"Yeah, thanks."
The silver-haired homunculus smiled back. "I think so too, Saber... It's wonderful that you're my Servant."
Today, Einzbern Castle was finally free from the snowstorm.
The sky had not exactly cleared, but the milky-white heavens were much brighter than they had been during the snowfall.
At her Master's enthusiastic invitation—or rather, his spoiled pleading—Saber was dragged out of the castle, and the two of them walked across the boundless snowfield.
Perhaps their previous conversation had opened their hearts to each other. Saber, who never touched upon anyone else's secrets, took the initiative to speak.
"Irisviel, what do you want to do after the war ends?
"I'm not asking about Einzbern's wish. What do you personally wish for?"
"A wish..."
At the question, the silver-haired homunculus stopped walking.
Saber still did not know that Irisviel had no way to live until after the war.
Even if they were lucky enough to defeat all six enemy teams, she would still have to become the Holy Grail's final sacrifice alongside Saber.
Although she was destined to have no future, let me indulge in a little fantasy, just for this moment.
Irisviel spoke the wish buried in her heart.
"Rather than a wish, I suppose it's more of a dream—
"Saber, I want a child."
"...Ugh."
Saber wore an extremely troubled, disgusted expression.
She had no interest in talking about raising children, but she still did not want to spoil the princess's mood, so she followed up obediently.
"Do you want to become a mother, Irisviel?"
"Mm." The silver-haired homunculus nodded with a yearning look. "A cute girl would be wonderful. I wouldn't mind if she were a little mischievous, but...
"Hehe, an energetic yet composed boy sounds nice too."
Volume 1, 028: Heroic Spirit Summoning with the "Best Compatibility"
"The strongest Saber... King Arthur!"
Shirou Amamiya did not notice that his body was trembling.
In Japan, this reaction was called "warrior's tremble," a physiological phenomenon caused by an adrenaline surge in the presence of a battlefield or powerful enemy.
Shirou was as excited as Shinji discussing anime: As expected, King Arthur of Pan-Human History is the strongest too!
I wonder which is stronger, the King Arthur of this world or me at my peak—Fae Knight Arthur?
And between the Knights of the Round Table of Pan-Human History and my Fae Round Table, which side is stronger?
In the past, Shirou had only learned about King Arthur's life from fragmentary information obtained through "Drifters."
It was only after returning to Pan-Human History that he learned the full tale.
According to the legend, he was a perfect knight who embodied countless virtues, including kindness, nobility, justice, and humility, and was loved and worshiped by his people and subordinates.
Wow, he completely beats me in terms of personal charisma...
I'm the man the fairies called a tyrant and an evil king.
If the King of Knights learned that, in the Britain of another world, there was a villain impersonating his name and starting wars everywhere, she'd be furious, right?
Still, Shirou liked King Arthur very much.
If he did not like him, he could never have used his name, could he?
"I want to shine like the Knights of the Round Table! I want to become a man among men and a knight among knights like King Arthur!"
Shirou had held such thoughts in his youth.
Although the merciless reality of the Fae Kingdom had ultimately crushed those ideas, that was a story for another time.
"Of course, I like Morgan best of all. Oh, right..."
Morgan, the number-one villain in the Legend of King Arthur, the King's sister, and the evil enchantress.
She seemed to be a different person from the Morgan Shirou knew.
Although both were powerful witches skilled in magecraft, there was not a single similarity between them, whether in personality or experience.
The Morgan of the Fae Kingdom was kindhearted and filled with a sense of justice; Morgan of Pan-Human History was vicious and consumed by jealousy.
My Morgan is both beautiful and pure; the Morgan of the Pendragon family is seductive and debauched.
If possible, Shirou really did not want to acknowledge this world's Morgan.
All right, I've decided!
If I encounter the evil enchantress Morgan of Pan-Human History in the Holy Grail War, I'll beat her senseless! I'll make her admit the mistakes she's made!
In any case, although he knew little about the Legend of King Arthur, it had indeed reignited the fighting spirit that had long since cooled within Shirou.
Alongside his peaceful daily routine of commuting to school, playing with the Matou siblings, and looking after Sister Fujiwara, Shirou threw himself into preparations for the Fourth Holy Grail War.
After spending more than a month, Shirou laid an airtight bounded field around the Amamiya Residence, transforming it into a magical fortress no less impressive than the Matou Insectarium.
Next came the only enemy openly visible at present—comprehensive surveillance of the Tohsaka Family.
Shirou picked up the low-level familiar-manipulation magecraft he had abandoned halfway through learning in the past.
For his familiars, he chose crows.
