Zongman, the journey begins from the wrong place

As it was said, no matter what the request was, Ryougi Shiki would satisfy Noah, even if it meant destroying its own existence.

However, she had not anticipated the way Noah would handle the situation.

Let the omniscient and omnipotent person find something that he cannot do, and then realize it... Is there any logical prison more solid than this?

[Ryougi Shiki] had no doubt that she would be trapped by this request until the day when the root of it disappeared.

but--

"Since you're asking me to fulfill my wish, then Noah-kun, you should be included in it, right?"

[Ryougi Shiki] raised her head and looked into the endless snowy night, her eyes filled with emptiness gradually filled with satisfaction.

"In the endless future, we will meet again - I will always, always, always watch you in my dreams!"

The girl quietly watched every figure of the boy in the endless time and space and the endless world.

87 One year later, Matou Sakura was standing outside the door

Spring goes and autumn comes, winter and summer change.

The sky was covered with dark clouds and not a single ray of light could be seen.

Although it was afternoon, the temperature was several degrees lower than in the early morning due to the arrival of a large-scale cold wave.

Noah stood in the open space in the backyard of the Matou residence and gently exhaled a puff of white mist.

Feeling the cold wind penetrating the thin yet luxurious white kimono, covering his body with a layer of deep awe, Noah raised the long sword in his hand.

The sword body is long and narrow with a rounded arc, and the blade is as bright and clear as snow, like a crescent moon reflected in a clear spring.

Noah held up the blade covered in a layer of white mist from his breath, and stared silently at his reflection on the blade, his mind unconsciously recalling their meeting on the snowy night.

[Ryougi Shiki], you are such a sinful woman!

In an extremely standard Japanese kendo posture, Noah gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, raised the blade, and stared intently at the void in front of him with his eyes beneath his silver hair.

Then, Noah took a step forward and slashed with his sword!

The already narrow and long blade turned into silver light, and transformed into nine flashes of slashing light in the void, emitting an extreme sharpness that could cut through everything!

However, such a breathtaking slash did not make any sound, but instead just passed by like a breeze, without even the whistling sound of the sword breaking through the air.

It was not until the nine lights merged into one and turned into the Japanese sword in Noah's hand again that a rough long bamboo more than ten meters away appeared to be intertwined with a long wailing sound, and finally fell apart.

And just as these bamboo pieces fell—

"Paka——"

As if thin ice was being crushed, countless cracks spread across the Japanese sword.

In the end, hundreds of blades, like broken silver, reflected the bamboo segments more than ten meters away and fell to the ground at the same time.

Noah stood quietly, feeling the biting cold wind blowing from the distant sea and sky.

The deep bamboo forest rustled, and the sound of swaying branches and leaves could be heard from hundreds of meters away, mixed with the crisp "patter" of falling snow.

Even when the footsteps were approaching, he did not turn around.

"I really don't understand. What's the point of you learning these sword techniques? Human martial arts and spearmanship are meaningless to you, right?"

Seeing the fragments at Noah's feet, Matou Kariya knew that another famous sword passed down from generation to generation, which was so valuable that it could provide an ordinary family with food and clothing, had been used up.

In the past year, Noah had consumed quite a few precious weapons in this way.

If all of it were to be cashed out, even if ten Matou families were auctioned off, it wouldn't be enough to pay it back.

Fortunately, Noah did not have any special hobby for these so-called famous swords, famous knives and famous guns. He only purchased them occasionally out of interest, and most of the time he customized them directly in the factory.

There is no way. The reason why there are not so many so-called "iron cutting like mud" in modern society is that any metal that can be called "iron" in big cities was a material that was hard to find in the world in ancient times.

Coupled with the occasional help provided by Noah, the Matou family not only did not go bankrupt, but their assets actually increased slightly.

But compared to these aspects, what Matou Kariya cares more about is why Noah is so interested in these things in the human world.

Because he already knew that Noah was not a magician, but a heroic spirit more powerful than a magician, a hero who created epic legends and influenced the direction of the world.

Although it was a heroic spirit from another world that he had never heard of, its status was obviously not low, and it was not quite accurate to describe it as a humanoid self-propelled nuclear bomb.

It would be fine if such a being was interested in the culture and entertainment of the human world, but he just likes to learn swordsmanship, martial arts, gunmanship, and boxing.

Although most of the time he just glanced at it lightly like a child watching a cartoon, it was still incomprehensible in Matou Kariya's eyes.

It's like a superstar who won the Nobel Prize in mathematics is obsessed with the fun mathematics in the children's section of the library all day long.

What? There's no Nobel Prize in mathematics? That's fine.

"Battle is a gamble of one's will, faith, spirit, and life. It transcends life and death, and is an infinitely subtle and magnificent event. If it is judged solely by power, it would be too boring."

In Noah's opinion, fighting just to kill each other would be as boring as eating just to fill your stomach.

You have to eat state banquets and street snacks, too. That's what a healthy life is.

Fighting is an inevitable act of resistance that arises from the existence of life in the world. Every long-standing fighting method inevitably embodies the survival core of an ethnic group or even a civilization.

For example, is Ai Si's swordsmanship a threat to Noah? Obviously not.

But this doesn't mean that it is something a **-year-old girl should master.

In that swordsmanship, Noah glimpsed a sharpness as swift and light as the wind.

That's why he was surprised by Ais's swordsmanship when he first saw her enter the dungeon.

For him, it was like someone who was used to eating big pieces of beef suddenly tasting matcha pudding, a subtle sense of surprise.

