Da-Vinci Chan~!

Da Vinci was wondering the answer to the question for a moment, it seemed that this girl had made a good choice in answering in the way she did. As Da Vinci seemed very satisfied with her master having such a lofty goal. “A lofty goal is always something admirable, I suppose then master I shall help you achieve it~” Da Vinci said with knowing smile, the inventor that could do anything would of course do her best to make her master's wish come true. What type of genius would she be if she couldn’t solve her masters problems of logistics. Indeed, Da Vinci would do her best to be as useful as possible.

When her master sighed though that got Da Vinci’s immediate attention, what could possible be something of trouble to her master. Ah it seemed the troubles were more akin to a longing to be a free bird, and to go out and see the city, Ah the beauty of freedom. Something that Da Vinci would truly appreciate. [oclor=cyan]“Well, There isn’t a war going on, so I believe it would be fine if we indulged ourselves.”[/color] Da Vinci would chuckle softly in a mature fashion as she placed a hand on the Drakos heir’s shoulder. “I would love to accompany you to see the city, I am after all quite looking forward to seeing this places architecture.” It was true and to be expected that an artist on the level of the greats would want of course be interested to see the artistic expression of the urban island itself.

“So you really knew about Father. I had a hunch that — if she had to tell anyone — it would be you and maybe Bedi. Seeing the way you talk about her is enough to confirm it,” Mordred said in an easygoing way. Maybe the fact that she and Lancelot were talking while holding swords would feel strange for anyone else looking, but it was only natural for a knight to do so.

“Anyway, Father aside, I think I shouldn’t be that surprised to see you guys around. If I remember something that my former Master told well enough, we are pretty Premium Picks when it comes to Servants,” the blonde knight’s voice was high with pride, and an uncharacteristic good kind of longing, as spoke about her previous Master and the last time that she recalled being part of a Holy Grail War. “Since Father allowed herself to be summoned. I imagine that, other than you-know-who, everyone else will eventually be here. In fact, this perfect chance to let them know the truth about who the Great Mordred truly is, with style! Though, I feel bad for anyone who ends up summoning Tristan; they are going to be in for a long ride,” Mordred finished her declaration by flashing out her best grin while being surprisingly considerate enough to avoid talking about Galahad in front of Lancelot.

“By the way, this is my new Master, Kobayashi Seria. Don’t go trying to charm her, alright?” the blonde said as she put a hand on the shoulder of the redheaded girl that managed to be even smaller than Mordred herself.


“I don’t know what picked your interest, but it sure is nice to have a walk around the city with such a good looking guy,” Hinami said, in a witty tone, as she walked behind Gilgamesh. The fact that he didn’t even bother to lock the door when he left always amused her. Then again, the simple idea of anyone daring to steal from Gilgamesh was like the height of suicidal behavior.

If no one, or nothing, else dared to interrupt them it would be just a matter of half an hour of walking before they reached the University.

Once the situation seemed to defuse itself, Jason was the first to let out a sigh of relief. It would've been embarrassing for someone to have his death marked down as something along the lines of "was a rubbernecking idiot", to say the least.

"Well, uh... If you'll excuse me, then."

Without any further issues at hand preventing him from just heading home, the high schooler bowed his head and slipped out of the convenience store. With most of the soda on his backpack having been cleaned out, it was really just a matter of getting home and starting to do his laundry before the stains really set in.


"At least you can tell that much. If you were dense enough to ignore my irritation, then I'd question if you were more animal than human," Meltryllis replied, the venom in her words palpable as the elevator slowly made its way down. While she had avoided the worst of the situation, she still had to deal with the aftermath of that promise. While she could just as easily run off somewhere and ignore her Master, this was still not the Moon Cell, which meant that she didn't have the infinite supply of resources necessary to keep her here indefinitely.

And killing her Master in order to hunt on her own, well... While it was a crime that would essentially leave no witnesses, the giant holes she had poked in the floor would lead to a giant target being painted over her back. Beyond that, though, the girl had a point; while she could control her id_es at will, the Virus itself wasn't something so easily stopped once injected into a Servant, much less a frail human. If killing others stalled her own investigation into matters regarding her existence here, then it was going to have to be a sacrifice she'd have to accept.

How unpleasant.

