Type-Moon, the Path of a Magician

"what?"

When he opened the door, a young man with short brown hair and brown pupils appeared in front of him. He was wearing traditional black religious clothes and a golden cross necklace on his chest. His expressionless face and empty eyes made him look like a walking corpse.

Of course Xia Yuan knew him.

Father Mapo, Kotomine Kirei——the pleasure offender.

A backstabbing pleasure criminal in the Type-Moon world, very dangerous.

When he opened the door and saw him, Xia Yuan shuddered subconsciously and felt speechless.

How did this guy come so quickly? Isn't there still some time before the Holy Grail War begins? The church's efficiency is too high.

Xia Yuan swallowed, took a deep breath, and nodded at him: "I am Xia Yuan, who are you?"

"Well, my name is Kotomine Kirei. I'm a priest of the Fuyuki City Church and also a staff member of this Holy Grail War. Can I take up a moment of your time?" Hearing Xia Yuan's admission, Kotomine Kirei nodded and began to introduce himself.

What bad luck! The Holy Church came to my door so soon...

But I am the seventh master?

Although I am also a Master, I am not a proper Holy Grail War Master.

A. Venger is not one of the traditional seven classes, and in this Fourth Holy Grail War, the Top Three have already been determined, and the Berserker is also confirmed to be under the control of the Matou family. Judging from his appearance, he has already met the other six Masters, or obtained their information. Then the only Servant in the Fourth War that has not been received by the Holy Church is... the Caster group.

So, he thinks he is in the position of Ryunosuke Uzumaki?

Thinking of this, Xia Yuan couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He was originally worried that his A.venger group's identity would be exposed and they would be ostracized by the orthodox seven classes, and then they would join forces to attack him first.

If I now consider myself as a member of the Caster group, then I have entered the orthodox seventh class.

There was an unexpected gain!

"Huh? What's the problem?"

Seeing Xia Yuan distracted, Kotomine Kirei frowned slightly and spoke.

"Uh...it's okay."

Try to act like a normal person, keep a normal mind, and don't arouse the other party's suspicion.

"But I don't understand why the staff of Fuyuki City Church came to my house? I am usually very law-abiding, never do anything wrong, and occasionally go to church to pray. There should be no need to send a priest to drag me to shame, right?"

Xia Yuan reminded himself in his heart that he had hidden enough information now, and since he had the advantage, he must not be discovered by him. At this point in time, Kotomine Kirei had not been led astray by Kumpika, so as long as he was cautious, there would be no danger.

As long as you don't give it away, the advantage is mine.

Although he was somewhat puzzled by Xia Yuan's abnormality, Kotomine Kirei did not ask any further questions. He just wanted to continue to complete the tasks assigned by the Holy Church and his teacher. He did not care about other things and explained immediately.

"No, I'm not here to take Mr. Xia Yuan to atone for his sins. I'm visiting today because of the Holy Grail War."

"Holy Grail War? What is that?"

Is he really just an ordinary person?

Seeing Xia Yuan's confusion, Kotomine Kirei did not get angry. He just pointed at his gloved hand and said, "I think you should have discovered the Command Seal that appeared on the back of your hand recently."

"Command Spell? Is this what you are talking about?"

Xia Yuan pretended to be a little confused, took off his gloves, and raised several Command Spells that had already fully appeared.

"Yes, this is the Command Spell."

"So, this thing is called a Command Seal? I thought it was a prank drawn by a naughty kid when I fell asleep on the bus. No wonder it can't be wiped off no matter how hard I try."

"No, this is not a simple graffiti, but a proof of the person chosen by the Holy Grail. The person who holds this mark will perform a great magic ceremony here."

"Magic ritual? Magic show?"

Xia Yuan looked at Kotomine Kirei with a puzzled look.

"..."

"Someone will explain the matter of the Command Spell to you, and my mission is to take you to see someone who can answer your questions."

"Mr. Xia Yuan, please follow me to the church. Someone will tell you the answer when we get there."

As he said this, Kotomine Kirei stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation, inviting Xia Yuan to go with him.

"..."

Although somewhat reluctant, Xia Yuan had no reason to refuse. His current character was just an ordinary person who got lost in the situation. He believed that they must have investigated his situation clearly a long time ago.

Moreover, there is still some time before the Holy Grail War begins. Although the list of Masters has been determined, the Servants except the Earl should not have been summoned yet. It is not against the rules to take action against me now, so they should really bring me there just to familiarize me with the process of the Holy Grail War, just as a care for ordinary people. The safety factor is still very high.

