The voice of the mysterious entity froze her whole body making her fear intensify. The words that came out of that entity's mouth frightened her even more.
"Assassin..."
She whispered, to which Assassin nodded.
To this Assassin it no longer mattered if he showed himself in front of Gray, for she had seen him before. She knows of his existence and that is no longer a problem.
So he simply answered her as she so desired, without revealing the name that started his legend, of course.
Though this seemed to disturb Gray even more.
"You... you..."
Squeezing the cage even tighter, repressing the urge to flee from there, she again asked him something else.
"Why are you here?"
Assassin looked at the glass tumbler in her hand and then looked at Gray.
"Here's some good liquor. I like it."
"Liquor...liquor...just that?"
Gray was hoping for something more. Like how this ghost wanted to haunt the house and get everyone out of here because this is his property or something, but all this ghost wanted was liquor?
Furthermore, can ghosts drink alcohol?
"There's nothing else I need."
He said vaguely, which made Gray for a moment let her guard down. However, if all this ghost wants is liquor, how do you explain this throbbing feeling in her heart?
No, this isn't something as cliché as love or hate at first sight. This is about Gray being affected by this ghost's negative feelings.
"You... Don't you want anything else?"
...
...
"I said there's nothing else I need. I don't need anything more than this."
Said Assassin showing the glass with vodka.
Now she thought this was about a drunken ghost drowning his sorrows in liquor, but there was something she didn't think of until this moment.
'Assassin... one of the seven classes of Servants that participate in the War for the Holy Grail'.
She already knew about this and it made sense.
This guy isn't a normal ghost. He's a Servant. He is Assassin, the disappointing class of those who were not considered heroes in history.
If this is real, then the ghost talking to her is....
"Heroic Spirit."
She whispered again.
These words made Toru pause for a second.
Before Gray could even ask him who his Master is, Assassin shook his head.
"I don't know if 'heroic' is a word to describe me as a spirit. But I am a spirit."
He stood up stepping off the table with a small hop.
Seeing Assassin standing, Gray realized how tall this ghost was.
But still, what she wanted to ask him that night?
"Why...?"
He looked at her waiting for the question.
"Why are you so sad...?"
With that question, Assassin's expressionless face softened. For a second he felt like he was going to break down because someone found out, but after that he denied moving closer to the window.
The light from outside illuminated his face.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"But... but I... but I... I can feel it..."
He drank another sip of the liquor in the glass and, with a whisper, told her:
"I don't know what you're talking about..."
He looked Gray in the eye, making her uncomfortable and look away.
And again, as if he had forgotten what he said earlier, he repeated:
"I don't know... what you're talking about..."
-By Gray-
Could this be a talent, could this be a curse?
I have long been able to deduce how people feel. By listening to their voices, seeing their gestures, feeling their breaths, their looks, I can tell how they are feeling at that moment.
It's as if most people are open books to me, showing me the stories that are reflected in their feelings, deep in their hearts.
It happened to me with my mentor.
It happened to me with Sakura.
Although there are exceptions as I can't know how Reines feels. She is still a mystery to me.
If I put that aside, again in front of me, another opportunity to know how a person feels presents itself.
His voice is very soft, but you can clearly tell it's a boy's voice. The way he spoke to me, where his voice seems to be decreasing in volume as if he doesn't want to be heard. His dull silver eyes, dull without a reflection of his own spirit.
He looks tired and bored, but I know that this same ghost has too much sadness, which he hides behind an expressionless mask. He may feel that at any moment he will break into pieces, although I really don't know for sure. Just because I can decipher people's emotions doesn't mean I can read their minds.
Still, he repeated that same phrase three times as if trying to believe his own words.
"Assassin..."
I said. He didn't look at me this time. So I could understand that he didn't care about my existence, much less that I had discovered it. He doesn't seem to care about anything but looking out the window while enjoying the bitter drink of vodka.
"Who is your Master?"
That's something I've wanted to know ever since I learned he's a Servant. A Servant must have a Master. If the Master is not me, there are only two other people left in this house who could be.
He is not an intruder, for my mentor would have realized by now and ordered me to take down the culprit. Still, there are only two more people in my mind.
If he didn't cause any alarm for my mentor or Sakura, that means one of them is the Master.
"I don't have to answer that."
I see, it's logical. Being a Servant you're not going to reveal your Master's identity to a stranger. Although, from what I can surmise, Assassin already knows me. He's been watching me.
I want to ask him, but somehow I'm afraid to know the answer.
Just knowing that this ghost could have killed me without realizing it makes terror flare up like a flame deep in my chest, but I can be weak right now. Even Add hasn't said anything at a time like this, so it should be safe for me.
"You know me, don't you?"
Assassin nodded. After taking another drink of the liquor, he turned his gaze back to the window.
