After getting all the relevant information, Diego put down the telephone and started tapping his desk with his fingers, contemplating deeply.
The request is a little bit difficult this time. The existence of that little girl named Altrouge shifted some of his world views. Unlike back then where he could pretend, this time, he does need to consider the possibility of a ghost appearing.
Though it sounds unlikely.
According to the information he got, the abandoned office building was rumored to have ghosts wandering around, making them unable to make use of it due to fear of backlash.
No employees want to stay in a haunted building.
In normal circumstances, Diego would scoff and prepare a bunch of salt to throw but now that he has some knowledge that supernatural do exist, he must take extreme caution.
Who knows if he'll meet someone similar to Altrouge?
Though for some reason, something tells him she's one of a kind.
Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, he doesn't know.
As he was thinking, he heard the door being open and immediately put on professional mode.
"Good day, this Almight— Issei?'' To his surprise, it's his blue haired cousin, wearing a school uniform.
"Diego, how's work?" Issei waved his hand, still having that bland look on his face.
"It's pretty good so far. What about you? What brings you here?" Diego was a little confused, this guy always comes back to the temple to practice but he took the time to go here? It's not like he doesn't appreciate it, just curious.
After all, Homurahara Academy is about a 2 hour walk from the temple.
He wanted to ask why he didn't just take a ride from a taxi or buy a bike but it's probably some spiritual practice, tampering with will or something.
Because there's no way he can explain why someone would waste so much time walking.
"The teacher asked me when are you coming back? They are not asking for you to rush it but you haven't completed a semester yet. They were asking if they should just send modules or wait for you to recover." Issei adjusted his glasses and explained.
Diego nodded in understanding hearing that, he forgot that he was still a student in this body. He was too busy with his job and whatever Altrouge is.
"... I should be returning next week. It's almost a week since I was discharged." Diego answered after thinking for a moment. He could use this way to promote himself to other students.
"Are you sure? If it's really inconvenient, the faculty won't blame you." Issei asked with concern. He couldn't be blamed for this, Diego's state when he was sent to the hospital looked like he was dead.
In fact, even now he still can't believe it and found that compared to what Diego was supposed to experience, amnesia doesn't sound that bad at all.
Considering the severity of his injuries, the teacher won't have complaints if he rests more.
"I'm sure. Besides, I'm also curious about our school." Diego nodded with affirmation.
He's strong and does not feel any pain in his body at all. He doesn't know if it's the natural recovery ability of this body or some miracle bullshit but for now, he's fine and going to school shouldn't be a problem.
"I see," Issei nodded. "I will tell the teachers what you said."
Diego nodded and added, "They bother you with this huh? I thought they'll send me a message themselves. Looks like they are lazy."
"I wouldn't say that," Then Issei said with a smirk, "I'm the student council president so of course they asked me to do this, add that it's convenient too."
Diego was surprised hearing that but after remembering Issei's serious personality, he quickly calmed down, "A student council president? Sounds like a lot of work."
"It is but that's how responsibility works." Issei shrugged, "Though most of the trouble came from our financial situation."
"Money problems? Now that's interesting."
"Hardly, we just do our best to save and repair broken stuff so that our school's bill." Issei covered his head, clearly annoyed by the situation.
"Sounds tough."
"Indeed, but luckily, we have a guy that's good at repairing things," Issei nodded with a small smile, "Though it's mostly temporary and it'll be broken again."
".... Doesn't he get tired?"
"I ask myself that question but from the looks of it, fixing things is his hobby," Issei paused, "And helping people as well."
"He sounds like a good guy," Diego was surprised to hear that from Issei, he doesn't look like the type to compliment someone so easily,
"That's the best way to describe him." Issei nodded.
After chatting some more, Issei was about to leave but Diego stopped him.
"Hey, Issei."
"What?" Issei turned his head, confused.
"Do I have a car or something?"
Issei was surprised by that question and hurriedly asked, "Do you remember your memories?!"
"Well…." Diego's brain ran at an outstanding speed and made up a reason, "The police contacted me earlier and said that they found my stuff."
"They do?" Issei asked with wide eyes.
"Well, I'm not really sure, so I want to ask you." Diego was mostly sure since Altrouge said it's his but further confirmation wouldn't do him harm.
He pulled the bag from under the table and showed it to Issei who looked at it with a scrutinizing gaze.
Diego opened the bag to show him and after some time, Issei nodded in confirmation.
"This is indeed yours, at least from what I know," Issei looked at the car keys and nodded again, "And you do have a car."
"Really?!" Diego exclaimed.
Fuck! He's loaded isn't he? He saw car keys and credit cards but sadly, he doesn't know their password.
