The Bold Newcomer and Her Worried Friend

"Yo, Carl, have you gathered all the information we need?"

Tsukahara Meiji greeted his friend with feigned ease. Beneath his lighthearted tone, there was a faint but profound respect. It was the humility toward those one respected, carved into the bones of the Japanese people. In Japan, a society with severe class divisions, that was something its citizens would never change.

Especially when facing the person before him, Carl Wynster.

She was three years older than him. She was both his benefactor and his closest friend.

She was the one who had discovered his talent for magecraft on the streets of Japan.

And at the Clock Tower, she had also been the one willing to speak to him without caring about his background or the identity of his teacher.

There was an old Chinese saying: "A scholar dies for one who understands him." Tsukahara Meiji firmly believed in it.

"Yeah. Let's talk somewhere else."

"Ah... come to think of it, sorry. Those guys ruined your lunch..."

"It's fine. More importantly, we need to start preparing as soon as possible."

The outcome of a war was decided before it even began.

That was one of Carl's favorite sayings.

Tsukahara Meiji did not know who had said it, and he felt the words were a little too idealistic. Still, he had to admit that this famous saying perfectly summed up Carl Wynster.

The Winsted Family was a moderately renowned Magus Family, a resurgent lineage that had lasted seven generations. It had been prosperous, but two years ago, it had suddenly been reduced to ashes. The sole survivor was Carl Wynster, who now called herself the head of the family.

Incidentally, Carl had discovered Tsukahara Meiji's talent for magecraft two years ago as well. She had been visiting magecraft families in Japan to raise funds for rebuilding the Winsted Family when she happened upon Tsukahara Meiji performing on the street.

Yes, Tsukahara Meiji was a magician.

This time, it meant magician in the broad sense people generally understood: someone skilled at card tricks. In an era of rapid economic growth and increasingly impoverished spiritual entertainment, however, magic tricks could hardly be considered a way to make a living.

Like every industry, the divide was severe. A famous magician could play with a deck of cards and live comfortably for an entire year, while an unknown one might perform all day and earn less than an old beggar on the street.

Moreover, magic tricks lived off mystery. There was always a group of people obsessed with exposing the secrets behind them, leaving magicians with nowhere to go. That only made Tsukahara Meiji feel worse.

The one who had brought Tsukahara Meiji into the world of magecraft was Carl Wynster.

To Tsukahara Meiji, she was his benefactor.

Of course, in truth, Tsukahara Meiji was also a "benefactor" to Carl. Reviving the Winsted Family was no great undertaking one person could accomplish alone.

He had gone off on a tangent.

As mentioned before, Carl was a typical calculating Magus. Meticulous, serious, rigorous, and somewhat rigid.

Yet for the sake of reviving her family, she did not care about status. As a Magus from a seven-generation lineage, she did not mind Tsukahara Meiji's bloodline. Such an attitude was truly rare at the Clock Tower.

At least, in Tsukahara Meiji's understanding, there were only three people who did not value accumulated bloodlines.

At that moment, the two of them were seated in a private room at a restaurant in London Airport, wielding knives and forks over steak and bread. Carl swiftly cut her well-done steak into tiny pieces, crumbled the bread over it, then added black pepper sauce and chili powder. It was a rather distinctive way of eating.

Honestly, watching someone else eat was pretty awkward.

Especially when the person across from him possessed such delicate features: beautiful blonde hair of German descent, downturned eyes that always carried a trace of melancholy, and brows that were forever faintly furrowed. Her face was like that of a magazine cover model, yet it was always shrouded in painful sorrow.

Then again, she carried the mission of reviving her family. It would have been stranger if Carl had been laughing and joking all day, wouldn't it?

Tsukahara Meiji made excuses for his friend in his heart.

"Hey, Carl, how did the investigation go?"

To ease the awkwardness of simply watching her eat, Tsukahara Meiji brought up the central question for the sake of making conversation.

