"So it was on that guy all along. Luck really was on my side."
Roland paid no heed to the person still in front of him. His face twisted with almost grotesque ecstasy.
A ticket out of this world, a trial that could raise his access level, a brand-new power-to Roland, recovering his first Contract Spirit meant almost everything.
Recovering the Contract Spirit meant eternal peace. Amid such joy, even his fingernails stopped their excessive growth.
The only reason he had managed to stay calm and act rationally after being dragged into the Holy Grail War was that he had discovered traces left by a Contract Spirit. Acting with hope in his heart always brought good results.
While Roland had been roaming all over Fuyuki City, the Contract Spirit had been nowhere to be found. Yet once he began taking things slowly and was even preparing to participate in the Holy Grail War, the very thing he had searched for in vain suddenly appeared before him.
He lightly brushed his fingers over the back of Maiya Hisau's hand. Sensing that her legs had gone so weak with fear that they could no longer support her weight, Roland looked down at her and flashed a charming smile.
Recognizing Maiya Hisau was not difficult. As he gradually matched different people to the images in his memories, Roland's ability to identify them had improved considerably. Besides, once her medium-length hair and preference for firearms were revealed, she was even easier to recognize.
Once he discovered Maiya Hisau here, it went without saying who carried the Contract Spirit. On the surface, this woman was Kiritsugu Emiya's lover, but on a deeper level, their connection was like that between the internal organs and the brain. They could never stray too far apart.
Kiritsugu Emiya was definitely nearby. Not long after Maiya Hisau had made that little tapping gesture on her radio, Roland had received a notification that the Contract Spirit was close.
Roland could say for certain that the lost Contract Spirit was on Kiritsugu Emiya.
The only thing he needed to watch out for was whether the man had a Heroic Spirit with him. Fortunately, he had a source of information right beside him.
"Well then, Miss Maiya Hisau, now that you understand your situation, let's have a pleasant conversation."
"First, I'd like to confirm something. The one Kiritsugu Emiya summoned was still Saber, right?"
"Kill me."
Maiya Hisau spoke calmly.
"No matter what you threaten me with, it makes no difference. I will never betray Kiritsugu Emiya."
"Not even if I use Kiritsugu Emiya himself? Then let me show you a simple little trick."
Under Maiya Hisau's gaze, Roland took a coin from his pocket and casually tossed it into the air. Before her eyes, the coin exploded into pieces in midair. Its tiny black remnants vanished before they could drift down like snow.
At the sight, Maiya Hisau's eyes widened slightly. She suddenly realized how her guns had disappeared.
"This is the ability of my Stand, Killer Queen," Roland said softly. "It turns anything it touches into a bomb."
"Though that wasn't the original intention, I have to admit that this ability is the pinnacle of assassination."
The pinnacle hardly did it justice. It was practically a godlike talent.
After years of working in assassination, Maiya Hisau's skills in the field had reached mastery. No matter how crude the implement, it became a deadly weapon in her hands-even a bamboo skewer.
But that still fell within human limits. She still had to stab, shoot, or plant bombs to eliminate her enemies. An ability that turned something into a bomb with a mere touch meant that all you had to do was casually pass along your enemy's inevitable route beforehand, then reap the rewards.
Without knowing about it, no one could react. No one would prepare for it. Even Maiya Hisau herself would never imagine that walking down a little path could make her step on an invisible bomb.
Wait... no one?
"You've figured it out, Miss Hisau." Roland gave her a nasty smile. "On our first encounter, I could easily kill Kiritsugu Emiya if he knew nothing about this. That foolish man wouldn't even realize what had happened. And now, you're the only one who knows this crucial information-the only one who can give him hope."
Under Maiya Hisau's cold, murderous gaze, the devil revealed a sly smile.
"Miss Maiya Hisau, you wouldn't want to see Kiritsugu Emiya die a sudden, inexplicable death, would you?"
"What do you want?"
Maiya Hisau finally yielded. Even she, who considered herself a weapon, had a weakness.
"Just a simple deal. It's very straightforward: I ask questions, and you confirm the answers. This is all information I already know. I just need to confirm it again. If there's something I don't know, you don't have to tell me. That shouldn't count as betrayal, should it?"
Suspicion flashed in Maiya Hisau's eyes, but in the end, she could only nod.
"Good. Then my first question is still the same. Kiritsugu Emiya's Heroic Spirit is Saber, right?"
"Yes."
She did not know how he had discovered that Kiritsugu was the true Master, but since he knew that much, there was little point in hiding the class.
After all...
"Second question: Saber is staying with Irisviel, who's pretending to be the Master, correct?"
Just as she had expected. Maiya Hisau sighed and nodded. There was no way this plan could have been exposed. Where on earth had this man gotten his information?
"Good... then let's move on to the third..."
Roland nodded in satisfaction. Though he had already asked everything he needed to, he did not mind confirming a little more. Just then, however, with Killer Queen's eyesight, he keenly noticed tiny flecks of magical energy gathering at Maiya Hisau's fingertips. The next instant, a small magic bullet shot out!
This woman was a mage?
Though Roland had read the original work, he naturally did not know all the details about Maiya Hisau. Not daring to be careless, he instinctively had Killer Queen move in front of him.
Before the sluggish magic bullet could reach him, Killer Queen had already dispersed it with a punch.
It was a feint. Roland quickly realized that. Magic bullets were among the most basic forms of magecraft, and without sufficient aptitude, they could not produce much power. Maiya Hisau's aptitude was clearly abysmal. The magic bullet she had fired was like a weightless balloon; even if it had hit him, it would have done no harm.
She had never intended to fight back. She intended to escape!
Even in surrender, this woman still displayed her innate charm.
Taking advantage of Roland's defensive move, Maiya Hisau pulled back a short distance and watched him without any change in her expression. Yet, to her surprise, a calm smile still hung on Roland's face.
"Ah, not knowing magecraft really is a nuisance. Compared to a professional assassin like you, Ryunosuke Uryu is nothing but a useless pervert."
Being tricked had surprised Roland a little, but this, too, had been within his expectations.
"Are you trying to buy time until Kiritsugu Emiya can meet up with you? Unfortunately, that's impossible. Why do you think I only asked for fifteen minutes off?"
As though tearing away his disguise, Roland finally stopped concealing himself and revealed a crazed smile.
"Because fifteen minutes is more than enough for me to finish off both you and Kiritsugu Emiya, of course. While we were talking, I already sent another reliable fellow to deal with him."
At that, Roland looked at Killer Queen beside him. A small recess now stood empty on his Stand's left hand. The emblem that had occupied it was gone.
"The second bomb is far from invincible, but it's certainly not something he can deal with easily. If Kiritsugu Emiya is unlucky, we might witness the ironic comedy of an assassin skilled with bombs ending up blown to pieces."
Roland cast a displeased glance at Maiya Hisau and slowly walked toward her.
"And in the meantime, let's continue our unfinished conversation."
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