Once the pair exited the elevator car, Melt took a quick glance around, the scowl on her face notably lessened by this point. To show such an emotion as she was now would ruin the image she projected to others, and that was something that she (personally) wouldn't accept.

Though, given how most of them seemed to be staring at her body rather than her face, that seemed to be less of an issue than she had expected.

"Well? Are you going to stand there gawking, or are we going to leave this place? We don't have all day, you know."

---

---

With luggage in hand, Lord El-Melloi II and his assistant walked down the polished hallways of the university. Their destination, of course, was the office that had been set aside for their usage during their tenure here. The feel of the building itself was a far cry from the Clock Tower's facilities, which made Gray a little uneasy about it all.

"So... Professor, is there a reason why you purchased those bottles of chicken blood on the way here? You made " Gray began to say as the pair entered an elevator to take them up a few floors.

"I'll be using them later, Gray. If the various things I've seen and heard about the city have any merit to them, then I have something I need to do," he replied. The rest of the walk was rather uneventful, and soon enough to pair was inside the room assigned for their use. It was a fair deal larger than either of them had expected, though it still a bit small compared to their old workplace.

With not much else to be talked about before everything else was unpacked, the two began to get to work setting up. There were still a few classes occurring on campus, but it wasn't as if there was anyone seeking them out yet, after all.

Meeting the ones in charge could come later.

@VitaVitaAR@KoL@Raineh Daze

It looked like the boy was satisfied with the apology, at least. And that, thankfully, a fight hadn't started. She was aware that Mordred hadn't seemed to intend to actually fight, given how her sword worked in relation to one of her other Noble Phantasms. But pulling out a sword in a crowded convenience store was still worrying, to say the least.

Sir Lancelot and Sir Mordred... her Servant, and the Servant of-actually, who was Lancelot's Master? It didn't look like they were around... Well, it wasn't uncommon for a Servant to go out on their own, anyway. What the two Knights of the Round Table discussed was interesting, to say the least. It was impossible not to be aware that Arthur Pendragon had been summoned, and that she was in fact a woman. Were further Knights going to be summoned, as if her appearance was a catalyst for them? She couldn't help but wonder if that was why she had been able to summon Mordred, given that she possessed no catalyst of her own...

Seria was dragged out of her thoughts when Mordred's hand suddenly came to rest on her shoulder. Reddening immediately, she tried to pull away.

"I-I'm not some e-easily charmed m-maiden!" she stammered, embarrassed at the assertion. Besides, Lancelot... well... well, neither of them needed to know about that anyway. "I'm a p-proud magus!"

@KoL@Raineh Daze

---

While it was obvious that Meltryllis was upset, there was nothing else that could be done. It was for the safety of the people of Fusang and for the Alter Ego's own benefit that they got her replacement prosthetics that were less likely to kill people. Nanako hoped that it wasn't going to be something that Meltryllis would hold against her, even if it seemed likely she would. She was already thinking of some way to try and make it up to her, but to be honest that would require getting to know her Servant better, to learn just what it was that Meltryllis enjoyed.

... That wasn't being kind of scary and pointing her people-melting knee spikes at Nanako's face.

Nanako wasn't keen on repeating that experience any time soon.

In order to avoid the crowds, Nanako took a way through the back alleys, a shortcut to the clinic she'd learned simply from living in Fusang. It wasn't difficult to memorize. Soon enough, they'd arrived.

As much as Nanako was trying to make the experience... well... at least not take very long, there was nothing that could really be done about that. Meltryllis was seething the entire time, especially once it became clear that the new prosthetic legs would be more proportional to her body size to ensure that they fit properly. The procedure also... wasn't exactly cheap. But even if she was angry and didn't like this one bit, it was still something that would ultimately benefit her Servant, and so Nanako paid for it without much hesitation.

To be honest, Melt seemed to be so irritated that Nanako wasn't even sure if apologizing to her again was a good idea. Rather, maybe it was best to simply move on as quickly as they could. When they left the clinic, there was a few different directions they could go in.

"... So... the shopping district is that way," she said, indicating to the north, "It's also linked to the entertainment district. Er... is there anywhere you'd like to see first?"

@PKMNB0Y

"Ohmygoshyes it was AMAZING! They were all '*shing shing* and *CLANG!* and fighting like crazy!" The Master Berserker was addressing so happened to be a small boy in a wheelchair, enthusiastically miming the sword-fighting movements from where he was sitting with such energy that a few times it seemed he might topple himself out of his chair and fall onto the ground, though he was so busy discussing the fight that he hardly seemed to notice.

