Ayanokouji’s Guide to Using Tools at Butei High - Chapter 17

6:00 PM the following afternoon.

Matou Kariya met with Tohsaka Tokiomi as scheduled.

This likely had something to do with the recent rampant activities of Caster and the serial killer Uryuu Ryuunosuke. As mentioned before, ‘magecraft must not be witnessed by ordinary people,’ yet Uryuu and Caster acted with utter disregard for others. Their arrogant and wanton slaughter grated on the nerves of the Administrator of the Fuyuki Region, Tohsaka Tokiomi.

At this moment, Tohsaka needed a collaborator.

Thus, Matou Kariya’s request for a meeting happened to provide him with just the pillow he needed.

I only caught a single glimpse of Tohsaka Tokiomi at the entrance.

The impression Tohsaka Tokiomi left on me was different from that of Matou Kariya. Though both were from the Three Founding Families with pure magus lineages, Matou leaned toward being a soft-tempered, ‘uncle next door’ type, whereas Tohsaka Tokiomi possessed the self-pride, grace, and noble character of one born into a prestigious house. He seemed very well-suited for wearing a solid dark red suit, notch lapel, blue silk tie, and double-breasted jacket. Perhaps due to high-end tailoring, I have rarely encountered someone who could wear all red and look steady and atmospheric, without appearing frivolous or gaudy.

I had no intention of having a direct encounter with the man, so when they were about to formally begin their negotiations, I sat in the courtyard of the Tohsaka estate. In truth, I had originally wanted to go in and observe him more closely, but Matou Kariya informed me that Tohsaka has deep personal ties with the Fuyuki Church. Given that I am currently interning at the Fuyuki Church, I did not want to attract the attention of Kotomine Risei and Kotomine Kirei.

Matou Kariya looked after me quite well, being meticulous and attentive. I don’t know if this was due to his personality—doing everything and treating everyone with full effort and thoroughness—or if my influence on him was just that deep. When I said I didn’t want to go in, he showed no sign of displeasure; instead, he hoped Tohsaka would have the servants entertain me properly.

Ultimately, I am only curious about Matou Kariya.

If I truly chose to help him, then what was my reason? I couldn’t possibly do this for no reason at all. Furthermore, if someone else were impersonating me or helping Matou in my name, then I would be the ultimate beneficiary. Who would want to help me?

While sipping Darjeeling tea, I used earphones to listen to the conversation between the two in the study. Just because I didn’t go in didn’t mean I didn’t want to know their chat. I don’t fully trust the accounts of others.

Here, I should mention a management concept called the “Communication Funnel.” It emphasizes an efficiency problem regarding communication through to execution. Like a funnel, the content the speaker intends to express (100%) gradually diminishes through their ability to express it (80%), to what others actually hear (60%), then to what is understood due to limitations in comprehension (40%), and finally to the specific actions others take based on it (20%).

Moreover, I roughly knew what the content of their chat would be. Because I had given Matou a suggestion: at a time like this, one should not have a capable person act alone to solve the Caster group, or concentrate on just one or two individuals to solve it. That would only create a Pigs and Payoffs game theory situation.

Especially in this game involving seven Masters, those in a weak position only need to wait and stand by as spectators to gain significant benefits. For instance, there exists the possibility for a weak party to launch a counter-kill once the other Masters and Servants have finished subjugating Caster and are low on mana.

Matou had asked me then: does that mean when I cooperate with Tohsaka, I shouldn’t exert too much effort? Should I backstab him then?

“Not exactly.” I asked in return, “If we want to obtain victory, what should we do?”

Defeat the strongest Servant—Archer?

Defeat the strongest Master—Kayneth, the genius magus from the Mages’ Association?

Defeat the most unstable factor—Emiya Kiritsugu?

It was none of those.

The most interesting point in this game is that the administrator has also entered the field.

Originally a transitionary executor for the Church, Kotomine Kirei also became one of the Masters summoned by the Holy Grail. This adds immense possibilities to the entire game. Even though Assassin is a Servant with very weak attributes, once Kotomine Kirei shifts from the role of a player to an Administrator, dealing with him becomes much more troublesome than dealing with other Servants.

After all, an administrator in a game creates a massive blind spot for the players. The resources they grasp, including combat power and intelligence, are beyond what ordinary players can achieve. Specifically, I heard that the Church Supervisor holds Command Spells left over from previous Holy Grail Wars—magical contracts with extremely high binding power over Servants. At the same time, when not used as a verbal command to bind a Servant, they can be used to unleash versatile, non-attribute magical energy.

Therefore, in this kind of game, if an “Administrator” appears, the first step should be to exploit the “Administrator’s” resources—after all, they obtain resources more easily and possess more of them.

In other words, to first gain a solid foothold in this game, one should aim at the Fuyuki Church behind Tohsaka Tokiomi.

I did not tell Matou my reasoning; I simply gave him the action guide directly.

The action guide this time—was to persuade Tohsaka Tokiomi to discuss with Kotomine Risei to incite the other Masters to subjugate Caster simultaneously. The reward, naturally, would be the Command Spell that every Master dreams of.

As soon as I finished speaking, Matou looked at me with a strange gaze.

“What? Is there a flaw somewhere?”

“No, it will definitely be realized.”

I wasn’t sure if his oratorical skills were enough to persuade people, or if he had a blind confidence in my plan. I also couldn’t guarantee that my actions would be completely successful; after all, “accidental events” do exist.

Since he said that, I didn’t feel like asking more.

“I thought you would deal with Tohsaka first. After all, he is the one supported by the Fuyuki Church; in the entire Holy Grail War, he is the one with the greatest advantage.”

“The Fuyuki Church only values Tohsaka as an individual. Without him, the Church can support someone else.” I paused, looked at Matou’s gentle and refined face, and said, “You must know—”

“Hm?”

“People, in the end, are merely a means to ‘achieve a goal’.”

I was listening to their conversation when suddenly a piercing static noise hit my ear, and the sound stopped abruptly. I subconsciously looked up toward the study. Standing before the French windows of the study was a blond youth wearing a white shirt and exaggerated enamel jewelry, leaning against the window frame. He was now looking down at me with a cold, mocking smile, while in his hand was the crushed black listening device.

—It was the Servant, Archer.