Chapter 23: Episode 21

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You can read up to 10 Episodes in advanced plus my other fic: Ars Goetia– Antichrist here.

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"You really need to clean up your Workshop…" Rin looked around my room, eyes lingering on the discarded pieces of junks, the garbage I had pushed in the corner due to being too lazy to clean up and the steel dusts strewn about my table. In my defense, I was planning to clean those up, but certain things kept popping up, like the sudden bursts of inspiration I would get while sleeping, or issue such as the first batch of Mystic Codes being hijacked by the equivalent of pumped-up cannon fodders. "I will get to it–" I paused, scratching my chin thoughtfully. "Eventually, now I want to show you something first."

Did you know Arias weren't necessary to cast Spells? You could just think and it would happen; as long as your Magic Circuits were up and running, any Spell that you had figured out and memorized could be activated without an Aria, but there would be consequences as a result. Why did I mention this? Because I just casted [Time Phantoms] without an Aria, which wasn't advised since not only was it an advanced Spell, it was also still in its infancy. At [Rank: Novice], the Mana required to start the Spell was astronomical, leaving me slightly winded and bleary-eyed.

I stumbled back, managing to keep myself upright by leaning against the wall as two emerald phantoms of me flared to life. Their forms were flickering weakly, but they were solid. Now, I wasn't lying when I said their attacks held no weight behind them, they still did, but at least they weren't occasionally intangible anymore… And when I said 'occasionally', I meant nearly half the duration of their existences. Thankfully, this issue had been resolved somewhat after I got it to [Rank: Novice]. That had to count for something, right? "So…" I eyed Rin expectantly. "What do you think?"

Rin touched the face of my phantom curiously, then pulled its fingers, all the while the phantom just rested silently against the wall opposite to mine, much like I was doing. It's understandable really, these phantoms were mere clones of myself from the closest timelines to the present, which meant they would be acting the same way I was with few minor changes. Honestly, the Spell wasn't even cost-effective at this point, but I had high hope for it once it got to more advanced Ranks. Finally, after minutes of poking, prodding and messing around, Rin turned to me with a frown. "I– I guess it's fine? But I don't think it will be of much use in a fight…"

"Yeah, it probably won't at the moment, but can you imagine how powerful it will be once I put in a few adjustments?"

Although I might be getting hyped up for nothing, I genuinely believed this Spell had potential, especially in close-combat where its prowess could be fully displayed. At this Level, the Spell could make a decent distraction for my opponents, it could even harm them if I rolled my dice right. Seeing as its intangibility was only momentary, I could have it attack anyone I wanted, and if Lady Luck smiled upon me, the intangible blade might regain its solidity after reaching its targets. There were so many applications I could think of for such a simple Spell, it's almost ridiculous.

Better yet, it fit in with the rest of my arsenal since I was more of a close and mid-ranged Battle Magus, preferring to fight with my swords rather than bombarding my foes from afar. "I guess it will work well with your expertise." Rin gave me a hesitant look. "I still think it's stupid to get close against Apostles though… Most Apostles create thralls through bites, you know? It's dangerous to meet them head-on." Having been taught by Kotomine for months about Apostles, I knew this fact well. Still– "It's not like I have many options, Rin. I only have [Finn Shot] and [Ansuz] as my sole offensive Spells.

I can't just to spam the two–" Rin cut in. "And why is that? I'm fine with just [Gandr], why aren't you?" Well, to start with, most Supernatural species had a form of passive [Magic Resistance], meaning any Spell I used against them would be severely hindered. Secondly, I was a Level 8, I didn't have much Mana to spare to begin with, and thanks to a certain debuff called Mana Exhaustion, relying entirely on long-ranged Spells would kill me faster than using a combination of the two would. I explained my reasoning to Rin, to which the tsundere just exhale a long, drawn-out breath as though tired.

Then, she stopped speaking, opting to flip through my research, while I took seat and looked over how to improve [Time Phantoms] further. We continued in that awkward silence, neither wanting to speak, both too stubborn to be the first to yield. This lasted for a while, until Rin stumbled on my research pertaining Ki and Martial Arts. "Leo! What is this?!" She threw the notebook at my head as I dodged to the side. "You're studying Ki… Do you want to die that badly?!" Her expression was stuck between outraged and speechlessness as she crumbled the manual I had gotten from Sasaki a few days ago.

