Fate/Zero:Act 13 Part 3
-47:39:59
After that completely unbelievable day, Waver finally came to terms with the implications of the current situation.
After getting up in the morning, Waver told the old couple that he will be coming back later than usual today, and then rushed to Shinto without even eating breakfast.
Although it was yet the crowded time of the morning rush hour, the bus heading towards the station seemed to be already full; perhaps too many people were commuting between Fuyuki and the neighboring town.
Waver was pushed along by the crowd in a manner he was not used to, while he experienced the ruckus of the people around him. However, right now for Waver, who was feeling hollow and empty inside, this actually made him feel rather secure.
For the past few days, there had always been an overwhelming presence that filled the space next to him. Compared to that – the current oppression and crowd was like standing alone on an empty land after a bustling ritual.
Of course, Rider’s presence was always next to him. Even in this current situation, the majestic and oppressive atmosphere of the Servant in spiritual form can still be felt.
Speaking of, ever since that great battle with Caster two nights before, that big man had always maintained spiritual shape and didn’t materialize.
Had this been some other Servant, then there isn’t much to feel strange about. Since they aren’t in battle mode, there’s no need to specifically materialize and expend excess prana. However, that doesn’t apply to Alexander. The man had participated in the War of the Holy Grail in order to pursuit materialization as his goal, after all.
If this situation only lasted a few hours, then it may still be interpreted as him just having some fun. But it gets rather unusual if he didn’t appear for an entire day. The reason for that Rider not to materialize – may only be one.
Even if he’s in spiritual form, as a Master, Waver can still converse with his Servant at any time. If Waver called for him now, Rider would definitely respond immediately. However, now Waver didn’t dare to open his mouth and inquire. Before he knew what kind of a response Rider would give and before he made thorough counter measures, it’d be better not to start such a conversation.
In order to be prepared for everything, Waver decided to start to shop from morning.
Firstly he needed to go to the supermarket’s outdoor equipment sale and purchase sleep bags and mattresses that can be used in the winter wilderness. Although buying these things cost a lot, it’s nothing compared to the gaming console that Rider bought.
What really irritated him were the prices pharmacies sold energy drinks and portable heaters with. It was literally dirt cheap. He would need to expend large amounts of prana had he wanted to create using magecraft the same medications and equipments, with an expenditure of at least tenfolds. Although buying these things make him feel like he dented the pride of a magus Waver, who was angry beyond reckoning, still bought more than the amount he actually needed.
Waver felt intensely annoyed with the fact that he was born in the current world. What bad luck. It’d be great if he grew up in an era was full of respect and fear towards magecraft! Why did he have to be born into a time when a portable heater only costs 400 yen and no one knew the harshness of life?
Anyways, when he finished buying all these necessities, Waver took the bus back to Miyama town, bought some eel fishball bento from the supermarket two bus stops down the road from the MacKenzies, then heated it gently using a microwave. In order to eat this meal before it gets cold, he’d have to hurry to reach his destination.
Actually, Waver was already eager to ask Rider just what had happened. However, he couldn’t do anything to his Servant that didn’t give any explanation and didn’t even want to show his face. Had Waver been more open, he would definitely have gotten the answer he wanted. But he probably had a lot of concerns – as a magus, he was nowhere near mature, and his sense of powerlessness made him fearful of questioning Rider.
But even if he thought so in his heart, he still didn’t want to lower his head towards Rider. After all, he was already commanded by his own Servant, and that was humiliating enough.
He was indeed very weak and very useless, but Waver was very reluctant in admitting that point. If he can bring about the best outcome through prudent preparations, then even Rider would not be able to underestimate him anymore. With such thoughts in mind, Waver also chose to remain stubbornly silent when faced with Rider’s silence.
Waver had soon traversed the residential areas, and walked into a bushy forest that was going to be developed into an urban park.
Passing through the brushwood with yet no roads developed, Waver walked into its deepest part. Although the scenes here varied drastically between morning and night, Waver still marched towards its center with familiarity.
