Chapter 2 – Lund

"One more here, lad!" a slurred voice shouted over the incoherent noise of the crowd in the compact tight room as a man held up his wooden mug up and high in the air with a goofy smile.

"Hey, where's my jerky!" another voice shouted in complaint as he smacked the table in clear irritation.

"C-Coming right up!" Lily stammered as she rushed over to the bar's back kitchen while her grey peasant dress fluttered behind her harmlessly at the rapid movement.

"Here's the … Groak Delight!" Shirou shouted after an initial hesitation as he scurried to place the tender beef loin that has been simply barbecued over a burning fire with a variety of different vegetables ranging from corn to turnip onto the bar's countertop for Lily to pick up.

"M-Master Shirou!" Lily stuttered out with a panicked look on her face. "What about the jerky?"

"Oh, you mean …" Shirou hesitated once more as he ruffled his hair in frustration. He cursed the owner of the bar for giving such lousy names to the food he created from scratch. However, Shirou can only take them without complaint as a factor of him having a part-time job here in the bar. "Do you mean Crapulous Jerky?" Shirou finally relented in pronouncing the blasphemous name.

Lily nodded vigorously at Shirou's words as she fidgeted in place uncomfortably.

"You know," Shirou began as he eyed at Lily's figure with a defeated sigh, "you don't need to be this nervous for your first time working here," Shirou stated a matter-of-factly.

"B-But—"

"Think of this as a kingly duty," Shirou quickly interrupted, knowing that Lily is going to sprout out excuses she can't even understand herself. "Kind of like Alter there," Shirou mentioned as he gestured over to the blackly dressed girl.

"FINISH YOUR FOOD!" Alter ruthlessly commanded as she pointed at the unfinished plate of Shirou's handiwork.

"Hey! Wa—"

"I said finish it, brats!" Alter said coolly as her eyes narrowed before she audaciously placed her foot on top of the table with supremacy.

"Aye …" came a group of whimpers as fear penetrated through their souls with crushing force while they quietly mumbled over their food depressingly.

"HURRY IT UP, PEASANTS!" Alter shouted once more as she brought out a leather flogger out of her dress and whipped it in the air a couple times as it cracked loudly several times in succession.

Shirou's eyes bulged out at the sight of the object. Since when did she have that?!

"I take that back," Shirou muttered as he prepared himself to go rushing out to the table and restrain Alter at any given moment. "Don't be like Alter. Just be yourself. In fact, I believe Alter can learn a thing or two from you."

"O-Okay, Master Shirou!" Lily said as she straightened up her body and grabbed the food, namely Crapulous Jerky, over to the waiting customers.

Quickly glancing over at Alter who is close to strangling a man who has food stuffed in his mouth like an overloaded chipmunk, Shirou turned around as he eyed at the color-coded order strips that came from different types of vegetations grown in Lund.

Pink, Shirou noted the color code as he searched through his finite memory on what it stood for. Holding back a curse that almost slipped past his mouth, Shirou headed back for the kitchen as he prepared the newly ordered dish corresponding to the designated color. Of all names that could be chosen, why did it just have to be … Hugger-mugger Trout.

Pouring bucket loads of water onto the wooden ale-soaked floor in the empty and tranquil bar during its closing hours, Shirou and the pair of Servants worked quietly and tediously together to rid of the splattered food, vomit, and most importantly, the foul odor that reeked throughout the famed bar of Lund.

With his back arched, Shirou leaned forward while using his hand to firmly scrub the uneven ground to make sure nothing unclean was left behind. Rotating his sore shoulder joints, Shirou wiped off a gathering bead of sweat off the top of his brows as he used the brief respite to inspect how Lily and Alter are doing in their jobs. Not surprisingly, given both the Servants' physiques and stamina, Lily and Alter were still continuously hard at work as if the past hour of scrubbing the unforgiving floor was a mere warmup.

Veering his eyes back to the ground, Shirou begrudgingly wished that he had asked Anja how to make some powerful soap to make all of their lives easier … antibacterial soap if at all possible. However, despite the back pain-inducing job, Shirou was more than content to continue his responsibility. For him, cleaning was more of a soothing pastime than that of a grueling task.

Shirou's train of thought was suddenly interrupted when his ears picked up a gentle surprised yelp from his left. Snapping his head over to the source of noise, Shirou's facial muscles slackened to a frown when he noticed Lily desperately trying to maintain her balance in the pool of water that had accumulated on her designated floor section that she was supposed to clean.

"Ahhh!" Lily yelped once more when her left foot slipped and caught her undefended right foot, causing her to trip over herself for less than a split-second. However, Lily managed to miraculously retain her balance when she spun on the sole of her right foot and regained back her center of gravity. Unfortunately for Lily though, momentum was still against her when her body continued to travel and spiral out of control slowly but surely through the length of the soaked floor.

"M-Master Shirou!" Lily cried out as she flailed her arms in front of her to no avail. "Save me!"

Alter spared a minute glance of annoyance at her counterpart's side before resuming back to her steady work as if having not noticed Lily's dire predicament.

Shirou sighed inwardly. When it comes to Lily, trouble seemed to follow her everywhere … albeit most of the time it's because of her direct influence.

Less than a second later Lily's plea was announced, the innocent white Saber's balance fumbled when she bumped into the stationary water bucket by the side, inevitably causing her to flounder for a split second before she landed with her back onto the wet floor in a messy heap.

Shirou stood up from where he was working and walked over to where Lily is still lying.

"Need a hand?" Shirou asked, unable to hide the surfacing grin of amusement he had on his face.

