Chapter 03

After getting out of my house, I hailed a taxi and go straight to the clock tower. After paying the fees, I go inside to look for some magus to hunt. I'm searching for a suitable target to test my new skills. Someone not very hard to deal with. While searching, my superior came near me and told me to come with him as he needs to tell me about something.

"The Queen asks for your presence," he said. That got my attention. "The Queen? Why?" Lorelei won't call me unless it is necessary. "Do you think I would know what the Queen is thinking? Now, go… shoo… shoo…" and he drove me off like a dog. "Argh… Alright. I'll go."

After talking with him, I went straight to Lorelei's office. She was the one who called me first; which is really rare. She was always busy with her work that she doesn't have time to write a full page of letters to me sometimes. She called me to come to her office this time. I'm sure there's something very important. After walking through the hallway, I'm now standing in front of Lorelei's door. I gently knocked on the door 3 times. She told me to always knock on her door 3 times. No more, No less. She and her perfectionism.

"Come in," I heard the voice behind the door. When I got into the room, I saw mountains of papers that are neatly stacked. How?! Each stack is at least 2 feet tall! How far will her perfectionism go?!

"Ah… Oz, you're here," she looked up from her paperwork. "Yeah, it must be something serious that you need to call me." She looks right into my eyes, "Yes, I want you to be our representative for joint operations with the church." Wait, what? "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You and the representative from the church will be hunting a Dead Apostle," she replied. What? "Wait. Wait. Wait. You, of all people, telling me to hunt an apostle?! Instead of hunting by yourself? Are you feeling well, Lorelei? Do you need to see the doctor?" What happened to her? She would never ask me to hunt an apostle when she could go and hunt herself.

"Can you stop now, Oz? It's not that I'm not feeling well but, I'm not free enough to hunt it. Can't you see these mountains of paper works?" Yeah, those are lots of paperwork she's handling. Well, now is the time to come truthful.

"By the way, Lorelei?" I tried to gain her attention while nervously rubbing the back of my head. She raised her brow, "What?"

"I, somehow become the Average One." That gained her full attention, "You, WHAT?! HOW?! Never mind that. Who else knows about your previous elements?"

"Aside from Kiritsugu Emiya? None." She glared straight into my eyes, "Why did that spell caster know your element?" I told her what was in my memory, "We got along pretty well. It's like 'I know your element, you know mine'. It all started when I stopped him from bombing the area where our target was."

She looks deadpan, "Do I want to know more about it?"

"Nope," I replied with a popping P.

"Are you sure no one other than that spell caster knows your elements?" she asked.

"Yes. Aside from my family, you and Mr. Emiya are the only ones that know my element. I don't have many friends and Mr. Emiya was the first person I've worked with." Yes. It seems I was a lone wolf.

Lorelei laid her back onto the chair, "Then, it's easy. I just need to give you the Average One title and everything will be alright. Now, tell me. How did your element change?"

"To be honest? I don't know. But I blame Zelretch or Merlin for it. You know, right? There's a saying in the clocktower, 'If something strange happens to you, blame Zelretch.' Thus, I'll always blame Zelretch," sorry Zelretch but I'll be using your name to lie.

"*Sigh* I understand Zelretch but why Merlin?" she asked. "You remember the book you read two years ago, right? The one written by D. Wizard?" I replied to which she nodded. "Yeah, the author was Merlin," I stated.

Her eyes open wide, "You mean I have the book written by Merlin all the time?"

"And thus, I'll always blame Zelretch or Merlin if something bad happens to me." Lorelei is staring at me with a 'are you kidding me?' look. "Are you kidding me?" And there she said it. I shook my head.

"Fine… I know I won't be able to get the answer with your stubbornness. And you should know that you got lucky by telling me first about this. If others know about this earlier than me, I know I don't need to tell you what will happen." I can't do anything but nod. It would end pretty badly for me.

"Now, what you wanted to tell me was, I need to go on joint operation with the representative from the church. So, who is the Apostle?" I asked.

Giving me a file, she said, "Silvan Alariv. A potential ancestor." My eyes widened. I just got Yamato today. Even if I got power-ups, it doesn't mean that I could take on potential ancestors. "What?! You want me to hunt a potential ancestor? You know that I'm not that level, right?"

She slowly closes her eyes and nods slowly. "If it was you from before? No. But current you will be able to hunt down that vermin just fine."

