Hunter of The Red Plains

An Old Friend: Chapter III

"W-wha-?" Scathach, The Queen of The Land of Shadows, The Guardian of The Gate of Dead, The Shadowy One, Godkiller, was unable to say a word because of shock. She accepted his wish of cooking the dinner before she took him to her hut, the little wooden hut she built as she came to this island, but she never expected such a symposiac. She couldn't believe that he cooked all of them using her storage, since it was completely limited. Yet, there were kinds of food which she didn't even know the name of. Not just it, but he still was putting something more to eat on the table.

"You really are a man full of surprises, aren't you?" She said. He turned his gaze to her from the plate in his hand before his response.

"I am honoured." He said while smiling. "Well, as you said, there wasn't much of food to cook, so I couldn't do much. I apologise for it and I hope you'll enjoy the meal." He told her as he put the plate of food on the table. If it was his 'not much', he surely was a cook of a palace, Scathach thought.

She had her seat as he had filled her glass with her wine before having his own seat as well. As she had taken a look at their dinner, she couldn't decide what to eat first. Everything looked as delicious as others, every of them had a perfect smell that whet her appetite, and every of them had the face of a masterpiece of art. Since she was lost in her thoughts of critisism, she couldn't realise that her guest was staring at her.

"Aren't you going to eat?" He asked, with a questioning face. Even though he hadn't have much of materials, he believed that his work was not half bad. Could it be that she was not good with Japanese food?

"It is not as you think of." She replied quickly. "I just couldn't decide what to have first, since all of them looked delicious." Then she moved her chopsticks, which he just taught her how to use to eat something, to some interesting-looking food. Its charming smell filled her nose before she put it in her mouth. It was the first time she had such delight, and she could honestly say that it was one of the best food she ever ate. This sudden joy coming from the taste caused her to pause for a few seconds, before she began to eat as if she wasn't able to eat something for weeks. Seeing her like this made Emiya smile. She surely was a hell out of an eater, even though she could not be a rival to his old blonde friend.

"I'm glad you liked it." He told her with his smile keeping its place on his face. She had a huge sip of her wine and gulped afterwards, which was followed by a long 'Ahhh...', before talking.

"And here I was thinking that 'enjoying a meal' was just a term. It surely was a pleasure to me. You really must be the best cook-" rather than completing her sentence, her closed eyes widened as if she realised something. "How rude of mine. I still do not know your name, what would you wish me to call you?" She asked. His eyes sadenned before his response.

"As I told you before, I do not own a name, nor a wish. I am just a nameless ghost, though it would be a bit weird to call me, wouldn't it? What about, Archer?" He asked with a straight face, after thinking for a while.

"Archer? Are you a bowman? You surely were dancing greatly with your blades, yet you tell me your main skill is archery?" She asked with disbelief. He shrugged with a "Perhaps." as his lips turned into a smile, as his answer, which made her laugh for a bit. "You surely are full of surprises, Archer." She told him as she raised her glass of wine. "I present my frank respect and sincerest thanks to the cook." She said, causing him to smile once again. He raised his glass of wine as well and they clashed with a sound of 'clink'.

"Is it convenient even if I drink your wine? You know that I used some during my cooking." Archer asked after he swallowed his sip.

"This doesn't concern any problem." She replied. "Now, Archer, I would not like to jump directly into the topic but, what has brought you here?" She asked with her poker face.