Makiri Zolgen.
To me, that name was both a milestone and a cautionary tale.
He was a man who had once run headlong with passion for the sake of humanity, only to fall into depravity and commit massacres in his final years. It was only at the very end that he managed to reclaim his memories and die as a single human being.
While he was noble in his passing, he was undoubtedly a man who would have met a miserable and wretched end had he missed that final chance—a fact he had taught me with painful clarity.
[Wait, did he manifest as a Servant?]
"No… through the Rinnegan, he registers as a normal human. Most likely, the Counter Force of Alaya sent him here."
"It is as you say. Is that voice the Fifth Magician? It seems you have successfully joined Chaldea… That is good news."
[That doesn't matter right now. Do you have any information regarding this Singularity?]
As Aoko-nee asked bluntly, Zolgen gave a hearty chuckle and snapped his fingers, summoning three sofas and several chairs.
Ritsuka was the first to throw herself onto a cushion. Gareth shook her head as if exasperated and corrected Ritsuka's posture, while the rest of the Servants and I took our seats somewhat awkwardly.
"First, those roaming outside are members of what is known as the 'Mafia.' If one makes direct physical contact with them, a mysterious voice declares 'Elimination,' and the person so declared dies instantly."
"…I was almost in danger, then. I was about to make contact to use the Preta Path's Seal Absorption or the Soul Consumption Technique."
"It is estimated that the Mafia consists of roughly five to eight thousand individuals. The conditions for being designated as Mafia are currently unclear. It ignores age, gender, and even the presence of Magic Circuits or Crests."
"Hey, do you have any proof that you aren't part of the Mafia yourself?"
Mordred asked sharply.
"Regarding your Master… ah, I mean Karma-kun… had I been Mafia, Miss Fujimaru would have lost her life by now."
"Well, Mash would have blocked you anyway."
"Ahem… In any case, to explain the rest of the situation, the Mafia begins their activity the moment the 'Voice' from outside declares 'Night.' Neither commoners nor Magi are affected by the Demonic Fog, but while their cognitive reasoning drops significantly, their physical abilities are enhanced to a transcendent level. Their thought processes become fixated solely on attacking others. And most importantly… there is the issue of 'Servants' designated as Mafia."
"…Do the Servants lose their reason as well?"
"No, the Servants hunt people while retaining their ego. According to information from the Mages Association—the Clock Tower—two Color-ranked Magi were confirmed to have engaged a Servant using a Noble Phantasm, resulting in the deaths of five Grand-ranked Magi caught in the crossfire. For the record, that Noble Phantasm was a Mystic Code presumed to be… a bomb created using a human heart."
[That's Mephistopheles. So that demon has come to this Singularity as well.]
"It seems so."
I was only able to defeat Mephistopheles easily because of my specific capabilities; in truth, even a B-rank Servant is normally more than a match for a Grand-rank Magus.
Even Kayneth would find it difficult to handle even a third of the Assassin of the Hundred Faces attacking at once.
How much more so when the opponent is Mephistopheles, a tricky-style Caster most adept at handling Magi with rigid worldviews?
"The demon from the Faustian plays, huh…"
"What about other Servants… has anyone else from the Mages Association side been designated as Mafia?"
"At the very least, no more exist within the Mages Association."
"That's surprising. Knowing those rotten bastards at the Clock Tower, I'd have expected them to try and end this by slaughtering everyone long ago."
"The problem lies with the four other Servants roaming the night. we have tentatively named them the Four Knights."
"One is Mephisto, so who are the other three?"
At that, Zolgen began explaining, folding his fingers one by one.
"First, a King of Storms clad in black armor, wielding a black lance, and mounted on a black steed. With a single swing of the lance, an entire city district was evaporated."
"…No, wait a second."
"Next, a girl wrapped in rags carrying multiple small daggers. Two Color-ranked Magi were butchered by that girl."
"…"
"Finally, a man with a stern expression who pours down ceaseless lightning and thunder from within the Demonic Fog. He introduced himself as Nikola Tesla."
…Is this for real?
*
A novel that begins with the sentence 'I am screwed' was published once upon a time.
That novel remains vivid in my memory… something about farming potatoes on Mars, if I recall correctly.
And truly, I could summarize the current situation in just those words.
"We're screwed."
"…I did not expect a man like you to say such a thing. Are you not the Master who successfully captured an Entity of the Evils of Humanity?"
"The Evils of Humanity… I suppose so. But those guys are… well, putting the Evils of Humanity aside, they are a lot that's just incredibly annoying to deal with."
[Come to think of it, Third Magician, you have a detailed grasp of the Servant roster. Are these all Heroic Spirits you know?]
Olga Marie's radio transmission came through.
Realizing that all eyes were on me, I began to explain slowly.
"First… I know of fewer than five Heroic Spirits who fire lightning. One of them is Mordred right here… and if it's a guy with a stern face firing lightning, then it must be Nikola Tesla. His Noble Phantasm is System Keraunos… though rather than that, his skill 'Pioneer of the Stars' is the real issue."
"…I think you said something similar about Drake. Is it a good skill?"
"It's less of a 'good skill' and more of a cheat code. Think of it as a skill that forcibly grants a game-changing trump card capable of overturning situations deemed impossible. It's a skill usable only by those humans who achieved feats once considered impossible for their era, like circumnavigating the globe or harnessing electricity."
The room fell into a momentary silence.
As if trying to lighten the mood, an urgent transmission came from Olga Marie.
