Chapter 70

Far坂时臣 was very troubled; since the start of the Holy Grail War, almost everything had slipped out of his control. Originally, he planned to have Assassin's avatar killed by Archer to make everyone relax their guard against Assassin, but within a day, Assassin was mysteriously discovered by a restaurant owner within his jurisdiction and was brought before other Masters. This directly exposed Assassin's secret, severely limiting their ability to gather information on the other Masters. Then, a Caster team that took pleasure in killing children and showed no regard for the secrecy of magic appeared in the Holy Grail War, forcing Tokiomi to run around covering up the traces.

This time, Far坂时臣 thought that using Command Spells to have all the Assassins act together should force Rider to reveal his hidden Noble Phantasm, but before the Assassins could even get close to Rider, they were all brutally killed by an unknown Master using a powerful magic that was at least a Great Magic level. Although the Assassins' Noble Phantasms were weak, their appearance was grotesque, and their abilities were low, with no resistance to magic. If the Assassins had been kept alive, they might have found an opportunity to kill Rider's Master when he was alone. Giving up on the Assassins so easily was not a strategy but a poor decision that Tokiomi came up with on a whim.

"That guy..." Rare feelings of regret surged in Tokiomi's mind. He should have taken seriously the Master who could easily discover and kill an Assassin with the ability to hide their presence, but his overconfidence led him to believe that Servants were beyond the reach of magicians, and he overlooked the fact that the Assassins, with their abilities greatly reduced after being split and lacking resistance to magic, were powerless against powerful magic.

Far坂时臣 stood up, his right hand caressing the large ruby embedded in the top of his ornate cane. The magic stored in this gem was the result of Tokiomi's lifelong efforts. If detonated at close range, it would likely turn any Servant with a resistance to magic below B rank into ashes in an explosion equivalent to a ton of TNT. As a gem mage, Tokiomi's cane was his magical attire.

"Since we no longer have Assassin, Kirei, you don't need to hold back your strength anymore."

"Yes, I understand."

From the mage communication device, Kirei's deep and calm voice came through. This top-tier Enforcer, whose combat abilities even surpassed Tokiomi's, had a body strong enough to face Servants like Assassin head-on. His thrown Black Keys could easily penetrate ordinary magical defenses, and even the membrane-like Moonlight Corpus might be pierced with a single strike. With such a disciple and a powerful Archer, Tokiomi had a strong confidence in winning the Holy Grail War. Now, with a lot of favorable intelligence, most of which came from Assassin, Tokiomi's strategy shifted to using the information gathered by the Assassins as a basis, mobilizing Gilgamesh to drive away the enemies. Tokiomi himself would use his advantage as the administrator of Fuyuki City to eliminate other Masters...

That night, Waver had a dream. In the dream, a group of smiling heroes followed the towering figure ahead, setting out to find the end of the world.

Toward the East, toward the even more distant East, they advanced!

Until they saw the legendary beach with that man.

The expedition continued without end.

They crossed scorching deserts, climbed cold snow-capped mountains, crossed raging rivers, drove away fierce beasts, and engaged in many life-and-death battles with unknown weapons and tactics of foreign tribes.

Countless soldiers died far from home.

Their gazes faded as they watched the back of their king, who continued to advance.

Their hearing vanished as they listened to the distant waves from the East.

Even in death, their faces were filled with proud smiles.

They would soon return to the scene of their dreams, the misty coast they had once seen.

There was nothing but the sound of waves crashing against the shore, an endless, vast sea.

It was a scene their king had described to them, but they had never seen it in their lives.

So, this was not a memory but a vision they cherished in their hearts throughout their glorious military career.

As the dream of the Heroic Spirit's memory from that distant time and space ended, the boy seemed to hear the sound of waves.

The sound of the waves, perhaps, had been echoing in his chest all along...

The next morning, Waver asked Shinji and the others to go out. Before Shinji could say anything, the Conqueror agreed to Waver's proposal.

