First, if I were Saber, how would I ensure my own safety? In Waver's eyes, Saber was an extremely cautious person. He had discussed it with the King of Conquerors, and they had both felt that Saber was a remarkably prudent existence.
Though he appeared to have revealed many things on the surface, in reality, he had revealed nothing at all. Moreover, his ability to conceal himself was extremely strong.
In the King of Conquerors' words, Saber was an exceptionally formidable master of restraint. He possessed the power to defeat others, yet he never displayed it, instead putting on an appearance of "frailty and helplessness."
If I were Saber, after arriving here, I would inspect every room to make sure no one was eavesdropping.
At this moment, Waver's mind was running at full capacity. He had to protect his own life while also finding out what Saber had come here to do.
"Click." Waver carefully opened the door to an empty room. It was still some distance from the room Saber's Master had entered. He did not dare send a familiar into that room. Instead, he took a deep breath as his heart pounded wildly.
He was extremely nervous. He was afraid Saber might suddenly decide to dematerialize, appear beside him, and smash him with her Noble Phantasm without a word, turning him into Waver-chan.
But in order to gather information and prove that he was not incompetent, Waver took a deep breath, buried his fear deep inside, and quietly began to wait.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Knocking sounded in the corridor. The waitress who had just been subjected to Suggestion Magic was now knocking on Emiya Kiritsugu's door.
"Creak." The door opened, and Maiya Hisau looked calmly at the waitress. In a very cold tone, she asked, "What is it?"
"Excuse me, may I ask whether the two people who just came in will be staying overnight? If they are, could they please register their names?" the waitress asked unhurriedly. She normally would not care about such trivial matters, since this sort of thing happened frequently at this hotel.
But because of the Suggestion Magic Waver had cast, she felt that she had an "obligation" to remind them.
"They're not staying overnight. They'll leave shortly," Maiya Hisau said. Seeing that it was only a waitress, she put away the gun in her hand. "If there's nothing else, don't disturb us."
As soon as she finished speaking, Maiya Hisau shut the door. The waitress wore an awkward expression and could only nod in the end. "They really are lucky in love."
The waitress did not leave immediately. Instead, she went to the room next to Emiya Kiritsugu's and knocked again. Raising her voice slightly, she said, "Excuse me, we received a complaint that you are being too loud. Please keep your voices down and do not trouble the other guests."
"Creak."
The door opened again. A young man wearing a yukata gave the waitress an apologetic smile and hurriedly assured her that it would not happen again.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
The knocking sounded once more. Waver had already emerged from the empty room, his palms drenched in sweat. Now was the moment that would decide victory or defeat.
He would exploit people's blind spots to create a favorable situation for himself. The first time, he had made the waitress under Suggestion Magic knock on Emiya Kiritsugu's door. The second time, she had knocked on the room of the noisy couple. The third time, she would knock on the room separated from Emiya Kiritsugu's by only one wall.
"Wha—" The middle-aged man had just opened the door and was looking at the waitress, about to ask what she wanted, when Waver immediately used magecraft! For a brief moment, he made the man "listen" to his commands.
"The room you complained about has already been warned. Please have a good rest," the waitress said with a gentle smile, as if she could not see Waver at all, as though this middle-aged man had been the one to complain about that couple.
"Oh, oh, oh! Well, thank you very much."
The middle-aged man also seemed to understand something. He smiled warmly, then walked back into his room with a rather vacant expression. Waver followed him inside and decisively hid beneath the bed! For the first time, he was grateful that his body was on the smaller side. If it had been someone built like the King of Conquerors, there would have been no way to hide.
Rather than immediately pressing his ear to the wall to listen to what was being said next door, he concealed the magical energy around his body to avoid being discovered by Saber.
Success! Waver breathed a sigh of relief. The hardest step was over. Next came gathering intelligence.
my wife.jpg
What the hell?!
After successfully infiltrating the room next to Emiya Kiritsugu's, Waver slowly released a familiar and had it press against the wall to listen to what was being said in the next room.
