Epilogue: Sigma (Σ)
It was nearing dawn. A youth with the appearance of a young boy walked through someone else's workshop in a basement, confirming the summoning circle.
Yes, just like Emiya Shiro, he was also a young man. But unlike the red-haired youth, he was black-haired.
In fact, they had almost no other connections. For instance, Emiya Shiro had a "baby face" that made him look younger than he was, while the black-haired youth's entire being was fixed in the likeness of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old.
This was because the magical treatments the black-haired youth had received made his appearance extremely youthful, yet his lifespan was relatively short. For instance, while a flame flickered in Emiya Shiro's eyes, the black-haired youth's pupils gave off a sense of thinness.
If there were a rare connection to be had—Sigma (Σ) was the son of Maiya Hisau.
Sigma knew clearly of his mother, and he knew she had died in Fuyuki while serving as a magus assistant to Kiritsugu Emiya. However, he did not know that the "Magus Killer" had offspring.
Naturally, he did not know the man had a daughter who played at being cute, and a "son" roughly the same age as himself. Yet, even if Sigma were made to clearly recognize these details, he would likely judge them as mere facts—no more than a theatrical gimmick.
He himself still had nothing to do with that person. The affairs of the previous generation were, in any case, far too thin.
Sigma held no resentment toward the name "Emiya."
If anything, he was merely slightly curious—what kind of person could have allowed his mother to find a reason for living? If that person had offspring, what kind of people were they? Yet, this did not stop him from being satisfied with his day-to-day cycle of sleep and meals.
"The descending winds shall be a wall to let the four gates close──────"
Sigma did not yet know. For instance, that a massive, inexplicable chain reaction was stealthily slipping in and approaching him.
However, that was a matter for later.
First, the thing that would lead his life toward transformation was...
"Emerge from the Ring of Deterrence, O' Guardian of the Scales!"
After the light faded, Sigma saw "shadows."
"…"
Let Sigma sort through the figures he had seen in succession over these tens of minutes. An elderly man holding a cane. A boy wearing mechanical-looking wings that spanned from his shoulders to his back. And a child dressed in white clothing, aged in their early teens. Beyond them, even more and more different silhouettes appeared and disappeared in sequence.
"We are not Heroic Spirits summoned by you. We are merely the shadows of that Heroic Spirit, projected around you." That was the explanation they gave.
After a vast amount of communication that might have been slightly inconsistent, Sigma barely understood that these "characters" were appendages of a "single" Heroic Spirit who were teasing him.
However, he still did not know where the true entity of the Heroic Spirit he had summoned was located. Yet, while he was lost in confusion, a "shadow" spoke again. Like someone watching a play.
"We have high expectations for you! ——Expectations that you can become the Lancer (Lancer) who pierces through everything."
—Me, a Lancer?
"Does Lancer refer to the Lancer class? What do you mean by me becoming a Lancer? Before that, who are you supposed to be?"
The shadow switched again. A boy wearing artificial wings covered in wax and white feathers flapped his wings and replied with a bitter smile: "Though it isn't a formal name dictated by anyone... perhaps you should call us... Watcher. After all, our duty is to watch from the sidelines."
Watcher would watch the youth become a Lancer.
It seemed that what Sigma was experiencing was no more fortunate than what Emiya Shiro or Ayaka Sajyou were going through.
Amidst the endless stream of unexpected situations in this twisted Holy Grail War—Sigma, too, became one of the stage's points of view. Rather, the "thing that is not a Heroic Spirit" that he brought along, which no one could see, was already floating high above the skies of Snowfield City, silently monitoring every viewpoint within the city.
The "Whale."
Additionally. Though this was something that would happen shortly after.
"The Watcher you summoned has already begun monitoring the town. And it seems a crack has already been found." A shadow spoke up in conversation. He presented several facts that no Master or Servant should rightfully know.
For instance. "The Heroic Spirit who was supposed to be summoned in the Archer class of the Three Knights seems to have been forced to degenerate into something like a special class 'Avenger'."
For instance. "People who originally should not have been summoned called out to one another, and as a result, a crowd of people arrived on this land in an endless stream."
And... "It's quite interesting when you think about it—two Heroic Spirits who do not belong to this war have actually intervened in this Holy Grail War."
The shadow changed form once more. A child holding a serpent's staff asked with a smile: "Which one are you interested in?"
Information arrived in rapid succession. For a moment, Sigma felt he should perhaps take a pen and record it, yet he felt no desire to do so.
However, before that, he first frowned at the things he shouldn't have known.
"Are you... objectively observing the Holy Grail War in this town?"
"To be precise, it's not us, but the existence you summoned that is observing."
The shadow's words remained incomprehensible. Sigma could not perceive what was in the sky. If there were simply a monitor in the sky, he'd be grateful. Sigma gave up on delving into such supernatural matters. Instead, he felt a slight surge of interest called "curiosity" toward the jumbled information the shadow provided.
"What's the situation? That bit about 'two Heroic Spirits who do not belong to this war'."
An Archer degenerating into an Avenger—that, like his own summoning of some "Watcher," fell into the category of "a situation where, predictably, the unpredictable happened and can barely be understood." As for people who shouldn't be summoned calling to each other, that sentence was a riddle from start to finish. Only the last point. This description felt like he could understand every word, yet he couldn't.
"What do you mean, 'Heroic Spirits who do not belong to this war'?"
The shadow replied calmly: "It means they are 'Outsiders.' They are not existences brought here by this Holy Grail War. At the very least, this war's Saber and Rider are already fully accounted for; they weren't summoned this time at all."
"What?" He still couldn't understand. Sigma paced for nearly a minute before it clicked: "You mean, they are Heroic Spirits summoned years ago?"
"Probably. We can only observe starting from the present moment of summoning; we cannot see through the past. However, this is just simple logical deduction."
Past Holy Grail Wars—when searching for this keyword in his mind, the term "Fuyuki City" immediately surfaced for Sigma. If their staying behind was from the most recent Holy Grail War... what kind of bizarre situation happened in that Holy Grail War in Fuyuki years ago?
"Is there a purpose for such Heroic Spirits to interfere in a Holy Grail War? Since they aren't Servants of this war, it means they have no right to make a wish. It's impossible for them not to have a goal, right?"
"Who knows. To me, it seems more like they are coordinating with the actions of a single human."
"A human?"
"Yes. Is something wrong?"
A Master only contracts with one Heroic Spirit, right? Even assuming one somehow kept their Servant behind, where did the second come from? Besides, what kind of human could make two Heroic Spirits obey? Sigma fell into deep confusion.
"If you're interested in his name, I can tell you. Though I only got it from conversation, so it might be an alias."
The shadow did not peek. But the "something" for which it spoke saw through everything happening directly beneath its body with a straight gaze.
This included the red-haired youth currently inside the Kuruoka residence, sprinting with all his might with a desperate expression on his face.
The shadow in the "Captain" state did not know Sigma's past connections. As if about to draw a cigar, he spoke that word very easily with a steady, calm posture:
"Emiya Shirou. I believe that was the name."
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