Although Kara no Kyoukai was also an important part of the Type-Moon World, compared to the universally known Holy Grail War, Kara no Kyoukai was clearly far less popular. Even many veteran Masters who had played FGO were not particularly familiar with the story that took place within it.
Though Kara no Kyoukai was not very famous, its protagonist, Shiki Ryougi, had become immensely popular far beyond the fandom.
With a pair of the Type-Moon World's most powerful Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, a gallant and dashing figure, and that iconic line—"As long as something is alive, even if it's a god, I'll kill it for you."—she had won countless fans. Back then, Rovey himself had also been drawn to her image.
Judging by the current time period, Shiki Ryougi should only be a middle school student. Combined with the fact that Root Shiki's attitude toward him was unknown, Rovey had no intention of approaching her proactively. Instead, he turned his attention elsewhere.
"Better find the Mother of Kanbako City first..."
Compared to the unknown situation surrounding Shiki Ryougi, the legendary Absolute Future Vision would be much more helpful to him right now.
Rovey had a vague feeling that he might obtain some unexpected gains from her.
"The Mother of Kanbako City. Her true identity is an old woman who calls herself a fortune-teller. In essence, she is Absolute Future Vision hidden within an alleyway. She asks for nothing in return, divining fate, careers, love, and so on for passersby, helping people avert tragedy. She is something like an urban legend."
Though every fortune-teller boasted about their professionalism and accuracy, the Mother of Kanbako City's divinations were in an entirely different league from those charlatans or half-baked divination magi.
Those eyes of hers should possess genuine Future Sight in this era.
Though he did not know how her Absolute Future Vision differed from the Clairvoyance EX possessed by Grand Casters like Merlin, Solomon, and Gilgamesh, there was no doubt that its capabilities were a cheat-level existence that surpassed ordinary prediction or Clairvoyance.
Absolute Future Vision... Even in the Age of Gods, such an ability would have seen its bearer chosen by the gods as a priest or revered by people as a Prophet. Its appearance in the modern age was nothing short of a miracle.
Knowing of something so interesting, Rovey naturally had to meet her in person.
Walking alone through an alley strewn with snow, toppled outdoor air-conditioning units, and miscellaneous debris, Rovey sidestepped the murky puddles formed by melting snow and continued onward.
When he passed another intersection, he casually knocked out two delinquents who had followed him all the way and laid an ambush here, then continued forward without even raising his head.
It was New Year's, and they still did not take a break. Delinquents even spawned in fixed locations in alleys.
Did they think this was some RPG game?
Thugs spawned at fixed points in alleyways, then dropped wallets and the like.
Still, the trope was indeed rather fitting.
"Were we discovered?!"
"Hey! You're an outsider, aren't you? If you don't want to lose a few parts later, hand over your money like a good boy!"
Seeing their two ambushing companions get exposed, the thugs realized their ambush had failed and simply stopped pretending. The remaining few all jumped out as well.
Four of them held knives, surrounding Rovey in the middle of the alley with two in front and two behind. Their mouths kept spewing threats, demanding that he obediently hand over his money.
"..."
Rovey glanced over the thugs hemming him in from both directions. He found the situation rather novel. This was his first time being robbed, and he was being robbed by Muggles too blind to see the situation.
However, he had no intention of playing along with them. Without responding to their meaningless shouting, he turned to leave.
"Hey, hey! What kind of attitude is that? Didn't you hear what I said? Hurry up and hand over—"
"Ahhh!!"
Seeing Rovey ignore him, the leading thug began cursing and swung the dagger in his hand at him, intending to teach Rovey a lesson first.
Bzzz—!!
The next moment, a sharp, ear-piercing sound suddenly rang beside his ears. A tremendous force struck his body, blasting him straight into the garbage pile behind him.
"Shh. Has no one ever told you that keeping quiet while someone else is thinking is the most basic courtesy?"
Rovey slowly raised a finger, staring unpleasantly at the thugs closing in behind him.
"Though it's a bit wasteful, I don't have time to play with you here. Let's make this quick."
Ignoring what the thugs were thinking, Rovey slowly opened a pocket on his trench coat. Under the confused gazes of all the thugs, he took out a special test tube containing a mercury-like liquid and crushed it in his hand.
—Bang!!
"Boil, my blood."
Fervor, mel sanguis.
With a piercing cracking sound, the silver liquid resembling mercury flowed from the test tube and dripped onto the ground.
As he softly chanted the spell, the puddle of Volumen Hydrargyrum on the ground began expanding slowly before Rovey. In the end, it floated above his palm and continually changed, transforming according to his will.