He also has a bunch of licenses too, Japanese Sword License, Gun License and Driver's License which was confusing since he's a minor.
By the way, his picture there looks like a killjoy, someone you wouldn't have at parties.
"They really found it. That's very impressive of them." Issei muttered.
"They weren't sure at first but they found my ID inside, guess losing it along with my stuff was a blessing." Diego shrugged, "Back to my earlier question, do you know where my car is?"
Issei didn't doubt the police part and replied, "Actually, I do."
"Really?" Now Diego was surprised, he thought that previous him was cold and distant, he was just asking when he asked Issei if he knew where his car was.
"Yep, remember that good guy I was talking about? It's in his residence. You can check it if you want, I'll accompany you."
"Damn…" Diego muttered. That's it? So easy to find!
"What were you expecting?" Issei raised a brow on his reaction.
"Well," Diego thought for a moment, "I didn't think you'd know, considering how "cold and distant" I was back then." He answered with a shrug.
"That's true but it's more of convenience. After all, the temple is a higher ground and you can't park it there, the only way you could is to rent a place but it was too much trouble according to you, so you decided to park it on Emiya Residence, luckily, Shirou didn't mind and was more than happy to help, his front lawn was pretty spacious after all." Issei surprisingly agreed and explained what happened.
"Huh," Diego scratched his head hearing that, "I guess I should thank this, Shirou? Then."
"You should, his name is Shirou Emiya, you'll get along… probably."
"Probably?"
"I'm not sure what you'll think of him now but I do hope you will."
"Judging from what you said, I don't see why not." Diego shrugged. His car was parked there and probably in the future too, he'll try to get along with Shirou Emiya.
'Besides he doesn't sound bad. Maybe I could offer him some exorcism services.' Diego's business minded thinking still found a way to promote himself.
"That's good then," Issei nodded, "Should we get going?"
Diego stood up and nodded, "Amighty Exorcist Office will be closing early it seems." He picked the bag and went with Issei outside, before locking the office.
—
They took a taxi in order to go there faster, Diego wasn't interested in wasting time and was quite excited to see one of his valuables.
He had a car in his past life but he got it after a long time of working, compared to now where he has one as a sixteen year old.
How unfair life is.
After getting out of the taxi, Issei gestured him to the front gate and there he saw the Emiya residence.
It is a large, old building located on the northern end of Miyama Town, and a Japanese-style building with a classical elegance befitting the area. Even within the old style of Miyama, it is of a rare style, and it can be considered a rare example of architectural history. Though it was large and previously unused, its history made it so it was never torn down even in its degradation and having taken up a large amount of space in an area of civic planning.
He heard there's a Chinese restaurant near here, he'll check it out with Issei later.
As he was pondering, Issei rang the doorbell and not long after, a teenager with short auburn hair and golden-brown coloured eyes, opened the gate and answered.
"Issei?"
"Hi there, Shirou. Can we come in?" Issei gave a small smile and asked.
"Of course!" Shirou eagerly opened the gate, not bothered by Issei's sudden visit.
"Sorry for the intrusion." Issei said politely as Diego followed.
"Sorry for the intrusion…"
Shirou Emiya looked at the pink haired with surprise before exclaiming, "Seijuro-san?!"
"You know me?" Diego turned his head towards him and asked,
"Well, yeah…" Shirou replied with a strange look before turning to Issei, "I heard that Seijuro-san changed after amnesia but he's really different now."
Issei just sighed helplessly.
"Yeah…. I don't know what I did back then." Diego rubbed his neck.
"It's fine. Just a new feeling." Shirou looked at him and nodded.
"Shirou, can you lead us to Diego's car?" Issei coughed and asked.
"Sure." Shirou nodded.
The two talked along the way while Diego was thinking. A few moments later, they are now standing in front of a covered car.
"Here it is." Shirou undid the covers, showing a black car.
Diego's eyes were wide. He was expecting something but it was still pretty overwhelming seeing it yourself.
He looked around for a while, touched it and realized there's some dust in the windows. Probably because it's been two weeks since it's been maintained.
'A costumed car?' Diego may not be an expert but even he can tell that this was quite expensive, add to the fact there's no logo too.
Taking a deep breath, Diego came to Shirou and pulled out 50,000 yen from his pocket and handed it to him.
"Here, there's my payment for parking. I don't really know how much but if it's not enough, please tell me." Diego didn't hesitate to pay the fee.
"Eh? It's fine. The lawn is pretty big and putting a car in is not much of a problem." Shirou was startled by the money and hurriedly shook his head.
