Capítulo 1692: 7
Chapter 7: Chapter 5 Day 2 (cont)Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
My standard date plan of going to a café is a bust given we just had snacks, so Artoria and I wander the city. Unfortunately, it turns out that Trifas has very few tourist attractions- Yggdmillennia pretty clearly is running the city as their own private fiefdom and the city seems designed not to attract outside visitors. In fact, I could feel bounded fields and magical traps that would activate at night, and if I recall correctly there was a literal night-time curfew in Trifas enforced by the family. If I wanted to meet with Yggdmillennia, all we'd need to do is wander the city at night and Yggdmillennia would probably come to us. Something to do later, I supposed, after I grab Sieg and can get him onboard with his homunculi rights plan.
The first semi-interesting sight we run into is a restaurant and bar, whose mascot seems to be Dracula Vlad III of all people. With my cooking skills, just a quick sniff is enough to tell me that the food itself isn't anything special, but why is there a Dracula Vlad themed restaurant and bar in Trifas? Yggdmillennia runs the town, and Vlad hates his Dracula narrative. You'd have thought Yggdmillennia would have shut the place down, just in case. It's not anything major, it feels weird.
After that, I let Reinhard's instincts take the wheel, and our walk turns away from the main street and begins to head towards the old district- albeit on the opposite side of the old district to the city cemetery. The alleys eventually reach a street where what looks like a real blacksmith is crafting spearheads. I guess Yggdmillennia needs smiths to supply their Homunculi soldiers with weapons but it's still an unusual sight for me. Artoria doesn't seem to consider it as unusual and just walks past, but when she notices my interest, she doubles back to join me. The smiths either don't notice or care, so we pause to 'talk'.
'Master, I have been meaning to ask about your blade. Is there a reason you do not draw it?'
'Ah, Reid is a bit of a pain. It's a really, really good sword but it has conditions to be drawn. It can only be drawn against what it determines is a worthy opponent; unless that happens, I'm stuck using it in its sheath.
'And does this trouble you?'
A mental shrug 'Not really. The sheath is indestructible, and I can still cut with it if I hit hard or fast enough. There's some stuff I can only do with a drawn sword, but that would also inevitably break any non-Reid sword, and it isn't like I can just pull an infinite number of swords out of thin air.'
Artoria hums, then steps forwards and picks up a blade resting in the front-of-store display. She lets it rest in her hand for a moment, gives it a hard stare, then replaces it and picks up another. The process repeats, and eventually this attracts the attention of an employee.
"Can I help you, miss?" A middle-aged man with greying hair walks towards the entrance with a frown.
"One moment. Try this one, please." Artoria hands me a plain sword, and I let myself feel it's heft. As far as Reinhard's senses can tell, it's a perfectly workable mundane sword. No magic, no frills, nothing special.
"It seems...fine?"
"Excellent. We would like to purchase this if you please."'
The smith gives a pained smile. No doubt he thinks we're one of Trifas' limited tourists or something. "Are you sure? If you're interested, we do have a better selection…"
"This will be perfect."
He names a price that seems too high, probably an effort to have us leave, but it's within budget so I pay; thinking about it, having a backup weapon I can use my Swordplay with is a good idea.
-
After that bit of shopping, our wandering continues. Trifas continues to disappoint as far as locations go- there's certainly interesting stuff but all the interesting stuff is about how deadly the city would become to mundanes at night-time. Fields that will activate at night and turn the blood of anyone within them into acid, 'statues' that are definitely not going to be unmoving statues after sundown, the works. It turns what I had hoped would be a date into something more along the lines of a scouting mission; potentially useful, but not what I had in mind.
Trifas' main 'draw', outside of "intricate magical nighttime deathtrap", seems to be its textile industry. We pass through several streets of shops all selling wide ranges of colored fabrics. With each fabric I see, Reinhard's blessings come up with ways I could turn them into clothing perfect for myself or Artoria. Problem is, with the Shroud none of that is needed- adjusting and making new clothes, heh, whole-cloth is as simple as thinking. There does, however, turn out to be one shop that catches Artoria's interest- a small, out-of-the-way boutique that has a range of stuffed animals on display.
I follow Artoria's gaze to a small plush feline. It, unfortunately, is not a lion- it seems like a lynx or other bobcat. Why a store in Trifas is selling plush bobcats escapes me, but a feline plush is feline plush I suppose.
"Would you like one?"
Artoria seems to start, as if she had forgotten me. "Oh, no. I am fine. We should not be so frivolous."
