Grand Foreigner (Chapters 1- 200)

Chapter 196

Nitocris waited a few moments, intently waiting for clarification from the man, who simply was content to take drags from his smoking pipe. Before, she realized with a start that the Servant had no further intention of explaining his words and looked at him suspiciously. "And?"

"And? And what?" The man looked at Nitocris with a slightly interested expression, then shifted his gaze to Medb before raising one eyebrow. A sign whose meaning passed over Nitocris' head, to which Medb responded with an almost apologetic breath. "She's not very smart."

Nitocris, realizing that Medb's comment was directed at her, allowed herself to irritably twitch her bunny ear on top of her, as she looked at the two Servants who had just mocked her openly. The man, noticing this irritation, finally took the smoking pipe away from his lips. As he did so, it dispersed a moment later, demonstrating that it was part of the Servant himself, like his weapons and clothing, and therefore absolutely essential to his legendary image.

What kind of man has a smoking pipe to be part of their legend?

"My name, Lady Nitocris, is Sherlock Holmes." The man in the prime of his life, who had introduced himself as the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, nodded slightly. The act caused Nitocris, who had received as much information from the Throne of Heroes as any of the Servants, but who still failed to recognize the great detective when he used his famous phrase, had her ears twitching again. This time, however, in great embarrassment, causing her to lower her eyes to the ground.

'Amazing, Nitocris – what else are you going to manage to screw up? Are you sure your Noble Phantasm won't work backwards or something?!'

"Oh, I see you are familiar with my background after all – please don't worry, my nature was hard enough to determine..."

"Lack of discipline in communication is the indulgence of misguided stupidity." Medb cut Holmes off abruptly, as he tried to console Nitocris, interrupting him before she glanced down the wide but empty passage leading ahead at a slight angle. "Ozymandias had not warned of your presence..."

"Ah, if he did, it would have been a great surprise to me," Holmes shook his head slightly, with a joking demeanor. "Considering that he was unaware of my presence. And, I suppose, he was unaware that I even existed in the first place."

Nitocris, who had instantly grasped the important information, was determined to bring it to Ozymandias' ears as soon as she could.

"A splendid idea, my dear." Holmes merely nodded as if he could read Nitocris's thoughts before turning away, ignoring the others and walking forward. "I confess that fixing Atlas took somewhat longer than I had hoped or calculated. Indeed, I had wished to make the necessary actions without the presence of strangers, so I had hid myself."

"It's rather unfortunate, then, that you won't be able to do it now, isn't it?" Medb, disregarding Holmes' paternalistic attitude and his disdain, followed after him, forcing the silent Sita and Nitocris to follow them.

"Hmm..." Holmes, after walking a few steps, paused for a moment, glancing back at Medb with an inscrutable gaze, before returning to his relaxed stride. "I suppose so."

Step by step, the four Servants began to plunge beneath the ground, passing through empty, bending tunnels that glowed with a measured whiteness. Before, after a dozen minutes of silent walking, they reached the doors of what could only be described as a 'fortified vault'.

Bursting with a multitude of wires and mechanical panels, combined with strange mechanisms made of unknown alloys and materials, crossed by magical patterns that shuddered gently with each pulsation of the nuclei of similar structures. The door made for a very interesting sight, pretty much screaming to the world 'there's something important behind!'