V1C1

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Once upon a time, there was a great war. It happened long ago, before

I was born. And then it ended, and the world entered an age of peace.

–

In the modern era, each and every person held within their heart a

tiny Holy Grail, which was nothing more or less than that person’s

preordained destiny. And each and every person was capable of

summoning a Servant allotted them by fate, in accordance with the

guidance of the Grail.

Servants were an information resource by nature, accumulated

throughout human history. Their souls were enshrined in the Throne of

Heroes, a place which transcended the bounds of space and time. By

‘downloading’ them from this Throne, it was possible to manifest them

in our world.

–

The shape of the world changed greatly after the war. This town was

born anew - reorganised into city units, known collectively as Mosaic

City. Among them was Akihabara, the Maritime City, which I called

home. Sea levels had risen dramatically as a result of global

warming, and now the city quite literally bordered on the ocean. The

Kanda river’s name was nothing more than a vestige of the pre-war

era; in reality, it was nothing more than a canal through which sea

water flowed.

–

This town was watched over by the Holy Grail, and not a day went by

when its citizens did not partake of its bounties. Those survivors

from before the war had been given the opportunity to obtain a Grail

upon its conclusion, while those young enough to have been born after

the war, like Karin, possessed one within their hearts from birth.

The Grail had brought immortality to the masses. The principal causes

of death in the old world – biological factors such as ageing,

genetic degradation, infectious diseases, viruses and malignant

cancers – had all been conquered. By expending Command Seals, one

could even manipulate their biological age. In this city, one of

humanity’s oldest, dearest wishes – eternal youth – had been

realised.

–

But I was different. I alone stood apart. I was the only citizen of

this city who had not been granted a Holy Grail. I had been born into

this new world, but I would age naturally – and, eventually, die –

with all the senselessness characteristic of the old. An irregularity,

born outside of the sight of the Grail. That was what I was – me,

Utsumi Erice.

With no Holy Grail, I had no Servant to contract with as my partner.

Every once in a while, someone would be unable to stifle the urge to ask me

how that felt. If it were up to me, I would laugh at them, and tell

them that they’d never understand even if I tried to explain – but

I’d been chided no small number of times by my master for that. You

would be remiss to be callous in your interaction with your social

environment, if you wish to live peacefully in this new world.

So, for lack of anything else to say, I answered them like this:

“Imagine you were incredibly short-sighted, to the point where you

could hardly see, but you were told you weren’t allowed to wear

glasses.”

“Imagine being told you had to travel somewhere on foot, while

everyone else was allowed to use trains and buses.”

“Imagine going somewhere you’ve never been before, only to find

that the navigation app on your smartphone was an unusable piece of

junk.”

The question I had by far the most trouble with was the question of

how I survived day-to-day life without Command Seals, which were one

of the bounties of the Grail. On that point, no matter how thoroughly

I tried to explain, most other people seemed to struggle to

understand my situation any more than vaguely, and ultimately had no

interest anyway. That was the ideal response, as far as I was

concerned. I could find no fault with that.

There were also those who genuinely understood, and responded with

exaggerated surprise and sympathy. Some would offer me the usage of

their own Command Seals, assuring me with fawning pity that I could

come to them if there was ever anything they could do for me. There

were even a few so selflessly empathetic that they claimed to truly

want to trade places with me – although always with some condition

attached, by which they could return things to normal if they so

pleased.

Every such encounter reminded me anew that I was nothing more than an

amusement to them. A means of flattering their own altruistic

sensibilities, and of relieving their boredom for a little while.

Akihabara was a labyrinth in three dimensions, not just two. In a

block nestled a comfortable distance from the downtown area on the

middle stratum, bordering a natural public park, stood a multi-storey

building housing a collection of public service facilities. Contained

on one floor of this building was the classroom I frequented.

I had arrived slightly late for the start time, and hurriedly took my

seat. The wide, fan-shaped room was almost devoid of students. This

was decidedly not a facility for compulsory education; it was

offered the people at large educational lecture courses aimed at

fostering lifelong learning. Citizens of all ages took the course,

and attending every single lecture was virtually unheard-of.

Consequently, I was known as something of an eccentric.

The people here knew nothing of the battle of immortals that occurred

last night. Those kinds of incidents never made the news.

–

Well then – it was time for Pre-War Human History.

That was the name of the course I was taking. Unfortunately, it could

hardly have been called the most popular subject. The content of the

lectures was much closer to trivia than education. The main goal of

Pre-War Human History comprised learning about the human race’s

greatest triumphs and blunders in the world of the past. It

was…well, to put it bluntly, dry.

In the first place, Akihabara was Mosaic City’s premier resort.

Students who were sincerely striving to learn, or families concerned

with the proper education of their children, would simply up and

leave for another district. I had an inclination that this space only

really existed to entertain the interests of the lecturer at the

front of the hall – my master, Ms. Fujimura.

–

Oh, it looks like that girl’s here again.

I cast a quick glance out over the

lecture theatre from my usual perch at the back. A small, familiar

figure was sat in the very front row, concentrating intently on the

lecture. She had come again today. As a rule, I never saw students

younger than myself attending these lectures, so she had stuck in my

memory. She was a pale child, short in stature, and perhaps old

enough to be at the upper end of elementary school. Her voice and

attitude during the occasions that she posed questions to the

lecturer had given me the impression that she was female, but there

was no guarantee. All kinds of people lived in this city.

Her had was invariably pulled down

low over her head, and her eyes were covered by her bangs, so I

hadn’t ever seen her face clearly. I had never engaged her in

conversation, and I didn’t even know her name. She appeared in

lectures once a month or so; I felt a distinct disconnect between her

keen attitude in lectures and her abysmal attendance rate.

Today, her standing record for

youngest lecture attendee had been broken. The new champion was none

other than my companion: the stray Servant I had taken in last night,

the golden-haired child. He was at least sitting in his seat for now

without making a fuss, but he was fidgeting constantly - rocking his

body to and fro, and sometimes lying down as though trying to savour

the feeling of the cool wood of the chair. Or so I was thinking,

before he suddenly turned to peer into my face, obstructing my view

of my tablet.

“You think you’re a cat or

something?”

“…Ca-…cat?”

“Maybe you’re more of a dog, huh.

Your hair’s all floofy.”

“Dog?”

“Yeah, a dog. You know,

woof-woof.”

“I know dogs.”

