Harry, the battle-crazed maniac, was lucky not to have been driven mad by the bloodthirsty divine powers coursing through him.
On ordinary days, he even seemed rational, guided by his own set of principles. He never killed recklessly and always assessed situations carefully. Most people, put in his position—grappling with the Red God's blood sacrifices, the Cold God's world-ending might, and the overwhelming urge to fight—would have had every brain cell consumed just trying to suppress their murderous impulses. Yet Harry could still analyze information and piece together truths, whether they were right or wrong. Wasn't that proof of profound wisdom?
This time, with the perfect opportunity of the Holy Grail War, Harry saw a chance to throw himself into a no-holds-barred fight against peerless warriors. To him, even death would be worth the price of admission.
Besides, even if his Spirit Origin vanished, he wouldn't truly die—he'd merely be ejected from this world or defeated. In battle, he had no real worries holding him back. The other Servants were the same; at worst, they'd return to the Throne of Heroes. In a situation like this, schemes and conspiracies were useless. It all came down to fighting, and only the strongest would emerge victorious.
The plan was simple: grow stronger in the early stages, avoid getting ganged up on by the other six, and then, once he was ready, it wouldn't matter if he faced the last standing hero or a united coalition. Harry would take them all down with a single punch. That was the way.
As for school? If Rin Tohsaka wanted to go, fine, let her.
But there was no way he'd let her go alone—she'd stay within his line of sight. For a Servant like him, Rin was still far too weak.
"By the way," Harry said, still chewing, "it's dangerous for you to go to school alone… According to the rules, we're a team bound by fate now… munch munch munch…"
Harry was still eating.
Rin had already given up. Rebuilding the house was going to cost a fortune anyway, so what was a little more money? If she lost the war and got GG'd, she wouldn't have to worry about bills anymore. Plus, Harry could keep eating rice balls endlessly, and Japan's rice wasn't that expensive yet…
But seriously, was this supposed to be his way of "replenishing mana"? Eat away, Harry, whatever makes you happy.
Rin was starting to suspect that this "king" of his was actually the king of big appetites.
"Munch munch munch… Look, I don't really need you to supply me with mana, but if you die too early, the Holy Grail will stop recognizing me as a participant, and my Spirit Origin won't hold up…" Harry paused, swallowing. "Can't you just get me enrolled in school directly?"
"You don't even have an identity!" Rin exclaimed, feeling like this kid was oversimplifying everything.
"Aren't you some kind of Japanese landlord? I know how it works—Japan's still half-feudal, half-colonized, right? Don't you have connections?"
"We're full-on capitalist here!" Rin shook her head frantically, her twin tails bouncing. "What are you talking about, colonies? No such thing!" This kid must have mixed up Japan with some other country. What an uneducated guy.
Harry scratched his head. Maybe he had gotten it wrong. His impression of Japan was all samurai, emperors, and elections monopolized by local nobles, plus American colonization, with a side of barbaric, feudal warmongering and a heap of superstitions and bad habits. Sometimes Harry thought the British were already pretty inhumane, and the Weasleys even more so. But after studying modern Chinese history, he realized there was always a lower rung.
Even medieval Westeros had its share of big landlords. In towns and villages, they were often the most powerful people aside from the nobility. If Rin Tohsaka couldn't even pull that off, her family must have really fallen on hard times.
Maybe he'd crossed into the wrong place. Fuyuki was special. If he'd landed somewhere else, he might've seen the dark side of the Toyokawa family or something.
"By the way, Rin, you're so set on going to school. What was your original plan?"
"Spiritualization," Rin said with a sigh. "Servants can turn into spirit form and stay invisible, so it wouldn't interfere with my school life."
"…You really love studying, don't you?" Harry said. "Alright, I get it."
With that, Harry pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and vanished.
"I'll just sneak into school like this."
He hadn't been able to use it last night, but today it finally worked.
It was only after it transformed into what Rin called a "Noble Phantasm" that Harry noticed something: the cloak had been imbued with a trace of divine power—not complete, but remarkably pure. If you quantified it, two more cloaks like this might equal a sliver of true divinity, something on the level of a Lightbringer or a Red God's Chosen, or even the Night King. On its own, it was potent enough to be considered a sacred relic.
It was far stronger than that supposed voodoo ritual sword he'd picked up in Diagon Alley, which was already a rare magical blade in the wizarding world. This was no ordinary Invisibility Cloak.
In his original world, it hadn't shown much power, probably because it was incomplete. But in this world, summoned as a Noble Phantasm, it had a certain corrective element. When worn, it drastically reduced his presence and boosted his luck, making it nearly impossible for even the sharpest experts to detect him.
"Huh?" Rin blinked. "That Invisibility Cloak—you said you couldn't take it out yesterday! Is that a Noble Phantasm?"
"What's a Noble Phantasm? I don't know. If you say it is, I guess it is."
"You idiot! Equipment with special effects that Servants carry has to be a Noble Phantasm. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to bring it from the Throne of Heroes. Did you just figure out how to summon it today?" Rin groaned. "It's probably because that ritual went wrong… But you said this thing only does optical invisibility, so it's probably the weakest kind of Noble Phantasm. It just makes up for your inability to spiritualize. Not that useful, honestly."
As they walked, Rin kept grumbling while giving Harry a rundown of Fuyuki City's layout.
Fuyuki was split into two distinct parts by the Mion River. The east side was the newer, modern district, while the west side, Shinto, was the older, traditional area. The city's urban planning had been shaped by a massive fire ten years ago—a disaster caused by the Holy Grail War.
Speaking of which, the Holy Grail War was conducted in secret.
Rin had explained that while magic here had some suggestive effects, it was nowhere near as convenient as the wizarding world Harry knew, where large-scale Muggle repelling and permanent memory modification were routine. Even in the information age, Harry was convinced that if wizards in his world were desperate enough, they'd figure out some kind of "information magic" or "internet rumor suppression" to eliminate exposure risks.
Here, it was different. Cleanup relied heavily on the Mage's Association fabricating TV news. According to Rin, Fuyuki's residents were remarkably accepting. A simple brawl? Gas explosion. A bigger fight? Chain gas explosions. A cataclysmic battle? Ultimate mega gas explosion. Somehow, that was enough to fool everyone.
Harry couldn't help but laugh. Were the people here really okay with this? Was this just the Japanese mindset, so used to disasters and crises that they'd believe anything? If this happened in China, no one would buy such ridiculous excuses. At least come up with a few different cover stories, Mage's Association. Make it convincing.