90: Some Problems Should be Avoided.
"Alright, that should be that." I conclude, taking a seat on the carriage step to wait for Dolorous Gard to open.
"Wait, what the heck is going on, Subaru!?" Roman shouts, his face appearing on the intercom. "I thought the plan was for Gareth to come out and distract Lancelot so Jeanne or Mash could beat him! What was that? Who's that Lie-something-or-other and why did that dragon appear when you shouted for him?"
"Sorry, I lied a bit." I say with a sigh. "I mentioned Ley before - he's one of those Gluttony bastards from the other world. Turns out they can be summoned here too, as Foreigner class Servants."
"...Pardon?" The Doctor asks.
"Since he has Presence Concealment, I couldn't risk him overhearing, so I told Gareth the real plan with telepathy. Basically, we just trick Ley and Lancelot into fighting each other first, and have Gareth clean up the survivor." I explain. "Anyway, things probably won't stop being confusing for a while, so just wait patiently for my report, ok?"
"Hey, Subaru, you've mentioned an after-action report twice now, but I wrote your report for you after Fuyuki. You're not planning to make the same thing happen, are you?" He asks.
"Tch. He figured it out." I mutter.
"I knew it!"
"So the castle turned white." I comment. It's the only real sign of something happening inside, and I guess… maybe it's good? "...Did she somehow get through to Lancelot or something? I would have guessed something like that was- oh, it's disappearing."
The only one sitting in the crater amidst the gently blowing wheat field is Gareth, so I walk over to speak with her.
"Yo. Good work in there, Gareth." I say, taking in the bittersweet smile on her face. "Did you get to say what you needed to?"
"Mm." She gives a small nod. "I think it went about as well as it could have.:
"Sorry you had to be the one to handle this." I say, and I really do mean it. If I could have taken this role upon myself, I obviously would have done it.
Or maybe I wouldn't have. This is the third time I've left killing Ley to someone else. I guess I just didn't have the stomach for it, in the end. I wish I did. Then I'd have somewhere to put all this hate, still boiling inside me.
There's Lancelot, too. I've got no idea how Gareth could forgive that guy. But that's a private matter between them, so I'll just bear my own grudge in silence.
I probably won't ever feel better about Ley or Lancelot. But… hopefully, I'll never see either of their faces again, so in time it'll fade.
"Okay, let's load up!" I say.
But speaking of people who will piss me off the moment I see them, it's time to move on to the next step.
"Of course, we can't expect our enemies to just stay idle after we eliminate two of the most important pieces on the board." The Professor said. "They'll respond. They have to respond. In Dark Jeanne's case, the response is obvious. She'll do the same thing she did when the Count was killed in your previous loop. She'll summon Chlodovech."
"Hang on, wasn't [Chu Shi Biao] the reason he was summoned?" I asked. "If it's weak enough this time to only influence Gareth's summoning, doesn't it stand to reason he might not even appear?"
"Do you really think you'll get that lucky?" He deadpanned, and I sighed in response. "The safe bet is, he'll show up, and without [Chu Shi Biao] he won't be on your side. Well, he's not the first issue to deal with anyway. He'll be far away in Orleans. The real issue at hand will be Ley's master, Francois Prelati."
"Francesca, most likely." The Count interjected. "She was the body that preceded the 'Francis' you met here. With the task assigned to me, I likely won't have the time to find and kill her, not when it will just result in another one being born."
"What's up with that, anyway?" I asked. "Has Prelati just got piles of relatives lying around to possess? Or is it some kind of Dollcraft thing?"
"...Who knows?" Dantes replies. "Whatever nature that creature's reincarnation takes, it's bound to be unbearably foul. But as for the exact methodology, I'm afraid I've got no idea."
"So how do we kill him for good?" I ask. "The French burned him, right?"
"So too did I, in the prior loop. And yet, if your account is to be believed, Batenkaitos persisted to the very end." He scowls. "Perhaps an exorcism is needed."
"...It's also possible that the human Prelati never truly died in the first place." The Professor mutters. "His execution was the end of his 'legend'. Mankind never knew of his ability to reincarnate, and so his Spirit Origin was only recorded to the point that he shuffled off the stage."
I feel sick. "You mean he just… got away with it?"
"It's possible. I know that a few years back there was some gossip about a mage with his surname getting in a fight with Aozaki Touko." The Professor said.
I grimaced, but I let out a small huff of laughter. "If anyone deserves the horrors that come with being in that woman's bad graces, it's Prelati."
"Did you meet her?" He asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it, thanks." I carefully suppressed a particularly nasty flashback. "Returning to the subject, you were implying Prelati's going to be lurking around wherever Ley is, right?"
"It's likely. Batenkaitos doesn't strike me as the type of servant one can keep on a long leash. And that means we should expect Francesca Prelati to intervene as soon as Ley goes down - no, in all likelihood, she'll start preparing to act the moment he gets trapped in Dolorous Gard." Professor Velvet explained. "In that regard, it's fortunate for us that he's such a loose cannon. Prelati has no way to safely extract him - we already know that she had to spend a command spell to get him to go along with the Fafnir impersonation plot; she might have even needed two. If she tries to teleport him out of fighting Lancelot, he might eat her."
"That sounds like him, yeah." I said. "So next after Lancelot and Ley, the next obstacle is the Sea Monster?"
"No." He said. "The sea monster is her final trump card, to be played after everything else has failed, when Chaldea is inches from the Grail, like a surprise appearance from Ganon right when you're expecting the credits to roll. With Dark Jeanne still alive, and in possession of the Grail, betting on the possibility that you are unaware of her sea monster, Francesca has one more option available to her."
"Okay, I surrender...!"
"...There she is, just like you said." Mozart mutters, and I poke my head out the window.
'There's a pervert in the middle of the road.' Is my first thought. A girl in a striped corset, white stockings and garters - and barely anything else. Oi, did you forget to put on your dress!? She's resting at what looks to be an outdoor tea table, leaning on it with a tired look on her face, lazily waving a white flag - but then her eyes meet mine, and she perks up, springing to her feet. Ankle-length white hair flutters in the breeze behind her as madness dances in her coal-black eyes.
"Heeey, I give up now!" Shouts a girl who can only be Francesca Prelati, now frantically waving that same white flag. "I'm ready for a handsome Chaldean hero to take me prisoner and do all kinds of nasty things to - huh, you're not slowing down? Whaaaaat~? Hey, hang on, where are you going, the mastermind's right here! Aren't you going to talk, or try to kill-?"
"No thanks!" I shout as we swerve around her and continue down the road.
"Whaaaa-!?" Her disappointed scream trails off into the distance.
"Anyway, just ignore her." The Professor concluded. "There's nothing to be gained from killing her at that point besides the corruption of your own morals. And I don't think I need to list all the reasons why actually taking her prisoner would be a bad idea."
"Maybe something with a geass scroll-?" I started.
"No. No way, Subaru. That's how she'll suck you in. There's no possible way you can beat Prelati in the realm of mind games or exploitation, so just give up and stop trying. Imagine you're dealing with Reines, but a million times worse." He scolded me. "And again, don't even think about killing her at that point. If not for your own sake, then for your companions - even if they'd say they were fine with it, the likes of Marie Antoinette or Jeanne d'Arc aren't going to be able to conscience the slaying of a surrendering opponent. It'll drive a wedge between you, which is probably her goal."
"If he could do it secretly-" The Count starts.
"No. Absolutely not." The Professor says.
"I'll just shout something smug, I guess…" I mumble.