Entry 25: We have a plan

Leo :: Welcome back Hakuno. Have you finished gathering people?

Yeah, I nod. Regardless of my results, I did talk to all of the Masters in the school…I think.

Gatou :: Begging you permission! I am the hell-bound thread of the spider of Amitabha Tathagata! Call me Monji Gatou, the wandering monk!

Before I an report my results myself, Gatou thunders into the student council room.

Leo :: …Monji Gatou?

Gatou :: Bwahahahaha, precisely! No, the fearsome future head of the Western European plutocracy speaks to me. But though you may be my lord the future head, we can’t be overly formal like that. As members of this student council, I ought to call you President Leo, don’t you think?

Leo :: …Hakuno. You brought him?

Leo gives me a sidelong glance, conveying a deep-seated discomfort with this ideas, but I nod yes. Leo’s the one who said anyone would be fine. It’s not my fault.

Leo :: …excuse me, Mr. Gatou. Do you have a Servant with you?

Gatou :: No, I do not. My God has set off without me. But Nirvana is not lost! Even without a Servant, I am a notorious Master! Wouldn’t it be a a larger problem if I had one?

[The Nirvana bit is improvised…I couldn’t find the word he was using except as the Nirvana Sutra written in Chinese, and definitely not as part of a verb. It could also be some thing about nautical miles in a tub, based on its component characters…]

Leo :: Yes, well…it’s true that I didn’t intend to choose the members of this council based on whether they had a Servant…

Gatou :: Then we’re set! I’d get killed easily, but leave the cheering squad to me!

Leo :: — hehehe. Hakuno. Who asked you to go find us a comedian?

I hang my head in deep apology. It doesn’t really matter, but they do say that art is long, while youth is fleeting.

Leo :: Well, there’s nothing we can do for it. Mr. Gatou, can you please handle cleaning and tea service in the council room, and the cleaning of the school building and the restrooms. Brother, please guide him.

Julius :: …I know you meant well, but I won’t forget this, Kishinami.

Leo :: Now, now. Though he may be defective in his personal conduct, Monji Gatou is a person with talent. I’m sure he’ll be useful for something. Now then, Hakuno. Where are the other recruits?

I report on Shinji, Jinako, and Kiara. Shinji doesn’t have a Servant, and said he couldn’t stomach being on the student council, so he refused. Jinako has shut herself up in the janitor’s room, and said she’d just monitor what happens over here. Kiara Sesshouin offered support to the student council’s activities, but wouldn’t join the council herself. Both Kiara and her Servant Andersen aren’t the type that exerts a lot of direct power.

Leo :: …hm. Those who don’t want to leave, who have no will to leave…Though Jinako Karigiri is preparing herself in her own way, Kiara…I don’t understand her.

Gawain :: Leo. What do you mean, you don’t understand her? We have met Kiara Sesshouin before. She was a very benevolent person, but…

Leo :: Indeed. I may be over thinking it. I just felt there was something subtly wrong, a slip of the tongue. In any case, including us, there are only seven Masters in this school. Currently more than half of them are student council members. That’s good enough for now.

The student council members are Leo, Julius, Gatou, and myself. I guess this may well be enough…I just have the feeling there are other Masters around more suited to the student council. At least two of them. …argh, I can’t remember.

Leo :: We will resolve our personnel shortage at some point. Now is the time for action, Hakuno.

Sakura. Have you made a gate for use to get inside?

Sakura :: …Yes, since it’s an emergency, I’ve authorized special measures. But…I still don’t agree with this. We can’t tell what it’s like in there, our scans can’t even get one monitor of information. We can’t prove it’s safe. To send Miss Kishinami in there…

Sakura’s speech trails off as she looks sidelong at me. …I don’t know why, but it seems Sakura is concerned for me.

Leo :: Be that as it may, under present circumstances, there is no other way. This is our decision. We cannot leave it to an AI like yourself.

Sakura :: …I understand. But in that case, please allow me to assist you. I was created to look after your health, after all.