"What do you mean current me?" my back is sweating hard.

"I can feel it since the time you got into the room. Your aura, it changed. Something has changed about you. And the amount of prana oozing out from you has become much stronger too," she looked straight at me.

Scary. Women's intuition is scary. That means even if don't tell her, she'll know right away about my power-ups. I dodged a bullet there. After looking at me for a while, she drops the subject. "Now, back to the topic. You will be meeting with the representative from the church tomorrow morning in Battersea Park."

"Noted. Anything else?" I asked. "Yes, make yourself free at 7 P.M. We'll be having dinner together," she replied while signing her papers.

"Sure, where will we go? Same old place?"

"Yes. It is also the place where we had our childhood memories after all."

"Ah… Yeah. Good ole days. It was also the time when you were much cuter without being Miss-Stuck-Up."

She glared at me, "I'm not stuck up, okay? I'm just better than others. That's the fact."

"Sure, sure, you are the perfectionist after all," I slowly nodded.

"Oh… you are bringing up the old memories, huh? Do you remember when I tried feeding you broccoli when we were 12?" she smirks.

8 Years Ago

"Oz! You should eat your broccoli. It is good for you. Don't you want to become Batman?" said young Lorelei while picking up the broccoli with the fork.

"Never! Damn the broccoli. Damn you! And damn the Warner Bros!" And I was crashed through the wall.

When I look up, I am facing the angry Lorelei, "Did you just cursed me? And what is Warner Bros?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what it is and I also don't know what came over me. I became angry for some reason."

"Apology accepted," she smiled.

Present

Oh yeah. That was weird. The only relation between Batman and Warner Bros is that it is one of the production companies that handle Batman movies. And why did I angry with Warner Bros again? And why did I suddenly remember about Warner Bros that year?

"Anyway, should I wait for you here at clocktower?" I asked while trying to change the subject.

"No. I'll be working here till 6:30 P.M. 15 minutes to get ready and 15 more minutes to get there. Come and call me at 6:45 P.M. sharp."

I left after saying goodbye. After getting out of the office, I went straight to the cafeteria. And I suddenly remember a certain someone while thinking about Batman. Just like Batman, he hides in the dark.

I need to change my plan for the Fourth Holy Grail War. I can't kill Uryuu anymore. *That guy* would know immediately if I stop the summon of Gilles de Rais. I can't afford to anger him now. Not with my current state. That monster didn't die even after being killed 30 times by Touko Aozaki. Plus, one last time. So, 31 times.

And I need to thank that old worm for being his natural repellent. He couldn't participate in Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars because of that r**e worm gramps. I need to be really cautious in the Holy Grail War then.

With the idea of being the master of Caster is out, I need to think whose place I should take. Three Knight Classes are a big NO. Saber is Einzberns. Archer is Tohsaka. And I can't force a Lord to give up his position in Holy Grail War. So, Lancer is also no. Rider is also a BIG NO as Broskandar is needed for the character development of Waver. I don't know how he became Lord El-Melloi II in the Apocrypha universe but I'm sure Iskandar also plays a big part in there. Caster, as I said before, no. As for Berserker, even if I adopted Sakura, Zouken will try to find a way to make Kariya be the master of Berserker. So, the only one left is Assassin. I can try and make it work. I can try and teach Kirei how to play pranks just like I've read in fanfic. Okay. Assassin it is then.

After eating, I went back home as I can't take any assignments because I need to be ready for tomorrow. When I got home, I start checking out Imaginary Numbers until 6:00 P.M. I wonder if I could use Imaginary Numbers as a storage space? I need to check that. After taking a bath and fixing myself, I went to the clocktower to pick up Lorelei at 6:30 P.M. and went to our usual place. Goodbye my wallet, I'll be missing you. At least I don't have bad luck with money like a certain magenta hair enforcer.

We laughed and talked just like our old time. She doesn't need to act like a Lord at that restaurant as the owner knows Lorelei since she was a kid. After eating, we went back to my home walking while holding hands. Good thing that both of her hands are still here. When we got home, after changing into pajamas, we talked about today over a cup of tea. (Hot chocolate for me. She doesn't need to know about it.) After that, we went straight into bed as I don't want to tire her more than she currently is. So, we cuddle each other and went to sleep.