London, 1994.
"Ah... Rain... I forgot to bring my umbrella again. If it keeps up like this… I'll get soaked."
"Should I just wait for the rain to stop?"
A girl sat at a café table by the window, her arms crossed on the surface, propping up her cheek as she gazed out through the glass. Outside, the rain poured down heavily, and London's signature fog blanketed the air.
The girl's name was Carela Pelham Codrington, or at least that's what she was called in this world. In truth, she came from another world—a world completely different from the one she now lived in.
How she ended up here was a mystery. It had all started one night while she was studying for her end-of-term exams. Just as she was about to finish her study session, her body suddenly felt heavy, and she collapsed to the floor—lifeless.
When Carela opened her eyes again, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. Her body had become that of a newborn.
That's when she understood: she had died and been reborn as a baby. It sounded like one of those cliché stories from the Japanese light novels she used to read.
Her chance to become overpowered and gain endless riches was right in front of her.
But after learning more about the world around her, Carela realized it was far more complicated and dangerous than she first thought.
Because this was a world set in the Type-Moon universe. Yes—the world of Holy Grail Wars, Dead Apostles, Servants, Magi, and more. It was enough to give her a headache.
Carela soon discovered that she had been reborn into a magus family—specifically, the Codrington family. A family she didn't recall being mentioned anywhere in the Fate series, which only added to her confusion.
Luckily, she was a huge Fate fan—perhaps obsessively so.
She had watched nearly every Fate anime and played Fate/Grand Order. That knowledge eventually helped her recall that the Codrington family had been briefly referenced—or rather, featured—in a Waver Velvet spinoff.
This became even clearer when she learned the name of her older brother: Wills Pelham Codrington.
So, who are the Codringtons? The Codringtons are a family of magi who specialize in Necromancy—a magecraft passed down through generations.
The family had both a main and branch line. Carela belonged to the branch family.
This made her uneasy, because as a fan of the Waver Velvet spinoff, she knew of a dark secret hidden by her family—or more precisely, her father.
Her father, Trevor Pelham Codrington, would one day purchase an empty plot of land and turn it into a workshop—a workshop that he would use as a weapon, killing people and transforming them into Black Dogs, or more accurately, artificial fae.
And then, they were called the Wild Hunt.
Carela had spent a lot of time thinking about this, but she only remembered fragments of that story. She couldn't recall the full details of her father's plans.
What she did remember, though, was that her brother would be used as the catalyst for the workshop—specifically, his mystic eyes.
What made it all worse was the difficulty of acting normal around her father, knowing what he truly was—a cold-blooded magus.
Fortunately, he hadn't noticed anything strange about her behavior.
Sigh...
Life as a magus was truly difficult. If she had known she'd be reborn in the Type-Moon universe, she would've asked not to be reborn at all.
Footsteps echoed nearby. Carela shifted her gaze from the window and looked up, spotting an old man with white hair and a mustache—the café's barista—placing a cup of coffee in front of her, with a heart-shaped latte art on top.
Carela looked slightly puzzled. After all, she didn't remember ordering this coffee.
"Sir, I don't think I ordered this..."
"It's fine. Consider it a gift—for being one of our loyal customers."
Carela looked at him for a moment, then turned her eyes to the coffee. She hesitated briefly.
Finally, she stopped resting her arms on the table, carefully picked up the cup, and spoke softly:
"...Is that so? Thank you."
"You're welcome. Anything for our regulars."
The barista returned to his place behind the counter, meanwhile.
Carela sat silently for a while, staring at her coffee. She then suddenly remembered the first day she had come to this café.
Now that she thought about it, the weather had also been rainy and foggy, just like today.
After a few minutes lost in her memories, Carela was startled when someone entered the café, causing the door's bell to chime.
Noticing that her coffee was getting cold, she carefully brought the cup to her lips and took a sip.
After placing the cup back down, she glanced at the new customer—finding nothing particularly interesting—then turned her gaze back to the window.
The rain was still falling, and the thick London fog obscured her view of the street.
