「 Morgan's Pov. 」
"You spent your date in Auschwitz?!" Amelia yelled, causing Alistair to raise his hands in a defensive gesture. "It sounds worse than it was," he defended, causing the woman's brow to twitch.
"It's still Auschwitz!" She screeched hysterically.
I feel like I'm missing some context…
I know he went to Poland, so perhaps it is some poorly regarded place within the country, likely some red-light district, knowing the little cretin.
"Where or what is Auschwitz?" I quickly interjected, not wanting to continue to be ignorant about the conversation's topic.
Turning to glance at me, Amelia gave a slightly baffled look, before quickly gaining a look of understanding. "God, I think it's in all of our best interests to have you read a history book," she muttered before absently shaking her head.
Rude.
"It was a German internment camp," she said with clear distaste. "Lots of forced labor, illegal experiments, cruel punishments and mass executions took place there, inflicted on prisoners, who tended to be foreign soldiers, political adversaries, unfortunate civilians or 'undesirables'," she said the last remark with disgust.
…
I knew that True Ancestors were insane, but the sheer magnitude of it had eluded me before now. To think Altrouge would believe that such a place was fit for a romantic setting…
Well, all the better for me.
Turning to look at Alistair, I raised a sceptical brow at him. "Not that bad, huh?" I expressed skeptically, causing him to throw his hands up in surrender.
"It wasn't very romantic—" "Shocking," I cut in dryly. "But it was very informative," he said while giving me a dry look.
… Informative?
Was he planning to implement his own Auschwitz?
It's a bit out of character… but…
I mean… I can see the positives, especially if you traded in the torture for magi experimenting on the prisoners, that's practically free research. And while I haven't checked the political sphere enough to notice if he had any political adversaries, stuffing them all in one place and having them work themselves to death wasn't a terrible thought…
I'm not sure if we had any 'undesirables', but if we had any, then it was smart to round them up— "Morgan," Alistair cut in, and I refocused on him. His blank expression was gone, instead he was looking a lot more serious. "Auschwitz, and internment camps as a whole, are incredibly frowned upon, and we'd look incredibly bad as a whole on the international stage if we made any."
Ahhh… that made a lot more sense.
Perhaps this 'Auschwitz' had been out of commission for a while, turned into one of those 'museums'.
It would seem that I had 'jumped the gun', as they say.
"Obviously," I lied dismissively while lowering my brow. Though after his little explanation, it was clear that he had at the very least suspected my line of thought.
Relaxing his expression, he gave me an amused smirk. "Of course," he returned with humor.
Scratch that, he definitely knew.
Returning his gaze back to Amelia, he kept his amused look. "As I was saying, it was really informative, and dare I say, inspiring…" he said in the same amused tone.
And now he's making fun of me…
The comment, luckily, wasn't received well by Amelia either. "Alistair," she said in a warning tone, causing him to amusedly waggle his fingers at her. "Now, now," he said placatingly. "It was partly just a joke," he said in a reassuring tone.
Partly?
Amelia, clearly not too amused, gave a resigned sigh at his attitude. "Fine, I'll ignore it for now," she begrudgingly agreed, before pulling out a small stack of documents. "Only because you don't have time to waste," she proclaimed, causing the smile on Alistair's face to stiffen slightly, before disappearing altogether.
Begrudgingly, he extended his hand, and took the documents, while using his thumb to lift the corners of the documents to get a feel for how many pages there were. "It feels like there are more than yesterday," he muttered, before placing the documents on his desk.
Raising a brow, Amelia gave him an exasperated look. "You asked me to give you all of the relevant information you'd need to cover all of your bases," she said matter-of-factly. "It's not my fault that it turned out this way."
Before Alistair could argue, the sound of the clock striking nine o'clock was heard, causing Amelia to stand up. "I believe that's my cue to leave," she said, causing Alistair to panic slightly.
"Wait!" He exclaimed while reaching out to her. "I'll pay you overtime!" He spluttered out, but his words landed on deaf ears. "I have been working overtime for a month," she retorted, before turning her head to look at him. "Be thankful that I'm not cashing in my accumulated free days to recharge."
