Section 10: The False Sacred Lance (1/3)

A fake Rhongomyniad that is somehow identical to the real one in everything but scale, hmm.

I've also confirmed a vast number of automata and ghosts being discharged from its interior.

？！

Whoever is behind this must have given up on trying to handle this quietly now that El-Melloi II has revealed their true intentions regarding those slips of paper.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time you pissed someone off by casually exposing their secrets, would it?

May I remind you that I only did so because it was an emergency? I would just as soon have remained hidden longer if I could have!

At any rate, approximately eighty percent of them appear to be making their way towards this particular patchwork.

I imagine they want to capture Fujimaru.

My, my, whoever's behind this must really care for you.

Whatever you may think won't change how they feel. I think I'm going to enjoy passing judgment on this quite a bit.

Well of course. There's no room for judgment without strong feelings at play.

？！

On the upside, we now know where our enemy's hideout is, as I highly doubt it could be anywhere besides the inside of that lance.

Thanks to our perceptions being altered, it never even occurred to us that that building could be anything but the Clock Tower.

But now that it's sending out soldiers, the wool they were pulling over our eyes no longer does the trick.

At least we can take heart in the fact that resorting to these double-edged measures is a sign that we've got our opponent on the ropes.

So how do you plan to respond to this, Steam King?

I suppose the easiest way to make certain your kingdom remains peaceful would be to send out Fujimaru...

No need to try and manipulate me, tactician. If I meant to take the easy way out, I would never have thought to collect the papers in the first place.

You'll have to forgive my brother. He's incapable of considering anything but the worst-case scenarios.

So I see. At any rate, I have finished analyzing the paper, thanks to Trimmau.

Not at all. Master ordered me to help.

I found a name that appears to have close ties to our mastermind in the files we reviewed. It seems they are part of an organization called Chaldea.

...I knew it. We are up against someone from Chaldea. They could never have impersonated Mash otherwise.

At the same time, the fact that they did so means they must have also betrayed Chaldea in some form.

Indeed. The next name I managed to extract is "Autonomic Observational Existence Verification System: Mnemosyne."

Mnemosyne... The goddess of memory...

So there was a reason why that name was written on those scraps of paper.

The conceptual designs behind Chaldea's systems are entirely different from my own, so I have yet to fully understand their inner workings.

I might be able to make more progress on this if I had more time, but for now, this is the best I can do.

Regardless, the solution here couldn't be simpler.

With all the Servants we've got here, we should go pay this mastermind a visit and give them a good sock in the jaw.

Am I wrong, Lady Justice?

I suppose not. All right, I'll help you. I expect this is why I was summoned here in the first place.

But I should warn you: I doubt that even my power will be able to crack that spear's outer shell.

That said, as long as we can make our way inside, I do think I can be useful. So, how do we get in?

That is indeed the question. Astraea's power alone really won't be able to cut a swath through the sheer number of foes that guard the front entrance.

...Um...

Oh?

I think...I might be able to make a way in for us. But, the thing is...

Yes? What is it?

I... I don't have enough magical energy. Add and I alone won't be able to make it through to the inside.

I see. Well that's easy enough to fix.

There are countless sources of magical energy scattered throughout Patchwork London waiting to be collected.

Here's a simple question for you, Master. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?

？！

Correct! Unlike the Mnemosyne papers, the scraps don't seem as though they'll try to fabricate any false memories.

Still, we can't be completely sure about that, so we'll need a Mystic Code to account for that possibility. Can we ask for your help with that, Steam King?

I should be able to make something like that right away. I've already been using those scraps as my own source of energy, after all.

That said, one never knows what sort of trouble one might run into, so I will help you collect them as much as I can.

Then it's settled! Before the automaton and ghost army have a chance to attack us, we're going to collect as many scraps as we can, as fast as we can!