If there is really no other option, and if they really intend to plot against me before the Holy Grail War begins, then I can only use the Command Seals to summon the Count to fight them.

Now he is in a weak position and has no right to refuse the church's request.

Thinking of this, Xia Yuan sighed slightly and said to Kotomine Kirei, "Please wait a moment, Mr. Priest. I will go back to my room to change clothes and come back."

"Okay, Mr. Xia Yuan, our car is waiting for you downstairs."

Kotomine Kirei said this expressionlessly, then turned and left.

…………

After confirming that Kotomine Kirei had left, the Count who was hiding in the room also ended his spirit state, sat back in his usual chair, and asked Xia Yuan.

"How is it? Master, do you want to go over and take a look? Although I don't sense any malice from that priest, his soul exudes a bad smell."

"Bad smell?" Xia Yuan looked at him curiously.

"What does it feel like exactly?"

"I can't describe it. The smell is like the emptiness that only the zombies in the Chateau d'If give off. It's hard to imagine that a normal human would have such a smell. Anyway, it's very bad. Master, I think it will be very dangerous to follow him. Do you still want to go?"

"Of course we have to go. This is a good opportunity to get in touch with the Holy Church. There is no reason for us not to go."

Xia Yuan nodded in response to the Earl's question.

The Count did not know Kotomine Kirei, so he was not surprised by such an evaluation, but he did have some understanding of Kotomine Kirei. He could indeed become very dangerous, but that would be in the future. Now he would not do anything out of line.

But he still explained to the earl: "In Fuyuki City, where the church's spies are everywhere, the fact that I became a master naturally could not be hidden from the church. I was originally worried about how to solve this problem."

"I didn't expect that they would actually make a mistake this time. They didn't realize that we were intruders in the Holy Grail War. Instead, they mistook you and me for the seventh pair of Masters, Caster. This helped us avoid the problem of attracting hatred from other Servants because of our identities. What we have to do now is to confirm this identity.

They are in the light, we are in the dark, so the advantage is ours."

Thinking back to what Kotomine Kirei said, and pondering the plot of the Fourth War, Xia Yuan didn't hesitate for too long and roughly completed a simple plan.

"So I plan to go to the Fuyuki City Church with him to confirm my identity as a contestant, and then we can discuss the rest later."

Although it is dangerous, we still have to go.

"Do you need me to go with you?" The Earl said, "It would be much safer if I were with you."

"No need. It would be too dangerous to be exposed in someone else's home turf. Now the Holy Grail War hasn't begun yet. Even if they kill me, it will be useless. On the contrary, the Holy Grail will choose another contestant." Xia Yuan rejected him.

"To them, a common person like me is obviously easier to control than other ignorant magicians, so they won't do anything to me. And we can't guarantee whether there are any magic restrictions in the Holy Church that can detect the spiritualization of the Servant, so you, Count, must not go with us."

"So you plan to go deep into the enemy territory alone?"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. This is the only option that can maximize our interests."

"Is it……"

Hearing this, the Earl thought for a moment, looked at him deeply, and then nodded, which was regarded as agreeing with his statement.

"In that case, I have no reason to continue to dissuade you."

"Be careful. If you are in danger, don't be stingy with the Command Spell. Use it to call my name, and I will come immediately. Remember, don't risk your life. Do you understand?"

Although the plan is a bit risky, it is undeniable that it is indeed the best option.

Moreover, since even the Master had made such a realization, he had no reason to refuse.

"Don't worry, Count. If I encounter any danger, I will definitely summon you and escape quickly." Xia Yuan patted his chest and assured the Count, then opened the door and left.

"There's really nothing I can do about you."

"Then be careful, Master."

Watching Xia Yuan leave, the Cave King lowered the brim of his hat slightly, and his dark green figure gradually disappeared in the room.

Chapter 7 Rules and War

We got on the car arranged by Kotomine Kirei and drove for about twenty minutes.

Looking at the city gradually moving away, the increasing number of trees made Xia Yuan realize that they had reached the suburbs of Fuyuki City. If they continued driving in this direction, they would be out of the area of ​​Fuyuki.

He was quite familiar with the location here. After all, during the years he was in the underworld, territorial disputes between organizations were common, and it was certainly impossible for them to have a large-scale fight in the city.

Therefore, the Fuyuki City Pier at night and the deserted suburbs were places he often visited.

