TYPE-MOON Universe, Earth, Japan, Fuyuki City.
While Elicia used her threads to tightly secure the unconscious Kotomine Kirei, Tatsuo stood next to her while he stared down Bazett and Lancer. At the same time, Bazett and lancer looked at them warily, as well. Yet, neither side made a move to antagonize the other.
"So... Uh... Yeah." Lancer said, the silence starting to get to him. "Thanks for helping us out. If it wasn't for you, that bastard would have managed to cut her arm off."
Reaching that point, Lancer narrowed his eyes. Then, he flourished his spear before pointing its tip at Tatsuo and Elicia.
"And although we're grateful for that, just who the hell are you two?" Lancer asked in a more aggressive tone. "And why the hell would you go out of your way to help us?"
Although Bazett had not spoken, it was clear that she was also curious to know the answer to her Servant's questions.
"An Assassin-Class Servant and his Master." Tatsuo replied in a dry tone. "And I'd suggest you put that thing down before you lose the hand that's holding it."
"Oh? Why don't you give it a try?" Lancer said, a dangerous-looking smile spreading across his face. "Be careful, or you might just regret those words."
"Last warning, Blue Boy." Tatsuo said, not reaching for his weapons. Though, he did lower his posture in preparation for a fight.
*Smack!*
"Ah! What the hell was that for, Lici?" Tatsuo asked while glaring at Elicia.
"Be nice, Assassin." Elicia said in response after swatting Tatsuo upside the head. "We came here to save them. So, why would we start a fight to the death right after that?"
"Because this guy isn't being grateful." Tatsuo, with a petulant expression on his face, said as he turned towards Elicia while pointing a finger at Lancer.
"I just said we were grateful, didn't I?" Lancer, not liking the fact that this situation was being blamed on him, responded in a tone that sounded just as petulant.
"Yeah, and you show that by pointing your weapon at the ones who saved you, huh?" Tatsuo shot back. "Yeah, that's a great way of showing it."
And with the petty squabble that started between Tatsuo and lancer, the volatile atmosphere was blown away, leaving Elicia grinning at what she saw while Bazett looked as if she could not keep up.
"He's definitely the weirdest Assassin I've ever heard of." Bazett muttered in a dumbfounded tone.
"Well, your Lancer isn't much better." Elicia said with a giggle. "I mean, look at them go. I guess boys will be boys no matter what time period they come from, huh"
Hearing Elicia's light-hearted response, Bazett tore her eyes away from the two arguing Heroic Spirits and turned her attention to Elicia.
"Although he did not show it with his actions, we really are grateful that you saved us." Bazett said as she nodded her head politely. "So, allow me to think you."
"Don't worry about it." Elicia said with a dismissive wave. She then nudged Kirei's body with one of her feet "Honestly, we weren't being all that noble when we helped you. We met this guy a couple of days ago, ya see?"
'Hehe. I sounded like Sun just now.' Elicia thought to herself.
["Focus."] Scylla scolded.
'Right.' Elicia replied, snapping back to the ongoing conversation.
"And from the moment I met him, I thought the priest was up to no good." Elicia continued with a slight pause. "So, we decided to snoop around the church for a while to see if he was really up to anything shady. It came with the added bonus of checking out the competition, too."
"But the church is supposed to be neutral ground." Bazett said, not really following the conversation. "If you had been caught, you could have been disqualified from participating in the Holy Grail War."
"Well… I didn't wanna join, anyway." Elicia replied with a shrug. "So, if I got caught, it didn't really matter to me. I would have just gone home and went back to making clothes for my company."
If Bazett was confused by the argument between Tatsuo and Lancer, which was still going on, then she was completely dumbfounded by Elicia's total disregard for the Holy Grail War and the opportunities it represented.
"I see." Bazett said while shaking her head in disbelief. "Anyway, we really need to report this to the Mage's Association. I'm sure they'll want to investigate this."
"They probably wouldn't give up a chance to discredit the Holy Church either." Elicia said with a grin.
Instead of responding, Bazett reached into her pocket and pulled out a flip phone. She then flipped the phone open before scrolling through her contacts to make a call. At the same time, she signaled to Lancer, causing him to stop his argument with Tatsuo. Then, she walked towards the church's entrance.
A moment later, Lancer followed Bazett towards the church's entrance. Not before throwing a glare at Tatsuo, though.
A few moments later, both Bazett and Lancer had left the church, leaving Tatsuo and Elicia alone with Kirei. And when the doors closed behind them, the two exchanged glances with smiles on their faces.