The crows of Britain had been very close to Morgan and the sage Grim, but Shirou had never gotten along well with these clever, cunning creatures—
because they were always stealing the food he had prepared!
After barely getting the crows of Fuyuki to obey him, Shirou sent some of them near the Tohsaka Mansion and scattered the rest throughout the streets of Miyama Town and Shinto.
Of course, surveillance was also arranged for the church on the outskirts of Shinto, the neutral zone for the Holy Grail War.
He left the search for a summoning catalyst to Tsuruno Matou.
Zouken Matou possessed enormous overseas assets, so Shirou decided to borrow some from his ally as temporary war funds.
Shirou: "I want to sell a few stocks to buy a Holy Relic. Old man, you don't have any objections, right?"
Little Yellow Duck (inactive): "..."
Silence meant no objection.
"The stock price of Apple has fallen another fifty percent this year. Sigh, I'll just cut your losses and sell it for you."
Little Yellow Duck (inactive): "..."
Shirou's preparations for the Holy Grail War proceeded in an orderly and meticulous fashion.
Before long, Tsuruno Matou obtained a summoning catalyst through overseas channels—
a refined ebony box that looked extremely expensive.
Shirou opened it cautiously. Inside lay a processed wooden fragment, radiating the lingering traces of magical power.
"This is..."
Tsuruno Matou nodded. "This is the planned Holy Relic, the 'Round Table'—one of its fragments.
"In the past, countless knights capable of defeating a thousand men had gathered around this table to exchange ideas.
"To protect their homeland, Britain, they did not cross swords, but instead clashed through words."
"Well done, Tsuruno."
Shirou stroked the wooden fragment with a finger, as if he could feel a trace of the warmth left behind by that legend.
Tsuruno Matou said, "However... we can't predict which Knight of the Round Table will be summoned. It should be a Heroic Spirit whose temperament matches Shirou best."
Without a catalyst, magi summoned Servants whose spiritual structures resembled their own.
Shirou nodded. "The old man says that as long as it's a Knight of the Round Table, most of them are at least first-rate Servants.
"If we summon top-tier members of the Round Table like Gawain or Percival, we might even be able to win all the way to the end with ease.
"—At the very least, winning the first three Holy Grail Wars shouldn't be a problem."
Strength was not the only reason Shirou had chosen a Round Table relic from among the many Holy Relics.
As the King Arthur of another world, he wanted to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Knights of the Round Table of this world.
Of course—if he were lucky enough to draw King Arthur herself, that would be the grand prize among grand prizes.
On a vast continent across the sea, there was an idiom: "Strike while the iron is hot."
Shirou did not know whether its origin had anything to do with forging swords, but he liked the idiom so much that he could practically use it as his motto.
That evening, he began setting up the summoning circle as soon as he finished his homework.
Apparently, the location of a summoning circle was very important.
After wrestling with the decision for a while, Shirou finally chose the warehouse at home.
The residence had every facility imaginable, including even a dojo for practicing swordsmanship.
As a sword-forging magus, why didn't Shirou choose to set up the summoning circle in the dojo?
Because he did not want to add too much bias to the Summoning Ritual.
If he performed the ritual in the dojo, the one who descended might be a Round Table member famous for swordsmanship.
Shirou did not want that result—
he wanted to follow the basic principles of the Holy Grail War and summon the Round Table member with the best compatibility with himself.
If I set up the summoning circle in the dining room, I might summon a Round Table member with a huge appetite, Shirou thought.
After eliminating every factor that might influence the result, all that remained was the completely empty warehouse.
Without a doubt.
Shirou would meet the Round Table member with the "best compatibility" with himself here.
The time was midnight.
"All right. Let's officially begin."
Shirou tossed aside the white chalk he had used to draw the summoning circle and took a deep breath.
He pushed aside the distracting thought of not knowing what his wish actually was in the end.
Heh heh heh... By adding two extra lines of special incantation to the Summoning Ritual's chant, you can add the Mad Enhancement attribute to the Servant and forcibly transform them into the Berserker class.
The annoying advice of the toy Little Yellow Duck surfaced in his mind.
Although it will cost the Servant their sanity, it can improve their overall parameters.
In terms of stats alone, they might even surpass Saber... Well, for you, it should be an unnecessary and crude trick.
"The Mad Enhancement incantation... I won't add it."
After placing the Round Table fragment serving as the catalyst on the floor, Shirou went to the corner of the warehouse and began chanting.
"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Let it be repeated, and let it be five."
(Omitted)
"With thee, thy three great words of binding, from the wheel of restraint—guardian of the scales—!"
With those final words, a violent gale rose from the summoning circle, and dazzling light filled the entire warehouse.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
Before you continue