Walking in the Question and Answer System of Heroic Spirits

Rin Tohsaka: "In other words, both the Euryphus family and the Animusfia family could be partners of Hartres."

Koles: "However, if there really is cooperation, what did Hartres offer to persuade a monarch to agree to it?"

Weber: "These are all just speculations now. Until the very end, we will never know anything."

Shiki Jie Li: "Maybe it's not a cooperation, but rather being sold out. After all, it's not the first time."

Fiore: "Haha, that's certainly possible."

Chapter 332 - Plans Can't Keep Up with Changes

That evening, in their new hotel room, the Second Prince and his entourage were organizing the intelligence they had gathered.

[Flatter: "Professor! I can't remember any of it!"]

[Second Generation: "Although this time it involves a large number of people..."]

[Lenes: "How about we summarize it with a chart, brother?"]

[Second King: "A diagram? That's not a bad idea. Sphinx, can I give it to you?"]

[Sphinx: "I understand."]

[Sifen is very skilled at organizing information into diagrams, as he does this frequently.]

"Then, let's start with the members of the Grand Order."

The democratic faction has proposed a redevelopment plan for Albion, and the confirmed participants are: Monarch Tramberio and Monarch Baruyeletta.

The noble faction, opposing the Albion redevelopment plan, currently includes: Monarch Euryphus and Monarch Animusfia (whose agent is Olga Marie).

As for the Second El-Melloi, considering El-Melloi's traditions, he seems to belong to this camp.

The other monarchs, the neutral faction, and the Barthezmello family, the last of the three great noble families, almost all did not participate.

[Based on this situation, five out of the twelve families will participate, which is considered average attendance for the decision on the regency. However, is it unusual that four of them will be attended by the monarch himself?]

Rin Tohsaka: "Sigh! I thought it would be a gathering of all twelve monarchs, but there are only five of them."

Kenneth: "Five people is actually a lot, after all, it's none of our business and we'd rather stay out of it."

Kenneth: "Unless it's something really important, the Grand Order has never had a full twelve players."

Webber: "Looking at it this way, it seems like Elmero was dragged in by force."

Feng Xi: "Isn't that so?"

Weber: "...Yes, there wasn't even a chance to object."

Kenneth: "That's the difference between strong and weak. You better remember that from now on."

Weber: "Yes, teacher."

[Sphinx: "What's going on, teacher?"]

"That refers to the high level of seriousness they displayed."

The Second King said solemnly, "In this Grand Order decision, Transberio is serious about approving Albion's redevelopment plan. It is precisely because His Majesty Euryphus sensed how serious the other party was that he personally attended. If he had sent a proxy as usual, there would have been a risk of being easily overwhelmed by the opponent due to the difference in their status."

"Then, neutralism decided not to send any agents, probably because it didn't want to be caught in the crossfire. The more serious the stance, the more likely a rash action would trigger a chain reaction and offend others. It's fine if aristocracy and democracy love each other and fight each other, but if they're really serious about destroying each other, it's best to keep your distance... Neutrality probably holds this view."

[Grey: "I see..."]

Weber: "Ugh, what bad luck."

Shiki Jie Li: "Even if you weren't forcibly dragged in, this Grand Order decision is quite related to Hartres, so you'll eventually have to join in."

Weber: "...That's true."

[Sfin then began drawing diagrams of Hartres and his five disciples.]

[The two people I met earlier at the Department of Unseen Excavations: Karlgard Israel and Ashira Mystras.]

[The three who have gone missing are: Gesells Tolman, Jorek Kurudais, and—an unnamed person.]

That's right, for this last disciple, nothing could be found—no name, no background information.

However, Aozaki Touko's resourcefulness paid off; she found a name that seemed to be the other party's name—Kuro.

Kenneth: "This must be the boy. He didn't leave any information at all. Hartrace did a really good job keeping things secret."

Koles: "But this means we're completely in the dark about the boy's situation."

[Sphinx: "That's roughly it."]

[Flatter: "Truly a dog's masterpiece! If I were to draw it, the art would have exploded!"]

[Sfin: "Alright, now write a paper that others can understand! Clearly explain why the changes happened this way! It's clearly incomprehensible, but Professor Charles always says it might contain earth-shattering discoveries and asks me to translate your papers. Try to put yourself in my shoes!"]

[Flatter: "In that case, you can be a co-author of my paper!"]

These two are at it again.

Looking at the diagram, the Second Prince slowly said, "The problem lies in the reason for the disappearance of Hartres's disciple."

Reines: "Oh, even your brother couldn't have imagined this? This is one of your strengths, isn't it?"

[Second King: "There's too little information to make a judgment. However, given how frequently it appears as a keyword, the matter must be related to the Albion tomb in some way."]

[Lenes: "Isn't there another mystery right now? Is Hartles gathering his former disciples? Or—"]

"Reines!"

The Second King stopped her with a serious expression, seemingly rejecting what Reines was about to say.

Rin Tohsaka: "Why did you suddenly interrupt?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "There are some things that are better left unsaid in public, especially in this kind of situation."

Kenneth: "...That's right."

Most of the people in the group had already guessed what Reines was going to say.

This is indeed a topic that is not suitable to discuss in front of Grey.

[Second King: "Regarding the missing disciples of Hartres, it's necessary to gather information again. Reines, excuse me, but could you please return to Sla and reinvestigate the disciples' whereabouts?"]

Reines: "Sigh, I wish my brother would think more about how to get his sister to do things. So, what is he planning to do?"

[Second Generation: "Although it will be troublesome if the students find out, I'll still travel with you."]

These words immediately drew Flat and Sven's attention back to them.

[Flatter: "Wow! That's a big deal, Professor! We need to come up with an invisibility spell now!"]

[Sphinx: "Go think of a magic trick to sew your mouth shut, so you don't attract too much attention."]

Watching the two start arguing again, the Second Prince felt a stomachache.

However, although the plan was set, they didn't act according to it.

[Because the very next morning, the Second Generation was summoned to the Secret Corpse Dissection Bureau by Hishiri Adashino.]

Lion Jie Li: "It seems that something happened to those two from yesterday."

Weber: "Ashira has left, so the most likely cause of the accident is—"

The location was yesterday on the 45th basement level; the scene was in the research lab.

Countless monsters lay lifeless on the metal floor.

[Besides the multi-headed monster they saw yesterday, there was also a giant beetle with curved horns, a large lizard covered in dense steel scales, and so on—]

At a glance, there are already more than seven heads.

Even the blood splattered on the ground was different colors.

Blue and green are understandable, but what's with the white blood?

The monster's body and various parts of the research lab were covered in claw marks, as well as traces that appeared to have been dissolved by strong acid.

It appears that a fierce battle took place before his death.

Deep within the research lab, a figure lay fallen in a pool of crimson blood.

It's Karl.

No, you can't address someone as "Kalgar" anymore.

The body was so badly damaged that it went beyond dismemberment; it was as if a toddler had been given scissors and spent a full hour carelessly destroying a rag doll.

[The Second Prince also looked for a long time before he could barely find what appeared to be a head.]

This was absolutely the first time he had ever seen a corpse in such a gruesome state.

He was puzzled as to why Hartres would use such cruel methods to kill his opponent.

Wife: "Ilya, don't look!"

Lion's Robbery Jie Li: "Good heavens, this is truly a brutal scene."

Koles: "Are these all fantasy species from the labyrinth? I've hardly ever seen any of them before."

Fiore: "It's strange that blood can be white."

Rin Tohsaka: "Shouldn't we be worried about Karl? He's in such a terrible state."

Weber: "What kind of deep hatred must there be to go to such lengths?"