It should have been a regular day at Chaldea. Well, as normal as a day could be when the rest of humanity was theoretically destroyed and the future resting on the shoulders of a single human girl. A break day had been announced, much to the delight of the Servants, who were either sparring outside or doing whatever they wanted in the common rooms or their own rooms.
Robin and Drake were conversing when they heard a scream of frustration around the corner. Recognizing the familiar voice of their Master, they sighed in resignation and went to find their Master with an angry look on their face.
"Captain Haru…" Drake started, but the red-haired female Master waved her off.
"It's fine, it's fine," Haru said, her initial anger gone to be replaced with dejection. "Your rate-up day was today and I rolled nothing but Black Keys."
"If you're trying to summon me, why didn't you just ask me to roll for you?" Drake asked.
"Remember the last time you did? You got me 4 copies of Gilles and a billion Black Keys."
The pirate sighed in resignation. "Right."
"Asking me is out of the question then," Robin said. "I remember the last time I tried, I ended up getting you nothing but mapo."
"And I burnt them for mana prisms… this game is giving me a headache," Haru groaned. "I don't get it. I've summoned all of you here to Chaldea and I can't even get most of you in a mobile game! Where did I get all the E-ranked luck from? I give up… maybe I should ask Dr. Roman for some more money since Jackie's rate-up day is in a few days… or I should go drop off the Black Keys I just summoned here today to Amakusa… whatever. See you around, Drake, Robin."
The pirate and the mercenary exchanged concerned glances for their Master as they watched her walk down the hallway.
Haru lay on her bed, busy farming hands. While Drake hadn't been summoned, she had managed to get Medea to NP5 and decided that farming some Caster EXP cards wouldn't be too bad. After defeating the last wave, her phone's battery level had dropped to 5%. She plugged in her phone and began listlessly scrolling through her Servant list. "Ugh… 3 stars, more 3 stars, 2 SRs, there's Mashu…" Her voice trailed off as she saw her one beacon of hope in the accursed game known as Fate Grand/Order.
Karna. She had somehow summoned him when she first downloaded the game (it had already existed for a while before she decided to play and she now had him grailed to 100 and his skills were nearing 10/10/10) and knew that it was the only time she'd probably have good luck in the game. Her prediction came true when she progressed through the game—no SSR ever came to her. Their rate-up days produced even more Black Keys and mapo for her.
Haru groaned and started rolling around on her bed. "I just want more SSRs in this stupid game that probably shouldn't have existed in this world in the first place!" She closed her eyes, moaning in frustration.
"Is that really all you want right now?" A voice asked.
Haru's eyes shot open and she sat up. "Who is it?" Looking around carefully, she realized she wasn't in her own room, instead standing in some dark, empty place. "A dream… alright, who is it?" She asked crossly. "Solomon, if you're going to laugh at me, at least do it where I can see your arrogant face." Yet deep down, she hoped it wasn't the King of Magic. The last thing she needed to see after her failure at rolling another SSR was to see the face of the being that threatened humanity's future.
"You valiantly battle with your Servants for Humanity's future, yet when it comes to a mobile game, you're reduced to an ordinary fangirl with issues over not managing to roll Gilgamesh or Ozymandias. Come on, aren't you happy with Karna?"
"Of course I am!" Haru said. "I just want more SSRs so I can blast the enemies easier, okay?! I don't even have an SR Archer to beat up Saber-class enemies and Robin just won't cut it. An SR Caster would also be nice and…" She started rambling, and the voice cut her off with a small cough.
"As amusing as it is to watch you agonize over your terrible luck in the mobile Fate/Grand Order, I have a proposition for you."
"Reveal yourself first before that."
"Sharp as always, Haru." An old man with red eyes materialized in front of her, and Haru gaped.
"You're that old guy on that 5 star Craft Essence!"
"That 'old guy on that 5 star Craft Essence' has a name, you know."
"Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, I know," Haru said, an astonished expression still on her face. "The Wizard Marshall and the Dead Apostle Ancestor who mastered the Second Magic."
"Oh, so you have heard of me! That clears things up, then?"
