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So this is the Reinstatement Realm...

I confess, I am somewhat disappointed by the ease with which we made our way in.

I was expecting something more along the lines of an impenetrable fortress, but this is... Hmm.

(...Come on, Sherlock, snap out of it. Do not let the professor get in your head.)

(Now is the time to be fully awake and alert, not to doze off as though you were taking a nap.)

An impenetrable fortress, huh? You might be right. Some parts of this city remind me of the Holy City of Camelot.

Da Vinci.

We're here, but we're sticking to audio only. Everything good?

It would seem so, at least so far.

But, I'm afraid our attempts to contact Mr. Fujimaru are still being jammed.

His vitals are still holding steady, so it looks like he's safe for the time being.

Now then...

Honestly, it's still kind of shocking that every one of these people is actually a Servant.

It's like they're buying in bulk at some kinda Servant warehouse.

That one is French...and that one over there is most likely German or Austrian.

Can you tell their True Names?

I could make an educated guess about some of them... But more importantly, there's something else that has come to light.

An extremely bizarre fact pertaining to their summoning.

What's that?

I suspect they only have one Master.

... ...Huh?

Broadly speaking, Masters serve two functions for their Servants.

First, they serve as an anchor which keeps their Servant bound to the modern world.

Any Master with suitable magical circuits can serve that function.

Like Fujimaru.

Precisely.

This is the main role we expect of Mr. Fujimaru.

The other major function a Master serves is as a source of the energy their Servant requires.

One could even say supplying magical energy is a Master's primary role.

Well yeah, of course.

Chaldea's got Magical Reactors or something filling in the gaps for the actual Servant summons, right?

...Indeed.

It's how we're able to unify Chaldean Servants' magical energy supply line.

The same thing is being done here. Every Servant's magical energy is coming from the same being.

How can you tell?

I determined as much from what I discerned of their conversations and behavior, and from my own natural talent. Namely...

My intuition.

You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking.

At any rate.

This means there are several thousand Servants fighting each other, even when they serve the same Master.

Granted, these Servants do range from Heroic Spirits capable of great destruction, to Phantom Spirits that are only here to fill out the rank and file, but still.

...That's not possible.

You are correct, at least in the conventional sense.

Even if they did have the same or a similar system as Chaldea, they would still need an incredibly powerful magical energy source on par with a Magical Reactor.

Singularity magical energy sources are pretty much always Holy Grails, right? But I've never heard of one being split in three.

Indeed. It cannot be split.

Still, what I really want to know is, WHY are they doing this?

...Hm?

What is it?

There's someone shouting over there. ...Let's go take a look.

The Seventeenth Brigade, Iron Finger, engaged a portion of the Righteous Realm's forces in battle.

The enemy retreated immediately, leaving us with zero casualties!

The Seventh Brigade, Beetle, and the Ninth Brigade, Fire Rain, engaged a medium-sized force from the Revenge Realm at Fort Ortule.

The Sixth and Eighth Brigades were wiped out, and we lost a lot of the Servants in our brigades as well.

We have, however, occupied the fort. Our Casters have already completed repairs.

That concludes our report!

Very good.

It seems the Righteous Realm is still as slippery as ever.

Every time I've sent in Assassins for recon, they've been forced to retreat before they can learn anything.

Even our Casters' far-sight has proven useless against them.

Shall we begin our full-scale assault, Your Imperial Majesty? We should have the numbers to defeat them.

Absolutely not. The last thing we need is to fight a war on two fronts. If only we had more information...

(Think that's the ruler here?)

(It would seem so. Which would make him Kōnstantînos XI.)

... ...

(Has he noticed us?)

Excuse me.

!!!

It's not safe for you two to be out here.

He's bound to notice you sooner or later. Please, come with me.

Hey.

...Let's do as she says. Be careful not to look the emperor's way.

... ...

Is something wrong, my liege?

No, it's fine. Now what was this other new report you had for me?

Ah, yes, liege.

The Assassins we sent into Revenge Realm territory have returned with important news.

Oh?

They've captured the Master of Chaldea, and are currently keeping him prisoner.

...Now I see. So that's what that was.

Your Imperial Majesty?

Gather our soldiers. It seems some rats have snuck into our realm, as well.

Rats, my liege?

Chaldean rats.

...!

...Okay. We should be safe here, at least for the time being.

Thank you for your help, Ms.

Hold on. Just give me a moment to take off my disguise.

Phew, it was stuffy in there!

Who are you?

I take it you have some affiliation with the church?

Yes, I do. My name is Johanna.

Johanna... Wait, Johanna!? As in, POPE Johanna!?

That's right. I'm Johanna, the phantom pope.

A pleasure to meet you, Pope Johanna. I am Sherlock Holmes.

And this is Kadoc Zemlupus. He's a Master, not a Servant.

