Week One: Taking Care of the Basics
RexHeller
Title Incoming. Please Hold.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
You look around your new workshop and feel an intense satisfaction. You're not entirely sure what the room was used for before, only that it was a minor storeroom branching off of the main basement of the castle. There were several other such rooms in the basement, as the Einzbern Castle was large enough to warrant it, and any of them would have suited your purposes. So you picked the one with the least amount of dusty boxes in it and moved in.
There weren't any boxes laying around anymore. Instead, there were shelves full of books, beakers and cauldrons boiling away, scrolls and quills ready for note taking and, most important of all, a fully functioning forge with all your tools, fired up and ready to go. You'd even set up a delicate balance of Bounded Fields that subtly separated the different areas, mostly to prevent the heat from the forge from starting fires and keep exploding potions from damaging your books.
Of course, at the moment the liquids bubbling away in the beakers weren't important and most of the books on your selves were randomly grabbed from the castle library. But that wasn't what was important. What was important was that you workshop had the right atmosphere now. There was just a certain environment where the inspiration just flowed. With everything set up, it was started to feel like home.
Now you could get to work.
+++
"Caster!"
You flick the power off on your band saw and pull the safety goggles up. While Camelot – Utopia Returning requires that you recreate the Round Table with the exact same materials, meaning no modern screws or bolts, nothing says you can't use modern equipment. And boy, do these new inventions make things convenient.
Dusting some of the sawdust off of your royal dress, you turn towards Sella, who's still flushed from shouting over the saw to get your attention. "Yes? Did you need something?"
Sella takes a moment to center herself before laying the passive aggression on thick. "Not that I, a simple maid, would ever question the actions of such a wise and powerful Servant as yourself, but do you really have to do that in the great hall? Whatever you're doing is right in the middle of everything. And you're getting sawdust everywhere."
You don't think Sella likes you that much.
"Technically? No." You answer, smiling cheerfully despite Sella's attitude. "However, this is the best place to set up my Noble Phantasm."
"I apologize," Sella says, not sounding apologetic at all, "but it would appear that my knowledge of magecraft is not as advanced as I thought. I was under the impression that a Noble Phantasm was a crystallization of a Servant's legend, and was capable of being summoned at will."
"Normally, you would be correct. However, my Noble Phantasm is special. You see, it is not a physical object, but a spell, one that creates a complex Bounded Field. But in order to cast that spell, certain requirements must be met. And that includes anchoring it to the Round Table."
"The Round…" Sella mutters in confusion before refocusing. "And what exactly will this Bounded Field do?"
"At its most basic stage, it will simply make the walls of this castle impervious to all damage." You explain.
"And at its most advanced stage?" Sella prompts.
"That will never happen. The requirements are too stringent to ever be fulfilled realistically. Even with unlimited time and resources, it would be difficult to complete." You place a finger on your chin and think. "Although, I suppose that means there's no reason not to tell you. At its most advanced stage, my noble phantasm will restore Camelot."
Sella frowns. "So… it's a Reality Marble? Or is it…"
"No, it isn't a Reality Marble or anything temporary. My Noble Phantasm will restore the city of Camelot in its entirety, recreate its walls, houses and streets and resurrect its citizens from the dead. It will be as real and as solid as the rest of this world. I suppose you could call it the restoration of a memory to reality."
Sella's too well trained to do anything as inappropriate as drop her jaw but her eyes do widen. "But… But that would be some form of True Magic."
You shrug. "Well, yes. I suppose it would be."
Sella blinks at your nonchalance. "I… Yes, I, um… Yes. Well…. And the sawdust?" She finishes weakly.
You give her a smile and wave your hand. The wind picks up, blowing away the sawdust out the window, leaving the great hall spotless.
Sella stares for several minutes before opening her mouth. "Ah."
+++
"How are you feeling, Illya?"
Illya sits up and swings her legs over the side of operating table she was laying on. Lifting a hand to her forehead, she sways slightly, before blinking and shaking her head. "A little bit woozy, but other than that, I feel fine. Did you finish everything?"
"Almost everything, yes."
"Are you sure?" She looks at you suspiciously.
You hold back on rolling your eyes. "Of course I'm sure. Why, is something wrong?"
"No." Illya shakes her head again, looking stronger already. "No, it's just… it doesn't hurt. It always hurt when I had surgery before…"
You sigh and sit down next to Illya, pulling her into a one-armed hug. "I know Illya. I know." You don't know what else to say, so you stay silent for now.
You sit there for a few seconds more before Illya speaks up. "So it all went well? Everything we planned?"
Initially, Illya hadn't been interested in having you fix her body. She seemed resigned to dying after the war was done, maybe even before it was done. Plus, after all the horrible, painful things she was subjected to, that you read about in the Einzbern's notes, you couldn't blame her for wanting to avoid going under the knife again. But you eventually convinced her, helped along with promises that you wouldn't only fix her, but improve her as well.