"No. What do you want with me? Going to tell me about a timeline "No. What do you want with me? Going to tell me about a timeline where I fail and the world's going to burn?"
"No, but it did happen. Like I said earlier, I have a proposition for you."
Haru's apprehension was replaced with curiosity. "What is it?"
"Have you heard of the Great Holy Grail War?"
"Yeah. Astolfo and Jeanne talk about it occasionally. 14 Servants divided into two factions of 7 and it took place in Romania. Vlad gets really annoyed when they talk about it because he got betrayed by his Master in that war. Karna, Amakusa and Siegfried were in there as well, right?"
"Among other Servants, yes. Would you like to participate in it?"
Haru gaped at Zelretch.
Zelretch laughed at the look on her face. "I'm being serious, by the way. With the Second Magic, I'll be able to transport you to another domain of the Kaleidoscope for a while, and you will retain all your knowledge and your magic circuits."
"Uh, I have a world to save here?"
"Relax, it's only going to be for a few days. You guys are nowhere near finding Solomon."
"What's in it for me and why are you even asking me?"
"Just an experiment. As for what's in it for you… you're low on Saint Quartz, right?"
"Down to zero," Haru confirmed with a dejected face.
"500 quartz and complete knowledge of the events in the Great Holy Grail War, plus your Servant will be Karna."
Haru's eyes shone. "You're serious?! 500 quartz?! And Karna?! Wait, you're not joking, right? I've heard way too many times that you're a complete troll."
"I'm being serious this time. 1000 quartz, then?"
At this point, Haru had literal stars in her eyes.
Zelretch chuckled at her expression. "Let's shake on it, shall we? I'll transport you to the Clock Tower and handle most of the negotiations. You get 500 quartz as an advance payment." He held out his hand.
Haru nodded excitedly and took his hand. "Deal."
"Never again…" Haru moaned as she lay on the ground of Zelretch's rather nice office in the Clock Tower. "Whatever method you used to travel across the Kaleidoscope, it's worse than Rayshifting."
Zelretch laughed at her discomfort. "You're going to have to go through the same feeling when I send you back. Now get up, I need to talk with a few people before you can get Karna's catalyst."
Haru's eyes lit up at the mention of summoning Karna and sat up, her previous nausea already disappearing. "Who are we going to talk to?"
"Rocco Belfaban and Feend vor Sembren to start, and if too many complications pop up, Lord El-Melloi II."
"Waver's in this timeline as well?"
"He's in most timelines. Now, let's go."
"Wait-wait-wait… oh good, my phone's with me. Wait, how is it at 100%?!"
"I tweaked its functions on the trip here. It runs off your own mana, which shouldn't be a problem since your apples can now replenish your depleted mana."
Zelretch led Haru out into the hallway and began walking briskly in one direction, the younger female scrambling to follow him as she checked out the new features her phone now had. Looking up briefly as she saw Zelretch turn a corner, she noticed looks of fear and apprehension on the faces of the mages they passed, all of them staring at Zelretch with visible trepidation. Haru shrugged and went back to farming hands. Magically, FGO also didn't need WiFi to run.
The two stopped in front of a door with the name "Rocco Belfaban" inscribed on it, and Zelretch casually opened it, letting himself and Haru in.
An old man, adjusting his glasses, looked up to scowl at whoever had entered without his permission. His scowl quickly died away into a look of apprehension upon seeing Zelretch. "W-wizard Marshall!"
"Hello there, Rocco," Zelretch said cheerfully. "I assume you're expecting Professor von Sembren in a few more minutes?"
Rocco nodded slowly, still shocked at the fact that Zelretch himself had sauntered into his office. "Might I ask who the girl behind you is?"
"I'm Haru, nice to meetcha!" Haru momentarily looked up with a grin before resuming her farming.
"She's an apprentice-in-training," Zelretch said smoothly. "I brought her here for a special purpose. Let's wait for Professor vor Sembren, shall we?"
