Several days had passed since the "Black" Archer fought the "Red" Saber. One evening, a summons was issued to the Masters and Servants within the fortress.
From the day our Archer fought the enemy Saber until now, the opposing side had shown no movement, and we had not taken the initiative to attack either, so the combat had fallen into a lull.
However, it seemed the enemy had finally made a move.
That was why Gordes and the "Black" Saber were absent from their seats.
"It seems this will be the second battle of the Great Holy Grail War."
"The opponent appears to be a Lancer," Archer remarked.
They watched the images projected by Caster's golems. The battle between the "Black" Saber and the "Red" Lancer had begun late at night and had already been going on for several hours.
In the darkness, two radiant Servants were engaged in a deadly struggle.
The way they tirelessly clashed sword and spear felt closer to a performance or dance than a fight to the death.
Although, for an ordinary person, it would be impossible to follow their 'dance' with the naked eye.
The swordplay was fierce, sparks flying amidst bloody gales.
The "Black" Saber was Siegfried. A world-famous dragon-slaying hero, a prime example of an immortal swordsman with a body of steel. It was no exaggeration to say his spiritual rank was of the highest order.
His Noble Phantasm, 'Armor of Fafnir,' nullified all attacks of B-rank and below, and reduced the damage of attacks exceeding that by an amount equivalent to a B-rank attack.
To wound Saber, one must possess an attack means of A-rank or higher, meaning this was a cheat-level defensive Noble Phantasm that could only be damaged by those belonging to the upper echelons of Heroic Spirits.
Yet, the spear of the opposing "Red" Lancer was creating wounds on the "Black" Saber's body with each strike. They were only injuries that could be instantly closed with healing magecraft, but it meant that Servant's spear possessed power reaching A-rank even without a True Name release.
Furthermore, the golden armor worn by the "Red" Lancer was sturdy enough to withstand the slashes of 'Balmung, the Demonic Sword of Salvation.'
Both possessed defensive capabilities sufficient to prevent the other's attacks from being fatal, and their skills were nearly equal.
As a result, the battle between the "Black" Saber and the "Red" Lancer was balanced, continuing through the night without a decisive outcome.
"Ruler," Archer said, looking at the girl who had appeared in the images projected on the screen.
A girl with golden hair braided down to her waist; aside from her extraordinary beauty, she looked no different from an ordinary person, especially with her modern-style clothing.
The Servant who could be called the root cause of this war.
An irregular-class Servant said to be summoned when a Holy Grail War is on the verge of collapse.
Archer also knew of her existence through knowledge granted by the Grail, but he never thought she would actually be summoned.
"It would have been a godsend if we could have brought her to our side, but it seems things won't go that smoothly," Archer muttered.
"At least we know she's maintaining neutrality. That's good, isn't it?" Fiore replied.
Archer and Fiore spoke in hushed tones.
"Besides, for some reason, the other side seemed intent on eliminating Ruler."
"Yes, that's the puzzling part. What could it mean?"
"Who knows. Perhaps they committed a foul severe enough for Ruler to exercise her authority. We should be cautious."
It was said Ruler was granted the authority to manage the Holy Grail War single-handedly.
Naturally, one would want such a powerful figure as an ally. However, launching an attack immediately was hard to comprehend.
One could interpret it as them trying to crush the possibility out of fear that her strong authority would be used against them, but even so, it was too hasty.
According to Gordes, they seemed to go in for the kill without any room for discussion. Perhaps the "Red" side had something shady going on.
In the images, the light of dawn was dispelling the night's darkness.
The two Servants sheathed their weapons as if by mutual agreement and withdrew. The sealed room didn't let in the morning sun. It was an environment where grasping the sense of time was difficult, but the images showed that morning had arrived.
"Another all-nighter, Master."
"Yes, truly. While it might be normal for a mage, I'm worried it might ruin my skin."
Archer pushed his Master's wheelchair as usual.
Since his summoning, pushing the wheelchair had always been Archer's job.
Their relationship was good, even compared to other pairs.
They were approaching the battle as equal partners.
How to interact with their Servants was a headache for the Masters. Some, like Darnic, tried to maintain good relations by serving diligently, while others, like Gordes, refused all communication.
Among them, Fiore was fortunate to have reached a point of mutual trust so quickly.
It was the result of her personality and Archer's meshing well together.
Back in her room, Fiore asked Archer to prepare some medicine for her.
"Let me see, this should be it, right?"