"Gray..."
And whispered my name.
It was a strange thing to do. Hearing my name from this stranger's mouth made me feel like someone acknowledged my existence.
It's pathetic, but somehow I'm glad he didn't call me anything else.
However...
"I'm Gray...?"
Without realizing it, I asked in a whisper. When I realized what I had said, I futilely tried to deny what I said, but Assassin cocked his head.
"That's something only you should know..."
"What?"
I...
I didn't understand that...
At least not now, but somehow, on this dark and gloomy night, I met a sad ghost. A ghost who drinks liquor at night, relaxed and sitting on my mentor's desk.
He told me something strange, something I didn't understand, something I may never understand.
I'm sure only he understands those words right now. Still, somehow, him saying that to me made me forget the fear I once felt when I saw him.
"It's too late now."
He said. Walking over to the desk with the bottle of vodka in his hand, he opened one of the drawers and put the bottle in there.
As he did this, he looked at me raising his hand amicably and said:
"See you."
Thus he vanished in front of my eyes into the darkness.
After that, for a few seconds I kept quiet, processing the conversation I had just had.
I'm not normally someone who can talk to people right off the bat. If I did, I wouldn't know what to say and I would freeze in front of that person. Although in my life there have always been exceptions.
Somehow I always find it easier to talk to people whom I consider to be similar to me in some way or another, and apparently, without realizing it, I considered Assassin to be among those people.
"This guy..."
Add's voice whispered to me before this same voice increased in volume.
"Hehehe... you should talk to him again, brat."
I didn't understand what Add was referring to.
Even though I want to talk to that ghost some more to know everything about him, I'm still afraid of him.
That was how I realized that Add saw something that I couldn't, but even if I realized that, for me the answer was very confusing in my mind.
For the moment, to calm my mind, I didn't say anything to Add and went back to my room.
'To think that he can see me while I'm sleeping...'
Walking wrapped in my sheet, I let out my frustration in the form of a sigh as I realized that this night would be longer than any other.
-Sakura's room-
[Why are you awake?]
Arriving at Sakura's room, Toru noticed that this girl was awake, sitting on the bed and looking at the door to be able to feel the presence of her Servant again.
When he walked through the door, she immediately felt his presence.
"I didn't know where you went so I stayed waiting for you. You took so long. What were you doing?"
[Nothing important. Better sleep.]
"I have to remind you that, if you act recklessly, my father or Gray will see you."
Toru kept quiet for a second before replying.
[I think it's too late for that now. It doesn't matter though, really]
"It doesn't matter? Haa... what did you do?"
"Nothing much. I was just drinking some vodka in your dad's office and this girl, Gray, came into the office all of a sudden. She saw me and we talked a little. She seems very harmless. I don't think she cares that she saw me. I don't mind me either, so..."
Sakura sighed tiredly.
"You look like a child..."
Harsh words for Toru, who didn't dare say anything else. He knew it was reckless, but he really cared little.
"I gave you an order and you didn't follow it."
"... I can't say I'm sorry because I'd be lying. I know well what order you gave me, but I must not always follow everything to the letter. I am not a dog. No, even dogs have more freedom than a Servant."
"If that's the way you're going to act, you'd better prepare yourself for one of my Command Spells. I am your Master and you must obey me, for that will keep us safe. You must understand."
"...Is that a threat?"
Materializing in front of Sakura, Toru looked at her seriously. Seeing what Sakura did the same, he somehow felt overwhelmed. Even trying to rebel against someone was a nuisance.
That was when Sakura answered him.
"It's a threat."
And Toru, seeing this girl's adorable face, sighed tiredly.
"It's okay. I won't be so reckless again."
Sakura smiled at her overwhelming victory against this stubborn Servant. Thus, getting up from the bed, she stroked Toru's hair as if he was a dog telling him:
"Good boy."
"... That's not funny..."
Toru said with an expressionless face, immediately after that, he dematerialized leaving Sakura with that smile on her face.
"You're like a child..."
"I am..."
She, unlike Toru, did not deny those words. So she laid on the bed and closed her eyes knowing that he is by her side and that no one will ever take him away from her....
-One month later. In a faraway place-
A beautiful Japanese woman with black hair and a black kimono smiled as she looked out the window at the moonlight. She adjusted her glasses and looked at a letter in her hands.
She thought everything in the letter was too soon to pass, but it was certainly going to happen.
"Adra's Separation Castle, uh..."
That place... a place Waver himself planned to visit.
The woman rose from her elegant chair and left the room. She closed the door with her delicate feminine hands and opened a fan between her fingers.
Her pink lips pursed softly at the thought of all that she would soon experience. And incidentally, the higher ups at the Clock Tower are involved as well.
"Let's wait and see what happens."
Let time flow as it should.
To be continued...