Ayanokouji’s Guide to Using Tools at Butei High - Chapter 14

The head of the Matou family, Kariya, hosted us with great hospitality.

I am certain that I have never met Matou Kariya before, and I am equally certain he has never met anyone who looks like me. This is not something that can be refuted by the logical master Bertrand Russell’s phrase, “Never be absolutely certain of anything.”

Influenced by memory training from my childhood, I can still remember every person I have ever met. Therefore, Matou Kariya is absolutely someone I am meeting for the first time. Yet, the way he looks at me is not that of a stranger.

However, I asked nothing.

The fact that he could bluntly say the term ‘Holy Grail War,’ a word only a magus would know, means he regards me as someone from their side of the world. Their world is primarily divided into three roles: “Master,” “Servant,” and “Supervisor.”

Given my situation, it seems I have been mistaken for a Supervisor.

But I wanted to understand his attitude toward me more clearly. Thus, I readily agreed to help him win the so-called “Holy Grail.”

The term “Holy Grail” is not foreign to me. According to the stories recorded in the Bible, on the day of Passover, Jesus used the Holy Grail to hold wine representing his blood and shared it with his disciples. In many legends, the Holy Grail also possesses miraculous powers.

Regardless of the treasure’s legends, speaking only of its existence, in the Western world, the value of the Holy Grail is equivalent to the He Shi Bi of China or the Sarira of the Buddha—it is a world-renowned treasure.

What Kariya-san told me was that this Holy Grail is a wish-granting machine capable of realizing all desires, but as early as the Third Holy Grail War, sixty years ago, the Grail had already been polluted. According to the elderly gentleman in his house who has lived for hundreds of years, one can participate in this Holy Grail War, but it is better not to take it too seriously.

“Remaining motionless and watching from the sidelines” is the most self-preserving choice.

The other two major families, clearly knowing this situation, still flock to the Holy Grail, breaking their necks to obtain it. Most likely, they hold a gambler’s mentality. Greed and a fluke mindset have led them to enter the Holy Grail War without hesitation.

“Then, what is your reason for wanting to win the Holy Grail War?”

“Sometimes I think it would be better if the world had no magecraft.” Matou Kariya felt his words were absurd, so a self-deprecating smile hung at the corner of his mouth. “The world of magecraft is a world of survival of the fittest; it is far more cruel than the life of an ordinary person, and not nearly as glamorous and beautiful as written in storybooks. I once wanted to be an ordinary person.”

The preceding words did not move me.

I have met an ability user who had a similar thought—’to eliminate all ability users in the world.’ Perhaps because I have met such a person, Matou Kariya’s words did not surprise me.

Or perhaps, because I was originally an ordinary person, phrases like ‘a world without abilities/magic’ are fundamentally disconnected from my life.

However, Matou Kariya’s last sentence made me feel he was being sincere.

“So, in other words, if you obtain the Holy Grail and confirm it is functioning correctly, would you make that wish?” I said.

“Before that, we should ensure the Holy Grail itself has no problems.” Matou Kariya took a small object out of a box covered in magecraft prohibitions in the study and handed it to me. “It is time to return this to its rightful owner.”

Kariya’s pious attitude made me feel the object before me was incredibly heavy.

“This is what you entrusted to my care; if you open it, you should know.”

…It was clearly just a mobile phone.

Yet, mysteriously, it felt as though it had been cared for like a pet.

The model of the phone could be traced back to about four years ago. Its functions were much the same as today’s, but the screen was smaller, and it felt heavier in the hand. When I pressed it, the battery was still full.

In truth, Kariya’s words have repeatedly made me feel that he has seen me. But I maintain that I have not seen Matou Kariya. Furthermore, as for the reason why I chose him, I cannot provide an answer for the time being.

Therefore, I do not need his information to muddle my thoughts. After all, I have always trusted my own judgment over the words of others.

“Thank you.”

While responding verbally, I was constantly contemplating Matou Kariya’s utility to me and the existential value of what he said. Is there a gap in my memory, or am I a version of myself from a parallel world?

The former could be the influence of an ability or magecraft that modified memory segments; the latter involves the theory of parallel universes.

Sometimes, I cannot help but remark that it is precisely because one believes the world holds all sorts of possibilities that one finds existence to be reasonable. While I say others are good at filling in the blanks with just a few words, I am also someone who accepts everything very quickly.

In the end, it is just a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

However, given that most of the information Matou Kariya provided was about himself rather than being closely linked to me, it shows he knows very little about me; I can only place my hopes on the phone he gave me.

I plan to study it when I get back. Since there is a four-digit password on the phone, I will unlock it then.

Dinner was served at the Matou house.

