Even though Kara no Kyōkai is an important part of the Nasuverse, it's unfortunately far less popular than the well-known Holy Grail War; even many veteran Fate/GLO players aren't very familiar with its stories.
Although Kara no Kyōkai lacks mainstream popularity, its protagonist — Ryougi Shiki — has become famous far beyond the work.
With a pair of the Nasuverse's top-tier Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and a striking, heroic bearing, paired with the line, "If it's alive, even a god, I will kill it for you," she'd won countless fans. Even Rovie had been drawn to that image back in his old life.
Judging by the timeline, Ryougi Shiki should only be a middle-schooler now, and since her stance toward the Root is unknown, Rovie decided not to approach her directly. He set his sights elsewhere.
"Better to find the Mother of Kanzaki City first…"
Compared to the untested Shiki, the legendary absolute future sight of the so-called "Mother of Kanzaki City" would be far more useful to him at present.
Rovie had a hunch he might gain unexpected benefits from meeting her.
"The Mother of Kanzaki City — in truth an old woman who calls herself a fortune-teller, but in essence she's an absolute future-seer hidden in an alley. She gives free divinations — fate, career, love — helping passersby turn misfortune around. She's like an urban legend."
Every fortune-teller brags about their skill, but compared to charlatans and half-baked diviners, the Mother of Kanzaki City's readings were in a different league.
Her eyes were likely genuine future-sight.
How she compared to Grand Caster-class seers like Merlin, Solomon, or Gilgamesh with their Clairvoyance EX was unknown, but without doubt her function far surpassed ordinary "prediction" or "clairvoyance" — it was a cheating ability.
Absolute future sight… even in the Age of Gods such power would earn one a place as an oracle or prophet. Its existence in the modern age was a miracle.
Knowing this, Rovie planned to meet her in person.
…
He walked alone through an alley littered with snow, fallen air-conditioner units and debris, sidestepping the murky puddles formed by melting drifts.
At one fork he casually knocked out two thugs who'd been tailing him and lying in wait, then kept walking without looking back.
Even on New Year's the alley refreshed its petty criminals like an RPG spawn.
"Really? Got found out?!" one of the remaining thugs barked. "You're an outsider, aren't you? Hand over your cash or you'll be missing a few parts!"
Four of them produced knives and boxed Rovie in, shouting about handing over money.
Rovie glanced at the gang hemming him in. He'd never been mugged before — certainly never by clueless muggers — so he found the situation mildly novel. He had no intention of playing along, so without answering he turned to leave.
"Hey! What's your attitude? Didn't you hear me? Give—"
"Aaaah!!"
The lead thug lunged with his dagger to teach Rovie a lesson, but in the next instant a sharp, ear-piercing sound tore the air. A tremendous impact flung him into a pile of trash.
"Shh. Didn't anyone ever teach you to be quiet when others are thinking?" Rovie said, raising a finger and fixing the remaining thugs with an unfriendly stare.
"This is a bit of a waste, but I don't have time to mess around — let's finish this quickly." He unlatched a pocket on his coat and, while the thugs watched in confused horror, withdrew a sealed vial containing a mercury-like liquid. He crushed it in his hand.
—Bang!
"Boil, my blood."Fervor, mel sanguis.
With a crisp crack the mercurial silver fluid poured out, sizzling as it hit the ground. As Rovie whispered the incantation, the spill swelled and rose before him, coalescing into a shifting mass that hovered in his palm — changing shape as he willed it.
This mercurial lunar fluid was a rare Noble Phantasmized magus tool — a top-tier accessory created in Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald's youth and famed within the El-Melloi camp. It served as an automatic offensive/defensive device and an auxiliary calculation engine for sorceries. Even among the Clock Tower's artifacts it was exceedingly useful and therefore priceless.
Rovie's vial had been a gift from his convenient teacher when he advanced to the Sacrifice Rank, and as an alchemist he found the mercurial "alchemical blood" perfectly suited to his craft — so he often carried it.
"What is that thing?!""A monster! It's a monster!"
Watching the silver liquid whirl and form in midair, the thugs who'd been swaggering moments before lost their nerve. Seeing one of their comrades unconscious against the wall and then witnessing this impossible sight, they bolted for the alley's exit.
"Attempting to flee?" Rovie lifted a hand and a faint magical pulse rippled through the hovering fluid.
Under his control the blistered silver blob detonated like a bomb, fragmenting into many razor-sharp droplets that shot forward like needles.
Bang—!!
