Artoria POV
The day soon went by together with both of my master's we went to go deliver their guardian lunch.
But the moment I stepped in I could sense a faint lingering feeling of mana somewhere I just couldn't pinpoint the exact location.
"I can sense left over mana here," I commented causing Shirou and William to look around for a source, but I knew it wouldn't be found that easily because of how faint it is meaning that whatever servant that was here had recently just departed.
William sighed pulling his hands out from the pockets of his coat "it's probably nothing then whoever was here is probably long gone by now come on let's go I'd rather avoid hearing another rant from Fuji-nee from being late with her food," he replied as we continued walking to our destination.
I silently followed from behind as both William and Shirou greeted their friends "yo I am here with Fuji-nee's lunch would you mind getting her for us," Shirou greeted raising his hand.
While William crossed his arms together leaning nearby the door "hn," was the only greeting that he gave I couldn't understand it at all not even with the basic knowledge that the grail gave me.
The purple haired girl's gaze moves to me I stare back maintaining the gaze until she broke it "um yeah sure.." the girl finally said walking away.
At some point I stopped paying attention sensing the faint mana source to be nearby some where I began following trailing after it without saying anything .
"Oi Saber where are you going?" William asked having noticed my disappearance "the mana trail is still here William I believe if we follow it, we can find the source," I replied increasing my walking pace.
"...Alright then but if we do find out who the source is we will not engage until we've made proper plans," William relented.
"That is fine with me William," I replied figuring that it may be a wise choice to not engage the posible enemy servant so soon since we just had our battle with Berserker and his master.
The walk was long and silent, but it wasn't until I finally stopped right at the source a man had slid open the door to the building slipping out from it he paused noticing me as well.
We stared at one another assessing each other for a moment I couldn't pick much up from him but I could tell he was an experienced man with his carefully controlled breathing and cool facade that could probably be even better then my own.
"Kuzuki-sensei..." William said breaking the silence "William" the man greeted in a monotone voice his eyes darted back and forth between the two of us.
"Right, I suppose you might be wondering what we're doing here? Well, this here is my very distant cousin I only just found out about her and she's curious to know what my school looked like so I am sort of giving her a tour right now," William explained.
The man known as Kuzuki nodded his head slowly "very well...but do be sure to bring a visitors pass next time when inviting relatives or non-enrolled students," he said slowly walking away from us until he finally left.
William exhaled a sigh of relief I turn my gaze at him with a small hint of concern "William are you alright?" I asked.
He shook his "...yeah it's just that man is very dangerous I've seen what he can do up close and if we were to get into a fight, I am pretty sure I would barely be able to beat him without at least having to resort to my magecraft and use of imitation," he explained.
"If he is an enemy master which is more than likely considering the scent of mana that I picked up from him then we best make haste to find out the identity and location of his servant," I said.
"Yeah, but first, we should probably regroup back up with Shirou," he replied but then the sounds of rapid footsteps caught our attention "ah speak of the devil and he shall appear," he said as Shirou came into view "there you guys are I've been looking for you both everywhere-" William cut him off by grabbing him by the arm and dragging him towards one of the abandoned rooms.
"No time to explain Shirou hurry up and get inside we've got things to talk about," William said as I silently followed after making sure no one saw or overheard us.
-timeskip-
"...We suspect that Kuzuki-sensei might be a master in this holy grail war," William explained causing Shirou to frown he turned to me for affirmation "did you sense any mana from him Saber?" he asked.
"I will admit that man did not smell of malice or of blood but even so I could faintly pick up a thin trail of mana when I was near him," I explained.
William clicked his tongue "no he's not a mage I am sure of it...if anything he's more like a trained assassin it's possible that the leftover presence of his servant is just lingering off of him not to mention the recent 'gasleak' incidents we can only assume that since he's not a mage then his servant is most likely feeding off other people," he said with a slight tint of anger.
Shirou sighed rubbing his hair "still..to think Kuzuki-sensei would be a part of this how bizarre I mean I know the man is a bit weird, but never once did I think that he might be a mage much less an assassin of all things," he said.
"I believe that we best observe for now before attempting anything just in case," I said before stretching my lips into a small smile "but enough talk we should continue touring the school for more clues," I continued just in case I missed anything else.
Shirou raised his hands in surprise "what you mean even after all that you still want to look around?!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, it's best to still check further for any other possible threats," I declared in a firm tone that left no room for arguments the two having no other choice but to listen obeyed.
-Later that day-
"After a thorough amount of investigation, I can finally say that the school is all clear," I declared with a brief smile for a moment before it went away.
William nodded tossing the foul-smelling stick that he had been inhaling "alright now we just need to wait for everyone else to finish up then we can get back home," he said looking down at his device.
His hand clenches around it tightly with suppressed anger "is something the matter?" I asked when I noticed it.
He shook his head placing the device back into his pocket "it's nothing Saber," he replied a bit to quickly for my taste it was suspicious to say this least.
I wanted to say something but, in the end chose not to "if you say so then William...but if something is bothering you, you can tell me if you wish," I said dropping the matter.
When we finally made it back to the household the five of us sat down together ready to eat the dinner that Shirou had premade before we left the house my mouth drools a bit from the smell "thank you for the food, Shirou," I said digging into the meal unaware of the glances coming from both Shirou's and Williams guardian.
