"It seems the first shot of the Holy Grail War has been fired, Master." Standing in a dark corner, Kirei reported to Tokiomi through special means, "It's that rather reckless Master and Servant pair."
"Is it that Rider who declared war across Fuyuki City just now? It seems his Master is quite confident in his Servant's strength, to have so rashly initiated the first battle of the Holy Grail War."
"It seems this should be a Master just making up the numbers in the Holy Grail War, not worth much attention. We just need to gather some necessary intelligence to maintain our information advantage."
Sitting on the sofa in his study at his mansion, Tokiomi inquired about the details, "So, what about the Servant who responded? What class is it?"
"It's unclear for now, but it seems the responding Servant is dressed exactly like that Rider. Perhaps they originate from the same legend. They seemed to be conversing, but… Assassin said she couldn't hear clearly."
Just as he was about to hear Kirei recount the conversation at the scene, Kirei unexpectedly said Assassin couldn't hear clearly. This immediately made Tokiomi frown. As the Assassin responsible for spying on the battle, she couldn't hear their conversation? This was probably a pointless surveillance!
"Is it the effect of some magic? Or the influence of a Noble Phantasm?"
"No… Assassin said it was simply that her hearing wasn't great, and that it was a bit far, so the sound of their conversation was like mosquito buzzing."
"Can't Assassin get a little closer?"
"Indeed, she can't. This Assassin's Presence Concealment skill level isn't high, and it can only be activated when she's crouching motionless." Kirei added, explaining the reason.
"Because my Assassin has a special skill called 'Sickly,' which causes her to occasionally cough up blood, interrupting the Presence Concealment effect. Although it's restrictively nullified by the life support device on her body, due to the device's own noise, she would definitely be discovered by anyone if she got a little closer."
"...Are you sure you summoned an Assassin?" After hearing this, three black question marks seemed to appear above Tokiomi's head.
Seeing the Saber standing opposite him with a strange expression, Tokiomi cleared his throat, thinking to himself, 'No, as the head of the Tohsaka Family, I must maintain my elegance.'
Although he reined in his expression, Tokiomi still inwardly complained that an Assassin couldn't hide herself. This was probably a fake Assassin!
Initially, after learning that Kirei had summoned not a Hassan, but a native Japanese Heroic Spirit, he had been secretly pleased. After all, every Master knew that a Servant fighting in their home territory would gain a considerable boost.
Moreover, Assassins in typical Holy Grail Wars were usually Hassans, and since their side hadn't summoned a Hassan, they could completely catch other Masters off guard. It was practically a win-win, winning twice!
But… now Tokiomi was starting to suspect that his method of summoning might be wrong. Why did he keep encountering such bizarre and problematic situations? It was the same when he summoned his Servant yesterday; even though the Holy Relic was indeed Gilgamesh's, he summoned King Arthur instead, which was incredibly absurd.
Although King Arthur should also be very strong, he much preferred his painstakingly collected Holy Relic to summon Gilgamesh. That way, it would truly be stable!
"She should be a true Assassin… Wait, she says she's detected a new target entering the battlefield at a relatively high speed."
Upon hearing Kirei's words, that slight unpleasantness was immediately cast aside by Tokiomi. "Oh? Is it Lancer? Or perhaps Berserker?"
Listening to his Servant's description, Kirei hesitated for a moment, then reported to Tokiomi, "It's… a large, blue-grey cat running wildly while carrying a person."
"...Huh?"
——————
At the gate of Fuyuki City at this moment, Hephaestion and Alexander had already entered a tense standoff.
On one side was Hephaestion, who didn't want to fight her monarch from life but was faced with Alexander's challenge and her Master's urging. On the other side was a high-spirited Alexander. There was no way to avoid a battle.
As Alexander initiated the attack, Hephaestion could no longer hesitate. In her helplessness, she could only raise her sword, preparing to parry Alexander's attack.
However, just as the two were about to clash, a jetting sound came from a distance, causing both to stop their attacks simultaneously and look in the direction of the sound.
"Slow… slow down… too fast!!!"
With Haku's low cry, the uphill road had reached its end. Seeing this, Tom gave Haku an 'I'm here, no accidents' expression.
Tom calmly looked at the road, beginning to unhurriedly prepare to slow down.
However, after Tom confidently tried to slow down several times, he found that he was actually getting faster. Tom immediately started to panic, holding Haku with one hand and attempting to use his hand to brake.
The hand brake wasn't very effective; Tom's hand was half-worn away by the road. Although his hand returned to normal in the blink of an eye as if nothing had happened, Tom now understood that braking was impossible, so he gave up!
Tom's hand, holding Haku, suddenly loosened, but even so, Haku still didn't fall. It was like a Spider-Man in a game who, high in the air, could still shoot webs upwards to continue swinging, as if he were holding Uncle Ben. Haku actually moved in parallel with Tom on the ground!
Tom merely shrugged and spread his hands, then wrapped white cloth around his eyes so he wouldn't have to face what was about to happen.
Then, he somehow produced a cigar, put it in his mouth, took a delightful puff, and then, as if nothing had happened, once again held Haku with both hands.
As the uphill road reached its end, the entire incline had become a springboard for Tom and Haku. Tom and Haku instantly soared into the air, flying towards the sky under the dumbfounded gazes of the three people on the ground.
The moon was large and round today. Tom and Haku were perfectly positioned between the three people on the ground and the moon, from the perspective of Waver.
At this moment, Haku and Tom seemed to transform into the bicycling figure silhouetted against the moon in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.