"Master~, are these things created by you? They are so alive and pretty~, just like you~"
A Charming voice of a mature adult sounded as she praised the Homunculus.
'Ugh! Why, Why did I agree to this? Wait, why am I blaming myself, rewards are waiting for me, yes I just have to wait and see why I must return to this damn place!'
*Flashback*
"Ugh! I must go to Japan. Why there aren't many benefits in other places?"
Now that his fate is in his own hands, he decided to see possible best-case scenarios for him and choose the best one for him.
Cael observed the 'Spiritron Editor', an upgraded version of 'Cube of Jambala' combined with prophetic magecraft he used to divine his fate with blood.
Japan is the last place he wants to visit at this time of the year, 2004.
He initially planned to go to Japan around 2005 but things changed now.
The Spiritron Editor can show all possible futures with near accuracy but just like his cube, it will give clues but this time, extremely detailed clues.
He wanted to avoid participating in the Holy Grail war and to some extent, he loathes summoning servants.
But...It needs to be done because the rewards are worth it. Just that he doesn't know what the rewards are.
He saw all possible futures and when he found this one as the most profitable, he felt complex emotions.
"Nixie, can I participate in the holy grail war?"
Nixie appeared on his left shoulder confused about the question.
"What's a Holy Grail war?"
Cael remembered that the Holy Grail war is just a small ritual of the East and is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.
He explained about the war and servants.
"Oh, I don't see a problem with it. Since they are just copies of condensed history, even if they are heroic spirits. They are not 'originals'. So, it's not a big deal. You can't make a contract with the original though"
"That's a relief. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta. Come with me, rest of you, guard this place and Zeta, take care of stocks management with Omicron, Pi, and Omega"
The other 18 homunculi nodded. He created 22 homunculi with Greek alphabets as names, these homunculi are extremely capable.
They can slaughter 1000 armed soldiers, can do potent magecraft, do housework, do odd jobs, and even fulfill the needs like sex and companionship. He made sure to implement absolute loyalty into their minds.
"Daphne, can we meet?" After talking with Daphne for a while, they decided on a meeting spot.
In a Fancy restaurant that is almost empty, Cael saw Daphne dressed like a normal person, Unlike the traditional noble dress she normally wears.
"Hey Cael, long time no see"
"Daphne, you have changed, Like a Lot" Cael complimented.
"Thank you, I am now pursuing Batchelor's degree in food science"
"Oh, that's surprising. Does that mean you quit magecraft altogether"
"No, I still do it for fun but not that serious anymore. It's more of a hobby"
"I see"
"So, what do you need me for? now that you know I'm not into mage craft anymore, I can't help you with stuff related to them"
"Actually, I wanted to ask you about the Holy Grail war ritual you told me last time"
"Oh, I heard someone calling it a waste of time~"
"I still stand by that notion but I have to participate in it now"
"I won't ask you your reasons but Can I at least know your wish"
"For now, reaching the root. I won't ask for anything more, not like I can win it anyway"
"Why are you so pessimistic?"
"Isn't it obvious, last time Grail caused massive damage, I heard no one's wish is granted. Who knows what it will do now?"
"You didn't change. I do owe you a lot for back then so,"
Daphne wrote an address and gave it to Cael.
"I originally Auctioned the crest to a third-class magus. This is his address"
"You expect me to believe that he will give up his crest to me if I threaten him? What if he already summoned a servant?"
"His wish is to cure his mother of some illness. I'm sure, you can cure her with your capabilities. Isn't this enough for him to give up his crest?"
"Anyway, you already helped me a lot with this, thanks. Call me if you or your family need any help" Cael doesn't mind charity work, especially for a family of alchemists.
***
Japan, Fuyuki
"I didn't know I would come here again"
An average-looking frail man grumbled as he saw the school.
Walking up to a traditional Japanese house, the man rang the doorbell. A middle-aged man opened the door and asked with a smile
"Yes?"
"Your bounded field is a mess. Anyway, I would like to do a trade with you"
The middle-aged man's smile froze.
"Don't worry, I only know you because your seller, is my friend, and If I am like a stuck up like the rest of them from the clock tower, you know I wouldn't chat with you"
The middle-aged man sighed.
"I'm..."
"Let's keep our identities to ourselves. I'm purely here for the summoning crest and I will buy it from you with a price you demand"
"Very well, please follow me"
Cael used the ability of the divine halo to appear as an average Japanese person. He followed the man inside after which they directly went to the negotiations.
"What's your wish for the grail?"
The middle-aged man looking at Cael could only say "Just now you have said you are not like them, yet ...whatever, you must have already known my wish if you are here to negotiate peacefully otherwise, you would have already killed me. No matter what, in the end, we both are magi and know that it's cold truth"
"that's a perfect deduction. So, would you like the trade?"
"I don't want to offend you but can you really cure my mother? She has a terminal illness and even healing magecraft can't heal her and she's going to die soon"
Listening to it, Cael instead asked "What do you think are your chances to win in this war?"
"None, I know my limitations. This is just a last-ditch effort, I am not even sure if I can sustain the servant with my pathetic circuits let alone win a full-blown war with those ancient families that have so many resources and restore my mother"
Cael smiled and said confidently " It doesn't matter because now you have a sure working method to cure your mother sitting in front of you. You can give me the crest after you made sure that she's perfectly healthy"
Hearing the confidence in his voice, the middle-aged man decided to give it a try as he knows he cannot win this war.
