Fate: I Heard After Death, You Can Ascend to the Throne of Heroes?

(Words: 2783)

One month had passed since the end of the Holy Grail War.

At the Chaldea Security Organization, dedicated to preserving humanity's future, a short-haired girl with pink hair strolled quietly through a corridor.

She was wearing a crisp white uniform, and at this time, her violet eyes, half-covered by her hair, darted around as if searching for something.

At that moment, ahead of her appeared two figures: one was a Chaldea staff member in standard work attire, and the other was an unfamiliar young man dressed in elegant magecraft robes.

The girl glanced up slightly, intending to greet them, but then she overheard their conversation.

"Hey, did you hear? I heard a new mage arrived recently. Apparently, he's a student of one of the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower, Lord El-Melloi II!"

"Well... but that's not particularly surprising, is it?

After all, this place was originally established by disciples of the various Lords. Not to mention, the founder was the Lord of the Astronomy Department, Animusphere, and the current director is their successor."

"Ha! You're definitely new here.

You clearly haven't heard the rumors about this guy. It's been circulating among us for ages now!"

"Oh?"

"You don't know, do you? They say that while he is indeed a student of Lord El-Melloi II, his family had already fallen into ruin. They'd even lost their magical circuits! He was nearly expelled from the Clock Tower, and his entire family was on the verge of being stripped of their name!"

"But the key point is that despite all that, Lord El-Melloi II fought tooth and nail to keep him there. And recently, it's said that he participated in a Holy Grail War in the Americas and emerged as the ultimate victor!"

When the Chaldean employee in work clothes said this excitedly, even the pink-haired girl who happened to hear this showed a hint of surprise on her face.

After all, everyone at Chaldea was familiar with the concept of the Holy Grail War.

The organization had summoned numerous Heroic Spirits, and it currently housed 48 Master candidates.

"Pretty shocking, huh?"

"A guy with no magical circuits not only got chosen by the Grail but also won the war. That's why even the A-Team is so intrigued by him. And as fate would have it, Lord El-Melloi II wanted to send him here, so everything just fell into place."

"I think he only arrived in the past couple of days. A lot of people are planning to check out this 'miracle mage.' Oh, by the way, I don't know your name yet. If you ever run into trouble, just come find me. I've been working here for five years!"

The staff member puffed out his chest confidently, signaling that he could be relied upon.

The young man he was speaking to chuckled lightly and replied, "Thank you, senior. My name is Promise."

"Promise?"

Stunned for a moment, the staff member paused, then smiled. "That's a nice name. It's funny, though, it's exactly the same as the name of the Lord's student I was just talking about—"

He trailed off, his words catching in his throat.

As he realised something, his eyes widened, and he stared blankly at the young man before him.

Even the pink-haired girl, who had been idly observing, instinctively turned her gaze toward Promise, scrutinizing him more closely.

He wore a black-and-white magecraft uniform, had short black hair, a gentle smile, and eyes as clear and bright as starlit emeralds...

Wait a minute... why does he look so familiar?

As the girl stood frozen, trying to recall where she had seen him before, the Chaldea staff member, whose his face now looked a mixture of awkwardness and embarrassment—quickly made an excuse and hurried away.

Promise, however, paid no attention to the man's hasty retreat.

Although he approached him at the beginning with the intention of finding someone to lead the way, he undoubtedly had a better choice now.

Shifting his gaze, Promise's lips curved into a soft smile as he walked up to the pink-haired girl and greeted her gently, "Hello."

The girl blinked, slightly startled saw him standing so close, and felt a bit flustered however, sh3 managed to respond politely, "Hello..."

As the girl contemplated how to continue the conversation,

"My name is Promise. I'm the same lucky guy that senior was just talking about—the one who somehow survived the Holy Grail War, made it to the finals, and managed to snag the Grail by sheer luck."

Hearing his playful words, the girl couldn't help but laugh.

Realizing it might seem impolite, she quickly covered her mouth, her cheeks turning slightly red as she lowered her head shyly. "Hello, Senior Promise. My name is Mash."

When he heard her call him "senior," Promise couldn't help but look at Mashu a few more times, and found that she was actually staring at him, with obvious confusion revealed in her blinking purple eyes.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, pretending to be ignorant.

But in truth, he knew exactly what was on her mind.

Mash shook her head lightly but hesitated for a while before cautiously asking, "Um, Senior Promise, have we… met before?"

Promise didn't answer.

Wel..his past experiences with gods had made him averse to lying, even in casual conversations.

In fact, Mash had indeed seen him before.

Before he decided to participate in the Holy Grail War, he had ridden Pegasus to this snowy mountain, finding the hidden facility of Chaldea.

It was a late, snowy night when Mash, by chance, saw him atop Pegasus.

