The soft hum of Tokyo's nightlife buzzed far below the high-rise hotel window, where golden drapes fluttered lazily in the breeze of the half open balcony door. Inside, the room was lavish, though barely passable by his standards, of course.
Leaning against the frame of the sliding glass door, draped in a pristine white hotel bathrobe, stood Gilgamesh.
His hair was still wet from the shower with a towel tossed over one shoulder.
Gilgamesh scoffed, crossing his arms. "Hmph. I explicitly declared the night concluded. The moment I decided to end the day, it should have been law." He muttered to himself. "And yet… the mongrels still fight. Tch. Filthy dogs can't even wait a whole day before trying to kill each other."
Outside, distant prana signatures clashed, flickered, and then faded. Two Servants fighting and now pausing, it seemed.
"At least that should make it final. This is a Holy Grail War."
He looked once more at the boy, now sleeping in a perfectly still position on the bed wearing pajamas.
"…At the very least, you're not running around making a fool of yourself. That counts for something little mongrel." Gilgamesh said, giving a short laugh and keeping his voice low to avoid waking him up.
Gilgamesh then left the door and got to the edge of the balcony. "However, I cannot say the same for you."
Turning his head he looked at the rooftop of the building next to the hotel. "Dirty mongrel. How dare you try to spy on me? And disturb my night's rest, no less."
Golden portals began to materialize before him. "Truly unforgivable."
***
Elsewhere in Tokyo...
The wind was colder here. It wasn't just the natural chill of night but the atmosphere of the entire place made it feel even colder than it actually was… especially with so many tombstones around.
Kairi Sissigou adjusted the strap on his shoulder bag, stepping carefully over a half-buried stone as he scanned the area. The cemetery wasn't large, certainly not sprawling, but it was remote enough. It was quiet and surrounded by just enough overgrown brush and ruined shrine structures to avoid prying eyes.
"This should do." He muttered, chewing thoughtfully on a cigarette as he knelt beside a cracked gravestone.
A faint shimmer ran over his hand as he activated a minor bounded field, checking for wards, curses or the presence of spirits.
Everything was clean and dead in the "right" way.
He rose, brushing off his coat as he felt the faint shimmer of his bounded fields shimmered at the edge of his vision.
He lit another cigarette, taking a slow drag as footsteps approached.
"You're back." he said without looking back.
"Yeah, sorry if I'm late. I was trying to lure them away but they didn't fall for it so I ended up just destroying them." Said Saber as he approached.
"I see. So how were those puppets? Anything in particular to know about them? Also do you think they were the work of a magus or a Servant?"
"The puppets were good, certainly above an average magus in physical strength, even if the use of reinforcement magecraft were to be accounted for based on the information you passed me earlier. Also… it's just a wild guess but I think those puppets might be scattered to cover all of Tokyo."
Kairi gasped, nearly spitting his cigarette. "What? All of Tokyo? And you think there are that many puppets that are capable of operating at this kind of performance level all over Tokyo?"
Hajime just nodded giving a faint smile acknowledging the shock from the news he just delivered. "Yes, I think so. The puppet didn't seem to care to lose sight of me and when I got at a certain distance from one I could feel another in the surroundings. In the end I just cleared an entire area of them while being cautious that there were no traps so at least for a time we should be able to keep this location a secret from the enemy."
Kairi scratched his head, exhaling a long stream of smoke. "Damn. That's a pain in the ass."
He ground the cigarette beneath his heel and began pacing between gravestones. "If they're really spread out across the city, then that means someone's using them to set up either a surveillance web, territorial markers, or maybe even auto-defense triggers. Shit… it's like trying to walk through a spider's nest blindfolded."
Saber leaned his back against a mossy pillar, arms folded. His expression remained calm, but his tone held the sharpness of someone who'd seen this tactic before. "Given their placement and behavior, I'd say surveillance is the primary purpose. They didn't react like guards, they were passive until I was close."
"Haa. It must be Caster. If we consider the number and quality of these puppets there's no way they could have been created by a normal magus unless Touko Aozaki decided to participate in this war, which is unlikely as she has no interest in the Third."
"Touko Aozaki?"
"Ah, she's a magus with the rank of grand that specializes in puppets. Don't worry the chances of her actually being involved are slim to none. The puppets were most likely made by a servant."
"So Master-chan what's our next move?" Saber said with a dry smirk.
Rubbing his temples in thought for a moment Kairi finally came to a decision. "Moving out is useless, we're staying here. If we move he might just prepare traps for us by predicting our next movements. So it's better to just stay and try to secure this area."
"Roger that. But do we handle scouting without being seen?"
"We don't."
"What?"
