Chapter 2 Part 2: Power Struggle

"What do you think? Lord Trambellio..."

The corpulent man appeared behind Lady Valualeta, just as Shirou has pointed out.

"In short, he looks interesting. He doesn't see Magecraft as a vocation to which he can dedicate his life. Like his father, he only sees it as a mere tool. However, his goal is related to magecraft, and like any magus with research to complete, he is willing to give his life to realize it. His own denomination as a blacksmith related to magecraft is, in fact, the most appropriate."

"How far do you think he can go?"

"As a magus, no matter how much he studies, probably will not exceed the Rank Cause; but considering what his goal is, he should get Fes Rank at some point. And, if he manages to create that sword using the centuries of study and practice of his family…"

"A sword that can cut even to the same fate, the force that subjugates everything to its will, something like that should be worthy of a title of primary color."

Trambellio nodded. "Although there may be more than one magus with a title of the same color... since Red fled to Japan after receiving a sealing designation and Blue..." even someone as stoic as Lord Trambellio could not help but sigh with irony at the thought of the absurdly destructive magician who used the Fifth Magic. "Well, there's no need to say the crazy things she does. The fact is that both colors have become more than titles. At present is a way of referring to those two. Therefore, it is better to do not to relate him to either of them."

"There's still a third primary color left," said the woman.

Trambellio nodded. "If he achieves his goal, then we will do everything in our power to give him the Title of Primary Color Yellow." For the first time in the whole conversation, Trambellio smiled. "Touko and Aoko come from a lineage that, despite not having great renown, managed to reach the Root. Touko is an unparalleled genius with circuits of the highest quality, and Aoko inherited the Fifth Magic. None of these characteristics apply to the boy, for although his family has a lineage as old as that of the Lord with less history,

the fact that they were only able to create famous weapons in their early days detracts from their long history, their is also the fact that his magic circuits are average. If he can create that weapon based solely on his study, practice, and experience, and achieves it using useless magecraft such as Gradation Air, getting a color title..."

Valualeta also smiled. "The blow this would deal with the Aristocratic Faction led by Barthomeloi, which puts lineage above achievements, would be... really catastrophic, maybe it could tip the balance in our favor."

Trambellio nodded. "Watch him well. Whether he fails or achieves his goal, it will be a win for us."

"I have included him in the class of Lord El-Melloi II, if anyone is capable of exploiting his full potential, it should be him."

"A good decision. How were our negotiations with his father?"

"As we wanted. In exchange for keeping the boy from having to take the entrance exams and our help in recovering Emiya's crest, he agreed to do work for us at no cost, as long as our interests are not totally opposed."

"Perfect. I leave the rest in your hands," said the Lord as he left the dean's office.

It seems that things can get even more hectic from now on...

She thought.

…

The meeting with the dean had left him mentally exhausted, and although he understood why his father had sent him to negotiate on his own, that didn't mean he liked it. But, as the magus killer said, "Now that you are in our world, you must learn to deal with the magi," so he didn't have much choice either.

He was also grateful to Muramasa for teaching him how to bargain; both of them had spent part of the night thinking of a way to compensate the faction, in case they sponsored him, and that was the only feasible idea they had come up with.

"Oh...? You're not the guy who was paired with Tohsaka this morning?"

"Eh?" Shirou looked up and saw a girl a few feet away, apparently, a little exhausted.

She was in my class on Mineralogy and Modern Magecraft Theories.

He sighed and tried to be friendly, "Yes, are you a friend of Tohsaka?"

She, a girl of his age, with light skin and beautiful blond hair, as well as ochre eyes, placed her hand just under her chin. "Ohohoho! Me, a friend of that woman? Not even in her best dreams, although you could say I see her as a rival... My pride as Edelfelt dictates that I surpass her in every way."

"Edelfelt?"

"Hmm?" when she saw his confused look, she asked him, "don't you know us?"

"Forgive me, but I am not from Europe, so I am not familiar with the western families of magi." Shirou thought to himself,

Although, if I'm honest, I'm not familiar with the families of magi in Japan either.

"Then you are from another continent. I guess that's the only explanation there can be for you not knowing us. After all, we Edelfelts are a great and distinguished lineage of magi."

The apprentice magus tried to be as friendly as possible. "That sounds incredible."

This brought a smile to the girl's face. "Of course."

"Though, are you okay? You look tired."

This made the girl lower her gaze a bit embarrassed. "Well... What happens is that I..."

"Yes?"

"I got lost." Closing her eyes, she sighed in defeat. "I've been in the city less than a week and I decided to take a walk without my butler, and, in the end, I ended up getting lost. Besides, my cell phone battery ran out."

