Chapter 83 : Imitations

 

Friedrich returned to the airport. Specter, the Servant with whom he had contracted against his will, had hidden herself and followed him. Friedrich decided to leave the flight to New York and took the first bus available to get away from the airport as much as possible, he wanted to avoid fighting.
The bus left and Friedrich settled into the seats at the back and then noticed suspicious men entering the airport.
« Danger avoided. » He said with a sigh.
A girl with long, straight pink hair and green eyes was sitting right next to Friedrich, the boy composed himself, realizing that perhaps she had heard him. The girl had a gothic dress with the right sleeve longer than the left, yet by the way in which the right arm was placed on the leg it did not seem that she was amputated and therefore it was difficult to understand the reason for such a stylistic choice.
« Kumahira Yukiko. You can call me Yukiko if you want. »
Friedrich became red as a tomato when he saw her gaze, she realized that he was staring at her.
« I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't want to! »
« You find me beautiful? I'll take that as a compliment. »
« I'm Friedrich Wolff. Pleased to meet you. I'm sorry if I was staring at you, it's just that ... I was fascinated by your black gothic dress. I really like it. »
« Thank you. » Her smile was as sunny as a ten-year-old girl's.
« You're Japanese? »
« Yes and no. I consider myself a citizen of the world. I don't like having a nation of belonging. »
« Do you like traveling? »
« Generally yes. But this time I have a precise goal. I go to London. »
« London? I have been there. It's a beautiful city. »

« The first time I visited London, I was just a child. I remember my father showed me the beautiful Westminster Abbey. I bet that will also be your goal. »
« Why? »
Yukiko pointed to Friedrich's chest and at that moment he realized that the girl was aware of the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil, otherwise she would never have been able to recognize the symbol. He prepared to flee but she stopped him, grabbing his hand and told him:
« You and your Servant will participate in that war. This is the first time I've heard of the Specter class. It's curious. »
« Are you a Master? »
« Not yet, but soon the melody will change. For now, though, let me ask you: why do you want to fight? »
« I don't want to fight. I was forced by Specter. »
« So you want to give up the Grail? »
« I don't do anything with such an object. »
« So you are not interested in finding out more about this world? » She asked with a grin.
« What are you talking about? » Friedrich was confused.
« This is not the first Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil. This is the first of this world but it's the second view from a different perspective. »
« I'm not following you. »
« Do you know the eternal recurrence of the same of Friedrich Nietzsche? »
« Are you talking about Thus Spoke Zarathustra? »
« The universe is born and dies continuously, always returning to itself. Everything returns as it was before, this is the true miracle I witnessed, but it's an imperfect miracle because Nidhoggr pretends to be the ouroboros. »
« I don't understand. »

« No? It's a pity. »
The bus stopped at that moment and Yukiko got out of the vehicle:
« Maybe we'll talk again when we meet again in London, Master of Specter. »
Friedrich was confused and perplexed, he didn't know whether to accept Yukiko's words and consider them true or simply ignore them and break the contract with Specter. Curiosity was too strong, he could not simply ignore those words spoken with that seriousness. That girl knew better and Friedrich wanted to find out what was happening. So he decided to participate in the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil.

 

Yukiko Kumahira and Friedrich Wolff by Bikowolf