Magician in Type-Moon

Page 246

“You could say that,” Matou Ike shrugged. “By the way, how many of the people I asked you to investigate are still alive?”

Ryougi Shiki did not answer immediately, as if she was recalling something.

He then took out the sketchbook that Matou Ike had given to Kokutou Mikiya and threw it on the bed.

A few seconds later, she spoke calmly: "Three."

"Less than expected."

"Ike Matou said in a deep voice, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked to the window. The rain left streaks on the glass, reflecting the blurry outline of the city.

Matou Ike narrowed her eyes slightly, as if calculating the passing of every second:

"That means there are nine days left until Araya Sōren and the others complete their ritual."

Ryougi Shiki sighed, her gaze distant, and asked him, "So, do you have any clues?"

Matouchi paced slowly, the rhythm of raindrops tapping on the windowpane becoming the accompaniment to his thoughts.

"I've figured out the general idea, but I'm still missing some evidence. The missing part will have to wait for Orange to come back and fill in the gaps."

Ryougi stood with her arms crossed, glanced at him sideways, and raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Orange, is she still coming back? That crazy guy ran into the enemy's headquarters, even I don't dare to go there."

“Of course, since she dared to go there, she must be confident of coming back.”

Ryougi Shiki nodded thoughtfully.

Since Matou Ike, who is also a magician, said so, the chances of Touko surviving are probably quite high.

She then jumped off the bed and walked barefoot to Matou Ike's side.

"As long as the orange is alright, what do you need me to do next?"

Matou Ike was somewhat surprised and turned around to look at Ryougi Shiki.

This was the first time this girl had ever asked him for a task; normally, getting her to do anything was practically impossible.

Are you worried about the oranges?

But it's truly remarkable that she can speak so calmly and without batting an eye.

"Nine days is plenty of time. You can use these days to think about combat issues. However, such a short time probably won't be of much use. How about you go and arrange a meeting with Gan Ye? That kid must be quite worried lately."

Ryougi Shiki gave him a cold glance, her tone full of disdain: "What a busybody."

She looked like she was about to roll her eyes, but she didn't refute Matou Ike's suggestion.

"how about you?"

Ryougi Shiki asked.

"I need to prepare some materials for magic tricks and confirm some things, so I'm going back to my hometown in Fuyuki."

"That's what Matouchi replied."

"Damn it, you're not trying to run away, are you?"

"How could that be? Am I such an irresponsible person?"

Ryougi Shiki stared at Matouike for a moment, then replied irritably:

"hope so."

Chapter 302 Submarine Navigation (Two Chapters Combined)

The next morning, on the Shinkansen.

With a newspaper tucked under his arm and a fluffy ball in a paper bag in his other hand, Matouchi leisurely boarded the train.

Bringing a pet on a train is bound to attract attention.

However, with Matou Ike's hints about magic and the twisted Mystic Eyes, even this unusual aspect quickly becomes understandable.

"Why do you suddenly want to go back to Fuyuki?"

Angela Mannequin jumped onto Matou Ike's head, its fluffy tail completely blocking Matou Ike's view.

Matou Ike reached out and brushed aside the black ball of fur in front of him, frowning:

"Get off my head first before you talk about your stupid questions."

Angra Mainyu showed no remorse whatsoever; on the contrary, he grew even more smug, his tail curling into Matou Ike's hair.

"So? Why are you going back to Fuyuki? I don't think you're the kind of person who runs around aimlessly."

Matou Ike brushed away Angela Mainyu's claws, silently responding to him:

"I saw something interesting in the church's intelligence. I suspect that someone used the concept of the Holy Grail War during the Holy Grail War to summon Heroic Spirits off the field."

The moment those words were spoken, the train, which had been moving smoothly, suddenly shuddered, nearly causing Angela Manuel to fall off Matou Ike's head.

At the same time, a calm and detached female voice came over the train's public address system:

"Attention passengers, there is an abnormality on the tracks ahead. The train will make an emergency stop for inspection. The estimated stop time is 15 minutes. Please remain calm and do not leave your seats."

The lights inside the carriage flickered slightly, creating an awkward atmosphere.

"How is that possible?" Angela Manu steadied herself, yawned, and lazily draped her tail over Matou Ike's shoulder.

