A More Human Heart

You've been having daydreams?

Yes, I have. Which is odd, because I was not designed for such things.

At least, there is nothing mentioned about daydreaming in my technical specifications.

I am a machine. For me to stand around and...space out, as you might say, in this manner...

...should be unthinkable.

And this has been happening more and more often lately, huh. But never during a Rayshift, or combat training?

Correct.

So it only happens when you're idleer, on standby in Chaldea. Yeah, I think that's worth looking into.

Come on then, let's get you checked out in the infirmary. Just give me a sec while I assign some resources for it.

Oh, uh... Well...

Poor choice of words? Sorry 'bout that. Let's go run some diagnostics on you then, starting with a diagnostic scan.

Honestly, I'd like to go ahead and analyze your whole body while we're at it, not just your head...

...but seeing as you're Kashin Koji's masterpiece, and he was one of the greatest necromancers to ever live, that may not really be in the cards.

So our first order of business will be getting to the bottom of this daydreaming business. Sound good?

...Yes, that sounds very good. Thank you, Lady Da Vinci.

...All right, I've got the scan results.

There seems to be some manner of...bug in Danzo's central processor, localized within her database.

？！

Well, it may not be a bug at all. It's even possible it's some sort of magecraft-based virus, for want of a better term.

But since this data shouldn't normally exist, it's safe to say it's responsible for these daydreams she's been having.

Normally, we'd fight magecraft with magecraft to handle these sorts of Spirit Origin abnormalities...

...but since she used to be a machine before she became a Heroic Spirit, that gives us alternative options.

While healing spells designed for human bodies won't suffice for this particular malady, we do have some other treatment options here at Chaldea.

We will sync her central processor with Chaldea's servers and run our strongest anti-malware program. By which I mean, um...

...you, Mr. Fujimaru.

We will use the simulator to send your consciousness directly into Ms. Danzo's database.

I'm glad you understand. All right, let's get started.

Danzo's in the infirmary right now, in hibernation mode. Sleeping, basically.

Lying down in the infirmary. She's in hibernation mode right now...sleeping, more or less.

？！

We've already got her synced up with Sheba, so all that's left is to send you in.

Once you're inside her mind, all you have to do is find the bug in her database and destroy it. And since we still have all the data from Shimousa

It will be just as though you are dreaming your way into her database, only via the simulator.

Oh, I'll make sure to patch in your magical circuit too. That way, you ought to be able to use combat summons and Mystic Codes inside her memory.

We could also send a single Heroic Spirit along with you for good measure, but

Master.

Please, take me with you. I promise you won't regret it.

？！

Can you hear me, Senpai?

I've confirmed your connection to Danzo's database. You should both be in one of her records now.

That is, you should be in one of her memories.

？！

If my own memory serves, Master, this is

Welcome, Master. Welcome, Lord Kotarou.

？！

Thank you for coming all this way, Master. I am Danzo's sense of self.

Oh good, your guide is here. Thanks to Danzo's mechanical nature, she can direct her consciousness to her own mind even when her body is hibernating.

I've gotta say, these mechanical Heroic Spirits have a lot going for them.

Anyway, if you have any questions about anything that happens there, she'll probably know what's up.

Ms. Danzo's database is essentially the equivalent of a human brain's memory. However, unlike a human, her memories are usually unerringly accurate.

It would be no exaggeration to say that they are a perfect copy of the world as she experienced it at that time.

Tell me, Ms. Danzo, what year is it there?

...I'm not sure. I don't remember ever seeing a place like this before.

Lord Holmes is right. I record everything I see, hear, smell, and touch exactly as I experience it...

And yet...I have no memory of this place whatsoever!

Perhaps this is a fragment of one of my lost memories?

？！

It is, Master. I'm sure of it.

This is Shimousa Province in the sixteenth year of the Kan'ei period, 1639! Lady Danzo should have no record of this time or place!

Master! Get back!

Lord Kotarou! Master! Something ominous is coming... Something with a lot of magical energy!

And, that's not all... Something is...happening to...

...the sky!?

Yes, Master!

？！

Unknown hostile data is about to make contact with you, Senpai! Please be careful!

The sky has returned to normal...

But I still do not know what those creatures were...

I do recognize them as monsters, but I am certain I have no recollection of them nor of this place.

？！

Cross-reference complete. As we suspected, you're in a recreated Shimousa.

That hostile data you just fought also appears to be a perfect replication of the creatures you and Kotarou fought there.

