[FMMISM] Chapter 42: Become a Monster?

Three days later.

In the early morning, the sun gradually rose from the eastern horizon over the sea.

Ragna lay on a large bed of the inn, hands behind his head, calmly gazing out at the morning sun.

Although somewhat similar to Kiritsugu who chose an inn as a covert base, the decor here was starkly different from Kiritsugu's war workshop plastered with maps and tips.

At this moment, garters, panties, and maid outfits were casually strewn on the floor, while a strange aroma lingered in the air. Despite the life-and-death battle that was underway in another place, this place remained brightly lit throughout the night.

As for the two other female inhabitants of the inn—

Morgan ignored Ragna's activities as if they were irrelevant, spending her days locked in her own room, studying goodness knows what.

Ragna couldn't help but see her as a NEET.

Zealot, on the other hand, would kneel outside his room's door at night, fingers clasped together, facing the direction of her religion's sacred ground, silently praying to God for forgiveness for her master.

Ragna was convinced that she was truly just like her nickname, a zealot.

At this moment, Ragna rested his chin on the soft abdomen of a homunculus maid, contemplating the Holy Grail War.

Three days ago, the battle between Artoria and Gawain at the port ended with unexpected intervention from Iskandar and Gilgamesh, followed by minor skirmishes.

Undoubtedly, all participants merely tested each other briefly, eventually retreating to their corners.

Ragna, who had been hiding in the shadows, also had a good grasp of the participants.

—Saber Gawain/Master Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.

—Archer Gilgamesh/Master Tohsaka Tokiomi.

—Lancer Artoria/Master Emiya Kiritsugu.

—Rider Iskandar/Master Waver Velvet.

—Caster Morgan/Master Ragna.

—Assassin Zealot (already defeated)/Master Ragna.

—Berserker Unknown/Master Kotomine Kirei.

"Seriously, what a bizarre matchup..." Ragna muttered and scratched his cheek.

Regarding the identity of Berserker, he also had some ideas.

Firstly, in the original work, the fake death staged by Tokiomi was to aid Kirei's Servant, Assassin, in reconnaissance. From this perspective, in the current Holy Grail War, Kirei also likely faked his Servant's death to aid his Servant in his endeavor.

Moreover, this Servant probably had the ability to remain unharmed even if killed once.

In Ragna's narrowed eyes, a glint of insight sparkled.

'In that case, the range of possible identities of this Servant narrows significantly.'

"Master."

As Ragna was lost in his thoughts, Zealot's voice suddenly echoed from above him.

As Ragna looked up, he saw a girl with twin braids standing upside down on the ceiling, her face expressionless, a rather eerie sight.

"You're back." Ragna raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, Master."

Last night, Ragna instructed Zealot to visit the Sajyou residence in Tokyo to retrieve something hidden there.

By the way, due to her outstanding performance in the port last night, Zealot was allowed to wear her black robe again.

Zealot descended lightly from the ceiling and knelt before presenting a grimoire and a square box wrapped in cloth.

"Here are the items you requested, the book that was under your bed, and there is also another one..."

Ragna took the grimoire without even looking at it and tossed it carelessly onto the bed before asking Zealot.

"What about the other one?"

"I apologize, Master, I was too naive... Somehow, an ordinary person discovered me even though I was moving stealthily..."

Zealot buried her head deeply, shoulders trembling.

"Here is a bento that your mother asked me to deliver to you..."

===

At this moment, Morgan's arms were crossed in front of her as she sat beside the coffee table in the living room.

Under a luxurious short skirt, adorned with black and blue, her slender, fair thighs were enveloped in suspenders.

"So, what is this?"

Morgan stared at the grimoire Ragna had placed in front of her.

On the cover of this grimoire bound in human skin, there was a terrifying human face.

"Well, this is the piece of work your student published years ago as a second author. Boss, care to take a look?" Ragna said with a playful expression.

It was none other than the 'Textbook of the Sunken Spiral Castle', also known as 'Prelati's Spellbook', a grimoire used by Caster Gilles de Rais to summon the 'Sea Demon', which was known as 'Horror'.

It was also a forbidden artifact that records knowledge of an ancient evil god from an ancient time at some point before humanity's origin.

It was said that the first edition was translated into Chinese during the Xia Dynasty, later translated into Italian by Francois Prelati, and then circulated in the world of evil mages on a small scale.

However, the copy in Ragna's hands was actually the latest and final edition, forced out of Francesca Prelati's memory and translated by her two years ago after he kidnapped her.

As the saying goes, the so-called best friend was someone who forced others to submit with their fists.

Of course, Ragna's best friend was none other than Francesca Prelati, who was known as Francois Prelati in the past.

Despite the grimoire being a forbidden artifact that records knowledge of an ancient evil god, it didn't actually possess any divine power.

After all, the gateway connecting to another dimension had been sealed, and the authority to open it had been permanently transferred to Gilles. Unless he returned the grimoire on a soul level, not even Francesca herself could use the Prelati's Spellbook.

Moreover, in Ragna's eyes, this grimoire didn't even qualify as a Mystic Code, just a piece of recycled toilet paper filled with obscure text.

"Alright, so... what do you plan to do with this?"

Morgan immediately saw that the grimoire in front of her held no mystery, but instead of asking Ragna 'how', she asked 'what'.

"I want to turn into a monster." Ragna answered calmly.

"What?" Morgan blinked her eyes, showing a slightly dumbfounded expression. 

"I want to turn into a monster." Ragna repeated, this time with a serious expression.

Any boy would have thought of becoming a giant of light (Ultraman), right? However, since he couldn't become a giant of light, he wanted to become a giant monster as a second option.

If one asked why, it was because he was already a monster in the true sense, and his current human-child appearance was in the end, just a facade.

Truthfully, humanity no longer satisfied him.

Although he could become stronger than the Great Old Ones in Cthulhu Mythos if he acted seriously, he wasn't willing to give up his current human life.

Since that was the case, he wanted to start with the Horror to experience what it felt like to become a monster.

In this way, a less intense version of monster transformation was born in the mind of Beast VI.

"Hahh..."

Morgan sighed as she rubbed her forehead.

"So, Master, you want to become a giant squid?"

"Don't call it a squid! It's a Horror!" Ragna pouted.

"Whatever... So, you plan to turn into a monster in the middle of Fuyuki?"

Although Morgan was already familiar with Ragna's bizarre nature and personality, she couldn't help but feel her Master was out of his mind this time and taking things a bit too far.

"No, Caster. When did I say I was going to cause a stir in Fuyuki? I'm planning to leave Fuyuki for a few days and go say hi to someone as a monster."

"Say hi? Who?"

Perplexed, Morgan asked Ragna who focused intently on the world news playing on the TV.

Seeing the deep gleam in the boy's eyes made the witch suddenly realize just how much she underestimated his thought process.

"Bill Clinton."

With a smile, Ragna exclaimed a name.