The Prince Of Magic

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In another district…

"Achoo!"

A young man with bright, golden hair and cyan eyes used a white handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth as he suddenly felt the urge to sneeze.

Beside him, Arturia looked at him with concern in her beautiful emerald eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked, gently laying a hand on his left arm.

Hadrian turned to look at her and smiled.

"I'm fine." He reassured her, sniffing a little. "Someone was probably talking about me."

Arturia nodded, a bit unsure but accepted his words regardless.

"Fou?"

"Kyu?"

Hearing those familiar sounds, Hadrian smiled as he glance at Fou, who was on his left shoulder, and Ryu, who was peeking its head out to look up at him from inside the satchel.

"Ha ha, I'm fine, you two. Thank you for the concern though."

After giving his two familiars some gentle rubs on their heads, Hadrian began to walk down a dark hallway with Arturia beside him.

Hadrian and his retainers had recently finished searching the other buildings in their designated district, and they came up with no results.

There were a notable few, but nothing that can really help with the case. The current one was their seventh time, but it was not included in the list.

No, the one they are searching in was actually an area that piqued Hadrian's interest.

Situated near the mountains, there was an old two-story mansion in ruins, and said building was the one they are in at the moment.

According to the files, the mansion in question once belonged to a wealthy family of no magical ties, which was proven to be wrong when Hadrian used the Moon Cell to find more about out its history.

In the Automaton's archives, there he found an important information that what was stated in the report seemed to be a cover.

In reality, the mansion actually belonged to an old magi family that was now extinct.

'Zepter' was the name of the magi family.

Based on his findings, the Zepter clan had originated from Bavaria in southern Germany. Somewhere in the mid-century, they had reached and migrated secretly in Canada.

The old mansion Hadrian and his retainers were exploring was the Zepter's ancestral home in North America, though abandoned now after the last heir (and member) to the house was hunted down and killed by two freelance magi, Natalia Kaminski and Kiritsugu Emiya, a long time ago.

Interestingly enough, Hadrian noticed Arturia's normally calm and regal façade twitched slightly when he mentioned the latter's name.

When he asked her about it, the female servant simply said…

'It is nothing of any concern. You are imagining it, Master.'

…

Hadrian begged to differ, especially when she uttered the words in a rather cold tone, so he had the right to be concerned.

But, after noticing her reluctance with the subject, Hadrian let it wane and simply made note to bring it up again in the future when things have settled down.

They have been exploring the mansion for quite a while now, about forty minutes by Hadrian's estimation.

Since the mansion was quite big, Hadrian had to split the party into two.

Charles, Astolfo and Kieran were together, and they would cover the west wing, while Hadrian and Arturia would search the east wing.

Speaking of the three, Hadrian frowned slightly, hoping that they are not slacking off and are actually doing some work.

Although, that might as well be wishful thinking on his part, considering as this was the three retainers in question.

Hadrian huffed, catching Arturia's curious gaze for a moment.

When she bumped his shoulder to get his attention, he gave her a small weary smile before turning his gaze to the front.

"Just hoping that Charles and those two are not fooling around." Hadrian said quietly.

Hearing those words, Arturia also cannot help but smile in resignation.

"Knowing them, the chances of that occurring is quite low." Arturia said honestly, making Hadrian sighed.

"I hope not…" The cyan eyed Master muttered.

Distracting himself from the troublesome retainers, Hadrian focused on the task at hand by spreading out his magical senses as they walked down a dark spacious hallway.

While the mansion was no longer in active, it did not mean that it had no possible dangers lurking about.

Before he left England, his grandfather had given him a map of the city and pointed out areas of interest to Hadrian during the briefing.

When he mentioned of an old mansion that once belonged to an extinct magi family, Hadrian's interest had been piqued since then, especially after he had done his research about the Zepter family's background and their preference in Magecraft.

Therefore, it was not at all surprising that Hadrian would want to see the mansion for himself.

His idle interest, however, turned into suspicion when the Moon Cell had provided confusing information about the mansion when he looked into the database last night.