Lily cutely pouted at her Master's late arrival as she refused to meet him in his eyes.

Shirou chuckled at her antics, this time being the first opportunity he had to see Lily acting this way. For a moment, he was reminded of the "tsundere" Rin he had back in Fuyuki City. But, for both his and Lily's sake, Shirou prayed that he would never see the light of day where Lily becomes dishonest with her feelings … like a certain verbally abusive Tohsaka.

Looking back at Shirou's outstretched hand, Lily face then slowly crack into an exuberant smile, graciously accepting her dear Master's generous offer.

"Next time," Shirou began as he hauled Lily up to her feet, "don't use that much water," Shirou suggested as he surveyed the thoroughly soaked and soggy wooden planks. The last thing Shirou needed was to once again get berated by the owner of the shop because of either Lily's or Alter's hazardous "accidents".

Once was already plenty enough, and that was when Alter had managed to put a massive dented crack on the feeble wooden walls of the building when she delivered her divine punishment onto the unfortunate drunk man a week ago. And it was because of all these series of events did it led Shirou to ultimately repay Alter's debt by working for the owner of the bar as compensation due to having no substantial income upon appearing in this timeline. Furthermore, the Edelfelt heir, Anja, didn't seem to want to give a lending hand in Shirou's direction … not that Shirou would have accepted it anyway if it was offered.

Back to the task at hand, Shirou returned kneeling on the floor and began continuously scrub over a persistent stain on the floor before getting it completely wiped off. However, with keen eyes that rivals a hawk, Shirou glanced past a tiny piece of salmon stuck tightly between a dent in the wooden planks. Shirou frowned at the revolting sight. He needed to ensure with perfection that the floor was the most hygienic and cleanest place in the village. Then, Shirou is going to knock some sense into the frequent costumers of the bar concerning their bad hygienic habits.

Veering his head back and forth to make sure there were no unwanted prying eyes, Shirou glanced back to the piece of waste below him.

"Trace On," Shirou quietly whispered as a simple mystic code in the form of a needle tipped dagger manifested within his hands.

While Shirou was not tracing a mana-consuming Noble Phantasm for a cleaning task, Shirou nevertheless couldn't help but grin in mild amusement at the thought of Archer from ten years back giving him an obnoxious stare of disapproval for using magecraft in this manner. Sticking the blade tip into the crevice and running a weak fire inducing mystic code through the weapon, Shirou had effectively purified the wooden tavern floor.

Gazing periodically at what was left undone, Shirou was suddenly interrupted from his lapse of concentration when the creaking of the thick wooden door to the bar sounded itself. Peering through the side of his eyes, Shirou noticed a man with an oversized muscular build entered through the doorway audaciously with two other similar figures beside him.

Wiping the front of his hands onto his moist pants, Shirou slowly stood up as he approached the incoming customers. "Sorry, shop hours are closed. You can come back during nightfall."

Not deterred by Shirou's announcement, the trio of men stepped further forward toward Shirou.

"May I help you?" Shirou asked with a raised eyebrow at the men's strange antics. If these people wanted to find trouble with him, Shirou would rather them do it some other time when Alter is not present lest he ends up paying the damage fees Alter will be sure to incur onto the foundationally weak building.

"You're the kid, right?" a man in front, presumably the leader, sneered.

Shirou gave them a questioning gaze at the odd statement.

Another man with leather armaments on his forearms nodded in agreement. "He's the one, alright. Beat Gunne to a 'swigly' pulp."

Shirou's eyes narrowed at the said name. If he had to guess, Gunne had to be the drunkard Shirou defeated in the bar just a little over a week ago.

"Swell! That's the man. Give me the cup, lad!" the Scandinavian leader commanded with great vigor.

"Shop hours are closed," Shirou gave an unamused glare. However, more than the men's untimely entrance as well as suspicious speech, Shirou simply couldn't understand what these people wanted.

"Don't be a poor sport," the leader smirked sarcastically. "Hand me the Unbreakable Mug!"

Shirou's momentary frown instantly turned into one that of confusion. The "Unbreakable Mug"? What was that all about?

A man to the leader's left nodded subtly in approval. "Aye, the renown mug that granted you victory against the 'Lone Army', Gunne!"

Shirou was slowly beginning to piece the intangible puzzle together.

A light sigh escaped Shirou's lips as he shook his head back and forth in defeat.

"You mean that?" Shirou asked as he pointed at a seemingly ordinary wooden mug in pristine condition being raised on top of a miniature pedestal as if showcasing a grand trophy.

"That's it, lad!" the man in front exclaimed with confidence. "Today, the village of Lund shall witness the true warrior amongst all men! Now, bring forth the cup, boy."

Shirou gave an inquisitive gaze at the group of eager men, ready to prove their insurmountable strength.

Shirou was no fool to not have noticed what the bar owner – and subsequently, his boss – had decided to do behind his back. Initially, it came as a surprise to Shirou when he unwittingly discovered that the village people began hailing how Lund Ole Tavern had the sturdiest cups for the manliest warriors on earth. Later, this rumor quickly morphed into an unspoken message to see which man could break the proclaimed invincible beverage container at the local bar and be declared as the village hero.

To make matters worse, the bar owner was beginning to make a profit from the local people to give them the chance to challenge the impossible. While perhaps deceitful, Shirou didn't mind it as it contributed to his due payment regarding Alter's incident. Furthermore, the people in the village could learn a thing or two regarding their foolish wishes. However, to hear the new title, "Unbreakable Mug", rang new to Shirou's ears. But, the name was fitting enough for him to eventually figure out what the men have come for.