"...you know the point of this is to be frivolous, right? Like, I wanted to do things we both might like." And then I transition to telepathy, just in case. 'And while Trifas has been disappointing so far I'd prefer it not to be a complete business-only scouting mission.'
'...are you sure we could spare the-'
'Artoria. It's a plush toy. It's not going to break the bank or anything, and we have the breathing room.'
She turns back to the window, considering it again, and as I look past the window display, into the shop proper, I get an idea.
"You'd prefer a lion, though, right?"
"...I would." Artoria's reply is unusually soft, as if embarrassed at the concept of expressing a desire for something.
Right. It'd be a mundane as hell use of a Blessing, but I've got a blessing that stops me mixing salt and sugar up so-
"Right. Wait there a minute."
Artoria seems a little off-balance but complies readily enough. I push open the door and am greeted with the new-cloth smell permeating the shop. The man behind the counter looks up from his newspaper and blinks twice. I probably was not what he expected.
"Hello. I'd like to buy some stuff- needles, thread and buttons, loose cotton, a couple of rolls of cloth- preferably with light warm colours like yellow and orange and-."
It takes more than a few minutes to get everything I'll need, and Artoria seems confused when I exit with a bunch of raw materials instead of any actual plush, but honestly this should turn out better.
-
We don't find much more of interest after the plush shop, though, and eventually I'm forced to call it quits, returning to the Pocket House in the early afternoon. Congratulations Yggdmillennia, you successfully made a 16th century European city almost entirely boring to tour. The fact that the oldest parts of the city, normally the most interesting in old cities, are effectively blocked off thanks to Mordred and Kairi holing up in the graveyard probably didn't help but I'm still going to blame Darnic because fuck Darnic.
With the date turning out more lowkey than I had hoped, I suppose I should get to work actually preparing for the War. While I had hoped Red could have been resolved relatively peacefully, there never was any such hope for Black. To begin with, I could grant the wishes of certain specific members of Black, but they weren't unified behind a single will like Shirou, so conflict with at least some of them was always inevitable.
"Artoria? I'm going to try and practice some stuff- do you think you could help as an advisor?"
"Of course, Master."
With her positive reply, it's a short walk to the dojo in the back of the Pocket House, with only a slight detour so I can dump my sword and textile purchases in my room for the future. Once we enter, I pause for a moment and consider where to begin but Artoria speaks up before I can finish.
"Master, how did you heal yourself from Siegfried's attack? I did not sense any magic used in the process, but-"
Ah, that.
"I, and everyone who I recruit gets two full heals that I can activate at will. I can't heal myself yet, so I had to use one of those. And yes, healing is something I plan on working towards."
Artoria nods, satisfied, and I pause to work out the required steps. Right. This probably shouldn't be too hard- Roswaal was a magical prodigy only held back from healing due to his sociopathy, and I had a host of things speeding up learning processes. Still, let's start small. A swing of sheathed-Reid at the self-repairing floor, and I have a sharp piece of wood in my hands.
It breaks against my skin. Right. Without making contact with Artoria's gaze, I speak.
"Could you, you know, draw Excalibur?"
It's subtle, but I can detect a layer of mirth in Artoria's voice that I very responsibly decide to ignore.
"Of course, Master."
A few seconds later, my left hand's index finger is now sporting a lightly bleeding cut thanks to the holy sword.
"Right. Here goes."
I raise my right hand over the wound and concentrate, trying to pull up whatever memories Roswaal would have had centuries ago about trying and failing to learn healing magic. The starting process should be the same- take mana and pass it through my internal Gate. Most Re Zero casters would be using their internal reserves for this that would replenish gradually through absorbing environmental mana, but both Roswaal and Reinhard have ways to instantly absorb mana from the environment, or even break down enemy casting to fuel my own powers, though I'm not going to attempt that with my current knock-off Roswaal talents.
From there, I'm stumped for a moment. I'm supposed to convert the neutral mana into the required 'elemental' mana, but Reinhard has never done this in his life and Roswaal is not as practiced at creating Water mana as the other types. The fact that I manage to reliably do so after mere minutes of trying speaks volumes to the ridiculous boosts to learning I have going. The final step is crafting a healing spell, and here my lack of experience becomes most apparent. Thanks to Roswaal's issues, there's no experience with healing spells at all to draw from. I managed to make Water mana thanks to already knowing how to use my gate to create elemental mana, but crafting actual healing spells is an entirely different skillset.
