Light particles gathered.
The fresh scent reminiscent of forests, grasslands, and open fields swept through the dark and cramped underground cell. This refreshing atmosphere dispelled the blood, death, and seductive aura brought by Celenike.
By the time the light particles had completely coalesced into a human form, Shinji and Astolfo had already calmed down, both turning their attention to the night's third visitor—Black Archer Chiron.
"My apologies. If Assassin and I had tried harder, you wouldn't have been subjected to such excessive treatment."
When Vlad III and Avicebron had confined Astolfo, Chiron had wanted to plead for him, but Astolfo stopped him with a glance.
"No, no, it's pointless to split our faction over something so trivial. If this matter can be resolved by accepting criticism and punishment, then that's the best outcome. Besides—"
As one of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins, Astolfo understood the role he had to play as a knight and a lord in this situation. Whether the actions were right or wrong, it didn't change the fact that he had disobeyed orders. Thus, Vlad III, as the grand duke, had to administer punishment.
Astolfo had already come to terms with this on the way back to the city. Though he hadn't anticipated that Vlad would sentence him to death, it was not incomprehensible, given Vlad's tyrannical nature. Archer and Assassin had already defied the tyrant once to save him, and continuing to do so might cause discord or even a split within the Black faction, something Astolfo feared most.
Vlad III was the commander, and Chiron was the strategist, each with their supporters. With a great battle looming, disagreements between the commander and the strategist had to be avoided. Hence, it was better this way; a reckless knight being punished could solve all the problems.
Astolfo was that kind of good-natured person who, even without rationality, would instinctively think of his friends, not caring about what might happen to himself.
"—I've been imprisoned before, caught by the emperor, locked up by Roland, turned into a tree by a witch. I have a lot of experience in being jailed."
"What's there to be proud of in that?" Shinji scratched his head helplessly. "Well, seeing you so spirited and optimistic, I feel relieved."
"That's my greatest strength," Astolfo chuckled. "Now it's up to you guys to take down the Red faction."
"Of course," Chiron said firmly. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Is he still safe?"
"Uh, probably, as long as he reaches the village safely."
"He'll be fine. You might even get to see him again," Shinji had a premonition. After all, Sieg was the protagonist of Fate/Apocrypha, the favored child of this world's destiny; he wouldn't die so easily.
"I hope not. It would be tragic if he escaped only to be dragged back in."
Astolfo's face fell, and Shinji couldn't resist knocking him on the head.
"Fate is unpredictable. What if you meet him again after the war's over, and you both survive? Wouldn't you want that?"
"Oh, in that case, yes, very much!" Astolfo's expression brightened instantly. "Alright, I've decided. I will survive and go see him!"
"That's between you two," Shinji squinted.
To be honest, he hadn't liked Astolfo's erratic behavior much before meeting him in person, but after spending time together, he realized Astolfo was genuinely a good person, making it hard to ignore him.
Fine, if everything goes well, I'll help you get a body, strengthen Sieg, and then send you two to the Netherlands to get married.
Yeah, that sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?
Astolfo's question interrupted Shinji's daydreaming: "By the way, Assassin, why did you help him?"
"Who knows? Maybe my rationality evaporated like yours," Shinji replied, not dismissively, because it was his emotions that had tipped the scales in his decision.
"And Archer?"
"We are, after all, just fleeting spirits without physical bodies. For us—if we can leave such a mark on the world, that would be wonderful." Chiron's voice was gentle, yet it carried a deep longing and unwavering conviction.
Shinji smiled slightly and thought silently to himself, You will leave a mark. Your knowledge, your teachings, and your influence will all be imprinted, not just in this world, but in another as well.
"I think the one who should become the leader is you," Rider said, making a statement that would certainly cause a huge commotion if Vlad III heard it.
Chiron, however, only shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I'm not good at standing in the spotlight."
Hearing this, Rider sighed and muttered softly, "Indeed, things in the world never go as one wishes."
"Then work hard to make things go as you wish. I'm heading back to help Fiore with her medicine. I'll see you tomorrow."