At the time, Promise had been using a Class Card, so his hair were slightly longer and he was wearing a flawless, pure white robe.

Not to mention he was sitting in fantastical Pegasus, standing tall in the midst of a blizzard.

This made his entire existence seem too dreamy, as if he had walked out of a painting, so for a moment Mash was unsure whether he was dreaming at that time

Promise merely smiled at her question and shifted the topic to explain his current predicament.

In fact, earlier, the Chaldea employee hadn't realized who he was, partly because Promise's arrival was a significant event for Chaldea.

As someone chosen by the Grail, a Master with no magic circuits, and the victor of the Holy Grail War, Promise represented unparalleled compatibility with the Grail system.

Moreover, the personal involvement of Waver—who had directly communicated with Chaldea's director, Olga Marie Animusphere—elevated the importance of Promise's arrival.

Incidentally, Waver's ability to locate Chaldea and draw the director's attention wasn't surprising.

After all, the one person who couldn't be kept in the dark about Promise's affairs was Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, Waver's clever and occasionally mischievous adoptive sister.

Reines, the true heir to the El-Melloi lineage, was both cunning and resourceful.

Because they were both heirs to the monarch, and because they have similar philosophies and were of similar age, the two were actually good friends and allies.

Their relationship, however, was one of mutual sabotage and occasional cooperation, where they found amusement in each other's embarrassing moments.

Unfortunately for Olga Marie, she usually ended up being the one embarrassed.

"Alright then." Mash nodded understandingly, realizing her role as Promise's guide for the day. However, a flicker of hesitation crossed her face.

Noticing it, Promise also asked gently if she was busy with something else?

"No, it's nothing," Mash replied, shaking her head. But after a brief pause, she added, "I was just looking for Fou. I haven't seen it all day."

As Mashu spoke, she described Fou's characteristics to Promise.

Regarding this primate killer, one of the seven Evils of Humanity, and Chaldea's mascot, how could Promise not recognize it?

Thus, after pretending to listen seriously to Mash, he smiled, tilted his head, and pointed to the small creature hiding in the corner, which had been following him all along.

"Mash, are you talking about it?"

Following Promise's gaze, the latter spotted Fou and was stunned for a moment.

Then, with a look of delight, she approached, picked up the non-resisting Fou, and happily said, "Fou, so you were here."

"It followed me all the way here… truly a curious little fellow," Promise said as he walked closer, picking up Mash's words while casting Fou a meaningful smile.

Fou let out a soft cry, looked at Promise, then at Mash, and tilted its tiny head slightly as if pondering something.

Finally, it simply tilted its head further, as though giving up on thinking, and closed its eyes.

With that, Mash seemed to forget her earlier question and began showing Promise around Chaldea, giving a brief tour and introducing various places and people.

"Here we are! This is Da Vinci-san. Mashu, what brings you here today all of a sudden…?"

As Da Vinci appeared and approached Promise, their eyes met. Da Vinci paused, stunned for a moment, her gaze lighting up before she blurted out, "This handsome gentleman, may I paint your portrait?"

Mashu froze for a moment at Da Vinci's words, just as she was about to say something.

"What a coincidence. I was just thinking of painting a portrait of you as well," Promise replied.

The two looked at each other for a while, then simultaneously reached out their hands, laughing in unison.

Mashu blinked and exchanged a glance with Fou in her arms as both tilted their heads adorably.

At that moment, someone else entered.

"Da Vinci-san, do you still have coffee here? I just got scolded by the director again… huh? Isn't that Mashu? And who might this young man be…?"

The speaker, a man with short orange hair tied in a ponytail, dressed like a doctor in a white coat, was Roman Archaman.

At that moment, he appeared before Promise with a miserable look on his face.

When their eyes met, Roman froze for a moment, because, even if it was brief, he caught a glimpse of something complicated in Promise's beautiful eyes.

Moreover, there was a sense that everything was laid bare under those clear emerald eyes, as if they saw through everything in that instant.

Just as Roman was feeling confused and somewhat flustered by this and was subconsciously considered questioning it, Mash, who did not notice anything unusual, stepped forward to introduce the two.

When Roman learned that this person was Promise, a student under Waver and the newcomer to Chaldea, his expression shifted and he exclaimed, "Wait a moment! What are you doing here? The director has been looking for you everywhere. She's been waiting at the entrance and just scolded all of us because she couldn't find you!"

Mash, startled by this, looked at Promise in confusion and said, "Promise-senpai, didn't you say the director wasn't here…?"

At this point, she suddenly realized something—the place where Promise had been conversing with that Chaldea staff member earlier was far from the entrance.

"Fou~~"

Even Fou cried out twice as if tattling.

Under everyone's gaze, Promise blinked, subtly shifted his eyes away, and said, "This place is much larger than I imagined. Truly magnificent."