Matou Kariya did not keep us overnight, saying he would take me to the Tohsaka house tomorrow afternoon. He needs to contact Tohsaka in advance; after all, at such a critical moment, they are in a competitive relationship, and Tokiomi Tohsaka might not necessarily meet with him.

The Holy Grail War usually lasts only seven days, coinciding exactly with the end of my internship.

I was thinking, should I intercept the Holy Grail midway? To realize my own wish? But I don’t know what I want.

I once put a lot of effort into the pursuit of freedom, but now I have already obtained what I once hoped for—I can freely choose what I want to do, and no one can stop me. I can make friends unconditionally and without purpose, and I can do boring, ridiculous, or farcical things.

My wish has already been realized.

Yet, occasionally, I experience the emotion known as loneliness.

This is not to say that I have no friends now.

In fact, if needed, I can go to gatherings of all sorts of groups; this is thanks to the many mixers I’ve attended, and many people have proactively added my social media accounts.

But humans always experience loneliness.

The British writer and psychology lecturer Claudia Hammond once conducted an online survey regarding lonely people. It was the largest study on psychological loneliness in history. Although online surveys have obvious flaws or inaccuracies, it did not stop her from reaching this conclusion—

“The rate of loneliness among young people aged 16 to 24 is higher than in any other age group,” because people during this time begin to feel confused about their identity; it is a period of switching social roles—from student to professional, from home to being alone outdoors—and the new environment naturally places pressure on young people.

I feel I have reason to suspect that I am also undergoing this psychological transition. Therefore, I occasionally feel that the days are long and tedious, empty and uninteresting. In other words, wishing to eliminate this state of mind would be a mistake. It is precisely because I am an ordinary person that I must experience such troubles.

All in all, I have to say that the Holy Grail War, where only one winner exists, has indeed piqued my interest. Even if I am not interested in the prize.

On the way back, Tanizaki Junichiro naturally fell behind me, and Edogawa Ranpo fell behind Tanizaki at the very end. Ever since I called him an old man this afternoon, he has been pretending I don’t exist, not even giving me a direct look.

At a corner, I could see him at the very back; his pace was sluggish and dragging, a full ten meters away. If it weren’t for the fact that a serial killer has been active in Fuyuki City recently—causing most residents to choose to lock their doors and stay home at night—the crowds on the street would not be so sparse. Otherwise, Edogawa might have vanished from sight the moment I turned my head.

I stopped my pace to wait for him.

Noticing my movement, Edogawa also stopped his pace, hands thrust into his pockets, squinting his eyes to study the branches of a roadside tree. After Tanizaki Junichiro noticed the change in our movements, he immediately withdrew from our line of sight, pressing against a wall on the side of the road, letting me face Edogawa directly.

In essence, Edogawa is like a highly elastic rubber ball; as long as you give him a bit of force—be it an action or a word—he will always give me some reaction.

So, I shouted: “Hey, old man over there.”

But this time, though Edogawa heard it, he didn’t say a word. I am certain his ears twitched. Moreover, just as my words fell, he wanted to turn back and glare at me for a moment, but when he restrained himself, his shoulders were exceptionally controlled and stiff.

Has he made up his mind to ignore me?

I spoke toward Tanizaki’s direction: “Tanizaki, don’t let him get lost. It’s not very safe here at night.”

Tanizaki, suddenly being called by name, was stunned for a beat, nodded at me, and strode toward Edogawa. After confirming the distance between the two had narrowed, I continued walking directly toward the hotel.

I am very interested in the matter of the phone.

Because I have no such phone in my memory, I am also unclear on what the password is, but in the end, there are only ten thousand possibilities. It is much simpler than a bank vault’s one hundred million combinations lock.

Using software to decode it, the password will surface very quickly.

I do not fully trust Matou, so I didn’t want to unlock the password in his house. That is why I planned to return to the hotel tonight. Compared to Matou, I am more willing to trust Edogawa and Tanizaki.

This isn’t because Edogawa and Tanizaki won’t catch me doing something bad, or even that they might defend me; it is simply because I understand these two people.

Because Edogawa’s wilfulness was bothering me, I thought about the password as I walked. Perhaps it was just a sudden flash of inspiration, but I suddenly thought of something.

“This phone was my own four years ago.”

That means the password should be—”0429.”

I immediately entered the password, but the interface just shook once, and the four numbers reset. Unable to understand the reason for my failure, I decided to return to the hotel and use decoding software to open the password.

The process took less than thirty seconds to resolve, but the resulting password made me lose interest in unlocking the phone.

“…”

The four-digit password was “0619.”

Something must have gone wrong somewhere.