Having finally reached his destination and made sure everything in the surroundings was in order, Waver sighed in relief. After placing the thermal mat on the leave-strewn ground, Waver sat on it and began eating the bento he just bought from the supermarket. The microwave-heated bento was already cold and its taste was no longer as good, but those weren’t important anymore. What was most important was to consume the energy needed to maintain his life.
“– Does this taste good?”
It was Rider’s voice, something that he hadn’t heard in one entire day and night. Is food still the only thing that can arouse his interest even in spiritual form? Waver couldn’t help but wonder this idly.
“No, it’s disgusting. It’s probably the most disgusting thing in Japanese cuisine.”
Hearing such a reply from Waver, Rider, in spiritual form, sighed as if in regret and said.
“Kid, do you remember a shop called ‘Zhong Kui Pancake’ that you passed in Shinto? The innovative pancake they sell there is really damn miraculous. Pity you didn’t buy it…”
“If you still want to eat it, then hurry up and recover to a state that allows you to materialize.”
“…”
A silent atmosphere spread out strangely. However, now Waver appeared to be quite at ease. As he ate the eel bento in big gulps, the boy who was an apprentice magus continued to speak.
“Do you know where we are? This is the place where you were summoned. I don’t need to explain how good this spiritual ground is, and the Magic Circle used that night for the summoning hasn’t been damaged either. This is the leyline in Fuyuki that suits you the best. This place would definitely help to make your recovery more efficient.”
Actually, Waver had already noticed it since two nights ago. It was impossible for a large Noble Phantasm such as Ionian Hetairoi to be used two nights in a row without any repercussions.
A large amount of prana needs to be spent just to expand such a powerful Reality Marble and maintain it for a while. Moreover, in his battle with Caster, Rider himself was also within the bounded field and received heavy damages.
To top it off, the expenditure of such an amount of prana made Rider, who was so obstinate with being in physical form, change into spiritual form and concentrate on recuperation. It was obviously not a small amount.
“I’ll be staying here the whole day today and do nothing but sleep. So you can take as much of my prana as you like, as long as it doesn’t kill me. This way, it should help your recovery a lot too.”
Rider’s spiritual form was silent for a long time, as if he had his mouth open in shock. Then he laughed loudly.
“… Hahaha. Why didn’t you say it earlier if you noticed it? Mm, I’m really sorry.”
“Idiot! If you don’t hurry up and recover from your current condition, I’ll be the one in danger!”
Waver felt angry all of a sudden. Rider, who used to be so carefree, actually felt apologetic this time. Had he really wanted to explore the reason behind this situation, then it’d be Waver who should feel embarrassed.
Waver’s reason of not wanting to have Rider maintain his physical form was obvious – as a Master, Waver’s prana supply was far beneath the prana expenditure that Rider requires in order to recover.
Of course, it was a kind of humiliation for the Master. He was not fit to command a Servant as powerful as Rider. It was the best proof that he was nothing but a weak second-rate magus. Humiliation and anger; those were the accurate reflections of Waver’s current mood.
Then was it Waver, who couldn’t accurately grasp his Servant’s condition, or was it Rider, who hid and kept this truth from him, the one at fault? Had Rider straightforwardly brought it up when he felt his prana supply running low and made Waver prepare for it ahead of time, then perhaps there could’ve been some other way.
After Waver finished his bento, he drained the energy drink he bought in one gulp, then asked the spiritual entity beside him.
“… What’s wrong? You’ve been quiet.”
“No, I’m wondering if I can hold on a bit longer. The battle at the river bank wasn’t as exhausting as I thought.”
In order to stop the sea demon that Caster summoned from coming on land, Rider maintained the area of his Ionian Hetairoi Reality Marble to a degree beyond its limits. No matter what, it was too much. At that time, compared to his alliance with Saber, Waver was more worried about his Servant.
“At the end, your trump card was surprisingly wasteful of prana, wasn’t it?”
“Not at all. Just that its size became bigger. Those guys in the army weren’t summoned out, so it didn’t need too much prana expenditure to maintain it.”
