Upon stepping into the church, the first things that caught their eyes were the massive crucifix and the enormous crystal chandelier overhead.

“I thought churches would be lit with candles…”

“Haha, if that were the case, wouldn’t it be too wasteful? Besides, my old bones aren’t up to climbing that high to replace candles…”

Risei Kotomine, walking ahead, turned his head and smiled faintly at Hachiman Hikigaya’s remark.

He then invited the two to sit wherever they liked in the empty pews.

“May I ask why a gentleman is visiting the church at this late hour?”

“It’s not a big deal. I just came here to avoid the surveillance of some… bugs for the night.”

As he spoke, Hachiman retrieved the food he had just purchased from his system space and handed it to Sakura.

“Oh? No magical fluctuations at all?”

Risei was momentarily stunned by Hachiman’s sudden ability to retrieve objects from thin air.

Being able to take something from an alternate space without using magic was rare in this world.

Could this man be some disguised big shot…?

Risei pondered briefly, then dismissed the ridiculous thought.

How could any influential figure deliberately disguise themselves as someone like Hachiman and appear here a year before the Holy Grail War begins?

Most likely, Hachiman was simply a lucky individual who had stumbled upon a special magical inheritance by chance.

“Rest assured, we’ll only be disturbing you for one night and then leave…”

Hachiman handed the food to Sakura and noticed Risei’s frown. He assumed the priest was concerned they might cause unnecessary trouble.

However, just as he was speaking, Hachiman suddenly felt a mysterious, almost irresistible force pierce the back of his right hand.

It felt like a needle pricked his skin, and a strange pattern appeared on his hand.

“This is… a Command Seal?!”

Risei, completely unprepared for the sudden appearance of the mark on Hachiman’s hand, exclaimed in surprise.

“A Command Seal? You mean this thing?”

Hachiman displayed the Command Seal more clearly for Risei while asking why it had appeared on him.

“You look like you know nothing at all…”

Risei’s eyes held a complex expression as he studied Hachiman for a moment, then sighed. He temporarily suppressed his plan to manipulate Hachiman into the Alliance and began explaining the Command Seal and the Holy Grail War.

“So, its purpose is to have seven mages summon seven Servants, and then within seven days, they fight each other to seize the so-called Holy Grail?”

Having gained a rough understanding of the Holy Grail War from Risei’s explanation, Hachiman’s lips twitched involuntarily.

He could not comprehend the mindset of these magi at all.

They had to fight and possibly kill each other to obtain a supposedly omnipotent wishing cup?

It sounded fake to him.

If the Grail could really grant any wish, the world’s strong people would have fought to death for it long ago.

There’s no way it just randomly selects seven candidates and then chooses the winner from them!

“Sounds incredibly boring…”

Hachiman had zero intention of participating.

It was better to just go back home to his own world; the magi here seemed somewhat insane…

With that in mind, Hachiman checked with the system whether he could bring Sakura along when he returned.

After all, this world was even more abnormal than his own. Given that she couldn’t return home and had no one to rely on, it would be better for her to come with him.

“Cannot return.”

The system gave a clear response.

“Due to interference from an unknown force, spatial jumping is impossible. It is recommended the host remove the source of interference before attempting to jump…”

“Unknown force interference? Do you mean this?”

Hachiman looked at the Command Seal on the back of his hand.

“Um, Mr. Kotomine, is there a way to remove this thing?”

Since being selected as a candidate for the Holy Grail, he assumed he should be able to give up this status.

“I’m afraid not!”

Hachiman was disappointed as Risei firmly shook his head without hesitation.

“However…”

Just as Hachiman resigned himself to participating in this absurd competition, Risei spoke again.

“However?”

“Although you cannot give up your status as a participant, I can guarantee your absolute safety during the competition!”

“Absolute safety?”

Hachiman internally groaned. Anything claiming “absolute safety” was definitely unsafe…

Still, he looked interested. He wanted to see what the old priest was really trying to sell.

“That’s right!”

Seeing Hachiman intrigued, Risei smiled.

“The Holy Grail War ultimately is just a war between seven Servants. If the mage controlling a Servant is defeated, they typically take refuge in a church.

“So, if you really don’t want to participate in the Holy Grail War, you can summon your Servant and then transfer your Command Seal to me to declare forfeit.”

“Um… Mr. Kotomine, didn’t you just say I couldn’t forfeit?”

“I said that before the Holy Grail War begins, you cannot forfeit. But once the war starts, transferring the Command Seal is allowed.”

Risei smiled as he explained this to the seemingly inexperienced and clueless Hachiman.

“What happens to the Servant I summon?”

Judging by Risei’s expression, Hachiman suspected the priest was scheming something. He wondered if Risei had already colluded with one of the other six participants.

“The Servant you summon will temporarily be controlled by me, the supervisor of the Holy Grail War. But rest assured, as the supervisor, I will never participate in combat.”

Of course, if control were given to someone else, that might be another matter…

Risei silently mused this in his mind.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep