[FDJ]Chapter 127: The Accumulation of Lies

The blood had not yet dried, and the bisected corpse still lay in the attic. The people waiting below were unaware that the master they served had already been assassinated.

Two hours after sunset, the only glass mirror in the attic suddenly emitted a light in the darkness. A pair of eyes, exuding a strange and evil intent, scanned the corpse and all the items in the attic.

With a crisp snap, a talisman flew out from the mirror and stuck to the edge of the window. Two crows immediately appeared from their invisible state, maintaining a motionless posture.

"Someone's been here? Crows? Whose familiars?" The person in the mirror muttered his doubts, not daring to investigate the familiars left behind and only sealing their movements.

"The Chaldea Master? The Caster of the Lionheart King uses snake familiars, not crows. Who else? How strange." He continued muttering as his eyes returned to the bisected corpse.

"Such skill with a sword. A Servant? Saber class? No way there's a second one."

After confirming that there was no one else around, the "Jester" in the mirror formed seals with his hands, directing a blood-red curse at the two halves of the corpse.

Soon, the blood that had spread throughout the attic gathered back into the body. The bisected corpse rejoined along the cut, and Duke Reynard, dead for several hours, began to breathe again.

"It seems we've provoked a formidable entity. Your Grace, how do you feel?" The figure in the mirror maintained the strange tone he used when speaking to Richard, awaiting the response from the only piece that could currently provide him with answers.

"Cough… cough… cough, I…" Reynard propped himself up with one arm, surprised to touch his head and waist. He was astonished. "I'm still alive?"

"You were indeed dead, but fortunately, I was prepared in advance and used my secret arts to save your life." Despite his words, the "Jester" in the mirror had used hidden talismans within Reynard's body and a special curse he had just performed to forcibly reanimate the corpse. Before long, Reynard's body, which was burning through its life potential, would turn into a ravenous undead. To achieve a perfect "resurrection," a massive amount of magical energy would be needed immediately, but the "Jester" didn't need a pawn without value to live for long. A day or two would suffice.

It took a long while for Reynard to believe he was revived. There were no wounds left on his body, and when he touched his waist, which should have been cut through, he felt no sense of disjunction. He hurriedly crawled on his knees to the mirror, respectfully bowing to the "Jester" within. "Thank you for your rescue. Without you, I would no longer be able to serve our god."

The "Jester" had no belief in such a dangerous foreign evil god, nor did he take Reynard's vile flattery seriously.

"No need to thank me. What exactly happened? You're considered an outstanding magus of this era; an ordinary assassin shouldn't be able to harm you, right?"

Reynard felt a strange sense of familiarity. He had been interrogated similarly during the day, but now he was more grateful to be alive and didn't think much about other aspects.

"A crow flew in through the window and transformed into a young woman with black hair and black eyes, wearing clothes completely different from what I'm familiar with, somewhat similar to yours. She seemed to be a Satanic believer, thinking that my summoning of the evil god insulted their doctrine and killed me."

Reynard refrained from mentioning that he had been interrogated and had provided information to the other party, but his little thoughts were easily seen through by the "Jester" in the mirror.

"What questions did she ask? There's no need to hide anything from me, Your Grace. Our cooperation relies on mutual trust to truly bring the great god into this world."

The latter half of the sentence was naturally a lie. No one wanted the evil god Yog-Sothoth to truly descend into this world. Even the entity itself didn't necessarily want to undertake such a thankless task. Currently, it was most likely responding to the annoying incantations of ants (humans) out of curiosity as to why they were summoning it. By bestowing a handful of special ants with abundant knowledge, it observed what interesting changes would occur. Coincidentally, the forces that originally restrained it had loosened their grip, allowing it to "reveal" a bit more of its abilities.

"She asked why the one summoned was not their faith's Satan, but an unknown evil god."

Upon hearing this, the "Jester" in the mirror immediately provided the necessary explanation. "After all, this place is close to the Holy City, making summoning Satan extremely difficult. I settled for a different terrifying deity's summoning method. So, you mean to say the female assassin who came for you is a follower of Satan?"

"Most likely, yes. Her speed with the blade was indescribable, and her movements and the pressure she exerted on me were unbelievable. I can't believe a human could possess such abilities." Recalling these details, Reynard shivered reflexively. If he could survive, he might have nightmares every day about what happened today.

[A Servant. No, ...]

The "Jester" faintly guessed what Reynard had encountered, but he wasn't certain. If such an entity had caught a whiff of something, it would be difficult for him to handle the trouble alone.

"There's no need to fear, Your Grace. Now, with me protecting you, leave it to me. Continue preparing the summoning ritual, but refrain from proceeding today. We don't need to rush."

