Fate/Strange Fake Vol 1 Chapter 5

Act 5: Rider

“He” was summoned to this false Holy Grail War as a Servant of

“His” existence was proof that this Holy Grail War was false; proof

object of this War.

means a Hero.

suffices to describe “him”. In some places, “he” was described as a

In the Holy Grail War, Servants are selected from the past and the

The classes into which the Servants are summoned transcend time.

Hero of the future, not yet born into this world. If the Holy Grail War

to summon his more powerful future self, an icon of heroism.

and “he” would likely continue to exist far into the future. “He” lived a

And so, “he”—a being with physical presence, though not a Heroic

Even at this very moment—there is no doubt that “he” continues

Indeed, perhaps “he” does so so that “he” may “himself ” provide

Thus thought a certain young girl as she gazed upon that which

It was a city she was familiar with.

over her, scraping the vast sky above with such vigor that they

A pair of six-lane causeways met at a mighty intersection. The primary

met there, not far from the city center. From the skies above, the roads

city.

think himself to be in a city as grand as New York or Chicago. Indeed,

surrounding Snowfield with such ardor, it was as though

that they were in fact the culmination, the perfection of all nature.

And the girl found this city, this familiar city, to be beautiful precisely

She stood at the center of the enormous intersection, which was

It was a scramble intersection, allowing pedestrians to cross it in

some point, forcing one to vacate the road.

The traffic lights had cycled any number of times.

And that was as it should be—

An empty intersection.

Did she notice that it was silent? Then again, did she even notice

From the middle of the road, it was clear that the causeways lacked

The girl imagined an asphalt-colored red carpet, a most contradictory

buildings before her.

seemed like a beautiful object of nature, sprung from the Earth’s surface.

would be. In that case, the city hall tower, tallest of them all, would be

She knew not why she was there.

But that brought sadness unto her.

found it lonely.

she had grown accustomed to it.

After about three months, she had stopped counting the days.

the day she would wander the town, and come dusk, she would sleep.

up at the night sky and be comforted by the stars. Few things are more

but she had long since grown used to it, faced with the absurdity of a

As loneliness departed her heart, the void it left was filled by the

After looking about the city a while, she lay down in the middle of

Daddy. Mommy.

I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it right.

But then, she realized that she wasn’t even doing anything she

Two old emotions welled up within her.

anyone else.

An enormous edifice stood in the central district of the City of

At a glance, it looked very much like an art museum. In fact, however,

city.

gates, seeking treatment from surgeons and psychosomaticists and all

Of course, not all the patients came for elective procedures. Many

“...I am afraid that I must inform you that it will be difficult for

a man and a woman.

and seemed to be from East Asia. They seemed more than a little flustered.

Is that a sign that her condition has taken a turn for the worse?” asked

“...Physically speaking, there are no symptoms that would suggest

difficult to recover from a coma as the duration of the coma increases.”

yet to recover consciousness. She had entered a vegetative state. Only

She was just ten years and three months of age.

consciousness and wouldn’t wake up, and so, her parents, terrified,

An examination revealed that her body was studded with lesions,

After performing a biopsy on one of the lesions, it was found that

panicked, fearing an epidemic within the hospital.

a mystery as to how the girl herself became infected in the first place.

facilities examine her, but for whatever reason, they were denied access,

“We have not observed any changes in the state of the bacterial infestation.

impede her cerebral function going forward. The bacteria have not

severely impeded her mental functions.” The doctor spoke as soothingly

“Is that so....” replied the woman, worry permeating her voice.

There have been cases where a patient has been in a vegetative state

about the genome of the bacterium, more treatment options will become

to keep their spirits up, but—

“Never mind her consciousness... are her reproductive functions

“...Pardon?”

She simply could not grasp what he had meant by “never mind her

Before long, the man spoke again, unwilling to let the silence drag

know whether or not her ovaries and uterus—or at the very least, just

“Er... well, the lesions are only inhibiting growth in the part of her

effects on her other organs, but...” The doctor just told him the facts

But—

other once again. Their faces lit up.

to pay her hospital bills as we have been, so please, continue taking

“I’m sorry? That’s not... I mean...”

don’t need to worry about that anymore.”

for tonight.”

behind the utterly perplexed doctor.

she just stared at them as they departed.

Perhaps the shock of finding their daughter comatose had left them

have to recommend that they attend counseling.

exterior door to the sterile room.

light, the interior door opened, to reveal a single bed.

Though it seemed at first glance as though she was merely asleep,

would ever regain consciousness.

you.”

breath. As the doctor looked at her, she checked her IV drip and her

And then—she discovered something unusual.

She noticed the abnormality while she was repositioning the girl.

“What... are these...?”

sigils that reminded her of loops of chain.