The bewildered man could only nod slowly as he motioned for them to sit. Haru, now farming ascension and skill-up materials, grinned as a Forbidden Page dropped from a defeated Spellbook. She had needed just one more to ascend Medea.
Soon enough, a person knocked at the door. "Come in," Rocco called.
The door opened to reveal a black-haired man who had a box in one hand and an arrogant smile on his face. The smile dropped immediately to be replaced with hidden fear as he stared at Zelretch. "Wizard Marshall…!"
"Hello, hello," Zelretch said pleasantly. "Why don't you come in? I was waiting to talk to you."
Feend took the farthest route away from Zelretch as he could to Rocco's chair, placing the box on his desk. "If I may ask, what brings you here today, Wizard Marshall? And who is the girl behind you?"
"She is an apprentice-in-training of mine. And I already said I wanted to talk with you," Zelretch said. "I'll be straight for once. Feend vor Sembren, I want you to drop out of the Great Holy Grail War."
Feend's mouth dropped open, while Rocco simply stared at Zelretch in shock. "Come again…?" The older magus stuttered.
"Y-you can't be serious, Wizard Marshall," Feend stammered. "This is the only chance I have at reaching the Root!"
"Hm. I distinctly recall too many magi saying that and all dying in their quest for the Holy Grail. I will repeat this once. Drop out of the Great Holy Grail War. If you participate, you will lose your Servant even before the war officially starts."
"W-what do you mean? I've already done research on my hero's legend. There's no way I'd lose him even before the war starts!"
"You'd be surprised," Zelretch said calmly. "I will tell you of your fate should you participate: you will be poisoned, have your Servant stolen, and ultimately die before you even meet your Servant face to face. The same fate has happened to you in nearly all the domains of the Kaleidoscope I've visited with the Great Holy Grail War in it."
Feend stared at Zelretch in shock. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Drop out of the war. Let Haru here participate for you."
Haru finally looked up from her phone, waving at Feend. His face darkened into one of disdain and skepticism, but Haru simply stared back. She had to deal with Alter Cu glaring at her in Chaldea, and his death glares were much scarier.
"What can this child do?"
"Like I said, she is an apprentice-in-training of mine. Not officially at least, but in her domain of the Kaleidoscope, she is much more capable than most magi in the Clock Tower. I assure you, she is stronger than she looks. Anyways, I believe you have a class soon?"
Feend sputtered incoherently, while Rocco was still stuck in his shocked state.
Zelretch grinned at their expressions. "Let's give them a few more minutes, shall we?"
Haru groaned. "Now I know why you're such a troll."
"Uwahhh! So this is Karna's catalyst?" Haru said in excitement as she gazed at the tarnished piece of golden armour.
"Of course," Zelretch said. "Didn't you use the same thing to summon him to Chaldea?"
"I stole a piece of his bodysuit in America for a catalyst," Haru admitted. "So, how does a summoning for a Grail War work?"
"You're going to directly summon him from your Chaldea so that there won't be any complications. You already have the 500 quartz with you, so the rest of this job is for you to do."
"Oh, so it's easier then!" Haru took 3 quartz out of her phone and tossed it into the middle of the circle along with Karna's catalyst, and then activated her circuits, sending a burst of mana into the circle to activate it. The circle glowed with rainbow-coloured orbs, spinning rapidly before converging in the centre of the circle. 3 circles of light expanded around the circle, indicating the appearance of a Servant. Haru squealed in delight as a figure began to materialize. After a few seconds, the light died down to reveal Karna, the merest trace of confusion in his aquamarine eyes.
"Master Haru…?"
"Karnacchi!" Haru gasped in delight.
Karna looked around, taking in his surroundings. "I do not know of the circumstances that caused me to be summoned as a Servant when I was already summoned in Chaldea… yet I can tell that this is Holy Grail War. Haru, what did you do?"
"I accepted Zelretch's offer to participate in the Great Holy Grail War for some Saint Quartz," Haru replied. "Have you guys realized I disappeared yet?"
