Nansei: Fifth Arrow - Quietly Thinking of You

I see. So Kyokutei Bakin's been abducted...

...which is why you suddenly need some means of transport to pursue her captors.

Okay. I understand that both she and the Dog Warriors are essential for finding what you're looking for in Nanmei.

It'd typically be nightmarishly difficult to send supplies or equipment via Rayshift, and outright impossible to send a means of transport that way...but not this time.

This Singularity you're in now is a small fictional archipelago.

It's based on one of Kyokutei Bakin's stories, and there's an embodiment of another story he wrote there, too.

That's right. The very Dog Warriors you're traveling with right now.

The "Nansou Satomi Eight Dog Chronicles" and "Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki."

These two stories are almost like twins, in a way. They're very similar, and naturally drawn to each other.

On top of that, the Dog Warriors are capable of teleporting things.

So we can pretty much be certain the dogs there caused your Rayshifting issues earlier.

Oh, but then again, Sousuke isn't there right now, is he?

Have any of the other dogs demonstrated the ability to independently send things across space-time?

The way the spirit beads turn into shooting stars and scatter across the sky in the "Eight Dog Chronicles" is a perfect example!

Is that how Michi and Dustcloth got into Chaldea in the first place?

This all has to be connected to the Holy Grail signals we saw in these minute Singularities earlier. It's fascinating, but we can dig deeper into that later.

The main takeaway right now is that we should be able to use the dogs' power for large-scale teleportation spells.

If all goes well, it should be like jumping to a spot in a book from its table of contents.

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I'm afraid it's not all good news though.

As you know, we've been sending out a bunch of Spirit Origin pods to fend off Tametomo's attack.

It's been taking a lot of magical energy and electricity to fire and maintain the pods, especially since we put everything together so hastily.

In fact, we just sent Ishtar and Emiya out to the sea of space-time not too long ago.

Of course, we're making sure to preserve enough energy for your return trip, but

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Exactly. We're already cutting it close as it is. That's one reason we didn't suggest this when you left.

Teleportation is a last resort, not just a thing to do whenever we like. If we're going to do it, we need to make it count.

That shouldn't be a problem.

The Dog Warriors clearly have the ability to sense one another's whereabouts.

So long as we follow them, we can be sure of arriving at an island where one of their compatriots can be found.

...

Lord Lobo...

All right, I hate to force the issue, but we don't have any time to spare.

If you're okay with this, Fujimaru, then I'm willing to give it a shot.

...Teleportation complete.

Your new coordinates are...Sagami Island! It worked!

(Vacant stare)

A hilltop castle... And it looks to be crawling with enemies.

Shame they couldn't just warp us right into the keep.

There should be another Dog Warrior near your location.

The remaining beads are Jin, Chi...

...and of course, Sousuke, who holds Gi. He should still be accompanying Omichi.

Please be careful. The castle has no shortage of lookouts.

？！

I agree, Master. Hessian Lobo and I can do that.

We can work together to draw the lookouts' attention and keep their eyes off of you.

Are you two all right with that, Hessian? Lobo? Between the three of us, we should be the most qualified for a job like this.

...

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Then while you guys are off makin' a ruckus, Lord Izo and me'll sneak inside with Master.

Thanks for doin' this. It'll make our jobs a lot easier.

Plus, this way, you can keep an eye on the other Dog Warriors Omicchan entrusted us with.

Huh? I-I never said anything about that. Well, someone will need to watch them, yes. But...

Exactly.

She was desperate for them to stay behind. There must've been a reason for it.

Yeah.

So we really wanna be careful not ta let 'em fall into enemy hands now.

There's one thing I really wanna know, though...

Why did old man Bakin go back ta bein' Omicchan all of a sudden?

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Easiest way to find that out is to get inside and ask them ourselves.

All right, you guys, go raise some hell for us.

We will. Good luck with your mission as well.

Grrr. (Walking briskly)

Wha... W-wait! Come back, Dog Warriors!

It's too dangerous to follow Lobo right now! You'll be walking right into a battlefield!

Ah, well... You are still Servant familiars, so it may not be as dangerous for you, but...

A-anyway, you should still stay behind me just to be sa Hey! Come here! No, THIS way!

Heh.

Hup.

Thank you for clearing the way for Senpai, Izo. It looks like you made it inside without issue.

？！

Will do, Senpai.

We've analyzed the layout of the castle, so I should be able to give you at least an idea of where you need to go.

They're sure kickin' up one helluva ruckus out there. Guess Lady Barghest and Lord Lobo ain't playin' around.

Now's our chance. Why don't you get on my back, Master?