"Yes, everything went perfectly. The damage to your body has been fixed and your muscles have been strengthened slightly. Also, your magic circuits should be more efficient now, as well as cause you less pain when you access them. I don't believe I managed to eliminate the pain completely, but it should be reduced to the point where it's barely noticeable. And, most importantly, you won't die in the next year." You list off the changes made to Illya. "There is one more thing we need to decide though."
While you were talking, Illya had jumped off the bed and started getting dressed. As she's pulling on her socks, she pauses and looks at you. "Really? What else could there be?"
"It's a rather simple decision actually. Would you rather age normally or would you rather we accelerate your growth until your body matches your real age, then age normally from there. It would probably take a week to get you looking eighteen and I'd have to monitor your progress carefully but it be simple to do."
"How simple?" Illya asks.
"I already have the 'switch' installed in your body. All it would take was small, painless spell from me to start and stop the process."
You and Illya start to discuss the various pros and cons of advancing her physical age like you're proposing. For one thing, she would be physically larger and stronger, which would help immensely if she ever had to engage in melee combat. Once you've got the facts all laid out, Illya makes her choice.
[] Advance her age (will take one of next week's research slots)
[] Let her age naturally
With that decision made, Illya starts to leave your workshop but you call out to stop there. "Hold on, Illya. There's one more thing I need to talk to you about."
"Didn't we just talk about 'one last thing'?"
You can't help but smirk a little at your small (for now) Master. "First of all, don't get snarky, young lady, it doesn't suit you. Secondly, that was last thing we need to talk about in regards to your body. This is a different subject now."
"Fine." She sits down on one of your stools huffily. "What did you want to talk about?"
Right, this will probably be a hard sell. But you should be able to do it. "I think you should join a club or something in the community."
"Seriously?" Illya asks in utter disbelief. "I'm a magus, not some moronic high school student that needs something to keep them out of trouble."
You raise an eyebrow. "Really now? So you haven't been bored out of your mind for the past week? It must have been some other white-haired, red-eyed little girl that I caught sneaking into my workshop, looking for something to do."
"I did not sneak." Illya answers indignantly. The she blushes when she realizes what she just said.
You smirk at her for a moment while she pouts, then adopt a more serious face and a softer tone. "Listen, Illya. I know that you're a very smart girl and I know that you're not going to get into trouble. But I still think that you need to find something to do, besides helping me out with my preparations for the war. It's just not healthy for you to sit around this dusty old castle all day."
"Tch, fine. I'll think about it." Illya says in a familiar tone of voice. Whenever Mordred talked like that, it meant that she was going to do what you asked, but 'on her own terms'. Looks like Illya was more bored than you thought, because that was much easier than you expected.
+++
Of course, even with all the progress you make during the week, you don't spend all your time cooped up in your workshop. Down that path lies the fate of Morgan le Fey. Apparently the Japanese have a word for people like her: Hikikomori. A person that won't leave their home and has no friends and has weird obsessions and nobody likes them.
And they're fat.
Morgan wasn't fat but she should have been. You had to work to keep your figure. You did exercise. You wielded a sword and rode horses. You worked in a forge, hammering out swords and shields from molten metal! What did Morgan do? Nothing. She just sat around in some cave somewhere and plotted your doom all day and yet, somehow, whenever she showed up she had perfect hair and was slim and had everybody fawning over her despite the fact that she was clearly evil incarnate. She must have cheated. She had magic, she could do it.
Not that you're bitter or anything.
What were you thinking about?
Oh, right. It's good to get out of the lab and unwind once in awhile. Merlin had his pranks of course, which was probably a sign that he halfway to Morgan-hood already, and you had your friends on the round table. Whether it was drinking with Gawain or training with Mordred or making sure nobody caught Lancelot when he was with Guinevere (bless his soul for taking care of her for you,) your knights never let you stay cooped up in your lab for long. Even if you were in the middle of an important experiment that required absolute stillness and silence and certainly didn't need several rowdy, half-drunk men bursting in to drag you out for a night of carousing about the town.
You love you knights, really you do. Couldn't live without them. Honest.
Well, even if they could be annoying sometimes, you do still wish they were here for you now. Sella still doesn't really like you, or she's afraid of you after you explained what your noble phantasm does, you're not really sure. Leysritt is hardly a great conversationalist. And Illya… she's no avoiding you or anything, but after your conversation on the plane, it seems that she only wants keep your conversations strictly professional. It was a miracle that she let you talk to her about joining a club.
