"Kischur Zelretch, Marisbury is acting on behalf of the Department of Law and Order. Are you planning to interfere?"
Come duel the Matou Family.
Although Bartholomello Lorelei had yet to earn her title as the Clock Tower's "Queen" at her age,
certain signs were already visible.
Even faced with the appearance of the two Lords, Kischur Zelretch and Marisbury, Lorelei, who was still standing on El-Melloi territory, did not take them seriously.
Instead, she directly invoked the Department of Law and Order's name and issued a warning to Kischur Zelretch and Marisbury.
Having been so openly slighted, Kischur Zelretch's expression naturally turned quite ugly, while Marisbury merely smiled indifferently.
"Bartholomello Lorelei, this is El-Melloi Castle!"
"So what? As long as someone belongs to the Mage's Association, the Department of Law and Order has the authority to govern them."
On the surface, the Clock Tower was much like a school, while its twelve departments were akin to the school's twelve fields of study.
The heads of the families belonging to those twelve fields were what the Magecraft world called Lords.
But... beyond those twelve departments was one independent "heretical" department: the Department of Law and Order.
Unlike the twelve departments that specialized in mysteries, the Department of Law and Order did not study mysteries. Instead, it focused on three major areas:
How to use the Clock Tower's magecraft and authority to interfere with ordinary society.
How to maintain a balance among the Clock Tower's major factions.
How to preserve the Clock Tower's stability and development.
If the other twelve departments consisted of magi who explored mysteries, then the Department of Law and Order consisted of magi who commanded other magi.
In other words, to a certain extent, the Department of Law and Order existed as the Clock Tower's administrator.
Faced with Lorelei's relentless pressure,
Kischur Zelretch and Marisbury naturally did not want the matter to escalate further and draw the Clock Tower's highest council—the Grand Council Resolution—into it.
However... whether the matter could be settled peacefully was not up to them, but to Lorelei.
If they could not stop Lorelei from pursuing the matter, it would inevitably bring about the Grand Council Resolution's intervention.
Just as Kischur Zelretch pointed at Lorelei with a livid face, not knowing how to persuade this young lady to set today's matter aside for the moment,
Marisbury spoke from beside him.
"Lorelei, stop here. If you insist on making a fuss... the factions will be thrown into turmoil."
"That's fine. At worst, I'll take him before the Grand Council Resolution. Even if Fuyuki City's secret cannot belong to Bartholomello, it can at least belong to the Clock Tower."
Though Lorelei was prone to emotional outbursts due to her age,
as the most perfect culmination of Bartholomello's thousand-year legacy, Lorelei was no fool. On the contrary, she was exceptionally intelligent.
Faced with Marisbury's attempt to use the possibility of factional conflict over uneven spoils to pressure her, Lorelei immediately fired back.
Worried that unequal shares would make the factions fight one another? Fine, then I'll take Fuyuki City's secret directly to the council and share it.
A trace of a bitter smile appeared on his face, whether genuine or merely an act was impossible to tell.
After losing out to Lorelei and realizing he had underestimated her, Marisbury simply changed his approach.
"You really are troublesome, Lorelei. But Kischur Zelretch and I definitely will not allow the Department of Law and Order to take Old Man Matou away today... Come duel me, Lorelei."
He stepped forward until he stood before Lorelei, looking down at her, who only reached his navel.
Marisbury shamelessly challenged Lorelei, a little girl who still fell within the young girl range, to a duel.
"Hmph~ Planning to rely on your Servant...?"
Under normal circumstances, if Marisbury dared say such a thing, Lorelei would certainly have made him understand why she was called the pinnacle of modern magecraft.
Yet now, having once exchanged probing blows with Artoria, Lorelei did not accept.
There was no other reason. She was not confident.
Being humiliated once today was already enough. There was no need to enter another battle where she might embarrass herself.
"I refuse your duel, Marisbury... My target is him, not your Department of Astronomy... If there is to be a duel, it should be between me and the Matou Family, not you."
"A duel with the Matou Family... I accept on behalf of the Matou Family!"
Orochimaru spoke. Orochimaru, who had remained silent at the side, silently observing and analyzing the situation, spoke.
Following Lorelei's words, he deliberately twisted their intended meaning and "forcibly" accepted the duel.
At Orochimaru's choice, Marisbury, who hoped to use Zouken Matou to complete the Command Seal subsystem within the Destiny System, immediately looked rather displeased.
But once Orochimaru declared that he accepted the duel on behalf of the Matou Family, neither he nor Lorelei paid Marisbury any further attention.
"Hahahaha... Interesting. Fine, I, Bartholomello Lorelei, accept your Matou Family's duel... As punishment for losing, your entire Matou Family can spend the rest of their lives waiting to be assigned for my people's research."
"Oh~ So that is your wager for the duel...?"
Looking at Orochimaru as if he were a clown, Lorelei now undoubtedly regarded him as an idiot from the countryside.
But recalling how this idiot had tricked her not long ago, Lorelei's eyes filled with anger once more.
"A wager? No, there is no wager. Do you really think anyone in your Matou Family can defeat me?"
"Hehe... What if there is?"
"There is no what if... But I do not mind offering some comfort to a delusional patient. State your so-called what if."
"Ahem. Since we are wagering the entire family, it is a serious matter. As for the conditions should our Matou Family win... we will raise them when the duel begins."
"Whatever!"
One side was Lorelei, absolutely confident in herself; the other was Orochimaru, who believed this was an opportunity but needed Sakura to decide what exactly they would gain.
In short, the two sides, both convinced that victory was theirs, hit it off and began discussing the details of the duel as though no one else existed.
There were not many details to discuss, though—nothing more than the time and place of the duel...
