I was left even more baffled by Shirou’s statement.
‘How come he doesn’t remember Ryu?’
As far as I recalled it, those two were pretty close friends.
Ryu was even there when Shirou approached me on my first day, laughing alongside the ginger-haired boy as we got to know eachother.
Well, maybe they weren’t that close anymore with what had just happened, but the fact still remained that he should at least know who Ryu was…
Even a gloomy loner like me had a favourable impression of Ryu!
I shook my head as I replied to him, “There’s nothing strange about this situation.
You’re just an idiot.”
Shirou did not seem to take offense as he merely gave a shrug as I snorted.
…Whatever.
This wasn’t that important.
What was more important was my Aperture as I had sensed a change within it just a few moments ago.
More accurately, it wasn’t the Aperture itself that had experienced a change, but rather my Vital Gu.
The little white snake had definitely recovered a great deal as it hissed at me in joy, no longer appearing thin and withered.
In fact, I could even say that it now looked even healthier than it was originally, though that might just be recency bias.
Regardless, I knew that could only mean one thing; the Simulation Gu could finally be activated again.
Of course, I was not going to use it again just yet.
This creepy basement wasn’t exactly an ideal place to fall asleep in.
I distinctly remembered how lethargic I felt when I activated it for the first time.
That compulsion to sleep was overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure I could resist it given my current state.
Nevertheless, I was ecstatic as I immediately planned on using it by the time I got home.
A little delayed gratification wasn’t going to hurt anyone, especially someone like me who has already waited for three years and more.
I stared absentmindedly as red paint splattered against the wall and the sound of terrified screaming reverberated within the basement.
‘Are they watching a slasher movie up there?’ I raised an eyebrow and glanced up at the ceiling, wondering how exactly deep we were beneath the ground floor right now.
Considering the sound reached all the way down here, you’d think we weren’t that deep, but that staircase had been pretty long, so I doubt it.
Maybe the movie was just obnoxiously loud.
I didn’t know why they’d be playing such a movie in a kindergarten, but I guess that just goes to show how unreliable the staff here are.
I reached up to my face with a hand to scratch my chin before I paused and glanced down at my stained fingers.
“…Hey, when did I get all of this red paint on me?” I muttered in confusion before I caught its unusual scent.
It was a deeply familiar scent to me, one that I was well acquainted with due to my memories as Michizane.
This iron-like fragrance was something he had to deal with almost every day, after all. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
My eyes remained blank as I struggled to understand how it was that I had identified what was clearly blood as red paint.
Then I held my breath as I broke out in cold sweat, my spine straightening itself as I began to realize my predicament.
I’ve been brainwashed.
There’s no doubting it, I concluded as I lifted my gaze and took in the scenery before me.
A child’s severed head spun around comically upon the hard floor, resembling a piece of tumbleweed rolling in the otherwise barren desert.
My breathing hitched as I realized that severed head belonged to Tenko…
By now, the scent of blood was rich and thick.
Various innards and internal organs littered the floor haphazardly as the corpses of the other children were laid about in a careless manner.
Somehow, we had not only failed to notice the slaughter happening right beside us, but also failed to notice the decreasing amount of children as now only Shirou and me remained unharmed.
Though I suspected it wouldn’t be for long as the man behind the slaughter hummed a joyful tune, busy cutting apart some unfortunate girl’s torso open as he used her blood and flesh as painting materials for what I assumed he would call his art piece.
He was garbed in a flamboyant bright purple jacket with a white undershirt that paired well with his darker purple trousers.
A white belt rested around those trousers and a pair of pantofel shoes adorned his feet.
His fair complexion, ginger-coloured hair, and bright smile would have surely given him an easygoing and reliable impression were it not for the fact that he was utterly stained with the remains of innocent children.
The man held a sharp knife in his hand that he had used for the murders, evidenced by the fact that it was completely covered in blood, and inspected his work closely like some macabre painter.
On his other hand, he held some kind of dusty book, resembling an ancient grimoire.
“How is the lighting here this harsh?” He complained loudly as I froze after hearing it, recognizing who it was immediately.
“Damn it, I can barely make out the beauty in this piece!
Ugh…”
It was the voice of both the janitor from way back then, as well as the ‘tall kid’ named Ryu.
Remembering Shirou’s words however, there shouldn’t be any boy named Ryu in our kindergarten.
This man and that kid in my brainwashed hallucination were absolutely the same figure…
From this, I knew the identity of this person all too well as he had appeared in Fate/Zero.
A natural born serial killer with a penchant for hunting down little children.
Of course, who else could it be other than him?
Ryuunosuke Uryuu!
Unfortunately, my bad habit of dismissing people that I’ve regarded as NPCs to the greater plot has definitely backfired immensely now that I had failed to identify him early on, trapping myself in this absurd situation that I could have otherwise avoided relatively easily.
Gritting my teeth, I stayed quiet as he doesn’t seem to have noticed me regaining my rationality yet.
Taking this opportunity, I glanced at Shirou, who still looked like he was under the brainwashing spell, and took him by the arm.
“Where are we going?”
“Shut the fuck up!” I shouted at him in panic as I cursed immediately after.
“Fuck!”
If he hadn’t heard Shirou, then he definitely heard what I had to say just now.
But I couldn’t concern myself with that.
It was a bad omen to look back when one was getting chased, especially when it was in such a confined space.
I ignored the killer’s amused grunt as we sprinted up the staircase.
It was around half way up that staircase did it then seem to grow beyond its original shape.
Inexplicably, the staircase had expanded as no matter how many steps I took, I didn’t rise any higher.
Panic began to build in my stomach as I realized that I was most likely being brainwashed again, just in a different manner as Shirou broke free of his initial brainwashing, shocked beyond words from the sight of the slaughter.
Throughout all this, the man behind the slaughter slowly and steadily made his way closer to us, his characteristic smile unwavering all the while.
“Well, well, well…” he hummed as he played with his bloodied knife as I saw my reflection upon its steel surface.
“What do we have here, aren’t you two Shirou and Shinji, hehehe?”
“I do have to say sorry for the sloppy work.
It’s my first time using Magic, and I didn’t even consider that someone could break out of this little trick by just being clever enough!”
Ryuunosuke was clearly enjoying this as he wouldn’t have started monologuing if he wasn’t.
I noted how he used the term Magic rather than Magecraft.
Just as the Ryuunosuke in canon, he too must have only gained the status of Magus very recently!
My eyes flickered on the blood puddle on the ground as I pulled Shirou back, shielding him with my own body.
“Protecting your little buddy?
How cute and ultimately pointless.” Ryuunosuke laughed.
“W-Why are you doing this?” I spat out my question, mostly to provoke him and stall for time as I began to surge my Primeval Essence.
“You’re killing everyone!”
“Why does a bird fly, a fish swim, or a boar trudge, Shinji-kun?” He asked with a grin as he raised his knife in a decisive manner.
“I’m just doing what I was born to do, what’s wrong with that?”
Ignoring him, I spat out a mouthful of blood onto the air between us.
The serial killer’s grin remained on his face as he then slashed forward in return, intending to finish me before he widened his eyes and froze as the blood congealed into a spike.
With pinpoint accuracy, the blood spike pierced straight through his neck!