Romania.
Deep in the evening of the same day, the villa was transformed. The hanging lanterns that everyone, including Gil, had hung were shining everywhere, the tables were full of various foods prepared by Emiya along with, amusingly enough, Morgan and Heracles, and the pleasant aroma of fried meat wafted throughout the area.
Artoria gingerly looked at the plain fried eggs Morgan had prepared and couldn't believe her eyes when Mo-chan ate it and felt fine.
Emiya stood at the brazier under the watchful eye of the same Morgan and Rea-chan, who studied every step of the cooking and asked relevant questions to our chef.
Medusa and Runeas were talking to Lancelot about his lover, Kana from work, with a very important but sly look. The Knight of the Lake himself was listening to them intently and believing their every word with a pure heart, which was clearly not his best decision.
Merlin had bought more than ten adult magazines and was now hiding in the storeroom from Fou, who, like an experienced predator, stalked Caster every time and flew into his face with the speed of a bullet.
Gil and Enkidu stood a little apart and reminisced about past times, comparing them to the present. And Lancer chided his friend every time he grudgingly ate Archer's food and recognized its quality.
Gabriel and Yasaka were doing roughly the same thing, but babysitting was added. Kunou held Gabi's hand and ran around with her, talking enthusiastically about the tasty things and tricks available to a child.
Griselda simply stood alone, clearly standing out from the crowd with a certain detachment, as she was apparently not used to such company, such an event, or such an atmosphere. However, was also true of Sarra, who was sitting at my table, simply eating and watching what was going on.
The Assassins also had no feeling in all of this, and did what they were used to. Grandpa, as a strict overseer, watched everything from the sidelines, but here the Hundred Faces relaxed a bit, which was evident in the faces of some of its personalities.
Tia was sitting near me and with a very satisfied face and round cheeks, she was gobbling up everything on the table. She looked like a hamster that I wanted to pet, which I was doing as I sipped my coffee and planned my next move.
So, everything worked out fine, except for the meeting with one person who needed to be punished, but alas, I had no idea how.
The company of Gabriel and Yasaka, as well as Griselda, Beast, and Runeas, had sped things up considerably, for their presence had heightened the fears of some and calmed the worries of others. It was a direct indication that I was here and planning to intervene, and such a circumstance was, as Azazel had said, an uncontrollable variable. He was right, though, because the Servants had deprived the vampires of their relatively discreet way of extracting human blood.
I finished my coffee and created a new one.
Now I had to wait for the main battle, which, according to my predictions, was going to happen in about a couple days. And that's when not only me, but everyone from my, in fact, faction will take part. And Romania, or rather, we were being watched by many, for we did not hide ourselves much.
Hearing movement from the side, I shifted my gaze and saw Gabriel take Griselda by the arm, leading her away into her company. There was resistance and some awkwardness on the nun's face, but she finally gave in and blended into the atmosphere. On the other hand...
- "If you want to do something, just do it," I said casually, which caught Sarra's attention. "Of course, I wish you'd warn me, but I don't think you'd cross the line. Why, by the way?"
- "I've heard that before," Sarra rolled her eyes. "Why what?"
- "Given your nature, I expected you to be more rambunctious. After all, in that world you were having a pretty good time," I continued. "Here, on the other hand, you just sit there. Literally. And you don't socialize much with the other people in the house. What's changed?"
- "I just don't feel like doing anything," she shrugged. "This world hasn't gotten to the point where I can start moving yet."
- "Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "What about your manifestation inside Griselda?"
- "I wanted to manifest, but no more," Sarra replied just as indifferently. "I sensed the desires of the people of this world, but they were very different from what motivated me to act. It's like tasting some other fruit than the one you're used to. A new flavor whose stage of decay I don't yet know."
- "Really? So until that happens, you're not going to do anything?" I was surprised and grinned. "Every day you learn something new, eh?"
- "It's more of a credit to the local Age of Gods for being pretty good at controlling people's desires," she said and shoved a piece of meat into her mouth. "I don't sense a moment when humanity is about to cross the line, and..."
