Chapter Four: All Magecraft Connects to Natural Disasters / Chapter Five: A Successful Assassination
"This is the first time I've ever seen Servant arrested by the police!"
"Seriously, even though we have that relic, we still can't summon Artoria."
"But it seems someone summoned Mordred, how interesting! Hahaha!"
"I wish Jeanne d'Arc could appear too! I can't wait to see what happens next!"
As one of the masterminds behind this Holy Grail War, Francesca was simply enjoying the pleasure it brought.
Chapter 4, Section 518: All Magecraft is Connected to Natural Disasters
Let's go back to last night, before the Holy Grail War began.
Snowfield Central Hospital.
A huge white building located in the central district of Snowfield.
This is a large hospital equipped with the best equipment even in the city.
In a hospital ward, a young girl was sleeping in bed.
She has distinctive red patterns on the back of her hands; if someone in the know saw them, they would understand that Command Spells.
She was chosen in this sham Holy Grail War.
The girl's name was Kagarioka Tsubaki, a pitiful child who was originally innocent and carefree, but who was constantly suffering.
Her parents loved her, but they loved her body, not her personality.
They hoped that Kagarioka Tsubaki would become a powerful Magus, but to impose all of this on a ten-year-old girl is beyond cruelty.
She became a vegetable, but her parents didn't care; all they wanted was for her to be healthy.
The sleeping Kagarioka Tsubaki wanders in a dream world where there are no people, no animals, and no sounds.
But today, a black fog appeared in her world, and the rustling sound was as eerie as insects crawling across it.
Kagarioka Tsubaki felt a special sense of familiarity, because this was the first time she had heard sounds and seen other moving things here.
"May I ask, are you my Master?"
"Who is it? I am Kagarioka Tsubaki."
And so, a black mist symbolizing the curse of death and the bewildered Kagarioka Tsubaki formed a pact.
He was called Mr. Darky by Kagarioka Tsubaki.
Servant 'Plague', Rider class.
He is neither a hero nor a human being.
He was the Black Death that claimed 30 million lives, and the Spanish flu that claimed 50 million lives.
He rides on the wind, on the water, on the birds, and on people.
People gave him the nickname "Calamity," and he was truly the rider of calamity who caused all sorts of plagues.
Servant Rider, he is now a knight exclusively belonging to Kagarioka Tsubaki.
All to fulfill the little girl's dream.
The stark contrast between the calamity that everyone fears and the warm-hearted man who helps a little girl realize her dream would surely amaze anyone who knew the truth.
All Magecraft is connected to natural disasters.
Happy birthday, Tsubaki!
The parents took out a large cake decorated with fresh strawberries and smiled at Kagarioka Tsubaki.
"Wow! Thank you, Dad! Thank you, Mom!"
After receiving the gift, Kagarioka Tsubaki happily twirled around in the house.
After a moment of joy, she smiled at the black mist mass standing beside her and said:
"Thank you, Mr. Darky. You're the one who called Mom and Dad here!"
Rider didn't even nod at her words; he just kept standing.
Projection the scenes of reality into dreams.
If she never wakes from this dream, she will be the happiest person in the world.
Ding-dong!
The doorbell rings, who could it be?
Who will visit me in this dream?
Kagarioka Tsubaki jumped ahead of her parents to open the door because it was her birthday, and she was especially happy because her parents were very good to her.
She wanted to share this joy with others.
The door opened, and a young man stood in the doorway.
He glanced at the birthday cake on the table, smiled, and said to Kagarioka Tsubaki, "Happy birthday!"
Kagarioka Tsubaki replied happily, "Thank you, big brother!"
Her curious gaze kept sweeping over the strange man, trying hard to recall his image from her memory, but to no avail.
"Big brother, Chun forgot your name, I'm sorry..."
Kagarioka Tsubaki lowered her head sadly. She had no recollection of him being the first person besides her parents to wish her a happy birthday.
The man was wearing a dark green suit jacket and a matching dark green round top hat. His white hair peeked out from under the hat, and he wore a red tie.