The alley filled with shrieks. The droplets pierced the thugs and slammed them into the walls; the sounds of cracking ribs and collapses followed. They fell unconscious in a spray of blood and bone fragments.
Rovie was not needlessly murderous. He would not take lives if they had not committed irredeemable crimes, but he would not show leniency. There was no point expecting wicked men to reform by kindness.
—Even if you treat evildoers kindly, their evil nature does not change. The true way to stop them is to deprive them of the power to do harm.
So he cut them down until they could no longer terrorize others — maimed, but not killed — leaving them to crawl through the remainder of their days and feel the weakness they had inflicted on others.
Having settled the matter, Rovie flicked his finger again. The mercurial fluid shimmered, released a blinding silver arc, and the alley was stained in pools of dark red.
"Much better…" he murmured.
He stepped over the scattered limbs and blood and walked deeper into the alley.
"Since I came all this way, you can't make me leave empty-handed. After searching so long, you should come out and meet me, old woman," he said to the emptiness, as if addressing someone hiding there.
A long, slow sigh came from the shadows.
Chapter 10 — The Florist Magus's Advice
Crows cawed across the gray sky and settled on a branch. Black and white, still and moving, life and death — in one instant they converged. The crow's gaze was cold and deep, as if appraising the world or waiting for something. Snow lay quiet on the ground; only the crow's cry echoed.
Because of the bay's proximity, the winter winds were bitterer here. After dealing with the petty criminals, Rovie finally found his target deep in a more secluded alley.
When he stepped into its long length, a strange disharmony prickled at the back of his neck. The dead-end he expected had vanished; in the shadow a table had been set up and a plump figure sat behind it, smiling and beckoning.
"Young man, want a reading? I'm very accurate~"
A warm voice invited him. Rovie turned toward it.
An English-style dark hat pinned a blue flower; a black veil obscured the aged face and silver hair under it. A well-cut black coat and ornate arm jewelry completed the look. Her hands were folded on the table — more like a well-dressed middle-aged lady than a stereotypical street soothsayer.
Spotting the woman tucked into the darkness, Rovie's lips curved. He walked over.
"I thought you wouldn't see me. I was almost ready to leave," he said.
"Really? In my sight I can't see a future where you obediently leave…" the Mother of Kanzaki City replied with a faint smile.
"But the future is never fixed, right?" Rovie answered back with a smile.
"You surprised me," she said. "Predicting someone's future without meeting them — that's a bit of cheating."
"Don't say that, lad. The power isn't truly mine; I'm merely its current vessel. Someday it might leave me."
It was plain neither of them had met before, yet the old woman spoke as if she'd already foreseen his coming. To Rovie, the truth was clear: she'd seen a future in which he did not leave and so had waited.
Still, absolute sight wasn't truly absolute. The future could branch; it wasn't immutable. If she predicted what he'd eat and he deliberately avoided eating, the prediction would be altered. In short, her vision displayed the most probable timeline, and she could nudge people toward it through words.
Rovie pondered the nature of her absolute future sight as she spoke, and the woman chuckled.
"Ha — you're an interesting young man. You're right: the future is changeable. I'd love to answer your questions, but some of this is beyond me. I'm a simple fortune-teller, not a perfect prophet. The rumors are likely just urban legend."
Urban legend indeed, Rovie thought, but he didn't argue.
"Then — pleased to meet you, Mother of Kanzaki City." He bowed slightly to the old woman and sat on the bench across her table. Through her black veil his gaze met her pale blue eyes.
"My name is Rovie. I'm a passing magus, and I won't blab about your existence."
"Thank you, young man." She inclined her head, apparently satisfied.
"I don't want my world to know, and I don't want to bring trouble. I'm only an ordinary fortune-teller — if word spreads that I predict everything with perfect accuracy, I'll have to stop." She sounded genuinely weary.
"Don't worry. I won't do anything foolish," Rovie said.
"I believe you." She smiled.
"Now, let's get to the point. You can probably tell why I've sought you out."
Rovie sat like any customer and asked plainly, his eyes fixed on the blue depths beneath the veil.
"I want you to read my immediate future."
"All right. Then I'll begin."
She lifted her head and stared into him; after a brief study she seemed amused, nodded, and then spoke.
"You're interesting, young man. Your secrets are far stranger than I expected."
Rovie fell silent.
"Your situation is unusual — your origin seems peculiar, almost as if you don't belong to this world. I can't see your future clearly in my sight."
"…And?" Rovie asked.
"So, I'm sorry. Even my eyes can't clearly perceive the future scenes that concern you."
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