“Oh, really? Well, I’m glad for y-

what the hell do you think you’re doing!?”

He had scrambled up onto the seat of

his chair, planted both hands on the desk and begun to howl, loud and

proud.

Awooooo! Ow-ow-owooo! Awoooooo!

He finished his surprisingly accurate rendition, flashing a beaming

smile. I sat for a moment in silent astonishment – and might

perhaps have thought for a moment that it was a little endearing,

although this really wasn’t the time for that.

“Hey, stop that! Get down from there!”

Give me a break. I was just about to give you credit for at least

not being as loud as Karin, and you go and pull this.

The other attendees were turning back to look at us now, searching

for the source of the noise.

“I’m sorry. We’ll be quiet. I’m

really sorry.”

My master had stopped giving her

lecture, and was cocking her head at us. The girl in the front row

was looking too. If looks could kill, the glare boring into me from

beneath her bangs would have dropped me stone dead. Although I

couldn’t exactly blame her for getting annoyed at someone bringing

this commotion into a class.

Yes miss I’m so terribly sorry I won’t do it again…ugh, what did

I do to deserve this…

I had no way of knowing how to handle a young child like this boy in

the first place – but that said, I also couldn’t possible have left

him behind in my apartment by himself. And I had thought to myself

that I might learn something about him if I brought him here with me.

“Don’t dogs say “bow-wow” in English, anyway?”

“Boh-roh.”

“Not even close. Must be nice to be able to mimic things like that,

huh…”

Ohh boy. Starting to get the feeling I’m not going to be learning

much from today’s lecture…

I rested my head on my hand and pouted. Gazing idly at the young

boy’s angelic face out of the corner of my eye, I cast my mind back

through my memories of my baptism last night.

It had happened on the previous evening, after I had been fished from

the riverbed by Karin and Kouyou on the wharf. To cut a long story

short, I decided to take the boy back to my apartment and put him up

for the night, still none the wiser about who he was or where he had

come from.

–

I had been living on my own ever since parting ways with my

grandmother.

In a quiet corner of Akihabara, there was a small, depopulated

district that most people avoided. Before the war, it had comprised a

collection of multi-purpose buildings crammed to bursting with shops,

but they had all been abandoned after the Grail’s large-scale

restructuring of the city. My apartment consisted of a room in one

such building.

The inside of the room was decorated in Victorian style. Every inch

of floor was covered by wooden floorboards, and its antique interior

had been preserved unaltered. Apparently, it had originally housed

some kind of dubious culinary establishment known as a “maid cafe”.

–

My apartment wasn’t exactly designed for ease of living, but it was

furnished with a proper bathroom and bedroom, and was more than

sufficient for one person to live in comfortably. It even had a

veranda, albeit a small one. From the window of my bedroom I could

gaze out over a small vertical slice of ocean hemmed in by the

surrounding buildings.

–

My opportunities to invite another person back to this humble abode

were rare. Considering my job, the risks involved in freely letting

others know where I lived were far too high. The only reason I had

brought this child back with me was that it would have been too

irresponsible to leave him to his own devices. I didn’t even know who

his contractor was; to have allowed him to freely roam the town would

have been unthinkable.

He might have manifested in the form of an innocent child, but that

only set me more on edge. I had allowed myself to be disarmed by a

target’s outward appearance before, on a previous job, and had made a

grave mistake because of it. A Servant I had believed nothing more

than an angelic young child - like purity itself sculpted in

alabaster - had harboured a terrible darkness. The Avenger, Louis

XVII. The incident that arose around that particular monstrosity had

ultimately claimed not only the life of his Master, but those of a

great number of innocents as well.

At the time, I had not yet fully graduated from childhood. Louis and

I had been similar in stature, and I had thought we could have been

good friends. In the end, however, my friendship and goodwill had

been used and turned against me. That incident was not one I would

forget easily.

–

There was another reason that I had brought this stray child back

with me: I had been driven to my wits’ end in another sense. Frankly

speaking, I could not take it any more: the rank stench that

permeated the both of us had become unbearable, and I could not bear

to go another minute without washing it off.

The culprit was the oil slick near the quay that I’d had the ill

fortune to be dragged through when I was fished out of the Kanda

river. Petroleum-based waste oil, that had leaked from one of the

boats moored in the harbour. I had hardly had the time to worry about

such things immediately after being deposited on the wharf, but now

that I had returned to my senses the discomfort was driving me to

distraction. Pouring water over myself or wiping myself down with

paper towels would do nothing to remove this - I needed a proper

bath.

I had been stopped by a worried Karin when I had tried to totter my

way home, still bearing a serious wound that I had no right to have

recovered from so quickly. She had only seen me off after I had

explained about the charms and such that I kept in my house. She was

easygoing like that.

I had tried to invite her to stay the night here, but she had

breezily turned me down, saying that she had a friend in the vicinity

who would put her up for the night. Karin’s social connections

remained as much a mystery to me as ever. Although she had given me a

rueful smile, saying that her family would be angry with her for

returning home the following morning.

–

In any case, I had finally returned home, and could allow myself to

relax a little. I looked the boy over once more, this time with the aid of my apartment’s artificial lights.

“Hold on. Hey, no, wait, wait, wait! Don’t just go right in! Just

stand here for a minute.”

I grabbed him by his sodden scarf and yanked him back, prompting a

visible sulk.

“Uh…sorry.”

So he did possess emotions, and the capacity to appeal to them. That

would be useful, at least.

Both of us looked ridiculous, soaked from head to toe and glistening

with oil. I was at least wearing swimwear and a windbreaker in place

of my ordinary clothes, but his lot was a much more miserable one. I

could feel my memories of the unearthly spectacle I had witnessed

below the surface of the water growing more distant by the minute.

Alll-righty. I pulled myself

together, and sank to one knee in the entranceway, looking over this

child once more from top to toe.

He at least appeared to be eight,

maybe nine years old. He was Caucasian, with the pale features

particular to Scandinavian climes - although given that Servants were

as much concept as they were genetics, any attempt to determine their

race was close to meaningless. His hair was a pale blonde, almost

white, and it had been left to grow freely.

His scarf was sodden, and hung limp

around his neck. Or maybe it was a muffler? Well, it wasn’t as though

it mattered. It was composed of fabric knitted from some strange,

gaudy material – it was hard to say if it was actual gold, or just

extremely intricate needlework. His clothing looked to be made of

cotton, and had a simple design, reminiscent of a Greek-style tunic.

