Act 4: Caster
The room was dark.
Through a small gap in the window blinds, the roof of the neighboring
high-rise was visible.
Judging from the backdrop behind the neighboring high-rise, it
seemed that the room was rather high up, and located at the center of
the city of Snowfield.
The stars shone outside the window.
The room, illuminated by the pale starlight, felt something like a
modern office.
From the rows of desks with computers to the air-conditioning unit
on the ceiling, nothing seemed unusual about the room. One could
easily forget that this room was also part of the stage atop which the
Holy Grail War would be enacted.
However, none of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were illuminated.
The dignified voice of a leaderly man resounded through the
darkness—
As if to say that this city itself was the Holy Grail War.
“Well, then... it seems that the other five Servants have been summoned,”
said the man. He spoke with great gravitas.
“Indeed. As of this time, the only Master whose identity we have
been able to confirm is Tiné Chelc, who brought the King of Heroes
under her control. We have been unable to establish contact with Mr.
and Mrs. Kuruoka, who had planned to ally with us in the War. We are
aware of multiple other magi in the city, but regrettably, we have been
72
unable to determine which of them, if any, possess Command Spells,”
replied a humble voice from the darkness.
“Is that so,” replied the man, with barely-concealed frustration and
disappointment in his voice. “The city-wide surveillance system is surprisingly
impotent.”
The other man calmly continued to deliver his report. “We did observe
one mage who, in a park in broad daylight, displayed his Command
Spells and summoned a Servant. However, the Servant performed
some variety of unusual illusion, without revealing itself. In
doing so, it evaded our agent who was situated there, disguised as a
sunbather. At first we thought the mage to be a fool, but it seems that
he is quite capable.”
“And you have not identified the Heroic Spirit? Nor any of its characteristics?”
“I am afraid not. Furthermore, with regards to the first Heroic
Spirit summoned—even though the summoning took place in the city,
we were unable to make heads or tails of the surveillance data. We are
certain that the Heroic Spirit was summoned, but we have been unable
to ascertain anything else, not even its location.”
“Hm.... I presume this to be the doing of those governmental interlopers,
judging from that ‘declaration’ of theirs.”
He must have been referring to the incident with Rohngall and Faldeus
some days prior.
However, the other man, his subordinate, shook his head, responding
in the negative.
“I am afraid that cannot be so. The first summoning occurred essentially
at the same time as the issuance of their declaration.”
“...In that case, it is most likely that the first summoning was performed
by the Kuruoka family.” He stood up quietly, a sour look on his
face, and went on. “So be it. In any case, the greatest obstacle facing us
is the King of Heroes. We need only eliminate him.”
“Aye.”
Silence was about to descend over the room—when, suddenly, the
phone began to ring.
73
The leaderly man reluctantly picked up the receiver and, in a most
businesslike manner, said, “...it’s me.”
《’Sup, bro! How ya doin’?》
The man made a show of furrowing his brow. “Caster. What do
you want?” he replied.
《Come on man, don’t be like that! Listen. I was just watching the
boob tube, and guess what?! They said that some of the babelicious
broads around these parts cost millions of smackers a night! Is that
legit!?》
“...what if it is?”
《Call one in for me tonight, bro. Help a brutha’ out.》The man on
the other side of the phone was blunt. Very blunt.
“I am no brother of yours.” The leaderly man’s cheek twitched.
《Why not, man? Don’t tell me you forgot about how we made a
blood oath! We’re blood brothers! You know, I like the sound of that—
blood brothers. I looked it up on the internet—apparently people do
this sort of stuff in Scandinavia all the time. I dig it!》
“...You, a Heroic Spirit, forged a contract with me, your Master.
That is the precise extent of our relationship.” His temples twitched as
his grip on the receiver grew firmer.
There were Command Spells boldly visible on the back of his hand,
forming a shape evocative of chains.
In that case, the man on the other side of the phone must have been
his Servant. It was strange that they were so distant from one another,
both in terms of physical distance and in terms of their relationship—it
was unusual for a Master and Servant to converse by phone.
The Servant grumbled, 《You just don’t get it, man,》before resuming
the conversation at a rapid-fire pace, putting pressure on his
Master.
《Don’t get me wrong, okay? My job is to make Heroes. I sure as
heck am not a Hero myself. But if you want to treat me like a hero,
that is A-OK. ’Specially when it comes to the ladies. No, wait, come
to think of it, of course I’m a hero! I mean, come on—how can a guy
74
boink a hundred chicks and make a thousand babies and not be a hero
to forever-aloners!》
“Enough with the implausible tall tales. If you have time to tell lies,
you have time to work. Return to your duties.”
