excerpt from end of 4-8: The Dead Magic Association
The party returns to Jekyll’s apartment after raiding a branch of the Magic Association to research the source of the mass-produced Helter Skelters.
Andersen:
Now, then…
Thanks to your effort, I’ve cleared up some of our questions.
Allow me to express my gratitude again. Thank you, Gudao, Mash, and Saber.
Mordred:
O-Oh. Sure.
Andersen:
Well, my empty pockets prevent me from offering you even a penny for your trouble, but I hope this makes up for it.
Jekyll:
Yes, I’m looking forward to your report, Mr. Andersen. It’s enough to make me forget the pain. [of an earlier Hyde transformation]
Fou:
Foh.
Andersen:
Then, I’ll get right to the point so that Hr. Jekyll here can rest.¹
What interested me was the relationship between “Heroic Spirits” and “Servants.”
Heroic Spirits are the records and accomplishments of human history.
Whether real or not, they will continue to exist as long as humanity exists.
On the other hand, Servants are different. They’re treated as something that lets Heroic Spirits “exist” in reality…
Regardless of whether they originally existed or not, they are given vessels called Classes, and made into “real” familiars.
But Jekyll and Roman, is that achievable with the power of humans… of magi?
Turning Heroic Spirits into familiars is a mighty feat indeed. It’s probably the greatest of summoning rituals.
But it’s a ritual that human power alone cannot handle. To make it possible, you’d need…
Dr. Roman:
Something greater than humans. We call this Authority to create supernatural beings the World, or the gods. Is that what you’re trying to say?
Andersen:
Correct. Heroic Spirits cannot be summoned by human power alone. I hypothesized that some other reason…
Some other driving force must be necessary.
Mash:
…Um, wouldn’t that be the Holy Grail?
In fact, the Holy Grails we’ve encountered up until now have summoned many Servants.
Andersen:
That’s right. You mentioned seven singularities. Seven Holy Grails causing turmoil across the ages.
I asked Doctor Roman about these Holy Grails.
What is this Holy Grail War that allows one to summon Heroic Spirits? What circumstances were involved in its creation?
Dr. Roman:
You did. We don’t have any detailed records about it, but it started in a Japanese city. Gudao, it was that city in flames you visited.
Andersen:
I learned that a vessel for the Holy Grail was built in that city, then Heroic Spirits were summoned with the power of the Grail and made to compete against each other Servants.
That contrivance struck me as bizarre. The concept of Heroic Spirits fighting one another is itself flawed.
There has to be some higher level, some background to it that we don’t know. And that’s the information I fished for at the Magic Association.
The results were as expected.
It appears that the Spirit Manifestation Ritual — Heroic Spirit Summoning — was originally intended to gather seven powers against a single great force.
There is absolutely no way that the seven Heroic Spirits were meant to fight each other.
Heroic Spirit Summoning and the Holy Grail War are rituals that use the same system, but they fall under different “genres,” so to speak.
The Holy Grail War ritual was designed for the benefit of human magi.
In contrast, its basis, Heroic Spirit Summoning, was originally intended to throw humanity’s seven greatest heroes against a single, titanic foe.
This portion of it was distorted in the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki.
- …Does that apply to you and the others, Andersen?
- …Um, so what does it all mean?
[1] Andersen:
Yeah. Originally, only seven Heroic Spirits were meant to be summoned, and any after that…
Well, in any case, we’re a bunch of cheap, useful familiars.
[2] Andersen:
…The Holy Grail War ritual was based on something else. That’s all you need to know for now.
Dr. Roman:
Hmm, hmm! I see, I see! Quite thought-provoking!
From the beginning, Chaldea couldn’t create a system to summon Heroic Spirits.
We analyzed the Fuyuki ritual, then improved and stabilized it. But in the end, it still can’t be considered the original.
Fou:
Foh!
Mash:
That’s right, Doctor. Questioning the roots of the magical ritual we call the Holy Grail War is a perspective we never thought to consider.
We thought we knew about the original nature of Heroic Spirits. But in the end, it was just superficial knowledge…
We never managed to investigate it to this extent. I’m impressed, Mr. Andersen.
It must be thanks to his sharp insight as an author that left his mark on history.
- You might be right.
- Like a bird’s-eye view?
Mordred:
So it’s that big of a deal? Wow… Well, uh…?
This still doesn’t have anything to do with the mass production of Helter Skelters, does it?
Mash:
Th-That’s…
Dr. Roman:
Well, that’s true.
Andersen:
Of course. I just thought about the factors driving Heroic Spirit Summoning.
For discussion’s sake, if we’re summoned into conventional Saint Graphs, or Classes, by a derivation of the system…
Just how incredible were the Saint Graphs that the original seven received?
…Actually, there were other people that thought along similar lines.
You’d think all of this information would be scattered about, but it was all neatly organized in one place for me to find. I just can’t imagine that as a coincidence.
I think someone foresaw our visit and set things up for us.
Mash:
Someone…?
Dr. Roman:
I wonder who it was. A surviving magus from the Clock Tower? Or maybe a Servant?
Andersen:
I can’t see it being a magus, but I also don’t know why a Servant would do that. Let’s shelve this topic for the time being.
1. “Hr.” is the Danish equivalent of the English “Mr.” It is considered a formality in modern Danish and is rarely used, but Andersen is a historical Danish character and he’s being uncommonly polite. “ジェキル氏” in original text.
Grand Order 