He had a small embroidered design on his chest, which I made a note

of as a potentially important clue.

His belt and shoes were made of the

same material as his scarf. The heels of the latter had a strange

design; they were tapered towards the back, like spurs used for

riding horses. I could have taken that as an indication that in life

he had been some sort of knight – but nothing else about him gave

that impression. He’s nothing like any other Saber or

Rider-class Servants I’ve seen.

His pale blue eyes stared back at me questioningly as I scrutinised

him. I was seized by a sudden rush of curiosity.

“Hey. Do you think you could tell me where you came from?”

He smoothly lifted an arm to point towards the ceiling.

“From the sky? From Heaven? You don’t mean from the moon, do you?”

He shook his head at all of them.

“I’ve come…from somewhere very far away.”

“All Servants have.”

“…Really?” He must have found something amusing, because his

face blossomed into a smile, and he giggled. I was relieved at the

unexpected ease with which I was able to communicate with him,

although it seemed like he was still struggling to understand what I

was saying.

His first words had been in halting English, but from the way he had

appeared to be listening in on the conversation between me and Karin

I would venture that he at least understood our language. If he was a

Servant who had been summoned legitimately, he would have been

granted a bare minimum level of common knowledge about the modern era

by the Grail, as well as the linguistic capabilities necessary to

express himself to others naturally. However, now that I was trying

to determine his true name, that was only serving to impede my

search.

As I questioned him, I produced a pair of scissors and carefully

snipped a five-millimetre length of thread from the back of his

tunic, which I deposited in a zip-lock sample bag.

“Would you mind letting me take one of your hairs as well?”

It looked like he was giving me the ok. He did as I asked, without

resisting, and as I did he asked me a question.

“Have you come from somewhere far away like me, Eri?”

“Don’t call me that. Did you get that from Karin? Alright, listen

here. I’m not “Eri”, I’m not “Old man Eri”, and I’m not

“Eri-pie”. I’m Erice. Utsumi Erice.”

“Hmm.”

He remained staring at me, giving me no indication whether or not

he’d understood. His reaction was a little dispiriting, but I

continued anyway. If I kept talking, I might be able to glean

something.

“It’s not all that far away, really. I was born in Shinjuku. I’m

fourteen now, so I guess you could call me a middle schooler, but I

don’t usually go to school anyway.”

“What’s a 'school’?”

“A school is…it’s where you go to learn. It’s a big building

where lots of children all go. Or at least, that’s what I hear it was

like before the war. They’ve changed a lot since then.”

“You don’t go to school, Eri?”

“I told you to call me Erice. And I don’t need to. I’m passing my

academic evaluations, and I’m getting the credits I need from

extracurricular courses. And I show up for health inspections and

such.”

“You don’t want to go to school, do you?”

I grit my teeth. He’d hit the nail on the head. He was annoyingly

good at that.

“It’s…not a matter of whether I want to go or not. I…I have

more important things to do.”

“You’re alone.” He cocked his head, and then broke out into

another smile. “Just like me.”

I suppressed my irritation silently as I tapped at my tablet. I was

trying a search for the symbol embroidered on his chest, but nothing

was coming up. Just in case, I tried accessing the city network, but

no-one had registered any missing Servants - although it wasn’t as

though that was a frequent occurrence anyway. I could ask my master

about any information that might be being suppressed on a public

level, but I could hardly go blithely to her cap-in-hand. Not after I

had tried to hide from her that I had disobeyed her orders and let

Kundry go.

Even so, there was one theory as to his identity that I had managed

to come up with. Spurred on by that, I decided to bite the bullet.

“So, which Servant are you?”

“…?”

He tilted his head in confusion. Was he trying to play dumb? It

didn’t look like an act, at any rate. It seemed that somehow, he

really didn’t understand the concept of a Servant. Was that even

possible?

“I’m asking about your true name. Although your nickname will do,

if that’s better-known.”

Once, Servants would not have revealed their true name lightly, but

that was before the war. In the modern world, it had become more of a

question of personal privacy. No small number of Servants had origins

that could complicate life in Mosaic City if they became known to

others, and the degree of discretion necessary might also change

depending on their relationship with their Master.

This boy likely wouldn’t talk about his true name if his unknown

Master did not wish it. And all the more so if he didn’t have one at

all.

“Your name, I said. Tell me your name.”

“…Name?”

“That’s right. Your name.”

“Don’t you know it?”

“…Huh? Don’t I…you mean my name?”

It was supposed to be me asking the questions here. I was starting to

feel that if I just allowed this wide-eyed child to talk at his own

pace, I would end up the one being profiled.

Abruptly, he opened his mouth again. “There’s something I’ve lost.”

“Something you’ve lost? What did you lose?”

“I don’t know.”

I heaved a sigh. At the same moment, a sharp stench once more pricked

at my nostrils.

“It sounds like you’re suffering from memory loss. I think things

like that can happen after summoning…? Well, anyway, there’s

nothing we can do for now. And I’m about at my wits’ end, so right

now I’m going to have a shower. I’ll let you use the bathroom too, so

go on ahead.”

“Show-er?”

“A shower. You know, like a bath.”

“…A bath?”

“Wait, you really don’t know? Don’t tell me you don’t even know

what a shower is? Hang on, have you ever even had a wash?”

He shook his head. Apparently he really hadn’t ever experienced a

bath. Although even if he hadn’t, surely the idea itself fell under

common knowledge.

Do your job, Holy Grail.

For as long as I had lived here, my bathroom had been rather chic. It

had a French-style interior, and was easily wide enough for two

people. The star of the show was a shallow enamel bathtub, pulled

straight from a western movie. Incidentally, the bedroom was

decorated in equally charming fashion, and was the biggest reason I

chose this apartment.

The design was uncharacteristically luxurious for a department store

coffee shop. Either the owner had been extremely specific tastes…or

from the beginning, this building had been designed with

less-than-wholesome purposes in mind. Probably the latter. Not that

that had anything to do with me; I was nothing more than a grateful

beneficiary. But it did mean one more thing for Karin to tease me

about.

I gritted my teeth, and led the boy by the hand to the bathroom. He

was still dawdling, unsure as to what was going on. I had him take

off his clothes and made him stand in the dressing room. Then I set

to filling the bathtub, removing my own dirtied clothing as I did so.

He’s just a kid. What’s there to be embarrassed about? Nothing!

