It became the next day, and then the afternoon.
Atrum had a conversation with the person dispatched from the Church and, liking her quite a bit and believing that money could solve anything, he met with Lancer's Master from the Clock Tower and was able to request the disposal of Caster.
"Are you saying Caster is too much for you to handle?"
"Yes, her ability is a problem, and while trust is important, I figured it would be better to take my Command Spells and return rather than stay with a Caster who is utterly useless. She's a part of the Golden-Haired White-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox, but she doesn't seem trustworthy at all."
Lancer's Master understood Caster's Master's words.
"I see. If one person is eliminated early in the Holy Grail War, it's good for me."
"Come to think of it, I asked Caren... and I heard you're short on money?"
However, Lancer's Master's eyes began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
"What do you mean by that?"
Though he answered seriously, due to his unconvincing eyes, Atrum Galliasta smiled and handed over a check.
It was a check for 100 million yen.
"This is!?"
Lancer's Master looked at Atrum Galliasta with trembling hands.
"I already knew that the Clock Tower is stingy with money. And information that you're living without earning proper money is easy to obtain. Well, consider this a fee for your trouble."
"I can't accept..."
"Ah, it would be better to give 90% to Caren later. She shouted at me saying 90% is her commission."
"What kind of bull... oh, I apologize. I lost my composure."
'As expected, a fool. Well, since there are women like her, I guess he's having fun.'
And the nun named Caren was also an interesting sharp-tongued person.
The way her behavior changed when shown money meant she was exactly the kind of person for me.
"Well, I trust you'll do a good job. I should be going now."
And he handed a piece of paper to Lancer's Master.
"This is?"
"A document selling the rights to dispose of Caster."
Lancer's Master quietly accepted it, got into his car, and returned to the workshop.
There, blue flames were burning.
All the materials had fled, and the women working there could be seen dead, like mummies.
"Mikon, I didn't like it, so I burned it all down."
"I see, is that so?"
And Atrum Galliasta took out his Command Spells and said:
"I didn't like you anyway. Tamamo-no-Mae. By my Command Spell, I order you. Harm yourself, Caster."
One of Atrum's Command Spells disappeared, but Caster just laughed as if nothing had happened.
There was not a single sign of resistance.
"What happened...? Did you not hear me the first time?"
Atrum bet another Command Spell and ordered again.
"I order you again with a Command Spell. Kill yourself, Caster!"
The last Command Spell also disappeared, but Caster didn't even harm herself.
Such a Caster raised the corners of her mouth and sneered.
"Kukuku, truly, I've never seen such a foolish human. I've already severed the mana path and all the orders given by the Command Spells, you know? Did you know this? That witchcraft is a concept of curses? Given enough time, even the connected mana path and Command Spell orders can be transferred to a paper doll."
"Witchcraft EX..."
"Yes, my foolish and disgusting former Master. Any last words?"
And she threw a talisman, freezing Atrum Galliasta's legs.
"There's no way I'll die in a place like this! Severing the mana path is a suicidal act in the first place!?"
"Yes, but there were women here to supply mana."
And Atrum Galliasta could understand where Caster got her mana supply.
Converting the life force and souls of the people working here into mana might have been a suitable task for Caster.
There were about 50 employees dispatched here. It was enough to supply Caster's mana and maintain her for more than a day.
"Such foolishness..."
"Yes, that was a third-rate line~"
An icicle created by witchcraft pierced Atrum Galliasta's chest.
"Guh...!? I won't die here..."
He seemed to be saying he wouldn't die, but Tamamo didn't exactly welcome this situation.
"Haha... Is this my karma? This sounds like my fate, doesn't it?"
Whirrr.
And as the door opened in a place with no more employees, a man in a blue tight-fitting outfit holding a spear appeared.
"Master, it seems Caster's Master was killed by Caster? Is there any meaning to this request?"
And the spearman aimed his red spear at me.
"Hmph, a Caster who killed her Master. Well, looking at the atmosphere, I'm not keen on it, but it's better to reduce the numbers by one."
"Very well. If this is fate, I will resist until the end."
