"Mm."
Lady Avalon's voice echoed in Shirou's mind.
This was a spell known as telepathy, which could be used for communication between a Master and Servant.
Although the seven Magi and Servants had yet to assemble, the prelude to the Holy Grail War had already begun.
Crows, rats, sparrows... Even kittens and puppies. Any small animal by the roadside could be an enemy's familiar or spy.
Shirou had to be especially careful whenever he talked with Lady Avalon outside.
"So quiet. I thought you'd have some kind of reaction... while I was doing that."
After a brief silence—
"Mm. I promised my Master, after all. I wouldn't butt in recklessly from the side.
Honestly, I was startled, too...
My Master looks so cute on the outside, yet you could actually do that without even changing expression."
Lady Avalon spoke in an easygoing tone. "Um... that was a Living dead, right?"
What exactly had happened after the serial killer brought Shirou into the apartment?
Naturally, Shirou had stabbed Ryunosuke Uryu to death.
But things had not ended there—
In the modern era of Pan-Human History, there were three major departments collectively known as the Mage's Association.
The Clock Tower, the center of modern magecraft and, in practice, synonymous with the Association itself.
The sanctuary of alchemists and cradle of pessimists, the Atlas Institute.
And the most mysterious organization of all, one that worshiped Divine Era Magic and focused especially on the human body and Body Modification: the Mage's Association.
Among the Mage's Association's many studies, one was regarded as the supreme miracle—resurrection after death.
That was precisely what Shirou had done.
After stabbing Ryunosuke Uryu to death, Shirou searched the room and discovered that the serial killer's reason for coming to Fuyuki City had also been the Holy Grail War.
Shirou gained a new understanding of the diversity of species among Magi. No—was he even a Magus?
It would not have been a bad idea to simply let such human garbage die, but the boy had suddenly been struck by an idea.
Shirou performed magical modifications on Ryunosuke Uryu's corpse, turning him into a Living dead.
Normally, creating a Living dead required a considerable amount of time and effort to preserve the brain's spiritual body...
However, during his long years in Britain, Shirou had learned a great deal of relevant knowledge from witches in order to extend the limits of his own body's existence.
If expressed as a Servant Skill, it would be Body Modification, a skill similar to Self-Modification.
Resurrection after death. A simulated revival.
With his superb Body Modification technique, Shirou briefly drove death away from Ryunosuke Uryu and even preserved a small portion of his final memories and information from before his death.
Since it was not a true resurrection, he could not expect Ryunosuke Uryu to retain normal logical thinking. That was a slight disappointment.
But this was enough.
It was enough for Ryunosuke Uryu—or rather, for this thing that had once been Ryunosuke Uryu—to summon a Servant and participate in the Holy Grail War.
As for when he would discover the truth that he had already died, Shirou did not know. He was rather curious, too.
Big brother, you called yourself an artist obsessed with death and believed yourself to possess an extraordinary ability to distinguish whether death was genuine...
You're not going to remain completely unaware of whether you're alive or dead until the very end, are you?
That would be absolutely hilarious.
After remaining silent for a long time, Lady Avalon asked, "Why did you do something like this?
Even if you left him alone, it wouldn't have mattered. The Grail would choose a new Master. Why did you have to..."
Shirou said seriously, "Are you criticizing me? Big Sister Avalon, do you want to condemn me for desecrating a corpse?"
Lady Avalon said, "No, I didn't mean that at all..."
Shirou said, "If Ryunosuke Uryu can really summon a Servant, then we've effectively secured a victory in advance.
"On the other hand—he's an exceptionally rare experimental subject. I want to use him to gather test data."
Humans in the Fae Kingdom had a maximum lifespan of only thirty years, while humans in Pan-Human History could easily live past eighty.
Although Shirou had conducted many experiments on himself in his previous life, he did not think he could still be considered an ordinary person.
Now that he had a serial killer on hand, Shirou could study the corpse of such scum without feeling any guilt at all.
"To prevent him from continuing to commit evil and killing people at random, I went ahead and removed the organ in his brain responsible for emotional behavior. It's called the prefrontal cortex, I think...
"But if he still goes on doing bad things, there's nothing I can do. Scientific progress always comes with sacrifices.
"Ryunosuke Uryu, sorry for the trouble, but please serve as my observation subject and make good use of yourself in the Holy Grail War."
Shirou spoke in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. Beside him, Lady Avalon pressed her lips together.
"I-I see... Good grief, how could I possibly blame my Master?!"
Lady Avalon revealed her trademark beautiful smile.