That’s right, nothing at all.

There was still an outside chance that he would turn out to have the

mind of a middle-aged man, but I’d cross that bridge if I came to it.

“I suppose I’d better put my swimsuit in to soak…ouch!”

Agony lanced through me as I twisted my body the wrong way. I

re-treated the injury to my abdomen, and covered it over with a

water-resistant patch. It was still undergoing accelerated recovery,

and it was warm to the touch. The wound was serious enough that with

the treatment methods of the past, oligemic shock and acute

inflammation would have been unavoidable. But this new world had

conquered death itself, and treatments for injuries and accidents had

not been overlooked on the way. Many technologies had been developed

during the war, and now I reaped the benefits.

“It looks like it hurts.”

“Well, maybe a little.”

His eyes were drawn to the scar on my ear, and he screwed up his

face.

“It isn’t nice, is it? Every thorn-prick makes its own hole.”

“…You said it.”

Was he worrying that I might be left with a scar, in his own way? If

so, he was quite the gentleman.

“But it’s ok. Kouyou patched it up for me, so it’ll heal with

time.”

For my part, I carefully looked his naked body up and down once more.

This was a vital step in my investigation, and thus an entirely

proper and lawful act.

He was…definitely a boy, yep.

–

Once I had painstakingly washed away the cause of the stench, I

finally entered the bathtub - along with the boy, who was trying to

escape at any opportunity.

“It’s hot.”

“That’s what’s good about it. Ordinary Servants love to take baths.

They’re all very happy to get in. There are even some who have baths

as their Noble Phantasms. There’s one who summons this great big

bathchamber, called Terme di Caracalla…”

“I want to get out.”

He was pulling a very sullen expression, but at least he was being

obedient.

I can’t see any scars on him. His muscles and weight don’t seem

any different from a normal child’s, either.

I found it very hard to believe that he might be some kind of knight

summoned in their youth. When he’d said that he didn’t know what a

bath was, the first thing I’d suspected was child abuse; Heroic

Spirits who had come from such unhappy backgrounds were too numerous

to count. But he showed no sign of having received that kind of

treatment, or at least not outwardly.

My confidence in my hypothesis was

growing stronger, and I decided to put it to the test.

–

I stretched out from the bathtub.

With the steam-clouded mirror as my canvas, I drew a picture of a hat

with my fingertip. It was a crude sketch of an old-fashioned,

wide-brimmed men’s hat with a slightly indented top, as seen from the

side.

“Hey. Can you tell me what this

is?” I asked him hesitantly, my chest pounding nervously. It only

took a brief glance at the picture before he answered.

“It’s…a snake.”

I started. For a moment, I was lost

for words.

“It looks like it’s eaten

something big.”

He’d answered my question perfectly.

“It scares me a little.”

Droplets fell from his body as he

shivered and turned away. I hadn’t even imagined that he might show

such a violent reaction. I quickly wiped away the picture on the

mirror, and found myself patting his head to try and reassure him. I

could feel the slickness of his wet hair and the warmth of his body

through the palm of my hand.

“What about “B-612”? Or maybe

you could call it “Besixdouze”?”

“Yes.” He nodded in answer. No

hesitation.

“You know it?”

“It’s a planet, isn’t it? But

there’s no-one there.”

I was silent for a moment. That’s

right. It’s a planet. Of course it is.

“I see…so there’s no-one there.

But I think…I might know your true name now.”’

B-612 was the name of an asteroid

that orbited the solar system. It was not remarkable in any way, save

for the fact that it had been discovered by a Japanese national. It

would hardly be included in the common knowledge that the Holy Grail

bestowed upon Servants. But that asteroid was named for a novella

from a foreign country, and the title of that novella was “The

Little Prince”.

On a sudden impulse, I embraced him.

In the bathtub, I wrapped my arms around his narrow shoulders from

behind, and squeezed him tight. So as not to break him. So as not to

hurt him.

“If only…if only you had been my

Servant…”

He showed no sign of answering me.

Before entering the bathtub, as I

was washing myself, I had checked everywhere. Desperately, I had

searched to see if Command Seals, the proof of a contract with a

Servant, had appeared anywhere on my body. I had strained my eyes in

the mirror, checking my back, beneath the translucent medical patch,

even the soles of my feet. But they were nowhere to be seen.

Then I was no-one’s Master. I could

not have made any contract with this boy through the Grail. I was

just the Reaper, the same as I had always been.

In that case, what had that sense of

foreboding been?

What had that trembling been in my

chest? That sense that something had begun that would change my life

forever?

In the end, it had all just been my

own wishful thinking.

–

After the bath, we retired to my

living-cum-dining room, where a mahogany table had stood ever since

this place was a cafe. The boy sat in a chair, working his way

through a lasagne that I had microwaved from frozen. I was recording

the day’s events, tablet in hand and a towel around my head, and I

was blushing as red as his bolognese sauce. I felt incredibly

embarrassed. This boy hadn’t even yet come of age, but I had suddenly

embraced him, whispered something that felt almost like a confession

of love, and then ended up crying. While naked, no less.

His only response, after a while had

passed, had been to furrow his eyebrows and complain “It’s hot”.

“Is that good?”, I asked.

“It tastes.”

“Really? Sounds great.”

The samples I had taken earlier were

on the table. Both contents of the zip-lock bag had vanished, just as

I had expected. Separated from his body, his hair and the thread from

his tunic had ceased to exist in their pseudo-physical form, and had

reverted to being part of his mana. In other words, his body and the

clothes he wore were woven from the stuff. That made for strong

evidence that he was a Servant - but it was unneeded, because an

easier way to tell was right before my eyes. The clothes that I had

left on the floor of the dressing room had since returned to a clean,

dry state.

The scarf that he wore around his

neck floated freely, with no regard for the laws of physics. Even

while he was eating, it fluttered gently, as though rising upon the

wind. Needless to say, there was no wind inside my apartment.

He couldn’t be the Simoun…could he? The poison wind?

–

The night had grown late, and I wrestled with the sleepiness and

exhaustion that assailed me as I stared at my tablet. I thought back

to the words I had exchanged with the Flying Dutchman, Captain Van

der Decken. Every word of the warning he had given me lay heavy on my

breast.

Until it became clear that our enemy was the mad queen, he had

maintained a policy of non-interference, and only once had he

commented on my methods. He had been cursed by a devil of the ocean.

