Starting in Type-Moon, but as an A Certain Magical Index Magician

Illya looked at the strange man before her. Nothing about his clothing or appearance suggested some ancient existence; if anything, he seemed very modern, or at least from a recent era.

Moreover, his skill in magecraft was formidable. That special magic circle from earlier had actually neutralized the power of her Command Spell and completely trapped her Berserker, leaving him unable to escape.

That made Illya even more curious about him.

He possessed such incredible magecraft, yet she had never heard of anyone like him in history. It was truly bizarre.

While curiosity filled her heart, Illya asked, "So, what did you want to discuss with me alone, mister?"

"First, don't call me mister. I'm still very young." As Mephistopheles spoke, he casually sat down nearby and pointed at another seat. "Sit down and talk. It'll be more comfortable that way."

"Comfortable? You expect me to relax inside the enemy's headquarters? That's a little too ridiculous." Illya said so, but she still sat down.

Illya was proud. She had confidence in her own strength, disgust toward her own circumstances, and her own goal for this Holy Grail War.

Even though the opponent before her was stronger, Illya was still trying to think of a way to find some method of defeating him.

But his next sentence made the mind that had been desperately searching for an answer go completely blank.

"The enemy's headquarters? Isn't this your father's home? Oh, well, now it should count as your younger brother's home."

He said it as casually as if making small talk, but it sent chills down Illya's spine. She could not help taking a deep breath, and the gesture made Mephistopheles smile.

"You're nervous, Miss Illya. There's no need for that. Since I've said these things aloud, it means I'm showing my sincerity."

"I don't understand what you mean. What do you mean, this is my father's home? And that boy is my younger brother? Look at how small I am! Even if that were true, he should be the older brother and I should be the younger sister!"

Illya forced herself to remain composed as she spoke to Mephistopheles. She did not know why she answered that way—whether because she did not want to casually admit it, or simply because she was afraid.

But clearly, Mephistopheles did not care about Illya's response at all.

"No matter what you say, even if you refuse to admit it, it doesn't matter, Miss Illya. The reason I brought this up was that what I'm about to say is based on these facts.

"And facts remain facts, no matter how much you deny them."

As he spoke, Mephistopheles bluntly pointed out Illya's current condition.

"Your physical condition is terrible. Even if this Holy Grail War had never happened, you would not have lived much longer. Now that the Holy Grail War has begun, you probably only have about a year left to live. You may even meet your death the moment the Holy Grail War ends."

Illya no longer dared underestimate the man before her. Many of these things were secrets, yet he spoke of them as though he knew everything.

"When you met Rin last time, I already sensed that something was wrong with your body. Today's contact only confirmed my suspicions. You are the Holy Grail, aren't you? Or rather, you are the core—or heart—of a Holy Grail. To the Holy Grail, you are an indispensable existence."

Illya remained silent and did not answer.

"Einzbern Family has its own goals, such as the Third Magic. But I believe that is not your goal. Compared with something like that, there should be something else you want even more."

At that, Mephistopheles carefully observed Illya's expression. The girl's face wavered slightly, but the trace of hatred in her eyes erased that hesitation.

Mephistopheles was only a casual fan, but the plot of the Fifth War had come out long ago, and he had seen some of it. So he said, "I heard something once. Supposedly, there was a man who went to a certain castle several times in order to see his daughter, but he failed to enter every time. Because the castle hated the man for his betrayal, it separated him from his daughter.

"Though he had brought it upon himself, that pitiful man could not let go of his daughter until the day he died. He passed away in despair."

A subtle change came over Illya's expression. As she listened to the story, she formed a few guesses, but she stubbornly said, "It's a nice story, but what does it have to do with me, mister?"

"I'm not a mister... Forget it. Call me whatever you want." Mephistopheles could not be bothered correcting her anymore. He decided to state the key point directly. "That man was Kiritsugu Emiya, and that girl was Illya. Do you know that girl?"

The final question sounded like a prank. Illya could no longer keep her expression under control. She looked at Mephistopheles and clung to the last of her stubbornness. "Where's the proof?!"

"Your mother died, and then someone inside the Holy Grail frightened you. That fellow knows quite a bit about these matters, so perhaps you can ask him."

Mephistopheles paused to think, then added, "Besides, destroying the Holy Grail is for your own safety. If the Holy Grail descends, all of Fuyuki City will face a crisis.

"It's just a shame that, to those artificial doll toys whose minds are filled with nothing but the Third Magic, such an act is betrayal. There is no need for them to consider any reason."

"Dolls..."

"I'm not insulting anyone. Even a robot is a person if it has a heart. But even if the flesh is human, someone without a sense of self is merely a doll. Aren't there quite a few dolls in your household?"

As Mephistopheles spoke, he glanced outside.

"Your younger brother nearly became a doll too, didn't he? A doll controlled by your father's will. Fortunately, he has a brain and knows how to think for himself."

Mephistopheles's words finally made Illya show a disgusted expression. "Kiritsugu wouldn't do something like that."