...Perhaps this Berserker only appears to be healthy, but its mind is actually twisted.

Matou Kariya felt that he was just an ordinary person, unable to understand, and did not want to understand that kind of realm.

So he chose to change the subject and his expression became serious.

"The Holy Grail War will begin in a few days. Should we make some preparations?"

Noah returned to the porch and sat down, picked up a bowl of pudding dessert and savored it slowly.

"What other preparations can you make? Haven't you done everything you should have done? Didn't you get the relic when you went to Europe this time?"

Matou Kariya picked up the suitcase, his eyes penetrating as he looked at the packaged items inside.

It was a document that existed in a small area on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

Even so, Matou Kariya put in a lot of effort to get it.

"Is this really okay? Isn't Caster the weakest Servant?"

Among the seven regular classes, it is generally assumed that the three strongest Heroic Spirits are Saber, who has the highest attributes except magic value, Lancer, who has the highest agility value, and Archer, who has the strongest skills or Noble Phantasm.

The Caster who is required to have the highest magic value is the weakest Servant.

There are many reasons for this.

For example, most Heroic Spirits have a certain [Magic Resistance] attribute to weaken the effects of magic. For example, if Caster is caught in close combat, he may even be killed instantly by a modern magician with a certain level of martial arts skills.

However, Matou Kariya believes that the fundamental reason why Caster is most unpopular is that he is a Heroic Spirit who is unable to initiate an attack.

Although Caster can create a very powerful defensive fortress with the bonus of position construction, the problem is, what if others don’t come to attack you?

Not to mention that in the Holy Grail War, hiding is the best defense.

Once a Heroic Spirit or Master is discovered, if they cannot kill the enemy, they must evacuate immediately, otherwise they will sooner or later be attacked by other Masters and Heroic Spirits.

No matter how powerful Caster's magic formation is, can it withstand the combined attack of all the Heroic Spirits?

And after leaving the magic camp, Caster might not even be able to retreat.

For Matou Kariya, whose most fundamental goal is to defeat Tōsaka Tokiomi, this is an unacceptable shortcoming.

Although he also knew that with his almost non-existent magic power, it would be meaningless even if he summoned Saber of the strongest class. After all, maybe just a few more uses of the Noble Phantasm would drain him dry.

But, even if I choose Assassin, it's fine!

After finishing the pudding, Noah looked at Matou Kariya indifferently.

"I see, you haven't yet understood the true nature of the Holy Grail War?"

"Eh?"

"Do you think this is a knight duel between you and Tōsaka Tokiomi?"

With just one sentence, Matou Kariya woke up from his obsession with defeating Tōsaka Tokiomi.

That's right, the Holy Grail War is a melee, not a one-on-one duel.

Before he defeated other opponents, he didn't even have the chance to meet Tōsaka Tokiomi.

How can we talk about overthrowing it?

"Hug, sorry."

Although Noa didn't look at him, Matou Kariya still lowered his head in shame.

"Whether it's you or me, the biggest problem right now is insufficient magic power. This is our fatal flaw. Obtaining sufficient magic power is more important than summoning any powerful servants."

Looking up at the sky, Noah stretched out his hand and looked at his palm, excitement appearing in his blue eyes.

The past year can be said to be the most leisurely time in his life. He spent every day eating, sleeping and entertaining himself without worries, and felt that his bones were rusting.

Therefore, Noah wanted to solve the problem of insufficient magic power as soon as possible so that he could fully enjoy the upcoming battle.

However, although Noah has spent a lot of time studying how to obtain magic power from the great source.

But I don’t know if it’s because of the agency, but the progress is very slow.

So he chose a shortcut - living off his wife.

During the Age of Gods, the Great Source was everywhere, and almost every magician in the Age of Gods could obtain magic power from the Great Source.

If I summon the Age of Gods Magician with the job of Caster, I should be able to quickly supply myself with enough magic power.

Hey, maybe I can even complete the task of introducing magic to Sakura Matou and Fujino Asagami!

After all, the magic knowledge Noah learned from his notes was rather partial and incomplete, and not suitable for teaching to children.

Kill two birds with one stone!

What a genius I am!

"By the way, I also heard some news when I was in Europe. The Einzbern family invited Emiya Kiritsugu, the magician killer wanted by the Magic Association, to help them participate in the Holy Grail War."

Noah had also heard of this name.

After all, excluding the influence of moral sense, he quite appreciates the spirit of not abiding by martial ethics.

What kind of bullshit magician's system and spirit is this?

It’s just the death struggle of a group of new-age scum!

This is an era dominated by firearms, or material weapons, and we should embrace the new era.

Of course, this didn't stop Noah from being alert when he heard his name.

After all, this is someone who would probably attack the Matou family with explosives and bazookas without hesitation, and even kidnap Matou Sakura and Asagami Fujino.

"Tousaka Tokiomi recently arranged for Tousaka Aoi and his daughter to live in the next city. Should we?"

Noah understood what Matou Kariya meant, but after thinking about it, he shook his head.

"It's pointless. Not to mention that we have no one or anywhere else to look after them, we'd have to send them abroad to be considered far enough. And if we could summon a powerful enough magus, the Matou family would become the most solid fortress."

Thinking about his current situation, Matou Kariya had to nod and admit that he was not only a little frustrated at his own powerlessness.

The only one in the Matou family who can support the war situation now is Noah.

It is not an exaggeration to say that I, or others, are a burden.

Understanding this, Matou Kariya also understood the fact that they urgently needed a Caster.

Not only is Noah in urgent need of magic power, they also need protection.

I hope the summoning is successful.