Wow, it's cold!
No wonder! This window is completely smashed!
Not my fault. It happened when that Lancer guy attacked me.
Wait, you fought him on your own until you summoned Saber?
More like I just got my butt kicked.
Not even trying to make yourself sound good?
I see.
When it comes to you, what you see is really what you get.
We are always hounded by a despair so powerful
as to threaten to burn our hearts to ash,
and yet you manage
to smile at me
with infinite forgiveness
The wind erases our voices
Our words are carried away
I cling to the path I walk
despite the difficulty it gives me
I know that paradise awaits us,
and that future is our one and only hope
That blind feeling
might be the only emotion
that I have left
No judgment is final
I am always seeking
my very own
dawn
All right, let's get down to business.
#02 The Curtain Rises
You don't have any idea what you're caught up in, do you?
Yeah.
Long story short, you've been chosen as a Master.
Have you noticed a brand somewhere on your body?
A brand?
She refers to the Command Seals, Shirou.
O-Oh, these...
Yes. Those brand you as a Master.
They're also spells to control your Servant.
As long as you have those, you can control your Servant.
What do you mean, as long as I have them?
Command Seals provide absolute orders.
They force unconditional obedience on your Servant, and let you bend them to your will.
Remember how Saber broke off her attack earlier?
However, you only get three of such absolute orders, so try not to waste them.
If you use them all, you'll probably be killed,
so I suggest you take care of them.
I'll be killed?
That's right.
The Holy Grail War revolves around Masters defeating other Masters.
The Master that beats the other six
will win the Holy Grail, which can grant any wish.
Whoa, wait a sec... What do you mean by "Holy Grail"?
To cut to the chase, you've been dragged into a ritual.
One called the Holy Grail War, fought by seven Masters.
A battle to the death between Magi.
Do you even know what you're saying?
I'm simply laying out the facts.
Besides, it should be clear, even to you.
After all, a Servant nearly killed you, not once, but twice.
Convinced yet?
I was also chosen as a Master.
Think of your Servant as a familiar the Holy Grail granted to you
to help you survive the Holy Grail War.
She doesn't look much like a familiar to me.
Of course not.
Though they're technically familiars, Servants are actually superhuman beings—
heroes from the past.
A hero from the past? Saber?
That's right. Servants are heroes pulled from legends,
be they ancient or modern,
into our time and given physical forms.
It's the Master's role to summon them,
and a phenomenon of the Grail manifests them afterward.
Basically, a Servant is always with you in spirit form.
And should the need arise, you can materialize them and make them fight.
So you can transform them between spirit and physical form at will.
That's how that guy in red...
That's Archer.
For the time being, I'm having him keep watch outside.
Do you understand everything so far?
The individual words, sure.
For a more detailed explanation, you should talk to the man who oversees the Grail War.
All I can tell you
is that you have no choice but to fight,
and that Servants are powerful familiars, so you should use yours well.
Now, then...
From what Emiya has said,
I gather that you're in an incomplete state, Saber?
Indeed.
It is as you say. I am in suboptimal condition.
Shirou is not a fully trained Master,
so even replenishing my mana will likely be difficult for him.
That's surprising.
Hey, what does that mean, Tohsaka?
Servants maintain their existence here with mana supplied by their Masters.
But because you're a novice, she can't get mana from you,
so before long, it'll become a problem.
Would you like some, Emiya?
I'm good.
I have to admit though, I didn't expect you to be so forthcoming with me.
You'd already realized something was wrong, so there was no point in concealing it.
Given that,
the best course was to enlighten Shirou as to his situation, by revealing the truth to an enemy.
You're a woman of outstanding character, too...
Man, what a waste!
If I were Saber's Master, this war would be as good as won!
Hey, are you saying I'm not worthy of her?
Of course I am, you dolt!
Anyway, shall we go?
Go? Where?
To see the man who knows all about the Holy Grail War.
You want to know the reason behind it, don't you?
Of course I do,
but it's really late.
You don't wanna go?
If you say so, it's your call. What about you, Saber?
Leave Saber out of this!
Don't try to coerce her.
Oh, so you do think like a Master...
You don't like me talking to your Saber?
Why would I care?
Crap, I'm starting to feel that something is wrong with her.
Anyway, Saber's a hero from the past, right?
Won't she have trouble making sense of the modern world?
Untrue, Shirou.
