22

021 - Immaterial and Missing Servant

Tohsaka Rin.

"... everything I hold is Photon Ray"

As soon as Archer lets out those words, I feel my prana be drained through my connection with her. This isn't like the normal upkeep required to keep her anchored to the world, or the increased costs involved in maintaining[Crest of the Star] active. Not even using [Star of Tears, Photon Ray] was anything close to this draining, but then again Archer's Noble Phantasm is ridiculously cheap for its level of power.

This is [Civilization Corrosion] working overtime to turn something into what Archer considers their 'ideal' form. Something that really doesn't want to be transformed. Was that spear Lancer's own Noble Phantasm? Just knowing Archer can affect an enemy at such an intimate level is a heady feeling...

Wait no, that's the dizziness talking.

As the draining feeling keeps up and my prana reserves get worryingly low, I feel my stomach churning, my lungs struggling for air, my body weakening and a veil of darkness obscuring my field of vision. This probably isn't something one should be doing during that period of the month, but what can you do? It's not like the war is going to wait for me to feel better.

The feeling lasts for a while, and all I can do is grit my teeth and hope that Archer has a good handle on what she's doing to me, because I don't think I can gather the focus to actually use a Command Spell to save my life. Literally.

Keeping track of time like this isn't exactly a priority, but I don't think it's been more than a couple of minutes by the time I can breathe easy again and take stock of the situation. Lancer is nowhere to be found, Archer is prying herself from an Archer-shaped indentation in a wall and Emiya-kun is nonchalantly fixing his clothes as if he didn't just grapple with a murderous Servant. Most remarkably there's an Emiya-kun-shaped indentation on the wall behind him.

Regarding myself, I'm still feeling a bit woozy, but it doesn't seem to actively impair my faculties anymore. Most worryingly is the status of my prana reserves. I'm pretty much out of power and will need the assistance of gems for anything else I need to do tonight. And a lengthy and involved recharging ritual back home (since I have nobody to perform a proper prana transfer with.) I seem to have fallen to my knees at some point too, but I manage to get up before anyone takes notice.

My first impulse is to run up to Emiya-kun and (make sure he's alright) give him a piece of my mind. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw Lancer lunge at him like that, and then again when he got caught. Where does he get off risking his life like that? Doesn't he know we normal humans can't hope to fight Servants?

"Archer." Instead, I walk up to my Servant. Because I'm a responsible Master who keeps her priorities straight. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She finally manages to step away from the wall, looking a bit dusty but not really worse for wear. I can only sigh in relief and be thankful for her insane stats. To think she's suffered a rank-down on everything for being summoned as a child… What kind of monster was Attila the Hun in life? "Is Master alright?"

"We'll have a talk about proper usage of my prana once we get back home. What were you thinking, grabbing on Lancer's weapon like that? I swear I'm surrounded by daredevils and–"

I stop my rant when I notice the way Archer is staring at the ground, hands trembling as she grabs the hem of her skirt and… And now I feel like a bully. Great, just great. Taking a deep breath and very pointedly ignoring Emiya-kun's presence behind me, I kneel to be at eye level with her and try again.

"I'm sorry Archer, I'm not angry. Just worried." I speak out with my best attempt at a gentle smile. I'm pretty sure it looks more like a grimace, but it's unfortunately the best I can manage. "What you did was risky and I don't understand why you did it. Shouldn't you have kept yourself at a range?"

"Arrows weren't working." She answers evenly, eyes still locked on the tips of her feet. "Had to improvise."

"That'd be his [Protection from Arrows] Skill." Emiya-kun intervenes and I canhear the amused smile in his dumb (handsome) face without looking. "Any and all projectiles he sees coming will be dealt with, one way or another. There's some leeway for those he doesn't see coming, or those which explode upon impact, but he's still unfairly good at neutralizing them."

"Well that's just plain unfair." I do my best to answer nonchalantly while inwardly reflecting on the bullet I just dodged. If my Servant had been a dedicated Archer we would've been done for. "How did you even know about that, anyway?"

"Eh, once you know their true names, enemy Servants have a hard time hiding their real abilities from you."

"Oh?" I can't help but raise an eyebrow at those words. How the ever loving heck has he figured out that already?

"Let's just say there's a certain Irish woman visiting the city." He answers cheerfully. "One who was wearing the same earrings as Lancer."

"I see." I keep kneeling until Archer looks up again and gives me a tentative faint smile. Then, I stand back up, wiping the dirt from my legs before turning to face Emiya-kun. "Do you keep track of all the pretty girls who visit the city, Emiya-kun?"

The danger flies right past Emiya-kun, who keeps smiling like the unaware idiot he is. "Nah, just those who happen to be Sealing Designation Enforcers."

"... Fuck." Just like that, I have worse things to worry about than (petty jealousy) Emiya-kun's stalking habits. "No, not getting sidetracked by the scary Master. We're talking about the Servant now. Lay it on me."

"Cu Chulainn, also known as Setanta, the Hound of Culann, the Child of Light, the Son of Lugh and Irish Heracles." Emiya-kun keeps prattling unnecessary titles, his smile growing as I feel my stomach sinking. It's not like I don't know who he is, after all. "A fearsome opponent with few weaknesses. Though he's lost an important trump card now that Gae Bolg looks like an oversized candy bar."

"Photon Ray is still strong, you know?" Archer interjects in defense of… whatever it is she turned Lancer's spear into. Looks like Emiya-kun's special skill to royally piss me off works on my Servant too, I haven't seen her that emotional since we blew up the Matou Mansion. "Even if only I can wield it properly."

