Eriri Spencer Sawamura: "Assassin!!! Isn't he already dead?"
Iskandar, the King of Conquerors: "Oh? So it was just as I thought. Archer, my boy~ This is one of your Master's schemes, isn't it?"
Otto Apocalypse: "Assassin is a class for assassins. Hiding in the shadows to monitor the other Masters of the Holy Grail War... This way, they can grasp information on the other Masters without ever leaving their home. It seems Tokiomi Tohsaka is not as weak as one might imagine."
Gilgamesh: "Tokiomi... always busying himself with useless trifles."
At that moment, in the Tohsaka mansion, the King of Heroes sneered upon seeing Tokiomi Tohsaka's methods. He would never stoop to using such tactics. Or rather, with the King himself present, all Tokiomi needed to do was offer his loyalty as a subject, and Gilgamesh might have been willing to bestow the Holy Grail upon him as a reward.
However... Tokiomi Tohsaka's actions had consistently disappointed this King of Heroes. If not for the fact that he was still fulfilling his duties as a subject, he would likely be a corpse by now.
Conan Edogawa: "That woman just now should be Emiya Kiritsugu's assistant. But what I'm curious about is who saved her. It couldn't have been Emiya Kiritsugu himself, right? He was just in the police station. To get from the station to that building... even a magus couldn't be that fast."
Indeed, Conan's words sent the audience into contemplation. It was impossible for Emiya Kiritsugu to have thrown that smoke bomb at that precise moment. This meant Kirei Kotomine's guess was wrong. But... if it wasn't Emiya Kiritsugu, who else would have appeared at that time to save Maiya?
For a moment, the comment section was filled with speculation, while the light screen projection continued...
---o---
[Just as Kirei Kotomine and Assassin were discussing something, the light screen's camera shifted to the area below the building.
After dealing with Emiya Kiritsugu, Elysia hadn't been in a hurry to leave. Dawn was breaking, and there didn't seem to be any other place to stay within a hundred-mile radius.
Of course, more importantly, she had once again seen the white-haired man who had recently tried to persuade her to join a strange organization. With that man was an even more mysterious figure. Was that... a Servant?
Under Elysia's watch, the mysterious Servant produced a smoke bomb from thin air and used magecraft to send it flying up to the building dozens of stories high.
"It's settled. She almost died in there. That would have been unacceptable; her value has not yet been fully realized," Marisbury said with a smile. It was a good thing Solomon possessed the highest level of Clairvoyance; otherwise, he really wouldn't have noticed such a minor character.
It was another unplanned situation. In King Solomon's clairvoyant vision, Emiya Kiritsugu was not in the police station, and he rescued Maiya just as she was about to be killed by Kirei Kotomine, relying on the very smoke bomb they had just deployed.
Although an unplanned situation had occurred, Marisbury was not surprised. Because while Elysia was watching them, King Solomon was also watching Elysia.
"Hello, Maris... billy?" Elysia greeted him. During their first meeting, Marisbury had told Elysia his name. For this young lady, who was only interested in young and beautiful girls, to be able to remember the name of a stranger she had barely spoken to was quite impressive.
Seeing Elysia again, Marisbury appeared quite pleased. After all, such a special existence was an invaluable find for him. "We meet again, Miss Elysia—"]
---o---
Utaha Kasumigaoka: "As expected, someone else saved Maiya."
Otto Apocalypse: "It's him... Is that the ability to see the future with his eyes? What a troublesome power."
L: "Elysia's appearance put Maiya, who originally would have escaped with Kiritsugu's help, in a desperate situation. Is that why he appeared to let her live?"
Eriri Spencer Sawamura: "But... why would he do that? Emiya Kiritsugu should be his enemy too, right?"
Sosuke Aizen: "Because he is playing a grand game of chess and needs to have everything under his control. Even with the power and certainty of victory, he has chosen to bide his time until now."
Emiya Kiritsugu: "What a terrifying man..."
