ガンド

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘶𝘺𝘶𝘬𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢..𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘯𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘩𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘙𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮'𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯.

𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺…

"𝖠𝗋𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗋, 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝖨 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝖾, 𝖨 𝗋𝖾𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝗂𝗌. 𝖲𝗎𝗋𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗐𝖺𝗋, 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗆 𝗈𝖿 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗋𝖾 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖧𝗈𝗅𝗒 𝖦𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗅, 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗎𝖻𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗌𝖼𝗂𝗈𝗎𝗌𝗅𝗒 𝗈𝗋 𝗇𝗈𝗍. 𝖨𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗅𝗒 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖺 𝗇𝗈𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝗐𝖺𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗊𝗎𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗎𝗇𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖺𝗋𝗂𝗌𝖾𝗌. 𝖲𝗈 𝖨 𝖽𝗈 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾, 𝗆𝖾𝖺𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀𝖿𝗎𝗅 𝗂𝗇 𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖽”.

𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭.

⤮ — For a noble class to be so nonchalant about death was a rare sight, but she was no chivalrous knight. Mana was mana, death was death. Kirei would come to like this ruthlessly rational part of her, she assumed; he’d have someone to share his depravity with, without judgement. That would only work in her favour, even if she didn’t fancy the thought of coming to agree with him on any front.

⤮ — As he addressed her again, the rage within waned somewhat, his question leaving her blank. A wish… One could say she wished for the destruction of humanity, to rid them once and for all, but it was no wish. It was something she wanted to carry out herself, without any interference of fate. If she started to see her goal as something that could be granted by anyone but her, she’d lose this battle against herself in no time. Alas, she hadn’t changed.

⤮ — “ As a Servant, I have been summoned to win the war for my Master. To rely on a mystical item beyond our understand as a form of motivation through my battles, would be irresponsible. To acquire the wish through someone else’s hard work, would make it pointless, ” Stormy eyes matched his gaze as she raised her head, her voice cold and piercing. “ Your wish is my wish, for… ” 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

“𝖶𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺 𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇 𝗈𝖿 𝖺 𝖽𝗂𝗌𝖺𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝖠𝗋𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗋? 𝖠 𝗌𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗂𝗌 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝗎𝗌𝖾𝖿𝗎𝗅 𝗉𝗂𝖾𝖼𝖾𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗐𝖺𝗋, 𝖾𝗌𝗉𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌. 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝗈𝗎𝗌 𝖦𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗅 𝗐𝖺𝗋, 𝗌𝗈 𝗂 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍-𝗁𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐𝗅𝖾𝖽𝗀𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗈𝗋𝗍𝖺𝗇𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗌, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝗒 𝗈𝗋𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌. 𝖨𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝖺 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗆𝖾 𝗂𝖿 𝖨 𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝖽𝗂𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗍 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗌… “

𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘰𝘩 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴.

"𝖧𝗈, 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗇𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖺 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗐𝖾? 𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍. 𝖶𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾..𝗌𝗎𝖻-𝗉𝖺𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖺 𝗍𝗈 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗏𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝗒 𝗈𝗐𝗇. 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗈𝖽𝗌, 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝖽𝗏𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗆𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗌𝖺𝗒. 𝖠 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗈𝗂𝖼 𝗌𝗉𝗂𝗋𝗂𝗍 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝗋𝖾𝗊𝗎𝗂𝗋𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝖺𝖼𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗂𝖼𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋'𝗌 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖺 𝗍𝗈 𝗄𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝖾𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾, 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗅𝗒 𝖽𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈..𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗈𝖺𝖽 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝗒𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿. 𝖶𝗁𝗒 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗋𝖽𝖾𝗇 𝗆𝗒𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿? 𝖶𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖿𝖺𝗋 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗊𝗎𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗏𝗈𝗅𝗎𝗇𝗍𝖾𝖾𝗋𝗌..

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘚𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

"𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝖼𝗋𝗎𝖽𝖾 𝗁𝗎𝗆𝖺𝗇 𝗌𝖺𝖼𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗂𝖼𝖾. 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝗈𝗎𝗌 𝖦𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗅 𝖶𝖺𝗋 𝗁𝖺𝖽, 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗌𝖾𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 "𝗐𝗂𝗇𝗇𝖾𝗋𝗌” 𝖿𝗈𝗈𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖧𝗈𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝗎𝗉 𝗈𝖿 𝖢𝗁𝗋𝗂𝗌𝗍. 𝖨𝗍 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗈𝗒𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗌𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗌. 𝖲𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝗎𝗋𝗏𝗂𝗏𝖾𝖽, 𝗈𝗋 𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗅𝖾𝖿𝗍 𝗈𝗋𝗉𝗁𝖺𝗇𝖾𝖽. 𝖨 𝖽𝗂𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 𝗂𝗇, 𝗀𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 𝗌𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗍𝖾𝗋. 𝖧𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗉𝖺𝗌𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗇𝖾𝖽. 𝖲𝗈 𝖨 𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝖺 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗎𝗌𝖾𝖿𝗎𝗅 𝗉𝗎𝗋𝗉𝗈𝗌𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆. 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗌𝗎𝗉𝗉𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖺 𝗂𝗇 𝖺𝖽𝖽𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖾. 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗏𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗇𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋𝗀𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗎𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗂𝗇 𝖻𝖺𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗂𝗍. 𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝖻𝗃𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖽𝗈, 𝗉𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾 𝗅𝖾𝗍 𝗆𝖾 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐…“

