Facing Zuke, Ramses II did not dare to beat around the bush and directly stated the reason for keeping Zuke behind for a private conversation.
"So, it's the Counter Force that asked you to relay a message to me."
The reason Ramses II gave was indeed the Counter Force—yes, as the root of the Type-Moon world, the Counter Force had also taken notice of Zuke, this visitor from another world.
However, since the Counter Force cannot directly interfere with the restoration of human order, all it could do during Ritsuka Fujimaru and others' journey was to help summon some heroic spirits for assistance.
In previous singularities, Ritsuka Fujimaru and his companions always encountered some wild heroic spirits in various places. These heroic spirits were summoned by the local leylines, which are essentially the Counter Force.
But Zuke's appearance clearly made the Counter Force uneasy, so it chose Ramses II to relay some messages to Zuke.
As for why Ramses II was chosen to deliver the message instead of summoning a new heroic spirit to communicate with Zuke... it was probably because there aren't many heroic spirits stronger than Ramses II.
Regarding this, Ramses II also had his own grievances—even though he is considered one of the stronger heroic spirits, he still felt immense pressure when facing Zuke.
"Simply put, the Counter Force hopes that you won't seize the Holy Grail in this world."
Ramses II conveyed the Counter Force's message to Zuke—to be honest, when he first heard this, Ramses II almost had a heart attack.
Because the "Holy Grail" mentioned by the Counter Force is currently in Ramses II's possession.
The reason for the singularity's occurrence is that the culprit left "Holy Grails" in various points of history. Someone then obtained these Holy Grails, summoned heroic spirits, and altered history.
Therefore, during Ritsuka Fujimaru and others' mission to restore history, they also need to recover these Holy Grails—this is one of their duties in restoring human order.
If Zuke were to take the Holy Grail from this singularity, Ritsuka Fujimaru and her team would have one less Holy Grail to recover, and the subsequent impact would be immeasurable.
The Counter Force was likely worried that Zuke might disrupt the restoration of human order by doing such a thing, which is why it specifically asked Ramses II to advise Zuke not to touch the Holy Grail.
However, Zuke laughed upon hearing this:
"Why does the Counter Force think I would go after the Holy Grail? I never had any intention of doing so from the beginning."
This was the truth. The Holy Grail's function is merely to concentrate a large amount of magical energy—if Zuke hadn't learned how to generate magical energy from Modo, he might have considered seizing a Holy Grail to absorb its power.
But now, after learning how to generate magical energy, the Holy Grail holds no use for Zuke.
However, upon further reflection, Zuke roughly guessed the reason.
It was probably because he had taken action against the Holy Grail during the events of *Fate/Zero*.
But that was only because the main quest in the *Fate/Zero* storyline required Zuke to obtain the Holy Grail from the Fourth Holy Grail War. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been interested in a cup filled with black mud.
At the time, he probably didn't expect that the black mud's magical energy from the Holy Grail would react with the "ki" from the Dragon Ball world inside his body, transforming into Dragon Ball-style magical energy.
Although it's unclear whether the Counter Force witnessed his actions in the *Fate/Zero* storyline or sensed the Holy Grail-related magical energy within his body, the impression that Zuke would seize the Holy Grail was firmly etched in the Counter Force's memory.
From now on, every time Zuke participates in a new storyline in the Type-Moon world, the Counter Force will likely worry about him taking the Holy Grail.
If it were just an ordinary heroic spirit, seizing the Holy Grail wouldn't be a major concern, but... Zuke is no ordinary heroic spirit. His combat power is far beyond the norm.
"Really?"
Hearing Zuke say he had no interest in the Holy Grail, Ramses II expressed some doubt—after all, this was the Counter Force's message, and compared to Zuke, he naturally trusted the Counter Force more.
But even if he didn't believe it, there was nothing he could do. If Zuke really wanted to take the Holy Grail, Ramses II felt there was little chance he could stop him.
...
"Mr. Zuke! How did it go? Is everything alright?"
When Zuke walked out of Ramses II's hall, he was met with Ritsuka Fujimaru's concern.
In the storyline, Ritsuka Fujimaru, the protagonist, is often joked about as a "Grand-class charmer" because she always manages to win the favor of heroic spirits—in truth, it's because she genuinely cares about them.
Zuke was now clearly within her circle of concern, and it seemed she cared about him even more than the average heroic spirit.
After all, she was still wearing the maid outfit Zuke had given her.
"What could possibly happen to me?"
Zuke chuckled. Ritsuka Fujimaru was worrying about the wrong person. She should be concerned about whether Ramses II was alright.
If a conflict had broken out between him and Ramses II, the one in trouble definitely wouldn't have been Zuke.
"It seems even the lofty Ramses II holds Mr. Zuke in high regard."
Da Vinci, however, noticed more—from Zuke's demeanor, it was clear that he held the upper hand in the conversation with Ramses II.
Although she didn't know what Ramses II and Zuke discussed, it seemed that Zuke and Ritsuka Fujimaru were on good terms, which eased her worries a little.
This singularity was already quite special, and the enemies they would face were likely extraordinary. If Zuke were also an enemy, she felt they might as well turn back now.
"So, will Mr. Zuke be joining us on this mission?"
Mash, standing nearby, also looked at Zuke with anticipation—while Zuke and Ramses II were talking, she had learned from Nitocris and Da Vinci that Zuke's strength was likely extraordinary.
If they could have Zuke join them on this mission, resolving the singularity would probably become much easier.
"No, I won't be joining you for now."
However, Zuke declined. If he wanted Ritsuka Fujimaru and the others to choose to summon him after returning to Chaldea, he first needed to let them understand how difficult this singularity was.
Only by understanding the difficulty of the singularity could Zuke's strength be properly highlighted.
Hmm... it sounded a bit like PUA, but that's just how the system's main quest was designed.
"Anyway, I'll be staying with Ozymandias for the time being. Once you've gained a better understanding of this singularity, come find me."
Seeing Ritsuka Fujimaru's slightly disappointed expression, Zuke patted her head. "You can keep the outfit for now."
The somewhat dejected Ritsuka Fujimaru was taken aback. She looked down at the maid outfit she was wearing and then nodded seriously:
"I understand, Mr. Zuke... I'll make sure to return this outfit to you later, so please wait here for us to come back."
To be continued…
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