Upon hearing the young man's words, everyone was stunned.
Whether it was Darnic, who had participated in the Third Holy Grail War and had dealings with the Three Founding Families, the young Masters of the Millennia Tree family, or the once-renowned Heroic Spirits, all displayed unusual expressions.
A Heroic Spirit who didn't know his true name—was that even possible?
Could this guy be a Spirit with a nasty personality, just messing with us?
More than one person had this thought.
Seeing their comrades almost on the verge of saying, "Are you freaking kidding me?" the young man waved his hands repeatedly: "I'm not joking. I truly don't know my true name."
"What's going on? Did something go wrong with the summoning ritual?" The clan leader Darnic looked at his successor, Fiore, who was also the Master of the young Servant.
"Well..."
"No, I think the summoning ritual went fine. The problem likely lies with me."
The young man spoke up before his Master could respond.
"What's the matter?" Fiore asked curiously.
The young man cleared his throat and began to speak confidently: "As you can see, my class is Assassin. When we step into the darkness, we are destined to abandon our names. To live nameless and die nameless is our norm and also our protection. Once a killer's identity is exposed, it means death. Perhaps, to better protect myself, I intentionally erased my name upon manifestation. My appearance and other characteristics you see may be also disguised. Yes, that's likely the case. I think I'm capable of doing such things."
"Ahahaha! Erasing your name, even disguising your appearance, that's interesting—ah, it's great to be summoned this time!" Astolfo laughed innocently, with a face softer than a woman's, adding lethal charm to his words.
However, the others were not so quick to accept the young man's explanation. Some stroked their chins, some lowered their heads, and others rubbed their fingers, all calculating in their minds.
Surprisingly, the first to speak was the least noticeable among them, Caules. He glanced at his left wrist, then at his sister's left hand, and said, "To verify if Assassin's words are true, there's a simple and direct method—using a Command Spell. However, whether or not to use it should be Sister's decision."
"A Command Spell?" Fiore's right hand gently brushed over the red mark on her left hand as she pondered. "Uncle, what do you think?"
"Caules' suggestion is feasible, but using a precious Command Spell for such a trivial matter seems wasteful. Moreover, not knowing the Servant's true name isn't entirely bad. At least if we don't know it, the likelihood of the enemy knowing it is even smaller."
As a participant in two Holy Grail Wars, Darnic's considerations were far more thorough than those of these novices. If the war's situation didn't change, this cunning old fox was likely to be the victor.
"But without knowing the Servant's true name, how can we judge his strength?" Perhaps bolstered by the presence of his Caster, Roche no longer cowered as before.
"You needn't worry about that. I am undoubtedly a first-rate warrior."
As if to boast of his strength, the young man pounded his chest hard, producing a "thump thump" sound.
"A mere Assassin and you dare say that?" The twisted Celenike sneered.
"What, you don't believe me?" The young man raised an eyebrow, confronting the bloodthirsty witch head-on.
"No, I don't."
"I have my reasons for saying so."
"What reasons?"
"First, the quality of my Master." The young man raised a finger. "Through the contract, I can sense how exceptional my Master is. Someone summoned by such an excellent Master couldn't possibly be weak."
"Ah—"
Fiore shyly lowered her head. She knew of her excellence and had received countless praises, so she should have been used to it. But now, being complimented by a hero whose name was etched in history and enshrined among the Heroic Spirits made her feel incredibly honored. It took her a moment to softly say, "Thank you for the compliment."
"You should be more confident, my Master. I'm not just saying this. You only need to look at my status panel to see that such excellent attributes are the result of both your excellence and my strength."
Hearing the young man's words, Fiore hurriedly used her Master's authority. The other Masters did the same, but what appeared before them was a blank slate. Except for the class designation "Assassin," everything seemed to have been erased.
"Assassin, I can't read your attributes. Did you hide them?"
Hearing his Master's question, the young man slapped his forehead as if in realization: "Sorry, sorry, the attributes must be hidden by my cloak. I'll take it off right away."
The dark cloak dissolved into particles, revealing the young man's plain attire beneath, along with his various attributes:
Strength: B
Endurance: C+
Agility: B
Magic: C
Luck: A
Noble Phantasm: ABCDE
A few seconds later, the expression that seemed to say, "Are you freaking kidding me?" appeared once again on everyone's faces.
What kind of joke is this? This is the status panel of the weakest Assassin?
Are you sure this isn't one of the Three Knight Classes?
And what's with this Noble Phantasm panel showing "ABCDE"?
Are you saying this guy has at least five Noble Phantasms?
To this, the young man responded, "I do have quite a few Noble Phantasms. In terms of quantity, there aren't many Servants who have more than I do. The cloak that was hiding my information just now is one of them—its true name and my name is forgotten. Fortunately, most of my Noble Phantasms don't require a true name release, so it doesn't affect my strength."
Hearing this, Astolfo became excited again: "You are amazing! You have one more Noble Phantasm than I do, and your stats are higher, but I won't lose to you, ahahahaha!"
Ignoring the mysterious confidence of this problematic knight, Vlad III, seated on his throne, cast an oppressive gaze at the young man: "I do not understand. With such strength, why would you become a shadowy assassin?"
"It seems that Your Highness does not understand what a true assassin is," the young man shook his head.
"Enlighten me."
"An assassination is an unnoticed kill. For instance, if someone hired me to kill that lady over there."
The young man pointed at Celenike, a small revenge for her earlier mockery.
"If I sneak into the castle, bypassing all the guards and traps, and slit her throat in her room, that's an assassination. If I walk in through the front gate, kill everyone I see along the way, and finally behead her, that's also an assassination—because no one knows it was me."
"A true assassin is versatile. They can move through the night, taking lives silently; blend into crowds, approaching their target unnoticed; and charge into battle, taking the head of a general amidst an army. A true assassin has the aptitude for all classes. There is nothing they can't do, only things they haven't thought of. Many claim to be assassins, but few truly grasp the essence of assassination."
There was one more thing the young man kept to himself—"assassination" also has another name: "peerless"!
P.S.: Normally, even if a Servant has multiple Noble Phantasms, the panel would only display a single value, not "ABCDE." The reason it shows this way here is to pay homage to Perseus in Nasu's lore. As a Rider, Perseus possesses six major Noble Phantasms but can only use one at a time, resulting in such an unstable rating.