Chapter 178: I've Put Up With You Long Enough!

Hearing Shirazawa Mei's words, Emiya Shirou's expression froze, and he couldn't help but raise his head, taking another look at this transfer-student friend of his.

Feeling Emiya Shirou's gaze, Shirazawa Mei raised an eyebrow and said, "Is something wrong?"

Emiya Shirou came back to his senses and said hesitantly, "You seem to have become a little different."

Shirazawa Mei said calmly, "People change. Sometimes, all it takes is one bad day to drive even the most rational person mad…"

Emiya Shirou said worriedly, "Are you talking about yourself?"

No, he's just showing off!

Shirazawa Mei shook his head and said, "Just giving an example… alright, let's drop this. Come with me!"

Emiya Shirou glanced at Matou Shinji, who was twisted up on the stairs, hesitated for a moment, then followed anyway.

Along the way, quite a few students who'd joined clubs and were leaving school late saw them and stopped one after another, stepping aside.

Judging by the looks on their faces, they seemed quite afraid of Shirazawa Mei, this transfer student from Huaxia.

That's right — although Shirazawa Mei acts like an otaku shut-in in the chat group, at Homurahara Academy he's actually quite the cold, aloof school bully that students keep their distance from!

This was naturally not the work of the transmigrator Shirazawa Mei, but rather the territory his predecessor had carved out for him.

As an ordinary person with no talent as a magus, the fact that he could intervene in the Holy Grail War with a mortal body, and even survive encounters with Servants multiple times, meant he must have had a few tricks up his sleeve.

In fact, his identity in this life was no simple matter.

Based on the memories Shirazawa Mei had inherited, his predecessor had been born into a martial arts family, and from a young age his parents had sent him to Foshan to study orthodox White Eyebrow Quan Fa under his retired grandfather.

By the year Shirazawa Mei transmigrated, his predecessor had already practiced White Eyebrow Quan Fa for a full eight years!

Skill of that level was practically a dimensional reduction strike against ordinary students. His predecessor had only needed to make a slight move at the start of his transfer — dealing with a few boxing-club school bullies who'd tried to pick on him — to easily build up this kind of reputation.

Of course, a reputation like this had its pros and cons.

The upside was no one wanted to provoke him; the downside was being isolated by ordinary students.

In the entire class, only Emiya Shirou didn't care, and was still willing to be friends with his predecessor.

As for why his predecessor had come to Fuyuki City to study, it was mainly because of his parents' work.

In this day and age, the most legitimate way to make money through martial arts was naturally the film industry.

Shirazawa Mei's parents were exactly that — both were quite famous martial arts choreographers. After collaborating with a certain well-known film director on the island nation a few years back, they'd signed long-term contracts for two more films, and were expected to stay here for the next three years.

Precisely for that reason, they'd brought Shirazawa Mei to Fuyuki City and transferred him to Homurahara Academy…

And after Shirazawa Mei transmigrated, his predecessor's memories and martial arts foundation were both inherited by him.

Although his Quan Fa had slipped a little, it still far surpassed that of an untrained ordinary person.

Thanks to martial arts, Shirazawa Mei had been able to join the alliance between Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou, teaching the two of them martial arts on one hand, and intervening in this Holy Grail War with a mortal body on the other.

……

Anyway, to get back to the point — after teaching Matou Shinji a lesson, Shirazawa Mei brought Emiya Shirou to the rooftop of the side building.

By now, the sky had gradually darkened. Emiya Shirou's gaze swept across the empty rooftop before him, and he couldn't help but frown, looking somewhat puzzled at Shirazawa Mei's back ahead.

"Shiro, what is it? Can you tell me now?"

"……"

Shirazawa Mei stopped walking, turned around, and looked at Emiya Shirou.

Only then did Emiya Shirou belatedly notice that Shirazawa Mei had been carrying a silver-and-red briefcase the whole time — it looked as if something out of a sci-fi movie had walked into reality.

"Do you feel it?"

Just then, Shirazawa Mei spoke up abruptly.

Emiya Shirou asked, puzzled, "Feel what?"

Shirazawa Mei said with a light laugh, "A barrier, of course."

What?!

Emiya Shirou's pupils contracted sharply, and he couldn't help but reassess this transfer-student friend of his.

"Why do you know that word?"

"Could it be… you too?!"

Shirazawa Mei shook his head and said, "That's not important. What's important is that someone has set up a barrier inside the school."

Emiya Shirou said in a low voice, "You mean someone plans to make a move on the students?"

"That's a possibility."

Shirazawa Mei nodded, and the magical energy within his body circulated on its own, flooding into those pitch-black eyes.

In an instant, the world before his eyes changed.

On the rooftop that had originally been empty, a crimson sigil abruptly appeared.

Not only that — all over the school, there were floating crimson curses one after another.

"From my observation, this barrier isn't complete yet, but the preparatory work has already begun."

"In at most two days, the barrier will take effect, dissolving the bodies of every human inside it, forcibly collecting their souls…"

What?!

Emiya Shirou's pupils contracted sharply, and he exclaimed in shock, "Collect souls?!"

"That's right!"

Shirazawa Mei glanced at him and said, "Souls, as a thing, are actually useless to an ordinary magus — but it's a different story when it comes to Servants…"

"Servants?"

Emiya Shirou frowned and said, "What are Servants?"

Seeing the confusion on Emiya Shirou's face, Shirazawa Mei couldn't help but sigh.

Sure enough, this guy was still the same as last time — he didn't know anything.

But it didn't matter; he'd already had this kind of conversation twice, one more time wouldn't make a difference!

"In any case, come take a look first!"

Saying this, Bai Bai Zeming turned around and looked toward the rooftop of the main building not far away.