But of course, the Danzo that was summoned to Chaldea is the Katou Danzo from our world...

She shouldn't have anything to do with the Danzo you met in Shimousa. So then, how is this happening?

... ...

...?

I thought this was a recreation of one of my fragmented records from after my primary operational period...

...a time that I have no recollection of. Is that not the case?

No, it isn't.

Those monsters we just fought are definitely the same ones we saw in the parallel Shimousa. That goes for everything we've seen here so far, in truth.

...I see. Very well. I understand.

I am sure you already know this, but let me tell you about the state of my database, just so we are all caught up.

My body was created by Kashin Koji...

...and my Fuuma ninja arts were installed by the first Fuuma clan leader, Lord Kotarou's predecessor.

Following my creation, I served as a shinobi during the age of war.

During that time, I accumulated many different experiences in the course of my duties.

I served many different masters, and carried out many different missions.

Then, I began to break down... With Kashin Koji gone, and the first Fuuma having long passed away...

...my functionality continued to deteriorate, including my central processor.

I am certain I spent that time doing something, but as my records are highly fragmented, I cannot be certain of what.

... ...

...Some of my memories indicate that I stayed in a village somewhere, and made use of my Fuuma arts.

Yes... They give me the impression that I was there doing...something...for a fairly long time...

But unfortunately, they are far too fragmented, and the details too unclear, to tell what that was...

The only thing I know for certain is that, in the end, I completely ceased to function.

In human terms, I was dead. That much is clear.

Hey, hey! Miss me? I'm back, and I've got the results of our analysis of that red sky and those monsters you just ran into.

They both came from the bug we're trying to track down. I also managed to pinpoint their origin thanks to the data I got from your battle.

Would you mind leading the way for us, Ms. Danzo?

I would be glad to. I can also see this point of origin, thanks to my synchronization with Chaldea's servers.

Let us be on our way then, Master. You too, Lord Kotarou.

？！

I recognize this place...

I'm seeing it on our monitors too. It looks like...a large town from the early Edo period?

This is Toke Castle town, only it is absolutely massive compared to its counterpart in Proper Human History. In the Kanto region of this world, it was second only to Edo.

Toke Castle? According to my database, that did not even exist in the sixteenth year of Kan'ei.

For that matter, wasn't Toke Castle in Kazusa, not Shimousa...?

It's one of several ways in which this parallel world differs significantly from ours. At any rate, there's something even stranger going on.

This is a fairly big town...yet there are no people here.

？！

...So this place merely has the appearance of a town. How disturbing.

Let us move on. The origin point is right up ahead.

You mean Toke Castle?

The keep, specifically. Though I must say, I am surprised that Toke Castle has such a large and impressive keep.

...I expect this town must have been quite lively under normal circumstances.

？！

I admit, I am a bit disappointed. By the sixteenth year of Kan'ei, the Shimabara Rebellion was over, along with all of Japan's other large-scale wars.

The Tokugawa regime was the start of an age of peace and prosperity.

I would have liked to see such a thing for myself, if only once.

But I digress. Forgive me. Come, let us be on our way!

...Right.

It's deserted, just as I suspected...

Nnn...

Lady Danzo?

O-oh, my apologies. It is just that, infiltrating enemy castles is one of a shinobi's most important duties.

Yet in this case, we simply walked in unchallenged.

I seem to be so disappointed that I could not help but complain. I guess I'm still quite inexperienced.

Not at all. I know just how you feel, Lady Danzo, and you're right. It IS incredibly disappointing.

Not only are there no samurai guarding the castle, there aren't even any rival shinobi to contend with.

If we don't need to sneak across the ceiling or under the floor, we shinobi may as well not even be here.

？！

Oh! Right!

I am so sorry, Master! Of course I would never ask you to imitate ninja!

True, it's probably a good thing that security wasn't too tight here. But keep your guard up anyway.

You're almost at the origin point, and there's a big clump of abnormal data just up ahead. Be ready for a fight!

Be careful, Senpai!

Yes, Master!

...Agreed.

？！

What the...!?

I'm reading magical energy of unknown origin swirling around that entire area, and there's a high-density concentration of it right in that room's center! It must be the origin point!

...

...You said this bug might be something akin to a magecraft-based virus, right?

This ominous feeling... This sheer malicious vindictiveness... This can only be some kind of curse.

And if its caster knows this parallel Shimousa...this must be one of his malignant seeds!

His seeds?

...Indeed! Indeed it is!

