The Chosen One 14 (Patreon)

"Well... It seems things got even more complicated, but I'm glad we made new allies, Daichi!" Ah, even when I'm down at least Sakura can cheer me up.

I won't lie, while we made our way back, and eventually met Archer on the way, I was expecting them to be down with the news that we don't even know what Gilgamesh is, but they don't seem bothered by it.

So I smile. "Yeah, I guess so... I won't lie though, having no idea what that monster is can be pretty scary for me..." And I have no idea which monster I'm referring to as well. Both Gilgamesh and the Shadow are killing me with stress.

Shirou interjects. "Isn't this a good thing though? Him not being a standard Servant means we have the ability to get a extra Servant on our side." Hah, as expected of Emiya-Senpai.

I nod. "That's actually a pretty good point." Hopefully Lancer is both strong and friendly. "Anyways, are you sure you're okay Sakura? Maybe you should still be resting..." She isn't looking sick anymore, but I'm still worried.

She shakes her head. "It's fine... I started feeling better once Fujimura-Sensei showed up." Um... I wonder how that talk went... I have no idea how Sakura feels about the dead Shinji after all.

I'd like to assume she hates him with all she has, and that she hates Zouken too. But making assumptions like that would be overstepping my boundaries, so instead I will personally hate them, and protect her out of my own feelings.

"That's great! Speaking of Fujimura-Sensei though... you think she will show up again?" She might come to check on Sakura again. I mean, she lost her house and her family, so it's normal.

In that case I'd suppose I can't avoid her forever. She will definitely ask some annoying questions though, and I have no idea how I'll respond to them. Maybe making this our base wasn't that wise...

Sakura looks away. "I don't exactly know... Maybe." I guess there's no way to predict a wild animal, how troublesome.

Rin interjects. "Even if she does show up, I'll just hypnotize her. I was willing to the let the first time pass, but we are dealing with important things here..." She then mumbles. "I'm even missing school for it." That's what you care about!?

Shirou gasps. "Tohsaka, you...!"

But Archer cuts him off before any big fight commences. "Calm down, it's not a dangerous process." And that's that. The two glare at each other for a bit, but in the end Emiya-Senpai calms down.

And then Archer looks at me. "So, what is our next move Mister Thief." Awawawa... I know I stole from you Master, but please don't kill me! Also, if people keep talking to me like that, I really will start to think of myself as a leader.

Nah, I have to kill that cockiness. "I guess we scout for Lancer? I'd love to ask Caster for help, but I think she just tell us to screw off." We may be allies, but she definitely doesn't like us.

"Let's make it like this. Two groups, one with Archer and the other one with Saber. Archer has good vision, so he has a high chance of finding Lancer, and as for Saber... I'll follow her, I think I have a way of tracking down a Ssrvant." Mostly because of something I recently remembered.

On the first night of the war, Regulus said tracking Servants would be hard for him, because he's not a dog. I now have a dog Longinus though, so maybe Canis Lykaon can make himself useful.

Alternatively... "That said, maybe we should make three groups instead. One with Archer, one with Saber, and one with me. I can fly after all, so even if the Servant is agressive I can probably run away." Thank you Albion!

Illya glares at me. "Are you stupid? No way am I letting you kill yourself after I got... moderately attached." A instant rejection!? Well, even I understand that it's not the greatest plan.

Rin glares at me too. "Huh, recently I really have been led to believe you're stupid. Or at least impulsive. Two groups it is." Hey, Illya has already rejected me, so there's no need to keep up with the hate Daichi train.

Sakura objects too, of course. "No! You will get hurt, Daichi!" Wow, I received zero approval. Yeah, I'm definitely not leader material. "I-I mean, you're so slow that even Saber could... erm... touch you!" I should have excluded that from the report.

Archer snorts. "Indeed, what if the Lancer is an attractive woman in her thirties? Your life would be ruined." Yeah, I definitely should have not told that story to everyone, specially since Saber is nodding.

