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issei ryudo

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Does anyone know if I could just buy a set of monk's robes? Saying that I could 'just buy them' is painful, but not having them is awkward, and given how little people seem to care about credentials... I wish there was a temple here, any temple. Even if it's not my family's, being able to do what I was born to do would be a comfort.

[Action]

[Issei can be found throughout the entire city today. He seems to be drawing an elaborate map over several sheets of paper, labeling all noteworthy buildings and stores. Occasionally he stops and asks a person what a building is - it might even be your character.]

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You don't think that would be a little redundant?

He'll come back, won't he?

Do we know yet if there's a set number of times such a thing will work?

...I was just joking. I'll only lecture him to figurative death.

Good. Perhaps you and Saber together can begin to talk sense into him.

I've been trying. I'll try harder.

Glad to hear it.

...Saber?

...What?

It's hard for me to say what I want to, but... You and she seem close.

Of course we are.

[He might have only been a knight, but here Lancer was King Of Not-Getting-It.]

Saber is a good and honorable knight as well as an excellent companion. I trust no other in this city to watch my back as well as she does, and I would gladly do the same for her. I have fought as her left hand in Fuyuki and here as close to one of her knights as I assume one could be.

[He adjusted the glasses he wore, next remark coming without the slightest change in Lancer's calm tone.]

I will not allow anyone other than myself to defeat her.

I see. I thought it was like that. [That comes calmly: he just assumes that Lancer means in some kind of sparring or practice thing, because surely he didn't want to kill her. That would be silly.]

But Shirou is different to her.

[Well, to be fair Lancer was pretty sure he didn't want to kill her at this point.]

[Almost entirely sure.]

[Almost.]

...yes, he is. Even apart from being her Master, he's significant to her.

[Lancer spoke slowly, as if to confirm it himself--there was almost a confused look on his face. Not because he didn't understand the concept, of course. It was quite clear.]

[What he didn't understand was why that idea tugged at something in the back of his mind like a lingering annoyance. Was that...what jealousy felt like?]

[No, couldn't be. What reason did he have to be jealous of Emiya Shirou?]

I know that much, although I've only seen them together for a short period. It's kind of like...

Emiya Shirou is my best and dearest friend. I trust him completely, and I know he cares for me in return however poorly that he shows it. In his times of need I would do anything to keep him safe.

But Saber is different to him.

[Somewhere across town Saber and Shirou both probably just sneezed.]

There is, within reason, little if anything that I would not do if Saber asked it of me. [Which was...strange. When had that happened?] I trust her enough to share a room with her and have her at my back in combat, which are no small things for knights like ourselves.

And yet Emiya Shirou, who said such careless things, who took Archer's word over that of his own Servant...!

...he is more significant to her than any other.

['Especially me.']

He's stupid, I know that. He's stupid and careless, and he doesn't understand... He doesn't know what it is to have a relationship like that. He barely even knows how to have friends. But his heart is more pure than anyone else I've ever known - he doesn't understand, but he tries with what he has, and I can't allow that to cause him harm. I don't regret loving him even knowing that I can never be what Saber is to him.

...I do not doubt her judgment, even if I can not understand it.

[That was all he really said in response; mainly because Lancer was honestly at a loss. He didn't even know what on earth he was thinking anymore.]

I'm not sure judgment enters into the affairs of the heart, really.

I can assure you it doesn't, at least in my experience.

I hope that this is a fluke and they're happy much of the time. My jealousy doesn't keep me from that much.

I don't think Saber foolish enough to remain with someone that brought her only unhappiness. Least of all when she seems to speak fondly of him.

Then we shouldn't worry. Any two people are bound to be at disagreement at some point or another. They'll be fine.

...yes, of course they will.

[So where did that leave...either of them? Mere spectators? And why was Lancer even concerned about what should have been Saber's business and hers alone?]

I'm sorry. It's a little trite to say, but I know how you feel.

Hm? I'm not sure I know what you mean.

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