Heian Warrior

I am the head of Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings, guardians of the capital.

I am the warrior of Genji entrusted with our most prized sword, the Higekiri.

Escorting Special Agent Watanabe-no-Tsuna.

Watanabe-no-Tsuna! Like Lord Kintoki, he is one of Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings...

That means he is one of the strongest warriors in the Heian periodan unparalleled slayer of beasts!

Indeed. An unparalleled slayer of beasts!

So then, that magnificent blade he carries must be the Onikiri Yasutsuna, from the Houki Province...

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(The question now is...is he friend, or foe!?)

(He may have slain the beast that was threatening our lives, but something inside mesomething that is not a part of my circuitryis screaming at me not to let down my guard!)

(I cannot ignore this feeling! I must be prepared to fight at a moment's notice to keep Master safe!)

Caster.

Yes, Lord Tsuna.

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You were right, Master.

We are facing a Servant. I'm certain of it.

I see. Well, that is a cruel twist of fate.

Forgive me, foreign boy. Despite having just saved your life...

...I now have no choice but to take it, in accordance with the rules of the Imperial Holy Grail War.

For Lord Fujiwara-no-Michinaga's word is as absolute as edicts from the heavens themselves.

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Now...face me, Caster!

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Master, get behind me! Now!

Well, well!

So, you have chosen to get between me and my target! Your peculiar motions are surprisingly quick!

...!

(His sword strokes are too fast for me to follow!)

(And what's more, they are frighteningly strong! I can feel my limbs groaning under the strain! Even as a Servant, I am no match for his mastery of the blade!)

(So this is the head of Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings!)

(But, why would one of the Four Heavenly Kings attack us? And why is a Servant accompanying him?)

(I don't know. But right now, with neither Lady Mash nor Lord Kotarou here to help...)

(...It falls to me to keep Master safe, no matter what!!!)

...Khh!

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I'm all right!

Hmm.

Please be careful, Lord Tsuna. There is no telling what sort of tricks a Servant may have up their sleeves.

Thank you, Caster.

That aside...

I assumed you were a warrior from a far-off land I know nothing about, and yet, you are surprisingly weak.

Or are you merely holding back, so as not to kill or injure me?

Hah. If that is the case, then you must take me for a fool.

(He's so strong...!)

(Even as a Servant, I cannot see a way to defeat him!)

(Despite being a flesh and blood human with a Servant of his own at his command, he has still chosen to fight this battle almost entirely on his own.)

(Even though the Heroic Spirit accompanying him could easily block all manner of non-Mystic physical attacks, he relies on her for nothing but support!)

(So this is how a Heian warrior fights!)

We have no reason to fight you...but you do not seem to feel the same.

Don't be ridiculous. As Masters, there is but one path open to us.

As per Lord Fujiwara's decree, the city of Kyo is now the field upon which we must do battle.

There is nothing more to say.

(This aura... He truly means to kill us!)

(There does not seem to be anything I can say that would stop him! Which means there is only one option left, though it will not be an easy one.)

Here I come.

(If we hope to see another day, we will just have to run for it!)

Forgive me!

Master!

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Come on!

!

Master! Over here!

This smoke may be poisonous. Hold on. I'm going to cast a spell that will neutralize it and let you breathe more eas

Don't bother.

This is only an ordinary smoke screen, not a poisonous one.

Lord Tsuna, stop! It's not safe!

Don't you get it, Caster? That warrior was clearly trying to keep the boy safe.

And she could not possibly do that if the gas were poisonous.

Hmm... From the sound of it, they've already covered a great deal of ground.

Shall we go after them?

Of course. Come, let's go.

My apologies, Master, but this is an emergency!

I hope you can forgive me for carrying you in my arms while we make our escape!

Ordinarily, I would do so by leaping great distances rather than running...

...but I am afraid my body is still not functioning at optimum levels!

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Do not worry about me! A few scratches like this are not

...!

I-I am so sorry... It seems my long-distance running and thousand-li-per-second traversal mechanisms were more damaged than I realized...