"It has nothing to do with whether Kiritsugu would or not. Because Kiritsugu saved him, your younger brother has spent his life living inside Kiritsugu's wish. And he thinks that being the only one left alive is a sin. I have to say, that is a perfect self-destructive personality."

After Mephistopheles finished speaking, he looked at the thoughtful Illya and smiled. "So you finally admit it, right, Miss Illya?"

A New Student

"Hmph, I never denied it!" Illya snorted before saying, "So this is how you intend to persuade me? Make me give up the Holy Grail?"

"No. I mean that I can find a way to let you live and free you from the Holy Grail's control—naturally, that includes freeing you from the Einzbern Family's control. In exchange, you need to help me analyze the Holy Grail."

"You're so strong. Why not just kill all the Servants and obtain the Holy Grail? Then you can make a wish on it."

"Your body is the heart of the Holy Grail. I need to find a way to transfer that function elsewhere."

Mephistopheles said something that could easily have angered someone.

"Although your sense of good and evil differs somewhat from ordinary people's—when you're truly angry, you like to kill people—my own sense of good and evil is not like that. I still hope to deal with the Holy Grail while minimizing the number of deaths as much as possible."

Illya's expression grew displeased at those words. The education she had received had not been good, and her entire life had been the kind where failing to struggle meant death. Only through Berserker's strength had she been able to survive until now.

Yet the man before her had said her moral compass was flawed. Extremely annoyed, she said, "The life I experienced was like that. If I was unhappy, I killed. If others were unhappy, they could come kill me. The enemies I encountered were never merciful to me."

"Wasn't that because those lunatics in the Einzbern Family had no mercy?" Mephistopheles immediately refuted her. "Your two maids are exceptions. They still care about you. Perhaps when you leave the Einzbern Family, you can bring them along."

Illya frowned, staring hard at Mephistopheles. After a long while, she said, "Are you a pervert, mister? You actually watched a little girl!"

"Watching? Ah, yes, yes, that's right, watching. Not only did I watch, I watched every way you died. I even saw what you looked like as a magical girl, and what you looked like while bathing."

Mephistopheles ranted inwardly, but outwardly he said solemnly, "That is slander. I did not watch you, Miss Illya. It is simply that I possess a certain special ability that allows me to see fragments of the future and the past."

"Prophecy? Future Sight?"

"You can understand it that way. Of course, you can also think of it as divination. I'm fairly good at Tarot readings. Want to try one?"

"Hmph!"

"If you don't want to, forget it. Let's return to the topic. I can protect your life and repair your body, but you must also guarantee that you will not interfere with my actions. From now on, that means withdrawing from the Holy Grail War."

Mephistopheles paused, then continued.

"As for Heracles, I will find a way to send him back rather than through the Holy Grail. But there may be problems, and I cannot guarantee this. If the Holy Grail still successfully intercepts him and stores him within your body, even causing your body to be destroyed, then I can only guarantee the safety of your soul."

"That guarantee sounds like you're saying, 'It doesn't matter if you die.' Isn't that far too insincere for a partnership?"

"I think it's quite sincere. Look, even if you die, I can preserve your soul. Then I can have the Holy Grail give me the knowledge to construct a body, or simply have it make you a soulless body before I put your soul inside it. Perfect."

Illya looked at the utterly sincere Mephistopheles. She desperately wanted to pry open his head and see what was inside, to understand why he could say such shameless things.

But she held herself back. The main reason was that she could not beat him.

How tragic. I actually have no choice but to agree... Even if I refuse, he won't attack me, but when the Holy Grail War ends, my body will still collapse...

Kiritsugu, did you ever imagine that I would go through these things? After you died, Mother's ghost—no, that was the evil hidden within the Holy Grail—used Mother's appearance to frighten me.

Then, because of you, the people in the family grew sick of me and made me summon Berserker, forcing me to use my own mana to supply him. Every movement Berserker made felt as if it would tear my body apart...

But I had no choice. They threw me into all kinds of terrifying places, places where I could only wait for death if I did not fight. I could only rely on Berserker's strength to survive... even though Berserker's actions caused my body unbearable pain...

The Third Magic? That is the Einzbern Family's wish, not mine. I only want the people I care about to live, and preferably for me to live alongside them...

Illya thought silently. She looked at Mephistopheles, and only after a long time did she say, "I can help you study the Holy Grail, but... I have conditions too."

"Go ahead."

"What you did earlier was obviously a test for Rin. Does that mean you're actually Rin Tohsaka's teacher now?"

"For the moment, I suppose so. The magic I use is special. It is entirely different from your magecraft—it is true magic. I saw that she had decent talent, so I planned to teach her."

"What about me? Can I learn?" Illya asked.

That surprised Mephistopheles, and he could not help saying, "Of course you can. Even if everyone in the world wanted to learn, I could teach them."

Illya looked at him as if she had seen a madman. After a long pause, she said, "The more widely magecraft is spread, the weaker its effects become. Are you sure you want to do that?"

"The more widely it spreads, the weaker its effects become. The more widely it spreads, the more stable its foundation becomes. How to balance that is quite troublesome!"