"Relax Rin, I'm aware of my limitations! I'm not going to rush into it–" I swallowed thickly. "And it's just research, it's not like I'm testing it or anything, right?" That's a plain lie, one Rin definitely didn't buy from the look of it as a slew of curses, some of which were so creative and foul I'd rather not repeat, escaped her mouth. "It's one thing to willingly live with a resurrected Heroic Spirit and pick Apostle Hunting as your choice of profession, it's another entirely to delve into a subject that has caused countless amount of deaths every year because young Mages–" She poked my chest. "– Like you think they can do the impossible.

Honestly, what are you thinking, Leo?!" I backed away, stammering as the tsundere unleashed her fury. Although deep down, I knew she was only doing this for my own good, I literally asked her to do this after all, but it did nothing to help stopping my own rising frustration. "I– I– Look, Rin." I stomped down on the urge to shout, forcing a sharp, calming intake of breath down my throat. "I understand you are worried–" I put a finger to her lips and shushed as she tried to interrupt. "But I have things under control? The main problem with utilizing both Ki and Mana is eventually, the two Energies will clash and go out of control, but I have [Mana Manipulation], I'm totally safe, 'kay?"

Rin turned her head away from me, her twin-tails slapping harshly against my face almost as though to reflect her mood. Right, I forgot… The majority of women could be extremely unreasonable at times, but tsunderes were a breed of their own. "Hey there–" I patted her shoulder. "Are you mad at me?" All I got was a dissatisfied snort from Rin. "C'mon, don't be angry, I will bring you to a really cool place nearby."

Rin glared at me from the corners of her eyes. "That sounded like something a creepy uncle would say–" That's rude. I meant, not technically untrue if you counted my mental age, but still… "Fine, promise me then." I looked at the tsundere my confusion must have shown because she quickly added with her nose turned upwards. "Promise me you won't experiment with Ki again–" Yeah, there was no way in Hell I would give up something so useful. Had you seen the shits Kotomine could do with his Super Bajiquan? Just imagining the things I could accomplish if I managed to use, if not outright fuse the two types of Energies into one was enough to make me salivate.

"Okay, how about this–" I tapped her head. "And hear me out… I will let you join my sessions involving Ki any time you want and will, of course, reimburse you for the time lost with either money or jewels so you can continue researching Jewel Craft. You and I both know I won't– Nay, can't stop studying Ki, not with how much advantages it represents. If I can't do it with your support, then I will do it behind your back, so why not attend my sessions instead? Besides, I'm not just studying this for myself–" I scratched my cheek shyly. "If this works, and with the Game, it is going to work eventually, I want to find a way to help you use Ki too."

"Oh…" Rin's face blushed bright red. "I– I guess that's alright, but you have to do it where I can supervise. I don't want to wake up one day and find out you have lost a limb or something, understood?" I smirked, about to reply when Rin added. "Now, clean this mess up!" Urgghh, fine. I was planning to anyways. "Once you are done–" Rin looked down at her feet, face hidden under her bang, but I could distinctively see the rising redness of her ears as she stuttered. "M- Maybe we can go to this cool place you mentioned." She hurriedly corrected after seeing my grin. "But it's not a date! So you don't get it twisted in your head, idiot!"

Honestly? With how flustered she sounded, I was quite certain that she wasn't actually saying that me, but trying to convince herself instead. "Alright, alright–" I raised my hands in mock surrender, winking at the embarrassed tsundere. "It's not a date."

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It was already dark when Rin Tohsaka– Last of her House got home. Her friend, Leo had offered to walk her back, but she refused since she didn't want to bother him any longer. It's bad enough that he had had to pay for her dessert and drink, seeing as her inheritance was dwindling at a rapid rate thanks to a certain priest, it wouldn't be fair to make him walk half the city just to bring her back. For the thousandth time, Rin cursed the fact that their respective homes were so far away from each other with the distance between nearing twelve miles. She pushed open the gate to her courtyard, stopping as she felt a disturbance in the Bounded Fields.

