My Fates Codex in Type-Moon

Like the old man's handwriting, the deeper Sakutsuki read, the more shaken he became. By the end, he felt as cold as though he were standing alone beneath a snowy night.

So that was why. No wonder the Origin Bullet had no effect on him; no wonder his mana parameters had risen abnormally; no wonder such an accident had happened during the match...

Ah, so that was it.

Ever since awakening, the young man had been residing within an inhuman shell.

He had no Magic Circuits. Every battle, every use of magecraft—

Came at the cost of his life.

Magic Circuits (Magic Circuit)

Pseudo-nerves possessed within a magus's body.

They were both pathways for converting life force into mana and pathways connecting to the great thaumaturgical formulae that served as the foundation.

The number of circuits a person could possess was determined at birth. Magecraft families existed to produce descendants with even a single additional Magic Circuit.

Once opened, they could thereafter be activated freely at the caster's will. A magus's talent was judged by the number of their Magic Circuits. For example, Shirou Emiya had twenty-seven Magic Circuits, while Rin Tohsaka had forty primary circuits and thirty secondary ones.

Of course, there were exceptional cases. The Einzbern homunculi, for instance, were bodies made of Magic Circuits, created to become the Greater Grail's core. After Justeaze became the Greater Grail, her Magic Circuits expanded and proliferated until they reached nearly a kilometer in diameter.

Then there were those heretics who directly bypassed the intermediary known as "Magic Circuits" and used life force to cast magecraft.

Naturally, that was nothing to be proud of.

For Sakutsuki, this devastating news meant he had to abandon his carefree attitude toward life. He no longer had the luxury of freedom. Instead, he had to take the initiative, using his foreknowledge and his cheat ability to prolong his dwindling life.

After tearing up the report and forcing Jubstacheit von Einzbern to sign an inviolable "Self-Geas Scroll," Sakutsuki rode his beloved Kawasaki Ninja H2R away from Einzbern, only returning to Winter's Castle at dusk.

The night passed without incident.

After that, Einzbern returned to its tranquility, save for the addition of a white-haired, golden-eyed young man who moved through Einzbern's library, hungrily absorbing the thousand years of magecraft accumulated within Winter's Castle.

Illya still loved coming to play with Sakutsuki, and Sakutsuki could never refuse her requests. Every time, he would put down his book with a wry smile, saying, "You're not allowed to interrupt me next time," while generously using magecraft. Then, beneath the clearing skies, he would watch Illya with Kiritsugu Emiya or Irisviel, accompanying her through her happy childhood.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Only one year remained until the Fourth Holy Grail War began.

The next morning, dressed in a new suit and holding his motorcycle helmet, Sakutsuki bid farewell to Kiritsugu Emiya's family.

"Is big brother leaving?" Illya clutched the hem of Sakutsuki's clothes, her ruby-like eyes filled with reluctance. "Can't you stay here with Illya forever and ever?"

The golden-eyed young man crouched down and gently stroked Illya's long hair as he had when they first met. His voice was gentle and distant. "It can't be helped. A Kamen Rider's destiny is to wander everywhere."

"Shirou is saying things Illya doesn't understand again." Illya puffed out her cheeks. Her adorable appearance made everyone present smile knowingly.

Except Kiritsugu Emiya, of course.

The Magus Killer was staring fixedly at Sakutsuki's left hand—or, more precisely, at the black fingerless glove the young man had put on seven days ago and never removed since. His gaze did not shift for a long time.

Could it be...?

"Goodbye, Kiritsugu, madam, and the adorable little princess. Though it's regrettable that I couldn't wait for that girl's arrival, I must continue on my journey. Until we meet again in the future, everyone."

Sakutsuki was not one to drag things out. After a brief farewell, he mounted his motorcycle and left Winter's Castle, where snow had drifted for a thousand years.

"A girl...?" Irisviel tilted her head in confusion. "How strange. Will someone else be visiting Winter's Castle later?"

Naturally, they could not understand. Because when that girl arrived, the fate of the Emiya family would also meet its irreversible end—if a person named Sakutsuki had never existed.