That left him stumped, causing Amelia to smile. "I'll see you in the morning, good night," she said gleefully, before leaving the room, gently closing the door behind her.
Seeing that his assistant left him to fend for himself, I gave him a half-smile. "You should have brought some of the last drafts of the documents to read while in transit," I commented, causing him to fix me with an annoyed look.
"If I knew that I was going to spend twelve hours on travel, I'd have brought a book or two, let alone a stack of vital documents," he replied bitterly.
Before he could wallow in despair for too long, I conjured forth an identical pile of documents from my shadow, allowing it to fall into my hand.
Seeing it, his eyes seemed to gain a hopeful look, and his annoyed expression turned into one full of cautious expectation. "You wouldn't have happened to have read all of it already, would you?"
"Perhaps," I said while wagging the documents back and forth, causing Alistair's eyes to squint sceptically at me.
"What would I need to do, or say, in order to get a positive answer to my former question?"
"Hmmm," I mused while placing the documents in front of my mouth, covering the lower part of my face. "Would you explain what you meant by it being 'partly' a joke?" I questioned.
Placing his elbow on the desk, he rested his head on his fist. "I was planning on telling you regardless, but before I do," he said while changing his expression to a questioning one. "You wouldn't happen to still have Kayneth's corpse, right?"
Mirroring his expression, I raised a brow in interest while lowering the documents away from my face. "I do, though it is not in great condition and probably smells."
Smiling, he gave a nod of appreciation. "Good," he said pleasantly. "I plan on threatening the El-Mellois as a show of force, and my trip to the concentration camp gave me an interesting avenue of choice on how to do it," he explained.
"You plan on bringing the corpse to the gathering?" I questioned sceptically.
Shaking his head, he spoke. "Not exactly, but close enough." Shrugging, he lifted his head from his knuckles. "It would be much appreciated if you placed it in my workshop; I'll be working on it overnight."
Furrowing my brows, I gave him an odd look. "You plan on processing his corpse?"
Grimacing slightly, he gave an impressed nod. "Close, but no cigar," he said, before crossing his arms in an 'X' shape. "But I won't say any more; it'll be a surprise."
Fully frowning now, I gave him a worried look. "Will you be alright? I don't mean to be rude, but from what I've seen, you don't really have the stomach for something like processing a corpse. Wouldn't it be better if I helped?"
Pursing his lips, he gave a shallow shake of his head. "I'll admit, I'll likely puke once or twice while I work, but the bastard planned on killing me, and forcefully taking my Mom," he said firmly. "I absolutely hate the bastard, and the only reason you got to deal with him and his fiancée, was because I was not in a position to do anything."
"He can at the very least do some good for once, and help me build a tolerance against handling gory situations," he explained with a frown.
Keeping quiet for a moment, I studied his face to see if he was serious, and if he could handle it.
Alistair was a good man, something I easily gathered when I observed him during the time when I was first summoned. It became even more obvious when he told of how he wished to help a majority of the participants of the Grail War, for the sole reason that he felt that their fates were sad and easily preventable.
A terribly naïve notion.
But it came from a place of kindness, and hope for a better future for the people involved.
While not entirely gone, shown by his thoughts on the homunculus girl, it was now clearly tempered, and slightly jaded, which could all be seen in his eyes.
Giving a slow nod, I let the topic drop. "I see, I'll deposit it in the middle of your workshop."
Smiling, Alistair's expression reverted to a far more relaxed one. "Alright, let's let that topic rest, as it was a bit too dreary," he said in a relaxed tone, before giving me a pleading look. "So the documents…"
Giving a relaxed smile, I placed my own copy of the documents, next to the one Amelia had handed him. "Of course I have read it," I said while tapping a finger on the files. "I'll give you the rundown."
Exhaling a breath of relief, he slumped back in his seat. "Thank God," he said gratefully. "I don't think I'd get any sleep if I had to read this, and tinker around in my workshop, before tomorrow's meeting."
"Quite right," I said dryly.
Fixing up his posture, Alistair gave me a nod. "Can you give me the highlights?"
