In the middle of the ruins, as the hazy dust slowly settled, Mash forced herself up with a cough.
The impact of being slammed into the concrete wall had left a faint streak of blood on her forehead, and behind her, Olga Marie had collapsed to the ground, covering her mouth with a face full of shock.
An ordinary human would have died instantly from a Servant's blow, but thanks to Mash's durability as a Demi-Servant, it seemed she had avoided a fatal injury.
Of course, that was also because Shuten had held back, at least a little.
I met Mash's eyes as she brushed the dirt off herself and spoke in a low, calm voice.
"Sorry. She tends to be overprotective."
It was a plain apology, exactly as it sounded, without mockery or sarcasm.
Mash still kept her shield raised warily toward me, but she didn't look like she had the strength to charge in again right away.
No, more than that, just meeting my eyes and breathing the same air as me was already tormenting them with intense instinctive revulsion and nausea.
The curse the world had placed on me was that vicious.
Though I still had no idea why I'd been cursed like this in the first place. Even Angra Mainyu hadn't been saddled with something this bad.
"If I stay here, it'll only make things harder on you. I'll move separately."
I shoved my hands into my coat pockets and turned away.
"You do your job. I'll deal with the cause of the Singularity myself."
After I said that, neither Mash nor Olga Marie tried to stop me.
Or rather, they probably couldn't. The farther I got from them, the more visibly their twisted expressions eased.
It was after I had left them behind and walked for a while through the burning streets.
"...Husband. Are you really all right? Are you truly just going to leave them like that?"
Shuten, who had been walking while tightly clutching my sleeve, pouted in dissatisfaction as she asked. In her eyes, irritation toward the Chaldea group and anxious concern for me were mixed in equal measure.
"Those wretches looked at you like you were some kind of bug. I could rip all their eyes out for that. Don't you feel angry at all?"
Kojiro, walking ahead of us, tapped the hilt of his sword against his shoulder and added his own opinion.
"The oni girl is right. You're too soft, Master. Even if they act for some greater cause, there's no need to show tolerance to those who insult you. If they truly bother you, I can go cut them down cleanly."
The two of them were sincerely looking out for me. At that violent yet warm comfort, a faint laugh slipped from me before I realized it.
The smile that spread across my face wasn't forced. It was real relief, the first I'd felt in a long time.
"No. I'm really fine, both of you."
I stopped walking and gently stroked around Shuten's red horns.
"I told you before. I'm beyond used to looks like that. I've lived with them my whole life. At this point, it just feels like catching a cold gust of wind while walking down the street."
"Husband..."
"Besides."
I turned my head toward Kojiro and continued.
"You got angry for me. That alone already made me feel a lot better. Thanks."
At my honest answer, Shuten's eyes went round, then her face flushed red and she buried her face in my chest, rubbing against me.
Kojiro also shrugged as if I was hopeless and let out an amused laugh.
I had never imagined that simply having people on my side, even in the middle of other people's hatred, could be this much of a salvation.
This was the first time I'd ever felt something like this, and realizing it only now, in a situation like this, was almost absurd. Still... it felt good.
With my heart noticeably lighter, I opened a system window in the air.
I was about to use the random Craft Essence summoning ticket left in my inventory. But just as I was about to press the summon button, a red alert chimed and a new quest appeared.
[Main Quest: Subjugate Shadow Servants. Objective: Defeat 2 more Shadow Servants wandering burning Fuyuki. Reward: Heroic Spirit summoning ticket (guaranteed Evil alignment) x1, Selectable Craft Essence summoning ticket x1.]
"...A Selectable Craft Essence summoning ticket."
A quiet exclamation escaped my lips. It was an outrageous reward, one that would let me obtain a Craft Essence from the memories of my previous life that I actually wanted, instead of leaving it to chance.
At this point, hunting the Servants roaming nearby was overwhelmingly more profitable than storming Ryuudou Temple right away.
If I recalled things correctly, several Shadow Servants had been placed throughout this tutorial Singularity. Lancer, Rider, and even Berserker, the strongest and most troublesome of them all.
"For now, we should avoid Berserker. Even as a mindless shadow, its base stats are way too monstrous. Let's find Lancer or Rider first and take them out."
At my rational judgment, Shuten, still in my arms, gave a snort and idly scraped the ground with her foot.
"Hmph. What's so scary about some oversized lump of meat? If you want, I can run over there right now and tear that beast's head off. Don't tell me you don't trust Shuten?"