Eventually, I try just forcing the Water mana down my right arm out through my hand in an unformed and nameless burst of magic hardly worthy of being called a spell. The pale blue-white light of healing mana flickers wildly, but it does illuminate the cut healing supernaturally quickly. Unfortunately, I can instantly tell the efficiency is awful- a 'wound' like I have should absolutely not be eating up almost half as much mana as a full-fledged D rank spell. Still, at least this confirms that I can get healing. It just needs...a lot of refinement and practice.
Satisfied with this basic level of progress, I look up to catch Artoria's curious gaze. When she notices me returning it, she responds to my unspoken question.
"The process behind your magic is vaguely similar but also quite different from what Merlin taught me of spellcraft."
"Well, the magic I'm using is different to this world's magic." Time for a brief rundown of ReZero magic.
Artoria nods along as I explain the concepts of Gates and mana affinity.
"I see. And when the mana is elementally converted, it is used for spells of that element. You have little experience with using Water mana, which is why you are having to learn healing now."
Not quite correct, but going into Roswaal's...issues isn't really necessary, and it's good enough. Still, something about that catches her.
"Forgive me, Master, but did you not use an ice spell on Atalanta when we fought? Would that not involve Water mana?"
"Funnily enough, no. Ice magic is the domain of Fire mana; Fire mana is all about heat and covers both fire and ice spells, while Water mana is about health and bodily functions. Fire's also one of the mana types I have the most skill with, alongside Earth and Wind. That ice spell would have been a B rank, to use Servant terminology, but I can fairly easily launch repeated A rank ice spells."
"Outside of Fire, Earth, Wind and Water, are there other mana categories?"
"There's also Yin and Yang mana, which are more uncommon. That's not like holy or unholy or anything, there's no morally "good" or "evil" mana, just light and dark elements. Neither are as damage focused as Fire or Earth mana and are mostly about buff and debuff- sorry improvement and weakening respectively. They do have attack capabilities though- Yin has lasers, for example." I restrain my own desire to finger-gun out a Jiwald as I say this.
"And the categories are segregated, or can mana types be combined to form different spells?"
"Most people can only handle one at a time, but I can channel multiple types of mana through my gate and multicast. Currently I can only cast three spells at once; that's how my flight spell works through Fire, Wind and Earth magic, but once I get better I should be able to cast six spells at once, which could be combined into all sorts of effects."
"A veritable Caster as well as a Saber, I see."
I let out a small sigh. "It's just a pity about all the Magic Resistance in the War. Not to insult you, but I can kind of understand the frustration of Caster Servants. Just to touch the majority of opponents, I'm forced to use high rank spells, and I couldn't even begin to affect you even going all out with magic."
A small smirk graces Artoria's face that she quickly stifles, but I know I saw it. I give her an unimpressed look, which she responds to with an expression of perfect innocence. I let out a little laugh at that and fall back onto the dojo floor from where I've been sitting.
"Then again, I can't imagine other Servants would be sympathetic. The Archers and Casters would be especially unimpressed with my complaints. If need be, I can just cast the mythic "throw a fast rock at them" spell, but they're just out of options unless they can fight me up close, and most can't."
I can't see Artoria, lying back as I am, but I do hear a soft chuckle.
"Did you know, Master, that Merlin was also a skilled close combatant. For all his flaws, he was a man of many talents."
I...vaguely recall seeing a YouTube video of him fighting in...Babylonia? with a sword and staff, but honestly I had assumed that was due to extenuating circumstances due to how apparently fucked Babylonia was.
"Hm. I didn't know that. Did he teach you how to fight?"
"He did."
"Wow. He must have been some teacher, given your skill."
There's a pause. "...He was. I owe him much."
There's a warm silence for a minute, as I let the moment linger before getting back on my feet.
"Right. One last new thing, then." I turn to Artoria. "Can I try casting some spells on you?"
Artoria shakes herself from whatever reminiscences she had been in and turns to me quizzically.
"You previously said that I would be immune to all your magic?"
"Right. I want to try my debu- weakening spells- I can cast spells that does stuff like deprive those in an area of their senses, make them lose track of where they are and what they are doing and so on. I'm immune to this, so if I can drop this down on a battlefield then it'd make things...significantly simpler. But-"
"But if I am also present on the battlefield, my magic resistance may disrupt the spell. I do not have high hopes, but cast away."
Right. Channeling Yin is easier than Water, even if it is not one of Roswaal's specialties. Let's start with the highest level I can rely on.
