「 Ciel's Pov. 」
Stepping out from the taxi, I pulled out my carry-on, before giving the driver a small smile and wave.
The driver tipped his cap and flashed a tired smile. "Soredewa, ogenki de ne. Machi wa mada kiken dakara, shoubousho ni renraku suru no wo tamerawanai de. Tanoshii taizai wo, soshite ki wo tsukete!" He said in what I assumed was a worried tone.
I felt my smile slightly cramp up, as I had no idea what he said, so I merely nodded once more and assumed he was being nice. "Hai, arigatou gozaimasu!!" I replied back in a grateful tone of voice, before closing the car door.
Having only under a day's worth of time to prepare for this trip, I had only managed to learn six phrases: yes, no, please, thank you, excuse me, taxi and fuck off. In my opinion, you could almost go anywhere as long as you knew those six terms in whatever country's native language you were visiting.
Unfortunately, it seemed to have the effect of having some locals believe you actually knew what you were doing, causing them to speak in their own language… Of course, you could just clear up the misconception, but people tend to treat others better when they know your own language, so the misconception is simply not worth clearing up most of the time.
As the door closed the car sped off, and left me almost instantly.
Glancing back at the property, I felt a smidge uneasy.
I knew I was at the right place, as the British tended to have a stick up their ass, so seeing as this property had a British flag flying, albeit on half-mast, hanging proudly on the flagpole, clinched it for me.
Letting go of my carry-on bag's handle, I gave my nun uniform a quick pat down, trying to flatten as many creases as possible.
First impressions were everything, and that was even more important when I was about to meet with arguably one of, if not the most politically powerful woman in the world.
Which the Church had been ignoring for the past few days…
The thought alone caused me to cringe, and I wanted to curse out my boss for throwing me to the wolves.
My week had been terrible enough to begin with. Spending five days running around in a forest, sleeping in hollow tree trunks, caves and under a bridge, only to be ripped apart multiple times, before getting in a cheap shot on a Superior Apostle was apparently not shit enough.
Now I needed to clean up after the Kotominei's massive fuck up, breaking some treaties between the Church and the Magus Association, breaching their neutrality agreement and then having the older one had the gall to die before the Church could get their claws on him…
Luckily the younger Kotomine would be a good backup, and he should be able to throw some heat off of us.
Either way, this is not a good situation for the Church, and if the Magus Association does not get a satisfactory answer from us, then any other treaties or agreements might be broken, or revised due to 'us' setting the precedent of breaching agreements…
So right now, I was assigned to be the intermediary between the Church and the Pendragons, as they are the ones with the power in this situation since they brought this to light.
Luckily, they had been kind enough to keep most of it on the down low, by informing the Church first, but they still had us bent over the barrel, and if we went out of line, we'd probably live to regret it.
Safe to say, I was not looking forward to meeting the Pendragon matriarch.
Adjusting my cross, I inhaled a deep breath, grabbed the handle of my carry-on, and started to walk to the front door of the building.
As I got closer, I felt the feeling of multiple Bounded Fields wash over me, causing me to internally grow more nervous.
I was barely a year into my work in the Church, so I wasn't well versed in the 'heretical arts', but the Burial Agency had drilled more than enough knowledge in my skull to understand that the setup I was walking through was extremely impressive, and highly dangerous.
Stepping up to the front door, I schooled my expression, trying my best to look as professional as possible, before ringing the doorbell.
My finger had barely let go of the doorbell button as the door slammed open, causing me to instinctively flinch back and retract my hand.
Looking at the person who stood in the doorway, I was forced to look up to meet a pair of cold green eyes.
The woman whose eyes I was looking into was tall, like, tall-tall. She had long white hair, and a face that most models would kill for, and with a cursory glance, I could confirm that she had a body to match.
"Are you finished staring?" Came a crisp British accented voice from the woman, causing me to snap my gaze up to meet her eyes once more.
Bowing my head slightly, I straightened up. "Sorry, I was expecting someone else," I spat out the first excuse I could think of in a confident tone, trying to sound as nonplussed as possible.
The woman merely imperiously cocked a brow. "Really?" She asked in an unimpressed tone, giving off the feeling that she wasn't taking my excuse seriously.
I shamelessly nodded my head. "Really," I repeated seriously.
The woman gave a huff of amusement, before stepping out of the doorway. "Get in, and don't bother taking off your shoes, you won't be staying for long," she stated, causing me to flinch.
That was not the warm response I was hoping for… though it was still within expectations, given how the Church had been evading the Pendragons, but I was still hoping for something better…
Stepping inside, the woman merely closed the door behind me and gestured to me to follow her with a wave. "Come." Without looking back, she started moving deeper into the house, and I only instinctively followed her.