"No," Karna replied. "Drake and Robin told everyone that you were sulking in your room, and Mashu said not to bother you until the next day. And Haru, you were talking about the Great Holy Grail War, right?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah. Your former Master's alive and not a participant in the war, if that's what you were asking." Haru knew Karna had been deeply loyal to Feend in the Great Holy Grail War that he remembered, even if the magus and Servant had never met.
"Is it really all right to abandon your mission to Chaldea, Master?"
"Only for a few days, right? Don't worry, with your help and my knowledge of the Great Holy Grail War that I got from you and the others, I think we can shorten this war according to my agenda."
"While the circumstances for this War is different… I will say this. My spear is yours, Master Haru. I swore that when you summoned me to Chaldea, and even now, I am your Servant. I will aid you in this quest."
"Yay! You're the best, Karnacchi! By the way, I didn't pull you away from anything that would trip the alarms, right?"
"I do not think so, but I was sparring with Siegfried when you summoned me here. He would have raised the alarms."
"Oops. Oh well, let's just get this over with, then!"
"So you're all set?" Zelretch asked. "One more thing, Haru."
"Eh?"
"You may have partial knowledge of the goings-on of this war from conversations with other Servants, but if you want to survive, you will need full knowledge of the entire event. So here." A large book materialized in Zelretch's hands and he tossed it at Haru, who staggered under the weight of it. "Well then, I'll take my leave. You'll get your 500 quartz once the war's over." And with that, Zelretch disappeared.
Haru stared at the place where Zelretch disappeared. "… He's worse than Merlin."
"…"
"Anyways, Zelretch was nice enough to give me first-class plane tickets to Romania. Let's go and throw wrenches in everything that happens, shall we?"
"Romania's quite pretty, don't you think? No minor singularity has ever been here, so this is my first time seeing it." Haru was walking in the streets of Shigisoara with Karna beside her. Haru was currently wearing her modified white and black Chaldea uniform, while Karna was in a formal black suit.
"It is," Karna replied laconically. "More importantly, Haru, have you planned out your meeting with Shirou Amakusa?"
"Hm… somewhat," Haru replied. "According to what Amakusa told me back at Chaldea, he had convinced the Masters to summon their Servants together and then controlled them with the help of Semiramis's poisoned tea. So accepting anything from them is a no-go. Mordred told me her Master apparently was a latecomer and travelled separately from the others. We have two choices: ally with Mordred and Kairi Shishigo or blackmail Semiramis and Amakusa into letting us stay in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon when it launches. Honestly, I think the latter is a better idea. What do you think, Karna?"
"I believe staying with Mordred and her Master will be safer for you, Haru, but there is an advantage to staying close to Shirou Amakusa Tokisada and the Queen of Assyria. We would be able to monitor their actions and you would most likely take the opportunity to manipulate them since you know of their future actions."
"Ehehe, nothing gets past you, does it? I'm guessing Discernment of the Poor is a passive skill now, right?"
Karna nodded.
"Let's see… I checked your stats when I first summoned you here, and I'll make sure one more time. Level 90 but I'm making sure you're staying in your second ascension armour so that Kavacha and Kundala are active. Actually, do levels even matter in regular Grail Wars? Your only active skill is your Mana Burst of Flames, which will be mana-intensive for me but I have apples to make up for it. And you are NOT going to use Vasavi Shakti, okay? Use Brahmastra Kundala or anything else, but not Vasavi Shakti."
"Understood, Haru."
"Anything else we can settle later. Oh, looks like this is the place." Haru stopped in front of a church. "Karna, can you dematerialize for now? Keep an eye out for any traps."
Karna nodded and dissolved into astral form. Taking a second to compose herself, Haru turned on her phone and went through the list of Mystic Codes she had. "The standard uniform probably won't help much… the swimsuit is a bad idea… oh yes, the battlesuit will do nicely." Tapping once on the icon, Haru smiled as her outfit changed to her orange and white battlesuit.
Confidently, she strode to the doors of the church.
"I just remembered why I don't like churches… they're creepy when they're empty," Haru complained as she walked down the aisle to the altar. "Hey! Anyone home?"
"Oh? Who might you be?" A man stepped out from behind the altar.