Shirou Emiya frowned slightly, walking toward Bai Bai Zeming while asking in confusion:

"Look at what?"

"Of course, the war you are about to be drawn into—"

Bai Bai Zeming glanced at Shirou Emiya approaching beside him and said slowly: "A cruel war named after the Holy Grail!"

The Holy Grail War?

Shirou Emiya walked to Bai Bai Zeming's side with his brows tightly furrowed. Just as he wanted to press further, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he stared fixedly at the rooftop of the main teaching building not far away.

There stood a tall twin-tailed girl wearing a red long-sleeved top over a school uniform shirt, with a black short skirt and black over-the-knee stockings on her lower body.

Judging by her exquisite features, it was none other than Rin Tohsaka, quite famous at Homurahara Academy!

And on the water tank not far in front of Rin Tohsaka, a tall figure stood conspicuously.

This person carried a red long spear on his shoulder, his entire body covered in solid blue armor. His equally azure long hair was tied into a ponytail with a golden ring and draped behind him. His handsome face was as dazzling as the sun, and his athletic body clearly contained immense power.

"Who is that?"

Shirou Emiya stared blankly at the blue-armored man and asked.

"A Heroic Spirit."

Bai Bai Zeming said calmly: "More precisely, Lancer, one of the seven Heroic Spirit Servants."

At this point, he suddenly yanked Shirou Emiya, pulling him away from the railing, and shook his head, saying: "Don't stare at him like that. Lancer's senses are quite sharp; such an unmasked gaze of yours will easily get you discovered by him."

"..."

Shirou Emiya turned his head, his brows tightly furrowed as he asked: "So, what exactly is the Holy Grail War?"

Bai Bai Zeming spoke in a leisurely tone: "The so-called Holy Grail is a treasure said to be able to grant the holder any wish."

"Approximately once every sixty years, the spiritual energy in the ley lines of Fuyuki City accumulates to a quantity sufficient to support the descent of the Holy Grail, but ultimately, only one pair of Servant and Master can obtain the Holy Grail to realize a wish."

"The war erupting among seven Magus Masters leading their respective summoned Heroic Spirit Servants to fight for ownership of the Holy Grail is the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki City!"

"Once the spiritual energy in the ley lines has fully accumulated, the next step is to select suitable Masters."

"After all seven Masters and Heroic Spirits have manifested, the Holy Grail War will begin!"

"To this day, the Holy Grail War has continued for nearly two hundred years."

"Only ten years after the Fourth Holy Grail War ended, the Fifth Holy Grail War was launched again."

"This is because the Fourth Holy Grail War ended while more than half of the mana accumulated in the Greater Grail remained unused; therefore, it did not require much time to refill the mana again."

"As for the seven Master slots, generally speaking, the three families of Einzbern, Matou, and Tohsaka are basically predetermined."

"As the current head of the Tohsaka family, Rin Tohsaka naturally must also summon a Servant and participate in the Holy Grail War!"

Hearing such detailed information from Bai Bai Zeming, Shirou Emiya's heart trembled violently.

After digesting this information, he said in a deep voice: "Why tell me all this?"

Bai Bai Zeming spoke seriously: "Because you have the qualification to become the seventh Master!"

"I... me?"

Shirou Emiya looked at Bai Bai Zeming with a blank expression.

Seeing this scene, Bai Bai Zeming couldn't help but sigh again.

Summoning a Heroic Spirit Servant and signing a contract generally requires a medium related to the intended Heroic Spirit, namely a Holy Relic, which refers to an item once held by the Heroic Spirit, or something like bone remains.

During the day when he skipped class, Bai Bai Zeming had already quietly slipped into the Emiya household and attempted to summon a Heroic Spirit.

But unfortunately, the Holy Grail simply did not acknowledge his qualification as a Master; no matter how he tried, he could not succeed.

With no other choice, Bai Bai Zeming could only settle for the next best option, choosing to help Shirou Emiya just like in several previous reincarnations.

However, it now seems that making Shirou Emiya accept his identity as a Master will still require some effort...

Just as Bai Bai Zeming was about to continue speaking, he suddenly frowned slightly, and a sense of ominous foreboding surged in his heart.

According to his experience from the last time, when he explained to this extent, Lancer should have already started fighting Archer; how come it is so quiet now?

With this doubt, Bai Bai Zeming instinctively turned his head to look toward the rooftop of the main building not far away.

"Shhh—"

The next second, the crimson spear tip grew larger and larger in his eyes.

Following the line of the equally crimson spear shaft, there was conspicuously a handsome face bearing a slight sigh.

"Be careful!"

Shirou Emiya cried out in alarm and rushed toward Bai Bai Zeming without hesitation.

But the instant he made contact with Bai Bai Zeming, it was as if he had crashed into a wall cast from metal; he was directly rebounded and fell heavily to the ground.

Intense pain surged from his spine, but Shirou Emiya paid no heed to the pain, immediately raising his head to look at Bai Bai Zeming.

He saw Bai Bai Zeming gripping the spear tip tightly with his right hand, which was wrapped in silver-red armor. Beside him, the briefcase continuously decomposed and transformed, covering his entire body in the Lancer's shocked gaze, turning into full silver-red battle armor.

"Lancer, is it?"

Bai Bai Zeming gripped the crimson spear tip tightly, looked at that familiar face, and said through gritted teeth:

"How many times now? Still trying to stab my heart?"

"Do you know that Laozi has been putting up with you for a long time!"

Before his words had finished, he suddenly exerted force with his right hand, deflecting the spear tip toward the ground at his side. Then, he extended his left arm, and a purple plasma spark blade popped out from the arm armor, slashing fiercely at Lancer's neck.

(End of this chapter)