《Yeesh! I’ve gotta keep doing that? Step into my shoes for a bit,
man! Listen. All I want from the Holy Grail is good food and hot
babes. More importantly, I want to see what kind of drama comes out
of this war, and what happens to all the participants in the end. That’s
all! But at this rate, I’m gonna go mad from all this work before the war
ends!》
Caster’s Master sighed and humored Caster, acknowledging his
complaints. “I will prepare women and food for you. Now, return to
your work with all due speed. Produce weapons ever more sublime.1”
《Man, you’re a real wet blanket. You know, this isn’t even my specialty.
Don’t forget that, kay? Besides, if you wanted a counterfeiter,
there are better people out there! So I was on the internet yesterday,
and I read about this guy named Elmyr de Hory. And plus, I heard
a rumor—apparently, there’s another guy who can use some kind of
super-ultra-awesome magic to copy things over and over again.2》
“A mere copy is of no value to us. A counterfeit that does not surpass
the original object will be of no avail against the King of Heroes.”
《Ha! So ya like my adaptations, huh?! I’m so happy I could cry.
Not! Go screw the pooch, why don’tcha! Ah, bugger. If I’d known this
would happen, I wouldn’t have joked about my stories being better than
the real thing back when they made all that racket about forgeries. I
mean, shit. I’d put that incident a hundred years behind me, and I was
totally getting down and dirty with Cleopatra and Yang Guifei, and
then you come along and drag me out of bed. And look at me now!
I’m here slaving away, doing your dirty work! I was not expecting that,
man! This is a load of crap. Who’d want to hear a story like this?!
Gimme a break!》
1昇華
2アイ アム ザ ボーン オブ マイ スウォード
75
“Do not misunderstand me. I chose you not because of those anecdotes
about your life. Quite simply—you are one who can create legends
that exceed the legends of old. I believe that you have the power
to invent tales that surpass even the greatest legends of old—and the
power to give form to those tales,” his Master replied, quelling his frustration.
He had immediately recognized that Caster’s tales were full of
lies.
《Ha! Look, bro, I don’t give a rat’s behind about your compliments.
Hey, I’ve got an idea! Why don’t you take those compliments and write
a book based on them? And then go ahead and read it to your old
lady. While she’s in bed with me, that is! ...Actually, if you’re going to
do that, show me a draft first. See, I’m a lot better with fixing crappy
scripts than I am at writing legends, so 》
The man did not hear Caster out to the very end, hanging up the
receiver mid-sentence.
The flood of words receded, leaving the room utterly silent once
again.
The man went on to speak into the darkness of the room, acting as
though his conversation with Caster had never happened.
“Gilgamesh: the king of Heroes.... It seems that his nameless sword
and his infinite treasury shall prove to be our greatest obstacle.”
The man stood up from his chair once again, and slowly paced
around the room with his hands behind his back.
“As such, I shall have no choice but to overwhelm him with numbers
before he draws his sword. We must use every means available to
us to lure him into a state of weakness—and then we will murder him,
honorably.”
With every step he took, he left a powerful—even intimidating—
aura. It was as though the darkness itself glowed the color of exigency.
“However, mere numbers will not suffice to defeat him. After all,
on top of being unaffected by physical attacks, Heroic Spirits are immeasurably
stronger than even the finest athletes. Of course, the Caster
I have summoned is an exception. In a brawl, I should imagine that
even I might have the upper hand... but that is not my concern now.”
76
He glanced askance, as if he had said something he should not have.
He then collected himself and continued to pace.
“Then again... what if men could master the use of Noble Phantasms?”
In the context of the Holy Grail War, a “Noble Phantasm” was a
nigh-godlike ability possessed by each Hero. Take, for example, the
sword Ama-no-Murakumo from the legend of Yamato Takeru. It, like,
all Noble Phantasms, is a symbol of the Hero that wields it, and draws
out the greatest powers of its wielder.
Naturally, they are not the sorts of things one could find lying
around in gun shops or antique shops. Indeed, it would scarcely
be an exaggeration to say that summoning a Servant is equivalent to
summoning a Noble Phantasm. So immense is the power of a Noble
Phantasm—a wild card that can turn the tide of battle.
“Suppose, furthermore, that each of those weapons were more
powerful than the original items on which they were based. What
then?”
Having walked deep into the darkness of the room, the man stopped
before a wall, and—
He raised his right hand—the hand on which were inscribed his
Command Spells—and flipped a switch. The room lit up.
In the room, suddenly awash with light—
A line of people extended from one end of the expansive room to
the other. Each one of them was clad in black.
