Chapter 1 

Dawn break upon the city of London, clearing away the morning mist in preparation of another normal day in the city of old

A place full of history shrouded in fog, many so ignorant to the secrets it held, of the world that hides behind the ever mundane society we'd gotten used to

As the early people already stepped out of their house to go to work, a lone boy walked across the cold stone pavement of the street. Wearing a grey coat with a white shirt tucked underneath to hide himself from the low temperature, this boy look as average as a teen on the early morning could be

Through the fog, descended down the valley. Past the antique city block. Past the bumpy alley. The boy arrived in the midst of a dense magic area with the head of the Tower of London looming in the distance

His name is simply (Y/n) (L/n). An unremarkable boy. One of the few individual the people in the Mage Association would tell to stay away from instead of the usual jeers. Some call him an executioner, a cleaner, and if they're bold enough, a monster

If you ask him why people call him so, you'd receive a shrug in return

Usually, the rapidly changing rain and fog in this season makes him hesitant in coming here. But today he's at the Clock Tower for a purpose

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The grand hall was just as antique and unnecessarily decorated as always. He noted. A result of Magus not changing their tastes of aesthetics through literally hundreds of years of impractical traditions

"Welcome to the Clock Tower, what can I do for y- eet!"

He stalked toward the cowering man whose eyes locked on to his figure. The tower's receptionist tried to reach for the communication device on his desk, only for (Y/n) to gently push it out of the way

"There will be no need for that" I shook my head "I'm here to meet the Wizard Marshall. Has he arrived yet?"

"T-third floor building. Just past the Modern Magic Theory ward and you should be there. Please don't kill me I have a wife and two children waiting for me at home!"

Silence

(Y/n) realized a multitude of people were watching him from all sides. Wariness and anxiety on their faces at the prospect of the monster turning his attention toward him

For fuck's sake- 

"Thank you" I hastily smiled and left the hall. The echoes of my footsteps reverberated in the soundless atmosphere behind me, which only in turn makes it all the more unnerving with how people are still reacting to my presence in such an extreme way

I walked past the corridor that housed different departments of Magecraft and rounded the corner of the stair, coming right up to face with a slightly bigger door on the side of the hallway. My hand reached out and opened it, revealing the interior inside

It was rather unique. Different assortments of magical tools lined the room. Some are standard equipments: Mana generator. Bounded Field enhancer. Temporal Energy scales. But then there are ones that he had not seen before, likely the old man's handcrafted tool with uses from his magic

My eyes then moved on to the old man himself. Sitting in his comfy chair was Zelretch immersed in reading a grimoire in front of him. Obviously he can sense me within the vicinity of his Bounded Field. He just doesn't give a shit to my presence

Wordlessly I pulled a chair to sit in front of him and patiently waited. Half an hour past before the man put down his interesting-looking tome and turned his attention to me

"What's up, my dear lovely apprentice? To which do I owe the honor to meet you in person?"

"A good morning to you too, teacher" I replied dryly "I'm here to ask something that is related to you. It's from one of the oversea mission I recently took"

"Ah. Your trip to Japan. How is it?"

"Uneventful. The only thing worth noting is  that I somehow killed a serial murderer by accident and get rewarded for it" My poor luck just can't prevent me from attracting attention everywhere I go 

"His name is Uryuu Ryuunosuke. An unremarkable teen both physically and intellectually, though quite bizarre in some mental department. He is attempting to summon a supposed demon when I met him using a kid as his sacrifice"

"But if he's such an average killer. You won't come here to find me, would you?"

I said unremarkable, not average. To apply a standard to everything means limiting your mind to what only fits inside it

"The reason I'm here is because of two things. First is this" I threw a cloth-covered object on the table. Zelretch's eyes soon narrowed as his gloved hand settled on it. He gently peeled open the cover, which reveal the edging of a leather bound book...curiously, he opened it a bit more

Perhaps some magic artifacts from the Magus he hunted could be considered freakier than this, but this thing would most certainly be at the top of the list. It's not the remnant of blood or the screaming human face attached on the front that unsettled him, but the sheer alien energy radiating from it, akin to something of Eldritch culture

"Forgotten book of the Sunken Spiral Castle" The Wizard frowned, picking the spell tome up and inspected it "It's not something an average Magus should have in their possession. Where'd you get this?"

"In Ryuunosuke's hand. He is attempting to do a summoning ritual from this tome" I replied. "I used Structural Analysis on it. It appears to be an artifact of unknown origin used by the spell caster Prelati and, more famously known, the 15th century French baron Gilles de Rais. Judging from the incantation he used, this may served as a catalyst for some kind of unintentional summoning on his part"

"Well it's a relief you managed to stop the summoning then" Zelretch put the book down "Looks like I'll need to have a surprise visit to that hag Prelati later. What is the second issue?"

"This"

I raised my covered hand and took off my glove

Zelretch's eyebrows raised past his hairline. In his eyes, a mix of amusement and curiosity danced, the kind of look that had driven many student of his insane over the years

"Command Seals. Signs given to the chosen one of the Grail. Don't tell me you take this out from the kid too"

A shook of my head in response to his question, but I nonetheless stored the information in my head

"The mark appears when I killed him. I did some research and apparently this is related  to one of the rituals you created called Heaven's Feel, or more commonly known as-"

A pause. Honestly I don't want to use this word as it is more religious in nature. But that's exactly what people call it

"The Holy Grail War" Zelretch suppressed the urge to laugh upon seeing his apprentice's mystified face "Boy, lean back on your chair and take out your notebook, this is going to take a while to explain"

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"So let me get this straight" I intertwined my hand, the notes and numerous formula laid scattered around me "It's a grand ritual designed with the purpose to re-obtain the lost Third Magic, set in Japan's Fuyuki city, in which seven Masters and Servants are chosen for each war in an all out battle royale to obtain the Holy Grail, which is just basically the key to open a path to the Root"

"Yup"

"And I've been chosen to participate in this atrocious war of yours, which I'll then have to fight six other experienced Magus and legendary heroes with a partner of my own to the death to get something I don't even want?"

"Basically" Zelretch grinned "Or alternatively, you can just surrender your Command Seal to the meditator from the Church"

"And miss out on such a chance?" I stood up, my smile mirrored his "Don't be a fool, teacher. You know if I don't participate I will regret it for the remainder of my life"

"I did not take you for a warhawk, (Y/n)"

"Not as much a violent man as I am being logical" I shook my head "Think about it. There's been up to three Grail Wars up until this point. Yet why is it that not one of them had succeed? Is this merely a coincidence that something always go wrong in each war, or is it somehow an intervention from the World itself to stop the ritual from working?"

I won't be even be surprised if the Grail turned out to be a monkey's paw and make the wish twisted so that the winner will suffer from his own desire. That's just how things work 

"You are going to participate in this war for your own reasons" Zelretch sighed as he repeated "Well, good luck I suppose. If anything happens, just know that you will always be my favorite student of all times"

Yes. Because I'm the only one who can tolerate your inter-dimensional autism, old coot

Saying goodbye to him, I walked out from the room and into the hallway. Sighing and deciding that meeting the receptionist again isn't worth it, I opened the window before jumping outside

This is not the first time I fought in a war. Naturally, I'll need to prepare myself to the best of my ability

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Bio 

Name: (Y/n) (L/n)

Title: Executioner of the Clock Tower

Magecraft: Unknown

Magic Circuits: 52 

Circuit Quality: B+ (80 unit / circuit)