Before I could catch myself, I was already inside what looked like an office, and the woman sat herself down behind a large desk.
"Sit," she said while gesturing at the single chair in front of the desk. Hesitating slightly, I sat myself down, and started to subtly look around.
I didn't know what happened, but I felt like I had followed her orders a bit too easily… I'd suspect foul play, but I hadn't felt any intrusive thoughts, or anything else that might have clouded my judgment.
The woman opened a drawer, and pulled out a thick stack of papers, before looking up at me. "You must be the Executor the Church sent to help us," she stated rather than asked. "What is your name?" She questioned.
"El– Ciel," I said calmly, trying my best to make it sound like I almost didn't slip up and give her my former name. Though I now knew that she was somehow influencing me.
I didn't know what it was, but she just radiated some sort of… charm? I wasn't sure, but despite the cold attitude, her overall demeanor and 'aura' made it difficult to not follow her instructions to the letter.
Either way, the fact that I couldn't feel a Bounded Field or anything similar affecting me, made me feel far more uneasy than when I crossed all those Bounded Fields earlier.
The woman merely hummed in appreciation, and scribbled something, probably my name, on one of the papers.
Before she could continue, I spoke up, as I was being swept up in her tempo far too easily. "Excuse me, but I am here to meet with Lady Pendragon," I explained.
The woman gave me a gaze that could freeze fire. "As of two in the morning today, Rosalind has been confirmed dead in the explosion that caused the city fire," she explained in just as frosty a tone as her gaze.
Fuck.
I felt my eyes widen.
FUCK!
This isn't a disaster, this is a fucking shitshow!
I swear to God, if Rosalind's death has anything to do with the Church, then I am going to tear Kirei Kotominei a new asshole!
Focusing back on the woman, I felt my skin crawl at the cold look she was giving me, so I tried to calm myself down as quickly as possible.
"I see. I'm sorry for your loss," I said calmly, trying my best to sound remorseful.
The woman didn't look too impressed from the gaze she shot me, probably meaning that my condolences landed flat, instead returning to her task of writing something on the piece of paper.
"Might I know what happened?" I probed, as this would be important information for my report that I'd be giving the second I left this house.
Lacing her fingers together, the woman shot me a scrutinising look. "In short, Rider, Saber, Rosalind, Alistair and I invaded Caster's hideout, and after Alistair killed Caster, the two Servants left. One thing led to another, and after Rider died, Berserker died, Alistair killed Archer, and Saber was the only Servant left." After saying the last words her face turned into a scowl, and I could feel the temperature in the room chill.
"Only for Saber's Master to use his Command Seals on Saber to blow up the Grail, killing Rosalind in front of Alistair," she spat, and I couldn't help but lean backwards due to the absolute rage I felt rolling off of her.
I still didn't know who this woman was, but my instincts were telling me to stay far away from her, and I for one trust my instincts implicitly.
"I see, we–" "I'm not finished," the woman interjected in a far calmer, but still cold tone, and I did the smart thing and shut up.
"For some extra context, the Grail was cursed, as in the Servant the Einzberns summoned last war had latched itself onto the Grail, corrupting it," she added, and I frowned while straightening my posture.
I had been given a docket of what the Grail was capable of, and if it was cursed on top of that, it would explain how the fire and earthquake had happened, though it was still relatively mild in terms of consequences.
"I am not sure who, but someone managed to activate the Grail, allowing Avenger, known as Angra Mainyu, to fully incarnate as a Divine Spirit."
"Pardon?" I said reflexively, before mulling over her words once more.
"Yes, some imbecile managed to incarnate Avenger into a Divine Spirit," the woman said with clear bitterness.
Blinking slowly, I gave her a scrutinizing look. "How is that possible, and how and where did you contain it?" I asked with some edge seeping into my tone, as this sounded like utter unbelievable garbage.
A Divine Spirit was no joke, or rather, it should be impossible in this day and age. But if her words were true, then the Church needed to be informed ASAP, before it breaks free.
Best case scenario, it gets kicked into the Reverse Side. Worst case… well, I'd rather not think of it…
"Alistair killed it," the woman explained tiredly, but her answer only made me frown.
"Are you even sure it was a Divine Spirit?" I asked skeptically, only for the woman's glare to intensify.
Hell, off the top of my head, I can't think of a single historical character, be it in myth or legends that killed a god. The closest example I can think of is Christ being impaled on the cross by the Roman soldier, Longinus I think.
So my skepticism was warranted, and did not deserve the look of pure loathing I was getting from the scary woman.