"Do you think you could teach me to fight like that, Jiejie?" The informal mode of address hardly seemed notable to the boy, though it might be to anyone who could tell that his companion was a Servant and certainly not actually his older sister. Mamoru Hayashi, youngest child of the Hayashi Family of Mages, was too busy fighting imaginary enemies with his Blade of Great Justice(!) to care. He had several actual siblings, none of whom thought very highly of him or bothered being associated with him in public, so even though he'd only recently summoned Berserker, he had already been quite insistent on speaking to her this way when they weren't involved in anything serious.

"More importantly, do you wanna fight in the Arena? I mean, you're a Servant right? I'm...not actually sure what we're supposed to do other than keep me from being kidnapped, eheh!~"

"Sir Bedivere... no, I don't believe that he knew. Aside from myself and the wizard, only those who could be described as the king's immediate family were aware of the truth," Lancelot stated, thinking. Obviously, especially with the advantage of hindsight, it would have been impossible for Merlin to arrange everything without having known the truth from the beginning. And the definition of immediate family managed to include even Mordred. "But... don't make things harder for Tristan's Master. He's going to be sad enough already..."

The knight turned slightly to look at Mordred's Master, doing his best to ignore the barb about charming women. That was hardly his intention... and it was somewhat amusing to see that somehow, a Master even smaller than the rebellious knight had been the one to summon her. No doubt Mordred had gotten some amusement out of that advantage.

"It is good to meet you, Miss Kobayashi. If you might excuse me, I need to pay for these and deliver them?"

---

Quite possibly his Master had dropped behind for a few moments to give Waver a warning that he was on his way. If that was the case, the King would allow it; this would be better than Lord El-Melloi making a fool out of himself. He would even be generous enough to grant a few seconds more of warning himself: as Gilgamesh drew closer to the office, there was the unmistakeable but soft sound of metal armour, before a golden figure stepped through into the office, crimson gaze fixed on Waver Velvet--waiting for a response.

To say that Meltryllis was irate would be an understatement. To not only be forced to obtain replacement legs, but to have those be unnaturally small compared to her usual equipment... Some part of her wanted to threaten the ones providing such things and give her legs that she was more comfortable with. Despite that anger, though, the Alter Ego held her composure. Above all else, her goals did not change; finding BB and getting information out of her was important.

That did leave the question of what came after, though, but Melt could figure out an answer to that once her first problem had been resolved.

So, grumpy as she was, Melt continued to follow along in irritation, poorly concealed as it was, and simply shot her Master a glare once she had pointed out a few places to go.

"If the Moon Cell has anything to do with this..."

"Bring me to the nearest place where I can access any sort of electrical network. Information-based, ideally; the city's center should do well enough for now," she remarked, her arms crossed in front of her.

Despite the fact that her legs had changed, her outfit most certainly hadn't, and though her coat barely skimmed the ground, the front of her jacket remained unfastened.

She could tune her Virus later to give her Master some proper suffering for this humiliation once they returned; not enough to kill, but more than enough to make her learn her place.

@VitaVitaAR

---

---

The call that Lord El-Melloi II had received in the midst of his and Gray's unpacking was enough to send chills down his spine. He had done his research into the city's state of affairs and of the Servants summoned... But to think that he would return once more was enough to cause him to pause. Gray had taken the chance to brew him some tea to calm his nerves, as by this point the duo had already finished what they had come to do, but the idea of that Archer coming to meet him personally was enough to take a moment to calm himself.

A few minutes after the tea had finished brewing and the professor had taken a seat at the smaller table that he had prepared, Gray quietly took a seat across from him and poured them each a cup. El-Melloi II had regained his composure by this point, but the gesture from Gray was more than appreciated.

"Gilgamesh, King of Heroes... To think that I would meet him so soon..." he sighed, head leaning against his right arm as he stared at his tea. "I had figured that it would happen sooner or later, but..."

The sound of clinking armor immediately caused his back to straighten and his mind to go on full alert, though, and not a moment too soon.

