Magdalena Contreras

Saber was not sure what to think of his Master. Immediately after summoning him, introducing himself, setting some ground rules along the way, all in a matter of a minute or two, he started ignoring Saber and focusing on his books again. This is certainly not what he was expecting. Especially being told to effectively win this war on his own. To handle strategy, to handle the use of Noble Phantasms at his own discretion. His master was only going to intervene here and there, but leave mainly everything to him.

Saber decided to ask what exactly his master exactly wanted to obtain from the grail, since it appeared that whatever he was doing at the moment, was more important than a once in a lifetime opportunity to wish for anything he wants. He didn’t wish to disobey his orders, of not asking worthless questions(mainly by the masters’ standard of useless questions), but he had to find out, with and for what kind of person he was exactly fighting for. ”If I may.. What exactly is your wish?”

”...”

No answer. Was he ignoring him? Or was he so invested in his reading material and writing down various notes that he simply couldn’t hear him?

Saber decided to speak a bit louder, not wanting to materialize himself in order to attract his master’s attention. ”Master?”

”Hm? What is it?”

”I’d like to know, what exactly is your wish?”

”My wish? Hmm… … Immortality. More specifically, immortality of the soul… would be a good way to put it. As long as your soul is all well and good, I can simply modify my body, like many other Magus have done, in order to prolong my body's natural life span, however modern magecraft has its limits. It cannot stop your soul from becoming old and decaying, the grail on the otherhand, perhaps, might. Does that answer your question? No need to tell me your wish, I can already make a decent guess.”

So all his master wanted was a long life? That indeed wasn’t very grandiose. Saber imagined it was a rather simple, yet popular wish. Not many people would willingly wish to die. Most would avoid that fate as best to their abilities.

His master had already gone back to indulge himself in his books and notes, when Saber called out to him again, Saber wondered if this war would actually go anywhere with a Master like this.

There was a single man in a mess of a rather run down room sitting at a desk reading a book and taking some notes, occasionally digging through some older papers he’s got lying around everywhere. Nothing had changed, now he simply had a sword wielder who could probably level an army at his command.

After summoning Saber, he explained some things to him and carried on back to his work. This war was important for sure, but even without it and without the wish, he could probably make do. There were more important things in life than some fancy cup after all. Not to mention there was no actual proof it worked, so he might have put in all this effort for nothing, so to mitigate the damages, he did what he did every day, read and write.

Saber called out to him in a rather loud voice. Great, and there he hoped he hadn’t summoned a barbarian, unfortunately, the current events unfolding told him something else. A harsh, very harsh reality.

”Hm? What is it?”

He answered. He was sure that he told him not to bug him about any minor or worthless stuff, so he hoped this was something important, not like the beacon from earlier.

”I’d like to know, what exactly is your wish?”

That slightly surprised him. It was a worthless question for sure.

”My wish? Hmm…

In fact, was Saber stupid? A question like that felt taboo to him. What if his wish was world domination? What if it was a wish that could lead to countless deaths, in order to be fulfilled? A simple question, that could easily lead to the downfall of an alliance or any sort of relations between the two. Well, there was no harm in answering with a wish like this, or so he thought.

”Immortality. More specifically, immortality of the soul… would be a good way to put it. As long as your soul is all well and good, I can simply modify my body, like many other Magus have done, in order to prolong my body's natural life span, however modern magecraft has its limits. It cannot stop your soul from becoming old and decaying, the grail on the otherhand, perhaps, might. Does that answer your question? No need to tell me your wish, I can already make a decent guess.”

”What a waste of air. Hopefully, next time he will say something not completely bothersome.”

He immediately got back to his research and started ignoring Saber’s already non-existent presence.

Saber pondered over his current situation. The resources he had were small… Upon being summoned he expected something more. His Master was seemingly unwilling to put any effort into this war to top it off. The situation in Sabers’ mind was bleek. If there is no drive towards battle, then everything immediately was starting to look a lot more bleak.

There was also the question of what was going on in the city, with the signal being sent out before. Some servant seeking a battle, or perhaps an alliance. As it stood now, he didn’t wish to get involved yet, instead prepare himself, in whatever way he could. Mainly by gauging his masters’ abilities.

”Master, please, tell me about your magecraft.”

He said, loudly enough that hopefully this time around his Master would actually hear him.

”It’s nothing special. [redacted] Any other questions?”

”Yes, there is one more thing...”

Their conversations were short and straight to the point. At least they knew they had something in common. They didn’t like to drag on the conversation like a play. Not to mention, it also gave Saber something to work with in terms of personality. However, there was one thing that Saber wanted to know ever since being summoned.

”What exactly is the meaning of that corpse over there?”

The corpse was bugging him from the moment he saw it. It didn’t appear that his Master used it as a sacrifice or something, nor did he draw the circle on which Saber was summoned in blood…

”Ah, that. I’m a Sealing Designation, you see. That right there is a mage from the Mage’s Association and the result of my carelessness while preparing for this war. I think he may have been trying to stop me from joining, but now that the war has started, I doubt the Association will interfere. Anything else?”

”No, that is all.”

