Fate/Irregular Summons

Chapter 2: Budding Dichotomy

FATE/IRREGULAR SUMMONS

Chapter 2: Budding Dichotomy

The night hours soon gave way to morning, signifying the beginning of another day of business and school for the residents of Fuyuki. However, among the otherwise innocuous citizenry, seven people were participating in an event known to Mages as the Holy Grail War. In the simplest terms, this was a contest between seven chosen ones known as Masters and the high-level familiars they summoned as their Servants, seeking to obtain the holy chalice that could grant the victor a single wish.

Servants were once heroes of the past who achieved fame and notoriety for their deeds and were thus inscribed in the Throne of Heroes – essentially a 'library' outside of space and time where a summoner could borrow a 'copy' of the original legendary figure and materialize them as a sort of physical ghost, with all of their skills, weapons and combat experience intact. This was the same process that Bazett relied on to summon Cuchulainn first, and then Connla afterwards. All of the Servants were temporary beings that would fade out of existence once their duties were over, so it was common for some Masters to treat their Servants as nothing more than disposable tools.

In a Holy Grail War however, Masters had to take extra precautions to make sure their Servants didn't rebel against such distasteful behavior. They were gifted with three sigils known as Command Spells, which they could use to issue absolute orders to their Servants. Once these three Spells were used up, the Servant no longer had an anchor to the world and would vanish. Thus, it was wiser for Masters to take their Servants' personalities into account and seek to work in harmony with them during their contract. It didn't mean that all Masters were smart enough to understand this concept, but at least those in the know would ensure some degree of cordiality.

Thus, one could consider Connla to be in a strange situation with Bazett. At least the two would not argue with other, yet they wouldn't be able to foster any kind of friendship either. Perhaps this was partly why Caren stepped in to act as Connla's fake Master – the Servant could socialize with a modern human outside of confronting the other Masters in this battle royale. Since they only just met however, it was a total mystery as to what Caren's behavior was really like. Therefore, Connla opted to take it slow and observe the nun as meticulously as formulating a complex battle strategy.

As Caren unpacked her suitcase in one of the other rooms within the dilapidated Edelfelt Manor, Connla stood at the doorway and watched her quietly. The white-haired lady could no longer ignore the child warrior's stifling presence and demanded, "Are you perchance staking me out? There's no need to be so edgy during the daytime."

"It is a Servant's job to keep their Master safe."

"Then you should be watching over Bazett instead of me."

"I will alternate between both of you for now."

"Suit yourself then. Just don't peek while I'm getting changed – I happily spank naughty little girls who don't understand the concept of a woman's privacy."

Connla raised an eyebrow. "What do you think I am, some kind of deviant?"

"If anything, at least you're fun to tease," Caren murmured. Her already-impish smile possessed an edge of deviousness to it, and Connla wondered just who the real naughty one was. Caren then said, "Well never mind that. If you're going to be standing there, we might as well have a nice chat. It's boring to sort my belongings in silence."

"Mm. Then let me ask you something, Ms. Hortensia. You said you would be able to deal with the other Masters on your own, but I'm not exactly familiar with your capabilities. Could you further elaborate on what skills and abilities you possess? Such knowledge would be beneficial for me to devise stratagems should we get ourselves into a dangerous situation."