When I opened my eyes, it was still some time before dawn. I checked myself for any changes, despite knowing that whatever happened in my dream wouldn't be reflected in reality; only knowledge from there was usable. Still, I breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that nothing was wrong.
Then, I furrowed my brows. Why would I do such a thing? I'm almost certain that this was some kind of descent ceremony, inviting divine power into my body. I was not exactly accepting of such matters; one may say that I was quite hostile to anything linked to deities, but in that dream, I accepted it calmly, more so, I wished for it.
I couldn't help but come to the window and look at the low-hanging moon. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't feel any connection to it or the night itself, but those words still echoed in my ears.
~"Go, my Warrior. The night will always be on your side."
I closed my eyes and tried to feel the connection again, but without any success. I stood there for another ten minutes, but I finally just sighed and went back. I was still certain that those words weren't an empty promise, but having no way to prove it, I just left it for now.
I left my room and moved to the living room. After that dream, I didn't feel like researching anything; I just wanted to relax. In the living room, I moved directly to a piano standing in a corner, sitting on the stool in front of it. My fingers lightly slid over the keys, as I closed my eyes and tried to remember how to play this instrument that once was my hobby.
As the Saint of Sankta, I was taught etiquette from a young age, and part of it involved playing instruments with a strong religious connection to the Sankta faith, such as the piano and organs. Those lessons were the only times when I could truly relax; the music was always able to soothe my emotions. Sadly, both Lands Between and Artoria's Britain lacked such instruments, and my attention was always focused on something else; thus, I never continued my hobby.
But now, having the chance, I allowed myself to return to the hobby I thought I had left behind me. I took a deep breath and pushed the key down, making the first note echo in the empty room. Soon, a melody broke the silence of the night. Sometimes fast, sometimes gentle, once solemn, once happy. Every time I hit a wrong note, my brow would twitch slightly, but I would instantly correct it, and the more I played, the fewer mistakes I committed.
For a moment, I forgot about all my obligations. I no longer thought about planning and researching. I cleared my mind and simply played. At some point, I felt as if I had returned to these simpler days, my three old friends standing on the side, listening to me play and waiting for me to finish my lesson. I unknowingly even let my halo and wings appear.
Soon, I started to hum to the music, and not long later, my voice sounded with lyrics unknown to anyone in this world. I sang using the language of Laterano, which, while sounding akin to Latin, had major differences from it. My voice echoed around; it was not loud, but it still resounded. The words were from an old Laterano song, somewhat religious, but I always liked it because it was the first one I ever learned to play.
I played and sang for another ten or so minutes before finishing, feeling relaxed like I hadn't in a long time. After a few more breaths, I opened my eyes only to see the whole audience watching me intently.
-"No applause?"-I asked jokingly.
Everyone just shook their heads.
-"I never expected you to know how to play? Wasn't the piano invented long after the age of knights?"-Rin was first to break the silence.
-"As expected of the muscle woman, can't appreciate art."-Luvia couldn't help but poke fun at her friend.-"Lord Eno, I never heard the songs you played. Are those your creations?"
-"No. Almost all were from my homeland."-I denied.
-"That's why the language sounded so strange."-Reines sat on the sofa with a coffee in hand.-"But what interests me more is your appearance."
-"Eno, are you an angel of the Lord?"-Jeanne looked at me with stars in her eyes.
-"Sigh. I knew that it would end like that."-I sighed and shook my head.-"I'm not an angel. I'm from a race known as Sankta, wings and a halo are characteristics of this race. I'm not a believer, so I definitely do not serve some god."
-"But..."-Jeanne seemed not convinced.
-"Jeanne, I'm not an angel. Please accept it."
Jeanne nodded.
-"So what made you hold this impromptu concert?"-Rin asked after bringing some food for herself.
-"Just trying to relax, hope I didn't wake you all up."
-"Meh, don't worry about that."-She waved her hand.-"So, what are your plans now?"
-"Nothing concrete. The Black faction seemed rather solid, not only not having any overt issues, but also lacking a motive to act against rules that favor them."
-"But the matter with homunculi..."-Jeanne tried to speak up.
-"Morality is not something we should judge. Our job is to make sure the war proceeds as it should."
-"Eno..."
-"Jeanne."-I looked at her.-"I know that you don't like how they operate, but not only it isn't against the rules, it's normal for mages. In my eyes, while I would prefer if they did not use sentient beings, at least they don't kidnap people from somewhere, so it's not that bad."
-"But that doesn't mean we should let them be like that!"
-"Indeed, but neither of us can remain here to take care of them."-I shrugged my shoulders.-"Believe me, I would happily take hundreds of homunculi under my command. But we are guests here."
-"So do we have to just let them die?"
I remained silent.
The remaining girls around averted their eyes; while they weren't evil, their sensitivities were those of mages, so they weren't against such actions. The silence stretched uncomfortably. Finally, I sighed and decided to appease her.
-"Listen, Jeanne, while we can't do much for them now, we might be able to do some things for those who fulfilled their value for the Black faction. I will teach you healing miracles, and with your faith, you should be able to use them easily. At the same time, I'll also prepare a magical spell that will teleport any person who is at the brink of death to a single location."
-"Can you do this?"-Jeanne rushed to me and grabbed my hands into hers, holding them in front of her.
-"It's possible, but I never did something like this, so I'm not sure how well it'll work."-I admitted.-"But to achieve something like that, I'll need to prepare a robust magical workshop... No, at this level it'll be a Mage Tower directly. Luvia, I'll need your help."
-"In exchange for some knowledge and magical techniques, I'll provide everything you need."
-"Then we have a deal."
With that, we started to act.
