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Chapter 44: Chapter 43

"Have a seat." He said smoothly, gesturing towards one of the chairs. There was a pleasant silence as he finished up whatever work he was doing. "We haven\'t had a chance to sit down and talk."

"That\'s true." I admitted. "You used our first meeting as a learning experience for Rin." I let out a small sigh. "Not that I\'m complaining, but if it were anyone else, I would have been extremely upset."

He hummed in agreement. "She\'s still a bit immature, I wanted to expand her world view a bit." He stroked his beard. "And there was no good way to let her see the \'wider world\', I think this method had the least effect on her mentality."

"Except for that inferiority complex she has going on." I snorted.

"Yes, well, that isn\'t something that can be handled overnight." He smiled slightly. "You did a wonderful job of opening her eyes though, I am infinity grateful or that."

Yeah, she would have to work through some of her own issues by herself, we can only help so much.

"I don\'t need your gratitude; I care about her just as you do." I waived him off. "I still have some memories of her before, I couldn\'t just sit back."

She was a good girl, still a bit hardheaded and arrogant right now, but she matures quickly. Not that I could exactly throw stones from my glass house over here.

"I\'m tempted to ask about that, but I think I would like to look forward to the years to come before the world becomes a bit more chaotic." A small smile graced his face.

"A hundred years, give or take. It\'s not long to prepare, even when we can bullshit the time-line a bit."

"Language." He chided lightly. "You have a bit more freedom than I do in that regard. You have more freedom than I do to explore other worlds, I can only give a few cursory glances at World-Lines away from Gaia, while you can walk upon them."

"And you think that our \'salvation\' may be out there?"

"Salvation?\' He laughed. "I never believed in anything like that when I was devising my strategies. I never thought something like \'you\' would even exist. I\'m just playing any card I can get my hands on to keep the world spinning." He shook his head, an aged smile gracing his face. "You weren\'t my first attempt at skewing fate in my favor, I tried many ridiculous experiments. There was one point where I even theorized the resurrection of Albion, or maybe refining its corpse into a Mystic Code."

"Yeah right, you just wanted a dragon to ride on." I called him out, because that is exactly what I would want.

"....that was only 10% of my intention." He admitted.

Yeah, yeah, you can\'t lie to me old man, I know exactly how you think.

"What about your \'granddaughters\'?" I used air quotes to emphasis.

"Why ask questions you already know." He was the one to sigh this time. "Altrouge Brunestud is just as rebellious, even if the Dead Apostle Ancestors aren\'t present here. She still hasn\'t forgiven me for tricking her pet into being sealed. Thankfully, she stopped acting up a few centuries ago, but only god knows what she\'ll do when the board finally gets set."

Maybe I should go pay her a visit? The daughter of a True Ancestor and a Dead Apostle, one of only two remaining beings that are allowed to carry the name \'Brunestud\', after the Crimson Moon Brunestud. She was frighteningly powerful, even if she wasn\'t a True Ancestor herself.

"And Arcueid is sleeping, which is the best case for everyone." I said quietly. I saw his expression, he truly cared for the last True Ancestor. We both knew that if the forces dwelling deep within that carefree girl could potentially awaken if she got swept up in the battle that may come. "It almost seems unfair how much easier it is to destroy the world than to protect it."

"Even if it seems unfair, there is still a chance."

"What\'s the saying, the Heavens never block all paths?" I smiled lightly. "Once Rin gets up to standard, she can also start traveling, searching for her own fortune." Which will be another decent skew of fate in our favor.

"I give it ten years before she is ready, maybe twenty at the most." He looked distant, calculating in his head, I agreed with his thoughts, that seemed about what I would expect if she didn\'t make any surprising leaps in that time frame. Well, who knows, she\'s a smart girl, some lucky chance could propel her years ahead of schedule.

"I could give her a hand, the last world I went to had some good opportunities for her to spread her wings." I offered. "I also have some people back there that could watch over her, but....I may have also left some dangers in my wake." Lots of good stuff for someone in Rin\'s situation, I\'m sure she could bloom quite well in that environment.

"I haven\'t had a chance to peek over there." He looked a bit interested.