"Yes, thank you."
After confirming the medicinal tea and powdered medicine Archer prepared, Fiore sipped and drank it.
"It's medicine to ease the pain in your legs, correct?"
"Yes, that's right." Fiore nodded.
Her legs had been immobile since birth. It wasn't an illness but the effect of her deformed Magic Circuits. Therefore, medical science couldn't cure it. To stand firmly on the earth with both legs, her Magic Circuits would have to be removed. But she couldn't abandon being a mage either.
Yes, that was why Fiore's wish upon the Grail was the healing of her legs while keeping her Magic Circuits intact.
To regain her physical functions as a human while aiming for the pinnacle as a mage. That was Fiore's wish.
"Archer." Fiore called him.
She held out her hands—was it a performance asking to be carried?
Understanding Fiore's intention, Archer picked her up and carried her to the bed.
For her, with both legs unusable, even moving from the wheelchair to the bed was a struggle. Usually, she had golems or familiars help, but now she had a reliable butler to depend on.
And for Archer, being relied upon didn't feel bad either.
"The medicine is taking effect, so I'll sleep for a while. Please feel free to do as you wish, Archer."
"Understood. Then, I'll take you up on that offer."
So as not to disturb his Master's sleep, Archer quietly left the room.
After leaving Fiore's room, Archer went straight back to his own chamber.
When he opened the door, sure enough—
"Rider. So you are here."
—there was the boy knight with an appearance lovely enough to be mistaken for a girl.
"Archer! Don't startle me like that."
"You sensed me when I stood in front of the door, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah." Rider stuck out his tongue slightly as he spoke.
Archer walked over to the bedside. The silver-haired homunculus was there.
His eyes were slightly open, looking at Archer.
"Dawn has barely broken, but you're awake?"
The homunculus boy nodded slowly.
Right now, the only ones in this fortress who could be considered his allies were Rider and Archer. If he weren't hidden here in Archer's room, he probably wouldn't survive a single day.
He was that fragile a creature at present.
"They say homunculi are born complete, but I see that's only in terms of knowledge. The physical aspect can't be helped without training," Archer mused aloud.
Had this been a combat homunculus, it might have been different, but he wasn't specially modified. If anything, his vitality was set slightly higher to allow more magical energy to be extracted, but that was all.
A body not designed for life outside was as fragile as an infant's.
How would he live out his lifespan of three years at most?
He, too, like the Servants, had to fight his own fate.
"First, building enough stamina to escape on your own is crucial."
"Walking practice! I'll find time to help too!" Rider interjected, speaking to the homunculus.
Archer gave a wry smile.
"As you heard, Rider says he'll help. Ah, if you have any troubles, ask him. Come to think of it, he seems quite good at taking care of others."
"Eh, so you're leaving it to me just like that?"
"You're the one who picked him up, aren't you?"
"Well, yeah, I did. But as you can see, I'm impulsive. I don't think you can rely on me much," Rider said in a light tone.
It was treatment akin to that for a stray dog or cat, but that was the reality, so it couldn't be helped.
Moreover, while Rider seemed like an irresponsible, frivolous Servant, once he decided to do something, he would stake his life on it.
Because he didn't think ahead, he often became the seed for various troubles.
But all his actions were good deeds. Those involved might have a hard time, but for Rider, he was undoubtedly doing good, and he would never, ever think he was doing something wrong.
That kind of thinking simply didn't exist for him.
That, too, was probably why he was a hero
And precisely because Rider tackled the problem before him, disregarding all conditions, the homunculus was saved.
"Rider. To him, you are a hero of justice. If so, you must see it through to the end."
"A hero of justice, huh? I see, then I have to do my best! Okay, let's start practice right away! Come on, you, stand up!"
Rider, full of vigor, tried to pull the homunculus out of bed.
"I see. Precisely because it's early morning, the surveillance by the Masters and Caster is lax. It might be the best time for walking practice," Archer commented, offering no helping hand to the homunculus.
So far, Servants had clashed twice.
The first was the battle involving the "Black" Caster and the "Black" Archer against the "Red" Saber.
The second was the battle between the "Black" Saber and the "Red" Lancer.
Both were worthy of being called battles of heroes.
The "Black" faction, holed up in the distant Millennium Castle Fortress. Opposing them was the "Red" faction. The only one among the "Red" faction appearing before the Servants as a Master was Father Shirou Kotomine, the supervisor dispatched from the Holy Church, who also served as a Master.