Shinji waved to the two of them and turned to leave the dungeon.
"Weren't you going to ask about the Black Lancer?"
"That was just an excuse to deal with your Master. Everything that needed to be said has already been covered."
"Wait." Chiron realized belatedly.
Unfortunately, Shinji had already transformed into spirit particles and left the dungeon.
Astolfo asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, just wanted to remind him not to go looking for Miss Fiore now, to avoid any awkwardness."
Chiron said this and was about to use a sensing method to contact Shinji. However, after a moment's thought, he decided against it.
"Never mind, it's also an opportunity to deepen the bond between Master and Servant."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Astolfo said, utterly confused.
"It's okay if you don't understand. It's not important. Tell me about the Black Lancer. I'd like to hear your evaluation."
"Oh, she's a very powerful and handsome female knight..."
◇◇◇
On the other side, having left the dungeon, Shinji made his way to the herb storage with ease, retrieving the necessary ingredients according to the familiar process, and then headed to the kitchen to prepare the medicine.
Since it was just a pain-relief medicine, the preparation process was simple and didn't require any special techniques. With Shinji's current skills, as long as he had the ingredients and remembered the process, he could easily complete it.
Half an hour later, Shinji knocked on Fiore's door, carrying a cup filled with green liquid.
"Fiore, it's me."
"A-Assassin? No, you can't come in right now!"
"???"
Wait, this reaction isn't right.
P.S. In Fate/Apocrypha, only Chiron used "mind communication" to contact other Servants. It's speculated to be his exclusive skill; otherwise, the Black faction wouldn't have fought so poorly in some battles.
According to Shinji's expectations, there should have been a calm and clear response, like "Okay" or "Come in." Even if there were some inconvenience, it would have been said with a slight apology, like "Wait for X minutes." It was hard to imagine someone like Fiore giving such a somewhat incoherent and panicked response unless something unexpected had happened.
"Fiore, what's wrong?" Shinji placed his hand on the doorknob, ready to open the door.
"No, it's nothing, ah—" followed by a "thud," like the sound of something heavy falling to the floor.
"Fiore!" Without further hesitation, Shinji turned the doorknob and forcefully pushed the door open.
Then, he was stunned.
He had thought something had happened to Fiore, something regarding her safety. He hadn't expected to see such a shocking scene.
In the room, Fiore was lying face down on the floor, with her upper body sprawled out, her back up, and her lower legs resting on the bed.
Well, this wasn't a big deal; Shinji had done even more peculiar things himself. After all, when resting, beds and blankets could become quite a formidable barrier.
But the problem was, Fiore was only wearing pajamas.
Everyone knows that pajamas are loose and not as form-fitting as other clothes. Fiore wasn't wearing any underwear and given this posture...
Ahem, in short, all Shinji could see was white, so much white.
Whether it was the white of her bare back, the smooth white of her neck, or the white exposed through the loose neckline, pressed by the floor...
In short, Shinji now felt like reciting poetry—clouds in the sky, frost on the ground, a girl's smooth sli... Ahem, fortunately, before he could finish, some of the white started turning red.
Seeing Shinji standing at the door, Fiore's face immediately turned red. The blush quickly spread from her cheeks to her entire face and then down her neck, visibly spreading across her whole body, showing she was extremely embarrassed and angry.
"Ah, no, don't look!"
This was the first time Shinji had heard Fiore speak in such a tone—flustered, shy, angry, pleading, and a bit hysterical. It was like a bucket of cold water, dousing the miscellaneous thoughts in Shinji's mind.
"Alright, I won't look." Shinji immediately turned around, moving so quickly that some of the medicinal soup spilled out.
"You being here makes it inconvenient for me. Could you please leave for a moment?"
"But you..." Shinji was worried that Fiore might have trouble getting up using just her hands.
"Get out!"
"Okay, I'll go out."
Hearing Fiore's emotions becoming unstable again, Shinji said no more. He placed the tray with the medicine pot on the floor and quickly left the room, remembering to close the door behind him.
