Walking in the Question and Answer System of Heroic Spirits

Weber: "I see. So this is Miss Luvia's idea."

Shiki Jie Li: "It's really frustrating to have your life's efforts denied."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "...Phew, I never thought that I, an adult, would be less enlightened than a young person."

To be honest, he was somewhat tempted by Hartres's plan. After all, he had only two wishes in his life: to create a gem sword and to make contact with the Root.

Koles: "We left them to cover the retreat, but I never expected it to turn out like this."

[Furuka: "Sigh, there's nothing we can do about it."]

[Qingxuan: "If I come this far and get nothing in return, I won't do it."]

"—Thank you, then, I'll leave it to you!"

[The Second Prince made a decision in an instant, maneuvering his gliding costume to accelerate deeper into the cave, with Gray quickly following behind.]

Behind them, a storm of gems poured down on the pursuing chariots.

[The sound of an explosion behind the listener signaled the two to slip into the Void Cavern.]

The cave just happens to change size to the size of a train at this point, so it seems the chariot just barely squeezed through. Therefore, as long as we pass through here, the chariot won't be able to catch up immediately.

【(“—Can you hear me, Reines?”)】

[“—You’re so slow, brother!”]

[“—We should be able to make contact with Hartres soon.”]

Reines breathed a sigh of relief; finally, some decent results had arrived.

[“—How lucky, I just ran out of cards too.”]

[Regarding the Grand Order decision, Reines has already revealed Heartrace's schemes, including her desire to create a god for mages.]

An ordinary magician would probably just laugh it off. However, none of the attendees at this Grand Rank decision were ordinary magicians.

"Oh, this is quite interesting."

Marg Daniel chuckled, “Hmm, a god that exists for magicians... If we could create such a thing, we would lose the meaning of our journey towards the Root. But if that were true, wouldn't it be an excellent idea?”

From a democratic perspective, this is indeed a good idea.

"No...you must be kidding!"

Rufreus gritted his teeth and said, “Ignoring all the history we’ve accumulated over two thousand years… and now they’re trying to revive magical forms from the mythical age… Ah, in the Far East and border regions… there are probably still some places that use that practice… But in this Clock Tower… how could that be possible? We cannot allow such a thing to happen!”

[Ah, it's similar to Luvia's statement. Only one was filled with pride, the other with obsession, yet both arrived at the same conclusion.]

They embraced two thousand years of tireless perseverance, refusing readily available relief.

Weber: "The reactions of the monarchs... were not unexpected."

Rin Tohsaka: "Then, we can rule out this annoying old man for now. Judging from his appearance, it's impossible for him to cooperate with Hartles."

Fiore: "Yes, as long as he's not acting."

Lion's Robbery Jie Li: "It shouldn't be an act, after all, Hartres's purpose and this old man's ideas are completely opposite."

"You...were once Hartres's apprentice, weren't you..."

Rufreus glared fiercely at Asira.

Ashira stiffened under his gaze, then nodded and said, "Yes, Dr. Hartracey mentored me."

[Rufreus: "Then answer me...that foolish former academician...is he really capable of performing that kind of spell?"]

【"..."】

Ashira's breath hitched.

Marg Daniel then calmly reminded her, "Ahira, state your opinion as a member of the Anatomy Bureau."

[Hey, you were saying before that 'Ashira from the autopsy department wouldn't say anything that only benefits me.' Now you're completely blatantly ignoring it!]

Chapter 362 Hartres: I killed myself!

Ashira composed herself and said, "You said he summoned the Boundary Recording Tape on the Mystic Eyes Train, and may have even read Machiri's thesis, taken away the Emiya family's sealing formula, and used the unstable rift beneath Sla to infiltrate Albion. I think that's not impossible."

"Since he collected so many mysteries and was willing to give up his position as Dean of Sciences and spend ten years on it, it should be possible. Even if the technique is extremely difficult, Dr. Hartrace possesses the technology and supernatural abilities to accomplish it."

Rufreus pondered, "It's said that he gained this mysterious power during the vanishing of fairies...?"

[“—Very good, you’ve forced Ashira to admit it.”]

【"But what should we do next?"】

[“Now that Ashra has been brought to the forefront, we can steer the meeting toward the next key point.”]

[Lenes: "Miss Ashira, in your opinion, what was the relationship between Hartles and his disciple Kuro before?"]

