The Young Emperor

Now then. While I could certainly do with a spot of tea

Bars pretty much only have booze, so I don't see that happening right now.

Though I do enjoy a good glass of red wine, I don't think I could do so in this run-down tavern.

I'm afraid my drink will have to wait till another time.

All right, you two, tell us everything you saw. Even the smallest detail could be of great importance.

...Hmm.

I see.

Armies comprised entirely of Servants, huh?

I've dreamed of such fantastic sights before, but I never thought I would actually see such a thing for myself.

Even our database says that seven against seven is as many Servants as have ever fought each other at once.

We've seen edge cases where multiple Servants were involved, like the Final Singularity, but that's exceedingly rare.

Indeed. Even putting aside the importance of that battle as the crossroads for humanity's survival, it was nothing less than a miracle.

But there's never been anything else close to the large-scale Servant-versus-Servant warfare we just witnessed.

Fascinating. Truly fascinating...

I only got a quick look, but I saw they had longbow archers from around the Hundred Years' War.

There were also some samurai-looking warriors. Going from their armor, I'd guess they were generals from Japan's Warring States period.

Some of the Archers used matchlocks, and other Servants looked like cowboys straight out of the Old West.

I couldn't get a good look at the Casters, though. They either had their faces covered or were using some kind of perception blocking.

So these armies consisted of all seven classes from a wide range of cultures and regions, hmm?

Probably. Aside from that...I also heard them say something about Heroic Spirit-levels and Phantom Spirit-levels.

That must be referring to their Spirit Origin ranks.

With more than two hundred Servants in total, it's understandable that not all of them would be heroes of great renown.

Given what you've told us, Kadoc...

...it would seem these Servants are not heroes who took part in famous battles...

...but little-known humans who would normally never be summoned as Servants.

Maybe so, but they're still Servants.

I see...

？！

Ah, that? Because there is a great difference between a Demonic Beast as strong as a Servant, and an actual Servant.

It's far from pithy, but it's more accurate to define a Servant as "a Heroic Spirit with a Master."

Though of course, that definition can be applied quite broadly.

For example, under this definition, we could say that the land itself serves as a Rogue Servant's temporary Master.

But I digress. My point is, no matter how weak or strong a Heroic Spirit may be...

...as a rule, they cannot exist as a Servant without a Master.

？！

Ah, that is the question, no? Who could their Master be?

Or does there exist some manner of exception to the rule, which is permitting them to exist without a Master?

So it's still too early to say, huh?

I'm afraid so. I still need to dig a bit deeper.

Indeed, that all sounds very important as well. Perhaps just as important as how those Servants came to exist.

I suspect they were referring to their respective kingdoms and territories.

？！

...The Revenge Realm, the Reinstatement Realm, and the Righteous Realm.

These names no doubt reflect each faction's particular bent. And there are other things we can presume based on the different names you heard.

Kriemhild, of the Revenge Realm.

I believe we can confidently say she is the Kriemhild of the legends about Siegfried.

She is most likely a Saber or a Berserker, though we cannot rule out Avenger.

The fact that she has formed an army of Heroic Spirits means that she is either highly intelligent herself, or has an intelligent second-in-command.

Kōnstantînos, of the Reinstatement Realm.

There have been rather a few men named Kōnstantînos in recorded history, but I suspect we are dealing with the eleventh.

Kōnstantînos XI is said to be the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

I must say, I find the choice of "reinstatement" for his faction's name intriguing, but we can leave that for another time.

And finally, Charles the Great of the Righteous Realm.

Now that is quite the name indeed. If we truly are talking about THE Charles the Great...

...then I would say his victory in this war is a foregone conclusion.

I am inclined to agree.

Neither Kriemhild nor Kōnstantînos can even begin to compare to him.

Did they not teach you anything in school? Anything at all?

Charles the Great is all over European history. He's got to be one of the most famous people in the world.

He was the King of the Franks and the first Holy Roman Emperor to inherit the mantle of ancient Rome.

He's even known to many as the father of Europe.

You do know how a Servant's strength depends in part on how famous and Mystical their Heroic Spirit is, right?

Well, that'd pretty much put Charles the Great up in the highest tier of Servant.

？！

However, some things don't quite add up for me. For example, the Righteous Realm's manner of fighting.

