The King of the Grail's Fate (Fate/Nasuverse)

Chapter XXVII: Sigh

With an exasperated sigh, Harrison once again tried to get the two girls to quiet down and cease their bickering. Now they were arguing over the books they had taken back to their seats, Salter with a victorian era romance novel it seemed, and Jalter with the next volume of one piece after the ones Harrison had collected. Harrison is unable to even focus on them however as his mind wanders to the challenges he is yet to face and the fact Annabelle is still under some influence. He clicks his tongue in distaste knowing there must be something he can do, anything he can for her. It isn't right she is forced to participate in this war.

As Harrison is looking off in the distance zoned out for the most part something, or more accurately someone catches his eye. A hooded figure in techwear is darting between rows of bookshelves, which wouldn't be all too concerning on its own, but it is the red tattoo on her hand that Harrison catches a glimpse of. Without further thought or consideration Harrison slips out from the table he was seated at with the two girls, trying to be stealthy as he slips away after the figure. He follows her from row to row as it seems she isn't looking for books but for something else. Harrison and the figure do meet eyes at a point freezing both of them in their tracks. However, the figure darts away, obviously their sudden flea makes Harrison think that they were up to something. He ends up chasing the figure out a side door to the library, Salter and Jalter still none the wiser.

Bursting out of the library in close to a full run now as the figure continued to dart away at surprisingly fast speeds, Harrison couldn't help but feel like he was being led to some sort of trap. He did not care though as any information on what was going on was preferable to the lack of information he had. He was essentially waiting to be found and fighting a war while constantly being on the defensive was barely going to keep him alive nevertheless allowing him to win.

Harrison had to ignore his muscles in agony that threatened to lock up on him since they have yet to fully heal. Even still he followed the figure through ally ways twisting and turning onto streets he didn't know, and almost losing the person a handful of times no doubt. Breathing heavily Harrison moved into a full run now to try and keep up with the figure whose cowl/hood was now coming loose to reveal red hair tuffs that seemed to be longer than their shoulder by a margin. They suddenly whipped around a corner into another ally way. As Harrison got to the point they had turned into and went to follow as he had been doing, a hand on his chest stopped his advance. All of a sudden a man seemed to walk out from inside of the brick wall of the alleyway as if he had melted into it.

Looking away to try and find the figure again Harrison noticed them make another turn right, and at this point realized they would be lost for good. Snapping his gaze back to the man that had stopped him Harrison immediately recognized the man from a couple of nights ago, the one who had told him to focus on his stupid magecraft. "How's training going," he asked in a chill relaxed tone. "Get off of me, why'd you stop me, are you here to intercept me or something was this really a trap," Harrison rattles off as he shakes the hand from his body stepping back a pace. "No but where you were going certainly would have been," the man says looking off as if he could see something Harrison could not. 

Uncharacteristically snappy Harrison continued, "What is it to you, why does it matter if I run into a trap?" The man just clicked his tongue at Harrison, he is still wearing a hood to obscure the features of the top part of his face. "You're a core master, and you better act like one, running around without your servants chasing masters to and fro. You are a target now you get that," the man says in a serious tone. "My master for whatever reason wants to fight you properly and won't stand for anyone killing you before then, so don't be an idiot because next time I won't jump in to save you," the man says before beginning to meld back into the wall. 

For a moment Harison thinks he catches a glimpse of the man's eyes, he could swear they looked like jewels in a blue and pink swirl. "Righter!" Salter is calling from behind him and Harrison backs out of the alleyway slightly to reveal himself. When he exits the alleyway and looks to where the voice came from he sees Salter running full force towards him, her worried look softening before turning into a scowl as she picks up the pace. Somehow she is able to stop on a dime all her momentum stopped as she glares at Harrison inches from his face. "What do you think you were doing, you can't just run off like that," she says disappointment clear in her tone.

Harrison shrugs his shoulder not really sure, everything that had happened seems relatively hazy for some reason. "Ugh you are such an idiot, come on let's go," Salter says grabbing Harrison by the arm as she starts pulling him back towards the library. Harrison takes one look back towards where the other servant had stopped him, "Why..." he mumbles under his breath. Returning his vision to the floor embarrassed at the events that had transpired Harrison follows Salter without any further delay. Just as they are about to turn down a corner they both hear a voice call out to them from behind, "NOT SO FAST!" 

Behind them stands a man who seems to be around the same age as Harrison, he has short blonde hair and a beard he is two years too early to grow. "You there the Master I challenge you to a duel," he continues flourishing his jacket as if he was a superhero or something of the like, a big grin plastered on his face.