The Thirsty Girl's Guide To Summoning (Fate/Isekai)

Chapter 54: Sabers In the Woods

Diarmuid did his best to shelter Artoria and the child from the branches he crashed through as he landed from his mighty leap into the woods. When, as soon as he balanced on the ground, Artoria pushed him away, he decided that meant a job well done. He watched in distant wonder as she set Kay on the ground and gave the child a brusque patdown to check for injuries.

His memories of the Saber from previous encounters were vague and dreamlike, and the one he remembered wore blue rather than black—but he remembered her all the same. Seeing her move gave him a thrill of joy. It was like he'd felt when he had a chance to spar with the Child of Light—except Cú Chulainn had been a cultural hero, and the Saber Artoria was something far more personal.

"What are you staring at?" she demanded sharply. "Are you just going to stand there gape-jawed? I'll look after the child. You retake the castle."

Diarmuid pulled himself away from admiring her firmness of purpose and bowed, murmuring, "As you command," a second time before dematerializing.

Artoria! She'd been with him all along. He remembered sparring with Tora and wondered if Artoria had observed from inside. Had she appreciated his swordwork?

Did she remember him at all?

Well, what mattered was that he remembered her, remembered her smile and their duels, interrupted by betrayal and blood. He prayed such an end wouldn't happen yet again and turned his attention to the task at hand.

He moved high over the castle, keeping most of his senses focused on detecting the near presence of other Servants. They could all move very quickly while dematerialized, but it was their material bodies that protected their spirit core. If that blond, scarred Servant caught him unaware like this, there would be no duels, only failure.

From above, he studied the movement of the soldiers around the main keep. The blond Servant stalked around occasionally bellowing but never looking up. A Berserker, Diarmuid suspected: all brute force, zero finesse, and even less perception. If Diarmuid could control the start of the battle, he'd win.

Unfortunately, the Berserker wasnt the only unfamiliar Servant present, something Diarmuid realized almost too late. A figure appeared on the keep roof, crouching, with long dark hair and tattoos on his chest. The new Servant—an Assassin judging from how he'd been veiled from Diarmuid's senses—was looking directly at him.

Without hesitation, Diarmuid rematerialized mid-leap, landing on the roof with his swords at the ready. But rather than attacking, the other Servant gave him a friendly little wave as he stood up. "Hey there."

Diarmuid dipped his head in a cautious acknowledgement.

"Oh, we can fight if you really want to," observed the other. "But I don't think that would be very fair to you."

Snorting, Diarmuid said, "You invaded our fortress by trickery and stealth. I don't believe fair is a motivating concern for you."

"Well, that's true. But that wasn't my plan. I'm not into relying on other people's tricks. Besides it's embarassing to win by ganging up on somebody. Beowulf doesn't care about that, though, and he'll be here in a heartbeat if—well, as I said, it wouldn't be fair."

With a scowl, Diarmuid said, "Fair or not, I can't allow you to just take our castle."

"We already did," said the other, almost gently. "But I see how it is. Acting under orders? But not from your girl Master, I think." He moved as Diarmuid did, keeping the distance between them. "That other girl, I think? The one I saw you carrying away? I saw where you landed, too..."

Diarmuid didn't respond, watching the other's lazy grace as he stepped around the roof. The other really didn't plan on fighting, he decided. The distance he maintained was meaningless to Diarmuid, but he'd be able to rouse his allies before being dispatched—and Diarmuid wasn't at all certain he could dispatch him quickly.

Then Diarmuid realized what the other had said. He narrowed his eyes. "What do you know about my Master?"

"She's a pretty little thing. But very scared last time I saw her." The Assassin stretched, locking his fingers together over his head.

"Where is she?" Diarmuid asked through clenched teeth.

"Can't tell you that. But I know if you found her, you'd be able to evict us, too."

"Why—who are you, anyhow? Why are you telling me this?"

The Assassin pressed his palm to his chest. "Me? I'm Yan Qing. And I'm not telling you anything. I'm just trying to convince you to get out of here without exerting myself, you know? Why waste energy on a fight I'm not going to enjoy." He shaded his eyes, looking out over the forest. "So what's up with this other girl you ran off with? Important to you, is she? Maybe I ought to go after her."

"Tch," said Diarmuid and gave up on the conversation as a waste of time. He dematerialized again and returned to scouting the castle, noting the number of men and trying and failing to identify the figures he'd fought before.

Had Yan Qing been one of them, veiled by an invisibility not his own? After comparing the Assassin's movement, he decided it was plausible. But that raised another concern. He hadn't been worried about Yan Qing's comment about chasing down Artoria and Kay—but he'd been thinking of an ordinary Assassin's capacities. Now that he gave it some thought, Artoria in her current dark form might not have the means to avoid him.

Cursing to himself, he rose out of the castle again. Yan Qing had once again vanished, which was enough to send Diarmuid back into the forest. But as he moved over the trees, he realized he'd somehow lost track of the castle...

Somehow. Hah.

Damn. Whatever had been used to hide the invasion was now being applied to the castle itself. He stilled, trying to decide between seeing if he could re-enter the castle's airspace again by retracing his path, and returning to Artoria. It was a painful decision. Either way he was going to be giving something up.

After hesitating longer than he wanted to ever admit, he shot through the forest until he came to where he'd left Artoria. She wasn't there, but she'd left a subtle trail for him to follow. He found her a short distance away, inspecting a climbable fallen tree with Kay, her sword held casually at her side.

"I could hide up here?" Kay suggested.

Diarmuid materialized, saying, "We have more problems."

Artoria gave him an irritated look. "The only reason for you to be back already is to report a failure. Don't waste my time with set up, report."

Wincing internally, Diarmuid said, "The castle's been stealthed. I'm not sure I can get back to it. I think they have Serendipity somewhere nearby, though."

Artoria's mailed fist clenched and cold anger flashed on her face. For a moment, Diarmuid thought she was about to hit him.

Then her form fuzzed and Tora took her place, blinking in confusion as she staggered against Kay. The little girl caught her arm worriedly. "Are you all right?"

"What... what happened?" asked Tora. "I know about the castle being stolen, but just now... I... she stepped back voluntarily. Why?"

Diarmuid's shoulders loosened. "We need to make a plan. I may be able to get back to the castle despite the stealth, but doing so alone would... not serve Lady Serendipity."

Tora looked around. "Where are the other Servants?"

"Would you like me to search for them first?" Diarmuid knew Tora wasn't his Master, just like he knew she wasn't Artoria. But she did have some command experience, and the Saber really preferred to execute others' plans rather than make them on his own.

Scratching her head, Tora looked around again and then down at Kay. "Where are the other kids? Where's Ritsu? My Servant doesn't know." Panic edged her voice, which neatly put all of Diarmuid's other priorities in order. Suddenly he once again felt calm.

"We'll find them, and the other Servants. Then we'll lure that chatty Assassin out and make him tell us what he knows about Serendipity." It was a plan. Having a plan was always better than not, after all.