Haru fought down the urge to wave at a Servant she was quite familiar with back in Chaldea, and opted for a smile. "I believe I'm the second-last Master to join the Red Faction in the Great Holy Grail War? My name's Haru."
Amakusa's eyebrow lifted just a fraction. "The Mages' Association contacted me and said they were replacing Feend vor Sembren with someone Wizard Marshall Zelretch personally put forward… and you are that person?"
"Yup!" Haru said. "Who are you, by the way?"
"My name is ShirouKotomine, the mediator for this war, and a Master of the Red Faction. Do you know about the details of this war?"
Kotomine… ah, why did he have to choose the last name of the guy I hate the most besides Solomon? "Red Faction versus the Black Faction of Yggdmillenia, the Red Masters are supposed to be from the Mages' Association, and we're supposed to be taking back the Greater Grail. I guess I know enough."
"I see. Then, will you show your Servant? I will show mine as well."
Haru shrugged. "Go ahead, Lancer." I'm going to have to get used to calling you Lancer, she mentally thought to Karna.
If not for the other lancers you summoned to Chaldea, you would have called me that all the time, Karna replied, materializing in full armour.
Behind Amakusa, a beautiful woman dressed in black and with pointed ears materialized, a dangerous smirk on her face as she assessed Haru. Haru stared back refusing to back down. She reminds me of Gilgamesh. Well, she was a ruler and was associated with Babylon… which means I'll have to be careful around her.Gil's Archer personality is most like her… Amakusa wasn't lying when he described her to me back in Chaldea.
"Such nice eyes for such a young girl," Semiramis commented as she gazed at Haru. "Already looking like they're filled with experience beyond your age, and not afraid to stare down a proud ruler."
Haru shrugged before curtsying to Semiramis. "I don't know who you are but you appear to be ancient royalty."
Assassin of Red's smirk only widened. "Oh, and already deferential to the one clearly above her in rank. I approve of you and your Servant, child."
"Thank you for that, my Queen," Haru replied.
Is all this shallow flattery really necessary? Karna asked.
No, she's probably seeing through me, but being polite won't hurt. At least she seems easier to deal with than Gilgamesh's Archer pain in the ass personality. Lucky for me, she doesn't seem to call people mongrels.
"Shall we discuss a bit more about the Red Faction's plans? We are expecting the last Master tomorrow, so we should start deciding on how to handle the Black Faction."
"Sure," Haru said with a shrug.
"Please follow me to the back, then."
Here it comes. Obviously I don't have a high magic resistance, so we're going to fight our way out if necessary, Karna.
Understood, Haru.
"Please sit," Amakusa invited as he let them into a dimly-lit room with comfortable-looking couches. Haru picked the one closest to the door, Karna standing beside her.
Semiramis materialized with a pot of tea, handing it to Amakusa. He poured cups for both of them.
"Thanks," Haru said, but didn't touch it.
"You don't like tea?" Amakusa asked.
"No thanks, it tastes like bitter leaf water." In truth, Haru quite liked tea, but she knew the tea Semiramis prepared was probably poisonous.
"Do you want some water, then?"
"Nah, I'm fine… after all, you two are planning on stealing Karna from me once you incapacitate me with a poisoned drink… right? After all, all you want is the Greater Grail… Shirou Amakusa Tokisada."
The shocked expression on Semiramis's face was priceless, and Haru snickered, snapping a picture with her phone to save for later. Meanwhile, Amakusa simply smiled, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "You aren't a normal mage, aren't you?"
"Who knows," Haru said. "Shall we handle this matter civilly or do you want a fight? As a Ruler-class Servant, I bet you've already figured out Lancer's true identity. And I do have some tricks up my sleeve."
Semiramis recovered from her shock and gestured, a magic circle forming on her hand and firing a chain at Haru. Karna blocked the chain before it came within 2 metres of Haru, sliding into his battle stance. Haru simply aimed one pointer finger at Amakusa, who hadn't moved, and spoke. "Gandr."
