Fate/Apocrypha - Volume 3, Act 4, Part 4

Looking for Rider was a simple matter with Ruler's help—as it turned out, they were currently gazing at the sky on top of the fortress' partially destroyed viewing platform.

Rider had most likely detected Sieg's presence already, yet they were still sullenly turning away.

"…What?"

"Uh, I… How do I say this…"

After hesitating for a while, Sieg approached Rider and stood next to them.

"I'm sorry. I won't say something like that ever again."

"Something like what?"

"…You're my Servant, and I'm your Master. I didn't mean to make light of what we have. I was just… I didn't want you to worry."

"Worry about what?"

"Like I said before… There's just no need for you to follow after me even if I happen to die. I don't want you to worry about that."

Rider raised an eyebrow—their displeasure at those words were plain to see on their face.

"And I'm saying you're an idiot for that. As far as I'm concerned, you're all that matters for me. Of course I'll follow after you!"

After all, such was the relationship between a Master and a Servant—such was what Astolfo truly believed. Their loyalty was simply absolute… but there was something more to it.

It took far too long, but Sieg finally realized just how much of an ideal Servant Rider was. Not in terms of their strength, but of their entire being… Of how noble and dazzling Rider was.

And that was precisely why Sieg could not possibly involve Rider in his own recklessness.

"I'm not sure if that's something I should be happy hearing… but thank you, Rider. I've taken your words to my heart."

Sieg's answer immediately changed Rider's expression. Looking at them now, one could almost be reminded of a dog wildly swinging its tail around.

"W-Well, I guess at least I should be happy that you care about me that much. However! I'm still against you becoming the decoy! Following Archer's plan means we will basically need to be really, reallyseparated, right? We can't really waste any of your Command Spell, so you can't even summon me immediately to your side with it!"

"So, about that…"

Sieg hesitated as he looked away. Getting a bad feeling from that, Rider swooshed right up close next to him.

"Go on."

"Ruler said… she has an idea."

"Okay… What is it, then?"

Rider's eyes were aimed at Sieg sternly, and as he was about to speak…

"If I follow along as a decoy as well, I can always watch over him. All problems solved."

"…What she said."

Ruler suddenly showed herself on top of the viewing platform as well, seamlessly joining in the conversation.

"Uh, what do you meaaan?! Hello?! You're a Servant too, in case you forgot!"

"Indeed, but the method of my summoning was a bit… peculiar. Due to that, I do not have a genuine spiritual form—this is an actual, physical body."

Ruler used the body of Laeticia to act on the physical world, and as a result, her existence was almost as that of a human.

Particularly in regards to appetite and the need to sleep—while Ruler could get by without for several hours, at a certain point it could actually damage her spirit.

In this particular situation, however, it was actually a benefit.

"Basically, by suppressing your spirit, you can effectively suppress your presence as a Servant as well?"

"Indeed. By doing so, we reduce the risk by half. And if we can defend against Assassin's first strike, we can pin them down from multiple sides afterward."

"Master…?"

"I'm grateful for the idea… but I'm a bit worried about this 'suppressing your spirit' thing. I'm opposed to it."

Indeed, that was the main problem—suppressing her spirit would mean bringing forth Laeticia's physical body.

"Indeed, my abilities would be no different than a normal human in that situation. So the question is how quick I can turn back into a Servant in case of a surprise attack."

"Well that's just unfair for Laeticia, then! Nope, I'm against this, nope nope nooope!"

Rider was swinging their fist around, as Sieg nodded simultaneously.

"Yes, I also think it's not necessarily the best of ideas."

Ruler said with a troubled face. Sieg and Rider tilted their head in tandem upon hearing that.

"What do you mean?"

"I've said this before already, but Laeticia's consciousness right now is mixed with mine. Normally, she's letting me be in control while having her own consciousness sleep, but…"

One could also say that Laeticia was basically an audience currently watching a movie—observing otherworldly beings through Jeanne's perspective.

And as an audience, Laeticia would not have any part on how the movie would go. And no matter what she thought about the movie itself, she would keep it hidden inside her heart. However, when Sieg had announced his intention on becoming the decoy, she had spoken up from deep within.

"Then, how about this?"

"Sigh… I see. Alright, then what's Laeticia saying right now?"

"Well, she's been resolutely silent the entire time ever since she suggested that idea… Though I can't say I don't understand why."

"Ah…"

Rider turned towards Sieg, as if they finally understood something. Sieg himself was still deep in thoughts with a troubled expression, not looking at Rider or Ruler.

"So, what do we do?"

"I can do this alone."

Sieg said boldly while feigning ignorance. By this point, he had probably realized it—and the same goes for the other two.

"Ahh, you're such a bonehead! I mean, I want to support what my Master wants to do, but still…"

Slowly but surely, Rider was beginning to give in.

