[FDJ]Chapter 36 - Lingering Fragrance of Poison

Only the crows pierced through the conspiracies in the dark night, watching the eight Servants and their scheming Masters. Even the Servants who approached the camp of the West Roman Army under the cover of night couldn't escape the gaze of the demons.

The faint rustling in the forest masked the sounds of this top hunter's movements. During the previous dinner, Attila had revealed to Atalanta that Assassin had been injured in a surprise attack during the day, which would keep him quiet for at least two days. Suzuki provided all the information about Assassin's true name, Noble Phantasm, and other details. Archer didn't fully trust him, but her Master had indeed been destroyed by a bomb that appeared out of nowhere, blowing off his upper body.

Zabaniya: Angels of Death. Archer muttered it more than ten times after dinner. Just as Suzuki described, Assassin's Noble Phantasm was unable to inflict fatal injuries on Servants, and even when facing Servants with magic resistance, it was questionable whether it could be used at all.

Assassin was nothing more than a bluffing clown. Archer set out alone only after the moon had risen. She had Attila's permission to exact revenge on the Roman army during the day.

As long as she could retreat unscathed, she could do whatever she wanted. Attila especially mentioned the commander of the West Roman Army, Aetius, jokingly saying that if she could cut off Aetius' head and bring it back, she could have anything in the Hun camp as a reward, except for her throne.

At that time, except for Archer, the other two Servants and Suzuki wouldn't understand what Attila was implying, but Archer understood clearly. Attila was talking about granting her the Holy Grail.

"Strange, there are no bomb worms installed here?" Archer didn't dare to enter the camp of the West Roman Army immediately. She took a detour through the concealed woods, determining that there were no trap mechanisms. A keen hunter like her would set up enough traps outside the camp in her style and place the deadliest mechanisms on steep slopes suitable for long-range surveillance.

But when Archer climbed the hill, she didn't even see a trace of a bomb. She could count the familiars hovering around the camp's perimeter on her fingers, and none of them could observe the area where Archer was moving.

"Could it be that observation doesn't require familiars?" When Archer realized this possibility, a mouse-type familiar emerged from the soil she was stepping on. There was only one, but it made Archer feel immense pressure. The tiny familiar conveyed a warning from its controller.

Archer drew her bowstring, aiming at the controlled familiar mouse, and asked, "Who are you?"

The mouse disintegrated on its own, turning into a pool of blood that emitted a misty aura, forming a black blurry shadow from which a voice emerged. "Go back and tell your Master, Attila. If she has the courage, she should come herself to witness the might of Rome. The Romans are ready to fight at any time!"

"...Attila said the same thing," Archer dared to confirm that the magus sending the message was Aetius, and like Attila, he was also concerned about engaging in battles during the Holy Grail War, fearing that his army would be wasted in vain. They were both vain individuals who couldn't accept defeat verbally.

"Is that so?"

From the shadow, the same familiar mouse that Archer had seen before emerged again. She was currently under the influence of Aetius's illusions, seeing only false images. If she wished, she could resist the illusions at any time.

"Your familiar is exposed."

After Archer's reminder, the familiar mouse disintegrated once again, turning into a bloody puddle of liquid, with the blurry shadow still flickering in front of her. Judging by human magecraft standards, Archer believed that the level of magecraft she had witnessed was the highest level she had seen during her lifetime.

"I'm getting old. I'm not as skilled with these illusions as I used to be. So, why did she send you tonight?" In the camp of the West Roman Alliance, Aetius, who looked sleepy, held a crystal ball and conversed with Archer. Aetius was very cautious. When they set up camp today, he had already set up a bounded field to block flying arrows. In theory, unless Archer used her Noble Phantasm to shoot at his location, he could sleep until dawn without any problems.

"She asked if Berserker was sent by you."

"I also want to know who the Master of Berserker is. Originally, last night, I planned to lure you or another Saber out with Assassin, but unexpectedly, a berserker wielding a sword and slashing wildly appeared out of nowhere, completely ruining my plan." Aetius appeared quite frustrated. According to his initial plan, the battle should have erupted last night. He was not the type to let the enemy see the light of day on the following morning. "I originally planned to have Assassin patrol the area for any traces of sucking the souls of the living to replenish mana. Unfortunately, Assassin was severely injured by your Master, Attila. I didn't expect her to nearly kill a Servant with a single sword strike. In the Holy Grail War, according to the rules, a Master encountering a hostile Servant should be terrified and waiting to be killed. If I hadn't used a Command Spell to stop Assassin from activating his Noble Phantasm, your new Master would also be left with only half of her body."

"Regarding this matter, Attila said you didn't need to use a Command Spell to stop Assassin. She claimed that she could receive Assassin's Noble Phantasm without any harm. Although I don't believe it either, that's what she said." Archer now clearly knew that Aetius was still controlling Assassin, with a 95% probability that he had ordered Assassin to kill her original Master.

