The waiter said cautiously, "They said they were your students, so I came up to ask."
"It's them!"
Hearing this, Kayneth realized who the two people looking for him were.
Who else could it be but the younger and older Waver?
At the same time, Kayneth felt somewhat puzzled.
The quiz had only just ended. Why had they come looking for him already?
And how had they found this place?
He didn't recall revealing his address in the group.
That fellow Kiritsugu Emiya had tried to follow him last night, but since he had left first, Kiritsugu could only follow Diarmuid and was naturally discovered.
Kayneth had simply ordered Diarmuid to lead him around more than half of Fuyuki City.
After realizing he had been exposed, Kiritsugu had no choice but to abandon his pursuit and retreat.
Only after repeatedly confirming that no one was following him had Diarmuid returned to the hotel.
"Send them up."
Although puzzled, Kayneth still gave the order.
While Kiritsugu Emiya had made him somewhat paranoid, he hadn't reached the point of being afraid to see his own students.
"Yes, sir."
Having received his orders, the waiter hurried away.
Soon, the two took the elevator to Kayneth's floor. They were indeed Waver and El-Melloi II.
"Do you think Professor Kayneth will agree to our proposal?"
Waver looked at El-Melloi II with some concern.
"Don't worry. Our teacher will definitely agree."
El-Melloi II was very confident and gestured for Waver not to worry.
Knock, knock, knock...
The two stepped forward and knocked on the door. This time, Diarmuid answered and invited them straight inside.
"Waver Velvet..."
Kayneth looked at the two with a complicated expression, his gaze lingering more on El-Melloi II.
Sola, standing nearby, also studied El-Melloi II curiously.
"Professor."
El-Melloi II bowed politely, but his gaze slipped discreetly toward Sola.
He had noticed the Command Spells on Sola's hand, as well as the long-haired woman beside her who wore a gentle smile.
In an instant, he had pieced together most of the situation.
"Yes, sit down."
Kayneth nodded, gesturing for them to sit opposite him.
The two sat down. El-Melloi II remained perfectly composed, but Waver felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles.
Any student would feel uncomfortable sitting face-to-face like this with a teacher they disliked.
"How did you know I was staying here?"
Kayneth got straight to the point, first voicing his own question.
"Heh, it was quite simple."
El-Melloi II seemed to have anticipated this question from Kayneth and immediately began explaining.
Chapter 41: Forming an Official Alliance
(Brynhildr)
"Given your personality, Professor, you would certainly stay at a luxury hotel. We visited most of the luxury hotels in Fuyuki City and found mana fluctuations on the upper floors of this hotel alone. That was how we determined you were staying here."
"Hmph. So that was what gave me away."
After hearing El-Melloi II's explanation, Kayneth couldn't help snorting.
Mana fluctuations in his lodgings were normal, as he had already rented out three floors of this hotel and turned them into a Magecraft workshop.
He hadn't expected that to be what exposed him instead.
Still, El-Melloi II had given him a reminder: should he dismantle part of the workshop now?
After all, he had used quite a few valuable things to set up this Magecraft workshop.
Besides the many gemstones borrowed from the Department of Mineralogy, there was the Department of Spiritual Evocation's prized treasure, "Evil Spirits-Wangliang," as well as three Mana Furnaces reserved for Lords.
Every one of these things was priceless. Kayneth had borrowed them all using his status, rather than buying them.
Based on what he had seen in the earlier video, he could be certain that all these things would be gone in the end.
Otherwise, how could the El-Melloi Faction have incurred such an enormous debt?
So Kayneth was now beginning to worry as well.
If these things were destroyed in a moment of carelessness, he would probably end up having to repay debts too.
It was all his own fault for losing his mind before setting out.
Why had he brought things he might not even need to participate in the War of the Holy Grail?
"Tell me, what brings you here so suddenly?"
The more he thought about it, the more anxious Kayneth grew, so he hurriedly diverted his attention.
"Professor, we came here to form an alliance with you."
El-Melloi II also got straight to the point.
"An alliance!"
Kayneth couldn't help freezing for a moment.
"Professor, I'm sure you're aware of the current situation in the War of the Holy Grail."
El-Melloi II explained, "Tokiomi Tohsaka's King of Heroes and Kiritsugu Emiya's King Arthur are the two strongest in this War of the Holy Grail. Apart from the King of Conquerors on our side, no one can stand against them."
"I'm sure you've already witnessed the King of Heroes' strength, but I can tell you that was only his basic fighting ability. He still has more powerful Noble Phantasms he hasn't used."
"In a one-on-one fight, probably none of the Servants in this War of the Holy Grail would be his match."
"And King Arthur's strength is actually far from poor."
"Her poor performance in the video was entirely because she didn't understand Diarmuid's Noble Phantasms, which led to her left hand being injured and greatly reduced her strength."
"Now that she's prepared, Diarmuid would probably have a hard time winning if they truly fought."
"Not to mention that both of them have another Servant assisting them."
At this point, El-Melloi II apologized to Diarmuid. "Sorry, I didn't mean to belittle you."
"It's fine. You're stating the facts."
Diarmuid waved it off without taking offense.
"..."
Kayneth once again fell into deep thought.
He currently had no intention of dealing with Tokiomi Tohsaka, but he would never let Kiritsugu Emiya off.
He had thought that with two Servants now, dealing with Kiritsugu Emiya should be a cinch.
But El-Melloi II's words had doused him with cold water.
Yes, the video had given him a preconceived impression that their king's strength amounted to only that much.
But as a king who had once dominated an era, how could her strength amount to so little?
And while he had two Servants, Kiritsugu Emiya also had two Servants under him.
The abilities of Diarmuid's Noble Phantasms had all been exposed, but those of King Arthur and the Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu remained a mystery.
Sure enough, gaining a Divine Servant like Brynhildr had made him get carried away again without realizing it.
He had to find a way to correct this bad habit, or sooner or later he would suffer dearly for it.
"If we form an alliance, what are the terms of cooperation?"
After calming himself, Kayneth asked the question.
"We have only one request."
El-Melloi II said slowly, "If we obtain the Holy Grail in the end, we hope to give the right to make a wish to the King of Conquerors."
"You certainly have quite an appetite."
Kayneth wasn't angry upon hearing El-Melloi II's condition. Instead, he asked calmly, "Do you think I would agree to that condition?"