"Ul Shamak!"
Black smoke billows from where I'm pointing at and expands outwards at a rapid pace. But the instant it reaches Artoria, the mist is wiped away from the whole dojo. Damnit. That means that not only does Artoria's presence disrupt it, anyone with B rank Magic Resistance or higher on the battlefield makes it an unworkable strategy and a waste of mana. I can't even push it to Al Shamak for A rank and bypass B Magic Resistance- at that rank it stops being a debuff spell and instead becomes an Isekai spell, sending the target to a different dimension, and Roswaal never quite reached absolute mastery of Yin anyways.
Artoria turns to me, an apologetic expression on her face. I wave it away; it was to be expected, even if I hoped it'd just have let her ignore it and not disrupt the whole thing. That's about the limit of my casting experimentation for now, which I guess means it's time for rote healing practice.
-
It's a few hours later when I call it quits; I've at least got a semi-workable healing 'spell' that won't drain me dry dealing with any real injury, and there's some stuff we should go over rather than just constantly practicing combat skills over and again. At least the time spent had been useful for the both of us- Artoria had eventually gotten bored of me just sitting there healing over and again and had started experimenting with her Shroud-cape; by the end she'd been able to quickly form it into basic shields and claws and spikes, all able to be used alongside her normal swordplay.
Once we leave the dojo to self-repair, eventually we find ourselves back in the study; the room has effectively become our war room, the whiteboard covered in the list of all the relevant players in the war that I had previously made. There are some changes to make, though; Jack is gone, and Shirou gets to join the likes of Celenike, Darnic and Aviceborn in the "Stop". On the positive side, Atalanta and Achilles get boosted up near Sieg and Jeanne, given that seems to have worked out much better than I had first though.
I take a step back to the desk and sit next to Artoria, in quiet contemplation for a minute, looking at the board and trying to game things out. Eventually, though, the silence is broken when Artoria speaks in a serious tone, drawing my attention to her.
"Master. I wish to talk with you about a matter."
Ah. I follow her gaze and it's where I expected. I have a feeling this was going to come up- "Sure. This is about Shirou, isn't it?"
"Not purely about the Ruler of Red, but he is a fair starting point for this discussion. Why strike so effectively against Assassin of Black, a comparatively contained murderer, but spare Ruler of Red, who poses significant danger to the whole world?"
"At the time, I saw Jack and Shirou as different. Shirou's made it clear that he's a threat to the world, but I had hoped talking with him might stop that, something I had no hopes of happening with Jack."
"And why did you feel the need to talk to him to begin with?"
"Because I would honestly support immortal soul transhumanism if not for the out-of-nowhere side effects. Shirou was a sympathetic cha- person to me because as far as I could tell he had a good goal that was thwarted by bullshit and was then retroactively 'revealed' to be impossible from the start. I didn't expect him to just keep going for his plan despite the possibility of it dooming everything he was working for. I wish I didn't have to fight him, but clearly he isn't going to change so that's that."
Artoria nods to herself, "And you do acknowledge now that Ruler of Red is now a threat who must be fought. And what of Black?"
"Black was always going to have to be fought- I could have worked with Shirou for his wish if not for the timelocks, but none of Black's Grail wishes are aimed at making the world better. There are some I'd like to talk with, to offer them their wish in exchange for them joining, but none that I'd ally with and fight for. The plan for Black is to, tomorrow, meet with Sieg, get his support, and then either use the strength of the three of us, four or five if Atalanta and Achilles join up before we attack, to put a stop to Darnic and the Black faction quickly while contracting anyone who want to join."
By now, I've bodily turned away from the whiteboard, looking across the table at Artoria. After all this, I do feel the need to ask her something; "Why were you so ok with my attempts? I'm not dumb enough not to realize how my attempts at talking have disadvantaged us. Surely you could have pressed harder for the elimination of all opposition- Shirou included."
"Were I truly seeking to win the War and claim the Grail and it's Wish, I most certainly would have done so. However, in this case our objective is different. Rather than trying to win the War by all means necessary you wish to build up goodwill and create long-term allies; an attempt that seems to be paying off with, for one, Archer of Red. As a King, I understand the benefits of recruiting others to my cause, and how doing so can involve extending an open hand." Artoria then gives a slight smirk. "In addition, I am confident in my ability, and the prior fight has shown that your skill is true. We may afford, in order to advance your overall objective, a degree of mercy purely due to the strength we possess."
