The Strategist's Analysis

"Ready?"

"Of course. Just hurry up!"

In the office, the person representing El-Melloi's dignity, Lord El-Melloi Second, was playing King of Fighters with another boy like an ordinary young man.

That boy was naturally Shirou, and this was how it had happened.

Just as Webber and Shirou were at each other's throats, with the air thick with gunpowder, Natalia and Reines happened to come out after finishing their discussion.

After hearing Reines's explanation, Webber finally understood. Oh, so they were allies.

Although the Emiya Family and El-Melloi had their share of conflicts, Webber was not someone who failed to see the bigger picture. Kenneth was already dead, and with Reines here, bringing it up again would undoubtedly set Shirou and El-Melloi against each other at once.

Webber was no fool. Between a lord whose grave was already overgrown with weeds and a powerful hired hand who could be employed with money, he knew perfectly well which one to choose.

For certain reasons, Reines had postponed the commission, leaving Shirou and Natalia with several days of free time.

With nothing to do, Shirou could only wander around the Clock Tower. In the end, he ran into Webber, who was hiding in his office and secretly skipping work to play games.

At the time, Webber had been playing Pokémon Emerald. Though it had only been released recently, Shirou had already played through it countless times. Somehow, the two of them ended up playing together, leading to their current situation.

"Damn it, I actually lost to you!" Webber said unwillingly as he stared at the glaring letters KO on the screen. "Why are you so good at this? Didn't this game just come out?"

It had just come out, but I've already played it hundreds of times. I could pull off a full combo with my eyes closed and grind your face into the floor.

That was what Shirou thought.

"You're just bad with your hands. Go play strategy games like a good boy, Second!"

That was what Shirou said.

"I bet you stole this game's source code too, then cheated using it. That Pokémon game just now was the final proof," Webber maliciously speculated. Shirou really had recited the entire source code of Pokémon Emerald in front of him just moments ago.

"Hey, if your skills are bad, just say so! And I've never stolen the source code of any game. As for that earlier game's source code, I just happened to look at it once." Shirou retorted, but one look at Webber's expression told him that three words might as well have been written across his face: I don't believe you. Remembering everything perfectly after one glance? Who was he trying to fool?

But it really was the truth. He had only happened to see that source code once when he was eighteen. Normally, one glance would not have been enough to remember it, but his current body was a fusion of flesh and soul. He did not need to use his brain to memorize things; he recorded them with his soul.

The brain could forget, but the soul had no such thing as forgetting. Shirou could now remember everything at a glance, even things he had forgotten in the past.

Seeing that arguing was useless, Shirou simply gave up. These days, no one ever believed the truth.

"Hey, Webber."

"What?"

"Your Lady Reines is coming."

!!!

"Are you sure?"

"At this time of day, I can't think of anyone besides her who would come looking for you. Or did you think your students would voluntarily come to your office to find you?" Shirou said with a shrug.

Webber had heard that Shirou could sense things through souls, so the moment he heard those words, he decisively shoved his handheld console into a drawer, closed it, and spread every document he had across the desk, putting on the appearance of someone hard at work.

"Why are you so practiced at that too?" Shirou could not help but quip.

Looking at Webber now, he was reminded of playing on his phone during high school classes. Whenever someone said the teacher was coming, he would immediately pretend to be studying. Webber looked exactly like he had back then.

The very next second after Webber struck his pose, Reines pushed the door open and walked in. This time, however, she had not come for Webber. She had come for Shirou.

"Boy at Natalia's side, time is short, so I'll get straight to the point."

"I've already found your next target. But remember one thing: this target is special. Absolutely no survivors."

"No problem." Shirou smiled with particular innocence, as though he were just a child. "After all, this is our job."

"My, you're quite confident, aren't you?" Reines looked at Shirou with a faint smile. Even Webber, standing beside them, found that gaze frightening.

"Of course. I'm very strong!" No matter how scared Webber was beside him, Shirou grinned foolishly the entire time.

"However, Lady Reines, you said this target was special. May I ask whether I'm qualified to know what exactly that 'special' means?" Shirou asked tentatively.

"Hohoho." Reines gave a standard three-part aristocratic laugh. "I didn't expect you to be such a curious boy!"

"Is that not allowed?"

Shirou deliberately put on a disappointed expression, which suited his still-childish face perfectly. Reines was not like Webber. If he failed to disguise himself well enough before her in the early stages, he would not even know how he had been led into a trap.

"No, there's nothing you can't know," Reines unexpectedly relented. "Do you remember why I hired you?"

"You mean—"

"That's right." Reines nodded. "That family was the mastermind behind the proposal to assassinate my brother. If my brother had not been prepared, they might have succeeded."

"I understand." Shirou glanced at Webber. "No matter what, they decided to kill someone. If they wanted to kill, then they had to be prepared to be killed. And when people are killed, they die."

"Don't worry, employer. No one will be left alive. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first."

After receiving Reines's approval, Shirou left directly.

"What do you think of that boy, Brother?" Reines asked Webber after Shirou had left.

"He's not simple, but overall, he's a very good person," Webber replied. "Unlike other magi, he's more like a human being."

"You know that's not what I mean."

"I know," Webber said. "His strength will not disappoint you. And a human is more reassuring than a magus. Also, this—"

As he spoke, Webber handed Reines a photograph. It showed a ruin.

Under Reines's puzzled gaze, Webber said, "There was a massive amount of residual magical energy at the scene. In all my life, I've only ever commanded that amount of magical energy once, and this is merely the residue."

"Direct battles between magi come down to nothing more than the quantity of magical energy, with experience increasing one's chances of victory. You know what that means, don't you?"