"It's useless anyway. So instead of going out during the night we will be patrolling during the day. Even Caster can't risk making any move during daylight. We will use that to gather as much information as we can and then prepare for the night."
"Hmmm I see." Pondering on it for a bit, Saber let go of his easy going attitude, taking a more serious tone he addressed Kairi again."Master, I know this is the best option we have but will it really work against a Caster? Maybe we can try to lure them out? But it will still be hard to pull off, this is not really a good situation and to top it off my Magic Resistance is very low so I can't brute force an approach against a Caster."
"Don't worry about that Saber. We don't need to win in a defensive battle against Caster, all we need to do is hold on for a day or two at most. After all, we are not the only ones participating in this war."
Taking another drag on his cigarette Kairi continued. "The other Masters will eventually decide to take action against the threat of this city wide surveillance and it won't take long. All we need to do is just hold on until then and either ally ourselves with the other Masters to take out Caster or just let them do the dirty work while we watch."
"Hmm… makes sense. But what if no one makes a move? We have no information about the other Masters' behavior after all."
Kairi shrugged. "It's fine, if there is something magi don't like, it's being observed. And as I said before we can just form an alliance with another Master or more, just that in such a situation, even if I don't like the idea, we will be the one starting the conflict."
"Hmm, I guess that will work. I'll keep an eye on things around here. Call me if you need me." Saber nodded, his form beginning to fade as he prepared to go on watch..
"Alright. Back to wor-"
"Ah, but one thing." Stopping dematerializing, Saber addressed his Master.
"What is it Saber?"
"Can I take a cup of instant noodles with me?"
"...Sure no problem"
"Aye, thank you Master-chan, you're the best." Beaming with a smile Saber took a cup and this time instead of dematerializing he just leapt away.
As Saber vanished from sight Kairi let out a short laugh. "Hahaha. What a guy."
***
Underground Jazz Bar…
Hector leaned against the bar, a glass of whiskey resting loosely in his hand. His armor had been replaced with a plain shirt.
Yvette strolled over with a slight spring in her step. "Well, that was amazing." She said, flashing him a grin as she dropped into the seat next to him. "You totally kicked that guy's ass. For a moment I was getting worried but then you headbutted him and beat his ass down."
Hector gave a low chuckle, rolling the glass between his fingers. "Well, thanks for the compliment Master. But it's better not to get too carried away, it was nothing special. I might've won the scrap, but it wasn't exactly a clean finish."
"Oh, come on." Yvette teased, nudging his arm. "You say that like you weren't using a sword to fight him, right? S-A-B-E-R."
"Give me a break." Hector couldn't help but sigh at the girl's attitude.
"Ah by the way, Lancer." Yvette turned to Hector with a curious expression. "Was he really a Lancer as well? His spear emitted light as if it was some noble phantasm effect but I'm not really sure how it worked. It was a bit strange."
"The spear wasn't a Noble Phantasm."
"What?" Yvette tilted her head in confusion.
"Not a named one. It's just a prized spear he wielded, same for the shield. Also I may be biased due to my experience of fighting many greek heroes but while he was a strong warrior capable of distinguishing himself on any battlefield he is somewhat lacking for the title of Lancer."
"But he still gave me the impression of being very strong."
"And he was, but there's one problem. He says he's Lancer but his spear is not even a named Noble Phantasm, his technique while very good is in no way near good enough to make up for his lacking weaponry. While he possesses a monstrous reaction time that alone doesn't suffice to make up for the other two points."
"Wait, what of that light then? I know he didn't utter any name but couldn't it be a passive type Noble Phantasm like your armor? I'm also considering a personal skill like Mana Burst but that was a really strange one as it didn't feel much like mana."
"Yeah but whatever it was I don't think it came from the spear at least. Also I could have sworn I saw the light from the streetlights change direction after he started gathering that light, maybe it could hint us at something."
"Yes, but it's hard to make a guess just based on that." Yvette nodded and wondered about who Lancer could be.
"Still it looked like you were still stronger than him while holding back so as long as we look out for sneak attack it should be fine right."
Hector gave her a weak smile as he replied. "Maybe or maybe not. It's hard to know for sure. For what we know he might have been holding back as much as me or more. After all, he also fought while hiding his true class. I mean what if next time he suddenly summoned a mount or used some other weapons like a sword or a bow for example."
Yvette gave him an annoyed stare in response. "Well, I guess you're kind of right but aren't you being just a bit too scrupulous. You could at least be somewhat happy we did well in our first battle."
"Well… I would be if not for that puppet and the fact that I believe there might be more around, like a lot more of them." Said Hector as he scratched the back of his head.
