To be honest, Emiya Shirou didn't think he and Charlotte were that close—he considered their relationship strictly professional: a contractor and a client.
They had first met through a website called "Hunter"—a platform specifically made for bounty hunters, mercenaries, and assassins to take on various jobs. The range of requests was enormous, from exploring ancient tombs to flat-out murder-for-hire. All kinds of shady business filled the listings.
Shirou wasn't surprised that such a site existed. His adoptive father, Kiritsugu, had been a mercenary and assassin too. In the Fate/Apocrypha worldline, Sōjūrō of the Lion's Pride was the same—and both also belonged to the mystical side as Majutsu-shi (Magi).
That meant this site was part of the gray zone between the Mystic Side and the Public World. Even though the Mystic Side followed the principle of "Mystery must not be revealed to the masses," this zone was tacitly allowed to exist.
Since transmigrating, Shirou had taken a few exploration jobs through the platform. Thanks to the original body's muscle memory, he moved skillfully and with agility. With reliable teammates, he completed those missions with relative ease.
Through that work, he had also met two wealthy employers—Charlotte and the Governor of Gaul.
But this time, Emiya Shirou logged in with a purpose: to ask around for information on Hōgu (Noble Phantasms). Ancient, thousand-year-old families might have some in their collections, or at least key intel. He recalled how Bazett's family had kept the divine relic sword Fragarach, and how in some British village, King Arthur's holy lance Rhongomyniad was still buried.
"Oh, what's a Hōgu? Sounds like some game setting."
The Governor of Gaul replied enthusiastically. Apparently, he was secretly an otaku—but his answer was disappointing. Shirou guessed his family was either a new bloodline or just a branch family of some major house.
In traditional Majutsu-ke (Magi lineages), there were often "main" and "branch" families. Branch families typically handled the family business side, but had no access to magical heritage, so they didn't follow the Mystic Side news at all.
"Hōgu… you can think of it as a legendary weapon. Stuff that shows up in myths or heroic tales. Like the holy sword in the Arthurian legends, Indra's Vajra from Indian mythology, or Odin's spear Gungnir from Norse mythology."
Shirou typed out a line of explanation, slightly disappointed.
Well, of course ancient noble houses wouldn't hang around on a bounty hunter website. They had their own private channels.
Suddenly, Charlotte's cute anime-girl avatar blinked—she sent him a private message:
"Are you someone who knows the truth of the world?"
——
Europe, in the vast private estate of the thousand-year-old alchemist family—the Gautingen household.
Charlotte von Gautingen, current heir of the family and one of the board members of the Secret Party's Kassel Academy, had her light golden hair neatly tied up. Bathed in sunlight, her fair, baby-soft face looked like a delicately sculpted porcelain doll.
Outside, the noble garden's greenery shimmered like gold and silver filigree. Indoors, the decor showed off dazzling craftsmanship, with a lavishly glazed style. Beethoven's Spring Sonata flowed gently through the room.
Right now, Miss Charlotte wore a serious expression, eyes fixed on her constantly updating screen. Then she saw Emiya Shirou's reply—
"Of course. This site is part of that gray zone between your side and the public world, right?"
Charlotte let out a breath and began typing.
"Then you should know—those myth-era weapons you mentioned? Many of them are Gainen Buki (Conceptual Weapons), artifacts that go beyond human domain."
In this world, alchemy had seven major achievements known as the Seven Kingdoms. One of those was Gainen Buki—weapons forged using conceptual elements. Things like time, causality, and the laws of nature could all be materials. Gungnir's guaranteed-hit effect clearly involved conceptual-grade matter.
Such creations belonged to the Myth Era—or more accurately, Dragon King-class alchemy.
In this Dragonkin World, all myths were twisted versions of dragon history. Before the human age, dragons ruled the earth. The Myth Era was the Dragon Era. The finest weapons of legend were forged by the Dragon Kings through alchemy.
Modern alchemy originated from dragons. It was essentially dragon science—a field for understanding, observing, and reshaping the world.
After the fall of the Dragon Age and the rise of humanity, people developed their own science. Only a few, like Charlotte, continued to pursue the lost dragon alchemy. Yet even her prestigious family had only scratched the surface of the Seven Kingdoms.
Then Shirou replied:
"That was just an example. Doesn't have to be myth-level. Something more recent works too."
"Good. My family is a well-known alchemist line. I can help check for ruins where ancient weapons were unearthed recently."
"Thanks! I've been practicing Kyōka Mahō (Reinforcement Magecraft) smoothly so far, but almost got stuck on the next phase."
Reinforcement Magecraft?
Charlotte froze for a moment. What was that supposed to be?
Shirou quickly explained: it was a technique for enhancing weapons, pushing them past their original limits—like slicing through alloy steel with ease. He had a bunch of them.
Charlotte replied:
"Wait, that sounds like Saisei Kinzoku (Rebirth Metal) alchemical weapons. In alchemy, the standard process is to 'kill the metal and resurrect it,' creating a stronger reborn material… My family specializes in that. We even have a small weapons stockpile. But how did a bounty hunter like you get so many alchemical weapons?"
Shirou immediately responded:
"I don't practice alchemy. Like I said, I reinforce them myself. If you're asking where they come from… I just bought some decorative swords from eBay. There's even a physical store in Ginza. I avoided the overpriced sellers. Just picked the cheap junk. Quality didn't matter—it was all for practice."
Charlotte was shocked. If he wasn't lying… she might've just met an alchemy prodigy.
In this age, stable production of alchemical gear was only possible thanks to modern industrial tech. The kind of high-grade weapon with its own alchemy domain—comparable to ancient famed swords—was something only an Alchemy Master could create.
In other words, this guy, still a teenager, was buying cheap swords online, crafting by hand, and was already close to mastering alchemy?
This was like Tony Stark building the first Iron Man suit in a cave. Absolutely absurd.
Charlotte couldn't help but wonder—who had trained Emiya Shirou? Surely not a Kassel Academy graduate?
Shirou quickly clarified:
"Ah, no, I wouldn't call myself that. I was just assisting a Japanese o-jōsama (referring to Rin) when we came to the Association to study Western magecraft. I'm not even a proper student."
Charlotte nodded. That reminded her of the Japanese branch of Kassel Academy, which sent over a group of Japanese hybrids every year. Unfortunately, the main campus knew very little about Japan—even Charlotte, a trustee's heir, wasn't well-informed.
Though… what did he mean by "the Association"? The Abrahamic Covenant? (a.k.a. the Secret Party?)
And those terms—Reinforcement Magecraft, Western Magecraft… Charlotte wondered if those were just some Japanese chuuni (cringe) terms.
But if Shirou wasn't even a student, he wouldn't have a mentor either. Maybe he was just repeating wild rumors from the news club?
So Charlotte casually asked what kind of impression Shirou had of the Academy's leaders.
Without hesitation, Shirou said:
"You guys have about a dozen ancient noble family heads. (Like the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower.) The biggest one is this cranky old man who's lived for over two thousand years. He's barely ever at school. Another one lives on campus but is almost never seen. (That'd be the dean.) They're said to be from the same generation and both trained under King Solomon."
Charlotte thought for a moment. Kassel had seven trustees and four elders like Beowulf—eleven top names total.
Hilbert Jean Ange, leader of the Secret Party, was indeed ancient and constantly roaming the world. Nicholas Flamel, the Watcher, was also incredibly old and mostly stayed alone in the bell tower—students rarely saw him...
But King Solomon… did he mean "Solomon of the math world," Blair Bitner?
In math circles, that Solomon was the teacher...
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][www.p@treon.com/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]