Chapter 253: Eternal Sleep.

His magecraft is amazing. He performed four magical processes without difficulty and controlled them with a skill that very few magus have. He is a very talented servant, who saved Sakura's life.

But after his healing magecraft stopped working, he moved away from her and settled in the right corner of the room. From there he merely watched her. At no time did he deactivate those Mystic Eyes. I could tell he's monitoring Sakura's condition, making sure nothing bad is going to happen.

Even though he said all those cruel things before, he's making sure his master isn't in danger. I don't get it... Assassin said Sakura was going to die, but then he saved her. I really don't understand...

The sadness that I felt emanating from him is increasing. This somehow... Haa... I don't understand you, Assassin... Asahi... Toru... that's your name.

I've never heard a name like that before. I don't know what it means. But I think it's a name that suits you very well. I don't know much about Japanese culture except for what Sakura told me about her childhood, so it would be hard for me to find a meaning to her name.

As for my name, Gray. The truth is that my parents didn't have much imagination. It's a simple name, but it doesn't bother me. Someday I will become Arthur Pendragon. Someday I'll stop being Gray. No. I've already stopped being Gray the moment my face changed in front of the mirror.

What did I used to look like? That's a distant memory, as blurry as fogged glass. I don't remember that face. I don't remember myself. I'm not Gray anymore, but I still go by that name. It's all I have left of who I once was. All this is what I am now.

Who am I?

I am what I am, but that doesn't make sense. I don't know who I am.

"How long will it take for that person to arrive?"

Assassin asked. His voice was as vague as the first time I heard him speak. It always strikes me as odd that he uses that Russian accent when he speaks. That could be another one of those mysteries of the world that I won't understand. My mind just isn't up to processing that much information.

"It shouldn't take long. He'll show up any minute. We must be patient."

My mentor replied. Even though he said that, he looks very impatient. He wants Sakura healed fast so he can talk to her. It seems Sakura is my mentor's weakness. He worries about her a lot. Even when we were going to go to the Separation Castle, he refused to take her. He's afraid of losing someone important again.

As if my mind had been read, Assassin said exactly what I was thinking.

"You talk about being patient, but I can see that, of everyone here, you are the most impatient."

"This pathetic Lord. He shouldn't even consider himself a man."

Add interjected. He chuckled as he spoke. I held his cage and rattled it a bit to warn him to be quiet, but he continued.

"It's just, pay attention."

He added. Add looked at me as if he was telling me to let him speak.

"A man must look strong in front of the people he cares most about. If he appears weak, people would distrust him. This society has already got them used to acting like that. You could say that this is the stereotype that every man should follow. But it doesn't always have to be that way. There are times to open up to the people you hold most dear, aren't there, Assassin boy?"

I opened my eyes a little. I was surprised by Assassin's reaction. He looked at the window so he wouldn't look at Add.

"You talk too much."

Again the same words. It's like Add knows what nerves to touch so Assassin doesn't have how to respond. Maybe that's a good thing.

"But anyway. Look at that poor girl. She's suffered alone for so long. Hiding so much pain... surely she learned it from someone. A young person doesn't develop this way of acting just like that out of nowhere. Whether it's someone's influence or not..."

Learning to hide the pain? I looked at Sakura.

"What do you mean, Add?"

"That she learned to act cool in front of others. Someone must have taught her that, or at the very least, she must have met someone she wanted to imitate. Maybe that's why she ended up that way. Or maybe she just got used to living that way."

That was... interesting. When I noticed, the expression on Assassin's face had changed a bit. His gaze was softer, as if he somehow understood what Add had just said. It seems that my mentor understood that too, for he looked at Sakura with regret. It pains him to see his daughter lying in a bed under such sad conditions.

"Haah... this is so... infuriating..."

Assassin interrupted the silence that had formed. With his arms crossed, he looked out the window. This felt a little strange to me. His personality doesn't make for that much talk, or at least not for what little I know of him.

"I'd like to go walk around town for a few hours, but I have to keep an eye on this troublesome master. If all goes well, I'll refrain from following her orders until the war starts."

He muttered. But it was strange. Those dialogues felt forced. As if Assassin was forcing himself not to let silence take over this room. From his gestures and the expression on his face, you would expect Assassin to be a calm and quiet boy, but it seemed like he didn't want to stay that way. Something compels him to speak.

"The War for the Holy Grail. I'm thinking of stopping Sakura from going."

My mentor had his reasons for saying that. No one could blame him. Not even Assassin.