Based on the records, the Zepter mansion had been visited in the past, and the most recent was several months ago.

But, that was not what made him suspicious.

No, it was the fact that the automaton had not given him any additional information beyond the mansion being visited in the past. Before this case, Hadrian was always given complete information about anything that he wants for the Moon Cell to find.

Having the Moon Cell fused with his soul does not mean that he is omniscient and is all-knowing.

No, far from it. If such a thing was possible, then he has yet to gain that level of experience in handling the ancient artifact.

Rather, his method to use the Moon Cell's abilities was quite simple.

It would be akin as to having a supercomputer in his mind, one that has an unrivaled internet connection and reality-bending softwares.

In the case of finding information, Hadrian has to give the Moon Cell a keyword related to the subject, and the automaton will quickly deliver.

Which brings him back to the main issue, why did the Moon Cell gave him incomplete information about the mansion when it hadn't in the past?

The question plagued his mind yesterday and now.

He encountered a few cases such as this before, but did not look too deeply into it.

It was something that he merely took note of, but didn't really had time to delve into. Now, he was having trouble with one, of which was related to the case, Hadrian knew that he cannot put on hold anymore.

It became among the reasons why Hadrian had decided to call his grandfather last night, and his suspicion only rose after the older man had advised him to visit the mansion in person.

And when Hadrian finally saw the building, he realized right away that there was something amiss.

The feeling became more insistent the closer he got to the main private office that once belonged to the Head of Zepter house.

While abandoned and most of its property in ruins, the mansion gave off an eerie vibe that can make most people hesitant to venture into.

Fortunately, Hadrian is unlike most people nor is inexperienced with dangerous places.

He had ventured a lot of dark dungeons to collect treasures and weapons in his first life, after all. Sometimes, even without his friends/retainers present and by his lonesome.

Still, the hallway was rather dark, but at least the many windows to their left has helped ward off the shadows and lighten up their way.

Hadrian's musings halted when he felt something touch the fingers of his left hand.

It was soft, smooth and has a certain warmth that he was quite familiar with.

Blinking, Hadrian slowly turned his gaze to the left and saw Arturia looking away to her left with the same regal and calm façade.

She appears the same old Arturia he knew, but the red tinted blush on her cheeks and the way her hand tried to get a hold of his without making it too obvious had given her act away for him.

'This woman, she really can't be lax with herself…' Hadrian smiled in resignation.

Near the end of the war, other than becoming more feminine and open to him, Arturia adopted a strange habit of holding his hand whenever the two of them are alone.

As cruel and brutal as the event had been, there were moments that somehow made everything he endured that time all the more worth surviving, and among them were the good memories that he made with Arturia.

What they have now was a testament to everything that they had undergone since then.

The war in the Moon was only the catalyst to their fateful meeting, but what they went through together made their bond stronger and evolve into something unique.

It was a topic that Hadrian thought to bring it up at first. Her habit of holding his hand, that is.

But, whenever he saw how Arturia seems to be shy and embarrassed by her actions, he relented in silence and let her do as she wish.

As amusing as for him to see her blush and become skittish like a newborn doe, Hadrian doesn't want to overwhelm her with his teasing too much and make her doubt herself.

He rather liked the way she was becoming.

Before, she was quite strict with herself, always calm, loyal, and ever so dutiful. Now, she was still herself, but more open, a bit relaxed and comfortable with her own skin.

Thus, if his silence was the price to subtly encourage Arturia to become more like herself, to have the chance to act like a normal young woman, then so be it.

From then on, when Arturia tries to hold his hand, Hadrian would simply let her and not say a word about it. He did not mind her holding his hand from time to time.

In truth, he felt it was rather nice and would even knot their fingers together, such as now.

Deciding to indulge her d.e.s.i.r.e, Hadrian gently held her hand in his and intertwine them, his smile widen when he heard her gasp softly and felt her surprised gaze upon him.

Not wanting to scare her away, he kept his attention to the front and remained calm, but he gave her hand a light squeeze to let her know that he doesn't mind holding hands with her.

