its begun

After spending several days enjoying themselves and exploring, Kaoru and Jeanne were ready to begin their operation.

Thanks to Kaoru's abilities, they successfully avoided a confrontation between Jack the Ripper, Jeanne d'Arc, and Atalanta.

However, because of this, Kaoru had to take action himself.

He faced Jack the Ripper alone and gave her master, Rikudou Reika, a second chance to repent.

The reason Kaoru spared her was that Merlin had informed him that Reika had exceptional talent in magecraft.

With proper education, it wasn't unreasonable to think Reika could become a high-ranking magus.

Thus, Kaoru decided to invest in her future and requested Shishigou Kairi to send Rikudou Reika to the Clock Tower and have her placed under the care of Lord El-Melloi II.

Additionally, with Jeanne's help, Kaoru requested that Reika's participation in the Holy Grail War be revoked, allowing her to leave the conflict.

Initially, Reika refused, unwilling to part ways with Jack, but Kaoru insisted.

He even created a fake mana circuit using runes, capable of absorbing mana from the surroundings to supply Jack, ensuring she wouldn't disappear even after Reika's participation in the war was revoked.

With Reika out of the Holy Grail War, the balance of the conflict began to crumble.

Moreover, by preventing Jack from encountering Jeanne and Atalanta, the chance of Atalanta losing control and going berserk became zero.

Given her strong sense of justice, there was even a possibility that Atalanta could be persuaded to join Jeanne's faction.

If Atalanta fully sided with Jeanne, then the proud Achilles could also be a bonus addition to their forces—a "buy one, get one" deal.

Although Kaoru was confident he could complete his mission, there were still potential unforeseen variables, one of which was the supporter from the disruptive faction.

Therefore, Kaoru chose a complex path and gathered allies, as his true goal was to eliminate the anomalies, even though the mission was officially to secure or destroy the Holy Grail.

After securing Reika and Jack the Ripper, Kaoru and Jeanne, on their way back to Trifas, encountered a conspicuous young man. 

"[Master, that boy is a homunculus and also a servant],"

Merlin informed Kaoru through telepathy, to which Kaoru simply nodded in response.

This was Sieg, a homunculus who had been granted a second life by the heroic spirit Siegfried.

Upon seeing him, Kaoru shook his head.

Although Sieg had inherited Siegfried's strength, he was still far too weak.

The two of them approached Sieg, who was resting.

"Good morning, young man. I can see you have incredible potential hidden within you. Would you like to become my disciple?"

Kaoru greeted Sieg, praising him while stroking an imaginary beard.

[Wow, you're as persuasive as a flea market vendor, Master.]

"As expected of Kaoru-san! His way of guiding lost souls is truly elegant!"

Hearing such contrasting compliments, Kaoru felt slightly offended.

Sieg, noticing the strange young man and woman approaching and speaking oddly, became wary.

Having just escaped from the Yggdmillenia estate, the presence of Kaoru and Jeanne was, of course, suspicious to him.

He gripped his sword tightly, but suddenly, for the first time, he felt a deep terror.

He leaped back, drawing his sword and pointing it at the source of the terror—Kaoru.

In Sieg's view, Kaoru, who initially appeared as a normal young man, transformed into a terrifying monster.

Yet, for some reason, Sieg couldn't run, or rather, a strong impulse within him urged him not to flee from the monster before him.

After a few moments, the terrifying aura abruptly disappeared, as if nothing had happened.

Sieg, the target of this terror, was left confused.

If not for his clothes drenched in sweat, he would have believed the terror he had just experienced was nothing but a hallucination.

He looked back at Kaoru, who smiled with satisfaction.

---

Kaoru knew Sieg was very weak, but he wanted to test if Sieg had inherited Siegfried's courage.

He released his haki, combined with illusion magic he had learned from Merlin, but controlled it so it only instilled terror without knocking the target unconscious or killing them.

He wanted to see how Sieg would react when faced with a monster.

As expected, despite his weakness, Sieg showed extraordinary courage, daring to raise his sword and point it at him.

To Kaoru, a protagonist like Sieg was one of the few people worthy of being guided.

