Remaining Balance: 417,439 JPY.
My funds had decreased more than I expected.
Honestly, I was completely burnt out from the wait for the Holy Grail War to begin.
With nothing to do and no idea what I should be doing, I wasted my time lazing around in a bed with Tiamat, buying a computer, and experiencing classic games.
Later, I drank the elixir Medea had completed. Along with the searing pain that felt like my entire body was on fire, Magic Circuits were created, and my mana capacity was said to have increased by several hundred times.
As a bonus, an immortality potion was also completed, making me immortal, but it didn't feel real at all.
Having obtained Magic Circuits, I learned Gandr from Medea, and I could see that it fired just like Rin's Gandr in Fate/stay night.
How should I describe it? It felt like it fired by imagining injecting mana (as a bullet) and shooting it. Because of that, it didn't matter if it was a machine gun or a rifle; I could fire a lot of shots.
Ten shots per second, 600 shots per minute. It was enough to make me wonder if this was Gandr or an actual gun...
In any case, the time for the Holy Grail War drew near. Before that, I spent my time training with a wooden sword, but I didn't feel like I had gotten any stronger.
"Caster, what's the Servant situation?"
"For now, it seems everyone is summoning their Servants quickly..."
"Sigh, so it's finally starting..."
I turned on my smartphone to check.
Saber = Kiritsugu Emiya (Master) / Irisviel von Einzbern (Mana Provider)
Lancer = Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald (Master) / Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri (Mana Provider)
Archer = Tokiomi Tohsaka
Rider = Waver Velvet
Caster = Akira
Assassin = Kirei Kotomine
Berserker = Kariya Matou
Observers = Merlin (Avalon) / Francesca (Present Day) / Manaka (Unknown)
"..."
Everything else was fine, but why were Francesca and Manaka added?
'This is completely insane.'
I didn't know about the others, but if those two got involved, the Holy Grail War would likely turn into a chaotic mess. For now, seeing as they were listed as Observers, they might just be here to watch.
"Medea, could you magically enhance a baseball bat for me?"
"Yes, that's possible. Why?"
"Ah, I think I might have a use for it later."
If Francesca revives even after death, then instead of killing her, I planned to start her education by aiming squarely for her butt and giving her a lesson.
She won't die anyway. If she keeps reviving here and there, it'll just be a pain for me. So, my plan was to subdue her with Medea's magic and smack her butt to bring her to her senses. Though, it might end up being less of an ideal lesson and more of a way to relieve my own boredom...
As for Manaka... let's just not give her any attention. Whether she appears or not is up to her.
If she did appear, I would need to first ascertain her disposition.
I had no way of knowing if this was the 21-year-old Manaka, the 17-year-old, or the 1000-year-old version, and her objective was also uncertain. For now, I could only wait for her to lose interest.
And so the Holy Grail War began. Medea dispatched familiars to scout the enemy's hideouts.
Several familiars were shot or pierced by mercury and died in various accidents, but the familiar sent to the Tohsaka Residence was unharmed.
"The Holy Grail War has finally begun. Aaaaa..."
"Indeed... I almost died from the wait."
"...In any case, that Assassin will be dead soon. It's impressive that he passed through those traps so naturally, but..."
Ordinary Hassans are specialized in assassinating Masters rather than Servants, so they excel at information warfare and assassination, but they have a hard time winning against Servants.
There are exceptions, of course, but let's move on. In the familiar's vision, just as Assassin reached out to touch the core of the bounded field, a golden streak of light shot down from the sky, piercing through his hand.
『A crawling worm dares to raise its face in my presence without my permission?』
Along with the arrogant voice, Assassin looked up at the sky with a bewildered expression.
One of the countless projectiles from the barrage pierced through his head, killing him.
"Assassin has been eliminated already..."
"No, he hasn't been eliminated yet."
"What?"
"Assassin's Noble Phantasm is composed of one hundred personalities, but the number he can effectively utilize is eighty. I don't know about the other twenty."
I knew one of them was a child, but I had no idea when or where she would appear, so I decided not to say anything.
"I see... If it's a Heroic Spirit who has turned his personalities into a Noble Phantasm, he'll report the loss of a Servant to the Church and then handle his Servants with more caution... Or the Church is on his side. It's one of the two. That aside, how do you know information that even I am unaware of? Are you sure you don't have future sight?"
