Fate: Hammer Time

Chapter 16: Root Them Out

The day after the swimming exam

Vincent Balefor was usually the most confident man in the room. He prided himself on being unflappable and cool-headed under any circumstances, always ready for what the world might throw at him.

Most people who were even remotely familiar with the man would disagree vehemently, but he had never paid any attention to such criticism. They were just jealous, and jealous howling was easily ignored.

So when he woke up that morning and discovered he was feeling ill-at-ease and dare he say it, afraid, it caused him no small amount of confusion and distress.

He'd been afraid before of course, his confrontation with Barthomeloi coming to mind, but never without a cause or reason, like what seemed to be the case now. It wasn't like him to fear invisible ghosts or possible futures, his mental fortitude was much stronger than that!

Nevertheless, he just couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going to happen very soon, something that was in no way beneficial for him or his plans.

It might just be paranoia, but he hadn't survived this long by ignoring his gut-feelings. He would need to keep his eyes open for threats from within, just in case his partners intended to betray him, and from without, in case that lord managed to find him.

While being found by anyone from the Clocktower would be terrible, that lord was one of the worst possible options where Balefor himself was concerned.

It wasn't that the lord was particularly cruel or vindictive, far from it even, he was rather soft compared to others, but Balefor wouldn't dare underestimate him. That man wasn't a lord in the Clocktower for nothing after all. In fact, being one of the few that who managed to survive that glorified slaughter in Fuyuki-City proved he wasn't a man to be trifled with.

The only one that was perhaps worse than that lord was Barthomeloi herself, since she was in fact very vindictive and cruel when she was in the mood for it.

Of course, Balefor would rather not be captured by either of them, or by anyone really. He much preferred to remain free and had always worked hard to cover his tracks. Unfortunately, it wasn't always up to him whether the tracks were covered or not.

In fact, uncovered tracks were the whole point of the meeting he was in now. They had to discuss the results of their latest folly concerning that chit of a Tohsaka and their 'masterplan' to capture her for themselves, because of course that went wrong again.

"The mercenary we hired to kidnap the Tohsaka still hasn't checked in with me." Waudenstad began, a heavy frown on his disturbingly rat-like face. "Which is very strange, since the Tohsaka should be in his possession already."

"He hasn't sent any messages whatsoever?" Balefor asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this matter, the premonitions of this morning clear in his mind.

"None." Waudenstad confirmed. "Ever since he left for Hikone, he has dropped off the radar. All signs of him have disappeared. We don't even know if he's still alive, much less where he is."

"Is it perhaps possible then that he has been caught?" Meire Palerna asked fearfully. "By Tohsaka herself, or perhaps someone else, like her pet-priest?"

Waudenstad gritted his teeth in displeasure. "That is entirely possible, I'm afraid."

"Then we have to abandon this place as soon as possible." Balefor cried, now understanding where his bad feelings had come from. "If we stay here, we are at a significant risk of being caught."

The faces of the others drew into grimaces at his words, showing just how displeased they were with his suggestion.

On some level, Balefor understood their reaction. They had literally spent years making this castle their home, not to mention their Workshops, a Magus' most sacred place, were also located here, making it very grating to have to leave.