The chain of events was simple.
As a precaution, Aoko had been monitoring Matou Zouken and the outside interloper, 'Francesca Prelati,' when Kiritsugu Emiya approached her.
"Fifth Magician."
"What is it? Sorry, but I'm a bit busy right now."
"Saber's return is far too late. I've confirmed she has some sort of connection with Archer, but even allowing her time to process her emotions, she has been gone too long."
"…Hmm? You have a point."
Hearing Kiritsugu's concerns, Aoko lightly adjusted the Ploy Kickshaw she had borrowed from Alice to peer through various locations in Fuyuki City.
It was the Mirror of Siesta—a Bounded Field that could be projected over a certain range to distort force fields or serve as a surveillance tool.
She shifted the focus of the mirror, which had been fixated on the Matou estate, and soon located the King of Knights.
"She's taking a walk down the main boulevard… but there are two people with her."
"…Who?"
"One is that man who introduced himself as the King of Conquerors. The other is that kid who's the King of Conquerors' Master. Was his name Waver Velvet?"
At Aoko's words, Kiritsugu Emiya made an immediate assertion.
"Is it a betrayal?"
"Do you really think the King of Knights is the type to commit betrayal?"
Aoko, who had been briefed on the personalities of the Servants before participating in this Holy Grail War, dismissed Kiritsugu's reaction.
The King of Conquerors was, quite literally, a hot-blooded fool of conquest. Yet, conversely, he possessed the unshakeable resolve and overflowing charisma of one who had once conquered a world, alongside a surprising degree of wisdom.
Lancer, Diarmuid, carried the trauma of discord with his former lord and thus tended toward blind loyalty to the Master who summoned him.
The Wise King summoned as Caster was… essentially omniscient. There was no merit in seeking friction with him.
And then there was the King of Knights.
An upright king who revered the code of chivalry above all.
That was the King of Knights whom Karma had expected in the 4th Holy Grail War.
However…
"Preposterous! Saber, you truly have endured hellish hardships! In that case, what in the world is the wish you seek from the Holy Grail?!"
"The wish I seek from the Grail… I merely want my subordinates to take over my role for once. Can you imagine it, King of Conquerors? Seventy percent of the paperwork I had to process every single day was composed entirely of my subordinates' romantic scandals!"
"Oho…"
"One says he loves married women, another says he loves small and cute scents, another says he prefers half-naked bodies… even that wretched incubus who says he just loves women in general! How can they be called knights? These filthy, vulgar—"
Saber, who had been ranting so passionately that she hadn't noticed Kayneth and I entering, finally turned to look at us and lowered her head in embarrassment.
"…So, what exactly is the situation here?"
"…I apologize, Sir. However, I believed this to be the fastest way to resolve the matter you spoke of. You said the reason you recruited my Master, Kiritsugu Emiya, was to put an end to this Holy Grail War."
Well, I certainly did say that.
But I'm fairly sure Saber wasn't there when I said it? If I recall correctly, she was busy facing off against Tristan.
…Come to think of it, Tristan's expression currently looks utterly dead. If he was going to be like this, he should have lived a better life.
"Therefore, I decided to target other Servants and Masters first. Berserker's identity remains a mystery, and the Servant summoned by the owner of this land is a Heroic Spirit that would be difficult to face even with my 'Excalibur.' Thus, I requested a dialogue with the King of Conquerors, who had already announced his presence to everyone and seemed open to conversation."
Artoria Pendragon took a sip of beer and then gave a faint smile.
"Is there a problem with my judgment?"
"Um, no."
It's not that, but…
Are you really the 4th Holy Grail War Saber famous for having a mental breakdown? You don't look like a tragic king at all—you look like the exhausted leader of a catastrophic group project in Britain…
* * * * *
Kayneth, who had looked ready to devour Waver Velvet alive moments ago, surprisingly let him off without much comment. In fact, Sola-Ui even patted Waver's head, saying he had done a good job teasing Kayneth.
This only seemed to make Kayneth glare at Waver with even more lifeless eyes, but regardless…
"Hey, can I ask one thing?"
The first to open the floor for discussion was none other than Waver.
He, who possessed the privilege of being 'young,' had no intention of leaving his curiosity unaddressed.
"Go ahead. What do you want to know?"
"…Gathering Masters like this must mean you have a proposal for the Supervisor of the Holy Grail War, or that there's some kind of problem, right?"
