To become a king and a magician

But Natsukawa Torato knew Arthur's character. He had read the novel, the setting book, and the game's storyline. As a five-year veteran Master, he knew that Arthur was a noble knight king. As long as it didn't involve a conflict of ideals and positions, he would never betray him.

What truly unsettles Natsukawa Torato is the former Master who was betrayed by Arthur in his dream.

If I remember correctly, that person should be known as [Sajō Midori] or [Ai Aoten], who has been connected to the Root since birth, a true Root Princess, and the strongest human Master to appear in the Holy Grail Wars of all the main and side stories—Sajō Aika.

It's normal for Masters and Servants to dream about each other's past experiences after forming a contract. Natsukawa Torama had long been prepared for this, but he never expected that he would be targeted by Sajou Ayaka!

This is truly a death sentence! She's a genuine yandere, a woman who would destroy the quantum record fixing tape and undermine the foundations of humanity for Arthur's wish to "restore Britain"! He, a complete novice without even magic circuits, is truly doomed if she's targeted!

"Master."

Arthur's voice rang out from outside the door.

"Are you really alright? The nightmare you mentioned... did you dream about Ai Ge?"

"Aiko...is that girl's name Aiko?"

Turning on the shower, the hot water washed away the cold sweat on Xia Chuanhu's body. Glancing at Arthur's silent figure standing outside the door, Xia Chuanhu sighed: "Arthur, go to the closet and get me an outfit, the one I wore at school."

"Ah... okay."

"What happened between you and that Ai-ka in the past, I won't ask if you don't want to talk about it. I only have one request of you—protect me in this Holy Grail War. I don't need victory, all I need is your protection. Can you do that?"

"Understood, Master."

Arthur, standing outside the door, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"In the name of the Knight King and the Holy Sword, I will surely defeat all enemies and protect you."

"No, there's no need to defeat everyone... Alright, then I'll leave everything to you, Arthur." At this point, Natsukawa Tora suddenly became interested and said half-jokingly, "Oh, by the way, if your ex-girlfriend comes after you, who will you help?"

"Master, Aika and I don't have that kind of relationship! And I will definitely protect you as I just said!"

"Is that so?"

"Absolutely true!"

3. The Tohsaka family's daily flag-raising ritual

After washing away the cold sweat and repeatedly telling Arthur not to go out unnecessarily, Natsukawa Tiger went to school.

The original owner of this body was a second-year student at the private Homurahara Academy high school in Fuyuki City, and after transmigrating, Natsukawa Tora naturally inherited this identity. Initially, of course, many comical misunderstandings arose due to the language barrier, which are still used as a source of amusement by some students at the academy. But now, at least he is able to lead a normal school life.

However, he can only communicate normally with students. As for studying... math and English are fine, and he's okay with minor subjects like physics and biology. But he really can't do anything about Chinese literature; he can only doze off.

Wearing an unfashionable school uniform and carrying a briefcase-like backpack, Natsukawa Tiger walked to school as usual.

It was almost nine o'clock. Even though classes started quite late in Japan, he was definitely going to be late. Since being late was a foregone conclusion, Natsukawa Tora wasn't in a hurry to go to school.

"I remember the first class today was Chinese... I guess I skipped it."

Xia Chuanhu really didn't want to attend Chinese class. That male teacher with Mediterranean glasses seemed to have a grudge against him. Ever since he dozed off once, he had been targeting him in every way. What could he do if he really couldn't understand the lessons?

not to mention--

"I don't even know if I'll survive."

Leaning on the railing of the Fuyuki Bridge, Natsukawa Tora took off the gloves he used to conceal his Command Seals and sighed as he looked at the red Command Seal on the back of his hand, which was the same style as the Millennium Eye.

The Holy Grail War is brutal. Once you get involved, it's almost impossible to escape unscathed. Plus, he's arguably the weakest Master. Once the war starts, all he can do is desperately try to survive. As for fighting for the Holy Grail, he never even considered it.

"It's really strange... why was I chosen by the Holy Grail?"

Not just anyone can participate in the Holy Grail War. Those chosen to become Masters must have a strong desire to fulfill it, even if it's a subconscious desire. As long as it's strong enough, it will attract the attention of the Holy Grail.

Conversely, if there is no one who wants it to be fulfilled, then regardless of whether they are magicians or not, and regardless of their magician level, their priority will be very low.