Letting out a sigh, she turned and looked at the antique wall clock behind the counter.
Realizing it was getting late, Carela quickly finished her coffee and stood up.
Though it was still raining and foggy, she knew she had to get home before nightfall.
After a short exchange with the barista, she stepped outside.
In the misty rain, Carela walked briskly and cautiously. Luckily, her apartment wasn't far.
...
Several minutes later, Carela arrived at her apartment. After taking a shower, she walked to her room wrapped in a towel.
She quickly changed clothes before she caught a cold. Once dressed, she flopped onto her bed.
"Hmm..."
Carela murmured, then rolled over, her eyes now fixed on the ceiling. Letting out a soft sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.
But no matter how she tried, sleep wouldn't come. Annoyed, she sat up on the edge of the bed.
Thinking of drinking some milk to help her sleep, she was about to stand when—
A strange holographic screen, large and rectangular, suddenly floated in front of her face.
Carela was startled at first, but quickly lit up with excitement.
"Finally…! My cheat power is here!!"
In an instant, her sulky mood over being unable to sleep vanished, replaced by excitement and anticipation.
The screen had no introduction or flashy animations. Just a simple message:
[Start the simulation?]
With two options below:
"Oh? Is this some kind of simulation system? I don't really like this kind of setup, but... whatever."
"Do you even need to ask? Of course—Start!"
As Carela spoke those words, the screen suddenly shone with an intense light. A blinding white filled her vision.
[20...]
[40...]
[60...]
[80...]
[100...]
A few seconds passed, and the light began to fade—replaced by a third-person video playing before her eyes.
...
[A blinding white light made it impossible for you to see anything. After a moment, the light gradually faded.]
[When your vision returned, you found yourself standing in a room that could best be described as a dorm room.]
"Hm? Wait... isn't that Gray?"
Carela shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, resting her chin on her hand, watching with great interest.
"Hmm... Isn't this supposed to be a simulation system? Like, I enter the simulation or something? So why am I still here, just watching an anime-style video? And… why does Gray look so confused?"
As she said that, the screen changed. Now it showed a line of text:
[User is already in the simulation. The person on the screen is user.]
"Wait… then why am I in Gray's body?"
[To enter the simulation, the user must possess a character already present. Once the simulation is complete, the user will gain the power of the character they possessed in form of card]
"I see… but that still doesn't explain why you're showing me a video instead of letting me dive into the simulation."
[What the user is seeing now is part of the simulation. If the user wishes to dive in directly, the system can begin the process immediately]
"Hmm... honestly, I'd rather just keep watching. Let it continue."
[Understood]
The screen shifted again, continuing the video.
[You looked around. The room was unfamiliar, but felt oddly familiar. When you looked down, you noticed something.]
[Your clothes had changed. Not only that—your body felt smaller than before.]
[Confusion and curiosity began to fill your mind. But before you could do anything, a surge of memories hit you—as if the body was revealing who it truly was.]
[The memory didn't just tell you who you were now, but also many things about this place, your routines, and the people around you.]
[After managing to collect your thoughts, you considered tidying up the dorm room, which looked messy.]
[But before you could move, the ring of a telephone broke the silence. You searched for the source and found an old phone sitting on the table near the bed.]
[You slowly approached it and picked up the receiver.]
[When you picked up the receiver and heard the voice on the other end, you recognized it right away]
[It was El-Melloi II—Gray's teacher. In short, he wanted you to come to his apartment]
[Without wasting time, you put the receiver back and quickly got ready to leave.]
[You exited the room and informed the dorm supervisor, Krishna. From Gray memories, you thought he might come with you, considering his personality.]
[But he politely declined and let you go alone. But You didn't think much of it.]
[You stepped outside, your feet touching the cobblestone pavement characteristic of London. The streets were busy, full of people. Men in long coats, women in shawls and scarves, children laughing and chatting as they climbed onto buses.]
"Wow… so this is what London looks like in the future? Even though I've seen it in the Waver Velvet spin-off, the anime didn't really show much of the city itself. It feels so different from the London I know now."
