If, instead of having them verbally harassed by Gilles de Rais during this segment, he turned them into rescue personnel instead, the effect should be about the same, right?
For that, Haruka Kasugano could only take a gamble.
So, after Circe summoned several Dragon-Tooth Warriors, Haruka Kasugano had her transform into Medea's appearance.
Circe already possessed the ability to disguise herself as Medea—something drawn from her legend. In the FGO game he had played in his previous life, she had done the same.
Although she hadn't transformed into Gilles de Rais, it was still better than exposing his real identity.
Thus, Haruka Kasugano first drank the cursed potion Circe had brewed, then lay down by the roadside.
Then Circe, now disguised as Medea, along with the Dragon-Tooth Warriors, staged a scene as if they were about to kill Haruka Kasugano.
Click—
At the perfectly timed, critical moment, Irisviel and Artoria just happened to drive by at high speed.
Bang!
They didn't have time to brake and sent one of the Dragon-Tooth Warriors flying.
The two beauties immediately got out of the car.
Circe, putting on rather clumsy acting, shouted, "You dare obstruct me from obtaining magical energy?! You deserve to die!"
The moment she said that, both Artoria and Irisviel turned their attention to Haruka Kasugano lying by the roadside.
A dense aura of curse surrounded him. Clearly, he had been cursed by the evil Servant before them.
"Saber, that person seems about to be killed by this Servant and sacrificed for magical energy?" Irisviel said worriedly, her brows tightly knit.
Bang!
Without another word, Artoria materialized her armor and holy sword.
As someone who strictly upheld chivalry, she was more than willing to save ordinary people in situations like this.
If she didn't rescue others, that wouldn't be her style.
Though she could only fight with one hand at the moment, she was still confident in dealing with the Servant before her.
Judging from the appearance and the ability to summon familiars, the opponent was likely a Caster unsuited for close combat.
And as someone with exceptionally high magic resistance and close-combat prowess, she was confident—even one-handed.
"Damn it, Saber! Are you determined to stop me from replenishing my mana?!" Circe shouted stiffly.
"Enough talk, Caster! Killing ordinary people on your own accord has already disgraced us Heroic Spirits. Die!" Artoria rebuked angrily.
She then charged into the group of Dragon-Tooth Warriors and eliminated them in just a few swift moves.
At that moment, Circe cried out, "Ah… I don't have enough mana, I can't beat you! I'll be back! Just you wait, Saber!"
With that, she leapt off the cliff and disappeared.
Seeing Caster retreat, Artoria finally relaxed.
Simple-minded as she and Irisviel were, neither suspected this was a scheme. The two women simply felt relieved they had saved an innocent life.
They even felt a bit proud of it.
Irisviel immediately stepped forward to examine Haruka Kasugano.
Since Haruka Kasugano had no magic circuits—he relied entirely on the system to provide mana—Irisviel judged him to be an ordinary person.
"Saber, he's afflicted with a very serious curse. We must take him back to our castle. Only there do we have the proper magical facilities to treat him!" Irisviel turned to seek Artoria's opinion.
After all, this was the Holy Grail War.
Under the principle of secrecy, ordinary people were not allowed to be involved.
That was why Irisviel asked for Artoria's decision on whether to save him.
But Artoria, who strictly adhered to chivalry, didn't care about such things. Saving the weak was her kingly path.
"Irisviel, go ahead and save him! Caster broke the rules first. We cannot stand by and watch someone die!" Artoria declared resolutely.
Irisviel smiled happily, and the two women carried Haruka Kasugano into their sports car and brought him back to the Einzbern castle.
Lying in the back seat, Haruka Kasugano couldn't help but feel excited.
He had won the gamble!
Now he could openly approach the lady.
First establish a connection with Irisviel, then slowly攻略 her step by step.
Perfect!
At that moment, he received even more delightful news from the system:
**[Ding! Detected two available targets near the host who meet this system's criteria!]**
What?
Two?
Not just Irisviel?
Even Artoria is a viable target?
Right…
He had previously been misled by Artoria's appearance, thinking she was a pure maiden.
But thinking carefully now… she had been married.
Even if it was only a nominal marriage to Guinevere, she was still technically married!
Guinevere was her wife—but she could also be Guinevere's wife!
In yuri relationships, the roles are interchangeable!
