Chapter 43: Shirou, If You Kill Anyone Who Sees You, That’s Max-Level Stealth
At night, Shirou continued heading to Ryuudou Temple to wait and pick up Caster.
This time he had learned his lesson and had the system sneak around quietly.
Although it wasn't at the high level of stealth like Assassin's, it was still enough to deal with the current situation.
The weather still hadn't rained, and Shirou continued his training.
He didn't directly activate Hosting, but instead recalled in his mind the battle scenes with Cu Chulainn.
Only after confirming he had fully digested that battle did he activate Hosting and enter learning mode.
Under the moonlight, a young man with a violent aura swung his sword in front of Ryuudou Temple.
He was performing basic swordsmanship training.
Yet every move felt essential, skills that absolutely had to be learned.
Tonight was also disappointing, there was no sign of Caster.
Sometimes, Shirou even wondered, 'Could it be that C-Mom had already been picked up by Kuzuki Souichirou?' [T/N: 'C-Mom' is 'Caster-Mom']
However, he had secretly snuck into Ryuudou Temple to take a look. He didn't find any sign of Caster's presence. So, all he could do was continue to wait.
While under Hosting on the way back, Shirou was thinking about things when he noticed Bazett out of the corner of his eye.
She was heading in the direction of the church.
It was now five in the morning, and there weren't many people on the street.
Shirou, like a top agent, played mental games with surveillance.
In truth, he was just keeping an eye on the slippery Cu Chulainn, who might be wandering somewhere in the city.
To avoid being discovered, he was extremely cautious.
'Wait a minute!'
'Church?'
Shirou halted Hosting and suddenly came to a realization.
'How stupid, why am I so fixated on watching Ryuudou Temple?'
'I can just camp out at the church and wait.'
He remembered that before Caster killed her Master, her Master had gone to the church to consult Kotomine Kirei about switching Servants.
With that in mind, Shirou decisively instructed the system to follow Bazett and sneak toward the church.
Here it became apparent, Kotomine Kirei's disguise was really convincing.
Bazett didn't even plan to bring her Servant to the meeting. And then, she got backstabbed.
Honestly, it was hard to believe.
Given Cu Chulainn's personality as shown so far, he absolutely didn't seem like the type to not seek revenge after his Master was betrayed.
Not only did he not take revenge, he even became someone's dog. In the UBW route, he was even ordered by a Command Seal to commit suicide and died by his own spear.
One might say, it fit the logic of someone with Luck E. It also matched his tragic fate as a heroic spirit.
Without thinking further, Shirou transformed into an elite assassin and arrived at the church.
With a flip, he entered the interior of the church, without triggering the barrier placed around it.
["Ding, Presence Concealment: E−"]
Shirou: "?"
'Hosting-san, explain to me what the minus sign means?'
'Don't tell me my stealth is getting worse the more I learn?'
["Be content already!"]
The system replied impatiently.
["If you had the guts to kill everyone who sees you, your stealth wouldn't just be E, you could even tack on an X."]
Shirou said nothing, drawing circles in his mind to curse it.
"Kotomine-san," Just as Shirou expected, inside the church, Bazett treated Kirei with great respect and had no sense of caution.
Kirei gave a slight smile and turned around.
He had short brown hair and brown pupils. Underneath he wore a priest's robe made from Kevlar fiber material, and over it he draped a long dark purple trench coat. His shoes were black ankle boots. His face had almost no expression.
But Shirou felt, he must be feeling extremely pleased now. He was just about to backstab someone who trusted him deeply. His heart was probably blooming with joy.
"Bazett, I heard that you had a skirmish with the Einzbern family's Servant just after arriving in Fuyuki yesterday morning?"
"That's right," With rose-red short hair and pupils, a tear mole under her left eye, and standing tall in a suit, Bazett's eyes were serious, "They lured Lancer and me over on purpose. If it weren't for Lancer's sharp judgment at the critical moment, we both might have been left behind there."
"Oh?", Kirei Kotomine showed interest, walking toward Bazett with steps that carried subtle meaning, "So, you're saying the Einzbern Servant is very strong?"
"Extremely strong!", Recalling the battle near dawn yesterday, Bazett said, "Without a doubt, Servant Saber is a top-class Servant, not inferior to Lancer."
"I see," Kirei gave a joyful smile, "That's a very high evaluation."
"Mm!", Bazett nodded seriously, "That Servant deserves such a high evaluation."
That day, they were completely outplayed by him. Even if Bazett was unwilling to accept it, she had to admit he was pressing down on Lancer the entire time.
"Is that so?", Kirei's smile grew wider.
"That Saber, the Einzbern Servant, you believe he is a Servant Saber, right?"
"Of course," Bazett nodded, "Although it hasn't been fully confirmed, with that level of swordsmanship and such high-spec attributes, without question, only one of the top three Knight Classes, Saber, could possess such stats."
"That could be a problem," Although Kirei said it was a problem, his face practically blossomed with joy.
His footsteps echoed on the quiet church floor with a "tap, tap, tap."
"Just not long ago, I received a familiar from the Einzbern Master with a report."
"She said, her Servant is Berserker."
"What?", Bazett exclaimed in shock, "Impossible! That Servant clearly looked like Saber!"
"Why are you so certain?", Kirei stopped behind Bazett and asked.
Bazett thought calmly, then said, "When summoned under the Berserker class, no matter what kind of Servant it is, they lose their reason due to Mad Enhancement."
"But the Einzbern Servant was too calm. So calm that he felt like an emotionless killing machine. If necessary, he seemed willing to sacrifice even himself."
After all, what kind of normal Servant takes a Noble Phantasm to the face and counterattacks while muttering something like 'Sure-Kill: Ordinary One Sword.'
"Is that so?", Kirei's gaze roamed up and down Bazett's body.
Don't misunderstand, he had no lust for women's bodies. He was simply thinking about where to strike first.
Indeed, it would be most straightforward to seize the Command Seals.
Having decided to cut off the arm holding the Command Seals, Kirei Kotomine casually said, "So it seems the Einzbern family falsely reported their Servant's identity… Would you say that's reasonable?"
"Well… not necessarily," Bazett recalled the raging black aura that swirled around Shirou's body and hesitated slightly.
Kirei listened, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.
Joy. Pure, overwhelming joy.
"No matter what, I will re-confirm the Einzbern Servant information with them."
"And now, let's talk about your situation, Miss Bazett."
Bazett hadn't yet realized the seriousness of her situation and asked, "My situation? You mean about Lancer's report?"
"No," Kirei's smile turned twisted, "I just want to ask you to hand Lancer over to me, Miss Bazett."
"Wha—"
That tingling feeling of scalp-numbing danger exploded behind her. Bazett wanted to dodge, but it was too late.
BANG!
A church bench flipped over, Kirei was kicked twenty meters away by Shirou.
With that level of force, a normal person would be dead without a doubt.
If the target was Kirei, that was still up for debate.
After kicking him away, Shirou felt a little regretful. He should have waited until Bazett's arm was cut off before saving her.
At that time, dog bro would've lost his Master, and Kirei wouldn't have seized the Command Seals, it would've been a three-for-one jackpot.
'Damn it, why am I so kindhearted?', Shirou furiously condemned himself in his heart.
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