[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/sqVuHkG.png[/img]
[h2][i]Master: [color=salmon]Mercedes[/color][/i][/h2]
[i]Workshop, City Outskirts, Tokyo[/i] | [color=blueviolet][i]Night One[/i][/color][/center][hr]
	Mercedes nodded, her posture relaxing just a little bit at Archer's assurance that his lack of speech did not equate to a lack of power. [color=salmon]"Good,"[/color] she acknowledged, her placatory grin melting into a more genuine one. All in all, she felt pretty lucky to have summoned Archer. He was a nice guy, and it seemed their skill sets meshed well together. She jotted down the notes Archer had given her about potential bases, wholeheartedly agreeing. Though she supposed some pairs would avoid public transit, Tokyo was a big city - sometimes it was unavoidable if you needed to get somewhere quickly but unremarkably. 

	As Archer filled her on the progress and findings of his hounds, she also made mental notes of that information. Two servants battling in a park, both bulky blondes. One, unmistakably the Rider class servant of this war. By the tower, a servant with some kind of dangerous ranged ability, though they hadn't seen the spirit in question. The scent of a magus with many familiars... that seemed familiar.

	As the night continued, Mercedes felt herself drifting off much earlier than she had planned. Were Archer's hounds that much of a mana drain for her? [i]Are my magic circuits really so out of shape?[/i] she thought to herself, making light of it. The man had manifested twenty huge dogs, and sent them running all over the city to collect information. Supporting them - and a servant on top of that - might prove a little more difficult than she'd first thought. [i]I'll live,[/i] she thought, her last before drifting off to sleep at the table. Whether this was true remained to be seen.

[center][i]Workshop -> Around Tokyo[/i] | [color=lightsalmon][i]Day Two[/i][/color][/center][hr]
	Mercedes awoke much later than she normally did, blinking her eyes open and furrowing her brows. She had no issue recalling the events of the last night - summoning a servant, Archer, planning strategies with him, and dispersing his hounds - but she really hadn't expected to be so tuckered out by them. The long sleep had recovered most of her mana, especially after Archer had dismissed the hounds at some point in the night, but she knew she would have to take it a little easier tonight. Today, though, they had work to do.

	The young woman stood, stretching her arms over her head and looking about for her ancient partner. Today they'd be traveling into the city while she arranged for some new places to operate out of. She was fond of the workshop they were currently in, and particularly glad they'd used it last night when the other pairs had seemed to jump at their eagerness and all met for battle. They'd learned a lot of information in relative safety thanks to Archer's noble phantasm. Although, they'd also let some know about the existence of the hounds. Someone, presumably a servant, had even managed to kill one without being seen - most likely the Assassin class. 

	[color=salmon]"Archer,"[/color] she addressed, somewhat sheepishly, [color=salmon]"Look at me, worrying about whether you could use your noble phantasm properly last night when the real issue is gonna be me."[/color] It had taken it's toll on her, but she was confident she could bear it. [color=salmon]"But don't worry about me. Use it to your heart's content."[/color] After all, they would need to use it if they wanted any serious chance at winning this war.

	With that, Mercedes got to preparing to leave. She gathered anything particularly important, including her notes about potential masters. Just before she fell asleep last night, one had come to the forefront of her mind during Archer's reports. [b]Nakahara Daisuke[/b], a master of familiarcraft, though familial reject. Well, it only made sense that someone with a magic so focused on familiars would want to acquire a servant. Mercedes communicated this to Archer as she went about the room doing her final sweep, drawing runes on the walls and on the back of the door. One set of runes served as a very weak bounded field, visible to even the most junior magus. The second set were explosive in nature, crafted to resonate only with Mercedes' (and by extension, her familiar Archer) mana. They would detonate should someone that wasn't their creator walk into the room. It probably wouldn't do very much damage to a servant, but a cocky master? They'd be obliterated. The runes outside she reworked, making the small shed looks completely uninviting to any layperson. This way, if any mage had sensed the mana hole that was this workshop and came snooping... well.

	With that, they were off into the city proper. Mercedes very much doubted that any of the masters would be doing a lot of moving during the day, especially those whose servants had been fighting. She found it more difficult to move herself after last night. Still, she had a pretty good pain tolerance, and found herself consuming a lot of food and bitter drink throughout the day. She visited the site of Laelaps' death, taking care to mask not only her presence as much as possible, but also her facial features - with a small rune physically drawn on her cheek that could easily be mistaken for a tattoo to the untrained eye. Inside, she placed her magic cards in the crook of doors, warding people away. She made the visit quick, making a circle with her hand and drawing a rune inside with her other, holding the circle up to her eye as a means to see the vestiges of mana leftover from last night. It was easy to distinguish the mana of different magi. Two mages, just as the hound had reported, though it had seen neither. [i]Hm hm, if we play our cards right, we might be able to find both,[/i] she thought, letting the words drift to Archer through their telepathic bond. [i]We can't confirm it just yet, but I'm sure one of these mages was Nakahara. There are no signs of a fight here, so they both left alive. If they meet up again tonight...[/i] she trailed off, though there wasn't any need to finish her thought. With Archer's help, it would be possible to track Nakahara through his familiars. 

[center][i]Base by the petshop, Tokyo[/i] | [color=blueviolet][i]Night Two[/i][/color][/center][hr]
	The delay in waking had pushed back her plans a bit, but ultimately she had acquired two new bases. One was in view of Tokyo Tower, the site of most of the activity. It was a fallen leyline, and even though last night had drawn so much activity, she surmised that the temptation for traditional magi to claim such a source of power would be too strong to keep all of them away. The base was about a mile away, though with a servant's superior senses, Archer would have no problem seeing the area from the base. The new safehouse wasn't the most well fortified, as Mercedes had to compromise given her lessened amount of time during the day. She would have chosen one a bit closer to the tower, but the room was just nearby to the train station serving as access to the area - travel hub, as Archer had suggested. Barely. Really though, it was the best she could do for the day.

	The second new base was a little hole in the wall, unassuming, and drawn up with concealment runes and bounded fields from the inside out. If her assumption that the familiarcraft magus was one of the masters in this war, then this - the largest animal seller in the immediate area, just down the block - would be the best place for him to hole up. If her hunch was wrong, then she and Archer could just move to the base closer to the station, gather more info and all in all have a boring night. If it was right, though... well, there were a lot of possibilities.

	And so, Team Archer found themselves in the small room tonight, waiting. Most of hunting involved waiting, and she didn't mind it. She idly infused her deck of cards with new spells, and on a whim flipped on over for a reading: [i]Ten of Hearts.[/i]

	[color=salmon]"Ready to go on the hunt tonight, Archer?"[/color]

[center][sub][@King Cosmos][/sub][/center]