"That war... it's too dangerous, isn't it? You were there ten years ago..."

I asked. I always wanted to know more about that war. I want to know what my mentor had to experience ten years ago in the far east. There are still a lot of unknowns for me.

He denied by waving his hand.

"I wasn't the only one who participated in that war. Assassin was there too."

"Huh?"

I let my voice out as a small embarrassed squeak. I panicked the moment I heard that, as if the truth of all humanity would be revealed in front of my eyes. Impossible, I thought, how? My mind was hit by a bunch of answers that surged like a geyser trying to drill into my skull.

As I understand it, you can summon specific servants if you have a catalyst. And now that I remember, Sakura used to wear an earring in the strange shape of a canine claw, exactly like the one hanging from Assassin's ear right now.

If that's possible, then Assassin could....

"But I have no memory of being summoned. For me, this is the first time I've been summoned."

Assassin added. That was something that immediately disappointed me. I expected him to know a lot about those moments, but I see that it's impossible.

He approached Sakura again and sat on the chair. He took her hand and looked at her face. He squinted his eyes. He tried to remember, but failed.

"I really don't remember anything. Sakura-sama knows I was there. She's known me for a long time, but I know nothing about her, nothing about you. You are all strangers to me. I don't feel anything about it. Even if I hold her hand and try to feel something, nothing comes up. No memory. No experience. Nothing. Everything is white in my mind, like an empty canvas waiting to be painted..."

Not knowing anything about yourself... I get it.....

"Doesn't it bother you not to know what you did in that war?"

I asked. He shook his head gently.

"Not a bit nor do I care. It's not even worth trying to remember or find out something that happened a long time ago. It would waste time I can use to do nothing."

"You're too lazy, Assassin boy. Grab the shovel once in a while. It's good for the body."

"You talk too much."

Again Add received those words from Assassin. My mentor, seeing this, somehow calmed down a bit from his worry. He is still scared of what might happen, but he tries to keep his hope.

***

This room is full of broken people. They all have their problems, they all have their ghosts from the past. Everyone is going down a different path. This will undoubtedly lead them to find themselves at some point. But for now, they are all broken; people looking for salvation. Consciously or unconsciously, they are trying to move on.

There is one who is more broken than everyone here. His death eyes look at life in the world, but everything is so monotonous and exasperating that it bores him quite a bit. Being right now a lazy bum who prefers to do nothing, he sinks deeper into his own problems instead of looking for some solution. But he has given up a long time ago. There is no hope left in his troubled heart. His eyes always appear dull and lifeless; proof that he simply gave up; that he really died.

Gray couldn't help but take her eyes off him. Mysteries please her and this ghost is a mystery to her. She's still a little afraid of this being an entity that has died and returned to the world as a heroic spirit, but Sakura trusts him madly. He can't be a bad person when this kind girl trusts him so much.

She is sure of that. But after learning that Assassin was also there ten years ago, she understood that this servant was somehow an anchor to the past that has her mentor and the girl lying on the bed trapped.

"Someone's coming."

His cold gaze was set on the door. He blinked just once confirming that what he felt was true. Then he said aloud to us:

"They are at the door. It's three people. No. It's two people. The 'third person' is just a mass of mana and liquid metal. It is Reines El-Melloi Archisorte and an unknown person."

"Looks like they've arrived. It took them a long time..."

Waver mentioned. Gray tried to move away from the room to greet the guests, but Toru stopped her.

"No need. Just wait. A clone already went to greet them."

"A clone? Like an illusion?"

"I'm sure you saw him before. The one that disappeared turning into a little cloud of smoke."

He made funny gestures with his hands as he explained.

"The clone is more than an illusion. I said earlier I summoned one to bring chairs, didn't you see it? That clone stood outside waiting. Let him open the door."

"Summon a copy of yourself to do things for you. Boy... you're lazy..."

Add interjected. Toru only replied with the same words:

"You talk too much."

***

The door slowly opened. Reines expected a welcome from her brother, or at the very least, a welcome from the lovely Gray, but what she found was a grim, black-haired guy poking his head through the door opening. His eyes were silver, eyes so silver that that very feature in this guy somehow reminded her of the eyes of some cats. He was also wearing strange old-fashioned clothes that only a monk or samurai would wear.

"Waver called you, didn't she?"

He spoke casually to her as if he had known her for a long time already. This struck Reines as very odd. She had never seen this guy before in her life, who was he, what is he doing in her brother's house? She forgot about those questions when she felt something upon seeing him.

