Section 2: The Woman Named Caren

Let's try this again with a more proper introduction, shall we?

I'm Amor, the god of love.

Of course, it would usually be impossible to summon a Divine Spirit like myself as a familiar...

...so as you can see, I've materialized as a Pseudo-Servant by using this stunningly beautiful girl as a vessel.

Amor...

As in, the god of love from Roman mythology!?

？！

I sure do!

Amor...

As in, the god of love from Roman mythology!?

？！

I sure do!

First, putting aside the fact that everything I'm about to tell you is straight out of myth...

Amor originally comes from ancient Greece.

The ancient Greeks believed that a number of primal gods were born at the same time the world was created, and one of them was Eros, the god of erotic love.

But then, as the mythology was developed further, Eros was effectively reinterpreted as Aphrodite's son.

As more time passed, and Rome incorporated Greek mythology into its own...

...Eros and Amor, the Roman god of love, were eventually conflated.

Suffice to say, Amor's got a lot of history, even for a god.

Speaking of which, Amor actually has yet another name, too. One I'm pretty sure you've all heard before.

You know, the adorable little cherub who carries arrows of love, much like Artemis?

Cupid.

Yes, I'm sure you all do know me as Cupid, the cherub of love.

But that doesn't matter right now.

The Spirit Core that makes me me may be Amor, but as far as I'm concerned, the only one I consider to be the lord of the heavens is God the Father.

So really, I'd rather you didn't call me Amor or Cupid.

I'm not a Greek god of love, but rather an agent of the Holy Spirita missionary of love, if you will.

So please, call me Caren C. (for Cupid) Hortensia.

Hmm. God the Father, huh.

That makes it sound like you're affiliated with the Holy Church.

And that would mean your current sense of self comes from your vessel, rather than from Amor.

I see. So you're a Pseudo-Servant who's entrusted their power to their human vessel's personality.

Hmm. God the Father, huh.

That makes it sound like you're affiliated with the Holy Church.

And that would mean your current sense of self comes from your vessel, rather than from Amor.

I see. So you're a Pseudo-Servant who's entrusted their power to their human vessel's personality.

Hmm. Given that most people who get chosen as vessels for gods tend to not exactly be...well, normal...

I wonder where you'll fall on that spectrum...

All right, that's enough fan service. I'm going to go back to my regular outfit now.

Oh wow, your outfit is beautiful! Are you a student, Amoer, Caren?

Your clothes are very chic, of course, but I especially love your hat! It's so cute and elegant!

No, I'm not a student per se... This is just the new outfit I had made up for this occasion.

I'm glad to hear you like it, though. Collecting hats is one of my few hobbies.

Your few hobbies...?

Thank you, Mashérie. May I give you an arrow of love as a token of my appreciation?

Th-that's all right, thank you!

Also, it's "Mash" not Mashérie!

I see. How very selfless of you.

It's too bad you won't take a treat when it's offered. (For one thing, it's so much more boring...)

All right, what if I played you a song on my organ then? Perhaps Bach's Cantata BWV 147, in honor of getting to know one another?

It's one of the few things I'm proud of.

Only a few, huh?

(Slaps)

Ow, ow, ow!

What was that for!?

Pardon me. I sensed you two were slandering me for no good reason.

As for you, I've noticed you haven't so much as batted an eye at anything I've said or done since I arrived.

You must be either extremely important, or just extremely easygoing.

Which means...you must be Fujimaru, the Master of Chaldea. Right?

？！

...Hehe. That'll be another thing worth testing, then...

You'll have to forgive me for pressuring you to accept that, um, temporary contract earlier.

It was just a means to an end to let me receive orders from you...

So if you ever find our connection to be a burden, please feel free to sever it at any time.

Um, Caren C. Hortensia?

Hm? ...Oh, you mean me. Well, that certainly is a lot to say every single time, isn't it? It's okay, you can just call me Caren.

A-all right.

Caren, do you know anything about those not-Shadow Servants?

Ah, those? Let's see... I think the simplest way to describe them is...

Ectoplasm.

？！

Hmm, that took a bit of a strange turn, didn't it? Let me try that again.

Think of them as evil spirits drawn to the wickedness that lies in people's hearts.

You could also call it animosity, or impurities.

I-I see...I think.

All right, now that we know what they are, why did they suddenly show up here at Chaldea?

Good question... Unfortunately, I can't think of a simple explanation for that.

I expect it probably has something to do with Valentine's Day, though. Especially since I'm here, too.

Um, can you elaborate on that?

It wasn't Fujimaru that summoned me here.

It was this festival of love you call Valentine's Day that called me here temporarily.

Valentine's Day is the cause of all of this.

It was Valentine's Day that birthed those evil spirit creatures...

And it was Valentine's Day that summoned me here as a missionary of love.

Now do you get it?

？！

Right? I don't even know what the hell you were trying to say.

I do wish you wouldn't try to make arguments with foregone conclusions.

...

Ahem. I was explaining the reason I was summoned here.

I am a missionary here to save Chaldea.

I sensed the encroaching threat that Valentine's Day posedby which I mean those evil spirit creatures...

...so I was sent here in the Lord's name to save you all from that threat.

Well, it may not have happened exactly like that, but you understand what I am saying, yes?

？！

(Master, Master.)

(There's something very suspicious about this Servant. I'm positive she's hiding something.)

(Well whaddaya know. Sounds like you and I are on the same page.)

