The sound of waves rang out.

Perhaps it was almost dawn, and the faint light shining on the shore was shrouded in a soft mist.

The beach stretches on both sides, with no end in sight. The sea was shrouded in white mist, and there was no other side in sight. What is on the other side of the sea, is it land, is it a distant horizon, or is there nothing?

Except for the never-ending sound of the waves, there was silence all around.

There were no clouds in the sky, no wind on the ground, and a few figures were blurred from the shore.

All the way to the east, leaving everything in the world far to the west—and at last, to this silent shore.

So behind that fog, there must be nothing.

The world has ended here, and it is no longer possible to move forward. Here it is – the sea at the end of the world.

Close your eyes and listen to the sound of the waves.

That's something that only those who go to the end of the world can appreciate, the melody of the distant waves—

It was as if he was lying on the table and fell asleep.

After being suddenly shaken on his shoulder, Webb felt the numbness of his arm, and he raised his head as he groaned.

It was as if I had some strange dream, a strange but clear dream, as if I was peeking into the memories of others.

It's already dark, so I guess I've wasted a lot of time. Webb thought helplessly. Right now, time is the most important thing.

All the Masters are vying for Caster's head, and those who succeed will be rewarded with additional spells...... Must be successful. For Weber, who commanded Iskandar like a fiery horse, the coercive authority of the Spell was a necessary guarantee. He wouldn't give up this great opportunity to the other masters.

No matter what kind of Heroic Spirit the opponent is, Caster's rank should be a Servant who is good at using magic tricks. To deal with such an opponent, if you can directly rush forward and solve it with brute force, I am afraid that you must have a rank like Saber. Rider ranks other than the Three Knights can only be dealt with by strategy, because Iskandar's anti-magic ability is judged to be D-rank...... Can't do much other than defense.

So the best way to deal with Caster is to try to get him to meet Saber as much as possible, but then he won't get the precious additional spell himself. Forming an alliance with Saber to snipe Caster together is the best option. But if you think about the future Holy Grail War, you will have to act before anyone else.

A day after the announcement from the Winterwood Church. Webb asks Rider to investigate and think of strategies at home...... But I didn't expect to fall asleep, and the Servant didn't know how to laugh at himself.

No, if it was just a mockery—recalling the flick of his fingers that had caused him countless times, Webb subconsciously covered his forehead. That's so annoying, what if the skull cracks.

He was thinking when he heard footsteps on the stairs down the porch, so he quickly sat upright. By the way, it's almost time for dinner, and the old lady has come to call him.

Looking around, there was a suspicious object in the house right now - okay, no.

A soft knock on the door was followed by Madame's voice, but the content was quite different from what Webb had expected.

"Webb, Mr. Alex is here. 」

"—huh?"

Who?" he asked, a bad feeling flashing through his mind.

Alex...... ALEX…… ANDER？

Before he could react, a rough and hearty laugh rang out in the living room under the porch.

「…… Wait!"

Webb, whose face had changed drastically, rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs in a half-tumbling posture towards the dining room.

The TV screen is still full of messy programs, and at the table is an old man eating and drinking beer. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for a large foreign object.

Servant tucked into the crumbling guest chair, raised his hand to Webb in a relaxed greeting, and drank down the beer from his glass.

"Ah, it's so refreshing. 」

Holding a wine bottle in his hand, Gu Lan seemed to be happy from the bottom of his heart to meet a drinking friend.

"When my Webb came back from England, I expected him to be able to drink somewhat, but he wasn't able to do it yet, and I've been bored until now. 」

"Hahaha, he doesn't know the fun yet, I often tell him, the so-called life, happiness is victory. 」

The old man and the king of conquest talked and laughed. Look at this obviously hoax scene. Webb was speechless.

Seeing this, Madame patted Webber on the shoulder with a puzzled expression.

"Why didn't you give me an early notice since there was a guest coming, I didn't even have time to prepare. 」

「…… No. Ah......h

Seeing Webb's puzzled face, Rider said without mind.

"No, don't bother, madam, this casual home-cooked meal is the best delicacy. 」

"Ah, you're really talking. 」

Madame laughed, and the laughter seemed to be infected by Rider's rudeness. Weber seems to be the only one who can't understand this situation.

"You know, my Webb is just that kind of temper. Although he didn't have to worry about it in England at that time. But I didn't expect him to make such a reliable confidant and friend as you, which is really bothering. 」

"No, no. I'm causing him trouble, you see he bought these pants for me, they look good. 」

Webb bought him the jeans because he was out investigating, and Rider was proud of it. Although I don't know how these people got together, from the mouth of the Markaigi. He already had a rough idea of what this "Mr. Alex" was like in their minds.

The old couple was magically suggested that Webb was their grandson who had returned from studying in England, and Rider was invited into the house and sat down at the dinner table under the pretext that he was a friend from before he went abroad.

While it's puzzling that this old couple would trust a stranger so much, it's nothing compared to this. Rider, who convinced them, seems to have quite a bit of a skill. Webb, who had been trying his best to hide the existence of the Servant, saw the three of them talking and laughing, and he didn't know what to say.

"How long does Mr. Alex plan to stay in Japan?"

"Ah, after some things are dealt with, it will be about a week. 」

"If you'd like, why don't you stay in our house? Although there are no guest rooms, Webb's room is covered with futon and enough for one person to sleep. Isn't that Webber?"

「……」

"Futon, this country's bedding, then I'm sorry for you. 」

"Haha, people who have been sleeping in bed may feel uncomfortable at first. We've been in Japan for a long time, but when we first arrived, we were surprised by that. 」

"Maybe it's the so-called exoticism, I like to try the unknown, no matter what era Asia always brings me surprises. 」

Regarding his strange statement, the second elder still nodded with a smile without noticing.