"Oh, I understand! This city is huge and I almost got lost too." Shirou put his hand into his pocket. "Here, you can use mine," he said, offering her his cell phone.

She took it with a smile. "You are very kind."

In this way, the girl used his cell phone to contact her butler.

"Will he come looking for you?" asked the boy as he received his cell phone back.

She nodded. "My butler is on his way."

"I'm happy for you. In that case..."

But before he could finish, she interrupted him, "Wait, as heir to the Edelfelt house, I cannot afford to maintain a debt of kindness."

"Excuse me?"

"Hmm... I mean, I saw a nice bakery when I was exploring. For helping me, how about I invite you to something while we wait for my butler to arrive?"

"Are you sure?"

She smiled. "Of course, it's my way of thanking you. By the way, my name is Luviagelita Edelfelt, you can call me Luvia. Nice to meet you."

"Muramasa Shirou, Shirou is fine."

Shirou and Luvia walked a little less than a block to a small but picturesque bakery. There they stopped and started talking while they ordered something. At first, the redhead was not sure what to talk about, Luvia was certainly a lady of high society and, according to her, the heiress of a prestigious lineage of magi, and he had no idea how to deal with either of them. So, he just kept commenting on what she was talking about, and when it was his turn to start the conversation, he would talk about worldly things, and, ironically, this seemed to please the girl more than bore her.

"By the way, Shirou, when we met you looked a little tired, did you get lost too?"

"Eh?" Shirou looked at her in confusion. "Oh, no, it's just that I just finished a meeting with Lady Valualeta, and I ended up a bit exhausted."

"The head of the Creation Department?"

Shirou nodded. "I was looking for her recommendation and sponsorship."

"Are you having problems with your license plate?"

"Not exactly, but I can't afford to waste too much money. Also, I needed her help with something..."

Luvia nodded without wanting to inquire further. "Getting the patronage of a Lord is a complicated thing. Don't be discouraged if you don't get it."

"Thank you for your concern, Luvia. But luckily for me, I was able to get the dean's attention."

She opened her eyes in amazement. "Does that mean...?"

The redheaded man nodded. "I managed to get her sponsorship."

"That's incredible... For Lord Valualeta to decide to sponsor you, means you showed her something promising. Does it have to do with that katana you have there? Even if it's sheathed, I can say that it's a work of art made by a master."

"Your praise is appreciated, Miss Edelfelt," answered Muramasa.

"Have spoken? Is this Spiritual Evocation?" asked the heiress Edelfelt.

"Something like that. I am a spirit that has been possessing this sword since its creation.

Shirou held his sword and showed it to Luvia. "Let me introduce you. He is Muramasa Senji, my ancestor, and was the third head of my family."

"Nice to meet you," she said as she admired the katana.

"It's a pleasure for me too."

After analyzing the sword, Luvia went to the redhead, "You said ancestor and not predecessor. It means that your family has more than three generations, doesn't it?"

Shirou nodded. "Although we don't know exactly how many generations we've been, my grandpa doesn't remember..."

"Just because I have lived within the sword for more than five hundred years does not mean I remember all," said the blacksmith.

"500 years!? That is similar to the longevity of the youngest family of one of the Lords, excluding Lord El-Melloi II, for obvious reasons," she said with an air of superiority.

"The teacher? Why?"

"Unlike the other Lords, Lord El-Melloi II is only filling the position left by the previous Lord. Once she is old enough, his adopted sister will take over."

"Don't you like the teacher, Luvia?"

For a moment, the girl's face frowned. "I think he is the worst kind of magus and the worst kind of person... Although I am still evaluating him as an instructor." After that evaluation, she asked him, "Did you do anything to make Lady Valualeta angry? Is that why you were so pale?"

He smiled uncomfortably. "I think I spoke too enthusiastically about my goal. I thought she would take it as an insult..."

The lady smiled. "All of us who have come to this place have a goal to achieve. Besides, Lady Valualeta is also a teacher, I don't think that showing interest in your goal offends her, as long as you don't contradict her directly, of course."

"I am sorry to interrupt your pleasant conversation My Lady, but we will be late if we take too long..."

They both turned to see an old butler who had appeared behind them, and they had not even noticed.

"At what point...?" asked Luvia, surprised.

"A few minutes ago, My Lady. I didn't want to interrupt you, but it's getting late."

She shook her head; they asked for the bill and, before Luvia got in the fancy car, she said to the redhead, "It was a pleasure, Shirou. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

He nodded and replied, "Likewise, see you tomorrow."