Standing in the hallway for a while, Shinji finally muttered, "Did I just get a benefit?"
Then, inexplicably, he slapped himself.
"What the hell, that's your Master. Stop having inappropriate thoughts! Wait, isn't it usually the girl who slaps the guy in these situations? Why am I slapping myself?"
Rubbing his temples and trying to gather his scattered thoughts, Shinji leaned against the door and asked, "Fiore, are you okay? Can you get up?"
"No problem, I can get up. I have some auxiliary Mystic Code."
Perhaps due to the door between them, Fiore's voice sounded much more normal. Upon careful listening, one could sense the operation of a special spell.
"I see, then I'm relieved. About earlier, I'm sorry, I..."
"It's okay. I know you were worried about me. It was my carelessness."
Both inside and outside the door, silence fell once more.
After a few seconds, Shinji felt they couldn't stay stuck like this and broke the silence.
"The medicine—"
"Yes, I'll drink it..."
"..."
"..."
"It's getting late." They spoke almost simultaneously.
"..."
"You go first." Again, in unison.
"..."
"Let me speak first."
"Looks like there's no need to say anything now."
This time, they finally didn't speak in unison.
"Yes."
"I'm right across the hall. Call me if you need anything."
"Alright."
"Good night, Fiore."
"Good night, Assassin."
The awkward conversation through the door ended, and Shinji sighed, walking into his room.
As the hallway returned to silence, another door quietly opened a crack, revealing the freckled face of a young boy. The boy looked at the door diagonally across the hall and then at the door at an angle, which couldn't be seen. He sighed heavily.
"Two idiots, hopeless. But such things do happen in real life. I thought it only happened in anime. As they say, art imitates life. I should continue watching anime; maybe I'll find a solution there."
Caules sat back down in front of his computer, expertly opened a CD case, and pulled out a disc. The cover of the disc was of a recently popular anime series.
Seeing his enthusiasm, it seemed he wouldn't be sleeping for the first half of the night.
◇◇◇
Shinji suddenly felt a bit out of place.
Unlike yesterday, neither Sieg, who had occupied the bed nor Astolfo, who had taken over the sofa, would come tonight, leaving the room empty.
"When they were here, I thought it was noisy. Now that they're gone, it feels lonely. I am fickle. And with Fiore, I got the benefit but still feel guilty."
Shinji reached out to open the window and stared blankly outside. The night breeze ruffled his hair and scattered his thoughts.
"Justeaze, do you think I'm a despicable person?"
"Why do you say that?" Justeaze, who had always maintained contact with Shinji, responded immediately.
"I chose Fiore as my Master intending to exploit her naivety and innocence. But the longer we spend together, the guiltier I feel. Is it right to deceive and use a girl like her to achieve my goals? If she finds out the truth, will she be hurt? Will she hate me? Although it has nothing to do with me, I still don't want things to turn out that way—isn't that contradictory?"
"Yes, very contradictory."
"This kind of contradiction and struggle falls into the category of being fickle. Hehe, I don't know if you've heard this saying—' A despicable person is always fickle,' so I call myself despicable."
"No, you got it wrong." Justeaze's voice had a warmth similar to yet different from Fiore's. "A despicable person is fickle, but that doesn't mean all fickle people are despicable. This reasoning doesn't hold."
"You're fixating on that, huh." Shinji felt like laughing.
Justeaze asked seriously, "Isn't that a form of fickleness too?"
"I suppose so."
"Then we're both fickle."
Though his thoughts were calm, Shinji felt a different kind of meaning.
"Thank you, Justeaze, for comforting me in this way."
"No need to thank me. If anyone should be thankful, it's me. You've done much more for me than I have for you."
"That's not how it works. Without you, there wouldn't be me."
"Then let's not say thank you to each other anymore."
"Yes, let's keep it this way. This is good."
Shinji closed his eyes and stopped talking.
Debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay. When two people's fates are intertwined with mutual gratitude, it becomes impossible to calculate clearly, and they share their destinies.
PS: Shinji encountered the legendary lucky perv incident.
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