Eleven days until the start of the Holy Grail War...
Still a long way to go.
『This is a breaking news report. We have received a report that the body of a young man has been discovered inside an abandoned building. At the same time, an investigation into the young man's activities has revealed him to be the serial killer. Mr. Tadayoshi, what are your thoughts on this?』
The story on the TV was about the death of a young man with orange hair, his body pierced by a bullet.
That young man was Ryuunosuke Uryuu, the one who would have caused a massacre in Fate/Zero. An investigation into his past activities had exposed him as the serial killer.
『It appears there may have been a witness... Since the perpetrator was young, perhaps they thought a police report would result in a lighter sentence. It's possible they hired a professional to carry out the murder. The young man, being a serial killer, was likely lured to the dark, abandoned building, where he was shot through the heart. Afterward, the culprit seems to have erased all traces of the crime and fled.』
『I see. Although there's a lack of clear evidence, it's certainly a plausible story.』
Hmm, I don't know what that reporter is on about, but is this the work of the Mages' Association concealing the mystery? Or was it just a coincidental misunderstanding?
In any case, it seemed Ryuunosuke Uryuu's body had been found.
Well, he was a guy who deserved to die and was now dead, so it was no longer my problem.
He had already accumulated more than enough bad karma. Thanks to being killed off earlier than his original fate of being shot in the gut, I was able to summon my Caster.
That Caster's name was Medea.
The Caster who was said to have a high chance of being the true heroine of Fate/stay night. If Shirou hadn't possessed Avalon, he might have formed a contract with Caster instead.
He might have also become a nag, shouting, "What kind of magus harms himself!?"
"Excuse me, that incident on the news... was that your doing, Akira?"
"Yeah. He would have been the original Master candidate for Caster."
"...Do you have some kind of future sight?"
"Nope."
I just know the future because I watched the story in an anime.
"Then, how..."
"Trade secret."
"...Well, I suppose everyone has their secrets..."
Medea looked at me with a somewhat displeased expression, but it couldn't be helped.
"Anyway, could you find us an inexpensive place for now?"
"Very well. First, I will survey some potential houses or places to stay, and then I must begin constructing a workshop. Considering I'll also need to make the elixir, it seems we're short on time. I don't know how long we have until the Holy Grail War begins, but it would be to our advantage to prepare quickly."
With that, Medea vanished into her Spirit Form.
"She's a shy child."
I don't think so.
"In any case, if it's a house and not a motel, I think that's a relief."
"Indeed. A safe house is good, but I hope the rooms are spacious."
"She said it's a magus's workshop... Wait, if Medea builds a workshop, won't she make it into a full-blown temple?"
"Then we can do lots of things at home!?"
I don't know what she meant by "lots of things," but it was true that our options would increase...
"The problem is whether we're renting or buying..."
Honestly, if we were renting, my conscience would prickle at turning it into a temporary workshop. Still, with me around, I didn't think this Medea would resort to murder.
The worst she'd do is drain some mana, right?
Probably...
That was all based on her time with Souichirou Kuzuki, or when she was the Master in the 5th War.
Right now... she seems a bit brighter, but I don't know.
My knowledge is based on the anime; the person I've summoned and am seeing with my own eyes might be different from the one I saw on screen.
Tiamat, trembling, hugged me...
"Akira, I'll... I'll do my best..."
...Her expression was so full of despair, you'd think she believed she was being led to a slaughterhouse.
"No, if it's too hard, you don't have to do it..."
"No... I'm a Mama. I have to be strong."
Then please do something about that "led to the slaughter" look on your face first...
"Anyway, Tiamat, what do you think of Medea?"
"Hmm... A child covered in scars?"
In that very short time, she had pinpointed Medea's nature perfectly.
Honestly, the scars she spoke of were on her heart, not physical ones.
"You're not wrong."
"Yes..."
"Then why are you trembling?"
"That is... for some reason, she's frightening..."
Considering the joyful expression Medea had when she thought, "I've found excellent research material," I could understand why Tiamat was trembling.
