The buffet lunch aboard the Rail Zeppelin was extraordinarily lavish. It even included tuna sashimi, making Shirou wonder where they had obtained the ingredients.
It would have been nice if he could pack some up and take it home for Fuji-nee and Sakura to try…
Shirou turned his regret into appetite, filled his plate, and returned to his seat beside Olga Marie.
"Actually… I've heard a few rumors about you," Olga Marie suddenly said as she stared at the food on her plate.
Her hesitant expression suggested that she had spent the entire time Shirou was getting his food debating whether to bring up the subject.
"Hmm. It seems Shirou Amamiya has become quite famous without me even realizing it… I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry."
To be honest, Shirou had no desire to discuss his relationships with Aoko, Alice, and Touko. Least of all with a girl of only twelve.
It seemed, however, that Shirou had misunderstood. Olga Marie had not learned about him through rumors of his romantic entanglements with those gifted young women.
Olga Marie slowly explained, "Lord El-Melloi's defeat in the Far East was once a popular topic at the Clock Tower. The Animusphere family also spent some time gathering information about it."
Oh, so she wanted to talk about the Holy Grail War?
"I heard from Yvette… the young lady of the Lehrman family, that the Animusphere family of the Department of Astromancy are sages who live in seclusion in the mountains and have no interest in anything beyond the movement of the stars," Shirou said.
"Because this planet is also one of the stars."
Olga Marie raised her amber eyes.
Compared to when they had first met, her sharp gaze no longer seemed quite so hostile.
"Besides, the subject became so popular that you would have heard about it even if you never left your home. On top of that, Waver Velvet, who also participated in the Holy Grail War, became the Clock Tower's most prominent rising star only a few years later. It was only natural for Animusphere to take an interest in the Holy Grail War."
Olga Marie came straight to the point.
"Shirou-sama, what was the legendary Holy Grail that could grant any wish actually like?"
"…Well."
While Shirou considered how to answer, the silver haired girl declared, "As I thought… its reputation was exaggerated, wasn't it? In the end, it was only a ritual conducted in the Far East, where Magecraft is underdeveloped. I doubt it involved any treasure of genuine value."
"Hahaha…"
Shirou gave an awkward smile of agreement.
It was only natural for Olga Marie, who came from the Mage's Association, to look down on the Holy Grail War.
In fact, if Magi throughout the world ever discovered the Holy Grail War's true value, Shirou and The Three Founding Families would be the ones facing trouble.
The mere thought of Subcategory Holy Grail Wars spreading across the world made his head ache.
"But…"
Olga Marie set down her knife and fork, then touched her hair.
Shirou looked at her questioningly.
"E-even if it was only a backward ritual conducted in the Far East, the fact that Shirou-sama emerged as the final victor… I believe that was still a remarkable achievement."
The girl averted her gaze and stumbled over her words.
Shirou stared at her in surprise before smiling.
"I'm glad to hear you say that, Olga Marie-san."
"Mm…"
Flustered, Olga Marie lowered her slightly flushed face.
"R-right! Shirou-sama, are there any Mystic Eyes you're interested in…? Ah, I already asked you that when we first met."
Realizing that she had blurted out the same question in her panic, the girl's adorable face turned even redder.
"I boarded the train because I wanted to meet the former manager," Shirou said.
"The former manager is… Rita Rozay-en?"
"Yes."
"I heard that the former manager left after Touko Aozaki and her familiar caused a major disturbance at one of the auctions."
Shirou sighed helplessly.
I only learned that after boarding the train myself.
"Come to think of it, Olga Marie-san said something unusual this morning… about Rainbow grade Mystic Eyes."
The Rail Zeppelin never disclosed the items in its auctions to outsiders in advance.
Featured lots of the Jewel or Rainbow grade were kept even more secret. No one would know they were being offered until the auction itself.
Yet judging by Olga Marie's behavior, it seemed as though she had boarded the train specifically for the Rainbow grade Mystic Eyes from the very beginning.
"Trisha told me."
"Trisha was… the owner of that pendant?"
Olga Marie bit her lip and nodded solemnly.
"Trisha was my private tutor. She possessed predictive Future Sight."
"Future Sight?"
Shirou murmured, "Is that something like Clairvoyance?"
Olga Marie stared at him in surprise.
"You don't know about Future Sight, but you know about Clairvoyance? What an unusual range of knowledge. Well… Future Sight can be considered a form of Clairvoyance. In the broad sense, Magi classify it as a type of Mystic Eye."
The girl continued her explanation.
"About half a year ago, Trisha foresaw that Rainbow grade Mystic Eyes would appear at this Rail Zeppelin auction. Of course, predictive Future Sight is unstable. Even if she saw it, that only means such an outcome was possible."
"So that's why you tried to confirm it earlier."
"Yes. The auctioneer didn't deny something so significant… Is something wrong?"
"No."