"I insist." Diego wanted to give him the money.
Are you kidding him? That car is expensive! Diego Seijuro must be quite the spoiled kid for him to have such a luxurious item.
"It's fine really…" Shirou looked at the money with hesitation. He wasn't poor, in fact he was quite well off, at least in terms of food and other things, he doesn't lack it. It's just that his finances are managed by his neighbour/guardian.
As for other things, Shirou goes part time to earn some expenses where he earns 850 yen.
Getting 50,000 yen at once does make him quite embarrassed, especially when he did nothing.
Issei, who was watching from the sidelines, thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you help the car's maintenance, Shirou? There should be no problem right? Diego will just pay you."
"Yeah, that's it." Diego nodded his head. He wasn't shameless enough to just let others take care of his stuff, even if this guy was a nice person.
Also, did he mention the car was expensive?
"Is that so?" Shirou looked at the two of them who nodded and sighed helplessly, "Alright, I'll take care of it. Though 50,000 yen is quite expensive."
"What's your fee?"
"I guess… 500 yen per hour?" Shirou thought for a moment and said, he wasn't quite sure but fixing stuff is his speciality, so at least it shouldn't be hard.
"Add 500 for the rent. That'll be 1,000 yen, is that fine?" Diego added.
"Daily?"
"Daily."
"But isn't tha—"
"Then just clean it, car wash or something. As for the tools needed for repairs, I'll buy it." Diego didn't give him a chance and put his conditions.
Please, that's an expensive car, let alone 1,000, he can spend 50,000 yen!
"That's fine." Shirou found the conditions to his liking.
"Take this then." Diego handed the 50,000.
"Isn't this too much?" Shirou looked at him weirdly.
"That's my pay for the entire month and after that. I'll pay again once that's over." Diego explained.
"I see…." Shirou thought that it made sense so he agreed and took the money.
Diego offered his hand which Shirou took, "Pleasure doing business with you."
"You too."
After reaching an agreement, they went inside Shirou's house to talk.
"Just call me Diego, Emiya-san."
"Just call me Shirou then." Shirou smiled.
As they were talking, they heard the news from the television in the living room.
"A dead person was found dead near the Shinto district. The police still have no leads about the cause."
Those news startled Diego but surprisingly, Issei looked completely calm.
Shirou, though, has that thoughtful and serious look on his face.
"Murder? What kind of murder is that?" Looking at the censored pic on the TV, Diego can already imagine how brutal the death was.
"Well, it's probably something like how their organs got taken away." Issei answered.
"Human trafficking?"
"I don't know. No one has actually managed to get to the bottom of this."
Now Diego was surprised by that, is the city so lax with those kinds of incidents?
"Don't get me wrong, the police are trying," As if Issei read his mind, he hurriedly explained to prevent misunderstandings,"It's just that there's no leads so far. Sometimes the murders would stop, sometimes it would come back."
"Fuyuki City isn't as safe as it seems huh…" Diego muttered.
"Who said it was? It may have toned down but it still has history over bizarre things." Issei paused, "Like the fire incident in the city years ago."
Shirou visibly tensed hearing that.
"I see…. At least I now know some things to be wary of." Diego nodded in agreement. He did get almost killed by a little girl so he shouldn't be surprised.
Wait… supernatural, is this murderer related to the supernatural?
"Well, I have to get going. I'll take the car back later after some driving." Diego stood up and turned to Issei, "Wanna ride back home?"
"That will be appreciated." Issei stood up as well.
"I'll see you two off." Shirou offered and the three of them went inside.
After Issei and Diego entered the car, the former looked around, thoughtfully, "This is a nice car and are you sure you can drive?"
"I should be able to." Diego shrugged. Of course he could
Inserting the key, Diego started the engine and heaved a secret sigh of relief and waved Shirou goodbye, setting off.
—
After driving Issei home, Diego went on a little adventure, enjoying the feeling of driving a car from a young age. Not long after, he parked to the river side, fully unbothered that this was the place Altrouge attacked him.
"Now let's see." After admiring the car for a while, Diego went to the trunk, wanting to check if he left something after two weeks of inactivity.
As he was opening, he frowned, the trunk was a little too tight but with his strength, he eventually managed to open and after seeing what's inside, he was surprised.
Inside, there was a bunch of luggage, like a lot. This is probably his stuff as a foreigner.
He opened one of the suitcases and froze when he saw what's inside.
"... Is this a freaking sword?"
Diego slowly picked it up. It looks like a high tech katana. The sheath has some sort of trigger, similar to a gun.
Slowly pulling the hilt, he was met with a red blade. He also seemed to hear a light buzzing as he did.
