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Chapter 6 - Exploring

[Banana Man by Tally Hall plays]

Bazett yawns lazily and mumbles unintelligible sounds as the low-quality sound of the alarm plays in the background with no sign of it stopping anytime soon.

Opening her eyes grumpily to the bright sunlight piercing through the curtains, Bazett spent a lot of time snuggling on the bed, struggling to wake up. After a few moments, she closed her phone alarm and got up from her bed while muttering: "What is this stupid song..? I don't remember making this my alarm."

When she was done talking to herself, she slid off the bed and prepared herself for the day.

Afterwards, Bazett sent Ezekiel a message through their servant-master bond: 'Zeke, return to the mansion and report if anything unusual happened during the night. I want everything detailed.'

Hearing this message, Ezekiel materialized behind Bazett a few seconds later and bowed slightly to her.

"Let's see..." Ezekiel first nodded and brought his hand to his chin, making a thinking pose: "While you were asleep, I kept a close watch around the manor and a little beyond, while I didn't notice anything major, I did see what I thought were familiars belonging to other masters spying on us. However, they seemed to be harmless so I just left them be." He sounded a little too proud when mentioning the last part.

"Huh... Surely you are joking, right? Because I clearly told you to take care of any problem you encountered. And you say you just let them go." Bazett couldn't quite hide her exasperation, and exclaimed.

While she was ranting about this, Ezekiel gave a side eye to her under his mask. Completely disregarding her question, he asked another one.

"What do we do now then?"

Hearing this question, Bazett put her mild irritation behind her and focused on the more important matter as she sat on the red couch near them.

"I was thinking we could wander around Fuyuki to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings, but..." Towards the end, Bazett stopped talking.

"But?"

"I don't want the other masters and servants to sense us and notice us immediately. Adding in the fact that our position may have already been compromised. It's better if we don't draw too much attention to ourselves for the moment." Bazett frowned as she talked, crossing her legs.

"You act like getting a few eyes on us would be a death sentence." Ezekiel's confidence clearly visible.

"I wonder if you really can back up your words." She asked as she looked at him questioningly.

"I'm just saying, have a little bit of faith or confidence in your own servant." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and continued: "Just put your trust in me during this war, and we can obtain the grail. Fair right?"

"And how do we know that other summoned servants don't have the strength to go against you? What will you do then, asking them to 'let you be' ?" Bazett counters.

Hearing this, Ezekiel bursts out laughing and speaks: "Hahahahahaha, Master, surely you jest. I admit that there may be servants who can go toe to toe against me, but aren't you underestimating me a lot?" He smirked at her beneath his mask proudly.

Bazett ignored her servant's arrogant demeanor and continued: "If you're so confident in your abilities, then it's settled. We're going to take a tour of the city today. And if worse comes to worst..." While muttering the last part, she added: "I can trust you, right?" Bazett remarked in a sarcastic tone.

"Sure, sure." Ezekiel responded in a similar tone.

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(After They Left For The City)

As Bazett walked through the streets of Fuyuki, which had a slightly gloomy atmosphere, Ezekiel directed a question to his master as all this silence was starting to get to him.

"Geez, what a dead air~ What do you say? Tell me more about yourself." He was in his spirit form, following her.

"Well, I...

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(Pov Change to ???)

While Bazett and Ezekiel strolled through the city in conversation, another pair was doing the same.

A black-haired girl in a red coat walked beside a white-haired ghostly man, unseen by all.

"This is the Shinto Park." The girl said seemingly to the air.

Without waiting for a response, she continued: "We've covered the most important places so far. What do you think?"

"This is a large park. Is there some particular reason why it's so—" he paused, then added, "Empty?"

"You noticed that too, huh? It's because this place has some history."

"Oh that so, what kind of story?"

"It happened ten years ago. They say this whole area was engulfed by hellish flames. The town was rebuilt afterwards, but for some reason, this area was left as it was. They apparently made it into a park because there was nothing but burnout ruins here."

"Hmm" The man grunted in understanding.

"Sounds like you have figured it out. Yes, this is where the final battle of the last grail war occurred. The war ended here, and it's been empty ever since."

"I see." The man said and waited a few seconds before continuing: "That explains why this place is so filled with malice. For us servants, this whole park feels like a reality marble."

The girl tilted her head and couldn't hide her surprise.

"I'm amazed that an archer like you knows such things as reality marbles."

"What? You find it surprising?"

"It is surprising you know. Because reality marbles are a taboo among taboos. You wouldn't expect an archer of all classes to know about them."

The man made an exaggerated sigh-like sound and spoke: "Rin, the title 'Heroic Spirit' refers to one skilled in both the martial and magical arts."

"A-Ah, I see I see sorry if I upset you archer." The girl, now called Rin apogalized to her servant.

"You-" Just as the man was going to say something, Rin suddenly turned her head towards the east and said:

"Hush, Archer. My command spells are reacting to something. We're being watched." As Rin clenched her hands in nervousness, she continued: "I can't find them, what about you?"

"It's difficult. I can't even sense we're being watched."

"Which means we're being watched by a master of all things."

"Well, that's just great. We've had a stalker trailing us this entire time?"

"Most likely. But it does save us the effort of tracking them first."

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(Night of the Same Day)

Rin and Archer finally arrived at Homurahara Academy, where they sensed the master's location as they were trailing him down.

"Why did that master end up here of all places." Rin said panting, absentmindedly.

"Hold on, Rin. Are you still certain the Master's here? Because there's another presence... It's making me uneasy."

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Rin asked.

"It's coming from the rooftop of the school."

"Then we can't waste time chatting!" Saying this Rin started running.

"Oi Rin what do you think you are doing!?!"

Rin shutting her ears off to Archer's warning, rushed to the rooftop of the school, Archer following still in his spirit form. What Rin immediately noticed was a red magic circle drawn on the ground. It was filled with ancient writings that even she had trouble understanding.

"A field? Why is there even a magic field at the school!?" Rin exclaimed and hurriedly ended up next to the circle.

"I'm sure this is a field for us servants to gather mana, excluding our masters. And it looks like it's ready to work at any moment. Activate it, and all the people in this field will dissolve." Archer added from the side.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

Before Archer could take the chance to explain, a sound was heard from the other side of the roof.

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