Director Ken's Heartache

"That's all for today. If anyone has questions, ask next time."

The writing on the blackboard slowly faded away. At the podium, Reus closed his grimoire and headed straight for the classroom door.

Li Mo tilted his head, the quill in his hand spinning nonstop, but he paid it no attention. Instead, he stared thoughtfully at what he had written in his magecraft notes.

It had to be said, the title of Clock Tower Lord was not earned for nothing. In their respective fields of expertise, every point they explained was clear and accessible, going from simple to profound. Even a complete magecraft novice like Li Mo could understand more than half of it.

Looks like I can't skip this Lord's lectures in the future.

Li Mo thought this as he raised his head and narrowed his eyes at Reus's retreating back.

What was recorded in his notes was naturally the Summoning Department under the Spirit Evocation Department, which Reus had discussed in this class.

Did Heroic Spirit summoning really have to wait until the Holy Grail War began?

Put simply, the Throne of Heroes had not appeared solely for the sake of the Holy Grail War!

The essence of summoning Heroic Spirits in the Holy Grail War was merely using the Holy Grail as a hub linking to the Throne of Heroes before it began, granting the chosen Masters the qualification to summon them.

The Command Spells were also proof that they could summon Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes!

And a Holy Relic merely allowed one to select a particular Heroic Spirit from among countless others.

If you possessed something capable of linking to the Throne of Heroes beyond the world, and could provide the magical energy needed to sustain the summoned Heroic Spirit's existence, then there would be no need to wait for the Holy Grail War—you could summon a Servant directly!

The only question was whether doing that would conflict with participating in the Holy Grail Ceremony afterward...

Li Mo was still planning to participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War a few years from now.

Vigorously rubbing his hair, Li Mo silently thought, A hub that links to the Throne of Heroes... how am I supposed to solve that...?

He admitted that, having read many Type-Moon works, he did have a vague idea at that moment—but for some reason, he simply could not remember what it was...

After all, he had never been some genius honor student with extraordinary intelligence...

While Li Mo remained bent over in deep thought, the listeners in the Ulysses classroom had nearly all dispersed after Lord Reus left.

Once the last person had gone, Kayneth, who sat across from Li Mo, suddenly moved. Looking at the pensive Li Mo, he said, "Li Mo, come here for a moment."

Li Mo snapped out of his thoughts, turned to Kayneth in surprise, and asked doubtfully, "What is it, Director Ken?"

Director Ken?

A vein bulged on Kayneth's forehead, though he quickly forced it back down.

A strained smile appeared on Kayneth's face as he said, "Since you are Teacher Brishisan's newly accepted disciple, we will all be one family at the Clock Tower from now on.

Lord Brishisan can be rather busy at times. If there is anything you do not understand, you may come ask me directly."

Kayneth wore an awkward smile. After saying that, he spoke no further, rose to his feet, and rushed straight out of the classroom.

What an awkward tone...

But Kayneth was suffering inside!

He, Kayneth, head of the El-Melloi family—when had he ever needed to curry favor with a rookie Magus like this?

That was right. In Kayneth's worldview, this already counted as exceptionally generous goodwill.

He had his own difficulties as well!

As a Lord of the new generation, he had only held the position for a few years and simply could not enter the circles of those old Lords.

He was indeed a genius, but he believed it would still take him a long time to reach the heights of the previous El-Melloi Lord.

Yet the Mineralogy Department controlled by the El-Melloi family could now barely sustain itself!

He still did not possess that capability!

Since the internal conditions were insufficient, he could only borrow outside strength.

If cultivating ties with the Ulysses lineage and treating Reus as his teacher had been his first attempt, then extending goodwill to Li Mo now was his second!

Of course, he had no choice. Aside from that one major lecture each month, Brishisan was impossible to pin down the rest of the time.

The Department of Lore accepted no students and did not offer smaller classes either. Even as a Lord, he had hardly ever been there!

Being a new Lord was truly difficult!

All of this was, in fact, also why he would participate in the Holy Grail War a few years later.

