"Master, what is your wish?"
"Salvation for all of humanity!"
Sella answered without the slightest hesitation. This was the meaning of her existence as a homunculus.
The Einzbern family's long-held wish, passed down for hundreds of years, had long since become something like a curse. Even if she were the only one left, she still had to see it through.
"What a grand goal~" Iori smiled. "Relying on just one Greater Grail probably won't be enough… but that has nothing to do with me. I only need to win."
"Berserker, from now on I..."
"I'll be the one deciding our future course of action." Iori interrupted.
Iori and Sella looked at each other. His black eyes were deep and mysterious, filled with a presence that naturally inspired trust.
"Unless you're confident you understand how to fight better than I do!"
"Th-this… the Holy Grail War isn't something you can win with brute force alone." Worried that Iori was underestimating the cruelty of the war, Sella hurriedly explained. "You also need to know how to gather information, form alliances, and plan strategies..."
"Are you good at those things?"
"…" Sella suddenly fell silent.
Joking aside, if the Einzberns were actually good at those things, how could they have fallen to this state?
"Then it can only be left to me. You just focus on supplying me with mana, provide some support magecraft, and make sure you don't get taken out by the enemy Master."
Iori said seriously, "Protecting yourself is the biggest help you can give me."
"…I understand."
Though she was unwilling, she was far too weak right now. Facing a Servant with such a forceful attitude, Sella had no way to argue back. She could only think about establishing her authority later.
And she really was not good at matters related to "war."
"There's something I need to explain in advance… my magic circuits are damaged. My mana reserves are sufficient, but it affects transmission efficiency."
Sella said worriedly, "In other words, the 'mana channel' between us isn't very smooth… it may cause problems later."
"Oh?"
Iori raised an eyebrow. "Compared to a weak Master, a declining family, and a complicated situation, that's actually good news for me today~"
"…Good news?" Sella looked up in surprise. "How can that be good news? If the channel isn't smooth, using a Noble Phantasm could leave you short on mana."
"That's exactly it!"
The corner of Iori's mouth lifted slightly. "I love high-difficulty challenges!"
"What a strange guy…" Sella muttered.
As an old Moon Cell veteran, Iori actually started looking forward to it.
After all, in the original game, 'mana replenishment' came with a lot of CGs.
Right, this was totally for unlocking CGs. He was sacrificing himself for the cause. Definitely not having any improper thoughts.
That said, Sella's looks and figure were actually quite good. And the key point was silver hair and red eyes.
Now that he had been transformed into a "spirit core" by the summoning system, at least during the Holy Grail War, Iori was like other Servants, possessing both spiritual and physical characteristics. That meant he would feel everything he was supposed to feel…
There was no helping it. If mana replenishment became necessary at a critical moment, then Iori could only reluctantly shoulder this heavy responsibility.
———
Inside an old cafe in London's old district, a man with long black hair, wearing a dark suit and a red scarf sat by the window.
A middle-aged man… no, someone who looked middle-aged at first glance, but was actually a young man around twenty-four or twenty-five. Yet his face carried a strange sense of weariness that made people misjudge his age.
He sat by the window, sipping coffee while frowning as he read through the documents in his hand. One look and you could tell he was either a deeply resentful office worker or a middle manager going through a midlife crisis.
...But in reality, his status was far more "noble" than that.
After all, in certain circles, he was someone people would call "Lord." This word, tinged with an old-fashioned feel, often meant a noble title or similar background on British soil.
Ding-ling~
The narrow wooden door was pushed open. The waiter was just about to step forward to greet the customer when he was stunned by the beauty that entered his view. For a moment, he even forgot to breathe, only coming back to his senses after a brief daze.
"Welcome~"
"May I ask if you have a reservation?"
"No."
The woman had pure, mysterious silver hair, like a snowfield in deep winter, bringing with it a chilling coldness. Her pale skin and long eyelashes framed a pair of clear, jewel-like red eyes, beauty that could almost be called inhuman.
Her outfit was just an ordinary white coat and hat, yet it still showed off her tall, slender figure.
For some reason, the waiter felt an indescribable aura from her. It was completely different from the so-called "nobility" left behind by this era, an elegance and restraint born from time and inheritance.
