You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Indeed, more than half a century has passed, and there were few survivors from Fuyuki back then. The current magicians' impressions of the Holy Grail War all come from the sub-Holy Grail Wars held in various places over the years.

Although that thing was also cruel, in the eyes of the elites of the Clock Tower, it was just a pack of wild dogs tearing each other apart. If they were to join in, winning wouldn't be difficult at all.

...Well, that's not entirely wrong, because the level of subspecies Holy Grail Wars is generally low. Many are makeshift teams, and some can't even gather all seven classes. At most, they can only summon five, and some only three. And these are mostly not very strong Servants, often lacking the powerful Servants of the three Knight classes.

One piece of evidence supports its low level:

In the subspecies Holy Grail War, the Assassin duo has the highest win rate...

The elites of the Clock Tower were certainly confident, at least they could produce excellent relics and summon sufficiently powerful Servants.

However, these people seem unaware that "challenge levels" exist.

Easy mode and Hell mode are completely different things!

"Now, the core forces of the various factions in the Clock Tower have regarded the war against the Yggdrasil as an opportunity to make a name for themselves. For them, the Master position is an invitation to a higher rank."

In other words, the balance between the various factions must be taken into account when allocating Master slots... otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen someone neutral like me to do this.

El-Melloi II said wearily and impatiently, "Now that you've secured a spot ahead of time, you're destined to replace someone. If you're an independent magician, that's fine, but if you join the Clock Tower... as the recommender, my position will be questioned."

"It seems that even a monarch has many helpless situations."

Sera glanced at the prematurely aged Second Prince with pity, then said confidently, "But you will still help me."

"Hmm?" The Second Prince raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so certain?"

"Because...you're short of money, aren't you?"

"—!"

The Second Prince shuddered, his eyes twitching slightly, but he forced himself to suppress it.

"The information network is quite extensive... But then again, there's no privacy in the Clock Tower; they can find out about my affairs with just a few inquiries."

Yes, the El-Melloi family was heavily in debt before I inherited the family business, and I've been working hard to pay it off... but what does that have to do with you, Lady?"

"Because I have 'Rhine Gold' in my hands."

"Hoo—" The Second Prince subconsciously straightened his back.

"That 'Rhinegold'? The Rhinegold depicted in Norse mythology and Wagnerian operas, which can arouse endless greed and is considered the source of the 'dragon phenomenon'?"

Einzbern... Ah, that makes sense!

Over the years, you have failed countless times, wandered from place to place, and dared not settle down in one place, but even so, you still have a steady stream of resources to pour into hopeless experiments...

"I see! You possess gold, a symbol of boundless wealth, so you have no need to worry about resources!"

A hint of shock flashed in the Second Prince's eyes, but he immediately asked in confusion, "Putting aside the wealth that Rhine Gold can bring, as a relic and a mysterious crystal, it is a treasure that all magicians covet... How dare you leak this information?"

“Because I have great faith in the integrity of a monarch.” Sera nodded reservedly, but her thoughts were quite different.

If Iori hadn't asked her to say that, and if the Einzbern family hadn't only had this one chance left, there would be no point in keeping the Rhinegold... She definitely wouldn't have told this secret to anyone!

Just kidding. Let alone the El-Melloi family, even the Barthellello family, the chief of the Clock Tower, couldn't resist the temptation of the Rhine Gold—it's a secret treasure passed down from the Age of Gods!

After a slight pause, Sera remembered Iori's words of advice:

Give him an offer he can't refuse!

"Your Majesty, you wouldn't want your 'sister' to know that you actually rejected a trivial request from someone who possesses Rhinegold, would you?"

Second generation: "..."

Chapter 98: Amakusa Shiro: Can you hear human speech? (Two chapters combined)

Hey~

Emerging from the café, Sera let out a slow sigh of relief, glanced up at the gloomy London sky, and then walked along the rough, uneven cobblestone street toward the corner.

As she turned the corner, she saw a man in casual clothes squatting on the ground, waving half a sausage in his hand. In front of him, a small, multicolored kitten was being swayed around by him, sometimes jumping and sometimes spinning, but its cute little paws just couldn't reach the delicious treat it craved.

"You seem to have quite a bit of leisure time."

Sera was somewhat surprised to see this, and couldn't reconcile the boy's behavior with the word "Berserker".

Without turning her head, Iori said, "So, isn't it pretty much what I said?"