"You may draw your own conclusions when you leave to investigate," she replied coolly, before opening another drawer and pulling out a small vial with a viscous black liquid, just looking at it made me feel extremely uneasy.
"This is a sample of the cursed mud Angra Mainyu produced," she said while shaking the vial. "The mud is composed of Divine level curses, and should you want a sample, there should still be some left at ground zero," she clarified, before gently placing the vial on the desk.
"Now, since your presence here is in all honesty, moot," she stated flatly, and I felt myself slightly flinch at the comment. I wanted to interject and correct her statement, but she bulldozed on. "You might as well make some use of yourself," she continued, and stopped writing on the piece of parchment, instead sliding it over to me.
A quick glance told me what it was, and I felt my unease grow. It was a Self-Geass contract…
I gave her the sternest glare I could muster, though it probably only came out as a grimace. "Pardon, but I don't feel that this is—" "You expect me to not set up any safeguards when dealing with Apostles?" She cut me off in a cold tone, and I went ram-rod straight.
I could feel my fists clenching, trying my best to hold back and not rush out of the room.
I was human, damn it! The Agency guaranteed me that no one would mistake me for a Dead Apostle, no Bounded Fields should have been able to notice any discrepancies, and even if they did, an Apostle wouldn't be the first conclusion.
"I'm not an Apostle," I said through gritted teeth, while squinting my eyes at her, only to get a raised brow in return.
"I never said you were one."
That comment caused me to shut up and purse my lips. I could see some amusement for once in the magus's gaze, something akin to a cat playing with a mouse.
Humming to herself, she started rhythmically tapping a finger on the table. "For one, all your muscle fibers are supercharged," "Drugs," I cut her off, only to get an amused smile in return, as if she knew I was spewing bullshit and just finding my attempts at defending myself as amusing.
"Your sensory abilities are beyond human, as those Bounded Fields you felt fooled three high-tier Servants," she added, and I felt my stomach drop. After all, how the hell did she notice that I registered the Bounded Fields upon arrival. "Church experiments," I said dismissively, causing her amused smile to widen.
"The most damning part is that your soul reeks like an Apostle, despite clearly still being human."
There was pin-drop silence at her proclamation.
I needed to leave.
Magi were crazy and inhumane, barely better than Apostles according to other Executors. So if someone learned of my condition I was to kill them immediately, but given the woman's confidence and overall demeanor, I'd rather not take my chances of fighting her in the place where she is at her strongest.
Tensing my muscles, I prepared to dash out through the door and escape, only to freeze at the frigid look she was giving me.
"No need to run," she stated coolly. "Since the Church doesn't still have you strapped to a dissection table, I can only assume that whatever is afflicting your condition is far too complex for them to handle, or gleam any insight on Apostles from," she stated, and I hated how right she was.
"And right now I do not have time to waste on you, despite how interesting it would be to study the Church's new pet 'Vampire'," she added, and I could feel my teeth clench.
Once more, she slid the Self-Geass contract towards me. "Read it," she ordered, and I could only comply.
As I read through the contract, I felt my frown slowly soften, before disappearing completely. The terms were… reasonable. Hell, I'd say it was outright generous given the situation.
The contract itself was for me to perform an independent investigation on the 4th Holy Grail War, and to be completely unbiased, while confirming as many things as possible, while adding in reasonable speculations that could no longer be confirmed.
I'd have a bit over a day to complete my investigation, and I would be allowed to ask for the Pendragon's help during my investigation for information or help if needed. To that end, they would give a recount under a Self-Geass contract to ensure the veracity of its content.
The only important part was that the Pendragons were to be handed a finished report first, and be given the privilege to redact any information that was labeled too sensitive for the public. Though the full report would still be given to the higher ups, be it the Church or Magus Association.
There were three very simple clauses.
To not propagate any falsehoods, or write the report in a way that could be considered biased. Complete neutrality is expected and demanded when researching and writing her report.
During my stay, I am to not initiate any fights or similar acts that can result in the harm of the civilians or Pendragon family. However, this can be disregarded in the cases where my life is threatened, or when my actions are a result of an instinctive / accidental outburst.
Sabotage in any shape, way or form will immediately enact the punishment clause.
They weren't bad at all really, the only problem was my ability to write in an unbiased way, since I'm not exactly an expert on writing reports… I'd probably need to ask the women for some tips and the like… not that I was looking forwards to that.
The only part of the contract which I didn't like was the punishment clause…
If the contractor breaks one or more of the clauses, she is to be cursed to slowly lose all sensations, be it physical or mental, and with it I would gain an urge to drink blood. The only way to mitigate both effects is to drink human blood, and the curse will recede for a period, before returning with greater strength. The longer the individual resists, the stronger the effects become.