"I think all magi are like that."
"I... see?"
What was that pause in the middle for?
"Anyway, what should we do before the Holy Grail War begins?"
"Hmm... for now, shouldn't we save money?"
We had to save money.
Frankly, I hadn't found a way to generate income, so there was nothing I could do.
I decided to check the functions on my smartphone.
[Servant Summoning]
[Holy Grail War Alert]
[Arknights]
[Honkai Impact 3rd]
[NFF] (Hiring, Weapons, Daily Necessities with express shipping! Prices are quite high, but delivery is lightning-fast! Fully functional, but sells older, obsolete products cheaply!)
There were about five icons, but I remembered NFF as the company founded by Tamamo Vitch Koyanskaya.
As for Arknights and Honkai Impact 3rd, they were games I used to play, but I'd since quit and didn't know the current state of things.
'Is this some kind of gaming smartphone?'
For now, I wasn't particularly interested in playing, so I decided to put Honkai and Arknights on hold.
I pressed the Servant Summoning icon.
『Please wait for the next Holy Grail War.』 it said.
So next was the Holy Grail War Alert.
I could see that only Caster had been summoned so far, and the start of the war was still a long way off.
Saber =
Lancer =
Archer =
Rider =
Caster = Akira
Assassin =
Berserker =
Observer = Merlin (Avalon)
That's what was displayed. It seemed this smartphone revealed names.
'What bad luck, Merlin is watching...'
As befitting someone with Clairvoyance, he was observing me.
Well, if he sent Fou over, I'd be grateful... but whether he'd be hostile or not was anyone's guess.
Then again, Fou was a mascot, or he'd just run away, so there was a chance he wouldn't appear at all.
"What do we do now? There's nothing to do..."
"Would you like to sleep in Mama's arms?"
"No, if I sleep now, I won't be able to sleep at night."
"I... see?"
Tiamat looked as if she was in shock.
I don't know if she heard an answer she hadn't expected, but it was just common sense.
If I sleep now, I won't sleep at night.
But there was nothing to do right now.
It might have been less boring if I had gone with Medea, but in any case, my boredom remained.
"Shall we go see what Medea is up to?"
"Hmm... that sounds like a good idea."
And so, Tiamat and I went to find where Medea was.
How, you ask? I just typed "Servant Location" into the map, and it showed up...
'Isn't this basically a map hack?'
The other factions hadn't summoned their Servants yet.
Once they were summoned, I suspected all their locations would be displayed.
The only issue was that it couldn't seem to find the locations of individuals.
Well, asking for more would be greedy, but being able to find the locations of Masters and Servants was definitely a cheat.
For now, only my location and Medea's were displayed. Tiamat's location was not.
The first place Medea headed was Ryuudou Temple, the place she made her base in Fate/stay night.
Even without a leyline, she should have an infinite supply of magical energy with Tiamat's support...
It seems finding an efficient location is a habit, a basic instinct for a Caster.
As we were moving, Medea's location began to change in real-time.
Next was the Emiya Residence.
Then a patrol of the Tohsaka Residence, followed by the Matou Residence...
She disappeared so quickly before we could even follow... it was hard to catch up.
It was unclear whether she was patrolling or house-hunting. Her range of movement was ambiguous, and just as we were about to arrive at her location, she would move somewhere else. At some point, our pursuit turned into a simple walk with Tiamat.
"Her location keeps changing..."
"It can't be helped... Why don't we talk to her when she gets back?"
I nodded at Tiamat's words and wondered what to do next.
"Shall we eat out before we head back?"
"Yes."
In our attempt to find Medea, we had forgotten about eating. We decided to eat out.
Medea was diligently scouting houses, and she was moving around so much that asking her to eat with us was impossible. We had no choice but to leave her be.
Tiamat and I went to a yakiniku restaurant, grilled some meat, and had a meal with rice.
Yakiniku Restaurant: -2,970 JPY
Remaining Balance: 955,651 JPY.
Afterward, Medea was said to have been quite sulky.