"Very well," Shirou drawled, clearly not in the mood to see men fighting over each other to have the "legendary" opportunity.

Lifting the wooden mug off the pedestal that strangely resembled a Japanese altar, Shirou brought the ale mug that was no larger than the Viking's fist before him.

The first man closest to the cup rubbed his hands in excitement, his eyes hiding none of the "bloodlust" he felt for the cup, clearly determined to witness the mug's ultimate destruction.

"One hit," Shirou informed, his even voice signifying that there was no room for negotiation, "for a silver coin."

The man didn't bother to meet Shirou in the eyes. "How about half a silve' bar for three of us all?"

Shirou considered it for a second as he did the mental math. Finding the simple exchange of amount sufficient for his daily needs, Shirou nodded in agreement as the man handed him half a bar of silver – a form of unofficial currency in medieval Scandinavia, especially with somewhere as undeveloped as Lund.

Taking the payment without reserve, Shirou brought the cup outside and placed it onto dirt ground.

Without needing any instructions, the first man coming forward cracked his knuckles as he prepared to punch a hole through the wooden mug.

Shirou began to frown at the sight. To the man's credit, he was incredibly strong and could easily break a hole through a wooden cup barehanded at any given moment. However, this mug was no ordinary mug. This mug was the very cup Shirou used to fend off the drunkard's attack over a week ago, and thus was reinforced through the use of Reinforcement Magecraft from his own mana.

Therefore, trying to punch a hole through a magically enhanced mug like the one before the trio of men would be nigh equivalent to hitting against a thick slab of steel. In other words, to punch at the seemingly brittle cup would ultimately be bone-crushing. And all this was due to the courtesy of Gaia's lesser influence on magecraft or mysteries in general during this timeline.

"A gauntlet might help," Shirou vaguely advised, allowing the mighty men to make their own decision.

Too engaged in his warmup, the burly man ignored Shirou's word of caution as he lifted his fist high up in the air. With muscles bulging, knuckles whitening, and teeth gritting, the man let out a roar as he slammed his fist of retribution upon the defenseless mug. Contact was instantly made between the acting force and the inanimate object as the cup creaked at the force while it sank barely into the hard soil at the man's top to bottom blow.

However, Shirou swore he heard something snapped when the Viking warrior disengaged from the impenetrable "shield" as he kneeled in pain while gritting his teeth in mild agony.

Once more, Shirou turned to look at the other two companions who were alongside the fallen man. "A gauntlet might help," Shirou repeated once more without batting an eye, having seen this occurrence repeat itself far too many times already.

The pair of men glared at Shirou with untamed anger.

Shirou helplessly shrugged at their reaction. He already warned the man!

"Next," Shirou gestured at the "unbeatable" cup.

The remaining two contestants glanced at the cup as their eyes rekindled with determination. In more ways than one, this reinforced mug almost reminded Shirou of the Holy Grail. While not a wish-granting chalice, the mug nevertheless opened the door to both glory and fame amongst the village people to whichever warrior managed to cripple the formidable object. And, Shirou believed he had more than enough reasons to justify his "taboo" correlation … especially considering how he gotten himself dragged into becoming a Master again with not one, but two Servants!

Not surprisingly, the second man to the challenge utterly failed, suffering worse than the former contestant due to his posture being unbalanced upon smashing his fist into the cup straight down. However, the last man standing had an interesting approach when he decided to slam into the cup from the side instead of from the top.

With piercing eyes blazed with concentration, the man used his right foot to kick into the mug with all his strength. However, instead of the "expected" result of meeting an immobile fortress, the cup sailed through the air like a soccer ball before landing with a couple of ungraceful bounces along the dirt ground.

Shirou couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. The man had apparently misunderstood in thinking the cup's sturdiness as a sign of its weight and density. However, reinforcement did not work that way. Surpassing the mere ability to strengthen the durability of an object, it could also enhance other aspects of the object like sharpness for a blade or repairment in case of damage. But, by no means does this allude that the object would be inherently heavier because of its sturdiness, which is a common misunderstanding for people who simply don't understand magecraft well enough.

"That's not going to work," Shirou informed as he went over and grabbed the tilted cup from the ground near the village well. "The weight still remains constant. Its durability on the other hand …" Shirou trailed off, allowing the failed challengers to fill in the blank themselves based upon their respective experiences.

"Tch," one man snickered in disappointment at the ridiculous notion on how a mere cup could beat his prowess before leaving the scene.

"Also," Shirou continued, "your postures were all wrong. All of you relied on brute strength from your arms, move your hips along with your blow if you want to make it more impacting," Shirou advised. Despite the men's untamed looks, these individuals were clearly in their early twenties due to their apparent inexperience in basic battle forms.

"A formidable foe," the leader of the group grumbled under his breath as he nursed his aching hand while both he and his other partner alongside him left with a thoroughly defeated expression … but one that carried without any regrets.

Shirou sighed softly at the bizarre case of people finding the urge to challenge such a stupid item for the sake of fame and superiority. If anything, Shirou hoped that even a small mug like this could prove to be a reminder to the Scandinavians to not be overbearing and arrogant of their achievements. Knowing from personal experience, Shirou knew it would ultimately end badly for the people of Lund.

Treading back to the Lund Ole Tavern, Shirou lazily took the cup in hand as an amusing thought crossed his mind. Who knew, if this ridiculous act of sports continued, this cup just may get enough fame to become a Noble Phantasm … if it maintained that for a couple centuries and gathered enough popularity to form an ideal within the people's mind. Shirou couldn't help but grin at the thought, that would sure make an interesting sight to behold.

