The Matou household.
In the basement of that mansion, a prison that was also called the "worm pit" and served as a training ground.
There, a purple-haired girl was conducting a ritual.
Servant Summoning. It was the act of calling forth a pawn for the Holy Grail War. Following the order of the head of the household, Matou Zouken, the girl summoning a Servant as a Master was named Matou Sakura. The second daughter of the Tohsaka family, a girl abandoned by her parents and sold.
Behind her, Matou Shinji watched with a displeased gaze alongside the old monster Zouken. He was an ordinary person with only traces of Magic Circuits remaining, but also the last bloodline of the Matou family.
Matou Sakura finished the incantation normally, and a Servant appeared with light from the summoning circle drawn in red blood.
"Ah..."
Meeting the eyes of a boy who appeared on the summoning circle, Sakura let out a sound without realizing it. The Servant... it was because of the appearance of the summoned boy.
A boy wearing a cloak like a druid's and holding a red staff. From the boy emanated such a strong smell of blood that even Zouken frowned.
The red-haired boy... no, that red hair only looked red because it was dyed with blood.
"Servant Caster... Fergus mac Róich. I have answered the summons."
Caster, chuckling, took a step towards her.
Fergus mac Róich...
The master of Ériu, and a merciless killer who brutally slaughtered the warriors of Connacht.
Overwhelmed by his aura, Sakura flinched...! with surprise. Fergus pokes his finger into the stiffened girl's chest.
*Squelch...!*
"....?"
"There was a worm, you see?"
*Fssssss...!!!*
"!?"
"Gr, Grandfather...?"
The moment he pierced Sakura's chest, the worm inside her heart met its death and disappeared. And as Matou Zouken's body began to disintegrate, the moment Fergus raised his staff, ominous red runes enveloped the Matou mansion... annihilating all of Matou Zouken's worms.
"I hate worms, you see. Let me ask... are you my Master?"
"Ah, yes..."
Sakura had a dazed expression at the events that unfolded in an instant. Shinji, who was watching from behind, couldn't help but marvel at the death of the fearsome Zouken. Even though he wasn't a magus, Shinji, who had studied magecraft, couldn't help but be shocked seeing the countless rune letters appearing in the air.
"Your name?"
"Matou... Sakura..."
"Matou Sakura... Right, the contract is confirmed. I'll acknowledge you as my Master, kiddo."
"Kiddo...?"
"... You know who I am?"
"I, I'm sorry..."
"Ah fuck, this is why Greece is corrupt. Other mythologies are just trash, aren't they? What's the point of living hard when your fame is shit?"
Fergus, with a cute face but a foul mouth. He passes Sakura and stands before Shinji.
"... An ordinary person with only traces of Magic Circuits?"
"Tch..."
"... Sakura. By the looks of it, you don't want the Grail?"
"Huh? Ah, no..."
"... Right, since we're here, we might as well win. I have no wish either. And, this much is just a trivial use of resources. You, do you want to become a magus?"
"What? Of course I do!"
"Good. If we get the Grail, I'll make you a first-rate magus. Giving that level of Magic Circuits and magical energy to an ordinary person won't use much of the Grail's resources anyway."
"R, really!?"
"Yeah. So wait quietly. If you act up, I won't give it to you."
"... Got it!"
It was a slightly pride-hurting tone, but Shinji decides to accept it, cheering at the chance to become the magus he so desired. Matou Shinji was a man who was easy, too easy.
"So, where can I stay? Sakura."
"Ah, come this way. I'll show you around the house."
Contrary to the initial ominous atmosphere, Fergus quietly followed Sakura's guide and looked around the house. Though his speech was rough, Sakura felt he respected her in his own way.
"Is this it? This is the record about Command Spells... boring."
Fergus sneered while looking at the Matou family's books. To him, with the wisdom of the demonic realm, the knowledge of a magus who hadn't reached the Root was trivial. He even tosses away the book about Command Spells he was looking at.
"I'm going out for a bit."
"Huh? At this hour?"
"Yep. I'll go alone, so don't worry."
"Ah, okay..."
Fergus showed his my-way personality and left the house. Sakura watched him spiritize as he left with a worried gaze. His personality seemed quite prickly and rough... but to her, he looked like a lonely, sad child like herself. As if filled with sorrow somewhere...