And so, without anybody to talk to inside the castle, you naturally turned to the outside for your entertainment. That was why you were walking around town, mapping out the leylines that crisscrossed Fuyuki, dressed in the white turtleneck and blue skirt provided for you. Sure, you could have done it from your workshop and just followed the flow of energy from there, but actually following them on foot had a couple of benefits. First was that you got to go out, get some fresh air and enjoy Fuyuki's wonderful weather. Second, it helped familiarize you with what would soon be your battleground. And finally, it let you test the limits of the credit card you had been given. Supposedly, it was 'limitless' but then again, so was your appetite. As a Servant, you directly converted any food ingested into mana. Sure, it didn't provide much in the grand scheme of things, but the conversion rate was one hundred percent and was near instant, meaning that, if you wanted, you could keep eating forever.
Sure, it probably wasn't very kingly to get revenge on Jubstacheit by draining his coffers in order to feed your unending hunger. In fact, it was probably downright petty. But then again, you did abdicate the first chance you got. And wizards were allowed to be petty. Judging by Merlin, it was probably a requirement.
Plus, modern food was just amazing. Literally everything you tried was at least ten times better than anything you ate while alive. On the more traditional side of the city, called Miyama apparently, you got to sample several different restaurants serving native Japanese food. There was a delightful variety available, even within the same meal. And across the river, in the modernized Shinto, you got to try tastes from around the world. American hamburgers, Italian pizza, even English fish and chips (invented long after your rein ended), all of it left you feeling blessed to be able to experience such tastes.
You'd had some much fun, and eaten so well, that you decided to spread out mapping out the leylines over a few days. Now it's nearing the end of the week and you were nearly done. You just had one last location to stop by: a café called Copenhagen. You overheard somebody say that their coffee is fantastic, and that the rest of the food is pretty good too.
Stepping through the front door, a small bell rings but nobody greets you. In fact, the store is completely empty. Stepping further inside, you call out into the store. "Hello? Is anybody there?"
There's a small crash in the back of the store, where you can't see, and somebody shouts in pain. A few minutes later, a red-haired teenager with golden eyes comes out, wincing in pain and rubbing his head. Despite clearly having dropped something and injured himself, he still does his best to smile for you. "Uh, hi. Sorry about that. Can I help you somehow?"
"Yes. I was hoping I could get something to eat. This is a café, right?" Your tone is slightly teasing as you point out the obvious.
"Ah, right!" The boy blushes slightly. "I'm really sorry but we're actually closed right now. The manager had to step out to deal with a minor emergency. I guess she forgot to lock the door when she left…"
"But you're still here." You point out. "Couldn't you whip something up for me?"
"I don't think I'm actually supposed to cook or bake anything. I mostly just move boxes around and clean up the place." He explains.
"Oh, come now. You work in a café, surely you know how cook something. I'm sure that your boss won't get mad if you help me out." You insist.
"Well, I do cook for Fuji-nee and myself." He admits reluctantly. "I don't know if it will be any good, but if you insist…"
You nod and give him a smile. "That would be great. Thank you."
The boy gets to work and you take a seat. While waiting for your meal or snack or whatever he makes, you take a moment to review all you've learned on your walks.
First of all, Fuyuki had a lot of leylines. With such a large amount of easily accessible mana around, you can easily see why this location was chosen as the site of the Holy Grail War. If the Grail truly can grant any wish, the power requirements must be enormous.
But besides learning the locations of all the leylines and noting the direction of their mana flows, there were a few interesting details that popped up during your investigation. As it turned out, there were three nexus points for lack of a better word, where multiple leylines intersected to form large knots of mana. If you had to guess, when the grail materializes, it will do so at one of those three spots.
The first nexus was under a mountain on the edge of town with a temple at the peak. The entire mountain was covered in a natural anti-spirit Bounded Field, forcing any Servants to take the stairs, the only way up where the Bounded Field wasn't present. If you weren't already based out of Einzbern Castle, you'd probably have chosen the temple to be your base.
The second nexus was at a western-style mansion in the old side of the city. Judging by fairly decent Bounded Field set up around the house, you'd guess that a magus family lived there. And if you wanted to guess even more, they were probably the family, or one of the families, that set up the Grail War in the first place. If not, and they came later, they were either incredibly lucky or incredibly skilled to have grabbed such an important piece of land.
The last nexus was the one you wanted most to avoid. Unlike the other two, there was no Bounded Field or any sort of magical defenses at all, but despite that, you hope you never have any reason to go back. The area was supposed to be a public park, a memorial, but the grass was pitiful and brown, and all the trees looked withered and almost burnt. That land had suffered a horrible curse at some point and while the effects had diluted over the years, there was still a faint echo of whatever happened there. And even the echo made you sick to your stomach.
It must have been where the Grail materialized during the last war. The Grail appeared and whoever was left alive unleashed some terrible spell or weapon to kill everyone else and claim the prize. It's the only possibility that makes sense. Only a Servant, one with some terrible, dark legend, would be able to unleash a curse powerful enough to scar the land like that.
