*Rumble! Rumble!*
Loud thunder-like sounds echoed through the pitch-black night sky for reasons unknown. A red-haired boy, who looked to be only seven or eight and had an ordinary face, gazed out the window.
"Tia, hurry up and go to sleep! Fuyuki City's been really dangerous lately. There's been so many reports of missing and dead children—it's just too scary! You must not go outside!"
A gentle voice of an adult red-haired woman came from outside the door.
"Got it, Mom!" Tia shouted back.
But there's no way Tia was going to listen!
According to Tia's research, tonight was supposed to be the night when the Fourth Holy Grail War officially kicked off—when the King and the Brush Guy would clash for the first time at the warehouse by the docks!
Tia always called Artoria "the King" out of respect—after all, he was a die-hard Artoria fan!
King Arthur, the King of Britain who led the twelve Knights of the Round Table and accomplished great feats… but in the Nasuverse, King Arthur is a girl named Artoria Pendragon.
And in this Fourth Holy Grail War, the King had been summoned.
As for the Brush Guy, that was what people in Tia's original world jokingly called Diarmuid.
He was the top warrior of the Fianna Knights in Celtic mythology, hailed as the "peerless" hero—Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the Radiant-Faced. In this war, Artoria once called him "the man with two brushes," and since his weapons were two spears and he was a Lancer, people started calling him the Brush Guy as a nickname.
The Holy Grail War was originally started by the three great families: the Einzberns, the Makiri (also known as the Matou), and the Tohsaka. The Einzbern family provided the Holy Grail vessel, the Makiri prepared the Command Seals that control Servants, and the Tohsaka set up the magical leyline that summons the Greater Grail. The Holy Grail itself is a wish-granting machine—whoever wins the war can make a wish upon it.
There are seven Masters in the Holy Grail War, each paired with a Servant from one of seven classes:
Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker.
The Holy Grail chooses someone with a strong desire and the potential to be a Master and gives them Command Seals. Usually, it picks mages who have Magic Crests and circuits. Ordinary people aren't supposed to have any chance of becoming Masters.
But things have long since gotten twisted.
The Holy Grail, once a pure wish-granting machine, had become corrupted into something evil—and now it maliciously selects all sorts of twisted people to give Command Seals to.
And Tia, a totally average guy with no cheat skills, no special talent, and no magical background, naturally wasn't chosen.
But he wasn't willing to give up!
Ever since he realized he'd been reborn in Fuyuki City, he'd dreamed every day of getting involved in the Holy Grail War himself. He wanted to summon a Servant who matched him perfectly. I mean, what's the point of being reincarnated into this world if you don't do something epic, right?
Finally, on his seventh birthday, Tia went out during the day to sneak around near the Tohsaka and Matou households like usual. Then, by chance, he saw Irisviel and the cross-dressing King shopping downtown. That's when he knew—the Holy Grail War had really begun. And just like that, his heart sank.
Because if Irisviel was already in Fuyuki, that meant all seven Masters had already been chosen. That also meant the crazy serial killer Ryuunosuke Uryuu, who was behind the recent child murders, had already become the Master of Caster.
And since the Fourth Holy Grail War didn't have any extra Servant classes, there was no way a powerless normal person like him could pull off something wild like summoning an eighth class.
So Tia knew… he had missed his chance.
And there was no way he could save Sakura Matou now.
But even now, staring into the dark sky and imagining what was happening out there, he couldn't calm down. Then, as thunder rumbled again, Tia just couldn't take it anymore.
"Sorry, Mom… I can't hold back any longer!"
He opened the window and jumped out, running straight toward the warehouse at the docks with no hesitation.
His mom heard the window open and the sound of his voice, and rushed into the room, running to the window.
"Tia! Where are you going? Come back right now!"
"Mom! Don't worry, I'll be back soon!"
Tia shouted toward his mother at the window, then hopped on his bike and sped off.
"Sorry, Mom… If I somehow make it out of this alive, I'll stop thinking about all that crazy stuff. I'll stay in this world and be your son, just like a normal kid."
As he rode, he whispered the words under his breath, pedaling faster into the night.
"Tia, please come back safe," Tia's mom mumbled to herself as she watched him leave.
"He really went for it, huh," a man appeared in front of Tia's door. "Sigh… that kid always does stuff like this. Ever since he learned to walk, he's been rushing outside. And for the past two years, he's been going to Mishirakawa Town every single day, just staring blankly at other people's houses. I don't even know what he's doing. Sigh…"
"Dad, I really feel like one day Tia's going to leave us," his mom said with worry.
"Sigh… just believe in him. That kid's got some luck on his side," Tia's dad let out another sigh.
Right then, Tia was riding his bike at full speed toward the warehouse by the docks. He'd been there countless times. For the past two years, in order to figure out where every battle of the Holy Grail War took place, he had memorized every inch of Fuyuki City.
The warehouse where the fight was happening now was in the Bayside Warehouse District. It was only a few blocks from his house. At his speed, he could get there in ten minutes tops.
Soon, after arriving near the warehouse district, Tia stopped. He could already hear sounds of fighting up ahead. Just one turn and he'd be face-to-face with the Servants battling it out.
So of course, Tia didn't dare to show himself.
But… this was his one and only chance. He had to find some way—any way—to get involved with one of them!
Carefully, Tia crept up to the corner and nervously peeked half of his head around.
And the first thing he saw was a tall man riding an ox cart, running right over a pitch-black figure.
Rider Alexander the Great and Berserker Lancelot!
Tia recognized them immediately—how could he not? Their appearances were super distinct, and they were already burned into his mind. In fact, to make sure he never forgot anything, Tia had been writing things down since he was little, carefully documenting everything he knew about the Type-Moon Holy Grail War timelines, just in case his memory ever got fuzzy.
(End of Chapter)