Servants are equipped to adapt to whatever era they find themselves in.
As such, I am quite familiar with this time period.
You are? Really?
Of course.
This is also not the first time that I have been summoned to this era.
No way! What are the odds?
Well? Where is our destination?
The church in Shinto.
Why do you suppose Saber won't come in with us?
She said she's been in this time period before...
So maybe something happened between her and the dubious priest here.
Tohsaka, what kind of priest is this?
He used to be my father's pupil.
After Father died, he became my guardian.
That makes him both my predecessor as a disciple, as well as my second teacher.
Wait, so this priest is also a mage?
That's right.
He is, without question, a dubious priest.
You've never accepted my repeated invitations,
and now here you are, with an unusual guest.
I take it this means he is the seventh,
Rin?
I am Kotomine Kirei.
What is your name, seventh Master?
Emiya Shirou.
Emiya?
Then I assume that you are the Master of Saber, Emiya Shirou?
Yeah, I made a pact with Saber,
but this stuff about Masters and the Holy Grail War is all nonsense to me.
If a Master is supposed to be a proper Magus,
you really ought to pick someone else.
I see.
This is serious, indeed.
You'll need to start from square one with him.
Very well.
This is the first time you have ever sought my assistance.
Emiya Shirou,
the status of Master cannot be yielded to another.
And once conferred, it is not something from which one walks away.
Being a Master is a trial you have been chosen to undergo.
Until you win the Grail, you will not be freed from that ordeal.
Emiya Shirou, this battle you find yourself caught up in is called the Holy Grail War.
Some crazy battle where seven Masters fight to the death, right?
It is a ritual meant to select the one who is worthy to hold the Grail.
You keep talking about this "Holy Grail," but you don't mean the actual Holy Grail, right?
The Grail that appears in this town is, indeed, the genuine article.
For proof, one need look no further than the unrivaled miracle of the Servants.
A Holy Grail capable of this can surely grant its holder limitless power.
In the face of such a fact, the item's "authenticity" is irrelevant.
Then why force people to go through this Holy Grail War charade?
If it's that powerful, why not just share it?
A fair opinion, but only one may claim the Grail.
We did not make that decision, but rather, the Grail itself decided it.
The Grail decided it?
This is all the work of the Grail itself.
It selects its one true owner by having the Masters fight to win it.
That is the Holy Grail War.
I'm still not convinced.
Even if only one can be chosen,
I don't like the idea that you have to kill all the other Masters.
Hold on.
We don't have to kill each other, Emiya.
It is a fight to the death.
Oh, shut up, Kirei!
Listen, the Holy Grail that appears in this city is a spiritual artifact.
If it's intangible, we can't touch it.
Do you see the implication?
That's right.
The point of the Holy Grail War is to get rid of all the other Masters' Servants.
Which means that there is no rule stating you have to kill the other Masters.
Emiya Shirou, if I may ask...
Do you think that you could defeat your Servant?
Servants are difficult to defeat, even if you have a Servant yourself.
So what should one do?
The answer is simple, is it not?
No matter how powerful the Servant,
if its Master is killed, the Servant will vanish with him.
In which case...
Killing the Master is the quickest way.
Exactly.
But what about the opposite case, if a Master's Servant is destroyed first?
Only Servants can touch the Grail, right?
That implies that a Master who's lost their Servant no longer has any value.
No, as long as their Command Seals exist, so do their rights as a Master.
So, if there were a Servant that had lost its Master and had nowhere to go,
it would still have a chance to rejoin the battle.
It is for that reason that Masters kill other Masters.
Then, what if I used up my Command Seals right now?
Wait, that's—
True, your rights as a Master would be lost.
Although I cannot imagine a Magus using magic as powerful as a Command Seal
in so wasteful a manner.
If there were such a Magus,
they would be less than a novice, and merely a coward.
Have I convinced you?
Then let us go back to the beginning, Emiya Shirou.
If you wish to forfeit your status as Master, then so be it.
Simply use up your Command Seals, and break your contract with Saber.
If you do so, I shall guarantee your safety until the Holy Grail War's end.
Why would I need you to guarantee my safety?
I was dispatched here to oversee the cycle of Holy Grail Wars.
Safeguarding Magi that are no longer Masters is the overseer's top priority.
Cycle?
Hang on...
The Holy Grail War didn't just begin?
This is the fifth one.
The previous one was ten years ago, making this the shortest cycle yet.