It was small, nigh unnoticeable to the untrained eyes, but Rin had lived her entire life here, raised and taught to recognize even the tinniest changes to the Wardstone, something of this magnitude would not escape her attention. Rin drew back cautiously as she prepared to bolt, her friend's house should be safe, especially with Kirei and an actual living Heroic Spirit there. "Told you the little lass would notice!" Suddenly, a laughing voice entered her ears… Another soon replied, this one more stern and cold. "That's enough of your tomfoolery, Shiichiro! Quickly catch her!"

Rin didn't waste any time and ran towards the direction where she knew the road would be populated even at this time of the night. Still, the Church was likely the safest place in Fuyuki, so reaching it should be her main priority. "Goddamnit! Look what you did! We could have snuck up on her if you had just kept silent, you fucking dumbass!" Her pursuers were fast on track and gaining. They weren't normal, that's for sure, but Rin couldn't feel any Mana fluctuations from them. 'Martial Artists?' She thought to herself. 'Why would Martial Artists target me?'

Originated from the West, the Tohsaka had looked down on Martial Artists for generations, but they hadn't done a thing to garner hatred from their more bullheaded counterparts, having cared way more about their wish-granting ritual to bother the Ki users. So why was she being attacked? Perhaps, news of her father's death had reached their ears and they saw this as an opportunity to gain influence over the Second Owner of Fuyuki? Or was it something else entirely? She didn't know… Regardless, the fact remained that she was easy-picking as she was.

Rin stumbled as she lunged forwards, narrowly evading a downwards swing from a staff that was twice her height. She flinched at the loud, deafening noise, shoving more Mana into her limbs to reinforce them further. She didn't even think it was feasible to push [Reinforcement] this much, but the longer this went on, the more disadvantaged she would be. The constant drain on her Mana aside, Rin just couldn't keep up physically with two Martial Artists. In fact, she could already feel her legs throbbing from the strain as the red-light district entered her view.

She threw several [Gandr] at the pursuing men, one of which hitting the smaller, more playful of the two as he stumbled and fell. "You! You little bitch! You're going to pay for that!" He shouted after her, tone now losing its former jolly quality as he threw his staff at her. "Shiichiro, are you mad?! We need her alive, you damned fool!"

Of course, the staff missed its target. Still, the resulting crater, while small, did manage to upset her pace as she nearly tripped. Rin grimaced when she felt several of the fragments dig into her skin and pierce her flesh, but her salvation was mere feet away, she couldn't stop now. She weaved between the lines of people, some prostitutes, others drunk men who had likely come to get some 'fun' after a tiring day of work. "''Scuse me! Coming through!" Rin pushed through the sea of people with her reinforced strength. Finally, she ducked in an abandoned alleyway.

The smell almost made her puke her guts out, but she hid behind a trashcan and watched the men search for her with labored breaths. "Shit, where is she?!" – "Look for her!" Only after the men disappeared into the sea of people did Rin let out a sigh of relief, slumping back against the dark, stained wall. Her shirt was covered in sweats, but she should be safe for the moment. Thankfully, the red-light district was surprisingly close to the Church. It had happened after the nukes were dropped in two major cities of Japan. The people were afraid at the time, so when the prostitution houses started popping up near Western Churches, no one bothered to stop or reprimand them.

Rin had never cared about this problem besides the occasional disgusted glances she would give the men who were found in this district, but now even that was gone. If it hadn't for the drunk slowing down her pursuers, she might have gotten caught, then who knew what would happen to her. After moments of contemplation, she finally pushed herself up. She couldn't spend the night here, while the district was mostly active for the entire night, past midnight was when these drunks had gone to do their 'business', meaning the area would have less people milling about. She should use this opportunity to reach the Church as soon as possible.

Besides, she was a noble, not a big one, but her House had done enough to earn decent amount of fame within the walls of Clock Tower in spite of the inherent contempt the Aristocratic held for Eastern Mages, there was no way she would spend a night in some dirty, abandoned valley filled with trash and all kinds of fluids, some sexual, others vomits and wastes. It's a shame really, she hadn't wanted to bother Leo at this hour, but she supposed it was not to be. Thus, she began her journey to the Church under a disheveled appearance. Luckily, out of all the people doing their business, none was observant enough to notice the bleeding girl sneaking about the district.

