Chapter 379

"Let's go."

A small Honda Fit slowly drove towards a church.

About an hour and a half later, Matou Kariya finally arrived at the destination, looking somewhat nervous. Even though Li Pu had promised to help him, Matou Kariya still seemed unable to calm down.

He sat there taking deep breaths, seemingly trying to keep himself calm.

"There's no need for that." Li Pu glanced at her and said, "If you can't stay calm, then don't stay calm. Just remember, whether things change or not beforehand doesn't depend on her, but on another person. If he doesn't come out, then just cry."

"Always remember, Tohsaka Tokiomi is not your enemy! He is the husband of the person you love, and the father of Sakura and Rin."

"You must cry! Cry harder than Aoi! You absolutely must not treat Tokiomi as an enemy..."

"Now that you mention it, I can't cry anymore." Matou Kariya said, sounding almost gloating, "Now that you say that, I feel like I should be laughing."

"Screw you!" Li Pu slapped Matou Kariya on the back of the head and said, "You absolutely have to cry! Think about the misfortunes you've suffered, think about the misfortunes Sakura has suffered, don't blame it all on Tohsaka Tokiomi, all you need to do is cry. Emotions are contagious, the right time, the right place, and the right emotion are the prerequisites for achieving twice the result with half the effort. If you cry, Aoi will definitely comfort you, and she won't even suspect you at all. If you don't cry and instead laugh, you're more likely to become the real culprit."

"Once you've cried enough, if Kirei Kotomine shows up, it will be my turn to step in."

Matou Kariya didn't answer; he simply nodded.

"Okay, we'll wait," Li Pu said. "Get off the bus when Tohsaka Aoi appears."

Tohsaka Aoi, Tohsaka Tokiomi's woman. She was probably just an ordinary person who shouldn't have suffered misfortune in this Holy Grail War. And her misfortune may not have had much to do with herself.

It was entirely caused by Kirei Kotomine alone.

Li Pu and Matou Kariya waited for a while, and then they saw a car with its high beams on driving towards their house in the distance.

"It's Aoi! She's here." Matou Kariya didn't hesitate to get out of the car.

"Huh? How did you know?" Li Pu felt this was a bit ridiculous. With the high beams on, you couldn't even see what kind of car was coming from the opposite direction. How could he immediately recognize that it was Tohsaka Aoi's car? And how could it be Tohsaka Aoi?

"I know! It's her!" Matou Kariya said anxiously, "I can feel it."

'A simp's instinct?' Li Pu's lips twitched. Did it have to be this exaggerated?

"Since you say so, then so be it." Li Pu didn't say anything more. He let Matou Kariya get out of the car and said, "Remember to keep your earpiece on. You go first, I'll go later. Also, remember to cry! Just remember to cry!"

Matou Kariya nodded, got out of the car, and walked towards the car opposite.

Sure enough, the woman who drove up was Tohsaka Aoi.

The two men seemed quite surprised. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they walked together toward the church. Li Pu also got out of the car and followed the two men inside.

As the two reached the church entrance, a figure gradually emerged from the shadows.

'Someone'?' As Herrscher Li Pu had excellent night vision, and he immediately noticed a living person in the church.

'How is that possible? Shouldn't there only be one dead man Tohsaka Tokiomi?'

'No! That's not right! That person is...'

'Kirei Kotomine?!'

Yes! It was Kirei Kotomine; he emerged from the shadows of the church.

Holding a sharp blade.

"Berserker's Master, are you planning to take your master's wife hostage?"

"What a shameless guy!"

Chapter 51 Don't Cry Yet

"Hold back your emotions and don't cry yet, it's not the right time."

Li Pu felt that Matou Kariya wouldn't be so clueless as to start crying at this point, but he still wanted to remind her.

Don't cry yet.

Something's wrong!

Li Pu couldn't remember how this scene was portrayed in the original novel; after all, so much time had passed that it was impossible for him to recall every single detail. But he still clearly remembered the general sequence of events.

There is absolutely no scene in this plot where Kirei Kotomine appears.

Well... at least it didn't appear in this way.

"What's going on, Father!" Matou Kariya wasn't stupid; this situation wasn't what he expected. He certainly wouldn't just burst into tears as planned. His question seemed to be directed at Kirei Kotomine, but it was actually directed at Li Pu.

Li Pu could naturally tell that Matou Kariya was asking him why things were different from what he had planned before.

"Kirei Kotomine isn't a robot. If he finds that the situation has changed, he will definitely change his strategy accordingly," Li Pu said. "But there is no doubt that his ultimate goal will not change: to make you take the blame and create a rift between you and Aoi."

"There's no need to ask so many whys; this question is meaningless. Human emotions cannot be shared between people, and some people simply find pleasure in the tragedies of others."

Isn't this what true pleasure is all about?