Yvette tilted her head as she recalled the puppet she saw at the end of their fight. "You mean like the one that was spying on you and that guy? Thinking back on it I couldn't even sense it before that guy hurled his spear at him, that could have been really dangerous for me."
"Well I'm not too sure about that. I also couldn't sense before we got closer to it and on the way back I noticed a few more. They aren't easy to detect from a distance but I guess if you were around 15-20 meters away from them you would also be able to detect them. I can sense them from around barely 60 meters from me and that's when I'm not distracted by things like fighting another servant, so if we get separated in the future make sure to always have your guard up against sneak attacks."
"Yeah sure… Wait, does that mean the enemy might already know where our base is located?"
Hector responded by giving her a thumb up as he yawned. "Most likely. Actually his puppets probably cover most if not all of the city."
"Fuck!" Yvette screamed as she started pulling her twintails in frustration.
"Come on Lancer, let's go, we're still in time to relocate." Yvette said with a certain sense of urgency. After all as a certain freelance necromancer said if there is something magi don't like it's knowing their being observed.
"No, I would advise against it, Master." Hector tried to calm Yvette down as she clearly started to get agitated by the news.
"It's better to stay here if the enemy is actually monitoring the entire city. The enemy is probably a Caster so remaining here will save us from getting ambushed after the enemy predicts our movements." Hector took a pause to let Yvette calm down a bit before continuing.
"And moreover did you forget who your Servant is?" Hector posed the question once Yvette calmed down a bit.
"What do you mean by that Lancer?"
Dropping his usually easygoing and grumpy attitude Hector turned totally serious and directed his full attention to his Master.
"I'm Hector of Troy. I might be an old man who's very grumpy and with a sore back but if there is something I can take somewhat of a pride in is defending a city from countless Greek heroes for years surpassing even the prediction of the gods about the length of the war. In the end I might have failed but I was still able to hold the line for so many years and open a way for my brother to kill Achilles so you don't need to worry."
Tapping on his chest with his fist Hector continued. "I can bet my ability to defend a fort or a base surpasses even a good deal among the Caster class Servants. So don't worry about it, recollect yourself and let's think together about a method to counter attack this annoying surveillance system."
"Yes. You're right, thank you Lancer." Yvette nodded, thanking her Servant for calming her down. "Anyway you what? That was really cool, you should act like that more."
Seeing her giving him a wink with her only uncovered eye Hector smiled. He was somewhat exasperated when he was just summoned by his Master attitude but at least it seemed to come in hand to cool her head fast.
"Give me a break. Well, at least you got your head back in place."
Yvette smiled mischievously at Hector. "Yup, so let's discuss how to deal with this issue first. Don't worry Lancer, I didn't forget you're an old man that needs his nap time and I also need to sleep to preserve my beauty, so let's keep it brief and then retire for the night."
"Now that's good news, Master."
***
Somewhere else again but still in Tokyo…
"Hmm how strange." Tapping on his chin an old man was deep in thought as he analyzed the situation before him. "Master, are you sure this is right? By your prevision that Zouken guy should have also summoned a Servant but I already detected seven of them but none looks to be tied to this man."
The Master he directed his attention to was a young woman seated in an armchair to the old man's side. "That's impossible. I just met him briefly but there is no way a guy like him wouldn't try to summon a Servant to snatch the win now, is there? Have you noticed anything strange?"
The old man stroked his long goatee thoughtfully. "Well if there is something. It is the fact that I spotted six Servants as of now. But none seems to be of the Assassin class. Oh and there seems to be two Servants that might be Sabers but maybe one of the two is just hiding his true class."
The woman mulled over the information for a bit. She briefly thought about the two Sabers' situation but ultimately put it aside as the more serious matter seemed to be another one."No Assassin? And yet you spotted six Servants?"
"Yes." The old man nodded.
By their original plan the old man was supposed to spot five enemy Servants as they weren't too confident in spotting an hiding Assassin class Servant. Afterward using the gathered information they could shoot a guess of where the remaining Servant was and who his Master was or who he was affiliated with.
This situation instead, while it should be good on paper, raised a few questions on the functionality of the ritual.
The woman thinking for a bit tried to ask the old man for an opinion. "Before you mentioned something about two Sabers being present. Could this have something to do about it? Maybe instead if an Assassin the grail summoned two Sabers."
The old man shook his head at the woman's question. "Unlikely. This kind of ritual that divides Heroic summoning only one of each class should be somewhat against tipping the balance with two Servants belonging to the same class. I'd rather consider the possibility of one of the two lying about his class as I didn't sense any strange phenomenon in natural energy that might have been caused after something interfered with the ritual."
The woman, seemingly a bit irritated by this situation, snapped a bit to the old man. "Then what could it be? It's not like there are many other options."