“Liar. Large magecrafts to such a degree need to use an enormous amount of prana just to activate it. Once activated, the army it summoned within was a quite surprising expenditure for you, wasn’t it?”
“…”
“When I first saw it, I really thought it was a very efficient Noble Phantasm like you said. The amount of prana that you took from my Magic Circuits when you first fought Assassin was really too small in retrospect.”
That was how Waver had a misconception about the amount of prana Ionian Hetairoi needed. Even magecraft must obey the greater rule of ‘equivalent exchange’. Therefore, activating a large magecraft of such a degree was definitely not an easy thing. Waver couldn’t help but once again feel angry with his own naïveté.
The excess intake of energy drinks made Waver feel nausous, and his chest felt as if it was on fire. Waver sat up on the thermal mat, took off his boots, and dived into his sleeping bag.
“Rider, why didn’t you use my prana, which was my duty to provide, and use your own stored prana instead? And you made that decision twice in a row without consulting me… just what do you want to do?”
“As for… that.”
As if it was hard to explain, Rider took a deep sigh.
“Frankly, as a Servant, I am purely a killer of souls. If I got you involved when I released all my prana, it can threaten even your life.”
“Even so – I was prepared.”
Waver said in a low voice, staring at the ground.
“I don’t want this to become your solo battle. This is my first time joining a war. If I do not make sacrifices or shed blood, and do not obtain victory, then this is completely meaningless.”
What Waver couldn’t part with was this thing in his heart that he won’t yield to anyone else.
“Do you know why I want to obtain the Grail? I’m not concerned with what happens after I obtain the Grail. I just want to prove this for everyone to see! I just wanted to confirm it! That I, Waver – even someone like me is able to grab what belongs to me with my own two hands!”
“– But kid, that’s only meaningful under the premise that the Holy Grail actually exists, right?”
Rider’s surprising words made Waver gape and couldn’t speak.
“…Huh?”
“Does the Fuyuki Grail that everyone’s madly fighting for really exist? It’s only a legend. No one’s ever seen it with their own eyes, have they?”
What do these words spoken by Rider mean? Waver couldn’t completely understand it, but at the same time he couldn’t refute it, so he only nodded.
“True, it’s like you said, but…”
“I have also, fought for this kind of things with an ‘uncertain existence’.”
Somehow, Rider’s words contained a hint of bitterness and sorrow, far from his usual majesty.
“I want to behold the endless sea with my own eyes – I crusaded continuously in the world, just to fulfil this dream. Those that believed in me fought with me without a doubt, and even sacrificed their own lives. However, even till the end, they’ve only seen the endless sea that I spoke of in their dreams.”
“…”
“Finally, the eastern crusade was disbanded under the persuasion of those that did not trust me. But that was the right thing to do. Had I continued, my army would surely have been defeated somewhere along the way. I realized that the earth is actually a globe only when I came to this era. It was such a farce. Right now, anyone would figure out that there is no endless sea just by looking at a map. My so-called dream back then would be nothing more than a delusion now.”
“Hey, Rider.”
Even if this is the truth.
But to have Alexander say this – it was still quite a shock for Waver.
A man who had marched forward so bravely towards the vivid dream in his heart – why would he now deny his own dream with such a calm voice?
However, those words of rebuttal tangled in Waver’s throat and remained unsaid at the end.
Waver has the same dream as Rider, but he could not express it no matter what. Because that concerns Waver’s pride.
“I’ve become tired of causing others to sacrifice themselves due to my whimsicalness. If I can ascertain that the Grail indeed exists somewhere, then I would obtain it even if it means your and mine’s lives… but unfortunately, we still don’t know whether the Holy Grail really exists. I don’t want to make the same mistake like not knowing the world is a globe.”
“But I… even so, I’m still your Master.”
Waver wanted to argue, but he immediately mocked himself in his heart.
He couldn’t even provide prana, which should be the least he can do.
He couldn’t even detect the weakness of his Servant, who pushed himself to participate in battles.
As if he didn’t perceive Waver’s worries, Rider’s voice, in spiritual form, once again returned to its usual carefree style, and he laughed out loud.