In the Einzbern castle, Emiya Kiritsugu took a deep drag of his cigarette. The true Caster? Even in a direct fight, Saber might not be his opponent, to say nothing of the fact that he was hiding in the shadows.
To defeat the true Caster team, the best method was to eliminate the Master first. But this Master's identity was not simple either. A magus from one of the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower, the Animusphere family, the Lord of the Department of Astromancy. Whether in terms of magecraft proficiency or cautiousness, he was the most difficult opponent in this Holy Grail War.
---o---
[In the light screen projection, Marisbury seemed to be saying something to Elysia, causing the pink-haired elf's expression to turn very grim.
However, the light screen did not play any sound, so the audience did not know the content of their conversation.
But from Elysia's expression, it probably wasn't good news...
Meanwhile, after a night of continuous life-and-death struggles, the eastern sky gradually began to lighten. At this time, Kirei Kotomine used a magical communication device to contact the Tohsaka residence located in the deep mountains of Miyama Town.
He and his father, Risei Kotomine, were preparing to hold an emergency strategy meeting.
"Oh? You'll be able to track down Caster's whereabouts soon?"
Tokiomi Tohsaka's voice was filled with satisfied praise. The actions of Kirei and Assassin were finally yielding the expected results.
"As expected of a Caster, even my Assassin finds it difficult to enter his 'Workshop' without being noticed. However, we have now confirmed his approximate location. Currently, Assassin is surrounding and monitoring the area. As long as Caster appears outside his Workshop, we will be able to track his every move."
"So Caster isn't just holing up in his Workshop but is actively moving about outside?"
"Yes, that is because... the two of them went to the city next to Miyama Town and captured sleeping children, bringing them back to their base. By dawn, they had captured a total of fifteen people. Although most of it was carried out rather smoothly—three times they were discovered by the children's parents, causing a commotion. As a result, they murdered the entire family of those children."
Tokiomi Tohsaka breathed heavily, somewhat enraged. Although most magi were not normal people, they would not attack ordinary people so recklessly. Moreover, he himself was a father of two daughters. He couldn't imagine how furious he would be if Sakura or Rin encountered such a thing.
The "Devil of Fuyuki City," a mysterious serial killer using unusually cruel methods, had been reported continuously since the beginning of the month. Although the Fuyuki police had set up a special task force and mobilized all police forces from surrounding jurisdictions to solve the case, there had been no progress. They were still at the stage of being unable to even confirm the suspect's appearance.
For Tokiomi, such a serious incident occurring during the Holy Grail War was a major headache. The Holy Grail War had to be conducted in secret. This was an unbreakable iron rule for all participants.
"From their conversation, this Master named Ryuunosuke not only has no knowledge of the Holy Grail War, but he also seems to lack any self-awareness as a magus."
"That is quite possible. Perhaps under very coincidental circumstances, someone with no talent for magecraft can form a contract with a summoned Servant... In that case, the Master would only become a puppet of the Servant."
"...In any case, Caster's own words and actions are also beyond normal comprehension. He keeps saying things like 'the Holy Grail is already in my hands' and 'I must save the Holy Maiden Jeanne,' which are completely incomprehensible. I personally believe—both Caster and his Master are not taking the Holy Grail War seriously at all."
Hearing Kirei Kotomine's words, Tokiomi sighed deeply, as if to vent the anger in his heart.
"A Servant running rampant due to insanity and a Master completely unable to control the situation? Why on earth would the Grail choose such individuals?"
A Servant attacking humans—there was nothing strange about that in itself. As spiritual bodies that subsist on magical energy, Servants could supplement the mana they received from their Masters by absorbing human souls.
Even in this Holy Grail War, Tokiomi had anticipated that such offerings would occur. This was understandable. Magi were existences beyond reason; they could disregard ethics and morals. Even if innocent people needed to be sacrificed, as long as it was done secretly and covertly, it would be tacitly permitted.
However, killing so openly and causing such a huge commotion was absolutely unacceptable.
"We can't let this go on, can we, Tokiomi-kun?"
