Haruka Kasugano was in a hurry to leave Tohsaka Aoi not only to lure her a little more, but also to get down to business.
There were two things he wanted to do.
The first was dealing with the matter of Emiya Kiritsugu blowing up the grand hotel where Kayneth was.
Of course, Haruka Kasugano didn't want to help Kayneth prevent Emiya Kiritsugu from blowing him up.
Because the hotel Kayneth was currently in had been transformed into a magical fortress by him, and it was impossible for him to break in with his own abilities.
To weaken Kayneth's strength, he had to let Emiya Kiritsugu successfully blow him up.
But Haruka Kasugano still needed to pass on information to Kayneth, otherwise he would lose trust.
The second thing was to imitate Gilles de Rais actions to harass Artoria.
To keep things as close to the original plot as possible, Haruka Kasugano still needed to imitate Gilles de Rais actions as closely as possible.
Otherwise, he'd lose this intelligence advantage, and how could he then devise a strategy to win over the ladies?
Besides…
He hadn't even seen the beautiful Irisviel in the real world yet.
He was going to see her for himself!
And he also wanted to take the opportunity to infiltrate Irisviel's inner circle.
Therefore, Haruka Kasugano had specially chosen a nice outfit.
After all, first impressions are very important.
…
At this moment, Kayneth was scolding Diarmuid in the presidential suite.
"Damn it! Couldn't you have finished quickly? Why were you leisurely playing games with Saber?" Kayneth scolded.
"My lord… I was just fighting normally…" Diarmuid said aggrievedly.
"Honestly, I even had to waste a Command Spell… I'm so angry!" Kayneth cursed.
Just as he was about to continue his tirade, Sola stepped forward and rebuked him, "What could Lancer have done wrong? This is entirely your responsibility. If you had commanded properly, that mere Saber would have been wiped out long ago!"
Kayneth, that sycophantic sycophant, didn't dare disobey Sola at all, and immediately deflated in her presence.
"I just wanted to fight more efficiently..." Kayneth said, feeling aggrieved.
"I think you're all talk and no action!" Sola continued to mock.
At this moment, Diarmuid suddenly called out, "Miss Sola, please don't blame the Lord!"
Seeing Diarmuid's anger, Sola immediately tensed up. She quickly bent down and explained, "Lancer, it's not like that. I was just standing up for you!"
"As a knight, obeying my lord's reprimands is my duty! I'll fight better next time!" Diarmuid said remorsefully.
"Yes! Lancer, you're the best!" Sola encouraged.
Her gaze towards Diarmuid was filled with tenderness, as if she longed to melt into Diarmuid's being.
Kayneth noticed this expression, and his heart swelled with jealousy.
Bang—
Suddenly, the building shook.
Everyone present was stunned.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
Kayneth hurriedly went to answer it.
"Hello? There's a fire downstairs. We need to evacuate? Okay."
After hanging up, Kayneth confidently smiled, "It must be an enemy attack. It's probably Saber coming for revenge, trying to break her curse!"
"Lancer, engage!"
"Yes!" Diarmuid bowed.
"I've built this into the most powerful magic workshop in the world. Thousands of traps inside and out, even spacetime has been isolated. I guarantee the enemy won't return!" Kayneth deliberately said in front of Sola.
"Hmm! Let's wait and see!" Sola laughed.
Kayneth was overjoyed; he could finally make Sola look at him with new eyes.
Suddenly.
The fax machine rang.
A piece of paper printed out.
Kayneth went over and read it aloud.
[To Lord Kayneth,
I have obtained the latest intelligence: the building you are in will be demolished via a coordinated three-dimensional bombing. Please evacuate immediately!]
Kayneth: "..."
Sola: "..."
Diarmuid: "..."
The three were speechless.
Couldn't you have sent the intelligence sooner?
Bang—
The next second, the entire building collapsed like melted chocolate.
...
Outside, Kiritsugu Emiya smoked a cigarette and muttered, "Is this all there is to El-Melloi's mage fortress?"
Do you always have to use magic to deal with a mage? Of course not.
He was about to use his pager to ask Hisau Maiya for information, but the call wouldn't go through.
At this moment.
On the adjacent building under construction, Kirei Kotomine watched the fall of the Kerry Hotel.
"How ironic. Is he really a magician? Why would he use such methods?" Kirei Kotomine chuckled.
