Chapter 36: Day Time of the Second Day.

The next morning after the first battle. Ray and co stay at home because his face is now recognisable. Also, they relocated in a hurry when their old base crumbled into the sea bed along with the port that became a hot topic of the citizens.

Some believed the narration of the media that stated it was a gas explosion. Another group said this was a terrorist attack and the media is covering up a conspiracy. Then the last group and probably the closest one to the truth. This group believed supernatural beings fought and the port caught in the crossfire. Of course, the supernatural being was a kaiju named Godzilla and it was kindled by a group of obsessed fanatics of the kaiju and bleeding their imagination and obsession into reality.

Currently, Ray is staying in the home of a kind lady that th- *cough* 'offered' Ray and co to settle at her castle. Ray has the soul of her husband as hostage and his corpse that he is going to harvest a few things from. Even if she is unwilling, she must comply or else…

*Bang*

Door of his workshop slammed open again for the third time in the last seven hours and he had enough. He didn't think it would be this annoying but he probably became a poor pauper by the end of this Holy Grail War.

"Master! I'm hungry…" The gluttonous beast once again waltzed into his room and demanded food from him.

"Didn't I assign Tanya to take care of your meals?" Ray replied with an annoyed tone before trying to call Tanya via telepathy.

"Ray! You finally answered." Tanya said with a relieved tone much to his confusion. He did ask everyone to not disturb him but it now sound like the world is ending outside his room.

"What happened? Why is she disturbing me again?" Ray asked with his irritated tone.

"About that…" Tanya went silent and coughed as if to tell Ray to be prepared for what he is about to hear. "She finished all the money."

"Sorry, can you repeat it again?" In sheer disbelief he tried to clear his ears despite this communication channel being between minds.

"She finished the one million Yen you gave me." Tanya repeated again, clearly done this before and fed up with it already.

"How! How the fuck can someone physically finish a million Yen just eating burgers in Mc Donald? It's not even the year 2000 yet? How expensive can a goddamn burger be? Is there a great recession happening in Japan right now that prices are being inflated?"

"She said she wanted to taste something else and visited almost all restaurants and cafes in the city." Tanya corrected Ray while ignoring his rant. "Some of them are high end shops."

Ray slaps his face and tried to think of a way out. If not for the Devil's Contract, he wouldn't even try and let Saber Alter starve a little.

(Flashback)

"I am Ray and I want you as my Servant." Ray said to Saber Alter after he took the Command Seals from Kiritsugu.

"Why should I accept then? My Dragon Core is more than sufficient to sustain my existence." Saber Alter listened to his piece when she normally would outright ignore him but he did defeat her in a battle regardless of how he won.

"Glad you ask." Ray smirked and took out a bunch of burgers, fried chicken, fries and various other not healthy junk foods for her knowing this is one of her weaknesses.

*Growl*

Ray immediately grins when Saber's stomach growls and demands food. She extended her hand to grab the food but was slapped by Ray.

"Ah, not so fast. If you want this food, you must pledge your allegiance to me and I swear you will never go hungry under my service." Ray proposed while activating the Devil's Contract ability.

It's hard to control herself when she is already salivating and hardly able to reign her appetite. She tried to look away but too bad, Ray has another trump card, Aura of Greed. Although not Gluttony but is enough to weaken her resistance enough.

"Kuh! Despicable. Threatening me with such an underhanded method!" Saber wipes the saliva flowing out her lips.

"So, how is it?" Ray took a fork and grabbed a fried chicken and purposely ate it in front of her to taunt her. "Mhm, delicious… It's unfortunate if I finished all this myself~"

"Fine, you bastard. I pledge my allegiance and service to you, Magus. In exchange, you will provide me with food whenever I want."

"Deal!" Ray concluded the contract in the heat of the moment and forgot how bottomless this glutton is.

(Flashback End)

Suffering the consequence of his poorly made choice, he must do everything in his power to fulfill his part of his contract.

"This cannot go on… I'll be on the street before sunset if this goes on." Ray tried to think of a way out of this predicament. He cannot exactly keep selling more artifacts and pass them as antiques to get money. He already ran out of those he can sell. The remaining ones have powerful effects that will be bad news if anyone from the supernatural side gets their hands on them.

"Wait, maybe this can be done." He thought of a way that saved more money than buying outside.

"Saber, go and get me Irisviel." He ordered.

"But I am hungry already…" The wild Saber Alter had disappeared and been replaced with a domesticated one right now that she even acted coy to complain at Ray while holding her growling stomach like a pet would. He blames the Aura of Greed for turning her into this.

Her desires are amplified too much that that is all it is in her mind. He hopes the effect disappears soon or he will really be on the street by sunset.

Seeing Saber wouldn't budge, he sighed and assigned a Wraith to summon Irisviel into his presence.

Few minutes later, the master of the castle arrived at a hurried pace and disheveled appearance. Probably still grieving her husband's death in her room.