The high-density magical energy is taking on a new shape! It looks like it's capable of combat too, just like those monsters you fought earlier!

Hehe, hehehehehehehe. Ask and ye shall receive!

Indeed, it is I.

Who are you!?

...Caster of Limbo!!!

Hmm, am I? Hehe.

Mmm, true, I did die once or twice. Hehe. What a keen eye you have.

？！

At any rate!

Long time no see, should I say? Or perhaps it was just your yesterday that we last met? Ah, no matter.

I don't see that accursed Shinmen Musashi here, nor that farce of athat ironic excuse for a Counter Force Guardian.

And without them, there is no possible way for you to triumph over me. You lack the strength!

So, what will you do?

Run away? Cry and beg for your life?

By all means, run away with your tail between your legs. Cry! Grovel! Beg for forgiveness!

Hehe, hehehehe. It's all the same to me, now that you are trapped in my Bounded Field!

I decide whether you live or die! And I plan to keep you alive for a long, long time. You have so much suffering to do!

Hmm, now how to go about it... Ah yes, I've got it!

You there, the shinobi Heroic Spirit. You are to do your best samurai impression and commit seppu

...Hmm?

Shut up, you monster.

Oh, but I haven't even begun to indulge my monstrous side. Now, what to do about the Master of Chaldea...

Perhaps I'll turn him into a lump of meat, or keep him somewhere between life and death for

...!

(So fast! That flash just now...!)

Not another word out of you, monster. I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know this!

I won't let you lay so much as a finger on Master! Don't you dare speak to him. Don't you even look at him!

Now die!

Hmm. Hmm...

Hahaha, now I see! You're a Servant! A Heroic Spirit! But a far cry from the unit I embedded with my ultimate technique!

Your blade will never reach me! Your mind will never be free!

And I...I will drink in every last drop of all that pathetic regret! Hehehehe. Hehe, hehehehahahahaha!

...You are utterly detestable.

Limbo, I know this version of you isn't a Servant. I could sense it if you were really here.

You're right, Kotarou... He does have a lot of magical energy, but he isn't a Heroic Spirit!

Looks like he's just a program comprised of high-density magical energy. He might have the energy, but he's got no soul and no Spirit Origin!

Then he is no more than a curse, or a malignant spirit!

Begone, you Caster of Limbo look-alike, or else I will cut you to shreds and make you disappear!

Good, that's the spirit! But I wouldn't take me lightly just because I'm a curse if I were

I am the fifth head of the Fuuma clan, Fuuma Kotarou! I have achieved ultimate mastery of the Fuuma arts, one of which was inherited from an oni!

There is no way the oni I created through blood, sweat, and tears will fail to destroy any curse created by mere man!

Mastery... Fuuma...

Well said, fifth head, Lord Kotarou!

Mastery of the Fuuma arts is exactly the great feat that the first Fuuma hoped one of his successors would accomplish!

If you have come that far, we have nothing at all to fear from this strange and disturbing clump of magical energy!

Let us put an end to this right now! Master!

？！

Mechanical ninja art: Fuuma Missile! It will tear any target apart, even a monster!

Caster of Limbo...or whatever remains of you. Go away, and leave us alone!

If you ever think to try something like this again...

...then I will crush you as many times as it takes!

？！

？！

Allow me to join you, Lord Kotarou!

Of course!

...Evil Wind Death Storm! ...Immortal Chaos Brigade!

Hngggh!

...And this is not all. I have one more technique for you...a dark and cursed one.

This is not a Fuuma technique. In fact, it is not a technique used by any human.

It is my forbidden, ultimate technique for sealing away oni and those who have fallen. I swore I would never use it in the presence of another.

But this is my own database; it is a fleeting illusion, not unlike a dream. Here, I can cross this line at least once.

Forgive me, Master.

I'm seeing something in Danzo's hand... Is that...a moonflower?

...I'm sorry.

!!!

Once I cut the flower I hold in my hand, it causes my enemy's head to fall on the spot.

...Impressive, Lady Danzo.

...Youjutsu Zanhou: Moonflower.

It is a cursed, forbidden technique. Please, forget you saw it.

...Da Vinci, Holmes. It looks like they finished their battle.

Senpai, Kotarou, and Danzo are all doing fine. This should put an end to...

...Da Vinci?

Oh, right, yeah. The battle's all over, and I'm seeing the abnormal data disappear on my monitor too.

That's all well and good, but there's still something strange about this.

What do you mean?

