Chapter 3: Master and Servant
After the summoning ceremony, Tatsuya sent Sakura back to her room to sleep.
Although Sakura was already seven years old, Tatsuya was not a strict person, so Sakura seemed a little spoiled. He had to carry her back to her room and put her in bed.
Fortunately, the immense magical fluctuations from the summoning ceremony had exhausted the young Sakura. She didn't even have the energy to listen to the Norse mythology and fell asleep quickly.
After ensuring Sakura and Kallen were both asleep, Tatsuya went back outside.
After the ceremony, Berserker...Morgan, became a spirit. As the summoning stabilized, he could feel the connection between himself and the Servant, which originated from the contract, and the magical channel between them had been successfully established.
Through this connection, Tatsuya found Morgan in his study.
She had materialized and was sitting on the sofa, flipping through a book she had picked up.
"You're even less of a magician than I knew," Morgan commented without looking up.
Tatsuya shrugged, his attitude extremely relaxed. "In the eyes of the magicians of the Age of Gods, contemporary magicians like us naturally aren't worthy of attention. Perhaps the only one who can rank high in your eyes is the Magic King who established the magician system, right?"
"This is not sarcasm," Morgan closed the book and raised her eyes to look at Tatsuya. "You have too much tenderness that does not belong to a magician."
In pursuit of the way of magic, most magicians gradually detach from the ethics and morals of the human world, developing a set of values and rules independent of the secular world.
"Hey, I'm just coaxing a child to sleep. Is it necessary to praise me to this extent?" Tatsuya shook his head and sat down opposite Morgan.
Morgan lowered her eyes and said as if talking to herself, "But thanks to this, I understand your character better."
"What?"
Tatsuya was surprised again. Then he remembered the series of actions Morgan had taken after appearing in response to the summons and looked at her with a probing gaze.
Servants are the incarnations of heroic spirits and the highest-level familiars that can only be summoned during the Holy Grail War. Their mystery even exceeds the scope of magic.
Since the Throne of Heroes responded to the call of the Holy Grail War magicians, it has transcended time and descended into this era.
The Holy Grail grants them a certain level of knowledge appropriate to the times to facilitate their actions.
But... that does not include any intelligence or information about the Master.
"I've been curious since we introduced each other just now," Tatsuya voiced the question in his mind. "Your reaction was a little strange when you saw your Master. Are you dissatisfied with something?"
What will happen next will be the seven Servants following their respective Masters in a thorough fight.
It is a veritable "war."
Therefore, the relationship of trust between Servant and Master is very important, and any misunderstanding and misalignment between them can lead to fatal consequences.
In particular, Tatsuya had no intention of dying here at all.
That's why he decided to bring up the subject with Morgan and clear up any possible misunderstandings.
However, Morgan's reaction was unpredictable, and she let out a low laugh that seemed to be of pleasure.
"...No, it's nothing. I'm just a little surprised." Morgan raised her hand, palm up, as if to hold Tatsuya in her hand. "It would be fine if the one who summoned me was just an ordinary contemporary magician."
"Huh?" Tatsuya was slightly surprised.
"But I'm afraid the Masters participating in this Holy Grail War don't know yet that their opponent is a guy who has mastered the magic of the Age of Gods," Morgan said.
After the surprise, Tatsuya's attitude relaxed instead.
"Not bad, you actually saw through my true nature as a magician." Tatsuya stretched. "If you can detect this level, it will be much easier to formulate future strategic plans."
Morgan still maintained that smile as faint as a distant mountain. She was neither moved by his praise nor offended by his casual behavior.
"Compared to this kind of thing, what can you do?" Morgan asked.
"What?"
Tatsuya, who was just about to get up and go back to his room to sleep, had no choice but to sit back down after being asked this question.
"It seems that you are not very interested in my identity," Morgan pointed out the problem.
Apart from being a little surprised initially when he learned that the Berserker he planned to summon was not the warrior famous for his bravery in legend but a heroic spirit more like a magician, Tatsuya did not express much afterward.
"Oh, how can I put this to you?" Tatsuya crossed his arms, looking very embarrassed. "Regarding the positioning of the Servants in the Holy Grail War, I do know. Because of the legend, a Heroic Spirit will have different aspects and will appear in the world with different classes. Logically speaking, the most suitable class for Fairy Princess Morgan should be Caster, but if there is some reason I don't know about, you can appear in the world with the Berserker class, it's hard to say..."
Morgan turned into a spirit and, when she materialized again, sat next to Tatsuya, who shrank his shoulders and looked frightened.
"Then tell me what I mean. Judging from your reaction, it seems that you don't have any ideas." Morgan didn't look at him, but exuded a strong aura of pressure from her body and approached Tatsuya.
He made a sound of sucking in air. "Hiss, it's nothing, I just know the legend of King Arthur better. I often tell those two kids bedtime stories, about King Arthur, Greek mythology, Norse mythology, and American mythology. I've told everything I can. If the storyteller isn't familiar with the stories, then it's just nonsense."
"Oh?" Morgan continued to ask questions.
"After all... the death of King Arthur, the division of the Knights of the Round Table, and the collapse of Britain, are all related to you."
Tatsuya doesn't really like to expose other people's shortcomings.
In particular, he is not sure about Morgan's attitude towards those things, whether she is proud of them or dissatisfied with them.
"Anyway, to be able to lead to that kind of result, he must be a bit crazy inside... it makes sense, right?" Tatsuya smiled bitterly.
Legends are legends. If Morgan, as a servant, were to betray him, he would have his own plan to deal with it.
"That's quite fitting for your flippant answer," Morgan finally responded.
"Satisfied? Let's leave it at that for now."
Tatsuya stood up from the sofa.
Having such a stunning beauty like Morgan so close to him made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Are you going to the battlefield? Then, please hold my magic spear for me." Morgan raised her hand and leaned on the single sofa on the side with a weapon that looked like a combination of a staff, a spear, and a sword.
"I am the Master, right?" Tatsuya's feet slipped, thinking he didn't hear correctly.
"That's right, so what?" Morgan asked calmly. "I offer my strength to fight for you, so you should naturally fulfill your obligations as a Master. Just providing magic power is not enough."
After saying that, Morgan stood up and asked, "Have you chosen the enemy to defeat first?"
"Who said we were going to the battlefield?" Tatsuya's eyes twitched, "The seven Servants haven't all arrived yet. It's not time to start the battle yet. Don't be impatient."
"So—"
Before Morgan could finish her question, Tatsuya had already waved his hand and left the study.
"It's time to go to bed so late. Please help yourself, Morgan."
Morgan was slightly stunned as she watched her Master disappear out the door.
After a while, she returned to where she had just sat and picked up the book "The Legend of King Arthur" which she had just flipped through a few pages.
"It's hard to associate this lazy and careless look with the 'tyrant' who has been waging an endless war with me for 2,000 years."
The Fairy Princess' voice, filled with nostalgia, echoed in the quiet study and then disappeared.
No one else heard it, and no one could interpret its meaning.