Three days later, at sunrise, the first rays of light came up over the eastern horizon. Ryuuto was stretched out on the hotel bed with his hands behind his head, watching the sun rise outside the window. Like Kiritsugu, he'd picked a hotel for his hideout, but the place looked nothing like Kiritsugu's war room with all its maps and notes pinned to the walls.
Tangled sheets were thrown everywhere. The furniture was all pushed around. Stockings and maid uniforms were scattered across the floor. And the whole place smelled... well, you can probably guess.
Even though they were fighting a war where people were literally dying, this place had stayed lit up all night. As for the other women staying at the hotel - Morgan had completely ignored what he was up to, staying locked in her room all day doing some kind of research, like a total shut-in.
Meanwhile, Fanatic would kneel outside the door at night with her hands folded, facing toward the Holy Land, quietly begging God to forgive her Master. What a cuck.
Ryuuto rested his chin on the homunculus's soft stomach and thought about how the Holy Grail War was going. The harbor battle three days ago had ended when Iskandar and Gilgamesh showed up and caused some minor skirmishes. The four groups had basically just tested each other before heading off in different directions. From his hiding spot in the shadows, he had pretty much figured out who all the players were.
Saber Gawain/Master: Kayneth El-Melloi
Archer Gilgamesh/Master: Tokiomi Tohsaka
Lancer Artoria/Master: Kiritsugu Emiya
Rider Iskandar/Master: Waver Velvet
Caster Morgan/Master: Yours truly
No Name Assassin/Fanatic (defeated)/Master: Yours truly
Berserker Unknown/Master: Kirei Kotomine
Ryuuto scratched his cheek. "What kind of crazy matchmaking is this?"
He had some theories about Berserker's identity. In the original timeline, the Tohsaka faction had faked Assassin's death to let them do better reconnaissance. Looking at it that way, Kirei's fake death probably served the same purpose for Berserker. And this Servant had the ability to survive even after being killed once. Ryuuto's eyes narrowed. That really narrowed down who it could be.
"Master." Fanatic's voice came from above. The girl with twin braids was standing upside down on the ceiling.
"You're back."
"Yes, my lord."
Last night, he'd sent Fanatic to the Sajyou mansion in Tokyo to get something hidden there. As a reward for doing so well at the harbor, he'd let her wear her black robe again. Fanatic dropped lightly from the ceiling and knelt before him, holding out a grimoire and a square box wrapped in cloth.
"I found the book under your bed as requested. And also this—"
He took the grimoire and tossed it onto the bed without much interest. "What's the other thing?"
"Please forgive me, Master... I'm still too inexperienced. To be spotted by ordinary people while on a stealth mission - this is the worst mistake of my life." She hung her head low, her shoulders shaking. "This is the lunch box your mother asked me to bring to you."
…
Morgan sat by the coffee table in the living room, her long slender legs wrapped in garter stockings and crossed beneath her fancy black and blue short skirt. She folded her arms across her chest.
"What exactly is this?" she asked, staring at the grimoire he had placed in front of her. The cover was bound in human skin with a disturbing face molded into the front.
"This is the paper your student published as second author. Care to take a look, Professor?" he said with a smirk.
It was Prelati's Spellbook, the same Noble Phantasm that Caster Gilles de Rais had used in the original story to summon those sea monsters. A forbidden, evil artifact containing knowledge of ancient Outer Gods from before humans even existed. The first version was written in some unknown language, then later Francesca Prelati translated it into Italian and circulated a few copies among magi who dabbled in dark arts.
The copy in Ryuuto's possession was the newest and final version, made just two years ago when he kidnapped Prelati and starved her until she wrote down the entire text from memory. So when he'd mentioned having some kind of "friendship" with Francesca before, what he meant was a relationship where he beat her into submission.
The thing is, this book didn't actually have any special powers anymore. The connection to other dimensions had been sealed off, and the authority to open that passage had permanently gone to Gilles de Rais. Unless he returned the book at a soul level, even Prelati herself couldn't use her own spellbook anymore. Right now, it wasn't even a proper magical item, it's just a weird book full of nonsense writing that would appeal to edgy teenagers.
"Okay... what exactly do you plan to do with this?" Morgan immediately recognized that the book had no magical properties, but she didn't ask how he got it - she wanted to know what he was planning.
"I want to become a monster," he said simply.
Morgan blinked, looking momentarily confused. "What?"
"I want to become a monster," he repeated with a completely straight face. "All boys dream of becoming Ultraman, right? If I can't be Ultraman, I'll settle for being a monster. And if you're wondering why - it's because I'm already a monster. This human child form is just me pretending to be something I'm not."
Regular humans just didn't interest him anymore. Even though he could become something stronger than the Outer Gods' offspring if he really tried, he didn't want to completely give up his current human lifestyle either. So his first step was to see what being a monster felt like by turning into a sea demon for a few hours! And that's how this half-baked monster transformation plan was born in the Beast's mind.
Morgan sighed while pressing her fingers against her forehead. "So, Master, you want to turn into a giant squid?"
"Don't call it a squid!" he puffed out his cheeks. "It's a sea demon!"
She sighed, "Are you really planning to turn into a monster right here in Fuyuki City?"
Even though she already knew what kind of person he was, she still felt her Master was going too far this time.
"No, Caster. When did I say I was going to cause trouble in Fuyuki? I'm planning to leave town for a few days, turn into a monster, and pay a visit to someone."
"Who?" She looked up, confused.
He kept his eyes fixed on the world news playing on TV. The strange light in the boy's eyes suddenly made the witch realize something - she had completely underestimated how her Master's mind worked.