An overflowing happiness was born in the pit of her stomach, like a little lamb running after its mother. Satisfaction filled her chest. That strange fascination with the suffering of others hit her hard. There was something amusing about him. It made her smile kindly.

"So...are you going to let me pass? I have important business to attend to. Though first of all I must ask. You wouldn't happen to be a magus slayer or something?"

He immediately denied.

"I work for Sakura-sama."

"Hmm... I see. Interesting answer. I like your way of answering questions. In any case, I brought someone from the family who will be in charge of treating my beloved little sister's wounds. Could you let us pass?"

He looked at Reines and then at the man accompanying him. He was a tall man in his early thirties. His hair was a little blond, almost brown, and his eyes were brown. He wore rectangular, black-framed glasses that went well with his smart suit whose blue shades emphasized his position as a member of the El-Melloi family.

His name didn't matter at the moment. In fact, nothing aside from his talent with magecraft related to regeneration and healing mattered. The man looked a bit perturbed, as if he had been dragged here by the clutches of this blonde girl.

He analyzed them both with his gaze and stepped aside in the doorway. He looked like a strange Japanese butler at that moment. Reines walked past the man. Trimmau appeared behind them and accessed the house.

As Toru already knew about Reines, it was reliable to let her pass. He walked in front of them as if he were a real butler. In fact, this experience felt strangely familiar to him. He decided not to let this strange feeling keep him from his goal. There was no time to waste.

They climbed the stairs to then meet the door of that room. Toru knocked on the door three times with gentle taps of his knuckle. The door opened only a second later and Reines entered first, followed by the man and Trimmau. The clone also entered and stood quietly.

"My beloved brother. I could never have imagined that you would call out to me so frightened asking for my help. That could be considered too comforting an experience. huh? Are there two?"

Ignoring the fact that, as soon as she entered the room and saw Waver and tried to disturb him right away, she was surprised to see two identical people in the same room. Toru took that reaction into account and closed his eyes. The clone disappeared accordingly.

"Before the Lord can say anything, I must introduce myself. If you saw Sakura-sama when you entered, you must have noticed what's in her left hand."

"Command Spells, of course."

She replied with an intriguing smile.

"Right. I just want to avoid unnecessary questions. You can call me Assassin. I'm-"

"You're my little sis's servant. There's no need to explain anything. I can tell you don't want to waste time. So let's get straight to the point."

Waver joined the conversation.

"It's about the worms of the Matō family. Those insects started eating Sakura."

"In view of the fact that her life was in danger. With no visible salvation, I decided to act on my own judgment."

Toru added. He continued:

"Using my ninjutsu, I burned her from the entrails. The parasites died from the high temperatures. Now all we have left is to heal its internal burns."

Reines remained a bit serious for a few seconds. She approached Sakura and looked at her closely. Her skin was red, as if she had been thrown into a tank of boiling water. She saw how serious the situation was and acted accordingly. There are questions she wants to ask, but as she saw before in that Japanese boy, she swallowed her words and advanced straight to what everyone is interested in.

"Do it. Examine her and heal her!"

Reines proclaimed. Gray had seldom seen Reines act so serious. Surely there was something in her twisted heart that still kept her attached to that bond called 'friendship'. She appreciated that. Already with Add under her cloak, she remained silent as the guest began.

The man acted immediately according to Reines' orders. Although he looked tired and even uncomfortable, his hand movements were quick as he pulled out different stones and pieces of paper from his elegant suit. He placed a small black stone with a runic symbol in the center of Sakura's chest, another similar stone in her navel, one more in the center of her torso and two in each hand. He took the pieces of paper, which also seemed to have symbols resembling Norse runes, and stuck them on her forehead and the soles of her feet.

Waver seemed to recognize this, but said nothing. He only hoped that this would end now.

Thus the man took a stone in his right hand pointing the rune at the center of Sakura's body.

"First let's see how bad the damage is."

He closed his eyes and injected his mana into the stone. The white symbol on the small black stone glowed, which in turn made the symbols on the other stones glow. The man opened his eyes two seconds later and looked back.

"You said earlier that you burned the inside of this girl's body, didn't you?"

He asked Toru. He nodded in response.

The man only sighed.

"You managed to get her out of hell and now you dropped her into the cruel earthly world."

No one understood that except for Toru himself. He knew the risks of burning a person's body. He closed his eyes and folded his arms. This reaction confused Waver.

"I can heal this girl's wounded body, yes. But that doesn't assure us that she'll wake up."

"What are you trying to say?"