It was disgusting, practically turning me into a Dead Apostle, without actually doing it. Just looking at it made my blood boil, but it made me understand why she was so fixated on the topic.
I don't know how much she knows, but it is obvious that she has concluded that this would be far worse a punishment for me, then the loss of my Magic Circuits, or outright death… not that I am sure if such a curse would actually kill me…
If anything, that condition alone ensured that I'd do my damndest to make sure that the report was objective and factually correct.
Looking up from the contract, I gave her a sceptical look. "What happens if I reject your contract?" I asked carefully.
The woman only gave a cunning and cruel smile. "Simple, I will kick you out of Fuyuki, and send my own report to the Mages Association using my own conjectures and theories, that may or may not pin a lot of the Wars problems on the Church, then kick back and watch the fireworks."
Her answer made me lower my head and sigh.
Damned if I do, damned if I don't…
If she truly managed to kick me out, and then send some inflammatory, yet believable report to the Mages Association about how this is all the Church's fault, then I will be quite literally skinned alive by the Burial Agency for letting things blow out of proportions.
God I hate Magi…
Picking up a pen, I signed my name on the dotted line.
I heard the woman give a pleased hum, as her hand grabbed the paper. Looking up, I saw her giving the document a once over before nodding. "Good," she said, before storing the contract in the same drawer she had originally pulled the parchment out of.
Seeing her pull out another piece of parchment, I spoke up. "Um… sorry, but…" at my words, the woman's sharp green eyes locked onto me. "I never got your name," I continued.
The woman gave an amused smile, and cocked her head to the side. "Indeed," she commented with some humor, before gaining a slightly contemplative look.
Slowly, her face returned to the slightly sly, but utterly confident look she had been sporting moments ago.
"You may call me Morgan Pendragon."
~~Fate/False Order~~
「 Morgan's Pov. 」
"So, you're telling me that you managed to create a bounded field strong enough to cripple a Servant?" The girl said, interrupting my watered down recount of the war from 'Vivian's' perspective.
"I'm fairly sure that I pulled it off, I was there after all," I added with a slight roll of my eyes.
The blue haired girl only pursed her lips at my answer, and looked down on the parchment she was writing on, seemingly reading a few lines before furrowing her brows and looking up at me.
"I'm sorry for double checking, but I needed to be sure. After all, such a feat sounds impossible for a human to pull off, and seems more in line with what a Caster should be able to do," she explained, though the implication I was waiting for was there.
Raising a brow, I gave her an unimpressed look. "You're clearly not saying something," I remarked with some annoyance. "Out with it," I added with a dismissive wave.
My comment seemed to spurn her on, and she gave me a serious look. "You have not been very forthcoming with Caster, merely saying that their identity could not be confirmed due to a 'lack of evidence'," she stated, and I nodded to her words.
"Caster was not very forthcoming, and the only hints we had about their identity could have been fabricated through illusions, as they had shown themselves very talented within that area," I explained. "Though the general consensus was that Caster was Medea of Colchis."
Her eyes only seemed to narrow due to the way I answered the question. "Yes, that was the 'general consensus', but you have yet to give a concrete answer to whom you believed Caster to be, or your own suspicions to their identity. Not only that, I have not heard of a union between the Pendragon's new head and yourself, or anyone for that matter," she pressed.
Leaning slightly forwards, she fixed me with a hard look. "You seemed to appear out of nowhere, and suddenly display Magecraft on par with that of a Caster," she stated before leaning backwards and giving me a sceptical look. "It just seems suspicious…"
At that, I gave a long and tired sigh. "Since you clearly do not have the courtesy to not waste my time, I shall answer your unasked questions," I stated icily, and I could see the girl try her best to keep her professional demeanor at the sudden tone shift.
Crossing my arms, I leaned further back into my chair and fixed her with the look that I used to give foolish nobles before I killed them. "For one, I am married," I said confidently, fully knowing that the 'marriage' I was referring to was practically a sham, but she didn't know who I was referring to.
"Alistair and I wanted to keep our relationship on the down-low to not draw any attention to us, as I myself was not comfortable with being in center stage," I explained. "Only for Alistair to accidentally expose my existence when he was caught sneaking into our 'house' by Rosalind."
"That doesn't explain where you came from," Ciel interjected, and I leveled her a glare. "My past is mine and mine alone to tell," I expressed coolly. "You have been expressing an unhealthy need to know of my past and secrets, which I am unwilling to divulge for the report, but allow me to alleviate some of your doubts," I said the last part with clear mockery.