"I\'ve only explored a small fraction, but I couldn\'t help but fall in love with the place. I even got myself a woman over there waiting for me." I smiled.

"And you\'re trying to woo dear Artoria, bold, aren\'t you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"If anything serious comes after this date, I\'ll be forthright, but for now I just want her to enjoy her time and maybe get a new perspective on her second life." I wasn\'t one to lie about something significant like that. A healthy relationship can\'t be built on lies.

"As long as you understand." He nodded. "That reminds me." He sat up, shuffling over to a cabinet and searching through some papers. "Here we are." He sat the parchment on the desk. "I made a little list of some world-lines and their coordinates if you wish to visit them in the future, I think some of them may have some things you might want."

I just quietly put it away in my ring. "No need to get distracted right now, I still need to go find my teacher before I start treading this path."

"Mmm, your foundation is a mess." He said without any sympathy for my feelings.

"I know, I\'ve been made abundantly clear how disorganized I am. I was so focused on just grabbing anything that I fancied that I\'m a mess."

"Well, the Immortal Witch should be able to sort you out." He chuckled. "I\'m a bit interested in the Land of Shadows, I do hope you will regale me with some tales when you return." He smiled wistfully. "Do you have any plans of returning to your birthplace?"

I couldn\'t help but wince, choosing not to answer.

"It\'s going to remain a thorn in your heart if you don\'t go back." He explained. "Not to mention the debt you owe."

"I know." I said curtly. "Its just....I don\'t have many good memories there and no one to go back to.....maybe I can visit mother, put some flowers on her grave."

His expression softened. "Well, think about it another way, there are plenty of good things there for you to grab." He shrugged. "You already stole something of significance, what more harm could you cause?"

"You don\'t\' need to remind me. My reluctance does not mean I\'m ignoring my debt." My tick presented itself again as I ran a hand through my hair unconsciously. "I\'ll head back and take a look after I get back from the Land of Shadows."

"When you return after that, I do have something I need done if you\'re interested."

"Like what?"

"There is a world-line near us that is cut off from my view, I have some ideas of what\'s happening and the general outline, but I would like a more in depth look and you would be the perfect person to investigate."

\'Close to us\' is a very relative thing to say. Distance is a misnomer, a concept we attach because it makes us feel more comfortable. Other World-lines are both infinitely close and infinitely far away.

"Rin not ready for something like that?" She\'s usually good about running errands.

"No." He shook his head lightly. "This is beyond her abilities, even if Saber ventures with her, I don\'t know if she would survive."

"Oh? Color me curious now, I don\'t recall something like this in my memories." Little surprises are life\'s joy.

He perked up a bit. "There\'s this organization called Chaldea.....actually why don\'t we wait until you get back, it\'s a very long winded explanation."

"Whatever, I\'ll hear the rest of the explanation later, I already have a lot on my plate."

"That is true, you have a date with Miss Pendragon soon." He smiled, teasingly. "I wonder if I\'ll have some great-grandchildren to spoil in the future."

"Fuck off." I snorted. "Besides, it\'s highly unlikely for a Servant to even have children, to call it one in a million would be generous. Adding on my heritage, make that one in a billion."

As strange as it was, Servants can have children with humans. The concepts inherent in their sublimation onto our realm of existence. They are emboldened by the Collective Human Unconscious, and the idea of reproduction is so far ingrained on us as a race that it stays within them even with Ether-based vessels.

"Are children something you would want in the future?" He asked me with some interest.

Now that I think about it, Zelretch can\'t have children himself anymore. A side effect of his battle with the Crimson Moon, he burnt through a lot of his life force. Maybe this was a desire I kept over from my previous life?

I scrunched my eyebrows, mulling the question over. "I do.....I want a big family." I couldn\'t help but smile picturing Meridia trying wrangle a few of our kids even if it was something not possible.

I felt a strange resolve in my heart.

So what if it wasn\'t possible? When did that ever stop me from doing things? I\'ll make it possible, there has to be some method across the infinite expanse that has a method.

It would be a long term goal for now, but first...."Well, I need to make some final preparations for my date, I\'ll catch you later, old man."