The streets of Fuyuki City were crowded with people. Leo moved through the crowd, walking quickly.
The sunlight on his body should have been warm, yet he felt a chill rising from deep within his heart.
Free.
He had finally escaped that gorgeous cage, freed himself from Rin Tohsaka's scorching gaze that threatened to melt him, and temporarily shaken off Kurogane Akane, that obsessive stalker with explosive action capability.
But then what?
He stopped in his tracks, standing on an overpass, looking down at the endless stream of traffic below. An unprecedented sense of confusion and fear gripped him.
He looked down at his reflection in a puddle, at that demonic visage hidden beneath his hood.
Just a face, yet it possessed the power to captivate all living beings.
He had once thought this was a blessing, a capital that would let him survive in this strange world.
But now, he only felt it was a curse more terrifying than any demon.
Rin Tohsaka—a daughter of heaven, the administrator of Fuyuki City, a magus who should be calm and arrogant—had become an obsessed woman capable of "house arrest" because of him, her rationality shattered.
Kurogane Akane—equally talented as a magus or perhaps a psychic, with a fierce and decisive personality—had traveled hundreds of miles to Fuyuki City just because she caught a glimpse of him in a crowd, even willing to forcefully breach the Tohsaka family's barrier with magic.
Their rationality, their pride, their original life trajectories—all twisted and shattered the moment they came into contact with him.
The flames burning in their eyes were no longer simple love.
It was a mixture of possession, obsession, and madness... a fire that could reduce him to ashes.
'This isn't seduction at all. This is the curse of Tomoe...'
Leo shuddered.
He recalled that classic horror manga. All the men who fell in love with Tomoe eventually developed the urge to dismember her.
Wasn't his current situation eerily similar?
Would the women who fell in love with him eventually develop the impulse to "preserve him forever" out of that overwhelming love?
Rin's house arrest was the first warning sign.
He couldn't go on like this.
He had to break free from this power—not weaken it, not control it, but completely and permanently sever it from his soul!
Otherwise, his life would be forever pursued by this mad love until he was completely consumed.
But how could he do it?
By himself?
He was just an ordinary person, completely ignorant of magic.
Ask a magus for help?
He was like a piece of meat from a Buddhist monk—any magus who came into contact with him, regardless of gender, could become the next "Rin Tohsaka."
'Wait... the Holy Grail...'
A thought flashed through his mind like lightning.
'The Holy Grail War... the wish-granting machine...'
Yes, he was currently on the stage of the Fifth Holy Grail War!
Though the Grail was tainted, filled with the evils of this world, its ability to grant wishes was real.
If he made a wish to the Grail, perhaps he could truly eliminate the curse on him!
The thought grew like wildfire once it appeared.
The risks were enormous. The Holy Grail War was a slaughter ground for magi and Heroic Spirits. A normal person like him could be reduced to dust if he wasn't careful.
But the rewards were equally massive.
As long as he survived to the end and obtained the Grail, he could return to a normal life.
...I'll gamble!
Leo's eyes became determined again.
Rather than skulking around like a rat, eventually found and "collected" by some obsessed woman, he might as well jump into this most dangerous vortex and fight for his own future!
So, the question became—how could he obtain the Grail?
'Become a Master?'
He immediately rejected the thought.
He had no magic circuits. There was no way the Grail would choose him, let alone allow him to summon a Heroic Spirit.
Rin had examined his body before and already concluded it was impossible.
'Since I can't be a player, I'll have to find a way to snatch it from the players...'
This idea was even more insane, but it also seemed to be the only way out.
He began frantically searching through his meager FGO knowledge and hazy memories of the FSN plot.
He needed a breakthrough.
A combination with relatively weak strength, or one with obvious vulnerabilities.
Soon, a location and a pair of names flashed into his mind.
Ryuudou Temple.
Caster, Medea.
In the FSN storyline, Caster Medea was betrayed by her original Master and wandered Fuyuki City. She was saved by Katsuragi Soichiro, a teacher at Ryuudou Temple, and formed a new contract with him, using the temple as their base for the Holy Grail War.
Caster's combat strength wasn't top-tier in direct confrontation, and her partnership with Katsuragi Soichiro had a massive uncertainty in the early stages.
'What if... when I arrive at Ryuudou Temple, Medea hasn't officially teamed up with Katsuragi yet?'
Leo's heartbeat accelerated.
He remembered that Medea was summoned by her bastard original Master, Atram Galiast. Due to ideological differences, she struck first and eliminated her original Master. Then, with her magical power nearly depleted, she fled to the gate of Ryuudou Temple, where she met Katsuragi.
This timing was extremely delicate.
If he could seize this "window of opportunity," finding Medea when her magic was depleted, she was at her weakest, and had no Master...
'Wouldn't that be like picking up a top-five magus in magical history for free?!'
Though he had no magic circuits and couldn't become a formal Master, perhaps he could use his "charm" ability, or his gift of gab, to establish some kind of temporary "contract" or "alliance" with her?
However, Medea, this ancient witch, had experienced betrayal by her lover. She would likely harbor deep distrust of so-called "love."
Whether she would trust someone who deliberately waited to pick her up was completely unknown.
But this was the only opportunity he could think of to intervene in the Holy Grail War as an ordinary person.
'...Let me go to Ryuudou Temple and see.'
Leo made his decision.
He had to confirm what the situation at Ryuudou Temple was right now.
If Caster hadn't arrived yet, he would lurk nearby and wait for his chance.
This was essentially a high-stakes gamble—betting that he could "pick up" that unfortunate Colchian princess before Katsuragi Soichiro did.
If Caster had already teamed up with Katsuragi and set up a magical barrier at Ryuudou Temple, he would have to abandon this plan immediately and find another way.
Forcing his way into an ancient witch's workshop was not bravery; it was suicide.
Having made up his mind, Leo didn't hesitate further.
He fished out the few coins in his pocket, bought a bottle of water and a piece of bread from a vending machine on the roadside, quickly filled his stomach, then checked his bearings and headed toward Ryuudou Temple in the deep mountains.
Night was about to fall.
This "Holy Grail War" that belonged to him alone, with his life as the stake, was truly beginning now.