And just as Lorelei and Orochimaru began discussing the details of the duel,
Marisbury returned to Kischur Zelretch's side. Looking at Zouken Matou with a somewhat unnatural expression, he quietly spoke to Kischur Zelretch.
"Kischur Zelretch, Old Man Matou cannot lose..."
Kischur Zelretch glanced at Lineas... Knowing that his faction still needed Zouken Matou's combat strength, and also needed him as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the various forces, a trace of complexity appeared in his eyes before he nodded.
"I understand. I will open all of El-Melloi's Mystic Codes to Old Man Matou..."
"It is not enough, Kischur Zelretch. Mystic Codes cannot bridge the gap between Old Man Matou and Lorelei..."
The showdown... Waver Velvet.
As for the outcome of Kischur Zelretch and Marisbury's discussion,
no one besides the people involved knew.
But judging from Kischur Zelretch's flushed red face and Lineas's teary-eyed expression after the discussion ended,
the result seemed rather terrible for the El-Melloi family...
As for Marisbury, judging by how he had returned to his refined and gentle demeanor, the outcome seemed ideal for him.
Just as Marisbury and Kischur Zelretch finished their discussion,
Orochimaru's side had also reached a conclusion.
The duel would be held at one of the Bartholomello family's estates, and its time... would be one week later.
As Orochimaru and Lorelei finished signing the contract for the duel...
bound by the contract, the duel had become an inevitable reality.
Lorelei led her people away with a satisfied smile. Once she had left the estate, Kischur Zelretch, whose face had turned livid, finally could no longer contain himself.
"Zouken Matou, I think we need to have a proper talk."
"Old Man Matou, I also believe we must have a proper talk. Do you know... how great a price Kischur Zelretch and I will have to pay for the duel you accepted on your own initiative?"
Watching the visibly emotional Kischur Zelretch, and Marisbury beside him, who seemed to be placating Kischur Zelretch,
Orochimaru, wearing Zouken Matou's appearance, did not answer. Instead, he raised a hand in a stopping gesture, then pulled out a mobile phone from his robes. His fingers began nimbly typing out a message on it.
As technological signals went back and forth...
Orochimaru, having reported today's encounter and all the information they had gathered to Sakura, soon received Sakura's reply.
A feral, crazed grin spread across his lips.
Then, as if by instinct, Orochimaru extended his long tongue and licked his own eyeball. That smile and action nearly scared the young girl Lineas into wetting herself.
Logically speaking, Orochimaru should not have done something so obviously out of character, something that could very well expose his identity.
But after receiving Sakura's message, Orochimaru did it anyway.
"Hehehe... Lord Kischur Zelretch, Lord Marisbury, could you spare me some time?"
"..."
"..."
Silence and hostility—those were Kischur Zelretch and Marisbury's answers.
They had met Orochimaru on the day they left Fuyuki and visited the Matou Family.
Furthermore, the magecraft this "Zouken Matou" had used in his battle against Lorelei had been snake magecraft rather than insect magecraft... Combined with Orochimaru's earlier action, Kischur Zelretch and Marisbury could not be completely certain, but... their hearts were already filled with suspicion.
The reason they had not exposed him or attacked Orochimaru was simply because they were in too deep to back out.
After all, if they exposed Orochimaru now, the duel between the Matou Family and Lorelei would become a farce.
And for causing such a farce, El-Melloi and Animsphere, as two of the instigators, would certainly not be easily forgiven by Bartholomello.
Therefore, though it was a bitter pill, Marisbury, who still needed the Clock Tower's power to carry out his Chaldea plan, and Kischur Zelretch, whose faction was already in a weak period, could only grit their teeth and swallow it.
"Hehehe... Please do not show such hostility. We will not be enemies... Oh, Lord Marisbury... Romani Achimen asked me to give you his regards..."
"Roman..."
He murmured the abbreviation of Solomon's name in his current ordinary human state.
Then Marisbury turned to Kischur Zelretch. After quickly completing their discussion through some secret magecraft, he nodded.
"Kischur Zelretch and I have time..."
"Then please, both of you, come somewhere with me..."
Orochimaru gave a satisfied smile, then walked behind Kischur Zelretch's wheelchair and patted the head of the bewildered Lineas. He then pushed Kischur Zelretch out of El-Melloi Castle together with Marisbury.
One day and one night.
Kischur Zelretch and Marisbury disappeared with Orochimaru for one day and one night.
When the two returned, it was as though nothing had happened.
Neither bore traces of battle, nor did they appear particularly happy.
It was as if their day-and-night disappearance had merely been to handle some trivial matter.
But during that day and night, news of the Matou Family's duel with Lorelei had already spread throughout the Clock Tower.
"Overestimating themselves... That Matou Family really is some noble family that crawled out of the countryside."
"Exactly... But El-Melloi is in trouble now. Their family head was already 'crippled,' and now they have offended both Bartholomello and the Department of Law and Order... Tsk, tsk..."
"Not just El-Melloi. I heard Animsphere has a hand in this too. Apparently, Animsphere's head initially wanted to duel the pinnacle of modern magecraft, but was rejected..."
"They are throwing their weight around just because they picked up a Servant. Serves them right... But tell me, do you think the Association might hold a Holy Grail War after this duel?... If only I could take part and somehow get myself a Servant too..."
Carrying a thick stack of books, he passed through the crowd discussing the latest news.
After returning to his seat, the inconspicuous Waver Velvet appeared unconcerned about the matter, but once he was behind his desk, he still pricked up his ears and listened to his classmates' discussion.
However, unlike most people at the Clock Tower who supported Bartholomello, Waver Velvet, who deeply rejected the Clock Tower's bloodline theory, hoped the Matou Family would win.
Before you continue