France, Annecy

Annecy was the most beautiful little city in the Alps. The French called it "the Balcony of the Alps," while the locals called it "the Venice of Savoie." It was said that Lake Annecy within the city drew its water from the snow and ice of the Alps, and was considered the cleanest lake in all of Europe.

Since he had come here, Sakutsuki naturally had no reason not to take in the sights. By Lake Annecy, he encountered a young man from the East. After they both helped an old man whose wallet had been stolen, the two became acquainted and became temporary traveling companions.

"Come to think of it, I haven't asked why you came here, Sakutsuki." The handsome man with black hair and black eyes, dressed in sportswear, looked at the shimmering waters of Lake Annecy and asked casually.

"I'm just making the most of my final time to enjoy myself before fate arrives." The golden-eyed young man reclined on the grass with lazy poise, showing no sense of urgency whatsoever.

"That's quite the thing to say..." The man, who still had traces of adolescent chuunibyou in him, laughed and pointed at Sakutsuki teasingly. "At your age, you keep going on about fate all day. What is it, pre-marriage jitters?"

"I'm not the type to be afraid of my girlfriend." Sakutsuki opened his eyes and lazily glanced at him. "Speaking of which, aren't you the least qualified person to say that? I seem to remember you muttering things like, 'As long as Aoi is happy,' and, 'What's so good about Tokiomi Tohsaka?' while you were drunk last night. Don't tell me... the girl you like ran off with someone else?"

After a pause, Sakutsuki spoke the man's name. "Am I right, Kariya Matou?"

"Sh-Shut up!" Kariya Matou's teasing expression vanished, replaced by panic and embarrassment after his secret had been exposed. "I never said anything like that. Absolutely not. You must have heard wrong!"

"Yes, yes, sure, sure." Sakutsuki could not be bothered to expose the man's clumsy lie.

005: Kariya Matou

Character Information: The second son of the Matou family, Zouken's descendant, Byakuya's younger brother, and Shinji and Sakura's uncle. He was the only member of the younger Matou generation with even a little talent for magecraft. In the original World Line, he was Berserker's Master in the Fourth Holy Grail War. Family head Zouken had initially intended for Kariya to become his successor. When Kariya was young, he arranged for him to interact with Aoi, the daughter of the magecraft family Zenjou, in order to foster their relationship.

Hidden Information: Because the Matou family's insect magecraft was simply too bizarre, even with Zouken's and the Zenjou family's support, Kariya had been unwilling to let Aoi fall into the Matou insect pit. Thus, when Tokiomi Tohsaka stepped in, Kariya felt that as long as Aoi was happy, that was enough. He severed ties with the Matou family and left on his own.

Record Condition: None

The Fates Codex had recorded everything right here, and you still said you didn't know martial arts?

"You brat, you just like seeing me make a fool of myself, don't you?" After his panic passed, Kariya Matou came to his senses and kicked him irritably. "Didn't you book a flight leaving soon? Go on, get out of here. That way you won't keep making fun of me."

After being viciously kicked in the backside by those high-heeled, thick-soled Oxford shoes, Sakutsuki could only stand up helplessly. Then he suddenly asked Kariya Matou, "Want to head back with me? Our routes are the same anyway, aren't they?"

"Fuyuki City... Hmph." At his companion's question, pain and resistance flashed through Kariya Matou's eyes. In the end, he shook his head. "Forget it. I'll leave five days from now. Before then, I need to buy souvenirs for two little girls. Once I'm back in Fuyuki City, I'll come find you."

"Souvenirs, huh?" Sakutsuki chuckled softly, cast a pitying glance at Kariya Matou, put on his helmet, and rode away.

"Hey! What kind of look was that?!"

The man's dissatisfied protest was left behind. Humming a song he had recently learned in this world, Sakutsuki sped through the sunlit town on his motorcycle.

An hour later, a passenger plane roared out of Annecy Airport and flew high into the sky, carrying weary and excited passengers alike, along with their unknowable fates, toward the distance.

Without a certain Magus Killer carrying a surface-to-air missile interfering, the plane took off safely and landed safely, eventually touching down on the runway of an airport in western Japan and coming to a steady stop.