To avoid being detected by Saber, the familiar Waver summoned was at a historic low in both size and magical energy. Its greatest use was probably just listening to people talk next door.
Under Waver's control, the middle-aged man continued watching television. He had already broken free of the "control," as though nothing had happened. He was even humming a little tune, apparently thinking of something pleasant.
"Saber."
A man's voice came from the next room. He sounded rather relaxed as he said, "Aila's condition has returned to normal, so you don't need to keep up that appearance anymore. Change back quickly."
"Is that so? This magical energy can only maintain it for a while. If we want it to continue, I'll have to inject magical energy into Irisviel's body from time to time."
Just as Waver was wondering who the man in the room was, the voice responding to him made his breathing stop for a moment!!!
There it is!! Big news!!! The thing Saber has been hiding all along!!!
Waver was incredibly excited. He had not misheard just now—the voice from the room belonged to another woman.
That was right, another woman. Waver had met Mikaela before, so he knew very well that Mikaela's voice leaned toward the androgynous side, not a woman's voice. So who was the woman answering that man?
Though Waver was incredibly excited, he was also exceptionally calm. He knew that what came next was the critical part, and that he had to remain hidden. Otherwise, if Saber discovered him, she would definitely kill him without hesitation.
"No, it's all right, Aila-chan. I'm feeling much better now."
The voice of Saber's Master came from the next room. It was the noblewoman he had seen that morning, apparently named Irisviel. Her voice was somewhat weak, as though she had suffered some kind of injury.
Strange. Waver frowned slightly, finding it odd. Tonight, he, Kayneth, and Irisviel had been together the entire time.
Waver had also paid some attention to Irisviel. She had been in excellent health. As a homunculus, her physical condition should naturally have been much better than that of an ordinary person.
Why, then, did her voice sound so weak, as though she had suffered a severe injury?
When fighting the Sea Demon, she had gone with him to set up a Magic Barrier that would drive away ordinary people. She had not personally participated in the battle between Servants. Even when he and the King of Conquerors had "pretended to leave," she had appeared completely normal, as if nothing were wrong.
"Madam, please do not move around. Please lie in bed and rest properly. You are already very tired today." Another woman's voice came from the room, making Waver frown even more. Though he had never met her, he remembered her voice. She was the woman who had answered the door when the waitress came.
At the time, Waver had not dared poke his head out to see who had opened the door. He had only dared stand by the door and listen to the sounds in the hallway.
That capable and composed voice had left an impression on Waver. At the same time, he was very curious about how she addressed Irisviel.
Madam?
Was that referring to Irisviel's relationship with that man, or was it merely a respectful form of address?
Though Waver was not yet as clever as he would become in the future, capable of grasping the truth through a few scattered words, he had still caught hold of the key point.
"By the way, you didn't call us here just for this, did you?" The female voice that was presumably Saber's rang out again. In an exceedingly calm tone, she said, "Tonight's actions already exposed part of my trump card. We should hurry back now, not waste time here."
Part of her trump card?!!! Waver nearly stopped breathing. That was only part of her trump card?!! The King of Conquerors had been right. Saber truly was like a venomous snake. That terrifying Noble Phantasm was only part of her trump card?
"I have already seen that Noble Phantasm. Just as planned, it is perfectly qualified to serve as the trump card we show openly. But I did not call you here tonight solely for that."
The man's voice sounded again. Accompanied by the sound of a lighter, he seemed to have lit a cigarette. He spoke slowly. "According to reliable information, the Matou family has withdrawn. We do not know whether that old man of theirs is dead, but their Servant has already been eliminated. Since I blew up the Tohsaka family residence, Tohno Shiro has nowhere to return to. He can only temporarily occupy the Matou family home and prepare to stay there for the night."
"Furthermore, Assassin's Master, Kotomine Kirei, is also with Tohno Shiro right now. If you are confident, then perhaps tonight we can eliminate four Servants in one stroke."
The man's voice was filled with calm decisiveness. Waver was trembling beneath the bed. He had not expected it.
