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Candidate #28 - Gufukajitsuda Guda-Rimaru-o…
Yes. Yes, he knows. It’s a bit of a mouthful. He likes Rimaru, but he doesn’t mind Gudao - either works.
Anyway, Rimaru is up bright and early today, the 4th of November, 2017 (at least according to Chaldea’s internal clock). No apron for him, though, no sir - today he’s in his field Mystic Code! Mostly the same as normal, if shorter-sleeved and with a few personal touches; he didn’t really vibe with the pants and shoes, and you can never have too many pockets.
Man. He did sign up for this, and again after coming back (which, oof, but he barely remembers being blown up, so it’s all good), but he still can’t believe he’s about to go on his very first mission! On special order from the Director herself.
Rimaru… he respected Olga Marie Animusphere fine, but he has to admit, he likes Riri a hell of a lot more. She seems a lot more relaxed, a fair bit more attentive, and honestly significantly happier since whatever happened at the start of this whole Incineration thing.
But he’s getting sidetracked. He’s been summoned to the Command Room due to another big Singularity popping up, aside from the main… ah, there’s just four left, huh. Team R has been working fast. Anyway, apparently TRISMEGISTUS or SHEBA or something said his presence in the Command Room was integral.
He… still hasn’t actually summoned a main Servant of his own (though not for lack of trying), but hey, he’s been hitting Ophelia’s and Ritsu’s combat summons classes with everyone else, and dare he say, he’s gotten pretty good at using a few of ’em! So maybe he’ll be suiting up and actually joining some of Team R, or - oh! Maybe Anton’s finally going to get to show his stuff with Kiyo. Man’s a hidden dragon if Rimaru’s ever seen one.
On the note of summons, though… it’s strange. FATE won’t give him anything - er, yet, he guesses - but Rimaru doesn’t really have any preference for Chaldean summons. Like, usually you gravitate towards certain Servant classes - either some (or very rarely all) of the standard seven, or… well, Riri’s the only one that’s actually shown affinity to the ‘extra’ classes… Avenger, Brawler and Ruler. (Well, Brawler kind of seems like a secret ‘eighth class’, but never mind that.) Or, well, Shielder counts too (secret ninth?), so Ritsu technically does… but Mash might be an exception, like Heracles (yes, that one) or Caligula (a Roman emperor or something).
Except… Rimaru can use pretty much any of them fine? He isn’t exceptional or anything, none of them call to him like he’s heard affinities are supposed to, but he also doesn’t really struggle with using Shadows of any of the Servants recorded in Chaldea’s Saint Graph records. At least not based on their class.
He tries not to use the Top (or EX-Rank) Servants, of course - King Arthur (who’s actually a woman, go figure, and not the only one), Morgan (not le Fay, she’s very particular about that), Heracles (yep), Francis Drake (another woman), Artemis (yes, the Olympian), or, er. Reggi? Well, Kukulkan, technically (a creator deity of the Mayans, it sounds like, which - yep, he’s seen her in the simulator), but it’s Reggi.
Are they unfathomably powerful? Absolutely. Also extremely taxing to summon and a massive drain to maintain for those not contracted to the originals, and unlike Riri, Reggi or Anton, Rimaru isn’t made of mana. Er… no, od is the one inside people.
So he steers clear of those, and honestly, he avoids the other main Servants. That just feels weird, even if the Shadows anyone else summons obviously don’t have the same… substance as they would for the Masters actually contracted to them.
That still leaves the A-Ranks and below. Now, Rimaru doesn’t generally use As - they’re still fairly taxing and usually overkill - but Bs and Cs are around ‘normal’ Servant levels, which is still enough to take on a squad (cabal?) of magi. So he generally sticks around that range in the classes, and when he’s practising on his own.
Man, he’s getting kind of nervous. He’s probably not actually going into the field much? Again, no main, so if he can’t use Chaldean summons for some reason, Rimaru’s pretty much dead weight. Anton keeps trying to help him with reinforcement and it just… it doesn’t work.
Well… he does have an affinity for healing magic, as it turns out, which is great! He sprinkles some into his pastries for a little extra zing, but that’s a secret between him and the rest of the cafeteria staff.
(He wouldn’t have pegged Boudica, Queen of Victory, as a legendary cook, but he’s learning a lot from her, EMIYA and Tamamo Cat, and he thanks his lucky stars every day he gets a shift with any of ’em.)
Plus his senses are pretty good, haha.
… he also could’ve sworn he sensed an absolute bombshell earlier, when he was getting ready. A shrine maiden or something, he thinks. He freaked out a little, because it was in his room, but she basically disappeared immediately when he yelped, so he might just have… imagined it?
Man. Daydreaming that vividly? That’s a first. And this early… might be more tired than he thought. Maybe he should cut back on cafeteria shifts, but food’s the one thing he…
… hrm? What’s this… doll thing doing here…?