"Sure," I said while flicking my finger, causing the binder to flip to the relevant page. "For one, there will be a church representative at the gathering, specifically Merem Solomon."
Furrowing his brow lightly, Alistair cocked his head to one side. "Who signed off on that? I find it difficult to imagine either Augustus, or Brishisan signing off on allowing him into the Clock Tower. He'd need to part with all of his limbs for it to even be slightly safe and acceptable."
Leaning forwards to place a finger on the document, I tapped the segment regarding the invitation. "It was stipulated that his Left Arm, the King of Rats, is to act as his stand-in, or mouthpiece, as the two can mentally communicate," I explained, and he nodded.
"Of course, steps have been taken to ensure that he doesn't slip in any other rat familiars to spy on us," I added.
Flipping the page manually a few times, I pointed at a few other highlights. "The last Tohsakas will be present as well, though there is a lot of contention regarding their status, as the current head is a seven-year-old girl," I explained, and Alistair groaned.
"Let me guess, someone is planning on grabbing their land?"
Nodding, I continued. "Of course, but the law is on their side, albeit barely. Though the chance of them being absorbed into a family is still probable."
Tapping his finger on his chair, he pursed his lips in contemplation. "That's a problem, as we need their land to be untouched for obvious reasons," he stated irritably. "How many families are trying to absorb them?"
Glancing at the page, I double-check the info. "Eleven." The information caused him to groan. "Do any of them have an actual chance of gobbling them up?"
"Only two, but we could likely sway the decision," I said, which caused his expression to ease up. "Go on," he said while gesturing for me to explain.
"Unsurprisingly, one of them is the Tohno, and while they barely even qualify as Spellcasters, they are using their proximity, and historically well-managed territory and experience with the Moonlit World, as a reason for them to 'take the Tohsakas under their wing', likely planning on exploiting their knowledge to mitigate their family's condition," I said, earning a nod from Alistair.
"Any reason for us to side with them?" He questioned, and I shook my head. "While their family is old enough to be a part of the Aristocratic Faction, they lack in too many areas in regard to magecraft, and have a poor reputation in regards to their practices," I said, before giving a slight shrug. "That, and the odds of both of the Tohsakas losing all their property, and dying in an experiment, or an 'accident', is rather high."
The news made Alistair's disgruntled expression return. "Well, that won't do," he groaned out.
Nodding, I agreed. "Yes, which is why I mentioned them first," I clarified, causing his expression to mellow.
"The other option is the Edelfelts," I said, causing him to snort.
"Throwing them to the hyenas, I see?" He said with amusement, causing me to roll my eyes.
"They are the obvious choice," I said with a wave of my hand. "They are blood related, albeit distantly, share the same craft, and have twin girls the same age as the 'Tohsaka Head'. The only thing standing in their way of guaranteeing the 'acquisition', is that there is some bad blood between the two."
Rubbing at his chin, Alistair nodded. "True, I believe it was something about the Edelfelts' claiming that a part of their crest was stolen during the 3rd Grail War," he mused, to which I nodded.
Thrumming his fingers on the desk, he gained a contemplative look. "The question is, if we pushed for the Edelfelts' acquisition, would they be able to stay their hand, and not pull something drastic for revenge?"
Glancing at the document, I sifted through the information on the current head to see if I could gauge his personality.
Humming for a moment, I looked up at Alistair. "I think it'll be fine so long as we stoke their competitive spirit, as they love proving their worth, and showing off their 'nobility'," I said confidently, earning a raised brow from Alistair.
"You want us to 'stoke their competitive spirit'? I find that a difficult task," he stated firmly. "We hold little influence over them, due to them being a part of the Democratic Faction, along with them living in Finland," he said with a shake of his head. "While not antagonistic, they'd have a higher chance of doing the opposite of something we 'ordered'."
Nodding along, I gave him a sly smile. "That is precisely what I hoped to hear," I replied, earning a raised brow from Alistair.
"Go on."
Smiling, I gestured at the door behind me. "We happen to have our own Tohsaka," I said, and like that, I could see the pieces click in place for him.