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘩𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘙𝘪𝘯, 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘞𝘢𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥… 

“𝖠 𝗉𝗂𝗍𝗒, 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺 𝖻𝖾𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗂𝖿𝗎𝗅 𝗂𝗍𝖾𝗆 𝗀𝗈𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗐𝖺𝗌𝗍𝖾. 𝖭𝗈𝗍 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍𝗌 𝗏𝖺𝗅𝗎𝖾…” Ｋ－ＰＳＨＵＴＣＨ

𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘩𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴..

⤮ — Have I ever seen him this annoyed…? The stray thought passed her mind as the man came back huffing and puffing, seemingly irked by the couple of words she threw his way. Was he really on that much of a power trip? She knew what he spoke of, though she wondered how thrown off he was to not even consider that she might’ve been summoned previously before. A new side to Kotomine Kirei to keep her amused for the duration of her stay, it seemed.

⤮ — She let her eyes follow the glow of his command seals, not being too bothered by his threat. She was an Archer, had he forgotten? But she supposed he had no reason to be cautious, considering he could use as many seals as he wished. If one didn’t work, perhaps another would. That kept her slightly on her toes, knowing how cruel this man could be.

⤮ — She didn’t say anything in response though, merely listening to him as he moved on to address her question. Was he intimidated by her? Is that why he was showing off so soon? Perhaps he was intuitively wary, his subconscious knowing more about her than his conscious, making him act in a strange manner that he himself could not explain. As he summoned forth the spare mana he spoke of, she had little time to observe the purple clouds before they flew at her, making her flinch from the sudden difference of power.

⤮ — The mist rose from her clothes like smoke as she regained her composure, feeling out her mana pool. It was sufficient, but more importantly, this explained how he was so powerful during the war. Mana batteries made out of humans was the highest offence a mage could make, and she expected no less from him. Cheater… “ Putting to use wasted potential… Perhaps they should be indebted to you for giving them a purpose in life, ” She stated coldly, observing as the clouds disappeared, returning her mana pool to a normal amount. She was in no way or form complimenting him, but sometimes her blatant statements could be taken as such. “ There will be no objections from me. ”

⤮ — Figuring that was that, she wondered what to do when he left the basement, before hearing him speak again. The faint glimmer of red caught her eye as she stared at the gem in Kirei’s hand, recognizing it well. So that was how he summoned her… Why would he use that as a catalyst anyways? It could’ve failed if she didn’t have such a strong connection, and he clearly wasn’t aiming to summon her. But as she heard the loud crack from the jewel under the pressure of the priest’s strength, she froze.

You dare…

⤮ — Mimicking him, she held her arms behind her, returning the same impassive expression as before. He seemed to be expecting something from her as silence loomed over the two, her eyes not wavering from his. Behind her back, her nails dug into her skin, letting out her frustration through that tiny, hidden action. Far too much would be given away if she took offense to his actions right now, and she had far too much to accomplish before he could even come to guess her identity.  

𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳-𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬.

“𝖸𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝖺𝗌𝗄 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝖻𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇. 𝖨 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗈 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗉𝗒 𝗎𝗉𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌. 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖽, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝖿𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝗍 𝗎𝗉 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝖻𝖺𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒. 𝖨 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗅𝖾𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝖻𝗂𝗅𝖾. 𝖨𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖺𝖼𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝖺 𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖺𝗇𝗍, 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗇𝗈𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗉𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗌𝗆, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝖽𝗈 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅. 𝖶𝖾 𝖽𝗈 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝗍𝗈 𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗊𝗎𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝗒𝖾𝗍.”

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

"𝖱𝖾𝗃𝗈𝗂𝖼𝖾 𝖠𝗋𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗋, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗅𝖽𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗈𝖾𝗌, 𝖽𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝗈𝗋 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗇𝗌…𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗌 𝖺 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾?

⤮ — The corner of her mouth twitched upwards as the situation finally dawned upon her, taking a sick sort of amusement with the way their fate had turned out. It was funny, hilarious, hysterical--if she could, she would let her laugh echo through the room, but she was sure she’d long forgotten how to express such an emotion.