Not only had Caster withdrawn tonight—even Berserker had been eliminated!!
Waver had firmly memorized every other Servant class that had appeared. With the Holy Grail War having lasted only three days, two Servants had already been eliminated. According to the King of Conquerors' deductions, Assassin should not be dead yet.
And the man next door seemed to know that Assassin was still alive. Among the Servant classes that had yet to appear, that left only Berserker.
"Saber, what do you think? Shall we go?" The man seemed to be asking Saber's opinion. He felt that this was an excellent opportunity. If possible, they could make Assassin's and Archer's Masters kick the bucket tonight.
"No, we can't." Saber seemed to ponder for a moment before replying calmly, "Archer has Independent Action. Even if his Master dies, he can still act alone and slowly search for a suitable Master."
"If that happens, we will certainly provoke the King of Heroes."
King of Heroes. Waver quietly wrote down those three words in his little mental notebook.
Archer had only appeared once, and there had been no other news about him. Waver knew neither his true name nor his Noble Phantasm. But not just anyone could bear the title "King of Heroes."
He would write it down first and look through the records later. Perhaps he could use it to deduce Archer's true name.
"That is true. Though the opportunity is good now, the hardest people to deal with remain Kayneth and his student Waver. The two of them are the most troublesome opponents in this Holy Grail War. We must deal with those two first before we can move against Tohno Shiro and Kotomine Kirei." The man's voice rang out again.
But at this moment, Waver was completely dumbfounded. What the hell???
my wife.jpg
Discovered
Waver had fallen into an utterly bewildered state. What the hell? What was going on? Why had they started talking about him? What had he done???
To be honest, while Waver did think he posed a tiny bit of a threat, that threat was basically all due to the King of Conquerors. What did it have to do with him, his Master?
If they wanted to talk about a threat, his teacher Kayneth—the Lord of the Clock Tower—was the true major threat. Waver would not have found it strange if they had mentioned him.
But why had that man dragged him into it? He was someone who did not even qualify as a third-rate magus. What could he possibly do?
In front of Kayneth, Waver would never say that he was inferior to a third-rate magus. But in his heart, he knew that he was merely a useless magus. In terms of threat level, he was only slightly more dangerous in this Holy Grail War than Caster's Master.
He already knew about Caster's Master. That man was merely someone with good luck who had accidentally become involved in the Holy Grail War.
He did not even have the slightest foundation in magecraft!! In theory, anyone who encountered him—even Waver—might be able to kill him with a "Magic Bullet."
Yet the unknown man seemed to place him and Kayneth on the same level. Why exactly was that? Waver was utterly confused.
He focused intently on the voices next door, doing his best to keep his breathing steady. High risk really did come with high reward!!!
"That's right." Irisviel spoke. Her voice no longer sounded as weak as before, as if she had recovered. In a very serious tone, she said, "Saber and I met the two of them today. The boy named Waver can be set aside for now, but Kayneth is definitely a troublesome opponent."
"Whether in his attainments in magecraft or in his knowledge of all things, he is an exceptionally outstanding magus. And he seems to have noticed our hostility toward his student. Along the way, he deliberately or unconsciously protected him."
Though Irisviel was a homunculus, she was not blind. Naturally, she had noticed that Kayneth had protected Waver at every turn along the way. Although Kayneth's words and actions seemed to show extreme anger toward Waver, as though he wanted to personally break his legs.
But Irisviel had a very keen mind. She was also a woman, so she naturally noticed certain small details. For example, when Mikaela had wanted to make a move and fight the King of Conquerors.
Kayneth had also noticed Waver's awkward position and immediately spoken up to stop Mikaela.
Though the two sides had not fought then, Irisviel was certain that if they truly had fought, Kayneth would definitely have brought Lancer to help Waver.
Likewise, if Kayneth fell into trouble, Waver would definitely lend him a hand. Though their relationship appeared extremely poor on the surface, no matter how bad it was, it was not for outsiders to gossip about.