Miya Hisa, hiding nearby, had been observing the Kerry Hotel from Kirei Kotomine's position.
However, she had been ambushed by Kirei Kotomine and was now forced to hide.
"Kirei Kotomine... why are you here?" Maiya Hisa asked in surprise.
She was also an incredibly beautiful and aloof woman, the kind of ruthless assassin with long, slender limbs and a very dashing air.
"Oh? How do you know my name? Am I worthy of Kiritsugu Emiya's attention?" Kirei Kotomine chuckled.
Just as he was about to arrest Maiya Hisa, Kiritsugu Emiya arrived and rescued her with a smoke bomb.
"Damn it!" Kirei Kotomine was furious.
At that moment, Assassin suddenly appeared and said, "Master, I have urgent news to report."
"Damn it! Who told you to show yourself? What if they find out you're still alive?" Kirei Kotomine cursed.
"I'm sorry... but I really do have urgent news to report. The culprit in the children's disappearances these past few days has been found," Assassin said.
"What?" Kirei Kotomine immediately became serious.
He rushed back to the church and contacted his father, Risei Kotomine.
As the supervisor of the Holy Grail War, Risei Kotomine was responsible for monitoring the situation at all times.
"The culprit in the children's disappearances these past few days has been found. It was Caster and her Master!" Kirei Kotomine said.
"What? How dare they?" Risei Kotomine roared in fury.
"Issue an arrest warrant immediately! Because Caster violated the rules of the Holy Grail War, order all Masters and Servants to cease hostilities and go kill Caster. Whoever kills Caster will be rewarded with a Command Spell!"
"Yes!" Kirei Kotomine nodded. ...
On the other side.
Haruka Kasugano hurriedly arrived at the main road.
Circe was waiting for him there.
Circe sat on an advertising billboard, swinging her slender legs, and laughed, "Little Piglet, how did you know about the situation at the port tonight?"
"Guess!" Haruka Kasugano chuckled.
"You little Piglet!" Circe pouted angrily.
Haruka Kasugano urged, "Stop talking now, take me to the mountain road twenty kilometers away right now, we're going to ambush Saber there!"
"Oh~! You little Piglet, you're so naughty, knowing Saber is injured, you still want to ambush her!" Circe chuckled.
So, led by Circe, they quickly arrived at the mountain road outside the Einzbern family castle forest.
Irisviel was racing there.
Haruka Kasugano and Circe crouched on a nearby tree, observing.
"Pigletle…how did you know they'd pass by here?" Circe was increasingly impressed with Haruka Kasugano.
"It's a secret! Caster, send a familiar to block their path!" Haruka Kasugano chuckled.
"Yes, sir!"
Watching Circe summon the Dragon Fang Soldiers, Haruka Kasugano began to meticulously plan his next move using his [Mathematical Thinking].
His biggest advantage in maintaining the original plot was his foresight regarding information.
Otherwise, without knowing how things would develop, let alone winning over the wives, even survival would be a problem.
Furthermore, he had already completely devised a plan to romance Sola.
According to the plot, Sola would definitely cheat on Kayneth, betray him, and steal the Command Seals from him.
If he could simulate Gildre's disturbance on the riverbank, Sola would definitely, just like in the original plot, lead Diarmuid to attack him.
However, Sola, being a pampered young lady, was completely unsuspecting.
While she was intently watching the handsome Diarmuid fight, she was attacked by Hisau Maiya and captured.
Thus, she became a hostage to force Kayneth to surrender.
So… now, he had captured Sola before Hisau Maiya.
Wouldn't that mean he could slowly, quietly, and comfortably win Sola over?
That's right, that was his plan to win Sola over.
As long as the plot followed the original storyline, he could smoothly take Sola down.
But what troubled Haruka Kasugano even more was how to win over Irisviel.
First, Irisviel couldn't be won over by force alone, and after he seized Sola, the plot would definitely deviate, making the future even more unpredictable.
So he wanted to try something here.
To see if he could gain an opportunity to get close to Irisviel right here.
According to the original plot, Artoria and Irisviel would be intercepted by Gilles de Rais here.
However, it would only be verbal harassment, nothing more.
Actually, I feel that not imitating this part wouldn't have affected the later developments.
But it's precisely because this part is so dispensable that Haruka Kasugano dared to make changes here.