Fate: Hammer Time

Chapter 27: Welcome to the Clocktower

When Shirou had accepted Lord El-Melloi's offer of a sponsorship, he'd know that the man was the head of the Archibald-family. The Archibald-family had been one of the oldest and richest families of the Clocktower, right up until Kiritsugu had killed their Crest-bearer so thoroughly that nothing of the Crest could be salvaged afterwards.

Undoubtedly, that loss of their Crest had been disastrous for the Archibald. Even Shirou, who knew little about politics and other facets of Magus Society, knew that a Crest was vital for a family's standing.

He had no evidence to support the theory, but he suspected that the Archibald-family had fallen hard after the Fourth Holy Grail War. The loss of a Crest was a crippling blow on the best of days, and living in the centre of the Clocktower, both literally and metaphorically, meant that there were a great many vultures around that were only too happy to take a bite out of a wounded animal.

Shirou had known all this, but finding out Lord El-Melloi's car was a battered, old thing that seemed barely fit for the road really drove home that his father had absolutely ruined the Archibald.

Since he was raised as a polite man, Shirou showed none of his surprise on his face. It would be extremely bad form to laugh at or mock a man who was helping him, and even more so since it was his father's fault that the Archibald were in this situation to begin with.

Which was incidentally also why his name was now Shirou Fujimaru here in Europe. Acknowledging he was an Emiya would be a bad idea to say the least. It would bring nothing but trouble, and if he wanted to save Illya quickly and efficiently, trouble was the last thing he needed.

As such, he kept his polite smile on his face as they climbed into the car, Bazett in the driver's seat, El-Melloi next to her, and Shirou in the backseat.

No one said anything during the drive to the Clocktower. Bazett was focused on the road, while Lord El-Melloi appeared to have things to think about.

Shirou was tempted to ask more questions about the Magus Association, the nobles, and a variety of other subjects that he needed to know more about, but Lord El-Melloi looked so absorbed in thought that he couldn't bring himself to disturb the man.

It was a few minutes later that they arrived.

After reaching the Big Ben of London, they had turned down a hidden road, one that was obscured from the common folk by Enchantments. The road led them down into the Earth, and after a few more minutes of driving, they arrived in an underground parking garage.

"Welcome to the Clocktower's parking garage, kid." Bazett said without turning around, still paying attention to the road in front of her as she drove. "This is the place the Lords and other nobles can park their expensive cars without worrying about plebs touching or looking at them."

"I see." Shirou muttered as he looked around, before turning back to the redheaded woman. "It's rather... posh."

'Posh' was an understatement. Rather than the concrete bunkers that came to mind when thinking about parking garages, this one had been made out of sparling marble that shone in the light of countless beautiful, intricate chandeliers holding glowing orbs of light. Statues were spread around the place, one more ornate and artistic than the other, while the floor had been decorated with mosaic patterns in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

How they kept it all clean was anyone's guess, though Shirou suspected Magecraft was involved.

And that wasn't even mentioning the cars themselves. Lord El-Melloi's old rust-bucket fell out of tone here like a feather would at a sword display.

Shirou did not know much about the different species of car, but the immense, gilded, and brightly coloured limousines were so obviously high-class that even he could deduce that these were probably among the most expensive and most coveted cars in the world.