My lot was not too dissimilar - for I too was cursed, and possessed

by evil spirits. Living my life beyond the sight of the Grail, I

might as well have been a naked offering to them. But that was also

the reason that I’d lasted as long as I had in this job.

I had let my guard down. I had allowed myself to believe that Captain

Van der Decken and I might have been able to find an understanding,

as bearers of the same fate. But he had seen through those naïve

expectations, and had roughly spurned my advances.

“You have grown to feel joy in the act of slaying Servants, under

the pretence of executing the authority of the city. Though you think

yourself the master of your spectres, they in turn use you.”

He was telling me, in a roundabout way, that I was intoxicated by the

idea of being a superhero. That what I had believed to be pride was

in fact conceit.

“Someday, Erice, you will call forth a great evil. And when that

time comes, that which you have clung to so dearly will instead force

you to your knees.”

Unable to accept his words and fiercely ashamed, I had retorted with

some frivolous argument - although I could admit now that it had just

been something I had cooked up to make myself feel better. At the

time I had thought he was just trying to put me in my place, but

thinking back on it now, his words might have been as much in

reproach of himself as they had been for me. His relationship with

his contractor Aheseurus - equal in spite of being Master and Servant

- spoke more eloquently of his sincerity than words ever could.

“Are you paying attention, Erice?”

I was brought out of my reverie by my master’s polite chiding.

“You seem very tired. Perhaps it might be for the best if you took

a moment to rest in the break room? I can prepare the lecture

material for your perusal later, if you’d like.”

I let out a whimper. This was embarrassing. My second disgrace this

morning. I shook my head vigorously. My master nodded, and

recommenced the lecture in a soft voice.

–

Her name was Caren Fujimura. She was the lecturer responsible for

this class, and also my master. I had known her for as long as I

could walk.

Outwardly, she appeared to be in her twenties. She had light amber

eyes, and wavy, pale grey hair that cascaded down to the small of her

back. Her body combined a slender build with voluptuous Hispanic

curves. Most notable of all, however, was her impeccable sense of

style. Nobody else could come close to its audacity. Today, too, she

looked sharp as a knife.

Or at least, I thought so, but waxing lyrical on the subject only

seemed to earn me pained smiles from Karin and others. Well, it

wasn’t as though I cared anyway. If I was the only one who could

understand her magnificence, so be it.

“…?”

The boy, who had been quiet at my side for a long time, had begun

focusing on my master when she had spoken to me. Now he turned his

gaze to the skirt of my school uniform, then to his own trousers, and

cocked his head. He turned his head to make one more pass, carefully

comparing, and then spoke with some conviction.

“She isn’t wearing anything down there.”

“That she isn’t.”

My master really was incredible.

It was not on account of her position as my lecturer that I called

Caren Fujimura my master. Nor was it on account of her being my

fashion role model. She was inhuman, in every way, and not in the

sense of being part of the new postwar humanity. She was an

artificial intelligence – an AI.

More precisely, she was the municipal administration AI tasked with

the management of the Akihabara ward. A human interface that allowed

the Grail to communicate directly with the people of the city. A

hybrid intelligence – the most valuable in the city – born of the

fusion of summoning magecraft, modelled on the kind that called forth

Heroic Spirits, and cutting-edge information engineering technology.

Such was the true nature of Caren Fujimura.

–

Ms. Fujimura’s lecture on pre-war human history continued. Today’s

topic was the history and profiles of the great pioneers. Those brave

adventurers who sailed west on crude wooden vessels, carving a path

to an unknown lands. Those bold explorers who discovered – or

rediscovered – the distant new world, and secured the shipping

routes that would become the lifeblood of a global civilisation.

–

She spoke of Eric the Red, who crossed from Europe to Greenland and

settled there. Of his son, Lief Ericsson, who made landfall in the

northeast of North America and named it “Vinland”. Of the roots

of the Polynesians, who propagated across the islands of the south

Pacific in canoes little better than rafts, and were sometimes set

adrift by rogue currents to journey thousands of kilometres.

Of Christopher Columbus, the conqueror who never once lost sight of

his dream; who sailed to the farthest reaches of the western sea

aboard the legendary Santa Maria, and there rediscovered the new

world. Of Vasco de Gama, who crossed the Cape of Good Hope and

pioneered the Indian trade route. Of the Cape itself - the southern

tip of the African continent and one of the great perils of the Age

of Discovery, where Captain Van der Decken’s Dutch galleon met its

fate upon the rocks.

She told of Ferdinand Magellan, whose vessels first circumnavigated

the world. Although he perished before the completion of his journey,

his feat proclaimed to the world beyond all doubt that the earth was

not flat, but round. Through him, the people came to know that the

world they lived on was just one more celestial body like the moon or

Mars, forging silently onwards through the void.

And here too was the first captain to circumnavigate the globe:

Francis Drake, the privateer! Ah, here was the magnificent Golden

Hind! I had already been absorbed in the lecture, but here my

excitement reached its zenith, my mind filling with daydreams of the

open sea.

From Servants who had lived through the same era, I had heard tales

that Drake, the admiral who broke the back of the invincible Spanish

Armada, had in truth been a woman more gallant than any man. That the

man who set the sun had, in fact, been the woman who set the

sun. I personally found them impossible to believe, and I’d also

heard them refuted by other pirate Servants. Stories like that

ain’t nothin’ more'n piss in the wind, girly. Drake was a man, sure

as my beard is long.

It was a common enough story when it came to Servants. Some ages of

history had placed little importance on gender distinctions.

Conversely, in others women had been so oppressed that they could

only perform heroic deeds whilst disguised in men’s clothing. Such

confusion was liable to muddy historical records.

Even if Drake had been female, it would do nothing to tarnish the

glory of her legend.

–

My enriching study time was now approaching its end, although I had

struggled to focus on all of the contents of the lecture.

“I would like to give a brief introduction to one final figure. An

American man whose one small step signified a giant leap for

mankind.”

The screen changed in sync with Ms. Fujimura’s commentary. Now it

displayed a world of extreme contrasts: a sea of grey regolith, and

the dark vacuum of space. Within the shadow thrown by a lunar lander,

a figure in a space suit descended a ladder to stand upon the moon’s

surface.

“This was the first man to stand on the face of the moon. He, too,

counts among the great pioneers of the human race.”

“…Eh…?”

A single voice arose, quavering not with wonder but with

astonishment.

“A human went to the moon…? A living human?”