"Don't back down, and don't rush," Li Pu said decisively. "With Kui around, he won't actually make a move. First, Kui is the widow of his teacher. In his script, his master died in a revenge killing, and his widow is a witness to that killing. He might talk about it, but he won't actually do anything. Second, in his script, you are the enemy who killed his master and Kui's husband."

"So he won't kill you, at least not now that this show seems to have just begun."

Kirei Kotomine's ability to adapt to the situation is truly impressive. Li Pu doesn't believe this was something Kirei Kotomine planned in advance. There's a very high probability he didn't come up with a second plan, because the time was extremely short. There wasn't enough time for him to meticulously devise a strategy; he probably had a general plan and then executed it accordingly.

To use an analogy, it's like stepping on a banana peel and sliding forward. As for when you'll stop, that depends on when you fall or bump into something.

Before he crashed, he could only try to maintain his balance.

"Don't panic, the one who should be panicking is Kirei Kotomine," Li Pu analyzed for Matou Kariya. "Because he doesn't have a plan to deal with this kind of unplanned situation. His very first sentence revealed his inner tension, because he couldn't possibly not know that Tohsaka Aoi would appear. From the perspective of character relationships and logic, he is Tohsaka Tokiomi's apprentice and an important comrade-in-arms in this Holy Grail War. He must know Tohsaka Tokiomi's plan."

"He also knows that his teacher's wife is someone who fully supports his master, and she wouldn't be here without his master's approval." Li Pu said calmly, "Assuming that Tohsaka Tokiomi is still alive, his teacher's wife's role should be to act as a medium and bridge to complete a temporary alliance or truce between herself and you, and Kirei Kotomine would not be unaware of such a plan."

"His teacher's wife may not know, but she definitely received a message from Tohsaka Tokiomi, and she knows a little bit about it."

"So if he has a plan to deal with emergencies, the worst plan at this time is to delay time, move the body, create a second crime scene, and then use the information gap to separate you from Tohsaka Aoi. He would first take you to the second crime scene and then choose a very convenient time for Tohsaka Aoi to enter the scene later and 'witness' the crime scene."

"I will never bring up the 'kidnapping' argument," Li Pu said with certainty. "At this time, the most appropriate thing to say is 'What a coincidence,' 'We arrived together,' or 'Wait a moment.'"

Hostility and preparation for war undoubtedly reveal his insecurity, even though Kirei Kotomine seems quite experienced in the future.

But right now, Kirei Kotomine, who has just been persuaded by Golden Flash to try this for the first time, is still very inexperienced and has chosen to act in the wrong direction.

"Remember two things about him: first, don't act like you're kidnapping him, but rather like you're protecting him and never separate from him; second, ask him where Tohsaka Tokiomi is." Li Pu immediately instructed, "The rest is up to you to improvise."

Tohsaka Tokiomi with a single blow. If Tohsaka Tokiomi really died, then he would be Kirei Kotomine' heel.

"By the way, you'd better show some offensive posture at this time and take the initiative," Li Pu suggested. "You'll soon corner Kirei Kotomine."

We must take the initiative and absolutely not give Kirei Kotomine too much breathing room. He's very clever; he's temporarily lost his composure and said the wrong thing. Give him a chance to catch his breath, and he'll quickly recover and make amends.

Now it's up to Matou Kariya to decide what to do.

What to do? The current Matou Kariya is not the Matou Kariya as before, nor is he the Matou Kariya from the original story who was heading towards the end of his life. Although he is still confused, at least his mind is still clear and he has not been fooled.

"I'm not talking to you!" Matou Kariya shook off Kirei Kotomine and strode forward two steps.

Without flinching from the sharp blade in Kirei Kotomine's hand and his cold gaze, she walked straight up to him and said, "Where is Tohsaka Tokiomi Kirei Kotomine? Since he invited me here, shouldn't he come out and talk to me?"

"What are you doing out here? I have nothing to say to you."

Matou Kariya's actions were completely unexpected by Kirei Kotomine; he never imagined that this seemingly unremarkable person could do such a thing. His late arrival alone had already disrupted his plans.

More importantly, his appearance alongside Tohsaka Aoi brought his plans to the brink of failure.

What do we do now?

"I've never heard of such a thing," Kirei Kotomine calmly. "My master will invite you to this place."

"Why don't we just ask Tohsaka Tokiomi if we didn't come out?" Matou Kariya raised his left hand and said, "I'm no longer Master, nor am I involved in the Holy Grail War. Is Tohsaka Tokiomi really that cowardly? He invited me here, but he doesn't dare to come out himself."

"What are you running away from?" Matou Kariya stepped forward, closing in on Kirei Kotomine directly, and said, "Hey! Tohsaka Tokiomi, I'm here. Why are you still hiding?"

The church echoed with the voice of Matou Kariya, but it was only Matou Kariya.