"I told you I don't~"
Medea's eyes were full of disbelief.
She was already a non-believer, but looking into the eyes of a non-believer... it just made me sigh deeply.
"Fine, believe what you want..."
"Seriously... are you afraid to just tell the truth?"
"..."
I was just telling the truth... Medea.
"It's nice that you two seem to get along... Mama is being forgotten..."
Tiamat looked like she was about to pout and cry, so I stroked her head.
Even though she was a mother, Tiamat's child-like behavior made Medea and me break out in a cold sweat.
'Her body is an adult's... but her mind is a child's.'
On top of that, considering she was a Beast and one of the strongest beings, it was enough to make me sigh deeply.
"You're not being forgotten~"
"Hehehe..."
"Who's the mother here... Anyway, Assassin is still alive, and Archer uses that vast number of Noble Phantasms... Even as a Caster, there's a clear limit to what defensive magic can do against such a barrage. However, if Tiamat were to join the battle, I believe our chances of winning would increase."
"That logic is sound... but I'm going to help the Berserker-side Master. No, you can think of it as a deal. Since he's the Insect Mage, could you create a poison that's fatal to bugs? Something harmless to humans."
"Hmm... what kind of dispersal range are you thinking of?"
"Let's go with a 3-kilometer kill radius. Zouken Matou is a bug, so there's no telling where he'll scurry off to."
"Hmm... then shall we go with a slow-acting pesticide?"
"Wouldn't a time-release one be better? Something that kills so slowly he won't even realize he's dying."
"Excellent. In that case, an insecticide won't take long to make. Please give me about a day."
"Got it."
"Make an instant-kill pesticide as well. We need to save the girl being tormented by the worms later."
"Hmm... and the range?"
"It's just to kill the bugs in the basement workshop of the mansion..."
"So it won't be a wide area."
"Right."
"Well, I'll let you know when it's ready. In any case, is there anything else you need?"
Nothing else came to mind.
"I don't think so... But Medea, if I, the Master, were to use Rule Breaker, would it still work?"
"Yes. My Noble Phantasm is one created from my legend, so I believe it will activate as long as it pierces the target."
"Then is the process of making a Heroic Spirit join our team automatic?"
"No, fundamentally it seems to require magical interference. Rule Breaker can only nullify contracts made through magical energy; forming a new contract requires separate preparations."
"But transferring a contract is possible, right?"
"Yes, as long as I am alive, it is possible. However... if we assume I am dead and you use Rule Breaker, it would be nearly impossible. Since you're not a magus to begin with, forming a contract would be even more difficult. Well... if you had some knowledge, a re-contract might be possible."
So, I roughly understood that Rule Breaker didn't have a "stealing" ability.
"Nothing else will happen today, right?"
"No. With Assassin's sudden elimination, the day will likely pass quietly."
For a moment, I thought deeply.
'Tomorrow, Irisviel and Artoria will be landing at the airport. Should I go meet them?'
"For now, can you put a perception-blocking spell on Tiamat?"
"That's a piece of cake."
"Let's go out tomorrow morning."
"Hmm? Where are we going?"
"To kidnap someone in broad daylight."
"Oh, I see?"
Hey, Tiamat, isn't your reaction a little weak?
Medea also disappeared without any reaction.
'Hey, if you just disappear without reacting, what does that make me?'
You're supposed to give me some kind of reaction... Then again, with Tiamat here, all reactions are dead... The bar for what was surprising had been raised too high.
'Rider's Master... well, he probably won't cause any major trouble, but the problem is what Rider's personality will be like...'
My plan was to meet Saber and Lancer before they made contact and become Saber's Master with Rule Breaker.
Given Saber's personality as a Heroic Spirit who upholds chivalry, it wouldn't be strange for her to try to kill me, but it might not be a bad idea to hold Irisviel hostage and negotiate.
What happens to Kiritsugu after he loses his Command Spells to Rule Breaker is not my problem.
He was a broken man, obsessed with the idea of sacrificing the few to save the many and tormented by a series of tragic past events. Trying to persuade him would be foolish.
What I want isn't a happy ending, but to reduce unnecessary casualties.
With Medea's healing and magical abilities, it's possible to extract the Grail while keeping Illyasviel alive.
Therefore, it should be possible to save Irisviel as well.
It was just speculation, but I strongly believed there was a high chance of saving her.