"Since there won't be any battles during the day, experiencing the lively atmosphere of the market in a foreign land is no less enjoyable than fighting historical heroes." Saying this, the Conqueror dragged his Master to the street, carefully observing every new thing he found. To prevent the Conqueror from causing any unexpected trouble, Shinji and the others had to accompany Waver and the Conqueror as they wandered through the market in Fuyuki City.

Soon, Waver and Shinji and the others arrived at a library in Fuyuki City. Seeing the Conqueror's keen interest in the market, Waver took out his wallet and handed it to the Conqueror.

"Then, I'll go inside this bookstore to do some business. Although you have Uncle Tendou with you, Rider, don't go too far. Even if Uncle Tendou is strong, he might not be able to protect me from a Servant's ambush. Also, no stealing, no conquering. This is the currency of this country, so buy whatever you like. Don't cause any trouble."

"Alright, alright, don't worry. The etiquette of Macedonia applies to any country." With these words, the Conqueror's massive figure quickly disappeared into the crowd, and it was a waste to use the physical abilities he gained as a Heroic Spirit to stroll through a crowded market.

"Waver, the money you just gave to Rider was probably half of the funds you prepared for the Holy Grail War, and you handed it over without hesitation... Rider was right, you do have the soul of a conqueror," Shinji said with an amused look, watching the good relationship between Master and Servant. After Rider left, he teased Waver.

"I'm not like that muscle-bound fool."

"I'm not talking about your body, but your soul. Did you suddenly want to come out today to look up information?"

"Just to see what kind of image Rider is in historical records..."

"Alright, maybe you can understand Rider better from other people's accounts, but remember, historical records are often unreliable. Do as you wish, Waver." Shinji pulled Yae away, leaving Waver to focus on his books.

"Is it really okay to leave Waver alone...?" Not far away, Yae looked at Shinji with a worried expression.

"Don't worry. Because of our involvement, Rider and Waver haven't had a proper conversation yet. A Servant's memories flow into the Master's dreams, so Waver must have seen something in Rider's past that made him want to look up information. Giving them some time together might be good."

"But if the relationship between Master and Servant becomes too close, it will make it harder to face Rider in the end."

"Probably not." Shinji shook his head. "Our goals don't conflict with Rider's. Although the Holy Grail War requires seven Servants as sacrifices, don't forget that the Assassin's body we collected and preserved can..."

Before Shinji could finish, the wooden floor of the library echoed with unusual footsteps, heavy and powerful. Recognizing the source, Waver quickly put the book back on the shelf and pretended to be looking at something else. The Conqueror, taller than the bookshelves, appeared on the other side, holding a large handbag.

"Oh! There you are! You're so small, hiding between the bookshelves, it's hard to find you."

"Most people are smaller than bookshelves." Waver glared at the Conqueror, who handed him a much smaller wallet and a bulging handbag. "What did you buy?"

"Check it out! 'Admiral's Grand Strategy IV' was released today, and I got the first edition! Hahaha, my luck is not just a reputation!" Using his A+ luck to buy a game, a Lancer would cry...

Waver, who prioritized the pursuit of magical knowledge, had never touched electronic games and felt a headache at the Conqueror's actions.

"Alright, kid! Let's go back and play together. I even bought an extra controller! Shinji's restaurant has a big TV, perfect for this."

"I'm telling you, I have no interest in such vulgar games." Waver directly refused the Conqueror's invitation, partly because he was not interested, and partly because... playing modern games and being outmatched by an ancient person would be embarrassing.

The Conqueror looked at Waver with a hopeless expression. "Why do you immerse yourself in your little world? Don't you want to find a little joy?"

"As a magician who seeks the truth, how can I have the time to do such meaningless things? I don't have any spare brain cells to waste on video games!"

"Hmm? Then, you have spare brain cells to waste on this book?" The Conqueror carefully examined the bookshelf, pulled out a book, and it was the one Waver had been reading.

