Era of Heroic Spirits: I Was Exposed by Alaya

Fuyuki City.

As an ordinary office worker, Matou Kariya stared blankly at the video.

"Why am I appearing in The Vow in the Snow, and in such a tragic role?"

He could hardly believe his eyes.

The mysterious [Alaya] exposed all the Nameless's and various powerful heroic spirits' bonds, battles, and so on.

Yet he was just an ordinary person with no talent.

Although born into a magus family, he had completely severed ties with magecraft.

Now, he lived in a villa area in the northeast of Fuyuki City, unmarried, working at a chain department store.

He always returned home before eight o'clock.

He doesn't smoke, and drinks only in moderation.

Before one o'clock at night, he always goes to bed, ensuring he sleeps for eight hours every night.

To sleep better, he even heats a cup of warm milk and does 20 minutes of stretching exercises, allowing him to sleep soundly until dawn.

He leaves no stress for tomorrow.

Doctors and friends all say he is very healthy.

Though he has severed ties, he still loves the adopted Sakura dearly, treating her as his own child since she was little.

Yet in The Vow in the Snow, he died early.

"Can an ordinary person like me participate in the Holy Grail War?"

The more Matou Kariya watched the video, the more unbelievable it felt.

So strange.

He was just an ordinary man with no talent for magecraft, having long severed ties with the world of mystery.

How could he possibly participate in the brutal and bloody Holy Grail War?

And of all things, the Fourth War—the origin of the story—which ended up causing the Great Fire of Fuyuki City, claiming countless lives!

"What role did I play in that disaster?"

The more Matou Kariya thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed.

In the video.

That version of him, reduced to a puppet, was still roaring madly—

"I will take Sakura back no matter what!"

What on earth happened in between?

The Matou family was a perfectly happy and harmonious one, living peacefully in Fuyuki City.

Surely nothing unexpected could have happened, right?

Just then, the phone rang.

Kariya answered the call, a smile automatically forming on his face. "Sakura, what brings you to call me today?"

"Uncle Kariya, h-have you seen the video?"

The girl on the other end of the line asked cautiously.

"Ahem, yeah, and I'm still completely baffled," Kariya replied helplessly.

Now he understood why she had suddenly called.

As a character who appeared in the video, it was only natural for her to worry about him.

She said gently, "It's nothing. That was just something that happened in another timeline. It has nothing to do with us now, so please don't dwell on it too much."

"Sakura, you really are such a good kid!"

Kariya sighed in admiration.

Despite all the hardships and suffering she endured in the video, she didn't hesitate to comfort him first.

Truly a little angel!

After hanging up, Kariya decided to head home early today and buy some extra gifts to visit the little one.

In the department store, people kept giving him strange looks.

Clearly, his appearance in the video from another timeline made it hard for them to see him as just an ordinary man.

"Ah, my poor, peaceful, mundane life—is this really the end of it?"

Kariya sighed deeply, suddenly understanding why Nameless was so reluctant to reveal himself.

Damn you, Alaya!

Why did you have to expose everything?!

Passing by a fish stall in the market, he spotted a tall, blue-haired man staring blankly at the video.

The man had stopped selling fish and was sitting idly by, scrolling through his phone.

As he watched, he muttered, "Ah, I died!"

Great, another gaming addict lost in his own world!

...

Fuyuki Grand Hotel.

In the penthouse suite.

Artoria sighed as she watched the young man who had burned everything, sacrificing himself without hesitation. "Once again, you chose to give yourself up."

Back then, at the Battle of Camlann, he had charged between her and Mordred just as recklessly, trying to stop their mutual destruction by offering his own life.

Now, he had chosen to sacrifice himself again, making a contract with [Alaya] to bring hope to that world.

"Nameless, oh Nameless! I will find you, and this time, I'll keep you by my side where I can watch over you!"

Artoria's saintly blue eyes burned with determination.

This man had already sacrificed far too much for humanity and the world.

Though he had brought light and hope to countless people, he never once thought to secure a happy future for himself.

A Nameless Heroic Spirit who was both beloved and exasperating!

The title she had bestowed upon him—[Holy Light Knight]—was her way of ensuring he could stand proudly in the sun, basking in the respect and admiration of all.

Rather than silently walking in darkness, giving everything for humanity yet remembered by none!