Waver grabbed him by the shoulder. The man let out a small frightened shriek as his body straightened from fright. With his nervous voice, he took it upon himself to explain. His words struck Waver.

"Well. If what I know is true, then the servant managed to save the lady from death. But that's no better than what's happening now. I mean the brain. That much heat almost melted her brain. She received a lot of damage because of this. I know I can heal all internal injuries including the brain, but the brain is a much more complex body organ."

"What he means is that even if her brain heals, all the processes it performed will take a long time to take place again, that is, the brain must heal itself. That takes a lot of mana. So, right now, only she will be able to wake herself up."

Toru interrupted. He watched the scene with sleepy eyes. Every word she said felt heavy in her throat. He said something before Waver interrupted him:

"This is just one problem after another. This is the consequence of procrastinating. Even though I had already foreseen that this would happen, I really came out badly affected..."

"Because you need the lady's mana to exist, don't you?"

The man in front of Sakura understood that. Waver's words made sense after all.

"She won't be able to give you her mana now that she'll be using it to heal herself."

And that was certainly the problem. If Sakura took too long to wake up, Toru would be in danger of disappearing. In that case, he would need someone to provide him with the mana he needed to exist.

"How about I take care of my little sister's pet while she recovers."

It was a sudden suggestion, but Reines had seen something interesting in this servant before. If Sakura is out of danger and can heal under an indefinite amount of time, what she could do best was to offer to take care of this little puppy abandoned by his master. Sakura would be very happy to wake up and she would gain points that would improve her position as a big sister in front of the violet-haired girl.

However...

"I refuse..."

Having a temporary master didn't please him, as there are other methods that can be used so he raised his voice making everyone look at him.

"I know how to get mana. I don't need a replacement for my master."

Reines smiled. Toru's cold gaze hid his annoyance at that moment. She came up with something to say. Something that popped up in the confines of her mind like a harmless little bubble.

"In that case, you're saying you're going to become the new Jack the Reaper, aren't you? You said you're an Assassin. Your only option to get mana is to kill people."

Gray looked at Toru. Her gaze showed a hint of fear and concern. She remembered all those souls in that ocean of blood. If Toru is Assassin, that means he killed all the people who showed up as souls in that ocean. Killing more would only increase that. In any case, innocent people would die, as she also saw children's souls there....

Most children are the purest form of human being. If Toru killed so many, what's to stop him from doing it again?

'Is that why you refused so quickly?'

She wondered. But there was something else. The sadness this servant has alone is greater than before, which left her with many doubts. So what was she to think, are there sad killers? How come there are so many souls in that place? Her mind felt overwhelmed by so many questions, but Add's voice whispered to her taking that weight off her mind.

"Do it, child. If you become his mediator, you can discover many things that will serve you well. Do not let him go. Don't let this Assassin be for someone else. So much you have been interested in this boy and you don't take advantage of that feeling. Offer him your mana and he will offer you his heart. It's a win-win situation for both of you. You'll be able to take that thorn out of your finger by asking him everything you want to know. You're curious, but too shy to ask personal questions - take advantage of that!"

Of course, Add was only saying this for his own benefit. He couldn't let such a massive source of souls slip through his nonexistent fingers. If she could get Gray to offer herself to Assassin, she might as well get what she'd been looking for so long.

"I think you figured it out, but you two are a lot alike..."

Gray ducked under her hood upon hearing that. Thinking about that filled him with doubt. Imagining the two of them being alike made her feel like she wasn't alone, but it also filled her with a sudden sadness, for someone being similar to her implied similar problems to her own.

"He is not what he seems as you can see he is hiding many interesting things. Find out on your own. Don't stay in the role of Watson. Be like Sherlock, child."

Add whispered to say no more. She had her doubts about this, as she has been dreading this servant for a long time. She has been affected by this servant's emotions. She stresses herself thinking over and over again what generates those emotions in Assassin and looks for a way to stop that as she is very scared of the servant's emotions. This was a mystery. She wanted to become engrossed in one more mystery. She wanted to solve this mystery on her own.

For her Assassin is a mystery; 'Gray' is a mystery. If two mysteries work together, could they find each other? Could the mystery be solved?

Her voice came out before she realized it. She didn't think twice. That was her mistake.

"I could..."

She raised her hand timidly. She looked at Toru, who looked at her silently. But Waver reacted differently. He was nervous because he knew what it entailed to give someone mana.

"Lady, I don't think you should..."

But it was too late.

"I could help you, Assassin."

"Well done, brat!"

Add shouted with a whisper.

To be continued...