Chapter 69: Episode 66

Words Count: 4933

Here's my usual spiel:

You can read 26 Episodes in advanced.

p a tr e on . com (/) LiamThePoor

A/N: Uhmmm… Should I say something?

---

Sakura’s life was hard, which wasn’t anything new to the girl.

In fact, it had never been easy, even when she was still living with her parents and sister, being a second-born in a prestigious Magus Family and all that.

But, at least it was peaceful.

Those days were long gone,

It had barely been half a decade, yet Sakura could barely remember those times.

A time when she could wake up and be unafraid of the Worms that now riddled her flesh would suddenly… Act up.

A time when her gentle, if sickly mother would let the pair of siblings accompany her in that homey bedchamber filled with warmth and a familial love Sakura could never experience again.

‘This is for your own good.’

Her late father had said,

‘You’ll be the new Heiress of the Matou, enjoying their Magecraft and prestige.’

And Sakura, being the stupid, naïve little girl that she was, had actually believed him!

If her Will wasn’t so utterly broken, and her Body wasn’t riddled with Crest Worms that caused her all kinds of… Troubles at the slightest signs of stimulation, the girl would have scoffed.

But, this was fine.

She was used to this, used to being violated by the Crest Worms days and nights.

She could take it, her Will to fight back might have been broken, but her desire to live was going strong, if only for her.

As long as Sakura could continue to live, to watch her senpai grow into a beautiful woman and live her life, she was happy.

The Matou ‘Heiress’– The disgusting, defiled did not dare to expect anything more in this life.

At least, her grandfather didn’t make things personal, letting the Worms do all the works while he merely observed.

At least, the only man who had gotten to touch her was her ‘Onii-san’, whom she did owe quite a bit.

Even if his jealousy, his inferiority complex had changed him into this, this unrecognizable and monstrous creature, the fact remained that Sakura had only survived because of him. If not for his kindness back then, she would have set herself free via suicide ages ago.

If it was him, if it was Shinji, she could still accept it, albeit reluctantly.

But…

Life always had a way to fuck things up.

Just when Sakura thought nothing could shake her anymore, that no matter how badly her situation turned out, she would be able to preserve,

Her grandfather suddenly decided it was now her duty as the Matou ‘Heiress’ to seduce an older boy, a complete stranger at that too.

Her mission? To get herself pregnant with his seeds.

A boy whom Sakura had seen talking with her senpai some time ago,

Leonis Magnum– A Magus who had supposedly disappeared two and a half years ago.

Sakura couldn’t help but resent him.

If he had never shown up again, she…

Yet, at the same time, the Matou girl was thankful that the young Magus was finally back, however odd it might seem.

Ever since his sudden departure, she could tell her senpai had been… Troubled.

Shiro slept less, instead focusing only on her Magecraft and Swordsmanship in secret.

If she wasn’t, then the fiery-haired girl would be at school, fixing broken equipment without even charging them anything.

At times, Sakura would find her staring off into the distance, appearing upset, scared.

Even when she did take the time to rest, Shiro-senpai would often be startled awake by relentless nightmares.

Those sights alone made her chest tighten with hurt and discomfort.

‘But he’s back now, Shiro-senpai will definitely be happy.’

Yes, yes. Sakura should be glad Leonis Magnum had returned. Where she had failed, he might just be the necessary component to uplift Shiro-senpai’s mood.

Indeed, Sakura’s fine with this.

She’s truly happy, she wasn’t jealous, not at all.

Why should she?

It’s not like someone as filthy as her, someone who had been defiled again and again could ever be with her senpai,

How could a dirty thing like her even begin to compare to a talented, aspiring Magus.

How could she have any… Evil thoughts towards him?

Sakura could do this, she could seduce the Magus, get pregnant with his children and return to her previous simple existence once more, however hopeless and bleak it might be.

One where she could look at her senpai and sister from afar, wishing them both the best.

Thus, after cleaning herself thoroughly, Matou Sakura set out to the Emiya Residence to find her senpai, ignoring the painful aches in her heart at the terrible fate that awaited her.

A once innocent, lovely girl reduced to a broodmare.

‘I’ll do it tomorrow morning.’ She told herself.

After all, grandfather hadn’t said aloud to do the deed as soon and as quickly as possible, so Sakura could put it off to a later date, right?

She could always start tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that.

Once she had gotten her fills of Shiro-senpai’s kindness at least, then- then she…

Poor girl never realized the boy whom she so despised, even if she didn’t understand her feelings yet, was currently at the gates of her senpai’s house, knowing not who and what she was walking into.