I'm looking at the damage to her database right now...

...and a segment of it has been repaired perfectly. I wonder what's going on?

We determined that the mysterious data causing this daydream malfunction was either a bug or a virus.

I have not changed my position there, of course. However...

...what if the purpose of this strange data lay not in destroying Danzo, but in repairing her...?

Of course, that alone does not tell us why this data was sent, but opposing forces have been known to make merciful gestures towards their enemy at times.

...Again, Holmes? Are you doing it AGAIN?

Well now, I wouldn't say I knew right away. This was merely one of many possibilities.

So you DID do it again! Dammit Holmes!

(...Huff, huff, gasp)

I-I'm back.

Good job. You finished exactly thirty minutes sooner today than you did last time.

What's more, the mountain you crossed today is the steepest in Sagami. You did well to traverse them.

Well done...Lord Fifth.

Thank you.

Oh, but, it's still too soon to call me that...

I have a long way to go before I'm worthy. That's why I'm still training with you.

Once I've learned all the Fuuma arts, and made them my own, that's when I'll start going by "Fifth."

So, until then...

...I shall call you Lord Kotarou.

Um, I don't

I insist. At least let me call you by your name. You have already been chosen as the clan's successor.

You should be proud of that, Lord Kotarou.

Given your current stage of progression, I will respect your wish to not be addressed as "Fifth."

But you have already been named as Fuuma Kotarou. You cannot go by your childhood name forever.

I am sure your late father would want the same.

Okay?

...Okay.

Good. Now, let's get ready for dinner. Today, instead of returning to Fuuma Village, we will be staying at that cabin there.

Huh? You mean, we're not just going to have hyourougan?

You are a growing boy. You need large meals to help you grow big and strong.

O-okay!

I'll go catch some fish and game then!

No need. I have already caught a number of trout. I can cook them in the cabin's fireplace.

I also killed a rabbit I can use to make soup. You need as much nourishment as you can get.

Oh, I love trout and rabbit! But, um...

Hm?

Are you going to cook them, Mother? Usually, someone in the village prepares meals...

Yes.

Since...

Since you are kind enough to call me "Mother"... I thought I would try to act like one.

If...if it's not too presumptuous of me.

No, Mother. Not at all.

I, uh...

I can't wait to try your cooking!

Then let's go back to the cabin. Um...

... ...

...Is it normal for mothers to hold their children's hands at times like this?

O-oh, um... I think so...?

Then take my hand, and let's be on our way...Kotarou.

Hehehe...

Hehe, hehehehehehehehe. Hahahahahaha. Ahh, that took much longer than I expected.

But at long last, the connection is made. A single, cherished treasure, at least for you.

A recorda memory that you yourself singled out as being precious.

Do continue to cherish it.

You need memories that inspire warmth inside that cold, unfeeling body. You must not forget that which you love.

No, that won't do at all. Not at all.

Why...?

Why are you... doing this...?

Are you really...

...helping me to recall these irreplaceable memories...

...I thought I had forgotten for good?

Yes, of course. You were in a truly sorry state of disrepair, after all.

You were so broken down that you couldn't even remember your own precious past, or why you were made to begin with.

I couldn't bear it. I simply couldn't bear it.

Why...

...that would just be far too dull.

Yes, dreadfully dull! For how could I hope to truly devastate you if I didn't know exactly what to break!

That's why I did this.

That's why I brought your memory back. A precious, cherished memory, just like a real human's!

So, you care for this child as your own, even though you have oil running through your veins instead of blood? Hmm, I see. That's great. Wonderful, even.

I'm so glad to hear that, my little wooden doll.

I can't begin to understand why you cherish this memory so...but please, do not stop.

Because one day, I will return...and I will see that you are utterly destroyed.

Destroyed...

You mean, you're going to break me?

Oh no.

I mean I'm going to devastate you. I'm going to destroy that which you cherish most.

I'm going to find the dead shadow...the Servant who looks exactly like the living boy you cared for so very much.

I'm going to find the man you love... the so-called apple of your eye...

...and I'm going to crush him to a pulp, right in front of you.

And when that time comes...

...I look forward to seeing your face twist in anguish, my beautiful wooden doll.

Welcome back, Senpai! You did great.

I'm so glad to see you're safe. And Danzo's just finished rebooting.

Yes, she's fine. In fact, she just finished rebooting!

？！

... ...

I'm back, Moth

I mean, Lady Danzo.

...Welcome back, Kotarou.