Chapter 10: A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands
Licking his lips, Chizuki rubbed his stomach.
At his current age, he was right in the middle of growing, and this little bit of dry ration was nowhere near enough to fill him up. Besides, he hadn't brought much to begin with, and now there were two mouths to feed. Saving a little wherever he could was a little that mattered.
It'll get better. No matter what, I believe things will get better.
He glanced at Jack, who was nibbling at her biscuit one small bite at a time. At that moment, Chizuki found himself thinking about many things. After a pause, he shifted his attention back to the system.
"Even though all my attributes have now reached genin level, stats alone don't represent true combat strength. This is a real world. One wrong move, and death is still inevitable."
After pondering for a while, he continued thinking:
"The best-case scenario right now is that this place is relatively safe. But that safety is only temporary. As long as the war continues, this place could be discovered sooner or later. So in the end, what matters most is still strength. But how am I supposed to get stronger now? Other people are born in the beginner village—I was thrown straight onto the battlefield."
"But this is also an opportunity. A chance to grow stronger and make a name for myself. If I want to do that, the only way is to kill enemy ninja. Right now… I'm still too weak. Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Chizuki opened the system inventory and fixed his dark eyes on the Summon Ticket inside.
Please… bring me something useful. Even a powerful Mystic Code would be something I desperately need right now.
"System, I want to use the Summon Ticket."
Hearing his command, the system's voice echoed in his mind.
"Ding. Summoning in progress."
The Summon Ticket in the system inventory trembled slightly, then transformed into a streak of white light that flew into the summon pool. A brilliant white radiance erupted before Chizuki's eyes—though only he could see it.
He had watched this process once before, but this time, the little fists clenched at his sides and the tension on his face showed just how unsettled he really was.
The gentle afternoon sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves overhead, scattering fragments of light across Chizuki's resolute face.
"Ding."
At the sound of the notification, Chizuki knew the result was out. He immediately stared at the glowing mass.
"Ding. Congratulations, host. You have summoned a Servant Noble Phantasm—Knight of Owner."
The system's voice sounded slowly in his head, and this time, there was a rare trace of delight in it.
A surge of overwhelming surprise flooded Chizuki, leaving him dazed.
He had no idea what exactly he had pulled or what it did, but it had to be something good—at least for him. After all, if even the system's cold, mechanical tone had changed, then this thing had to be valuable. The last time the system's tone had shifted was when it was mocking him.
"System, what exactly did I draw?"
Thinking of this, Chizuki abruptly looked up and asked anxiously.
"Ding. The host has drawn the Servant Noble Phantasm Knight of Owner."
"A Servant Noble Phantasm?"
"Ding. Correct. The host may equip this Noble Phantasm and thereby use the Noble Phantasm's abilities."
Hearing that, Chizuki froze for a moment, then frowned.
"So that means… if I draw Servant skills in the future, I can use those too? Then if I draw dozens of Noble Phantasms, wouldn't that make me invincible?"
Before he could even finish the thought, the system's faintly mocking voice rang out again.
"Ding. Impossible. According to this world's system and power hierarchy, Noble Phantasms are equivalent to bloodline abilities. Excluding Bloodline Elimination, Bloodline Expansion, and various secret arts, it is impossible for the host to wield dozens of Noble Phantasms. However, within the system, every time the host advances by one rank, one additional Noble Phantasm slot will be unlocked. From E to EX, there are a total of six Noble Phantasm slots available."
Chizuki rolled his eyes and ignored the system.
Then, grinning shamelessly, he opened the Noble Phantasms section.
Noble Phantasm:
Knight of Owner
Origin:
Lancelot (Berserker)
Rank:
A++
Range:
1 meter
Maximum Targets:
30 people
Description:
Once activated, the user may turn any object they pick up into a D-rank weapon. If the object was originally a D-rank weapon or above, the user may wield and dominate that weapon while retaining its original rank.
So it was the Noble Phantasm of the Berserker summoned in Fate/Zero—Lancelot.
As someone deeply familiar with anime and manga, there was no way Chizuki would have missed that series. Not only that, he knew this Servant particularly well.
Lancelot—the famed knight from Arthurian legend, one of the Knights of the Round Table, known as the Flower of Chivalry. According to legend, he was raised by the Lady of the Lake, and was therefore also called the Knight of the Lake.
Because of a tragic courtly love affair, he was also the one who set in motion the collapse and destruction of the Round Table.
Then, in the Fourth Holy Grail War, he appeared as a Berserker. Using Knight of Owner, he directly clashed head-on with Gilgamesh of ancient Babylon. Though no victor was decided, that alone was enough to prove just how formidable the Noble Phantasm was.
"So… what am I supposed to do with this?"
Chizuki twitched at the corner of his mouth, as though he had just discovered a massive gold mine—only to wake up the next day and find gold had become worthless.
This Noble Phantasm was undeniably powerful, with a rank as high as A++, but in this world, it really was a case of too valuable to throw away, too impractical to use well.
What—was he supposed to catch an enemy's shuriken midair and throw it right back?
Setting aside whether he could even catch it, what if the enemy used ninjutsu instead? How was he supposed to catch that? He wasn't as fast as Jack, and if he tried to close in for direct weapon combat, he'd just be asking to die.
"Forget it. I'll just treat it as a buff for kunai and shuriken for now. Later, if I get the chance, I'll go after the Second Hokage's Thunder God Sword or Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword or something. Right now, it's just Jack and me. Jack isn't a Servant meant for frontal combat, and with my strength, fighting head-on is impossible too. So if that's the case… then assassination is the only path."
At that thought, Chizuki nodded to himself, feeling quite wise.
He had always been like this. Even in his previous life, no matter what he did, he liked to make plans in advance. He loved that feeling of designing a strategy—as if he were doing something truly impressive.
"Jack's Murder on a Misty Night happens to counter the Mist-nin, who specialize in the Silent Killing Technique of the Hidden Mist. As long as we don't run into too many enemies, anyone below jōnin is fair game. If we're careful, there shouldn't be any major problems. We'll complete missions while gradually moving closer to Konoha's front line. Once we make it back into Konoha's territory, we'll be safe. Then I'll be able to—"
Boom…
Just as Chizuki was still making plans for the days ahead with Jack, a deep, muffled sound from the distance abruptly interrupted his thoughts.