Natsukawa Torato is clearly the latter. He has no desires to fulfill, or rather, his desires can be described as delusions or daydreams. He does not believe that he would be chosen by the Holy Grail for such a reason.

If you think about it that way, the reason he was chosen is very simple—it was pure luck.

"So you are the seventh Master, Natsukawa Torato?"

Suddenly, a voice reached Xia Chuanhu's ears. He turned around and was so frightened that his legs trembled.

Appearing before Natsukawa Torata was a young man with short brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a cross necklace. He wore brown ankle boots, and his expressionless eyes and face were devoid of any emotion, making him seem like a walking corpse.

Mapo Toki, a tax evader—Kirei Kotomine.

Swallowing hard, Xia Chuanhu took a deep breath and nodded: "Yes, that's me. And you are?"

"I'm Kirei Kotomine, a staff member of the church. May I take up a little of your time?"

"Uh... the church is starting to do sales too?"

"I must act as normally as possible, remain calm, and not arouse suspicion," Natsukawa Torama repeatedly told himself. At this point, Kirei Kotomine hadn't yet been exposed by Gilgamesh as a pleasure prisoner, so as long as he behaved normally, his safety was high.

Somewhat puzzled as to why Natsukawa Tora was so nervous, Kirei Kotomine continued, "You've probably already noticed that you have bruises on your hands."

"Bruises... Oh, you mean these?"

Natsukawa Tora raised his Command Seal, which was now fully revealed.

"This thing can be called a bruise? It doesn't hurt at all. I thought it was someone's prank. I can't wipe it off no matter what I do."

"Our church can explain this bruise to you. Please come with me to the church."

"The church... is fine, but could you wait until after 4 p.m.? I have to go to school now, as you can see, I'm a student."

Yes, students, students who just decided to skip the first class.

However, Kirei Kotomine said, "Don't worry about that. The church will help you get a day off in the morning. We will only take up about an hour of your time, and then we will arrange a vehicle to take you to school."

"this......"

Wow, this is truly a one-stop service!

However, upon closer examination, the Holy Grail War hasn't even begun yet, and it seems that no Servants other than Arthur have been summoned. The Church also has no reason to attack Natsukawa Tora. Their visit to him is likely just because Natsukawa Tora is participating in the Holy Grail War as an ordinary person, and they want to educate him about the Holy Grail War.

Consider this a beginner's guide.

In terms of safety, if we rate it out of five stars, this trip would probably get four stars.

(Using Command Spells to summon Arthur... no, that's making a mountain out of a molehill, there's no need for that. The only problem is that the Church and the Tohsaka family are in cahoots. Since the Church has already found me, it's possible that I've already come into Tokiomi Tohsaka's sights.)

If that's the case, then we need to be even more careful in our actions from now on.

Thinking of this, Natsukawa Tora sighed: "Alright, please lead the way, Mr. Kotomine."

--------------------------

At the same time, Tokiomi Tohsaka, from the Tohsaka family, also received information about Natsukawa Tora through a messenger from the church.

"Is the seventh Master not a magician, but just an ordinary person, merely a lucky one chosen by the Holy Grail?"

Looking at this intelligence report, Tokiomi Tohsaka felt nothing but contempt and disdain.

"It seems that victory in this Holy Grail War is already in the Tohsaka family's grasp."

At this point, the seven candidates to participate in the Holy Grail War have been revealed, and Tokiomi Tohsaka looks down on most of these seven.

The declining Matou family, the heretical magicians hired by the Einzbern family, ordinary people who were simply lucky, and students from the Clock Tower who had not yet graduated. These people posed no threat to Tokiomi Tohsaka, especially since the Holy Church was on his side.

From the very beginning, Tokiomi Tohsaka recognized only Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald as the true participant and adversary.

"The Tohsaka family... no, the magicians' long-cherished wish will surely be fulfilled in my generation."

4. I've seen this scene before.

After following Kirei Kotomine for several tens of minutes, Natsukawa Tora was taken to an area roughly on the outskirts of Fuyuki City. If they went any further, they would enter the mountains.

Stopping at the entrance of a somewhat deserted church, Kirei Kotomine pushed open the door and led Natsukawa Tora inside.

"You're back, Kirei?"

A somewhat burly middle-aged man spoke in a deep voice to the two people who entered the room.

