[The scene shifted to a little blonde girl sitting in a tall chair, with a haggard-looking Waver opposite her.]
[At this point, Waver was already beginning to resemble El-Melloi II. His arms were bound behind his back, but he offered no resistance.]
["You are Waver Velvet, my elder brother's student."]
[The little girl said flatly, "You had a hand in my elder brother's death, didn't you?"]
["Who are you?" Waver clearly did not recognize the little girl.]
[The little girl then began talking about her past.]
[It turned out that the little girl's name was Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, and she was the current, newly appointed Lord El-Melloi.]
[After the Fourth Holy Grail War, the El-Melloi Faction had fallen apart following Kayneth's sudden death in battle.]
[Not only had outside forces seized their assets, but numerous branch families had also chosen to leave after plundering them. In the end, all that remained was the El-Melloi name and enormous debts.]
[To restore the El-Melloi name, the few remaining members of the El-Melloi Faction had gone through many difficulties before finally finding someone highly compatible with the source crest: Reines.]
[And so Reines, at only six years old, had been selected as the new heir.]
[To assert her legitimate right of succession, the Archibald line had publicly announced that Reines was actually Kayneth's adopted younger sister.]
[However, owing to Reines's slight resistance, she had retained the Archisorte surname.]
El-Melloi II: "..."
"What's wrong? You look a little strange."
Watching El-Melloi II, Waver asked this in puzzlement outside the video.
"Nothing. You'll understand in the future."
El-Melloi II held his forehead with one hand and his stomach with the other, feeling his stomach begin to hurt again.
Kayneth: "Reines. So it was her."
Kayneth did have some impression of Reines.
Reines was a promising young member of the Archisorte Family, only five years old this year.
Within the El-Melloi Faction, the Archisorte Family ranked near the bottom.
Kayneth knew of Reines because of her talent.
Although Reines did not possess many Magic Circuits, their quality was very high.
Moreover, she possessed innate Mystic Eyes.
Mystic Eyes were created when mages transformed their eyeballs into Magic Circuits, converting the function originally used to receive information from the outside world into an ability to actively affect it.
Mystic Eyes generally fell into three categories: innate, acquired, and artificial.
Innate ones were like Reines's. She had been born with a type of Mystic Eyes, and the cause of their formation was unknown.
Acquired ones awakened when someone experienced or came into contact with certain special circumstances.
The most representative example was naturally the famous Shiki Ryougi.
Because her consciousness had observed "death" in nothingness for two years, she had awakened the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which could see death, after waking up.
Artificial ones needed little explanation. They were Mystic Eyes that mages researched and created themselves.
The most famous examples were the Clairvoyance of Merlin, Solomon, and Wise King Gilgamesh.
Originally the most ordinary Mystic Eyes, they had been turned into EX-rank divine skills by those three big shots.
One could see through the past, one could see through the present, and one could see through the future.
You three might as well take over the jobs of the Three Goddesses of fate.
Waver: "Professor Kayneth died in the War of the Holy Grail..."
King of Conquerors: "That feels like something to be expected."
This video had fully revealed Kayneth's future: he had died in the War of the Holy Grail.
In fact, Kayneth had already mentally prepared himself for that.
After all, judging by the video's progression, he had been hit by an Origin Bullet and all his Magic Circuits had been ruined. How could he have had the face to return to the Mage's Association? He would certainly have stayed to fight to the death.
The only thing that concerned him a little was what had happened to his fiancée, Sola, after his death.
She should have returned to the Mage's Association. After all, she was not a participant in the War of the Holy Grail.
["I did have a hand in my teacher's death."]
[Waver offered no defense and said directly, "If I hadn't stolen my teacher's holy relic, he might have been able to escape unscathed."]
[Reines: "You're quite frank. Don't you know what might await you?"]
["Perhaps I'll have to pay with my life. I've actually been prepared for that for a long time."]
[Waver lowered his head and said, "But I still hope you can spare my life, because there are still things I haven't finished that I want to do."]
[Reines asked with interest, "What could make you say something like that?"]
["It's just a promise I made to someone."]
[Waver kept his head lowered, his voice growing especially heavy.]
King of Conquerors: "Haha, little Master, it looks like you've become much more composed in the future."
Waver: "You're the last person who gets to say that."
["In that case, obediently atone for your sins by working for the El-Melloi Faction."]
[Reines wore the expression of a little devil.]
["First, there's the debt the El-Melloi Faction owes. I'll be leaving that to you from now on."]
["And then there's the El-Melloi Faction's source crest. Asking you to restore all of it would indeed be a little unreasonable, so you only need to restore ten percent."]
["No problem."]
[Waver agreed without the slightest hesitation.]
"Sigh..."
Watching this scene in the video, El-Melloi II felt his stomach hurt even more.
["Of course, there's one last thing."]
[Reines's expression abruptly changed. Looking pitifully at Waver, she said, "Could you help preserve El-Melloi's position as a Lord until I reach a suitable age?"]
[Clearly, this was her main reason for having Waver brought here bound today.]
["Th-that is certainly possible, but what exactly would you have me do?" Waver asked blankly.]
[This condition of Reines's was indeed something he had not expected.]
["Hehe, it just means having someone take on a Lord's work until I come of age."]
[Reines said this with a perfectly ordinary smile, leaving Waver utterly shocked.]
[Waver: "Wait, you mean!"]
["That's right. Exactly that."]
[Reines wore her devilish smile again and said, "Because dealing with the other Lords is unbearably boring, I'll have to trouble you, the new Lord El-Melloi."]
["Or should I call you this instead, my dear onii-chan?"]
Kayneth: "I see. So that's how you inherited my position, Waver."
Tokiomi Tohsaka: "It feels as though this girl sees the position of Lord as nothing but a nuisance."
Chapter 37: So the system was intelligent
(Reines [Sima Yi])
Feng Xi: "Congratulations, Waver. You've gained a 'cute' little sister."
Waver: "What are you talking about? I don't even know her."
["You want me to become Professor Kayneth's successor!"]
[Waver, who had agreed so readily before, now sank into deep silence.]
[Reines did not press him, simply watching him quietly.]
[After a long while, Waver's gaze settled, and he said, "I have one condition."]
[Reines: "What condition?"]
["I'd like 'the Second' added after El-Melloi."]
[Waver said gravely, "This title is still far too heavy for me. In the end, Professor Kayneth is the only one suited to it."]
Kayneth: "Waver, you..."
Waver: "..."
What could he say? He did not understand what his self in the video was thinking either.
After all, he had not yet experienced so much.
[Reines asked curiously, "I thought you hated my adoptive elder brother."]