"What are the chances that you appear right in front of me like that. You're really strange, you know..." Shirou said with a slight smile. Just as last time, he kept his appearance of a teenager although his smile was unable to hide the fear that he was starting to radiate. (Y/n) could sense it almost just as badly as whenever he sensed the director's hatred.

"Why are you right in the middle of enemy territory?" (y/n) asked. He recalled that the last time they had spoken, members of the Holy Church had arrived, but Shirou's enemies were also the very mages that (y/n) worked for. The only reason that (y/n) wasn't hostile towards him was because no hostility had ever been returned nor had he been given the mission to hunt Shirou down.

"Now is not the time for the two of you to be speaking of these matters. The longer we stay in the open, the worse our chances of secrecy are," Gilgamesh interrupted. "Our first priority is finding a place of solitude."

"You're okay with me tagging along?" Shirou wondered in shock.

"You are a servant, are you not? That makes you either enemy or ally. Since you are familiar with (y/n), then what more could you be than ally? Or are you suggesting that I should strike you down where you stand?" A gate to the treasury opened behind him when he said those words. The warning was clear enough.

"I'd prefer we not fight, thank you," Shirou spoke in an attempt to slip away from Gilgamesh's wrath. (Y/n) himself could tell that his servant was irritated, but he didn't know why. He doubted it was because of their supposed waste of time since that was something he always complained about regardless of how much time they truly had.

"Before we go," (y/n) realized something important. "You're hiding right? You can't just walk out in the open like that." He raised his hand up to Shirou and used a concealment spell. "No one should be able to see you for the next thirty minutes, but it's up to you to keep your own magic signature low enough to go undetected."

"I'm quite sure I can handle that with no problem."

Gilgamesh was the one that led them into the street. There weren't very many people out as it was already late in the evening. The trio was able to travel along the sidewalk without any problems. No one who glanced in there direction had any reason to look twice.

They ended up finding themselves at the entrance of a hotel. It seemed as if it were newly built or at least newly renovated. The purely white building certainly stood out from the mix of colors around it. The detail brought the thought to mind that (y/n) would hate for it to be destroyed.

"The spell breaks in twelve minutes. We need to hurry," (y/n) noted as they walked in. Gilgamesh seemed to ignore him although he did make sure he was quick with his request.

"One king suite, whichever you have avaliable. I will have my luggage brought later," Gilgamesh stated to the receptionist. The woman at the counter stared at the card he held out to her while (y/n) fought his urge to facepalm.

"I'm going to need your name and email, sir," she said rather bluntly.

"The audacity of this woman!" (Y/n) was just glad that Gilgamesh hadn't said it out loud.

Sighing, (y/n) stepped forward to catch the woman's attention. "You will issue us a room card with the name Gilgamesh stored in the system. If anyone asks, our paperwork is complete. We are staying for seven days," he said to her. It was a simple hypnosis spell that (y/n) hoped would get them by for the week.

Without questioning them, the receptionist loaded the information onto a key card and handed it to them. Luckily, there were no witnesses, so they were able to get by with ease. "I'll have to get the cameras wiped though..." (y/n) thought in annoyance as they took the elevator to the top floor.

They had seven minutes to spare by the time Gilgamesh opened the door to their room. It was fully furnished with a set of couches and a kitchen area. Behind the living area was a king sized bed with a pair of dressers sitting across from it. (Y/n) was used to this luxury thanks to Gilgamesh's intolerance for anything less. "It's surprising how far society has come in this era," Shirou finally spoke up. He had closed the door behind them and patiently waited at the door.

"Indeed. The humans of this era have done themselves well for the most part. Though they are not fit to rule. It's a shame what they allow in their own kingdoms." Gilgamesh didn't hesitate to surround Shirou with portals of gold once he'd gotten a decent distance away. "Now, explain yourself."

"Hey, he isn't an enemy," (y/n) protested while Archer pulled him away from Shirou.

"You don't know that for certain. A king does not jump to conclusions, and I refuse to automatically trust anyone named Shirou. It has nothing to do with the director. That name...it reminds me of things that I cannot quite remember." There was a certain unease in Gilgamesh's gaze. Perhaps annoyance was the proper term. It was not at an alarming level, but the simple fact that his servant was overly wary of Shirou made (y/n) begin to doubt his decision to trust the new servant.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can call me Masuda. It's the true name of my current servant form. Well, Masuda Shirou is what this spirit origin goes by. For some reason, I manifested in this world a bit...too young." Shirou...well no, Masuda spoke with sincerity. Despite being in danger, since Gilgamesh could end his life at any second now, Masuda was rather calm. "I suppose I would have to tell you why I'm here for you to trust me."

"He'll seriously kill you if you don't," (y/n) commented just in case Masuda tried to talk his way out of an explanation. He just appeared to be the type of person who would try something like that.

"I'm here to search for someone who can help me find my master. I've been able to contact her a few times, but I still don't know where she is. Time is running out for me," Masuda explained.

"If your master wanted you around, she would have you with her already," Gilgamesh pointed out.

"You're right...but I think something is wrong. If she didn't want me around, she could have terminated the contract, but for some reason she still keeps me summoned here in this world instead of letting me return to the throne of heroes." Shirou frowned at the floor as he continued. "Her connection is becoming fainter as time passes. Sustaining a servant requires a lot of mana. I want to act before it's too late."

"Then why are you here in London? Your master shouldn't be affiliated with any of the mages here. They'd have killed your master long before now," (y/n) wondered.

"I'm here because someone affiliated with the Clock Tower has agreed to help me. It could be a trap, but I'm running out of options." Masuda pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it to reveal that it was a handwritten letter.

"Do you truly trust the information written there?" Gilgamesh asked him, still not relenting on his threat.

"I don't have much of a choice. I can either die trying to find my master or die from lack of sustenance. Slow deaths aren't something I'm very fond of," Masuda answered. "My current noble phantasm isn't fit for combat, but I can at least defend myself."

"You think we're here to help you?" Gilgamesh laughed.

"Why can't we? Our own objective shouldn't be that hard to complete. We could focus on quickly capturing our target and use the remaining time to help Shi- Masuda find whoever this supposed ally is. It would be unkingly to cast aside someone asking for help, wouldn't it?" (y/n) reasoned. His servant purposefully avoided (y/n)'s hopeful stare. "Masuda can help us first if that will convince you, right Masuda?"

"The more friends than enemies, the better," Masuda agreed. If (y/n) really wanted to, he could command Gilgamesh to accept the conditions, but that would only build strife between them. The last time (y/n) had taken such an action, it had been absolutely necessary.

"Kings do not take back their words. You will learn that lesson the hard way should your judgment be proven wrong," Gilgamesh stated.

"So that's a yes?" (Y/n) already knew the answer. He just wanted to see if he could get such a response from Archer. Instead, he recieved a glare and a mental warning not to test his authority.

"Well, I've shared my predicament. What exactly are you two doing here in London?" Masuda asked.
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Masuda Shirou is Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's original name. In this book, this version of him has a healing noble phantasm to match the healing abilities he was rumored to have while alive. He also appears younger, around the age of 14 for the sake of story. Just think of it as his "lily" form like with Setanta and Medusa. That's all, until next time you epic readers!