...Did you really have to tell her that?

Oh, it's quite all right. It was bound to come out sooner or later, and sharing it now shows that we trust her, as we should.

Oh my. Thank you for that.

Wow, Holmes. That's so...uncharacteristically nice of you.

I don't really recall him having a weakness for beautiful women.

Hahaha, would you two be so kind as to pipe down? I'm attempting to have a serious conversation.

So, I gotta ask: Why'd you save us?

I mean, you're on their side, right?

...No. By rights, I should be opposing you. It's my duty, really.

But...I simply can't stand that sort of thing.

To what sort of thing do you refer, might I ask?

Killing. Hurting. Deceiving. All of it.

...I'm a poor excuse for a hero, I know.

Not at all, fair pope. It just goes to show how inherently noble you truly are.

Now, much as I would rather avoid asking such prying questions, I'm afraid we absolutely need information.

Of course. I'd be glad to tell you what I know.

Thank you. Very well then, I'd like to begin by learning about the current state of this Singularity.

But it would be a waste of time for all of us to have you start from the beginning, so I hope you'll allow me to first posit my own theory.

Naturally, if there's anything I have wrong, or if there's some essential bit of information I'm missing, please don't hesitate to jump in and correct me.

All right.

Very well then.

...There are three factions warring for control of this Singularity, each of which possesses territory they call "realms."

Kriemhild's Revenge Realm... Kōnstantînos's Reinstatement Realm...

...and Charles the Great's Righteous Realm.

But this war is solely a power struggle...or perhaps a means to an altogether different objective.

This Singularity must be repaired because every one of its Heroic Spirits are rebelling against Proper Human History.

...Yes, that's all correct.

I presume they're fighting over Holy Grails.

Though not just one. One alone wouldn't be sufficient for all of this.

I suspect there are three Holy Grails here, one in each realm, and every realm is attempting to claim the others for itself.

It's little wonder every faction is competing for such valuable objects.

Three Holy Grails! So there's three sources of magical energy here!

Oh my, you even figured out the Holy Grails.

I merely did my best to arrive at the correct conclusion given the facts available.

What's more...the Master that would normally command you all both exists and does not exist.

They activate your Command Spells during battle, but never actually show themself.

It's all but certain that they exist, yet no one has ever seen them.

Truly a mystery...a mystery that has inevitably led to these Servants having no choice but to rebel.

Without any specific orders from their Master, the Servants began acting as they liked.

Like-minded Servants joined forces until they formed their own factions.

And you have continued to fight all by yourself...

...without knowing when or how this situation will ultimately resolve.

...That's all exactly right. There was no need for me to interject at all.

You're too kind, Your Holiness.

At first...I didn't know what to do. Rebelling against humanity would be overturning Proper Human History.

That is a wishan order, that no Servant must ever follow.

...But somehow, we've made our peace with it. We've accepted this order to the point we no longer question it.

Some are more okay with it than others, and you do occasionally see those who can't bring themselves to obey it.

But even so...none of us have the strength to outright defy it.

Why is that? Is your Master simply that strong?

...I don't know. I still don't understand why we can't defy this order...why we continue to obey it.

It's just as much a mystery for us as for you.

...Hmm.

... ...Truly puzzling indeed.

If you would permit me one more question, could you tell me what you know of the different realms?

For example, anything that clearly differentiates one from another?

Let me think...

Kriemhildthe Revenge Realm, is the largest faction our realm is currently fighting.

They're motivated by things like anger...despair...and, um...you know that feeling where you want to get back at someone who wronged you?

Revenge?

Oh, right. That! Silly me!

...Ahem. Anyway, I've heard they use that to do this and that.

(Wow, don't drown us in detail.)

Hmm, I see.

So it's said they have a lot more Berserkers than the other realms...at least, by comparison.

As for our realm, the Reinstatement Realm, well... You've already seen for yourselves.

We may not have as many Servants as the Revenge Realm, but I think we make up for that with our coordination.

I see. So you're saying they're all fighting this war with all their might.

Oh yes, definitely! It's inspiring to see!

Hahaha. I only wish their efforts didn't make our job more difficult.

O-oh, right. I'm sorry...

Now, since this might be difficult for you to say, allow me: I gather this realm's Servants are the highest in quality among the three realms.

Am I correct?

...Y-yes, you are.

Sounds like you chose well.

You guys can offset the Revenge Realm's quantity with quality.

It seems morale is similarly high among both realms, as well. Then, what about the Righteous Realm?

Well...I'm afraid we still don't know much about them, either.

We don't know how many of them there are, or what their average quality is... None of them have ever even snuck into our city.

Is that so?

I would have thought just having Charles the Great on their side would be enough to make them the strongest force here.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about that. I'm sorry I can't tell you more.