You hope to God that the Grail materializes somewhere else this time.
You're pulled out of your dark thoughts on the past when the red-haired boy starts to set plates down at your table. There's the rice of course, all Japanese meals come with rice for some reason, but there's also some grilled fish, a salad of some sort and a bowl of miso soup. Simple fair compared to some of the fancier restaurants you've tried, but sometimes simple is good. Especially when that means that there's more to eat.
"Sorry," the boy says, scratching the back of his head, "I usually have to feed two or three people, so I accidentally made extra."
"It's fine." You smile and wave him off as you start to load your personal bowl with food. Once you've got enough to start, you pick up a slice of fish and put it in your mouth.
Then you have to pause.
Wanting to confirm your initial results, this time you take some vegetables and rice together.
After you put it in your mouth, you have to put the bowl down. You take a moment to verify that yes, you're still alive, and no, you haven't died (again) and gone to heaven.
"Um, I'm sorry if it's not very good. I-"
"It's amazing." You cut the boy off before he can misunderstand your actions. "You said you move boxes around and sweep up, right?" He nods. "Your talents are wasted here. How would you like to be my personal chef?"
"I… pardon?" The boy blink in surprise, looking stunned. "Look, you don't have to lie to make me feel better. If it's not any good, then just say so."
"Listen to me." You command him, fixing him with the most serious look you can. "I have spent the last week sampling every type of cuisine this town has to offer, from five star restaurants to hole-in-the-wall ramen stands. So believe me when I say that this meal is better than anything I have tasted in my life."
The boy swallows. "Uh… thank you?"
You nod and relax a bit, letting the boy slump in place as you look away. "Now that I've made that clear, I have to ask you again: can I hire you to be my personal chef? I assure you that the pay will be very good."
"I can't… I mean…" The boy start to trip over his own tongue but stops and takes a breath. Then he starts over. "That's very generous of you to offer, but I can't just quit my job here. I owe the owner a lot you see."
[] "I'm afraid that I must insist. I'm sure we can work something out."
[] "Very well, if that's what you want. But I'll be back and I'll want you to do the cooking when I do."
With the subject of the boy's employment out of the way, you return to your meal. You proceed to eat with all the stately dignity that's been trained into you since forever… while also putting as much of that delicious food into your mouth as you can, as fast as you can. Within just a few minutes, you've eaten everything.
As you're paying the boy, a question pops into your mind. "Is it just you and the owner working here? I would have thought you'd have a few more employees, in order to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen."
"Well, there are a few other people working here, but apparently the manager has trouble getting them to come into work consistently. Oh, and the owner pitches in when he can but he's getting a bit older and can't do as much these days." He explains.
Well, that gives you an idea. "Are you hiring then? My…" Actually, you can't think of a word to describe your relationship with Illya that wouldn't raise more questions. Eventually, you just settle on lying and hope that he doesn't notice the quick pause, "daughter is looking for something to do with her free time, and I think that getting a job would do her some good. Teach her responsibility, you understand."
The boy nods, smiling slightly. "I think so. While I can't speak for the manager, I don't think she'd turn you away without at least giving your daughter a chance."
You smile back at the boy. Such an earnest young man. "Thank you, you've been very helpful. What's you name? I want to tell your manager what a good job you've done when I come back."
"I'm Shirou Emiya."
+++
Unfortunately, the good mood you were in thanks to Shirou's fantastic cooking was diluted somewhat when you returned to the castle. Jubstachteit had agreed to send you weekly progress reports on the search for more summoning catalysts. And this week, it looks like they came up with nothing. Oh well.
+++
Votes will be counted by plan.
Pick two war preparation options for next week. If you chose to accelerate Illya's physical growth, please pick one.
[] Make your wolves into proper familiars
[] Use Item Creation to craft some items (write-in ideas or leave it up to the QM)
-[] Weaponry
-[] Armor
-[] Potions
[] Set up additional defenses around the Castle
[] Set up a quick travel system using Fuyuki's leylines.
[] See if you can create your own Homunculi (will take multiple weeks)
[] Develop a new spell
- [] Flight
- [] Write-in
[] Train an Ally
-[] Illyasviel
--[] Magic
--[] Melee combat
-[] Sella (Magic)
-[] Leysritt (Melee Combat)
What activity should Illya take part in? Note that if you chose to accelerate her growth, Illya will not join until week three so people don't ask questions about why she's growing so fast.
[] Kendo Club – Physical activity is healthy. Plus, it will give her some combat skills so that you don't have to train her as much in that area.
[] Book Club – Illya personal favorite. She'll be comfortable as it allows her to use her intelligence.
[] Work at Copenhagen – This will teach her responsibility and humility, or so you hope. Plus, Shirou might teach her how to cook.
What will you do in your free time?