"That's right, just as you expected. Although it was not a straightforward agreement, Lord El-Melloi II did promise to secure a Master position for us and to provide us with information about the Clock Tower later."

Sera couldn't understand why Iori, a Servant, knew so much about the Clock Tower and even about the El-Melloi family's debts... She didn't even know such things. Where did Iori get this information from when she was just summoned?

Perhaps they possess special skills, such as intelligence gathering or clairvoyance?

But that's usually something only Casters and Assassins have, right? He's a berserker...

"As expected, he agreed. After all, no matter how noble the Second Prince is, the economic pressure is an objective reality. Even if he is unwilling to bow down for a meager living, his sworn sister would definitely not mind taking advantage of him for money."

Iori raised his hand, and the kitten immediately stopped, its big, cute eyes staring at him as if expecting something.

He smiled slightly—letting the kitten watch as he ate the rest of the sausage.

"..."

The cat blinked, and a shocked expression appeared on its face in a very human-like way. It probably didn't expect that there could be such shameless humans in the world. It had put on such a great performance, yet it still refused to pay the "cat-petting tax".

Even Sera, who is an artificial human, couldn't help but blush at Iori's childishness at this moment.

"An interesting expression... Don't worry, I'm not some kind of demon." Iori chuckled, then took out a fish sausage from his pocket, tore open the packaging, and placed it on the ground.

"bye Bye!"

"Meow~"

Iori and Sera walked side by side down the street. He had already materialized, and passersby could see him. He didn't care at all about the principle of "hiding one's true form as much as possible" in the Holy Grail War.

Both of them are quite good-looking and have a lonely and noble air about them. Even though their clothes don't match, they still attract a lot of curious and envious glances when they walk down the street.

It doesn't matter. Even if someone with ulterior motives sees it, so what? Is there anyone in this world who can reveal Iori's real name?

"Iori, where did you get this information from?"

Sera felt that her servant exuded an oddity from beginning to end.

First, he called himself "Aizen Iori", but Sera consulted many sources and did not find a hero who matched the description in history or mythology.

Secondly, although his job title is Berserker, he is extremely rational and has never shown any crazy or paranoid side.

When Sera tried to find out what was going on, she discovered that she was completely unable to "read" his panel data. Her Master privileges were useless at this moment, leaving her completely unaware of her Servant... She felt very uneasy deep down.

Last but not least, Iori is far too adapted to modern society.

Servant are generally taught some modern common sense, but this usually only prevents them from making jokes like "there are little people on TV". However, Iori knows a little about modern society's food, housing, habits, and even trends!

Sometimes he acts more like a human living in the real world than the android Sera.

"As a Servant, I don't want to deceive you, nor can I just make up some excuse to get by. But regarding this issue, I can only say... this information already exists in my mind, and I can retrieve and use it when necessary."

Iori looked very happy; if it weren't for the awful weather in London, she would probably be in an even better mood.

The Soul Society's technology tree is more advanced than that of the present world, but it is, after all, "two hundred years ago," and various technologies are not widespread, while the standard of living is similar to that of ancient times.

As for the empire... well, let's not even go there.

Only in Type-Moon, in London at the end of the 20th century, could he once again enjoy the convenience of modern technology. And this time, he even temporarily possessed a "spirit origin," allowing him to enjoy it as freely as a physical body... He was naturally very happy.

His attitude towards Sera was also absolutely gentle and kind.

"It existed beforehand?" Sera frowned, then relaxed, as she considered a possibility.

Is it an ability similar to 'future vision'?

“Hmm… well, you could say that.” Iori laughed. “After all, what I ‘see’ hasn’t happened yet.”

“That makes sense,” Sera suddenly realized.

[Future Vision] is a relatively rare skill, or rather, talent, within the Type-Moon universe. For ordinary people or magicians, this ability is a double-edged sword. Sometimes, the ability to foresee the future not only fails to bring them happiness but can also completely ruin their lives.

“My [futurism] is a kind of ‘predictive’ ability, which allows me to see the possibilities of the future, but it’s not certain to happen and it will change depending on our actions… So don’t expect me to tell you the final answer, Sera.”

Iori added with a smile, "In the end, you will be the one to witness the outcome of this war."

“I…I understand.” Sera nodded somewhat timidly.

Despite having imagined the worst possible outcome countless times beforehand and being prepared to sacrifice herself, she still couldn't help feeling uneasy when she actually participated in the Holy Grail War.

