Inside the study, Waver was hunched over a mountain of documents, wearily rubbing his temples.
Spread out before him was a huge map of Fuyuki City, marked in densely packed lines of different colored ink showing the flow of Spiritual Veins and the suspected locations of magecraft Workshops.
His gaze was focused and grave, trying to extrapolate from the observation records he'd left behind years ago what new variables this Holy Grail War might bring.
Seiji, meanwhile, was "quietly" in another corner of the study, in charge of sorting through historical documents he'd pulled from the Clock Tower archives regarding the shifts in Fuyuki City's Spiritual Veins.
His movements were meticulous. He kept the sound to a minimum even when turning the parchment scrolls, careful not to disturb his teacher's thoughts.
In reality, however, his brain was running at a speed that defied imagination.
[System Directive: Activating Deep Scan Mode.]
[Scan Range: All information carriers containing "Mystery" within a fifty-meter radius.]
[Targets: All magecraft tomes, research notes, observation records, and ward runes within the study...]
[Beginning data archiving...]
In Seiji's field of vision, this physical world was being deconstructed and reassembled.
The heavy grimoires on the shelves, whose runes on the covers broke down in his eyes into the most basic energy circuits; the parchment scrolls scattered across the desk, whose ancient script dissolved into pure streams of information; even the messy notes Waver had jotted by hand, every scratched-out mark exposing the logical leaps of this Lord while he was thinking.
From An Introduction to Magic Circuit Physiology to A Historical Study of Summoning Rituals, from A Primer on Jewel Magecraft to A Complete Compendium of Alchemical Symbols...
For an ordinary magus, this knowledge might take a lifetime to study and understand.
But for Seiji, they were nothing more than a database waiting to be "downloaded."
He was like the most brilliant of hackers, silently stealing the core data of the entire Modern Magecraft Department's "server."
[World Rule Analysis Progress: 1.15%... 1.23%... 1.37%...]
As knowledge continued to pour in, the system's progress on analyzing this world's rules climbed at a rapid pace.
He could feel the suppressed [Absolute Authority] inside him, as if fuel had been poured into it, growing a touch more active. He could even mobilize a trace amount of power to lay down a "cognitive interference" barrier around himself that no ordinary person could detect, making his "little maneuvers" all the safer.
"Damn it... Seiji."
At that moment, Waver's voice cut in, filled with frustration and exhaustion.
"Come over here a moment."
"Yes, teacher."
Seiji immediately halted the system's scan, resumed the look of a focused apprentice, and walked briskly to Waver's desk.
Waver pointed at a sheet of paper drawn with a complex magic circle, covered in red ink corrections. It looked like an answer sheet sentenced to death.
"This is the improved summoning ritual magic circle I extrapolated based on the materials the Tohsaka family provided. In theory, it can minimize mana loss during summoning and increase compatibility with the Heroic Spirit."
"But..." he yanked irritably at his long hair and pointed at the core area of the circle, "the flow of 'ether' here always feels off. I've tried several approaches, and all of them cause the mana circulation to stall at this node. Like a stone clogging a pipe. It just won't go through!"
Seiji's gaze fell on the diagram.
One glance.
With the system's supercomputer-level calculation power and the massive store of knowledge he'd just absorbed, he located the source of the problem in an instant. But he didn't say so right away.
He first knitted his brows into a grave expression, sliding his finger lightly across the paper as though working through a difficult deduction.
A full half-minute passed before Seiji spoke, in a tone of uncertainty tinged with deference.
"Teacher."
He picked up a quill pen and said carefully, "Look here. You followed the traditional 'three primary colors' theory, trying to build a stable Greater Source mana circulation. It's the most classical, most reliable approach."
First, he affirmed Waver's line of thinking, giving the man his due.
"But it overlooks the peculiarity of Fuyuki City's Spiritual Veins. According to the materials I organized earlier, the Spiritual Veins of Fuyuki City once intersected with an Eastern 'dragon vein' a century ago. Although they've since separated, their properties must still carry residues of 'yin-yang and the five elements.' It's like a drop of ink in a cup of water. Even after dilution, the nature of the water has changed."
As Seiji spoke, his pen began sketching swiftly across the paper.
