"Synchronize, start."
From the shadows of the warehouse, a man's voice rang out like an ancient incantation. The metal sword in his hand became enveloped in a mysterious field.
"Basic framework, structural material, identification... transformation, reinforcement."
And then, certain phenomena began to occur—quietly and unnoticed.
Elements stirred in the darkness, an invisible but powerful magnetic field surged forth, as if a massive unseen furnace had formed between heaven and earth. The fire of the spirit danced across the weapon.
The old metal was "killed."
The new metal was "reborn."
A freshly reinforced short sword emerged, its blade sharp and gleaming, clearly radiating a sharpness far beyond that of any mundane steel weapon.
"Whew… reinforcement successful."
He casually swung the short sword, its blade drawing a smooth arc in the air and easily piercing through a thick metal plate. Scattered on the floor beside him stood dozens of standardized longswords of varying lengths, each equally sharp and menacing.
Gripping the newborn short sword, the smooth surface of the blade reflected the refined face of its maker. As he tilted the blade up and down, it revealed his slightly dark red hair and outfit—
A UNIQLO color-blocked raglan tee, layered with a black-and-white Adidas battle jacket.
This kind of outfit was a classic go-to in this era. But combined with certain other elements—like Kyōka Mahō (Reinforcement Magecraft) and Tōei Mahō (Projection Magecraft)—a particular truth became undeniable.
That is to say…
"I transmigrated into Emiya Shirou."
It had happened not long ago.
He had blinked once—and that was it.
Just a second earlier, he had been complaining online about FGO being a cash-grabbing, content-starved mess. The next moment, he had transmigrated into the protagonist of TYPE-MOON's Fate series—Emiya Shirou.
When he first arrived, he could barely believe it. But his face and clothes matched up, and he could sense the immense power coursing through his body—that had to be magical energy produced by his circuits.
As a first-generation magus with no lineage, Emiya Shirou had surprisingly decent talent.
He had immediately tried Shirou's specialties—Kyōka Mahō (Reinforcement Magecraft) and Tōei Mahō (Projection Magecraft)—and quickly discovered that he could easily reinforce all kinds of metal weapons. As for Projection Magecraft, after some initial fumbling, he was close to getting the hang of it.
Reinforcement Magecraft refers to the process of using magical energy to enhance the properties of an object—for example, increasing the sharpness of a blade.
From Shirou's perspective, his reinforcement skills were already proficient. His next goal was to improve efficiency—to finish casting without incantation and also raise his projection proficiency.
Projection Magecraft is a technique that creates replicas of real-world objects using magical energy. Since these projected items usually only lasted a few minutes, the magecraft community generally viewed it as inefficient and wasteful.
But Shirou knew he was different. When projecting bladed weapons, as long as he had seen them before, he could project them easily. The mana cost was low, and the projections could last far longer than usual.
The reason he could do this was simple: he had awakened to an Origin—the Origin of "Sword."
Once a magus awakens to their Origin, they gain extraordinary ability in that domain. Shirou's sword-origin directly empowered his Projection Magecraft, allowing him to break past its normal limitations.
To be honest, compared to Reinforcement, Projection Magecraft was where Emiya Shirou had the most room to grow. The only problem? He hadn't inherited the original Shirou's memories, so he had to start learning everything from scratch.
"Again, follow the projection steps… conceptualize creation, define the basic framework… empathize with its growth experience…"
Once again, an invisible field enveloped him—but his attempt to "create a weapon from nothing" failed. It was as if the ancient chant had jammed, missing some vital foundational element.
What was missing?
Shirou felt lost for a moment.
Thinking deeper, he recalled that in the original story, Tōsaka Rin once said that failed projections came from a magus's weak imagination. To perform proper Projection Magecraft, one had to understand the material, properties, and even the history—only then would the illusion be solid.
So to project a Hōgu (Noble Phantasm), he had to first analyze one? But… he didn't have any Hōgu on hand!
Frustrated, Shirou left the warehouse and returned to his bedroom to go online. If all else failed, maybe the all-powerful netizens could help.
——
"Yo! Justice-man, long time no see. Out here looking for work again?"
A blonde, blue-eyed anime girl avatar popped up and flashed with a message:
"Too bad I don't have anything I need help with right now. But if you're willing to humble yourself, I wouldn't mind offering a butler position—♥"
The person chatting with Shirou had the username "Genius Girl Charlotte." Charlotte was a typical Western name, but Shirou had no clue which Charlotte this one was supposed to be. Surely not Charlotte Corday from the French Revolution, right?
"Don't tease me, o-jōsama. And seriously, that 'Justice-man' nickname is awful…"
Shirou's username was "Seigi no Mikata" (Ally of Justice). Since he often lurked and ignored messages, maybe that had irritated the o-jōsama enough to give him a bad nickname. His avatar hadn't changed in years—just the lonely silhouette of a cape-fluttering figure. It gave off a hint of heroic flair, but mostly looked kinda broke. In contrast, Charlotte's avatar, accessories, and profile flair were ridiculously flashy—practically reeking of pay-to-win.
Charlotte had crafted herself an "online persona" as a noble o-jōsama from a prestigious household. Whether that was true or not… who could say? She often chatted in the group with another user—"Governor of Gaul," who presented himself as an aristocratic heir. The two shared plenty of upper-class conversations.
Like:
—Which restaurant under their family's umbrella was starting to decline and should be re-evaluated by the elders.
—How the guest list for this year's debutante ball had grown too long again.
—How they had acquired several new private estates recently but found few worth their time.
—That last year's birthday gift was a pair of Desert Eagles, and they hoped this year wouldn't bring something tacky like a Bugatti Veyron…
They even griped about their hopeless elders. Charlotte apparently had a stubborn grandpa obsessed with academics who overloaded her with assignments. Governor of Gaul, meanwhile, had a philandering father who changed women daily—
And the way he talked… it didn't sound like venting. It sounded more like a cold, festering resentment...
Shirou never chimed in on those chats. After lurking long enough, he quietly tagged them in his mind as "Lively Rich O-jōsama" and "Arrogant Flashy Heir."
As for why he never joined in? His reason was airtight and absolute—
His parents were dead.
"Now hiring a butler. Great benefits. Are you really not interested, shōnen? It's a service job, not that kind of job~" Charlotte added a grinning emoji.
"Thanks, but I'll pass." Shirou replied, choosing to ignore that last weird line. His teeth ached just reading it.
For a moment, he had a vivid déjà vu of Luvia—that blonde, drill-haired o-jōsama from Finland—smiling sweetly and beckoning him over.
If he remembered correctly, in one worldline she also tried to hire him as a butler...
Though really, she just wanted his body.
(End of Chapter)
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