Act Five: Key To Steal, Part Two

They dropped a key! This should get us through this door.

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It's definitely not just you. It's great that it's easy to spot the attendants with keys, since they all keep them around their waists...

...but it's a real hassle to have to defeat them every time we just want to open a door.

Well anyway, what do you say we just keep going for now?

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Wait... Look at the room next to us.

There are attendants working on something. They don't seem to have noticed us. And look...

It looks like...a key.

If we can sneak past them and borrow it, maybe we could move on without having to fight them?

...Then again, I guess that sort of underhanded trick goes against your honor, Mr. Swordsman?

There is more to the way of the sword than simply cutting. If one can win without drawing one's blade, all the better.

I do not think now is the time to cut off their heads.

That's samurai talk for "Doesn't bother me." So then I guess the question is, how do we proceed from here?

What if I use my Espionage skill?

I don't know how well it'll work on these dolls, but there's only one way to find out.

Just a moment, please. Given how things are unfolding... I think this floor pertains to Fuchutoukai.

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Yes. Fuchutoukai is the precept that forbids stealing.

Stealing? Well that's just common sense.

I've always made very sure that my charges know how wrong that sort of thing is!

One can't possibly hope to become a respectable shogun or samurai without a strong moral foundation!

Still... Are you saying that taking a key from these dolls would still constitute stealing?

Based on what we've seen thus far, I think it's safe to say that our enemies want us to break these precepts.

Though I still can't say what their purpose in doing so might be.

This is just like the last floor.

Now that I've noticed this, I cannot help but feel that going along with what they want would be a bad idea...

Maybe it would, but I don't see what choice we have.

If things are structurally set up here so that we have to break these precepts to advance, what else can we do?

I think our only option may be to find another way to advance without following our enemy's expectations...

...like how Mata Hari used her Noble Phantasm to intoxicate Master without requiring him to drink.

Because one way or another...we absolutely have to keep going.

There are still many people we need to rescue.

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Advancing in a way that goes against expectations is all well and good, but I can't think of many possible options.

We could take the keys by force, or we could take them sneakily, but we'd still be taking them either way.

Not necessarily. We can go one step further removed.

How so?

I think it's a question of who exactly steals the keys and breaks the precept.

Master doing so is probably the most dangerous option, followed by having one of his Servants do so in his stead.

But, if a Servant had something else steal the keys...would that not go against Kama's expectations?

Now I see. You make an excellent point.

True, the further we are from breaking the precept ourselves, the safer it most likely is.

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Yes. Fortunately, I happen to know the story of a certain thief. Allow me to tell it to you now.

Long, long ago, there were two brothers in the land of Persia. The elder brother was named Cassim, and the younger was named Ali Baba...

Ooh, what are those? They kind of look like cute little girls... Is that Ali Baba?

No, this one will be playing one of his enemies. Very well, bandit leader, you know what to do...

I can see that they are quite spry, and that they are adept at erasing their presence.

But there are no longer any blind spots for them to hide in. It will be difficult for them to carry out their task without the enemy's notice.

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My, now something even smaller and cuter is rattling the sliding door in the next room...

...? What was THAT noise. I'll go CHECK...

...And they lived happily ever after...

We got the key! Hooray!

It does seem that we have no choice but to acquire these keys in order to proceed, so this is surely the next best way to do so.

All right then, let's get moving before those dolls see us.

Hehe, on a different subject, it was wonderful getting to hear the narrator of One Thousand and One Nights tell one of her stories in person.

I can't wait to hear what happens next. Actually, I'd love to hear another story, too. Oh, but, I guess we have to wait until tomorrow night for that, huh?

Hehe. Thank you for your kind words.

Rest assured, I am no longer telling my stories so as to live for a thousand more nights, but to help end this Singularity's story as soon as possible.

So I will be happy to tell as many tales as needed to...Oh?

This next door doesn't have a keyhole! There's just a pedestal with a very conspicuous hollow nearby!

There, in that room. Once again, there are a great number of attendants...but there is also an ornament in the panel that could easily be removed.

It seems as though it would be a perfect fit for the hollow in the pedestal.

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It looks like I won't have to wait long to hear another story from you after all.

I'm glad I'll get to hear one again so soon, but I also feel bad about making you do all the work...

...Worry not. Please, let me handle this.

Between Ali Baba, who made his way past forty cunning thieves... The deity of thievery, Ali al-Zaibak... The djinn's illusions...

Prince Ahmed ad-Danaf... Hasan Shuman... And Dalilah and her daughter, Zaynab... I have no end of characters to draw upon.

If my stories are needed to let us advance... If they are needed to rescue someone who needs help...

Then I will gladly tell as many as I can, even if my throat should run as dry as the desert sands...