ตอน 222: Mysterious Death
Kayneth stood across the street from the police headquarters, hands behind his back, watching as Arkhan leisurely crossed the road towards him.
"You can master Primordial Rune, yet you struggle with the basics of magecraft. I really don't understand how you learned magecraft at all..." Kayneth said with a resigned tone, his gaze complex as he looked at his Servant.
"That's why I told you, I only know a thing or two about magecraft." Arkhan smiled calmly.
Hearing that nonsense statement again, Kayneth's mouth twitched slightly, feeling a twinge in his stomach.
"What are you doing in a place like this so late at night, anyway?" Kayneth asked, decided to change the topic.
"Just confirming some information." Arkhan replied calmly. With hands in his pockets, he walked back in the direction he came from at a leisurely pace.
Fuyuki at night was even quieter than during the day, with almost no one on the streets. Vehicles were sparse on the road, and a few streetlights stood alone, bathed in the ethereal moonlight.
Kayneth furrowed his brow slightly, stepping forward, keeping himself about half a body length ahead of Arkhan.
"If you're here to tell me you've been recruited by the police, then congratulations. You're one step closer to fulfilling your dream of saving the world." Kayneth said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Honestly, saving the world seems much easier than saving Fuyuki..." Arkhan chuckled and shook his head. "Now, I've got good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"I prefer starting with the sweetest part when eating dessert. So, let's hear the good news first."
"The good news is... a Master and Servant pair has already exited the stage."
"What?!" Kayneth looked at Arkhan in shock. "How do you know?!"
Since coming to Fuyuki, he and his Servant hadn't encountered any other participants of the Holy Grail War, and there had been no signs of abnormal magical energy fluctuations. Everything seemed calm, yet a pair had been silently eliminated?
"A common person got mixed up in this Holy Grail War. His name is Uryuu Ryuunosuke, a sadistic man who finds pleasure in killing. He once killed his own caring sister." Arkhan spoke with a flat tone, devoid of any emotional fluctuations.
Kayneth deeply furrowed his brow. Even among self-centered mages, such a psychopath would be considered an absolute freak. At least they wouldn't kill just for the sake of killing.
"But his ancestors were mages, and he inherited the bloodline. Through a twist of fate, he stumbled upon the records left by his ancestors in the family warehouse and accidentally summoned a Servant of this Holy Grail War—Caster, Gilles de Rais."
"That French marshal?" Kayneth's eyes showed a thoughtful expression.
A cold-blooded executioner who killed over three hundred children, a sadistic murderer who took pleasure in killing—it made sense why these two would pair up.
"According to my original plan, I intended to deal with these two first."
Arkhan spoke while his eyes flashed with a cold light. Psychologically and physiologically, he couldn't tolerate these two lunatics continuing to live in this world.
"But now, Uryuu Ryuunosuke is dead. Moreover, judging from the scene, he was killed just after he summoned Caster."
The reason he was confident that Ryuunosuke had summoned Caster was because of the death scene that left a deep shadow on Police Officer Fujiwara. Anyone who had watched Fate/Zero would never forget the process of how Ryuunosuke summoned Gilles de Rais by ruthlessly slaughtering children. Unfortunately, this scene had played out once again.
"You mean on-site?" Kayneth raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying someone killed his Master right in front of Caster?"
Arkhan nodded slightly.
"Yeah, what's even more bizarre is that there's no trace of Caster fighting with anyone at the scene."
Kayneth finally caught a whiff of something fishy.
Caster was, after all, a powerful entity. Under normal circumstances, only Servant could defeat Servant. But even if the power imbalance between them was vast, Caster couldn't just watch his Master die without putting up a fight.
Without a Master, Heroic Spirits couldn't exist in this world. Even with the 'Independent Action', they could only linger for a few days at most.
"In fact, those aren't the most puzzling aspects." Arkhan's brow furrowed slightly. "What really baffles me is why the attacker chose that exact moment to attack."
At first, Kayneth didn't quite grasp Arkhan's meaning. But when it dawned on him, he broke into a cold sweat.
Why did the murderer choose to attack right after Ryuunosuke summoned Caster? It couldn't be a mere coincidence. Considering Ryuunosuke's death, it was clearly planned!
The murderer had been targeting Ryuunosuke long before, waiting for him to qualify as a Master, summon Caster, and then eliminate him!
However, how could they be certain that the Holy Grail would choose Ryuunosuke as a Master? Even the Three Founding Families, creators of the Holy Grail War, couldn't dictate such matters.
Could it be...
"Is there someone in this Holy Grail War with 'Clairvoyance'?!" Kayneth's expression turned increasingly grim as he began to understand the dire implications of Arkhan's revelation.
"Gilgamesh possesses a form of clairvoyance himself, but given his personality, it's unlikely he'd resort to such tactics."
Arkhan spoke calmly while looking up at the silver crescent moon hanging alone in the night sky.
"It seems we'll have to take some risks if we want to find out who is the culprit."
===
Fuyuki, Urban District, Dock Warehouse Area.
Arkhan sat on the edge of a shipping container, absentmindedly tossing a crystal-like object up and down. Pure and immense magical energy continuously emanated from it.
"Can't you at least be more careful?! That magical energy reactor is precious!" Kayneth's exasperated voice echoed in Arkhan's ears.
"I traded for this magical energy reactor with my own rune symbols, so it's mine, and I can do whatever to it, right? Why are you so worked up?" Arkhan shrugged nonchalantly.
Standing on another container in the distance, Kayneth's gaze wandered as if not hearing what his Servant had said.
He couldn't say that after the Holy Grail War ended, Lancer, as a Servant, would leave this world. So, obviously, that magical energy reactor would rightfully be his, right?
"Hmm? Did the fish take the bait?"
As if sensing something, Arkhan suddenly remarked and looked up ahead.
In the cold moonlight, two figures were slowly approaching.
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