A bolt of black shot from Haru's finger. Faster than what even Semiramis could see, the bolt connected with Amakusa's chest, blowing him back with a grunt of surprise. Semiramis rushed over to his side. "Master!"
"I cannot move my body… is this your power, Haru?" Amakusa asked.
"Actually, it's one of the spells from my mystic code. You shouldn't be incapacitated for too long. Now, can we get to negotiations? I don't plan on actively going against you two."
"Then what do you want, child?" Semiramis hissed.
"Let Karna and I stay in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for the duration of the war and give us free rein to mess with the Black Faction whenever we want. I will take orders from Amakusa if they fit my goals. In exchange, I can give you knowledge about your possible futures, as I am, as you may or may not have figured out, a magus from the future, brought here by Zelretch." Eh, I can deal with the consequences for revealing this too early. It's the only way for them to let me go crazy anyways.
"So you know how the war will turn out in the end?" Amakusa asked.
"There's a bunch of possibilities. Obviously if I tell you now the current timeline is going to be messed up, and I don't want that happening. I also know the identities of the Servants in the Black Faction and that you guys plan on stealing the Greater Grail from the Yggdmillenia family as soon as you gather enough supplies for Queen Semiramis's Noble Phantasm."
"You know much more than anyone else should in this world… I will believe that you are someone from the future, then. It can't be helped. I will agree to your conditions, but you will tell me everything that can happen to my plan."
"Yes, yes, humanity's salvation, I get it. Are we good, then? Contact me if you have any orders for me. Now, if you don't mind, we're going. Let's go, Lancer."
Haru spun and left the room, Karna briefly glancing over at Amakusa and Semiramis before following her.
"She'll ruin our plans," Semiramis stated when they were out of earshot. "I can tell. She is not afraid to face even the greatest adversaries of this world, and despite my growing respect for her abilities and personality, we should eliminate her."
"She'll be hard to incapacitate even without her Servant to protect her," Amakusa stated, pushing himself up and dusting off his clothes. Picking up a piece of paper Haru had dropped, he noted the phone number written on it. "We should tread carefully around her. With her on our side for now, we will have the advantage in information."
"Understood, Master."
"Phew, I thought they were actually going to kill me," Haru said, skipping out of the church. "I think that went quite well, though. Thanks for helping out, Karnacchi."
"It is a Servant's duty to protect their Master. Now, what will you do?" Karna had dematerialized his armour in favour of the black suit he had been wearing earlier. Haru had changed back into the Chaldea uniform.
"Hm… Mordred and her Master are only going to come here tomorrow afternoon. Jeanne's not showing up until tomorrow night, when you were scheduled to attack her. I don't have any real money on me, but I can project some Romanian money. Luckily projected money can last for a few days, and we'll be long gone before then. I'll find a decent place to stay for the night and get some food, and we can make some plans for the rest of the war."
"You will most likely have a target on your back thanks to the Queen of Assyria," Karna warned. "She is very suspicious about you."
"As expected," Haru said dismissively. "She's like Medea and Gilgamesh's personalities mixed together but a billion times more evil and manipulative than Medea. I can trust you to protect me anyways. Anyways, should we find an inn or something?"
Karna nodded.
"Great! Let's go, then!"
Chaldea was currently in a state of emergency.
The only Master and human who could possibly save humanity had disappeared, and the staff and Servants were in a panic.
To be honest, Dr. Roman and Mashu probably wouldn't have known Haru was missing until a day after her disappearance, but after Siegfried burst into Dr. Roman's office exclaiming that a summoning circle had appeared under Karna and forcibly teleported him somewhere else in the middle of a spar, Mashu had went to find her senpai…
… only to find that Haru was missing from her room, her phone gone as well but her charger still plugged into the wall.
A facility-wide search had been issued to all the Servants to find their missing Master, but she hadn't been found. Dr. Roman and Da Vinci had also stated that no one had Rayshifted out of Chaldea at that time, causing many to believe that Haru had been abducted by Solomon. Karna's disappearance was also a mystery.
