The Possibility of Natsukawa Naoki

The place where I met Kariya again was behind a public restroom.

"I didn't expect you to not withdraw from the Holy Grail War?"

Seeing the bright red Command Spells on the back of Kariya's hand, Naoki's tone was slightly surprised.

"Matou Sakura has been taken away by Tōhsaka Tokiomi. Although he wouldn't abandon Matou Sakura given his personality, he might find a more reliable Magus family to adopt her this time. Your wish for Matou Sakura to be safe and healthy has been fulfilled, so why do you still want to participate in the Holy Grail War?"

"There's no particular reason, I just want to repay a favor." Kariya said, "In the years since I left the Matou family, I've traveled all over the world. Isn't there an old saying in the West that goes, 'A drop of water should be repaid with a spring'?"

"So, you want to help me in the Holy Grail War to repay me for saving you and Matou Sakura?" Naoki frowned, "Did you never think that I saved you for some other purpose?"

"When you say this, that possibility has already been ruled out."

Kariya smiled bitterly.

"I've summoned Berserker. If you need my help, just let me know. I don't know how much I can do, but I'll do my best."

"No need."

Contrary to Kariya's expectations, Naoki directly rejected his offer.

Walking closer to him, Naoki removed Kariya's hood, and what appeared before his eyes was a face that could only be described as ugly.

His hair had turned completely white, and his skin had lost all its color, turning into a pale gray like ash. His body was so thin that his bones were visible, and the muscles around his eyes were slack and loose, clearly necrotic. And seeing that the left side of his body was in an odd position, his left leg and left arm must be immobile.

In other words, Kariya was now a useless person.

"You might think I'm being hypocritical, but forgive me, I can't let someone like you with so many scars go to the battlefield. Your body won't allow you to keep doing this."

"Are you... pitying me?"

"You can think of it that way."

In the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kariya was undoubtedly the most pitiful person. He failed to protect the people he wanted to protect, and even the people he loved ended up betraying all the sacrifices he had made due to misunderstandings. In reality, no one had asked him to do anything, so he had to swallow all his pain alone. People who didn't know him laughed at and ignored him, while those who did know him enjoyed it, but in the end, he remained alone for the rest of his life.

Since there was a chance to change everything, Naoki at least didn't want Kariya to return to his old path.

Seeing the unambiguous look in Naoki's eyes, Kariya smiled bitterly: "You're clearly just a kid, but you're still giving orders... You and I are both half-baked and can't become Magi. This kindness will cost us our lives."

"Forget it. Since you don't need it, I'll act according to my own wishes. But I swear to you that I won't attack you in the Holy Grail War."

After saying this, Kariya put on his hat, turned around, and left.

Clenching his fist, Naoki pursed his lips but ultimately didn't stop him. Kariya said that helping him was only part of the reason. More importantly, he probably wanted revenge on Tokiomi. Even though Sakura had been saved now, he still couldn't forgive Tokiomi for pushing him into the insect pit.

'Master, what should we do?'

"That's not my business." Naoki finally spread his hands, "I've tried my best to pull him out of the wormhole, but can I stop him if he wants to die? After all, we can't even protect ourselves now, how can we still have the energy to help others?"

Seeing his Master like this, Arthur couldn't help but feel helpless. He clearly wanted to help others, but he couldn't due to his lack of ability. He deeply understood this feeling. However, because of this, Arthur once again confirmed one thing.

'I'm very happy to be your Servant, Master.'

"Huh? Why are you suddenly talking about this?"

'I'm just writing it as I feel it.' By the way, Master just mentioned a fight with Lancer?'

"Well... although this is just a guess, Lancer might be the first to get involved in the Holy Grail War tonight. I hope we'll let another team fight him, then we'll look for Lancer's Master."

'Why Lancer?'

"This is a conclusion after careful consideration. After thinking about it, I realized that you're the only one who can fight Lancer. But if I want to meet Lancer's Master, I can't do it without you. This is quite a dilemma."

'What about using Command Spells?' Arthur suggested.

'I'll fight Lancer first. Master, use a Command Spell to summon me after you make contact with him.'

Would Naoki use his precious Command Spells in a place like this? It could be done, but he didn't know if the absence of a Command Spell would affect the subsequent situation.

"No, let's do it like this. If you hesitate, you'll lose." Naoki nodded. "But with your current condition, won't you be at a disadvantage against Lancer? I remember that the Master's condition also affects the Servant's condition. Without Mana, your parameter values..."

Due to the lack of Mana supply, Arthur's overall parameter values had now dropped by one rank, and his Noble Phantasm was also half-sealed.

'Don't worry, Master. I've been in worse situations than this. It's just that my strength has weakened. I don't dare say I can defeat Lancer, but I can still hold him off. And I'm more worried about your condition than mine.'

During the Matou family operation five days ago, Naoki lost a lot of vitality and fainted. For Arthur, this couldn't be considered a battle. If he were to face Lancer as his opponent, the demand for Mana would definitely increase significantly. In fact, Naoki was the one who would suffer the most.

After a moment of silence, Naoki smiled and said, "It's fine. I can endure this time. Just let loose and fight. Saber, don't treat me as a burden that needs your attention."

'Yes.'

Arthur obeyed.

Seeing Naoki's serious expression, Arthur hesitated whether to tell him about it.

It's impossible for a non-Magus to summon a Servant. Those who can become Masters are people who have magic circuits. Even Ryunosuke Uryuu's family had Magus blood, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to summon a Servant.

Therefore, the fact that he could summon Arthur proved that Naoki had magic circuits. Perhaps one of his ancestors was a Magus, or he was a first-generation Magus like Emiya Shirou. In short, he had magic circuits. But since no one had guided him, Naoki himself was slow to discover it, and his magic circuits were still blocked.

'Should I tell Master?'