Community Center, Top Floor.
A light footstep echoed softly on the walls as Kiritsugu peaked out over the corner of the stairwell.
He'd finally reached the top floor of the building after running through Lamperouge's gauntlet of traps. That he'd yet to find another bomb or tripwire on this floor had him taking baby steps lest impatience get him killed. But regardless of his cautious approach, the whole trek up the building had him ragged enough that his breathing was anything but calm.
'He had time to rig half the building… Considering the efficiency of each trap to only damage small sections of each floor, and the number of them in total, he's practically an expert terrorist.' His thoughts of King Arthur's heir was already soured. Taking all this into account, Kiritsugu wondered what the hell kind of training went into a royal's repertoire these days. 'But does it mean he has some help apart from Avenger?'
It was plausible. He'd brought in Maiya to act as support after all. It wouldn't be strange to assume another Master thought to use subterfuge in numbers as he had. But at the moment, Kiritsugu had to assume Lamperouge's 'support' to be nothing more than domestic terrorists as well.
Considering his mannerisms and apparent goals for this war, it wasn't a very reassuring fact.
'Dammit! For someone like him to slip into the Grail War yet be this flippant about it…' he cursed his bad luck.
It was one thing to get a serial killer who didn't bother restraining their crazy Servant. It was a whole other can of worms to get a child that had a fondness for pressure-plate mines, Viet Cong cartridge traps using construction nails instead of bamboo shrapnel, and Molotov tripwires that broke sprinklers willy-nilly.
Whoever Lelouch really was, he had experience and knew much about guerilla warfare weaponry. And the childish way he used them was straight out of a Home Alone movie!
The teenage parody of Kevin McCallister wasn't a mere magus, Kiritsugu understood this much. However, not once did he run into a trap that wouldn't kill him. The boy most likely didn't know how to use magecraft, but that didn't mean he needed it to be a hazardous hassle.
Still, that didn't mean the Magus Killer was at a disadvantage. In fact, it saved him time in terms of the boy's mortality.
'No magecraft means he has to resort to more mundane means of protection.' Wasting an Origin Bullet wasn't necessary. Just regular rounds, a well-placed grenade, and, hell, even a knife would do. Utilizing Time Alter should give him enough leverage as well in a one-on-one. 'In short, all I need is to get close enough.'
With that in mind, he proceeded to walk onto the floor and glance in every direction.
No sign of a trap. The boy was good at hiding them. Using Time Alter to escape had begun to strain Kiritsugu's body, but as he'd done so sparingly, taking things slow and steady sufficed.
He still shot any cameras he came across, however. It wouldn't let the boy observe his pace. He'd notify Lelouch Lamperouge when he was there simply by cutting off his eyes, but he would keep him guessing until they met face to face.
It also lessened the risk of having Avenger suddenly pop up in front of his exact location should Saber fail to distract her.
After trudging through the deepest hallway, he ended up in front of one of the many rooms. Nothing special stood out from it apart from one thing. Of all the rooms, it was the only one that didn't have work dust dirtying the floor before it. That meant someone had been in it recently.
Noting that the neighbouring room was just the same, he opted to cautiously check them both starting with the one nearest him. And so he opened the door and entered what looked to be an unfinished meeting hall.
It wasn't clean by any means. There were no chairs or wallpaper yet. On one wall, there were stacks of wooden boards and various construction materials. On the opposite end, what should've been a large window was just an empty gap with a few strips of yellow tape blocking access to a freefall. It seems installation of the glass hadn't taken place yet.
"Not here…" he muttered a bit disappointedly. Iri wasn't here, and neither was her kidnapper. 'Then, she may be in the other room next door.'
Thinking that, he double-checked the place for clues. But upon further inspecting the interior, what had appeared to be the innermost wall fell forward, surprising Kiritsugu. His guns were then aimed at what should've been the adjacent room to this one, however, he balked at the sight.
"Ngh!" The windowless wall to his right extended to the other, leaving the next room over to have the same open-air access to the outside world. But unlike his side which had safety tape blocking accidental falls, the other room had a chair just a few inches away from tipping over into the ten-story fall behind her. The one who was strapped to said chair widened her eyes in surprise as he uttered her name. "… Maiya…"
"K…Kiri… tsugu…" His assistant and apprentice uttered back.
Upon a quick inspection, not only was she bound to the seat, her limbs sported various wounds and bruises. Her legs especially had large tears from which he could spy deep gashes, and maybe even bone fractures.
In all respects, his specially trained assassin of a partner was crippled to helplessness. Unable to escape, her life was in someone else's hands. Said someone appeared immediately with the sound of clapping applause.
"Well, well, well! I see the hero has finally appeared to save the princess!" Lelouch Lamperouge appeared from the shadow of a few crates, smiling smugly as he stood beside Maiya's chair. "But this is probably not the princess you were looking for, no?"