They were not the black robes typical of magi, however—a distinctive
piece of equipment hung from each of their waists, like an emblem
of authority.
Men and women stood there in no particular order. All in all, there
were perhaps 30 people in that lineup of police officers.
Each of them stood at attention, their black uniforms exuding an
impressive aura. Each one held in their hands a weapon, each of a
different type.
77
What a bizarre sight.
Those utterly stony-faced uniformed police officers held swords,
bows, shields, spears, chains, scythes, and bludgeons, among other
things. What’s more, they all had a pair of handcuffs and a pistol holstered
at their belts. They had long since passed “unfitting” and were
well into the realm of “absurd”. One of them even had a golden arquebus
over his shoulder. It was like they were entertainers in police garb,
on their way to a performance to promote tourism in the Snowfield
area.
Odds are, however, that any half-decent mage that saw them would
not laugh, but rather, would faint.
A power that had been tempered with magical energy and vitality
seeped out of the weapons they were carrying, as if to erode the very
air within the room.
Those Noble Phantasms were all counterfeits.
Even so, they were mightier than their originating legends.
“ Clan Calatin: the Twenty-Eight Monstrosities ”
“Those were the warriors of Celtic myth who crossed swords with
Cú Chulainn. Effective immediately, that will be your codename.”
As he gazed upon that overwhelming yet out-of-place power with
satisfaction—
He—the police chief of Snowfield—spread his arms wide and issued
a booming declaration.
“Though my words may mean little, as police chief, I shall guarantee
this. As a mage, I swear this.”
“You are justice incarnate.”
Upon hearing that, the entire line of police officers stamped their
feet in perfect unison. As one, they saluted the police chief, who was
their Master, and at the same time, their master.
78
And upon witnessing that action, any discerning person would
have come to understand.
They were not mere police officers; rather, they had undergone
some sort of special training beyond what was typical in their profession.
Their organization had established a “net” that ensconced the entire
city.
All they required of the Servant was his talent of Noble Phantasm
creation, a task with which the magi under their control had assisted.
In other words—
Mere humans though they were, they would defeat Heroic Spirits,
thus shaking the very foundations of the Holy Grail War.
In the end, what destiny awaited them—?
That was a story that the man summoned as Caster had not yet
finished writing.
Act 4: Caster
The room was dark.
Through a small gap in the window blinds, the roof of the neighboring
high-rise was visible.
Judging from the backdrop behind the neighboring high-rise, it
seemed that the room was rather high up, and located at the center of
the city of Snowfield.
The stars shone outside the window.
The room, illuminated by the pale starlight, felt something like a
modern office.
From the rows of desks with computers to the air-conditioning unit
on the ceiling, nothing seemed unusual about the room. One could
easily forget that this room was also part of the stage atop which the
Holy Grail War would be enacted.
However, none of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were illuminated.
The dignified voice of a leaderly man resounded through the
darkness—
As if to say that this city itself was the Holy Grail War.
“Well, then... it seems that the other five Servants have been summoned,”
said the man. He spoke with great gravitas.
“Indeed. As of this time, the only Master whose identity we have
been able to confirm is Tiné Chelc, who brought the King of Heroes
under her control. We have been unable to establish contact with Mr.
and Mrs. Kuruoka, who had planned to ally with us in the War. We are
aware of multiple other magi in the city, but regrettably, we have been
72
unable to determine which of them, if any, possess Command Spells,”
replied a humble voice from the darkness.
“Is that so,” replied the man, with barely-concealed frustration and
disappointment in his voice. “The city-wide surveillance system is surprisingly
impotent.”
The other man calmly continued to deliver his report. “We did observe
one mage who, in a park in broad daylight, displayed his Command
Spells and summoned a Servant. However, the Servant performed
some variety of unusual illusion, without revealing itself. In
doing so, it evaded our agent who was situated there, disguised as a
sunbather. At first we thought the mage to be a fool, but it seems that
he is quite capable.”
“And you have not identified the Heroic Spirit? Nor any of its characteristics?”
“I am afraid not. Furthermore, with regards to the first Heroic
Spirit summoned—even though the summoning took place in the city,
we were unable to make heads or tails of the surveillance data. We are
certain that the Heroic Spirit was summoned, but we have been unable
to ascertain anything else, not even its location.”
“Hm.... I presume this to be the doing of those governmental interlopers,
judging from that ‘declaration’ of theirs.”
He must have been referring to the incident with Rohngall and Faldeus
some days prior.
However, the other man, his subordinate, shook his head, responding
in the negative.