Please, don't be. This has all been most illuminating, Your Holiness. You have my sincere thanks.

I'm sure this hasn't been easy for you.

...In what way?

You're the only Servant in the Reinstatement Realm caught between rebelling against humanity and protecting it.

I'm not, though. Deep down, everyone else is just as conflicted.

We're all caught between our Master's order to rebel against humanity and our own desire to protect it.

Our instincts drive us to the former, while our reason urges us to the latter. ...I'm telling you all of this is because I chose to heed reason over instinct.

I see...

Holmes.

...!

(What's wrong?)

(We've been surrounded. We need to get out of here.)

(...Did she call them on us?)

Hm?

(No, it wasn't her. Kōnstantînos must have sent them after he spotted us earlier.)

...That just leaves one last question.

What's that?

Are you the reason this realm is named "Reinstatement"?

I

Another time then. Now, if you'll excuse me!

Gaah!

Why you...!

Wait!

But Lady Johanna!

Don't bother going after them. I just got a full picture of Chaldea's situation.

We don't need to be worried about them.

...I see. So you didn't betray us then.

What would I have to gain from doing that?

...True. You certainly don't have anything else.

That is exactly why this is the Reinstatement Realm.

I'm sorry. I guess I let my nerves get the better of me.

...It's all right. I appreciate how devoted you are.

At any rate, it seems Chaldea is even more understaffed than we thought.

Yes. They have one Servant, Sherlock Holmes... One Master named Kadoc Zemlupus...

And, so far as I could tell, no one else.

Hm... Then I suppose dealing with them can wait until later.

I agree.

So, Sherlock Holmes, huh? I'm surprised they sent in a detective from the pages of fiction rather than history.

... ...

Hm? ...Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult Your Holiness.

It's all right. I know you didn't.

...Good. All right, JohannaI mean, Your Holiness.

Would you come with me to the castle? My subordinates have been waiting to see you.

Yes, of course. Let's be on our way.

Agreed.

...Should I sing a hymn or two?

Maybe some other time.

Looks like that was the last of them. ...I can't believe we actually got away.

Only because they weren't trying very hard to capture us. I suspect Pope Johanna had something to do with that.

Why would she do that?

Not for us. That much is clear.

No, I believe she simply wanted to learn as much as she could about Chaldea.

We are no more than invaders as far as she's concerned. Though...

What?

I also don't believe that was the only reason she made contact with us.

She has her own share of troubles she's currently agonizing over.

You got any proof? Or maybe some reason to explain why you'd think that?

She knew exactly who we were.

That alone isn't surprising. Not with Moriarty here.

He's almost certainly working behind the scenes, which means we should assume that this realm already knows about us, if not the others as well.

Yeah, fair point.

There're all sorts of ways Moriarty could feed them information without ever having to show himself.

Which just leaves one question.

Brief though my conversation with Pope Johanna was, I could tell she is both intelligent and sensible.

So what could have made her think she'd have a chance of extracting information from me?

Cocky as that is of you, you're not wrong.

Good point. I was thinking the same thing.

If I were against you, Holmes, I'd be worried about giving up information if I tried to extract any from you.

Precisely.

Let us say for the moment that she came to us alone and tried to extract information from us in the guise of offering assistance.

The act itself is so bizarre, it defies conventional understanding.

My reputation precedes me, after all. So instead, she was likely

...pretending to try to get information out of us while actually feeding it to us?

Correct.

In fact, she may even sincerely believe her actions are not in conflict.

That she was merely doing her best to aid her realm.

But that cannot, logically speaking, be the case.

Perhaps it was her duty as a guardian of humanity that drove her to act. Perhaps another emotion altogether.

...Well, either way, at least we made it out of there.

So, what's next?

What else? You keep on investigating the Singularity.

... ...

...Ahem.

From what we've learned about the Revenge Realm, there is nothing Holmes can do there on his own.

As such, our current priority is gathering more information. Once we resolve this Singularity...

...that should give Fujimaru the opportunity to come back to us.

... ...Director, um...

...Of course.

There is no question in anyone's mind that Fujimaru is essential to our combat capabilities.

Therefore...

...I will put together a plan to rescue him from the Revenge Realm once we have sufficient information and allies.

We will discuss it further then, and only then. Any objections!?

None at all!

Agreed.

With the right factors in place, mounting a rescue would certainly be within the realm of possibility.

Got it. So, what's our next move then, Holmes? If we're not going to the Revenge Realm, then

The Righteous Realm, of course.

Are you serious? I mean, we're talking about Charles the Great here, right?

Do you think Kriemhild, a queen who named her realm for her lust for vengeance, would be more amenable to peaceful discussion?

...Well, no, but

Then let us be on our way. Mind, this is only speculation on my part...

...but I suspect Charles's realm is our only safe haven in this entire Singularity.