With that said, Shirou made his way to his faculty facility and entered his dorm. Once in his room, Shirou took his tools and set about forging.

A few hours later...

Knock! Knock!

Shirou opened the door and, as he expected, on the other side was the Tohsaka's heiress.

"Muramasa-kun..."

"Tohsaka-san, please come in."

The girl came in and took the only chair in the room, and, having no other place to sit, Shirou sat on his bed.

"Interesting, Muramasa-kun. Is this some kind of Bounded field? Is your magecraft related to forging?"

Shirou nodded. "My family is not strictly speaking a family of magi. We are blacksmiths who use Magecraft in, and for, their creations. In fact, I'm probably the only one in my family who's come to the Clock Tower."

She nodded and, crossing her arms and legs, she questioned him, "Muramasa-kun, you know that I am the Second Owner of Fuyuki, right?"

The redheaded man nodded.

"You know that not reporting your installation on lands that have a Second Owner, can lead to several sanctions, right?"

Shirou nodded again. "I know. We would both be sanctioned, me for not notifying you and not asking your permission, and you for mismanagement by not realizing that there was another family of magi in your territory."

The girl nodded. "That's right. Even though your fault would be greater than mine, Muramasa-kun..."

"I understand. Also, you could lower your sanction level if you use the relationship your family has with the Magician Marshall, am I right?"

That surprised the heiress, although she only showed her surprise for a few moments as if she had realized that she had that option.

Could it be that she hadn't thought about it? But that would be not very smart. Someone like the girl in front of him surely noticed that she had that option; after all, the Tohsaka had a good position in the Association thanks to their relationship with the old magician.

"That's right... I could use my family's relationship with Kaleidoscope to lower the level of the sanction," whispered the girl, "but I wouldn't want to waste that letter on something we can fix between us."

"So, you kids will just keep it a secret and that's it?" Senji asked.

"Huh? Who said that?" asked the heiress Tohsaka.

Shirou took his sword and showed it to the girl. "Tohsaka-san, this is my ancestor, Muramasa Senji."

"Delighted, Miss Tohsaka."

She nodded as she looked at the sword. "Likewise." She then turned to the redhead. "Does your family have a talent for Spiritual Evocation as well?"

He shook his head as he smiled wryly. "No, it is nothing but the product of an incredible obsession."

"Obsession?" she asked, confused.

"It doesn't matter, the point is that he is my teacher."

"I see." Picking up the thread of the conversation, she said, "As ridiculous as it sounds, what your teacher says is what I mean. This will stay between you and me. You will send me an application to settle you in Fuyuki, and I will accept it. So, in the eyes of the Association, nothing will have happened. Do you understand?"

"That's it?" asked Shirou, a little confused.

She smiled, and the boy felt a chill run down his spine. "Of course not. After all, this fault is more your fault than mine, so I expect compensation."

"C-Compensation?" Shirou asked nervously. "But I don't have any valuable items... and I don't have a huge amount of money either."

"In that case, I will use your services, Muramasa-kun," she said with a smile.

"Eh? Do you want me to forge something for you, Tohsaka-san?"

She observed the boy's bedroom, where she saw several swords, some much better than others, although none was a masterpiece. There was only one exception: A MonohoshiZao, a bitchu aoe blade more than five shaku long. In summary, a katana of 150 centimeters.

"That sword is absurdly long," said the girl amazed, "although it is very beautiful..."

Shirou smiled. "That's my biggest project yet. Not yet complete, but I'm close."

"My magecraft doesn't require weapons. So a sword would be useless to me. But I would like to count on your assistance, Muramasa-kun."

"My assistance? In what?"

"In the classroom, of course. Since we are magi from Japan, it will be difficult for us to get partners for groups to work and that kind of thing; so I want you to be my assistant."

"So, do you want me to help you with classes?"

The girl smiled broadly. "Exactly. I want you to help me when I need it, do you understand?"

Shirou sweated cold, the smile and the girl's words said that, but his instincts told him he would be more like a slave than an assistant. Sighing, he stretched out his hand. "It will be a pleasure to work with you, Tohsaka-san."

She accepted his hand and answered, "Call me Rin. After all, we'll be working together from now on. It's a pleasure, Muramasa-kun..."

"If so, Shirou is fine."

"A pleasure, Shirou-kun."

And with that, the apprentice magus had no choice but to help the heiress Tohsaka. Once his meeting with Rin was over, the apprentice blacksmith continued his training until it was time to go to sleep.

He closed his eyes, and...

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AN: Here is the chapter for the first 10 powerstones. Remember that I'm posting an extra chapter every 10 power stones and the first 10 reviews!