[] Write-in
Well, that got away from me a bit there. And I was so looking forward getting an update done in a reasonable time frame. At least it didn't take as long as the last update.
As usual, if you enjoy my work, please consider donating to my patreon. You can commission me to write stuff for you there or you can just give a small amount to be nice. By supporting me, you can ensure that I spend my time writing, all day, every day, instead of worrying about a job like normal humans.
There weren't any boxes laying around anymore. Instead, there were shelves full of books, beakers and cauldrons boiling away, scrolls and quills ready for note taking and, most important of all, a fully functioning forge with all your tools, fired up and ready to go. You'd even set up a delicate balance of Bounded Fields that subtly separated the different areas, mostly to prevent the heat from the forge from starting fires and keep exploding potions from damaging your books.
Of course, at the moment the liquids bubbling away in the beakers weren't important and most of the books on your selves were randomly grabbed from the castle library. But that wasn't what was important. What was important was that you workshop had the right atmosphere now. There was just a certain environment where the inspiration just flowed. With everything set up, it was started to feel like home.
Now you could get to work.
+++
"Caster!"
You flick the power off on your band saw and pull the safety goggles up. While Camelot – Utopia Returning requires that you recreate the Round Table with the exact same materials, meaning no modern screws or bolts, nothing says you can't use modern equipment. And boy, do these new inventions make things convenient.
Dusting some of the sawdust off of your royal dress, you turn towards Sella, who's still flushed from shouting over the saw to get your attention. "Yes? Did you need something?"
Sella takes a moment to center herself before laying the passive aggression on thick. "Not that I, a simple maid, would ever question the actions of such a wise and powerful Servant as yourself, but do you really have to do that in the great hall? Whatever you're doing is right in the middle of everything. And you're getting sawdust everywhere."
You don't think Sella likes you that much.
"Technically? No." You answer, smiling cheerfully despite Sella's attitude. "However, this is the best place to set up my Noble Phantasm."
"I apologize," Sella says, not sounding apologetic at all, "but it would appear that my knowledge of magecraft is not as advanced as I thought. I was under the impression that a Noble Phantasm was a crystallization of a Servant's legend, and was capable of being summoned at will."
"Normally, you would be correct. However, my Noble Phantasm is special. You see, it is not a physical object, but a spell, one that creates a complex Bounded Field. But in order to cast that spell, certain requirements must be met. And that includes anchoring it to the Round Table."
"The Round…" Sella mutters in confusion before refocusing. "And what exactly will this Bounded Field do?"
"At its most basic stage, it will simply make the walls of this castle impervious to all damage." You explain.
"And at its most advanced stage?" Sella prompts.
"That will never happen. The requirements are too stringent to ever be fulfilled realistically. Even with unlimited time and resources, it would be difficult to complete." You place a finger on your chin and think. "Although, I suppose that means there's no reason not to tell you. At its most advanced stage, my noble phantasm will restore Camelot."
Sella frowns. "So… it's a Reality Marble? Or is it…"
"No, it isn't a Reality Marble or anything temporary. My Noble Phantasm will restore the city of Camelot in its entirety, recreate its walls, houses and streets and resurrect its citizens from the dead. It will be as real and as solid as the rest of this world. I suppose you could call it the restoration of a memory to reality."
Sella's too well trained to do anything as inappropriate as drop her jaw but her eyes do widen. "But… But that would be some form of True Magic."
You shrug. "Well, yes. I suppose it would be."
Sella blinks at your nonchalance. "I… Yes, I, um… Yes. Well…. And the sawdust?" She finishes weakly.
You give her a smile and wave your hand. The wind picks up, blowing away the sawdust out the window, leaving the great hall spotless.
Sella stares for several minutes before opening her mouth. "Ah."
+++
"How are you feeling, Illya?"
Illya sits up and swings her legs over the side of operating table she was laying on. Lifting a hand to her forehead, she sways slightly, before blinking and shaking her head. "A little bit woozy, but other than that, I feel fine. Did you finish everything?"
"Almost everything, yes."
"Are you sure?" She looks at you suspiciously.
You hold back on rolling your eyes. "Of course I'm sure. Why, is something wrong?"
"No." Illya shakes her head again, looking stronger already. "No, it's just… it doesn't hurt. It always hurt when I had surgery before…"
You sigh and sit down next to Illya, pulling her into a one-armed hug. "I know Illya. I know." You don't know what else to say, so you stay silent for now.
You sit there for a few seconds more before Illya speaks up. "So it all went well? Everything we planned?"
Initially, Illya hadn't been interested in having you fix her body. She seemed resigned to dying after the war was done, maybe even before it was done. Plus, after all the horrible, painful things she was subjected to, that you read about in the Einzbern's notes, you couldn't blame her for wanting to avoid going under the knife again. But you eventually convinced her, helped along with promises that you wouldn't only fix her, but improve her as well.