...Hey, Hokusai. Can I ask you something?

Who's this Souhaku guy the old man mentioned?

Oh, him?

Well, Souhaku was Bakin's only son...

...and the child he was most countin' on ta carry on his work.

That's how Omicchan became his daughter-in-law; she married Souhaku.

She married into his family?

'Course she did! Whaddaya think "daughter-in-law" means, anyway?

Huh... Okay. Now I see.

Knowing that insufferable old man, I bet he worked his son to the bone in the name of nurturing his talents.

Pretty much, yeah. He did his damnedest to make Souhaku into a great doctor.

...Poor kid was sickly pretty much from birth, though.

'Bout seven, maybe eight years after he married Omicchan, he wound up bedridden. He passed away not long after.

After that, Omicchan ran the Kyokutei household since she was Souhaku's widow.

I thought for sure she was just gonna pack up and head back ta her family's home...

...but instead, she stayed at the Kyokutei house by herself and helped out her father-in-law.

...

Eventually, old man Bakin went blind on account of strainin' his eyes with all that writin' he did.

And from then on, Omicchan pretty much became his eyes.

He only managed ta finish "Nansou Satomi Eight Dog Chronicles" by dictatin' the rest ta Omicchan.

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...Ya got that right!

I could never hold a candle ta her. Not as a woman; not as a daughter.

...

So she did the cooking and the cleaning, took care of her sick husband, and even helped her old man-in-law with his work, huh?

Sounds like a shit life to me. Must not have had a single thing to enjoy in all of it.

...Hehe. Ya hear that, Toto-sama?

Aw crap! I didn't see these things hidin' in the shadows!

Don't worry. I'll take care of them before they can call for backup!

Hey! Ain't that the monster who

Yeah. It's the same kind of creature who abducted old man BakinI mean, Michi.

...

...What do you think, Lady Mash?

Now that you've had a chance to get a peek at one of these beasties with your fancy gadgets, think you can find their nest or whatever?

Yes, I can. It took longer than I had hoped to find the enemies, but the analysis is already underway.

I should be able to lead you to the Dog Warriors and steer you clear of unnecessary encounters.

？！

Oh, um, thank you, Senpai, but I can't take all the credit.

I don't have time to get into it in depth right now...

...but Da Vinci has been an invaluable help.

...Okay, they should be in there.

...

What the... Is she asleep? And after all the trouble we took to come save her.

？！

Woof...

Oh? They've got the dogs on a leash.

There's Dustcloth, and a new one. That must be the Dog Warrior from Sagami.

That's the Chi bead, which means it must be Keno.

Yip!

Hang on, Lord Izo. You too, Master.

Now that we know they're okay, I think we should leave old man Bakin here.

Huh? What are you saying, Hokusai?

Didn't we come here to save Kyokutei Bakin...that is, Omichi?

'Course I wanna save 'em. And I wanna reunite the Dog Warriors as much as anyone.

But our first order of business here is to punch Tametomo right in the face and break that Gonin-Bari longbow of his!

Am I wrong, Lord Izo?

I...

I'm just gonna do whatever Master tells me to.

There's a slim chance Tametomo's hidin' in this castle somewhere. I wanna find out for sure.

I really doubt a warrior as tough as Chinzei Hachirou's gonna run and hide from us.

...What about Omichi? She still hasn't woken up.

If she doesn't wake up, that's okay with me. There's still something I wanna clear up.

I'm still not convinced Kyokutei Bakin and Michi here aren't being manipulated by this Tametomo guy.

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...You really think so?

Yeah, I do.

I'm not saying everything BakiI mean, Michi is doing works to Tametomo's advantage.

But there's something about this arrangement that still doesn't sit right with me. It's too perfect.

The only islands left now are Kazusa and Shimousa. Tametomo's got to be on one of them.

And we already know there's no Dog Warrior on Kazusa, right?

Then the odds are good that we'll find him on Shimousa!

We don't really need to bother searching this island for him.

Aha, gotcha. Looks like we're on the same page here.

...Master, I say we leave Omicchan here.

We can find somewhere safe for her and the Dog Warriors ta lay low.

？！

But...we have no means of transportation. We need the Dog Warriors' help.

We'll never be able to reach the island where Minamoto-no-Tametomo is without them.

And I can't really imagine they'd be willing to listen to us if we just left their master behind.

Ah, dammit, you're right! Forgot about that!

No need to worry there.

Our Master'll figure something out.

？！

...Old man Bakin knows everything there is to know about Tametomo, right?

Same goes for you too, right, Hokusai? So you can cover for him, can't you?

Nnn...

Enemies incoming!

