CHAPTER 2.3 - SERVANTS

They arrived at the Emiya residence. Taiga initially wanted to stay for a while, but she got dragged away after the chaperone mentioned that her grandfather wanted her to continue her studies.

"It's a holiday! It's supposed to be a time to relax! No, don't wanna, don't wanna!!" Taiga protested, but her tantrum couldn't stop her from being dragged away, leaving Shirou and Tamamo a bit dumbfounded.

Currently, Shirou and Tamamo were sitting in the dojo. It had been a week since Shirou met Tamamo and learned that numerous heroes were living inside him. It was a very abridged version that Tamamo told him, but it was enough for now.

"The Overseer, your mom, has already given her approval," Tamamo spoke first.

Shirou tilted his head. "Approval for what?"

"For the rest of us, the heroic spirits, to finally come," Tamamo explained, unable to hide her smile as she saw Shirou's visible happiness.

"Are you serious? That's awesome!" Shirou exclaimed, pumping his hand with excitement.

With the imminent danger from the corrupted Grail and the recent mysterious murders, it was no longer worth risking Shirou's life. Irisviel had already given her approval and tasked the servants with patrolling the city. Of course, not all the servants would be summoned at once, but enough to be prepared for now.

"Hold on," Shirou paused. "If they come here, would they live in this house as well? The house has many unused rooms, but I'm afraid it's still not enough."

Tamamo giggled. "Don't worry about that, young master. Do you remember the city we once saw in your mind?"

Shirou nodded in response.

"Most of us actually live there. We can go back and forth if needed, so living space is not a problem."

"That's good, but..." Shirou frowned slightly. "I kinda feel bad, though."

For Shirou, the servants were like guests, honorable guests. It was only natural to treat them as such. Tamamo was about to reassure Shirou when they both heard something in their minds.

'The thought alone is appreciated, boy.'

'Heh, what a polite kid. Can't wait for the two of us to have a drink together.'

You don't have to concern yourself about my well-being, child. '

Well, look at that. Aren't you one hell of a good boy, master?

'Awww, the Puppy is worried for me.'

"Looks like they're coming," Tamamo mentioned.

Shirou's eyes widened in surprise. Golden sparks appeared around the dojo, and from those sparks emerged five people. First, a woman wearing a black and purple robe with a hood that covered her eyes. Next, a red-eyed young man in a blue bodysuit with armored plates and a red spear casually resting on his shoulder. Beside him stood a purple-haired woman in a similar bodysuit, but black, with a veil covering her face. On the other side, a knight in full plate armor with horns on the sides of his helmet. Finally, a seemingly young girl in a frilly dress with horns on her head stood beside the knight, smiling at Shirou.

"Oh my, you are indeed a rather cute master. I am Medea of Colchis, Caster Class. Pleased to meet you, boy," said the hooded woman.

The red-eyed man smirked. "Yo, I'm Cu Chulainn, Lancer."

The woman beside him lifted her veil and greeted Shirou. "I come from the Land of Shadows. My name is Scáthach, Lancer Class. I guess I should call you Master?" she said softly.

The knight's helmet made a mechanical sound as it split open, revealing a young girl's face underneath. "Just call me Mordred. Saber Class. Nice to meet you, Master."

Not far from Mordred, the young girl in the frilly dress greeted Shirou. "Lancer, Elizabeth Bathory at your service~ Please take care of me, Puppy♡"

...

"But man, is there no booze around? This sucks," groaned Cu Chulainn. Currently, Shirou and his servants were sitting in the living room. In front of them were cups of tea, each made by Tamamo.

"We have a kid here, you brute," Medea stated.

"Oh, come on, back in my day, we drank from the time we became old enough to hold a weapon," Cu retorted. "And our master sure looks old enough to hold a weapon by now."

"Can you shut your mouth for a sec here? I thought the Hound of Chulainn would be more than some drunkard with a pointy stick," Mordred commented.

Cu turned his attention to Mordred. "Hoo, you wanna fight, girlie?" he retorted, smirking.

BAM! Mordred slammed the table as soon as she heard him calling her 'girlie'. "...don't call me that!"

"Or what? You gonna cry?" Cu taunted Mordred.

"You wanna fight? Sure, I'll give you a fight you damn mutt," Mordred glared.

The tension was slowly rising. The lancer clad in blue and the red knight stood up and glared at each other. Shirou started to panic, wanting to say something to calm the situation down.

Then, tap. Scathach put her teacup down and immediately said, "Cu, sit."

Cu's eyes twitched, but he could feel the dark aura of his mentor slowly rising. With a huff, he conceded and sat down.

"Hah, whipped," mocked Mordred.

Scathach then averted her gaze towards Mordred. "You too, knight of the Round Table. This is not the time for a mere child's scuffle."

Mordred almost took a step back after looking straight into Scathach's cold eyes. The two of them stayed like that for a moment before Mordred sat down, grumbling. From the corner of her eye, she saw Cu smirking. Boy, she would give this dog a beating later.

Medea sighed, relieved that the crisis was somehow avoided. "The master is supposed to be the kid here, not the two of you."

Meanwhile, unbothered by the almost fight between the two knight servants, Elizabeth was busy watching TV. She switched from channel to channel, looking at the TV with amusement. Then she stopped at a channel that was currently airing an idol show.

Her eyes sparkled. Yes, this was it. A proper idol, the one thing she really wanted to be. As the show aired its songs, Elizabeth would hum and sing along with it. Although, to be frank, it was bad, as evidenced by how Shirou, who sat nearest her, twitched uncomfortably.

"Hey Puppy, what does it take to be an idol in this day and age?" Elizabeth asked.

"Um, a good singing voice for starters?" Shirou replied weakly.