"Oh, I'm sorry Archer, I didn't mean it like that." In a blink, Emiya-kun is in front of Archer, patting her head with a contrite expression that makes me feel bad about my unkind thoughts. "Will you forgive me?"

Archer freezes for a moment at the unfamiliar touch, but then looks away with a hit of red on her tanned cheeks, giving him a shy nod. Forget about feeling bad, this womanizer deserves all the bad things that happen to him. Tenfold.

"That doesn't explain why you thought it was a good idea to pick a fist fight with Irish Heracles." My words come out in a flat voice that belies my (worry) fury. "I hope you have a real good excuse for that, Emiya-kun. And no, 'I had a death wish' won't be accepted as a good excuse."

"What's done is done." He answers in amusement, completely ignoring my fury again. Why is he amused? Is it something I said? "Shouldn't we focus on looking for clues about our mysterious Master?"

"Don't bother with the mysterious Master. They're back to their old tricks, but I was already done removing their circles when Lancer came around." I answer with a sigh. "We only need to fix the courtyard and we can go back home."

"Um, yeah, about that…" He scratches the back of his head with a sheepish expression, I can feel a twitch in my eye when I realize what might be the problem.

"You have no idea how to fix this."

"I mean, I could try…" He edges, clearly embarrassed about this. It might be cute if I wasn't … (Actually is kinda cute) For Heaven's sake, libido, not the time! "But I've never done something like that before."

"Just…" I pinch the bridge of my nose, letting myself feel the tiredness that's piled up on me these last days (to drown my out of control sex drive in the sad and frustrating truths of the real world). "Just go home, Emiya-kun, I'll take care of this."

I wave away whatever excuses he mutters, and (bite back the urge to make completely improper proposals about how he can pay me back) let out a long sigh once he finally leaves me alone to suffer in peace. Why do I keep interacting with someone who frustrates me so much again?

With weary but resigned steps, I walk back to where Archer cratered the wall and pull out one of my emergency gems for extra prana supply. Which reminds me that the only reason I can afford to waste emergency gems is all the dough I fleeced out of Emiya-kun during the last two years. That makes me feel a bit better about the whole deal.

"Anfang." A dagger stabs my heart, and my circuits burn with power. "[Strukturrücklauf - Structure Rewind ]."

The prana from the gem is greedily drained to power up my magecraft, which expands over the damaged surface, taking in all the details, extrapolating the original shape and… convincing reality that things should be like that, that the damage has been there for such a brief time that it doesn't really matter.

The magecraft version of the three second rule and a pale imitation of a Dead Apostle [Curse of Restoration] that somehow manages a similar result while following completely unrelated principles.

I zone out as I go around the courtyard fixing everything, letting the familiarity of the process dull my brain and keep me from mentally tallying how much money I've thrown in capacitor gems during these twenty minutes.

It's a real shame this magecraft doesn't allow for resurrection, I muse as I finish fixing the last hole. I wouldn't have to worry so much about Emiya-kun being a suicidal hamster and trying to fight off Servants by himself if I could count on putting him back together afterwards. Truly, it's nothing short of a miracle that he survived at all after being caught by Lancer, much less with all his limbs intact. He really shoul–

Wait, how did Emiya-kun get free from Lancer? Why didn't Lancer use his spear on him? My head throbs painfully when I try to relieve the exact sequence of events and draws up a blank. My memories of the fight have obviously been tampered with, in a rather clumsy way at that. Did he… hypnotize me?

If I didn't know he has an unknown Caster on his side, I'd reject the possibility out hand. The mind of a magus is our most valuable tool and also the best protected, tampering with my memory isn't something just anyone can do. But even admitting it as a possibility, it doesn't make sense from a strategic point of view.

The most insidious aspect of memory tampering is how hard it is to detect it in the first place, and this manipulation was blatantly obvious. Such a hack job practically guarantees I'll notice. It suggests that messing with my mind is a feat they're barely capable of in the first place.

It also proves that keeping the identity of whoever was with Emiya-kun is a pressing priority for whatever the reason. Maybe a Servant whose identity would be obvious after watching them fight, or maybe one of the other Masters, who is very invested in keeping their identity under wraps.

There's also the little problem that I have a very simple method to figure out the truth.

"Archer. Do you remember who was here with Emiya-kun?"

Archer tilts her head cutely, obviously confused by my question, but she obediently answers anyway. "Lancer."

I feel a chilling hand grip my heart at that answer before I get my panic under control. Let's not assume the worst just yet. Maybe I just haven't been clear enough.

"That's not what I meant, there was someone helping Emiya-kun against Lancer, but I can't remember who it was." Archer's eyes widening in realization at my words, is all the confirmation I need, but I still have to ask. "Do you?"

"... No." She shakes her head slowly with a grimace of frustration. She has noticed the hole in her memories too. "I don't remember… Anyone else."

"Oh… Crapbaskets." Tampering with the memories of a Servant, especially one with Magic Resistance? That's some high-level bullshit right there. "I don't feel confident in taking down Emiya-kun's faction by myself anymore."

There's no way someone capable of doing that would do a hack job on my own mind, so my previous theory is a bust. This has to be some sort of specific skill, centered on hiding someone. That clearly means an Assassin Skill.

Which means Emiya-kun's faction has at least Saber, Caster and Assassin. One to fight, one to support, one to take down Masters while everyone else is busy with the flashy combat. Is there any other combination of three Classes that reaches such an absurd level of synergy? Can the other four classes hope to win, even working together?

Well, yes. I don't see Saber holding the line against four fighters at the same time, but my point still stands. By my lonesome I'm screwed. Am I going to need my own allies, after all?

And where am I even going to find someone willing to join forces with me? Because I'm not desperate enough to consider Shinji just yet.