"What do you need from me?" Irisviel asks with a tired tone but still trying to be respectful because the person had her husband's soul in his hand as hostage.

It's something that puzzles her a lot because this is clearly mastery over soul and normally only Necromancers are adept in such a branch of magecraft. No, this can't be called a magecraft at all. This is more closer to the Third True Magic that her family had been pursuing.

The Third True Magic main effect is immortality through the soul which prevents the degradation of the soul and turns the soul into a being that can interact in both the physical and spiritual realm. The Servant is such a case as they are given a physical vessel made from mana but still a spiritual being. Ray's Wraith also is such a case as they are spiritual beings akin to ghosts but capable to interact with the physical realm and his Wraith Soldiers and Charlotte are the closest to a Servant that possessed both physical and spiritual body.

In some way, Ray is replicating most of the Third True Magic's effect but only lacks the ability to recall an already dispersed soul or basically soul of the dead that he didn't immediately catch. In Kiritsugu's case, Charlotte already gets a hold of his soul before it has the chance to start degrading and preserve it in pristine condition. If left untouched for a few minutes, Kiritsugu's soul would have degraded one fifth as such is the rule of this world that soul will eventually return to the Akasha.

However, when Irisviel tried to ask if Ray is a Necromancer. He immediately denied it and said to not lump him with those corpse loving lunatics. Instead he calls himself an Animancer or Magus that dabbles in the field of soul and weaponizes it. Irisviel also tried to ask for his full name in hope Ray would probably be the ancestor of Einzbern that created the Homunculus Factory but his expression became odd and immediately tried to change the topic. That's why she spent her time scouring the library and secret archives in the castle in hope to find any information about Ray from the Einzbern historical record.

As for Ray, how will he explain that his true name became Rayark von Einzbern because of Tanya's world. He originally only used that name as a sort of disguise but once he was registered as nobility of the Empire under the family name of Einzbern, his true name in the system became Rayark von Einzbern, the last living clansmen of Einzbern and the only living patriarch of Einzbern family.

Okay, we are getting side tracked here. Back to the story.

"What do you need from me?" Irisviel asked.

"How many homunculus do you have as a servant in this castle?" Ray asks while listing down stuff for Tanya to buy and send it through the flip phone he bought for sake of convenience. If only they had a smart phone already.

"Around twenty for now. Mostly to guard and maintain the castle." Irisviel answered with a puzzled expression.

"Do they know how to cook? How long can they work? Can you make more? ..." Barrage of questions caught her off guard and she tried to answer all of them to the best of her ability.

"Okay, in an hour. Tanya will return with a lot of ingredients. I need six of your homunculus to work full-time in the kitchen and prepare food for Saber. As for the castle's security, my Wraiths can take over. They work better in this kind of terrain anyway." Ray decided to send out all his Wraith Soldiers to scout and guard the castle and the forest surrounding it.

"Seeing that you are very cooperative, I grant you your wish." Ray grabs a crystal from his storage ring and tosses it to Irisviel. "I am sure you know what to do with it. I had been extremely delicate and careful with his corpse. It should still be in pristine condition minus his Command Seals and Magic Crest of course."

"T-thank you!" Irisviel quickly bowed and ran out of the room leaving Ray and Saber alone with him.

"Odd, why would she thank someone that harmed her husband." Ray wondered for a moment but that thought vanished when he remembered he still had plenty of Wraiths to be refined into Elite Wraiths.

"*Sigh* If only I had someone to help me with these menial tasks…" Ray signed and returned to his monotone task while Saber already dozed off on the sofa in the room.

As for allowing Irisviel to revive Kiritsugu. He of course knew how lethal this boogie man is but still allowed it because the tiger's fangs and claws had already been plucked off by yours truly.

Ray shares his memories of the aftermath of Kiritsugu's pursuit of the grail and its corruption. Even if the grail isn't corrupted, it's not omnipotent. So, all the senseless killing and death that he justified as necessary for peace of the world now become a waste and a sin that he shoulder. Of course, it isn't easy to convince Kiritsugu because of his stubbornness that surpasses heaven and his hostility makes him view anything Ray told or show him as a lie. A healthy dose of mental manipulation is needed to make Kiritsugu believe. Besides, not that he is lying about the Fuyuki fire is the eventual outcome and the Grail isn't omnipotent.

At least for now, Ray can be sure Kiritsugu will not antagonize him for no reason since he proclaims himself trying to correct this mess that Kiritsugu is going to create. Kiritsugu might even be his allies if he didn't mind that Charlotte murdered Maiya and robbed his corpse bare. After all, besides the Command Seals and Magic Crest, he also robbed the catalyst used to summon King Artoria for himself.

While waiting for the Wraiths to fight and devour each other. Ray picks up the book containing knowledge of Alchemy and creating homunculus from the Einzbern family that Irisviel provided him.