"So perhaps we shouldn't be bound to the number 'three.' 'Three' represents stability, but it also represents stubbornness. If we add two auxiliary 'imaginary number' nodes here, temporarily expanding the stable structure of the 'three primary colors' into the mutually generative structure of the 'five elements'... fire begets earth, earth begets metal... we can perfectly guide this Eastern-tinged Spiritual Vein mana, letting it flow on its own along the 'mutual generation' cycle rather than forcing it to be 'plugged.'"
The tip of his pen traced across the paper, leaving smooth, precise lines.
A brand-new magic circle core, more complex in structure yet flawlessly self-consistent in logic, appeared before Waver's eyes.
Waver stared at the new circle, completely stunned.
The cigar fell from his mouth onto the floor, and he didn't even notice.
"Five elements... imaginary number nodes... a mutual-generation cycle..." he murmured to himself, his eyes filled with shock and elation. "A genius... this is a downright genius conception!"
This line of thinking broke completely free from the framework of Western modern magecraft!
And yet it was so... reasonable!
It did not overturn the old theory. Rather, it added the most exquisite "compatibility patch" on top of the old theory!
He raised his head and looked at Seiji as if at some kind of monster.
What was this young man's brain made of?
He wasn't merely learning knowledge. He was... dissecting knowledge, then reassembling it in his own way!
Seiji, for his part, let just the right hint of panic and unease show on his face, as if frightened by his own daring thought.
"I'm sorry, teacher. I was just... thinking out loud. It might be a wild fancy of mine. Please don't take it seriously..."
"No! It's not a wild fancy!" Waver shot to his feet in excitement, slapping his shoulder so hard that Seiji actually felt pain. "Seiji, you've solved a massive problem for me! With this improved magic circle, we'll have one more important trump card when we go to Fuyuki City!"
Watching Waver's elation, Seiji sneered inwardly.
Trump card?
No.
This is just a shortcut to the abyss that I've prepared for you.
Because in this "improved" magic circle, he had quietly inserted a "backdoor" that only he could read.
A conceptual loophole, crafted from the minute conflict between the "five elements" and "three primary colors" theories.
In ordinary times, it would do nothing.
But at a critical moment, whenever he wished, he could use this "backdoor" to instantly interfere with, or even... hijack the entire summoning ritual!
That was his real purpose.
Plundering knowledge was only the means to better plunder everything else.
...
...
As the trip to Fuyuki City drew nearer, Waver grew busier and busier, spending nearly all his time communicating with the upper echelons of the Mage's Association and preparing strategic supplies.
This gave Seiji more chances to be alone with Gray.
He knew very well that Gray, as a chess piece, was more than just a "conceptual relation to King Arthur." She herself was a key. A key that could open the defenses around Waver's heart, and at critical moments, even sway his judgment.
To completely control Waver, he had to first control this inner disciple he prized so highly.
That afternoon, Seiji found Gray in a small training hall within the El-Melloi Classroom, where she was running synchronization training with her Mystic Code.
The hall was empty, echoing with the sharp whoosh of a weapon being swung.
Gray was struggling to swing an enormous weapon, like the scythe of a death god.
That was her Noble Phantasm "Add" in its partially released form.
Every swing kicked up a fierce gust of air pressure that whirled the dust on the floor.
But her movements looked sluggish and pained. Her body trembled, as if the weapon were not an extension of her body but an unbearably heavy shackle.
"...No good... I still can't control it completely..."
She stopped, leaning on the scythe, panting heavily, her forehead drenched in sweat, strands of gray hair stuck to her cheeks.
The delicate face beneath the hood was filled with frustration and self-loathing.
She hated this face, and she hated this weapon even more.
Because they reminded her every moment that she wasn't "Gray," only the "copy" of some great hero who had long since died, a "shadow" that should not exist.
"It's because of your 'heart.'"
A gentle voice came suddenly from behind her.
Gray jumped, her body stiffening like a startled deer, and turned to find Seiji had appeared in the doorway at some point.
"Mr. Fujiwara...?"
She fumbled to retract the scythe back into its birdcage form, but with her mind shaken her mana output went out of control, and the attempt failed.
The huge scythe scraped along the floor with a piercing screech.
"Sorry, did I scare you?" Seiji smiled and stepped closer, his gaze falling on the massive scythe. "I was just passing by, and saw you seemed to be having some trouble."