A few minutes later, the mobile boarding stairs connected to the cabin door, which then opened.

Dressed in a black suit, the sharp and capable-looking young man descended the stairs. Looking toward Fuyuki City beneath the bright morning light, he stretched broadly.

On his left hand, after he removed his glove, were three scar-like marks resembling patterns.

They were Command Seals, tickets granting entry to a war.

On a holiday morning, warm and gentle sunlight spilled across the grass. Children ran and played throughout the park while their parents watched them with smiles. Citizens strolled leisurely along the streets, enjoying another peaceful day as usual.

Ah, peaceful Fuyuki City.

But today, the rumbling roar of a motorcycle engine injected an unusual note into that tranquil atmosphere.

Golden patterns embroidered the black suit, outlining the tall, fit frame shaped by long-term training. The dashing young man rode a futuristic motorcycle through Fuyuki City's streets and alleys, and even his helmet could not conceal his blazing golden eyes.

"Mom, there's a Kamen Rider!" A child by the roadside caught a fleeting glimpse and shouted excitedly.

"Hm? Where?" His mother did not turn around. His father looked over, but the young rider had already vanished from the street. Only the strangely wistful roar of the engine still lingered in the air.

Where had this mysterious rider gone? To Fuyuki City's most famous Ryudou Temple, or historic Miyama Town? To the forest rumored to contain a "City of Dreams," or the clean yet indifferent Shinto district?

Had he sped across the bridge spanning the sea and taken in the beauty of this city?

It was not until noon, when people gathered and spoke among themselves, that they realized the rider had traveled through every corner of Fuyuki City in a single morning.

Ah, would he appear again in the afternoon? That charming and mysterious young man on a motorcycle?

People waited eagerly, looking forward to this tiny ripple in their peaceful fate.

However, their expectations were quickly disappointed. That afternoon, the silver-green motorcycle was already parked at the foot of the hill in Miyama Town. Removing his helmet and revealing his tousled white hair, the young man gazed at the two equally imposing mansions atop the hill and began climbing, one step at a time.

He was going to disrupt a ritual.

He was going to attend a funeral.

He was going to announce his arrival.

For the magi of Fuyuki City, the two mansions atop Miyama Town's hill had always been the focus of their attention. Those two Western-Style Houses were home to the rulers of this city's hidden world—Tohsaka and Matou.

For countless years, any magus who stirred up trouble in the city, damaged its Ley Lines, or meddled with the Mystery would be defeated by the guardians who commanded magical insects and controlled jewels. Worse still, some had their Magic Crests stripped away, reduced to ordinary people, and died in forgotten corners.

The reputation forged through bloodshed made Fuyuki City a peaceful place within the hidden world. No matter how audacious a magus might be, none wished to cause trouble in this city and suffer the punishment of the Ley Line guardians.

Occasionally, some magi would mutter, "Aren't the Tohsaka and Matou families overreacting? Why do they appear at the slightest disturbance?"

But magi were cold-blooded by nature. After a brief moment of confusion, they would return to their own pursuits. Meanwhile, the secret hidden within Fuyuki City remained sealed under the strict watch of the two great families.

Yet today, the Tohsaka and Matou families, both guardians who normally had little contact with one another, had unusually opened their impregnable barriers. The two family heads, who had each been immersed in their own research, had also emerged from their Magic Workshops for another meeting after a long time.

The reason was simple—the Matou family desired a child capable of inheriting its magus bloodline, and the head of the Tohsaka family had decided to answer his ancient ally's request by giving one of his two beloved daughters to the Matou family for adoption.

In the hall of the Tohsaka Residence, the fifth head of the Tohsaka family, Tokiomi Tohsaka, a black-haired, blue-eyed man with deep-set features, was meeting with an elderly man whose limbs were as shriveled as a mummy's and whose sunken eye sockets gleamed with sharp vitality.

After a brief and concise exchange, the two sides finally reached an agreement. Even when facing a figure as monstrous as this, Tokiomi Tohsaka's expression did not change. He nodded calmly. "It seems our opinions have been unified. In that case, Zouken Matou, today you may take my younger daughter—"

"Objection!"

