9 The Tohsaka Master

Bazett sat on the sofa with a glass of water cupped in both hands, staring at the calm surface of the liquid with listless eyes, "Kirei really tried to kill me." She spoke in a depressed tone, having disregarded it in favour of checking up on her servant earlier, the Enforcer was reminded of what had happened by the food.

"I can understand, my Master." Aston could only listen and solemnly nod along. The Lancer had experienced his own share of scarring betrayals from people he truly trusted, so he truly did understand what she was experiencing at the moment.

He'd even lost Gareth to such a betrayal.

Bazett didn't meet her servant's gaze and only slumped further, "I trusted him." She'd thought him a true friend, a comrade in arms. They'd worked together so well in the past, what had she done to spark the desire to kill her in him? Had she done something wrong? "He tried to kill me." She muttered again, cracking the glass in her hands before her grip lost all it's strength and it fell through the air.

"Oh dear, is this perhaps the start of 'I will have my revenge!' or something?" Her servant wondered out loud, grabbing the glass before it could shatter on the ground and placing it a small distance from Bazett. Aston once again retook his original position and stared at his Master, "I'm willing to be your friend, my Master." He only smiled, offering the most he could, "I'm aware you've had none."

"You.. idiot." Bazett sighed, slightly smiling at the Lancer's words. She'd grown up alone and understandably, under all her stoicness was a lonely person, Kirei's betrayal hit her right where it hurt. Especially because she perfectly remembered how his invitation had excited her.

"Ah.." Aston had a rather brilliant idea, "I suggest killing him." It didn't matter if the priest was the overseer, he'd already gone against his own duties, attempted to murder a Master and as such, it was open season on him so far as the servant was concerned.

"I can report this to the Mage's Association." Bazett pressed her hands together, staring at the floor in thought, "Get him to pay for his actions. But," She stared up at Aston, wordlessly conveying her intentions to the smiling servant.

There was going to be no judge or jury, just an execution.

Bazett felt it was a hasty decision born of emotions and her servant's suggestion but pragmatism be damned, there was only one way to respond to someone who tries to kill you!

* * *

Several gazes landed on her figure as Rin Tohsaka walked down a sparsely populated road, wearing her usual school uniform consisting of a beige vest over a white shirt and a short black skirt with her legs covered by black stockings. Of course there was her original touch, a long red coat and a similarly coloured bowtie. Her long dark hair was done in twin tails tied up with black ribbons, the majority of it still hanging loose.

She was perhaps the last living Tohsaka and one of the seven masters participating in the Holy Grail War currently taking place in the City of Fuyuki. Rin had summoned her servant the prior night, intending to win the War and obtain the Holy Grail for her family's sake with little to no personal desire for it.

The gazes Rin attracted were something she barely noted, her attention entirely diverted by the actions of her servant not a short time ago. He'd spotted and recklessly attacked another servant during the day! Ugh.. She could almost feel the scolding settling into her ears from the damn priest overseeing the war!

"Why did you have to go ahead and do it during the day!?" She half shouted, half whispered, visibly annoyed by the actions of her ARCHER servant who happened to have just lost his memories and had initially just told her to hole up and wait as he won the war for her. What kind of Master would she be if she did that?! Granted, she had wasted a command seal on the man.

"I saw an opportunity and took it."

Her servant's nonchalance about the matter only irked the young girl further, "You alerted him of your position, he saw you and you tried to attack his Master. You think that was a beneficial exchange?" Rin chided with clenched fists, stomping down the road.

"But, I also identified his class and to some extent, his prowess."

"...A spear-using servant, as if it isn't obvious what class he was." Of course her words were based on the information he'd conveyed to her so the credibility could also be called into question.

"I wasn't able to keep up with his reaction." Came the answer, it was only instinct that allowed Archer to move just in time to narrowly avoid the spear aimed at his chest, the fact that it disappeared right the next instant didn't exactly make the situation better.

"An Archer's?" Rin paused for a moment, what kind of absurd speed was that? It meant they were dealing with a top tier servant, "Anything else?" She spoke seriously, recognising that there was no time to be scolding her servant.

"At that speed, I fail to understand how he could avoid making a sound or not damage his surroundings from the sudden shift in momentum." Supersonic booms decimated everything in their vicinity for a reason. Logically speaking, his speed should have generated shockwaves that announced his presence to almost everyone.

"The fact that I could not sense any sort of magical energy being used means.." Archer paused for a moment, even if it didn't carry as much impact thanks to him being in a spiritual form, "We might be dealing with a servant inherently so agile the world around him perceives him as 'already there'." This was very strange indeed.

"How are we supposed to deal with that?" Rin's shoulders slumped as she walked, people were out there getting completely absurd servants and here she was, with a SERVANT that somehow had amnesia.

Noticing she was nearing the Academy she attended, Rin cleared her throat and put on a more model student expression, correcting her posture before walking in.

Only to be suddenly thrown for a loop by a magical ritual, set to act over the entirety of the Academy.

Weren't the Grail Wars supposed to avoid innocent casualties?!

-

Aston sat on the roof of the hotel, covering his eyes from the Sun as he peered into the distance, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary with his spear resting against his shoulder. This war was certain to become hectic but, rules were rules he supposed.

The first thing he'd be going after once the Sun set was going to be the Archer that had attacked him though. Not the golden haired servant with divinity though, while Aston was confident enough to fight him, he was NOT keen on putting his entire arsenal on display with only two, at most three servants identified.

"I have a proposition." Bazett's voice pulled him out of his musings, making him hum in acknowledgment. The Enforcer pulled on her gloves as she walked up to Aston, standing right behind him, "The Einzbern, the Tohsaka and the Matou. Those three families no doubt have masters participating in the war." She'd done her fair share of research before coming here after all, those three were the ones who established the system after all.

"An interesting bit of knowledge, my Master. I am certain it will be of great help now that we have no time to act on it." Aston smiled gently under his helmet, wondering if he would possibly meet someone from the Round Table in this war.

Couldn't be right?

"Just listen." Bazett put both hands behind her back, not entertaining his eccentricity, "While the Tohsaka and the Matou have their quarters in the city, the Einzbern have their castle in the forest nearby.. I doubt any noise from there would reach here." She hoped he could grasp what she was getting at here, the sooner they finished this up the better.

"Oh my Master. How shameful." The servant put a hand near his mouth, "You would take me to a forest and-"

"No! Why are you like this?" Bazett's lips twitched when the knight only shrugged and continued his observation of the city, "We should attack them" She ignored the blush on her cheeks and pushed on.

Aston took off his helmet and put it on his knees, "One of the founding families as you put it, my Master. They've no doubt summoned an incredibly powerful servant and I, contrary to your beliefs, have no real lust for battle." He stared at the blue sky above, smiling gently, "Men shouldn't love battle but they mustn't be afraid of it either, so I believe."

"I fail to grasp your point." Bazett spoke stoically, slightly tilting her head to convey her confusion.

"My Master, you just want to rid yourself of the frustration and wish to charge into a complete unknown battlefield." Aston held up a finger before turning to face her, that could get them caught up in any number of traps, "I suggest we spend the day relaxing and rejoin the war in the night?"

Bazett's answer was complete silence.

"Of course your frustration also seems to be dulling your mind. Or is that perhaps your natural level of intellect?" Aston put a hand to his chin, "I fear the second possibility with all my being."

* * *

So uh, guys.. How come it went even higher in the rankings?

On other news, I might stop writing cause I found these russian guys making money from translating this. Why would they do that? How come I get nada 😭😭😭