Access to the girl’s room was strictly controlled, and there was no

when she had checked on the girl that same morning, there was certainly

“Is this... some kind of... prank?”

magi actually existed—

She was still a young girl, but when she remembered what her parents

That was certainly not cruelty. Rather, it was rationally-applied

They showered her with love as they spoke those words. Though

And yet, the pain ate away at her.

childhood. Even though she must have had pleasant memories, happy

pain.

Even when she tried to forget, she could not overcome the pain.

that away.

Indeed, that was why she could not flee. She could do nothing but

From a young age, she believed that she could reciprocate her parents’

Alas, she did not understand that her parents did not love her as

family line—as their future in the world of magic.

among those that made off with some of the machinery underlying

The knowledge they gained was relevant not just to the Holy Grail

and quickly adapted it to their own use.

smaller bugs.

to perfecting a sort of pseudo-entomomancy.

host.

amplify the mage’s Magic Circuits. That was their plan.

daughter as their distinguished first test subject. She experienced

had been amplified beyond measure.

that was left was for her to inherit the magic of her family. Then, their

Unluckily for them, they lost control of some of the bacteria, and

In order to ensure that it would remain possible for their daughter,

hospitalized her. Of course, by this point, her parents had no interest

in her as a person.

As yet unaware that her parents had all but forsaken her, she wandered

death.

were far and away more realistic than any ordinary dream. In the end,

It was but a dream.

As she experienced flashbacks to her past, she screamed out into

lacked knowledge. She was a witch—but a powerless one.

screamed. On and on.

wild in the world of her dreams.

mere children crying out “Don’t leave me!”—every cell in her body

“I’ll do it right! I will, I’ll bear the pain!”

“So please, please don’t leave me! Don’t leave me...!”

There was a mighty gust of wind—a roar in a soundless world.

looked around the intersection and—

Something had changed, but she couldn’t understand what it was.

It was a grating sound, like the scraping noise of swarms of insects

And yet, those were words—words with meaning.

She could not have known what those words meant, and yet—

To begin with, “he” lacked a persona—let alone the nature of a

When “he” was granted knowledge by the Holy Grail, however,

“He” had neither emotions nor even internal monologue. “He”

the system—something like a robot.

She was not scared.

had changed in her unchanging world.

shrouded by the black haze, and timidly told “him” her name.

And so, she became the distinguished first Master of the false Holy

None could have known of their contract, forged in a dream, and—

“It’s about time for Faldeus to issue his declaration.”

getting ready for the ceremony they would conduct that night.

I will receive my Command Spells. Once I have them, everything will

“Plus, we’ve even prepared a Noble Phantasm as a relic... and if it

“Indeed we could. If we are to call forth Shi Huangdi, we must be

Their daughter was not a matter of discussion at this point.

figure in Chinese history.

Not because their unconscious daughter had taken the Command

If that were the only issue, they could well have received a different

In the end, they did not receive any Command Spells—

Sensing something unusual, the husband looked at his right arm.

There was a black spot.

had bumped against something. He looked over to his wife.

He was shocked.

then, she collapsed to the ground, like a marionette whose strings had

“H-hey...!?”

indistinct. Everything split into a rainbow of colors and fell upwards.

late. He did not even have the strength to stand.

was happening.

somewhere else.

not die from this. However, he would certainly fall into a stupor.

If someone... attacks us now....

Even as he fell into an eternal darkness, his mind was full with

his mind.

Both of them leaped to their feet as though nothing had happened.

“...Come to think of it, today is Tsubaki’s birthday, isn’t it?”

They were conspicuously unwell, and yet they spoke calmly. And

Indeed, they had lost whatever personalities they once had and—

wanted them to.

She danced with “him”. She danced with “him”.

“He” danced with her. “He” danced with her.

“Yay! Thank you! Daddy! Mommy!”

“That’s right. You’re our precious little treasure.”

about her house.

fog that stood next to her.

The Servant did not even nod in reply. “He” merely continued to

The sights of the real world were projected into her dreams.

within her while she was unconscious. Given that it is impossible

used to project the real world into a dream-world was useless; a line of

The Servant merely facilitated the girl’s unconscious magic.

behave just as she wanted them to.

compelled him to do so.

knowledge.

had, “he” made the girl into the greatest and worst dark horse of the

“He” rode on the wind and the waters and the birds and the people

Hence, it was appropriate for “him” to be of the Rider class, for “he”

Much more importantly, however—

an alias that reflected that. Perhaps that spurious assignment of a

summoned as Rider.
94

And at another time, under the name of the Spanish Flu, “he” killed

“He” was the horseman who brought calamity to all. His alias:

As to whether anyone would recognize what “his” alias is, or indeed,

Either way, the false Holy Grail War was finally on its way to becoming

Chapter end

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