This was Irisviel's own interpretation. At the same time, she became even more certain that Waver and Kayneth had formed an alliance. Their superficial anger and bickering were nothing more than a smokescreen.
"I see." The man's voice sounded again. Calmly, he said, "Just as we guessed, that Lord from the Clock Tower had long since set his sights on the Holy Grail. He is probably the same as Tohno Shiro—publicly falling out with his student while secretly forming an alliance with him."
"If we had not discovered it early, they might have devoured us so thoroughly that not even scraps would remain."
There was a trace of relief mixed into the man's voice. He seemed to be glad that they had confirmed the truth of this information so early.
Alliance, my ass. That guy genuinely wants to kill me. You guessed wrong.
Waver was frantically complaining in his heart. In his eyes, how could that sharp-tongued bastard Kayneth possibly protect him? Irisviel must have seen it wrong.
As expected, a woman's sixth sense was completely unreliable. There was absolutely no magecraft basis for it!!!
Though he said that in his heart, Waver still sighed deeply. If his relationship with Kayneth were actually good, why would he have needed to participate in the Holy Grail War?!
But Tohno Shiro and his student... could the student be Assassin's Master, Kotomine Kirei??
In other words, Assassin did not withdraw at all, but was instead helping Tohno Shiro gather information???
Though he had already suspected it, Waver felt a chill run through him. It was too terrifying. If he had not been eavesdropping here, he would never have known that, in this Holy Grail War, two Masters and Servants were cooperating with each other.
Still, speaking of which, that mysterious man believed he and Kayneth had formed an alliance too. No, no, how was that possible? How could he possibly ally with Kayneth? That man's brain must have been kicked by a donkey.
"Tomorrow, I will go discuss with Tohno Shiro how to deal with the master-and-student pair, Kayneth and Waver. The two of them hold an advantage in this Holy Grail War. The King of Conquerors' Inherent Domain and Lancer's demonic spear are both things that inspire great fear."
Irisviel spoke again. She seemed determined to drive Waver and Kayneth out of the Holy Grail War first.
"Kill the King of Conquerors first. Diarmuid will be easier to deal with." At this moment, Saber seemed to have returned to her original voice as well. Without any emotional fluctuation, she said, "The King of Conquerors seems to have been trying to learn about me. With his wisdom, he may very well notice the flaws I have exposed."
"A man who once nearly conquered the world must be treated with caution. Then after discussing it with Tohno Shiro tomorrow, we will settle on a plan to encircle and kill the King of Conquerors. Without the King of Conquerors as his trump card, Kayneth may still be troublesome, but he will not be nearly as difficult to handle as before." The man seemed to have made up his mind as well.
They were preparing to kill the King of Conquerors first, then kill Kayneth!
"!!!!!!"
Waver's heart filled with terror. Though this was the "recognition" he had dreamed of, this recognition called death still made him tremble uncontrollably.
If the man had not misspoken, then he had used the words "encircle and kill." In other words... tomorrow night, he and Rider would draw the attention of two Servants... no!! Possibly three.
After all, Assassin was not dead, Archer was watching hungrily from the shadows, and Saber still had hidden trump cards!!!
Calm down, Waver. You have to calm down. What should I do now?
Should I summon Rider now and directly destroy that room? That might let us catch them off guard and kill Saber's Master and the other two.
Lying beneath the bed, Waver's body shook uncontrollably. Looking at the Command Seal on his hand, he felt that he could not simply sit and wait for death anymore!!
He had only come to gather intelligence, but he had never expected the information he obtained to surpass his imagination. He had even learned that he and Rider would be killed tomorrow.
Just as Waver's thoughts ran wild, the room next door suddenly fell silent for an instant.
Oh no!!! Waver seemed to realize something. The Command Seal in his hand lit up.
"Boom—!!!"
Suddenly, the wall was smashed open! Countless golden chains surged madly into the room, and the middle-aged man who had no idea what was happening and was watching television was directly bound up.
Kill! The King of Conquerors!
Before you continue