Kirei Kotomine nodded, and then the middle-aged man walked up to Natsukawa Torata and gave him a smile that could be described as “kind”: “Nice to meet you, seventh Master. I am Risei Kotomine, a priest of the Fuyuki Church.”

"Hello, I am Natsukawa Tora."

After a brief greeting, Natsukawa Tora asked, "Um... Mr. Kotomine said he wanted to explain this bruise to me."

As he spoke, Natsukawa Tora showed the Command Seals on the back of his hand to Kotomine Ryou.

After examining it once or twice, Kirei Kotomine nodded: "It is indeed a genuine Command Seal. It seems the Lord's revelation was correct. You did very well, Kirei."

As Kirei Kotomine said, the reason the church was able to discover Natsukawa Toramaru's Master identity was because Kirei Kotomine received a "revelation" yesterday. The Lord whom the church worshipped told him about Natsukawa Toramaru's situation, which is why Kirei Kotomine sent Kirei Kotomine to bring Natsukawa Toramaru over.

After gesturing for Natsukawa Torata to sit down, Kotomine Risatsu said, "Mr. Natsukawa, I have to tell you something that is both unfortunate and fortunate. You have been chosen by the Holy Grail and become one of the seven Masters who will participate in the Holy Grail War. The bruise on the back of your hand is proof that you have been chosen—the Command Seal."

"The Holy Grail War... what is that?"

"Seven magicians chosen by the Holy Grail, each leading their summoned Heroic Spirits, engage in a battle for ownership of the Holy Grail. The victor who survives will ultimately claim ownership of the Holy Grail. This is the Holy Grail War."

"The Holy Grail? The one mentioned in the Bible..."

"Oh? You've also read our doctrines?"

"There are translated versions in the school library, and I read them out of interest."

Hearing this, Kotomine Risei couldn't help but laugh: "If you have the chance, please be sure to carefully experience its mysteries. Getting back to the main point, the Holy Grail that the Holy Grail War is fighting for is unfortunately not the sacred relic mentioned in the doctrine, but just a name. In essence, the Holy Grail is actually an omnipotent wish-granting machine that can grant any wish."

"A magic wish-granting machine? Really?"

"Who knows? It's just a title passed down by word of mouth. The Holy Grail War has been held three times so far, but none of them have resulted in the Holy Grail being completely brought down. Each time, the ritual failed due to various factors."

The first Holy Grail War failed before it could even take shape because there were no formally established rules beforehand, and the Masters' awareness as "participants" was weak. On the other hand, because there were no Command Seals like those that exist now, there were instances of Servants disobeying orders.

The Second Holy Grail War incorporated the failures of the First and devised detailed rules before taking place. Although the Command Seals system was completed at that time, allowing Masters to freely command Servants, the ritual ended in failure for various reasons.

The third time... this time it could be said to be the root of all evil in some respects.

Having failed twice in the Holy Grail Wars, the Einzbern family seized an opportunity to summon Angra Mainyu, a Heroic Spirit of the Avenger class, which was of an unusual quality. However, Angra Mainyu was ridiculously weak and was quickly defeated, his soul being collected into the Greater Grail. The colorless power of the Greater Grail was thus corrupted into black mud by the Avenger, who was formed from evil desires.

At the time, it was during World War II, and the Imperial Army and the Nazis were also involved in the Lesser Grail conflict. If Einzbern had summoned Amakusa Shiro Tokisada instead of Angra Mainyu, the timeline would have shifted towards Alicization.

Looking at it this way, the root of the problem lies with the Einzbern family. If they hadn't broken the law and exploited loopholes, the Holy Grail War might have ended after its third iteration.

In addition, there was a minor incident during the Holy Grail War—the Finnish magician family, the Edelfelt, sent their next head sisters to participate in the war. Both sisters fell in love with the then-head of the Tohsaka family, Tokiomi Tohsaka's grandfather. The sisters fought fiercely over the man, and the elder sister ultimately lost, withdrawing from the Holy Grail War and vowing never to set foot on Japanese soil again. As a result, the descendants of the Edelfelt family developed a deep hatred for the Japanese, especially the Tohsaka family.

Coincidentally, decades later, the descendants of those sisters fell in love with the same man again and started vying for his affections once more, with the elder sister's descendant once again losing out...

(Speaking of which, Kotomine Risei was the supervisor of the Third Holy Grail War, right? Did he witness the whole thing during the White Album incident back then?)