What Holy Grail War? Let's Play Cards! (Fate/Yugioh)

"!!!!"

The revelation sent shockwaves through the room. Every Servant present, except King Hassan, was stunned by the name.

"So... this is where it all began? Everything started with that Holy Grail War in 2004?" Gudako mused, her mind flashing back to the burning Fuyuki of the first Singularity—the starting point of her entire adventure. Back then, she knew nothing of magic and blindly embarked on a journey to save the world.

"Exactly," Jiang You confirmed. "After securing victory, the Holy Grail wasn't used by the Old Director himself, but by his Servant, Solomon."

"!"

Mash realized the crux of the issue. "If Solomon's original goal was to incinerate the Human Order, he could have simply wished upon the Holy Grail. None of this would have happened."

"Very astute," Jiang You replied. "Solomon's true objective wasn't to incinerate the Human Order. He merely sought to live another life as an ordinary human."

Jiang You turned to Romani, who had recovered from the shock of hearing his true identity mentioned. Now, an even more embarrassing revelation was about to unfold.

As Jiang You continued, Romani became certain that Jiang You knew everything. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"By the way, the Holy Grail is essentially just a concentrated block of magical power," Jiang You said, seizing every opportunity to educate others about the Grail's capabilities, knowing Chaldea had plenty in storage. "You could maybe use it to alter a Spirit Origin, but claiming it can destroy all of Human History is giving it far too much credit."

After disparaging the Holy Grail, Jiang You resumed his story: "Then, the real Solomon transformed into an ordinary young man in his twenties and spent several wonderful years with the Old Director... So, who was this trusted young man in his twenties, holding a key position and deeply trusted by the Old Director? What a challenging mystery to solve~"

"The person you're describing fits one individual perfectly."

Gudako and Mash turned their gazes toward Romani's projection, an almost explicit accusation.

"Don't put it so bluntly..." Romani chuckled nervously, his eyes darting around. "I was indeed an old acquaintance of the Director, but Solomon and all that... that's a different story."

"Mash, do you remember Dr. Romani wearing a ring on his finger?" Jiang You pressed, refusing to let Romani evade the confrontation. Today, he intended to defeat the former King of Magecraft, the Grand Caster, on a societal level.

"Mr. Jiang You, how do you even know about that?" Mash gasped, instinctively clutching her chest. The level of detail in Jiang You's knowledge was unnerving, making her feel as if she'd been under constant surveillance.

"Yes, I've seen Dr. Romani wearing a ring," Mash replied, "but wasn't it just his wedding ring or something?"

"That ring is actually one of the Ten Rings of Solomon. If you paid close attention during the London incident, you'd have noticed that the King of Magecraft only wore nine rings. The missing one? That's the very ring Dr. Romani is wearing."

Jiang You proved the truth of his words with irrefutable evidence. "This ring's effect is to return everything Solomon possessed to God. Specifically, it'll make this fake King Solomon explode. So, remember to keep a close eye on Dr. Romani—he's basically a super-sized Arash, or maybe Jeanne d'Arc, if you prefer."

"Can Clairvoyance really be that detailed?" Romani wondered aloud.

Romani couldn't think of a counterargument. The ring on his finger, a Noble Phantasm, was easily identifiable, and he was no longer the King of Magecraft, lacking the ability to conceal it. He didn't have time to ask Da Vinci to forge a replica, and besides, he suspected Jiang You's meticulous observation skills would uncover the truth anyway.

Romani's question served as an implicit admission of his identity.

"Doctor, you're actually King Solomon?!" Mash exclaimed, utterly astonished. She had grown up by Dr. Romani's side and blurted out in her shock, "So the most powerful Caster, the King of Magecraft Solomon, is a guy who enjoys watching Magical☆Merry livestreams and secretly snacks on sweets..."

"Mash! Please, have mercy!" Romani pleaded.

The truth cuts like the sharpest blade, and Mash knew far too many of Romani's embarrassing quirks. Utterly humiliated, Romani collapsed to the floor, unable to rise.

"So this is Solomon... He's nothing like I imagined."

Cursed Arm rarely voiced his thoughts, and it was hard to imagine any sign of bewilderment on his skeletal mask.

"Don't view people through rose-tinted glasses," Jiang You said, trying to lighten the mood. "Even though Solomon was tricked by Merlin, heroes still have to live their lives like everyone else."

He continued, "Take King Hassan, for example. Beneath his armor lies a kind old man who meticulously chooses gifts to reciprocate Tiamat's bento boxes. We shouldn't let their grand reputations cloud our judgment."

"I can't thank you enough!" Romani snarled through gritted teeth, glaring at Jiang You. If he hadn't mentioned Merlin, he might have actually believed him. He was certain Jiang You qualified as a Grand Caster; only those guys had such absurd future vision and a twisted sense of humor. If I'd known it would come to this, he thought, I would have yanked every Grand Caster candidate off the Throne of Heroes before making my wish and beaten them all to a pulp.

"You're welcome," Jiang You replied with a nonchalant shrug.

Jiang You was actually wondering what would happen if he were in Romani's position, facing Goetia. Would they still end up playing cards? And if Romani used that card, "The Time of Parting Has Come, He Is the One who Lets Go of the World," would it still trigger an explosion? He found it... rather intriguing. Jiang You decided he'd test it out on his second playthrough. For his first run, he still wanted to try for the Happy End without relying on any guides.

"So, if Dr. Romani was originally King Solomon, who's pulling the strings now?"

"That's the next question. You've heard the story of King Solomon and the Seventy-Two Demon Gods, right? What do you think happened to them after Solomon abandoned his position as the King of Magecraft? Did they simply vanish?"

Jiang You looked at Romani, feeling that King Solomon might be the origin of the Tohsaka Family's bloodline. This was the greatest, most catastrophic blunder in history, one that had gambled away the entirety of Human History.

"Or did they revive from Solomon's corpse due to the contract's disappearance?"

"Given everything that's happened, there's no need to speculate."

Tawara Tōta interrupted Jiang You's question. "So it must have already revived. Is that why it hates Solomon and wants to take revenge on humanity, the group he sought to protect?"

"You're half right," Jiang You replied.

After all, Beast was a fundamentally contradictory being, possessing both human malice and human love.

"Goetia, the aggregate of the Demon God Pillars, does indeed hate Solomon. However, its true goal isn't simply to avenge itself on humanity; it intends to rewrite all of Human History and create a more perfect 'humanity.'"