ACT-11 "Strategist's Trap"

All right, now that we've settled things with Saber...

It was a de facto peace treaty, yeah. But what about Lancer... What about Lord Archibald?

He's still enemies with Saber over the Grail, right?

That's the problem. There's a limit to what you can do when you're trying to be friends with both sides.

Hmm... Seems like we'll need to come up with another plan.

Do you have some way to persuade him?

If you want to convince someone of something, the fastest way is to present them with an illusion they want to hear.

As Lord Kayneth thinks that the world revolves around him...

...he's likely to believe anything that reinforces that. A true strategist can control people's minds with ease.

Foufoufou!

？！

But first... We need to deal with this Shadow that refuses to leave us alone.

GWACH! You found me again!?

The Stone Sentinel Maze is perfect for keeping out Assassins. It's like having your own portable workshop.

You fell into my clutches the second you tried to sneak up on me!

Enemy Servant eliminated... But is this another fragment?

Even if they're not tough individually, it's hard to deal with so many of them.

Let's just meet up with Lord Kayneth before anyone else follows us.

Just like you suggested, I sent a familiar to the Matou mansion last night and negotiated with them. Berserker will join our battle,

with the condition that we provide for them an opportunity to face the Tohsaka clan's Servant.

Thank you very much. But I'm not certain that it justified the trouble you went through...

What? What do you mean?

There's been a major development on our side. A decisive improvement, you could say.

We were able to observe several factors that were still uncertain, allowing us to share much more information with you while still avoiding paradoxes.

As a result... We can now tell you the entire truth. The whole truth about the Fuyuki Grail War.

(Fo?)

W-What do you mean?

Didn't you find it strange to begin with?

Why would a huge ceremony involving a battle for an omnipotent wish granter take place in the middle of nowhere, so far from the Clock Tower?

And then there's the fact that out of seven participants, only one slot was provided for the Mage's Association.

Yes, well... that's why I participated. Even if it didn't live up to its reputation, it was still a fun game with little risk.

It's worse than simply not living up to its reputation. The whole Fuyuki Grail War is a fake.

？！

(Senpai, you're letting it show! Keep a poker face!)

This is all a conspiracy by an enemy of the Archibald family, the Trambelios.

The plan was to get you away from the Clock Tower for a period of time,

and then while you were away, quickly expand their influence in the Mage's Association!

W-What!?

We knew that you would fall for this Trambelio trap, and decided to intervene in the past.

But we couldn't warn you about it in advance. In order to share knowledge of the future...

We needed to observe unshakable evidence in the past that a conspiracy existed.

(Wow... How does he come up with this stuff...?)

(...Fou.)

Last night we found that proof. We have direct testimony from the Tohsakas, one of the three clans behind the Holy Grail War.

H-How did you get it?

We destroyed every Leyline we could find in this city.

Of course, this destruction had nothing to do with the Grail War, but that's why the Tohsakas gave in.

They didn't want to lose the rights to their land over a fake Holy Grail War.

The Tohsakas confessed to colluding with the Trambelios in order to lure you out with a fake fourth Grail War.

(What makes it worse is that he's mixing in truth with the lies...)

They knew you wanted glory not as a researcher, but as a warrior, and created the perfect arena to lure you out...

That's the true nature of the Fuyuki ritual. The other participants, the Holy Church's Overseer...

They're all decoys to make the farce more believable.

How intricate! How wicked!

...But those Trambelios, those fools that espouse "democracy" so much, might just do something like that!

Why... Why have I wasted so much of my valuable time on this!?

(Welp... He fell for it. Yeah.)

But it wasn't a total loss. Your defeat of Caster was truly impressive.

I think that display of boldness may have only increased Lady Sola-Ui's love for you.

Y-You think so? Hmm...

I'm sure of it. I am a man who's very sensitive to how women feel in that regard. I believe it was

"I was never interested in him before, but now that I've seen how brave he is, I've gone from hating him to loving him!"