“Kid, that goes without saying. True, your Magic Circuits are a lot more powerful than usual. The leylines here is pretty good too. If we rest for the whole day like this, then we can get some things going at night.”
Waver himself could already feel the amount of prana that Rider had absorbed through his Magic Circuits. The previous burning sensation in his chest had already completely disappeared; what replaced it was an overwhelming exhaustion as if all the strength in his body had been drawn away. Even moving his fingers and opening his eyes became difficult.
“… What? Get some things going? What do you plan to do after this?”
“Hmm, it’s gonna be like this… tonight, we should regard Saber as our opponent first, and attack that castle in the forest again.”
“Not going to chat them, right?”
“Of course not. The alliance is over. What should be said have all been said. What’s next is to oppose each other with everything we’ve got.”
Although Rider’s voice was still powerful and confident, the vigilance hidden within it could still be heard. That Saber would definitely count as a powerful enemy even for Rider. He had already made the preparation for a majestic and desperate battle to the end.
“… If we keep this up, what kind of a condition would you recover into by night?”
“About that… if all goes well, Gordius Wheel still cannot be used at its most powerful form, but simple flight shouldn’t be a problem.”
Then, as if he thought about this for a while, the spiritual form continued speaks with a sigh mixed in his words.
“But Ionian Hetairoi – I fear I can only use it one more time.”
“Oh…”
It was already the greatest consolidation amongst all the misfortune to have one final trump card left in his hands.
“This should be left for the battle with Archer. I can’t handle that goldie’s killing blow without my trump card. The other enemies can probably be finished with just the war chariot.”
Although this is fine strategically, a new question suddenly emerged in Waver’s mind.
“But… Rider, why did you deliberately pick Saber as your opponent?”
“Hmm?”
“Didn’t you say that you aren’t regarding that woman as an enemy anymore? Besides, based on your currently condition, shouldn’t you do your best to minimise the amount of battles in the future?
And Archer… never mind, that’s some kind of strange promise that you made yourself; can’t go back on that now. But the battle with Saber should be put off; best to wait for other Servants to finish her off.”
Listening to Waver’s serious advice, Rider couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oi, kid. If I can stretch out my fingers, I’m gonna give you a hard flick on your forehead.”
“Wha – what!? Isn’t that the best strategy?”
Had Rider’s physical form been here, Waver must’ve been covering his forehead with his two hands. However, now that the other is in spiritual form, the short magus appeared a bit more forceful than usual too.
“Saber must be defeated by me. As we’re both Heroic Spirits, this is my duty.”
“… What does that mean?”
“If she’s not defeated by me, then that idiotic woman would continue walking down her wrong path. Then it’d really be too sad for her.”
Although Waver found it hard to understand Rider’s words, he understood the feelings of this King of Conquerors, this guy who’s willing to even let the War of the Holy Grail go.
Therefore, as a Master, these extra thoughts are better discarded – in fact, Waver didn’t have the optimism of wishing to rely on someone else to finish off Saber, either. This Servant called Saber is truly too powerful. That mysterious golden Servant, Archer, is also a mighty competitor. Waver thinks that he is very shrewd, and it would be near impossible to get him to damage himself with Saber before Rider fights her.
Therefore, for Rider, the frontal confrontation with Saber is basically inevitable.
“… Never mind, if you wish for it that way… fine…”
Although Waver wanted to argue a bit longer, he realized that nothing would change no matter what he said, and simply gave up. Waver gradually felt so tired that he could not keep away the sleepiness and tucked into his brand new sleeping bag, all the time feeling the warmth of the downy feather quilt.
“Alright, stop holding yourself up. Go to sleep, kid. Now rest is your battle.”
“Mmm…”
Although there were still much to be said, that can be said when he wakes up. He didn’t need to on guard for getting his forehead flicked when conversing with a Rider who’s not in physical form, but he kept feeling as if something was missing here. Moreover, now he felt tired even with opening his mouth and speaking. It’s best to just have a good nap.
Therefore, Waver gradually relaxed his almost exhausted body, and sank into a deep slumber.
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