The old man responded kindly to the young woman's little outburst, not minding it much as he gave her a soft laugh. "Hahaha, don't worry young lady. The probable answer is easier than you might think. Do you remember the thing you gave me this morning after you summoned me?"
"You mean… My grandfather's diary about his experience of the Third Holy Grail War and the report of the Fourth and the little information we know of the Fifth one?" Tilting her head a little the woman asked the oldman.
The diary in question was a diary kept by her grandfather during the time he participated in the Third Grail war. While not containing information about the end of the war as he died before being able to write anything about it the diary still had a good dial of information about the war.
"Yes, precisely so Master." The old man confirmed. "While not much is discernible from those diary entries I think your grandfather made it clear that there was no Berserker summoned in that war. Yet he never mentioned anything about two Servants of the same class being summoned or one Servant missing so the added up number was still seven."
Her eyes widened slightly. "So that means…"
The old man nodded in affirmation. "Yes, precisely and from a few strange facts that happened during the two following wars, while it doesn't give us a complete picture, it helps us narrow down the situation to either of two guesses as long as we can admit one factor. Which is that there exist more classes than the seven ones normally summoned in a Grail War."
The old man raised a finger and spoke calmly. "First. Like in the Third Holy Grail War one of the seven classes is missing and one of these… mmmmm let's call them extra class Servant was summoned instead."
Then raising a second finger he continued. "Second. This war has an eighth Servant, still part of these extra classes, that participates together with the other seven."
"Regardless of which of the two it is, I suggest moving while taking the second possibility as the correct one as in case we were wrong the ambush of an Assassin might be fatal and even in case there were no Assassin the additional preparation for ambush might reveal to be useful later on."
The woman nodded her head before asking him about a doubt she had after hearing the explanation."I think I get your point but if an eight Servant has been summoned why do you think he must be part of an extra class instead of a double from the already existing seven ones?"
The old man nodded sagely. "Well as I said before it's about balance. Nature has its balance to maintain, so a ritual like this one that makes use of the Dragon Veins in the earth must keep its balance as well unless it wants to be chaotic and fail. For this after looking at the state of the land I believe the balance has not been tipped so I excluded the possible presence of two Sabers."
"I see. So it's just not possible huh?" The woman nodded with interest.
The old man scratched his check a bit. "Well… maybe if there were a double of each class things could change but I'm not too sure."
Nodding to herself the woman crossed her arms and mulled over the information for a bit before directing her attention to the main topic again. "Anyway getting back on topic this matter is rather troublesome. Any guesses on who this extra class Servant might be after using your surveillance system?"
The old man chuckled in response. "There are indeed two that looked somewhat strange. The first is the man who called himself Lancer. His presence and aura in general is somewhat strange in my opinion. When I looked at him he somewhat gave me the feeling of looking like both one of the Three Knights and a Caster of sorts at the same time, it was really strange."
The man then took out a map of the city and spread it. Afterward he took a marker and started making circles over certain zones. Then after marking 5 places he stopped for a bit before making a sixth mark in Shibuya Hills.
"As for the second one. I couldn't really see him as the sight of my puppet seemed to warp a bit but before it got destroyed I saw something clearly, this enemy hit my puppet using different weapons kind of similar to the King of Heroes from the report you gave me."
After a brief pause he continued. "For now I'm guessing that either of these two is the special class Servant but I need to investigate further to be sure."
The woman finally gave a smile as if satisfied with the information for now. "Good job, Caster. That's enough work for today I guess let's make a few quick preparations for tomorrow and then rest for a bit."
"As you wish, Master." Caster replied to his Master sporting a rather beaming smile unfitting for his apparent age.
***
Shibuya Hills in the Hotel Room
CRACK CRACK
THUD
Gilgamesh looked at the shredded puppet in content. "Damn mongrels, can't even mind their own business when I'm not in the mood to interact with their lowly affairs."
Turning back he made his way inside the hotel room again ready to pass the night leisurely resting just for the sake of it.
"Hmm?" However as he made his way back inside he noticed that something wasn't quite right anymore.
The kid who was just sleeping as still as a stone before was now heavily sweating and his breathing was getting rather erratic.
"Did he get sick? No, the night clothes I gave him should prevent him from getting any sickness." Gilgamesh tried to think of a possible reason for his state but the only thing he could think of was. "Is he having a nightmare? Can he even have something like that?"
A bit dubious about the situation Gilgamesh decide to just keep an eye on the situation for now, especially now because-
"hahaha now that's a really amusing face, so you can actually make funnier expressions than i thought."
-he was having fun looking at the usually impervious boy struggle like never before when he was sleeping.