[94] The Eve of the Opening

A few years ago...

At that time, it was still snowing...

However, on such a day.

A person arrived at the Ryougi Family's residence and knocked on the door...

"Excuse me, is this Ryougi residence?" The man asked.

"Yes, what can I help you with?" Ryougi family servant looked up at the man, who was a head taller than himself, and furrowed his brow imperceptibly.

"I would like to see Shiki Ryougi," The man said directly, following his instincts.

"...Please wait." The servant closed the door and went to inform the head of the Ryougi family. This person seemed unusual... though they couldn't pinpoint why, there was something off about him.

Later, after the head of the Ryougi family had made a judgment, a decision was reached: "Bring him in for questioning. If he has no one backing him, eliminate him."

"Wait, Father."

"Shiki? What is it?"

"Ah, he wants to see me, right? How about letting me meet with him?"

The head of the Ryougi family furrowed his brow but ultimately agreed, "Very well, then bring him in."

And so, even while bound, Kurokawa Kazuya remained calm as he met Shiki Ryougi...

...

"Has something like this happened before? I can't remember..." Kazuya expressed some surprise. Truthfully, he couldn't recall what he had experienced after he first arrived at Ryougi families.

"Yes," Shiki nodded. "At that time, your soul, having just devoured another soul, was in a semi-chaotic state. Coupled with your body's rejection of your soul, if not for the system within you neutralizing the effects, your soul might have been expelled the moment it entered that body."

"So you mean..."

"Ah, yes, at that time, you couldn't lie and had straightforward speech," Shiki smiled. "So, if you wanted to know something, you would have revealed everything without holding back."

That was dangerously close...

Kazuya's mouth twitched. Was he still in such a perilous state?

"So, afterwards, I felt normal again, you mean..."

"I made some adjustments to restore your semi-chaotic soul to a state of calmness and then reconstructed a body for you. It's roughly like that."

I see...

Kazuya nodded. So, back then, he already owed her a lot...

"Thank you, Shiki."

"No need for thanks. If you want to thank someone, thank your feelings. I decided to help you because of that. Originally, I wasn't planning to appear so soon. But, well... since you've already become aware of my existence, the timing doesn't matter. I feel like now is the best time."

Shiki spoke quietly. "What do you think of 'Shiki' and 'SHIKI'?"

"Well, they're both cute..."

"Is that so..." Shiki smiled. "Then, you must know, right? Both of them want to kill you because of the chaotic impulses emanating from me. 'SHIKI' is always worried that she can't control herself."

"Yes, I understand now."

"Do you like 'Shiki' or 'SHIKI'?" Shiki continued to ask.

"Uh, can't I like both?"

"Ah, of course you can." Shiki nodded and smiled. "But, you are quite greedy, aren't you? Wanting both of them... You should know, one of them will disappear."

"..."

"Whom do you want to stay? Whom do you want to disappear?"

Kazuya hesitated for a moment. This question... he had no idea how to answer it.

"No, neither of them will disappear," he finally spoke after several minutes of silence. "Neither of them will."

"I see. You are quite greedy," Shiki remarked.

After saying that, Kazuya blinked, and the person before him had disappeared.

Looking at the somewhat empty room, Kazuya smiled. "Yes... I'm truly greedy, aren't I? But..."

...

Fuyuki City—

Waver made some slight disguises and then left his residence.

In other words, he changed his clothes, with few other adjustments.

Well, for someone like him who spent most of his money on magecraft, he didn't have much money to spend on clothing. In that regard, he had some complaints about the person who drew [Fate/Zero]. After all, the biggest doubt he had when watching Fate/Zero was where he got the money for the plane ticket.

Upon careful consideration... he had probably borrowed it himself...

Now, in Fuyuki City, there were various industries related to [Fate/Zero] everywhere. For instance, places like Ryuudou Temple had a constant stream of daily tourists. Ryuudou Temple, which was not particularly famous, had suddenly become a local attraction.

Some people even wanted to explore and see if there really was a "Big Hole" within Ryuudou Temple. Fortunately, the temple had long-established barriers, so no one could intrude directly.

Waver touched the Command Seals on his hand and let out a sigh of relief.

He already had Command Seals, and his Holy Relic had been prepared by his mentor, Kayneth. If everything went as planned, he should be able to summon the Heroic Spirit named "Alexander."

Well... he was ready.

The games the man enjoyed, as well as clothes that fit his size.

He was just waiting to summon the man who had conquered him with his charisma in the manga alone.

However, what made him uncomfortable was that, even though he had achieved a high rank in the manga, in reality, he only had the "Cause Position," which was elevated through his contributions, and his actual rank was just "Cause"!

It was frustrating!

"The Holy Grail War is about to begin..." Waver looked at the various shops around the streets and felt somewhat sentimental.

According to the message from the Clock Tower's high-ranking official, Wizard Marshall, this was an event that had indeed occurred in a parallel world. Wizard Marshall wanted to see the effects of transplanting events from other worlds into this world. So, he had subtly arranged for someone who was exceptionally fast at drawing manga to create [Fate/Zero].

It was through this that Waver learned one thing: Leylines were depleting in this world. It was predicted that by the year 2000, with the arrival of the new century, Leylines would be completely exhausted. At that point, even magical energy would cease to exist, and the spread of mystery would become irrelevant.

However, there was another way.

This time, Waver and Kayneth's mission was to participate in and observe the Holy Grail War, as well as to investigate whether the Holy Grail possessed the power to prolong Leylines. If... it truly existed...

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