Welp, guess we went and used up all the time the diversion bought us.

We'll just have to finish this conversation later!

Haaaaaa!

Master! Thank goodness you're back!

I'm glad to see Michi's safe and sound, too! ...Hm? Wait. Did something happen?

...No, never mind. That can wait. We need to get out of here now, before the next wave!

？！

...

They're both okay! What a relief!

Arf! Woof!

Ruff!

？！

I see. So Tametomo is most likely in Shimousa.

It's about time. I've grown tired of waiting.

Although... (Glance)

Yeah. Dunno why, but Omicchan just ain't wakin' up.

？！

She looks as if she is trying to endure something dreadfully painful.

...? (Rapidly gesticulating)

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？！

Okay, Hessian is talking to Lobo, and Lobo is talking to Sousuke, who's speaking for all the Dog Warriors.

This must be what it was like to be on the deck of a black ship.

Anyway... Master, are you sure about this?

Bringing old man Bakin with us, I mean. You heard what Hokusai said.

...Senpai.

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...I see.

You really are soft, aren't you, Master? But, I can also see you're prepared to see this through.

Hokusai filled me in.

With everything that is happening, we could use all the help we can get.

Well, I suppose seven dogs may be a little TOO much help... (Especially when we can't include them on the combat roster.)

...

？！

The last spirit bead is Jin.

Assuming that the enemy is using its power to rule these Eight Views from Nansou, as they have been elsewhere...

...then we're sure to find the last Dog Warrior, Shinbei, wherever Tametomo is!

Woof!

...Hey, Holmes.

Isn't it about time we told Master's group why we had Kyokutei Bakinthat is, Omichi and Sousuke go along with them?

Hmm... Care to elaborate?

Well, from the looks of it...

...I'm guessing you suspected that Sousuke and Omichi served to guide the enemy's first strike to Chaldea.

And, if that's right, sending them along with Master would keep a variable we can't account for away from Chaldea. Am I wrong?

I see. Yes, I suppose one could look at it that way.

The timing of Kyokutei Bakin's appearance here was highly suspect, to say the least.

But no, I actually presumed the opposite.

Hm? What do you mean by that?

Minamoto-no-Tametomo's Noble Phantasm is a recreation of the time he sunk an entire ship with only a single arrow. Would you agree?

Indeed! At least, that's my best guess. I can't imagine anything else he accomplished could have surpassed that feat.

This means the first arrow he fired at Chaldea should have been sufficient to sink us.

This means the first arrow he fired at the Border should have been sufficient to sink us.

That he did not succeed means he lost. Correct?

Hmm. Maybe. But he's set up camp in a very unusual place, even for a Singularity.

With all that magical energy at his command, he could fire his Noble Phantasm almost endlessly. He could even be doing so as we speak!

Yes, that is certainly a possibility, albeit an inelegant one.

I am, however, reasonably certain that the first arrow he fired was not the only one.

Huh!?

I suspect he may have actually fired several arrows as ranging shots...

...and the one that finally found us was the first one that hit us earlier.

...Oh! Good point!

Not even an archer as great as Tametomo can take out an enemy he can't see.

You're right. As powerful as that arrow was, if we assume it was one of many meant to locate the enemy, and not his Noble Phantasm, many pieces fall into place.

Or maybe...there was something interfering with Tametomo's usual eagle eye, which is usually sharp enough for him to pierce the ornament on an enemy's helmet.

...I see... A problem with his sight, hmm. I hadn't considered that possibility.

Regardless, we can presume it took Tametomo some time to find us.

And during his search, Michithat is, Mrs. Tokimura and Sousuke, most likely made their way here via a different means of transportation.

Although Ushiwakamaru may have been the first to notice the incoming strike, we also detected a magical energy signature similar to a Holy Grail coming from Sousuke.

Now, on this I can only speculate as yet, but I believe Sousuke may have realized that first arrow was on its way to us and deliberately disrupted its trajectory, if only slightly.

So, you think that's why that first attack didn't sink us...?

Then, you think Michi and Sousuke knew what Tametomo was up to, and came here to help keep us safe?

Precisely. I cannot profess to know what Mrs. Tokimura and Sousuke's true intentions are as of yet...

...but I do know they were severely drained when we first met them, and that even they did not know what had happened to them.

It therefore seems likely that they had good reason for undertaking such an arduous journey.

...Aha. So that's why you had them go with Master and encouraged them to round up the other seven Dog Warriors.

I didn't know you were a gambling man.

So instead of prioritizing Chaldea's safety, you decided to bet on protecting Master and his companions from Tametomo's aggression?

Of course. Is that problem?