What do you mean?

You told us that the Righteous Realm stood back and let the other two sides exhaust each other before swooping in...

...and that they then chose to leave the battle shortly afterwards so as not to exhaust their own soldiers.

What do you make of their tactics, Count Vlad?

Inarguably effective. However...

Go on.

This was a clash between two medium-sized forces, and a fairly one-sided one, at that.

Had the Righteous Realm's army chosen their timing more carefully, they could have decimated both other armies.

If I had been leading their charge, I would have waited until the other sides were a bit more entrenched.

You said that the Reinstatement Realm's army was hitting the Revenge Realm with full force to deny them an opportunity to surround them in a pincer movement.

In which case, the Righteous Realm's forces should have easily been able to obliterate the exhausted Reinstatement Realm's.

Even if the Reinstatement faction had chosen to ignore the Revenge Realm in favor of fighting back against Righteous...

...they were too far into enemy territory to mount a successful defense.

By that point, the Righteous Realm's Archers and Casters could inflict significant damage on the Reinstatement forces without even bothering to aim.

So from everything you'd told us, it would seem the Righteous forces' timing was slapdash. At best.

...What if that timing was a deliberate choice?

Is that what you think?

...I don't know. But if we assume that it was, I can think of several possible explanations.

That said, I can't speak with certainty on any of them at this point.

Ah, yeah. Okay. I see where this is going.

？！

Hahaha, it seems I've been beaten to the punch. Now then, as for their objective...

Rogue Servants summoned by the Holy Grail powering a given Singularity have generally worked in service of humanity.

That, at least, has been what we have seen thus far.

Most of the Heroic Spirits summoned in rituals such as the Holy Grail War have been on humanity's side, as well.

But of course, Heroic Spirits come in all shapes and sizes, in multiple senses of the word.

In addition, when they have a Master, their Master's personality affects their own.

Both the ineffable nobility of heroes and the naked cruelty of monsters...

...reflect that person's true nature, and are recorded as such.

Is there, like, a point to you just repeatedly telling us all shit we already know, Holmes?

This IS going somewhere, right?

Hahaha, my apologies.

What I mean to say is, the present state of affairs would normally be unthinkable...

Hundreds of Servants forming armies and acting in concert, regardless of whether they are good or evil.

What's more, they seem to have set aside any regional, national, cultural, and ideological differences to do so.

In one sense, that sounds like a perfect world.

But the fact that their unity is in service of a war between their three kingdomsor perhaps realms is a better wordis anything but cause for celebration.

Where's that leave us? Are these guys our allies, or should we be treating them as enemies?

Maybe we can form a temporary alliance, like you guys did with me.

I certainly hope at least one of these realms is on our side.

We must be exceedingly cautious in our approach, though.

Never before have we faced anything like an organized army of Servants.

There is only so much both Holmes and I can accomplish on our own.

The force we saw earlier would almost certainly have been destroyed in battle against any one of the realms.

No matter how you slice it, the sheer numbers are too much. And on top of that, they also have their Noble Phantasms.

... ...

Prepare yourself, Master. We have enemies here.

？！

Huh? Enemies?

I'll be taking that head now!

I'm afraid not.

Guh...!

Assassins.

E-enemy Servants detected! I'm so sorry I didn't notice sooner, Master!

Damn, they're using Presence Concealment! No wonder they got the jump on us!

(How did Vlad III notice them then...? Oh, right. He must be sensitive to the smell of blood.)

Worry not. We can take them. Are you ready, Master?

？！

Yeah, I'm just gonna stand over here. No reason for me to get in...all that.

By all means.

I assume you're here to track down stragglers.

I don't expect you'll answer, but I may as well ask: What realm are you from?

... ...

As I thought. Well, it matters not. The fact remains, you are my enemy.

So I will show you no mercy.

Come, let me show you how sharp my mournful stakes truly are.

Guh...!

That power... That Command Spell... You... You're our enemy!

It's over.

I would say that was all too easy...but several things about them give me pause.

Can you analyze that combat data for us, Da Vinci?

...Da Vinci?

...an yo■...■■■■...ear me?

？！

...Hmm.

I'm sorry, Master. A huge burst of static interference broke out when your battle began. We weren't able to collect any data on it, let alone offer advice.