"Close enough. For one, since the Supervisor's side is also involved in the war, it was necessary to gather at least a majority of the Masters."
"I suspected as much, but I didn't think even the Supervisor would be operating in secret."
He sat down with a gloomily, and the King of Conquerors—perhaps in an attempt to cheer him up—thumped him on the back with a hand the size of a pot lid.
As Waver let out a groan from a back-slap delivered with the strength of a Servant, Rider began to laugh awkwardly in embarrassment. Finally, Kayneth, unable to watch the display any longer, stepped forward.
"Third Magician, it's time we began."
"You should call me 'Karma.' Compared to Miss Blue here or Old Man Zelretch, I'm still quite unrefined in the use of Magic."
Naturally, Waver looked shocked once again, but I ignored him and spoke.
"First, I should formally introduce myself again. According to official ranking, I am the Third Magician who has reached a 'portion' of the Third Magic—the Materialization of the Soul—one of the six great miracles. I am also here participating in the Holy Grail War as the 'temporary proxy' for the Marshal of Magic, Old Man Zelretch. My name is Karma Akabane."
At this complete fabrication—which contained not a single ounce of truth other than my name—Aoko-neesan shook her head. I gave her a bright smile and began to introduce the others.
"This is the Master of the Einzberns, famously known as the Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya. Next to him are his partner and subordinate, Maiya Hisau, and his wife, Irisviel von Einzbern, who serves as the Einzbern's Lesser Grail."
"Hoh, so you are that Magus Killer."
Kayneth nodded with a haughty attitude, as if he had heard the name before.
I could understand his confidence, but… Teacher, if you keep that up, you're really going to end up crippled.
"This is Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. The ninth Lord of the Archibald family and the head of the Department of Mineralogy… though everyone likely knows that. And this is his fiancée, Miss Sola-Ui, the daughter of the Nuada-Re head."
"…No need to introduce me. My life is nothing more than a trophy for an arrogant man anyway."
Is it, though?
Because the eyes Kayneth is using to look at her are practically dripping with honey.
"This is Waver Velvet. Someone you likely didn't know about, Kiritsugu Emiya."
"…Come to think of it, I hadn't obtained proper information on that boy. Kayneth El-Melloi, was he not on your side?"
"No, he is simply someone who stole a relic to participate as revenge for me dismissing his department thesis."
"What a useless grudge to carry. Hey, brat, did you really join for such a reason?"
The King of Conquerors scolded him.
But unfortunately… a university student whose 'thesis' is on the line is not the fragile kid the King of Conquerors thought he was.
While the King of Conquerors spent a long while bearing the brunt of a graduate student's academic rage, I continued introducing the Servants.
"First, this lady is likely the most famous among us, so she hardly needs an introduction. The wielder of the holy sword and the rightful King of Britain, Artoria Pendragon… her Noble Phantasm is undoubtedly Excalibur, the holy sword known by every person in this world."
"Indeed, that is the truth."
"…King Arthur. The Einzberns certainly went all out."
"This is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the vanguard of the Knights of Fianna. While he has a Noble Phantasm as a Saber, in his current manifestation as Lancer, he possesses Gae Dearg and Gae Buidhe. They have the effects of severing magical connections and inflicting an incurable curse, respectively. Naturally, healing and regeneration won't work, and the effect is exceptional even against monsters."
Of course, there is the legend of his defeat by a wild boar, but considering that boar had power comparable to a Phantasmal dragon and was raised on runes, it's more accurate to say the boar was the anomaly.
"This is the Knight of Lamentation and a Knight of the Round Table under King Arthur, Tristan. He possesses the ability to fire arrows made of vacuum by playing a harp called Failnaught."
"Mm, he is my proud knight."
As King Arthur stepped forward with a proud shrug, Tristan bowed his head as if he didn't know what to do with himself.
"And finally… the legendary King of Conquerors. Well, he broadcasted his identity on the first day, so it's impossible for him to be anything but famous."
"A-Ahem."
"His Noble Phantasm is his chariot… but just as King Arthur has another Noble Phantasm, he too possesses a second one."
"Oh! You even know of my other Noble Phantasm? Magic truly is a wondrous thing. To think you could even reveal a Noble Phantasm inscribed upon the Throne!"
"…At any rate, Rider's Noble Phantasm is known as 'Ionioi Hetairoi.' It is a Reality Marble that implements his mental image alongside his former subordinates, a power that overwhelms enemies by manifesting the shared hearts of the tens of thousands of men he once led."