Entering the unmaintained tavern, Shirou was immediately greeted with a sight of both Lily and Alter relaxing beside a bar table with their respective expressions of satisfaction.

"Done already?" Shirou raised his eyebrow at the unlikely thought. There were few who could beat him in cleaning in terms of overall speed and perfection.

Lily nodded her head as she hummed a tune in pride of her own achievement before resuming back to sipping her suspicious-looking beverage. Alter on the other – as usual – spared a glance at Shirou, indicating mildly in confirmation that she too had finished the assigned work throughout the day.

Shirou was about to check the validity of the statement when out from the kitchen behind the "reception" desk walked in the bar owner – Shirou's temporary boss – himself.

"Ah, Shiro, Lily, and …" the man briefly paused before he stammered to continue, "a-and Alter. You folks are all here!"

"What do you expect, Ivar?" Shirou inquisitively asked, lightly shaking his head at the man's tenacity for asking redundant and meaningless questions.

"Yes, of course," the man nodded vigorously as if talking more to himself. "You all done with the job I see."

"Yes, sir Ivar," Lily humbly answered as she gave a courteous bow, showing in her own manner to Shirou that she was not in the slightest bit perturbed by her social status in the developing colony of Scandinavia.

"Great," the chubby man boomed with glee. "Shiro, I have a greatest of ideas!"

Shirou held back the countless sighs he let out during his stay in the otherworldly village.

"A pick-up phrase!" Ivar announced his grand proposal. "For the tavern, you see."

"Last I checked, your 'pick-up' lines include naming my dishes as Groak Delight, Crapulous Jerky, and Hugger-mugger Trout," Shirou deadpanned.

"Ah, nothing of the sort," Ivar defended himself as he prepared to further detail his brilliant plan.

"Like?" Shirou gave his boss a doubtful gaze, but willing to hear the man out despite his mind desperately wanting to return back "home" in the Edelfelt fortress.

"How about …" Ivar trailed off as he mulled over his thoughts, "something enticing yet messy … while eloquent but manly," Ivar brainstormed a couple options he had in mind.

Shirou stared at Ivar with fixed dead eyes. "Those are contradictory statements," Shirou resisted a groan coming out his throat. "You can't make my food sound enticing and messy at the same time. It's either one or the other. And it's surely not the latter."

"But—"

"If people make my food messy," Shirou continued, recalling an unfortunate incident where a man was too drunk and wind up emptying out his stomach filled with both ale and Shirou's partially digested food in the bar, "then that's their problem and thus should not be included in your 'pick-up' phrase."

"Bars are messy," Ivar refuted with a dissatisfied frown. "And bars are for men. So, messy men are real men."

"You're kidding," Shirou muttered under his own breath, finding it suddenly difficult to meet Ivar in the eyes. It was painful, to say the least.

"What about 'eloquent but manly'?" Lily asked, completely unaware of Shirou's inner turmoil.

"That won't work," Shirou immediately stated. "If you want to be eloquent to attract the ladies of Lund to come to the tavern yet want the exact opposite by making the bar only for men is a contradictory statement in itself."

"Nay," Ivar disagreed once more with a booming voice. "Eloquent to make the ladies admire the strong Viking men we are in Lund to be able to satisfy our thirst of battle through manly ale!"

Shirou proceeded to raise an eyebrow when he noticed how serious Ivar actually was when the man raised his fist and pounded his chest as if pledging allegiance to his fellow brothers and warriors in battle.

"Well, you're not going to come up with anything," Shirou informed without a lace of compassion, especially having been the receiving end of the punishing nicknames Shirou obtained with his handmade dishes.

Shirou then glanced at his two Servants, Lily and Alter, mildly begging to contribute against this hopeless cause of Ivar.

"P-Perhaps Master Shirou is right," Lily lightly stammered in the beginning.

"Huh? Master?" Ivar mumbled under his breath while in thought.

Drop the "Master" already, Shirou pleaded within his mind. Despite not being totally aware of it himself, Shirou has noticed that throughout the ten years he's strived to become a Hero of Justice since the Grail War, Shirou has started to become more and more cynical. Shirou was beginning to wonder whether Archer's unruly behavior was already rubbing of off him. Considering Archer was his future self, Shirou thought the idea becoming more likely than not.

"A revelation! By Odin himself!" Ivar suddenly proclaimed with a booming voice, making everybody in the room mildly wince at the noise aside for Alter who twitched her eyebrow at the unexpected shout.

"What?" Shirou questioned, barely avoiding the scowl that was reaching up to his face. Shirou had dealt with more annoying and obnoxious people than Ivar, but for some special reason, Ivar seemed to annoy Shirou the most among all of them aside for a certain red and black Archer from the future.

"Hear me," Ivar boasted proudly as he hushed everybody. "Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern, home to the Unbreakable Mug. Be the best, manliest, and powerful Viking before thine women!"

"Uh … no. Just … no," Shirou deadpanned. Even Lily for once was left without anything to say.

"It was given by Odin himself!"

"And Odin did a bad job," Shirou completed the thought.

Ivar looked for a moment flabbergasted at Shirou's "blasphemous" statement but quickly recovered.

"Another revelation!" Ivar boomed out with excitement.

Shirou's hand met his face with an audible slap.

Great. Here it goes again.

"Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern! Home to the best warriors' beers, house to the Unbreakable Mug, and the safe haven for all ladies!"