This has happened four times before?
Correct.
With each passing cycle, the Holy Grail War grows yet more brutal.
Driven by their desires, Masters have engaged in indiscriminate slaughter.
Indiscriminate slaughter...
Then, what would happen if the guy who won the Grail was a complete bastard?
It is beyond our means to stop one whom the Grail has chosen.
After all, it is an omnipotent wish-granting chalice.
If you do not wish that to happen, Emiya Shirou, win it yourself.
At the very least, if you win, it will not go to an indiscriminate killer, yes?
I have no reason to fight.
So you have no interest in what the Grail's holder does,
even if it results in catastrophe?
That's not...
If you have no reason to fight, that's fine.
I take it that you also have no interest in what happened ten years ago?
Ten years ago?
Indeed.
At the end of the previous Grail War,
an unworthy Master touched the Grail.
I know not what that Master wished.
We can only see the aftermath of the resultant catastrophe.
Wait a minute.
Are you saying...
I am.
The Great Fire of Shinto, whose cause remains unknown,
was the aftermath of the Holy Grail War.
Emiya!
You said that this is the fifth one, right?
Has anyone ever won the Grail, then?
One man did indeed hold the Grail, albeit briefly.
What happened to him?
Nothing.
That Grail did not materialize completely.
The result of a foolish man letting sentiment get the better of him.
Simply causing the Grail to appear is trivial.
Once the seven Masters are gathered, the Grail will appear in time.
As Rin says, it is not necessary to slay the other Masters.
But unless you do so, the Grail will never be complete.
It chooses the Master who is worthy of it.
That is why this man, who avoided fighting, did not win the Grail.
In other words, the Grail is meaningless if you obtain it without finishing off the other Masters.
In the last war, the Master who was first to get his hands on the Grail was a fool.
I have said my piece.
Whether or not you decide to participate in the Holy Grail War...
Let us decide it here, Emiya Shirou.
Rejoice, boy.
Your wish will, at last, come true.
Surely you've realized your wish cannot come true without a clear and distinct evil.
Even if you refuse to admit it,
a hero of justice must have an evil to defeat.
Shirou, have you concluded your business here?
Yeah.
And?
I will play my role as Master.
Will you consent to my being your Master, Saber?
My consent is irrelevant.
From the start, you have been my Master.
Did I not swear that my body would be your blade?
In that case...
I will be your Master.
I'll be counting on you, Saber.
What? We aren't supposed to shake hands?
It isn't that.
I wasn't expecting it, so I was startled.
Allow me to renew my vow.
So long as the Command Seals are on your body, I shall serve as your blade.
If the Holy Grail War was the cause of the fire ten years ago,
I can't let something like that ever happen again.
What's wrong?
Not to sound rude, but go home on your own.
Huh?
I brought you here because you weren't officially my enemy yet.
But now, you're a fellow Master, Emiya.
I have no intention of fighting you, Tohsaka.
I should have known.
Seriously, why did I even bother bringing you here?
Rin...
What?
If an easily slain enemy presents itself, then we ought to do so.
You don't have to tell me that.
If you agree, then act.
Or what?
Will you take pity on that boy again?
Don't tell me you that you actually—
O-Of course not!
I just, well...
I owe him, you know?
And until I've repaid him, I couldn't fight with a clear conscience.
Complicating things again.
In that case, call me when you have repaid this debt of yours.
Tohsaka? By debt, do you mean...
Yes.
Intentionally or not, you did use a Command Seal to stop Saber.
So I have to go easy on you, to balance the scales.
You get hung up on the weirdest things, Tohsaka.
I know that... But I have no choice.
I hate being indebted to someone.
You're a good person, aren't you?
Compliments won't make me go easy on you!
I know, but I don't want us to be enemies if I can help it.
I like people like you.
See you around.
You guys done chatting?
Berserker?
We didn't understand anything
My left hand groped for things that vanished to my touch
A moral conflict
stays your hand
and tricks you
out of your future
I don't know how to protect anyone,
and my love might well be fake,
but I want to live my life
The past repeats before my eyes
Here I will trust the me that now stands with you
Until my dream crumbles and withers,
we will open a path together
with prayers on our lips
Time to kill you.
Immortal?
Shirou, stand back!
Don't you get that you're just in the way?
Didn't I just decide that I would fight with you?!
A disgraceful hind should be skewered.
Next Time
The First Battle