"You should know the key elements for summoning a Heroic Spirit, right? Simply borrowing the concept of the Holy Grail War isn't enough. Without leaving the sacred land of Fuyuki, there's no way to connect to that hole leading to the outside world."

Matouchi remained silent for a moment.

He knew, of course, that this was impossible.

The prerequisites for summoning a Heroic Spirit and for acquiring the Boundary Record Belt as a familiar are so stringent that they are almost unimaginable.

First, the magical power generated from the spiritual veins in the land must be gathered together. Even with the scale of the spiritual land of Fuyuki, it would take as long as sixty years to accumulate enough magical power to penetrate the world barrier.

Moreover, magic power cannot be accumulated at will; it requires a stable container to store it.

Two hundred years ago, the sacrifice of the Winter Saintess was to create this vessel, and only a vessel of this caliber could contain such high-level magical power and heroic spirits with spiritual characteristics.

In addition to these, there are many other conditions of varying difficulty that need to be met for a heroic spirit to successfully descend into the world.

Simply relying on concepts to fool the world will not achieve its purpose.

That's why we have doubts, and that's why we need to go back and confirm.

"Ike Matou said in a low voice, looking out at the rain through the car window."

It's been raining quite a lot lately.

"Fine, but if it's just for confirmation, why did you have to include me?" Angra Mainyu lazily shifted his position on his head.

"You've gotten so used to being treated like a pet, haven't you? You really want to be with that girl that much?"

Matou Ike raised an eyebrow, thinking that this guy seemed to have found his place as well.

"...That's nonsense."

"It's up to you, but you're still useful for now. You can decide after this is over."

Then the broadcast started again:

"Attention passengers in the carriage, this train will depart in three minutes. Please remain seated to avoid collisions."

Matou Ike frowned.

Angela Manuel gently wagged her tail and jumped off Matou Ike's head.

“Something’s strange. I’ll go take a look at the conductor’s cab.”

Before Matou Ike could answer, Angelo Manuel's figure turned into a black shadow and disappeared at the end of the carriage.

You see, it's urgent.

Matou Ike shook his head, and then several tiny worms slowly crawled out from his shimmering amber-colored eye sockets, transforming into flies and slipping out through the gap between the train and the outside world.

On this journey, Matouchi rode a Shinkansen 400 series electric multiple unit. The train was very large, and its overall shape resembled a certain unspeakable part of a man.

The vehicle body is silver-gray with dark gray and green stripes, with dark gray stripes on the windows and green lines below the windows.

It is a very modern design.

These things are all normal.

What's truly outrageous is...

"This train has no driver!"

"Ah."

Why aren't you reacting at all?

Angra Mainyu rushed back from the two cabs of the train in a short time and hurriedly reported the important information he had discovered to Matou Ike.

But Matou Ike's bland response left Angela Manuel somewhat embarrassed.

“That’s normal.” Matou Ike remained leaning back in his seat, his eyes slightly narrowed. “Perhaps even the people on this train aren’t living people.”

"You knew all along?" Angra Mainyu flicked his tail and brought his fluffy head close to Matou Ike.

"Tell me, do you have another little secret to hide?"

"You only saw it with your eyes. This train will probably speed up suddenly next. If you don't want to embarrass yourself, you'd better find something to grab onto."

Angra Mainyu's eyes widened, and his tail immediately wrapped tightly around the armrest of the seat: "You should have said so sooner!"

Before the words were finished, the train suddenly emitted a deep rumble, as if a giant beast was awakening from its slumber.

The carriage trembled slightly, then surged forward violently, its speed increasing exponentially in just a few seconds.

The scenery outside the window was stretched into blurry lines, as if the whole world was rushing backward.

"Whoa—!" Angela Manuel nearly fell off his seat, his tail twisting even tighter, like a panicked little monkey hanging from a tree branch.

"That's all?"

"Not only that, at this speed, we'll probably be crossing a bridge in three minutes. But I have bad news for you: that bridge is probably broken right now."

"What?!" Angra Mainyu's tail snapped. "Aren't you going to pull the brakes right now?!"

"Without a driver, how can we brake?" Matou Ike looked out the window at the scenery rushing by, his tone as indifferent as if he were discussing the weather. "I'm not a Rider or anything like that, my riding skill probably won't even reach F."