[center][h1]Christopher Ashbrand[/h1]
[h2]The Scion of the Ashbrand, The Worker of Living Stone[/h2]
[h3]Somewhere Near the Matou Manor, Miyama Town, Fuyuki[/h3][/center]
They moved rather swiftly through what the locals called “Shinto,” as Christopher had scoped out much of the surrounding territory already. There seemed at first to be little of note, but if one looked a bit closer, some things seemed to be a little more than unusual.

A heightened presence of the thugs and other such criminals milling around the city, which could indicate many things. That they were aware of the conflict, and were attempting to guard the city out of some sort of twisted chivalry, that they were the thralls of some Servant, though his Seeker of Mystery seemed to indicate otherwise, but who knew when it came to those from legend, or perhaps they just heard a great deal of noise and were coming out to investigate. 

...or they came out for the newly opened bar, advertised with flyers strewn through what seemed to be all across the city, which seemed even more like blatant bait than the Servant smashing open his familiar earlier that evening. Aside from the absurd pricing of a single yen for a “shot,” (since the yen was becoming worth even less due to the silver devaluation of recent, which is why the merchants earlier in the week were more than happy to take even his “foreign” gold), the fact that they advertised that they were making their “products” for more than three millennia, and the particularly odd comment at the bottom... it practically screamed out that there was something unusual going on at the establishment.

Oh, and the fact that the bar wasn’t even there when he was preparing his map of the city earlier was also something rather significantly worrying.

Christopher made a mental note to set up some observers, some normal, and some perhaps… sturdier, at the location oh-so-helpfully provided at the bottom, and to update his oxhide map.

However, his and Avenger’s main goal was to go to the other part of the town, “Miyama.” There was a higher likelihood of an encounter with a Master and Servant here, considering the locales and the fact that two of the three Families who constructed this… War established their homes here. Considering the Tohsaka and the Matou were in the same district for so long, it may have very well meant that that they had arranged an alliance, or something of the sort. After all, the Einzberns are competitors of immense strength, due to homunculus having magic circuits with few peers, and it would actually be fairly likely that they would band together to strike down one of the strongest competitors first, before battling each other.

It wasn't like they would be overly concerned with the other newcomers, considering they had been on home ground for generations, and were preparing for the war all this time.

“Avenger, you did wish to some of the power players of this War, no? We're fairly close to the Foreigner's District, where the Tohsaka and the Matou have built their homes. If we travel swiftly enough, we may be able to observe two of the strongest contenders for this war, and discern some of their defenses. The Matou are closest, let us go there first."

[hr]

They set down in an area that was close enough to the Matou manor to observe, but likely far enough away that they wouldn’t be noticed too easily. Christopher pulled out one of his simpler observational Codes, a simply enhanced set of Porro prism binoculars. He “zoomed in” a fair bit closer, so he could take a look at the enemy's domain.

[i]Goodness gracious.[/i]

As expected of the Matou, there was a bounded field in place that blurred the specifics of the location from his vision. However, the fact remained that there was a [i]hole in the mansion.[/i] Someone had the nerve to not only attack one of the Three Families, but assault them directly, bypass their barriers, and blow up at least a portion of their sanctum.

Frankly, that was more than impressive.

However, he was unable to see more clearly, as with his limited observational tools, he could not outright bypass the bounded fields. Thankfully, however, he had not come alone, and his Servant far outstripped him in most capacities, including this one.

"While I am able to see the general basics of what has become of the Matou manor, due to my limited ability and tools in this matter, I am unable to discern more of what has occurred, Avenger. Undoubtedly, however, you must have been able to perceive more, especially with your Skills. What more have you found?"

[@UndyingRegret]