"Eresh-chan..."
Wayland let out a soft, knowing laugh. "You're acting as if you're her yourself, Irigal."
A faint, almost imperceptible sigh echoed in his mind.
["The Lance Cage is Ereshkigal's catalyst,"] Irigal explained, her tone regaining its usual clinical edge. ["It also serves as a reservoir for a massive amount of prana."]
"So... did Ereshkigal have Clairvoyance too?"
Wayland scratched his head. It felt as if everything was being handed to him on a silver platter. "Did she see that she would participate in a Holy Grail War and leave this cage behind for me?"
["Well... it was the Age of Gods. Plenty of people had Clairvoyance. It's entirely possible she knew."]
Irigal paused for a heartbeat. ["Now that you have her catalyst, you can ask her yourself once you summon her."]
Wayland nodded, pushing the unanswered questions to the back of his mind. He gripped the Lance Cage tightly and took a deep breath. "Irigal. Take me out of here."
In an instant, he was back on the desolate plain.
Wayland didn't waste a moment. He caught the first flight back to London and, with the assistance of the Department of Policies, quickly secured a passport for Japan.
His official reason for travel: Transfer Student.
He couldn't exactly put 'Participating in an illegal death match for a wish-granting cup' on the application. He'd be lucky if they didn't institutionalize him on the spot.
Besides, with the Holy Church's influence, such a reason would be a formal invitation for Kirei Kotomine to greet him at the airport with a handful of Black Keys.
Now that he'd essentially hijacked Bazett's slot,and with the Department of Policies obscuring his identity,he was certain Kirei would be very interested in meeting him.
"Irigal, what kind of identity should I adopt for the war?"
["Master, what do you think?"]
"I definitely need to hide my real name. I need an alias and a back-story that's solid enough to pass a casual inspection."
["Master... why don't you use the name 'Ritsuka Fujimaru'?"]
"Huh? Ritsuka Fujimaru?"
Wayland's eyes narrowed. As ideas went, it was certainly an interesting one.
In this world, at this point in time, Ritsuka Fujimaru likely didn't even exist as a magus. Even if he did, he'd be a total civilian. Using the name of the future Savior of Humanity wouldn't raise any eyebrows among the Fuyuki masters.
"But... what if Chaldea is established later and I actually meet the real Ritsuka? That would be awkward."
Wayland shook his head. "Let's go with something else."
["Aww! But Ritsuka is a 'Child of Destiny'! You're always complaining about your luck; maybe changing your name to his would help!"]
"So my EX-rank luck *is* a lie?" Wayland caught the implication instantly.
["Ah! That's not the point!"]
Irigal pivoted with practiced ease. ["My point is that a change of name might actually boost your fortune. After all, you're a Lancer now. In a Holy Grail War, being a Lancer is... historically dangerous."]
'Even the system knows about the 'Lancer Curse'. Poor Cu.'
"And whose fault is that? You're the one who set me up as Scathach's student! I could have been a Musashi or an Artoria... wouldn't being a Saber have been better?"
["Because Eresh-chan is a Lancer!"]
Irigal spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. ["You know that the higher the compatibility between Master and Servant, the easier it is to draw out their full strength. Your... 'natural' luck, combined with Eresh-chan's blessing, is what makes it EX!"]
Wayland opened his mouth to argue, then closed it.
The system had finally admitted it.
He really did have Luck E.
He truly was a disciple of the Shadow Realm.
["And besides... your real name, Li Xiang, sounds remarkably like 'Ritsuka' if you say it the right way,"] Irigal added with a giggle. ["It's like it was meant to be!"]
***
Fuyuki City
The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon.
It wasn't a warm sunrise.
The bustle of Fuyuki Port washed over Wayland in an instant,the familiar yet alien sounds of spoken Japanese echoing all around him.
"Irigal. Switch to translation mode."
["Got it."]
The previously unintelligible chatter instantly shifted into English in his mind.
Since his arrival in this world, Wayland had only mastered two languages: English and his native Chinese. Oh, and Raven-speak, if that counted. As for Japanese, his vocabulary was limited to 'Bakara,' 'Kon nichiwa,' and 'Urusai.'
Fortunately, the Chaldean translation system built into Irigal had a Japanese module. It was accurate and seamless, though more obscure dialects would likely require a specialized charm from Da Vinci.
But he'd traded his translation charm for the Faceless King.
Wayland caught his reflection in the bus window,an ordinary, unremarkable face. As long as no one looked too closely, the Bounded Field would hold.
However, its effectiveness against Servants was questionable. Much like Artoria's Invisible Air, a sufficiently powerful strike would shatter the illusion. His Faceless King was a far cry from a true Noble Phantasm; one solid hit and his secret would be out.
He scanned the bus stops until he found his destination: Homurahara Academy.
Bus #17.
He checked the schedule. The war was about to begin.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]