The preparations were complete.
When does the Holy Grail War begin? It begins when all the Servants have been gathered.
But it's more accurate to say that the life-and-death struggle begins even before that.
What kind of Master would naively wait until all the Servants have gathered in Fuyuki City? They're all probably hell-bent on getting the Grail.
In that sense, since the Servant I'm aiming for is a Caster, it's better to summon them as soon as possible.
No matter how weak a Caster may be, a Servant is a Servant.
They can establish a territory that is incomparably more durable than the workshop I created with my magecraft.
No fool would invade a magus's workshop.
Even if they managed to defeat the Caster by grinding away all of their own forces, if they can't protect themselves, they'll be eliminated just like that.
Unless they have an irregular Servant who can go around smashing everything on their own.
But there are probably very few people who can summon such a Servant. So I don't need to worry too much.
My goal is survival.
Either I hole up in my workshop and survive until the end, or I aim to be the fisherman who reaps the rewards.
"Honestly, I'm tired of seeing blood."
The basement of the hospital. I gave the magic circle I had drawn beforehand a final check.
There's no need to follow such strict rules. What's important is the formality.
As long as the ritual is recognized as a summoning of a Servant as a participant in the Holy Grail War, the Servant will be summoned properly.
...Probably.
If it fails, I'll just try again.
"Shall we begin?"
I gather my magical energy. The magic circle reacts to my magical energy. A ring of blue light appears.
"I declare. Your body shall be under me, my fate shall be in your sword…."
I haven't even finished the summoning chant, but the magic circle begins to glow madly.
The blue ring rotates at a frantic speed. The summoning of the Servant is imminent.
Is it supposed to be like this?
It was a summoning that I couldn't help but feel was hasty.
It felt less like something I wanted and more like the other party was in a hurry to get here.
A powerful flow of magical energy filled the basement as if it were an explosion.
There was light.
When I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, I saw the silhouette of a person in front of me.
"Who…."
"Yes! I did it!"
I heard a girl's voice.
Looking extremely excited, she raised her arms in a so-called "fighting pose."
I was so taken aback that I was at a loss for words.
"Huhu. Don't even think about it. To try and claim the Caster class with that level of magecraft. Isn't that a bit too arrogant?"
What is she talking about?
The smoke cleared, and the form of the Servant I had summoned slowly became clear.
Beautiful golden hair that immediately caught my eye. Blue eyes that seemed to hold the sea.
Light armor and a small robe worn over it.
In her hand, was it a staff or a spear? She held a weapon that belonged to neither category.
"What? 'If it had been any other class but Caster, I would have won?' Then try again next time. Fuhuhu."
Who was this girl so scathingly putting down? It didn't seem to be just one or two people.
Whoever that unspecified group was, they must be absolutely furious.
The girl's sneer was packed with a lot of know-how, and it had a knack for being incredibly irritating.
I was glad it wasn't directed at me.
"Ah, right. This isn't the time for that."
Her blue eyes looked at me.
The playful atmosphere from a moment ago vanished as if it had been a lie.
Before me was a hero of the past, whom ordinary humans could not hope to approach.
She was a being of a different caliber.
"Servant Caster. I have come in response to your summons. Thank you for waiting, Master."
A soft smile. She smiled just enough, and it suited her perfectly.
She closed the distance in an instant and embraced me.
"I really. Wanted to see you."
Why is she acting like she knows me?
"...Oh. Right."
I decided to play along for now.
I hugged her tightly. She had a comforting scent.
At the same time, I smelled blood. It was a very faint amount, but it was definitely not something I could ignore.
"This must be fate, right? The happiness I've been allowed. I've missed it so much. This warmth…."
At this point, my curiosity was getting the better of me.
A blonde, beautiful girl of a Heroic Spirit who knows me. A few people come to mind, but they don't look like her.
There's a limit to my guesswork. If I say the wrong name, I might make a bad impression.
So I asked.
"Do you… happen to know me?"
"...…Pardon?"
I gently pushed away the girl, who had frozen like a stone.
I think I stepped on a landmine. I'm screwed.
She called my name with an expressionless face.
"Master."
"Uh. Yeah. Go on."
"Do you, by any chance, not know my True Name?"
"Wait a minute…."
Since she was my Servant, I was able to check her status.
Strength C / Endurance C / Agility B / Mana A / Luck E / Noble Phantasm ?
Excellent stats for a Caster.