"No," Shirou said with dead eyes.

Ivar gave Shirou an unhappy look. "Do you have anything better, lad?"

"Yes," Shirou answered. "Just forget the pick-up lines. They're just going to hurt. Plus, you are the ONLY tavern in Lund. What's the point if everybody is going to come here regardless?"

"You don't get nothing," Ivar lightly spat out. "There's another bar two days away from here. You lose people 'round here."

Two days … Who in the right mind would travel that far to get drunk?

"I trust your addition of different food in the bar suffices in bringing the customers in," Shirou pointed out. Shirou highly doubted people in this day and age could best his future knowledge of countless cuisines.

"It's settled," Ivar grunted roughly. "For every man that enters this establishment, we shall utter Odin's divine message sent unto me."

"No, I'm not doing that," Shirou stood his ground. There was no way he is saying something as stupid as that. Calling his food Groak Delight was already one matter that Shirou allowed to slide, but this? Shirou would adamantly be unshaken in his stance.

"Is it bad, Master Shirou?" Lily innocently asked, wondering what is distressing Shirou this much.

"Yes, Lily," Shirou sighed loudly which earned him a soft glare from Lily. "Yes, it's just that bad."

"Regardless of your wants, you WILL utter the divine words of Odin!" Ivan declared with determination, leaving no room for arguments.

"No …" Shirou said for the final time in the disguise of a groan.

"Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern! Home to the best warriors' beers, house to the Unbreakable Mug, and the safe haven for all ladies!" Shirou advertised aloud when a group of mighty men entered the humble tavern of Lund.

"The best cook in Lund, Master Shirou, is here to serve you!" Lily cheered on much to Shirou's dismay.

"Break the mug and get ten silver coins. Fail, then die in shame," Alter announced monotonously as she glared at the customers with cold and unnerving eyes, making everybody in the room halt their footsteps in fear before seating themselves in the room to not further agitate the emotionally unstable "tyrant" in peasant's clothing.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Shirou grumbled half-heartedly under his breath. That sly old man, Ivar, managed to make himself entangle with another one of his stupid ideas.

The door swung open once more before Lily could give a proper reply to Shirou.

"Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern! Home to the best warriors' beers, house to the Unbreakable Mug, and the safe haven for all lad—?!" Shirou drawled as he continued working before his eyes widened in realization when he noticed the person that entered is none other than the Edelfelt heir, Anja, in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Shirou asked abruptly, trying to quickly cover up his shameful deed upon meeting the familiar face.

"Seeing how our home Master is fairing in the local bar," Anja retorted with a smug grin.

"Perhaps you would like some Groak Delight?" Shirou countered nonchalantly at Anja's clear teasing while wiping up a pool of vomit on the ground beside an unconscious drunken man.

Anja amused smile slowly turned into a frown upon the unpleasant sight. "I'm quite alright."

"It's either that or Lily and Alter's onion with dry bread combo," Shirou pointed out.

Anja's frown deepened at the thought. "Combo? Never mind, I believe I can prepare something for myself."

Shirou shrugged though the thought of Anja cooking something brought interest to his ears. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two from the magus of the Scandinavian cuisine during this time. "What really brings you here?" Shirou finally asked the inevitable question.

"Serve me some mead first," Anja gestured.

Shirou inwardly frowned. This was a first.

"Lily," Shirou called out to Lily who was now busily working in the "staff only" kitchen. "Grab Anja some mead!"

"Yes, Master Shirou," came the muffled voice in the kitchen as the clattering sounds of pots and pans tumbling down to the floor sounded in the small bar.

"Find yourself a seat first, I have some Hugger-mugger Trouts to deliver," Shirou suggested to the still standing Anja.

Anja lightly smiled at Shirou's words. "Very well, don't keep a lady waiting too long."

Shirou shook his head with a chuckle at the Edelfelt's words. A lady? Hardly. If anything, Anja reminded him a mixture of both Tohsaka and Luvia together … an interesting combination to say the least.

After finishing his list of orders, Shirou arrived back to the waiting Anja who had a half-filled cup of mead on her table. While approaching her, Shirou dimly heard some people eying Anja dangerously, occasionally calling her a witch. Shirou stored the information to the back of his mind, he would ask her what the commotion was about on a later date.

"Done?" Anja asked with a content smile as she sipped her drink once more.

Shirou nodded as he wiped his hands on his trousers. "I have some spare time now, though I wouldn't be surprised if Lily cries for help later because something she and Alter did," Shirou noted as he thought back to a couple unfortunate incidents in the feeble tavern. "Anyway, what's the matter?" Shirou asked, fully aware that Anja came because something had come up.

Gently placing down the used wooden mug onto the table, Anja gazed at Shirou seriously. A picture Shirou was too used to seeing amongst his magi peers. "Sightings," Anja stated simply. "Goblin sightings in a village two days away from here." Anja further clarified.

"Phantasmal species," Shirou mumbled with his voice lowered. This was a serious matter. Just like how magecraft can be more easily cast and maintained back in history due to Gaia's lesser influence upon the world, likewise, Gaia is more unable to reject the existence of otherworldly creatures crafted from men's imagination – goblins to name one.

Normally, the Mage's Association and occasionally the Church were responsible to deal with these rare sightings in the modern world. However, in the day and age where King Arthur reigned, Shirou could safely deduce that the Mage's Association at best has only begun its movement. Therefore, the probability of the Mage's Association coming up to Scandinavia to eliminate a few goblins is null. Thus, this leaves …

"So you're asking I, Lily, and Alter to help deal with the issue," Shirou stated, cutting straight through the point.

