Dr. Arach's severed head and body dissolved like smoke beneath the moonlight.
"So, what exactly was that woman?"
Natalia frowned. Even for a battle-hardened hunter, this was the first time she had encountered something so inexplicable and unnerving.
Was she a Magus? A Dead Apostle?
Natalia could not even determine that much.
She glanced at Shirou, unconsciously seeking his opinion.
Honestly, what am I expecting? Shirou-kun is just a kid who's still in high school.
Natalia felt that she had come to rely on Shirou a little too much.
They had only known each other for two days, yet she had already placed unconditional trust in him. In the past, that would have been unthinkable.
Natalia felt slightly dazed.
She could not tell whether age had dulled her former vigilance or whether this was simply Shirou's natural charm.
No wonder Caren called Shirou-kun a "clueless harem guy." So this is what she meant.
Heh. Too bad I'm already getting on in years. If only I were twenty years younger...
"Natalia-san!"
"Huh? What? I... I wasn't thinking about anything strange, you know."
A blush spread across the silver-haired hunter's stern face as she hurriedly tried to cover her embarrassment.
"That's not what I meant! Please come over here!"
"What's wrong?"
The tension in Shirou's voice instantly shattered the girlish thoughts Natalia had entertained for the first time in years.
She walked over and found Shirou kneeling on the ground with the young nun cradled in his arms.
Natalia frowned. "...Caren still hasn't woken up?"
Shirou nodded. "Not only that. Her body is..."
Understanding what he meant, Natalia placed a hand on the girl's forehead.
"She's burning up..."
Natalia was inwardly startled.
It was not just her forehead. Caren's cheeks, neck, and arms were all alarmingly hot. Her entire body felt as though she were suffering from a severe fever.
"What is this...?"
During the battle, both Natalia and Caren had been struck by Dr. Arach's Mystic Eyes.
It had only taken a single glance, yet their reactions could not have been more different.
Natalia had been hit by an overwhelming physical force.
The impact had even overpowered her after she activated "Physical Enhancement" and gained Monstrous Strength, hurling her bodily into the wall behind her.
Caren, despite being physically more fragile, had not been sent flying. Instead, she had collapsed without a sound, as though someone had suddenly cut her power.
"Was this caused by Arach's Mystic Eyes?"
Natalia could think of no other explanation. That woman had somehow projected two completely different Mystic Eye abilities through the same pair of eyes.
"Do you know what kind of ability those Mystic Eyes have?" Shirou asked.
Natalia shook her head. She was no expert on Mystic Eyes, and there was no way to deduce the enemy's ability from such superficial symptoms alone.
For the time being, they placed the unconscious Caren back on the bed and laid an ice pack against her forehead.
Just as they found themselves at a complete loss, something suddenly occurred to Shirou.
"Stigmata...!"
Wasn't Caren's current condition similar to that of those who received Stigmata in religious legends?
"What?"
Shirou explained that Caren was no ordinary nun. Stigmata had appeared on her body during the year of her baptism.
"Something like that actually happened...?"
Natalia asked, "How do Caren's Stigmata manifest?"
Shirou thought back for a moment.
"I remember her telling me about it before... She said they make wounds appear on their own. They bleed, then heal by themselves."
In Catholic tradition, this was considered a fairly common divine sign.
A devout Father might wake one morning to discover that his wrist would not stop bleeding. Such stories were among the most common accounts of Stigmata.
Shirou had assumed that Caren's Stigmata belonged to that ordinary variety, but Natalia's grave expression told him the matter was not so simple.
"Is something wrong?"
"Kid, a body suddenly bleeding for no reason is definitely not normal."
Natalia lit a cigarette, her expression stern.
"Have you heard of the 'Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution'?"
Shirou nodded. Caren had already told him about it.
It was a constitution that made the body highly susceptible to possession by nearby demons, regardless of the person's own will.
It could reproduce demons as phenomena and might even allow them to acquire physical bodies.
According to Caren, whenever she approached a demon, she suffered the same spiritual afflictions as the person it possessed.
The Church had originally intended to send her to a convent and train her as an exorcist. However, after meeting her master, Kiara Kissyoin, she became an assistant to the "Burial Agency."
Not long ago, however, her own master had discarded her at the Fuyuki Church as though she were a nuisance.
"Hmm. It seems Caren trusts you even more than I thought. You already know the basics."
Natalia studied Shirou's reaction with a meaningful look.
"Then do you know how the 'Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution' functions in an exorcist's work?"
"Like some kind of demon radar?" Shirou replied.
"Exactly. Suffering the spiritual affliction yourself is the fastest way to identify a demon."