Heh heh… Haruka Kasugano suddenly felt even more anticipation for his upcoming "netori" career.
-------
After the explosion at the Kayneth Hotel, Kayneth urgently used his supreme Mystic Code, Volumen Hydrargyrum, to envelop himself, Sola-Ui, and Diarmuid.
Using the liquid's cushioning properties, he mitigated the lethal impact of falling from a hundred meters.
Otherwise, even a Servant's Saint Graph might not withstand a free fall from that height.
After saving themselves, he relocated to an abandoned construction site in the outskirts of Fuyuki and remodeled it into his new workshop.
Though the thousands of high-grade Mystic Codes he had prepared were buried along with the hotel—
Greatly weakening his combat capability. Otherwise, he would have been the strongest among the seven Masters.
Now, only his most powerful Mystic Code, Volumen Hydrargyrum, remained.
Thus, his new workshop was protected only by a few simple barriers.
Though filthy and foul-smelling—and constantly complained about by Sola-Ui—it was at least hidden. Kayneth had no choice but to make do until he found a better location.
---
Meanwhile,
After leaving Haruka Kasugano and confirming his safety from afar, Circe returned to his residence.
As instructed beforehand, she was to deliver new intelligence to Kayneth.
She picked up the report. It read:
> **[Lord Kayneth, I have detected that during the day, Caster will brazenly roam the city. She will head to the Einzbern Castle in the outskirts to launch an attack. Please make the appropriate decision.]**
The content matched exactly with Haruka Kasugano's earlier instructions—that she would take the children through the city in broad daylight and attack the Einzbern castle.
What was going on?
Why put on so many layers of performance?
Circe couldn't understand Haruka Kasugano's intentions.
She was increasingly unable to see through him.
Clearly, he had no magic circuits, yet he could provide her with more abundant mana than even a first-rate magus.
He had no circuits, yet he could perform numerous magical methods.
Was his disguise so powerful that even she, a demigoddess, couldn't see through it?
Her curiosity about Haruka Kasugano deepened.
And in Circe's naturally romantic heart, that curiosity gradually turned into a faint fondness.
But since Haruka Kasugano had previously demonstrated foresight, she could only follow his plan.
As long as they ultimately won, that was enough.
So she procured a pigeon and sent the message to Kayneth.
---
After receiving the intelligence from Circe, Kayneth began analyzing his strategy.
Though he had been angered by Haruka Kasugano's delayed report last night, he had to admit—it was still accurate.
But allowing bombs to be planted under his nose—that was more his own oversight.
Still… wasn't this supposed to be a magi's competition?
Who the hell would have thought someone would use bombs?!
Putting that aside, he assessed the current situation.
"Lancer, go outside and check whether Caster is parading through the city with a group of children," Kayneth ordered.
"Yes!" Diarmuid immediately departed.
Seeing him leave, Sola-Ui sulked. She had wanted to speak with Diarmuid a bit longer.
She shot Kayneth an angry glare before storming into her room.
Kayneth could only sigh helplessly.
Soon, Diarmuid returned.
"My lord, I discovered a strangely dressed woman wearing a hood—resembling a Greek witch—leading a group of hypnotized children toward the outskirts," he reported.
"It seems the intelligence is accurate…" Kayneth's respect for Haruka Kasugano's information network grew stronger.
"Let's follow. We'll reap the fisherman's profit."
Thus, Kayneth and Diarmuid set off after Circe.
---
Meanwhile, inside the Church—
Assassin suddenly appeared before Kotomine Kirei.
"Master, I just saw Caster heading toward the outskirts with a group of children."
"The outskirts? That should be the Einzbern castle. What is Caster planning there?" Kirei asked thoughtfully.
"Perhaps she intends to attack Einzbern," Assassin replied casually.
"Did you find Caster's Master?"
"No. Yesterday I followed Saber and the others. I only saw Caster slaughtering ordinary people before being driven off by Saber. I never saw her Master."
Kirei's expression turned grave.
So mysterious?
But judging from Caster's repeated kidnapping of children and killing of civilians, she was clearly lacking mana.
In other words, her Master was likely an ordinary person who had accidentally entered the Holy Grail War and couldn't supply sufficient mana.
If it was an ordinary person, that would indeed be difficult to identify.
But it also meant Caster posed little threat.
He wrote this down as intelligence to pass on to Tokiomi.
Then he quietly left the Church once more.