Suspecting nothing as her grandfather– The decaying Worm cackled madly in his seat when Sakura told him she wanted to meet Shiro before she began with her duty.

‘It’s probably nothing. Grandfather does that all the times, he’s- he’s probably thinking about tormenting someone again.’ Slowly, Sakura wiped that forlorn, despairing expression from her face, she must smile, smile for her senpai.

Shiro-senpai must not suspect a thing, lest she too was dragged into grandfather’s schemes.

And if Sakura caused her senpai… Troubles, she might never be able to forgive herself in this life.

—— [Fate: DML] ——

Gingerly, I approached the gate leading into the Emiya Residence.

The place looked the same, felt the same, but the people living here had likely been reduced by one. According to my estimation, Kiritsugu should have succumbed to Angra’s Curses a year ago. I was even surer of my thoughts when I checked the Bounded Fields erected over the Residence. There was no way in Hell the infamous Magus Killer would ever allow his first line of defense to reach this point where it was riddled with holes.

I wondered what Shiro’s reactions would be upon seeing me?

It was doubtful Little Ember would behave poorly and throw a fit like Rin did last night, but my reappearance would definitely have a huge impact on our smol, adorable ‘Heroine of Justice’,

That was if she still followed that wretched, self-destructive path.

Whether my prior teachings and influence had had a positive or negative effect remained to be seen. Although, I was rightfully optimistic about the results! Okay, okay I lied. I was… Well, maybe somewhat cautiously positive about the whole ordeal? It’s not my fault, I barely had a month to steer Little Ember in the right tracks before getting sent to another fucking Universe, without consent from my part by the way, by Kotomine! ‘Leo-tan, shut up and ring the freaking doorbell already!’

… ‘Did you really just say freaking? You serious, who the fuck actually says that?’

‘Fuck you. Call her already, you damned fool–’ Right, right. Sheesh, somebody clearly woke up on the wrong side of bed today. ‘Who pissed in your breakfast?’

Angra did not deign my rhetorical question with a reply, opting to ignore my words completely as he continued. ‘– And be careful, I can sense the Others dwelling in your Little Ember’s House.’

The sarcasm in his voice was simply unmatched. ‘Angra, what do you mean by ‘the Others’?’

‘The other Martyrs, I believe when you disappear, those guys might have decided to… Switch their target.’ That sentence made the blood freeze in my veins. Slightly, just ever so slightly, my eyes and lips curved downwards into a tightly knitted frown. ‘What exactly does that mean for Shiro?!’

Sighing, the Daemon King’s Fragment replied. ‘It means they’re probably haunting the girl to trick and/or coerce her into becoming the next Host of the Curses– The next Martyr, and judging from what you and I both know of her, I’m afraid–’

I didn’t wait for him to continue, leaping above the walls surrounding the Japanese-styled Mansion in one smooth motion to let myself in. My gaze swept across the dark, lightless buildings as I focused on my sense of hearing. Little by little, I started to hear millions of things all at once– Insects, birds, and even the creaking of old woods until I heard soft, yet audibly distressed snores coming from the… Training Room?

Based on my memories, I was fairly sure it was. I had taught Shiro [Sword God Style] in there, sometimes even under the supervision of Taiga Fujimura.

‘Found her.’ Rushing into the Training Building? Yeah, that’s it. For whatever reason, Kiritsugu decided he needed an entire building for training purposes. Not that I was complaining, the spacious building made teaching Shiro far easier, but it did seem rather excessive in my opinions, the Magus Killer could have simply remodeled an empty–

‘Leo-tan, I’m genuinely concerned for you. This little habit of… Distracting yourself with the most useless of thoughts at the most importunate times will surely be the death of you one day.’

‘I get it, I get it.’ I shrugged off the Daemon King’s concerns, bursting into the building to see the Little Ember lying in a fetal position, hands clutching her knees as she shook and shivered incessantly. Even from here, I could smell her sweats, the scent of rusty steels and the fears that so loudly echoed through Shiro’s chemo-signals. In a millisecond, I was next to her fallen form, drawing the Heroine of Justice into my lap and trying to shake her awake. “Shiro, Shiro! Wake up, it’s me- it’s Leo!”

I had no idea what the Martyrs could have done to cause this, but my Little Ember’s usually determined face was marred with tears and sadness. “Please- Please stop, I didn’t- didn’t mean to, I–!”