"She's just a lunatic! A brute! A mere human flesh and blood can withstand a Servant's Noble Phantasm? Please, let the jokes be limited to her rainbow-colored stone sword! Tell her that if she continues to disregard the rules of this 'game,' I will personally join the battle against her Servant." Aetius stood up excitedly from his bed, causing his Servant, Caster, to materialize and inquire about the reason.

"Master, you mentioned the Master encountering a hostile Servant..." Caster hadn't finished recounting when Aetius used magecraft to drive Caster out of his residence.

Archer, utilizing the temporary contract with Attila, relayed Aetius's clear provocation. As she expected, Attila's tone was equally excited, eager to lead a surprise attack on the camp of the West Roman Alliance tonight.

After flickering a few times, the black shadow disappeared, and the familiar mouse reappeared, crawling back into the small hole it had come from.

Archer believed she had encountered all sorts of extraordinary heroes aboard the Argo, but it was the first time she had come across two exceptionally skilled "military commanders" at the pinnacle of this era. However, both of them had chosen the same path that was not suitable for themselves. Driven by their belief in being the best, they would not stop until they defeated the other.

Turning around, Archer shot the arrow she had been holding in her hand, hitting the roof of the magus's house where he had just used illusion magecraft, as she had expected. Archer was confident that she had a fifty-percent chance of infiltrating the camp of the West Roman Alliance before setting off, but now she confirmed that she had been discovered. There was no need to venture in alone when surrounded by multiple Servants.

The arrow hit Caster's jester hat accurately. With the arrow in hand, Caster returned to Aetius's dwelling through the wooden window. "Master, I was attacked."

"I'll give you one minute. Disappear in front of me immediately. If you're not satisfied, leave the camp and pursue Archer yourself. I just want to get a good night's sleep!"

Aetius's roar was loud and powerful, completely unlike someone relying on drugs to stay awake.

------------------------

In a corner of the West Roman camp, a humanoid puppet dressed in simple clothes swayed its arms and wrote down records on parchment.

"Archer has departed. Confirmation." Its voice came from internal mechanical parts, allowing people to hear what it said, but it made them feel very uncomfortable.

Lancer materialized nearby. As a Servant, she did not need to sleep, and her Master seemed to be the same. No one thought that a puppet needed rest. The puppeteer controlling the puppet was in a secure location, its specific position unknown and not too far away, but finding it would not be easy.

"Yes, Archer wandered outside for a while and then left," Lancer said with a serious expression. During the day, she had not engaged in intense combat with Berserker, and there were no marks on her armor. "Master, do you love me?"

The puppet did not answer, perhaps because the true master controlling the puppet did not feel the need to respond to the irrational question from her Servant.

"Do you love me? Your love is weak."

Still no answer, perhaps it had already been answered.

Lancer looked at the puppet still recording experimental data and smiled. Her laughter was sinister and filled with madness, even causing demons to furrow their brows involuntarily.

"I knew I could still find someone who 'loves' me. Master, I love you too. Ahahaha..."

The lizard immersed in the potion was now hopping around with only one leg. The severed lizard head had become a new specimen, and the data recorded by the puppet roughly indicated the leg's activity within the potion.

The magecraft practiced by the maus was far from conventional, and centuries later, it would be classified as black magic due to its obscurity. Evil, cruel... these words were most fitting to describe the esoteric magic he was researching.

Lancer suddenly stopped laughing and helped the puppet change to a new potion, as if nothing had happened. She then placed a live bird on the dissection table, preemptively removing the feathers from the unfortunate bird, which would serve as materials for the new potion.

With a small knife in hand, Lancer cut off the bird's wings, and the puppet followed by infusing it with magical energy to maintain its vitality. The experiment continued, with the puppet recording data, and it was unclear if the magus hidden somewhere would be able to see this data. Perhaps these were the magecraft he was researching.

"Master, do you love me?"

Lancer began to ask this question again, but the puppet still did not answer, diligently studying the changes the wingless bird underwent within the potion. So far, it had only grown two snake tails.

"Don't you love me anymore? That's unacceptable. Master?"

Lancer put the moderately prepared potion back in its original place and added a spoonful of bright purple powder. "Is this the new formula of love? Is it, is it, is it!? Oh, is it?"

Finally, the puppet reacted, pointing at the potion Lancer had prepared. "Poison overdose."

"This is love! Eternal love!"

"Poison, overdose. Suggestion: reduce to one-eighth."

Reluctantly, Lancer took the prepared potion to the side and remade it using the same formula. This time, she added just a tiny bit of the bright purple powder.

The new experimental subject was a fresh piece of meat, the creature and body part unidentifiable, but it was still oozing blood.

"Can love also be overdosed?"

Lancer muttered to herself as she prodded the piece of fresh meat with a knife and then placed it into the potion. The peculiar scent of the magical potion immediately filled the small room. If someone stayed here, they would be poisoned and faint within a minute. It was necessary to use the puppet as a substitute.

=====

Support Me at Patreon.com/AbsoluteCode