With the Servant who slew his own walking through the door, Lord El-Melloi II remained seated at the small table. Gray, on the other hand, remained somewhat confused about the situation. Though she knew of her superior's exploits during both the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War and his subsequent efforts to dismantle the Grail, there was still something surreal about meeting a Servant for the first time.

And for once, Add was keeping his mouth shut and reading the mood.

@Raineh Daze@KoL

It was a little strange now, seeing Meltryllis with legs in proportion to her body made Nanako realize just how small her Servant was. Nanako had never thought of herself as particularly tall. Indeed, she was about average for her age and ethnicity. But being alongside Meltryllis now made her feel like she was considerably above that. But the fact was simply that Meltryllis was, well... she'd never tell her Servant it was cute. That would upset her even more, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. To be honest, Nanako actually felt a little guilty over thinking as such, given how important the Alter Ego's original prosthetics seemed to be to her. Thankfully, it didn't seem like she was having any trouble adjusting to the different set.

The best thing, really, was simply not to focus on the topic. Nor, indeed, to focus on how lewd Meltryllis's outfit was any more then necessary. At least everything was covered...

No, the topic at hand was where to go next, and Meltryllis wanted to go straight for the town center? Well, she would have been fine with that. But...

"Fusang's center?" she asked, "That would be the Tower of Babylonia."

She pointed. Indeed, dead in the center of Fusang, there was an immense black building, towering above nearly any other structure. There was only one other building that dwarfed even it. It was stunning how quickly the space elevator, built near the Tower, was progressing.

But for now, Nanako was pointing to the windowless black building.

"But you can't go in there without authorization," she explained, "It's surrounded by bounded fields and high-tech security, we can't just go in there and use the internet... oh!"

Reaching into her bag, Nanako quickly pulled out her phone. The background was a purple-haired girl, Mei-chan from Brave Shine Mei-chan. She was cute, and the show itself was fun. With a smile, Nanako offered her phone to Meltryllis.

"You can use my phone to get online!"

@PKMNB0Y

"Yes, yes, it was so cool!" Guan agreed with a cheerful nod, positively quivering with sheer joy, "such masters of the blade are rare to see!"

It took a few moments for the young woman to calm down enough to regain a more refined composure, cheeks flushing a little. Ah, it was unbecoming of her to act so childishly! Though her Master's mannerisms reminded Guan of her adopted elder brother. He could get rather excitable and childish sometimes. It was probably part of why the Servant was more than happy to be addressed by her Master's chosen title.

"I'm not much of a teacher, but I'm happy to teach you what little I know," Berserker responded warmly to Mamoru's question. Indeed, she could never live up to her father's legend, nor even compare to her brothers, but as she was the one that answered the summons, it wouldn't do to hide behind her weaknes. As long as she was the wielder of that blood0stained guandao, Berserker would do her utmost to serve her Master!

When Mamoru mentioned fighting in the arena, Guan averted her eyes sheepishly, "well... naturally, I would like to test myself, Master. But of course, only at your own convenience! I have enough common sense to know I can't rush into battle whenever I want!"

@Dblade26

“Heck, I was sure he did. Anyway, yeah, I don’t think you wanna keep Father waiting for much longer,” Mordred said. Now that their issues were sorted, she dismissed Clarent, once again allowing her helmet to shield her identity from anyone who hasn’t been there when she released her sword. Mordred kinda felt the urge to laugh when even Lancelot was making jokes at Tristan’s expense but refrained from doing so since there was something else she had to say before the purple-haired knight left.

“By the way, when you see Father could you… erm, keep it a secret that I’m here as well? I haven’t had the chance to meet her yet so I… don’t know what she’ll say if she learns about it from a someone else,” Mordred said in a flustered voice while scratching the back of her head nervously.

“Anyway, Master, do you have anything to do later?” the blonde knight asked Seria not very long after Lancelot left them. Considering the contents of the conversation Mordred had just a moment ago, the intention behind her hesitant question was pretty obvious. The only thing forbidding her from speaking it out loud was her pride.


Hinami came in not long after Gilgamesh made his grand entrance. She had an apologetic smile in her face, as she stared at the sorry state of Lord El-Melloi II from behind Gilgamesh’s back. She wasn’t trying to excuse her Servant’s actions — Gilgamesh wouldn’t take that lightly, after all — but rather apologize for her own inability to foresee such an outcome.