Throughout her long career as a bounty hunter, Natalia had dealt with exorcists and demon-possessed humans on numerous occasions.
"Demons are spiritual entities. They can't be seen by human eyes, so there's no way to identify one until the possessed person begins to show symptoms."
"True demons are also skilled at concealing the fact that they've possessed someone. Until they fully mature, they suppress their spiritual disturbances as much as possible to avoid attracting enemies."
"...Unfortunately, the Church has no way to exorcise a demon once it has matured. All an exorcist can do is detect it and drive it out before that happens."
"Once something has fully become a demon, it can only be burned. When that possibility arises, the case is handed over to an Agent who specializes in inquisitions."
"Wait..."
Something in Natalia's explanation struck Shirou as deeply wrong.
A chill crept up his spine.
"How does Caren exorcise a demon?"
"It's simple."
Natalia took a drag from her cigarette, then calmly enunciated each word.
"She allows the person possessed by the demon to assault her."
"......!!"
Shirou clenched his fists as Natalia continued.
The desire to assault another person was itself a type of demon. Therefore, the role of an exorcist with a "Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution" was to tempt the possessed individual and submit to their assault.
Once the act was over, the desire, the demon, would disappear along with it.
Shirou was left speechless.
"She never... told me any of this..."
Natalia raised an eyebrow. "Well, she probably didn't want you worrying too much."
Before meeting Shirou, Caren had always followed her master from the "Burial Agency," working as an Agent's assistant.
Now, however, she had been sent to the Fuyuki Church and was forced to carry out her duties alone.
That was why she had sought out Shirou and asked him to assist with her work as an Agent.
But what would have happened if Shirou had refused her back then?
Frankly, Caren's current abilities were nowhere near enough for her to serve as an Agent by herself.
Sooner or later, she would have failed a mission and suffered severe injuries.
The Church would have recovered the battered Caren and concluded that she lacked the ability to become an Agent. Then, to ensure that she could still be put to use...
Caren would have been trained as an exorcist all over again.
There was no longer any need for her to fight. All she had to do was offer herself to the demon to complete her work.
"..."
Shirou gazed at the girl's peaceful sleeping face and silently made a decision.
Before anything else, however, he needed to wake Caren from her coma.
One thing was now certain. Caren's condition was a reaction caused by the clash between her "Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution" and Dr. Arach's Mystic Eyes.
It was entirely possible that even Dr. Arach herself had never expected this outcome.
"Natalia-san, do you have any ideas?"
In her current state, Caren was unlikely to recover through ordinary means.
Shirou had already tried every healing spell he knew, but none of them had produced any effect.
Natalia shook her head.
Even she was at a loss.
The "Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution" was already an exceptionally rare phenomenon, and Dr. Arach was an unfathomable woman.
"Shirou-kun, what do you plan to do now?" Natalia asked.
Shirou thought for a moment. "I'll ask some people I know to take a look at her first."
Aoko, Alice, Touko...
The faces of his lovers appeared in Shirou's mind. For now, he would ask them to examine Caren.
Natalia considered it for a moment, then hesitantly said, "In that case, I do know someone who might be able to cure Caren."
"Who?"
In response to Shirou's question, Natalia mentioned a name he had never heard before.
"Do you know about the Rail Zeppelin?"
…
Rail Zeppelin, The "Mystic Eyes Collection Train."
As its name suggested, it was a train that traveled continuously through the forests of Europe, collecting Mystic Eyes from across the world. Every year, it displayed a carefully selected assortment of Mystic Eyes and held an auction attended by invited Magi from various fields.
"An auction?"
Shirou frowned. Could Mystic Eyes really be auctioned off?
Natalia nodded. "Yes. There are far more Mystic Eye collectors than you might imagine, and some Magi simply buy them for use in Magecraft research."
"For people like them, the Mystic Eyes Collection Train has an even greater significance."
"How so?"
"Transplantation. They provide Mystic Eye transplant services to their buyers."
Natalia pointed at her own eyes.
"Mystic Eyes are normally rooted in their owner's body. Removing them alone is nearly impossible, but the Mystic Eyes Collection Train is an exception."
"They can overcome the body's immune response and every other scientific obstacle. Not only can they remove Mystic Eyes, they have also mastered the astonishing feat of transplanting them."
Even Shirou, who had been exposed to the modern Magecraft of Proper Human History for less than ten years, understood how extraordinary that was.
The reason he had initially found the idea of a Mystic Eye auction so confusing was that he had subconsciously assumed Mystic Eyes were like Magic Crests, something inseparably rooted in their owner.
No, they were a hundred times more restrictive than Magic Crests.