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I opened the door to find… Rin? Her sweater, which had been given by me as a gift after the trip to Kyoto was covered in sweats, dirt and stains I'd really rather not know the names of. She looked pale, lips and limbs trembling with exhaustion as she fell forwards. I quickly swept her in my arms, picking her up in a princess carry as she dropped. There were visible signs of Mana overdose from the look of it. Yes, as I had found out during my research Mages could get Mana overdose, especially young ones whose Circuits hadn't been used to the strain of constant usage.

Having the Game to somewhat ease my load, this had never been a real problem for me, but according to Rin and Sven, this often happened as a result of overwhelming their maximum output. It's why Mages trained children from young, so their output would increase gradually with time. Don't get me wrong, unlike me, this did not increase their total amount of Mana, it merely dictated how much they could use at a time. "Rin! What's wrong?!" She croaked back, coughing. "M– Martial Artists…" She was burning up, flesh for the first time red not with embarrassment, but heat from the Mana bubbling beneath her skin.

'Shit… Okay, what do I do in this situation?' I raced back to my room with Rin in my arms. Setting her on my bed, I went to the bathroom to get wet towels. First thing first, I needed to bring down her temperature before her internal organs started to shut down. I wiped her forehead, cleaning the dirt and prying out concrete fragments that had dug into the skin of her legs. Next, I bandaged the wounds with practiced ease. Kotomine had taught me how to be a field medic, but I had never gotten the chance to practice until now.

Thankfully, none of the fragments seemed to have pierced the major arteries in her thighs so it was an easy fix. "Lay still." Rin was struggling and wriggling on the bed uncomfortably. I had to get the disordered Mana out of her somehow. There were plenty of methods to drain Mana from someone, but most involved trading fluids. Tantric ritual was a definite no, seeing as she was a child and even if she wasn't, Rin couldn't consent to it in her current state. That left me with saliva and blood. Unfortunately, saliva would be way too slow for her situation… 'Blood it is then.'

"Rin, I'm going to need to drink your blood, get the Mana out, so stay still, okay?" I was not really expecting an answer, but asked the disoriented girl anyways. Then I picked up my scalpel, the same one I used for carving runes, cleaning with fresh water and sterilizing the blade with a quick burst of [Ansuz]. The entry of my scalpel left Rin groaning in discomfort, but I didn't stop and kept up until I had opened a small wound on her arm, carefully to avoid any artery I could see. I pressed my lips to the entrance, sipping on her blood. Normally, Mana trading required the effort from both sides.

With Rin still muddle-minded, I had to try and tame the rampaging Mana on my own. It wasn't easy, even with [Mana Manipulation] at play. Mana potion existed, it's often made from blood of the Magus selling it, but those potions were processed and had been purged of the Magus' influence. This, this was different, I was directly drinking from the source, absorbing Mana that had gone amok without her aid, a feat that was discouraged by all texts pertaining the act due to the dangers it represented. Mana wasn't water, it wouldn't just settle, a single mistake could leave me a moaning, bleeding mess on the floor so I had to be extra careful.

Worse yet, the taste was awful. I had eaten blood before, in another lifetime when my family's finance wasn't in the dirt, we had come to visit Vietnam and got to taste their blood soup. Despite its rather disgusting name, it was surprisingly tasty and not nearly as metallic as it should be. This, this wasn't it… Rin's blood was salty, metallic and thick with something else, a taste I couldn't quite describe or put into words. Although whatever it was, it wasn't good, not at all. Still, I forced the warm liquid down my throat. The both of us– Rin and I groaned, each for their own reason, but we groaned all the same.

I felt the unstable Energy entered my body in constant, yet chaotic streams, sometimes even bursts that reminded me of a broke dam. 'This is really unpleasant.' And it was. Frankly, if I had a choice, I'd rather never have to do this again. On the bright side, this appeared to have worked as Rin settled down and eventually fell asleep. 'Good.' I wouldn't have to tend to an unconscious girl nearly as much as I would someone awake. According to the texts, it should take a minimum of a week to half a month for her body to recover strength and a good night sleep for her to regain consciousness.