Otherwise, why would a dignified Clock Tower Lord participate in that sort of thing the Clock Tower regarded as utterly low-class, merely an "unorthodox" "Far Eastern ritual"?

I hope all of this will bring me some return.

Kayneth's expression was complicated. Feeling utterly dejected, he silently recited those words in his heart.

It ran contrary to the pride in his heart.

Kayneth left with a heart full of concerns, leaving behind a completely baffled Li Mo.

This... was Director Ken showing goodwill toward me?

Li Mo felt somewhat lost!

He tossed all his earlier thoughts about the Throne of Heroes and the like to the back of his mind, then said uncertainly, "Director Ken hasn't gone crazy, has he?"

In Li Mo's understanding, Director Ken had always been the sort of person who was arrogant and conceited, and who looked down on commoner Magi to an extreme degree...

In Fate/Zero, why did Waver steal Director Ken's Holy Relic, then borrow money from his classmates to take part in Fuyuki's Holy Grail War?

Wasn't it because, despite being Director Ken's student, he was a commoner magus and had never once heard a kind word from Kayneth?

Scratching his head, Li Mo's eyes rolled around before he suddenly clapped his hands together in realization. "I know! It must be because of Teacher Brishisan!"

I'm so smart!

Was Brishisan's name really that useful?

Twenty minutes later, Brishisan slapped Li Mo on the head and chuckled. "I'm warning you, kid. Put away those bold thoughts of yours right now!

Director Ken—no, Kayneth—just wanted to befriend me because he hadn't been in office long and his position as Lord wasn't secure yet. It's not any of that nonsense you're imagining."

Brishisan clicked his tongue. This kid had nearly led him astray!

Wouldn't I know whether my own name was useful or not?

So that was how it was!

Li Mo grinned foolishly, putting on an obedient expression as he scratched his head. "Doesn't Director Ken have an entire family behind him? How could his position still be unstable?"

Could it be that Sola had not yet become his fiancée?

Li Mo was both right and wrong. Brishisan's next words finally made him understand why Director Ken had shown him goodwill.

"The El-Melloi family is indeed powerful, but throughout the generations, very few of their descendants have been born with talent for magecraft.

And unlike other magus families, which choose heirs from branch families, they have always selected only from the main family.

On top of that, the previous Lord..."

"What happened to the previous Lord?" Realizing the important part was coming, Li Mo's eyes lit up as he hurriedly pressed for an answer.

Brishisan shook his head. After pondering for a moment, he continued in a somewhat heavy tone, "The previous Lord El-Melloi was ambushed by three of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors of the Dead Apostles while pursuing a Dead Apostle. All we could do was recover the El-Melloi family's Magic Crest."

Ambushed by the Twenty-Seven Ancestors of the Dead Apostles?

Li Mo sharply sucked in a breath. "Do we know which three they were?"

Brishisan was not surprised that Li Mo knew about the Ancestors and answered directly, "We could only confirm that one of them was Chaos of the Herd. As for the other two, by the time we arrived, we could only identify them from the traces of battle."

Chaos of the Herd? That magus who had been killed by the White Princess and Tohno Shiki working together?

Li Mo rubbed his chin and nodded. If it was that one, then it was no surprise.

Nero Chaos, also known as Chaos of the Herd, possessed a special miniature Inherent Domain within his body—the King of Beasts' Nest. He was also ranked tenth among the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles, so having the ability to kill a Clock Tower Lord was nothing strange.

But because of the beasts within his body, his own personality had long since grown faint. How had he managed to cooperate with two other Ancestors?

Li Mo scratched his head, then decided not to think about it anymore. It had nothing to do with him anyway...

Once he spent another two years at the Clock Tower and finally made his name, who would care about some Twenty-Seven Ancestors of the Dead Apostles?~

No!

Covering his mouth, Li Mo kept chanting, Ignorance is no crime, feeling like he was being a bit of an idiot.

He had not even learned a single spell yet, and he was already getting cocky...

The first three Ancestors were all unbelievably powerful!

Had you ever seen someone use the moon to smash people?

Li Mo had. In anime!

But he definitely did not want to see it happen in real life!