The fact that the King of Heroes cared enough about this issue of his to summon his armor and let out enough of his kingly aura that even she felt shaken added another drop to Hinami’s curiosity bucket. There was only one explanation for this sequence of events, but even Hinami had to think that such a coincidence was unlikely to happen in her own lifetime, much less that of a man in his thirties like El-Melloi.

Nevertheless, no matter how much she felt like asking about it, or even introduce herself properly, Hinami kept quiet in the same way as El-Meloi’s companions did. Speaking out of place in Gilgamesh’s presence was a pretty hard thing to do after all.

Seria relaxed a little when the conversation turned away from her. She nodded her head towards Lancelot, and moved out of the way. Really, if he'd been the first Knight of the Round Table she had met, it would have been hard to deny she would be a little starstruck. To be honest, it was kind of insane regardless. But when her own Servant was Mordred, perhaps that had made her a little more ready for such a meeting. In a world where someone could meet and interact with these figures out of myth and legend, perhaps they were simply more prepared to deal with doing so.

"Anything to do later?" Seria asked, "I have some homework I'll need to get started on, but it's not due for a while."

She paused for a moment.

"... You want to meet your father, don't you?"

It was obvious, just by the conversation they'd been having.

@KoL@Raineh Daze

"The Tower of Babylonia..."

The name that her Master had given caused Meltryllis to frown, her brow creased as she stared at the building in question. Barring the atmosphere that the building itself seemed to exude, the association of the building by name along was enough to bring back rather unwanted memories. That matter was was soon pushed to the side, though, as Nanako offered her phone to Melt.

"The internet, huh? Well, I guess a system like that is better than no—" she began to say as she reached for the phone. There was a pause as her hand was right above it, though, as she remembered that it wouldn't exactly be possibly to grab the object (much less through her sleeves). Before she could draw back and make any sort of excuse, though, an all too familiar jingle began to play on the device. Though somewhat sudden, the lack of people around to hear it meant little to Meltryllis, who immediately grimaced.

"So she's making the first move, huh?" she asked quietly as the words "now hacking..." replaced the lock screen (which itself had shifted to static), only to be replaced by a pink "OK!" and a white background a few second later.



The all-too-cheerful cry that came from the phone brought with it the sight of what looked to be a person who looked all too similar to the Alter Ego who was staring daggers at the device, and without giving either party a chance to respond, the one on the other side began to speak.

"Hello, you two~! Melt, I see you've gotten a little Master of your own, riiiiight?" the purple-haired person on the other side on the screen asked, a smug expression on her face as she seemed to glance between the two staring at the phone. "Oh, I guess I should introduce myself for my clueless senpai on the other side there, shouldn't I?"

With a flourish as she spun around and drew back, the girl pointed her baton at Nanako (through the screen) with a smile before continuing.

"Hailing from a time and space far different from the world you live in, the little fairy from the electronic sea... That's right! Your ever-perfect kouhai, BB-chan, at your service~! Or, well, you will be at mine, but this last-boss level kouhai will let you think that you have control for now."

"Enough of your usual games, BB," Melt interjected, her arms crossed in irritation as she spoke. "Explain. Why am I—no, why are we here, outside of the Moon Cell? Ten years earlier, no less?"

"Oh, you're still stuck in the year 2030, Meltryllis? Well, that's fine, too," BB shrugged, acting as if the Alter Ego's words had barely registered on her radar. "Oh, erm... Nanako-chan... Was it? yes, I've got your records on hand here. You're Melt's Master now, right? Let me tell you a little secret, then, since she seems as prickly as ever... For some reason. She really likes figures. I mean, reaaaallly likes them. It's kind of creepy, honestly."

At this blatant disregard for personal privacy, Melt took a step forward and glared at the screen.

"Yes, what about it? Figures are beautiful; a moment frozen in time, unmarred by emotions from anyone but the artist. How is that so creepy?"

"Well, you only love them so much because you can't use your silly little hands, right? Honestly, if I hadn't hacked into this phone, you'd have been standing there dumbstruck, leaving my cute senpai here without any clue as to why. Am I wrong? I'm not, riiight~?"

At this, Melt's body visibly tensed up, her teeth clenched as she readied herself to slap the phone right out of Nanako's hands.

