Fate: Question And Answer System of Traversing Heroic Spirits

Time flies, and the years pass like a fleeting shadow.

January 22, 2004.

"Ah—"

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Chihiro walked out of the bathroom and sat down at the table. A white-haired girl placed a bowl of spicy soup in front of him.

"You stayed up late again."

"I just went to bed a little late."

Chihiro took a sip and praised, "Your cooking is getting better and better, Gray."

"Yeah."

Hearing the compliment, Gray's face flushed with happiness.

That's right—this white-haired girl was Gray.

As for why she was here, it had already been a year since the Holy Grail War ended.

One Year Ago…

After Gilgamesh and the First Emperor left the stage, Chihiro initially enjoyed a peaceful life. He traveled with Iskandar and Artoria across the lands, visiting mountains, rivers, and historical sites. Only after that did he finally get down to business.

Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum.

The First Emperor had already granted his approval. So what was he waiting for?

And just like that, Chihiro became a tomb raider.

Following the route he had deduced to the "Underground Heavenly Palace of Qin Shi Huang," he successfully reached the core burial chamber and located his target, the legacy of the Age of Gods.

In addition to ancient records and documents, there were numerous priceless relics:

The Suihou Pearl,

Xiang Yu's blueprints,

The remnants of a homunculus recovered from the ruins of Taiyi Zhenren's Daoist temple,

And the Godslayer Crossbow, once used to shoot the Jiaoyu.

Wow… the First Emperor had been insanely rich.

Without hesitation, Chihiro packed up everything and took it all.

Of course, he didn't leave behind the Terracotta Soldiers that guarded the tomb either, he took a few dozen of them as well. There were more than enough inside Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, after all.

Finally, he drained the entire Mercury River before calling it quits.

Leaving all that mercury to evaporate would have been a waste, so he might as well take it.

All in all, Chihiro had made an absolute fortune from this little expedition to Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum.

For the next six months, he entered a research mode, immersing himself in training and study, completely absorbed in his work.

However, Iskandar, who was naturally restless, couldn't sit still any longer. He suggested that they go find Waver.

At the same time, Artoria recalled Gray's hometown and expressed a desire to investigate the cause and effect behind it.

Since both of them had spoken, Chihiro naturally agreed.

After six months of isolation, he really did need to step outside and clear his mind.

And so, the three of them set off, making a stop at the Clock Tower.

Of course, Chihiro informed both Kayneth and Waver in advance.

For over a year, Kayneth and Waver had been preoccupied with tracking down Heartless—but unfortunately, the man had already fled, and his whereabouts remained unknown.

In addition, Kayneth had allocated a portion of his profits to secure a lecturer position in the Modern Magecraft Department, which he then handed over to Waver.

Compared to his own Mineralogy Department, the Modern Magecraft Department was clearly a place where Waver could truly shine.

After experiencing so much, the once arrogant Kayneth had learned the value of caution.

Once their objectives were explained, Kayneth gave his approval, and the group set off for Gray's hometown.

The return of their king stirred great excitement among the villagers. They believed their long-cherished dream was about to come true and even attempted to deceive Artoria.

However, Artoria had already learned the truth about this place. Naturally, she wouldn't be swayed by their words. She intended to destroy the ritual formation left behind by Morgan but all the villagers stood in her way.

Yet, how could ordinary villagers possibly oppose a Heroic Spirit?

Within seconds, they were all knocked unconscious.

Finally, the group sought out Bersac.

After a long conversation, Bersac deliberated for a while, then ultimately agreed to assist them.

And so, he led them into the underground labyrinth…

Inside the underground temple, the group finally saw the young Corpse King.

Because it had been born alongside Gray's awakening, the Corpse King was now the same age as Gray.

After Chihiro posed a simple question—"Do you want to have your own life?"—the Corpse King ceased resisting.

Upon arriving at the ritual temple, Artoria unleashed Excalibur, bringing an end to this ritual that should never have existed.

As the formation collapsed, the Corpse King began to fade away. But before it could disappear, Chihiro cast a binding spell, sealing its spirit into a talisman.

