As the kid stared off into space, I quickly closed the stopwatch app and got the phone recording. To turn and confront me as he did… he must have been confident in himself. So why was it that now, after showing him that'd he'd been off by around two minutes, that he was unable to act decisively?

"Well" I asked him, returning his focus to me. "Do you believe me or not? Taking an awfully long time to consider things, aren't you?"

Of course he was; he knew he had been caught. Thanks to his reaction, I also knew that he had been caught. As to what it was, exactly, I couldn't say. Too soon to assume he was a master, or even just a mage. I needed to get him talking; get him distracted…

"Who are you, and why the hell are you following me" the boy tried to pivot into anger.

Pathetic… that only works if you don't show fear first. You have a lot to learn about body language, kid.

"That's what I should be asking! Well, at least the who are you part. Kid like you, roaming the alleyways this time of night, between all these tall office buildings? Not normal behaviour; not in the slightest!"

"So what? That doesn't prove anything! What's not normal is stalking random kids, you pedophile!"

…Really, a pedophile? Was that really the best you could come up with? All the same, thanks for waving your arms about. Why aren't you wearing gloves, knowing that shit is on the back of your hand?

"If I was a pedophile, it would be normal behaviour though" I laughed at the poor example. "Now, what's really not normal are those red markings you got there. Care to share?"

The boy stiffened right up. So… kids really did participate in this thing. Great, I had found a mage; a master, no less. He could be a wealth of information, provided I lived through this.

"So, you got one too then" I smiled. "Who'd you-"

I suddenly found myself with a blade to my throat. …What the hell! The kid was still in front of me, so it had to be someone else, maybe his servant. But while that explained the who, it failed to explain the how and where. The kid had been alone; I was certain of that much! Or… was I really that rusty that I couldn't see he wasn't alone? …Shit, how do I get out of this one?

"Woah, woah, woah" I put on a tense smile, raising my hands up in surrender. "Let's not get hasty now; no one needs to die here, you know?"

"I don't sense any magic from you" the kid noted. "Who are you? How do you know about command spells?"

"Sorta hard to speak like this, but ok. Name's Nathan; nice to meet ya. As to how I know, well…"

I moved slowly, first pocketing my phone in its usual spot before slipping off the glove covering my own command spells.

"I got one of those servant things too."

The kid's face flashed through many emotions. Shock primarily, but also quite a bit of confusion. Clearly, he wasn't used to being caught off guard; made two of us. Difference being my reactions were tailored and intentional; his were uncontrolled, natural. Really needed to work on that there…

"Strolling about without your servant… You're a stupid one. This is what the Association sent to fight us? What a joke."

"Um, what Association" I asked, curious.

The kid stared back at me in silence.

"No, really; what's this about an Association? Are you saying you mage types have a special club, or something?"

Right back to confusion. Good; if he was confused, I could maybe talk myself out of this mess.

"You're really not lying…" the kid finally concluded. "Just who are you?"

"Well, as I said before, I'm Nathan" I grinned. "Also, as I hope you can tell, I'm not a mage. One of these master things, yes, but fuck me if I know what's going on! I've been looking for someone to explain to me what this here is all about. My servant wasn't all that helpful; tried to kill me basically immediately. If it wasn't for these command spell things, well…"

…Well, I hoped command spells could do something like that. Stop a servant from killing their own master, that is. Really risky, lying to a mage about magic shit, but I didn't want to play the file card except as a very last resort. Besides, Caster had said those command spell things could do basically anything, so… this should fall within the realm of possibility, no?

"That… that explains a lot actually" the kid eventually admitted. "Let him go; he's not a threat."

Oh good, so it seems like command spells can do that. Good to know. Also, not having a blade ready to take my head off felt really nice. All this pausing the kid was doing though… Was he just a slow thinker, or something? Or maybe just overly cautious, not that it was doing him much good if that was the case. May be rusty in shadowing, but my words worked just fine, if you know what I mean.

"So, you just got dragged into this… That's not good. For you, I mean."

"Why's that?"

"…You do know you're in a Holy Grail War, yes?"

"I know about that much, and only that much. Soon as my servant realised they were tied to master without magic they tried to skewer me. Can't remember what I said, but thankfully one of these red marking things lit up and stopped that… That said, that's all I know; haven't seen my servant since. If you don't mind maybe explaining to me what the hell is going on here, I'd really appreciate it."

The kid fell silent. He was contemplating whether or not to kill me, here and now. Can't say I blamed him; he basically had a free kill on a master here. Wasn't like Caster would save me. Even if I used a command spell to break space-time and force Caster here, he'd try to kill me right after for ordering him around, provided we even lived through this fight to being with. That was also assuming that I could even do that; even command spells had limits, right?

"Master" I heard a voice speak up from the shadows off to my right.

So, that was his servant. Even in the shadows, I could make out some things. The voice signified the Heroic Spirit was male. Like Caster, he had black hair, though his was definitely longer, and by a decent amount too. The armor was interesting: green metal plates, detailed with… I wanted to say gold. It wasn't a full plate suit though. More like… individual plates attached to some kind of leather? No… not leather; cloth. Greenish, brown cloth. Definitely a style of armor of eastern origin, rather than western. At his side he held two ordinary looking swords. A stark contrast to the flashy looking armor…

"If he was dragged into this war unintentionally, I would prefer to avoid killing him, if possible" the kid's servant continued.

