“What the hell is that?”
“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it is…“
Changer makes a dramatic stop.
“…a ship!”
We were making our way toward the park when a ship suddenly appeared in the sky right above our destination. A sailing ship, similar to the ones I saw in the books about ancient history. Well, the ship being ancient is no surprise since the servants in the park are the ancient greek duo, and it was obviously summoned by a servant. But to summon a ship… Doesn’t that mean one of them is a rider?
I push that thought out of my mind. I’ll think about that later. Right now, there are other matters I must attend to.
I frown, still looking at the flying ship that appeared out of nowhere.
“I can see that. There is no reason to mock me.”
Changer pauses for a bit, as if he is confused.
“No, that wasn’t my… I apologize, master. It just…”
I look at him. He is staring absently at my face. I doubt he is seeing me right now.
“It just came out of my mouth automatically.”
His voice lowers to the point where I can barely hear him.
“Super-what? I don’t remember hearing…”
He shakes his head. His eyes, once again, are lively and focused. I don’t understand what that was about, but it is unimportant. We resume walking.
I stop again, when I see three figures jump down from the ship. No, that isn’t quite right. Two figures jump down from the ship. A third one floats down.
“Sten, did you see that?”
I try to understand what I just saw. Even though we can’t see them from here, I can still feel them. Every single one of them has tremendous amount of magical energy. Surely, they can’t be…
“They are servants.”
They can!
“What? How? Did three or four servants make an alliance?”
I start running. I feel like sooner we can see them, more we will learn. Changer keeps up with me.
“No, two of the new ones feel unfamiliar. Those three must have been summoned by another.
“Summoning three servants? That should be impossible!”
Changer shakes his head.
“They might be a famous team. If the famous leader of a famous team or group was summoned as a servant, I suspect his Noble Phantasm may be the summoning of the team itself. Like a rider summoning a horse to ride. Or a ship”
I think on what he says. A ship. A famous team of servants and their leader. He says two of them are unfamiliar. That means one of them is familiar to Changer. Considering the servants we’ve seen…
We stop as the park and the five figures in it come into view.
With just one look, my suspicion is confirmed.
* * *
[Interlude]
“Excuse us for a moment.”
Crew Heracles is unusually polite. It is a politeness that only comes out when he is speaking to himself.
That doesn’t happen often.
Argonauts gather around Jason.
Original Heracles crosses his arms and waits. This too is similarly an unusual politeness for him.
“So, Heracles, what does he have?”
“Which class is he? I can’t say how much he has without knowing.”
“An archer, I guess. I am honestly not sure.”
“Archer… All right, then don’t get shot. Remember Chiron? Don’t get shot.”
When they hear Chiron’s name, a spark of remembrance is visible in Jason’s and Atalanta’s eyes. They nod. Hydra’s poison is well known to them.
Medea doesn’t really care. As a magician, she doesn’t have much endurance anyway. Getting shot once is already dangerous enough for her as it is. Some poison doesn’t matter much.
“And be ready for a salvo. As in, hundred arrows at once kind of salvo. You know…”
They all nod, twice. All three of them has seen that move at least once. Heracles’s chest puffs up a bit with pride. With his giant body, even that looks scary.
“And kid, Atalanta-”
“No kids.”
“All right. Cap and Atalanta, God Hand will likely be active.”
All three pairs of eyes open wide. Mostly in shock, but also a bit in fear. God Hand, the blessing Heracles got after completing his twelve labours. It is a Noble Phantasm strong enough to endanger their whole group.
Then, Medea’s lips curl up for a grin. She sees where this is going.
“You two will pretty much be useless here, so sit back.”
Both of them grit their teeth. Anybody can see that Atalanta is vexed. For a renowned Huntress, being unable to do anything against her next prey is as bad as it gets. On the other hand, Jason has a grim expression, as if he is being forced to do something he’d rather not.
Stolen story; please report.
“Well, Atalanta, you can try to shoot at his eyes to distract him at least. But Cap, you sit back like a captain and let us handle this. Medea-”
Jason interrupts him with a voice that leaves no room for an argument.
“We’ll attack the girl.”
They all steal a glance at their enemy and the little girl.
“That kid on his shoulder? Why?”
“Because, she is his master. Rather than waiting in the side lines, we’ll attack his master.”
“His master? Even so, she is just a little girl.”
Jason ignores him and speaks to Atalanta.
“As a fellow member of can’t even hurt him even if he was sleeping league, what do you say?”
Atalanta smiles.
“No problem here, Cap. No matter the form or age, a prey I can hunt is fair game. Especially if her elimination means victory.”
“Then it is decided. Master Heracles, you and I will attack him head on. Huntress, you just keep firing at his eyes, and switch targets when you see an opening. Medea…”
He pauses. His face freezes as he gulps and slowly turns to Medea.
“Took you long enough, Jason. That’s right, what makes you think I’ll help you?”
* * *
We’re joining in, she said. We, she said. Then she left me. I understand that there are no masters out here she can attack, but why am I still going? Why would I just join in a four vs. one fight?
But I don’t retreat. I remain and keep watching them until a good chance to join presents itself.
These new servants. Even if they introduced themselves, I missed it. By the time I got close, they were in some kind of strategy meeting. Although, by this point, it is easy enough to guess all their identities.
All right, pebble beacons prepared beforehand, check. These colourful things Rin called confetti for the grand entrance, check. Plan about sharing enemies, check. A good chance, waiting.
The park has some trees around it, but, just they would not be sufficient to hide them from view. The thing that keeps anyone with no magic from seeing them or getting close is the field currently set up in the park. I don’t know who set it up, but Rin said such fields are common practice among maguses of this era, so it doesn’t really matter.
I am hiding close to the trees and keeping my magical energy from leaking. But assassin is not among my classes so I can’t really do much about concealing my presence as a servant. If they weren’t focused on each other, they would likely have noticed me by now.
Or maybe they already did, and just don’t care.
I train my arm on Medea. She floated down; maybe she’ll fly back up.
I love hunting birds.
* * *
“Now, there are three more.”
Lancer clicks his tongue. His argument has just become null.
“How lucky we are, right Lancer? Now, you can…”
“No.”
Lancer gets rid of the irritated expression on his face.
“Too bad, Bazett. Those newcomers came down to join a side. It just turned from a one servant against one servant to one party against one servant. I would still consider this a one-on-one.”
Lancer nods contently.
“Lancer…”
“No, Bazett. I won’t budge on this. I said ‘if a third one appears’ and I meant a third servant from among the original seven. Until one more comes out, I won’t consider this enough of an opportunity.”
As Bazett listens to Lancer, her face goes red. In the end she explodes.
“You never said anything about that! There are four servants down there! What more opportunity do you want?”
She stops shouting, but she is obviously angry. Her next quiet words sound actually a lot more frightening.
“One more, Lancer. One more, and you’ll do as you said you would. Pride is all nice and good, but letting golden opportunities go because of pride is too idiotic for me to accept.”
Lancer’s expression softens.
“Sure, master. I give you my word.”
He then murmurs to himself, with a voice Bazett cannot hear.
“Although, I’d be shocked if a servant was stupid enough to come out there.”
“…!”
Bazett suddenly points toward the park. If her pride didn’t get in her way, she would be jumping up and down in joy.
“Look, Lancer! Look! Another one!”
“Oh, come oooon!”
[Interlude End]