"Nuh uh uh~! Melt, you were looking for me in the first place, weren't you? What makes you think that breaking this phone would be a good idea? You were never the type to let the emotions get the better of you, but here you are about to throw a tantrum and lose contact with me—right when I decided to contact you. Right in front of your new Master, no less~!" BB laughed, an all-knowing smirk on her face as the Alter Ego stopped dead in her tracks. "Too bad, but BB-chan has the entire situation in the palm of her hand. There's no guarantee that you can reach me again, after all, so be quiet for a moment unless you want to lose this BB-chan special chance, okay~? Now, with you shut up for the moment..."

BB flicked the baton back towards Nanako, a snide smile on her face as she watched Melt seethe in irritation out of the corner of her eye before speaking to the Master proper.

"Anyways, in exchange for that little tidbit, senpai, you should help your little kouhai out here~! The deal is simple, all right? If there's trouble, you'll hear my theme song louuuud and clear from your phone. Just drop whatever you're doing, pick up the call, and do as I say when that happens and everything will be just fine. Otherwise... Well, you know that internet service providers from this era have all your information on hand, right? And you're a young, growing girl despite being my senpai. I think you know what I'm getting at... Riiiight?"

With a smile, BB waved a few files around on the other side of the phone expectantly.

"So... You can make your choice. Help me out, or I'll make sure everyone knows what's inside here. Okay?"

@VitaVitaAR

For a moment, Nanako was simply about to wonder why Melt was hesitating(perhaps it was just because she'd never used a phone before? Or possibly because she hadn't fixed her sleeves so her hands were still covered up?).

Then, her phone proceeded to go completely insane. Playing a theme that she'd never heard before, it was abruptly taken over by some kind of hacker!? No! Her parents had gotten her this phone for her last birthday, it was one of the best ones they could possibly have bought! Worse still, her... data...

Nanako stared blankly. There was a very pretty purple-haired girl on her phone now. Talking to her. In a video. Perhaps this shouldn't have seemed so shocking and bizarre when someone was living in a city full of heroes of the past who had been revived via magic, but the truth was that she was completely speechless. Suddenly a great deal of strange subjects were discussed. Somehow she was this girl's senpai? But she was also an AI? The year 2030? It was practically making the brunette's head spin.

But there was something that caught her attention.

Meltryllis... couldn't use her hands? She had no legs below her knees, and she couldn't use her hands... That was horrible. No wonder she covered her hands. The fact that she couldn't use the elevator on her own suddenly made perfect sense. And that she hesitated before attempting to use the phone...

It was impossible not to feel pity. Meltryllis was effectively a quadruple amputee, unable to use her hands and missing her legs below her knee. The fact that BB had brought something like that up... it clearly had hit the Alter Ego quite deeply as well. She almost tried to speak up about it, almost, until-

"What? My... you're..."

She trailed off. There had been so much hitting her all at once, but the sudden implication of blackmail caught her completely off-guard. If she didn't respond, she'd have her internet history revealed?

"I... wha... what?"

It was a lot to take in all at once.

@PKMNB0Y

Lyubov checked her shopping bags. Her cousins had assured her that if she needed anything, the stores in town would accommodate. This had been patently false. She had thought her needs were simple, and any shop by a magus would be up to snuff. She didn't have the dirt from a freshly turned grave, so she had to use potting soil made with compost. The store didn't have any stones from the depths of ancient sacred lakes, so she was stuck with gravel. Sure, TECHNICALLY this would work, but this array just lacked the same kind of pizzazz. Mother said first impressions would be important here, if she wanted to make friends. And being summoned with such improvised materials wasn't likely to endear her to anything she summoned. At least she was pretty sure she had the right incantation figured out. The silver knife had been easy enough, as had the hunk of iron. It was a few days early, but technically she didn't have a birth certificate, so nobody in the city was really sure of her birthday.

She draped the bags over the handle of her broom, and triple checked the shopping list as the fat cat in one of the bags started purring. Lyubov had never actually seen plastic bags, so that was new for her too. A whole lot of new, spooky stuff that was shaking her up a lot. But for now, she was back in her wheelhouse- even if this Servant thing wasn't the stuff she usually did, it was still magic. And if there was magic to be taught, she was sure she could learn it. The small girl mounted up her broom and floated upwards, before making her way to the inner city.