"Looks like you were having fun." Elicia said playfully.
Tatsuo shrugged his shoulders in response.
"He acts just like the Lancer in James' world." Tatsuo replied. "A lot more mature, though. But you can press the exact same buttons. I wonder if he sticks his foot in his mouth just as often, too. I'll have to talk to him more to find out."
Elicia could only giggle in response.
"Anyway, how long do you think it will take for someone to show up to take this guy away?" Tatsuo asked while nudging Kirei's unconscious body with is foot. "Because I don't' wanna leave Sakura-San alone for too long."
"Oh my. Oh my. Is that a little crush I see?" Elicia asked as she clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward.
"I admit she's quite attractive." Tatsuo replied while shaking his head. "And there's something about her I find desirable. But calling it a crush… I would have to disagree. I would not say no to having her as a part of my hoard, though."
Elicia did not know how to respond to that, unfortunately. But she chalked it up to Tatsuo's emotions still being messed up after everything he had been through.
["His draconic nature might be taking over his personality, too."] Scylla said, giving her own opinion on the matter.
'That's true.' Elicia replied while nodding internally. 'I noticed that he was starting to dissociate himself from humanity, too. I just hope this doesn't keep getting worse.'
["I'm sure there's someone in his world that will make sure that doesn't happen."] Scylla replied. ["And even if there isn't, he's still got you, Fonzie, James, and the others, right?"]
'That's right.' Elicia replied. 'We'll make sure he doesn't lose himself.'
Not long after that conversation, Bazett and Lancer, who was still looking at Tatsuo with annoyance, re-entered the church. After that, Tatsuo and Lancer started to bicker once again. Their topics varied and were all over the place. They argued about everything and anything they could think of.
Meanwhile, Bazett approached Elicia with a stern expression on her face.
"I didn't introduce myself earlier." Bazett said when she was a few feet away from Elicia. "I'm Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a Sealing Designation Enforcer from the Mage's Association."
As her introduction ended, Bazett extended her right hand, clearly intending to shake hands. Though, her facial expression made it obvious that she was a bit wary of doing so. She did just almost lose her hand a little while ago, after all.
"Nice to meet you." Elicia said cheerfully as she accepted Bazett's handshake quickly. Then, while shaking Bazett's hand vigorously, she continued. "I'm Elicia Marcus Taylor. I'd rather not be participating in this Holy Grail War, but my family made me."
Hearing that once again, Bazett was just as taken aback as the first time. Even so, with the introductions out of the way, Bazett explained the parts of her conversation with the Mage's Association that were not classified.
"And because you were the one who brought down Kotomine, the Association is willing to offer you a reward."
"What kinda reward are we talking about?" Elicia asked as she leaned forward slightly with interest shining in her eyes.
"It will be a sizeable monetary reward." Bazett replied. "Though, we have to ask that you do not take his magical crest. The church would like to have it returned."
"Money, huh?" Elicia said, her interest clearly disappearing. "Well, whatever. But it looks like the Association is trying to benefit from this even more by making a deal with the Church, aren't they? So, does the reward include compensation for buying his magic crest from me, too?"
As she asked her questions, Elicia's relaxed posture calmly shifted into something more serious. At the same time, Tatsuo, who was bickering with Lancer, genuinely enjoying the interaction, suddenly appeared behind Elicia with is trench knives twirling in his hands and staring at Bazett intensely.
"Oh… Of course." Bazett replied, stepping back reflexively from the intensity behind Tatsuo's stare. "The Association is fair. It would never try to cheat you out of anything that you deserve."
"Oh, that's a relief." Elicia said, her relaxed aura coming back as she smiled brightly. "You can never be sure when making business deals, after all. That's what my clothing business has taught me over the last couple years, anyway."
By now, Lancer had also arrived near Bazett with his spear drawn once again. However, he did not raise it. Though, it was clear that he was ready for a fight should one start.
After that, with Elicia back to her usual cheerful demeanor, the two groups of Masters and Servants continued to chat for another hour and a half, or so, before representatives from the Mage's Association and the Holy Church arrived at Fuyuki Church to take Kirei into custody and negotiate about what should be done with him.
However, before Elicia and Tatsuo were allowed to leave, they were interviewed, though the Mage's Association did their best to interrogate them, about their involvement in this case. Unfortunately, Elicia, who was definitely the most powerful Magus in the room, was not intimidated. Tatsuo, on the other hand, stayed silent the entire time, his presence intimidating both the members of the Mage's Association and the Holy Church into not taking things too far.