Actually, wait. He recognises this. It’s a, um… what’s it called - haniwa! That’s it. A statue made from terracotta clay.
This one looks… kind of weird. Kinda… for some reason, ‘GudaGuda’ comes to mind. His Servant affinity, funny enough; as far as he knows, it doesn’t really mean anything, so that hasn’t been helpful.
Maybe it’s a magical catalyst or something? They’re usually used for… funerals, Rimaru thinks. Did someone leave it in the corridor…?
… he should probably pick it up. It doesn’t radiate death magic - er, magecraft or anything like that, he’s… pretty sure, so it’s probably fine.
Huh… it’s pretty light and really well made. Well, it… looks a little wonky, but aside from that…
“In the...teen, ...erish.”
… hm?
Rimaru squints (er, harder) at the haniwa statue. Did it just…
…
… it’s not making any noise now. Maybe he just… imagined it?
Oh, jeez, what is he doing, he has to get to the Command Room! Everyone else is probably already waiting.
Might as well keep this on hand! He has a weirdly good feeling about it. Like… maybe it’s a good luck charm, or something! Ah, but it’s not his, so he’ll have to give it back soon…
The Command Room is actually pretty bare when Rimaru finally arrives (still have five minutes on the clock!). There’s the Director, all suited up, as well as Ophelia and Léon (and the new one, uh - Barghest?), Rika and Morgan, Reggi and AlCas (PiraCas isn’t here, so she and her crew are probably with the huntresses); Dr Roman’s here too, along with Leonardo da Vinci (good for her, honestly) and a couple of the coffin boys.
(Oh, hey, it’s the weird ambience thing that happens around Team R. Neat!)
“Wait, am I actually early?”
Reggi and Rika perk up, and each waves her entire arm at him (as energetic as ever!) as the others smile and wave. Well, Morgan hums, and Barghest offers a nod.
“Good morning, Rimaru!” Dr Roman greets. “Nice to see you up and early.”
“Eh, well, this is about when meal prep starts,” Rimaru says, waving to the other staff. “Seriously, though, where is everyone?”
“Well, we’re not actually sure who else is going yet,” Riri explains, looking at the hologram over the main console. (Man. It is just ridiculous how high-tech everything here is.) She glances back at him. “The only real certainty at this point is you.”
Rimaru’s brows shoot up, and he points at himself.
“Yes, you,” Riri says, amused. Her face neutralises as she looks at the readout again. “We looked over the data from SHEBA and TRISMEGISTUS - it looks like you’ll be Rayshifting in with whoever else makes the cut.”
Oh. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah, so hope you’ve been practisin’ yer combat summons!” Reggi chirps.
“He has,” Ophelia(-sensei, even, haha) says with a nod. “His work ethic is fairly impressive. I don’t think he’s missed a session.”
“Well, I am supposed to be on the roster,” Rimaru says, “even if I can’t do proper summons worth a damn.” He stuffs his hands in his pocke - oh, right. “Oh, by the way, did someone drop this?”
He pulls out the weird-looking haniwa, and the others consider it. Reggi’s face lights up, and AlCas blinks and glances at SHEBA.
“Oh, right,” she goes.
“So it’s yours?”
“Oh, no,” AlCas shakes her head, “I don’t do idols.”
“Me neither,” Reggi says, raising her hands in an X.
“Interesting…” Morgan says. She extends a hand, and Rimaru holds it out for her to take. “It seems to be faintly magical. Or… no, wait.” Her eyes narrow. “The signature is faint, but the actual magecraft involved is… powerful. And ancient.”
Barghest nods slowly. “I can barely smell it, but what scent I do catch is heavy.” Oh, so she can smell magic. Probably very useful.
“So… one of the Servants?” Rimaru scratches a sideburn. “Medea, maybe?”
Morgan shakes her head. “It appears Eastern in make,” she says, handing it back. “And it is meant for you.”
“Uh, what?”
“Actually, that kind of…” Ophelia’s eye narrows. “It seems similar to summoning magic, almost? But the targeting is… odd.”
Rimaru frowns. “This isn’t, like… an attack or something, right?”
“It isn’t harmful, no,” the summoning specialist says. “Not as far as I can tell.”
“I don’t feel anything too weird either,” Rika says.
“It is not meant to harm,” Morgan says, with absolute confidence. Which… yeah, if anyone’d know, it’d probably be her, wouldn’t it? “In fact, it will also be integral to this mission.”
Well, okay then!
“Speaking of, though, what exactly is the mission? I didn’t really get much in the way of details.”
“We’re still figuring that out,” Dr Roman says, typing rapidly at the console. “It’s… incredibly ancient, and SHEBA and TRISMEGISTUS aren’t built to go far past or even very early into the AD era, so it’s fairly difficult to narrow down specifics. All we really know is that it seems significant - not on the level of one of the sev… no, four remaining Singularities interfering with Quantum Time Locks,” ahh, there’s that good ol’ Magus Jargon, “but it… well, all we can say for sure is tackling this will be incredibly beneficial.”