[Requirement to absorb Einzbern Alchemy Knowledge is 250 INT. Would Player like to proceed? Y / N]

[Requirement to absorb Einzbern Homunculus Creation is 200 INT. Would Player like to proceed? Y / N]

Ray selects 'Y' option for both and a stream of knowledge enters his mind and engraved onto it. It was a slightly painful process but nothing he cannot control.

Ray scans through the information and finds it interesting that the two books he just absorbed aren't the complete version. It serves only as an introduction and starter guide.

The Homunculus Creation is what he was most interested in. He can essentially hand craft a body and turn it into a vessel for his Wraith to possess and evolve like the Wraith Soldier. He can essentially produce homunculus with special ability and knowledge for a specific task like combat, support or logistics. For example, logistic homunculi can be equipped with Alchemy knowledge and help him refine material and produce artifacts for him like how he makes swords for Charlotte.

This is a great boon indeed! Ray couldn't suppress his excitement that he forgot Homunculus took at the very least dozens of days to be produced from scratch unless. Not to mention the amount of flaws the Einzbern homunculus has due to them being specialized and having a lesser lifespan of less than 5 years average.

He soon returned disappointed after realizing the flaw halfway to the underground laboratory to produce Homunculus. He decided to try improving and removing their flaws first while grinding this Elite Wraiths production.

———

Near the destroyed port, Tanya, who was left behind by Saber, walked here with Charlotte accompanying her because Ray ordered so. It's dangerous now that the war has begun and Tanya by no means of insult, is the squishiest within the group.

"Hmn… It's very boring. I can't wait for tonight again!"

Charlotte turns from sighing like a grandma to an energetic child jumping in excitement. Such a scene is quite odd but being with her for quite a while, Tanya is used to her weird fluctuation.

Ray said it was a side effect of the procedure of changing Charlotte into a Wraith hybrid. He probably tried to hide it but Tanya knew that Ray did modifications to the old Charlotte's body and mind. Such human experimentation is frowned upon normally but Tanya is no longer a normal human but a reincarnator, mage and now the mistress of the Dark Lord. After all, Ray's action can't be called a righteous person at all but he is neither an evil. He simply discarded unnecessary sentiment and ideology that a normal human has in order to survive the harsh environment and strive for power.

Back to Charlotte. She does consent to the experimentation but Tanya didn't think that count because her brain had been hardwired to show adoration and submission to Ray in the early stages. But what is done is done and the Old Charlotte still exists in the New Charlotte's mind. But what Ray did to Charlotte is quite gruesome as he changed her race on a spiritual level.

A surgery basically has been done to her soul and been grafted with defining parts from multiple Wraith's souls in order to create a mind for his Wraiths. A hive mind that acts as a Bee Queen to command the mostly mindless Wraiths that depend on orders from Ray that he found inefficient. The surgery sort of fails because what he is trying to produce in Charlotte didn't meet his expectations. But she did become stronger and can control a certain amount of Wraiths to an instinctual level.

The modification botched her soul as adding souls of others, especially those that already turned into a Wraith tainted her with souls of others that contain memories and personalities. Each Wraith contains three hundred souls and a total of six were grafted into Charlotte.

It takes time but she is slowly devouring the lesser soul fragments that contain the personalities and memories. She eliminates the useless lesser one so her soul has a dominant position and is in control of the body.

"Don't forget your main task is watching over that girl that Ray told you to." Tanya sighed and shake away the thoughts with a topic to talk about.

"Don't worry. I have someone to look over for me." Charlotte gives Tanya a thumbs up and a cheeky grin. "After all, who want to squat all day in that sewer while looking at bunch of worms raping a girl. Even I, a masochist by definition, have to lift up my hand and surrender." Charlotte spat on the street after remembering the disgusting scene.

"Why would the Master have interest in that girl anyway?" Charlotte asked while looking up at the sky, thinking of a reason.

The girl is cute for sure. Very submissive and b- *cough* feminine in her appearance and etiquette. A very good candidate for her certified lolicon master. But, after seeing what the worms did to that girl and even nested inside the girl. Charlotte must admit her master must have a weird fetish to not be repulsed by that girl.

"Who knows. He is a lustful man and known to like little girls no matter how he tries to deny that fact. But, he is also a man that has a closet obsession with research for his pursuit of power." Tanya shrugged as she looked around the port. It was well barricaded by the authorities and even fabricated to fit their narrative as a result of the gas explosion.

After I finish looking around the area. Tanya decided to return to the Einzbern castle and check on Ray while preparing for the night.

"Let's go. We are going back." Tanya said and pulled Charlotte but she stood still which confused Tanya as she turned to look at Charlotte. "What's wrong?"

Tanya however, greeted with silence that lasted a minute.

"Someone assassinated a Wraith I sent to follow the Assassins." Charlotte broke the silence and talked to Tanya. "I suspect it's what the group that colluded with the overseer that master told us before. We need to return immediately."

"Let's go." Tanya and Charlotte run into a secluded area and fly back. Since it's low enough and lacking surveillance technology, they remain undetected.

—————