Fuyuki City.
"...Kayneth, I thought the main reason for our alliance was to work together in order to defeat other servants and their masters."
On this sunny day in Fuyuki City, two masters and one servant had been discussing their progress in the war, or to be specific, lack of it. Earlier this morning, the two men agreed to meet in an unremarkable cafe and share their latest achievements. However, now Lelouch wasn't sure his 'ally' had any good news to share. Lancer was remaining in spirit form as Kayneth demanded from him. Ever since the male servant's defeat in his last fight, his master had been furious at his failure.
Avenger Nobunaga, on the other hand, was sitting right next to her master and enjoying her drink. To the Japanese woman, this situation was quite funny, but Lelouch didn't share his servant's amusement.
'Now we've lost our best advantage against Saber. No doubt Artoria already noticed that Lancer lost his weapon and reported it to her master.' Lancer losing one of his cursed spears was bad enough, but the Irish hero had lost the one Noble Phantasm Lelouch had been planning to abuse. 'A weapon that deals damage that cannot be healed. Such a valuable asset wasted so casually.'
With a weapon like that in their possession, employing hit and run tactics would have been the perfect strategy. Alas, they now needed to find another plan to kill their enemies.
"Trust me when I say this, Lamperouge. This isn't what I expected but that wild Berserker was too strong for my servant. Lancer had failed me once again." Kayneth tried to put all the blame on his servant, but Avenger pointed out an interesting detail he missed.
"You could have used a command seal to call back Lancer. It is the lord's duty to order his soldiers to retreat when a victory is unachievable." Nobunaga smiled as she recalled her memories of the experience.
"And just admit defeat like that? This is a sign of weakness that I cannot tolerate." The blonde magus insisted, but Lelouch sighed, already tired of this familiar arrogance. It seemed that the nobility was the same no matter what world he was in.
"There is a difference between losing a battle and not being able to win. However, none of this matters right now, Kayneth. Without Lancer's second spear our strategy against Saber will have to change...but there is something more important we need to discuss first. No doubt, Saber had already healed her wound. It might be better to leave her to deal with other servants. We will change our priority and move to another target. Archer." Lelouch noticed that his British ally had gotten tense.
"Archer...he is a strong foe. Very strong indeed." Lelouch nodded.
"Indeed, but right now, he is not fighting seriously. Or most likely, he is being forced to wait for the time being." Kayneth looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Last night when the Assassins attacked our banquet, Gilgamesh was visibly irritated by this. Clearly, he didn't expect the Assassins' intervention. Now we know that his master is Tokiomi Tohsaka, currently barricaded in his home. Considering everything you told me about Kirei Kotomine, it isn't hard to guess their plan. Kotomine had his servant attack hos former master in order to deceive the other participants and make it look like he had lost his servant while hiding his small army of Assassins. Kotomine has likely been using them to spy on the others, I'm sure he's shared what he knows with Tokiomi by now."
Kayneth was quiet for a moment before asking.
"But why did the priest sent them after you and others in the Einzbern Castle? No matter how many he had, Kotomine couldn't hope to defeat the other Heroic Spirits with only Assassins. Wasting them like that was a foolish move."
"Not really," Nobunaga observed. "The Assassins were sacrificed to learn Rider's Noble Phantasm. From a strategic perspective, it was a victory even if casualties might appear high. However, when you think about it more carefully, Tohsaka has been ordering his former student the entire time. Using Kirei's servants like that starts to make more sense."
"I don't get it." Kayneth looked puzzled, Nobunaga looked at him with disappointment.
"Kotomine Kirei has lost all of his servants and is no longer useful to Tohsaka. But it also means that Kirei is no longer a threat to him. I don't know the master of Archer personally, but from what I have learned about him thus far, I think that he prefers the safest approach in this war. Waiting for the other servants to kill each other while gathering information before making his move." Lelouch didn't need to tell Kayneth about some secrets. For example, how this war actually worked and how the Servants would inevitably be sacrificed. Tokiomi was part of one of the founding families and therefore knew all about it. That's why he didn't order Kirei to use his Assassins and kill all masters when they were not expecting it.
"Sounds like a reliable strategy." Lelouch nodded at his ally's words but added.
"Maybe but it has one obvious weakness. Right now Tokiomi Tohsaka is hiding away in his house and waiting for other masters to do all the dirty work. Even you can see this is too optimistic a way of thinking."
"...but his servant is powerful, one look at his stats is enough."
"That Gold Bastard might be strong, but it doesn't mean he is invincible. In fact, this Tohsaka is just wasting his servant's potential with this plan. Right now King of Heroes is the least dangerous enemy since he is only waiting for more servants to die. Umu, what a pity for him that the first servant to die was his best source of information." Nobunaga couldn't help but let out a short laugh.
"Without Assassins, Tohsaka no longer has eyes and ears around Fuyuki City anymore. Not to mention, that with the Caster situation still unresolved, his plan is even less feasible. Right now, the other servants are focused on hunting down Bluebeard, instead of killing each other." A cruel smirk appeared on Lelouch's face."All of this allows us to take out the head of the Tohsaka family." Kayneth narrowed his eyes.
"Wait, are you seriously planning to kill the Master in his own house? Lelouch, this doesn't sound like a good idea to me."
"Yet sending your Servant into an obvious trap does?" Nobunaga laughed when an older man glared at her.
"I only overestimated my Servant's capabilities." Kayneth looked around, clearly trying to insult Lancer who had been somewhere nearby. Nobunaga's smug grin was enough to make blonde magus blood boil but he forced himself to stay silent."Besides, attacking that magus at his house is beyond stupidity. Even a failed third rate magus would tell you that."
"Kayneth, your lack of faith saddens me. However, Tohsaka thinks the same way...which means he doesn't expect anyone to attack him right now. We could use this and raid Tohsaka's home while his guard is down. And before you mention bounded fields, I might have a solution for that as well. But I need to know something, Kayneth. Do you know any hypnotic magecraft?" Kayneth slowly nodded, not understanding where Lelouch was going. A cruel smirk formed on the Demon Emperor's face.
"Excellent. In that case, we should visit the police department and ask for help."