Leo :: I would have asked you to myself. After all, we are presently lacking in manpower. For now, it will be just Sakura and me acting as Hakuno’s backup.

Gatou :: Wait, wait! What are you planning to do? Can you explain to me and Kishinami?

Leo :: Ah, pardon me. Hakuno. The explanation comes late, but starting now, we’re asking you to go into the arena.

Arena…? As I remember…it’s a structure created for the Holy Grail War. You could also call it a dungeon. After their opponents had been decided, Masters would go to the appropriate “floor” in the arena to train, search for information on their opponent, and make their way to the final elimination battle arena. Is he saying there’s an arena like that in this school too?

Sakura :: No, though it’s something…like the arena. Please think of this school as something like seafoam, floating by itself on the far side of the moon. If the foam disperses, we will all be swallowed by the imaginary numbers, and we…won’t be erased, but instead will wander eternally as unfixed random numbers. To leave this school is suicidal. However…we discovered a single structure, in a relatively normal condition, heading toward the near side. That would be…the cherry tree on the school grounds. Under that tree, there is an unidentified “arena,” which we think leads outside.

[Little did I know that random number generators were fed with the souls of the damned. Thanks Sakura.]

Gatou :: So, if we go through that arena…we’ll be able to get out, to the near side of the moon, back to the Holy Grail War?

Leo :: There’s a high probability of that. The unidentified arena isn’t much of name though, so we’re calling it the Sakura Labyrinth.

[I’ve decided that “the Cherry Blossom Labyrinth” has too many letters to be practical, so for that and a couple other reasons I’ll be leaving is as it the Sakura Labyrinth instead. Incidentally, the opening theme song for this game is also called Sakura Labyrinth.]
The Sakura Labyrinth…the only path leading to the outside world. It sounds like it’s my entrusted duty to go in there with Caster and investigate. But – wouldn’t Leo and Gawain be a better choice?

Leo :: I wish we could. But the inside of the Labyrinth is night.

Gatou :: Night? That’s the name of the place? It’s dark in there?

Leo :: Would someone please take that man out to the store or something? Well, the matter of day or night was just a small joke anyway. The real problem is that even with both Sakura and I both doing backup, it won’t be enough. It’s an unknown location after all. If we’re always monitoring Hakuno, if things get tough, we can help her logout…Hakuno’s skills as a wizard aren’t on that level, are they?

[Your powers are totally affected by the virtual time of day though, Leo.]

Just as he says, I don’t have anything like that kind of skill. Just contracting a Servant took everything I have. Since I don’t have the skills to assist from the back lines, the best thing I can do is to go out on foot and do some on-site investigation.

Leo :: I’m glad you understand. We just finished our preparations here. The back up team will work from the student council room. Hakuno, if you could please head to the cherry tree. Sakura will open the gate.

Sakura :: …Yes. I’ve made a gate to the inside of the tree using root privileges. From there on we’ll be depending on Miss Kishinami.

Gatou :: And I can’t go?

Julius :: Don’t even start. A Master without a Servant wouldn’t stand a chance in there. As it’s an arena, there are enemies inside. For you or me…even if we could take one of those things down, that would be the end for us.

Gatou shuts down, looking disappointed. …I see. So only a Master with a Servant can go into the Sakura Labyrinth, as a general rule.

Leo :: That’s enough. Please go out to the garden. We will commence our first mission, to enter the Sakura Labyrinth. It’s a kind of maiden voyage, isn’t it?

Sakura :: Ah, um…when you put it that way, it’s kind of…

Leo :: ? What’s the problem? There was nothing unusual about choice of words.

Gawain :: Leo. The lady’s difficulty is…*whisper whisper*

Leo :: Oh, I see! I suppose you could hear it like that as well. Still, what’s the problem? There’s no relationship between Sakura’s chastity and our venture into the Labyrinth. Is it just because they have the same name?

Sakura :: I-it’s fine, we don’t need to go over it! Miss Kishinami, please go to the garden! And forget this conversation ever happened!

Unchanged from original translation: https://tsukinoura.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/entry-25-we-have-a-plan/. Please support the original translator.