“Little Ember- Little Ember! You must wake up, it is just a nightmare.” Slowly, my expression was overcome with rage. Looking up at the dark ceiling, almost as though I could see the invisible and obviously unwelcome visitors. Yes, I was incapable of seeing them, but I could sense the Vengeful Spirits perfectly fine. Vision dying crimson, I shouted at the tide of Darkness. “ENOUGH! You can stop tormenting her. I’m back now, aren’t I? Our Pact remains, you’re not to touch Shiro Emiya, or anyone related to me!”

“Gone, you’ve been gone for too long!” Baleful, haunting whispers echoed in the empty Training Building in manic howls.

“But I’m back now!” I responded with equal fervor.

“How can we trust you?” A second voice butted in angrily.

“How?” And a third…

“HOw, Oath-Breaker?” And a fourth…

“HOW?!” Then a fifth…

Until at last, there appeared to be hundreds, thousands, if not millions- No! Billions of voices layered on top of each other. It no longer felt like words to my ears, just a mess of sounds, voices meshed into a Hellish, Luciferian heavy-metal tune. My rows of teeth grinded against each other, even the Fragment in my head had joined in. Granted, he was actually attempting to defend me, claiming what happened to be the fault of one deceased Priest, which it was! Nevertheless, he was not helping the situation.

Nails digging into my palms, I scowled at the manifested Darkness, reinforcing my vocal cords and imbuing Mana into them, hoping what I said next could overwhelm the voices.

“You bunch… Just- Shut up and listen.” Sadly, the Martyrs refused to listen, hence I could only infuse even more Mana, until my vocal cords were ready to burst at the seams, and let [Hell King’s Engine] take the wheel. “SHut thE fuCk UP ALreaDy!”

Just like that,

Everything ceased,

You are reading story Fate: Dead Man’s Lament at novel35.com

Frozen in place as I used the remnants of Gabriel’s Psychic Scream to fuel my Skill and voice.

“Speak, Son of the Lioness.” The Martyr to answer sounded childish, yet underneath that, that carefree façade seemingly contained Centuries of maturity and endless resentment. Immediately and nigh instinctively, I realized who he was, he was the First. “What happened, that trip of mine was not planned, nor was it something I expected. Kotomine Kirei– One of yours tricked me into the Star-Gate and…”

The First cut in instantly. “And why were you creating such an Artifact in the first place, if you harbor not the intention to flee and escape with the girl?”

“That’s related to my dreams, my ambitions– To visit Universes beyond even the reach of the Root of Existence. It has nothing to do with me wanting to flee.” I could tell the Martyrs still had reservation about the Star-Gate, thus I quickly added. “I’m taught and raised by Gilgamesh, the Queen of Heroes. Her words are worth their weight in golds, and as her protégé, my words too are not to be taken lightly.”

“And yet, the Golden Queen is also known for breaking rules of both Mortals and the Divines alike. You want us to trust you based on that alone?”

“That is all I can offer, and that’s all you will get–” I said, voice unwavering even as the ghostly apparitions, masses of condensed Darkness approached, their melted, burnt and nearly skeletal visages nearing me, close enough our noses could touch. “– But know this, if you continue to torment Shiro Emiya, or any of my loved ones, I shall take them to the Star-Gate, kidnap them if needs be and leave forever.”

The Martyrs bristled at the threat.

Now, here came the olive-branch.

“I know everything, the Martyr currently inhabiting my body has explained to me, you all need a powerful Vessel to carry and trap the Curses. Only then will you truly be free, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m the sole person to fit your requirements perfectly.” I turned to Shiro, whose shivers had now subsided. “Say you give the Curses to Shiro, even with her Reality Marble, how long can she keep them contained- trapped? How long before the World’s Evils corrode her Inner World, her Spirit and she too joins you?”

Arms spread, I did a power-pose that would have done the likes of Jojo’s protagonists and antagonists proud. “What you said aren’t wrong, you have nothing beside my words, but that… That will have to be enough.”

“Are you not afraid we’ll kill you after this exchange?” The First questioned, amusement seeping into his tone.

“If you could, you’d have definitely done so already, if only to prove to me that you can.” I smirked tauntingly as the Martyrs flew about agitatedly, while the First was able to remain calm as ever, the grin on his stretched features twisting further, like something straight out of a certain Web Series he once obsessed over before his untimely demise– The Mandela Catalogue. “In fact, I’m fairly sure you wouldn’t have waited for the Grail War to enact your initial plan for the Apocalypse.”

