Night had fallen when Scáthach went to Shiomi's room to find him, only to discover it was empty. His personal belongings were still there, so it wasn't as if he'd been kidnapped or gone off alone to engage the enemy.
This ti wasn't like the small-scale skirmishes they'd had before—it was going to be a full-scale clash between two armies. A real war.
That made her feel it was necessary to speak with him again—to help her beloved disciple, who had never truly experienced war, prepare himself ntally.
But now, finding the room empty, she was a bit surprised.
The terrace door was open. When she stepped outside, she spotted Shiomi leaning against the battlents across from her, quietly letting the wind blow through his hair.
Understanding the situation, Scáthach moved across the gap between the city hall and the wall with a few nimble leaps, landing near the corner close to him.
She was just about to call out when she heard him speaking to soone. Reflexively, she paused and leaned against the wall to listen.
"You were lying back then, weren't you, my husband?" ca Morgan's voice, along with her barely visible projection, faint in the moonlight.
"When did you figure it out?" Shiomi chuckled to himself.
"As Chaldea's Master, your vital signs are monitored constantly. Forming so many contracts at once did cause strain on your magic circuits, yes—but..." Morgan let out a soft sigh. "Nowhere near enough to push you past your limit."
"You're a tough one. I'm just human, you know—we have limits." Shiomi mumbled with a half-smile.
"I know exactly where your limits are. And if you really want to insist otherwise, I'll humor you—I won't call you out." Morgan shook her head.
After all, if Shiomi had truly been just an ordinary person, there's no way he could've spent six thousand years with her in that place.
Four thousand years of searching. Two thousand years of conquest. In the end, it all ca down to one thing: ti.
Shiomi blinked. "So you know, then?"
"Know what?"
"...That I don't have any mories of the past," Shiomi said.
"I've had a hunch," Morgan replied with a small shake of her head.
She'd never asked him about it in detail. There had been too many things filling that long stretch of ti. And when it ca to soone she trusted from the bottom of her heart, a blank past felt... inconsequential.
Besides, he'd never seed to mind it himself. So she hadn't pushed.
"To be honest, my earliest mory is fighting undead and skeletons scattered across the wilderness in the Land of Shadows. I was clinging to the desire to survive. Didn't even rember who I was. Just had a na I wasn't sure was real or not." Shiomi smiled bitterly. "I really thought I'd die there—until Master suddenly showed up and saved ..."
"I see. In a place like that, empty and desolate, you were like a newborn with no mories. It's no wonder you fell for the first person who rescued you." Morgan teased knowingly. "Just a classic case of fledgling syndro. Sooner or later—"
"Don't think I'll just let that slide, Morgan." Scáthach finally stepped out from the shadows, unable to keep silent any longer.
Morgan didn't look surprised. "I thought you'd last a bit longer. So quick to appear."
Chaldea's detection radar was clearly marking every Servant within several kiloters of Shiomi, tagging each with their mana signature. If Scáthach had bothered to use Presence Concealnt, she might've avoided detection—but she hadn't seen the need.
"If you hadn't shown yourself, she'd have logically dissected every last bit of my feelings for you," Shiomi said with a dry laugh, turning to lean his back against the parapet. "Oh, wait—no, she'd have just tossed it all under 'fledgling syndro.'"
"Busted. As expected, my husband isn't so easily fooled," Morgan said breezily, not at all embarrassed by being exposed. She spoke like soone tossing aside a strawberry that turned out to be overripe—casual and indifferent.
Scáthach let out a light, cheerful laugh after hearing their exchange. "Looks like I was worrying too much. At tis like this, I should trust my beloved disciple the sa way I trust him in battle."
"Yeah..." Shiomi sighed.
"But I didn't expect you to suddenly start wondering about your origins," Scáthach said with a smile, smoothly continuing the conversation.
"So, Master, do you know anything?" Shiomi asked.
"Regretfully, nothing at all," Scáthach replied with an apologetic look. "Sotis people end up in the Land of Shadows by chance due to its connection with the world. You're just the only one who ever survived."
She had noticed him from the start, assuming he'd die soon like the rest. But Shiomi's unexpected tenacity had piqued her interest, so she went to see for herself...
And what she discovered was an irreplaceable "treasure."
"So even Master doesn't know, huh." Shiomi scratched his head.
"Suddenly caring about sothing like this—did sothing happen during the mass contracting with the Servants?" Scáthach asked.
Morgan tapped her keyboard a few tis, checked the Third Singularity's exploration status, then spoke up again. "You saw unfamiliar mories, right? Ones that didn't seem to co from any of the Servants you just contracted. Naturally, you'd start wondering if they ca from a past even you don't know."
"No wonder," Scáthach murmured, her thoughts clicking into place.
"So what did you co here to talk to
about, Master?" Shiomi asked.
"We're marching on Washington tomorrow. Best not to get distracted, Scáthach," Morgan warned, her tone sharp.
But Scáthach only smirked. "I just ca because my dear disciple hasn't experienced real war yet. If he ends up puking after seeing a mountain of corpses tomorrow, soone has to prepare him. After all, the blood-soaked grinder of the battlefield is sothing else entirely compared to a few bodies."
"And here I am, brooding over nonsense..." Shiomi muttered, touching his cheek.
Morgan propped her chin up with one hand, her tone teasing. "Still, for such a big matter, the fact that you ca to
first rather than your Master is... quite heartwarming."
"Well..." Shiomi chuckled awkwardly. He had only wanted to chat with Morgan before bed, but once she noticed sothing was off, he felt he had to explain himself.
"Hm~" Scáthach made a pointed sound. "It's already deep into the night here. And since Chaldea is synced with this side, you should rest too, Morgan."
She reached out and grabbed Shiomi's arm.
"Master—?"
Shiomi stiffened. Watching Morgan's expression gradually darken on the projection screen, he knew full well his night was about to take a turn for the worse.
...
"Well then, my beloved disciple, it's about ti to rest. Tonight, your Master will keep you company. Forget about everyone else for now."
With that, Scáthach landed a clean punch to Shiomi's stomach. He dropped to his knees instantly, completely incapacitated. Before Morgan could get a word in, Scáthach shut off the communicator and carried Shiomi down from the tower.
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