Anja nodded without hesitation. "While these lands are protected by myself, the Edelfelt line of mages, I have reasons to believe that this sighting may be trickier than most."

Shirou raised an eyebrow at Anja being quick to enlist his help. Normally, typical mages tend to take pride in their magecraft and thus do not like other mages meddling their affairs or doing their work for them, especially in the land the magus governs and protects. Either this sighting is far beyond Anja's ability to control or something else is motivating her to enlist his and both Arturias' help.

"How so?"

"Ley lines," Anja began. "Multiple ley lines cross through the village of Gata. While these 'supernatural' sightings generally happen fairly often on a constant interval within one month, there hasn't been a sighting since half a year ago."

"So you think something big is coming up due to the lapse of inaction," Shirou concluded.

Anja nodded in agreement.

Shirou raked a hand through his hair. Things have quickly turned complicated in the short week he's been here in Lund. Regardless, if there were people that needed saving, it was Shirou's calling to go there and perform his duty as a Hero of Justice to save all.

"Which direction?" Shirou asked, ready to commit the spoken map in mind.

"Northeast," Anja swiftly answered. Its direction was exactly the opposite of the seaside port Shirou needed to get to in order to sail to Britannia.

"Hmmm," Shirou hummed a thoughtful tune. "When's the next ship going to Britannia coming if we don't make it to the first one?" Shirou questioned.

"It's uncertain," Anja answered. "It depends are there any more settlers that want to come to the upper lands."

Great. Things were just getting better.

While one would normally assume the task of a mage is to simply eliminate these "sightings" known as phantasmal species and immediately move on to the next mission, hunting phantasmal beasts are often much more complicated and usually requires weeks and sometimes months of patience to fully eliminate the issue. And considering Shirou has gone back in time where mana is more concentrated in the world, the problem with phantasmal beasts is bound to be much worse and more prominent here, and would thus more likely than not take much more time in completely sealing the issue.

Not to mention, Shirou also had that debt to pay to Ivar because of a certain Saber Servant.

Shirou mulled over all his thoughts grimly. By the way things are looking, Shirou may end up staying in Lund for the long term until someone could assist him in getting to the British Isles, now known as Britannia, on a later date. All this which ultimately alludes to the fact that Shirou would take more time in getting back to the modern world.

Shirou let out a loud sigh at the jumbled thoughts. "I'll go," Shirou relented. "I'll bring Lily and Alter along as well."

Anja gave a rare wide and sincere smile at Shirou. "Thank you very much, Master—"

"Not you too," Shirou groaned. "Shirou is fine," Shirou said sternly.

"I will lead you there then, Shirou," Anja grinned upon her failed tease.

For once, a Scandinavian is able to get the pronunciation of Shirou's Japanese name accurately on a constant basis, something which he appreciated despite its insignificance.

"That sounds great," Shirou nodded once in agreement.

"M-Master Shirou!" Lily cried out from the kitchen. "Ah! No, not that Alter! A-ah! NOOOO!"

"It seems like I'm called," Shirou gave a wry smile at the alarm and desperate cries of the young and innocent Arturia.

Anja grinned in return. "In the meantime, tell your boss – Ivar was it? – that today's your last day. We will be leaving tomorrow."

"That urgent, huh?" Shirou said in wonder. Maybe goblins were the least of Anja's worries.

"Also, I will help repay your debt because of this."

Shirou raised his eyebrow at the unusually generous Anja. "What brought this on?"

"Consider this as my thanks for helping with Gata."

Shirou couldn't help himself but grin. That statement and antic reminded him so much of Tohsaka Rin back home. "I can't say no to that then," Shirou chuckled. "Well, thank you for the help. I'm sure Lily and Alter will appreciate the gift even more so than myself."

Anja smirked at the comment. "Now, now, you had better check on your two maidens," Anja shooed Shirou.

Shirou's eyes twitched. "Don't you get started," Shirou warned with a mild yet joking scowl at the word "maidens".

"AH! Don't use your sword! ALTER! NO!"

Shirou's face immediately went on full alert at the sound of Alter extracting her blade.

"Got to go!" Shirou instantly flew out of the bar dining area.

"AH, NOOOO! MASTER SHIROUUUUU!" Lily gave a final wail at their poor attempt in recreating the Crapulous Jerky when it self-combusted in the meager kitchen of Lund Ole Tavern.

"How peaceful," Anja murmured to herself as she drank another sip of the honey mead while smelling its sweet fragrance in the midst of churning chaos.

"Is that all you have?" Anja asked inquisitively at the lack of belongings Shirou and both the Servants had on them.

Shirou shrugged. "Didn't exactly come here prepared. However, I should ask, isn't that a bit much?" Shirou voiced his concern while pointing at the en masse luggage.

"Oh, this? This is quite normal for a lengthy expedition."

"Gems?" Shirou took a wild guess based upon his experience fighting alongside Luvia.

"Huh? How did you know?" Anja questioned with wonder.

"Call it a wild guess," Shirou answered. "That aside, are you ready to leave?"

Inwardly, Shirou would be ecstatic if he could finish the expedition before their one month – now less than three weeks – deadline in order to make it back to the ship. However, judging by Anja's sheer amount of packages, Shirou was beginning to find such likelihood more improbable.

Anja nodded. "We're going northward. Follow my lead."

Gazing over her packages, Anja then opened up a miniature bag in hand before casting a spell and opening an extra spatial dimension within it. Using levitation magecraft, Anja then swiftly summoned her belongings and threw them into the small bag without an effort.

