Fuyuki City.
This city, which should have been tranquil, had already welcomed a number of uninvited guests.
"Hey... Rider."
"How exactly did you pull this off?"
Waver eyed the lavish surroundings with thinly-veiled anxiety, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I simply had a friendly chat with the owner."
"They were so delighted they handed it right over."
Rider's reply left Waver utterly speechless. This luxurious villa was something the old Waver could never have dreamed of, yet Rider had solved it with a casual "Leave it to me."
Most importantly, it hadn't been procured through anything as crude as harming civilians.
'Suggestion, maybe?'
Initially, Waver himself had used magecraft to hypnotize a random household, but Rider's approach had clearly been far more... elegant. Yet considering Rider's Class, "suggestion" shouldn't have been a possibility. Rider couldn't possibly wield Caster-level magecraft, could he?
'No way, right?'
Shaking his head, Waver dismissed the thought with a wry smile.
'What a transparent Master.'
Seated on the sofa, sipping stale tea, Lelouch studied the boy before him. More perceptive than Suzaku by a wide margin, but still far too easy to handle.
'Command Spells...'
His gaze drifted to the crimson marks on Waver's hand. He was already contemplating whether to find an opportunity to deal with them. The most reliable method would be to use Geass to dominate the boy outright.
But given that Masters might come into contact with one another, a perceptive individual could discover the manipulation. And that would be troublesome. Geass was his greatest trump card; whether against Servants or enemy Masters, it was the ultimate weapon. Combined with Rider's Class naturally providing him cover, who would suspect a pilot of a mech was a Servant capable of "magecraft"?
If Geass was exposed prematurely and opponents raised their guard, the cost would far outweigh the gain. That was precisely why Lelouch had held off on using it against Waver.
'I'll observe for now.'
"Assassin. You seem to have gone out on your own."
Kotomine Kirei sensed the shift in the room's atmosphere and spoke up.
"I merely went to take a look around."
The curt reply carried the man's entire disposition.
"Himura Battousai. I've searched through numerous historical documents, yet I couldn't find anyone who fully matches your identity..."
"..."
Hearing Kirei's words, Himura Kenshin offered no reply, though a strange light flickered in his eyes.
"Well, no matter. You may lack the fame bonus that comes with recognition."
"But I trust you'll perform the upcoming tasks brilliantly."
Kirei didn't press the matter, simply relaying instructions per his father and teacher's directives. Yet in the deepest recesses of his heart, a question lingered.
The man before him might just hold the answer to something Kirei wanted to know.
The sky shifted overhead, and the passage of time signaled that the stage was being set.
"Wow, this is incredible."
"Have you never been out to see it before?"
Inside a black sedan, Saber was escorting Irisviel, disguised under a false identity. Unbeknownst to them, their every move had already fallen under watchful eyes.
"So that's Saber and her Master?"
"A careless pair. If not for concerns about preserving the 'mystery,' they could have been eliminated already."
Standing atop a high-rise, his form rendered spiritual and invisible, the lurking shadow murmured. The enemy was practically handing him an opportunity; he wouldn't show mercy.
The only concern was that Saber might possess some means of shielding her Master from a lethal blow.
"Hmm?!"
Walking along the beachfront in the darkness of night, both Saber and Irisviel felt it: raw, undisguised killing intent.
"Saber?"
Even the ever-optimistic Irisviel sensed the wrongness in the air.
"Such blatant bloodlust..."
"Is he declaring that once he's locked onto a target, death is certain?"
"How presumptuous."
A figure had already materialized in her vision, the sword at his waist making his hostile intent unmistakable. Saber took it as a direct provocation.
Shing!
The next instant, without so much as a word of introduction, the attacker drew his blade. His silhouette blurred like a specter as he closed the distance.
Whoosh!
"Danger!"
Instinct screamed a warning. Saber reflexively pulled Irisviel aside, narrowly sparing her from the incoming slash.
Crack!
A deep furrow was carved into the earth, but the assailant had already vanished from sight.
"That was...?"
Catching a glimpse of the razor-sharp blade, Saber assessed her opponent immediately: a fighter of exceptional technique and masterful swordsmanship.
Dragging Irisviel behind her, she positioned herself as a shield, eyes locked forward.
Swish!
'Fast...'
'That footwork...'
The open terrain seemed to have become his personal arena. She could feel the fluidity and precision of his every movement.
Afterimages flickered through the air. Saber shifted into her battle attire and drew her holy sword.
The blade, shrouded in an invisible barrier, concealed its true length; the wild torrent of wind pressure forced the approaching figure back.
"A sword hidden in wind?"
He stopped hiding. Stepping into plain view, Himura Kenshin observed Saber's invisible blade and spoke.
"You're Assassin?"
His weapon was a sword. Coupled with that eerie technique, Saber ventured a guess.
"An Assassin who engages head-on?"
Irisviel, who possessed a fair understanding of Holy Grail War conventions, was baffled. Things like concealing one's identity, operating from the shadows, that was Assassin's entire purpose. Why would this one charge in directly, especially against the strongest-performing Class, Saber?
"For someone like me... when the need arises..."
"Any time of day will do."
This was no boast. As Battousai, he had killed more enemies and officials than he could count. Outside the handful of elites in the Shinsengumi, precious few had survived an encounter with him.
It was only after meeting a certain beloved that he had tempered his relentless killing. But this time was different. Victory meant salvation, both for her grievous wounds and for the world itself.
And so, no matter what, Kenshin would cut down every enemy who stood in his path, even an unarmed Master.
"Assassin openly dueling Saber, huh?"
"Heh. Then put on a good show for me, mongrel."
Finding the Assassin's reckless behavior amusing, Gilgamesh had sensed the clash from a great distance.
A foolhardy challenge? He didn't consider it something to be embarrassed about. At the very least, it would provide him with entertainment.
That Assassin, while carrying goodness in his heart, was also a "Hitokiri" through and through. Once resolved, he would hold nothing back.
"Hmm?"
"Seems quite a few pests have crept in..."
Emiya Kiritsugu lay prone on the rooftop, his expression barely shifting.
Having received Irisviel's communication, he located a nearby vantage point and prepared to snipe. But he hadn't expected...
There was another expert in play!
The figure clad in golden armor. One glance was all it took for Kiritsugu to identify it as a Servant, and he immediately held his breath, pressing himself flat to avoid detection.
Revealing himself now would be unwise. But the battle raging not far away gnawed at his concern. Saber could handle Assassin alone well enough, but if a second Servant lurking in the shadows intervened, the situation would become genuinely perilous.
The very first night in Fuyuki City, and things had already gone this haywire. The pace of events was staggering.
"If it comes to it..."
"I'll need to have Saber retreat first."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]