“It prob’ly will be then!” Reggi says. In an… odd tone of voice.
AlCas grins, and Barghest raises a brow; the others notice, but in a ‘ahh, okay’ kind of way. Hmm.
“Is there something I’m missing, or…”
“Nah, nothin’ ta worry ’bout, dude,” the Head of Maintenance replies, slapping him on the back. “Le’s jus’ say I got a real good feelin’ ’bout yer Master prospects in the very near future.”
Alright, kinda vague, but he’ll take it!
“Okay, well,” Rimaru hooks two thumbs towards himself, “this guy’s got his Mystic Code locked and loaded, healing spells ready, and… actually, could I get a few mana stims just in case?”
“Sure sure!” Reggi claps her hands together and holds out… oh, that’s like eight or so. “Should be way more’n ya need for anythin’ ya face out there.”
“Nice.” Rimaru puts the glowing lozenges in his jacket pockets.
“Careful though, don’ got a lot an’ these pack a punch.”
“Aye aye!” Rimaru flicks off a two-fingered salute, and Reggi chortles. “Alright, now I’m ready to…”
“In the...teen, ...erish.”
Rimaru blinks (in as much as he can ‘blink’) and tilts his head down at the doll. “Did… did anyone else hear that?”
“Hm?” Rika tilts her head. Ophelia raises a brow, and Riri looks back at him. The Servants, though, they definitely heard something.
“The doll just … spoke,” Léon says. His eyes narrow. “Weirdly hard to make out. Which with my senses is saying somethin’.”
“It did the same thing when I picked it up.” Rimaru frowns down at the haniwa. “And it’s… glowing now?” If only just.
“Oh shit it is,” Rika says, leaning over to stare. Morgan seems unbothered, but Morgan never seems bothered about anything, so that’s hardly an indicator.
“A clay figure that glows and talks,” da Vinci marvels. “Now I’ve seen everything!”
“That is definitely a summon of some sort,” Ophelia muses. “Maybe… this might be the -”
“In the month of November of the year 2017,” the haniwa says, in a loud, clear voice, “Yamataikoku…”
… wait, as in the -
“—Will perish!”
Ah.
“Well tha’s not whatcha want,” Reggi says lightly.
“Yamawhosawhat?” Rika goes. And kind of understandable, but as it turns out…!
“Yamataikoku was a pretty prominent nation from ancient Wa, the predecessor of Japan,” Rimaru says, studying the haniwa anew. “Kinda like Rome and Italy, but there’s probably a better equivalent that I can’t recall right now. No one’s sure where it was or if it really existed - there are almost no records about it in the modern day, besides the Gishiwajinden.”
He turns the haniwa over… is it shining brighter now, actually…?
“The one thing most people in the know are pretty sure about is Yamataikoku was ruled by a queen, Himiko, who could allegedly… or, well, probably see the future,” given magic - er, magecraft is real and pretty capable of future seeing, “and she was succeeded by Iyo. Probably her niece? It’s hard to tell. Unfortunately, Yamataikoku collapsed pretty soon after Iyo rose to power - no one knows why, exactly, thanks to the aforementioned missing records.”
… mm? Why is it so quiet?
Rimaru looks up to see the others looking at him in various states of surprise. Morgan seems to be reassessing him, and Barghest hums. Even Reggi and AlCas weren’t expecting that.
“Do I have something on my face or something?” Rimaru says, cracking a grin.
“Ah -” Riri starts. “No, it’s just… you’re fairly knowledgeable about this.”
“Hey, I’m not just the pastry guy!” Rimaru considers the haniwa again (it is glowing more brightly). “It’s, uh, something I had interest in before coming here, so I read up what I could about it. Mostly thought it would be neat obscure trivia.”
… and that’s definitely part of it. But there’s something about that mysterious nation that… intrigued him, and still does. With so little info to go off, there’s so many blanks to fill in… and if this is related, it sounds like he’ll actually be able to do that!
“Yamataikoku, huh?” He grins wide at the haniwa. “I’ve got a pretty good feeling about this…!” He’s getting pretty pumped now!
“Uhhh babe,” Rika says, as the haniwa glows brighter and brighter. “You’re absolutely sure it’s safe, right?”
“This will not harm anyone in this room,” Morgan says. Her Spear twists, and mana flickers through the air - wait, did she just cast something?
“...o...nued…” the haniwa says, unhelpfully.
“What?” Rimaru goes. Hey, if it can talk, maybe it can hear. “Speak up, little man, we didn’t catch -”
“Continued in Yamataikoku!”
Ahh.
The blinding burst of light that erupts from the haniwa is the last thing he senses before everything goes dark.