"Rather, if anything this interesting happens again, let me get involved next time~
"I'm Merlin's little sister, the Flower Magus from Paradise. I can certainly offer you some guidance in this area."
"Sure." Shirou agreed at once.
"It's a promise, Master!"
Lady Avalon spoke with great enthusiasm, though for some reason, her eyes looked a little lonely.
She had known for a long time that her Master was not "ordinary" in the slightest...
But.
Even so, seeing him smile so brightly once again while fiddling with a corpse still filled Lady Avalon with profound sadness.
"Master! Master! A Magus has finally started making a move!"
Two nights later, Lady Avalon excitedly slid open the door to the Japanese-style room.
"Hey! Knock first!"
Shirou angrily switched off the television.
"I've known all about my Master's interests for ages."
Lady Avalon covered her mouth and giggled. When she barged in, the television had been showing a Magical Girl anime with a very high level of exposure.
Shirou put on a stern face. "I only watched that anime so I'd have something to talk about with my friends. I'm not personally interested."
"Yes, yes."
Lady Avalon sat down in front of Shirou, her long, slender legs—wrapped in tights with attached foot coverings—laid across the tatami and drawing the eye.
Shirou turned his gaze away. "What are you here for?"
"To report on my reconnaissance work, of course."
After manifesting, Lady Avalon had declared that reconnaissance and surveillance were her areas of expertise and had forcefully taken over that part of the work.
Shirou was actually rather curious. Would a peerlessly beautiful woman as charming as a flower use creatures such as bats, rats, and crows as familiars?
But no matter how he asked, Lady Avalon refused to disclose what kind of familiars she used, claiming that "it's a girl's secret."
Oh well. As long as she completed her work properly, that was enough.
Lady Avalon spread her long fingers, and a crystal ball appeared in her palm.
Amid dazzling white light—
A scene appeared inside the crystal ball: a luxurious mansion standing in the silent depths of night.
"The Tohsaka Family mansion?"
Volume One 035 The Most Suitable Ally
"Correct."
Lady Avalon explained proudly, "This is a live broadcast."
Shirou looked toward the crystal ball.
There were two Servants in the image.
One was a Black Robe whose palm had been pierced by a spear, pinning his entire body to the ground.
The other was a golden shadow standing proudly atop the roof of the Tohsaka Family mansion.
The golden figure radiated an intimidating pressure that even caused the stars filling the sky to seem dimmed.
"The one lying on the ground should be Assassin, right? I heard that the skull mask is Assassin's trademark.
"He actually thought he could assassinate the negligent Tohsaka Family Master before the ritual had fully begun... Too bad his whereabouts were exposed."
Lady Avalon explained from the side. Shirou remained silent, staring at the crystal ball as he asked, "How many factions are monitoring the area?"
"Huh?"
Lady Avalon was momentarily stunned by the question.
Normally, shouldn't he be concerned with the two Servants in the image? Who would pay attention to the audience instead?
She answered honestly, "Besides us, there are three others."
"Three?"
Shirou did not believe Ryunosuke Uryu would send out familiars to monitor the area.
In other words, if Ryunosuke Uryu had successfully summoned a Servant, then almost all the participants would have gathered tonight.
"Has the Einzbern Family already arrived in Japan?"
Lady Avalon shrugged and pulled the derailed conversation back on track.
"Assassin's Master is far too reckless, isn't he? He actually thought he could directly assassinate the head of the Tohsaka Family!"
"That isn't recklessness. It's stupidity." Shirou gave his cool assessment.
"Could he have some grudge against the Tohsaka Family?" Lady Avalon analyzed, stroking her delicate chin.
"...Strange."
"What is?"
"Big Sister Avalon, don't you think Assassin's presence is far too weak?"
The Flower Magus stared blankly. "No. Even if you put it that way, wouldn't it be troublesome if Assassin's presence were too strong? How would she infiltrate and assassinate anyone?"
"That's true, but there's something off about this Assassin. I can't quite put my finger on it."
Shirou thought to himself: The principle behind the Holy Grail War was to absorb the souls of defeated Servants and fill the Grail with power.
Each Servant's soul was enough to rival the living sacrifices of tens of thousands of people. That was how it achieved such an effect and even opened a path to the Root.
But—the soul of this Assassin here seemed a little too thin, didn't it?
Lady Avalon crawled over to the crystal ball on all fours and stared at it for a while.
Ah, this was...
"What did you notice?"
The silver-haired Female Magus hurriedly waved her hands. "N-Nothing!"
Before you continue