Last Crack At Hope

Humanity's Emotion

—Chapter 11—

Humanity's Emotion

The white-haired male and the female raven did their split beyond the cavern debris as they began to investigate the ruins. What they were looking for were either captives or the main villain themselves. There was a problem though—the raven had no idea what either one of them looked like. She was informed about the deeds that were done, but not their appearances.

The raven facepalmed as she stopped her movement, groaning at the sudden realization. 'Was it my fault for arguing with Emiya? I dislike his attitude... and honestly, his ego is getting over his head.' She heavily sighed as she fully understood her predicament.

Pulling out a worn-out leather-bound book from her bag, she flipped through the pages to find anything remotely helpful in this situation. Enhancement runes... strength... speed... creation... nothing seemed to work out. The one that felt even close to working was regarding the magic to perceive emotions.

She read through the details, however, the process felt immorally wrong. For the raven, she did not like toying with emotions as it is quite fragile within humanity. 'For this to proceed properly, the user must sacrifice their emotions temporarily. Duration of the voided emotions is varied.' She repeated this in her mind.

Was this job of his worth her time to be void of her emotions? No–not at all. Was it the necessary exchange to prevent many more citizens from feeling the torture that may await them if they were to meet with this vile bitch in the future? Yes–definitely. She doesn't have a home to return to, nor does have anyone to return to. At the very least she could prevent those from losing anyone else.

She reviewed the spell's notes before shuffling the book back into her bag. Satou took a deep breath as she rummaged through her items. 'If I'm going to use this spell, I'll need the right set of runes...' Grabbing the necessary materials, she held them in front of her within her fist and began to chant.

"Sun and water, humanity and the elk. 
Let the elder appear and weave them all. 
Take thy bosom as the offer. 
Have them assemble and guide us."

As the raven spoke, her immediate surroundings glowed and a sense of white light flew out of her body. A sense of loss was felt as she began to feel the concept of emotions from beyond her location.

'100 meters North, 220 meters West, 250 meters East. A cluster of emotions emulated from these locations.' Satou extended her retractable staff, holding it tightly in her left hand as she carefully walked. 'The group in the North feels...scared and tense. Those must be the victims. The West and East groups... Are they laughing? If they are accomplices...'

She stopped herself, exhaling in a smooth motion before heading toward the group up North. 'First set of priorities is the victims. The others are after.' Activating the speed runes, she swiftly dashed toward the scared group.

As she approached the area, the raven noticed metal bars up ahead and stopped her movement. Knocking the end part of the staff to the ground, she scanned what was beyond her vision and visibly saw the outlines of the victims. Tattered clothes, lack of shoes, messy hair—the people were huddled into the corner trying to keep themselves warm.

Usually, her heart would clench at the sight of this, however... nothing seemed to be affecting her at the moment. Satou sighed, activating a glowing orb spell to light up the corridor and have it sent out toward the cell. She heard tired-out shrieks come from beyond the metal bars as she slowly walked over there.