Even Were That a...

Good day, Mr. Salieri.

Would you look at that? What a beautiful sunset.

Vice-Principal.

I'm surprised to see you here. I believe this is your first trip to the music room, in fact.

I was unaware of you having any interest in the arts, let alone music.

I do hope you'll forgive my rudeness.

Please, pay it no heed.

Then please permit me one more moment of rudeness in the form of a question.

Of course. What is it?

Did you think you could beat me if you caught me alone?

... ...

...Forgive me, Mr. Salieri, but I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean.

I merely wished to commend your dedication to the students' musical education, even on your day off.

I assure you, I have nothing but the utmost respect for

Shut up.

I believed either you or the student council president...

...had the potential to become a threat, just like what happened with Ms. Katsume.

But you don't even need a Heroic Spirit to possess you. You're already a Servant, aren't you?

...

I'll admit, your disguise is impeccable. I don't sense any magical energy from you, let alone any hint of a Servant aura.

... ...

...Good grief.

Using yourself as bait to lure an enemy out on a hunch... You are a far cry from Antonio Salieri the musician indeed.

Oh, forgive me. Perhaps I should call you the Man in Grey instead?

Huh!?

I have a message for you from the queen.

"What a sorry sight."

"I can't believe you're still playing at being the mild-mannered music teacher, even here."

"You of all people should know exactly where revenge leads. How long do you intend to go on pretending you're Salieri?"

... ...

("Queen"... He must mean the student council president. So then, she's a Heroic Spirit, too...)

"Don't you understand?"

"Here, in this version of Tokyo..."

"...the Amadeus you seek is nowhere to be found."

!!!

"Who are you? You're a vengeance seeker. But you've buried your hatred, and lowered yourself to playing butler for a stargazer."

"Has your soul forgotten its resentment, Salieri the Avenger!?"

...!?

Mwahahahaha! Yes, that's it! The bitter blood descends!

An aggregation of rage, here among us! Look upon it, pitiful peon of the stargazer, and remember!

Remember the insatiable hatred engraved on your soul! Remember what your form truly cries out for!

The joy of revenge!

...Hehe.

Oh, I'm sorry. My uncle just sent me some very good news.

But I really shouldn't be checking my phone while we're still on our date, even if we're wrapping up.

...Ahem! So, on that note:

I had lots of fun today!

I hope you feel the same. Do you?

？！

Oh, this?

Well yes, of course. We're at my home station now.

There's no telling when I might run into someone I know here, right?

I only dress like that when I go somewhere elsesomewhere I've never been before.

So now that I'm back on my home turf, this is how I look.

Do you understand where I'm coming from?

So you do. Hehe, I'm so glad.

Aw, you big meanie.

？！

...What, you're back already?

I'm not about to insist you stay out all night...

...but you did go all the way to Odaiba, right?

You could have at least invited her to dinner as well. I swear, my nephew is such a late bloomer.

？！

Oh my! So you're Fujimaru's aunt!

I had no idea you were so beautiful and dependable.

Hah. You're a smooth one.

My family often tells me I need to grow up, but I've still lived my share of years.

More than the two of you, anyway.

Teehee. You really are a lovely person, aren't you?

Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Towano Marie.

I go to the same school as Fujimaru, and

Yes, so I've heard. You're the student council president, right?

Thanks for showing my nephew a good time.

Oh no, I should be thanking him! We spent an absolutely lovely Sunday together.

Is that so? I'm glad to hear it.

？！

I had some business in Yokohama. I just got back myself.

I'm heading home now, but... Hmm.

I know. Why don't you two get some fast food or something for dinner?

That'll make my job much easier.

All right, I'm off. See you later.

What a truly lovely person.

She's friendly, and dignified... You can tell she's very confident.

You only get that from having real inner strength. And on top of that...

...she seems very kind and open-minded, too.

So...that's your new family, huh.

？！

Ooooh, scary.

I didn't know you could look so stern.

You're scaring me...

So you know what? I'm going to run away.

Think about what I told you in the movie theater, okay?

And one more thing... You should probably avoid dark places.

They can be awfully dangerous.

If you survive, let's hang out again sometime. I think you and I can still have lots of fun together!

？！

(I know! But I'm dealing with some kind of gloopy monster over here!)

(Crap, okay. I'll be right there! Just hang on for two more seconds!)

？！

Oh, come on. This is exactly the time to be running away.

？！

I traded places with Kagekiyo. When you started chasing the council president...

...I figured I should go with you, since I can use my spirit form.

Looks like I made the right call.

Fall back. Masters are supposed to lead from the rear, right?

？！

？！

Don't be stupid! You can at least fall back a little!

Guess this means that imitation Marie's one of the bad guys.

I don't know. It's at least possible this is all a coincidence.

But, that does seem pretty unlikely. Let's do this!

？！

All right! Not bad, new kid.

Uh-huh.

Marie's...definitely not here now. Figures.

Guess we better let Mr. Sal know about this. But first, let's get you home sa

Wait. Your hand!

？！

It's covered in monster blood. That's what happens when you get too close.

Ugh, look at you. You're dripping with it.

Say something, dammit. Do you have a handkerchief or something?

Don't give me that "so I am" shit! Do you have a handkerchief or something?

？！

I can't believe this. You're way too close to the fighting if you're getting splattered with monster blood!

I know how Chaldea's summoning system works, how you getting closer gives us more magical energy...

But this is going too far.

You pulled the same shit in West Shinjuku too. You can't keep being so damn reckless.

I know how you fee

Well, no. I guess I can't really say that.

Look, you can't just charge headlong into every fight just 'cause you're angry. You get that, right?

...

...Say something, dammit.

？！

... ...

...Do you want to kill them?

？！

Do you want to get revenge?

？！

...

I'm a killer. My class is Assassin.

My entire purpose for existing is killing, both in life and as a Servant.

Taking life was my reason for being.

And I did that for my faith, without hesitation.

I entrusted everything I had to the order and our founder so that I could become an emotionless, unthinking killing machine.

But Avengers?

They're not like that at all.

They kill, but for their own reasons, motivated by their own feelings.

Avengers' souls are always burning. They practically are fire.

Once they've laid waste to their enemies, they tend to then incinerate themselves.

... ...

What about you, Fujimaru?

Is your soul, your journey, so consumed by flame?

Or is it...