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Dusk

was closing in.

Other

incidents, big and small, had occurred around the outskirts of the

Colosseum, and the heart of the city had been effectively paralysed

with the temporary absence of the municipal administration AI,

causing accidents all across Akihabara. However, the communication

and transport networks were recovering, and governmental and medical

institutions were returning to full functionality with all

possible haste.

-

At

long last we exited the Colosseum. An enormous crowd milled about the

exterior. News of the tragedy had finally reached families and

friends of spectators through the municipal information network, and

they had come en mass in search of their loved ones. Some screamed

the names of missing family members. Others wept and wailed for those

already lost.

After

the ferocious battle inside, the outside wall looked to be only

moments away from collapsing. Black and yellow tape had been strung

up to keep people away.

“You

know, I have this weird feeling I just saw him back there.” Karin

looked around suspiciously.

“Who’s

him? Kuchime?”

Karin

nodded hesitantly. That wasn’t like her.

“Only

for a second, though. Might have been imagining things.”

“Maybe

he came to see if we were okay? Guess that’s still kind of weird.”

Karin’s

carefree laugh was enough to set me at ease.

“Speaking

of missing people…” I scanned the sea of people around me. “Oh,

there he is.”

The

boy stood alone in the middle of the crowd, straining his ears to

hear their cries and sobs as though listening to music. I recalled

his face before as he asked me what “death” meant. It looked to

me as though he were hoping to find an answer.

To

see him standing silent amid a sea of human grief, with his golden

scarf fluttering in the twilight sun, he hardly seemed a creature of

this world.

-

Nzambi

had spoken of an expanding kingdom of the dead.

Death

was no stranger to us. It had always lived hand-in-hand with us. In

this city, it had simply been ushered from the stage, covered over

and hidden away. Sometimes its eyes had been covered by my hands,

sometimes by those of the municipal administration AI, and sometimes

by Chitose’s porcelain fingertips.

“Chitose?”

I

looked my grandmother dead in the eyes as I asked.

“That

black dog… The Servant. You know what it is, don’t you?”

I

could make as many theories as I pleased as an outsider, but what

really mattered was that it had called me by name, and had some kind

of acquaintance with Chitose.

“You

reacted when Pran mentioned it, and you didn’t hesitate to attack it

with your stakes. You know what it is, and you knew about what was

going to happen here today.”

She

didn’t answer me. Neither did Lucius, now dressed once more in his

modern attire; he furrowed his brow sadly, but said nothing. No

matter how dear he was to me, in that moment his silence left me

furious.

-

Eventually

she spoke, but it was not to answer my question. She had ignored me.

Again.

“There’s

something I need to tell you, Erice, now that Caren can’t.”

I

tensed. Nothing ever came from her but misfortune.

“It’s

about the child she entrusted you with. I’m going to take care of him

from now on.”

What?

Whatever I had expected, it wasn’t that. I shuddered at the request.

How

much was she going to take from me? She had taken my work, the boy,

Caren… Even my parents, she had stolen. I had no intention of going

along with her wishes any longer.

“I

refuse.”

Her

face didn’t falter for a moment. Apparently she had been expecting as

much.

“But

I doubt you’ll respect that anyway, will you?”

“I

suppose I won’t.”

She

glanced to the boy standing some distance away. I moved to block her

way.

“Ms.

Fujimura didn’t just charge me with taking care of him. She also

asked me to discover what I could about his identity.”

“That

doesn’t matter any more either.”

I

shook my head. “But it does. I think I’ve found an answer.”

“I

see. It looks like you don’t have any intention of doing this the

easy way.” Her Command Seals flared to life on the backs of her

hands - the symbols of the Stigmata, and tokens of a piety willing to

subject her own body to the pain of crucifixion. And she called out

to her Servant.

“Lucius.”

Surely

she doesn’t mean to…?

Her Servant hadn’t moved. He stood still, eyes downcast, as though he

hadn’t even heard.

“Lucius.”

Chitose

called to him again, in a kindly voice that made my blood run cold.