Saber glares at him, slapping the table while she does so. "Forget the past, Archer!" For some reason that feels really wrong to hear. "That was a simple accident, now let's move on with the discussion."

I scratch my cheek, my face is definitely burning. "Yeah, we should that... Anyways, let's move during the night as usual. Until then everyone should get ready." I will be getting ready too, of course. Mostly by training.

Sakura clears her throat. "Actually... um..." She slowly looks at Rider. "Would you be okay with supporting me?" It's a weird question to ask of the silent Servant.

And as expected, Rider nods. "Of course. You're my Master after all... I'll follow whatever orders you give me. Even if you were to order me to kill everyone here." Oi, did you really need to add that last part.

Sakura gasps. "That's way too far, Rider!" I'm just glad you see that way. "B-but thank you..." She looks over at me. "I... please don't exclude me! Because I will be going too!" I...

I really want to say no to her, probably because I don't want her to get hurt. I do realize I'm being stupid though, specially since she's not even sick anymore. And I have seen first hand that Rider is strong.

So... "Sure. I guess it will be three groups after all." Now I just need to figure out which one I'll follow. It won't be the Archer group of course, since he doesn't exactly need my help to find someone. That leaves the Rider group and the Saber group...

And then Shirou raises a hand. "And I'll be going too!" Now that's objectable! "If everyone is going to go, then I want to help too." It goes without saying, but no one approves of his decision.

Archer glares at him. "Are you a fool? Daichi is one thing, considering his weapons, and the Masters will logically follow their Servant, but you're just a normal person. Stay here." Yet again he shots Emiya-Senpai down.

But surprisingly enough, once I actually think about it, I disagree. "Well, I support Emiya-Senpai going with us." And now everyone is looking at me like an idiot. Except for Senpai of course, who actually looks hopeful.

I better explain myself. "I'm not saying Emiya-Senpai can keep up with a Servant or even a normal magus of course." I'm sorry I had to kill that hope! "But we can't leave him here, because he could become a target."

"I don't think Gilgamesh is the type to take a hostage, and we don't know anything about the Shadow, but Zouken could definitely attack him. So someone should take Senpai." At least that's what I think.

Shirou looks down. "So in the end, I'm just a burden." Sorry Emiya-Senpai! But for your own safety, I have to be honest here! And hey, at least you have let us stay in your massive house! That's pretty helpful!

Illya rolls her eyes. "Don't complain, lame big bro. Anyways, you're with me and Saber. Rin and Archer will definitely be moving through rooftops to take advantage of his sight, so you would only annoy them."

That's probably true, but he could also go with Sakura and Rider. Oh well, Illya is definitely the strongest one here, so she should be able to defend Emiya-Senpai with no issues. So I have no objections.

Rin crosses her arms. "Sounds good to me, but is Daichi also going to go with you?" So it's finally time for this decision. To be honest, I don't care too much about who I follow. In fact, as dumb as it is, I still like my tactics of flying solo.

Illya nods. "Yep, me and Saber will protect him as usual. Oh, and I will protect Daichi from Saber of course." The knight doesn't even have the strength to defend herself anymore.

But Medusa interjects. "Daichi should follow me and Sakura." Eh? "She's inexperienced, differently from Rin and you. Daichi has that experience, so he could be helpful." That makes a lot of sense.

"Also, he already went on a date while excluding Sakura today. It's only fair he takes Sakura on a date as well." Now that doesn't make sense! Why did you have to ruin your perfect explanation!?

Sakura sputters. "R-Rider! It's not like I want to go on a date with Daichi!" We are siblings... Also, I wouldn't consider hunting down a Servant as a date. Our encounter with Assassin and Caster was an accident, so that was a different...

Not that I went on a date with Saber, Rin and Illya! We were just hanging out! "That seems fine with me, Rider brought up some good points after all." I don't even know what I'm saying.

And I also don't know why Sakura is blushing. "Daichi..." Or rather, I will choose to ignore why she's blushing. "Right, Rider and I will make sure to protect you!" It's still weird, thinking of Rider as a protector.

