood three meters above Flat.
The slender hand she pointed at Flat slowly retracted, and she clapped once, the image etching itself into Flat's eyes which were beginning to burn with a hint of competitive spirit.
.
.
.
Dusk: Western side of Snowfield City, near the outskirts
Countless steel building complexes viewed from afar were soaked in inorganic haziness.
The afterglow of the setting sun filled the city, with dark orange tones dyeing half the sky red.
Replacing speech with the sound of footsteps, Shirou walked aimlessly through this area far from the city center. He still hadn't encountered anything. But Shirou didn't expect to encounter anything either.
Once the afterglow faded completely, Shirou would head back.
In the mind of the somewhat weary Shirou, the scene from earlier slowly surfaced.
"—Shirou."
A certain young lady had said:
"Leave Snowfield City. Right now. It is dangerous here."
Leaving behind even laughter and joy, for a moment, those words were so ethereal that they didn't seem to come from her, who had been in a heated mood just moments ago.
She was truly thinking of Shirou. She even used the commanding tone from his time as a butler.
"I'm sorry, Milady, but I must respectfully decline."
Not hesitating to use the tone of a former butler himself, Shirou smiled bitterly and nonchalantly.
"It's impossible to leave. Miss Luvia, you should be well aware of my character. I am standing here precisely because I know there is a Holy Grail War."
'Did Luvia know there was a Holy Grail War here?'
Shirou wasn't surprised. If Lord El-Melloi II knew, it was natural that the El-Melloi Class might also have a grasp of the situation.
Shirou should have asked about this sooner, because the current atmosphere was no longer one where he could ask for information.
A faint, nearly inaudible sob of frustration came from the other end of the line; perhaps the young lady was so angry that tears were forming.
Shirou felt it would be better to be face-to-face; that way, he could at least offer a handkerchief.
"You just wait, Shirou! Don't think I'll stop contacting you. Just watch me convince them to rendezvous with you!"
Miss Luvia was hurried and aggressive, saying things that, from Shirou's perspective, were of ambiguous meaning.
However, what he could understand was that she said she would call again.
The phone clicked as the call ended. Shirou stared at the blank screen, half-understanding.
"Thank you, Miss Luvia."
After muttering to himself, Shirou prepared to put his phone away.
Unexpectedly, the other end redialed.
"Shirou, the matter of the Kuruoka family you entrusted to me will have results by tomorrow at the latest. Although I am busy... what you mentioned is something I also need to investigate. Thank you."
After miraculously thanking him in return, she hung up again.
And so, having bid her farewell, Shirou stayed alone on the outskirts of the city until sunset; Emiya Shirou's day passed like this.
"Tomorrow, huh... Let's head back."
The steel structures he headed toward were soaked in haze. Just like the as-of-yet unclear future.
Shirou took a step forward—
Clang.
At the same time, the sound of something landing on the roof behind him rang out.
With a stiff face, he turned to look.
However, he had not yet seen it. Before seeing, his "Mind's Eye" already understood.
A quality of magical energy entirely different from any magus. A massive entity of prana pressed against his sensory nerves, shifting his alert level to maximum.
The magical energy throughout his body began to flow for defense even before he finished turning his head.
That is not a magus.
Nor is it a human.
"Ahaha..."
If someone were to encounter Rin looking down from above, what a lovely sight that would be.
After all, Rin is cute, easy to talk to, cool, and wouldn't make one's body stiff with dizziness.
In the same situation, what Shirou encountered was definitely not Rin.
Something more malicious and dangerous than a cute girl, representing the very center of the Holy Grail War...
Releasing an intimidating aura deeper and yet purer than anyone else—
As a human, Emiya Shirou encountered a "Servant" alone.
The young, delicate woman in a black robe spoke like a skull mask about to carry out an execution. The movement of her lips was hidden beneath a veil.
"I ask you—are you a Master?"
A hand emerged from beneath the robe, clenched into a fist.
Countdown 03:15:46