A/N: Thanks for all the comments on the year note. Also why'd everyone latch on to the marriage bit xD, it's been over six months. I'm positive I mentioned it before.
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The King of Uruk rose to his feet. Instead of blasting me with innumerable weapons from his treasury, he simply threw back his head, and laughed boisterously. His loud voice rang in the empty Church alone a while, until I joined him. All of a sudden, both of us were laughing. Caren stared at me as if I'd gone mad.
"To think a pest from this age has the audacity to insult a King such as I."
"To think you still can't get over it. Let go, old man~" I wiped a tear from my eye.
He decided that I wasn't funny anymore, and fixed me with a deathly glare. "I will cut you limb from limb for this insolence, mongrel."
Reeling from Lancer's surprise attack, I was more than happy to throw hands with him for a chance at re-gaining all my lost confidence. So, I met him with the same attitude he had. The one he'd clearly copied from me. No, it didn't matter that this man was from a far ancient time. He clearly had some kind of future sight that he used to copy me from the past.
"Go ahead. Try."
He laughed again, but countless golden ripples formed in the air behind him. He'd clearly gotten butthurt from my words and was trying to save face. Admittedly however, he did look cool. I even shivered a bit when those portals started pushing out Noble Phantasms.
A single Noble Phantasm was enough to beat any magus. They were the crystallizations of mystery, of man's collective delusions. King Gilgamesh was capable of utilising those delusions with the same attitude Luviagelita had towards money.
I should have backed down, but I only raised two fingers to my chest, grinning as wide as possible and then some.
A slight cough, clearly faked, broke our contest. Kirei was the one who stopped us. With heavy steps, he walked between me and the Archer servant intent on ripping me to shreds. I didn't know what sort of relationship the two shared, but Gilgamesh only took a look at him before the Gate of Babylon faded away.
He turned his head, "I've lost interest."
Saying those unreasonable words, he ran a hand through his golden hair before wandering away, out of the Church. He halted in the door, giving me one last look.
"Watch yourself, mongrel."
"You too, buddy. Don't trip and break a bone or something."
"Why would that happen?"
"It's a distinct possibility if your body is as delicate as your ego, mate."
He grit his teeth… but left.
I really had to wonder what kind of leverage Kirei had over him for him to ignore my blatant provocations when he so clearly wanted nothing more than to rip me a new one. I knew there was more than met the eye to the fake priest but… still…
Once he was gone, I put a hand on Caren's shoulder. "You alright?"
"I'll be alright when you break his bones."
"Caren… I'm afraid you'll get turned on if I beat your father."
Mechanically, her head turned until her golden eyes were peering right into the depths of my very soul. Then, her lips curved into a beautiful ghost of a smile that told me my guess was spot on. That was a rather scary realization to have.
"I will concede the truth to you." Kirei cut in smoothly. "Miss Bazett has… departed. With her servant gone, the rules dictate that her participation in this war is at an end. She no longer had reason to stick around."
I narrowed my eyes.
My meetings with Bazett were few, and I didn't really know her all that well. Yet, she just really hadn't seemed the type to just run away. Wasn't she here with a mission to come after me? The Holy Grail War was never her complete agenda here to begin with. I was supposed to believe, from this shady person, that a stubborn woman like Bazett had fled her mission.
No, I found it difficult to believe him even slightly.
"That's bullshit."
He simply shrugged his hands. "Perhaps she realized that you were beyond her capabilities, and went for reinforcements."
That was… a reasonable deduction.
No, it still reeked.
I had no way to prove it, but I knew in my gut that this seemingly plausible explanation reeked. Kirei was not a man to be trusted. That was what Caren re-iterated when we left home this morning. That was what I had felt from the moment I met the man.
"You should be glad." He continued, "Destroying Lancer is a considerable achievement. Dare I say you hold the greatest chance of being the victor with a servant that powerful. An annoying foe has left of her own volition. The Lord frowns upon questioning good grace. A child holds Saber, perhaps he should be your next target. Or Berserker? To secure your strength? I am, ultimately, a mere overseer. My duty is to the rules."
If there was one thing I had learnt about the people of this world, it was that everyone and their mother had an agenda of their own. I did not, for a moment, believe that an Executor for the Holy Church, tasked with overseeing the entire Holy Grail War, held no nefarious motives of his own. Us coming to blows was inevitable.
Yet, for now, reason dictated that I stay my hand.
Kirei had done nothing against me. He'd even helped me flush out the Matou patriarch. There was his animosity with Caren, but even that didn't warrant death at my hands. I wasn't about to kill him for giving me 'bad vibes'.
Breathing deep, I turned to leave. There was nothing more to find here.
Caren followed behind quietly, until we were clear of the Church, and at the foot of the hill.
"So, how was it?"
"I resent him." She said plainly. "Don't trust my father, ever. Because I'm his daughter, I can tell better than anyone. He doesn't care. He is twisted. He will hurt you. If he can't right now, he'll find a way. Be careful."
"I had that feeling already." I sighed, "But don't talk about your father that way."
"He abandoned me, and drove my mother to suicide. I know because the people he left me to were more than happy to remind me."
Man… I was starting to get numb to this.
I stared up at the dull sky.
What was I supposed to do now?
Bazett was in hiding or worse, just gone. Zouken Matou was the same, though I was certain he wouldn't leave the city. Archer, Saber, and Rider were with people who wouldn't fight me, who I had no interest in fighting unless provoked and Lancer was simply dead. Dead as hell. Caster was dead too. That only left Berserker and Assassin, both of whom were unknown to me at the moment.
Huh, I hadn't even found Assassin yet… The only thing I knew about them was that their master third-partied and murdered Caster while she was low on mana after our fight with each other.
Then, the only choice left was to wait for the night, and hope I was able to find one of the two servants prowling about so I could jump them.
But then… that left the day empty.
What would my professor do?
Knowing him, that nerd would definitely be snooping around, trying to find out what the Holy Grail actually was since there was no way an omnipotent wish-granting device existed in the modern age-
Oh.
Oh yeah, that sounded interesting.
But... before I started bothering Rin, I wanted to investigate Bazett just a bit more. No, I definitely wasn't being petty.
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