The source of the voice was none other than the young girl in the

front row.

“Indeed. It would be fifty-six years before the modern day. Three

astronauts ventured to the moon, and two among them descended to walk

upon its surface.”

“More than half a century ago? There weren’t even control units

back then capable of calculating orbital trajectories-”

“There were.”

Another video resource flashed onto the screen. This time it showed a

bulky copper box that must have weighed dozens of kilograms, and a

small keyboard. The commentary indicated that this was the Apollo

spaceship’s guidance computer.

“Single-core, 8-bit. A most splendid computer to be mounted in the

lunar lander. It likely had less than one ten-thousandth the

processing power of the smartphones you all have in your pockets. And

yet it was enough to guide the lander by autopilot, even though human

error necessitated its rebooting just prior to landing.”

Ms. Fujimura sounded almost triumphant now. There had been a strange

change in her expression, although it was so slight I doubted anyone

but me would even have a chance of noticing. Perhaps, for an AI, it

was a point of pride to be able to talk about the vital contribution

a computer had made to one of humanity’s most historic achievements.

No, that’s not it…

She was delighting in the shock her

student was experiencing, from her first contact with this knowledge.

She was revelling in it. The girl retracted her body and sat back

down in her seat, fuming.

“That’s irresponsible. It’s

reckless.”

“Indeed it was. It was one of the

most reckless ventures in human history, and precious lives were lost

along the way.”

“That’s all the more reason it

could never have happened!”

As though scoffing at our worries

from across the ages, the portly figure of the spaceman upon the

screen began to moonwalk, gleefully bounding across the moon’s

surface. He was humming to himself merrily, like some shameless

delinquent.

“Rather carefree, isn’t he? One

would never think only a thin spacesuit separated him from the

zero-pressure vacuum and the hellish 110-degree temperatures

outside.”

My master smiled faintly, as she

expressed her admiration for the men in the video. Even when they

raced their moon buggies across the lunar plain, they were rough and

careless, as though they were driving go-karts at some amusement

park. The girl at the front returned to gazing at the video, a

flabbergasted expression on her face.

“Ah…ahaha…!” I couldn’t help

bursting out in laughter.

Her shoulders trembled a little. I’d

picked an awful time.

–

The “Great Pioneers” instalment

concluded by saying that although the human race had raised its flag

in one great unknown after the other – first the new world beyond

the seas, then the distant skies, and finally the void of space –

landing a group of carefree delinquents on the surface of the moon

had marked the end of their exploits. Not once since had they set

their sights on anything farther. The Apollo generation’s dream of a

grand conquest of the stars remained a dream to this day. Mars, Venus

and the outer space beyond the solar system remained unknown to the

print of human boot.

I wondered if perhaps the human race

had, somewhere along its way, lost sight of something incredibly

precious.

I wondered if perhaps someday there

might rise once again, on the edge of the farthest frontier, someone

worthy of being called a hero. Someone who would lead mankind forth

once more towards a new world.

“Hey, there you are, Eri-pie!

Wanne grab some food?”

Karin burst into the classroom just

as the lecture had ended. She must have guessed where I would be. I

had thought she might have returned home after the events of last

night, but she must have remained in Akihabara.

“Oh, it’s you, Karin. I’ll hold

off for now. I’ve still got things I need to do.”

“Ehh? Hasn’t your class just

wrapped up?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m not talking

about class.”

“Oh, the shrimp’s tagging along?

Good, good. You put some proper breakfast in him, right? What’s he

been eatin’?”

“Cereal. And some water.”

“Oh, ouch. You know that’s child

abuse, right? Like, I should probably be calling a social worker

about now?”

“Just give it a rest, geez…”

I hadn’t been back to my apartment

for the past few days, and my reserves had all expired, so I had

ended up with very little by way of food. I hadn’t so much as forced

cereal and water on him as noticed his interest in the food I was

hurriedly shovelling down and shared a little.

Servants didn’t typically require

meals in the usual sense, but in the post-war world where they had

become commonplace, more care was being paid to improving their

quality of life. There were even some citizens’ groups that insisted

that they had a right to live the same as humans. In my view,

Servants were fundamentally inhuman existences, and I saw those

attempts to impose human restrictions on something unbound by the

framework of nature as little more than evidence of their Masters’

egotism – although I couldn’t deny that might just have been the

bitter prejudice of a have-not speaking.

“Sssssssup! Morning, Caren!”

“Good morning to you too, Karin.”

Ms. Fujimura approached the two of

us.

“Karin…and Caren…?”

The boy looked between the two,

confused.

“Yeah, you got it. Pain in the

ass, right? The Caren in Akihabara has this kinda grown-up, sexy feel

to her. The one back home is a lot more, uh…wha-chaa!”

“What’s “wha-chaa!” supposed

to mean? And you should be calling her Ms. Fujimura.” Karin had

drawn one knee up to strike a kung-fu pose. I gave her a smack.

“Karin lives in the Shibuya

district. The me who lives there is a drawer for a Chinese

restaurant.” My master smiled gently. I wondered what it felt like,

to know there were different versions of herself active all over the

city.

A few elderly students were still

hanging around in the classroom, chatting amongst themselves. My

master ushered us from the room, and we relocated to a terrace

protruding from midway up the building. This was a leisure space, and

it commanded a wide view of the sprawl of Akihabara. At this early

hour, the sea breeze was light, and the sun was not too strong. It

was just cool enough that that shaded areas were still a little

chilly.

The distant rumble of a train

smoothly pulling in from the oversea viaduct drifted to us from

across the water, along with the faint toot of its horn. Beyond the

horizon, where the railway vanished, lay Shinjuku and Shibuya.

“So this child is the Servant with

the unknown Master?”

“That’s right.”

I had already informed her about the

situation in advance, but I took the opportunity to introduce the boy

to her in person.

“To tell the truth, I already have

a good guess as to his identity. Although he doesn’t really react to

what I say most of the time. He doesn’t seem to be entirely all

there.”

I took the plunge, and told her

about last night’s discoveries – hoping somewhere deep down this

made up for the regret I felt at keeping quiet about Kundry’s flight

and the events that had followed.

“Antoine de Saint-Exupéry…?

A French author, as I recall, and one of great renown. He was also an

accomplished pilot, and served in the Second World War. You believe

this child’s identity to be this Saint-Exupéry?”