I suppose I should have expected no less from the famed Watanabe-no-Tsuna...

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!

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...All right, Master. Thank you.

Master.

It won't be long before Lord Watanabe-no-Tsuna catches up with us. When he does...

...I want you to let me make amends for this horrific failure.

I will do whatever it takes to delay him and give you an opportunity to escape, even if it should cost me my life.

So I want you to hold onto my right hand. Its mechanisms may be silent now...

...but it contains a communication device with greater range and fidelity than yours. If you use it to contact Chaldea

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Master.

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Master.

Hey. You two got a moment?

Wha!?

So, uh...

I had a little too much to drink tonight, so I decided to take a walk, get some night air...

And the next thing I know, I wake up sprawled out in some back alley.

So then I heard you two whisperin' and the lady here sounded real worried about something.

Maybe not on the verge of tears or anything, but whatever's on your mind, lady, it seems pretty serious.

You in trouble or something?

Yeah, maybe you are. Maybe you're not.

Not gonna lie, I can be pretty dense.

...So if you don't wanna deal with that, just lemme know and I'll get outta your hair.

...But.

If I ain't got it all mixed up...

...and you really do need help...

...all you gotta do is ask.

One word, and I'll hop to and bail you out.

Whatever it is that's botherin' you, I'll take care of it. I sure ain't about to make injured villagers fend for themselves!

So, how about it?

You two on the run from monsters or bandits or somethin'? Where's your house? Is it close by?

Golden hair!

Are you...perhaps...

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Huh? What're you talkin' about?

"Golden"?

Golden... Naw, that ain't right. Wait, it is! Golden! That's it!

I like the sound of that. Somethin' about that word just sounds...yeah! Awesome!

Golden! I love it!

Wait. Oh man! I didn't realize how badly injured you were!

What happened to you guys? You run into a tsuchigumo or something?

W-well

Close.

A tsuchigumo did attack them, but it is not what inflicted those wounds.

I did. Just a graze, with Higekiri.

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Curses. He already caught up to us!

...Huh.

So that's how it is. Interestin'.

Kintoki.

Move aside. You're in my way.

My business here is with the woman and boy, not you.

That right?

Kintoki.

I dunno if you noticed, Brother Tsuna, but it's the middle of the night.

I know I couldn't live with myself if I didn't make sure these two got home safe, so that's just what I was about to do.

Whatever business you got with them can wait.

Got it?

Lord Kintoki...

(He really does mean to protect us, even though we have yet to tell him a single thing about ourselves.)

(He made his decision in an instant, without any hesitation.)

(So this is Lord Sakata Kintoki of Ashigara... one of Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings...)

...Stand down, Kintoki. I would prefer to avoid anything that might cause Lady Raikou grief.

Ha! Biiig talk, even for the head of the Four Heavenly Kings!

Kintoki.

You know I got nothin' but respect for you, Brother Tsuna, but that doesn't mean anythin' you say goes!

Now why don't ya fill me in, 'cause I don't get it!

Granted, since I came down from Mt. Ashigara, there's been a whole lotta things that were clear as mud to me...

But no matter how hard I try...

...I can't understand why the undisputed strongest Heian warrior...

...would be goin' after women and children!

...

I shouldn't even have to be tellin' you this, Brother Tsuna...

...but we're supposed to keep women and children safe, not cut off their heads.

I see. You do make a good point.

However, neither of them is young enough that I would call them children.

(Sighs) ...That really what you think, Brother Tsuna?

'Cause it sure don't look that way to me.

Hell, that boy with the black hair's definitely still just a kid.

Most kids his age'd probably be bawlin' their eyes out if they were lost in the middle of the night.

But not this kid. He's been holdin' back his tears and refusin' to give in to his fears as he looks for a way home.

He might be lost, but he's still got guts.

Least, that's the feeling I get from him.

How 'bout you, Brother? You sure you don't feel the same?

...I'm glad to see nothing ever gets you down, Kintoki.

