Chapter 104: The Premiere of "Fate Zero" (4)
The movie's plot continued, and this time, two servants appeared. One looked entirely black, giving off a vibe like a gymnast, while the other, who only appeared at the end and swiftly defeated the assassin, was an archer.
"Um, who is this?"
Bewildered by the emperor's confusion, Durin simply said, "According to the setting, he is Gilgamesh, the archer-class servant, the King of Heroes."
Hearing Durin's words, not only the emperor but also General Wilhelm was astonished. "I never expected there could be such... ah, arrogant king among heroes. This can already be called a tyrant..."
Similarly, upon seeing the plot about the archer, the audience immediately started joking:
"Is this really summoning a servant, or just summoning a dad!"
"He looks handsome, but why does this character feel so cheap?"
"Stop complaining, isn't being handsome enough?"
To this, Durin could only shrug helplessly, not knowing how to introduce a character with so many contradictions in such a short time. So, he had to give up and wait for the movie to explain it.
...
Imperial Mage Academy, the grand plaza.
As the movie progressed, the audience became increasingly excited about the upcoming story. Unlike other viewers who were watching "Fate/Zero", this group of mages was more interested in the actions of the magicians in the movie.
For example, during the summoning of the Heroic Spirits...
"What kind of magic is this? Just chanting a spell and drawing a magic circle can summon historical heroes? It's not magical at all!"
"I think it's similar to the necromancer's interdimensional summoning technique. Perhaps these so-called Heroic Spirits are actually creatures from another dimension?"
"Creatures from another dimension don't seem likely, as they possess the thoughts of Heroic Spirits. I suspect these Heroic Spirits might be souls that have been collected by some incomprehensible entity after death, and the so-called summoning simply retrieves their souls from there?"
"Your idea is interesting. By the way, I really want to summon that Saber lady. I want to marry her!!!"
"You're daydreaming!!!"
"Yeah, this guy is daydreaming. It's obvious that I want to marry her!!!"
"..."
Various voices echoed in the audience. Reflecting on the situation, Picor, who was also watching the movie, pondered and said, "It's an interesting story, placing a variety of characters on a stage called 'war' where they fight each other, showcasing their individual personalities. Is the author a genius?"
"Well, I think there's no need to overthink it. As long as the story is good, it's fine. By the way, that lady named Irisviel... ho ho, can I see her in real life?!"
To his roommate Dylan's words, Picor sarcastically replied, "You're overthinking it. I've been feeling that these actors look familiar. Now I remember—they used to be part of the Snowflake Theater Group, which was quite famous in the Southern Region. Isn't the actress playing Irishviel already married in real life?!"
"Huh? But... wouldn't that be even better?!"
"!!"
Ignoring his roommate's antics, Picor continued to watch the movie, thinking about many things, such as the Snowflake Theater Group he mentioned earlier. As a nobleman's son, he had seen performances by this troupe, but hadn't seen them in a while. He had heard that they disappeared from the nobles' view after offending someone. He wondered if their participation in this movie would have any impact on them.
Furthermore, he sensed something hidden in the author's filming of this movie. Although he hadn't fully grasped it yet, there was no doubt that the author of this movie wanted to convey some kind of idea.
With this in mind, Picor, like other viewers, continued to watch the plot unfold until the actor named Emiya Kiritsugu demonstrated the usage of a magical weapon called a 'gun'...
"What is this? A magical standardized weapon? Why? What's the principle behind it?"
Yes, seeing the scene where Durin specially added Emiya Kiritsugu demonstrating the use of firearms in the movie shocked all the mages present. After all, for the mages present, they could clearly see some magical power attached to the bullets fired by the dark firearm even through the screen.
"It feels like a short-term magical formation overlaid internally... But how did such a huge magical formation fit into such a small 'gun'?"
"Indeed, it seems that Emiya Kiritsugu didn't use magic when using it, which means that the magical power on the 'gun' is completely provided by the 'gun' itself. If it's a self-charging magical formation, how did such a large magical formation fit into such a small thing?"
"Miniaturized magical formation... Wait, isn't this what the Alchemy Academy advocated in the past?"
"The Alchemy Academy? Does the Imperial Mage Academy still have such a department?"
"Well, that was indeed a long time ago, but it's a matter concerning the history of the academy. You'll learn about it when you new students attend history class. In short, it was about hundreds of years ago when the Imperial Mage Academy, due to the failure of the then headmaster, who was a Grand Mage, to reach the Seventh Rank, gave up on their original research. Subsequently, he seemed to go mad and started researching almost heretically."
"His result was that, as the current headmaster, he directly rejected the fundamental principle advocated by the first Grand Mage, Roland, which was to 'infuse more mana into larger magic circles, create larger and more refined spell models, thus creating more powerful magic, ultimately reaching the Seventh Rank.' Instead, he proposed the idea of 'miniaturizing magic circles to create highly precise micro-circles,' giving birth to the initial concept of magical alchemy and establishing the Alchemy Academy."
"Such a thing happened? No wonder the academy also established organizations like the Mage Tower. I used to think they were just decorations..."
"So, does this mean that the equipment used to project the movie is also...?"
In any case, amidst various discussions, even the newly arrived students came to understand magical alchemy and its history. In the past, most mages would have scoffed at the idea of magical alchemy, considering it heretical. After all, mages have always pursued more powerful magic and more efficient mana conversion rates, which was common knowledge among mages.
In contrast, magical alchemy, which aimed to miniaturize magic and create micro-magic, was considered heretical. Any mage with common sense would reject such humble ideas because such magic couldn't showcase the uniqueness of mages themselves. For the collective interests of mages, maintaining the uniqueness of magic and the individual strength of mages was the best approach to maintaining the status of mages.
But when everyone present saw the special standardized magical weapon capable of challenging their worldview, as well as the movie projection device right in front of them...
At this moment, even the most orthodox mages couldn't help but entertain rebellious thoughts.
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