The great oni smiled with utter confidence. I lightly pinched her cheek and answered.
"It's not that I don't trust you. If it's you, I know you'd manage somehow. But I don't want to see either of you get hurt because of some unnecessary risk. There's no reason to take the long way around when there's an easier path, right?"
At my gentle dissuasion, Shuten groaned, "I'm going to melt to death from how sweet you are, husband~" and Kojiro nodded in agreement.
"Excellent judgment."
Once I'd decided on our direction, I made sure not to forget and used the random Craft Essence summoning ticket from my inventory.
[Summoning...]
A silver ring spun in the air, and a single card dropped into my hand.
The illustration on the card showed Roche, the black faction's Master, standing alongside enormous golems.
[Craft Essence: Chosen One (★3). Effect: You may summon and command up to 4 combat golems created by Caster of Black (Avicebron). Restriction: Summoned golems remain permanently until destroyed, but if all 4 are destroyed, resummoning requires a 3-hour cooldown. The user may dismiss them at will, and the cooldown begins once the final remaining golem is dismissed.]
"...This is an even better hand than I expected."
I smiled faintly as I held the Craft Essence card.
It wouldn't be enough to land a decisive blow on a Heroic Spirit, but when it came to sweeping away annoying packs of Dragon Tooth Warriors or serving as meat shields against a Servant, few allies could be as dependable as four golems.
After that, we left the alley, turned toward the bridge, and walked for quite a while.
"..."
There was a presence following behind me at a steady distance.
Kojiro and Shuten had noticed it long ago, but since I hadn't stopped, they had left it alone. I finally halted and looked back.
Behind a collapsed brick wall stood Mash with her massive shield, and behind her, Olga Marie, half-hiding and drenched in cold sweat.
"What now with you two? Didn't getting hit hurt enough? Why do you keep trailing after my husband?"
Shuten snarled in sudden irritation. Olga Marie flinched and stepped back as if Shuten might take her head off on the spot, but Mash tightened her grip on her shield and stepped forward.
Her eyes were still full of instinctive rejection toward me, but at the same time, there was something like firm resolve in them.
"...First, I apologize for rashly suspecting you of being a terrorist and taking an aggressive stance."
Mash continued in a trembling voice, but she spoke clearly.
"However, Chaldea has a duty to confirm whether you truly are not our enemy, and whether you really did come here to resolve the Singularity. So... we will accompany you while keeping watch over you."
Even while enduring the nausea and revulsion my presence caused her, she was still carrying out her duty.
I quietly watched her.
Her gaze was still full of sharp suspicion and distrust, but underneath it wasn't simple hatred toward me. It was the will to judge the situation rationally.
"That's a fairly reasonable decision, in its own way. Do as you like."
I answered shortly with a shrug.
It wasn't exactly pleasant having that wariness, still treating me like a potential terrorist, fixed on my back. But it was far better than the kind of stubborn attitude that would try to kill me without question.
At least it meant she was someone I could talk to.
I knew that too. Mash wasn't a bad girl at heart. If it weren't for this constitution of mine, we probably could have gotten along well.
"One condition. If a battle breaks out, don't interfere with how my Servants fight. If you get in the way, I'll consider that genuine hostility."
At my cold warning, Mash gave a short nod with a stiff expression.
I had to draw the line on things like this. I couldn't simply accept their discomfort as it was.
And so began the most awkward and uncomfortable traveling arrangement in the world, tense as walking on thin ice.
My two Servants and I led the way, while the Chaldea group followed us from a distance behind in a bizarre little party.
It was when we entered a wide intersection near Fuyuki Bridge, thick with acrid smoke.
The wrecked cars strewn across the road began to rattle as they were drawn by grotesque magical energy, and a dense purple mist spread around us.
"They've arrived. This prey looks fairly weighty."
Kojiro, the first to sense them, drew his blade halfway from its hilt and smiled coldly. Two massive silhouettes emerged from the mist.
One was a huge man in the garb of a warrior monk, wielding an enormous naginata.
The other was a slender woman with her eyes covered by a blindfold, gripping chain-linked daggers in both hands.
Lancer, Musashibou Benkei.
Rider, Medusa.
The red eyes of the two shadowed Heroic Spirits, robbed of reason, flashed toward me all at once.
The bloodshot killing intent of wild beasts tore through the air of the intersection like something cold and sharp. I pulled my hand from my pocket, heated up my Magic Circuits, and drew out my Craft Essence.
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