But the Imperial Holy Grail War requires that I do this. Now stand aside.

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No.

...I said, stand back.

And I said no!

Then you leave me no choice!

Bring it on, ya bastard!

Never mind the shikigami skeletons, Caster! They're only getting in my way!

They're Dragon Tooth Warriors! But anyway, if I do that

Don't bother! They won't be of any help against Kintoki!

Hraaah!

Hah, well that's somethin'!

Never woulda thought a lone wolf like you'd send a bunch of skeletons to do his dirty work!

Not that they're gonna be much help againstWhoa!

Phew, that was close!

Well, well. Not so much as a scratch, even after taking a direct blow from Higekiri! I knew you had talent!

Haaah!

Damn!

(I can see why Lord Kintoki was one of Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings! Even up against a warrior as strong as Lord Tsuna, he refuses to back down!)

(However, Lord Tsuna is still)

Fun though it is to spar with you, Kintoki...

...I am not about to spend all night needlessly fighting one of my fellow Four Heavenly Kings especially since you are not a Master yourself.

Ha!

Gah!

Since there are two Casters present here, I need bring back only one head as proof!

(Lord Tsuna's sights are not set on Lord Kintoki...)

(...and they are not currently set on me, either!)

(So then, he must be after...Master!?)

Oh, cra

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U-understood!

Wha...!?

Huh!?

Did she just disappear?

...No, it is not that. The boy told her to use her spirit form. Which must mean...

Caster!

Y-yes, Lord Tsuna! She is definitely a Servant!

So you meant the puppet, rather than the boy?

...I see. So I have not been tricked so much as I was simply ignorant.

I-I'm so sorry! I should have been more specific!

You're right! The Servant signal came from the woman with the long black hair who just vanished!

Not that boy with the black hair!

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I see.

Also, um, while we're on the subject...

I don't think the woman is a Caster.

Given the way she carried herself, I would bet she's an Assassin.

What?

You mean there are other kinds of Servants besides Casters?

... ...

...Hmm.

Lord Tsuna.

No, it's all right. I shouldn't have been so quick to jump to conclusions.

...I just assumed this boy here was a Caster based on their highly unusual clothing, and the fact that I thought I saw him use some form of sorcery.

It just goes to show I too have much to learn.

Kintoki.

I don't get it. How the hell'd that injured lady disappear like that?

...Oh, sorry, Brother. What's up?

Since there do not seem to be any Casters here whose heads I can take, I will step aside for now.

Go ahead and take that boy wherever you like.

But, know this.

The next time we meet, I will have you show me your left hand.

And if, by chance, I should happen to see those glowing red marks upon it

Yeah? What're you gonna do, Brother?

Put you to the sword, of course.

!

Hah! So you're finally gonna come at me without holdin' anythin' back, huh? Well that'll be somethin'!

In that case, Brother Tsuna, I can't wait to see what you've got.

...Let's go, Caster.

R-right.

... ...

......

...Phew. He IS gone now, right?

I knew it!

I can't sense him, either! Phew, that's a relief!

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Man, that was nuts. Goin' up against Tsuna's crazy skills, even if he was holdin' back!

But you guys did that and managed to make it out not just with your heads still attached, but all your limbs, too!

That's the sorta thing people'd be talkin' about for ages if they'd seen it! You oughta be proud!

You bet!

Don't worry about it! Haha!

Huh?

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"Morph?"

Aah! Where'd you come from!?

M-man...so you can just disappear and reappear outta nowhere, huh!?

What Lord Fujimaru here is trying to say, Lord Sakata Kintoki...

...is that you are a good person who always tries to do the right thing.

Oh? Someone who always tries to do the right thing, huh.

Hmmm.

...Me? You think?

'Cause I don't got any idea what's right and what's wrong. Hell, if you do, I'd love it if you told me.

Far as I'm concerned, I was just helpin' out a kid who lost his way. I wasn't thinkin' about it any deeper than that.

Man, city life is complicated, huh!?

Especially now, what with the Imperial Holy Grail War going on...