He was Assassin's Master and acted as the intermediary between the other Masters dispatched by the Mage's Association and the Servants, giving instructions.
This had been the case ever since the Servants were summoned.
Consequently, an abnormal situation persisted where the Servants of the "Red" faction, except for Saber, had never even seen their own Masters.
Father Shirou was sitting on a chair, looking over documents.
They summarized the information gained from the two skirmishes.
The Assassin he summoned used pigeons as familiars, and its surveillance network covered all of Romania. Admittedly, they couldn't enter premises protected by bounded fields with just ordinary pigeons, but both skirmishes occurred in places observable by the pigeons' eyes.
Although the "Black" Caster hadn't shown himself, it was clear he was a Heroic Spirit skilled in magecraft controlling golems. By narrowing it down to Heroic Spirits who were golem masters, they could at least list candidates.
The "Black" Saber was a phenomenal swordsman. His defensive power rivaled that of the "Red" Lancer—Karna's golden armor.
"As one would expect from Siegfried," Shirou murmured, recalling the battle he witnessed through his familiar.
That swordsman's sturdiness was extraordinary. But if it was Siegfried, that made sense. The "Black" faction had summoned a swordsman of extremely high fame, just like the Vlad III they summoned as Lancer.
However, the parameters of the Servants other than Saber and Lancer were average. For something prepared over half a century, the summoned Servants were rather low-spec.
It was somewhat pathetic that the Mage's Association, which had prepared their relics only after hearing Yggdmillennia's declaration of war, had obtained more excellent Heroic Spirits.
"As expected of you, Master. You've already identified Saber's True Name?"
The one who materialized beside Shirou was Assassin.
A black witch exuding feminine allure.
"Siegfried, huh? A troublesome opponent."
"Yes, but. That's all it is. The fact that Saber is Siegfried confirms that at least the top two Servants of the 'Black' faction cannot defeat our Rider."
The two great heroes the "Red" faction boasted. One was Karna, the solar hero from Indian mythology. The son of the Sun God, a hero among heroes boasting the highest level of fame even in modern India. And the other, the "Red" faction had another great hero on par with Karna waiting in the wings.
"And the one whose True Name is known is Archer? What kind of Heroic Spirit is he?"
"..."
When asked by Assassin, Shirou formed a troubled smile.
This line of questioning was strange from the start.
The "Black" Saber was forbidden from speaking any words by his Master's command. While it might be possible to guess his True Name from his physical sturdiness, it should be impossible to determine the opponent's True Name in this situation where he hadn't even used his Noble Phantasm.
Yet, Shirou asserted the "Black" Saber was Siegfried, and Assassin was trying to proceed with the conversation under the premise that they knew the "Black" Archer's True Name as well, without doubting it.
"What's wrong, Master? Don't tell me that Archer, like Saber, has a skill or Noble Phantasm that conceals his True Name?"
"No. That's not it, but it's somewhat irregular, so I'm perplexed."
As a queen who reigned, she had a sense for discerning people's lies and deceptions. While not as sharp as Lancer's, she was confident in her ability to read people. Thus, she sensed Shirou wasn't lying and urged him to explain.
"I saw his True Name... However, it doesn't exist in my knowledge—what kind of Heroic Spirit he is."
"What?"
Assassin made a suspicious expression.
The claim to have discerned a Servant's True Name at a glance was strange in itself, but even if it were possible, could there really be a Servant one didn't know?
All Servants were great personages who left their names in history. If you go back in history, their names appear in myths, stories, or historical records. Because without being known by people, one cannot become a Heroic Spirit.
If it were an ordinary person with no interest in history or myths, it might be understandable, but for a Master involved in a Great Holy Grail War not to know would mean it was an extremely obscure Servant. But even that seemed impossible, especially for this Master.
"So, what is the 'Black' Archer's True Name?"
"It seems to be... Emiya Shirou. Ah, the family name comes first."
"Emiya Shirou? I certainly don't know that name. The knowledge from the Grail also contains no such Heroic Spirit. However..." Assassin sent a meaningful look to Father Shirou. "It's the same name as yours, Master. Kukku... A fellow countryman, perhaps?"
"A coincidence, I'm sure. Well, he's probably a Japanese Heroic Spirit, though."
The "Black" Archer.
A Servant of unknown identity, even with his True Name revealed.
His specs were low, but that impossible standing made him seem all the more eerie.