A quote from a show I'd watched years ago leaps to the front of my brain. ""Mercy and compassion are virtues that only the strong are privileged to possess.""
Artoria gives me a strange look, but quickly realises I was quoting someone else. "A cynical statement, but not altogether untrue. The greater one's strength, the more mercy one may safely and freely extend. And while we may be outnumbered by both Red and Black, and the advantage of surprise against Red has been lost, we still possess the greatest single concentration of strength in this war- a potent advantage to be leveraged, even before considering the possibility of recruiting others to our cause."
With that, the topic seems to come to a close, and we both sit in silence. For a while, I'm thinking to myself about that and assume Artoria is doing the same, but when I look up, I notice that she seems repeatedly on the verge of speaking before obviously shushing herself and returning to her drink.
"What? I said you can ask whatever, you know?"
Artoria...seems embarrassed? "I hesitate to waste words on this, but I would like to know about my body…"
A snort of surprise leaves me before I can stop it, but I try to conceal it with my drink anyway. I'm not sure it works, but it might have? Probably not. Still, from serious discussions to, well, this...
"Um, I believe that's what you would have looked like had you not stopped aging due to Avalon. The shroud and some of my other stuff involve transforming those using them into their peak physical form and then keeping it there, so I'm pretty sure that's the reason." As I'm speaking, Artoria's look of embarrassment morphs into something that looks vaguely smug and self-satisfied, and she nods to herself as if to say 'of course'. Then she suddenly tilts her head.
"And you did not know this would happen? Given your prior intent of courtship, I had assumed..."
"Not at all; I thought I would be getting you as you were as King, not-" I make a vague gesture at her. "And I honestly find you attractive either way."
Her reply makes me think she didn't even hear the second part. "As I was as King. Hmmm." She trails off, strangely.
"You ok?"
She shakes herself back to the conversation. "Perfectly fine. I am just unused to thinking of my rule as something of the past. I do still see myself as King even though I accept my rule has ended, and the contradiction gave me pause."
I guess that's a good segue. "Right, I was meaning to talk to you about that- I mean, you still are King Arthur and the King of Knights, but you do know you don't have to clamp down on your emotions like when you were ruling?" And honestly, being more emotive might be helpful when we deal with Mordred.
"I-"
"I mean, I already know you aren't the dispassionate, emotionless persona you adopted to rule fairly and unbiasedly, so you shouldn't feel a need mask yourself with your crown. Feel free to be selfish or get competitive or whatever."
"You are making a big deal of this. Were you thinking similar thoughts back when we were in Trifas?" Artoria' eyes have narrowed.
I let out a short bark of a laugh, covering my nervousness. "I mean, maybe. This might be carrying over from my assumptions about you- like how I thought you would have your wish. It's just...I mean, it's funny to say but you did your time and ruled as well and as fairly as anyone could have asked. You can be...human, now, I guess."
She keeps looking at me for a moment, before letting out a sigh and relaxing. Seeing this, I relax also.
"I...understand, but am unsure where to start. I drew the Sword of Choosing over twenty years ago, and-"
"What would you like for dinner?"
There's a stunned silence, and she blinks in confusion.
"-what?"
"I mean, we can start there. King Arthur, as far as I know, ate stuff like Gawain's mashed potatoes without complaint because a just King shouldn't leverage their status for preferential treatment even for something like food. You've clearly enjoyed eating what I've been making, but you also haven't made any requests. Asking for what you'd want seems like an easy enough first step- practice for future requests like actually asking for a lion plush or whatever."
Her confusion fades into a small smile and a short almost-laugh. "Very well, Master. I would like-"
I'm glad this is going pretty well. After the meal, I'll work on the plush lion and then head to bed- I've been operating for almost two days without sleep and while my body is fine, I'm just mentally tired from this sudden change to my daily pace- going straight from a rather slow lifestyle into...all of this has been exhausting.
Notes:
So yeah, this is the chapter that ballooned- mostly due to wanting to actually cover Reid's self-sealing and Rein's magic system inside the story itself (which I hope didn't get too boringly infodumpy). Authorial posts in-thread about stuff can be handy and clarifying, but I'm going to guess at least a few readers are reader-mode-only and don't really engage with the thread so there shouldn't be somewhat-key info that isn't in the story. The Artoria-confronts-Rein-on-Mercy-and-Strength was a required scene planned from the very start, as it's going to be the start of development there, and the follow-through into Artoria's emotional distancing was also part of the original plan.
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