Fate Within A Clover

Chapter 5: Discussing Magecraft

(Asta's p.o.v.)

We all arrived in the Wizard King's office along with the 4strangers we found during our mission. Then, the orange haired guy said to him, "I'm sorry, but is the Wizard King really here? There's just his kid in the chair." We all looked at with a shocked expression on our faces, and the Wizard King just laughed and said, "Ever since I ended up in this form, a lot of people were shocked to see me like this. But, that's the first time I got that kind of reaction." He laughed for a bit longer and answered his question, "Anyway, yes I am the current Wizard King, my name is Julius Novachrono. Come in, let's talk. I'm interested in hearing Black Bulls report and about you four." Me and the other Black Bulls gave our report on the mission including the duels that me and Captain Yami had with the swordswoman and the man in red. The Wizard King said with stars in his eyes, "That's very interesting!!" He then turned to the 4 and said, "Now, it's a bit late, but may I ask your names?" The black haired girl replied, "My name is Rin Tohsaka." The orange haired boy said, "I'm Shirou Emiya, pleasure to meet you." The swordswoman said, "Apologies, but due to circumstances I can't reveal my identity, so please refer to me as Saber." The man in red said, "That also applies to me, so just call me Archer." I thought it was strange that they couldn't tell us their real names, but didn't think about it too much.

The Wizard King asked, "What brings you four to the Clover Kingdom?" Rin replied, "We didn't come here, rather we found ourselves here." 'Huh?' I thought. Captain Yami asked, "What do you mean by that?" Rin explained, "We were leaving from a meeting with my mentor, when suddenly a massive hole opens up and swallowed all of us. When we came to, we found ourselves deep in the forest. We made our way out and saw what looks like a gigantic skull with horns." I replied, "I know where you were, you were in Hage village, my hometown." She continued with her explanation, "We did some investigating before the Black Bulls found us and, this may sound crazy, but it seems we've been transported to a completely different world than our own." I was honestly surprised to hear her say that they came from another world, but it didn't sound crazy to me. The Wizard King replied to her statement, "It's not crazy to us. Devils come to our world too, in fact Asta killed one last year. So, It wouldn't be surprising if people start coming from another world altogether." His statement about me killing the devil surprised Rin and the others. Captain Yami asked the otherworlders, "Based on the fight I had with Saber, it looks like you guys can use a different version of magic in your world, right?" Archer answered, "Yes, but unlike magic of this world, where everyone is born with an attribute, magic of our world is a craft that must be taught." Rin took over, "Magecraft of our world is a science with many different fields of study. Though mages are taught to fight in self-defense, we are mainly academics. And also unlike your world's magic, ours is kept secret from the general public." We were all confused as to why would magic be kept secret from the world, when it could make all their lives better. And the Wizard King got our answer by asked Rin, "Why keep magic a secret? Why not use it to improve the lives of everyone?" She said, "Magic has existed in our world for millennia, then about 5 centuries ago, those of us who foresaw a decline of Magecraft decided that in order preserve and further develop the magical arts, mages had to drift apart from society and become a secret known only to a necessary minimum of people. It was this decision that gave rise to the organization known as the Mage's Association. And among the rules of the mage's association, is that anyone who threatens the existence of the organization must be eliminated." The last part was just a shocker but we knew she wasn't finished speaking yet, as she continued, "I, honestly, always hated that rule, but it keeping magic a secret from our society is necessary. The history of humanity is the history of war, if Magecraft were to be weaponized by whole nations, mankind's would foolishly bring about it's own extinction." 'Is it really that bad in their world?' I thought. The Wizard King replied, "I see, I understand your reasons for keeping it a secret." Then, suddenly Saber and Archer put their hands on their heads, got down on their knees and started groaning in pain. Rin and Shirou said to them with worry, "Saber! Archer! What's wrong!?" They kept calling out to their companions for about 2 minutes until Saber and Archer finally calmed down. I asked them, "Hey guys, what happened? You looked like you were in agony?." Archer replied, "As Rin and Julius were talking, information suddenly got pushed into our minds." I said, " Information? What kind of information?" Turned to look at Rin and said, "Rin, it's time to explain the war to them." She looked at him for a couple of seconds and nodded. The Wizard King asked, "What war? What are you speaking of?" I was curious about it too.

"At the beginning of our conversation, I mentioned we were leaving a meeting with my mentor before we came to this world." We all nodded at what Rin said, and she continued, "I'm about to tell you what that meeting was for........... We met with my mentor to explain a certain ritual to Shirou because he is a novice mage." I asked, "What ritual is that?" She answered, "It is known by all those involved as the Holy Grail War. This ritual is to determine who is worthy of obtaining one of the most coveted items in all of our world's Magecraft. The omnipotent wish granter, The Holy Grail."