"Yes, everything went perfectly. The damage to your body has been fixed and your muscles have been strengthened slightly. Also, your magic circuits should be more efficient now, as well as cause you less pain when you access them. I don't believe I managed to eliminate the pain completely, but it should be reduced to the point where it's barely noticeable. And, most importantly, you won't die in the next year." You list off the changes made to Illya. "There is one more thing we need to decide though."
While you were talking, Illya had jumped off the bed and started getting dressed. As she's pulling on her socks, she pauses and looks at you. "Really? What else could there be?"
"It's a rather simple decision actually. Would you rather age normally or would you rather we accelerate your growth until your body matches your real age, then age normally from there. It would probably take a week to get you looking eighteen and I'd have to monitor your progress carefully but it be simple to do."
"How simple?" Illya asks.
"I already have the 'switch' installed in your body. All it would take was small, painless spell from me to start and stop the process."
You and Illya start to discuss the various pros and cons of advancing her physical age like you're proposing. For one thing, she would be physically larger and stronger, which would help immensely if she ever had to engage in melee combat. Once you've got the facts all laid out, Illya makes her choice.
[] Advance her age (will take one of next week's research slots)
[] Let her age naturally
With that decision made, Illya starts to leave your workshop but you call out to stop there. "Hold on, Illya. There's one more thing I need to talk to you about."
"Didn't we just talk about 'one last thing'?"
You can't help but smirk a little at your small (for now) Master. "First of all, don't get snarky, young lady, it doesn't suit you. Secondly, that was last thing we need to talk about in regards to your body. This is a different subject now."
"Fine." She sits down on one of your stools huffily. "What did you want to talk about?"
Right, this will probably be a hard sell. But you should be able to do it. "I think you should join a club or something in the community."
"Seriously?" Illya asks in utter disbelief. "I'm a magus, not some moronic high school student that needs something to keep them out of trouble."
You raise an eyebrow. "Really now? So you haven't been bored out of your mind for the past week? It must have been some other white-haired, red-eyed little girl that I caught sneaking into my workshop, looking for something to do."
"I did not sneak." Illya answers indignantly. The she blushes when she realizes what she just said.
You smirk at her for a moment while she pouts, then adopt a more serious face and a softer tone. "Listen, Illya. I know that you're a very smart girl and I know that you're not going to get into trouble. But I still think that you need to find something to do, besides helping me out with my preparations for the war. It's just not healthy for you to sit around this dusty old castle all day."
"Tch, fine. I'll think about it." Illya says in a familiar tone of voice. Whenever Mordred talked like that, it meant that she was going to do what you asked, but 'on her own terms'. Looks like Illya was more bored than you thought, because that was much easier than you expected.
+++
Of course, even with all the progress you make during the week, you don't spend all your time cooped up in your workshop. Down that path lies the fate of Morgan le Fey. Apparently the Japanese have a word for people like her: Hikikomori. A person that won't leave their home and has no friends and has weird obsessions and nobody likes them.
And they're fat.
Morgan wasn't fat but she should have been. You had to work to keep your figure. You did exercise. You wielded a sword and rode horses. You worked in a forge, hammering out swords and shields from molten metal! What did Morgan do? Nothing. She just sat around in some cave somewhere and plotted your doom all day and yet, somehow, whenever she showed up she had perfect hair and was slim and had everybody fawning over her despite the fact that she was clearly evil incarnate. She must have cheated. She had magic, she could do it.
Not that you're bitter or anything.
What were you thinking about?
Oh, right. It's good to get out of the lab and unwind once in awhile. Merlin had his pranks of course, which was probably a sign that he halfway to Morgan-hood already, and you had your friends on the round table. Whether it was drinking with Gawain or training with Mordred or making sure nobody caught Lancelot when he was with Guinevere (bless his soul for taking care of her for you,) your knights never let you stay cooped up in your lab for long. Even if you were in the middle of an important experiment that required absolute stillness and silence and certainly didn't need several rowdy, half-drunk men bursting in to drag you out for a night of carousing about the town.
You love you knights, really you do. Couldn't live without them. Honest.
Well, even if they could be annoying sometimes, you do still wish they were here for you now. Sella still doesn't really like you, or she's afraid of you after you explained what your noble phantasm does, you're not really sure. Leysritt is hardly a great conversationalist. And Illya… she's no avoiding you or anything, but after your conversation on the plane, it seems that she only wants keep your conversations strictly professional. It was a miracle that she let you talk to her about joining a club.