---

The Temne apartment didn't have a lot of large spaces. It was likely intended for one or two occupants, but the Temne family's finances were limited. So Lyubov was trying to perform the ritual in a common room roughly 15 feet to a side, stepping delicately around the circle. As she poured the last of the potting soil into the shape of the sigil she'd seen in the books from the library. She checked, double-checked, and triple checked the distribution of reagents. The silver and iron ore were in the right place. The stones were placed at the appropriate vectors. Ten familiars, each a cat, stood around the circle to provide support. Strands of her hair were placed within the dirt, as well as a few crossing points, as standard for any large ritual. Here, away from prying eyes, she could do this. She managed a genuinely steely look. She inhaled as she took her broom in her hand and waved it over the circle. She inhaled deeply before speaking out in Ukrainian.

"Silver and steel, carve the path through history!
Stone and earth, bear witness to the foundation!
Let the Old One, Baba Yaga, be the ancestor!
Let winds blow against the wall of ancient oak!
Let the Walking Hut twirl in reverie!
Let the forked road from crown to kingdom rotate!"

The effect was immediate, as the summoning circle erupted into crimson light. Another deep breath, and Lyubov put the broom down at her side, putting both hands over the circle as the cats began to yowl.

"By the ten generations gone:
Your body shall serve under me.
My clever-craft will be your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of a humble witch!
If you will submit to this, then declare our accord!"

Lyubov winced as she took up the knife and cut her left palm with it, letting the blood fall into the circle. Though her eyes teared up a little, she continued the chant as wind began swirling around her room. As her long hair whipped about in the gusts, she continued to let her blood flow from her hand.

"Let this oath be sworn by my blood!
I will know all the secrets of the Old Mother.
I will learn all the lore of the New Earth.
From the Seventh Heaven, attended by the old ways!
Come forth from the throne of kings, beasts, and heroes!
I call on you, protector of the Holy Balance!"

As the ritual came to a close, and the winds began to converge, with the dust and earth flowing in the swirling storm, Lyubov came upon a grave and terrible realization: She was going to have to look a complete stranger in the eye and speak with them. Truly, the greatest, most difficult test the young witch would ever face. She steeled herself in dread.

That had gone far better than expected. Not only had she summoned the great genius Leonardo Da Vinci, but they wanted to support her in her goals. Honestly, it filled her with a great deal of excitement. She nodded to herself in clear relief. That Da Vinci agreed it was better to go out now and worry about the workshop later did surprise Serene a tad, but she also accepted that due to well, no grail war. Even as Da Vinci placed her hand on Serene's shoulder, Serene was fist pumping the air just a tad, at her decision being made.

"Let's go then! Perhaps we'll even get to meet a future ally, yes?" As cheerful as she was at the moment, there was the undercurrent of control. She had to keep herself reserved when in the outside world. And so without further ado, Serene walked away from Da Vinci, but knowing Caster would follow, as she made her way through the house, past the grand central staircase of the manor, and to the front door. She quickly unlocked it with her personal key, and stepped outside, into the open air. She took in a breath, then let it out. "Onwards and upwards. To the corner store, right Caster?"

"No doubt master. Were he any larger, or demonic, I truly doubt I would be able to match him as I am now." That depressing voice could belong only to the even more depressing existence that was Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. "After all, I am only a Saber. If I was hunting demonic boars, I would always carry Moralltach and Gáe Dearg. It is a shame such that I cannot be summoned with both weapons at once, and my different forms of Saber and Lancer must hold custody of both in separate uses. Truly I am the most useless servant you could have summoned."

The way he said it was so... Well disappointing, as if he truly did believe those things he was saying. The strange Saber class servant said all this while he was standing less than ten feet from his master... Two girls hanging onto either arm, eyes wide, smiles on their lips. "Oh, and the bandage for my mole fell off somewhere near the peacock enclosure. I didn't tell you at the time because I felt you would only be worried." This was of course said, while both girls began to fight over him.

"I saw him first, you skunk!" The first girl said as she clung to his left arm. Tugging roughly on it, but as he was a servant it was easily in his power to simply fight off both. Not that Diarmuid was the kind of man to do such a thing.
"Liar!" The second girl shrieked, eyes focused only on the enchanted love spot he possessed. "This man deserves somebody who truly loves him. Clearly his master cares so little for him, and you just want him for his looks!"
"Please, my master cares deeply for me." Diarmuid interjecte-
"SILENCE! Can't you see we're trying to help you!?" Both shouted at once, drowning out every protest the servant might make. He truly was too beautiful for his own good. Surely this was a curse.
"I apologize Miss Einzbern. I'd put them in the tiger enclosure, but I'm not sure if you'd want your day ruined by such a tragedy."