Then, when the two organizations were satisfied, Elicia was allowed to leave while Tatsuo returned to his astral form and followed her. Meanwhile, Bazett, with Lancer in his own astral form, was required to stay to assist her superiors in the Mage's Association with the negotiations with the Church.
Not long later, Tatsuo and Elicia returned to their suite in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where Sakura was waiting for them. And when the young woman saw them return without injury, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Welcome back." Sakura said with a small smile. "I've prepared dinner for you. I hope you're hungry."
"Ooh! Thanks, Sakura." Elicia said energetically as she skipped towards the table where the food Sakura cooked was already laid out. "We haven't eaten since breakfast. And now, I'm starving."
"Well, if we hadn't stuck around waiting for the Mage's Association, we would have been back in time for lunch." Tatsuo said as he, too, approached the table. "*Sigh* Instead, we waited for hours for them to show up. Then, they tried to intimidate you into giving up more of your compensation."
"Yeah, but since you were there, Assassin, everything turned out fine." Elicia said as she turned back to smile at Tatsuo. "They were so afraid of you. Even with Lancer there."
"That's probably because Lancer looked disgusted by what they were trying to do, too." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. He then continued after sitting down at the table. "In fact, unless Bazett used a [Command Spell], he probably wouldn't' have even lifted a finger to help them if I went on a killing spree. Which I was this close to starting."
As he spoke his last sentence, Tatsuo lifted his right hand, his thumb and index finger nearly touching to illustrate his point.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. "What exactly happened when you went out? What kind of compensation were you supposed to get?"
"Oh, I guess we really didn't' tell you about what we went out to do, did we?" Elicia asked while placing her right index finger on her chin. "Well, we left the hotel when we felt the other Master staying here leave. Then, we followed her to the Church to see if we could get some information on her and the Servant she summoned…"
While Elicia told Sakura about what she and Tatsuo did today, with Tatsuo adding bits and pieces to the explanation, the trio ate the dinner that Sakura prepared. Meanwhile, Sakura listened closely to every detail, finding the story of Tatsuo and Elicia's adventure intriguing.
"Anyway, enough about that." Elicia said a moment after finishing her story. "I'm almost done with the clothes I've been working on for you, sakura. When that's done, we should probably think about summoning your Servant. After that, we can head to your sister's house to let her know you're okay. I mean, she's probably worrying herself sick over you right now."
"Huh? Why?" Sakura asked, unaware of Tatsuo's trip to destroy the Matou Residence a few nights ago.
"Oops! We didn't tell you about that either, huh?" Elicia muttered. "I thought I told you about it after Assassin got back."
"How could you have done that when she fell asleep?" Tatsuo asked while rolling his eyes. "You said you were gonna get up early to explain it. But you slept in and only woke up when you smelled my cooking."
"Hehe… Oops." Elicia replied while tilting her head, knocking on the side of it with her right hand, and sticking out her tongue. She then turned back to Sakura and continued. "So, yeah… Assassin, after dinner the night we brought you here, went back out and destroyed the Matou Residence... with the clan head and his son inside."
Hearing that, Sakura widened her eyes in surprise. She then snapped her head in Tatsuo's direction. In response, Tatsuo only shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat.
"But was that really necessary?" Sakura asked, sounding a bit uncertain.
"I'd kill most of the Magus population if it were up to me." Tatsuo replied. "Very few of them have any qualms about betrayal. And there's nothing I hate more than Betrayal. And what the Matou's did to you is definitely a betrayal of family in my book. If they were gonna treat you so badly, they should have never adopted you."
Though Sakura did not know how to respond to Tatsuo's detached words, she felt a warm feeling welling up in her chest and the gaze with which she looked at Tatsuo became much gentler.
Meanwhile, a cheshire grin spread across Elicia's face. Then, she leaned to the side and nudged Tatsuo with her elbow a couple times.
"Ooh! Look at you, Assassin." Elicia said in a gossipy tone. "You're such a smooth talker. I bet you were quite the ladies' man when you were alive."
Rolling his eyes at Elicia's playfulness, Tatsuo placed a hand on her forehead before gently pushing her back. Meanwhile, Elicia, who was laughing hysterically, allowed herself to be pushed away. Sakura, on the other hand, was blushing lightly, Elicia's comment embarrassing her more than she thought it would.