Reynard did not think much about why today's plan was canceled. He only felt a hard-to-describe blockage when trying to think. "Should I evacuate this stronghold?"

"From what I saw upon arrival, there are no suspicious traces here, and your subordinates haven't noticed you were attacked by an assassin. Do not relocate for now." The "Jester" in the mirror continued before Reynard could agree or refuse. "I will inform you of the subsequent plans at the same time tomorrow night. As long as you don't leave this shop, I can provide timely assistance."

"With your promise, I feel much more at ease."

The mirror returned to darkness, and the crows that had been frozen on the window ledge resumed their normal state, their eyes reflecting the scene of someone being revived.

...

Riding a chariot under the cover of night, Suzuki and Aphaf headed towards the nearby city of Tiberias following Saladin's suggestion. There had been a severe monster outbreak there a day earlier.

According to Eleanor's information, the only Servant in the city was Rider Baldwin I, with Archer Tristan patrolling outside to drive away roaming monsters. The number of roaming monsters had drastically decreased after the previous gathering, but a few remained.

As the chariot sped along, Aphaf quickly locked onto a monster attempting to hide in the darkness with her Mystic Eyes and killed it with a blast of air. Her magecraft had noticeably become smoother and more powerful, likely due to the excessive knowledge she had absorbed during her contact with the evil god, though she hadn't explicitly stated this.

"Master, we are not far from Tiberias. Archer might be patrolling nearby. If we encounter him, we could..." Don Quixote, now in human form, found it hard to accept the drastic change in his once timid and self-doubting Master. Her magical abilities had improved by at least ten percent, and the sudden shift in her personality was even more shocking.

"Let's ambush him. We can't be sure of defeating Rider Baldwin I if we meet him, but together, we can defeat Archer." Aphaf's words revealed an unexpectedly aggressive streak. Previously, she would have obediently stayed in the chariot until they reached Tiberias.

Don Quixote didn't respond directly. He took note of Eleanor, who was driving the chariot, and Suzuki, who was standing a short distance away. "It's a good thing we have reliable allies helping us. Otherwise, even if I managed to avoid fatal injuries by transforming into a book, I wouldn't have had the chance to see you again, Master."

Suzuki was still recalling the operational plan designed by Saladin, which was more of a reconnaissance mission to assess the damage within the city. Saladin seemed to have intentions of attacking Tiberias. Suzuki, not familiar with warfare or sieges, could only deduce that the collapsed section of the city wall from last night's disaster might be useful for an assault.

"Alright, Archer hasn't been drawn to you, but Caster's familiars have already spotted us," Eleanor, who was steering the chariot, turned her head to look at Aphaf, the girl who had used magecraft. "Did you notice? Snake familiars were lurking around that monster."

Eleanor wasn't afraid of being exposed. Her chariot wasn't designed for stealth, and being discovered was only a matter of time. If Archer did come, she would just spar a few rounds and wait for them to retreat.

"I did not notice."

"Calm down, girl. Swinging from one extreme to the other isn't good. Although I haven't been trained in magecraft, the magus I've encountered were always good at hiding themselves. They lacked your talent but had the necessary caution. Some didn't even use magecraft, making it hard for others to believe they were magus. In this regard, Saladin is the best I've seen. He knows more than just a few divination spells, right?"

Aphaf only had a general understanding of her sole master, whose magical abilities weren't outstanding but who could turn the ordinary into mastery. "Possibly."

Eleanor shook her head. "Girl, you're still not wary enough of deceptions in words. Think back on what you know about Saladin. Do you think you understand him well? Words are unreliable; only things that have happened can be trusted. What do you think, Master?"

Deliberately passing the question to Suzuki, Eleanor believed her Master had extraordinary insights into matters concerning the Holy Grail War.

"Saladin summoned an Alterego-class Servant through special means. His magecraft has at least partially broken the rules of the Holy Grail War. Chaldea has no public progress in researching special classes beyond the seven main ones." As expected, Suzuki responded quickly and keenly to matters of the Holy Grail War, though he didn't realize Eleanor was giving him a chance to shine.

Eleanor noticed snakes approaching the chariot's path ahead, and the heavily guarded walls of Tiberias came into view for the four of them.

"We'll split into two groups to gather information. If anything unusual happens, send a magical signal." Eleanor stopped the chariot at the northeast corner of the city and, unusually, disassembled it. "Master and I will handle the exterior. You two infiltrate the interior. If you encounter Rider, be cautious of his Noble Phantasm."

Suzuki, regaining his focus, carefully observed the collapsed section of the city wall and, under the dim light of the night, saw the ruins of buildings behind it.