Carela then compared the London on the screen with the one she lived in now.
"Maybe 'different' doesn't quite cut it. It's like a completely reversed world... Hm, from 1994 to 2004… ten years. I guess it makes sense for such big changes to happen."
After all, it did make sense. From what she experienced in her previous world, time could bring rapid changes.
[So many people. Based on Gray's memories, the population of London is around eight million.]
[Thinking about such a huge number made you feel a bit overwhelmed. If you had to compare it… it felt like looking at a graveyard.]
"Huh? Since when did I start looking at crowds and immediately think of a graveyard?"
Carela looked at the screen, slightly annoyed. But after a moment, a thought crossed her mind.
"Wait… could it be that because I'm in Gray's body and inherited her memories, my personality is being influenced too?"
Considering that Gray was a gravekeeper, it made sense that she'd think that way.
"Or maybe this is the effect of being a necromancer...? But... if there are this many people... and they all become corpses... that's will be an incredible asset. Eh—what am I even thinking? I shouldn't think like that…"
She immediately shook off the thought before it spiraled. Practicing necromancy seemed to have started influencing her mindset.
Carela quietly watched the screen, hoping it would help her ignore the thoughts. She stayed calm as the scenes played one after another.
[Rows and rows of corpses, gathered since ancient times… For some reason, you formed that morbid comparison.]
[No. Think again. Maybe it's not the people, but the city itself that feels like one huge graveyard.]
[Even as you pondered these things, your feet kept moving. Staring at the River Thames, you made your way across London Bridge.]
[Crossing to the southern side of the bridge, which was now rebuilt by Queen Elizabeth II, the city atmosphere shifted dramatically. The number of tourists noticeably decreased.]
[In their place, people of all races mingled together to create what could be described as a downtown-like vibe—though calling it that made it sound nicer than it was.]
[To put it bluntly, it felt more like public order had started to collapse.]
[Like that old anecdote about Bermondsey Market, where thieves once sold stolen goods. But that was in the past.]
[Passing beneath a dirty brick archway, you turned onto Druid Street, and after slipping into a nearby side street, the presence of others suddenly vanished.]
[Bounded Field—that's what El-Melloi II called it. According to him, magecraft wasn't necessary to create a Bounded Field.]
[Places that naturally repelled people, without needing external magical influence, functioned best as Bounded Fields—or something like that.]
[As you thought about this, the reddish-brown building that served as El-Melloi II's apartment came into view. On this autumn morning, it stood there, looking just as gloomy as ever.]
[Most people would call a residence like this a "Flat" in England. But you felt more comfortable calling it an "apartment."]
[Despite the ivy clinging to the building and the weeds poking through the cracks giving it a certain rustic charm, the brownish-red brick walls and cracked chimney made it look fragile enough that even a gentle wind might bring it crumbling down.]
[There are plenty of old houses in Europe, but this place was on a whole other level. A quick estimate would put its age at over a hundred years.]
[To the point that, if someone told you it was built during the Industrial Revolution, you'd believe them.]
[In other words, it looked so weak that if you pushed on one wall, you might trigger a chain reaction and collapse the whole building.]
[Unable to stop these thoughts, you whispered a quick prayer that it wouldn't fall apart, and gently pushed open the front door.]
[Entering the relatively spacious lobby, your shoulders tensed up instinctively at the sound of someone shouting angrily.]
["Don't mess with me!"]
[The voice echoed through the lobby. The center of the lobby was dominated by a large spiral staircase. Towering three levels, doors leading to various apartments could be seen.]
[They were close enough that the apartment owners should have easily heard that angry voice, yet none of them seemed to react.]
[It seemed unlikely their rooms were soundproof, so did that mean they were just used to this kind of noise?]
[To the side of the lobby was a small room for the building manager, but through the small window, all you could see was an old woman, alone, fast asleep in a rocking chair.]
["...Nyaah."]
[A cat sitting on the old woman's lap let out a soft meow before closing its eyes again and going back to sleep. Seeing that, you suddenly felt like doing the same.]