Fate/Apocrypha

Chapter 1.3

Shishigou Kairi immediately boarded a flight from London to Romania. Luckily, as soon as he was contacted for the job, he considered the possibility of it being another 'hunt'; all of his combat equipment were fully prepared, so he did not lose any time returning to his home.

During the flight, Shishigou perused the document on the Holy Grail War that Belfaban handed to him - regarding the seven basic Classes that Servants are assigned to, and their characteristics; the Command Spells whose authority the Servants obey, able to enforce even an order to commit suicide; the only surviving account of the circumstances of the Third Holy Grail War -

Just as he finished reading all of this, the plane landed in Romania. There are strict travel regulations to Romania for magi at the moment, to prevent Command Spells from manifesting on a weak third-rate magus, however unlikely that may be.

When he left the plane, he felt a numb sort of pain coming from his hand. When he checked it, there was a pattern carved on the back of his hand, like a tattoo. The Holy Grail had recognized Shishigou as a Master and allowed the Command Spells to manifest.

Although he had been expecting this in a way, Shishigou still felt some relief. If the Command Spells had refused to appear no matter how long he waited, there would have been no choice but to wretchedly drag himself home.

Shishigou did not immediately head from Bucharest, the capital of Romania, to Trifas, judging that the summoning of the Servant should come first. Trifas is the territory of the Yggdmillennia. Attempting to infiltrate it alone, without a Servant, will be nothing but suicide.

Fortunately, Bucharest possessed nearly six hundred years of history, and many spiritually powerful leylines existed in the city. Shishigou had a look around as soon as he arrived in the afternoon, and fixed the candidates which would be compatible with him. The best choice would be one of the corners of a cemetery managed by the Stavropoleos Church - but of course, to anecromancer like Shishigou, a placed stuffed with corpses would naturally be most fitting.

"Though I doubt a Servant would enjoy waking up next to a gravestone..."

Once the sun had set and the curtains of night descended upon the city, Shishigou got to work straight away. To start with, he laid out a bounded field around the graveyard to turn people away; the ritual for the field was not very complex, as it only needed to hold until the summoning was complete.

Next, using a chalk distilled from the dusted bones and blood of magi, he drew a magic ward: a ring of purification carved around a ring of four purging circles, surrounding a ward of summoning. In the center, he placed a crystal ball. It was an all-or-nothing ritual, but Shishigou nodded in satisfaction at the quality of his work.

The only things left now are the the catalyst to be offered and the incantation for the spell. At first glance, this may appear all too simple for a ritual meant to evoke a Heroic Spirit. However, as the Master is nothing more than the string which ties the Grail and the Servant together, this will not prove to be a problem.

As he finished the preparations for the ward quicker than he had expected, Shishigou had some free time until the prana in his body was at its peak.

Unconsciously - probably because of boredom - he lit a cigarette. It was a Taiwanese product, but terribly rare. It was practically a miracle that he managed to get this one box from another magus. And yet, it tasted awful. However, it was this clash of rare status and foul taste that could make him clearly feel the transiency of the world.

Breathing in the smoke deliberately -almost mournfully, regretfully - Shishigou found himself a moment to reflect. The Holy Grail War is the smallest and yet the biggest war in the world... with only one winner. The situation is quite different this time around, but in any case, what stood in his way were utter monsters - Heroic Spirits against which no thaumaturgy would work.