"Alright who are you and what have you done with William there is no way you would only eat one bowl of Shirou's food," Taiga exclaimed.
A smirk made its way onto Williams face "well unlike certain people who know only to eat like a slob I can actually refrain myself from doing so most of the time today just happens to be one of those day's...besides I actually have to do something important tonight so if you'll excuse me," he said with a small head bow to excuse himself from the room.
"Wait what do you mean you have something to do at this time of the night?! Young man if you think I will let you out at this time of the night then you are sorely mistaken-" Taiga was about to rant.
When William turned back to her with a restrained look of annoyance "good grief woman did you already forget I have a late-night shift at the bar today," he said making her pause until she smiled bashfully "whoops your right I totally forgot about that for a second there hehehe," she replied hiding her embarrassment behind a small chuckle.
He shook his head walking over to the door to place my coat on "excuse me for a moment," I said following after him.
I patiently waited when he finished placing his coat on "and just where do you think you're going at this time of the night William?" I asked in a low whispering voice to make sure no one could hear us.
"I have work that needs to be done," he replied gently shoving me out of my way he swung the door open exiting the house leaving me behind to just stand there with a rather irritated feeling.
Dinner soon passed both Taiga and the girl known as Sakura left the house after giving their goodbyes to Shirou when he finally closed the door he turns back to face me with an unknown determination behind his eyes "come on Saber I know where William is," he gestured to the area outside where what looked to be a very small was located.
I could faintly feel the mana around it which means this must be William's and Shirou's workshop since they're magi although a bit unusual.
We watched as William stepped out from it with a rather unusual outfit "I thought we might would find you here seems like I was right," Shirou said stepping out from the shadows while I followed after.
He sighed "you two shouldn't be here go back to the house I'll be back later," he said trying to walk past us, but I didn't allow it instead I grabbed him by the shoulder "William you shouldn't be going anywhere by yourself especially with the war going on what if someone attacks you and I am not there by your side to protect you," I said with my voice raised up slightly.
"All this time you've been going out saving people just let the two of us come with you we can help!" Shirou said after I finished what I had to say.
he turned to look at us searching our eyes until he relented "alright you can come Saber, but Shirou I want to see if you've improved your tracing if I see that you have then you can come as well,"
Shirou nods taking a deep breath his hands glowed greenish blue showing the activation of his circuits "trace on!" he chanted as the same blades that Archer wielded appeared in his grasps much to my hidden surprise.
"Those are Archer's swords if I am not mistaken," William remarked.
"Yeah, just something about his swords that grabs my attention kind of hard to explain really," Shiro replied furrowing his eyebrows.
William pulled out a normal dagger from the depths of his sleeve holding it in reverse grip the way he had done it almost reminded me of an assassin.
"Alright then let's see if the structure of your blade will hold or shatter!" William said swinging his blade forward while Shirou soon followed swinging the white blade to meet William's dagger.
When the blades clashed Shirou's blade did not shatter "...how?" William breathed out in a tone of complete disbelief "earlier today when we had our argument and I stormed off to work on this and after an intense session I finally managed to make the improvement that you just witnessed today," Shirou explained.
Standing up from his rigid stance "I see...well then what are you just standing there for we need to get the two of you some disguises to hide your identities.
I have a backup pair of clothes that will help disguise your figures unfortunately I only made this mask for myself so you two are going to have to go with some of the old outdated domino masks that I used a while back," William explained.
-later that night on top of a rooftop-
I stood side by side with both Shirou and William wearing the strange mask that he had insisted I wear I wasn't fond of it since it was rather tight, but I accepted it. The suit I was wearing was no stranger to me as it was exactly identical to the one Irisval had once gifted to me back in the fourth grail war.
"It's time you know what you both have to do Saber you help rescue the kids while Shirou and I take on the armed men," William announced.
"I must admit William I've never felt so much as anger as I do now seeing what these despicable people are doing to those poor children," I said with my hands clenched tightly it was like that situation with the Caster servant of the last war.
William's chuckle breaks through my thoughts I turned to him with a frown of disapproval "was there something I said that was jesting William?" I asked in a serious tone which made him stop his chuckling.
He reached down to his belt pulling out some sort of strange device that had a hook attached to it "nothing like that Saber it just sounds as though you've found a new you congrats," he replied causing me to freeze for a second it was the same words that Vortigern had once told me when I first expressed my anger at what he had done to my knights.
The sounds of frightening drew my attention ah it seems like the two have started their attack I thought jumping to the second level of the building where the other children were kept.
I effortlessly went through all who opposed me for they were no match against the might of a heroic spirit "alright children please stay calm I'll get you out just stay back otherwise you could get hurt," I calmly reassured.
Invisible air activates and with a mighty slash it destroys the locks on all the cages one by one I guided each of the children out from the building hopefully the law enforcement of this era will take care of them I thought retreating back to the Emiya household.
I sat awaiting for their return the first to come back was Shirou who looked like he was about to pass out then after a long couple of minutes William returned "mission accomplished you two did a good job," he praised which made Shirou smile and while I nodded my head giving a lip smile.
-end of interlude two-