And so, without anybody to talk to inside the castle, you naturally turned to the outside for your entertainment. That was why you were walking around town, mapping out the leylines that crisscrossed Fuyuki, dressed in the white turtleneck and blue skirt provided for you. Sure, you could have done it from your workshop and just followed the flow of energy from there, but actually following them on foot had a couple of benefits. First was that you got to go out, get some fresh air and enjoy Fuyuki's wonderful weather. Second, it helped familiarize you with what would soon be your battleground. And finally, it let you test the limits of the credit card you had been given. Supposedly, it was 'limitless' but then again, so was your appetite. As a Servant, you directly converted any food ingested into mana. Sure, it didn't provide much in the grand scheme of things, but the conversion rate was one hundred percent and was near instant, meaning that, if you wanted, you could keep eating forever.
Sure, it probably wasn't very kingly to get revenge on Jubstacheit by draining his coffers in order to feed your unending hunger. In fact, it was probably downright petty. But then again, you did abdicate the first chance you got. And wizards were allowed to be petty. Judging by Merlin, it was probably a requirement.
Plus, modern food was just amazing. Literally everything you tried was at least ten times better than anything you ate while alive. On the more traditional side of the city, called Miyama apparently, you got to sample several different restaurants serving native Japanese food. There was a delightful variety available, even within the same meal. And across the river, in the modernized Shinto, you got to try tastes from around the world. American hamburgers, Italian pizza, even English fish and chips (invented long after your rein ended), all of it left you feeling blessed to be able to experience such tastes.
You'd had some much fun, and eaten so well, that you decided to spread out mapping out the leylines over a few days. Now it's nearing the end of the week and you were nearly done. You just had one last location to stop by: a café called Copenhagen. You overheard somebody say that their coffee is fantastic, and that the rest of the food is pretty good too.
Stepping through the front door, a small bell rings but nobody greets you. In fact, the store is completely empty. Stepping further inside, you call out into the store. "Hello? Is anybody there?"
There's a small crash in the back of the store, where you can't see, and somebody shouts in pain. A few minutes later, a red-haired teenager with golden eyes comes out, wincing in pain and rubbing his head. Despite clearly having dropped something and injured himself, he still does his best to smile for you. "Uh, hi. Sorry about that. Can I help you somehow?"
"Yes. I was hoping I could get something to eat. This is a café, right?" Your tone is slightly teasing as you point out the obvious.
"Ah, right!" The boy blushes slightly. "I'm really sorry but we're actually closed right now. The manager had to step out to deal with a minor emergency. I guess she forgot to lock the door when she left…"
"But you're still here." You point out. "Couldn't you whip something up for me?"
"I don't think I'm actually supposed to cook or bake anything. I mostly just move boxes around and clean up the place." He explains.
"Oh, come now. You work in a café, surely you know how cook something. I'm sure that your boss won't get mad if you help me out." You insist.
"Well, I do cook for Fuji-nee and myself." He admits reluctantly. "I don't know if it will be any good, but if you insist…"
You nod and give him a smile. "That would be great. Thank you."
The boy gets to work and you take a seat. While waiting for your meal or snack or whatever he makes, you take a moment to review all you've learned on your walks.
First of all, Fuyuki had a lot of leylines. With such a large amount of easily accessible mana around, you can easily see why this location was chosen as the site of the Holy Grail War. If the Grail truly can grant any wish, the power requirements must be enormous.
But besides learning the locations of all the leylines and noting the direction of their mana flows, there were a few interesting details that popped up during your investigation. As it turned out, there were three nexus points for lack of a better word, where multiple leylines intersected to form large knots of mana. If you had to guess, when the grail materializes, it will do so at one of those three spots.
The first nexus was under a mountain on the edge of town with a temple at the peak. The entire mountain was covered in a natural anti-spirit Bounded Field, forcing any Servants to take the stairs, the only way up where the Bounded Field wasn't present. If you weren't already based out of Einzbern Castle, you'd probably have chosen the temple to be your base.
The second nexus was at a western-style mansion in the old side of the city. Judging by fairly decent Bounded Field set up around the house, you'd guess that a magus family lived there. And if you wanted to guess even more, they were probably the family, or one of the families, that set up the Grail War in the first place. If not, and they came later, they were either incredibly lucky or incredibly skilled to have grabbed such an important piece of land.
The last nexus was the one you wanted most to avoid. Unlike the other two, there was no Bounded Field or any sort of magical defenses at all, but despite that, you hope you never have any reason to go back. The area was supposed to be a public park, a memorial, but the grass was pitiful and brown, and all the trees looked withered and almost burnt. That land had suffered a horrible curse at some point and while the effects had diluted over the years, there was still a faint echo of whatever happened there. And even the echo made you sick to your stomach.
It must have been where the Grail materialized during the last war. The Grail appeared and whoever was left alive unleashed some terrible spell or weapon to kill everyone else and claim the prize. It's the only possibility that makes sense. Only a Servant, one with some terrible, dark legend, would be able to unleash a curse powerful enough to scar the land like that.
You hope to God that the Grail materializes somewhere else this time.
