𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖆'𝖘 𝖀𝖑𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗

Seven: Humane

Camp was erected shortly, thanks to everyone doing their parts. Aleksei had Medusa return from spirit form to help him get their food provisions by hunting a nearby wyvern. "Mmmm this is so good!" Iskandar moaned as he shoved a bunch of the porridge into his mouth. "You never fail to amaze me with your cooking skills, Aleksei!"

"Please slow down, Iskandar sir! You might choke!" Mash exclaimed worriedly at how fast the dude was eating.

"Haha no need to worry!" He beamed at her with a quick thumbs up. "Nothing of the sort has ever happened to me before, and it never will!"

"He's a lost cause, Mash, don't waste your breath," The Russian muttered as he spooned some porridge into his own mouth. The motion was so elegant, graceful and unintentional that it made those that were not used to being with the guy to gape at him. "What?"

"N-Nothing," Fujimaru shook his head. "Anyway, what is this made of? It really does taste great."

"Wyvern and some herbs I found," Aleksei reponded, causing a few people to pause as they looked at the bowls in their hands with sudden disgust and horror. Iskandar and Medusa continued eating without comment. "Anyway, Miss Ruler, I have a few questions for you based on your class."

"Yes?" She perked up before pursing her lips anxiously. "I'm not sure I'll be of much help in terms of my class.."

"Usually Rulers are given information about the grail war they are summoned to, so do you mind giving us a rundown?" The man asked with a slight tilt of his head. Fujimaru scowled, he sounds so condescending whenever he opens his mouth. That has got to be a skill or something.

"While I am indeed a Ruler class," Jeanne murmured. "A majority of information about the holy grail war that should be provided is missing. Not just information, but my stats have ranked down as well. Not only have I lost the anti-servant command seals, I can't even reveal their true names anymore.."

"So you're useless, as I thought," Aleksei sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"T-that's not true!" Mash exclaimed suddenly.

"Yeah, this is her homeland, so she probably knows it well!" The other master agreed eagerly. Sharp dark eyes silenced them without a word as they shrunk away from the powerful gaze.

"...Then shall we speak of who will be taking watch?" Aleksei asked with a heavy sigh, deciding it was best to leave the useless ruler matter alone for the time being.

"You can leave that to me!" Romani called through the communication device.

"No."

"Huh?" The three other Chaldeans looked shocked as the Russian denied the doctor's offer. "It is best to have someone physically taking watch so that they can physically wake us up if need be. Just you yelling at us may not be enough."

"O-oh, I see..." the doctor sounded hesitant, but still obliged. "Well, I'll still be here if you need anything!"

"Yes," Aleksei acknowledged briefly before glancing at those around him. Fujimaru doesn't have the senses for night watch. Mash is too new at this to do night watch alone, so I might pair her up just so she can get some experience. Medi would be fine by herself, as would Iskandar. If need be, he thought as he held his chin carefully, I can always have the other two return to their physical states as well.

"I'll take second watch," Iskandar volunteered. "I'm a bit tired so second would be perfect for me to get a bit of a power nap in!"

"That's reasonable," The Russian nodded in agreement before he found his eyes drifting over to Mash. "Then, could Mash and Medi take first watch together?"

"Of course, Aleksei," The rider agreed instantly. "Please leave it to us."

"Yes, please do," Mash chimed in with a smile. "We'll make sure to be alert so you can get plenty of rest."

"Then me, Enkidu and Chulainn will take third watch," Aleksei finished, standing up. "If you're done, I'll take your bowls."

"Oh, I can do that," Jeanne piped up. "Since I wasn't of much help earlier, I can at least do the dishes."

"I suppose that would be fine," The master relented. Thus, the ruler went ahead and collected the dishes from everyone and got to work cleaning them. Everyone else did their own thing, mostly getting ready for bed. Finally, the dishes were done, and everyone not on watch or in spirit form headed into the tents.

First watch was uneventful, and so Medusa woke Iskandar up to start the second watch. His time keeping an eye on their surroundings was also uneventful. Therefore, he soon got Aleksei up and went back to sleep himself. "Come on out guys," Aleksei murmured softly so as to not wake the others up. Enkidu and Chulainn materialized in front of him a second later.

"So we're just keeping watch?" Chulainn clarified as he leaned on his spear. "Why'd you call both of us for that?"

"Because I haven't had time to talk with you," Aleksei told them, causing their eyebrows to shoot up. "Usually when I obtain servants, I talk with them about themselves--whatever they want to tell me if there are some parts about themselves that they don't like talking about--their goals, grail stuff, and exact terms of contract if I deem that is necessary."

"So you want to get to know us personally, rather than just what you've heard from our legends?" Enkidu reiterated, smiling. "I love that. You really see us as people."

"Of course," The man smiled slightly before the look vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The two were already used to it, so they didn't comment as they made their way over to the logs they had used as benches. "Chulainn, let's start with you," Aleksei said once they were all sitting down. "Have anything you want to tell me before I ask specific questions?"

"Before we start," He spoke quietly as he glanced at two specific tents. "Did you have this sort of talk with--?"

"Medi and Iskandar? Yeah, I did," The master nodded. "Actually, this conversation took place before I made them my servants."

"How so?" Enkidu raised an eyebrow, seeing as that didn't exactly make sense. How could he have spoken with them if they hadn't been summoned yet?

"They were servants in a grail war at the time," He explained, causing the two others' eyes to widen slightly. "So I proposed to take them under my wing if they didn't want to keep fighting. The condition was for us to get to know each other on equal terms so they could decide if being under me was what they wanted. I also extended this offer to a few others, since grail wars are stupid and burdensome, but none of the others wanted to give up on the grail."

"Oh," The two glanced at each other. It was a lot of information, and it was heavy information too.

"Wait a sec," Chulainn piped up again, his eyes back on Aleksei. "Does that mean we can ask you questions about yourself too?"

"Yes. Master-Servant relationships go both ways, it wouldn't be fair to you both if you were the only ones being interrogated, right?" He cocked his head. It was in that moment that the two servants realized that Aleksei Vasiliev was the ideal master in ways they hadn't even imagined.