Fate/Zero:Act 2 Part 1
268:22:30
Waver had expected the day to end at the peak of triumph with a successful summoning.
After the previous night spent in a fierce battle with the cackling chickens, he had studied in his bed this night, satisfied with the pleasant weariness of accomplishment.
And—
"... How, did this happen?"
A dry wind blowing strongly over the public park of the Shinto area, Waver sat on the bench, curling in the lonely coldness. He still couldn't understand, just how on Earth did my plan go wrong?
The summoning was a success. That was a satisfactory response.
Along with the successful summoning, the status of the invited Servant was still imprinted in Waver's consciousness. He was of the Rider class. Although that isn't one of the three major knights, his basic abilities still were at a more than average level. Without a doubt, he was a powerful Servant.
The moment he saw the silhouette of the big frame slowly rising from the summoning circle, behind the white smoke. Waver was so exalted he almost came in his pants.
... Thinking about it, the situation had turned for the worse at around that point.
From Waver's knowledge, a "familiar" is the puppet of its summoner.
An existence that can barely survive in the present world by relying on the prana supplied by the magus.
A wooden doll that can be used as the practitioner pleases. That's what a familiar is, essentially. So he had guessed a Servant would be basically the same, more or less.
But that thing that came out of the summoning circle—
Right from the start, Waver's soul was overtaken by the sharpness of the eyes, glowing like a blaze.
The instant the eye contact was made, he had instinctively sensed that the Servant was a mighty one, overwhelmed like a small animal.
The overwhelming presence of the giant blocking his view. From the body odor he picked up, the fragrant of the muscular stature, Waver understood. Nevermind the quibble about him being a ghost or a familiar, he sure is a HUGE guy.
Waver knew that the Heroic Spirits invited by the Grail are not only free spirits, they gain a material "body" to exist in the present world. But, the cluster of massive muscles that was the actual entity, not a virtual image or a shadow, the feeling of impending threat, was beyond Waver's imagination.
No matter what, Waver hated the great man.
It's not just that Waver was, still, a bit shorter than an average person. Certainly, his body tended to be frail, because he had done nothing but study in his childhood, and had had little time to forge his body, but he didn’t think it was a weakness. Rather, Waver had pride in polishing up his intellect.
But, the truth of such an obvious thing, wouldn't get through the big man's muscles. No matter what, the time lag before such a game with a rock for a soul would lift his fist and swing it down is way too short. There is no time to expand into a discussion however brief, and there is also no future in using magecraft.
That is— once he is approached by the fist of that pack of muscles.
"... So, I'm asking you. You must be my Master, right?"
"Hah?"
That was the big man's second question. A booming voice that could shake up the Earth.
He had been overpowered beyond his senses from the first question asked with a voice you could fail to hear.
"Ah— Yes! I-I-I-I'm, I mean, I am! I am your Master, I'm called Wa, Waver Velvet! I mean, that's my name! I'm your Master!!"
Though it really was useless in more than one way, Waver stuck to bluffing with all his might to stand up to the muscles in front of him. ... Even so, he felt dominated already by the physique of the unaware giant.
"Hm, then the contract is complete. So, boy, can you lead me to some archives immediately?"
"Hah?"
Waver was blown out of his mind for the second time.
"Some books, I'm saying! Books."
The giant Servant repeated himself gloomily, leaning toward Waver, stretching a strong arm that looked like the root of a pine tree.
I'm going to be killed— Waver immediately thought, feeling like he was floating. The giant had seized his neck and carelessly lifted him. Waver hadn't noticed until then that he had fallen flat on the ground. He realized that was the reason his interlocutor had, mid-way, started looking even more like a giant.
"If you are one of those magi, you should be able to provide some archive? Now, show me around. We need to prepare for war."
"W, war... ?"
Now that the giant mentioned it, Waver simply had totally forgotten about the Holy Grail war.
Having lived as a blatant freeloader in a private house, Waver had no kind of archive, and reluctantly led Rider to the library.
The central library of the city of Fuyuki was in the public park in the Shinto area still under construction. Frankly, it felt awkward to walk through the city in the middle of the night —with the recent strange murder case, the police frequently announced a state of emergency— Waver felt that what the big muscles in front of him could do was a bigger crisis than being questioned by the patrolling police.
Fortunately, as soon as they came out of the grove, the giant turned invisible.
That must be an ability the Servants have, to go into spirit form. Waver felt relieved as he wouldn't look suspicious walking along a big man with armored cloth, but he still felt the pressure of being followed by that overbearing presence.
Luckily, they didn't meet anyone when crossing the big bridge of Fuyuki into the Shinto area; reaching the public park, Waver pointed at the modern architecture in the back.
"There should be as many books as you want over there."
