The facts were indeed as a few of them had thought. The first thing this middle-aged woman did when she came up was to pat the file in her hand. "The last descendant of a fallen family, Matou Shinji... and the mercenary magus, Sigma... two not-so-great magi have actually caused such a huge commotion. I really don't know if you have enough money to compensate for the damages here..."
The attitude of this middle-aged woman already showed that she looked down on the two people before her. After all, one's family had already fallen, and the other, as a magus, was mainly living as a mercenary. Normally, she wouldn't even want to look at these two.
But not now. Even if she couldn't take that mercenary back, she still needed to bring a guy with no talent for magic back to the Clock Tower. She really couldn't figure it out. A guy with no talent for magic had actually been able to open the legendary treasure. This was truly a bit incomprehensible. Faerie Letters had always been something the Clock Tower wanted to study properly.
There had been a boy with the exact same name as the former blacksmith before. However, this boy had disappeared with Kenneth in a Holy Grail War. Originally, they had planned to make a move on that boy. As long as Kenneth died in the Holy Grail War, that boy would have no one to protect him. Whether it was by secretly kidnapping him, or by brazenly taking him away, whether it was by using hypnosis and psychological suggestion to turn him into a puppet with no thoughts of his own, or by directly using means like mind-reading—even if it would reduce this person's lifespan, or destroy his IQ, it didn't matter!
As long as they could master the secrets of Faerie Letters, many researches could be solved. For example, some of the clay tablets written by the fae that had been excavated in the past, or the revival of some of the research from the Age of Gods in Great Britain.
Originally, they thought they had no more chances. They had not expected that after only a few years, they would run into another boy who held the treasure of the legendary blacksmith, Aslan. The secret documents left by the Mage's Association clearly stated that that blacksmith had been raised by the fae, and at the same time, had mastered Faerie Letters, and had relied on these letters to give many weapons and equipment the power of divine creation. In other words, this would be another breakthrough for Faerie Letters. In fact, if they could figure out how that blacksmith of the past had forged powerful weapons and equipment, and transforming weapons and equipment, then they might even be able to surpass the Atlas Institute in the research of Mystic Codes.
To have one less person to share power with was, of course, a very good thing. As long as the Clock Tower could suppress the Atlas Institute, and with a little more effort, they might even be able to take back all the management rights from that Wandering Sea, which didn't like to manage affairs. At that time, they would be the sole dominant power. What was not good about that?
The old guys who pursued power would absolutely not let this opportunity go. Some of the professors who taught students understood this. At the same time, although these teachers understood, they could not tell the real situation to these students, unless these students found a sliver of hidden information. At that time, the teachers would then give these students a reminder. Anyway, most of the teachers also knew that the essence of the Clock Tower was almost rotten.
It was just that the Clock Tower, as a place to teach students magic and to allow magic to continue to develop, still needed to continue to exist. However, if the Clock Tower continued to develop like this, one day someone would reform it from within. Many people were looking forward to this.
Of course, let's put our sights back here for now.
The middle-aged woman glanced at the two before her with disgust, then gently shook her head. "Alright, I won't waste any more words with you. Will you obediently come with me, or will you be taken away by force?"
Although she said so, neither of the two before her thought that being taken to the Clock Tower would have any good outcome. After all, this middle-aged woman had already made her attitude clear. If it was really a matter of good negotiation, then they would not have sent such a person, with such an attitude. And even Kiritsugu had no way to completely protect the two of them from the hands of the Clock Tower. If it was just a matter of spending a sum of money, perhaps they could get Sigma out. After all, the goal of those old guys in the Clock Tower was not on Sigma. Of course, that was also not certain. After all, those old guys' Innate Time Control was also very tempting.
Shinji, who understood the actions of the Clock Tower, and Sigma, who had learned about the Clock Tower from his own father, decisively had a mentality of refusal in their hearts. At the same time, they couldn't help but curse: the rotten-to-the-core Clock Tower.
Although the rejecting attitude of the two was seen by this middle-aged woman, it was truly a case of "a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger." For two young people to dare to refuse their "invitation" like this, it seemed they would eat the hard but not the soft. Although, to outsiders, their current attitude could not be considered soft.
The mean middle-aged woman sighed. Then, the magical energy in her hand turned into flames, and the file in her hand was completely burned to a crisp. This also meant that she did not intend to bring the two back to the Clock Tower in one piece.
"Although I tried to persuade you with good words, good words cannot persuade a ghost who is determined to die. Although I have already held back, under the circumstances where the opponent is using a killing move, we can only helplessly fight back. In the process, to get a little injured, to break an arm or a leg, is a very normal thing, isn't it?"
Just as the harsh middle-aged woman was preparing to have the surrounding magi make a move, only then did she turn her gaze to Aslan. "And who are you? You look quite familiar... ah... I remember now. You're the little brat who was following behind Kenneth. What a surprise. To actually have another unexpected harvest."
Anyway, their department was the one that did the dirty work. She had not expected to be able to run into the little genius of Faerie Letters that they had wanted to brainwash and capture before. This time, they had had a great harvest. Perhaps they could crack the secrets of Faerie Letters in one go.
"Little genius of Faerie Letters, Aslan. It just so happens that you are also within the scope of our invitation. Come with us. As long as you cooperate with our research, in the face of you who has lost your protection, we can provide you with a new one."
Aslan sighed. "It seems my previous identity was operated too successfully, to the point where you all think I am a pitiful little thing with no one to rely on... that's also true. The founders of the Clock Tower back then, although they had seen me, they had not left behind a portrait. I'm afraid all that's left are descriptions. I really don't know, when you saw me, did you not think of the descriptions related to that blacksmith?"