"Keh!" Not wasting his breath on a response, Kiritsugu opened fire with the calico. The barrage of bullets rained on his target, but they didn't kill him. Instead, they struck a wall as large cobwebs of thick shattered glass appeared between them.
Lelouch smirked when Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes. "This special glass was made especially for this office. So people could see the entirety of Fuyuki City without fear of failing, it's strong enough to endure high-rise wind currents. Similarly, it's also thick enough that small arms fire can't so easily pierce through. Workers were supposed to place them sometime tomorrow, but, as I had some free time, I had Avenger do them a favour of installing it early—"
"Where is Irisviel?"
"Hoh?" Kiritsugu interruption was met with feigned surprise. "Not even going to ask about your friend over here? Is that really how a true gentleman behaves, Mister Emiya?"
"She is just my assistant, nothing more," he said dismissively, not even breaking his stern poker face when the boy eyed him warily before turning to her. Maiya was loyal enough to him that she didn't bat an eye to his claim. Such was her understanding of his cold, selfish, nature. "You said you had my boss in custody. Where is Irisviel von Einzbern?!"
He said as much while drawing the Contender. If small arms didn't work, then what about a pistol with the same firepower as a sniper rifle?
The Master of Avenger looked slightly disappointed. "Hm, quite the professionalism. Here I thought you'd get emotional, seeing as you three were really close. Judging from how defensive Lady Irisviel was of her, your casual disregard of one of my hostages makes for a very curious dilemma." The boy smirked as if sensing Kiritsugu tense. "Hm. If you really don't care for Miss Maiya over here, does that mean I don't need her anymore?"
The callousness of the child's tone caught Kiritsugu off guard when a shot suddenly rang out.
"GAH! AAAGH!" Pained by the bullet that tore through her leg, Maiya's cry had Kiritsugu contemplating on whether to shoot the boy through the glass or not was the best option.
Considering he still didn't know where Iri was, it might not have been the best option, but he could do nothing as Lamperouge made a show of his most loyal subordinate.
"You're wasting my time, boy." Kiritsugu didn't even move or show any emotion. Apart from impatience, that is. "Where is my boss?"
"Quite the utilitarian, are you? To discard the liability that got herself caught and continue to threaten me, the only one who knows where your wife is."
"A job is a job. Subordinates and colleagues aside, whether or not I can fulfil it is all that matters." The coldness of such words hid the pain tearing at him within. However, it was not lost on Maiya as she smiled wryly through biting her own lip.
She'd always know that if it was needed, he'd sacrifice her in a snap of a finger. For most of her life, after he saved her, she'd devoted herself one-sidedly to him. Second, only to Iri, she was his closest ally… even if her life was but another tool to him.
Maiya knew his character just as well as, if not more than, his own wife. For the sake of his dream, she'd do anything. Anything…
Which was why he couldn't fully hide his emotions from Lamperouge's critical eyes as he glared at the raven-haired boy.
"Hmhm Hmhm…" Lelouch laughed. "Hahahahahahahaha!"
"What's so funny, brat?!"
"Just musing to myself," he said, stifling his chuckling. "Your resolve to your job is admirable, but I'm curious as to how your boss would be reacting to this show right about now."
Kiritsugu's eyes widened then narrowed for a second. It was then that the boy gestured over to the corner of the room on his side of the glass wall. There, a red light blinked subtly in the shadows.
"Please, smile for the camera, Mister Emiya! Lady Irisviel looked so lonely, so I decided to show her something to pass the time." Lelouch walked to the camera and picked it before moving to the bulletproof glass and filming Kiritsugu directly. "Considering this a performance review of your work. A demonstration of the lengths you'd go for even as a mercenary. After all, this may be the last time either of you does business together!"
"Son… of a—!" Maiya hissed furiously through grit teeth.
"Is it wrong to give a critique of one's work ethic?" Lelouch smirked before turning towards Kiritsugu. "Now, Magus Killer, do tell! Would you still want me to shoot your little 'assistant' over here, or not? I'm sure your boss has a strong opinion about it, but as you said she is just your subordinate, nothing more. And this is all a job, yes? What do you say?"
Kiritsugu clenched his fist. The bastard brat was doing it to torture Iri. His wife was a kind woman. Far too kind for someone as cold as him. An irony considering she was an inhuman creation. Yet, despite her origin, Irisviel von Einzbern had a human heart. She would never allow anything to happen to Maiya, unnecessary torture included, if she could help it.
His wife was an understanding woman who knew what the two were doing behind her back, yet she accommodated not being able to console him by allowing it all. It was all due to the human heart he fostered within her all those years ago. Both a blessing and a curse to a Grail vessel that wouldn't survive the war's end.
Her time was near. But even though they hadn't exchanged much in the way of words since moving away from the castle, Kiritsugu was well-aware of what his homunculus wife was thinking. And what she would feel as she watched this exchange.
As someone who'd once abandoned someone dear until their gruesome demise, the least he could do was spare Iri the painful scene of watching someone close die because of his negligence.
"... What do you want?" he said but didn't lower the Contender.