I had a clue as to who might have done this, but I got to find Gil first, she was the only one I could entrust Rin to at the moment. Kotomine was being his usual self and still avoiding me for whatever reason… Also, he was Kotomine, I wouldn't trust him with a pet snail, let alone an actual person. Kiritsugu was a possible candidate, but the man already had his hands full with Shiro, I shouldn't bother him, especially at this hour of the night.

It didn't take long for me to find the Golden Queen, she was in her room, sleeping most likely. I knocked, then waited patiently. Several minutes and a lot of rustling behind the door later, she walked out with her classic look, wearing a simplistic white shirt, a pair of black pants that looked painted on her skin and decorated with jewelry. "It's past midnight, Leonis… What are you doing here?" I pressed a fingers on my forehead in a futile attempt at alleviating my headache. Yeah, sleep deprivation would do that to you. "I need you to watch over someone for me– A girl."

Gil's eyes narrowed. "Do I look like your personal servant? Are mixing up our roles, Leonis?" I shook my head. "I'm not demanding, I'm asking you as a favor. I can't trust Kotomine with her safety–" I paused, grimacing at the after-taste of Rin's blood. "You are the only one I can trust to take care of her." I wasn't lying, or even sucking up to Gil either. I knew for a fact that she would do her damnest to see to it that Rin was safe should she agree to this. I didn't know how the male version of her would act in this kind of situation, but female Gil followed a very strict code: 'A King's words are worth their weight in golds.'

Well, I supposed it should be: 'A Queen's words' instead.

"Hmmm, flattery will get you nowhere, Leonis." Although she said that, I could see the tinniest upwards twitch at the corners of her mouth. It's surprising how easy it was to read people whom you lived with, I knew I almost had her on board, just needed another small push. "Of course, I won't ask you to do this for free, your Majesty–" I bowed deeply. "I haven't had much in material possessions to pay you back, but a favor for a favor, how does that sound?" I peeked at her face, she didn't seem upset, but her expression was mocking. "And what can you do for me?" She grabbed my jaws and forced me to stare into her eyes.

"What can you do for me that I can't do myself?" I blinked, then shrugged. "Nothing–" Gil glared. "– At the moment, your Majesty… But in the future? I believe I can do a lot…" I swallowed thickly, mind whirling with thoughts. "Besides, your role, as designated by yourself, is to be the observer of Humanity, you won't do more than absolutely necessary, but there will be certain events that need interference, events you can instead delegate to me…"

Finally, Gil let go of me, leaving to rub my sore jaws. It's deceptive how slender those arms were despite the might they could produce. Though, in my defense, I hadn't gotten to see Gil in action, so it's easy to disregard her physical prowess. 'Trust me, after that, I'm not going to forget it any time soon.' – "Three favors, you will accomplish three favors for me, starting with getting the little mongrel who visited us unannounced the other day to me the moment you are finished with your business, understood?" She wanted Shiro? This… This really put me into a tough spot, I loved Rin like that little sister I never got to have, but I felt responsible for Shiro.

Maybe coming to her was a mistake? Perhaps I should have taken care of Rin for a few days, then left to get the culprits afterwards? That would leave me at a disadvantage, since they would be expecting me, still… "Don't worry, I will not hurt her, you have my words." I stared skeptically. "Pinky swear?" Gil rolled her eyes. "I won't entertain your foolishness, Leonis. Do we have a deal?"

"Fine, I will bring Shiro to you, but don't hurt her." Gil smirked. "Didn't you say you trust me? Where is that trust now? I've given you my words, and I won't break it unless you or the little mongrel gives me a reason to." That's fair. "Now, where is this girl you wants me to take care of in your absence?" So she knew I was planning to leave? Nothing too surprising there. It's easy enough to deduce why I'd ask for her help rather than doing it myself, it would be weird if she didn't know. "She is in my room, I'll bring her to you." This was dealt with quite quickly, all I had to do left was call Sasaki.

…

"– Leo-san? Why are you calling at this hour? Is the next shipment done?" I slumped on my chair. "No, it's not, but I have reasons to believe Ragnarok is targeting the people close to me." I heard statics, then silence for an instance as I let that sink in. "– And why do you think this exactly?" Sasaki's words were careful, measured, but it did nothing to stop the rising anger in me. This was my fault, I made a deal with Kiyoshi, I decided to supply them with Mystic Codes and Rin paid the price for my actions. "BECAUSE–" I roared at the phone, my hold on its tightening to make an audible crack.