Hmm.

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...No, I don't believe it is. It's similar, to be sure, but it feels slightly, yet significantly different.

Faerie Britain rejected the very idea of Proper Human History, and by extension, electronic devices that came from it.

This was just ordinary interference. A great deal of it, to be sure, but nothing that will hinder our equipment's core functionality.

So we should assume there are different mechanisms at work here than there were in Faerie Britain.

Look at you, the big-shot detective, huh?

Why yes, I am. A consulting detective, to be precise.

Getting back to the battle we just fought. Tell me, Master, or even Kadoc Zemlupus.

Did you notice anything strange?

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... ...Yeah.

They were outfitted with Command Spells, just like we are.

Though, unlike normal Command Spells, they were only meant for support, just like the Master of Chaldea's.

They had just enough magical energy to let them use their Noble Phantasm at a moment's notice.

？！

... ...That is indeed the question.

If it was a Master, then we can be sure that Master is no ordinary human.

We know these Servants used their Command Spells repeatedly in that earlier battle, as well as the one we just fought.

Clearly, they were not bound by a three-use limit. Nor did I see any signs of them using a Magical Reactor or something similar to recharge them.

And not even the most talented mage could create something like inexhaustible Command Spells.

Yeah. Not even Kirschtaria could've pulled something like that off.

And even if another mage of the same rank were alive and well here, it'd be just as impossible for them, too.

Hmm. Then where did their Command Spells come from?

The sky, hm?

Yeah. It definitely wasn't from anywhere we could see, that's for sure.

？！

...All right, let's avoid drawing any conclusions for the time being. We still have far too little information to work with for that.

We did learn one thing for certain here: they see us as their enemy.

Which means it is extremely unlikely they will be amenable to joining our side.

Then what should we do now?

Good question. As I see it, the obvious answer...

...would be to look for a Servant willing to help us, and a local who can tell us more about this place.

I'd say we need at least one of those two if we're going to make any headway.

What do you think, Holmes?

That would seem much easier said than done, I'm afraid.

First of all, I expect it will be fiendishly difficult to track down a Servant who would be willing to help us...

...seeing as apparently all other Servants here are engaged in warfare against each other on clearly defined sides.

I have little reason to believe we will have much luck with the locals, either.

Why's that?

Take a look at the remains of this town. Why was it built in the first place?

I suspect the answer is simply to provide a battlefield on which the factions may kill one another.

Naturally, this being America, I'm sure there were local people here at one point...

...but they were most likely either collateral damage in the conflict, or simply fled the area entirely.

Regardless, we can safely assume we will find not a single local here.

So of the two options, our only viable one is to somehow find a Servant whose interests align with ours.

...I admit this choice may be unseemly...

...but what if we were to torture a captured Servant for information?

Torture is a notoriously unreliable means of gathering information, so I would very much prefer we kept things as peaceful as possible.

Hmm. If you say so.

...!

Master, it's the special alert!

？！

What is that? What are you talking about!?

Oh, right. Sorry, Kadoc. We forgot to tell you about this.

It's an alert we came up with for a very particular breed of Servant, based on all our combat data to date.

It looks like all that time Muramasa in particular spent accompanying us has paid off in spades.

...You don't mean

I'm afraid it's just as you fear, Kadoc. Da Vinci is referring to the Disciples of the Foreign God.

With Limbo and Muramasa gone...

...that just leaves Grigori Rasputin. Or Kotomine Kirei, as the case may be.

But why would he show up here and now...?

... ...

(What is this? Something's telling me that's not the case.)

(But Rasputin IS the only Disciple left.)

(No, wait. Don't tell me...)

Hmm, I do indeed sense another Servant here. Show yourself, Disciple of the Foreign God.

Ah, it would seem I am being called out. I suppose I had best oblige.

？！

...That's not Rasputin!

You...

Delighted to meet you, Holmes. Ah, but at this tender age, I ought to address my elders more appropriately...

...Mr. Holmes.

Don't recognize me, eh? Then allow me to introduce myself.

Ah, so you've met me before then. That will save us some time.

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Don't recognize me, eh? Then allow me to introduce myself.

？！

For those of you who don't know, my name is James Moriarty.

I'm a mathematician, a consultant, and, just as you suspected...a Foreign Disciple.