If only he had been summoned as an Avenger. He'd have both sword, spear, and the heartless nature required to fight these beautiful women off. But he didn't have the grudge for it. The piglet was saved from the possible wrath of an Avenger. What a lucky swine.

The girl sighed. Really, she had to find something that would make Diarmuid a little less miserable, you would think several years would have ironed some of the kinks in the Saber's personality out. This was possibly the most pessimistic she'd seen him so far. "I have confidence that you could take any non-phantasmal boar if I were to simply arm you with a kitchen knife. Worry about trying to obtain all of your weapons when we have a need for them."

Turning around, Alkyrieaze gave the women hanging off of him a level stare. She would threaten them, but there was no doubt that would fail to register. She could, of course, simply blast them, but murder was socially unacceptable and unlikely to be overlooked in a zoo. But she had to do something about these weak-willed idiots right now.

Fortunately, the alchemist knew exactly how to do this. Wasn't it grand that the old man made sure she knew of her predecessors tricks? Long wires slid out of her sleeves as the girl appeared to just size the situation up, snaking down and around the obsessed pair--and then pulling tight, drawing the two together and away from Diarmuid. Someone would probably come along with some scissors or the like soon enough, but they wouldn't be strong enough to break it.

"I should work on a more permanent solution. But we should keep going, there's a few more animals." And that would put them by the petting zoo. Once she was there, there was no excuse to not go in, right?

@Reflection

That momentary glimpse of pity from her Master's eyes was enough to cause Meltryllis to regret finding BB so early—or, in this case, her finding them. The matter of the two of them being blackmailed was more of a minor issue compared to BB simply throwing out the image she had been building up until this point, but given the situation the Alter Ego wasn't in any position to really do much of anything in response.

"Hm...? My, my, is my idiot senpai confused? I thought it was fairly obvious what I meant..." BB remarked, quietly thumbing through the files in hand. "You know, some things never go away on this global network, no matter how hard you try. Old stories, art, fanfiction... To say the least. But I have to say, senpai... You're into some pretty strange things."

There was a quick flash of some image or another, partially obscured by folder that BB held and made slightly difficult to see by the size of the screen itself, but it was almost certain Nanako would be able to recognize at least part of the image.

"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to manipulate your social media accounts or broadcast things at your school about all the files I have on hand, so... You understand what I'm getting at here, right? Senpai~?"

@VitaVitaAR

That. That was enough to make the reality of the situation fully apparent.

"I-it's... not..." she trailed off. Maybe... it... it really was kind of weird, and even... even... most of the stuff she... sometimes she just got bored at night, it wasn't that often! And... only some of it was related to that, most of it was... girls with girls...

Nanako buried her face in her hands. Her occasional looks at material like that didn't mean the other stuff she looked at was any less embarrassing. Even if she didn't do it all the time, that didn't mean that it hadn't steadily built up over time. This... AI person, BB, she was really going to blackmail her if she didn't cooperate?! Couldn't she have just asked for help, first?

"... I... I understand," she said, finally, "... C-couldn't... you have asked for help, first? Rather then jumping right to blackmail..."

She trailed off.

"... But... I'll help..."

@PKMNB0Y

The knight paid for the mountain of snacks, thinking over the request, "If I withhold this information, I must ask that you meet the king sooner. If you go to this address during the week, before five in the evening, then you can meet her." There was a moment's pause. "Or you could come now, if your Master is willing."

Though quite why Lancelot had handed over the address for a host club...

---

The tense staring continued for a few seconds before the Servant broke it: "You still have a duty to seek revenge." An incomprehensible statement to the others in the room, but all of that night was no doubt burned into Waver's memories. He couldn't possibly forget, even for a second, his final orders.

"If I fight you, I would still lose."

The corners of Gilgamesh's mouth turned up slightly. The same response? "Of course."

"I have been ordered to live."

No hesitation. Good, he had validated the original judgement--and now to the other reason why he had come all the way here. "Then you know what you must do. Your loyalty shall be catalyst enough."