"By my Command Spell, I order you—
"Lancer, return to my side at once!"
A distinctly British accent—frayed at the edges with frustration—rang out through the master–servant contract.
Under the Command Spell's compulsion, Diarmuid, who had no teleportation ability of his own, vanished from the Tohsaka mansion's garden and reappeared out of thin air on a rooftop several kilometers away.
A thunderclap cracked.
Hooves struck empty air.
A chariot from an ancient age, drawn by two thunder-breathing divine bulls, carried four figures away into the distance.
"Ha… boring."
Back at the Tohsaka estate, the golden Servant didn't even bother to pursue.
With a casual wave, he withdrew the sky-filling golden ripples—and the seven Noble Phantasms on the ground that Diarmuid had knocked aside in the first three volleys.
Then his body broke apart into fine golden motes and dispersed.
A moment later—
"My lord… I am ashamed. I failed again to complete the task you entrusted to me."
After the ox-chariot reached a safe area, Diarmuid jumped down and dropped to one knee, apologizing to Kayneth for his failure at the Tohsaka residence.
"…Sigh. Get up. This one isn't on you."
Kayneth let out a long breath.
Two sorties. Two clean losses.
If even one of the opponents had been remotely normal, Kayneth would've had to start wondering whether Lancer was secretly living off some bizarre substitute diet—especially considering Diarmuid's own claim that Kayneth resembled, by "ten out of ten or at least nine out of ten," that legendary Celtic hero he once served… the same man whose failures ultimately led to Diarmuid dying because he couldn't receive treatment in time for the wounds inflicted by the enchanted boar.
But Diarmuid's two opponents—
The one they'd met at Fuyuki Harbor last night had Strength, Endurance, Agility, Mana, and Luck all at A+++. Anyone with even a shred of logic could tell how absurd that stat sheet was.
And today's opponent at the Tohsaka mansion… Diarmuid had said it himself: he normally carried two spears and two swords, and because he'd been summoned as Lancer, he hadn't even been able to bring the swords down this time.
Yet when the Tohsaka family's golden Servant truly got angry, as Iskandar described it, the weapons thrusting from that golden haze—every single one—were each at a rank no lower than Diarmuid's twin spears.
With that kind of matchup, could Kayneth really pin both failures on Diarmuid?
Obviously not.
Lord El-Melloi still had pride.
"Professor… what do we do next?"
Beside him, a thin black-haired boy—Kayneth's student at the Clock Tower, and the Master who had summoned Rider, Iskandar—Waver Velvet asked timidly.
"It's still early. We'll pay a visit to the Matou."
Kayneth answered after a brief pause.
"…Huh?"
Waver's mouth fell open.
The stat-monster who appeared at the harbor was already confirmed to be the Einzbern Servant.
And they'd just witnessed a golden Servant at the Tohsaka estate who looked like he had infinite Noble Phantasms.
And now they were turning around to visit the third of the Three Families?
Was that really okay?
It wasn't just Waver—Diarmuid and Iskandar also showed varying degrees of surprise at Kayneth's decision.
"I know what you're worried about."
Kayneth's gaze swept across the three of them, taking in every reaction. "Waver Velvet… do you remember the very first lesson I gave you after arriving in Fuyuki?"
"…"
Being cold-called outside class instantly made Waver wear a mask of suffering. He scrambled in his mind.
"You said… you can look down on your opponents, but you must never truly underestimate any opponent… and that a battle between magi is, in a sense, a battle of resources?"
The reason that lesson happened in the first place was simple: after arriving in Fuyuki, Waver discovered Kayneth had brought an obscene amount of Mystic Codes—and three Lord-class mana furnaces.
Two of those, Kayneth had said, weren't even owned by the Archibald main house; they'd been borrowed from families they were on good terms with.
When Waver blurted out, "You looked down on this Holy Grail War back at the Clock Tower—why did you prepare so much?" Kayneth had promptly assigned him a surprise lecture.
"Correct."
Kayneth nodded lightly. "Now for lesson two: intelligence, and the judgments and decisions built on it.
"When you face an enemy, the first thing you must do is confirm whether the enemy you believe you're seeing is the enemy's true face… or a disguise deliberately shown to you. Then, you analyze based on the specifics at hand.
"Saying it that way can be dull, so let's use our current situation.
"This afternoon, while you and Rider were out, my assistant at the Clock Tower forwarded new intelligence.
"According to it, the Matou family—before relocating to Fuyuki—was very likely an old lineage from the Russian Empire with at least three hundred years of inheritance. Add the century-plus they've spent in Fuyuki, and you're looking at something like five hundred years.
"Unlike the Einzbern and the Tohsaka: the former is merely a homunculus clan abandoned by its creators a millennium ago, barely keeping itself running on past accumulation. The latter began as an outsider who only brushed against Mystery because the Second Magician chose them.
"I won't criticize the Grand Marshal of Magecraft, but you've studied at the Clock Tower long enough to have heard how the magi under his tutelage developed. In truth, the fact that the Tohsaka lineage has held on to its fifth generation is already remarkable.
"Back to the point.
"With the Einzbern and the Tohsaka, nothing they do surprises me. Frankly, I suspect the current heads of those two houses genuinely believe that the ritual their ancestors created a century ago is some sort of omnipotent wish-granting machine.
"But the Matou…"
Kayneth's voice sharpened. "I know you've always had objections to bloodline doctrine—but set blood aside. You've been at the Clock Tower long enough to understand the difference between a magus house that's lasted three to five generations and one that's endured for centuries. Don't you?"
"…"
Waver fell silent.
As Kayneth said, nowhere made the gulf between noble-born magi and common magi more obvious than the Clock Tower—the hub of the Western mystic world.
Simply put: Waver's family line only went back three generations. Even after stepping into the world of Mystery, his mindset and social instincts still leaned heavily toward ordinary human norms.
But aristocratic magi?
Those people carried a superiority complex from birth, as if it were engraved into their bones.
A house like Matou, with five centuries of inheritance, should—like Kayneth—hold genuine contempt for the kind of shameless "off-table" schemes Kayneth had mocked all night after yesterday's events.
"So next… do we do what we just did again—have Lancer scout ahead while we and Rider move when we see an opening? Or do we change how we approach the Matou?"
Waver asked, regaining himself.
"We visit openly, under the Archibald name."
Kayneth gave him a look of approval. "Although stepping onto Fuyuki soil means we've already wagered our lives and honor and become enemies with every other participant… for a traditional lineage like 'Matou,' you engage by the rules of the magus world.
"After the Einzbern last night and the Tohsaka tonight, I do not believe the Matou failed to notice such obvious commotion.
"And likewise, after witnessing the strength of those Servants, I believe the Matou have no reason to refuse an alliance.
"Even if negotiations fail—two Servants against one Servant. The advantage is ours."
As the silhouette of the Matou estate emerged in the dark, Kayneth's mouth pulled into a faint, satisfied curve.
....
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