C25

It could be said that Scathach, who has lived from the Age of Gods to the present, is truly worthy of her title as the legendary warrior. With just a small suggestion, Shirou was able to instantly grasp his core advantage.

Or maybe this is the Wisdom of Dún Scáith at play?

Scathach's words are very accurate. Those Servants are all ghosts from the past, and although the Holy Grail has granted them with modern knowledge, their ancient ways of life and understanding make it difficult for them to fully assimilate into modern society.

There is a discrepancy between their knowledge and cognitive level.

This is also true for the Masters who are modern people but still hold conservative views as magus. The only one who fully utilizes modern knowledge is the envoy of justice, Emiya Kiritsugu. However, compared to his expertise in modern weapons, his knowledge of modern ways of life is probably not very extensive.

Therefore, Shirou, coming from 2019, has more modern knowledge than anyone else among the participants, and this is also his greatest and most essential advantage!

Based on this, Shirou has come up with a series of plans and has carefully calculated them one by one. It seems that he truly believes he stands a chance. Oh, if he could just get his hands on some Gatling guns, RPGs, and the like, that would be even better. It would be even better if he had a few tanks and fighter planes at his disposal.

But this seems to touch on the territory of Mystery and it appears that this kind of thing is taboo and cannot be done either... Still, there is no other choice, so he will have to think in this direction. To survive, he doesn't care about any tricks! He will use whatever tricks he can think of! However, before he can do that, he must first determine how much the selection of participants in this Holy Grail War has changed.

...

October 4, 1993, 9:24 am.

The Fujimaru family boarded the underground train bound for Hokkaido, a small territory with a total area of about 380,000 square kilometers. The train ride took three hours, but once they arrived, they could easily travel to any part of Hokkaido within a day by train.

In the afternoon, Fujimaru Narita arranged a guest house and following a [Suggestion] from Shirou, the Fujimaru family and Sakura ignored his absence.

Shirou lowered his head and said, "Have fun!"

He grabbed some money and the house key from his father's bag, then set off towards his own "Death Battle!"

...

Fuyuki City.

It was 9:23 pm when Shirou stepped on this land again.

As he returned to this land, Shirou's heart was filled with tension, hesitation, and fear, a stark contrast to his feelings when he had left with his family. In the next half month or even less time, this place could very well become his graveyard.

Shirou wrapped himself in his blue coat, taking a deep breath.

Winter was coming, and tonight's Fuyuki City was one degree colder than usual.

As Shirou walked towards his house in Shinto, the sound of complaining voices caught his attention.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid--! How dense can you be? Do you want to be the death of me? I'm your Master! And you are my Servant! You should follow my commands! Got it?"

Shirou stopped in his tracks and turned to see a red-haired man in armor and a black-haired young man engaged in a heated argument in the garden nearby. The red-haired man was imposing, standing at an imposing height of 1.9 meters with intimidating, bulging arms. In contrast, the young man was slender and had a fragile appearance.

Normally, the young man wouldn't dare to provoke the huge man due to their significant size difference. However, it seemed that the young man was fearless, pointing at the red-haired man and cursing him without fear of being attacked. This was, of course, because they were participants in the Holy Grail War.

The young man was the Master, Waver Velvet, a typical young man with a high ego and low practical ability, but he would later become one of the Lords of the Clock Tower. The red-haired giant was the famous conqueror King Iskandar!

Shirou quickly checked to make sure he had gloves on and that his Saint Graph was still turned off. With a somber expression, he lowered his head and thought about taking a different path.

Just as he turned to leave, a large hand came down on his shoulder and a commanding voice spoke from behind him, "Wait, child."

Oh no--!

Shirou's body instinctively trembled as he turned around to face the voice. He double-checked that he had not fused with his Saint Graph and was still wearing gloves before looking up at Iskandar, who was holding his shoulder, with a timid expression. "Umm, uncle, is there something you need from me?"

"Ahhh--! You scared the child!" Iskandar hadn't even spoken yet and Waver had already started yelling. Then he gave Shirou a friendly smile and said, "Don't be afraid, little friend. We're not bad people."

"Uh--, I, I'm not afraid."

Please don't recognize me as a Master, please don't recognize me as a Master... Shirou secretly prayed in his heart.

Iskandar reached out his hand and snapped his fingers on Waver's forehead, causing Waver to cry out in pain. He then lowered his head slightly and gave Shirou a friendly smile. "Young one, do you know where one can easily acquire knowledge?"

Hm? It seems he didn't recognize me... Shirou felt relieved. It seemed not everyone had the BUG eyesight like Gilgamesh, this was truly good news.

"To obtain knowledge, you can go to school," Shirou answered without hesitation in a childlike tone. "Uncle, do you want to go to school?"

Iskandar asked, "Besides school, where is the place where you can obtain the most knowledge?"

"The library," Shirou answered. "There are so many books there."

"Where is the library?"

"Over there," Shirou pointed to a street not far away. "The largest building."

Iskandar chuckled. "What a well-behaved child." He then turned to Waver.

Waver's face was full of caution as he asked, "What do you want?"

"Naturally, I want to give a reward." Iskandar smiled and reached into Waver's pocket to take out some money, which he then handed to Shirou.

Waver also had a smile on his face, but he was pissed. This guy didn't even ask him and just took money from his pocket!

"Use it to buy candy to eat," Iskandar said.

"Oh. Thank you, uncle."

Shirou stuffed the money into his pocket and turned to leave.

Not far away, he immediately heard a loud shout from Waver Velvet: "That's my money! You took my money as a reward! You stupid Servant, did you get my permission? I am the master! You have to listen to me! Stupid servant--!"

That was close, however, one group has already been confirmed.

Rider group, unchanged!

Shirou's eyes lit up slightly and he touched his pocket.

Additional war funds were obtained!

Shirou returned home and that night he did not go to meet Scathach in his dreams but instead sorted through the information he had.