Shirou fell silent, thinking. He had first been summoned to Fuyuki, then found himself in this snowy land. But from Adam's description, it seemed his coordinates hadn't changed. The scene Adam described didn't match the wintry landscapes of Midgard either. Could he have been summoned on another Connection Point in this region?
"Anything else that seems important?"
"Something important... Hmm." Adam thought for a moment. "Oh right! There are other Servants summoned with me - Saber Sigurd, Berserker Eric Bloodaxe, and Caster Hans Christian Andersen."
"Just the four of you?" Shirou was a bit surprised. He asked again: "No other Servants?"
"No, none."
"I see. Adam, keep acting normal for now. Don't reveal yourself yet. First try to figure out your location."
"Got it, Mr. Assassin. They want me to go with them, so I didn't refuse. I might be able to find out where I am soon." Adam suddenly sounded flustered. "Ah! Someone's looking for me, I have to go... I'll contact you later!"
With Adam's hurried words, the connection abruptly cut off.
Shirou put the black mud away. He still felt Adam was pretty reliable. Without key details and with gaps still in his knowledge, it was best to take this step-by-step. Of course, being trapped here now, he couldn't take action, so he may as well rest up. Glancing at Kiara, he silently thought it'd be better if this pervert wasn't here.
"Oh my, Mr. Assassin, were you checking me out just now?" Licking her lips, Kiara rubbed her stocking-clad legs together. She asked in a sultry tone, "Want to touch?"
He looked at her the way one would a pervert - with disgust. "Have some self-respect."
Kiara's body was indeed beautiful and bewitching, enough to make one's blood boil with lust. But he was not ruled by his lower half. He had great self-discipline.
"Self-respect? Of course I love myself very much!" she said, smiling radiantly.
Alright, clearly communication with this one was impossible. He sighed.
Kiara regretfully eyed the fully armed Shirou. She was someone who couldn't control her desires. In fact, ever since they had parted in Romania, she had restrained herself for a long time - after all, she was competing with her other self. As a Beast, she normally wouldn't feel anything besides pleasure. But facing her naive, good half that had split from her, she uncharacteristically felt competitive.
And the bizarre contest was to see when the naive Kiara would voluntarily return to fuse with her evil half. The stake was that evil Kiara would make an effort to restrain her desires. Of course, her good half was unaware of this secret contest evil Kiara had concocted.
As for why she did this - perhaps it was simply to mock and show twisted affection for her naive self from a position of superiority. In evil Kiara's worldview, there was only herself as a human. Although she saw eroticism and lust as sources of pleasure, those were just means to satisfy desire. What she truly loved was only herself.
But restraining herself had been too difficult. Now, seeing Shirou, she was as desperately hungry as a starving wolf, almost impatient. Fortunately, Shirou was strong enough to not be forcibly assaulted.
Kiara sat on the cold floor, spewing harassing words at him but he totally ignored her, leaving her resentful.
Faint light emanated from Kiara's body, putting Shirou slightly on guard. But she didn't attack him. Instead, she formed a screen of light.
"Teacher Mordred, what are you doing?"
"Can't you see? This is a new war!"
Mordred and Kiara's voices came from the screen. Shirou immediately pricked up his ears. He puzzledly looked at Kiara, who stared at the screen, occasionally letting out creepy laughs. "What are you doing?"
"Oh nothing much, just observing what foolish things my silly other self will do," she sneered. "Got taught a lesson again, what a dummy. Doesn't she know the authority I granted her is greater than theirs?"
He frowned, "You can observe Kiara?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She turned her head to look at him, smiling. "She is Kiara Sessyoin and I'm also Kiara Sessyoin. We're the same person, the same origin. And the abilities she has were granted by my authority. Why wouldn't I be able to observe her?"
"You...have you been watching her all this time since being locked up here?" Seeing Kiara treat her other self as a plaything, he couldn't help but ask.
"Of course not," she shook her head. "From the moment she ran out of my body, I've been observing her the whole time. Ah...watching her get teased and tormented, seeing her cry from frustration... it's one of the few things that brings me joy lately." She had a intoxicated look.
"You see your other self as entertainment?"
"Of course not, this is my love for her! It's love! Ah...I really want to quickly see her break down, then run crying into my arms begging me to take her back. Her tearful wails then would surely be extremely sweet. Ugh...can't stand it anymore, can't stand it. Just thinking about it makes my entire body and soul quiver with ecstasy... Mmm..." She let out an obscene moan.
This woman was beyond saving. He looked at her wordlessly, having concluded this in his heart.
"That Teacher Mordred is your daughter, right Mr. Assassin? Shall we watch together?" she smiled at him.
"I think I'll pass."
"Oh don't be like that, Mr. Assassin. I could have tried to get even after you destroyed my authority, yet here I am letting it go. That shows what a forgiving woman I am. But now you accuse me so wrongly..." She pulled up her sleeve to dab imaginary tears. Still smiling, she said, "Good shows are best when shared. Have a seat next to me, let's watch together. I promise I won't touch you inappropriately."
He laughed coldly. Then he took a blue fruit from his pocket, wiped it clean, and nibbled on it as he watched her performance.
Although he was interested in Mordred's circumstances and what Chaldea was like, he wouldn't compromise himself for that.
Shirou could handle [Ten Thousand Colored Leisure Stagnation], but if Kiara got her hands on him, he didn't know if he could break free with his measly E-rank strength.
Kiara's honeyed words were like a pink spiderweb, trying to entice and then prey on him. But unfortunately for her, his mind was clear.
She didn't feel regretful, just eyed the fruit in his hand with interest. "So you eat that fruit too, Mr. Assassin?"
"What, got a problem with it?"
"No, of course not. That fruit exists to be eaten by people after all."
He disregarded her comment but still put the blue fruit down, unsettled by her odd tone.
The translucent azure-blue fruit glimmered faintly like ice crystals swirling in a snowstorm.
Crack crack crack.
What he failed to notice was that under some unknown force, the invisible vortex in the depths of his soul had started swirling again...
...
"Shirou...Shirou..."
In his drowsy state, he heard a gentle voice and felt someone lightly patting his cheeks before he even opened his eyes.
Frowning slightly, Shirou opened his eyes. The sunlight shining in through the window was dazzling, making him reflexively close them again for a moment before slowly opening them once more. He saw a charming woman looking at him with a smile on her face.
The woman had long purple hair falling to her waist. She looked mature and alluring, a coy smile on her captivating yet gentle crimson eyes as she gazed at him.
"Scathach..." He slowly sat up and glanced around, his eyes falling on the calendar on the nearby wall. He paused briefly.
The date written on the calendar was Tuesday, April 5th, 1994.
After scanning his surroundings, he realized this was an empty dojo and he had been lying with his head in her lap. But that wasn't the main point. The main point was—
I've fallen into this strange dream again!
...
Get the latest chapters on my Patreon: patreon.com/bcloud