Seconds later, Hadrian felt her step closer to him, almost leaning on him with only a few inches gap between them.

Knowing her, Hadrian does not need to look at Arturia to know that she was smiling by now. He had seen enough of it in the past, and the sight of her smiling never failed make him smile in return.

Without further ado, the Master and Servant duo walked hand-in-hand in comfortable silence as they made their way to the private study.

The trip was short, and soon, they found themselves inside the private study.

Hadrian had let his familiars roam around the room, depositing the brown satchel inside the Armiger Arsenal for the time being as he and Arturia observed the new area.

Like any other study that belonged to a Magus, the office was spacious and once reeked of opulence. It still has a desk, a chair, two couches and a carpet, but they were all worn down and didn't stand to survive the test of time.

Some of the walls were broken too, but it was only the window behind the desk that looked good in condition. The shelves were already absent of stuff, and no books can be found in sight, which was understandable since the study once belonged to a Magus.

If there was one thing he learned about magi, it was that they are hoarders of knowledge, and Hadrian himself can attest to that fact.

With a sigh, Hadrian turned to Arturia and smiled at her softly.

"Time for me to go to work." He said, regret and wistfulness clear in his voice.

"Then, I will keep watch." Arturia returned his smile.

"I'll let you know once I'm done."

Giving Arturia's hand one last gentle squeeze, Hadrian slowly unclasped his hand from hers and walked towards the center of the room.

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled and closed his eyes as he stood there.

'Okay, Moon Cell, prepare for inspection.' Hadrian gave a mental command.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and small blue screen appeared in front of him with the texts colored in black.

The experience would be similar to seeing a window screen in video games, except this was reality and he was the only one who can see it.

[Preparations are ready.]

[Initiate scan of the room?]

'Yes.' Hadrian accepted the prompt.

[Initiating...]

In one second, the room was washed over with blue magical energy that cannot be seen by anyone but him.

He had seen it done before, and proof of it was when the blue energy washed over Arturia as well, but she was oblivious to it as she simply continued to remain vigilant by observing her surroundings with keen eyes.

It begun from where he stood, spreading all over everything in the vicinity and leaving nothing uncovered before it vanished as soon it appeared.

Another second passed, the window appeared again, but smaller in size.

[Scan complete.]

'Thank you.' Hadrian smiled in satisfaction. 'Now, let's get to work. But, what's first?'

Looking around the room, his gaze landed upon the old kind-of-broken desk and he let his feet take him there, stopping in front of it.

'How about this one? Moon Cell, pull up the recent history of this object. Limit the range to 30 years to present time only.'

[Collecting data…]

[Data complete.]

[View now?]

'Yes.'

Memories related to the object flooded in his mind, causing him to close his eyes as he focused on watching the events.

There were not a lot, though that might be due to the last member and heir to the Zepter house being killed over a hundred years ago.

Most of the time, the desk was untouched for years, but recently, it had been tampered with. No, searched would be the proper word to describe it, and it seemed to have occurred about nine years ago.

What was interesting about the memory is that Hadrian cannot see the person who searched the desk, only their silhouette highlighted in blue was seen, but that was provided by the Moon Cell.

'Hmm… no face, gender, name or literally anything helpful to pinpoint this person for me. Well, there's the height. I suppose that's something.'

Hadrian opened his eyes and tilted his head slightly, humming in thought. He crossed his arms over his c.h.e.s.t as an idea formed in his mind.

'I wonder… Were their footsteps recorded?'

Hadrian looked down, expecting to see foot marks in blue and white highlights on the floor, only to be surprised that there was nothing to be seen.

He even double-checked it by pulling up the map, and once again, he saw nothing but his own and Arturia's in the room.

'No footsteps, no anything. This is a first. It was as if everything was cleaned. Not only that, but the memory stops from thereon. The memories of the last heir were still embedded within this item, but the ones with the person who last searched this desk isn't there. No, it's more like it's gone.'

Hadrian sighed.

"The hell is going on…" He muttered under his breath.

Curious by her Master's slightly downturned mood, Arturia stopped her surveillance and stepped closer to him.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked softly, laying a hand gently on his arm.