A Magic Crest could be passed down to a blood-related child, but Mystic Eyes could not.
Mystic Eyes were therefore entirely innate gifts, treasures that every Magus dreamed of possessing.
If a technique capable of easily transplanting Mystic Eyes truly existed, then that technique alone would be as valuable as the noblest Mystic Eyes.
Just imagine transplanting Fujino's "Mystic Eyes of Distortion" into Fuji-nee...
Whoa! Modern civilization would be doomed!
Shirou dragged his thoughts back from that nightmarish vision of the apocalypse.
"Because of my work, I've dealt with the 'Mystic Eyes Collection Train' several times.
"I needed somewhere to dispose of the spoils stolen from the Church and the Association…"
"As a fence for stolen goods, they pay very generously."
Natalia lit a cigarette and took a deep drag before continuing.
"Just as you'd imagine, the owner of that train... its manager, is a fanatical Mystic Eye enthusiast."
"There probably isn't a type of Mystic Eye she doesn't recognize or a problem involving Mystic Eyes that she can't solve."
"The 'Mystic Eyes Collection Train.' So all I need to do is attend the auction..."
Shirou had only just begun to feel hopeful when Natalia immediately crushed that hope.
"Unfortunately, the 'Mystic Eyes Collection Train' is invitation-only. You can't attend the auction without the appropriate invitation."
"Why didn't you say that sooner!?"
"Isn't there any way around it?" Shirou asked.
Natalia shook her head regretfully. "There might have been in the past, but not anymore."
"Someone once caused a major disturbance at the auction. Ever since then, the train has tightened its admission requirements."
Shirou was furious. "Someone actually did that...? What kind of barbarian would ruin an auction like that?"
Natalia smiled. "Try not to be too shocked when you hear. It was the Clock Tower's legendary 'Grand-Rank,' Touko Aozaki."
So it was Touko-nee-san. Then never mind...
"Touko Aozaki and her familiar caused quite a commotion aboard the Rail Zeppelin. It was a very famous incident at the time."
Beo! You bastard! This is unforgivable! Just wait until the next time I visit Misaki!
In the end, Shirou still had no way to attend the auction, so he could only abandon the idea.
At noon the following day, he and Natalia parted ways at the Paris airport, and Shirou took Caren back to Japan.
"Here's my address. When you come to Japan, you can find me there."
The silver-haired hunter glanced at the note and smiled. "I might move in and never leave, you know?"
"If it's you, Natalia-san, you can stay as long as you like."
Natalia stared at him in disbelief. "You don't say that to everyone, do you...?"
"Of course not..."
Shirou firmly shook his head. It was only a strange sixth sense, but from the moment he met her, he had been unable to think of Natalia as a stranger.
"Hmph~"
Natalia gave him a teasing smile, waved to the red-haired boy, and disappeared into the crowd filling the airport.
As Shirou watched her retreating figure, he could not help feeling that this would not be the last time they met.
…
Shirou returned to the Amamiya residence.
He had left alone, but came back with someone else.
"Is that... Caren-san from the Fuyuki Church in your arms, Senpai? What happened to her?"
Irisviel and Sakura stared in confusion at the silver-haired nun Shirou had brought home.
Shirou briefly explained everything that had happened to him and Caren in France.
"Caren ended up like this because I failed to protect her... So I'd like to let her stay here until she wakes up."
He had expected an argument, but everyone supported his decision without the slightest objection.
"This is Shirou's house, so naturally, the decision is yours."
"I'll work with Tohsaka-senpai to find a way to treat her too, Senpai."
Irisviel called Sella and Leysritt over to help carry Caren.
After they brought the unconscious, feverish girl to the guest room, Sella chased Shirou out, saying they needed to change Caren's undergarments.
"Come on..."
Shirou grumbled as he headed toward the bathroom.
He took his first bath in quite some time, allowing his exhausted body to relax completely.
When he returned to his room and opened his desk drawer, he found an envelope inside.
"...?"
Shirou remembered that something else was supposed to be there.
It was an invitation crafted according to some ancient custom. A vivid red wax seal adorned paper that resembled a thin sheet of crystal.
The seal's wheel-and-eyeball motif reminded Shirou of the wheel-shaped angels depicted in religious paintings.
It probably had nothing to do with angels in this case. Ancient Magecraft symbols simply tended to resemble one another.
After a moment of hesitation, Shirou opened the envelope.
Its contents were brief, but they took him completely by surprise.
Written in smooth, elegant handwriting were the words:
"We cordially invite you to attend our banquet. We hope you will honor us with your presence."
"From the Acting Manager of the Rail Zeppelin"
***
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