Oh, he did know there were two before him, he said as much, but it seems he didn't know any more were in the works.
I used to seriously HATE Fate's smarmy-git guts. It's taken three years... (my God, it's been three years since the Magic World arc started?) but he's finally shown a bit of life, and done some things that at long last are making me actually like his character.
That last bit especially; It seems Honya managed to get Fate's goat!