Viktor Augustav Stirgold was in a huge circular room in front of an audience of at least five hundred people. The room was lit only by a screen behind Viktor and on this you could see a video of the news in which there was talk of the terrorist attack that took place at the London hospital. The video was mute and Viktor explained the situation to his colleagues:
« There is a problem, we can no longer ignore it. Bradley Jenkins understood this first and proposed to destroy the Holy Grail because he knew, better than all of us and even better than myself, that this war is not like any other. The number of civilian victims amounts to one thousand four hundred sixty. It's a scary number, isn't it? It frightens because no Holy Grail War had ever mowed so many lives in so little time. The Ibaraki Disaster, the earthquake in Regent's Park, the clashes in the Nine Lives Tree hotel and then the attack on the hospital a few days ago. »
A magus in the audience stood up and asked:
« Bradley's murder was the Coven's fault, wasn't it? Who says they are not responsible for these incidents too? »« Because they are not. » Viktor replied.
« You have no evidence to prove it. »
« And do you have the evidence to prove otherwise? »
The man sat down quietly and let Viktor continue:
« The Coven has attacked the Mage's Association, this is an undeniable fact and they will answer for their actions but it's not our only problem. The Holy Grail is our problem. Bradley Jenkins hoped to destroy it but we know that it cannot be done because this Grail is divine. It was born from the sacrifice of Odin, the ruler of Asgard. There is no way to destroy such a powerful sacred object, we do not know the way but ... we can prevent it from being materialized in this world. »
« How? » Asked another man who stood up.
« Initially I thought that the attack on the hospital had been orchestrated by the Coven but then I remembered two things: first, the Coven does not use homunculi because it considers them blasphemous; second, a member of the Coven had been targeted by terrorists. So this means there is someone else. We did research at the hotel where the clash between Saber, Archer, Rider and Berserker took place, and we discovered that there were remains of homunculi inside. We investigated the history of that hotel and discovered that the number of residents has never increased and never dropped, it has always been the same. »
« Impossible. » Said one.
« Right observation. » Viktor said: « The hotel owners do not even live in England and the only female resident is our suspect: Kumahira Yukiko. We know nothing about her, but it's possible that she was the one who orchestrated the attack on the hospital. »
« But is she even a magus? »
« Obviously. » Viktor answered.
« Do you have proof? »
« I have police photos. Apparently she was on the train that had been hijacked and was fighting the Master of the Caster class Servant. Is this proof enough for you? I suspect this girl is our real enemy. The Coven can be a problem but now it's not relevant, now Kumahira Yukiko is our real problem. This girl is dangerous, very dangerous and we have an obligation to stop her. »
« Why? We don't even know if she's the one who will do the ritual to materialize the Holy Grail! » Another man exclaimed.
« Of course we don't know but there are only two possibilities: either it's the Coven or it's her. There is no one else in this war. Do you really want me to believe that the Coven is in possession of the tools to do such a ritual? Surely they would have already done it and would not have wasted their time making a war. »
« So are you telling us that the Mage's Association has to use its resources and its men just to look for a little girl? »
« I don't understand this aversion. I want to prevent the number of victims from rising exponentially. I want the good of the world, is it so wrong to want something so
simple? »
« What if you were wrong? What if it's all a gigantic conspiracy by the Coven? »
« It's not credible! » Viktor retorted.
« However the Coven killed Bradley Jenkins. »
« Let's stop banging your head against a wall! The Coven is not our real enemy right now! We'll think about them later! Now we have to think about … »
« And what about your contact? »
« Who are you talking about? »
«Of the boy who belongs to the Coven, the one you met yesterday. Why did you make friends with him? What do you hope to get? »
« Do you suspect me? »
« Give me a reason not to do it. »« I established contact with Alessandro Serpi, we need his help and thanks to him we captured the one that killed Bradley Jenkins. »
« But … » A woman stood up and commented: « Although this contact made us a service, betraying his allies, the fact remains that the Coven is responsible for Jenkins' death. Kumahira Yukiko is only a Master, we have no reason to believe that she is the real threat. On the contrary, the Coven has both the means and the knowledge to be able to perform a ritual to materialize the Holy Grail. You've probably lost sight of the big picture, you've got fixed and now you want to convince us all that this Yukiko is the problem, I don't know why but I advise you to resign. »
« But … »
« Enough! »
« You don't understand … »« Viktor Augustav Stirgold, I call you back to order! »
Viktor, desolate, left the meeting room slamming the door, no longer wishing to waste time with stubborn people. The Mage's Association, convinced that the real enemy was the Coven, decided to organize a meeting with the Grand Master so as to establish the fate of their alliance.
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