Shirou mentally whistled at the feat. While he did realize that magecraft is more powerful further into the past, to see it exercised first hand is still nevertheless an impressive sight. Even Tohsaka Rin, a magus prodigy, would have at least huffed in exertion at the action. But Anja, it felt like she didn't even lift a single finger despite receiving no aid from external sources.

With a simple gesture, Anja leads the way to the village settlement of Gata as Shirou as well as Lily and Alter followed quietly along.

After a couple hours of nonstop walking, the sun finally began to set below the visible horizon on the flat plains of Scandinavian. While relatively chilly up in the north, Shirou found pleasure and solace at the quiet and soothing scenery. Furthermore, the weather reminded him what it's like in Japan during the cool spring season.

Settling down under an upright tree, Anja reopened the spatial dimension within her bag and swiftly took out cups of water.

"You brought that too?" Shirou gave an inquisitive gaze. Surprised by the fact that Anja even thought as far as bringing water along during the trip.

"The lands can be harsh," Anja vaguely replied.

Regardless, Shirou nevertheless appreciated the fact that they had some water to drink in the kilometers upon kilometers of flat grasslands. While Shirou is more than capable of surviving two days of arduous journey to another village without anything to eat and drink, having something to replenish his energy is always helpful.

As a certain Saber would say, "Hunger is the enemy."

"Would you like some water?" Shirou asked unconsciously to both Lily and Alter while Anja gave a questioning and confused look.

Both Servants declined the offer.

Right, Shirou thought to himself, Servants don't rely on physical sustenance as they are technically spiritual beings.

"Master Shirou," Lily suddenly called out to Shirou in a whisper.

Turning around, Shirou met Lily in the eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Master Shirou, we are going to Gata, correct?"

Shirou nodded. "That's what Anja said at least."

Lily lightly shook her head in lament at the village's name. "A year ago," Lily began, "I've received news of Gata being overrun by – what Merlin calls – phantasmal beasts."

Shirou's ears perked at the news and immediately gestured for Lily to continue.

"There have also been sightings of goblins, ogres, and some say a dragon as well."

Shirou instantly frowned at the message. Dragons, hailed as the most powerful of all phantasmal beasts, are nigh impossible to kill. In fact, legends that sing great tales of heroic feats of men who slay dragons are merely killing the newborn phantasmal beasts that have crossed over to earth. However, if an old dragon resurfaces to the human world, it was bound to be catastrophic. Everything could go bad enough for Alaya – a force of human's will to survive and exist – to ultimately send a Counter Guardian to deal with the issue.

With all this said though, the only chance Shirou had rooting for him in this potential predicament is that dragons – especially older ones – rarely crossed over to the human side of the world.

"Thanks for telling me about it," Shirou directed at Lily. "I'll keep the information in mind."

While Shirou knew Lily came from a parallel world than that of the one he's in now – hence why there are able to be three Arturias present in this world – Shirou also understood that not every event would coincide between worlds. But nevertheless, the possibility still exists.

"Flirting?" Anja eyed Lily and Shirou smugly.

Shirou turned around to see Anja drawing a map on the ground – wait, that's not quite right – more like drawing mana onto the air centimeters above the ground.

"Strategizing?" Shirou guessed upon gazing at the scene that resembled an outdoor strategy meeting, swiftly ignoring Anja's crude comment.

Anja nodded. "We'll need your and Lily's input for this," Anja stated before a wider smug smile made its way up her lips.

Shirou turned back to look at Lily to see her entire face flushed red and her mouth opening and closing incomprehensibly without uttering a single sound. In short, Lily looked like she was having a mental overload and meltdown.

Shirou held back a curse at the phenomenon. From experience, Shirou knew Lily is able to flawlessly misinterpret anything that has an inkling of romantic connotation out of its context and get extremely embarrassed over it. So much so that she is unable to handle such things due to her pure innocence – a direct contrast to her counterpart Alter.

"You just had to do it," Shirou gave a mild glare at Anja, knowing well that she must have done this on purpose to incite a reaction from the poor Servant.

Anja just chuckled quietly as her eyes twinkled with untold joy.

This was going to be a long night for Emiya Shirou.

Day two of the journey, much like day one, went without any issues as the group of four traversed across the grassy plains of Scandinavia.

"We're almost there," Anja shouted over the howling wind. "It's right up ahead."

Nodding, Shirou continued walking against the powerful wind as if unaffected by the natural force. The clinking and clanking of armor beside him also notified Shirou that both Alter and Lily had changed back to their respective Servant attires in preparation of the upcoming battle that's to be expected.

Hiking up a small hill above them, the outline of the small village ahead began to appear as the sun's afternoon rays shone over the serene settlement.

"Looks much better than I assumed," Anja thought aloud at the sight of the quiet village.

Reinforcing his vision, Shirou scouted the village from afar off as he made a serious contemplating face at the sight. Something was not quite right.

"It's too quiet," Shirou finally said aloud. "Also, I see no one in the village."

Anja scoffed at Shirou's statement. "You can see from this far?"

Shirou turned to eye Anja seriously.

"You're serious," Anja stated monotonously.

"Master Shirou is correct," Lily chimed in. "I see nobody nearby."

"… War," Alter suddenly spoke as she stared at the distant village with her piercing eyes.

"Wha—"

Almost as if on cue, a loud trumpet sounded as it echoed across the windy landscape.

Shirou promptly reinforced his hearing as Shirou barely made out in the howling environment the war cries of fighting men and the scraping claws of the bloodthirsty phantasmal beasts.