As Xia Yuan was daydreaming, the car finally stopped in front of an old church. Kotomine Kirei opened the door for him and spoke to him.

"Mr. Xia Yuan, we have arrived at the location. My father is waiting for you inside."

"I see."

Following Kotomine Kirei out of the car, the open church door clearly showed that it had been waiting for them for a long time.

"Are you back, Kirei?"

Along with a deep male voice, a burly elderly priest was walking slowly towards here with a Bible in his hand.

"Well, I'm back, father."

Kotomine Kirei nodded, then raised his hand in a gesture of invitation, brought Xia Yuan to the old priest, and began to introduce him.

"This is my father, the priest of the Fuyuki District Church, Kotomine Risei. He is also the person in charge of this Holy Grail War. He will answer your questions from now on."

"Hello, I'm Xia Yuan."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, the one chosen by the Holy Grail, the seventh Master, Mr. Xia Yuan."

After the two of them briefly introduced themselves, Xia Yuan pretended to be an outsider who knew nothing and asked him directly.

"Well, Mr. Father, can you tell me in detail about the Holy Grail War and this strange pattern?"

Taking off his gloves, Xia Yuan very naturally showed the Command Seal on the back of his hand to the two of them.

"As expected, it is indeed the Command Spell."

Yan Fengli was carefully examining the Command Seal on the back of Xia Yuan's hand, and had already confirmed in his heart that Xia Yuan was the seventh Master.

Although he was somewhat surprised when he first received the information, how could an ordinary person be chosen by the Holy Grail? Was there a mistake made by the person investigating the information? Only now did he believe this outrageous thing until the facts were laid before him.

But... ordinary people?

That's not bad either.

Ordinary people are better. Compared with those lawless heretic magicians, ordinary people are more easily controlled by them. As a result, the number of contestants in the Holy Grail War has been reduced from seven to six, and the difficulty of winning has been greatly reduced. It seems that my old friend is really lucky.

"Please take a seat. Since you have been chosen by the Holy Grail, I will slowly summarize for you the matters and rules concerning the Command Spells and the Holy Grail War."

Inviting Xia Yuan into the church and motioning him to sit down first, Yan Fengli, who was suppressing his emotions, looked at him seriously and said.

"Mr. Xia Yuan, I am going to tell you a piece of news that is both fortunate and unfortunate. You have been chosen by the Greater Holy Grail to become one of the Masters participating in the Holy Grail War, and the red mark on the back of your hand is the best proof of being the chosen one - [Command Seal]"

"By the way, you and another priest have been talking about the Holy Grail War. What Holy Grail are you talking about? Is it the one mentioned in the Bible?"

"Oh?" Hearing this, Yan Fengli asked in surprise: "Has Mr. Xia Yuan also read our teachings?"

"Ah... To be honest, I am actually a relatively devout Christian."

Xia Yuan reached into his pocket and felt around, then took out a silver cross pendant that he had bought at a gift shop he had bought before and handed it to Yanfeng Lizheng.

After seeing the cross in Xia Yuan's hand, Yan Fengli could not help but laugh, and his attitude became much friendlier: "No wonder, I didn't expect Mr. Xia Yuan to be a believer in the Lord. If you have time, you can come to me to pray."

"But unfortunately, the Holy Grail is not a sacred vessel containing the blood of the Son of God, but just a nickname. In essence, it is a universal wish-granting machine that can fulfill any wish."

"Ah... That's a pity. I thought I could really see the legendary holy weapon." Xia Yuan said with pretended regret, his tone slightly surprised.

"But... a universal wishing machine? Like Aladdin's magic lamp, does that thing really exist?"

"Who knows? Although the Holy Grail War ceremony has been held several times, each time it failed due to some force majeure factors, so the Holy Grail only exists in rumors, and no one has seen it yet."

"What about the Holy Grail War?"

Seeing that Xia Yuan was a little anxious, Yan Fengli waved his hand, signaling him to calm down first, and continued to explain to him: "The so-called Holy Grail War is a war in which seven selected Masters and their summoned Servants fight for the ownership of the Holy Grail, and the reward for the final winner is the Holy Grail."

After listening to Kotomine Risei's explanation, Xia Yuan nodded.

Although Kotomine Risei was a black whistle, he did not hide any information about the rules and reported everything truthfully. I don't know if it was because the believer identity I made up increased his favorability, or because he felt that an ordinary person like him did not pose a threat, or maybe it was both.