"Then I suppose we simply need to accompany Sieg, after all. We will probably be a bit of a burden, but let's do our best!"

And Ruler herself, for her part, was even more boneheaded than Sieg was.

Only 2 more days left until the Yggdmillenia and their Servants would begin their attempt to bring down Assassin of Black.

※※※※※

At a place further within the bowels of the ancient city Trifas, there lived hundreds of those who had fallen by society's wayside. At one of its corner was a place once used by a back-alley doctor—and now it was being temporarily occupied by Rikudou Reika and Assassin of Black.

This place was beyond the attention of most magi—for no matter how fallen they might be, magi are magi. They would never have anything to do with such a place.

An old bed with broken springcoils creaked loudly—after years of use, its condition had deteriorated so much that Reika's body always hurt all over when she woke up on it.

But it's not like she could rent a hotel instead. A bunch of magi had been searching for them ever since they stepped into the land of Romania. Reika already had to abandoned many house in Sighișoara alone.

They were able to evade capture not only because of Assassin. Perhaps Reika herself possessed a sort of animal instinct, as she always decided to abandon a house immediately before a bunch of magi would arrive to investigate it. Still, it was not all bad. This place was certainly inferior in many aspects compared to the average house, but there was a degree of order here. The people around here would never sell her out. Not even though some might know of the existence of magi.

It was due to a certain law here—nobody says anything, nobody knows anything, and nobody meddles in other's business. Now, being human, people do make mistakes from time to time—for example, there had been thugs breaking in when Reika had just moved in here.

There was no need to talk about what they had planned to do to Reika, and even less so about what Reika had done to them.

The other inhabitants of this place had immediately gone from pitying her to fearing her. Reika herself had only said one thing to them.

"Do nothing, and I'll do the same."

And they had no choice but to believe that. Even if they know Reika had a companion… Even if that companion always went out at night and came back smelling like blood… They would never talk.

Stay silence, and they would not make an enemy of her. And they felt no remorse in doing so—none among them was a paragon of virtue, after all. Dregs of society that they were, they had long since abandoned their sense of morality.

And so, this little corner remained peaceful today as well.

Rikudou Reika had a slightly broken memory.

She could not remember clearly half of what happened in her lifetime—it was as if those events were shrouded in mist. She thought of those as a life not worth remembering.

No—to begin with, she never found her life to be worth being called as such.

Never had, never did. Ever since the day she was born. Reika had only ever wasted her days aimlessly. She had no parents to speak of, and was never able to recognize just how depraved she had been slowly becoming.

She had become a prostitute in order to eat, but a certain host ended up killing her in the process. This host was a magus who thought nothing of human life—he had seduced her only because he needed an "ingredient".

He truly thought nothing of her, not even a little bit. She was just a disposable item as far as he was concerned. Reika had been aware of that, and at her last moment—she prayed for her life.

Afterwards, her days were full of so many wonders. Reika could never thank her enough.

Does being alive mean that your heart is beating? That your brain is functioning?

Reika did not think so. Just because someone's heart is beating, their limbs moving, and their tongue muttering words, does not mean they are alive.

To be alive is to have passion. To study and work as hard as you can. To love and hurt another. To raise a life other than your own. Those are what truly shows that you are alive.

And neither good nor evil have anything to do with it—to be alive is simply wonderful. Plain and simple.

Otherwise, why would someone even strive to stay alive?

And that was why Reika felt the most alive right now. Many carry the sin of killing others, but few carry so much sin that they simply have to kill others.

But she did kill. She had killed others in order to obtain the Holy Grail. She had killed others to protect herself. And she had killed others for the sake of her daughter, Jack.

She killed, and she lived. A beautiful dream where her life was perfect and her days were full of happiness…

"Mother. Mother."

Reika opened her eyes when her body was shaken. She seemed to have fallen asleep… She rubbed her eyes, and the figure of a small girl soon appeared in front of her. The girl did not seem to be wounded, but she looked so dejected, as if she had made a blunder.

"Ah, Jack… So it didn't work?"

"Yeah. We're sorry…"

The girl hung her head so forlornly that it tugged Reika's heartstring so much. She embraced her and held her up on her arms.

"You don't have to apologize—I'm already happy that you came back safely."

Reika patted her head and lightly stroke her back as she said that. Soon, the girl finally regained her spirit.

"Okay. We were really close, though."

"…I see. They managed to hold on even after all the Servants went all out, huh?"

"We don't think we can attack them again. What do we do now…? Ah, we checked just in case—it seems like the Red faction had taken the Holy Grail after all."

"What a shame… And where is the Holy Grail right now?"

"We dunno…" Jack says while shaking her head left and right.

"Hm, maybe it's inside that giant thing then…"

"Yeah, maybe."