Elizabeth tapped her chin and then stated, "I already have that, though."

'No, you don't,' Shirou silently replied. If he were to describe Elizabeth's singing voice, he would say it was like a scratched chalkboard times ten. It was that annoying.

Elizabeth stared at him for a couple seconds before shrugging her shoulders.

"Hmm, whatever. I'll leave the planning things to you, Puppy. From now on, you'll be my manager!" Elizabeth gushed. "The two of us will shake the entertainment world together!"

Shirou's jaw dropped. He was a what now?

He looked at Elizabeth, and clearly no words would convince her otherwise. Shirou shuddered but nodded anyway. Hopefully, he could lessen the damage to the ears of all idol fans around the world.

"You guys are loud," Tamamo walked in, complaining. In her hand, she carried a tray of lunch.

"Blame that knight; she sure was one loud girl," Cu said.

"You!..." Mordred almost stood up again, but Scathach's glare stopped her. She clicked her tongue.

"Let me help you prepare the table," Medea offered to help, which Tamamo accepted.

"Thanks, Medea."

After the table was set, they started eating lunch, mostly in silence.

Cu, with a wide smile, then commented, "Damn, not bad. I know us servants don't need any food, but if I get to eat this every day, I wouldn't mind. Good job, fox girl!"

"Yes, this is adequate. You're a good cook," Scathach simply praised her.

"Way better than back at home," Mordred happily stated, while quickly munching her portion.

"Didn't you live in a castle, Mordred? Wouldn't the food served there be amazing?" Shirou asked curiously.

Mordred stopped eating, then stared straight at Shirou with a weak smile and a darkened gaze. "...Master, we don't want to talk about the food there."

"I can relate to that. The food back then wasn't exactly...palatable, by today's standards," Elizabeth added.

"Okay?" Shirou felt that Mordred and Elizabeth left out some details, but he decided not to ask further.

It didn't take long until they finished all the food on the table.

"So, what's the plan for now?" Cu asked casually.

"We just follow the Overseer's plan for now," Tamamo replied.

Cu nodded. "So, patrol the city, report if something weird is happening, and kick some ass if we can."

"That last part is entirely made up," Medea pointed out.

Cu just shrugged. "Hey, I won't refuse a good fight... or more. That includes you, girlie," he taunted Mordred again. "I'm always ready for a good ol'spar."

Mordred forced herself to hold back. "What a coincidence, I'm itching to discipline a shitty dog who only barks but doesn't bite."

The two of them then engaged in another glaring contest.

Ignoring the two hot-headed servants, Medea then said, "Then I will reinforce the bounded fields around this house and take over Shirou's magecraft lesson."

Shirou raised his eyebrows. "Tama-nee won't teach me again?" It was the first time he had heard this.

Tamamo laughed sheepishly. "I won't lie, young master. Medea here is way better at magecraft in general than me. My own craft is a bit specialized."

"I see. Then I'm in your care. Uhh, Medea-sensei?"

A soft smile formed on Medea's face. "Hope we will get along, boy."

"Then..." Scathach suddenly spoke, "I will be the one teaching our master physical and combat training. You're a bit younger than the students I used to teach, but it will suffice."

Hearing Scathach's words, Tamamo couldn't help but worry. Mordred, meanwhile, was morbidly curious.

"Huh, mind if I drop by from time to time? I won't mind giving master some pointers. Also, I'd really love it if we could spar too," Mordred suggested.

Scathach simply nodded in response to Mordred's question.

Cu whistled, then turned his gaze towards Shirou and gave a pitying smile. "My condolences, kid."

Why did he feel something foreboding here?

Then suddenly, Elizabeth spoke up. "Oh, oh! I've been tasked to be your bodyguard, Puppy. That means we'll be spending most of the day together, and you'll have the pleasure of hearing my singing. Aren't you happy?"

"Y-Yes."

He could already hear it. He flinched just imagining it. He needed to get her to stop singing at any cost or find a way to somehow turn her singing into something less harmful.

"Hm?" Elizabeth tilted her head and stared at Shirou with a questioning look. "Did you just think of something mean, Puppy?"

"N-no!"

That was close. He almost forgot that the servant could understand his thoughts in some way. He was just grateful it wasn't full-blown mind reading....or were they capable of doing that too?

Shaking his head, he decided to change the subject. "U-Uh, anyways, are the other heroes... I mean, servants not coming?"

"Actually, some of them are already roaming around in the city," Tamamo stated.

"...huh?"

"Oh yeah, the kid doesn't know about it."

"Can't believe I forgot to tell the boy."

"Nobody brought it up, so I thought you already knew, Master."

"Because, quite honestly, the child doesn't exactly need to know yet."

"You're not wrong; Puppy is still young."

Shirou felt a little left out by this. He wasn't sure how to react right now.

"There, there," Elizabeth patted his head. "It's not your fault, Puppy. This whole... ordeal is just a little too big for you right now."

"Elizabeth is right," Tamamo said in agreement. "For now, the Overseer is taking the heavy work for you. After all, you still have a lot to learn. When you grow up and learn enough, that's when you will properly lead us as our master."

He couldn't argue with that. He knew almost nothing right now. He needed to grow first before he could stand side by side with the heroes he had summoned.

With a determined look, Shirou spoke up. "You're right. Then I will study and train hard enough to be a worthy master standing beside all of you. Just you guys wait!"

"Now that's my Puppy!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she hugged him.

"Heh kid's got fire. I like him more now," said Cu, grinning.

"But I still want to at least properly meet the rest of the servants, though," Shirou pouted.

Scathach cracked a small smile in amusement. "Well, child, sometimes what you want is closer than you imagine."

The servants exchanged knowing looks, leaving Shirou a little confused.