- "Chew first, then talk," I interrupted her in a fatherly and humorous way, pinching her cheek.
- "Hey! I'm the Beast, Magician! I can do whatever I want!" With a protest, like a little kid who wanted to look grown up, she declared. And yet, she obediently finished and swallowed her food.
- "Good for you," I grinned and stroked her head, which Sarra again accepted. It looked extremely contradictory, though, because she still looked like Griselda, which is to say, a grown woman. "Anyway, I see where you're going with this, and I guess I'll go along with it."
I took a fork and after threading another piece from the shared plate, I held it out to Tia, who immediately took it in her mouth and started chewing with an equally satisfied smile.
- "Unlike that world where the gods only encouraged people's desires, this one has control."
- "Don't you mind that?" she asked. "As far as I've learned, you've expressed a commitment to personal choice and freedom."
- "That's right," I grinned. "But control in this world is not total, but instructional. In that world, the line that humanity could cross was inaccessible. And it was that inaccessibility that spurred people to strive for it. Here, the boundary is very accessible, because Longines and other crutches allowed people to reach the level of gods. And at the same time, each such owner understood, subconsciously or not, what awaited him in addition to fame and power. That is, a person realized the consequences, and the last decision was left to him."
- "So my existence has no meaning in this world?" Sarra grinned dryly.
- "Come on, why do that?" I shook my finger and pointed at Tia, who was now looking at Sarra sternly. "This world is unique, because its structure is extremely... malleable. Fate can be decided as much by the 'power of friendship' and 'Talk-no-Jutsu' as by common sense, skill, and personal strength. I suppose that's why Goetia, Tia, and Fou were able to backtrack from their original goal, and after all, they're Beasts too. I'm sure you'll have a similar thing happen to you in time too."
- "Aaaaaa~" Tia added like a strict mother, poking Sarra in the forehead a few times.
- "She's right, you know. Now that you're accepted into this house, you shouldn't upset your mother, especially by saying such words," I said and looked at Tia. "By the way, where did you learn that gesture? As far as I know, no one in this house does that."
- "Aaaaaa~"
- "Oya, seriously? Melodramas?" Genuinely surprised, I asked.
- "Aaaaaa~" Tia said with a cute displeasure on her face.
- "Well, they're actors and that's their job. Just don't adopt everything from there, okay?" I giggled, and after stroking her head, I shifted my gaze to Sarra. "Anyway, you heard us. This world knows how to coexist with Beast-scale entities, take the Ophis and the Great Red for example. And I say this without considering the two Grand Servants, in the form of me and Grandpa, and the three Beasts in this house. Therefore, it's never too late to find something for yourself, is it?"
- "You're probably right," Sarra sighed after a couple seconds, to which I nodded briefly.
- "Aaaaaaaaaa~" Tia sang out, giggling and pulling Sarra to her, which the latter didn't resist either.
- "How horrible!" Comically clutching my heart, I was horrified. "I don't sound like some caricatured single father from your melodrama! He's the one who sounds like me!"
- "Aaaaaaaaaa~" Tia added, clearly enjoying what was happening.
- "Hey! Where did my Tia go?! Why am I seeing some mischievous girl instead!" I played along. "But that's okay! I'll save..."
- "Save who?" Suddenly, right behind my ear, I heard a woman's voice and turned to her. Sure enough, it was Morgan, holding a plate of pretty good-looking roast meat. "Eat this."
I just shrugged, because it looked and smelled pretty good, and took a bite while Morgan looked at me expectantly.
- "Not bad," I concluded after chewing and swallowing, and Morgan grinned, clearly pleased with the result. "Not quite as good as Shirou had made it, but still pretty good."
- "Great," Morgan said and walked towards Artoria, who was watching me and her sister's food with horror. What happened after that? Well...
BOOM.
There was an explosion behind me, and a beam of magical power flew near my head, making a rather small trench in the forest floor, considering the culprit. However, I, like the others, didn't react to it at all, and just continued doing what I was doing.
After all, such occurrences have become nothing more than commonplace. Uh-huh, uh-huh.
-0-
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