The other three exchanged glances.

In this moment, though it was their first meeting, they felt they had begun to grasp what kind of person Promise was.

Afterward, Mash led Promise to meet the director, Olga Marie, who hurried over upon receiving the news.

As expected, on his very first day here, Promise was sternly scolded by his superior, Olga Marie, who wore a grim expression.

Despite this, the latter still guided Promise around Chaldea afterward, introducing him to various people, including the A-Team members who had been eagerly awaiting his arrival.

There wasn't much worth noting about Promise's initial meeting with the A-Team members.

However, when someone asked Promise about the position he had applied for, even Olga Marie looked at him curiously.

Promise gave an answer that no one had anticipated.

"Artist."

He smiled, looking at the people in front of him with a hint of deeper meaning, and said, "Well..I came here to paint, but... the painting isn't for now."

This response made Olga Marie's face darken instantly, almost thinking that Promise was here to insult her.

However, recalling the specific instructions from Reines before Promise's arrival, urging her to tolerate anything he did, she held back her anger.

She chose not to speak further, kept a stern face, stayed for a while longer, and then stormed off in frustration, contacting Reines to vent her grievances.

What she didn't expect, however, was that when Reines learned of Promise's purpose in coming to Chaldea, she remained silent for a long time.

Later, her tone of mockery toward Olga Marie grew even sharper.

Amid the mockery, there was also a faint trace of envy.

Olga Marie, however, failed to notice it. Because of this, she remained angry for quite a long time and refused to speak to Promise.

Promise, of course, didn't mind at all, and less than a week, he had already formed friendly relationships with many people in Chaldea.

When it came to making friends, he had become exceptionally skilled.

During this period, Olga Marie, who still maintaining her stern demeanor, found time to test Promise's aptitude as a Master.

However, to everyone's shock and confusion, the results showed that Promise's aptitude as a Master was zero!

This participant in the Holy Grail War, this victor of the Holy Grail, had a Master aptitude of zero!

The result led everyone to doubt the reliability of the equipment.

Da Vinci checked and rechecked it, and later even disassembled and reassembled the device.

But the results remained the same as at the beginning.

Because of this, everyone's gaze toward Promise became a bit strange.

Olga Marie, in particular, vented her frustration at Reines several times over the matter, but each time, she was defeated by Reines' sarcastic remarks.

Eventually, she completely ignored Promise.

As this storm subsided, people's interest in Promise gradually calmed.

Only a few individuals with sharp intuition maintained their suspicions toward him.

Among them was the "Crown Bomb" Lev Lainur Flauros.

Since their initial meeting, Lev had never appeared before Promise again.

Just like that, time passed by little by little.

About ten days later, with Promise now having a firm foothold in Chaldea, managed to drive away the Fourth Beast, which had been pestering him since their first meeting.

After closing the door, he walked to the window in his room, sat down, and looked at the dark world outside, where the endless blizzard raged on.

A faint smile appeared on his lips as a golden Heroic Spirit Class Card manifested in his hand.

However, unlike other Class Cards, this one was blank.

This was Promise's unique "golden finger."

Each engraving on the card was like a chapter in history.

Once completed, a new blank Class Card would appear in his possession.

"Well then, to reach the Crowned Temple of Time, let the journey resume today," Promise said with a light chuckle as he gently spun the blank Class Card in his hand.

At that moment, the world froze, then shattered like a mirror and reformed.

The journey that had yet to reach its end began anew.

...

...

Everything ends with the sea, and everything begins only with the sea.

A shooting star streaked across the sky, turning all the land into rivers.

Six fairies became friends with a god.

The six fairies offered joy to the god.

The six fairies offered prayers to the god.

The six fairies sacrificed to the god.

In return, they received a blessing from the god and gained land that grew from the sea.

Lostbelt,

Fairy Calendar Year 4000, Orkney, northern Britain.

Within the kingdom ruled by the Rain Clan among the six major fairy clans.

In a dimly lit and quiet library, a "slave" sat alone, quietly reading a book in their hands.

Clear and bright emerald eyes focused on the myths of creation recorded in the book.

This was a fairy's kingdom.

For humans to survive and enter a fairy-ruled kingdom, they could only do so as slaves to the fairies.

Thus, in this world, all humans existed solely to entertain the fairies.

Promise, who had arrived here, naturally "earned" his identity as a slave as well.

As for his master...

"Promise, are you here?"

Suddenly, a crisp and melodious voice broke the silence of the small library.

The faint glow of a lantern illuminated the dim room.

When Promise instinctively raised his gaze, he saw a silver-haired, blue-eyed fairy illuminated by the lantern light, appearing before his eyes.

Her name was Vivian.

Of course, she could also be addressed by another title:

Queen of Fairy Britain, Morgan.