...No, on second thought, I'd like to strike my last comment from the record. Please, forget I said anything.

The situation is getting more dire by the moment.

We still cannot relax with Tametomo out there, alive and well. Nor do we yet know what Kyokutei Bakin's true intentions are as yet.

Regrettably, there is only so much I can infer from here.

The most prudent course of action is therefore to leave this matter to Master, as he is presently in the field, dealing with it as we speak.

Hmm... And you don't want to bias him unnecessarily, huh?

I understand where you are coming from here, but I still think it might be best to inform him of what is going on.

...

Excuse me, but could I ask you two to hurry back to the Command Room?

With only Da Vinci and Ushiwakamaru running the show, well...

I'm worried the Renaissance genius and military genius are going to rub off on each other in decidedly unwelcome manners!

So please, come back before the stress gives me an aneurysm!

...Understood.

...Hey, Sion.

Isn't it about time we told Master's group why we had Kyokutei Bakinthat is, Omichi and Sousuke go along with them?

Oh? What do you mean by that?

Well, from the looks of it...

...I'm guessing you suspected that Sousuke and Omichi served to guide the enemy's first strike to Chaldea.

And, if that's right, sending them along with Master would keep a variable we can't account for away from Chaldea. Am I wrong?

Oh, you could certainly look at it that way!

The timing of Kyokutei Bakin's appearance here was highly suspect, to say the least.

But no, I actually presumed the opposite.

Hm? What do you mean by that?

Kiichi Hogen, Minamoto-no-Tametomo's Noble Phantasm is a recreation of the time he sunk an entire ship with only a single arrow, right?

Indeed! At least, that's my best guess. I can't imagine anything else he accomplished could have surpassed that feat.

This means the first arrow he fired at Chaldea should have been sufficient to sink us.

That he did not succeed means he lost. Correct?

Hmm. Maybe. But he's set up camp in a very unusual place, even for a Singularity.

With all that magical energy at his command, he could fire his Noble Phantasm almost endlessly. He could even be doing so as we speak!

It is certainly possible that he may attempt to overwhelm us with brute force, yes.

I am, however, reasonably certain that the first arrow he fired was not the only one.

Huh!?

I suspect he may have actually fired several arrows as ranging shots...

...and the one that finally found us was the first one that hit us earlier?

...Oh! Good point!

Not even an archer as great as Tametomo can take out an enemy he can't see.

You're right. As powerful as that arrow was, if we assume it was one of many meant to locate the enemy, and not his Noble Phantasm, many pieces fall into place.

Or maybe...there was something interfering with Tametomo's usual eagle eye, which is usually sharp enough for him to pierce the ornament on an enemy's helmet.

Oh!

I had not considered that, but it is definitely possible.

Regardless, we can presume it took Tametomo some time to find us.

During his search, OmichiMrs. Tokimura and Sousuke made their way here via a different means of transportation.

Ushiwakamaru may have been the first to notice the incoming strike, but we also detected a magical energy signature similar to a Holy Grail coming from Sousuke.

Given all of this, I can envision a scenario in which Sousuke realized that the first arrow was headed toward us and so deliberately threw off its trajectory, even if only marginally.

So, you think that's why that first attack didn't sink us...?

Then, you think Omichi and Sousuke knew what Tametomo was up to, and came here to help keep us safe?

I do, though I still do not know what Mrs. Tokimura and Sousuke's intentions truly are.

But I do know they were severely drained when we first met them, and not even they knew what had happened to them.

It therefore seems likely that they had good reason for undertaking such an arduous journey.

...Aha. So that's why you had them go with Master and encouraged them to round up the other seven Dog Warriors.

I didn't know you were a gambling woman.

So instead of prioritizing Chaldea's safety, you decided to bet on protecting Master and his companions from Tametomo's aggression?

...Apologies, but I have no comment.

The situation is getting more dire by the moment.

We still cannot relax with Tametomo out there, alive and well. Nor do we yet know what Kyokutei Bakin's true intentions are as yet.

And I am afraid there is only so much I can determine from here.

I believe that, under the circumstances, the best thing we can do now is trust Fujimaru to make the correct call, as it is he who is there in the middle of all this.

Hmm... And you don't want to bias him unnecessarily, huh?

I understand where you are coming from here, but I still think it might be best to inform him of what is going on.

...

Excuse me, but could I ask you two to hurry back to the Command Room?

With only Da Vinci and Ushiwakamaru running the show, well...

I'm worried the Renaissance genius and military genius are going to rub off on each other in decidedly unwelcome manners!

So please, come back before the stress gives me an aneurysm!

...Coming!