“Please,

Lucius… Don’t do it…”

I

sprinted for the child, but I was too late. Before his Master’s

Command Seal could flare brighter, he began to move, mechanically,

robotically. He manifested his spear…

And

hurled it at Pran with pinpont accuracy.

—-

The

clash of colliding metal rang out like breaking ice, and Lucius’ Holy

Lance spun high into the twilight sky.

There

he stood, in front of Pran, in the space I had been trying so hard to

reach: Galahad, stripped of his armour and down to his shirt. He held

his sword high and horizontal, staring down Longinus as he interposed

himself between the centurion and his prey.

“You

could’ve run and left Koharu to Nzambi, but you didn’t. Consider this

a debt repaid, Reaper girl. Though I’m not sure you’ll thank me for it.”

The

spinning lance returned to earth once more, bound for the earth

directly in front of Galahad. The knight snatched it from the air a

split second before it hit the ground and tossed it back to a

dumbfounded Longinus’ feet.

“Maybe

the Sword of the Strange Hangings doesn’t look like much, but sadly

for you, the shepherd boy it belonged to ended up king of Israel.”

Galahad’s voice was haughty. “You won’t find many holy relics more

sacred.”

“I

see. The sword of David, then.”

“And

no other. They say no armour can stand before the Holy Lance, but

this sword might be able to get in a stinging word or two. As you

just saw.” Galahad chuckled as he returned his blade to its sheath.

Koharu!

The girl in question had been returning to our group after receiving

first aid. She strolled over to silently take her place by her

Servant’s side. Her face was twisted in a pained grimace, but I saw

no hint of surprise at Galahad’s actions. She had been watching my

argument with Chitose from the beginning.

“Or

well, who knows? Perhaps you expected me to stop you from the first.”

Longinus

remained silent. I glared at Chitose. Finally she relented, and with

a sigh her Command Seals dimmed.

She

called out to Koharu as she stalked past. “Get well soon,

Riedenflaus. Your strength will be needed soon enough.”

“O-Of

course.” Koharu paled. She couldn’t even look her in the eye.

With

that, Chitose and Longinus left the Colosseum behind.

-

I

needed to thank Koharu and Galahad somehow. I even thought up a plan

to invite Karin and Kouyou and go to a juice stand together, but

before I could…

“Urgh…

Agh!”

Searing

agony assailed me. I grabbed my burning arm and grimaced. This was

not the pain brought on by the evil spirits; it was something I had

never felt before.

Before

I knew it, Pran was standing in front of me. He opened his mouth

solemnly.

-

“I…

ask… you…”

-

He

spoke directly to me, and only to me, in the same broken English as

when we had first met.

-

“Are…

you… my… Master?”

-

Heat

and agony raced down my arm, tracing mana pathways into my body…

and at long last a Command Seal, the symbol of the contract I had

dreamed of since the day I was born, flowered into being on the back

of my hand.

Like

a tiny knight, he took that hand in his own, and gazed up at me

serenely.

I

was smiling. Perhaps I was crying, too.

“You

really have come from far away, haven’t you?”

“Very

far.”

“I

know who you are now. You’re Voyager. A lonely little Servant who

travels the stars.”

My

words never left my mouth, but he heard and nodded regardless.

“I’m glad. Finally we’ve met, Erice.”

Here

and now I swear…

I

shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over

all evils of all of Hell.

“It’s okay. Let’s destroy this world. Let’s finish this war.”

Submit

to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you submit to this will and

this reason…

I

pledge my fate to your guiding light.

“Your

wish and what I have lost are the same. We’ll watch right to the end, together.”

—-

“The

Holy Grail War… is not yet over.” The light in Ms. Fujimura’s

eyes dimmed even as she spoke.

“Do

you wish to fight, Erice? Or perhaps…”

I

wished, hard - to hurl myself into the battle for the Holy Grail, and

to bring it to its end.

Ms.

Fujimura looked up at me with sadness in her eyes.

“I

see. In that case, Erice, I have one last request for you. If you

choose to fight…”

-

“Go

to Fuyuki.”

To be continued