It made him not even dare to look directly at her face. After a quick glance, he respectfully lowered his head, his eyes fixing on the pair of dark brown riding boots at her feet.
"Just one person?"
"No, two."
"Then your friend… hmm?"
"One black coffee."
Without answering the waiter's question, Sella walked in on her own. Her red eyes swept the room lightly, her target clear as she headed straight for the window.
Seeing this, the waiter suddenly "understood" and naturally assumed that the two people she mentioned referred to herself and the friend sitting by the window.
However, when Sella reached him, she asked, "Is it okay to share a table here?"
"No problem."
The long-haired man did not even look up. Whatever was written in the documents seemed to irritate him greatly. He kept pouring the bitter coffee into his mouth as if it were plain water.
Sella glanced at him, then calmly sat down and spoke unhurriedly, "What is it that has our Lord El-Melloi II so worried? Could it be that the Clock Tower is about to collapse?"
"…"
The man's hand paused. His sharp gaze shifted from the documents to the person across from him, then relaxed.
"So it's you. Sorry, Lady. My answer is the same as before. I can't help you with this."
El-Melloi II, originally named Waver Velvet, came from a mage family with a very short history and was not particularly favored.
Yet through a series of accidents, he inherited the name "El-Melloi" and became one of the twelve departments of the Clock Tower, the Lord of the Department of Modern Magecraft (Norwich), as well as the most popular lecturer at the Clock Tower.
Within the Clock Tower, he was not especially powerful. His own seniority was shallow, and the El-Melloi family had declined considerably, so he did not stand out among the twelve Lords.
However, he had enormous potential influence. Many outstanding magi had been trained under him, including quite a few geniuses referred to as "rough gems." Because of this, he had accumulated an extensive network of connections.
Someone once commented that if he had the ambition, he could easily pull together his own faction within the Clock Tower at any time. It was just that his personality was not suited for such a thing.
In this war between the Clock Tower (the Mage's Association) and the Yggdmillennia family, although El-Melloi II was not the direct person in charge, he still played a role similar to a coordinator.
The final confirmation of the Association's Master candidates was handled by him, important figures trusted his judgment greatly.
Interestingly enough, though El-Melloi II put great effort into selecting Masters, he never recommended any of his own students.
"You should give up on this Holy Grail War."
El-Melloi II spoke bluntly. "They won't allow the Three Founding Families to participate. Even if you come to me, it's useless. Compared to that, you should leave London as soon as possible."
"Ever since the failure of the Third Holy Grail War sixty years ago and the leakage of related information, ambitious magi have been holding sub-type Holy Grail Wars all over the world."
"Yet all of them are half-baked, not a single one comparable to the original in Fuyuki… but precisely because of that, countless people have been keeping their eyes on the Three Founding Families, hoping to obtain more knowledge and secrets."
"Compared to the Matou and Tohsaka families, the almost extinct Einzbern is the perfect prey… if you understood this, you shouldn't show yourself in public."
"Thank you for the Lord's reminder, but saying this now is a bit late. I've already been treated like a rabbit and hunted once in this forest of steel."
"And..."
Sella raised her hand, revealing the three Command Spells on the back of her hand, shaped like a Mobius strip.
"The positions of hunter and prey have now been reversed."
El-Melloi II's pupils shrank slightly, then he relaxed. "I see. You've already obtained a slot… Normally, summoning a Servant requires the Greater Grail to provide a massive amount of mana, and it can't be done outside the battlefield, Romania."
"But I suppose this is what you'd expect from one of the Three Founding Families. You really do have a few loopholes at your disposal."
"Still, since you've already become a Master, you could just head to Romania directly. There's no need to come looking for me, is there?"
"If I leave now, I'll only be participating as an independent magus."
Sella paused. At that moment, the waiter brought over a cup of black coffee. The silver-haired girl politely expressed her thanks, took a sip, and only then continued.
"But I still want to go to Romania as a member of the Mage's Association, to suppress this rebellion."
"…Why?"
El-Melloi II was puzzled. Although the Einzbern family was an old and prestigious name, they did not actually care about lineage inheritance, nor did they have any need to curry favor with the Mage's Association.