Turning his gaze, Hadrian gave her a faint smile.

"Yes, but I'll tell you later after we return. I don't think it's appropriate for us to discuss it here."

After seeing Arturia's reluctant nod, Hadrian stepped away from her and the desk, then he looked around the room for anything worth of his interest.

As his eyes landed upon every object in the study, Hadrian scanned each of them to test out his theory, which lasted for two minutes since he diligently went through each item.

But as he expected, the Moon Cell gave him no valuable data that can be useful.

Unable to resist the urge, Hadrian slowly took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing for the second time.

"How troublesome…" Hadrian muttered, laying a hand to the back of his neck in exasperation.

After deactivating the Moon Cell's sensory phase, he was about to put his glasses on again when a painful headache stopped him from doing so, causing him to let his spectacles fall on the floor.

A bit of sweat had appeared on the side of his temple, but it was incomparable to the headaches that kept coming in waves, making him unable to move for a few moments as he endured it.

Hadrian can feel his head throb in pain, his pulse ringing in his ears, but what was more painful was the feeling of something opening and filling up in some lower part of his brain.

It was a strange sensation, really. The experience was unlike anything he had felt before, even in his first life.

But, at the same time, it was not something he was unfamiliar with.

When Hadrian was young, his grandfather found out that he has Mystic Eyes.

Mystic Eyes that were typically single-action sorceries possessed by the magi. It happens when there was some sort of mutation in the Magic Circuits located in the area around one's eyes.

Also, it can be said that acquisition of one is the mark of a first class magus since it grants them great power while being easy to conceal.

The most powerful of mystic eyes are those which are possessed from birth, and according to his mentors, only a select few had been noted to be born with one.

Coincidentally, Hadrian is among those people in question.

Furthermore, his mystic eyes seemed to be different from the rest. His grandfather explained to him that it was among the rarest and unique kind, terming it as a powerful hybrid-type.

The 'Mystic Eyes of Death Perception', that was the name of his mystic eyes.

With it, Hadrian can see the 'death' of things. It is a unique ability that allows him to grasp the death of living things as points and lines. Regardless of being organic or inorganic, the mystic eyes allows him to 'read' into the primary factor of death in 'living' things (things that he perceives as 'alive') and visualizes it as a phenomenon that can be interfered with.

The world observed from the mystic eyes of direct death is a landscape of ending filled with 'lines and points of death' highlighted in a bright red color, and a proper mental structure would have trouble in daily life, much like him in this regard.

His mystic eyes awakened during the war, which was a bad time for it to show in his opinion.

In perfect clarity, he recalled it happened after he was poisoned by Dan Blackmore's Servant, Robin Hood, during the war.

Luckily, a pair of female siblings noticed his predicament and one of them introduced an item to him, which is called the 'Mystic Eyes Killers'.

Of course, like all things in the war, nothing was free.

The female Magus with short blue hair and a cigarette on her lips sold the spectacles to him at the price of 100,000 QP (Quantum Particles, the currency in the moon grail war), while the younger sibling offered to make the glasses 'indestructible', as she puts it, at the price of 50,000 QP.

Hadrian's e-wallet inside the PT (Portable Terminal) that time cried tears of blood, but any negative feelings he might have had on the matter disappeared when the two siblings gave him two Mystic Eyes Killers as their parting gifts after the event.

It was a dangerous power, surely, but not one that Hadrian was surprised to have, oddly enough.

If anything, he kind of expected to obtain an ability related to death, given his family's (the Lucis Caelum) history and relations with the astral goddess of death, Etro.

But more importantly, his grandfather had told him that the cause of his random headaches was due to the magic circuits in his eyes expanding to his brain, increasing in numbers, as time goes on.

Hence, the extreme pain he was feeling under at the moment.

What was worse, the episodes were random that it often catches him off-guard, much like what has happened now.

The pain took a few minutes to pass, but he endured it all with gritted teeth and in pained silence.

When Hadrian came to and slowly opened his eyes, he was a bit shocked to find himself being embraced by Arturia.

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