Shirou shook his head. He merely sensed that something was amiss, and it was not yet worth mentioning.
"You said your tutor saw the Rainbow grade Mystic Eyes half a year ago. Then…"
Olga Marie's expression became complicated.
"Trisha disappeared three months ago."
"Disappeared?"
Hadn't she passed away?
"Three months ago, Trisha ventured into the depths of the Spiritual Tomb of Albion and never returned."
The Spiritual Tomb of Albion.
It was the greatest asset collectively possessed by the Magi of the Clock Tower. It could even be called the shared origin and foundation of Magecraft in the Common Era.
Each of the three major branches of the Mage's Association possessed its own absolute core.
The Clock Tower had the Spiritual Tomb of Albion.
The Atlas Institute had the Seven Great Weapons.
The Wandering Sea had its five Hidden Divine Principles.
Over the course of fifteen hundred years, the Magi gathered in London had excavated less than one thousandth of the Spiritual Tomb of Albion's resources. Even that had been enough to create the Clock Tower, now the largest Magecraft organization in the world.
And the true nature of the Spiritual Tomb of Albion was actually…
"Please accept my condolences," Shirou said after a brief pause. "I understand the general situation now. Your objective is the Rainbow grade Mystic Eyes, Olga Marie-san… Heh, it looks like you're determined to obtain them."
"That's right."
Olga Marie proudly puffed out her small chest.
Since becoming involved with the Magi of this world, Shirou's understanding of money had been completely overturned.
Every lineage among the Twelve Lords possessed wealth comparable to that of a nation. They could freely mobilize funds on the scale of a national budget. Forget owning a few parcels of land, it would hardly be surprising if they possessed an oil field or two.
"Determined to obtain them? That may be your intention, but unfortunately, asking the auctioneer won't accomplish anything."
A female voice interrupted their conversation. It belonged to the girl with pink hair and an eye patch.
These two really are the worst possible match… Shirou thought.
"Yvette L. Lehrman."
"Good afternoon, Olga Marie-sama."
Yvette greeted her casually before sitting down beside them.
"Honestly, Shirou-sama, being unfaithful is wrong, you know~"
The girl expertly wrapped herself around Shirou's arm.
"You already have a mistress as adorable as me, yet you still aren't satisfied. Now you've even set your sights on the young lady of the Animusphere family… You hopeless Lolicon!"
"......"
Olga Marie's amber eyes looked ready to erupt in flames, so Shirou hurriedly changed the subject.
"What did you mean when you said there was no point asking the auctioneer?"
"Even the auctioneer won't learn what the featured lot is until the day of the auction."
As a member of a renowned family associated with Mystic Eyes, Yvette had attended several of these auctions. No passenger aboard knew more about the Rail Zeppelin's operations than she did.
Yvette gave them a bewitching smile.
"Only the acting manager knows which guest it is."
"A guest…!?"
Shirou and Olga Marie were both startled.
In other words, the most valuable item in the auction would not come from the collection of the Twenty Seven Ancestor Rita Rozay-en. It would be an eyeball freshly removed from one of the passengers.
"The only exception is when the target fails to appear voluntarily before the auction begins, or when they receive an invitation but refuse to board the train. In those cases, the acting manager will reveal who the target is."
"The holder of the Rainbow grade Mystic Eyes is among the passengers?" Olga Marie asked in disbelief.
"Or they may be a guest who boards the Rail Zeppelin on the day of the auction," Shirou added.
...
The rest of the day passed peacefully as the train continued its journey.
That afternoon, Reines invited Shirou to her room for tea.
Olga Marie, Yvette, Rin Tohsaka, and Luvia were there as well.
Reines said that since they were all young people around the same age, it was the perfect opportunity to get to know one another better.
When she heard that Rin Tohsaka and Luvia intended to join the Clock Tower's Department of Mineralogy after graduating from high school, Reines became exceptionally enthusiastic.
Is she planning to create some kind of One Heart Society, Clock Tower edition? Shirou wondered.
Reines belonged to a branch family of Kischur, one of the Twelve Lords who governed the Department of Mineralogy. An ordinary person receiving such a warm welcome from her would probably have been overwhelmed with gratitude.
However, neither Rin Tohsaka nor Luvia had any interest in politics or power, so Reines's attempts to win them over achieved little.
In the end, Rin and Luvia spent half the tea party bickering, while Reines and Yvette spent the other half teasing Shirou.
"What a surprise… I thought Shirou-sama would be terrible at this kind of social gathering. I was looking forward to watching you flounder."
"Guh… Sorry I'm already used to tea parties where everyone but me is a girl!"
"Hehehe. Is this the composure of a man who added the Aozaki sisters and a witch to his harem?"
The second day aboard the Rail Zeppelin ended with the cheerful atmosphere of a school outing.
After dinner, Shirou walked from one end of the train to the other, hoping to find the acting manager before the auction.
Rin and Luvia had told him that they had encountered the acting manager while the train was stopped for a break.