Mephistopheles said it with a grin. When he saw anger appear on Illya's face, he hurriedly added, "I never said what I use is magecraft, nor did I say that my mystery is the mystery you know."

Illya wanted to refute him. She had studied magecraft for a long time and possessed a deep understanding of its theories. Her reason for asking to learn his magecraft had been to strengthen herself.

Sometimes, one's own strength was the most important thing!

But she had not expected him to say something like that—claiming that his mystery was not the mystery she knew.

It sounded as though he were saying, "Your Root has nothing to do with me."

But just as Illya was about to refute him, Mephistopheles spoke first. "It won't take much time anyway. You can learn from me first and see the results for yourself. That will confirm whether what I said was right or wrong."

Seeing that Illya was still hesitating, Mephistopheles offered an even more difficult condition to refuse. "Once you feel that what I teach you is genuinely useful and proves my words, it won't be too late to fully cooperate with me."

The initiative had been placed in her hands. Seeing that he had even proposed such terms, Illya finally relaxed slightly.

"Fine, mister. Since you've put it that way, we'll begin with a temporary, limited cooperation!"

Meeting

This was a life-support device Atrum had paid to build himself. It had originally been intended to prevent sacrifices from dying too soon, so their mana could be squeezed out more efficiently. Yet unexpectedly, it had now become the crucial tool keeping him alive.

"You should be grateful that you are still useful to her. Otherwise, death would be the only outcome waiting for you."

A wandering swordsman dressed in the style of a ronin from Japan's Warring States period, with a fairly slender build, spoke to Atrum.

Atrum took a deep breath and looked toward the one speaking to him—or rather, the spirit body.

"She should hypnotize me and make it so I don't know anything. That way, I wouldn't have to suffer this much..." Atrum said. Needles were embedded in his body, continuously injecting things similar to glucose.

Those substances had become the energy that kept him alive during this time. Without them, he would have starved to death long ago from going without food for so long.

"I'll pass your words on to her, but I doubt she'll care about that suggestion." The samurai spoke to Atrum as he walked out. His final words drifted in from beyond the door. "After all, she hasn't even bothered coming to see you these past few days."

Watching the samurai leave, Atrum slumped against the glass, utterly powerless.

That samurai was a Servant. Ever since Atrum had summoned that treacherous witch, he had discovered that she had practically shattered his entire worldview.

A Servant could actually resist Command Spells!

That alone had been terrifying enough, but it was not over. After taking the arm that bore his Command Spells and even preserving it with special magecraft, that madwoman had set up another summoning circle. Taking herself as the Master, she had summoned an entirely new Servant!

"That crazy woman... she... she's a Servant herself, and now she summoned a Servant too. Ha... hahahaha... hahahahaha! She really might win this Holy Grail War all by herself..."

He laughed quietly, full of self-mockery, and Atrum became increasingly helpless.

Even if this Holy Grail War was won, it would have nothing to do with him.

That unnamed Servant had been right. If he were not still useful, that woman would absolutely kill him without hesitation, disposing of him like garbage!

The samurai arrived at the most comfortable living room in the building. The witch who had summoned him was sitting inside. A city map lay before her, covered in numerous markings.

At that moment, the woman looked less like a mage and more like a general—or perhaps a scheming strategist arranging her plans.

"Kojirou, you're here." Medea glanced at the entering samurai. As she spoke, her delicate hand placed a piece on a spot on the map.

The samurai called Kojirou looked at the map and discovered that the piece had been placed at the location of the Holy Church in New City.

His name was Sasaki Kojirou, and the woman before him was his Master.

Sasaki Kojirou said to his Master, "He looks thoroughly dejected, and he hopes you can knock him unconscious. Since your goal is merely to extract his mana, keeping him unconscious would work just as well."

"Dying would end everything at once, while living means suffering. There is quite a difference between the two. For him, unconsciousness is a form of happiness, and I do not wish for him to be happy." Medea spoke without taking her eyes off the map.

"Are you punishing him?"

"Punishing him? No. I simply dislike him and find him disgusting." Medea lightly tapped a point on the map. "These are the residences of several mage families in Fuyuki City. There must be participants in the Holy Grail War among them."

Since Medea had said that, Sasaki Kojirou did not say anything further. Though this woman spoke that way, whenever she did something, there was always a definite reason behind it, never something based solely on personal likes or dislikes.

Thus, Sasaki Kojirou simply assumed she could not be bothered explaining her current reason. If the information he had gathered from chatting with the people working here over the past few days was correct, Medea's reason for rebelling against her Master seemed to have something to do with him killing innocent children.

As Sasaki Kojirou considered this, he studied the map and asked, "Shouldn't we investigate them?"

"This is the Holy Grail War. They will eventually lose their patience. Once they start fighting each other, that will be the right time for us to appear. Besides, for now, you can only move within this area. I still need to find a way to expand your range of movement to cover the entire city."

Sasaki Kojirou also knew that, because of the special conditions of his summoning, he could not travel freely like other Servants. His current range of activity was extremely limited—only this building. If the building were destroyed, he would vanish immediately.