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Fate/Apocrypha - Volume 3, Act 4, Part 3
🕑 Added 2024-02-18 20:57:11 +0000 UTCWhen combat against Assassin of Black—that is, Jack the Ripper—ends, any memories containing informations about them disappears. The Yggdmillennia factions had surmised that it is a form of Noble Phantasm, or perhaps a unique Skill she possesses as an Assassin.
"I took some pictures even though it might not amount to anything, and, well…"
Caules showed the photo of the fortress, shrouded in mists, to the others. It had been taken with only a phone's internal camera, but the camera quality itself was quite up there—so the image's quality was crisp enough. And it seemed like the memory erasure ability could not fool modern technoloqy quite as well.
"This mist… it is most likely the very thing that burned the lungs and melt the skins of the homunculi."
Fiore said, as Gordes nodded in tandem.
"It brings to mind the deadly pollution brought about by the industrial revolution in 19th century London. The magi at that period simply used gentle manipulation of the wind to get by—but this… this mist is conceptual in nature, so I don't think the same method would work. Though it doesn't seem like it damages Servant all that much…"
Caules glanced at Archer of Black as he was staring at the picture, and Archer nodded back in agreement.
"I concur. Against Servants, the mist could only hinder our sight and suppress our agility, at most."
Archer, too, had lost any memories regarding Assassin. However, his memory of rescuing Fiore remained—the adverse effect of the mist was not as lethal for him.
"A combination of mist and surprise attacks… so this is an Assassin's strength."
Fiore's uneasiness was plain from her voice. Even without the relevant memories, there was one thing she still remembers—that the Assassin of Black had been a formidable enemy.
Had Assassin of Black been merely a crazed murderer, she wouldn't have withdrawn. When Fiore had heard of Assassin's true name, she had hypothesized that they were close to a Berserker in nature.
But no. Assassin of Black had shown their cunning in making the most out of their abilities—the Presence Concealment ability belonging to the Assassin class, as well as the mist that obscures their opponents' sight and makes perfectly undetected surprise attack possible.
A Servant who does not fight other Servants head on, but target the Masters instead—they lack any sort of pride as a Heroic Spirit, and they have no hesitation in utilizing all manners of underhanded tactics. But most of all is their preference for drawn-out conflict.
"Archer. Can you come up with a plan to bring down Assassin within two days?"
"It would be quite difficult, unless… we are ready to make some sacrifices."
Archer said with a hard expression, and Fiore grimaced upon hearing it. Archer was saying that they might need to leave Assassin be for now—yet the death toll for doing that might be unimaginable.
"…We are not sacrificing anyone."
"Understood. Nevertheless, Assassin is a Servant—and their troublesome Presence Concealment Skill means that right now we would always be one step behind them. As an Archer, I might be able to catch them off guard in turn myself, but…"
Archer of Black's Clairvoyance Skill means that he is capable of seeing through far distance unobstructed—he would be able to strike Assassin preemptively if he managed to detect them first. However, one problem remained still.
"…Servants are able to detect the presence of other Servants, and Assassin would simply retreat the moment they detect mine—they would not be so foolish so as to risk direct combat."
The situation right now was going around in circles.
Archer was the only one who could possibly takes the initiative against Assassin. Yet Archer simply could not do so.
They were stuck in a deadlock, so to speak. If there is something that could break it, it would be…
"…A decoy. We could have someone luring Assassin in, and have the rest of our Servants encircle Assassin from beyond their detection range before striking them down."
"Do you have a plan in mind?"
Fiore smiled at Gordes' inquiry.
"Yes. Can you serve as the decoy, Uncle?"
Gordes' immediately looked flabbergasted at that. …Indeed, none of the Servants would be able to serve as the decoy—only Masters. Thus…
"They already know I'm Archer's Master, so I can't do it."
"Ah, b-but I can't do it either—I don't have the stamina for it, unfortunately."
Gordes then looked towards Caules, who simply sighed and nodded.
"Alright, alright, I'll do i—"
But then, the boy who had been silent this whole time raised his hand.
"…Wait. I believe I personally suit the role of a decoy the most. "
The atmosphere tightened when Sieg spoke up, and Rider immediately rushed to his side.
"Wh-Wh-What are you even saying, Master?!"
Rider grabbed on to Sieg's shoulder and began shaking him back and forth, as if trying to snap Sieg back to his senses.
"N-No, I really do think that it's safer for me to be the decoy instead of Caules… My presence as a Servant as I am right now is considerably weak… weak enough that Assassin would not suspect anything, that is."
"B-But still…"
"That, and… I can't forgive Assassin personally. Because of them, that homunculus was…"
Even if his memory dissipated, the feelings remained. The mist might disperse, yet a corpse had been left behind all the same. The corpse of a homunculus who died when the mist swallowed them…
"Did you… know that homunculus?"
"No, we just… talked, once. But so what? That homunculus was still my kin. Do I not have the right to be angry on their behalf?"
"I-I didn't say that..."
Rider's shoulder drooped when they see how determined Sieg was about this.
Sieg continued further, trying to dispel Rider's worry as well.
"Besides, even if this plan fails and I end up dying, the Yggdmillenniastill possesses their Master privilege—they'd have somebody to immediately replace me as your Master. So you don't need to worry that you'd disappear, Rider. So it's only logical that I'm to be the decoy here."
"…"
Rider's expression immediately went frozen still—and so was everyone's. They were all looking at Sieg completely dumbfounded.
"What is it?"
The moment he opened his mouth, Rider slapped him on his cheek. It was a light slap—for a Servant, that is. The sound reverberated all across the room.
"Eh?"
Sieg looked completely confounded as he stared at Rider.
"You idiot!"
Looking like they were about to cry, Rider then simply stormed off the conference room.
"Did I… say something wrong?"
"Hmm… Well, you did not say anything wrong, per se…"
"I agree. If anything, you simply said too much…"
Fiore's and Archer's words only served to make Sieg pondered further what precisely he had done wrong. Ruler, for her part, seemingly could not stay silent anymore and tugged on his sleeve.
"Ruler, did I say something wrong…?"
"Well, Sieg, I think you… really need to work on understanding the feelings of others. And you need apologize to Rider later on."
"…Okay."
"Do you agree with Rider, Ruler? That he shouldn't be the decoy after all?"
"I do, yes—at least for now. Sieg does possess strength above that of an average magus—but that by no means removes all concerns when it comes to facing a Servant."
Yet, there was ineed none more fitting for the role than Sieg. He was capable of both magecraft as well as swordmanship to a degree. And he was the only one who volunteered himself for the deadly role of his own volition. There was Caules, but he'd be lying if he said he'd willingly fight against a Servant.
"Do you have any other ideas, Ruler?"
"I suppose I do, yes… though I can't quite claim it to be a good one."
Sieg immediately leaned forward at that, as Ruler showed a rare, mischieveous expression on her face.
And as it turned out, what Ruler had in mind was indeed quite a shock for everyone involved.