Most importantly though... hearing that my big sister will protect me makes me... "I will be counting on you then, Sakura." Really happy. "Ah, and one day let's go on a calm, actual date." With Rin too, of course.

Sakura looks down, but slowly nods. "Yeah..."

And then Illya hits the table. "The witch was right!?" What's that supposed to mean!?



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"Archer...!" Emiya-Senpai dashes as fast as he can towards the Servant, he raises one of his bokkens and tries to strike. "Don't underestimate me!" It's clear that he's putting all of his strength in it.

I can't help, but be astonished. While I am faster and stronger, it's clear that my Senpai, who should be an amateur, is far more skilled than me in sword combat. Perhaps that talent at archery is naturally transfering over to his sword skills?

Nonetheless, Archer casually blocks that strike with his own bokken. "If I didn't you would be dead." He pushes Senpai back, not through the raw strength of a Servant, but through the raw skill of a hero.

And then he kicks him right in the chest. "Honestly, this is a waste of time, you know that, right?" A human can't match a Servant, at least not without some super cheat. So Senpai throwing himself against the Servant is pretty useless.

And I'm sure Shirou is thinking that too as he fall to the ground, dropping his bokkens and desperately trying to breathe. It makes me sort of glad I'm just watching this, instead of getting my ass glad.

Slowly Senpai sits up. "It's not a waste of time, even if I only get to act as a meat shield, that will be better than nothing... Ugh!?" And then he puts a hand on his head, and groan out of pain.

Did he hit his head? Maybe I should interfere. Getting hurt during training is to be expected, and we have two mages who can heal us, but even so we should establish limits. You can't heal the dead after all.

Archer raises an eyebrow. "Did you hit your head...? No, that isn't it." He sighs. "How annoying. And here I was, just curious about what a so-called group of legendary weapons could do." Yeah, that's the reason he's here.

He and Rider claimed that they wanted to watch me training with Saber, but somehow Shirou and him ended up getting into a fight. And now I don't even get to join. Not until Senpai is out of stamina at least.

Emiya-Senpai grabs his two bokken, and gets up. "Sorry, and I'm sorry I'm messing up Daichi's training, but I refuse to lose to you." Well, I'm not actually offended by it, besides you're lending us your dojo.

Training in a dojo is way better than training in the middle of that park. It's also much safer, since I don't have to worry about an enemy, or a normal person showing up and seeing something that they shouldn't.

Still, as Emiya-Senpai goes back to getting his ass kicked, I can't help, but sigh. "Man, he really is making tons of progress." Archer may mock him, but I think the Fake Janitor is a natural at this.

Saber smiles. "There's no need to be jealous. You're improving a lot, Daichi." Um. That's nice to hear, but I do have these legendary weapons, and this body... Senpai doesn't have that.

I can't help, but wonder yet again if he would have been a better wielder...

Rider interjects. "Indeed. And most importantly, you defeated me. I don't believe that boy has defeated a Heroic Spirit just yet." I guess so! Even if she was weakened, defeating Medusa is a big deal!

Now, maybe Senpai would have pulled that off too, but it's meaningless to just kick myself down over and over again because of hypotheticals. In the end I have the weapons and Shirou doesn't. That's all.

I smile. "Welp, thanks for the confidence boost you two." I definitely need it. "Oh, and Rider... can you help me train as well?" I will probably ask this of Archer too. Fighting different people can only be helpful.

She nods. "Of course, I don't mind kicking you around. In fact I imagine I will enjoy it a lot." Oi. "Besides, you are Sakura's beloved brother. Your safety is important, and you getting stronger will help with that." Beloved huh?

I blush. "I will be trying to my best then..." I look back at the two men fighting. "As soon as Senpai gets his ass kicked out of here, of course." Even now he fails to land a single hit on Archer. As to be expected.

Saber's smile dies a little. "I'm sure that will happen soon, Shirou is talented, but the stamina of a human of the modern era is very limited." Well, once I get my wish that won't be a problem anymore.