The object of our scrutiny, the

child in question, showed no reaction to the name. He took a sip of

the freshly-squeezed orange juice that Karin had bought from a juice

stand, and pulled a face. Sour.

“His appearance is a poor match,

even taking into account the age difference.” I could sense my

master checking records in the background, and cross-referencing them

with the child in front of her. I pressed on with my next hypothesis.

“I think he’s the Little Prince.

Don’t you think he looks just like Saint-Exupéry’s

illustrations?”

The Little Prince was an allegorical

short story. It was the last completed work by Saint-Exupéry,

who passed away at a young age. Whether online or in physical

bookshops, one would inevitably find it in the children’s book

category, but it couldn’t be more different to the fairy tales it

rubbed shoulders with on the shelves. That said, nor was it something

like the Bible, whose every line existed to be quoted and venerated.

It was a comforting presence, like a familiar friend at your side,

always ready with a lighthearted quip or a sobering anecdote. Or so I

thought, anyway.

“Eh? So you’re a prince, are you?

Hmmmm? Now you mention it, he does look kinda regal. Think he’d make

a good match with my Momi? She is a princess, you know. Whaddaya

think?”

Karin pinched the boy’s cheek,

grinning wickedly, and he turned his head away in clear discomfort. I

decided to leave them to it, and added to my master that last night

the boy had answered my riddle with the keyword that only the Little

Prince would know.

“I see…” She struck a

contemplative pose as I continued.

“I’m aware that he doesn’t look

very much like Saint-Exupéry.

That’s why I’m wondering if he could be an author Servant who’s taken

on the form of a character from one of his own works. I’m sure there

are examples of that.”

“There are indeed. Many authors’

works leave a far greater impression on the world to come than the

men themselves. Many more choose such forms of their own accord.

However, if you would permit me my personal opinion - ”

She left a beat, pushing up her

glasses.

“ - I would conjecture that

Saint-Exupéry

would project himself not onto the Little Prince, but onto the Pilot

who narrates the story. It was, after all, his own experience of

crash-landing in the Sahara desert that formed the basis for the

book.”

“Ah…yes, I…I suppose…”

She was right. Given the content of

the book, it was an entirely legitimate criticism. She was saying

that this child was likely something fundamentally different to just

some writer Servant with perverse tendencies and a strong capacity

for empathy.

While I hadn’t been watching, the

subject of out conversation had begun sipping on a honey-lemon drink.

He must have traded his orange juice with Karin. This was evidently

more to his tastes; he was smiling broadly.

“I have conferred with the Caren

units in the other districts, but he does not appear to match any

Servant under our jurisdiction. I cannot even venture more than vague

hypotheses as to his class.” It seemed that as an AI, she was

capable of communicating with her other units in the background even

as she talked with me.

So he wasn’t a lost Servant who had

wandered in from some other district. At the very least, we now knew

that there was no record of Saint-Exupéry

being registered as a Servant anywhere in Mosaic City.

“Please do not be disheartened,

Erice. I do not mean to dismiss your opinion; the possibility

remains. And just by having secured him, you have already done a

wonderful job.”

“I suppose…”

“He seems to be stable, aside from

his memories, so I will fit him with a classification tag. For as

long as he continues to reside in this town, I will refer to him as

“The Little Prince (TBD)””.

“…'Brackets…TBD’…?”

“Guess so. Would be a pain in the

ass if he didn’t have a name, right? Brackets, TBD.” Karin cheerily

patted the Little Prince (TBD) on the head.

“Um…about last night’s

incident…” I straightened my back, and tried to change the topic

to my report of the previous night’s events – and suddenly my

master stood up from her seat, looking at me ruefully.

“I owe you an apology, Erice. A

matter has sprung up that requires my urgent attention. Would you

mind submitting your report as a brief text document?”

“Eh…? I mean…of course.”

I felt relieved, but at the same

time more concerned. Whatever this urgent matter was, this was the

first I’d heard of it, and my master was not known for changing her

schedule lightly.

“But what do you think I should do

about him?”

“That was my next point. I am

sorry to ask this of you, but would you mind taking charge of him for

the time being? If his identity becomes clear during that time, all

the better.”

“Eh-?”

My master’s eyes narrowed into a

smile as my mouth clamped shut. The already-unusual situation had

just taken a turn for the stranger.

“No way, no way, no way. Isn’t

that going to be a problem? With my job and everything?”

“No other individual in Akihabara

is so equipped to tackle as exceptional a case. To call you a

specialist in the handling of Servants would not be an exaggeration.”

It would. It absolutely would. My

specialisation was not the handling of Servants - it was murder.

Restraining the most villainous of Servants, and keeping them under

strict surveillance, I could do. But I was not nearly so capable of

attending to the needs of a young boy, barely any different from an

ordinary human child, who didn’t even know his own name.

Karin chipped in. “Can’t he just

bunk at my place? What’s an extra brother or two, anyway?”

“Quite a lot, I think…”

Karin’s suggestion was

extraordinarily irresponsible, but my master only inclined her head.

“My thanks for your hospitality Karin, but I am afraid that I

cannot yet say what threat this child poses. I cannot permit him to

reside with ordinary citizens.”

“I’m tellin’ you, it’s cool. I’ve

got Momi, don’t I? It’ll be fine!”

Karin dug in deeper, and my master

responded with another polite but firm refusal. In all honesty, it

would have been a weight off my mind – although I wouldn’t say that

the notion of Karin taking responsibility for a portion of my job

didn’t grate on me a little.

Just as I was becoming aware of my

own troublesome misgivings, a newcomer hurriedly approached the

recreation space where we were conversing.

“Caren Fujimura? If you wouldn’t

mind, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

It was her – the girl in the hat

from the front row. She had run out of the classroom just before the

lecture had ended, conversing with someone over her smartphone. She

must have returned now that her conversation had ended.

“It’s nice to see you, Haruko. Do

you have a question for me about the lecture?”

“That’s right. I wanted to ask

about the role of astrology during the Age of Discovery-” A sudden

squall blew through the terrace, and she clutched at her hat, pulling

it down tightly over her ears. I saw my chance and hurriedly forced

my way into the conversation – although really, she had been the

one who had interrupted us.

“H-hang on a moment. I was already

talking with Ms. Fujimura…”

She glared at me in silence. Her

brilliant peppermint-green eyes glinted from behind a parting in her

fringe. “It was only thanks to the repeated interruptions from you

and your Servant that I didn’t have the opportunity to ask these

questions during the lecture.”