It was as though he was not worried that someone with ill intentions might eavesdrop on them.

Of course, before he had spoken, Carl had already drawn glowing blue magecraft runes all over the doorframe. It was a soundproofing spell. That way, there was no need to worry about being discovered.

"Just as I expected, the Holy Grail War has begun."

As Carl said that, she raised her right hand.

Three red marks appeared upon it, forming a strange pattern.

"A tattoo? When did you get that?"

Even Carl could only smile bitterly at Tsukahara Meiji's idiotic remark as an outsider. With her brows tightly furrowed, the corners of her lips could only form a bitter curve.

"These are Command Spells. Proof that I am a Master in the Holy Grail War. Just as I expected, the Holy Grail did not abandon me. Someone with a wish that must be fulfilled and outstanding magecraft aptitude would not be ignored by the Holy Grail."

"Well, I don't really get it. Anyway, what do you need me to do?"

Tsukahara Meiji smiled helplessly. Two years was far too short a time for a Magus's exploration. He had already exhausted himself just trying to keep up with his classes. How could he have had time to study a Magus ritual that had long since been discontinued?

Even if he had had the time, the attitudes of those two students earlier had made it clear enough. Who would be willing to waste their precious time explaining an already concluded Holy Grail War to the student of a Heretic Magus?

If that had not been the case, he would have noticed the strange contradiction in his friend's words.

"Let me make this clear first. What comes next will be very dangerous for you. You can refuse me..."

"Don't worry about it. A scholar dies for one who understands him. I have to repay the kindness of being recognized."

"What was that? A Japanese proverb?"

"No, a Chinese proverb."

"Is that so? I learned something."

Carl slowly blinked her eyes and nodded in silence.

That was also why Tsukahara Meiji could be friends with her.

She listened very seriously whenever Tsukahara Meiji spoke. If what he said made sense, this seventh-generation Magus would never make unreasonable trouble over saving face. With anyone else, the final line of that conversation would surely have become, "You spend all your time studying useless things. Why don't you hurry up and read a few more magecraft papers?!"

When her aqua-blue pupils gleamed clearly again, she had already set aside the previous topic. Talking about Chinese proverbs was nice enough, but there were clearly more important matters at hand.

"In short, the Holy Grail War is a battle in which seven Masters summon seven Servants, then fight until only one pair remains victorious. I need you to participate in the Holy Grail War as my partner. Of course, I am not expecting you to do much. A Servant's strength depends largely on the Master's magical energy. Your task is to reduce my enemies from six to five. The moment you summon a Heroic Spirit, order it to commit suicide, transfer your remaining two Command Spells to me, and relinquish your authority as a Master. That will give me an absolute advantage—but even so, it will still be very dangerous for you."

"Well, that's what you say—but you wouldn't mind if I took out a few Heroic Spirits, right?"

Tsukahara Meiji smiled confidently. As the saying went, newborn calves feared no tigers. Not understanding the Holy Grail War, he made the joke casually.

"Take out a few?"

Carl could not help laughing. She put down her knife and fork, sat upright, and fixed her beautiful eyes on Tsukahara Meiji's face, making him feel a little guilty. "With that spell of yours that formed an ice mirror on the lawn, focused sunlight, gathered heat, and burned someone's sweater?"

Carl was referring to the incident where Tsukahara Meiji had burned an elite student's sweater.

That had not been some powerful fire magecraft at all. It had been "ice-element" magecraft, completely contrary to how it looked.

The secret was the "divination" Tsukahara Meiji had mentioned earlier. The playing card he had flung into the air spun several times under his control before landing precisely on the lawn at the perfect angle.

Then the magecraft attached to the card activated. The slightly bent card cleverly became a concentrating mirror, focusing the bright midday sunlight onto a single point on the sweater.

That was the magecraft Tsukahara Meiji was best at. It combined the magic tricks understood by ordinary people with the wondrous techniques of magecraft. Tossing playing cards into the air and making them land exactly where he wanted required at least two or three years of practice.