He stared at the little girl with his red eyes for a while, then gently patted Kagarioka Tsubaki's head.
"My name is Edmond Dantès. You don't know me because this is the first time we've met."
Faced with the innocent little girl, Edmond did not reveal his name as the Avenger, the King of the Cavern.
Instead, he smiled and said his real name.
"First time meeting?" Kagarioka Tsubaki paused for a moment, then blinked and asked, "Is big brother a friend of Mom and Dad?"
Edmond shook his head slightly, glanced briefly at the motionless black mist, and said softly, "I've come to find you, Tsubaki."
An innocent child and an embodiment of calamity—what an incongruous pair.
Edmond had no intention of interfering in the war brewing in the city.
But this pairing piqued his interest.
"What caused the little girl to summon calamity? Does she hate this world?"
With that in mind, he came.
However, what appeared before him was a little girl so innocent it was heartbreaking.
Could such a little girl really harbor hatred?
Edmond couldn't help but think of another little girl who was about the same age as Kagarioka Tsubaki, who also had the same innocence and the same ability to summon calamities.
Although Kagarioka Tsubaki didn't understand why Edmond had come to find her, it didn't stop her from being happy.
"Big brother, come and eat some cake, it's so delicious!"
In a dream world, at the Kuangqiu Mansion, four people celebrate Kagarioka Tsubaki's birthday.
Tonight, she is the happiest person in the world, a happiness so intense it's almost suffocating.
Silently savoring this birthday cake that felt both real and unreal, Edmond fell silent.
Why did I come here?
"To save her?"
"What right do I have to save her?"
"As an avenger, the embodiment of hatred and resentment, how can he save others like a savior?"
"... This joke isn't funny at all!"
After Edmond finished his birthday cake, he left hastily under Kagarioka Tsubaki's reluctant gaze.
Will big brother come to play with Tsubaki again?
Faced with the girl's longing gaze, Edmond's words of refusal stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.
He turned around, waved his hand gently, neither refusing nor agreeing.
Will you come again?
Will they never come again?
At this moment, Edmond Dantès, the Edmond Dantès, with his iron will, hesitated.
How long has it been since I've seen eyes like that?
Accustomed to hiding in dark corners, he was like a shadow wherever he went.
But there will always be people who find him and rudely bother him.
That person's eyes are the same as those of Kagarioka Tsubaki now.
It was late at night, past midnight, and still dark.
Yuxian and the children finally fell asleep, beginning their first sleep in the Snowfield Hotel.
Only Chiron remained diligently protecting everyone, never daring to slack off.
"Sweet dreams, children..."
He looked towards the room where Yuxian and the children slept and murmured softly.
That night, Snowfield's Holy Grail War transformed from a charade into reality.
Section 519, Chapter 5: The Successful Assassination
Snowfield's Holy Grail was made in imitation of the Fuyuki Greater Grail, but it is not entirely accurate.
The Holy Grail War originally featured seven classes of Servant fighting each other, but Snowfield's Holy Grail War only had six, lacking the Saber class.
Therefore, it was called the false Holy Grail War.
But after Francesca's actions, this sham Holy Grail War began to evolve into a true Holy Grail War.
After Saber Richard I, who served as the key, was summoned, six more true Servant were summoned tonight.
Overnight, the Snowfield Holy Grail War became an unprecedented Holy Grail War with 13 pairs of Master Servant fighting in a chaotic battle.
All seven new Master, including the Magus who summoned Richard I, are more or less connected to Francesca, the mastermind behind it all.
Early morning.
At the gates of Snowfield Crystal Hill, Flat peered in, eager to go inside and have a go.
Unfortunately, he was too old to enter the casino, so he had to give up and continue wandering aimlessly.
"Was that Saber just now?"
Flat muttered to himself as he looked at the punk-style mechanical watch on his wrist.
That was a wristwatch that was transformed from Servant he summoned.
Flat received an unsharpened decorative knife from his teacher, Lord El-Melloi II.