Gently, I stroked Shiro’s mane, fingers brushing the fiery strands with as much care as I could. “Am I wrong? That’s why you’re using psychological tactics on Shiro, isn’t it?”

The First cackled,

Not chuckled,

Not laughed,

What came out of his lipless mouth were full-blown frenzied, demented cackles as the First clutched his ribs. “V- Very well, We shall trust this once. This is your last chance, do not disappoint, Leo-tan.”

The Darkness receded into the ceiling, but the First remained. “You may call me Ahriman– The First and the Leader of the Martyrs.”

Ahriman floated near my face. Now that the Darkness was all but gone, I could at last see him in full. He was an emaciated Spirit, with blackened, charred and tattooed skin stretched over his skeletal frame. His eye-sockets a hollowed, sunken things without eyeballs, reflecting the endless Abyss that was forced upon him. Feeling Ahriman’s hands resting on my cheeks, I slowly backed away in discomfort. Not because he was scary, I had seen scarier.

After all, the Night-Gaunts were stuffs of nightmares.

Well, I didn’t for the other lane.

Don’t get it twisted, I had got nothing against gay guys, but…

I was quite sure this constituted as sexual harassment.

“I’m old, Leonis Magnum. Evils exist in the Past, Present and Future, thus I too am Eternal. Do not betray my trust, or I shall make thou suffer every pains and sufferings imaginable to Mankind.” His… Claws lifted my chin. “Regardless of what you may think, I’m more than capable of hurting you.”

I flinched as the flesh under my jawline decayed, rotted.

“See ya’!” Like a dream, Ahriman’s threatening Aura dissipated. The First also fading out of Space, leaving behind only echoes of his deranged cackles. “By Gil’s golden grace.”

Only when their presences left the Emiya Residence, and their existences were no longer registered on the Map, did I let out a shaky breath. That shit was intense. I had met Monsters, Demons of O’Dimm’s caliber more than once, but their malice was never directed at me. Even the Outer Gods in the Void did not feel so… Absolutely Evil.

Theirs were the indifference of Gods towards Existence,

Ahriman’s was the resentment cumulated over an Eternity of endless, relentless tortures…

It’s like comparing the Amazon Rainforest Fire to a local house-fire located right next to your home. Sure, the Rainforest Fire might cause irreversible damages to the environment, but it simply could not compare to actually choking on smokes while fearing for your life.

“Leo- Leonis-sensei?” I snapped awake from my thoughts as Shiro rose from the lap-pillow I was giving her, voice hoarse due to the cries and whimpers prior.

“Hey there, Little Ember. How are you?” The shaken look on my face disappeared in a flash.

Her hands reached my hair confusedly. “You’re- You’re really here? You’re not another vision to torment me?”

I lowered my head to press a tender peck on Shiro’s forehead. Brightly she blushed, and I couldn’t help laughing at the bashful and timid expression she now wore. Seeing this, nobody would believe she could turn into that jerk Archer. “Does that answer your question, Little Ember?”

The Heroine of Justice shot up, wide-awake. “Leo-sensei! You’re teasing me again!”

Internally, I swore,

No matter how tough things were, I’d not allow her to walk down the same path Archer did, let alone the trail of EMIYA Alter, which thanks to the complexity and nature of the Infinite Timelines, had a very, very real chance of happening. This girl, like Rin and Gil, deserved only the best. I spread my arms invitingly. “Come, come! Your sensei has returned from a deadly trip, you should give me a hug at least, right?”

Like flowing water, Shiro slinked out of the Training Room, shouting loudly, all thoughts of her predicament caused bt Angra Mainyu seemingly forgotten. She was still tense, I could tell from how tightly-wound she held her shoulders, almost as though she was about to draw her swords at any given time to slash at an imaginary foe... Or foes in this case. “C’mon! A kiss is fine too!”

“I dun’t wanna!” The smol Heroine of Justice responded back as we began to chase each other round and round all over the Emiya Residence. Eventually, we started fighting. Not an actual battle, just a fun-spar I requested to check her progress and proficiency in [Sword God Style]. Previously, I had always thought the whole ‘Speak through your swords/fists’ was a bunch shounen nonsense, until today.

Her talent in Magecraft might be lacking,

But Shiro Emiya’s natural affinity in Swordsmanship was truly astonishing.