Dr. Roman was currently pacing around his office, agitation clear in his features. Da Vinci looked on, irritation at him clear on her face but hints of worry over Haru were also present. Mashu had been sent with some other level-headed Servants to make sure the more chaotic Servants didn't cause trouble now that their sole Master was gone.
"It just doesn't make sense!" Dr. Roman finally spoke. "I'd understand if only Haru went missing, but Karna as well?! This doesn't match up with anything I've ever read about!"
Da Vinci sighed before clearing her throat to cut off Roman's next tirade. "Roman! Just calm down for a few minutes and think clearly! You've been pacing around for the last hour!"
"How can I when humanity's future is at stake?! Solomon's going to win at this rate and we can't do anything!" Roman resumed pacing around, and then yelped as Da Vinci grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her.
"ROMANI. ARCHAMAN. CALM. DOWN."
Roman winced. He knew Da Vinci was dead serious when she used his full name, and with her sternest tone of voice at that. "Fine. What am I supposed to do?"
"The first thing you can do is stop panicking and help out with calming down the staff."
A knock was heard at the door, and Da Vinci released Roman. "Come in."
A certain Saber-class Servant, also known as Arthur Pendragon, walked into the room. "Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, I think I found a clue as to Master Haru's whereabouts."
Dr. Roman's eyes lit up. "Where is she?!"
Arthur had a distinct look of discomfort on his face as he pulled out a Craft Essence out of his pocket. The card depicted a bearded old man. "I was talking with Arturia when I heard a voice come from my pocket. It appeared to come from the Craft Essence, and it said it knew where Master was."
"The Craft Essence spoke?!" Da Vinci exclaimed.
Dr. Roman gestured for Arthur to hand over the card to him, and examined it. "Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg… master of the Second Magic and the only one to traverse the vast worlds of the Kaleidoscope, hence the name of this Craft Essence. It gives you a huge burst of mana so you can immediately cast your Noble Phantasm. Haru gave it to you so you could use Excalibur right off the bat."
"Ho, you know about me as well? Like the male King of Knights has stated, I do know where she is."
Dr. Roman yelped and dropped the card. "What?!"
Da Vinci grabbed the card before it fell on the ground. "Return Haru and Karna back to Chaldea immediately! How are you even speaking through this card?"
"Perceptive, as expected of Leonardo da Vinci. Haru and Karna are currently participating in a Holy Grail War in another domain of the Kaleidoscope. Rest assured, they are fine. And as to how I can talk through a Craft Essence… after all, wherever there is a 'concept' of my being written in the records of the world, I can use that actualized concept to speak to you. Don't try to understand it, the Second Magic is quite, quite complicated. I will return Haru and Karna to you after one week. It's the same war Vlad III, Astolfo, Siegfried, Jeanne d'Arc, Mordred, and Atalanta participated in."
"The Great Holy Grail War… but Haru has never been in a real Holy Grail War before!"
"Relax, she has enough experience after 7 singularities where she risked her life far more than a single Grail War. Karna's there to protect her as well. She's more capable than any other Master, I'll give her that."
"What reason do you have for sending her there?!"
"A little experiment of mine. She willingly agreed."
"How…?!"
"The answer is obvious to that one, Roman," Da Vinci sighed. "Haru's obsessed with Saint Quartz. Zelretch probably bribed her."
"Correct! 1000 quartz, no more and no less."
"Haru…" Roman groaned and dragged his hand over his face. "What if we locate Solomon before the week ends? What if he ends up destroying us when we're at our most vulnerable? What if another singularity pops up?"
"Not of my concern, but you can last one week without her. Oh, looks like my time's up." The Craft Essence promptly started smoking, and Da Vinci dropped it. It disintegrated into thin air.
Arthur gaped as he watched his Craft Essence destroy itself. "I suppose I'll have to pick out another one from storage…"
"This is a mess," Dr. Roman moaned. "I need Magi Mari's assistance… Da Vinci, can you get my laptop?"
"Romani Archaman! Do you honestly think you should be turning to an internet AI right now?!"
Arthur watched awkwardly as Roman and Da Vinci started arguing, and after a few minutes, he sighed and dematerialized. "Be safe… Master Haru…"