Courage without strength was mere foolishness, but what if Kaoru granted power to that courage? The result would be a hero.

Kaoru ultimately decided to teach Sieg how to fight, regardless of whether he accepted the offer or not.

Satisfied, Kaoru withdrew his haki and watched as Sieg slowly regained his composure and began to breathe normally again.

"Alright, before we head back to Trifas, I'll train you for a bit!"

Kaoru moved swiftly, striking the back of Sieg's neck, causing him to lose consciousness.

"Let's head home, Jeanne-san!"

Kaoru cheerfully invited Jeanne, who merely smiled, having observed the entire encounter, and they returned home.

---

Several days passed, and in a corner of the forest near the now-ruined city of Trifas:

"Seiyaaa!!!"

Sieg charged at Kaoru with his sword, yelling as he did so.

"Urgh!"

Unfortunately, Kaoru easily dodged the attack and delivered a counter-kick to Sieg's stomach.

"I've told you many times, if you can't finish off your enemy in one blow, don't yell!!"

With a spinning motion, Kaoru landed a kick squarely on Sieg's face, sending him crashing into a tree.

Kaoru then summoned a sword from his dimensional pocket and muttered,

"Pierce the heavens, Ame no Mihashira!!!"

As he spoke the incantation, an immense wave of energy radiated from Kaoru's body, and the sword transformed into a beautiful spear, predominantly red and gold in color.

Kaoru crouched slightly and assumed a stance as if preparing to thrust the spear.

However, the distance was so vast that it left Sieg, who had just gotten back up, utterly confused.

"Gaebolg: Alternative!!!"

Without knowing why, Sieg suddenly felt as though the spear had pierced something behind him.

"A weapon that can destroy the soul and contains the power to manipulate causality—if you intended to kill me, there would be no escape. Truly impressive!"

Sieg, still silent, was startled by a voice coming from behind him.

When he turned, a man with a lower body resembling that of a horse emerged from the trees.

"Since you have no intention to kill, sage Chiron!"

Kaoru's words left Chiron momentarily stunned, ruining his attempt at an epic entrance.

"How is that possible?" Chiron asked, surprised.

"I didn't know for sure; I just guessed, and your expression gave me the answer."

Hearing this, Chiron couldn't believe that he had inadvertently revealed his identity through his own reaction.

"Well then, I concede. As expected from the partner of a ruler!"

Chiron then helped the still-exhausted Sieg to his feet and brought him over to Kaoru.

He then explained his reason for approaching them: the head of the Yggdmillenia family, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia, leader of the Black Faction, wished to invite Kaoru and Jeanne to visit Yggdmillenia Castle.

And that was exactly what Kaoru wanted.

-----

Now that all the variables had gathered, if his predictions were correct, a major battle would erupt in Romania within a few days.

Naturally, as the problem-solvers, they had to be part of the chaos.

As a start, Kaoru used his power to dominate the entire space of Romania without anyone realizing it.

As per his promise to Gaia, Alaya, and Root, as long as he didn't destroy the universe itself, he was free to do whatever he wanted.

Separating Romania and creating a near-perfect replica as a battlefield was a bonus job, a gesture of gratitude to the three entities.

Without their permission, Kaoru wasn't sure he could have summoned those two servants.

"[Master, are you truly human? This power even surpasses that woman, you know!]"

Merlin remarked as he witnessed how effortlessly Kaoru manipulated the space across all of Romania.

If Kaoru claimed he had a personal dimension, Merlin would believe it, as Kaoru's abilities had already surpassed common sense.

"It's just Romania, Merlin-san! That's a small thing!"

Kaoru responded as if it were no big deal, and indeed, for him, it wasn't.

A little while later, Kaoru finished coordinating everything, and the grand stage known as Romania was prepared by him without anyone knowing.

Even Vlad, who should have the strongest connection to Romania, was unaware that they were now in a different dimension.

"Now... it's time to move. First stop... Yggdmillenia Castle!!!"

Kaoru, followed by Sieg, Jeanne, Shishigou Kairi, Merlin, Mordred, and two others, headed toward Yggdmillenia Castle.