Father Risei, with a grim expression, interjected from the side.
"Caster's actions are clearly obstructing the progress of this Holy Grail War. This is a violation of the rules."
"Of course. In the past, I was in charge of upholding the secrecy of magecraft. I will absolutely not let him get away with this."
The Tohsaka family had been the secret owners of the Fuyuki region for generations—at the same time, they also held the duty of managing the ley lines and monitoring abnormal situations, a task directly entrusted to them by the Mage's Association.
Therefore, for Tokiomi, not only as a Master aiming for the Holy Grail but also from the perspective of a local administrator, he had to stop Caster's actions.
"Yes. This is a situation that can no longer be resolved with warnings or punishments. The only option now is to eliminate Caster and his Master."
"But the problem is that only a Servant can defeat a Servant, and my Assassin cannot make a move right now."
Kirei Kotomine's point was valid. Assassin, deliberately kept as a hidden trump card, couldn't be revealed again so soon.
Father Risei thought silently for a moment and suggested to Tokiomi:
"Slightly altering some rules is within my authority as the Supervisor. How about we temporarily set aside the competition for the Grail and mobilize all Masters to jointly subjugate Caster?"
By offering a Command Spell as compensation, the other participants could be motivated to hunt down Caster together. So far, no one had been eliminated in this Holy Grail War, and the Servants were generally powerful. Defeating Caster would be more than achievable.
"That is acceptable, but I wish to add one more target to the expedition."
Tokiomi Tohsaka thought for a moment and continued, "That King has begun to get out of control. He seems to have a peculiar interest in the girl who appeared on the first night. To avoid further complications, I think we should take this opportunity to eliminate Elysia."
"This... wouldn't that be against the rules?" Risei Kotomine hesitated. Elysia had not directly interfered in the Holy Grail War. Doing this would not conform to the rules.
"Father Risei, for a person from another world, even the Mage's Association would likely issue a Sealing Designation on her. Her existence is no longer just affecting the Holy Grail; it is affecting the preservation of Mystery itself. Therefore, I implore you to add Elysia to the punitive expedition list."
Tokiomi Tohsaka spoke with righteous conviction. While it was true that outsiders like Elysia would inevitably be unacceptable to the magi of the Clock Tower, Tokiomi's move also had its own selfish motives.
The girl's uniqueness had attracted the attention of that King, causing the King of Heroes, who was already uninterested in the Holy Grail War, to ignore his counsel even more. If this continued, he feared he would lose control of Gilgamesh.
That King was simply too difficult to handle. One wrong move, and he would be playing with fire. He had tried to persuade the King to take the Holy Grail War seriously, but all he got in return was the King's disregard.
Therefore, by adding Elysia to the list and using the hands of others to eliminate that trouble, he might be able to make the King of Heroes a little more serious about finishing the Holy Grail War. This was a stratagem to make the wolf devour the tiger.
As long as he kept it from the King of Heroes, it would be fine. Although he only had three Command Spells, the best-case scenario was to have the King eliminate the other participants without using any, then use all three Command Spells in succession to make him commit suicide. That way, he could win the Holy Grail War effortlessly.
But if an unexpected situation arose and he had no other choice, he would have to cheat openly. He would use the multiple Command Spells in Father Risei Kotomine's possession to forcibly command the King of Heroes to defeat the other Servants and then kill himself.
It had to be said, Tokiomi Tohsaka was playing his cards masterfully. Using his relationship with the Supervisor of the Holy Grail War, he could adjust the rules at will. No wonder he was so confident in winning.
Not only had he summoned Gilgamesh, the most powerful Servant in a standard Holy Grail War, but even the referee of the war was on his side. With an overwhelming advantage like this, how could he possibly lose?
After a brief hesitation, Father Risei Kotomine agreed to Tokiomi Tohsaka's request. It was just adding an otherworldly visitor to the list. Besides, even without them, the Mage's Association would have issued a Sealing Designation on Elysia once they learned of her existence anyway...