No one answered him, so he ignored Kirei Kotomine and continued walking into the church.

But at that moment, Kirei Kotomine had just seemed so imposing, suddenly stood in front of him and said, "If you really want to see your master, that's not impossible. Please wait a moment."

No! Keep pushing him!

Now Matou Kariya is even more certain that there must be something wrong here, and that the Goddess must have guessed correctly.

"No, I!" Matou Kariya was about to press Kirei Kotomine further.

"Don't pursue a cornered enemy, agree with him!" Li Pu immediately stopped him, "Don't force Kirei Kotomine take desperate measures. Don't forget you're just an ordinary person who can't do anything. Besides, Kirei Kotomine has an advantage that you absolutely can't match: he has the final say."

"If you keep pushing him, and he gets desperate and attacks you and Tohsaka Aoi, neither of you will be able to resist."

"Of course, don't count on me either. If I die, it's all for nothing! He'll definitely explain it to the outside world as dying in the chaos of battle and revenge killings."

Tohsaka Tokiomi believed he had won not only because of Golden Flash, but also because he was an ally of the organizers. To paraphrase a famous line from a certain movie, "The referees, organizers, referees, and co-organizers here are all my people. What can you possibly do against me?"

And Kirei Kotomine is both the 'main board' and the 'referee' here.

"Don't forget, the Holy Grail War was conducted in secret," Li Pu added. "Even if the current situation has nothing to do with 'secrecy,' the Church will certainly not reveal the real cause of death and will choose a reason that they deem reasonable."

Isn't this just Kirei Kotomine's scheme of killing three warriors with one peach? He's one of the Master and a member of the Church.

So we can't push them too far.

"I'll wait." Matou Kariya abruptly stopped and said, "And then what?"

"Don't take the initiative, don't ask questions, and don't say anything," Li Pu said. "If he tells you to go somewhere in advance, after you find the body, you don't need to take the initiative, don't speak, and definitely don't disturb the scene."

"Remember, if you can see the corpse, you've already won half the battle. You don't have to believe in True Magic, but you can definitely believe in science."

Li Pu said confidently, "You should know that the second crime scene will always leave a lot of clues to tell you that this is not the first crime scene! No matter how he arranges the second crime scene, it can never be the same as the first crime scene."

I wonder if Kirei Kotomine understands autopsy. If not, then he's just an ordinary corpse.

But to someone knowledgeable in forensic medicine, this corpse can tell them a lot.

Li Pu doesn't understand forensic medicine, nor is he a professional in the field. But the role he was assigned to has some knowledge in this area.

The Soul of the Underworld!

Well, although both forensic pathologists and doctors have the word "medical" in their names, they're still quite different. But that's not important right now; he doesn't need to recreate the scene exactly as he saw it. He only needs to use his limited medical knowledge from the Soul of the Underworld to prove that this isn't the primary crime scene.

'Cannot switch characters...' Li Pu closed his eyes and waited.

Waiting for the right time to come.

The inability to switch roles is undoubtedly his biggest disadvantage right now, but he has probably figured out some ways to improve his roles.

Even if you can't directly switch roles, some of the characters' intelligence, knowledge, and education are shared.

The Soul of the Underworld should be reliable.

Chapter Fifty-Two: Golden Flash

Waiting may not be the best solution, but it is one that may be available now.

There is a better solution to this problem, one that doesn't push Kirei Kotomine to the brink of desperation, but also avoids making Matou Kariya scapegoat. As long as the murderer and the murder weapon are not found, everything will be fine.

Without these things, the case would remain unsolved.

Furthermore, although the Holy Grail War doesn't seem to have anything to do with 'secrecy', the Church will still do its utmost to conceal Holy Grail War. The Church doesn't care who dies, how they die, or when any of the Master involved in the Holy Grail War will die. They only need to know who lost and who won. Therefore, as long as the case remains unsolved, everyone can have a seemingly alibi.

So how can we achieve this?

Li Pu closed his eyes and thought, "Should I do forensic identification?" He had just thought that he could rush in, spout off a bunch of theories, and then give a non-existent answer to get away with it.

But Li Pu felt it wasn't appropriate to rush in; what if the Mage Father treated him as someone he shouldn't know?

So what other options are there?

'Hmm... it's not impossible, is it?' Li Pu thought carefully.

'For example, a period of chaos?'

A chaotic scene...

This...

Li Pu suddenly realized something: this whole thing was instigated by Golden Flash. So Golden Flash should be here too, right? If he is, then he should be observing from somewhere.

Golden Flash is not Kirei Kotomine, although in terms of planning, he is almost identical to Kirei Kotomine.

They're the kind of people who slip on banana peels and end up wherever they end up.

However, his adaptability is obviously much stronger. If Kirei Kotomine were to seek his help, he would most likely choose a more violent method to directly help Kirei Kotomine resolve this crisis.