⤮ — Her smirk disappeared as he turned to look at her once more, remaining motionless, appearing to have no thoughts of her own. He was curious, without a doubt, bothered by being presented with an unknown entity. For a man that planned as much as him, missing important information would surely push him to an edge soon. He scrutinized her under his stare, trying to find something that would give away her confusing identity, but she was sure nothing would stand out yet. 

⤮ — “ Yes, Master--... ” She paused, her mouth souring at having called him such a thing, wanting to puke. As much as she had changed, it seemed that, because she’d never confronted her thoughts and feelings regarding him, they were slowly being brought forth again from the depths of her mind. Annoying. “ ... An odd order, for a war. ” She added on, covering up her hesitance smoothly. If he was anyone else, she would’ve found it strange to be given such an order, anyways.

⤮ — She had no plans to follow his orders though, even if she seemed agreeable on the outside. For one, spying was a waste of time for her, since she already knew how this reality ended. Perhaps there would be some inconsistencies because of her existence, but she was sure nothing major would be changed. Taking on Lancer’s duties should be easy enough, and the rest of the time… Well, she had plenty of time to plan her course of action.

⤮ — “ Hm… ” She averted her gaze at his question as though she was in deep thought, unsure of what to say. She knew everything, but she needed to play dumb, so her answers needed to be worded carefully. It was hard to know what you didn’t need to know, but it would be best to take on the duty of questioning him, rather than letting him question her.

Taking pride in himself was something he had no experience in, and if he was being honest, he didn’t think that was quite how he’d describe the way he felt now. He wasn’t proud that he had managed to learn, even just a little bit, how to communicate normally, but it did feel good. Perhaps the best word was simply “thankful”, thankful that Rin had never given up even as he tried to convince her otherwise, thankful that she had refused to see him as a weapon, thankful that she had endured many many weeks where he had been no doubt hell to deal with, for the sake of helping him progress. It was a debt he could never repay, and he would always love her for all she had done.

For a moment, feeling her hands squeeze around his after so long, he felt as giddy as a child, his heart soaring even more than it already had. She was back. She was back. His Master, his lover, his Rin. The person he’d pledged himself too one night in a lonely woods, and then pledged himself to once again, vowing to be hers and only hers no matter what happened. It was like the first time he’d returned home from a trip to find Vrushali waiting for him, like the first time they had embraced again. The words came unbidden to his lips, his mouth moving before his mind could catch up. “I love you, Rin.”

He was surprised by the powerful longing he felt, smiling softly at the feeling. It was immature, of course, Rin wasn’t going to disappear merely because he’d left the room, and there would be plenty of time to catch up with each other. He simply didn’t want to wait, but he’d promised her tea, and he was going to make sure it was the best cup of tea she’d ever had. He lost himself in the routine of making the drink, heating the water with his own flames until it was just right, arranging the cups and spoons and teapot on a tray, and carrying it out to her, still smiling softly.

His smile didn’t falter as she took her first sip, and he could tell already as soon as she set it down she had enjoyed it. She had gotten so good at reading him, it was only fair that he’d learned how to read her as well. Once he was sure she was satisfied, he sat down himself, taking a sip of the tea before he nodded slowly. “I attempted to make it when you were gone, but…the first time, I prepared two cups by mistake, and I no longer wished to drink it once I had realised that. The second time, I didn’t prepare any extra, but…it did not feel right only making it for myself. I was sure you were satisfied, but I apologise if I have erred, Rin.” He bowed his head at the end, apologising almost out of habit at this point. He’d grown, but there was far more growing yet to be done.

✧ — Calmly listening to him, she closed her eyes, taking in a few more sips. As composed as she was on the outside, her heart fluttered on the inside, adoring the way he explained his worries. Time and time again he had proven to her how perfect he was, and at the very worst, how perfectly imperfect he was. Perhaps she was giving him more credit than was due, figuring losing interest in an activity when a partner wasn’t present was a normal occurrence, but she was rather starved for his affection. Naturally, as a dignified magus, she couldn’t express just how much she missed his company so overtly, even if they were the only two in the room. So instead, she smiled to herself, though feeling a little guilty over how he felt without her. He liked tea just as much as she did, so she was rather burdened to hear that her absence deprived him of his own interests. Could he be withholding other things from her so as to not make her worry?

✧ — Setting the tea back on the tray, she shook her head. “ You would know if you have erred around me--I would make it known, wouldn’t I? ” She smiled, touching upon her short temper that seemed to have waned as she spent more time with him. Well, it should, as all that made her flustered was now natural and welcomed, even if neither of them were used to it.