"No... I'm fine."
Gray instinctively took a step back, trying to hide the scythe behind her, but its sheer size made the gesture both futile and somewhat endearing.
"You really reject it, don't you?"
Seiji ignored her evasiveness and spoke bluntly. "You treat 'Add' as a curse binding you, proof that you're a 'monster.' That's why your 'heart' refuses to synchronize with it."
Gray flinched all over, lifting her head to look at him with disbelief.
Those emerald eyes were filled with panic and confusion.
How could he know...?
These were things she hadn't even fully confided to her closest teacher.
"All Mystic Codes have a 'soul.' Especially Mystery-bearing armaments tied to the Age of Gods, like 'Add.'" Seiji's tone was that of a patient teacher, carrying a persuasive weight. "The more you resist it, the less it can lend you its true power. It's like two people dancing. If one side is always resisting, you'll never be able to step in harmony."
"...What should I do?" Gray's voice trembled slightly.
This was a question to which even her teacher, Waver, could not give her a clear answer.
The teacher would only tell her this was her fate, and she had to accept it.
"Try to understand it, instead of treating it as an enemy."
Seiji walked up to her, reached out, and lightly touched the cold haft of the scythe.
[System Directive: Analyzing Conceptual Armament "Add"...]
[Analysis beginning... Seal of "Holy Lance Rhongomyniad" detected... Residual will of the "Knights of the Round Table" detected... Constructing data model...]
A vast flood of information surged into his mind in an instant.
He kept his expression unchanged and continued in that gentle voice. "'Add' is the shadow of the 'Holy Lance,' the 'Tower' guarding the Star's Holy Lance. Its essence is 'protection,' not 'slaughter.' The weight you feel isn't a desire to kill, but the responsibility to protect."
"In your hands, it's not there to turn you into someone else. It's there to... protect the one and only existence that is 'Gray.'"
"Protect... me?" Gray murmured. The word was so foreign to her. From childhood on, she had only ever been told to "offer" herself, to "become."
"Yes." Seiji's gaze became more sincere than ever. "You aren't anyone's copy, Miss Gray. You are you. This face, this power, they aren't curses, they're... weapons that let you protect yourself, and protect those you care about, in this cruel world of magecraft."
"Try telling 'Add' what it is you want to protect. Not for the mission of some 'King,' but for your own sake, for... your teacher."
His words shone like a beam of light into the haze that had hung over Gray's heart.
All her life, everyone had told her she must inherit the fate of the King. Only this man before her told her that she could live for herself, that her power was meant for protection.
Her hand stopped trembling.
She looked at the scythe in her grip, and her eyes slowly hardened with resolve.
"...I want... to protect my teacher." She spoke softly, her voice low but exceptionally clear.
A low hum answered her, as if the enormous scythe were responding to her words.
Along the blade, a silver radiance flowed like water.
To her astonishment, Gray realized that the heavy weight of rejection that had pressed on her heart all this time had eased considerably.
She tried swinging the scythe again. Her movements were many times smoother than before, and she could even feel a current of power flowing back to her from the weapon.
"This..." She looked at Seiji with delighted surprise, her eyes sparkling with an unusual light.
"See, it understood you." Seiji smiled and drew back his hand.
He hadn't merely been "counseling" Gray just now.
In the instant he had touched the scythe, he had used the system to quietly work a barely perceptible alteration on the seal of "Add."
He had skimmed off a faint trace of the Holy Lance's divine essence and bound it to his own spiritual power.
It meant that from this moment on, he held a faint, utterly undetectable... influence over "Add."
He was like a hacker who had installed an inconspicuous signal receiver on someone else's back door.
"Thank you... Mr. Fujiwara." Gray put the scythe away and sincerely thanked him, even offering a slight bow. It was the first time she had ever shown such a look of trust to anyone other than her teacher.
"You're welcome." Seiji's smile remained gentle.
"It's my honor to help a beautiful lady with her troubles."
His gaze swept over Gray's face, identical in every detail to the King of Knights, and deep in his eyes flashed a cold, possessive desire that only he himself could read.
Another chess piece had settled into the place where it belonged.
Now, it was only a matter of waiting for the game to begin.