In Fuyuki City's bustling downtown, an unremarkable residence stood quietly.
Ding-dong.
A crisp knock echoed in the morning.
Two elderly residents opened the door.
"Good morning. Is Waver staying here?" The black-haired youth at the doorstep asked politely.
"And you are…?"
"My apologies for not introducing myself. I'm Waver's classmate and friend. You can call me Roy. I'm passing through Fuyuki and came to visit him. He's mentioned me, hasn't he?"
"Hm…?"
Under the elders' puzzled gazes, Roy smiled faintly and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The sharp sound shifted their expressions from confusion to warmth.
"Oh, Roy! Come in, make yourself at home!"
"Thank you."
With the owners' permission, he stepped into the entryway. Declining their warm offer to sit and have fruit, Roy glanced at a corner room. He strode past the couple and pushed open Waver's door.
"Waver, your senpai's here to see you!"
With a hearty greeting, he swung the door open and saw…
"Hm?"
A shirtless, burly red-haired man—Rider, Iskandar—sat on the floor, gripping a game controller, engrossed in battle. Beside him, Waver, exhausted from the previous night, was half-buried in his blankets, head tucked like an ostrich.
The odd, philosophical scene made Roy raise an eyebrow.
Recalling tales of the Conqueror Iskandar's exploits, a bold guess sparked in his mind.
"Oh, are you two… post-coital? Replenishing mana?"
Roy blinked, teasingly inquiring.
"I know your mana's low, but to think you'd sacrifice yourself for victory… Waver, I'm seeing you in a new light! You're willing to sell your body for the win!!"
He gave a thumbs-up.
"What nonsense are you spouting?! It's not like that!" Waver snapped, his groggy mind clearing at Roy's familiar voice. He scrambled from the blankets, face red, retorting, "This guy's just too big! I don't have clothes that fit him, and his usual outfit's too flashy, so he's just in pants. Nothing like what you're thinking!!"
"Really? I don't buy it."
Roy winked.
"It's true! Ask Rider if you don't believe me!"
"Oh, is that so? My mistake, then."
After teasing Waver, Roy shrugged. At Iskandar's invitation, he sat beside Rider, grabbed a spare controller, and selected a two-player arcade fighter—King of Fighters.
"Play this one?"
"Bring it on! This king's ready!"
"Great."
With Rider's approval, Roy worked the controller, glancing at Waver, who was scrambling from bed like a flustered girl. "No need to get so worked up. Just a little joke."
"Even if you meant to replenish mana, consider the size difference. Your frail frame and circuits couldn't handle Rider's… vigor. It wouldn't happen."
Roy waved dismissively, speaking casually.
"…You're as sharp-tongued as ever. Back at the Clock Tower, you always bullied me—making me write your papers and do Kayneth's assignments."
Waver's gaze toward the uninvited Roy held resentment, but mostly resignation.
"But didn't you gain a lot from it? Kayneth's private assignments aren't classroom fare. They're packed with rare knowledge you can't buy. As a third-generation magus, accessing a Lord's work—is that a bad deal?"
Roy raised a brow, continuing, "And in a place like that, who else but an oddball like me would treat you, a lowborn, as an equal friend? Who else would give you research resources with such skewed returns?"
"…You're just lazy, aren't you?"
Waver sighed, grumbling at Roy's self-righteous tool-using logic.
Though annoyed by his work-dumping senpai, Waver admitted Roy was the only one who valued and recruited him, a third-generation magus.
At the Clock Tower, his low lineage and modest talent made him the lowest, most despised in Kayneth's class.
He faced scorn and humiliation from multi-generational noble magi. Only this senpai accepted and recognized his potential.
No, Roy was Kayneth's true disciple, while Waver was just a classroom student, unworthy of claiming peerage.
The gap between disciple and student was vast.
"So, why are you here? Did Kayneth send you to drag me back?" Waver asked nervously.
He wasn't clueless about Roy's visit.
Roy had called, saying he was in Fuyuki and wanted to meet his kouhai.
Initially, Waver suspected a rival Master's trap to lure and eliminate him.
But after confirming the call, with Roy reciting Waver's Clock Tower embarrassments and debts, he had to believe.
His long-lost friend was indeed in Fuyuki, seeking him out.
Reluctantly, Waver shared his base's location, leading to today's visit.
Seeing the three vivid Command Seals on Roy's hand, Waver understood why he was here and where he'd been for the past six months.
He'd come to Fuyuki to prepare for the Grail War…
Recalling his theft of Kayneth's relic to join the War, Waver grew uneasy.