First, I made a list of everything I would need and handed it to Luvia and Reines, who also wanted to get a piece of the deal. After that, while we waited for them to organize everything, I started teaching Jeanne the miracles. As expected, she had natural talent for them; not even two hours later, she could use healing miracles better than I.
With Jeanne's matter done, now that Luvia and Reines should be able to gather all materials before noon, I needed to find a good location before then. To be honest, it wasn't hard to decide where to build Mage's Tower, as the lay lines were the obvious choice. With the area surveyed by my Stormhawks, I first decided on three viable spots before finally choosing one that was optimal.
By the time I did that, Luvia was ready to transfer the first batch of materials, so we went directly to the chosen spot. There, the first thing that needed to be done was preparing the foundations. This part wasn't hard for me, as I only needed to visualize the required magical circles and runes before directly crystallizing the earth under my feet. At these times, I felt that the natural corrosiveness of the Originium was great.
With everything underneath done, now I needed to build up. Here, I found an unexpected blind spot in my abilities, as despite knowing some elemental magic, I had no method to build quickly. Sighing to myself and making a mental note to find such a method later, I pondered for a moment what to do, ultimately settling on an idea that was equivalent to brute-forcing.
Using my enormous magic reserves to the full advantage, I started to summon many of my old experimental Ashes, creating an army of workers from the thin air. Those Ashes had close to no combat power, being created from prisoners and sinners, but they were capable of simple work, and that was enough for the current situation. Soon, thanks to control of my 'Law', I controlled all of them to quickly construct a tower.
Two hours later, a simple tower stood before me, waiting for the finishing touches. I planned this tower on blueprints using the style from my dream; it was a mix of elegant white stone accented by golden decorations with my Originium Crystals imbued around to form magical circles. Now I started to lay said magical circles, making the whole tower glimmer with magical power, as more and more layers were added, even the air around started to shimmer with motes of magical light.
I worked until the sun started to set. By then, almost everything was done; the only missing piece was the power source. Due to this world's dwindling mystery, relying only on the lay line was not enough to support a Mage's Tower, so I turned to the Stars. Astrology was the core of my sorcery, so even while the entire tower was constructed using entirely different magical systems, I could still combine them without major issues.
It was close to midnight when I finished. I looked at the tower in front of me and couldn't help but fall into contemplation. Last time I used Valley Pass fortress as my magic workshop, and now I have built this tower to serve a similar purpose. Both times, I created them to use a single spell, not as an overall strengthening that most sorcerers, mages, and magicians normally pursue from their workshops. I never built a true workshop for myself; all were temporary. I couldn't help but miss the Rise build for me by the Carian Royal Family and the Academy as the reward for my service and research. While not exactly a home, it was the closest thing to one I had for a long time.
While I was feeling homesick, I didn't notice Jeanne coming to my side.
-"Eno. We have a problem."-She spoke with a serious expression.
-"What's the matter?"
-"I just received a revelation that there is a servant killing innocent people."
-"Who?"
-"Assassin of Black."
-"Oh? Surprising. I thought that they had quite great control of the situation and the Heroic Spirits, but now it seems even they had made some mistakes. Where can we find them?"
-"Bucharest, but they appear to be moving toward Trifas."
-"Then we should be free this night."-I calculated the distance between the cities.
-"Shouldn't I go there?"-Jeanne asked, tilting her head.
-"You'll just find what remained after the fight. I doubt any useful information would remain there."
-"Then what should I do?"
-"Prepare."
-"Eh?"
-"Tomorrow, the first real battle of this war should take place. There are still many things we can do to prevent any accidents."
-"Then I'll just listen to you."
I nodded and gave her a few tasks.
-"We plan to shelter many injured homunculi, so prepare medical supplies and food. They can't stay in the tower, so organize some shelter for them. You can also help me and bring some materials from Luvia and Reines so that I can focus on my work."
-"I'll get to it."-She nodded and started moving.
I also continued my work. First, I created a few Crystalians to defend the tower, and then I summoned some more powerful Ashes, sustaining them with power from the tower. Among the summoned were the Albinauric Archers, Redmane Soldiers, Glintstone Sorcerers, and Erdtree Priests, all led by a few Carian Knights. I made them patrol the surroundings, making sure they can respond when they are needed.
Next, I did something I rarely do, but at this moment could give me a great advantage: divination. I learned it in Raya Lucaria, but due to its limits caused by the gods strewn around the Lands Between, I never depended on it. But here, after getting Gaia's blessing, I could use it without much issue. I made some calculations and readings, resulting in some interesting images.
First showed a giant, stepping on the earth, bringing it to life. Above it, I could see myself flying, an enormous amount of magic everywhere around me. The second one showed a great fortress flying in the air, and underneath it, a source of my troubles, the Holy Grail. The third depicted a dark figure, emanating malice and death. And Last, showed Jeanne in white armor, sword in hand. Golden flames around, burning everything in their path, but something felt off with her, as if she was no longer the same person.
Looking at the results, I furrowed my brows. While none were apocalyptic, the last one made me worry. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but my feeling told me that something was seriously off. After some time, I decided to ask Jeanne about it later; for now, I focused on making some corrections to my plans based on the scarce clues from the divination.
Through the images, I understood that I needed a powerful weapon to deal with the opponents to come; as such, I modified the tower slightly, preparing it to use some other spells. I also made preparations to use my own Noble Phantasm, using my Carian Light-Greatsword and Royal Scepter, and the base to manifest Remembrances of my Mentor and the Queen.
I only ended working when Jeanne returned with some more materials and new information.
-"The Assassin arrived in Trifas along with Black Archer and Red Saber, who were chasing them."
-"Let them be."-I looked outside the window.-"They can't fight now, it's already close to noon."
-"I know, but... We can't find Sakura."
-"What?"-I looked at her.
-"Rin can't reach her; even Luvia's people couldn't find any traces."
That changed my plans.