He still wished to help this soul, which had been nothing more than a tool since its birth.

Now that the Corpse King's soul had been saved, the next step was finding a body.

And if one wanted the perfect body for the Corpse King, there was only one person to seek out.

That's right—Aozaki Touko!

Technically, Gordes could create a homunculus for this purpose. However, Gordes was still in the experimental phase of his research, and the homunculi he produced typically possessed self-awareness.

Merging two distinct consciousnesses would inevitably lead to complications.

Thus, the task of establishing contact naturally fell to Kayneth once again, after all, he had been the one to reach out to Aozaki Touko in the original story.

Of course, his efforts weren't without reward. As compensation, Chihiro presented Waver with Iskandar's contract.

Naturally, Iskandar's consent had been obtained.

Alright, enough joking—it was actually Iskandar himself who had wanted to follow Waver.

After all, Chihiro preferred staying home most of the time, and was far too dull for Iskandar's taste.

He found the Clock Tower far more entertaining.

Waver had mixed feelings about this. While he was undoubtedly thrilled, he was also deeply concerned.

He feared that Iskandar might end up wreaking havoc within the Clock Tower.

As for Kayneth's real reward, it was actually some of the high-quality mercury Chihiro had taken from Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum.

Kayneth had been planning to refine the Marrow of the Moon Spirit Fluid into True Trimmau, and this mercury was precisely the material he needed.

And with that, the matter concerning Gray's hometown was finally settled.

However, before they left, Magdalena, Gray's mother, entrusted Gray to Artoria.

Even though the ritual had been completely dismantled, Magdalena still feared what those fanatical villagers might attempt next. In the end, she had no choice but to reluctantly place her daughter in Artoria's care.

Without hesitation, Artoria agreed, placing part of the blame on herself.

This was how Gray came to live with Chihiro.

The matter of Gray's hometown was resolved, but after getting in touch with Aozaki Touko, something unexpected was revealed.

When Aozaki Touko heard that Chihiro was commissioning a custom puppet, she became intrigued and invited him to visit her workshop.

However, when Chihiro arrived at the city where Aozaki Touko was staying, he was stunned.

Garan no Dou, Mifune City.

At first, the name sounded unfamiliar. But for those who knew Kara no Kyoukai, recognition would strike immediately.

Wasn't this the city where Ryougi Shiki lived?

It turned out that this world and Kara no Kyoukai shared the same continuity.

Chihiro had never realized it before, after all, there were simply too many derivative worlds within Type-Moon.

By the time he arrived, it was already 1997.

Shiki had been in a coma for over a year, and the events of Kara no Kyoukai would not take place for another year.

As for Kara no Kyoukai, Chihiro had little interest in interfering. The only thing he wanted to do was see if he could save Asagami Fujino's life.

T/N: Hell Yeahhhhhhhh

Later, Chihiro and his companions finally met Touko, the eccentric top-tier puppeteer who thrived on chaos.

As payment, Chihiro presented a mechanical Terracotta Soldier and asked Touko to use Gray as a template to create a high-quality puppet that could serve as the Corpse King's new body.

At last, the Corpse King could walk under the sunlight like a normal human being.

Of course, the strange name "Corpse King" had to go.

After careful deliberation, Chihiro renamed her "Gunnar."

The name came from Norse mythology, where Gray symbolized noise, and Gunnar represented battle.

It suited the Corpse King's personality perfectly.

(To be continued.)

T/N: The Corpse King is an artificial recreation of Artoria's mind, created using Logos React. It is part of an effort to revive Artoria by combining this recreated mind with Gray's body, which resembles Artoria, and the soul of Saber summoned in the Holy Grail War. The Corpse King resides in secret tunnels under Blackmore Cemetery and became active when Gray's face started to look like Artoria's.

Logos React: One of the Seven Superweapons of Atlas, developed and kept by Atlas.

***

For every 200 PS = 1 extra chapter. Support me on patreon to read 50+ advanced chapters: patreon.com/Blownleaves.