It was a change of that magnitude, I believe.

Oh, my! Wait, what was that one part? Well, whatever. It all worked out in the end!

(Oh... I'm starting to kind of feel bad for him...)

But still, there is no time to waste. You must hurry to London, and stop the Trambelio plot!

No matter how secure the Archibald family is, without you they're no match for the wicked plots of the populists.

The aristocracy The feat of our very clan depends on this!

Curse those sneaky Trambelios! Curse you, Valuayeta!

I'll show you a thing or two! Sola-Ui! Hurry and get ready!

(Fooou...)

Our new battle lies beyond the sea... Master, I, Diarmuid, shall accompany you!

I never had a wish for the Grail to begin with. My spear shall accompany you, no matter the battle!

Oh, excellent. I'm sure that if you have a Servant at your side, Lady Sola-Ui will be very happy.

...Uh...hmm...

Lancer, by my Command Spell, I order you. Stay here and continue the Holy Grail War.

W-What!?

Farce or not, now that I've entered the battle, I must win it in order to maintain my reputation.

Amazing, Lord El-Melloi! You know exactly how important the Archibald reputation is!

I leave you my Servant as a present. You may represent the clan in my stead.

Defeat everyone involved in this stupid farce, and show them who is truly strong.

Leave it to me!

...Very well. If you say so, Master. I shall do my best with my new Master.

(This is awful! I've never seen someone get a Servant contract just by making stuff up!)

...Oh, one last thing. You said you saw a draft of a love letter in my study, right?

...? Yes. What of it?

I would never allow someone to search my room while there was something so foolish still in it.

Am I wrong in thinking that the study you refer to...is one whose master never returned to it?

...

...

...Yes. That's right.

Humph. I suppose in that regard, I should thank you.

...Your words honor me, my old Master. You are the Lord I wished to be. You are the great El-Melloi.

Your talents are the greatest treasure the Clock Tower has. Please, take care of yourself.

Lord El-Melloi... I guess here I'll call you Lord El-Melloi II, but...

What is it?

I'm likely wasting my time here, but all those lies you told your predecessor...

You're aware of how false they really are, right?

What do you mean, Doctor?

Chaldea isn't a time machine. And you guys aren't there from the future.

This Singularity is just a tiny little area. A bubble appearing on the ashes of human history.

Once the irregularity that created the bubble is gone...it will be like a dream that has nothing to do with real history.

...

Thus, no matter how hard you work, you can't actually change history.

Even if you save someone here, that salvation is only temporary.

In the timeline you're from, the dead will remain dead, and the tragedy will remain a tragedy.

It's theoretically impossible to change the past via a Rayshift. Everything you're doing...is meaningless.

Fooou...

And why does that matter, Doctor?

I just wanted to make sure that you personally knew that nothing would come of this.

It seems to me like you're trying to get through this as peacefully and smoothly as possible.

But you don't need to. There are simpler and easier ways, aren't there?

Nothing will come of it, huh? ...Maybe that's how it looks to you. But to me, this has a lot of meaning.

Even if I can't really save them, I wanted to do the best I could here.

This isn't atonement for the past. My heart refused to let me

be weak enough to make the same mistake twice. That's all.

...

You're free to laugh at me if you like.

I just don't want to be forced to realize my own powerlessness again.

Of course, the pain of regret is mine alone. It means nothing to anyone else.

In that regard, I do feel bad for wasting Fujimaru and Mash's time, but...

？！

You're right. It's wrong to see something bad happening and not try to do anything to stop it.

Regardless of the result, I agree with Lord El-Melloi's plan.

Fou!

Thank you. That helps a lot.

...I see. That's what it is to be human, huh?

Okay. I won't bring it up again. So do you have a plan for our next move?

Yes. Kayneth prepared an alliance for us with the Berserker group.

We'd be foolish to let that go to waste.