"Not at all. Hey! How did you know I was reading this book?" Waver looked at the Conqueror in disbelief.

"Only this one was inserted backward into the bookshelf, even a fool could see that." The Conqueror held the book up. "Ah? 'Alexander the Great,' isn't this my biography? You're a strange guy. Isn't the person standing in front of you more reliable than these unreliable records? Why not just ask me directly?"

"Fine, I'll ask you, I'll ask you!" Waver, whose thoughts were seen through by the Conqueror, felt so ashamed that he almost cried. To hide his unease, he flipped to a page in the book. "Historical records say you were a very short person, so why are you now such a big guy?"

"I'm short? Where did you read that!" The Conqueror looked at the book in Waver's hand with confusion.

"Look here, it says that after you conquered the Persian Empire and sat on Darius's throne, your feet couldn't reach the platform, and they had to replace it with a table!"

"If that's true, Darius must have been a giant over three meters tall." Not far away, Shinji and Yae approached Waver. Although they had just been wandering around, Yae had bought many books about swords and guns, and Shinji's bag was much fuller than the Conqueror's.

"Right, that emperor, not only in terms of character but also in physical stature, was very impressive. Indeed, a ruler fitting the powerful Persian Empire." The Conqueror laughed and clapped his hands, then looked up with a nostalgic expression, as if remembering an old friend.

"Actually, I suspect Darius had Titan blood, just like the legend that you are the son of Zeus, the father of the Greek gods. Otherwise, it's hard to imagine a normal human being that tall." Hearing Shinji's words, everyone present had a black line on their face.

"Ancient times were really chaotic..." Waver finally said, then fell silent. Titans and gods were too distant for him.

The group returned to Tendou Tofu Shop. While the Conqueror continued to talk with Waver, Shinji also reinforced Kirei.

"Kirei, this time I've reinforced your Starlight, changing the blade shape to a thin triangular blade. Although it can't cut in all directions like the previous one, it has much more power in cutting. Additionally, I've changed the burst system of this magic-converging sword to a magic-filling and charging type. You can store magic in the hilt and release a powerful attack all at once. Also, I've made the same changes to the magic bullet launch array on the sleeves of your robe, allowing you to fire powerful magic bullets. The robe also has a new acceleration magic array. I've named this new sword the Z-Light Sword. How's that?"

Taking the Z-Light Sword from Shinji, Kirei pushed the switch, and the emerald triangular blade glowed faintly. He tried swinging it a few times and nodded. "It feels quite good. Can I test its power, Shinji?"

"Of course." Shinji raised his right hand, and a fiery red magic array appeared in the air, forming a high-temperature protective layer. "Try breaking through this magic barrier. Far坂时臣's protective magic is about this level." Hearing this, Kirei's Z-Light Sword burst into bright light, easily slicing a crack from the upper right to the lower left of the fire magic barrier. Then, Kirei raised his left hand, and a series of magic bullets hit the magic barrier, producing a series of sharp explosions. A much larger bullet, about the size of a bucket, was fired from Kirei's hand, creating a large hole in the magic barrier. Kirei then swung his Z-Light Sword again, and several streaks of light cut the magic barrier into more than a dozen pieces, which then dissipated into the air.

"How's that, pretty good, right?"

"This... Z-Light Sword is definitely better than the previous Light Sword, but... the design and name of this sword seem to have a deep sense of malice."

"Really? Don't you think you look a lot like the magic swordsman in your novel?" Shinji pulled out a book from somewhere, making Kirei blush and almost use the new Z-Light Sword to fight Shinji.

As they were joking, Yae rushed into the room: "At the bridge of Unfar River, there's a significant magical fluctuation. It seems Caster is summoning something big. Rider and the others have already summoned the Divine Chariot and are waiting for us."

Hearing this, the two stood up. Kirei, acting as a spy, did not move with Shinji and the others, while Shinji went to the battlefield with the Conqueror...

PS: Thank you for your support. I'm still asking for recommendations, favorites, and reviews.