“I am afraid that cannot be so. The first summoning occurred essentially
at the same time as the issuance of their declaration.”
“...In that case, it is most likely that the first summoning was performed
by the Kuruoka family.” He stood up quietly, a sour look on his
face, and went on. “So be it. In any case, the greatest obstacle facing us
is the King of Heroes. We need only eliminate him.”
“Aye.”
Silence was about to descend over the room—when, suddenly, the
phone began to ring.
73
The leaderly man reluctantly picked up the receiver and, in a most
businesslike manner, said, “...it’s me.”
《’Sup, bro! How ya doin’?》
The man made a show of furrowing his brow. “Caster. What do
you want?” he replied.
《Come on man, don’t be like that! Listen. I was just watching the
boob tube, and guess what?! They said that some of the babelicious
broads around these parts cost millions of smackers a night! Is that
legit!?》
“...what if it is?”
《Call one in for me tonight, bro. Help a brutha’ out.》The man on
the other side of the phone was blunt. Very blunt.
“I am no brother of yours.” The leaderly man’s cheek twitched.
《Why not, man? Don’t tell me you forgot about how we made a
blood oath! We’re blood brothers! You know, I like the sound of that—
blood brothers. I looked it up on the internet—apparently people do
this sort of stuff in Scandinavia all the time. I dig it!》
“...You, a Heroic Spirit, forged a contract with me, your Master.
That is the precise extent of our relationship.” His temples twitched as
his grip on the receiver grew firmer.
There were Command Spells boldly visible on the back of his hand,
forming a shape evocative of chains.
In that case, the man on the other side of the phone must have been
his Servant. It was strange that they were so distant from one another,
both in terms of physical distance and in terms of their relationship—it
was unusual for a Master and Servant to converse by phone.
The Servant grumbled, 《You just don’t get it, man,》before resuming
the conversation at a rapid-fire pace, putting pressure on his
Master.
《Don’t get me wrong, okay? My job is to make Heroes. I sure as
heck am not a Hero myself. But if you want to treat me like a hero,
that is A-OK. ’Specially when it comes to the ladies. No, wait, come
to think of it, of course I’m a hero! I mean, come on—how can a guy
74
boink a hundred chicks and make a thousand babies and not be a hero
to forever-aloners!》
“Enough with the implausible tall tales. If you have time to tell lies,
you have time to work. Return to your duties.”
《Yeesh! I’ve gotta keep doing that? Step into my shoes for a bit,
man! Listen. All I want from the Holy Grail is good food and hot
babes. More importantly, I want to see what kind of drama comes out
of this war, and what happens to all the participants in the end. That’s
all! But at this rate, I’m gonna go mad from all this work before the war
ends!》
Caster’s Master sighed and humored Caster, acknowledging his
complaints. “I will prepare women and food for you. Now, return to
your work with all due speed. Produce weapons ever more sublime.1”
《Man, you’re a real wet blanket. You know, this isn’t even my specialty.
Don’t forget that, kay? Besides, if you wanted a counterfeiter,
there are better people out there! So I was on the internet yesterday,
and I read about this guy named Elmyr de Hory. And plus, I heard
a rumor—apparently, there’s another guy who can use some kind of
super-ultra-awesome magic to copy things over and over again.2》
“A mere copy is of no value to us. A counterfeit that does not surpass
the original object will be of no avail against the King of Heroes.”
《Ha! So ya like my adaptations, huh?! I’m so happy I could cry.
Not! Go screw the pooch, why don’tcha! Ah, bugger. If I’d known this
would happen, I wouldn’t have joked about my stories being better than
the real thing back when they made all that racket about forgeries. I
mean, shit. I’d put that incident a hundred years behind me, and I was
totally getting down and dirty with Cleopatra and Yang Guifei, and
then you come along and drag me out of bed. And look at me now!
I’m here slaving away, doing your dirty work! I was not expecting that,
man! This is a load of crap. Who’d want to hear a story like this?!
Gimme a break!》
1昇華
2アイ アム ザ ボーン オブ マイ スウォード
75
“Do not misunderstand me. I chose you not because of those anecdotes
about your life. Quite simply—you are one who can create legends
that exceed the legends of old. I believe that you have the power
to invent tales that surpass even the greatest legends of old—and the
power to give form to those tales,” his Master replied, quelling his frustration.
He had immediately recognized that Caster’s tales were full of
lies.
《Ha! Look, bro, I don’t give a rat’s behind about your compliments.