So their conversation ended. As much as Saber wanted to ask why his Master was a Sealing Designation, he held off on that. Mage’s were already people he couldn’t say he particularly liked, seeing as they were trying to play God often enough. If his Master was a Sealing Designation he probably went too far into playing God. That’s all that Saber saw and all the information he really needed at this point from his Master.

The war had begun, Saber even told him that some Barbarians wanted to fight, but.. That was no excuse to skip out on working. He’d make sure he spent as much time as he could continuing his work and there was nothing that could get in the way of that. Probably.

There were still some questions on his mind, such as how did the Association learn of his whereabouts. Where and how did he mess up for something like that to happen? Perhaps their intel gathering was far better than he had expected? Nah, couldn’t be. He probably just messed up at some point.

Suddenly an interesting question popped up from Saber. It was about his magecraft.

”Master, please, tell me about your magecraft.”

He disliked talking about his magecraft or using it in general, but he did say he’d try to help out Saber best he could with this war, so he reluctantly answered.

”It’s nothing special. [redacted] Any other questions?”

With that out of the way, he could once again focus on actually important stuff, or so he thought. Saber finally addressed the elephant in the room that he was too lazy to clean up. And well, he also kinda forgot about it, since it didn’t stink yet.

”What exactly is the meaning of that corpse over there?”

”Now then, how should I go about answering this, I suppose honesty is the best policy in a situation like this..” ”Ah, that. I’m a Sealing Designation, you see. That right there is a mage from the Mage’s Association and the result of my carelessness while preparing for this war. I think he may have been trying to stop me from joining, but now that the war has started, I doubt the Association will interfere. Anything else?”

”No, that is all.”

Thankfully, that was as long as the interview took. He’d probably have ended the conversation then and there either way, if Saber started to get too preachy. He only told him any information that may be actually useful. Such as the potential threat of stray mages or Enforcers. Albeit a low possibility, a possibility nonetheless.

In any case, it was high time that he returned to his work. He had already wasted enough time in the last 30-40 days as is because of this war.

Saber did as much as he could for now… that being almost nothing at all. He managed to find a single map of the town and looked over it for a while, but decided it was best to go and explore himself. As it stood now there were still important things to be done. Very, very important things. Honestly, this might even be the key to winning this war.

”Master. I’d like to obtain some funds, I’ll be going to town to explore it and have a taste of the local beverages!”

”Excuse me, could you repeat that Saber? I didn’t quite catch that.”

”I’d like to obtain some funds. It feels like an eternity since I’ve gone to town, you see. Additionally, it would make for a great opportunity to explore the town without attracting too much attention, in my opinion.”

”... Okay, yeah... “

His Master started going through random piles of documents, drawers, even clothes and threw various stuff in Saber’s direction. There were some clothes, which didn’t look too bad, even better than what his Master was wearing.

”Don’t attract too much attention, at the very least. If you see any familliars or find any servants, report that to me. What you do is up to you, but I’d like to be updated on the situation. Change into those clothes too. They should make you fit in more with the general populace.”

Saber picked up the clothes and started changing into them, meanwhile his Master gave him a small bag of money, full of sweet, sweet peso and went back to his work table and continued his work, meanwhile Saber left the building and went off his merry way.

Saber interrupted the magus once again. At this point he was getting annoyed. Can’t he write up a list of questions and then ask? He was already way late on schedule in his work and he needed to maximize the amount of work he’d do in relation to also participating in the war.

”Master. I’d like to obtain some funds, I’ll be going to town to explore it and have a taste of the local beverages!”

God, he was avoiding noisy areas and avoiding talking to people for the past 27 years that he had a hard time understanding what people were saying to him. This time, he was sure he heard him, but the words just didn’t add up at all…

”Excuse me, could you repeat that Saber? I didn’t quite catch that.”

”I’d like to obtain some funds. It feels like an eternity since I’ve gone to town, you see. Additionally, it would make for a great opportunity to explore the town without attracting too much attention, in my opinion.”

Well, another mystery of the World was certainly uncovered in this age of truth. Despite having no conversation with anyone in the past 27 years, except a few certain individuals he wasn’t having problems comprehending the language. In fact, Saber was, like most heroes of his era, an alcoholic!

”... Okay, yeah... “

He did give Saber the freedom to do what he wanted basically… Well, there were certain benefits to allowing Saber to go out and have his fun. One being that he’d probably only inform him of actually important stuff for a while and he’d be able to continue his research in peace without the feeling of a looming shadow over his shoulder. Plus, he’d read what kind of person Saber was in his life, so he didn’t have to worry too much about him causing a scene. The only thing he thought was just Saber trying to come up with a reason to drink, was the “exploration” part. He assumed most servant battles would happen in not very populated areas, yet Saber was going to a densely populated area to explore… Made sense.

He then proceeded to scavenge through the stuff he had and threw clothing near where Saber was standing, so that he could go into town and then also tried to find some of the peso he had somewhere put.

”Don’t attract too much attention, at the very least. If you see any familliars or find any servants, report that to me. What you do is up to you, but I’d like to be updated on the situation. Change into those clothes too. They should make you fit in more with the general populace.”

Once he gave Saber the money, Saber promptly disappeared. He just hoped it wouldn’t lead to an unfavorable situation… Slight discomfort aside, he continued on with his work.