Fate Apocrypha Volume 3

Chapter 1.3

Sieg's face clouded over as he surveyed the half destroyed castle.

He could see a slender arm, likely belonging to a homunculus, jutting out from under some debris – and hurriedly ran towards it when he saw it twitch.

"Hey!"

The arm responded to his call, hand turning upwards as though reaching for something – help, Sieg realized. He placed his hand on the debris covering the homunculus. The thaumaturgy he employed was meant only for the destruction of its target; as such, there was no risk of it impacting upon whoever was trapped beneath.

After fully understanding its composition, Sieg accelerated his Magic Circuits and quickly blew apart the rubble. It was his best use of thaumaturgy yet, and everything burying the homunculus was reduced to dust – but he was too late.

"Ah..."

Simply hurrying over to her side was not enough to save her. It was laughable to begin with, his belief that lending his hand before she was fully crushed would lead to her salvation. In the end, no one but her could have made the choice to save her: the choice to have not participated in the battle at all.

"Thank you, I owe you my life. Has the battle concluded?"

The debris striking her head had likely robbed her of most of her sight. The homunculus reached out every which way, her eyes glazed over. Sieg might have shattered the rubble crushing her, but she had been run clean through by one of the candlestands that once stood in the hall – and the direct impact of what must have been the aftershock of Spartacus's strike had removed both of her legs. However, perhaps due to her non-functional pain receptors – or her conscious decision to overlook the sensation itself – she continued to ask of her duties in a detached tone of voice.

"Yes... it's over."

The girl sighed, solaced by his words. The act was entirely too human.

"In that case, I must return to my cleaning duties... but I will dirty the floors like this. How clumsy of me... I must change out these clothes, and trade this halberd for a broom, quickly... but first, I need to stop this bleeding..."

Killing his emotions, Sieg firmly grasped the hand of the girl without a single tremor.

"It's all right. I'll do that for you, after all of this is over. You should rest."

"Is that... so?"

Relief crept into her voice.

"To be honest... I am feeling a little tired. If you could, that would be most wonderful. Excuse me while I take a short rest... please wake me after five hours."

"You... can rest longer than that."

"Five hours is enough sleep for a homunculus... but it seems my body is quite fatigued. I have never felt so... exhausted..."

She closed her eyes, and her hold on Sieg's hand weakened. Is there nothing I can do? Sieg thought desperately – but of course, there was not. Eventually, losing her strength entirely, her arm slipped through Sieg's relaxed grip and fell down. Sieg stood up and turned his back to her; there was nothing more he could do here. He still had his own mission – and its fulfillment would surely bring peace to her soul...

"And to think that you would come back, just for us... you have an unfortunate sense of obligation. But, thank you... for saving me..."

Sieg whipped around in shock, rushing over to take her hand again and check her pulse. But this time, the girl was well and truly gone. It seemed that at some point – perhaps from the very start – she had seen through his badly-performed act. He could not even let her pass away in peace.