My wish? Am I even planning on participating on the Grail War...? I don't know anymore. And for some reason that causes me to ask a stupid question. "Hey Saber, Rider... What will you two ask of the Grail?"

Rider's answer is immediate. "I don't really care. I will wish for Sakura's happiness, I suppose." Is that really it? I was expecting something bigger to be honest.

Saber grimaces. "That's..." It's clear that she disagrees with Rider's choice. I imagine she was about to call that wish a waste. "Well, I wish to... to save my kingdom." What else was I expecting?

"Of course, just wishing for a divine light to strike down my past enemies would not truly solve the problem. So I shall wish for someone else to draw Calibur from it's stone instead. Someone worthier."

To that revelation Rider stays silent. Neither saying Saber's wish is correct and incorrect. And that's probably the correct mentality here, if Saber win the Holy Grail War than her wish was worthy and that's that.

I can't agree with that though. "Saber, I..." And I know exactly why. It's because as much as I complain about it, the bird never visited Shirou, and so when I hear this... "I don't really like your wish." I'm dumb.

But that's how I feel about it. "I don't think there is anyone more worthy or unworthy of the sword than you. You drew the sword, so it was yours. That's it." Ah, I definitely shouldn't be saying this to her.

Specially since Saber is glaring at me. "There are definitely worthier people than me." I don't want to hear that, for obvious reasons.

"But these worthy people didn't draw the sword, you did." It doesn't matter if it was due to choice, or happenstance. What matters is that it happened, Saber went and became a king. The king.

She grits her teeth. "Indeed. But obviously none of that will matter before the grail. It's a wish granting device, it won't care about it." I guess so. As far as I know the Holy Grail doesn't have limits.

Saber's wish can be granted, but... "That's such a waste of a wish." In the end I show the same thing she showed Rider. I know it's wrong to impose myself like this, but I think if she wants to help her country then...

Then she should ask for something like being reborn again so she can go rule, or maybe asking that every person from her country is healthy until the end of time. Changing what happened is just walking back.

Regrets huh? Now that I think about it, not once did I think about winning the war to wish past me knew about the situation with Sakura. In the end this must just be a difference in belief between me and Saber.

Saber who doesn't even dignify me with a response. And so, to try and gain back her favor, I try praising her. "Saber... I can't comment on your skills as a king." In fact I don't care about them. "But you're a good teacher, at least." It's funny.

Even as I try taking her mind out of what I say, I can't help, but hope that I planted a seed on her mind. How selfish is that? To desire changing another's wish? It can't be helped though, much like the situation with Caster, I find this wrong, so I do things without even realizing I'm doing them.

Saber smiles. "Thank you." At least we didn't have a massive arguement. "Those two are certainly taking their time... Daichi, didn't Regulus wish to talk with you? Perhaps this is the time for that?" Good call.

Rider hums. "Regulus... That's the axe, correct? Is it really safe to wield a monster like that?" Is Medusa of all people really worrying about that? Maybe she's still mad about almost dying to his strikes.

I nod. "It should be fine. I don't think my weapons have any negative effects on me." Besides Divine Dividing with it's Juggernaut Drive, of course. "Regulus, come." I call my axe.

"Hello, my wielder. As said before we need to have a talk." I nod. "A-and perhaps that talk should be... private." That might be the first time I have ever heard Regulus of all people stuttering.

I shrug. "Eh, don't worry, Saber and Rider are friends." Or at least allies. Anyways, the point here is that there's no need to hide anything from them. In fact, they should probably always know what is happening to my Longinus.

"I-if you say so... Anyhow, I believe you have awoken another weapon." My eyes widen. "Probably on the night when you made a vow to declare your desires. Or perhaps when you met Rin Tohsaka once again. Since Albion didn't make any comment on it, I assume it was the latter." That's...

Medusa tilts her head. "Oh?" She sniffs the air. "Nothing about Daichi smells different. Though I suppose that dragon smell eclipses everything anywhere." Just take the blindfold already.