"You plan on placing Sakura on a pedestal, and brag, or allude, to have gotten the 'better Tohsaka' to get the Edelfelts to prove us wrong?" He asked with bafflement, causing me to nod.
"That is the crux of the plan, as it would likely lead to them actually bothering to nurture her growth. Though I plan on leaking the 'fact' that Sakura wishes to claim the Tohsaka headship, meaning they'd need to nurture her, in fear of her younger sister swooping in to take it all," I explained, though it drew a small frown from Alistair.
"It sounds like I'd be putting the two girls against one another," he commented distastefully. "I don't know if I'll feel comfortable knowing that we'll be ruining whatever sibling bond they have left."
Sighing lightly, I gave him an understanding look. "I don't plan on actually grooming Sakura to wish to snatch the headship," I said placatingly. "But it is the best we can do in terms of protection for the remaining Tohsakas, and ensuring that no-one can mess with their land."
Grumbling slightly, Alistair gave a nod. "It's irritating, but you're not wrong," he grunted out. "Best we can do is to ensure that Sakura won't grow to resent her sister, and hopefully have Rin come to believe that Sakura's goal for the headship was a misunderstanding on the Edelfelts' behalf, allowing the two to come to some sort of reconciliation."
Humming in agreement, I nodded along. "It's possible, but that would likely require some prodding on Sakura's end to resolve the misunderstanding," I added, to which he shrugged.
"So long as it can be fixed, then I see no issue," he explained.
Shrugging along, I removed my hand from the document. "If we play our hand right, then all that the Tohsakas will lose is autonomy in the short term, a small portion of the family crest that they 'stole' and some money for covering the cost of living and teaching," I said, making him nod.
"That is more than acceptable," he acquiesced with a dismissive shake of his head. "It's probably better than being raised by the man who killed your father, and orchestrated the crippling of your mother."
I found it difficult to disagree with his sentiment.
Adjusting himself in the seat, he gave me a curious look. "Is that all, or are there other things I should know before I go?" He questioned.
Mulling it over a bit, I erected another privacy Bounded Field to ensure that Amelia didn't overhear this part of the conversation.
Alistair, having felt the privacy field, gave me a questioning look. "Sorry," I said calmly. "But I wanted to ensure that Amelia didn't accidentally overhear me talk about Kiritsugu."
With that one name, his face contorted into a slight scowl. "What about him?" He asked sharply.
Knowing that this was not a good topic to dwell on, I got to the point immediately. "He's been lying too low, as in, he's not been using his fake identities to gather information, probably in hopes of lying undiscovered for as long as possible," I explained.
Frowning properly now, he started impatiently tapping the arm of his chair. "So he won't know about the attack on the Einzberns when we announce it, meaning he won't even be able to 'save' his daughter," he grumbled in dissatisfaction.
Glancing at the wall absentmindedly, I watched as he slowly mulled the problem over in his head.
"We could just ignore the issue, and just eradicate the Einzbern," I suggested, causing him to turn to look at me. "No," he said firmly. "The girl might be his, but she is a child, and not some soulless puppet like the rest of the Einzbern homunculi."
"Hate him as I do, I don't plan on letting my anger spill over to others," he stated matter-of-factly.
Sighing in exasperation, I gave him a slightly fond smile. "Fine, we'll keep the child alive," I easily acquiesced. "But what are we to do with her?" I asked. "It would be odd for us to snatch her, and keep her as some sort of trophy," I added.
Sighing, he gave me a contemplative look. "Would it be possible to discreetly contact him, or one of his personas?" He questioned, causing me to mull it over.
"Maybe," I said uncertainly. "But it would have to be from a trusted source, or at least a known one, as contacting him with a new identity would likely spook him instead," I explained.
Groaning in annoyance, he bobbed his head from side to side in thought. "Do you know if one of his fake identities is a broker, or someone who buys information?" He asked, before snapping his finger in sudden realization. "Maybe another assassin persona?"
Thinking over the information I had picked from the man's brain, when I implanted the thought of faking his death into his head, I tried to find anything matching Alistair's requirements.
Snapping out of it, I fixed him with a look. "He uses an alternative alias when accepting anti-terrorist assassination requests, though he hasn't used it since he got entangled with the Einzbern."