"He must be one of his star pupils."

Ashira recalled, "Among his many disciples, Kuro was also special. I don't know if he himself was aware of it, but without a doubt, Kuro was the one who could most flexibly accept Dr. Hartrace's extremely diverse magic and theories."

[Reines: "When you say 'among the disciples,' do you mean among the five of you?"]

Upon hearing this, a flicker of tension crossed Ashira's expression.

[Reines: "These three disciples who were either murdered or kidnapped—I think it's just that their bodies haven't been found yet, and the latter should also have been killed—you and Kuro, the five of you, were a team in Albion, the Tomb of the Dead, weren't you?"]

[Ahira: "I haven't hidden this past."]

[Lenes: "It's terrifying to talk about, like exposing a family scandal, but you've been successfully smuggling from Albion since then, haven't you?"]

[Rufreus: "What? Smuggling from Albion...! What's going on...? Is there any evidence?"]

Reines: "I'm sorry, it's only circumstantial evidence, but I've checked Zla's ledgers."

Having said that, he placed the heavy copy of the account books on the round table.

"Although the figures hidden throughout the ledgers show that Sla had long been operating at a deficit, this improved significantly during the five years I suspect he had contact with Kuro."

"Ah, there's this one student in our department who doesn't pay any attention to the lectures, yet he's an anomaly who can immediately spot the absurdity of these numbers."

"Of course, Albion was originally established because smuggling was impossible. But Dr. Hartress proved that smuggling wasn't impossible. Right?"

"Because Hartles foresaw the unstable rift leading to Albion appearing beneath Sla, and perfectly estimated the timing and location of its appearance. So, how did Hartles acquire that ability? I think it's because he has your five-man team as his seniors, right?"

"No, I'm afraid that among you, the one you mentioned, Hartres's prized student, Curo, is the key figure who made Albion's smuggling operation a success?"

【"..."】

Ashira fell silent.

Reines, who had cornered her, was also feeling her heart race. After all, all the current speculations were based on assumptions, like walking on a rope that could snap at any moment; one wrong step and it would be all over.

Kenneth: "It must have been tough on Reines."

Shishi Jie Li: "Could it be that Kuro's death was also due to this reason?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Because Kuro was a key figure in Hatrees' smuggling operations, his other apprentices, who were also spies, plotted to eliminate him..."

Weber: "Something feels off—"

[Lenes: "Your team of five made money through smuggling, survived Albion via legitimate routes, and were subsequently protected by Hatres—it was a natural progression. Hatres felt more secure having you around for a while. So why has Hatres made his other disciples disappear? We believe it's retaliation."]

[Inolai: "Oh, revenge?"]

[Ashira: "Teacher to disciple... I see, that makes sense..."]

Reines observed this, thinking to herself, "It's too early to be unable to accept it now, because what's about to be revealed will truly shatter your understanding."

[Video paused.]

[Question: What is the truth about what happened ten years ago in Albion involving five of Hatrees' disciples?]

[Start answering!]

Rin Tohsaka: "Oh, so you're finally starting to ask questions?"

Rin Tohsaka: "But the problem is that they killed that disciple named Kuro."

[Ding! Congratulations to Rin Tohsaka for answering part of the question correctly. You have received 1 Saint Quartz.]

Weber: "Only part of it was correct? Is it because you lacked a reason, or...?"

Shiki Jieli: "Could it be what I just said, that Kuro was eliminated by the other disciples who were acting as spies because he helped Hartres with smuggling?"

[Ding! Lion's Lair's answer was incorrect, deducting 1 Saint Quartz.]

Lion's Robbery: "Hmm, completely wrong?"

Koles: "If not for that reason, perhaps something has been discovered that led to an unequal distribution of spoils."

[Ding! Kaules answered incorrectly, deducting 1 Saint Quartz.]

Using phrases like, "Isn't that also wrong?"

Fiore: "Strange, what other reason could it be? Could someone be behind this?"

Kenneth: "Could it be that the monarchs behind the spies ordered them to kill Kuro?"

[Ding! Kenneth answered incorrectly, deducting 1 Saint Quartz.]

Kenneth: "Isn't that wrong too...?"

That doesn't make sense. The future Second Generation found the answer, so why can't he figure it out? Did he overlook something?