"We need to go, now!" Shirou shouted with urgency as he pumped his legs full with mana, ready to rush into the battlefield without delay.

Anja nodded seriously in return as both Alter and Lily followed their Master's orders and began running to the battle scene.

Less than five minutes later, the group of four skidded across the dirt ground to see men and women alike fighting for their lives by using a wall of spears to fend off the phantasmal beasts of goblins approaching them. However, Shirou didn't even need to look twice to know that the people's defenses were quickly crumbling due to their lack of both experience and proper equipment.

"Lily, Alter," Shirou shouted, "exterminate the goblins."

"Yes, Master Shirou," Lily immediately obeyed as she rushed into the battlefield with Caliburn in hand while Alter followed after the flying Lily.

Shirou was about to rush in to see were there any people in dire trouble when a loud roar reverberated across the bloody fields of Gata. The goblins scurried footsteps and gnashing teeth as well as the people's war cries instantly came to a stop when a massive looming figure quaked the earth with its footsteps.

Slowly turning around, Shirou's mouth gaped when the gigantic monster before him revealed itself from the mildly foggy environment. With leather tough green skin and heights easily dwarfing the village houses, Shirou felt his heart slowly drop at the sight. By far, this was the largest phantasmal beast he has ever encountered.

"An ogre," Anja spat out with disdain.

"An ogre?!" Shirou raised his voice in bewilderment. "That," Shirou pointed at the beast for good measures, "is an ogre?!"

Shirou has fought a few ogres in his lifetime, but none of them were even close to the size of the monster before him. At best, the largest ogre Shirou had ever fought hand in hand with is twice his height. But this? This ogre is easily the size of a five-story building!

The ogre then proceeded to pound its mighty chest as it boomed out a guttural roar. Hunching its back, the beast then gripped a nearby tree reaching its waist and swiftly uprooted the plant with ease as he swung the makeshift weapon back and forth menacingly.

"Any ideas?" Anja asked as she gazed at the monstrosity while the dirt attached on the tree's roots rained upon the village inhabitants as the giant continued flailing his weapon randomly.

Yes, Shirou had some ideas. However, all of them required a degree of skill, precision, and mana. In short, if Shirou were to defeat that beast, he needed a Noble Phantasm to aid his endeavor. While Shirou would rather avoid that outcome due having an inkling of suspicion toward the Edelfelt mage, Anja, who somehow has a Servant summoning circle in her home, Shirou still placed people's lives above his personal conveniences.

"Shirou," a cold voice suddenly came to his right as Shirou immediately whirled his head around.

"Ah, Alter," Shirou gave a sigh of relief as his instincts for a second blared at a killing intent emitting out of the black Servant.

"I don't like that," Alter's expression remained stoic and cold as she pointed at the massive ogre.

"Neither do I, Alter. Neither do I," Shirou repeated as he shook his head in dismay. What else was he supposed to say to the enigmatic Servant?

"Can I kill it?" Alter cut straight to the point.

Shirou's eyes widened at the implication behind her clear words. Shirou's gaze slowly traveled down the length of Alter's body as his eyes settled on the jet black blade with red glowing lines pulsing like a blood vessel in her tight grip.

Shirou smiled. This should be interesting. If anything, Alter would be far more capable than he is in killing the beast.

"By all means, Alter. Kill the abomination."

"Yes, Shirou," Alter spoke as her mouth formed a menacing grin. "Now die, mongrel!" Alter screamed as her jet black Excalibur blasted out waves of miasmic mana behind her while Alter performed mana burst straight at her foe, immediately launching her forward with blurring speeds in a split second. The wind instantly changed direction at Alter's supersonic burst as both Anja's and Shirou's hair flew in the direction of the force. The earth immediately caved in at the supernatural force of the Servant as Alter rushed through the battlefield like an unstoppable machine before leaping up in the air as the ground cratered at the inhuman power.

Shooting herself up in the air, Alter gave a final roar worthy of an unyielding tyrant as her blade rocketed forward during midflight at the ogre's shoulder blade, sending a cacophony of explosions in the wake of the swaying plains of Gata.

Thank you for reading!

In respect of the "goblin year" for anime, I decided to have a goblin scene in this story before 2018 comes to an end. Also, right now I have an ongoing POLL (for two more days) on which story update you would like to see next. You can participate in this poll by going to the top of my profile page – you need a fanfiction account to do this.

A QUESTION a good number of people have been asking is would Shirou have a harem. The short answer is … no. I have heard from a few people who argue that since Lily and Alter are technically the same person – namely Arturia – Shirou engaging a relationship with the both of them wouldn't be actually considered a harem. With all due respect, but the fact that Shirou is still nevertheless dating two individuals – even if they're the "same" person – is still considered a harem under my definition.

However, if things go according to plan, I do hope to write different routes where Shirou has a relationship with one individual at a time – like a visual novel if you could call it that. But, if that doesn't work out, pairings would be left to the readers' decision via poll. If you have any more questions, feel free to write a review about it and I'll be sure to consider your argument.

Lastly, a question a reader is bound to ask is: "Is this story serious or comedic?"

The short answer would be … a mixture of both. While admittingly comedy is not my forte, I still do find it an enjoyable read when a story has some comedic qualities to it.

Of course, if you guys could leave a review, that would be extremely great and helpful! For those who celebrate it, Merry Christmas! – SteelBlades333

Next update: Hopefully a Fate Blade Zero extra Christmas chapter within the next two days.

After that small update … most likely Apocryphal Hero would be next updated by the looks of it now.