We arrived at the Clock Tower.
We could see an atmosphere reminiscent of the Middle Ages and Gothic-like structures.
We were walking down a corridor together, following El-Melloi II.
When we arrived at a certain room. We could see a silver-haired girl.
"Have you arrived, Teacher?"
"Gray, you've worked hard."
We could see that her appearance resembled Artoria's, and the woman named Gray looked at me and spoke.
"Hello. I'm Gray."
"Hello, I'm Akira."
"Ah? So you're the person Teacher often mentioned."
That statement made me start to suspect that El-Melloi might have been talking behind my back.
Then, perhaps sensing the atmosphere, El-Melloi objected to my gaze.
"I just told her about the Holy Grail War. Nothing more, nothing less."
"I'll let it slide for now."
"Anyway, would you like some coffee?"
Coffee… I don't drink it often, but I thought I might try some coffee after a long time.
"What kind of coffee is it? You didn't mention an important fact."
"Ah, my apologies. I didn't consider that it might not suit your taste. The coffee is black coffee."
"Well, give me that. I should drink some coffee after a long time."
"After a long time… Anyway, understood."
El-Melloi II poured coffee and sat in a chair to proceed with the conversation.
"Let's get to the point. I'd like your help in catching the Servant."
"Impossible. With the fog and not knowing where they might roam, there's no way to find them. Before that, do you know who Jack the Ripper's Master is?"
"Ah, yes. I heard that in that Grail War, a prostitute woman became a Master, separate from any family. Her name is… Rikudo Reika, I believe."
Thinking about it, I knew the original Master was supposed to have been killed.
To be killed even before the Holy Grail War began…. It might be the most absurd and unfair type, but considering that many mages have bad personalities from the start, such an event wasn't strange.
To begin with, the Master who performed the summoning dying is extremely rare, but it seems there are cases where, if the Servant's disposition or personality doesn't match, or if there's someone nearby with affinity, they betray and choose another Master.
"A prostitute, huh…. That's not particularly problematic, but she's not a mage, right?"
"Right. Originally, it seems she was supposed to be used as a sacrifice, but coincidentally, the Servant and Master's dispositions matched, so they formed a contract. Considering she's still alive even after the Holy Grail War ended… you can see it's not a normal situation."
The Greater Grail was modified by Medea and was in my possession.
It seems something happened while Jack the Ripper was incarnated in a forgotten state.
While listening to the conversation, I just confirmed that a very small amount of magical energy is leaking from the Grail, but the amount was minimal. It seems Jack the Ripper was looking for a way to supply magical energy to avoid disappearing.
"The reason for targeting mages?"
"It's only a hypothesis, but I concluded that Jack the Ripper probably wanted to live and was doing it to supply magical energy.
To begin with, taking out the mages' hearts is practically the same as proving it was to supply magical energy."
If the Holy Church had helped, they could have surely dealt with Jack the Ripper quickly. But since they essentially brushed it off with a 'you clean up your own mess' attitude, from the mages' standpoint, it's a situation where they can only be bewildered.
"Then, how are the mages responding?"
El-Melloi drank his coffee, took out a sandwich, and spoke.
"Right now, from the point of identifying the enemy, you can think we've focused on leaving the mage corpses and erasing traces of magecraft tools to conceal mystery. The corpses have become a warning tool for ordinary people…. Well, we are recovering the corpses to the morgue."
"It seems they're not preying on ordinary people."
"I'm not sure about that point either, but I think they concluded that mages are suitable for supplying magical energy. Or, perhaps Reika Rikudo is taking revenge, thinking about what mages did to her… or, it's not impossible that her evaluation of mages is the worst, but originally, the mage who was supposed to summon her as a sacrifice, considering she is merely an ordinary person, it's unavoidable that her evaluation of mages is the worst."
I could only nod at El-Melloi II's words.
In reality, although the original Master had a bad personality, it's clear that Reika also didn't have a normal personality.
You could think of her as a lower version of Fate/Zero's Uryuu Ryuunosuke, but it's more accurate to say she was a sociopath, not a murderer.
Considering she was active as a prostitute, it wasn't a strange thing.
El-Melloi II took out a map and showed places marked with red X's.
"The places marked on the map are where mages died, but they were all killed at irregular locations, I hear. I hear they are now mass-producing homunculi to buy time."
"Homunculi…. Isn't the resource consumption severe?"
"Regarding the cost to make a homunculus. I hear it's about 180,000 yen in Japanese money. To begin with, alchemist mages mostly belong to the wealthy side, so 180,000 yen is just pocket change, but considering the lives of mages and 180,000 yen homunculi, I must say the homunculi are just being used as sacrificial lambs."
"That's somewhat inhumane."
"The mage world is originally like that. Homunculi are treated as biological golems to begin with…. You should think there are no mages who consider them human lives."
"Mikon, then I have a question. Is this place safe?"
"If you ask if it's safe, I'd have to say of course. This is a place for nurturing mages and an important location. Saying the defense here is weak doesn't make sense. Unless someone tells the password…. shit…, among the incarnated Servants, is there a Caster by any chance?"
At El-Melloi's urgent voice, I pointed at the young Tamamo who had transformed into a human form.
"Sorry. I'll borrow her for a moment."
"Mikon? Without even asking for my consent, you're kidnapping me!?"
And so, El-Melloi II kidnapped Tamamo and disappeared, and upon seeing that, Benienma's voice of evaluation was heard.
"Unbelievable… The confidence from just a moment ago disappeared in a few seconds!?"
"I don't know… For now, let's just leave it."
Gray, on the other hand, was just sitting and drinking tea, waiting.
After a few hours passed.
El-Melloi II and Tamamo returned with eyes that looked tired.
"Casters are not labor characters, you know."
Compared to Medea, this seems better, doesn't it?
Honestly, the work Medea does is quite a lot.
You could say she sleeps only 6 hours and works for 18 hours, excluding meals.
"So what did you do and come back?"
"I'm sorry, I went to further reinforce the bounded field. It's not Caster's magecraft but a curse, but you can think I combined magecraft and curses to prepare for when an intruder comes."
"I didn't know the faith in the bounded field would be shattered in less than a second."
"Ahem. I think it's not bad to prepare for the possibility of the opponent torturing and interrogating a mage who knows the bounded field well."
Well, since El-Melloi is cautious and prudent, I nodded and had no choice but to acknowledge this situation, but I could see Tamamo's tired expression.
"Tamamo, turn into a fox, and shall we continue talking?"
Since the coffee had cooled, El-Melloi II boiled coffee again and could be seen eating a sandwich and drinking coffee.
"Would you like to eat?"
"Since Benienma is in charge of cooking, it's fine. I'd like you to guide us to a place like a dining room."
Then El-Melloi II looked at the sandwich he was eating for a moment and spoke.
"I see. What kind of cuisine is possible?"
"Chirp? I can do some Korean cuisine, and I've mastered Japanese cuisine for the rest."
"I see. Then it wouldn't be bad to eat Japanese food after a long time. In reality, it's convenience store food though…."
So, following El-Melloi II's guidance, we headed to the dining room, and during that process, Gray also headed to the dining room with us.
Today, Benienma used ingredients from her dimensional bag to make sushi and rice balls, and during that process, Gray could be seen eating lightly, unlike Artoria.
"Um, Gray, how much do you usually eat?"
"I eat simply for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
I could see she was different from the Artoria I knew.
Well, just having the Artoria attribute doesn't mean everyone eats a lot.
'I can understand this part.'
El-Melloi II was eating deliciously, and at the same time, Tamamo also sat at the table and ate, spending a quiet and peaceful mealtime.
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