Her luck being rock bottom is understandable, but what's with the question mark on her Noble Phantasm?
That's not important right now. True Name… True Name….
I can't see her True Name. Is it not supposed to be shown by default?
I should have researched the Holy Grail War in more detail if I had known this would happen.
"Damn."
"Master."
A chillingly cold voice called out to me.
Seriously, this is scary.
"You're joking, right? You don't know me? This kind of joke isn't very funny."
The Servant's aura pressed down on me. It was a refined pressure that gave me some leeway, but at the same time, made it impossible to look away.
Was she a general of some kind? A general with an aptitude for magecraft… I don't know. Maybe Zhuge Liang?
No. Anyone can see she's not from the East. She's blonde.
Magus. General…. Hmm…. I don't know.
I really, really don't think this is it, but I took a wild guess.
"Nero...?"
Wrong.
She covered her face with her hands and looked up at the ceiling.
The silence was getting longer and longer.
I might become the first Master to be killed by their own Servant.
I was preparing to use a Command Spell, just in case.
"Phew… OK. I get it. I needed a different approach anyway. In a way, this might be for the best."
"...What do you mean?"
"It's nothing, Master."
She smiled brightly. Her eyes were not smiling.
"But more importantly, shall we strengthen the workshop? I'm sure you prepared diligently, but in my eyes, I see many shortcomings."
"Uh. Do as you please."
"Then, with pleasure…."
The Servant, Caster, spread her arms.
The basement was filled with a shimmering blue light. It was all magical energy.
All of that magical energy was being absorbed into her body.
It was easily more than ten times the amount of magical energy I had used to summon her.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gathering the ambient magical energy. And tracking the location of the ley lines. Ah. Found them."
What will she do now that she's found the ley lines?
As if she had read my mind, she told me right away.
"I've modified the flow of the ley lines slightly to pass under this building. I also caused a small earthquake so the administrator won't get suspicious. They'll think it changed because of a natural disaster."
Modifying the ley lines is surprising enough, but she caused an earthquake? Just like that?
Her words were not an exaggeration. The hospital soon began to shake.
My hospital is located on a hill, a little ways away from the city center.
The mountain is right behind the hill, so an earthquake would be quite troublesome.
Because the hospital could be swept away by a landslide.
"Wait. My hospital is more precious to me than the Holy Grail. There's no need to go that far…."
"Don't worry, Master. The earthquake will 'coincidentally' spare just this building."
She took me outside.
And pointed to the mountain behind us.
"Look, Master. Just in case, I've also cast a protection spell, so don't worry."
"Thanks."
"This alone isn't enough yet."
An earthquake warning siren blared in Fuyuki City. The ground shook violently.
A landslide was coming down towards the hospital like a wave.
Uprooted trees, huge boulders, and stones mixed with dirt came pouring down with terrifying force.
"Shouldn't we run?"
"There's no problem at all."
Just before reaching our hospital, the landslide split exactly in half.
The split landslide continued down the hill and swept away some of the buildings below.
But most of them were just abandoned ruins.
The landslide stopped before it reached the residential area.
The earthquake also stopped abruptly, as if it had never happened.
It was truly magic. The art of controlling nature at will.
"Wow."
"I told you, didn't I?"
I started clapping. Caster was unfazed.
"Was it really necessary to cause a landslide? It's going to be a lot of work for people to clean up the debris."
"It was necessary. There were a lot of insects crawling around down there."
Insects? Is she talking about things like mosquitoes or cockroaches?
"Mosquitoes have been getting into the hospital lately. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Before heading back to the hospital, I extended my hand to Caster.
"I look forward to working with you. As for your True Name… I'll be sure to look for it by going through the library."
"...If it's the library, would it be alright if I came with you?"
"Of course."
Caster took my hand.
It was warm. My heart felt warm for the first time in a long time.
This must be a precious bond.
The most likely person would be Tonelico... but it's not Tonelico.
For one, she doesn't wear glasses.
"If you stare at me so intently, I get a little embarrassed."
"Ah. Sorry."
And she's a truly pure child.
My sister is an angel, so she doesn't laugh at others.
"...If I think about it more simply, I should be able to figure it out."
Besides, Tonelico must have been disappointed in me in the end.
I couldn't make her happy, and far from helping with her dream, I couldn't even cheer her on.
I broke every single promise I made.
So it's not Tonelico.
There's no way she would come to me.