The place Fergus headed to was a certain building. A building where another Master was.
"Heh... modern magus set up workshops like this. A toy?"
Entering the workshop, Fergus killed the women belonging to that Master in the workshop while destroying it. As he was mindlessly destroying the workshop, the owner arrived.
"A Servant who jumps into enemy territory without their Master. Quite the mindset. And you even killed the slaves I bought."
His name was Atram Galliasta. A Middle Eastern oil magnate who had once contended with Lord El-Melloi II, was acknowledged by him, and participated in the Holy Grail War to gain recognition from the Mage's Association.
"Kill him, Rider."
Rider.
True Name Medusa. Originally meant to retrieve the Golden Fleece, but due to a mishap when bringing it, Atram, who had left it at his main residence, quickly summoned her using a mirror from some temple.
He underestimates Fergus, who seems to be a Caster coming alone without his Master, and orders Rider to deal with him, but in reality...
Because her perception of the Master was the worst, Rider had no will to fight. Still, since he ordered it, she starts the fight half-heartedly, thinking she'll fight casually whether he dies or not.
As Rider runs quickly and throws an iron chain, Fergus instead extends his arm to get entangled. He pulls the chain with all his might while simultaneously activating Primordial Runes, using a pressure rune on Rider, who was slammed to the ground, to press her down.
And then he immediately grabs Atram by the neck and lifts him up.
"Guh!? Wha, what!? Who summoned such a monster as a Caster!?"
Even to Atram, the immense magecraft and the power to toy with Rider. Atram, still far lacking as a magus, couldn't resist and was caught by Fergus.
"W, wait! Let's make a deal! If you spare me, I'll do anything!"
"Anything... then hand over your Command Spells."
"H, hah!? I can't give them to a Servant, can I!?"
"I know all about Command Spells. It's a foul, but that level of problem is fine. Hand them over."
"D, damn it...!"
Having no choice, since staying alive was the priority, Atram transfers his Command Spells to Fergus. Simultaneously, Command Spells are engraved on the back of Fergus's hand.
"Heh... well done."
Fergus grins a twisted smile, satisfied that the Command Spells were engraved on him as expected.
"We're done, right? Now let me go──"
*Splat...!*
"Guh..."
"You think I'd keep a verbal promise? I'm no hero or anything, you idiot. If you came to a war, you should have that much sense. Begging for your life..."
Fergus had no pride or honor as a hero, and he simply smashed Atram's head. Rider watches, mouth agape in surprise, as he so brazenly breaks the promise and kills him.
"I'm your Master now. Medusa, right?"
"... You don't appear to have them, but those aren't ordinary eyes. At the very least, I'll believe you're a better Master than he was."
"Think what you want. Anyway... I'm Caster, Fergus mac Róich."
"Fergus mac Róich... The king of Ériu. I didn't know such a person would be like this."
"Ha, haha... Hahahahahah!!!!"
Fergus bursts into laughter as if finding Medusa's words absurd. Then, wiping the smile away, he speaks to her.
"That's me as a hero... The me now is the human Fergus, get it? Do you know what happened to me after I abdicated the throne in the myth and left?"
"No... Not at all."
"... Then that's fine. The me now is neither a hero nor anything, just a wandering nobody. So don't expect that, okay? You're not a hero either, right?"
"That's true. In a way, we might be a good match."
"Right. So... the sorrow of having to send away a precious family, it's a little different, but we have that much in common, don't you think?"
"To say such a thing... You, what exactly happened to you afterwards?"
"Don't want to say. It's a painful, tormenting past I don't want to recall or think about again, okay? I don't feel like talking. So, by the way... I actually want the Holy Grail re~ally badly. Even though it's a dirty, ugly thing, I need the power of such a thing."
"What is your wish?"
"It's nothing much? It's a trivial wish not even worth mentioning. I don't really care about other guys with such trivial wishes... Anyway, let's work well together from now on, Rider? I hate being alone, you see. Let's fight together from now on?"
Fergus offers his hand, and Medusa shakes it. Holding his hand, Medusa sensed that he seemed to be feeling uneasy somewhere.
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