“Well, I’m…I’m sorry about that.

But, well, you see, he’s not exactly my Servant…”

“Is that so? My apologies. But as

his guardian, you should be more conscious of your responsibility to

ensure he does not cause trouble for others in public spaces.”

Her motions – her gait, and even

the way she was holding down her hat - were clipped and precise. She

was barely taller than the innocent child drinking juice by my side,

but she somehow seemed many years his elder. Beneath the white gown I

had seen so often in lectures, she was wearing a slightly

old-fashioned bright yellow blouse.

I’m positive…I’ve seen those clothes before somewhere… Now

where was it?

“Um…you mentioned astrology, didn’t you? If you’re curious about

the involvement of magecraft in human history, why don’t you go to

the library? You’d be able to research it as much as you wanted.”

I’d intended it as a sincere and respectful recommendation…but

instead she expelled a short, sharp sigh, and her attitude became

palpably frostier. This was getting awkward.

“You’re telling me to go to the library? That would be far less

efficient than asking an administrative AI – I mean, Ms. Fujimura

directly. I would have thought that someone who went to the trouble

of attending lectures would be cognizant of the vast difference in

value between the vague knowledge one can acquire through reference

materials, and the clear and consistent explanations that can be

gained through conversations with an expert in the field. And if you

do not understand that, then I must ask why you insist on wasting

others’ time with your indolence.”

“W-what do you mean, 'indolence’…?”

“Well damn. Kid’s got a mouth on her…”

Things were going from bad to worse - now Karin had taken an

interest. If I left this alone, it could easily easily escalate

beyond my control and into an all-out brawl. She was free to pick

whichever fights she wanted, but I wanted to avoid any risk of

worsening my relationships with other students and ending up barred

from attending.

“Come on, Karin. Cut it out. I’m not mad or anything.”

“…Hm? Wait a second, I’m sure…” Karin looked as though she’d

just noticed something. The girl hurriedly pulled her hat back down

over her head. My master had called this girl Haruko, hadn’t she?

“I too have important matters to attend to. I really do have to

hurry.”

“I…I see. Sorry about all this.” She had come all the way to

this terrace searching for my master, and I wanted to show some

recognition of her dedication. In that sense, we were kindred

spirits. “If I’m not mistaken, you don’t come to lectures very

often, do you? If you wouldn’t mind, I could let you borrow my old

notes…”

“If you’re going to mock me so, I hope you’re prepared for the

consequences.”

“Eh? Did…did I say something wrong?” How short was this girl’s

fuse? I desperately looked to Karin for help, but she only shook her

head as though to say there was nothing she could do. And then, in

that moment -

“I think that’s quite enough, Erice.”

Another newcomer – a woman, who had not been in the classroom –

strolled towards us, calling out to me with uncomfortable

familiarity. Her footsteps clacked on the floor as she approached.

“Welcome. Your arrival is earlier than I had expected.” Ms.

Fujimura, who had been maintaining a position of neutrality in our

argument, greeted her in an oddly forced tone of voice.

“It was your message that hurried me here, Caren. You said that I

might have the opportunity to see something interesting.” She was

dressed in a vintage black sailor uniform, and her long silver hair

was left to hang freely. I knew this woman – this woman who looked

so out-of-place in Akihabara, who clad herself in an elegant shroud

of bygone days.

“Chitose… What…what are you doing here…?”

Now it made sense. Caren’s urgent matter must have been her.

The girl in the hat must have caught my murmured whisper.

“Chitose…? What kind of civilian could call directly on a

municipal administration AI without an appointment…?”

I heard the rushing sound of an intake of breath, and she turned

sharply back around to the woman once more. Now that they were

standing face-to-face, her small frame meant that she had to crane

her neck to look her in the eyes.

“You aren’t…Manazuru Chitose, are you…? The Stigmata?”

“…I am indeed. It’s been a while since I last heard that name.”

The girl let out a whimper. “How could this happen…”

Her reaction was so violent, I thought for a moment that they might

have been about to duel it out on the spot. In stark contrast to her

brief reverie, now she was tripping over herself to be polite. She

scrambled backwards three paces, and lowered her head woodenly. Her

ears were glowing bright red, and from the glimpses I could catch

through her bangs her cheeks were similarly flushed.

One of her fingers brushed against the side of her hat. With a swish,

it folded in on itself and collapsed into a hairband. With her face

now exposed, she bowed her head once more.

“I apologise wholeheartedly for my insolence, Stigmata.”

Chitose only shook her head quietly. “You had business with Caren,

did you not? I do not mind waiting a while.”

“I-it was nothing! Certainly, nothing of consequence next to your

duties.” She was so stiff and anxious now, her haughty demeanour

not two minutes ago seemed like a distant memory. It was actually a

little adorable - although in general, I found people’s tendency to

become so ill at ease in Chitose’s presence rather hard to deal with.

For her part, Chitose might have been responding amiably, but that

should not have been mistaken for warmth or compassion. Her gaze fell

upon the boy seated at our table, and for an instant, her eyes were

those of a serpent that had found its prey.

“Yes, that’s the boy”, she said, as though talking to herself. “I

can’t even tell which class his Saint Graph is. I suppose the world

is full of surprises.”

I confess - my interest was aroused, and I couldn’t suppress a

sadistic curiosity. What reaction would her gaze stir in him? Would

he show awe? Animosity? Would he ignore her completely, as though

erasing his own existence?

But instead – he smiled. A beaming smile, like a shining star. A

clear window straight to his heart.

Silence reigned for a second, and then Chitose smiled back at him

thinly. Next to me, I felt the girl with the hat flinch. And then,

her expression relaxing into a slightly mischievous smile, she

approached me, and laid a pale white fingertip on my shoulder.

“I charge you with monitoring this child, Erice.”

“Understood”, I muttered. She gave a small shrug at my

disgruntled response.

It looked like our conversation was over. Once Chitose had made a

clear decision, my master would abide by it. I stood up from my seat,

bowed to my master, and accompanied the boy from the terrace as I’d

been instructed.

“Who the hell was that?”, Karin asked breezily, once we were in

the corridor. “Gave me the creeps.” Just this once, I was

grateful for her laid-back demeanour.

“And what’s up with you, anyway? Didn’t you have something to ask

Caren about? You sure you’re ok just leaving like this?”

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just go.”

I put the building behind me, as though I were running away from

something.