Volumen Hydrargyrum was a Mystic Code created by Kayneth El-Mello Archibald, the Lord of Mineralogy at the Clock Tower, when he was in his twenties. It was hailed as the Supreme Mystic Code of El-Melloi, one of the Twelve Families. It possessed functions such as automatic attack, automatic target acquisition, and automatic defense, making it exceptionally well-rounded. Furthermore, Volumen Hydrargyrum was not only an outstanding combat Mystic Code, but also the El-Melloi Faction's foremost computational engine, capable of assisting with the operation of magecraft and other functions.
Even throughout the Clock Tower, few Mystic Codes were as useful as this one. Precisely because of its outstanding versatility, its value was astonishingly high.
Aside from the top talents of the El-Melloi Faction, no one else could obtain it at all.
The Volumen Hydrargyrum in Rovey's hand had also been personally gifted to him by his nominal teacher when his magecraft rank advanced to Festival Rank.
Moreover, since Alchemy was his primary field of study, and mercury—known as alchemical blood—was an important component of Alchemy, this Mystic Code was exceptionally compatible with Rovey. That was why he often carried it on him.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"Monster! He's a monster!! This guy's a monster!!"
Under Rovey's control, the mercury-like liquid began circling through the air. After looking at their companion, who had been blown away by magical energy and smashed into a wall unconscious, then witnessing such a violation of common sense with their own eyes, the remaining thugs instantly lost all their bravado. They did not even dare take their unconscious companions away, scattering toward the alley exit in panic.
"Hmph. Trying to run?"
Rovey coldly watched their direction and slowly raised a hand, pointing lightly. A faint ripple of magical energy immediately spread through the Volumen Hydrargyrum floating in midair.
At his command, the expanded silver liquid exploded in midair like a bomb. Every separated portion of mercury transformed into a sharp spike and shot straight ahead.
Bang—!!
Several harsh shattering sounds mixed with sharp explosions.
"Ahhh!!"
Soon, miserable screams rang out. Accompanied by sounds like something breaking, the thugs were pierced through by the mercury and slammed intimately into the walls. It seemed they had broken several ribs as well. The pain made them faint instantly, leaving them completely unable to resist.
Though they were a group of scum who preyed on the weak and feared the strong, Rovey was not a bloodthirsty person. As long as they had not committed heinous crimes, he would not easily take another person's life, so he did not kill them outright.
However, that did not mean he would tolerate such evil people, much less place any so-called hopes in their nature.
—Even if one showed evil people every kindness, their wicked nature would not change. The only real way to stop them was to deprive them of the ability to continue doing evil.
This time, he would cut off an arm or a leg from each of them and make them completely incapable of harming others. For the rest of their lives, they could drag around their crippled bodies and personally experience the feelings of the weak people they had once hurt.
He acted as soon as he decided. Rovey's finger tilted slightly, and the Volumen Hydrargyrum in midair trembled once more. A blinding silver arc howled through the alley. Amid several hysterical screams, pools of blood instantly dyed the snow beneath their feet red, delivering the punishment these villains deserved.
"That feels much better..."
...and his thoughts felt much clearer as well.
"As for you lot, try becoming human again for the rest of your lives."
Ignoring the barely breathing thugs and the scattered severed limbs around him, Rovey stepped over the snow stained red with blood and once again strolled deeper into the alley.
"Since I'm already here, you can't expect me to leave empty-handed, can you? I've searched for so long. It's about time you came out and met me, old lady."
He looked toward the empty sky and muttered to himself, as though asking someone who was not present.
"...Sigh."
After a long while, a drawn-out sigh slowly drifted from the darkness not far away.
The Flower Magus's Advice
Caw—caw—
—Caw!!
A pitch-black crow flew through the gray sky before finally landing atop a tree branch.
Black and white, stillness and motion, death and life converged in that instant. The crow's eyes were deep and cold. It seemed to be examining this world, yet it also seemed to be waiting for something. The snow-covered ground was silent, with only the crow's cries echoing through the air.
When the wind rose, snowflakes drifted gently down and settled on the crow's body, but it paid them no heed, remaining quietly where it stood.
Due to its location, the sea winds near Tokyo Bay were somewhat stronger than in other areas. The winter climate made the temperature here even more bitterly cold.
After dealing with a group of suicidal thugs and leaving them with an unforgettable lifelong lesson in his own way, Rovey finally found the true target of his trip deep within an even more remote alley—
The instant he stepped into that long, secluded alley, an extreme sense of discord suddenly welled up in his heart. In a remote corner of the alley, the dead end had somehow vanished. A table had been set up within the shadows, and a slightly plump figure seated before it was smiling and waving at him.