If even such heroes are not respected, then what meaning is there in her being King Arthur?

Artoria simply wanted everyone to attain salvation.

Including Nameless himself!

It's simply unfair to let the other silently sacrifice everything!

If he could accept it.

She would even willingly relinquish her title of [Knight King] to him.

In her eyes, he was the most perfect knight, truly worthy!

This was the true knight.

Observing no knightly codes, yet embodying the definition of knighthood more than any knight!

Bang bang~

Just then, the door was abruptly and rudely flung open.

Artoria frowned slightly.

For the head of state to have someone barge into her room so brazenly was nothing short of a grave diplomatic incident.

However.

When she saw who it was, she instantly understood everything.

Silver-gray hair flying, golden eyes coldly fixed upon her: "Arthur, you must have watched the 'Vow in the Snow' video by now?"

The intruder was none other than the Emperor of France, the Dark Saint Jeanne d'Arc.

A witch who acted with utter disregard for rules!

"Oh? What do you want to say?"

Artoria regarded her impassively, "Barging into my room without announcement—is this how the so-called most etiquette-conscious French behave?"

Heroic Spirits stood atop the pyramid of humanity.

Each possessed military-grade combat power, making their actions naturally unrestrained.

But to so blatantly provoke King Arthur, who commanded the Knights of the Round Table, would still shock countless people if word got out.

"Though lacking bonds meant you couldn't be summoned in his darkest hour, you instead aided his enemies against Shirou."

Jeanne's golden eyes were full of mockery as she stared at her, "Is this the so-called Perfect King? How disappointing."

It must be said.

Earlier while watching the video, hearing the boy's desperate pleas, holding blank cards begging any Heroic Spirit for assistance.

Yet no one came.

Not a single Heroic Spirit answered his call.

Without relics or contracts, all his cries were in vain.

This seemed normal.

The boy at the very beginning had formed no bonds with the Heroic Spirits.

Let alone summoning their aid.

But seeing how easily the head of the Ainsworth family summoned Arthur's power made Jeanne unable to sit still, prompting her to come mock her.

"Oh, that was just a puppet stealing my power," King Arthur replied calmly.

In that parallel world shown in the video.

Julian created Class Cards that forcibly established contracts with Heroic Spirits to borrow their power.

Allowing magi to assume Heroic Spirit forms.

This summoning required no permission from her—it was outright theft.

Yet.

Not just Jeanne—even Artoria herself had wanted to strike down the one who stole her power to attack Shirou when she saw it in the video.

How could she ever bring herself to hurt Nameless?

If she had to attack someone, she'd rather attack herself!

Hmm, in the Perfect King video extra, didn't she seem to survive wielding the Holy Lance at the end?

Artoria frowned deeply as this sudden realization struck her.

What exactly happened after her death at the Battle of Camlann?

Could that be the reason why he had never come to see her?

"Going home after this battle—what a battlefield's greatest lie!"

Jeanne d'Arc, seeing that her words had no effect on the other, flashed a domineering look in her golden eyes. "In the future, I will prepare the grandest coronation ceremony for him, making him the absolute protagonist!"

"Oh, can you even find him?" Artoria cast a sidelong glance at her.

This foolish country girl didn't even have a single clue, yet she still wanted to find Nameless?

"...Bitch, I'll definitely find him before you do!"

The Dark Saintess shot her an utterly disdainful look.

This trip to Fuyuki City had clearly been a gamble, following the other in hopes of a lucky encounter.

But nothing came of it!

Where the hell was that guy?

...

The video had ended, yet countless viewers still couldn't bring themselves to close it.

They rewatched it over and over again.

There was no denying it—in The Vow in the Snow, Emiya the Hero was so cool it took people's breath away.

Merlin, however, wore an expression as if he'd seen a ghost. "How the hell did you manage to summon yourself?"

Others relied on the aid of powerful heroic spirits.

But this guy had summoned versions of himself from different timelines to lend him strength.

"Because praying to gods isn't as reliable as counting on yourself."

Souma replied with a hint of emotion.

He would've loved to summon a bunch of heroic spirits, but back then, there really was no help to be had!

Then, he turned off his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

His eyes gleamed with magical energy.

Souma stared at the Magus of Flowers standing not far away. "Well then, oh Incubus who loves to toy with humans so much—are you ready for me to pour the Nyannichuan on you?"

***

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