And then Saber looks me up and down. "And I see nothing different either. My instincts aren't warning me of anything as well." Could it be that Regulus is wrong? That's definitely a weird mistake to make.

The axe sighs. "That's because it is a Longinus without a material form. There are many of them, the Zenith Tempest being the strongest of all. Nonetheless, much like all Longinus, they are still a living weapon." Ah, that sounds rather troublesome to use.

"I-In this case, I believe you have awakened the... We really should talk about this in private, wielder." Oi. Isn't it way too weird for an axe to get embarrassed!?

Now I'm blushing. "It's fine Regulus, whatever it is, I can take it." I feel like he's about to tell me that he caught me jerking off or something! What's with this weird atmosphere!?

"V-very well... I believe you have awakened the Telos Karma, also knows as History Breaker. It's ability is simple... It allows one to do the impossible... Such as hitting a Servant with a snowball, or... you know." Ah. We really should have had this conversation in private.

Saber's face is immediately bright red. "Daichi...!" To be honest, I spent the entire day fearing Rin's retribution, but I didn't expect to get killed by a lion. "Y-you... Merlin grade degenerate!" I don't know why, but that really hurts me.

Rider sighs. "Daichi, I don't mind protecting you from Saber again, but contain your perversions. That's the one thing you shouldn't follow that person's example on." She's probably talking about Perseus. Kill me.

I look at my golden axe, begging for help, and thankfully Regulus comes to my rescue. "Actually, while my wielder made the Servant trip, all of the following events were her fault." I don't know if he's lying or not, but for my own sake I shall believe in him.

Saber flinches. "Sorry Daichi. Please forget the past moments, and forgive me. Calling you Merlin was way too much." She truly does seem regretful. How perverted was this Merlin guy!?

Leaving that aside... "Hey Regulus, can't I like... just make it so that Gilgamesh chockes on his own spit and dies or something?" If I managed to technically land a blow on Saber because of it... and If I also made her trip...

Then it should be possible right? To be honest this Longinus feels like the strongest one by far at the current moment. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but with this I could definitely kill even a god.

Sadly, Regulus dashes those dreams. "Most likely not, though you are free to try. The Telos Karma is a... difficult Longinus to use, and many of its past wielders were killed before they could ever become threats." I can see why.

"But from what I understand, many factors can influence it. From what you hope to accomplish with it, to the power of the people you are affecting it. Saber is much stronger than you, but your usage was fairly harmless, and most importantly..."

"Completely guided by willpower, by resolve. You weren't even aware of the Longinus' existence after all, using it subconsciously. And at this point you should know that there is no greater fuel for a Longinus than resolve. And so, in a sense I have actually weakened you by making you conscious of it's existence, but I had to do it... Can you tell me why, wielder?"

I raise an eyebrow. "So I wouldn't be super confused all the time?" I would definitely started freaking out if more crazy stuff started happening without explanation. So I appreciate this, in a way.

Regulus chuckles. "That's not quite it actually... It's because though it may not have a form, it still is a Longinus. At this very moment it's draining your stamina and magical power. You need to dismiss it eventually." I see...

I smile. "Thanks for the warning them, Regulus. One more question though, can the Telos Karma hear what I say just like Absolute Demise and the others?" He did call it a living weapons after all.

"Most likely, though I can't be sure of it. Even though it's past wielder was mighty enough to affect even the gods, he never told anyone about it's inner workings." So I just have to assume huh?

Well, just to be nice... "It's good to have you in the team, Telos Karma. Please take care of me." I'll start taking to myself, hoping that I'm actually talking with my Longinus. "Now I just have to train this with thing." Yeah, me against three Servants!

...

You know, as I lay on the ground almost dying, I can't help, but think that training by sparing against three Servants is way too much. Even if I do have a shiny new toy which is super hard to actually understand and use.

Nonetheless, I get up and start again. As usual.



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AN: The truth is that Shinji never had any chance as the older brother. Otouto is the optimal strategy.