Combining magic tricks with magecraft was Tsukahara Meiji's special fighting style.

This kind of "application of magecraft" could probably only be used by Abner's students.

Abner had perfectly inherited Lord El-Melloi II's theory from back then: "A Magus's level is measured not by the accumulation of bloodlines, but by combat experience." Though Lord El-Melloi II himself no longer mentioned that view now.

Not being constrained by magecraft itself, using experience and science flexibly to pursue efficient combat—this was the characteristic of Magi from Abner's line.

"Well, you saw through it?"

The Japanese magician gave an embarrassed smile, his face full of the stiff expression of someone whose trick had been exposed.

"It has Mr. Abner's style, but it isn't strong enough. In any case, do your best. If you can pull it off, I'll be happy. I must obtain the Holy Grail to revive the Winsted Family."

As she spoke, a vicious glint flashed through Carl's eyes. She coughed lightly, making her already serious face even more solemn. She looked as though she could walk straight into Parliament and deliver a eulogy. "For that, I will not hold back. If you do not do as I say... when necessary, I will treat you as a disposable pawn."

"There you go again, you tsundere. You say that, but you obviously care about me a ton. You'd never do something like that. Don't let my appearance fool you—I can still gather intelligence for you, draw some fire, and things like that. If necessary, I'll run away."

Tsukahara Meiji had never experienced a Magus's battle. Naturally, he imagined Magi fighting like some large variety show, with everyone laughing and competing for the championship. If things got bad, they could just forfeit.

Besides... Tsukahara Meiji also wanted to give those guys, whose noses were practically pointed at the sky, a good beating. Chasing them down with his still-immature magecraft—how satisfying would that be?

As for life and death... hadn't it been said already?

A scholar dies for one who understands him.

That was Tsukahara Meiji's attitude.

That attitude was why Carl valued Tsukahara Meiji so highly. It was also why she had met him on the street and ultimately become his closest friend. And it was why Carl had such a headache now. With a sigh, the German-descended Magus took a book from her coat and handed it to him.

"What is this?"

The heavy weight pressed down on Tsukahara Meiji's hands. He flipped through a few pages at random, only to find not a single illustration... just dense English text everywhere. It gave this novice Magus, whose high school English was merely below average, an immediate headache.

"Records of previous Holy Grail Wars. Pay attention and study them. I've already marked the sections I need you to focus on. If you insist on participating, then at the very least, you need to understand how the weak Magi in previous wars fought."

"Weak... you really don't hold back... By the way, why do you have this? Don't tell me you already knew..."

"Of course. With your personality, you were bound to say something about helping me, weren't you? If you're going to help, then make yourself useful."

There was something awkward in Carl's words. Tsukahara Meiji laughed. Though she said she did not want him to fight, she had even found this information for him. Clearly, she wanted him to lend her a hand. Honestly, how could I peacefully watch you fight alone when you're this bad at being honest?

Tsukahara Meiji understood the pain of being helpless and alone better than anyone.

On the bustling streets, with not a single person nearby willing to stop for him—that desolate feeling... Carl was the same. As a member of the destroyed Winsted Family, nearly every Magus Family was watching her. Before they confirmed that she had value, no one was willing to offer her a hand.

When Tsukahara Meiji had been at his lowest, Carl had pulled him up.

Now that Carl needed someone to help her revive her family, Tsukahara Meiji naturally would not shrink back.

He patted Carl's shoulder hard. "Seriously, I told you not to be such a tsundere! Being a tsundere ruins your whole life! Anyway, let me see..."

Tsukahara Meiji flipped through the pages quickly and soon found the first page with a folded corner.

A name had been carelessly circled in crimson ink, with the words "pay special attention" thoughtfully written beside it in Japanese.

His friend's warning made Tsukahara Meiji pause and carefully read the document.

"Emiya... Kiritsugu?"