Some Say There Was a Lack of Something Vital

Good morning, everyone.

Well, what do you know? I'm a hidden eyes kind of guy too.

I see.

Guess this means the day's finally come for you to lower your bangs as well, huh?

Hahaha. By the way, on a completely different subject...

(Damn, he's a slippery one.)

I shall be your opponent today.

You have my thanks, Lord Yagyu. Now then...have at you!

Okay, I think that's enough for today. Forgive me for cutting the proceedings short.

I simply fear that if we go any further, I too may end up treating this like a genuine duel.

...I see.

If I may, Prince of Lan Ling, your swordplay strikes me as similar to sword dancing.

It retains all the grace and suppleness of dance...

...without sacrificing the sword's weight or cutting edge.

Haha, that's very kind of you, but my style is nothing to boast about. It's something I had to devise on my own.

As a general, I was so busy studying politics and warfare that I only had time to learn the bare minimum of martial arts.

All the techniques I use now were moves I developed on the battlefield. I turned out to be much more adept at dodging than defense, so that's what I tended to focus on.

I see. So your sword dancing was forged in the heat of battle.

Your swordplay, on the other hand, was breathtakingly refined, Lord Yagyu. I learned a great deal from this sparring session.

My Otomeryu is not ordinarily meant to be seen by outside eyes...

But that was a concern for my living self. Now that I am a Servanta shadow sworn to serve a new Masterit is no longer relevant.

I see. Now that humanity itself is in crisis, we can't be choosy about how we fight back.

Be that as it may, I am afraid I cannot allow myself to copy your style.

My son, Mitsuyoshi, would have no compunctions about claiming any technique he liked as his own, but no matter.

Does that mean your son has a different style than you, Lord Yagyu?

Oh yes, very different. His talent with the blade came to him naturally, and his technique can only be described as flawless.

Nonetheless, the world is a big place. There is surely someone somewhere strong enough to rend steel with their bare hands.

Ah yes, like the ones descended from living, breathing gods.

Good point. Then I suppose we will just have to train hard enough to keep up with them.

Indeed.

Oh, it looks like the next group is here. I'd best be on my way then.

Very well. Until the next time.

Hmm. It seems he noticed my warrior's instincts getting the best of me. What a pity.

Now then, you there.

What have you been doing this whole time?

Oh, hello, Prince of Lan Ling. What sort of book are you looking for today?

Good question...

Well, we did just get in a few grimoires and valuable antique books thanks to a certain, um, anonymous donor...

I see.

(Despite getting new books, she seems rather preoccupied...)

I'm afraid we have yet to receive the new shipment of military strategy books I've been expecting...

Oh, I know. What about a book that Master would like?

I could bring it with me the next time I visit him.

Oh, what a lovely idea.

Okay then, wait here, please.

Um, let's see... I think it was above this shelf...

Uh-oh.

Aah!

Forgive me. This was the only way I could think to help in the short time I had to act.

O-o-oh gosh, I'm so terribly sorry!

Not at all. The important thing is that you're okay.

O-oh, yes, I'm fine. Besides, it's all my fault for not being more careful...

Accidents happen to the best of us. Please, pay it no mind.

So, is this the book you were looking for?

Y-yes, that's it.

Then I'll go ahead and check it out straight away. Thank you for your help.

My pleasure.

(Sigh)...

That may well be the most beautiful man I've ever met, in multiple senses of the word.

Even with the mask on, he had my heart pounding. I shudder to think of what may have happened had he not been wearing it.

...H-hang on. I think I might be able to use this feeling in a story! I'll go write it down in my idea notebook right now.

I see... So that's why you wear that mask.

Man, it's a good thing you weren't born in Greece.

Back there, good looks like that would either get you cursed or blessed, and there'd be hell to pay either way.

I can understand the downside of being cursed... but wouldn't a blessing be a good thing?

Hardly. Sure, a blessing might mean you'd be living the good life for a while, but one wrong word and bam, the gods go divine retribution on your ass.

Hell, maybe they just decide to go retribution on you 'cause they think you're getting too full of yourself.

Either way, the only ending you'd get is a bad one!

Oh yeah, that sort of thing happened all the time!

I see. It sounds like Greece had its fair share of troubles as well...

Then again, you wouldn't be the first to hide your face under a mask. Pency used to do the same thing.

Pency?

You know, the Berserker who's always flying off the handle?

Real short? Abs that could grate cheese?

(Apollo's getting a bad feeling about this! Abort! Abort!)

What was her real name again? Oh, right!

Pencil-Lilia!

You mangled my name on purpose! DIE!!!

HuhWAAAH!

(Huff, huff...)

(Glare)

For the record, I swear on my honor that I never said anything untoward about you.

That said, I should have stopped Lord Jason before he shouted your mangled name. For that, I sincerely apologize.

...Very well. But I should mention that I have no desire for there to be any bad blood between us.

Come with me to the simulator.

Does that mean you wish to fight?

I would have let you go if you were a Caster, but as you are a Saber, you should be capable of defending your honor yourself.

Unless, of course, that sword of yours is just for show?

...I suppose you're right.

Besides, I could learn a great deal by facing one of Greece's fiercest warriors in mortal combat.