Because the true "Einzbern" didn't really exist. The family was originally formed by "disciples of a Magician," whose wish was to complete the task left behind by the Magician.
The Third Magic, Heaven's Feel, and the grand ambition of saving all of humanity.
Later on, however, these magi came to recognize the limits of their abilities in the face of harsh reality. Some committed suicide out of despair, others chose to escape. No one truly carried on the Magician's will.
Ironically, though the disciples gave up, the homunculi they created did not. They chose to remain in the workshop and continue trying, again and again… and it was after that that the Holy Grail War appeared.
In other words, from the very beginning, the "Einzbern" that appeared before the public was nothing more than a group of homunculi executing the highest command.
In the end, even these homunculi failed. After drifting for so long, only a single descendant remained… to be honest, El-Melloi II felt it would be better for Sella to abandon both the surname and the mission.
But he also knew that making a homunculus give up was impossible. Their sense of self was extremely faint. Naturally, they would never resist on their own.
For the current Sella, since she had already summoned a Servant, she could just head into the war.
This was the Einzbern's last chance anyway. If she couldn't win, it would all end completely. What was there to fear from the Clock Tower?
This was exactly what puzzled El-Melloi II the most.
Even if you're a homunculus, do you really need to be this strict about procedural correctness? You've already cooked the rice. Why come all the way to the Clock Tower just to ask for a Master slot?
"The times have changed, Lord."
Sella frowned slightly because of the coffee, but not because it was bitter. On the contrary, she felt gloomy because she could barely taste anything.
Although her right eye looked fine, in reality she was already close to losing her sight. Her body's sense of space had worsened, and now even her sense of taste had failed… it seemed her body truly was approaching collapse.
"This Holy Grail War is not the kind of free-for-all chaos of the past. It's a confrontation between two factions. I don't believe that a Master like me, with no factional support at all, can survive until the end of the war."
"So you need the Association's recognition?" El-Melloi II nodded. "Someone alone and outnumbered seeking protection. That's only natural."
"I have no other choice."
Sella's tone was calm. "The head of the Yggdmillennia family, Darnic, is the villain who stole the Greater Grail and crushed the Einzbern back then."
"Once I appear in Romania, he will definitely treat me as a thorn in his side… without cover from others, I'll become a target for concentrated attacks."
"I sympathize with you. As a homunculus, you were given an overly heavy mission, carrying out a task that is fundamentally impossible."
El-Melloi II was merciless with his words. "But I still choose to refuse!"
"…"
"First, excluding the Three Founding Families from the Holy Grail War is a consensus within the Clock Tower."
"Even the Tohsaka family, with 'that person' backing them, has distanced itself from the Holy Grail War and continues to operate purely as a prestigious mage family."
"The current Einzbern has no bargaining chip that would move the major figures. There is no need for them to bring in an unstable factor like you. Even if you've obtained Master qualifications, that only amplifies the threat you pose."
"Second…"
El-Melloi II took out a cigar, cut off the tip, and lit it, taking a deep drag.
"Phew… I also have no reason to wade into this mess."
"One of the Twelve Lords also has things they fear?"
"It's not fear. It's troublesome."
El-Melloi II corrected her. "That Darnic guy is an old fox. His talent and methods are top-notch, to the point that the Association even rated him as 'Grand.'"
"Over the years, he's also gathered many frustrated magi, developing Yggdmillennia into an independent faction…"
"For someone like that to rebel, the Clock Tower didn't believe it at first, but quickly realized it was a perfect chance to establish authority."
"Externally, it serves to intimidate mage families everywhere. Internally, the major factions also want to use military achievements to outdo one another."
"Military achievements?" As a relatively simple homunculus, Sella was completely confused by this.
She couldn't understand it at all. The Holy Grail War was clearly a battlefield where survival was slim… why would people from the Clock Tower treat it as a place to earn achievements?
They were seriously underestimating the cruel system the Three Founding Families had poured their hearts and souls into creating.
"Hmph!"
Speaking of this, even El-Melloi II felt somewhat speechless. "Some people think too highly of themselves and look down on Yggdmillennia's fallen magi."
"Others have participated in sub-type Holy Grail Wars and think they're experienced, convinced victory is already in hand~"
"…"
Sella truly didn't know what to say anymore.