"If I say yes, what'll you do? Go with me to see Kayneth, or resist? Prove your worth in this brutal war with that frail body, barely able to supply your Servant?"
Roy didn't answer directly, countering instead.
"I… I don't know."
Waver lowered his head.
Truthfully, he'd joined the Grail War on a whim, to prove himself to Kayneth, barely grasping its rules or stakes.
But one thing was clear after last night's mythic hero clash, even for someone as dense as him…
This wasn't a battlefield for a third-rate magus like him. The Grail War wasn't the academic exchange he'd imagined but a brutal fight for survival.
Since witnessing that scene, doubt gnawed at him. Was he right to come? Could someone like him survive?
"Hey, Waver, you joined the Grail War with such a half-baked mindset?"
Seeing Waver's confusion, Roy shook his head.
"Sorry, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing…"
Waver bowed his head under Roy's probing.
"Waver, haven't I told you? You're not talentless or useless. Your bloodline limits your magecraft achievements—that's innate, unfixable."
"But you have other exceptional talents you haven't realized."
Another patronizing pep talk… I'm not a kid.
"Haven't realized? Even if you say that, I… can't accept it!"
Waver shut his eyes, recalling Kayneth publicly dismissing his work in class, blood rushing to his face.
"My efforts, mocked just for my lineage… They ignore my work and talent. You, set to inherit Kayneth's mantle as the next El-Melloi, wouldn't understand!"
Clenching his teeth, Waver poured out his heart to Roy.
"You think… I'll become the next El-Melloi?"
Roy smiled, shaking his head.
"Isn't it obvious? Everyone in class knows you're Kayneth's chosen disciple, destined to inherit the classroom…"
"No, Waver, I won't be El-Melloi. The true El-Melloi II is someone else."
Roy replied earnestly.
"Someone else? Who?!"
Waver stared, incredulous.
He knew Roy well. Though he used Waver as a tool, he never lied. This made his claim shocking.
With stunned eyes, Waver saw Roy's serious expression shift to a cryptic smile, pointing at…
Him?!
"It's you, Waver Velvet."
"Me?!"
Waver's eyes widened, disbelieving. "You're joking! How could it be me?!"
"I'm serious, Waver. You're El-Melloi II."
Roy maintained his gravity.
"Oh, this kid?" Even Rider, focused on countering Roy's combos, grew curious, leaning toward Roy. "He'll be that Lord?"
"Yes, he'll be a Lord, El-Melloi II," Roy set down the controller, nodding at Waver. "And in the future, Waver, you'll grow thirty centimeters taller."
"Why bring up height?!"
"Haha, Master, looks like you'll win this Grail War!" Rider stood, slapping Waver's back, laughing. "With this king, how could we lose?"
"You think my wish is just to grow thirty centimeters?!"
Furious, Waver jumped from bed, only to be hoisted by Rider's large hand.
"What's wrong with wanting to be taller? You're so weak because you're short…"
"Roy, stop teasing me. You know Kayneth's character. A man like him would never pass the El-Melloi name to me." Pressed back by Rider, Waver clutched his forehead, dismissing the absurd topic. "My odds of inheriting El-Melloi are lower than humanity's sudden extinction."
Kid, you nailed it…
"Of course, Kayneth's a thorough aristocrat and genius, far ahead in magecraft."
Roy nodded, then continued, "Unlike you, with theories but no results due to limited talent, he's a prodigy whose theories become reality. No one doubts him. Even becoming a Grand magus would seem natural."
He bluntly exposed Waver's lack of tangible achievements.
Waver's face flushed, stung.
"What are you getting at?! Doesn't that prove I can't be El-Melloi II?"
"No… I'm saying, if Kayneth lives, you indeed have no chance of inheriting the title."
Roy shook his head, leaning toward the defiant Waver, whispering softly.
"But… what if Kayneth tragically dies? Wouldn't that increase the odds…?"
His devilish whisper echoed in Waver's ears, making the agitated youth's eyes widen, staring in disbelief at Roy's terrifying words.
"What… are you talking about?!"
Waver's teeth chattered.
"Shh… listen closely."
Roy raised a finger, smiling at Waver.
"Want to know the truth? A glimpse of… the future."
His serious gaze quelled Waver's protests.
Swallowing hard, Waver spoke with a dry voice.
"…I do."
"That's the spirit."
At Waver's reply, Roy's eyes narrowed, a cryptic smile spreading across his face.
***
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