This "unease" is what truly sets her apart from other homunculus creations, just as her predecessors in Einzbern commented on her:

For an artificial human, the emotional circuits are far too sensitive.

"But I still don't understand why we had to put up such a huge stake, and why we specifically chose El-Melloi II, when there are many people in the Clock Tower who are more powerful than him."

Solving one problem immediately brings another to mind.

"Why the second generation? Because he is one of the few magicians who possesses a 'conscience'."

Iori sneered: "When you negotiate with other monarchs, you have to be prepared to be swallowed whole, skin and bones. After all, they are magicians... It is extremely foolish to judge them by worldly standards and morals."

The Second Prince is different. Since he has chosen to cooperate with us, we don't need to worry about him plotting against you behind your back, nor do we need to worry about him going to great lengths to exploit loopholes in the contract—he knows how, but he disdains to do so.

“You have a lot of confidence in him… but even so, isn’t ‘Rhine Gold’ too expensive as a price?”

The terms of the contract between Sera and King II were as follows:

She will directly give the Second King a large sum of money, in return for which the Second King will help her secure a Master position. In return, the Second King will continue to provide Sera with intelligence regarding the Clock Tower during the upcoming war.

At the end of the contract, an additional clause was added:

If the Einzbern family wins the Holy Grail War, then in gratitude for El-Melloi's help, Sera will gift the top-tier relic, the "Rhinegold," to the El-Melloi family.

“El-Melloi II isn’t stupid. You can’t expect him to work hard to gather intelligence for you without presenting some real substance.”

"Um, we should only need Master slots. As for subsequent support from the Mage's Association, we can obtain it from Masters in our own faction."

Perhaps there's still some reluctance, after all, Rheinmetall is Einzbern's only heirloom, and handing over something that can continuously generate wealth...

"Masters from the same faction?" Iori couldn't help but laugh at the mention of this. "You'd better not have too much hope for those people."

"You haven't even seen it yet—" Sera was about to say, but then she remembered that Iori possessed [future vision], so she could only shut her mouth.

"In short, I have my reasons for doing these things, and you will understand in the future."

"So what's next?" Although Sera was dissatisfied with Iori's domineering attitude, she still believed that his decisions followed the established strategy and were reliable and credible.

At least it looks quite presentable, something she, as an artificial human, couldn't achieve.

"How many Masters are there now?"

“According to the information provided by the Second Lord, the Master has already been chosen. If we join now, we will displace one of them, but it’s hard to say exactly who it will be,” Sera explained. “Because the Clock Tower has already handed over the relics to them… perhaps someone has already successfully summoned a Servant.”

"In other words, not everyone has completed the 'Servant Summoning,' and the Holy Grail War hasn't fully begun yet... Well, that's something we can give it a try."

Iori then asked her a seemingly unrelated question: "Who is the supervisor of this Holy Grail War?"

-

The Overseer, as the name suggests, is responsible for overseeing the development of the Holy Grail War to ensure it doesn't go off track and cause anything that no one wants to see.

For example, in the Fate/Zero timeline, a Caster summons a colossal sea monster that is too destructive to conceal, exposing the mystical world to ordinary people. In this situation, the Overseer has the right to call upon other Masters to attack the Caster.

This role is usually played by a priest sent by the church. He is not the Master himself and does not favor either side; he is an absolutely neutral character.

However, the situation is different in this Holy Grail War in Romania!

What the Thousand Trees did not only offended the Clock Tower, but also made the Church uneasy, worried that it would disrupt the balance of the mystical side, so it unusually expressed its full support for the Mage's Association.

They sent a priest as an overseer or messenger, who himself occupies a spot and will also participate in the battle as a Master of the Mage's Association (Red Team)!

And this priest's name was—

"Kotomine Shiro~"

In the dense forest, Iori and Sera stood in a clearing, gazing at the small church at the end of the road, while the black-haired boy slowly rejected the Japanese name.

“You seem quite interested in this person,” Sera asked curiously. “Aren’t we going to meet him at the church?”

In theory, all Masters of the Red Team should come to this Supervisor to make a symbolic registration and also gather together to discuss future action plans.

After receiving information from Kotomine Shiro, Iori took Sera on a plane and rushed to a certain place on the European continent. However, when they were only a few steps away from the agreed location, he inexplicably stopped.

“No need.” Iori looked at it intently for a while, then shook her head. “I originally thought I could snag a bargain… but it seems that’s not going to happen now.”

"Finding a bargain?"

"Calm down and feel it; can you discover what's hidden in that church?"