"Young man, would you like to try a fortune reading? It's very accurate~"
At the sound of that gentle voice, Rovey could not help turning to look in that direction.
A dark British-style hat decorated with a blue flower sat atop her head. A black veil like the night concealed her aged face and graying hair. She wore a well-tailored black coat, with ornate accessories along her arms. Her hands were clasped together atop her divination table. Rather than a mysterious fortune-teller, she looked more like an elaborately dressed middle-aged noblewoman.
Noticing the woman seated in the corner with her body concealed in darkness, Rovey's lips curved slightly. He then stepped forward and walked toward her.
"I thought you wouldn't meet me, old lady. I was already prepared to leave."
"Really? But I can't see a future where you obediently leave..."
The Mother of Kanbako City smiled faintly and calmly refuted Rovey's words.
"But the future is not set in stone, is it?" Rovey replied with a smile as well.
"Still, I truly didn't expect this. You can predict another person's future without even meeting them in person, without even seeing the person themselves. That really is a cheat-like ability, old lady."
"Don't say that, young man. This ability isn't mine. I am merely its temporary vessel and user. Perhaps one day, this ability will abandon me as well."
There was no doubt that before the Mother of Kanbako City answered Rovey, the two had never met. Yet she seemed to have foreseen something in advance, allowing her to say such things to him.
For Rovey, however, the correct answer had long been clear. What she had seen was the future she had just predicted, and in that outcome, Rovey had not obediently left. Instead, he had continued searching for her here.
However, despite bearing the label of Absolute Future Vision, nothing was truly absolute. As he had said, the future was never fixed. It was ever-changing, containing countless possibilities.
To give a simple example, if the Mother of Kanbako City predicted what he would eat for dinner tonight and made a bet with him, Rovey could simply skip dinner or deliberately avoid that food to change the future she had predicted.
If one had to analyze it, the future was an unknown event that had been determined and would not change, with the final authority of interpretation belonging to The Root. Foreseeing the future could only be said to reveal one among countless possibilities.
The Absolute Future Vision possessed by the Mother of Kanbako City saw all possible futures of a person, selected the most likely one to tell them, then used verbal guidance of some kind to lead them toward the predicted future.
Rovey pondered seriously within his heart, beginning to analyze the Absolute Future Vision possessed by the Mother of Kanbako City.
As though she had sensed his thoughts, the Mother of Kanbako City, seated before her stall, suddenly laughed.
"Haha, what an interesting young man. You're right. The future changes in countless ways. Prediction can never fully perceive it."
"Though I would like to answer the question in your heart, I don't understand the complex reasons behind it either. I'm only an ordinary fortune-teller, not some Prophet who can predict the future with absolute certainty. The rumors you've heard are probably just urban legends."
"An urban legend..."
An urban legend can't read minds this easily. But if you say so, then so be it.
Rovey thought to himself without arguing over the matter.
"Then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mother of Kanbako City." He nodded again and looked at the elderly woman before him, speaking in a particularly friendly manner. Aside from being a prophet, she was also an old woman, and he might need her help this time. Thus, he kept his attitude low and gave her sufficient respect.
"My name is Rovey. I'm a magus passing through this place. I have a tight mouth, and I haven't gone around spreading word of your existence."
"Mhm. Thank you for your understanding, young man."
The old woman nodded lightly, a smile on her face. It seemed she was fairly satisfied with Rovey's attitude.
"I don't want my existence known by your world, nor do I want to become entangled in too much trouble. I'm merely an ordinary fortune-teller. If rumors spread that I'm some prophet with a perfect success rate, I might as well stop giving readings altogether."
"Please rest assured, I won't do something so boring."
"I believe you, young man."
"Then let's get to the point, old lady. With your eyesight, you should naturally be able to see clearly why I came looking for you."
After the brief introductions, Rovey sat on the stool before the Mother of Kanbako City's stall like an ordinary customer and spoke to her. Through the hazy black veil, he stared directly into her aqua-blue eyes.
"I would like to ask you to predict what will happen in the future."
Predict the future...
"Very well. Then I shall begin."
The Mother of Kanbako City nodded. She raised her head and looked at the young man before her with those blue eyes. After a brief observation, she seemed to see something interesting and nodded lightly before slowly speaking to Rovey again.
"How interesting, young man. The secrets hidden within you are far more mysterious than I imagined."
Rovey: "..."
"Your circumstances are very unusual, and your origins are equally strange. It is almost as if you are not an existence from this world. There is no trace of you within the paths of the future."
"...So?"
"So, I'm sorry. Even with these eyes of mine, I cannot see the scenes of your future very clearly."
Before you continue