"No fucking way…. Isn't this Muramasa from Metal Gear?" Diego's jaw dropped as he swung it.
The sword was surprisingly light, at least he wasn't hindered when he was wielding it. And it's real too. Like this thing wasn't some cosplay prop.
"What am I? Some cyborg ninja hunting nuclear weapons?" He joked. Obviously that wasn't the case.
Putting the sword back on its sheath, he placed it inside the case and eagerly looked at one of his suitcases.
"Guns?" Diego said with awe. Damn, was he some hunter? This shit looks dope as fuck.
There's also some weird looking gauntlet and other weapons.
He grabbed one of the guns and twirled it, posing as if he was James Bond.
"And these clothes too," Diego opened another one and saw a set of clothes, some windbreaker, tie, and a collared shirt. There's also some turtle neck and other ones, "Looks edgy as fuck."
He likes it.
There's even a priest outfit with those hilts, similar to the ones he found in his bag.
"And what is this?" The biggest suitcase was weird. He tried opening it but it wouldn't budge.
He tried again, but no matter how much he tried, it wasn't moving an inch. In frustration, he ended up kicking it, causing it to tumble down but to his surprise, the suitcase morphed, like some transformers before turning into a giant cross with barrel looking holes on it.
"Mama mia…." Diego wiped his eyes but the cross didn't go away.
"Man, not only do I have a new car, I also have cool stuff." Doesn't this mean he's an actual exorcist?
Shaking those thoughts, he hurriedly put everything back. Including the cross he had a hard time turning into a suitcase but luckily, it was similar to a folding system and it's easier retracting it…. Not really, he was just being an idiot earlier by prying it open.
After finishing packing it up, he noticed a small briefcase so he opened it.
To his surprise, it wasn't weapons or clothes but…
"Passport? License? Bank cards?" Diego muttered in confusion. Ignoring the bank cards that he doesn't know the password to, much to his pain, he opened the passport and saw something that surprised him the most after waking up from this world.
He checked his license and it says the same thing.
Opening his wallet, he compared his own license to the one he found in the car.
"Diego… Barthomeloi?"
—
In a deserted alleyway, a bloody scene was unfolding. It was dark and the light in the lamppost was flickering.
"Haah… Haah.." A man with red eyes was seen crouching down, mowing the bloody corpse on the floor.
"Hungry… need more food." He muttered as he ate. The body of the man he's eating was lifeless with some flies even roaming around it.
The man stopped after the corpse's organs were all empty, his eyes now gaining some clarity.
Standing up, he went to the abandoned office a few blocks away, the smell on his body now gone and even the people passing around did not notice anything.
"Now let's look for the next meal."
—
In the Fuyuki Airport, a beautiful girl with short blonde hair down to her neck, stepped out of the private jet, her red eyes looking around coldly.
She was wearing a white turtleneck and a long purple skirt, with black boots.
"... Miss, you have a call." One of the stewardess lowered her head, clearly nervous.
"Answer it." The blonde girl answered coldly.
The stewardess shakily clicked the phone and put it on speaker.
"Princess? Are you there?" A voice that belongs to a boy asked from the phone.
"What is it, Merem?"
"It seems you have arrived, princess." His enthusiasm did not diminish despite the cold tone of the girl.
"I'm going to keep it short. This is Fuyuki City, the site used for the Holy Grail War. The reason why the princess can't travel easily here is due to the leylines being used to contain and gather mana in the atmosphere, making the element particles here lacking."
"Is Roa here?" The blonde girl seems to not be interested in this city's background.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that, princess. You merely said you can sense him in the east, Japan. After that, it's as if the signal was lost."
"..."
"The Fuyuki City can be considered the most important place in Japan or even the east in that matter, due to the Holy Grail War. If Roa was really here, the most sensible place for him to go is in this city."
"I see…"
"I apologize, princess. I can't help you this time." The boy's voice was apologetic, distressed that he couldn't help his master.
"It's fine. I'll just look for him myself." The girl's eyes glowed red, "Once he resurrects, it'll be easier to find him."
"The princess will surely kill him, just like the other times." The boy responded in agreement.
"Hmm…"
"That's all, princess. If you have any orders, please contact me." Hearing her answer, the boy did not waste time and bid farewell.
After the call ended, the stewardess who was bowing shakily put the phone away while waiting for orders.
"Raise your head." The steward followed the Princess' orders and raised her head, as she did so, she met her eyes that have not turned gold.
"Forget what you heard and go back." The stewardess' expression became blank and she slowly nodded her head.
The blonde princess did not continue staying and walked away, slowly vanishing in the night as she did.