First Fate

I yawned as I kept watch on the Tohsaka, Matou manor, and the Fuyuki church, plus the airport, in preparation for the Holy Grail War. I patiently waited to get my eyes on all of the Masters because once I did, assassinating them would be far easier if I needed to, just in case. Regardless, Kirei Kotomine needs to die along with Zouken Makiri, as those two are my biggest current obstacles among the Masters. I would like to avoid killing Kiritsugu Emiya if I can help it, but that's just my bias speaking.

" Silva, I wish to relieve my boredom."

I suppress the urge to sigh at hearing Skadi's roundabout request, especially since the War should start soon.

" Caster, we are near the beginning of the Holy Grail War, and the sooner I can get my eyes on all the Masters, the sooner I can win."

" Maybe so, Silva, but until then, there is nothing for me to do and-."

I held out some Yen bills, and Skadi immediately grabbed them as she materialized so she could get some sweets, as she has a sweet tooth, especially for ice cream. She wordlessly left to sate her desires, and I focused on the task at hand. I grinned as I caught sight of Tokiomi Tohsaka and even Kirei as Rin and her mother, Aoi, with bags in hand, left the Tohsaka manor. I closed the portal I was looking through and focused my efforts on seeing Zouken and the rest of the Masters. Now I have a better timeline of when the War starts.

Days went by until the night that Assassin was sent to attack the head of the Tohsaka family, and I immediately opened a portal to the fake priest. While sending Skadi would be a sure thing, I want to test my mettle against him and Assassin to see how I stack in this world. I wore a dark gray hooded cloak that Caster and I had made together, which had both mundane and magical defenses. The outer layer of the cloak had hidden Runes on it to protect me from offensive Magecraft. In contrast, the inside had alloy plates of the highest quality I made with Transmutation to guard against Lancer's cursed spears above all else.

Kirei drew out his Black Keys and immediately attacked me; my first thought was, he's slow. I have faced plenty of opponents far faster than him, and I was a bit disappointed. The fake priest is one of the best fighters outside of Servants, and yet... It looks like I may need to reevaluate where I stand in terms of strength in Fate-verse. Outside of Magi that specialize in fields that make it hard for me to confront them directly, I can probably kill most of them with little issue. As the fake priest closes the distance, I use Flash Step to maneuver to his right flank.

With Snærkló in hand, I slashed at him and was met with unexpected resistance on contact; while I knew he could resist gunfire, Kirei was at least a bit more durable than expected. I activated my weapon's thermal cutting edge after knocking him away and went to hack him down. The fake priest raised his throwing blades to block my strike, only to be cut down like a hot knife to butter. I sighed in disappointment but also felt relieved that if I could take down Kirei, the other Masters would be a minor issue. Aside from Zouken, the Undead Apostle, and the Servants, my chance of winning the War are greater than expected, but before the fake priest drew his last breath, I used Soul Archive on him and knew everything he did about Magecraft and his past.

***

" What!?"

Tokiomi exclaimed in bewilderment at hearing about Kirei's unexpected death from Risei after Assassin dissipated from lack of magical energies. The priest overseer spoke with restrained sorrow through the communication Mystic Code.

" My son, Kirei, is dead. Assassin is also gone."

The Tohsaka head was in turmoil at the unexpected events as it threw all his plans out the window. He now had to rely on familiars like the rest of the Master for information gathering, which would make things far more difficult as there were plenty of ways to counter common familiars, unlike with Assassin. Tokiomi took a deep breath and asked.

" Any way of identifying who killed him, Risei?"

" No, and what was left of my son was nothing but ashes and signs of the conflict at where he died."

" My condolences, Risei."

The Tohsaka head spoke with sincerity, and the priest overseer gave a quiet thanks and then asked.

" Tokiomi, I ask you if it turns out it was one of the Masters was the one that killed my son, I would like you to return the favor."

" Of course, Risei, although brief, Kirei was my student and ally in this War, so whoever interfered with our plans will pay."

Tokiomi and Risei discussed their next move in the Holy Grail War as they would have to revise their plans.

***

I laid down on the couch at my residence and went over the information I got from Kirei Kotomine. Overall my suspicions turned out to be accurate, my Magic and this world's Magecraft are incompatible, and I can only use Magecraft as a reference point since I could not develop Magic Circuits nor delve into Mystery as I am. This reaffirms my wish for the Grail to absorb a version of Zelretch from a doomed World Line to gain the Second Magic, Kaleidoscope since only one person at a time can have it per World Line. Of course, if that does not work in helping me return to Remnant, I may have to reach the Root itself for another Magic to go through the Multiverse to get to my home.

I focus my surveillance on the airport since Irisviel should soon arrive in Fuyuki, and I can get the Einzbern family's location from her. The waiting is honestly the hardest part for me so far as my concern as to whether or not the system user is alive. I try to distract myself from my ever-present worry by focusing on winning the Holy Grail War and whatever else I can find to calm my mind. As I watched the airport, Skadi appeared and said to me.

" How long do you intend on lounging around?"

" Haste makes waste, Skadi. I am stuck in this world for the long haul, so being patient is needed."

" Says the warrior that fought against Assassin's Master to sate his battle lust. I would not be surprised if you gained an Authority over war or even chaos from what I have learned of you so far."

I looked at Caster and saw something that made me chuckle.

" What's so funny?"

Seeing Skadi's confusion, I told her with a wide grin.

" Go look in the mirror."

She complied and went to the bathroom. 3... 2... 1... I heard her squeal in embarrassment as she finally saw her chocolate milk mustache. She can be such an airhead and ditz. She immediately returned, blushing, and ordered me.

" Forget what you saw!"

I just laughed at her as the living room got covered in ice from Caster's emotional outburst; I am honestly grateful for gaining such a cute Servant.