"To put it bluntly, Shirou, you've been chosen as a Master."
"The three Command Spells on the back of your hand are proof that you're a Master."
Hinako Akuta sat across from Shirou, reading a book as she spoke in an apparently absent-minded manner. At the same time, she held out her right hand to show him the back of it.
She had three Command Spells on the back of her hand as well.
In fact, she had received those three Command Spells five years ago. The magical energy within the Greater Grail had also gradually entered its filling phase from that time onward.
In that respect, Hinako Akuta could be considered the first Master chosen for the Fifth Holy Grail War.
Besides Shirou Emiya and Hinako Akuta, Xiang An and Anno, the two Servants, were also in the room.
The two Servants sat opposite each other, and for some reason, there always seemed to be a strange atmosphere between them.
"Proof of being a Master..."
Shirou Emiya looked at the Command Spells on Hinako Akuta's hand, then at his own. He nodded, only half understanding.
"Of course, they're more than proof of being a Master. They're also a means of restraining Servants—normally, anyway."
"But for people like my uncle and Mr. Anno, something as insignificant as Command Spells probably can't restrain them."
Hinako Akuta had no idea where she had learned that information, but in any case, she knew it.
"So as long as you have Command Spells and summon a Servant... you're participating in this Holy Grail War?"
"But what exactly is the Holy Grail War?"
Shirou Emiya felt that something was not quite right.
"On the surface, the Holy Grail War's official name is the Far Eastern Magecraft Competition."
Hinako Akuta still did not raise her head.