Each of her blows and attacks seemed to speak a thousand words…

Even though Shiro was relentlessly trying to seek an opening in my Stance, it felt like her whole… Aura was embracing me, telling me how glad she was now that I was back. I stopped her projected bokken with my fingers, hand messing up her hair as she stood still, almost as if to present her head to me. “Enough, enough. You- You’ve improved tremendously, I’m proud of you. You’ll be a real Heroine in no time.”

I was taken aback when she rushed in, pulling me in a surprise bear-hug. “Leonis-sensei… You- I- I thought you died. You just- You disappeared so suddenly and the old man’s gone too!”

“It’s alright, it has been hard on you, I know. You don’t have to say more.” Shiro did not sob, nor did she cry. But, she somehow seemed even sadder than Rin was.

—— [Fate: DML] ——

I sat silent, waiting to taste the tea Shiro was making in the kitchen.

The smell was quite attractive, I must admit.

I had always been more of a coffee person than tea, but he did drink a lot of it in the past, mostly this yellowish piss-looking tea that tasted like a non-alcoholic version of beer. He did not like the liquids one bit, but it was a cheaper and more effective way to keep himself awake throughout classes and works.

Hopefully, Shiro’s handmade tea would be better than that… Stuff. It must be, right? This was Shiro we were talking about here, the girl who would eventually tame the King of Knights through her cooking. The teas she made must be fucking terrific too.

“I’m making refreshments too! Leo-sensei, please wait a bit.” Shiro called out from the kitchen excitedly and happily. For an eleven years old girl, Shiro Emiya’s voice sounded surprisingly mature and dependable. Perhaps due to the shit Angra Mainyu pulled, she no longer had that slightly boyish, childish quality to her tone.

I replied. “It’s fine, I don’t mind waiting.”

“Will you stay for dinner? Taiga-nee will be happy to meet you again.” Speaking of the famous Tiger of Fuyuki, Taiga ‘Don’t-call-me-that’ Fujimura, I was kind of, sort of really fucking scared of what she might do. That woman was Chaos-Incarnated, a nigh unstoppable Storm that wrecked everything and messed with everyone it came across. She would probably– No, definitely challenge me to a spar for making her smol adopted sister sed.

It's not that I couldn’t beat her,

Regardless of how talented of a swordswoman she might be, Taiga was still just a normal human…

But, that woman could be very persistent and unreasonable when she thought she and/or her loved ones were slighted. If I said it’s not my fault, she would simply twist my words until it was. “Uhmmm… I- Let’s discuss this matter later, I’m not sure I’m ready to face the Tiger of Fuyuki yet, she’s gonna–”

The doorbell chose that exact moment to ring. ‘Speak of the Devil and she shalt appear.’

I shivered in my seat, had Taiga Fujimura learnt Magecraft somehow and put a Bounded Field to listen in to Emiya Residence? Otherwise, how could she be this precise?! How could she know the moment we brought up her name? ‘Fuck, fuck! What do I do, should I escape through the windows and jump the walls?! Yeah, let’s do that, I have to–‘

“Leonis-sensei, can you get the door for me?” From within the kitchen, Shiro poked her head out wearing a pink apron. She was fucking adorable, I could spend days patting her head and doing nothing else. She’s like a smol puppy– A cute, ginger puppy. “I- I- Uhmmm- I don’t think I…”

[Shiro Emiya uses: Puppy-Dog Eyes]

[It’s Super Effective!]

… Did I just hallucinate the Game?

Wait, never mind. ‘[Map]!’

A Map showing the entire Emiya Residence flashed to life, spanning outwards over two miles from where I sat. The Dot at the door was orange, which meant whether they were antagonistic or not depended entirely on our later interactions.

‘It’s Taiga, it has to be her…!’ My face was impassive, but internally I was screaming in panic.

Once more, the doorbell rang. “Leo-sensei!”

“Fine, fine, fine! I’ll get the door, give me a sec to- to prepare!” I deliberately made my steps slow to draw out my sentence, giving myself more time to think of a reasonable excuse, but it was for naught. Maybe I could say a distant uncle or aunt visited and took me to their place, and I only recently was able to return? ‘That won’t work, what if she asks to meet them?’

‘Fuck, Angra’s right. What do I do, what do I do?!’ Fuck it, worst-case scenario, I used [Mesmerize] to distract her. From my experience, Taiga could shrug off my mind-attacks rather effortlessly, but it would buy me– The damned doorbell rang again! “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Irritated, I threw the door open, expecting to see the short-haired Tiger of Fuyuki on the other side. I was disappointed, the only person there was a plum-haired girl about Shiro’s age, though maybe a year younger?