Before he could finish, the Tohsaka family's front doors burst open. The white-haired, golden-eyed young man, wearing a fingerless glove on his left hand, strode into the reception room and loudly questioned the two stunned magi.

"As signatories of the ancient covenant, have you forgotten who provides our Holy Grail?!"

"To have silently breached the more than twenty layers of defensive barriers I set up..." Tokiomi Tohsaka narrowed his eyes and discreetly gripped a jewel resting in his palm. Beside him, the monster known as Zouken Matou revealed a sinister smile.

The young man answered with a disdainful snort. "This isn't the Sixty-Fourth Floor of the Hall of Offerings. I can break through a mere defensive barrier with the most basic magecraft."

Amid a wet, sticky laugh from deep within his throat, the withered old man stared coldly at Sakutsuki and rasped out his identity. "A signatory of the ancient alliance, a builder of the Holy Grail ritual meant to fulfill our long-cherished wish. Unlike our two families, you belong to the homunculus family that dwells high upon the snowy plains—Einzbern."

"Precisely." Sakutsuki took out a token he had swiped from Jubstacheit von Einzbern and smiled as he presented it.

After confirming that the token was genuine, Zouken Matou's expression did not relax. Instead, it darkened further. "Then what objection does a mere messenger of the Einzbern family have to the contract between Matou and Tohsaka?"

Meeting Zouken Matou's gaze directly, Sakutsuki's lips had somehow curved into a dangerous smile. "That would be because we Einzbern also wish to adopt one of the Tohsaka family's two 'gems.'"

"You?" Tokiomi Tohsaka's composed expression wavered slightly, though he quickly recovered his elegance. "Even so, what can you homunculi teach my daughter? The art of making dolls? The Tohsaka family has no need for such craftsmanship."

"There are many things I can teach her." Facing Tokiomi Tohsaka's challenge, Sakutsuki raised his left hand. A blade condensed from mana solidified and plunged into the ground. He closed his right hand, and a dazzling purple jewel fell into his palm. "And I can promise to protect her always, even if she refuses to become a magus."

"Projection and Displacement Magic, cultivated to such profound heights... How terrifying." Amid strange laughter, Zouken Matou instantly recognized the nature of the young man's magecraft and praised it without reservation.

Because he understood Tokiomi Tohsaka. He knew what choice Tokiomi would make.

"Although your magecraft is worthy of admiration, at its core, it is merely the most basic magecraft taught to beginners, is it not?" As expected, after a brief moment of surprise, Tokiomi Tohsaka made his declaration in an unquestionable tone. "Then let the purple jewel serve as a greeting gift from the Tohsaka family to Einzbern. Messenger who has come from afar, please leave at once."

In Tokiomi Tohsaka's eyes, whether it was the mysteries of magecraft they could teach or the geographical distance between himself and his daughter, the Matou family far surpassed the self-isolated Einzbern.

Besides...

"Can your Einzbern family entrust its Magic Crest to my daughter, as the Matou family can?" The question from the head of a magecraft family was like the final hammer blow at an auction, deciding that girl's ultimate destination.

"Ah..." The young man sighed regretfully, then turned and walked toward the door without the slightest attachment, leaving only a warning before the storm.

"I promised her freedom. I promised her a future. I even bestowed upon her the grace to break free from demonic nature and step toward ordinary happiness."

"Yet you chose to coldly brush aside my hand."

"Then my radiance has come to an end." Appearing at the foot of the hill from its summit, Sakutsuki smiled at the two lofty Western-Style Houses, the hunting pistol in his hand glinting with cold light.

"From this point onward, there will be only endless night."

From the very beginning, Sakutsuki had never intended to obtain what he wanted in this manner.

Kariya walked quickly through the scenery of his hometown. He had always thought he would never see these sights again.

Even when Kariya had returned to Fuyuki City several times before, he had never crossed the river and entered Miyama Town. Thinking about it carefully, he had not returned in nearly ten years. Unlike Shinto, whose appearance changed every day due to urban development, this area had not changed at all. It was as if time itself had stopped here.