Section 6: Brilliant Steam

Those who do no evil nor will they know evil even when affected by it. Those who know no end to goodness and yet are not aware of their goodness.

I shall gather those purest souls, freeze them, and archive them.

No matter how much time passes, I will store them in my lance as something whose value will never change.

What is wrong with that? My work is all for you, humans.

？！

...Is that what you think?

...Is that also what you think? O Knight of the Shield?

Human lives are finite. Amongst them, there are few whose lives are even more limited.

Mash Kyrielight, you understand my ideal, don't you?

...!

I...

I...

？！

Fujimaru, that's enough talking! The Lion King's mental structure is now completely that of a deity!

She's lost her values as a human! This won't end with just talk!

Fight, and destroy that lance! Time will return to normal if you do that!

...Imprudent, Romani Archaman. That is much like you However, I have come to the same conclusion.

You've answered the question. If you are to deny me, I will deny you, as well.

Your death is inevitable, and now it draws near. Lament the limits on your life.

Know those limits, and accept my divine grace.

Knight of the Shield, if you want to protect human lives...you will not fight me.

Here she comes...! Master, prepare for combat!

Hey. Hey!

Wake up already!

Cripes, it's about time. For a while there, I wasn't sure you were going to wake up at all. You must really want me to break out my failed pupil brand, huh?

Thank goodness you're all right...

？！

M hightailed it out of there as soon as he could. Don't worry, I'm sure that shady old man will be fine.

You look like you're doing well. I take it you remembered something important?

？！

We got a room at a nearby hotel. You can see where we are for yourself if you look out the window.

This is the third Patchwork London: the steampunk patchwork!

All comms systems are green. Can you hear me, Senpai?

？！

Great! I can see on our end that you've got the second paper as well.

But most of all, I'm glad you're okay. Um, by the way, may I ask who you are?

I-it's nice to meet you. My name is Gray! I'm, um...Reines's...

O-of course not. Gray isn't even a mage.

H-hey, come on. No need to be so blunt.

？！

No, it's all right. I don't deserve such a great honor, anyway.

Hey, come on, it's not about being deserving. It's just that, you and I are

Heeheehee, this is how it always is with these two! You wouldn't believe how awkward they can be!

...Quiet, Add.

Aah! Quit shaking me, Gray! You don't know your own strength!!!

Good grief. Anyway, Gray here's an acquaintance of mine. Though I had no idea she'd become a Servant, too.

I guess you could say she's my brother's pupil.

That's right. I was enrolled at the Clock Tower as Lord El-Melloi II's apprentice.

Um... Reines told me what happened to him.

？！

...I want to find out what happened to my mentor. If I can't do that, there's no point in my being here.

He took me in when no one else would... He gave me a place to belong...

So the last thing you remember is coming to and finding yourself here in this Patchwork London, right?

Right. I've known from the beginning that I'm a Servant now.

But I still don't know what summoned me here, or why.

I see. We seem to have that much in common.

If you don't mind, could you form a temporary contract with me? Any pupil of Reines must be a good Master.

？！

？！

While we're at it, I have something else to tell you. I haven't officially confirmed this yet, but...

...between the scales and her talk about passing judgment, I'm positive the Divine Spirit possessing Luvia is Astraea.

The divine incarnation of justice in Greek mythology.

Exactly. In Greek mythology, history was divided into several ages: The Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and Iron Ages.

Astraea spent her days living among humans and fiercely advocating for justice until the very last Iron Age.

？！

She's basically one of the progenitors for the concept of Lady Justice.

Our information confirms that too. Reines's theory is almost certainly correct.

Astraea... To think we'd come this far only to find a Divine Spirit Pseudo-Servant standing in our way.

You said it. And we still don't even have any idea who killed my brother.

It's not all bad news though. Now we have a real shot at victory.

？！

You bet. Gray's Noble Phantasm should have no trouble getting through Astraea's defenses.

？！

Oh sure. Gray's always had hers, even when she was alive. ...Wait. Are you an Assassin?

...Yes, I am. I think it's because I keep my weapon hidden.

So that's why you were designated an Assassin. Well that's just silly and unbefitting.

？！

I can understand your confusion...but a girl's got her secrets.

I'll tell you! That scythe was me! Heeheehee!

Hey! Don't just give it away like that!

Heeheehee, I'm Add, a Sealing Mystic Code. Nice to meet ya!

Oh, and by Sealing, I mean I keep my goods sealed away most of the time. Sometimes I change shape so Gray here can use me as a weapon, though.

？！

Well aren't you cheeky! Come to think of it, you didn't even blink when you first saw me talking, eh?

Oh, nice to meet you too, comms girl!

Um, likewise... I'm so relieved. Since I wasn't able to go there with Senpai, I've been thinking about other times I've had to stay behind.

I'm so glad he managed to find such dependable allies during this Rayshift.

Oh, we've managed to improve our monitoring fidelity, so I'm analyzing that paper you found as we speak.

One thing we've already learned is that...there appear to be other, tinier scraps of that paper scattered throughout Patchwork London.

？！

These scraps emit an identical energy signature to the paper you found, but on a much smaller scale.

If you can, I'd like you to collect as many of those as you can, along with the Mnemosyne ones.

In the meantime, I promise I'll do everything I can to help you out from here!

Hehe, what a capable young lady you are. Makes me wish I had an underling for myself.

All right then, let's go see what this latest patchwork is like.

Seeing how she tried to take it from us, I'm guessing LuviaAstraea, is after those scraps of paper, too.

I don't know what she's up to, but whatever it is, we're bound to run into each other again at some point.

So unfortunately, we can't afford to dillydally.