"A magnificent ability, just as I've heard. Truly, your claim to conquer the world was no empty boast, King of Conquerors."
"But of course, King of Knights!"
Having finished the introductions, I clapped my hands once and spoke.
"With four Servants and four Masters, we have the majority support gathered here. Waver Velvet, you still don't know why I arranged this meeting, do you?"
"…I was basically dragged here without being told a thing."
"Fine, I'll explain it as simply as possible for you. Decades ago… specifically during the 3rd Holy Grail War, the Einzberns broke the rules in an attempt to summon the ultimate Servant. They summoned a Servant called 'Avenger.' Do you know what 'All the World's Evil' refers to?"
"Is that not the evil god from the first religion? Angra Mainyu…"
"Exactly. But the Angra Mainyu that appeared was just an ordinary village youth. The villagers tortured him horribly, crippled him, and sealed him in a rock while declaring, 'We have sealed All the World's Evil!' The Einzberns planned to win the Holy Grail War using All the World's Evil, but…"
"…Since he was just an ordinary villager, he was immediately eliminated."
"The bigger problem was the curse placed by the villagers. Think about the effect of a declaration of 'All the World's Evil' issued by all mankind. Normally, Servants are absorbed into the Grail's cup to act as fuel for the wish-granting machine, but the curse of Angra Mainyu remained and nested within the Grail."
"Wait, it absorbs *all* the Servants to use as fuel?!"
As Waver looked at Rider in shock, I gave a small smirk and corrected his misunderstanding.
"Of course, that's limited to the Three Founding Families. Since their goal is the Root and the achievement of the Third Magic, they have to grind down all the Servants to maximize the output. For something like Incarnation, six Servants would have been enough. Besides, you don't even have a specific wish for the Grail, do you?"
"Ugh…"
"The same goes for Lord El-Melloi. His goal was participating in the war itself, so that's fine. Tristan has already had his wish fulfilled, so he's out. Kiritsugu Emiya's wish can't be solved by the Grail anyway, and Lancer simply wanted to serve his lord, so he doesn't need the Grail either."
I shifted my gaze toward Saber.
In truth, Saber was the one I was most concerned about in this room, but…
'Something is definitely different.'
Originally, the Saber of the 4th Holy Grail War was a multi-dimensional protagonist—pitiable yet possessed by a certain stubbornness and folly.
The constant betrayals of her subordinates, the hellish campaigns, Mordred's rebellion, Lancelot's affair… pushed to her limits, she clung to chivalry to protect herself and moved like a machine driven solely by the will to save Britain.
But the King of Knights before me was…
"Hm, I have no need for it."
'As I thought, it's strange. She's changed too much from what I knew.'
Hiding my inner thoughts, I continued.
"Since virtually everyone here either lacks a wish for the Grail or has had their wish deemed invalid, we intend to go to the Supervisor immediately and propose the suspension of the Holy Grail War."
"Hmm… but I'm not sure the Supervisor will go along with it easily."
"Why?"
"You said the priest named Kirei Kotomine is the Master of Assassin. If the Supervisor is his father, won't that be a problem?"
"That shouldn't be an issue."
"???"
Waver looked puzzled, but I simply nodded.
If it's the Wise King, he should have a perfect grasp of what's happening through his Clairvoyance by now.
* * * * *
My prediction was off.
I'm not sure if it was for better or worse, but it was way off.
"This letter…"
"It's a seal made by grinding down jewels. This is the crest of the Tohsaka family."
The only people who would throw money around in this manner were indeed the Tohsakas.
I casually tore open the envelope to find a letter written in elegant script, carrying a pleasant fragrance as if it had been infused with perfume.
"There is an important meeting at 12:00 today to determine the direction of the Holy Grail War. We request that 'all Masters and Servants' gather at the Crimson Building - Mount Tai, located directly opposite the Church in the neutral zone…"
"Well, that's convenient. Didn't they just designate the place for us?"
Aoko-neesan spoke, and the majority of the Masters and Servants seemed to share the sentiment.
Go there directly, confront them, persuade them—or suppress them by force.
However, I had another thought first.
"Waver, there's something you need to do."
"Huh? What?"
"I don't care how much money you spend. Buy as much vanilla ice cream, ice water, and milk as you can. Even if you have to empty out the entire supermarket."
Those crazy bastards are planning to assassinate the Masters right from the start.
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