I didn't finish the sentence, knowing full-well I'd likely say something I regretted. Instead, I took several breaths in order to calm myself… It worked, thankfully. "Because, Sasaki-san, my friend–" I stressed. "The current Second Owner of Fuyuki just stumbled on my doorsteps covered in blood and sweats, muttering about Martial Artists chasing her!"

"– I- I see, I promise you we have nothing to do with this, and we will have measures put in place to–" I stopped him with a quick hush. "No, it's clear to me that you guys can't be trusted with this. It's one thing to have just two guards transporting an important shipment, it's another entirely to leak your supplier's location and let your enemies attack their loved ones!" I shouted, teeth clenched tight as I felt a rage I thought years of adulthood had beaten out of me. "Send me the location of a safehouse near known Ragnarok's bases." The sudden calm came quick and fast as the rage disappeared, replaced by freezing fury.

"– I do not believe that is wise, Leo-san. If you can just give us more time and Mystic Codes, we will deal with Ragnarok–" I slammed my fist on the table, resulting in the destruction of the poor object that faced my wrath. "Give. Me. Their. Locations! Or the deal is off the table!"

Sasaki didn't respond, and I almost thought I had broken the deskphone in my tantrum, but the statics that continued after told a different story. "– Very well, I will send my most trusted men to your home immediately. Please prepare your luggage, Leo-san." I nodded to myself. This would likely take a long time to deal with, so I needed lots of clothes and necessities. "I'll wait for them at the door." He was about to hang up when I added. "And don't get me wrong, this is not free. I'm dealing with your enemies for you, so you will pay me the appropriate amount, do you understand?"

"– I understand, Leo-san... And if it means anything, I'm sorry that your friend was attacked by these thugs."

…

I was halfway through the door when I noticed a cellphone left on our porch. Being an older model of Nokia, it wasn't anything fancy, at least not compared to 2020's standard, and it was colored grey and white so I nearly missed it, but I could see a call coming. Naturally, I used a combination of [Observe] and [Structural Gasp] on it to make sure it wasn't rigged with explosive before picking it up. I pressed answer. "– Hello there, Mr. Magnum, we haven't had a chance to meet yet, but I believe you have seen my lackeys' actions? How is the Tohsaka girl by the way, if you don't mind me asking?"

I bit my lips until blood was drawn. "Why?"

"– Why have my lackeys attacked her instead of you?" I heard sounds of creaking chair over phone as the voice continued. "– My apology for that, they were supposed to capture her as a hostage, it is rather unfortunate that she gets away, but I think this is enough of a message? Break off whatever deal you have made with Kiyoshi or… Well, I don't supposed I need to say more, do I?" The taunting tone in his/her distorted voice made my blood boil with the desire to slam the fucker's jaws against the pavement. "Why?!" I growled. The voice sighed. "– Because you are in the way, Mr. Magnum, but I assume you're not asking about that, are you?

Truth be told, my lackeys are a bunch of idiotic incompetents, and while I despise Regul Black–" They knew of my involvement with Regul's death? "– I can't deny the fact that he is a foe few would wish to make, except the Barthomeloi of course, those people are insane. I could send tons and tons of lackeys at you and likely lose them all in the process, or…" They paused, taking a bite out of something if my hearing was correct. "– Regardless, let bygones be bygones, you break off the deal and we can go our separate ways, never to meet again, how does that sound?"

"Rin is stable at the moment…"

"– That's wonderful! Then we don't need to throw ourselves at each other–" I interrupted the voice. "Shut the fuck up and listen! She is stable, but that doesn't mean I will let this go unanswered. I'm going to find you even if I have to uproot the entirety of Japan, do you understand? Then I'm going to skin you alive and bash your head on the pavements until you depart from this World." The voice stopped, laughing nervously. "– The girl is fine, right? No need for such unnecessary violence, Mr. Magnum.  I understand you are upset, but–" I crushed the phone in my hand, letting the pieces fall to the ground.

"You little fucking cunt, I'm going to use your head as foot stool."

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