"I am not Caster," I stated harshly, and I could see her flinch. "Neither was I summoned as any of the other six Classes," I reaffirmed, before continuing. "Nor am I a Servant."
Inhaling a deep breath, I slowly exhaled before adding the last nail in the coffin. "To my knowledge, I am not even in the Throne of Heroes, so therefore I can not be a summoned Servant."
The masked shock on her face was amusing, but it was to be expected. I had been subtly guiding her questions to make her doubt my identity, and given that there was a Grail War, the obvious guess was that I was a Servant.
Now, thanks to the Self-Geass contract I had signed, which she herself wrote, from a scroll she herself had brought with her, hadn't activated. One which was very similar to the contract that I had written up for Ciel.
A lie on my end would have all my circuits destroyed, along with my 'crest', something akin to a punishment worse than death for Magi. Not that I needed circuits anymore, as my constitution is nearly identical to a Fairy, so I could just draw upon my connection to the Planet's Mana to cast Magecraft.
Though, I'd be interested in finding out if Avalon would be able to heal ruined circuits… hmmm, an experiment for later perhaps.
Regardless, this would now give me an ironclad alibi for me not being a Servant, along with 'explaining' the reason behind the lack of information on me, and the best part was that it was all true.
I might have had the Caster class, but I was never Caster, but Ruler, and I had purposefully excluded mentioning Extra-Classes.
The last part was true as well, as I am here fully, and therefore am not in the Throne, nor can someone summon one of my variants due to that reason, as well as lending credence to my former statement about not being a Servant, which I was no longer thanks to Angra Mainyu's machinations.
It is the perfect lie, one wrapped in so many layers of truth, that it becomes indistinguishable from the truth.
Glaring at her, I gave a derisive scoff. "As much as most would take it as a compliment to be compared to a Caster from the Age of Gods, I currently do not care for such a thing as I have better things to do right now," I explained harshly.
"Alistair is still recovering, and Sakura could always use some extra company," I stated with squinted eyes, and the girl was now visibly squirming in her seat. "Yet here I am, answering your questions and helping your investigation," I spat, while gesturing at her with annoyance.
"So show some grace, and do your job properly, rather than spouting your pointless theories before I am finished giving you my account of the Grail War," I said with a scolding edge, and I could practically hear the girl's thoughts scrambling around in her head to accommodate my wish.
The girl was young, inexperienced in politics, and therefore easy to manipulate and lead by the nose.
Emotional blackmail is in my opinion the key to a good working relationship between a pawn and player. If a few words telling her how upset I am over her reasonable concerns is enough for her to cave, then who am I to not press on such a weak point?
Ciel scribbled a few more things down before looking back at me with a professional look, but the look in her eyes was unmistakable, she was shaken.
"I'm sorry for my rudeness," she apologized, while slightly bowing her head. She tried her best to look unruffled as she clicked the top of her pen. "Can you continue where you left off?"
Her question made me smile.
"Of course…"
----
A/N
Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and reviews, as it would be much appreciated.
Before I start with the author's note, I got to add this, last week I deleted the Vol.3 info chapter right before I posted the new chapter, so you might have missed last weeks chapter. Stupid, I know, next time I'll delete the chapter halfway through the week, rather than at the same time I post.
Now back on track, before you all bring out your pitchforks with the whole, "Why is Morgan spilling her guts and revealing their (Mostly Alistair's) cards!?", I'd like for you all to take a moment and take a step back. Morgan will talk more about it in the next chapter, but I can give you all a small rundown.
As you all might have noticed, she is trying to make Alistair look like some freak of nature capable of fighting multiple high tier Servants, and then still capable of killing a Divine Spirit right after a crippling fight with Saber and Archer.
No one in their right mind would target such a person, even if they would want to. Such feats can only be found in legends, and the closest 'living' comparison would be someone like Zelretch, albeit to a lesser extent.
Of course, it is a big bluff, as Alistair wouldn't have been able to kill them all normally, let alone in a fair fight, but no one else would know, and only a suicidal fool would try to see if the roomers were true.
Meaning that they would rather target the ones close to him, with Morgan likely being the 'easiest' and best target. This would allow her to weed out their enemies, as they'd be delivering themselves right on her doorstep.
There is a bit more to her decision, but you all can wait a week for that.
Now, any questions? I'll happily answer most, as long as they aren't too 'spoilerie'.
Hop onto my Discord Server, I'd love to have a chat: https://discord.gg/HAPhryp5M2
Now, hand over those Power Stones, can't you see they are lonely when not used? Give them to me, and allow them to socialize, it's for their best... I swear...