True Magician

Chapter 34

Kyoto. Yasaka's Palace.

I sat in the seiza position in one of the rooms of the palace and sipped my tea with a calm expression on my face, even though I'm an avid coffee drinker. The moon was shining unusually bright that night, eliminating the need for an alternative light source. The sounds of fireflies permeated the room, and the warmth of the tea cup warmed my skin.

So, today's incident aside, I need to think about how exactly to deal with Kokabiel and Excalibur.

The Fallen can be dealt with without too much trouble, as his role isn't important enough to proceed with caution. He's just the catalyst for the Biblical faction's peace treaty. I haven't met him yet, so it's too early to draw conclusions about his personality. What if he also doesn't fit the canon as well as Riser? Who knows, who knows.

According to the description from the anime, he's a typical war-crazed villain, without any clarification in the narrative. And I wouldn't want to let him go to waste without figuring out his motives. Cao Cao and his gang reeked of arrogance and a kind of madness, just like the recently met Shalba. They didn't have any deep thoughts or thoughtful motivation, as was the case with Riser. And considering that Kokabiel, though fallen, is still an angel, I highly doubt his mind is as illogical and clouded as the first two.

I think I should get him into a conversation sometime to get a better idea of what exactly his goal is.

The Excalibur thing is both complicated and simple at the same time. I'll definitely get all seven of his reshaped shards, even the Excalibur of Control that Arthur currently possesses, as well as making it whole again with the help of Merlin and Emiya under Muramasa's influence, but then what's next?

Leave it in the hands of the local factions? Nope. The other supernatural factions, upon learning that the sword is unified again, will try to pull something, as the balance of power will change. Although the local Excalibur isn't as strong as Artoria's, it's still powerful enough to pose a threat to mystical beings. A noble Phantasm of rank B. Maybe B+ at most. Durability is very lame when you consider it in his shards, though.

Morgan, Artoria, Merlin, Lancelot, and even Mordred wouldn't mind the idea of keeping the sword in my care, but then the Biblical faction would lose an effective weapon and an important asset in its face.

And all would have been simple, were it not for Alaya's restrictions. In the absence of them, my hands would be completely free, and Trihexa wouldn't be a problem, as two EX-ranked Noble Phantasms from two Grand Servants at once would wipe her out in a second. But unfortunately, I'm still limited in what I can do.

I need to start testing my theories on circumventing the rule of relative non-interference in the plot as soon as possible, or else there will be more and more of these situations. Although, they're going to be that way anyway, given the intensity of the story arcs.

I took a sip to calm my mind and looked into my cup.

- "You may enter, Ms. Ninja," I said, still not taking my gaze off the cup, "You don't have to be so careful. If I wanted to do something, your attempts to resist me would be futile, as you probably already know from Nurarihyon-san's words."

The response was a silence that didn't last too long, as the shoji to my room opened, and in its opening was a figure dressed in a black ninja uniform.

- "I apologize, but I'm only doing my job." She replied, sitting down in the seiza.

- "I see," I looked at her and placed the cup on the table, "I understand Yasaka-sama wants to see me?"

Her answer was a short nod. I got up from the table and headed to the main hall, which took about a couple minutes to reach. Once inside, my eyes immediately noticed Yasaka sitting on her throne and Nurarihyon standing at the stairs to her and smiling cheerfully at me.