(All right, so now that we all agree about that, what do we do next?)

？！

It seems pretty clear those Shadow ServantsNo, wait. We shouldn't be calling them that, since that's not what they are.

Let's go with Bitter Shadows instead. That's much more in line with the whole Valentine's Day thing.

Anyway, they're pretty toughwell, immortal, really, which makes them dangerous.

At least we were able to eliminate the ones you found there with that, um, unusual ordnance (read: bazooka)...

But am I right to assume that those Bitter Shadows are going to show up again, Caren?

...Say it again.

Huh? Say what again? Do you not care for the name "Bitter Shadows"?

Not that. My name. Say it again, please.

U-uh, okay...Caren. (You know, for a missionary of love, I get the feeling she's kind of starved for it herself.)

At any rate, those weren't the last Bitter Shadows, were they?

No, they weren't. I suspect they'll keep showing up for as long as Valentine's Day festivities continue.

...Got it.

I can't say I completely grasp what's going on here just yet, but it is clear she has the means to fight back against this new threat.

Hell, she basically said she showed up here for the sole purpose of defeating these Bitter Shadows.

So Fujimaru, could I ask you to work with her for the time being?

In the meantime, I'll work on figuring out exactly what the deal is with these Bitter Shadows.

Oh, and Mash?

Y-yes?

It seems pretty clear those Shadow ServantsNo, wait. We shouldn't be calling them that, since that's not what they are.

Let's go with Bitter Shadows instead. That's much more in line with the whole Valentine's Day thing.

Anyway, they're pretty toughwell, immortal, really, which makes them dangerous.

At least we were able to eliminate the ones you found there with that, um, unusual ordnance (read: bazooka)...

But am I right to assume that those Bitter Shadows are going to show up again, Caren?

...Say it again.

Huh? Say what again? Do you not care for the name "Bitter Shadows"?

Not that. My name. Say it again, please.

U-uh, okay...Caren. (You know, for a missionary of love, I get the feeling she's kind of starved for it herself.)

At any rate, those weren't the last Bitter Shadows, were they?

No, they weren't. I suspect they'll keep showing up for as long as Valentine's Day festivities continue.

...Got it.

I can't say I completely grasp what's going on here just yet, but it is clear she has the means to fight back against this new threat.

Hell, she basically said she showed up here for the sole purpose of defeating these Bitter Shadows.

So Fujimaru, could I ask you to work with her for the time being?

In the meantime, I'll work on figuring out exactly what the deal is with these Bitter Shadows.

Oh, and Mash?

Y-yes?

Would you mind helping me out up here? I could really use the extra hands.

I hate to ask you, since I know you were all enjoying the festivities together, but...

Thank you for your concern, Da Vinci, but...it's okay.

Gil and Cú Chulainn will go with Master in my place.

Wat.

Wat.

？！

Ahaha, wouldn't you know it, I just remembered some urgent business I have toAah!

Hahaha, and just where do you think you're going, Gil?

Look, I don't like this any more than you do, but that doesn't mean we can just take off.

The little girl is counting on us here. We can't let her down.

As Servants who've been around much longer than she has, don't you think the manly thing to do is to live up to her expectations?

...(Sigh) I've never cared one way or another for doing things because they're "manly." That seems like a stupid, self-defeating way to approach life.

But, if Mash needs my help, then I guess I'll just have to step up.

Attaboy! You know, you're a hell of a lot more understanding than your grown-up self!

Yes, yes, I'm sure. Just remember that being TOO understanding can make you indifferent to just about everything.

All right, there you have it.

You go ahead and help Da Vinci out in the Command Room, missy. We'll watch Master's back.

Thank you, you two. I know you'll take good care of him!

？！

Thank you, Master. Be careful out there!

Now then.

Since we're all on the same page, there's one more thing I need to tell you.

I wish I didn't have to bring this up, as it's quite a touchy subject...

Really? Could've fooled me. You look like you can't wait to tell us.

All right, what is it then?

Well, you see...

My bazooka requires a very particular type of cartridge...

...which means I have to charge a...modest usage fee for every shot I fire.

It comes to about this much.

Are you freaking kidding me!?!?

Yikes. That's a lot of QP, and this is me talking.

？！

I'm so sorry. I can be a bit naive when it comes to the world of the working man... Are you perhaps struggling to buy food or something?

I really thought I had done my homework about what the going rates were these days, too... But, I'm afraid that's going to be a problem.

We can't defeat the Bitters without the bazooka, but I simply won't pay for its cartridges myself...

Hmm... Hmmm... Oh, I just had an idea.

What if we did something like this?

Instead of paying me directly to use my bazooka, you could all collect materials I can exchange for mon

Ahem. I mean, which I can use to make more godly cartridges.

What's more, as luck would have it...

There's plenty of small bits of magical energy floating around that can't become Bitter Shadows.

You won't need my bazooka to handle them, and as they say, a penny saved is a penny earned.

So I'd like you all to work tirelessly to eliminate those bits, collect materials, and donate them to me.

You don't mind doing that, right? It's all to restore peace to Chaldea, after all.

Good. Then I'll be counting on all of you to keep those donations coming.

？！

...Yeah, all right. I'm not gonna back out now after coming this far.

Something tells me just getting rid of the Bitter Shadows isn't going to be the end of this, though.

It can't be a good sign that both our warrior's intuitions are telling us this is a bad idea.