"Well, obviously. I don't like the idea of normal people getting caught up in this either" the kid seemed to protest. "It's the idea that someone could have even gotten dragged into this that worries me. It's just… Ugh, this isn't the place for this!"

You know, I hadn't actually considered if Heroic Spirits from all over the world could be summoned or not. Considering it was called a Holy Grail War, a distinctly western thing, I had just sorta assumed it would be a western thing. But if Heroic Spirits of eastern origins could also be summoned… damn, if only I knew this servant's class! If I knew that, I could start trying to piece together his identity. Would be so cool!

"You" the kid pointed to me, before pulling something out from his pocket. "Follow me. I can't promise you anything, but I should be able to at least explain what it is you've gotten wrapped up in."

"Great, really appreciate that" I smiled. "By all means, lead the way."

First thing I learned from running into this kid is that all servants had this thing called spirit form. As soon as we had cleared out from the alleyways and began walking down the main roads of the city, his servant just completely vanished from view! Wish I was recording this on my camera, rather than my phone, but better recorded there than not at all.

"So, besides turning invisible, does this spirit form thing have any other practical applications" I asked, trying to pump as much information as I could out of him.

"It reduces their mana consumption, as they don't have a physical form to sustain. It does have its drawbacks though. Namely, servants in spirit form can't physically interact with the world around them."

"That's so cool. Man, to think this whole world of magic existed right under my very nose this whole time…"

"About that" the kid sighed. "Your involvement in all of this is… problematic. For you, that is. While I have no real desire to kill anyone in this, I can't say the same will be true for anyone else. Especially the magi of the Association. They prioritize the safeguarding of the secrets of magic above all."

There was so much I wanted to ask the kid, but it was clear to me that he currently had no desire to answer any more questions for the moment. Considering he wasn't someone I could count as a 'friend' or 'ally' yet, unlike Caster… sorta, it was probably best to not keep pestering the guy. That, and I still wanted to try and figure out more about his servant.

That the servant was of eastern origin I had no doubt; the armor was a dead giveaway on its own. Combine that with the fact that, if my memory wasn't failing me here, he had been holding two jian swords… he had to be from China, right? Though even that wasn't all that helpful: China had a rich history of famed and fabled heroes alike. My knowledge of Chinese history and mythology was basic in comparison to my knowledge of Rome, Greece or Egypt. Hell, even the middle ages I knew better!

Didn't help I couldn't pin down the class either. From the weapons, I could rule out Lancer and Archer. I could also rule out Caster, for obvious reasons. That left up four classes still: Saber, Rider, Assassin, and Berserker. Any of them could use swords, so how was I supposed to tell… No way in hell the kid would tell me the class of his servant, would he?

"…So" I eventually spoke up. "Where is it we're going?"

"Somewhere we can talk in safety. For now, that's all you need to know."

…Not exactly helpful, but expected. But man, the direction in which he was going… this was to one of the, uh, rich neighborhoods. My guy didn't exactly look, or come off, as loaded. Appearances could always be deceiving, of course, but it just raised another question: if this guy was rich, why did he need the grail? Why risk your life fighting a war for a wish granting device when you already have the means to actualize most anything you could ever wish for. In the age of capitalism domination, what couldn't money buy was the better question to ask! So then, what is it you could desire, kid? Immortality?

…Actually… Hmm… Immortality does seem pretty sweet; the ability to witness the beauty of humanity for all time…

I had been so focused on seeing all the magic I could see, I actually hadn't even put any thought into the wish I would make if I won this thing. Or rather, if Caster won this thing. Hope he was doing alright; tomorrow for sure I'd go check in on him…

"Right, here we are" the sound of the kid speaking brought me back to reality.

Yep, guess the kid was loaded. Big ass house, with a gated driveway and everything. If this was what he was using as a base for his operations… not bad. Not bad at all. Made me wonder if he was alone in there though; can't imagine he'd willingly put his family at risk or something. Or would he? Guess I didn't know him well enough to rule that out yet.

"Nice place" I grinned. "It yours, or…?"

"My mother's. Or, was my mother's…" he sighed. "Now I suppose you'd be correct in saying its mine."

…Was, huh? Could be unrelated, naturally, but it could also mean that this war had already claimed a victim. Shame to not know, though asking him a question like that would most likely lead to nowhere good for me, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Should warn you though" he continued. "A friend's already here, and, well… I haven't exactly told her you're coming…"

"Is that bad for me?"

"No" he laughed. "This time, it's bad for me. Saber, could you keep guard outside; in case Assassin shows up again."

"Of course, master" the kid's servant reappeared and gave a polite bow before once again disappearing from sight.

So, that's the Saber… You know, that's… actually not all that helpful at all! So many people used swords historically; it was a common weapon. Basically, anyone could fit into the fucking Saber class!

"Sorry in advance, by the way" the kid looked to me as we walked towards the front doors of the house.

"Oh, for what?"

"For how loud its going to get real soon" he let out a sound between a nervous laugh and a sigh. "But let's get you all figured out. Of course, I'm sure the two of us will have questions for you as well, so be ready to answer; my friend isn't quite as… tolerant, let's say, of things not going to plan."