Walking in the Question and Answer System of Heroic Spirits

[His implication was clearly that Marg Daniels was an accomplice of Hartleley.]

Marg Daniel, who was being glared at, shrugged and exaggeratedly said, "Well, I did say it was a good idea, but to conclude that Hartles and I are accomplices based on that alone is far-fetched. Basically, according to our previous conversation, it was my daughter who was trying to weaken him. Besides, didn't you say, sir, that even if Hartles lost one or two disciples, it wouldn't concern us?"

The two sides started arguing again.

The meeting escalated further, and I had to speed things up to find the best approach.

Thinking of the Second King, with whom she had lost contact, Reines knew that now was the time to take a gamble.

At that moment, she deeply realized that without taking risks, she could not win this meeting.

She did not hear all of the Second King's thoughts, because the Second King's own speculations were not yet complete at this stage.

They were supposed to monitor the meeting's progress and gradually gather intelligence, but the Second Prince suddenly went offline, leaving Reines in a predicament.

"So it seems that Monarch Magdaniel is more like a collaborator of Hartres."

Fiore: "That issue is no longer important."

Gold: "Yes, there's no need to look for the answer anymore."

Reines: "Please allow me to confirm."

[Ashira: "Confirm what?"]

Reines: "You're in contact with MagDaniel, know about Kuro's abilities, and manipulated him. Perhaps you initially planned to invite him to join MagDaniel, didn't you?"

Ashira answered hesitantly, "...That's right."

[Lenes: "But coincidentally, he got in touch with Hartles, am I right?"]

[Ashira: "That's absolutely right."]

"If my brother's reasoning is correct... then this is the only way to proceed."

Thinking this through, Reines took a deep breath, simulated the future scenario of a three-second meeting, and then declared.

"I hereby abandon my search for Dr. Hartrace's accomplices."

Rin Tohsaka: "What? Why is that?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Because it's unnecessary, there's no need to find out that accomplice."

Shizi Jieli: "Now that things have been brought to light, whether the other party knew or was deceived, there's nothing they can do. If we insist on exposing them, we'll only make enemies with them."

Kenneth: "Some things don't necessarily need to be investigated to find out the truth."

[“Eh!!!”]

Olga Marie's eyes widened, and she exclaimed hastily, "Lenes, what are you saying?!"

[Inole teased, "You've messed things up this badly, and now you're giving up? Your actions are quite capricious and amusing."]

Reines herself felt the same way; after all, what world would have a detective who gave up on deduction near the end? But—

[Aozaki Touko covered her mouth, suppressing the urge to burst out laughing, eagerly awaiting Reines's next move.]

"I have another proposal."

Reines changed the subject, saying, "Trampelli said he wanted to delegate the voting rights, right?"

[Margo Daniel: "Yes, I did say that."]

[Reines: "Then, along with Tramberg's rights, the El-Melloi faction 'abstains from voting on the Grand Order decision.'"]

[Rufreeus's eyes widened instantly: "You!"]

"Everyone should do this, as if this meeting never happened."

Reines managed to force out a voice, speaking slowly: "The news of the Grand Order Decision was originally only known to the monarch and a select few. As long as we all relinquish our rights and insist that this meeting never happened, there will be no problem."

This is Reines's goal: to find everyone's weaknesses and use them to force them to relinquish their advantages, thus bringing the matter to a close.

[For the aristocratic faction, this would achieve the grand goal of stopping Albion's redevelopment plan; for the democrats, it would erase the stain of the monarch's daughter killing the headmaster's student; plus, it would allow them to delegate the voting rights to the neutral faction led by Aozaki Touko.]

There were no conditions at this meeting that absolutely had to be upheld.

If it were now, if it were this moment, we should be able to reach a compromise.

Kenneth: "Letting this Grand Prix decision simply end is indeed the best solution."

Weber: "And the other monarchs had no reason to refuse."

Lion Jie Li: "That's not necessarily true. These monarchs are not to be trifled with. What if one of them suddenly becomes reckless?"

Weber: "I don't think so..."

Chapter 366: Artoria Saves Gray's Life

"I didn't expect you to play this way."

"But I'm really curious who the accomplice is," said Inole.

Reines: "Regarding this, I think my brother will tell the right person."

Who should be told?

Marg Daniel frowned and said, "By the way, what do you plan to do with Hartress's spell? According to you, Dr. Hartress's spell could be activated at any time, right? Once activated, it's impossible to pretend that the Grand Order decision never happened."

[Reines: "So, my brother is infiltrating Albion to stop this."]

Rufreus slammed his cane down and scoffed, "That...new generation...monarch...is he...?"

"Does this mean he's working on Albion?"

Olga Marie exclaimed in surprise, "But you just mentioned that Hartres is going to hold a ceremony in this ancient heartland. How could he possibly get here!"

[Reines: "My brother has already infiltrated the vicinity of the ancient heart."]

"Oh dear. That gentleman is still the same as always, he seems to know nothing of fear."

[Himeko laughed, "But you mean El-Melloi II can stop Dr. Hartracey?"]

【"sure."】

Reines laughed, "If I can't trust my brother's ability to do something like this, there's no point in sealing him away in El-Melloi's name. Because if it were the previous head of the family, Kenneth, he should have been able to easily stop Hartlers."

[Hmm, my ability to lie through my teeth has improved quite a bit. Let's just say I trust Gray.]

Weber: "Indeed, these monarchs are not so easily persuaded."

Rin Tohsaka: "Pfft... It's amazing that Miss Reines could say those things with such confidence."

If Kenneth were to actually face Hartles, he'd probably be completely outmaneuvered.

"Isn't this a political setting?"

Reines declared loudly, "Therefore, let's have a fair and square political consultation. That's why I'm here."

"A very good sophistry."

[Enolai looked at Mag Daniel and said, "Little brother Mag Daniel, you're not planning to change your mind about delegating the voting rights, are you?"]

[Marg Daniel: "Of course, Ms. Enolae."]

"Then, thirty minutes."

[Inole took out a pocket watch and placed it on the round table, saying, "Since you say that El-Melloi II has already infiltrated the vicinity, you should know the situation while he was stopping Hatteres, right? Then let's just wait thirty minutes."]

Rufreus protested, "...Since El-Melloi and...Trampellio have voting rights...there's no reason for us to make a concession..."

[Inole: "Hey, Spirit Summoning Department, Princess El-Melloi said she's giving up. We'd better not act impulsively."]

The two oldest members are now locked in a fierce battle over the Grand Order decision.

Just then, the path that had been barely maintained between Reines and the Second, even without any communication, was suddenly severed.

【(“—Brother!”)】

Reines struggled to suppress the urge to scream; her heart was pounding with panic.

This severance felt like a death sentence.

Lion's Tribulation: "Communication is down. It seems things are really bad on the Second Prince's side."

Koles: "How exactly can the Second Prince escape from the gaze of that monster?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "That monster is probably not so easy to deal with."

[As for the Second Emperor, they were practically on the verge of death.]

The two felt themselves sinking into endless darkness, unable to climb out.

[Once that guy starts watching you, it seems like that's the only way you can become.]

[Because it is a harbinger of death, a symbol of something already stripped from the realm of human reason, of something annihilated.]

They could feel themselves gradually disappearing.

Not just life, but the entire history of humanity, including those named Webber and Gray, is gradually disappearing.

[Broken, torn, gradually melting.]

[A mere sight of the beasts that guard Albion will cause it to gradually disintegrate.]

Demon King: "Oh, a symbol of annihilation."

Demon King: "Interesting. I didn't expect such a thing to still exist in modern times."