The projector picked up an outside signal and displayed 12 monoliths The 12 guests were represented by playing cards Specifically the jacks queens and kings of all four suits
Twelve people surrounded the table
Is it only Miss A and Miss E today
We have little to discuss answered Miss A I will inform the other witches later
Understood Now if you don’t mind getting right to the topic at hand
All 12 voices coming from the monoliths were clearly excited
Miss A set down the watch and reached for her cup instead
As I told you in my message the Holy Grail is complete
Splendid
The monolith voices were brimming with excitement Some of the voices grew fainter as if they had moved away from the microphone to dance with joy
Then when will you be executing the plan This will be a turning point in human history so please allow my company to support you in every way possible
No wait I would like to provide the two of them with god’s blessings first I will arrange a visit to my office
A boy doesn’t want all that formal nonsense What matters is the honeymoon
The best way for two youths to celebrate is to take a relaxing vacation
Don’t be ridiculous We must research the True Ancestor This is no time to be messing around
The excited monoliths argued on and on
Miss A had predicted this but it was even more annoying than she had expected
She shrugged and looked to the rabbit sitting on the table
It blinked its red eyes and the 12 monoliths vanished
The room was wrapped in silence Machina was as taciturn as ever so the only sound was the clink of Miss A placing her cup on its saucer
After another blink of red eyes the 12 monoliths reappeared
My apologies We got carried away
Miss A had not said a word but the cards acted like she had yelled at them
Those men and women ran the world’s most powerful conglomerates and corporations so the twelve of them together possessed more than a third of the world’s assets But here they were no more than Miss A’s sponsors As for our planswe are only just beginning to investigate the egg cell extracted from the Holy Grail It appears implantation would be possible but it is unclear if this would produce a True Ancestor Thus I believe we should still wait and see what happens That again
The cards ceased their celebrations and instead sighed in disappointment
We can only watch and wait for so long Miss A You have been late to act every single time since the discovery of the Serpent’s Eye holder And as a result the angels stole the boy a troublesome demon intervened and your frontline facility there was nearly destroyed You need to give it a rest already Reconstructing the holy ground there cost us enough to bankrupt a few small nations
Now they started griping
The rabbit looked up to ask if she wanted to cut off the transmission again but
Miss A shook her head
The monoliths must have remembered there was someone else there because they changed who they were speaking to
How about you Miss E The completion of the Holy Grail is your problem isn’t it Shouldn’t you seek the cooperation of the Adam boy right away
You have all the research equipment you need
Hweh hweh hweh If you want a honeymoon I can get one set up for you right away
Don’t you think watching and waiting is foolish
They talked on and on toward Machina
The girl had been silently observing the conversation but now she raised her head
This is only my personal opinion but
She calmly glanced at Miss A who jerked her chin telling her to speak
I agree we should seek Fujita ’s assistance And I think we should hurry toward the birth of the True Ancestor
See
But I will obey Miss A
Just as the monoliths thought they had the perfect ally they were silenced
She was personally opposed to watching and waiting but she would go along with it if Miss A said so
Miss A must have known Machina would say that because she did not hesitate to take a sip of tea
She understood why the monoliths and Machina felt the way they did
From a pure efficiency standpoint they should immediately call in the Adam boy
Fujita Mutsuki They should tell him everything and get his help with their research
His help was the only path left for humankind
The tea had gone cold She had apparently spent too long winding her watch
A clock that would be off by a single second in 100000 years and a pocket watch that needed to be wound once every few days were the same in the sense that neither kept the time with perfect accuracy The girl who understood science better than anyone simply could not trust in efficiency
That is all I have to say You are dismissed
She set down the cup
They must have known that there was no use arguing with her calmly-given order
After some sighs and grinding teeth the monoliths vanished
The grassy plain returned
Miss A breathed a quiet sigh and pulled a single hard candy and a small bell from her pocket When she tossed the candy in her mouth and rang the bell a large maid entered and prepared two new cups of tea Miss A
Machina spoke quietly to the girl who rolled the candy around in her mouth
I agree with them added the maid We have passed the time for watching and waiting
The girl nodded to say she understood what Miss E and D were saying
She looked down at the pocket watch she had picked up once more The ticking hands moved with what appeared to be a flawless tempo
Were those hands accurate or not
It was impossible for human eyes to be certain of the current second
I will leave the rest with you Miss E
She tossed the watch aside
Do what you think is right No one knows that boy better than you so that would probably be best
Probably Miss A this is too much
The maid frowned at this extremely careless decision However
That’s an order Miss E this is in your hands
The feelings of those involved are of the utmost importance in such things That means the Adam boy’s and yours
With that she picked up her teacup to say the discussion was over
Machina remained expressionless but she was confused and started to open her mouth to speak
But at that very moment
I see you haven’t changed Miss Alice
A brief disturbance ran through the room’s projected image and the King of Hearts monolith appeared
The grassy plain remained and the monolith formed a human silhouette
It was a horribly emaciated old man in a wheelchair This signal was not sent through the previous secret line so the holographic image displayed his true form
The old man saw no need to hide who he was and the wheelchair’s wheels squeaked as he approached the table
What do you want Dr Strangelove It is rude to interrupt teatime
Ho ho There is no need to worry about that given how well we know each other
Maid give me some tea as well
He smiled in a way that made it look like he had just eaten someone
The maid hesitated but finally prepared the requested tea
The old man was only a hologram and thus could not pick it up so it remained on the table
I created Miss C and you created Miss E But it seems it was your Miss E who was chosen for the Holy Grail This is a cause for celebration but that one point is a tad disappointing
Do not say we ‘created’ them They are both my daughters
Heh heh Now about Miss Cabout Elisabeth
Miss A’s eyebrows twitched
You don’t need her anymore do you Then perhaps I’ll retrieve her
The girl had been calmly listening to the old man but now a crunching sound came from her mouth She had apparently bitten through her hard candy
Fine fine I’ll leave her with you said the man You can use her however you like
Silent anger filled the 600-year-old girl’s eyes and the old man responded with a thin smile
But as I’ve said countless times before Elisabeth has quite a few flaws introduced by that creation plan It would be fairly dangerous to trust her outside of battle