Smiling maliciously, he gave me an appreciative nod. "Perfect."
Pulling out a drawer, Alistair snatched a piece of parchment from it, before picking up a pencil and scribbling something onto it. "We'll delay our 'invitation' of the Einzbern Castle by two days so that the news can spread in most Magi circles," he said, before turning the page he was scribbling around, and shoving it over to me.
"But first, let us send out a hit order for Einzbern homunculi through mundane assassin groups," he said, causing me to look over the document he had hastily written. "With a large enough check per kill, it wouldn't be a 'surprise' if the organisation that employed Kiritsugu would contact a high completion rate contract killer like himself for a cut of the rewards."
Blinking slowly, I looked up from the documents to look at him. "It could work… so long as we inform the groups that we want the best on the job, regardless of their absence, so long as they have experience with killing," I added, before thinking it over a bit.
"I'd need Amelia's help on this," I stated. "I am not used to modern forms of communication, and given the fact that she has hired assassins before, I am sure that she'll be of help in regard to this."
Alistair pursed his lips at my words, before nodding. "Fair, and I'm sure that I wouldn't be able to do it without her help either," he added, before giving a frown. "Though getting her to agree to this, without suspecting the fact that we are doing this in order to lure out Kiritsugu will be paramount."
"Leave that to me," I said while placing a hand on my chest. "I'll clue her in that we are doing it to cover our bases, as most in the Moonlit World will be able to guess that we are behind the hit request. I'll just say it's meant to throw others off the fact that we already have control of them, masking it as us starting early on our revenge."
Nodding along to my words, Alistair's expression smoothed out considerably. "That should do it," he said pleasantly. "If he's half as smart as he's shown to be, he'll trace the hit order to Britain, and then likely check some of his contacts and learn more, leading to the discovery of our public announcement of our planned attack on Einzbern Castle."
"And he'll hopefully mount a rescue," I finished, earning a smile from the man.
"That should fix things up," he said pleasantly, before a look of annoyed surprise grew on his face. "I'll need to reschedule my meeting with Zelretch by a day or two…"
Before he could finish, and almost expectantly, a note appeared out of nowhere, and fell into his lap.
Seeing it, a dubious smile grew on his face, before he scribbled a reply onto the piece of paper, before it vanished in another puff of confetti.
"Alright," he said with a clap. "Problem solved!"
---
A/N
Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and reviews, as it would be much appreciated.
Ladies and gentlemen, the fic has officially crossed 400K words! LET'S GOOO!
Now, the next chapter will be the Gathering of the Clock Tower Lords chapter, and it should be a bit longer than average, as I don't think many people want to wait two weeks for a two-parter.
While some might think that the next chapter is conceptually boring due to the fact that it is mainly politics, then I'm sorry to those few, but as it is, he is very much a high profile political figure. Showing that side is important to me, as while I could gloss over it, it would make the fact that he is something equivalent to a Clock Tower Lord feel 'plastic' for a lack of a better word. Being the Land Lord of the building, along with the actual ruler of the country gives him a lot of sway, and responsibilities, and I intend to show a lot of them so everyone understands that fact. Though admittedly, a lot of that will fall unto Morgan, as she is better suited to a lot of this.
Still, I am sorry if this chapter was a bit slow for some, as there is a lot of chatting, and open planning, but I felt it a good chance to show Alistair and Morgan actually working together on something, along with how Alistair's attitude / mental health has improved after Altrouge's little therapy date. He's clearly a lot more relaxed and happy, while actively interacting with others, rather than working alone in his office. I felt it was time for him to get past another one of the 7 stages of grief, being in a place beyond 'Depression' and between 'the Upward Turn' and 'Reconstruction', not quite at 'Acceptance' yet, but certainly on the upwards climb out of his sadness.
Well, now I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you soon. Post any questions in the comments, I'll try to reply to all of them!
Hop onto my Discord Server, I'd love to have a chat: https://discord.gg/HAPhryp5M2
Now, hand over those Power Stones, can't you see they are lonely when not used? Give them to me, and allow them to socialize, it's for their best... I swear…