"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, as you command, Dogfoot Queen!"
Even someone as formidable as Musclebound Rin was knocked senseless in an instant, her consciousness fading into a blur.
Harry clenched his fists and rolled his neck, warming up, or so he figured.
He also had another title, one with a modest boost meant solely for unarmed combat—Fist King Harry.
"A Servant… Truly a powerful familiar…" Rin muttered, dazed. "Even a Caster, supposedly weak in close combat, can crush me… One punch shattered my fighting dreams…"
"But… how… the Command Seals… the intel… could it be fake?"
"Or does this Caster… somehow have Magic Resistance above Rank A?"
"I get it now… It must be a mistake in the summoning ritual… A chain reaction from the error, rendering my Command Seals useless against him… That's the only explanation…"
In her haze, Rin saw Harry straddling her.
Bang! Bang!
Two more punches—"light" ones, by his measure—and Rin was out cold after three hits.
Young people, huh? They drop like flies.
Harry promptly tied her up, binding her tightly.
Some time later, after Harry's stamina-based healing, Rin came to, her face miraculously free of wounds.
Harry noticed that in this world, his abilities seemed slightly enhanced, more refined, as if imbued with a nobler quality.
A boost from mystery? This world's mysteries seemed to grow stronger the rarer they were.
From past experience, healing someone as obviously supernatural as Rin should've been more taxing. Now, it felt like a mere puff of breath could do the trick.
Harry sensed this was still restrained by his Spirit Origin. If he went all out, sacrificing his Spirit Origin for a meteoric strike, the power unleashed might be unimaginable.
Well, something to explore later.
"Now do you know who's boss?" Harry taunted. "I thought you were hot stuff with all that swagger, but this is it? You, the boss? Don't make me laugh."
He let out a cackling, villainous laugh, sounding every bit the antagonist.
Rin gritted her teeth. "Tch. Just kill me."
Her final Command Seal had been useless. No surprise there—it was clearly defunct.
"We're fighting for team leadership, but it doesn't have to be a death match," Harry said.
Having subdued Rin, he didn't resort to shouting or slaughter. After their fist-to-heart exchange, Rin acknowledged his dominance, no longer claiming the title of Master.
When you're under someone's roof, you bow your head.
Even if it was her house.
Rin—restrained.
She had to stay elegant…
Bide her time, lie low, and wait for the right moment. Her earlier recklessness had cost her dearly.
It all traced back to that botched summoning ritual. Everything had gone wrong. Who could've predicted the Command Seals would fail? Without them, Rin had to admit: the Servant had overpowered the Master.
"Um, could you untie me?" she asked.
"Not even gonna fight back a little?" Harry sliced the ropes with a hand chop, half-expecting Rin to resist. A few more rounds, and he'd have her thoroughly tamed.
"I'm not so delusional as to fight a Servant when my Command Seals don't work," Rin replied. "I know your power far surpasses most mages. Even if you're just an average Servant, I'm not some prodigy who can take on a Heroic Spirit head-on. I've got that much self-awareness."
"Fair enough."
After this, Rin seemed less defeated than before.
She realized this "useless" Caster wasn't entirely worthless. His fists, at least, packed a punch.
That kind of brawling skill might even take down an Assassin.
Winning the whole thing and becoming the ultimate victor? A long shot. But Rin figured they could at least defeat one opponent before bowing out—save some face.
And so, revitalized by Harry's "punch therapy," Rin offered up her family's entire food stockpile as tribute to the Mighty King. She also filled him in on the situation, patching the gaps in his knowledge caused by the faulty summoning.
For instance, this was Fuyuki City. Years ago, two groups of powerful Western mages, evading the Church's oversight, arrived in this foreign land. They sought out the spiritual ley lines and, alongside local mages—the third party—created the Holy Grail System.
Harry nodded. Easy enough to grasp.
The Holy Grail War was, naturally, a battle for the Grail. Of course, the Church would keep tabs on it.
If human history here was anything like his own, this was the modern era, where the Church had dialed back its influence… those inherently wicked Church members…
If they believed it was the true Holy Grail, they'd probably stop at nothing to seize it. From this angle, Fuyuki's Grail wasn't recognized—likely a counterfeit.
But even a counterfeit held immense magical power. Harry knew, barring surprises, his mission was to claim the Grail.
Fuyuki's Holy Grail was said to grant any wish, drawing Servants and mages alike.
Previous attempts to complete the ritual and claim the Grail had failed, each one draining Fuyuki's ley line reserves.
According to Rin, the Tohsaka family were the landlords of Fuyuki's ley lines—the local third party from way back.
The magic in Fuyuki's ley lines was extraordinary, far beyond what a city-level nexus should hold.
Even so, powering one Grail War took sixty years to recharge.
Servant summoning was itself a miracle of the Grail. Mages provided a fraction of the mana, a catalyst of sorts, while the Grail supplied the lion's share—amplifying it many times over to sustain the Servant.
Otherwise, most mages would be drained dry in an instant.
So far, Fuyuki's Grail War had occurred four times. The last one came close to success—rumor had it the Grail was actually summoned, but it fell apart at the final moment.
Because of that near-success, only ten years had passed, yet Fuyuki had amassed enough mana for another go. The previous ritual hadn't been a total failure.
This was the Fifth Holy Grail War.
And his Master—now demoted to vassal—Tohsaka Rin, claimed descent from one of the three founding families of Fuyuki's Grail War. She boasted extensive experience, having participated in every war.
They'd even summoned renowned, powerful Heroic Spirits before—implying Harry was the worst Servant they'd ever had. Naturally, Harry rejected that notion.
He pegged Rin as a female Ron Weasley.
She knew a lot about the local scene and could brief him, but she had flaws. She wasn't fully reliable. Her strategies could spark ideas, but he'd need to double-check them.
During their talk, Rin probed Harry about his "English king" background. Harry gave a brief rundown.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't of noble blood and had no ties to the current British royal family.
Rin confirmed her suspicions: a petty king.
At best, the kind of king from fairy tales with a single castle to his name.
At worst, some tribal chieftain who declared himself ruler.
Even in modern times, you'd hear of such "kings" popping up—usually arrested by local police.
Or maybe he was just some chuunibyou case, a self-proclaimed king of his own little world.
Still, as they talked, Rin couldn't help but be swayed by Harry's demeanor, his confident charisma. She almost forgot their earlier "friendly" (humiliating) brawl.
Harry didn't seem that bad. Arrogant yet approachable, blunt yet sincere.
His charm wasn't for nothing. Though mostly used to bend the world's rules, it worked on people too.
For a fleeting moment, Rin wondered if she'd caught his chuunibyou bug. Was she actually starting to see a hint of… kingly aura in this brat?