Lord El-Melloi II, A man with an unyielding intellect, despite his painfully average magical circuits, slumped over his desk, groaning.
"My head… hurts…"
Not even the presence of his students could save him from this pit of despair. He thought dealing with Cyd would be akin to handling Gray, but this? This was a whole new level of stress.
Across from him, lounging on the sofa like he didn't have a care in the world, sat Cyd. He was far too relaxed for someone who had just shaken up reality itself, sipping tea that Gray had made.
"So… Cyd's been made flesh and blood through the Holy Grail?" Gray asked innocently, setting a plate of snacks in front of him, blissfully unaware of the gravity of the situation.
"This isn't some casual resurrection, Gray," El-Melloi II muttered, massaging his forehead as though trying to stave off a migraine. "Being 'fleshed out' means a Heroic Spirit can exist independently, with their Noble Phantasm intact, even without a Master. But Cyd…" He gestured helplessly at the man, who was now happily munching on a cookie. "He never died to begin with. He's always been alive."
"I thought I was joking," Kairi Sisigou sighed, crossing his arms. "Turns out, I wasn't that far off."
"Wait… Cyd isn't dead?" Gray tilted her head, frowning in confusion.
"No need to be so formal. Just call me Cyd," he said, popping another cookie into his mouth with a grin. "Man, I forgot how good real food tastes."
Gray glanced uncertainly at El-Melloi II, who just sighed in resignation.
"It's fine," he muttered. "Heroic Spirits may have sky-high egos, but some of them are surprisingly… laid-back."
His gaze drifted toward a cabinet in the corner, as if remembering another particular Heroic Spirit with a penchant for bending the rules.
"Well, this one's definitely easy-going," Sisigou said, casually snatching a cookie from Cyd's plate and eating it in one bite.
Cyd leaned back, arms folded and a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Yeah, not all of them are quite as agreeable, though."
Sisigou froze when he noticed a dark, jagged spike hovering near his neck, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Relax," Cyd chuckled, a dangerous smile tugging at his lips. "That's just part of my Noble Phantasm. I can control her… most of the time. But she has a mind of her own."
The spike slithered back, merging seamlessly with the black scarf wrapped around his neck.
El-Melloi II studied him, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "So, as the legend goes, you defeated a dragon, and Hephaestus forged a gauntlet from its remains. Scales, nerves… all of it crafted into something you can control. That would explain why it has a consciousness."
Cyd affectionately patted his scarf. "Yep. I call her Kuro."
[Excuse me?! I am the great guardian dragon of the Golden Fleece, appointed by Ares himself!] Kuro's voice boomed indignantly in Cyd's mind.
[Yeah, well, sorry to break it to you, but in the legends, you're kind of the bad guy now.] Cyd responded, utterly unfazed.
"Dangerous piece of work you've got there," Sisigou muttered, finally relaxing his stance. "Barely made it through the Grail War, and now I'm dealing with this…"
His eyes suddenly narrowed as they fixed on the girl standing beside Cyd. "Wait… Saber?"
"Huh?" Gray blinked at him, clearly confused.
El-Melloi II cleared his throat, loudly. "That's quite enough of that," he said, shooting Sisigou a warning glance. He remembered reading Sisigou's reports on his Servant—Mordred, King Arthur's rebellious heir. The resemblance to Gray was undeniable, but stirring up that topic wasn't something he wanted to entertain right now.
"Ah, my bad," Sisigou mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "Mordred wasn't exactly the 'cute and innocent' type, but… yeah, she had her moments."
"Anyway," El-Melloi II continued, steering the conversation back on track, "let's focus on why we're really here. We're discussing the request, right?"
"Request?" Sisigou blinked. "What request?"
El-Melloi II sighed, raising his voice in frustration. "The request you asked me to investigate!"
"Uh, no, that wasn't me," Sisigou said, shrugging nonchalantly as he pointed directly at Cyd. "That was him."
"Right, I do need your help with something," Cyd said, blinking innocently, as if the whole thing was a minor favor.
El-Melloi II groaned, massaging his temples. "Let me get this straight. You, someone who could probably fight a god if you wanted to, can't handle it, and now you're asking me—a regular person—for help?" He picked up his coffee, already regretting this conversation, the bitter memory of being tricked into buying strategy games flashing through his mind.
"I need access to some materials from the Mage's Association," Cyd replied, his tone shifting to something more serious. "Specifically, I'm looking for information on the whereabouts of the Greek gods."
El-Melloi II nearly spat out his coffee, choking as the words registered. "Wh-What?!"
"Master!" Gray gasped, rushing to his side to pat him on the back, her eyes wide with concern.
"You're joking, right?" Sisigou's jaw hung open. "We were supposed to be discussing history here! No one mentioned gods!"
"Do I look like I care about history?" Cyd shrugged casually, as if the revelation wasn't world-shaking.
El-Melloi II waved off Gray, taking a deep breath to regain his composure. "You're seriously planning to find the gods? Why?"
"I just want to let them know I'm back," Cyd said with a grin, casually lifting his arm. The jade bracer on his wrist shimmered, the thirteen embedded crystals glowing softly, drawing everyone's gaze. "They're not in this world anymore, but I figure the Mage's Association has some leads on where they went."
El-Melloi II rubbed his face in exasperation. "This isn't something to be taken lightly. If your goal is to bring the gods back, I can't be a part of it."
"The gods didn't leave because of me," Cyd said calmly, taking a slow sip of his coffee. "Whether I'm here or not, they're not returning. I just want to find them. Does that settle your mind?"
"Even if that's true, information about the gods is classified. I may hold the title of Lord, but that doesn't mean I have unfettered access to everything," El-Melloi II replied, scratching his cheek. Not to mention, if Reines found out about this, she'd no doubt find a way to turn Cyd into a walking solution for every impossible case the Mage's Association had.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Reines waltzed in with her trademark aristocratic grace, a mischievous smile on her face.
"Oh, dear brother, I'm sure you could access those files if you simply used our 'white hero' here to solve a few problems for those troublesome Mage families," she cooed, tossing a thick folder onto the table with a casual flick of her wrist.
"You… you used a listening spell!" El-Melloi II growled, his eyes narrowing at her.
"Oh, please," Reines said sweetly, sitting down beside Cyd with the air of someone who had everything under control. "I was just curious what had you so wound up."
You're the reason I'm stressed, El-Melloi II thought, keeping his frustration locked safely behind his teeth.
"Well, as long as it doesn't cross any lines for me, I don't mind handling a few problems," Cyd added, scratching his cheek awkwardly, casting a sidelong glance at Reines. He was clearly trying to play it off, but the atmosphere was thick with tension.
Can you handle the problem sitting next to you? El-Melloi II thought, though he wisely kept that remark to himself.
Reines flashed her brother a devilish grin. "Lucky for you, I've brought plenty of work to keep you busy." She dropped an enormous stack of documents onto the table with an exaggerated thud, her smile positively gleeful.
"Are you happy now, Onii-chan~?" she teased, her voice dripping with mock affection.
"What a joy," El-Melloi II muttered under his breath, glaring at the mountain of paperwork. "I'm thrilled."