Jack, too, had taken a part in the battle. Not to side with anyone, but to merely devour the victims.

Then, she had seen the fortress floating in the sky—the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It was such an absurd Noble Phantasm. The Servant possessing it was, without a doubt, far stronger than her.

But it was not the time to give up just yet. Jack the Ripper had a dream, and her Master Rikudou Reika also still had a wish.

And to make them come true, they must slaughter everyone, be they from the Black or Red faction. …Of course, they could simply joined the Black faction. Magi might be a proudful bunch, but they are also terribly calculative.

However, they would also demand a change of Master for Jack. Rikudou Reika was no magus, merely an ordinary person—she could not supply Servants with prana. As such, Jack needed to nourish herself with "food" to stay alive.

None of those would be a problem were Jack to make a contract with a magus. But that would mean cutting off the connection between her and her mother.

For that matter, Jack herself would never even dream of changing Masters—to be with her mothermeant everything for her.

Surrender had never been an option, be it for Jack or Reika.

The same goes for running away. For the Holy Grail was their goal, and their very life.

"But… What do we do now?"

"Well, Jack—at times like this, we need to think about what others are feeling. What do you think they would want right now?"

Jack folded her arms and swayed her head side to side. She looked like a doll that Reika couldn't help but smile and laugh.

"Mmm… To catch us?"

"Indeed. But don't you think they'd be more concerned about the Holy Grail?"

Jack nodded. Rikudou Reika may not have any knowledge of magi and their world, or of the Great Holy Grail War itself. And Jack herself also only know of herself being the Assassin of Black due to informations from the Holy Grail and from the various magi. But it was not hard to come to a logical conclusion based on all of those. So their priority was quite simple.

The Holy Grail was an omnipotent wish-granting device. Magi thought nothing of human life. And so…

"The one who took the Holy Grail is more important, right?"

"But then… why are they still here?"

"That's simple. The Holy Grail was taken by this… giant floating fortress, right?"

Jack nodded again. The floating fortress was just like the ones she imagined when Reika had read her bedtime stories.

"Then they may not have a method to chase after someone on air. No—they're magi, so they may very well have one… Perhaps they just need time to prepare it, then."

Reika's conjecture, while not complete, was more or less correct. The Yggdmillenia only had 2 days left until their chartered airplanes arrived at the airport. And since they needed to prioritize the Holy Grail, they would need to give up on subjugating Assassin by then.

"So… They just happen to also use that time to try catching us… right?"

"Yes, yes, that's right."

Jack's face swelled as she pouted—even a little girl like her would feel offended when they're treated like a side mission—but immediately cheered up when Reika patted her on the head.

"So, um… They'd want to kill us quickly, right?"

As Jack said so with an innocent tone, Reika began to ponder. At times like this, she would try to see things as a whole—perhaps due to her experience being abused by her adoptive parents and being a prostitute, Reika was very objective when planning on how to reach her goal.

The enemy Servants would want to finish this in a single stroke. They would strike with such an intensity that would leave no room for Assassin to escape.

How should she defend against that?

Making this a prolonged conflict instead… would do them no good. Soon, the enemy would simple leave to chase after the Holy Grail and have their wishes granted. Both Jack and Reika could not simply let that happen.

Now, if the enemy wished to do this as swiftly as possible, how would they move? They would not try to steamroll everything and simply investigate every nook and corner of this city… that would take far too much time.

They might try to discover their whereabouts using a Servant's innate ability, or a form of magecraft… except for the fact that they would've found Reika and Jack already had they possess such an ability on their side. Even if they did, current situation implied that such an ability might be too costly to use.

Which means, the only option they had was…

"Mother?"

Jack hopped to Reika's embrace when she fell quiet—which prompted another pat on the head and a wry smile on Reika's face. Jack then hugged Reika closely and whispered.

"Hey, can we hear more piano? Please?"

"Oh, dear…"

Unfortunately, this place did not have a piano. And even if it did, they couldn't afford to be too noisy right now.

"Hmm… Will you make do with just a song?"

Jack bobbed her head as she nodded. As Reika began humming the tune for Traumerei, it echoes delicately yet fervently across the dead of night. A tune as bewitching as a siren's, yet as warm as a mother's.

At that moment, inspiration suddenly struck her.

"…Say, Jack?"

"Mm-hm?"

"Can you engulf this entire city inside your mist?"

Rikudou Reika was not evil. She did not kill pointlessly. Nor did she enjoy senseless cruelty.

She simply did whatever necessary. Simple as that. She was not much different to most magi in that regard. But unlike magi, who needed to keep their existence a secret, Reika had no such limitation.

She would have no hesitation in doing whatever needed doing to obtain what she desired. No matter how cruel, inhumane, or prideful it might be.

In a way, one could say that Rikudou Reika participated in the Great Holy Grail War in the most human-like way possible…