Caster had been exposed as a demon fox in the past and fled the palace, eventually meeting a miserable end at the hands of a human subjugation force.
Now, having contracted with a disgusting Master and then encountering a Lancer like the subjugation force, she even wondered if this fate was a joke.
Tamamo used all her strength to cast witchcraft to escape from Lancer, and Lancer swung his spear as if amused, blocking the witchcraft.
"Witchcraft, not magecraft. This is interesting."
Then, he showed a gesture of covering one ear.
"Ha, do as you please. I'll fight seriously, so don't scream."
'I'm jealous. That Master over there gets along well with his Servant.'
Everything was a dud from the first meeting, but she still wanted to live.
She didn't want to give up.
She didn't want to accept this as fate, and she didn't want to die so easily, so Tamamo resisted until the end and ran.
Very quickly and agilely dodging Lancer's spear, her kimono tore bit by bit, and her fine skin was cut by the spear, sustaining injuries.
The more she bled, the more her mana decreased, and she realized that using stronger witchcraft depleted her mana faster.
"For a Caster, you're quite agile, aren't you?"
"Are you making jokes while stabbing so brutally!"
For now, she had to dodge to live, but the important thing was to keep her distance.
Even if she strengthened her body with witchcraft, Lancer had the advantage in agility, so fighting in close combat was impossible.
"My durability is like paper, so I don't have the spare capacity to get hit by that spear!"
"Heh? Then, if the spear is guaranteed to hit, you'll have the spare capacity to get hit. I'll show you. My ultimate strike."
And sensing an ominous feeling that he would throw it like a javelin and the concept of a curse instinctively, she took out the paper doll from her bosom, but the paper torn by the spear came out first.
"Oh no!?"
She had to run fast to get away from Lancer.
"『The Spear of Impaling Barbed Death - Gáe Bolg』"
"Is that!?"
Hearing the True Name, she knew who he was.
But knowing who he is wasn't important, the name of the Noble Phantasm was Gáe Bolg. An ability that reverses causality and fate.
And by the time she made the paper doll be treated as herself, it was too late.
"Kuh..."
Fortunately, the spear pierced the paper doll and then pierced Tamamo's shoulder.
Bleeding, Tamamo used all her remaining strength to cast ice and fire witchcraft to create a smokescreen.
"When ice and fire meet, a sudden temperature change creates fog."
And Tamamo ran with all her might.
"Ha, missed. The tracking rune... was countered by Gáe Bolg... so it's meaningless."
Lancer regretted missing his prey, but Lancer's Master was in a situation where he couldn't say anything even if he wanted to say, "Go catch her right now."
And so, Tamamo survived, and after blocking her wounds with witchcraft, she was able to prevent mana leakage.
"Hah... hah... I survived, but if this continues, I'll disappear."
The possibility of contracting with a Master nearby was like plucking a star from the sky.
And how cruel the world is. Rain began to fall from the sky.
"Fog... and rain... why is my luck so bad today? No, from the very beginning, my luck has been beyond bad, it's cruel enough to call it fate."
She just looked at the sky.
On the ground, blood flowed from between the paper that blocked the wounds with witchcraft, turning the rain puddles red mixed with blood.
And sensing a presence approaching, Tamamo looked.
A being with the soul of a lion and a person whose soul looked pitch black yet not quite, were approaching Tamamo.
'Is that... a Heroic Spirit? And what on earth is that person?'
If she tried to read the soul, the color kept changing, so Tamamo couldn't understand.
A person has one soul, and while witchcraft or magecraft might make it look like multiple souls, that was one soul.
It felt more like it was deceiving the information that could be seen, making it impossible to even confirm what kind of soul it was, so Tamamo unconsciously gave birth to fear in the name of the unknown.
But there was no hostility in the gaze.
There was no malice either.
Just the look of finding a pet...
'This... Tamamo isn't going to be remodeled, right?'
At an inexplicable feeling, Tamamo ended up expecting something.
Later, turning into a fox was because she couldn't be carried otherwise, so she had no choice but to change.