Very well then, let us do battle.

I have seen the truth of your words in the strength of your sword arm. Very well then, our battle is concluded!

I accept you as a fellow warrior and now trust your word that you meant no disrespect!

Thank you, Lady Penthesilea.

By the way, that mask of yours...

Yes?

I assume you do not get moisture buildup on your face when you are fighting while wearing it? That must be nice.

That's right, I don't. This mask only covers my eyes, so there's plenty of room for air to circulate.

Of course, it also extends up past my face, so I have to be careful when going through doors and such.

Hmm... I see.

The climate may have been largely responsible for this, but I always found quite a lot of moisture built up in my mask when I wore it in battle.

Was it the kind that covers your entire face?

It was. I cannot tell you how terribly I felt the urge simply to scratch my nose on countless occasions.

I-I only mangled it on purpose a little bit...

... ...

I've been looking the other way since you didn't seem to mean any harm, but now that you've been following me around all day, I feel compelled to ask.

What is it you want with me, Lord Blackbeard!?

... ...

？！

I just told you! What's the freaking deal with that pretty boy!?

Prince of Lan Ling? More like Prince of OP Super Hotties!

I mean, I know Chaldea's always had more than its fair share of hunks, but he just takes it too far!

Fou. Fooou...

Take Bartholomew. He might act all dandy, but it doesn't take long to see he's a gross creepfest on the inside!

So you just know that Lan Ling guy's got to be hiding something too!

？！

Me? Jealous? Of him? Pfft. No way. Not in a million years.

Fou.

I just figure nobody could actually be that perfect, so there must be something we're not seeing.

Well, I don't buy it. Guys like that always end up having some kind of weird fetish or something they don't wanna tell anyone else about, guaranteed.

Well, if there's something we're not seeing, I wanna see it, dammit!

Besides, it's just human nature to want to find fault with anyone who seems too good to be true!

？！

Which is why I'm not going to rest until I've uncovered the truth about him!

Wooo, let's do this thing! Gimme a C! H! A! L! D! E! A! Gooo Chaldea!

？！

And so, I have returned with my findings!

Long story short:

He's handsome on the inside too!!!

(Sigh) What a letdown.

Th-that's why you were following me around all day?

？！

Now don't you start too, Master!

Right!? Just look at how carefully he placed his hands when he caught Murasaki!

See how he did his best to avoid touching her skin even as he made sure to support her head?

If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn I was watching a scene straight out of a visual romance novel (the kind that induces serious blushing).

Incidentally, scenes like that are called "CGs" in some games, depending on the genre.

The more you know, amirite!?

？！

When did you even record that?

Oh yes, I'm not too proud to admit that my inner badump circuit was running like crazy while this was going down.

？！

Oh sure. It's right between my heart and my stomach.

Once it spins up, you get palpitations, flop sweat, fever, flushed skin, dizzy spells, weak knees, and hyperventilation, though not necessarily in that order.

You know, now that I think about it, I really should look into getting that circuit removed!

Um... Master? Could we please make that...man stop?

？！

Oh yeah? Then let's take this outside! I know I might not look it, but I'm still an ultra badass pirate!

(The fact that it's true only makes him that much more difficult to deal with...)

Hehehe... What a lucky break for me, getting to fight on a ship.

Are you sure you didn't touch the simulation's settings!?

Heh heh heh.

If you think that's all I've got in store for you, you're gravely mistaken.

What?

Let's just say that Blackbeard is never alone!

Thank you for your honesty, Master. It's much appreciated.

We hope you'll continue to enjoy Blackbeard brand products for many years to come.

Hehehe. You won't find the sad sack Blackbeard who used to lie on the ground weeping tears of loneliness here anymore.

Er, not that he ever existed to begin with, of course.

？！

All right, tactician, come forth!

Good day, everyone. I am Chen Gong, the tactician Lord Blackbeard just spoke of.

I'm a busy man, of course, but as I was told this is a time-sensitive matter, I decided to leave my errant tasks for later and drop by.

And by time-sensitive matter, well... I trust you know of what I speak?

(Um, Master?)

？！

All right, let's do this thing! By the way, tactician, can I ask why you're standing directly behind me?

I know what you're thinking, so before you even ask: it was a necessary sacrifice.

If you say so...

Gaaah! I really thought I was done for!

Who knew just activating Guts took so much energy...

Easy there. Are you all right, Lord Blackbeard?

... ...

？！

Oh man, I finally got that event CG I wanted after all...

I can feel my badump circuit whirring around... Pretty soon, I'll be my own little Blackbeard Restoration Labyrinth...

(No earthly idea what he's talking about)

This has been a very tiring day...

Lord Blackbeard seemed very dejected when he left...

I do hope he'll be okay.

You know, you can be kind of mean-spirited sometimes, Master.

？！

Still, I haven't had a day like this in a long time. For that, I owe Lord Blackbeard my thanks.

Having your day turned upside down by someone you least expected may seem exhausting from the outside...

...but if nothing else, there's certainly never a dull moment.

？！

Oh, right! I guess you do experience that all the time, don't you?

... ...

In that case, Master, would you like to swap war stories with me tonight?

I suspect that both of us have plenty of tales of hardship we could tell.