-36- A Servent with no Master

"That guy is a Servant, right!?"

Clutching tightly onto the black wolf beneath her, Olga Marie shouted at Rozen.

"Why would there be Servants here!?"

It was no wonder Olga Marie had such a question. Even Chaldea had only successfully summoned Servants three times, so it was completely abnormal for them to appear in Fuyuki City in the year 2004.

Facing Olga Marie's inquiry, Rozen just shrugged.

"Haven't I mentioned that we were immediately attacked by Servants after the Spiritrons were transferred here?"

This statement only earned Rozen Olga Marie's anger.

"You didn't say anything!"

Olga Marie yelled furiously.

Although Mash had told her the reason for becoming a pseudo-Servant, and they had mentioned being attacked, they hadn't specified that the attackers were Servants.

To that, Rozen had only one response.

"Even if I didn't say it, didn't you figure it out?"

Rozen didn't look at Olga Marie, just urged the familiars to keep running as he spoke.

"That's the result of the Holy Grail War."

That single sentence widened Olga Marie's eyes.

—Holy Grail War.

It was a rare and wondrous ritual even in the world of magecraft, considered a miracle on par with true magic.

The purpose of the ritual was to obtain the Holy Grail, a wish-granting device with incredible magical power.

The so-called Holy Grail War was a battle fought for this wish-granting device.

Seven Masters would participate in the war, summoning seven Heroic Spirits with different classes from the Throne of Heroes using the power of the ritual. They would fight each other until only one pair of Master and Servant remained. When that happened, the Holy Grail, the wish-granting device, would descend, allowing the holder to achieve miracles beyond human capabilities with its tremendous magic.

This matter was not a secret in the world of magecraft. Many prestigious families were aware of the existence of this ritual and the value of the Holy Grail, making them covet it.

Fuyuki City was the origin of the Holy Grail War.

Thus, when Olga Marie mentioned that the Singularity was in Fuyuki City in 2004, it sparked reactions from many mages of prestigious families.

Because...

"According to Chaldea's records, in 2004, there was indeed a Holy Grail War happening in Fuyuki City."

Olga Marie's face turned pale.

"Could it be that these Servants were summoned during the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City?"

That's why Servants not summoned by Chaldea appeared in this town.

That's why Rozen was attacked by Archer.

"They must have taken me as one of the Masters participating in the Holy Grail War."

Rozen solved the puzzle.

It was a battle among seven Masters and their seven Servants, all striving to obtain the Holy Grail. In such a situation, if a Servant mistook Rozen and Mash as enemies also participating in the Holy Grail War, it wasn't surprising that they were attacked.

After being transferred to this era and suffering an unknown Archer's attack, Rozen speculated in this manner.

Therefore, Rozen wasn't surprised at all that there were Servants present in Fuyuki City, attacking them.

"If the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City is still ongoing, then it's not strange for there to be Servants here."

Rozen had a good understanding of the Holy Grail War.

As a teenager who cherished miracles and was fascinated by the Holy Grail's ability to grant wishes, he had accidentally discovered records of it in Chaldea's library years ago, which led to his deep interest in the subject.

Thanks to this, Rozen had a high understanding of the Holy Grail War, and it was from him that Mash had learned about its existence and Fuyuki City's particularity.

As for Olga Marie, her understanding of the Holy Grail War wasn't any less than Rozen's.

"I never expected Chaldea to go up against Servants that were summoned from the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City..."

Olga Marie couldn't express her bitterness.

Perhaps, others were unaware of this?

In fact, Chaldea's Heroic Spirit summoning system was initially based on the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City and was perfected through that reference.

Fuyuki City was the birthplace of the Holy Grail War and the origin of "Heroic Spirit Summoning."

Before that, people could only utilize a fraction of the Heroic Spirits' power through complex high-level magecraft, summoning and commanding them as Servants. However, in the modern era with sparse mysteries, this had become a distant luxury.

It wasn't until the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City caught the attention of mages that people quietly learned about the system of "Heroic Spirit Summoning."

Chaldea's "Fate" was born from improving the summoning system based on the one used in Fuyuki City.

Realizing this, Olga Marie's mood changed.

"If that monster was summoned during the Holy Grail War, there should be a Master, right?" Olga Marie hurriedly said, "While Mash is keeping Berserker busy, let's find the Master!"

Undoubtedly, they couldn't compete with Berserker. The opponent was a top-class Servant. On the other hand, although Mash had gained the power of a Servant, she was merely a newcomer in battle and lacked any experience fighting Servants directly. Moreover, her defensive specialization with a shield meant she could endure the attacks but not win.

If they couldn't defeat Berserker, their only option was to target the Master.

"As long as we defeat the Master, Berserker, who has lost their contract, won't be able to continue fighting!"

Olga Marie could only choose this method.

Servants were beings not native to this world, essentially spiritual entities that needed a contract with a Master to obtain magical energy and a vessel to continue existing. Thus, defeating the opponent's Master would likely make them disappear, unless the enemy possessed special abilities.

However...

"That won't work," Rozen poured cold water on the plan, saying, "If I'm not mistaken, the opponent doesn't have a Master."

"No Master?" Olga Marie was stunned.

But that was Rozen's conjecture.

"Didn't you notice that there hasn't been a single person since we arrived in this town?" Rozen pointed out. "I even sent my familiars to explore the town, but they couldn't find a single trace of human presence."

In other words, there were no living people in Fuyuki City.

"It's likely that something abnormal happened in this Holy Grail War, causing the destruction of Fuyuki City and the disappearance of all humans, putting humanity's history in a crisis of extinction."

Rozen speculated in this manner.

He didn't know what this abnormality was yet, but it seemed to have changed the Holy Grail War's nature, turning the Servants into special entities capable of acting even without their Masters.

"What... what should we do then!?" Olga Marie felt helpless.

"Stop panicking! Let me think!" Rozen scolded Olga Marie and anxiously racked his brain for a solution.