Hey, I’ve got an idea! Why don’t you take those compliments and write
a book based on them? And then go ahead and read it to your old
lady. While she’s in bed with me, that is! ...Actually, if you’re going to
do that, show me a draft first. See, I’m a lot better with fixing crappy
scripts than I am at writing legends, so 》
The man did not hear Caster out to the very end, hanging up the
receiver mid-sentence.
The flood of words receded, leaving the room utterly silent once
again.
The man went on to speak into the darkness of the room, acting as
though his conversation with Caster had never happened.
“Gilgamesh: the king of Heroes.... It seems that his nameless sword
and his infinite treasury shall prove to be our greatest obstacle.”
The man stood up from his chair once again, and slowly paced
around the room with his hands behind his back.
“As such, I shall have no choice but to overwhelm him with numbers
before he draws his sword. We must use every means available to
us to lure him into a state of weakness—and then we will murder him,
honorably.”
With every step he took, he left a powerful—even intimidating—
aura. It was as though the darkness itself glowed the color of exigency.
“However, mere numbers will not suffice to defeat him. After all,
on top of being unaffected by physical attacks, Heroic Spirits are immeasurably
stronger than even the finest athletes. Of course, the Caster
I have summoned is an exception. In a brawl, I should imagine that
even I might have the upper hand... but that is not my concern now.”
76
He glanced askance, as if he had said something he should not have.
He then collected himself and continued to pace.
“Then again... what if men could master the use of Noble Phantasms?”
In the context of the Holy Grail War, a “Noble Phantasm” was a
nigh-godlike ability possessed by each Hero. Take, for example, the
sword Ama-no-Murakumo from the legend of Yamato Takeru. It, like,
all Noble Phantasms, is a symbol of the Hero that wields it, and draws
out the greatest powers of its wielder.
Naturally, they are not the sorts of things one could find lying
around in gun shops or antique shops. Indeed, it would scarcely
be an exaggeration to say that summoning a Servant is equivalent to
summoning a Noble Phantasm. So immense is the power of a Noble
Phantasm—a wild card that can turn the tide of battle.
“Suppose, furthermore, that each of those weapons were more
powerful than the original items on which they were based. What
then?”
Having walked deep into the darkness of the room, the man stopped
before a wall, and—
He raised his right hand—the hand on which were inscribed his
Command Spells—and flipped a switch. The room lit up.
In the room, suddenly awash with light—
A line of people extended from one end of the expansive room to
the other. Each one of them was clad in black.
They were not the black robes typical of magi, however—a distinctive
piece of equipment hung from each of their waists, like an emblem
of authority.
Men and women stood there in no particular order. All in all, there
were perhaps 30 people in that lineup of police officers.
Each of them stood at attention, their black uniforms exuding an
impressive aura. Each one held in their hands a weapon, each of a
different type.
77
What a bizarre sight.
Those utterly stony-faced uniformed police officers held swords,
bows, shields, spears, chains, scythes, and bludgeons, among other
things. What’s more, they all had a pair of handcuffs and a pistol holstered
at their belts. They had long since passed “unfitting” and were
well into the realm of “absurd”. One of them even had a golden arquebus
over his shoulder. It was like they were entertainers in police garb,
on their way to a performance to promote tourism in the Snowfield
area.
Odds are, however, that any half-decent mage that saw them would
not laugh, but rather, would faint.
A power that had been tempered with magical energy and vitality
seeped out of the weapons they were carrying, as if to erode the very
air within the room.
Those Noble Phantasms were all counterfeits.
Even so, they were mightier than their originating legends.
“ Clan Calatin: the Twenty-Eight Monstrosities ”
“Those were the warriors of Celtic myth who crossed swords with
Cú Chulainn. Effective immediately, that will be your codename.”
As he gazed upon that overwhelming yet out-of-place power with
satisfaction—
He—the police chief of Snowfield—spread his arms wide and issued
a booming declaration.
“Though my words may mean little, as police chief, I shall guarantee
this. As a mage, I swear this.”
“You are justice incarnate.”
Upon hearing that, the entire line of police officers stamped their
feet in perfect unison. As one, they saluted the police chief, who was
their Master, and at the same time, their master.
78
And upon witnessing that action, any discerning person would
have come to understand.
They were not mere police officers; rather, they had undergone
some sort of special training beyond what was typical in their profession.
Their organization had established a “net” that ensconced the entire
city.
All they required of the Servant was his talent of Noble Phantasm
creation, a task with which the magi under their control had assisted.
In other words—
Mere humans though they were, they would defeat Heroic Spirits,
thus shaking the very foundations of the Holy Grail War.
In the end, what destiny awaited them—?
That was a story that the man summoned as Caster had not yet
finished writing.