"What do you mean she wasn't human?"
"Exactly what it sounds like, Amamiya. The acting manager isn't human. She's a phantom created through Magecraft."
Rin and Luvia had apparently seen a glowing white woman. That was the train's acting manager, a shadow left behind by Rita Rozay-en, one of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors of the Dead Apostles.
In the end, Shirou searched from six thirty until nine thirty without finding anyone who matched that description. Disappointed, he had no choice but to return to his room.
Ignoring Rin and Luvia as they wrestled on the bed in their pajamas, striking each other with pillows, Shirou said, "Good night," and pulled a blanket over himself.
...
At three in the morning, Shirou awoke from his sleep.
Everything was silent. Rin Tohsaka and Luvia were sleeping soundly in the beds on either side of him. Only the swaying carriage and the noise of the moving train marked the passage of time.
"Hmm?"
Shirou noticed a wisp of mist drifting through the gap beneath the door. He instinctively became alert, suspecting an attack, but that did not seem to be the case.
The mist was neither poisonous nor infused with Mana. It seemed more like a phantom meant to guide him somewhere.
Is it inviting me to follow?
After considering it briefly, Shirou got out of bed and dressed.
He followed the mist through the cold, silent corridor.
A deep rumbling reverberated around him, echoing throughout the carriage. Beyond several pressure gauges, regulator levers, brake levers, and water injectors came the muffled roar of iron and burning coal.
At last, Shirou reached the one forbidden area that invited guests were not permitted to enter, the locomotive of the Rail Zeppelin.
Most of the train's power supposedly came from the Mana flowing through the Leylines along its route. Even so, the locomotive contained many components modeled after those of a classical steam engine.
Presumably, the Ancestor who owned the train was particularly fond of that style.
Even after their power had far surpassed the human realm, some of them still cherished the traces humanity had left behind. There were many such eccentrics among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors.
Then Shirou saw a stunningly beautiful woman he had never encountered anywhere else on the train, standing gracefully between the drifting wisps of mist.
Vivid flowers rippled around her, transforming the space into an otherworldly realm detached from reality.
Shirou had seen many beautiful women in his life, including more than a few bewitching beauties, but never one whose presence was quite so overwhelming.
A rose.
Dozens of crimson roses bloomed around the place where the woman stood.
They did not merely surround her. Her golden hair, curled into graceful arcs, was adorned with a magnificent crown of roses, making her appear like the living incarnation of the flower itself.
"Welcome, Shirou Amamiya-sama. It seems you have been searching everywhere for me."
The woman raised her crimson eyes and met the boy's gaze.
In the next instant, Shirou felt as though his consciousness were being drawn into hers.
He quickly overcame the sensation of weightlessness and asked, "Are you… the acting manager?"
The woman gently shook her head and smiled.
"It would be terribly discourteous to have you meet only my duplicate. I am Rita Rozay-en, the manager of the Rail Zeppelin."
"…I never expected the person inviting me to a midnight rendezvous to be a Progenitor of Vampires," Shirou joked.
Rita Rozay-en, the Fifteenth of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors of the Dead Apostles.
If fairies and elementals were immune organs born from the will of the planet, then Dead Apostles were foreign substances and toxins that had invaded the planet's environment.
Once a vampire reached the level of an Ancestor, their power was already comparable to that of the highest-ranking fairies. Their very existence became a law that undermined the Human Order.
It seemed that no beings known as Ancestors existed in Leticia's world.
Shirou finally realized that his own world was no less distorted than the other parallel worlds. In fact, it might have been even more so.
Shirou decided to come straight to the point.
"My friend was attacked by Mystic Eyes and has been unconscious ever since. I would like to borrow your knowledge to cure her."
"That would be a trivial matter," Rita Rozay-en replied calmly.
"So it won't be that eas… Huh? You'll do it?"
"Of course. Since Shirou-sama is asking, I have no reason to refuse."
The woman of roses continued, "Once this train journey ends, I will accompany you to Japan and remove the curse of the Mystic Eyes from your friend."
"......"
Could she actually be a surprisingly good person?
I'm sorry! I judged you too quickly!
Because you're a bewitching beauty associated with flowers, just like Professor, I automatically assumed you would be unreasonable! I'm truly sorry!
"However, in exchange, I do have one condition."
Ah, so there was a "however" after all.
"Is it about my eyes?" Shirou asked.
He had already begun to suspect that the featured lot of this Rail Zeppelin auction was most likely himself.
Rita Rozay-en nodded, but what she said next was entirely unexpected.
"I want you to leave this train immediately."
The rose vampire spoke with complete seriousness.
"If you remain aboard… you will lose your life."
The Mystic Eyes of the End throbbed faintly, telling Shirou that the woman before him was speaking sincerely.
She was not trying to intimidate him. She was genuinely concerned that Shirou might meet a violent death within her domain.
***
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