Cael treated his mother as promised with the help of Nixie. The middle-aged man after checking that seeing his mother in perfect health is not an illusion or hypnosis happily gave away the crest.
"Thank you very much. You don't know how much it means to me to see my mother healthy again and not participate in this bloodshed. "

"Along with this crest, please accept this information as a gift of gratitude from me. The Atlantis is being scouted these days, I don't know the purpose but I heard many mystic codes and associations are hinting towards the Atlantis"
"Thank you for your generosity" Cael replied before turning invisible.
Invisibility and shape-shifting. These two abilities are derived from the Halo of resurrection. He began to use them as soon as he decided to participate in this war.
He has done every possible preparation he could and decided not to reveal his identity during this war to anyone except his servant.
'I will probably only get Assassin. So, winning is impossible, it's best to not waste resources on a catalyst. I don't believe in servants anyway, it's best to depend on myself to survive this war and I could learn a thing or two from watching them fight'
Cael never liked summoning, he hated weakness but as a human, he could only gloat about it in the past.
In his opinion, commanding someone who is obviously stronger than himself is an act of suicide.
His strength comparable to heroic spirit is the only assurance that made him compelled to join in this war and actually summon this time.
'As long as I didn't summon an overpowered servant, I can keep them under my command'
***
Magic is a cheat code-like existence. It's not wrong to call it an alternative to Godhood.
After all, the things single magic can do is on the scale of Multiverses and beyond. It also doesn't follow traditional rules and doesn't matter even if you have 1 unit of prana after all, it doesn't use prana at all.
Magecraft is a pathetic imitation of magic and can't even do an ounce of what Magic can do.
Magic like 'Operation of parallel worlds' or 'Second true magic' for example can do so many things at its core that, all magecraft is worthless in front of it.
In a way, 'Second true magic' grants omniscience because as a part of the magic, you could create a book that has records of every possible world and everything about said worlds. That's what made Zelrecth an all-knowing person, a person not even the godly planetary-level spirits which are above Divine spirits like Gods can mess with.
The throne of heroes, a metaphysical plane where heroic spirits reside can only be accessed by 'Gaia' because it wanted slaves to defend its world. Not even Gods have access to it.
But, a mere human, who is capable of using magic can access it.
Zelretch used his magic on the grail, which is an Alchemy construct to make it summon heroic spirits from them.
A little 'third true magic' is used to maintain them on the plane of existence.
And this is the most basic power of magic.
Otherwise, this whole grail war is impossible with magecraft alone.
This truth about Grail is known by few and Cael only knows it because of his previous life.
In an enormous residence inside the mountains near fuyuki.
"From the depths of shadow and stealth, By the moon's pale light I call upon thee, Sneak through the veil of death itself, And appear before me, O servant of assassination!
Answer my call and heed my command, Sworn to the art of silent killing, With dagger, poison, and cunning hand, Bring swift death to my foes, O Assassin of the night!"
The various symbols of the circle glowed as in the night sky, the moon shone its rays on it.
Cael is now in his true form wearing a mystic code dress which made him even more charming. The four homunculi are surrounding him acting as a guard if the servant is a threat to their master.
A figure appeared on the glowing magic circle, under the moonlight, An enchanting female in a white Greek style dress and Egyptian armaments, with a charisma that could make countries listen to her commands.

"Are you my master?"
She said as she manifested.
Cael could only think one thing 'Why is every servant a retard, can't they feel the connection to the master with the commanding seals. I can tell she's my servant with closed eyes'
Taking a deep breath, he replied "Yes"
Cael used a spell to see her stats and is not disappointed, he got more than what he bargained for.
[ Assassin
True Name: Cleopatra
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Strength: B
Endurance: C
Agility: A
Mana : D
Luck : D
Np: A
Personal skills: Imperial privilege(A), Golden Rule (Wealth/Body) (B/A), protection of the goddess(C)
Class skills: Presence concealment(B), Divinity(D) ]
Assasin's first reaction on seeing Cael is
"Master~, are you really human? Please Tell me you are a reincarnation of the God"
"Why's that?"
"You are so handsome~, no man can be that charming and particularly so calm standing in front of me. Only Gods didn't sway to my beauty, All men have desired me and I can't see it in your eyes. Your mana capacity is also beyond mine"
Cael's beauty and charm increased several folds after his magecraft has gone under a qualitative leap. He also used Alchemy and beauty magecraft to make himself even more handsome.
After all, beauty grants privilege. It's especially true in this world.
As for Prana, Cael is an extremely talented magus and of course, His magical circuits are top quality.
if the average Magus has 20 units of prana, he has 10,000 units of prana, giving him 500 times the amount of a Magus.
Not that he uses prana anymore since he is using 'Mystery Organ' to enact magecraft.
He only uses prana to boost his power of magecraft.
"Master~, are these things created by you? They are so alive and pretty~, just like you~"
She analyzed the homunculus. Cael felt annoyed as she kept talking.
And so, here we are.
Cael successfully participated in the thing he hated the most.