"Ah, then I'll go cook, Webb sit down. 」

The old woman hurriedly stood up, and Webber quietly sat down in his chair. The chair that I was used to sitting on became so uncomfortable for some reason.

Although today's dinner was different from usual, it was close to a banquet, but Webb remained silent. Sitting next to Rider, who was smiling thoughtlessly, he only felt that all the dishes tasted like chewing wax.

"—what the hell do you want to do?"

After eating, Rider returned to the house with the futon he had borrowed from the owner.

"What...... I just want to enter through the entrance like a normal person, and I can't do it without lying. 」

"I said, you didn't pay attention to it!!"

Looking at Webb, who was close to a state of madness and looked like he was about to cry, even Rider was a little depressed.

"But if you become a spirit, you can't bring this thing in. 」

In the giant's hand was a small handbag that he had brought into the door under the pretext of luggage.

"I don't know what's inside, but that's what I'm out for today. I also got a pair of pants for it. It's you who gave the order. 」

"So...... You can hide it somewhere first, and then I'll find it. 」

"But now when you bring it back from the province, they are going to ask the east and the west again—I said, what the hell is in this? 」

Still unrelieved, Webber took the bag from Rider and opened it.

It contained twenty-four test tubes stuffed with cork, labeled with handwritten English letters. In the test tube, a colorless and transparent liquid is sealed.

"It's rare that I have such pants, and I knew I should go to some good places—why did I, the king of conquest, go to the barren mountains and wilderness to fetch water? 」

"It's a lot more meaningful than eating pancakes and watching TV at the same time. 」

After Webb cleaned up his desk, he set the lab equipment he had brought from the cramped student dormitory in London on the table, and then began to prepare for the experiment.

Various vials, alcohol lamps, tweezers, and ...... containing ores and reagents Look at these strange props that are placed on the table. The King of Conquest frowned.

"What is this? Do you want to simulate alchemy?"

"It's not simulation, it's real alchemy, stupid. 」

Webb replied sullenly as he arranged the tubes that Rider had brought back in the order they were on the label, then selected the reagents and began to blend. It's just a repetition of the basics learned in the clock tower, and the amount of reagent is just visually measured.

"I'll ask you more, you did get it from the place marked on the map. 」

"Are you belittling me, little ghost? 」

Rider muttered as he handed the neatly folded map to Webb. That's the full picture of Fuyuki City. Near the upper reaches of the mouth of the Weiyuan River, there are several places marked in English.

The markings on the map are consistent with the symbols on the label of the test tube that Rider brought back, and the liquid in the test tube is a sample of water drawn from a different section of the river. Seeing that Rider wants to go out as a physical person anyway. Webb had to prepare clothes for him and then ordered him to go and get a sample of water. I don't know if this task will help me. But compared to the boring exercise of asking him to go for a walk, it should be a task that has some usefulness.

Webb, who was silently preparing the reagents, felt as if he had returned to the Clock Tower Primary, and suddenly felt a trace of unhappiness in his heart. As a Master with a Servant for the Holy Grail War, why do you want to do such boring repetitive homework here.

Sighing melancholy, Webb dripped the prepared reagent into a tube labeled A.

「…… Wow. 」

Unexpectedly, rust-colored cloudiness suddenly appeared in the colorless and transparent water.

"What is this?"

Rider stood behind Webb and watched the presentation with relish, as if he were watching a video from the beginning. It would take too much time to explain them one by one, but Weber was afraid that he would keep bothering himself with the experiment if he asked questions later, so he had to answer.

"Traces of the remnants of the magic, that is, traces of the magic that remained in the water. 」

The water in label A was taken from the estuary, and the fact that there was such a big reaction in this position indicates that the situation is abnormal.

"Upstream of the river, that is, near the mouth of the river, it seems that someone has done magic. As long as you go upstream, you should be able to grasp the specific location. 」

「…… Kid, you thought the river was unusually muddy from the beginning?"

"How is that possible, but it just so happens that there is a tributary of the river in the city, so it is natural to start the investigation from the water. 」

Investigating "water" is a shortcut to mastering the magician's position, because "water" follows the absolute principle of "water flows downward". If you judge by the direction of the wind, you must also spend time surveying the mountains. Compared to this, it is easiest to find the downstream of the water vein. The same goes for land with rivers.

With so many ways to investigate, it's natural to start with the simplest one...... But it seems that Webb is on the right path, and it seems that Lady Luck is on his side.

He then added the reagents to the river water in the tube in order. The closer you get upstream, the stronger the reaction. Webb was stunned by this conclusion, which almost meant that someone had set up a workshop in the river and had an ulterior motive to drain the water into the river. That kind of magician is simply not in the flow - but such idiot magicians do exist. This morning, Webb was called to the church of Fuyuki and learned the details from the priest who was the overseer.

"But even if you use this method to reach a conclusion...... I'm not happy at all. 」

Guess the enemy's actions and compete with each other - this is what Weber imagined as a "magic game". And now he is investigating like a policeman, which is simply the work of incompetent mortals. Although he had the results in his hands, Webb still left a lingering sense of humiliation in his heart.

The water in the "P" tube is already like ink. If the color of the water sample is stronger later, it is easy to make a conclusion.

However, the first step is to analyze the water sample in the "Q" tube.

「……」

The water was still as clear as ever, and no matter how much Weber shook it, there was still no reaction.

Webb unfolded the map and pointed to the places marked with P and Q.

"Rider, do you see anything here or here, gutters or water fillers or anything like that. 」

"Oh, I saw something oversized. 」

"By the way, if you follow that path, you should be able to find Caster's workshop. 」

「……」

Rider stared at Webb with a strangely serious expression.

"Hey, little ghost, are you a very good magician?"

……