Plum-hair, checked.

Gentle, demure smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, checked.

A look of trauma thanks to the disgusting Worm and that poor excuse for an adopted brother, checked.

There she was, the dark, mentally-broken Lesser Grail created by the machinations of one Matou Zouken– Formerly known as Makiri Zolgen. ‘I take it back, I take it all back! This is even worse than Taiga, I’m not ready to meet Sakura yet!!!’

The poor girl tilted her head in confusion, looking cautiously at me. Oh, she was good alright. Her expression didn’t change one bit, if not for the odd skip of her heartbeats I heard, I wouldn’t even have noticed anything was wrong. “Senpai, you are- is Shiro-senpai home…?”

I offered her my hand, face carefully schooled in a polite smile. Zouken’s Worms must be somewhere ‘round here to watch over the girl, Zouken couldn’t have allowed the Lesser Grail out of his sight after all. “I’m Leonis Magnum. And yes, Shiro’s home. Please come in.”

The change was immediate, abrupt.

I heard her heart a mile a second as she took in my name, cold-sweats pouring down her forehead. “You- You’re Leonis Magnum?”

My eyes almost narrowed in suspicion. I had never met Sakura before, how could she have known of me? Sure, Shiro could have told her, but I doubted whatever Little Ember said could bring about such strong reactions. It made no sense, unless… ‘What could Zouken possibly want from me?’

“I- I’m Sakura, Matou Sakura. Nice to meet you.” To her credits, Sakura was able to recover really quickly, sending me a reserved smile, yet she failed to hide the dark, malicious intent she had for me. It felt like anger, mixed with gratitude and resentment. She wanted me gone, dead and alive at the same time, how odd. Even the Map– The Dot representing her was flickering from Blue to Red constantly. ‘What the fuck?’

“Please- Please send Shiro-senpai my regards, I’ll return tomorrow, so...” She wasted no time, turning to leave– Flee would be a better term. But, since she was here already, how could I possibly let her leave? The Universe had spoken, I must deal with Matou Zouken here and now. Thus, I snatched her wrist, frowning as the plum-haired girl flinched. Was I that scary? “Please come in, Shiro’s making refreshments, she will love to have you there.”

“Uhmmm, I- I don’t think–” This was upsetting, what the fuck did Zouken say to make her so afraid of me? I needed to remove the Crest Worms from her, but how could I when she’s trying to avoid me like the plague?! Still, if she refused, I couldn’t force her to stay either. Thankfully, Shiro chose that exact moment to show herself. “Sakura, what are you doing here? Come on in.”

Shiro, I loved you.

“I- I don’t want to be a bother so…”

“No, no. How can you be a bother, come on in. I’m making teas and refreshments, you can enjoy them too.” Shiro threw the plum-haired girl an almost blinding smile that sent her reeling back.

Since the future Heroine of Justice had spoken, Sakura couldn’t reject her either. “I- I, then please excuse me.”

Our small group of three entered the Living Room under an awkward atmosphere. Well, Sakura and I were awkward, Shiro was non-the-wiser, being the oblivious and dense Harem Protagonist she was. “How was school, Sakura?”

Right, I forgot. Today was Thursday, wasn’t it? Why was Shiro home exactly? “It’s- It’s fine, I’m a bit lonely since Shiro-senpai and Onii-san both decided to stay home, but… Well, I’m fine.”

Christ, this was even more awkward than those Romantic-Comedy movies I– He was forced to watch by his exes. I could just cringe from the second-hand embarrassment. Thankfully, it was short. The moment we entered the Living Room, I muttered a low apology. “I’m sorry, Sakura-san…”

Both girls turned to me with a confused look on their faces. “I can’t risk it.”

With that said, my palm glowed with Cyan, Space/Time-Altering Spell and before either of them could react, I had already hit Sakura with me.

“Leonis! What are you doing?!”

Instantly, swords appeared in Shiro’s hands as she shot me a scathing glare, hands reaching for Sakura’s nose. “Sakura- She- She’s not breathing… What- Why? Why did you do it?”

The betrayed expression on her face was hard to bear. Welp, time to explain myself then. “Shiro, Sakura’s not dead, let me explain…”

You can find story with these keywords: Fate: Dead Man’s Lament, Read Fate: Dead Man’s Lament, Fate: Dead Man’s Lament novel, Fate: Dead Man’s Lament book, Fate: Dead Man’s Lament story, Fate: Dead Man’s Lament full, Fate: Dead Man’s Lament Latest Chapter