Then, the oppression that was weighing on Waver softly went away. Apparently, Rider was entering the building in spirit form.
―And so, it had been 30 minutes since he had been left behind. Released from the threat he didn’t comprehend, he was finally able to calmly sort his thoughts.
"... How, did this happen?"
Waver buried his head in his hands, remembering his shameful behavior from earlier. However powerful, the Servant is his contractor. As the Master, Waver is the one who has to seize leadership.
The Servant Waver had summoned definitely was strong. That was a given, considering the history of the relic he had stolen from Kayneth.
Heroic spirit Iskandar. Also known as Alexander or Alexandros.
The reason he was known under several names depending on the pronunciation of the land, was that he was the heroic "King of conquerors". Succeeding to the throne of Macedonia at only 20, leading the ancient Greece in an invasion on Persia, then through Egypt, up to western India during the great "eastern campaigns", reaching the success of a great hero in barely 10 years. He literally is the "great king" who built the era known as the Hellenistic civilization.
Even though he is such a great man amongst great men, once he is summoned as a Servant, he cannot oppose his Master. The first reason to this is that in the present world, he depends on Waver. If Waver ever stops supplying him with prana for him to remain in the present era, he will have no choice but to disappear.
There is a reason why all Servants answer the summoning of a Master― that is, why they participate in the Holy Grail War alongside their Master. Namely, just like the Masters, they want the Grail. Hoping to get that wish-granting machine, they also have to fight until only one remains, so that they will obtain the grace of the Grail along with the Master they accompany. In other words, the cooperation between the Master and the Servant is natural.
Furthermore, the Masters also hold the trump card that are the Command Seals.
All three seals can be used one by one for 3 absolute orders. That is what defines the relationship between the Servant and the Master. The Servant cannot oppose an order from the Command Seals, even if it is something as unreasonable as an order to self-destruct. That is the central point of the contract system made up by one of the "three families of the beginning", the Makiris.
On the other hand, the Master who uses up all 3 of his Command Seals is exposed to the danger of rebellion from his Servant; but it is a risk that can be avoided if the Master acts carefully.
Yes, as long as the Command Seals are carved on this hand― suppressing the irritation in his stomach, Waver, in a trance, stared at his right hand, chuckling― he might be a huge mass of muscles, but he has no reason to oppose the magus Waver Velvet.
As soon as that Servant comes back, I must tell that inviolable rule to his face...
Suddenly, while Waver was thinking, a breaking sound heartily roared.
"Hih!?"
Jumping out of surprise, he turned around as the closed shutter of the library hall were being distorded and torn off. The one who was calmly walking there, materialized under the moonlight, was none other than Waver's Servant, Rider.
With how dark the forest had been, this was actually the first time he could clearly see how he looked in this light.
His height easily exceeded 2 meters. His unprotected arms and thighs spread out from his bronze armor, and from the size of the muscles all over his body, he looked like he could kill a bear with his bare hands. On his sternly chiseled features, there were eyes with a dazzling glow, and burning red hair and beard. The thick mantle dyed in a similar red, with fringes like his cuffs, was luxuriously decorated, looking just like a curtain wrapping the stage of a theater.
The magnificent posture of that big man in front of the modern library made a somewhat funny combination, but Waver took no interest in that as the alarms resounding like a shrill got him ready to flee.
"Idiot! Stupid, stupid, stupid! What were you thinking, kicking the shutters like that! Why aren't you in spirit form like when you entered!?"
Rider strangely smiled out of good humor, holding out two books at the defiant Waver.
"I couldn't pick up this when in spirit form, could I."
The thin books were bound in a thick hardcover. Apparently Rider had taken them from the library. But his Master couldn't afford to disturb public order for something so trivial.
"Don't be slow! Run! We have to run!"
"How unsightly to be that flustered. You look like a thief or something."
"What thief, what's wrong with you!"
Rider was astonished by the threat in Waver's yell.
"You're greatly misunderstanding. Those who run away under cover of the night are night burglars. Walking away victoriously is what the king of conquerors does after looting."
You just can't discuss with him, Waver thought, scratching at his head madly. At any rate, Rider apparently wanted to parade through the night with those two books, looking like a suspicious cosplayer, with no intention of turning back to spirit form.
At the end of his wits, Waver rushed to Rider, picking the two books from his hand.
"You're done, now, right!? Now disappear! Disappear right now! Disappear immediately!"
"Ooh, then I'll leave this to you. You don't have to repeat yourself like that."
Satisfied, Rider nodded then became invisible again.
But Waver still couldn't feel relieved. The alarm of the library had to reach some security firm. You wouldn't know how long it would take for security guards to rush in.
Oh, what the heck, who cares.
"Aah, damn― How― did this happen, man!?"
Waver didn't know how many times he had lamented like that this night, but he just ran like hell.
X X
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