[Th-Then what about that killer Heroic Spirit? Surely it wouldn't be a wraith like Jack the Ripper appearing in London of all places, right?]
"Spot on. Jack the Ripper has manifested as a Heroic Spirit. With Presence Concealment at Rank EX, and under the conditions of fog, female targets, and night, she's a monster who uses a causality-reversing killing blow that surpasses even Hassan-i-Sabbah."
"…Wow."
"At this rate, I should probably pray that the King of Storms side is easier. Who's that?"
"Artoria Pendragon."
Total silence. A time of literal mental breakdown had arrived.
"Well, the only saving grace is that our side's Servant lineup is equally exceptional. Looking at it now, it seems we've gathered three members of the Round Table."
"…Right. Not counting Mash, all three Servants we have were of the Round Table, weren't they?"
Actually, if we include Mash = Galahad, it's four.
At this point, even the King of Storms feels like she should be an ally…
"By the way, Mr. Makiri? Um, is it okay to call you that?"
"Call me as you please, Last Master of Humanity."
"You can call me Ritsuka Fujimaru too. Everyone I meet calls me 'Last Master of Humanity,' and it's starting to feel really weird!"
"…Very well. Then, Miss Ritsuka, is there something you wished to ask?"
"One thing! You mentioned earlier that you are the 'M' in PMB. So, who are the remaining 'P' and 'B'?"
It was a sharp question.
Makiri nodded briefly and answered her inquiry.
"The 'P' refers to an old friend of mine who has been summoned as a Heroic Spirit, a man named Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus. He is using his elementals and homunculi to suppress the 'Mafia Faction' that runs rampant each night."
"Paracelsus…"
At this stage, I was beginning to doubt if this side was truly an ally or a trap pretending to be one.
A combination of Paracelsus and Makiri…
"The 'B' stands for Big Ben, the Magi of the London Clock Tower. Normally, the entirety of the Mages Association at the Clock Tower should have acted in cooperation, but…"
"I can guess… There's no way those psychos obsessed with the Root would have let a situation like this pass by."
"It is as you say. They were split once when members were designated as part of the Mafia faction, and to make matters worse, those who set out to trace the Root ended up occupying the Spirit Tomb Albion. Effectively, the resistance forces of the Clock Tower are on the verge of collapse. It is only because the remaining survivors occupy the North London district that the situation holds; otherwise, the entire Spirit Tomb could have fallen to the Mafia."
[…You needn't worry about that. Investigating Albion—which even the current Clock Tower cannot fully explore—while having completely lost one's reason is nothing short of suicide.]
Romani asserted.
"I should first introduce those who belong to my faction. Everyone, please come out!"
As Makiri clapped his hands, the door to the room opened and several Servants slowly revealed themselves.
Fortunately, there were no irregular Servants or individuals I didn't recognize.
"Henry Jekyll… and Nursery Rhyme."
"Oh? You know me, Mister?"
"…'Mister,' that word is a bit of a critical hit to the heart."
For some reason, I felt I could understand the heart of a certain spearman from the Trojan War just a little bit better.
"Dr. Jekyll and Nursery Rhyme… Certainly, with this much, you can justify calling yourselves a resistance. To think there were two Servants here."
"In Paracelsus's faction, there are two Servants who call themselves authors. They gave their names only as a fairy tale writer and a playwright. One is a boy with a mature way of speaking and blue hair, and the other is a man with orange hair and an exaggerated theatrical tone."
"Likely Andersen and Shakespeare…"
"Finally, within the Mages Association, there is an individual you likely know well. Someone who introduces himself as an advisory detective."
[No way, Sherlock Holmes! Even a character from a novel appears in person?!]
"The conditions for Heroic Spirits are truly a Mystery… But if Sherlock Holmes is here, doesn't that mean we have an easy win in this Mafia Game?"
Ritsuka asked, but Jekyll shook his head in response.
"In fact, Holmes performed an experiment on two Mafia members from the Mages Association side. The moment they were declared Mafia, and he made contact during the daylight hours to try and resolve the situation, their entire bodies exploded and they died."
"…In a Mafia game, if a Mafia's identity is revealed during the day, they are executed on the spot. That aspect must have been reflected here."
Aggregating the information, the situation was as follows:
The Clock Tower, which should have been managing the crisis, was already splintered and had lost its strength as a resistance. Paracelsus's faction consisted of Holmes and two authors, while Makiri's faction had Henry Jekyll and Nursery Rhyme. Their opponents were the Wild Hunt (Artoria Pendragon Alter), Mephistopheles, Jack the Ripper, and traitors within the Mages Association.
"…There's not enough information. Not nearly enough. First, we need to find a way to end this damn Mafia Game. Before confronting the Wild Hunt or the enemy Servants, our priority is to find the culprit behind this catastrophe."
"According to the advisory detective, he suspects the cause may be the Demonic Fog enshrouding London."
"I doubt that. Chaldea confirmed that this Singularity is essentially floating in isolation. It wouldn't be wrong to view it as a kind of Lostbelt."
"I see… well, it is fortunate that it isn't a true Lostbelt then. Otherwise, every citizen in London would have had to die."
"Which is why we have to restore this damn Singularity before such a thing happens. First, I need to meet the other Servants and exchange information. Where is Paracelsus?"
At that, Makiri brought out a map, pointed to his own house in the center, and drew a line with a long ruler.
"Paracelsus's hideout is located in a district about a thirty-minute walk from here. However, be careful, as a mad demon has been appearing in that vicinity."
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