C553

"Master, who are you talking to?" Shirou asked, eyeing Mash as she interacted with her bracelet. Despite his seemingly relaxed demeanor, he remained alert.

"Ah!"

Mash jumped at Shirou's voice, allowing him a glimpse of the person displayed on her bracelet's small screen. He stared, momentarily taken aback.

Meanwhile, the young man on the screen manipulated the controls to project his image. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Romani Archaman. I am..."

"Solomon." Shirou interrupted.

Romani paused, pointing to himself in disbelief. "You... you recognize me?"

Shirou nodded.

Stunned, Romani pressed, "But how? How did you recognize me? Lev said it would be impossible without knowing who I really am. How could you possibly recognize me?"

Shirou shrugged, spreading his hands. "What can I say? I'm not blind. And really, all you've changed is your skin and hair color; your face is just as recognizable as ever."

Subconsciously, Romani's hand drifted to his face.

Beside them, Mash shifted her gaze between Shirou and the doctor, her confusion growing.

'The doc mentioned senpai only ever summoned King Hassan when it came to Assassins, right? But from the looks of it, Mr. Fujimaru seems pretty close with the doc. And another thing... why's Mr. Fujimaru calling him Solomon?'

Romani let out a sigh, "I guess there's no fooling you."

Well, of course not. Being Eternal King isn't Shirou's only secret. His biggest secret? He's a transmigrator! And any transmigrator who's played "Fate/Grand Order" would instantly recognize Romani Archaman's true identity.

Yep, the man in front of him is none other than the King of Magecraft and creator of the magic circuit, Grand Caster King Solomon himself!

Smiling, Shirou asked, "So, you've become human?"

Romani nodded, "Yes, thanks to the power of the Holy Grail, I'm now human."

"The power of the Holy Grail?"

"It's a bit of a long story. Basically, after the battle against the invaders in 2004, a Holy Grail War took place in New Fuyuki City, known as the Fifth Holy Grail War. Marisbury and I managed to come out on top."

Shirou's jaw dropped at the explanation.

'New Fuyuki City makes sense. After the invader's attack, the original Fuyuki must've been in shambles. This New Fuyuki City is probably what they built in its place,' Shirou reasoned. But something didn't add up. 'Where did this Fifth Holy Grail War come from? I thought I had sealed the Grail and Illya took the rest...'

He couldn't hold back his confusion, "I get New Fuyuki City, but what's the story with this Fifth Holy Grail War?"

Romani responded, "It's a bit of a story. I'll forward all the details to Mash's terminal for you to review later. But don't worry, the Fifth Holy Grail War was relatively peaceful. All the Masters agreed to a truce before things escalated, turning the war into more of a Servant contest."

Shirou's brow furrowed in thought. What exactly had happened to his world in his absence? First, there was the establishment of Chaldea, then these mysterious "connecting points," and now a Fifth Holy Grail War?

He wasn't the only one grappling with questions. Mash too was puzzled. The very doctor who'd instructed her to keep her guard up around Shirou was now engaging in friendly banter with him, as if they were old friends.

What was the nature of their relationship? And what was this about an invader? How did all of these things connect to the Fifth Holy Grail War in New Fuyuki City?

The information was overwhelming, leaving Mash feeling as if her processor was a few updates behind, struggling to keep up.

Mash shook her head slightly, her confusion mounting as she turned to Romani, "Doctor, do you know Mr. Fujimaru well?"

"Absolutely!" Romani answered with an enthusiastic nod and a warm smile, "Mash, you've struck gold being able to meet him and form a contract! If he were your Servant, I wouldn't worry about your safety or this connection point. He is..."

Before Romani could finish, Shirou interrupted with a playful smile, "Yep, that's me, Fujimaru Shirou!"

Mash's eyes darted towards Shirou, and Romani's gaze followed suit.

Shirou just smiled back at them, "Right?"

"Yes, it's just..." Romani started, his face a mix of puzzlement and curiosity. He couldn't fathom why Shirou would choose to conceal his true identity.

Shirou, on the other hand, understood the situation all too well. He knew that revealing his status would only heighten his Master's anxiety. It could make her even more nervous, to the point where she might be too intimidated to interact with him at all. And that was the last thing he wanted.

Besides, he had come to realize that he preferred being Fujimaru Shirou to being Eternal King.

Romani, shifting his attention back to Mash, advised, "Regardless, you should heed Shirou's advice. Staying by his side is the safest option."

Mash was left baffled, thinking to herself that the doctor's sudden change of heart seemed a bit extreme.

"But on another note," Romani continued, his gaze returning to Shirou, his expression tinged with sadness, "You... you've lost, haven't you?"

"Lost?" Shirou replied, shaking his head slightly, "I haven't lost, nor have I won."

"What do you mean?" Romani asked, taken aback. Shirou's response was not what he had anticipated.

"As soon as I entered, I found myself trapped. Fortunately, I was able to seize an opportunity to escape. Although I'm still alive, my original body was lost in the dimensional rifts. Now, it's only through the summoning power of the Holy Grail that I can appear here."

"I see..." Romani responded, his tone filled with a sense of relief.

At least there was a silver lining: Shirou was still alive.

"Wait, wait a minute. Did I just hear that correctly? Mr. Fujimaru was summoned by the Holy Grail as a Servant, and he's still alive?" Mash asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

Romani explained, "Mash, it's not unheard of for living people to become Servants. Take the King of Knights, for example."

She considered this, her expression clearing as she nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see. That does make sense."

Romani then addressed him again, "So, Shirou, I'm entrusting Mash and this connection point to your care."

"Are you not going to explain what a connection point actually is?" Shirou asked.

Romani asked in surprise, "Didn't Mash tell you?"

Shirou glanced at Mash.

She responded, "I did tell him!"

Shirou let out a soft sigh and tactfully commented, "Seems like my Master could use some improvement in her communication skills."

"Mash didn't explain it clearly...?" Romani asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I had a feeling," he mused, sipping his coffee. "She usually performs well, but this is her first time dealing with a connection point."

Mash, feeling slightly embarrassed, kept silent.

Romani set down his coffee and began to elaborate on the concept of connection points for Shirou.

As he listened, a more serious expression settled on Shirou's face, his brows slowly furrowing.

"There are numerous parallel worlds, and they exist relative to each other, separated by dimensional barriers. Except for that one incident with the Second Magic going berserk, they don't usually interact. And the only entity capable of traversing these parallel worlds is the Second Magic wielded by Zelretch."

"However, it seems that centered around your world, Shirou, a multitude of these parallel worlds have started to intertwine. Usually, this intertwining just causes overlaps in the worlds themselves. But for the individuals existing in these overlapping spaces, the consequences can be disastrous."

"And the point where these worlds intersect and intertwine? That's what we call a connection point."

"The mission of Chaldea is to traverse to these connection points, destroy them, and eliminate the overlap between the two worlds, restoring balance."

Shirou frowned, something was wrong.