You're pulled out of your dark thoughts on the past when the red-haired boy starts to set plates down at your table. There's the rice of course, all Japanese meals come with rice for some reason, but there's also some grilled fish, a salad of some sort and a bowl of miso soup. Simple fair compared to some of the fancier restaurants you've tried, but sometimes simple is good. Especially when that means that there's more to eat.
"Sorry," the boy says, scratching the back of his head, "I usually have to feed two or three people, so I accidentally made extra."
"It's fine." You smile and wave him off as you start to load your personal bowl with food. Once you've got enough to start, you pick up a slice of fish and put it in your mouth.
Then you have to pause.
Wanting to confirm your initial results, this time you take some vegetables and rice together.
After you put it in your mouth, you have to put the bowl down. You take a moment to verify that yes, you're still alive, and no, you haven't died (again) and gone to heaven.
"Um, I'm sorry if it's not very good. I-"
"It's amazing." You cut the boy off before he can misunderstand your actions. "You said you move boxes around and sweep up, right?" He nods. "Your talents are wasted here. How would you like to be my personal chef?"
"I… pardon?" The boy blink in surprise, looking stunned. "Look, you don't have to lie to make me feel better. If it's not any good, then just say so."
"Listen to me." You command him, fixing him with the most serious look you can. "I have spent the last week sampling every type of cuisine this town has to offer, from five star restaurants to hole-in-the-wall ramen stands. So believe me when I say that this meal is better than anything I have tasted in my life."
The boy swallows. "Uh… thank you?"
You nod and relax a bit, letting the boy slump in place as you look away. "Now that I've made that clear, I have to ask you again: can I hire you to be my personal chef? I assure you that the pay will be very good."
"I can't… I mean…" The boy start to trip over his own tongue but stops and takes a breath. Then he starts over. "That's very generous of you to offer, but I can't just quit my job here. I owe the owner a lot you see."
[] "I'm afraid that I must insist. I'm sure we can work something out."
[] "Very well, if that's what you want. But I'll be back and I'll want you to do the cooking when I do."
With the subject of the boy's employment out of the way, you return to your meal. You proceed to eat with all the stately dignity that's been trained into you since forever… while also putting as much of that delicious food into your mouth as you can, as fast as you can. Within just a few minutes, you've eaten everything.
As you're paying the boy, a question pops into your mind. "Is it just you and the owner working here? I would have thought you'd have a few more employees, in order to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen."
"Well, there are a few other people working here, but apparently the manager has trouble getting them to come into work consistently. Oh, and the owner pitches in when he can but he's getting a bit older and can't do as much these days." He explains.
Well, that gives you an idea. "Are you hiring then? My…" Actually, you can't think of a word to describe your relationship with Illya that wouldn't raise more questions. Eventually, you just settle on lying and hope that he doesn't notice the quick pause, "daughter is looking for something to do with her free time, and I think that getting a job would do her some good. Teach her responsibility, you understand."
The boy nods, smiling slightly. "I think so. While I can't speak for the manager, I don't think she'd turn you away without at least giving your daughter a chance."
You smile back at the boy. Such an earnest young man. "Thank you, you've been very helpful. What's you name? I want to tell your manager what a good job you've done when I come back."
"I'm Shirou Emiya."
+++
Unfortunately, the good mood you were in thanks to Shirou's fantastic cooking was diluted somewhat when you returned to the castle. Jubstachteit had agreed to send you weekly progress reports on the search for more summoning catalysts. And this week, it looks like they came up with nothing. Oh well.
+++
Votes will be counted by plan.
Pick two war preparation options for next week. If you chose to accelerate Illya's physical growth, please pick one.
[] Make your wolves into proper familiars
[] Use Item Creation to craft some items (write-in ideas or leave it up to the QM)
-[] Weaponry
-[] Armor
-[] Potions
[] Set up additional defenses around the Castle
[] Set up a quick travel system using Fuyuki's leylines.
[] See if you can create your own Homunculi (will take multiple weeks)
[] Develop a new spell
- [] Flight
- [] Write-in
[] Train an Ally
-[] Illyasviel
--[] Magic
--[] Melee combat
-[] Sella (Magic)
-[] Leysritt (Melee Combat)
What activity should Illya take part in? Note that if you chose to accelerate her growth, Illya will not join until week three so people don't ask questions about why she's growing so fast.
[] Kendo Club – Physical activity is healthy. Plus, it will give her some combat skills so that you don't have to train her as much in that area.
[] Book Club – Illya personal favorite. She'll be comfortable as it allows her to use her intelligence.
[] Work at Copenhagen – This will teach her responsibility and humility, or so you hope. Plus, Shirou might teach her how to cook.
What will you do in your free time?
[] Write-in
Well, that got away from me a bit there. And I was so looking forward getting an update done in a reasonable time frame. At least it didn't take as long as the last update.
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