"Huh?"
Logically, all the mysteries should have been solved once Jiang You's true identity was revealed. But Chloe's question pushed things in a strange new direction.
"Now that you mention it, Miss Medea also said that Jiang You disappears for periods of time, usually only showing up after 6 PM. At first, she thought it was because the Holy Grail War required avoiding crowded areas, but Jiang You never cared about that. He seemed to want to make things as chaotic as possible."
"You don't need to explain that. I know everything you know from two days ago. There's no need to repeat it."
"But Abby doesn't know about this, does she?"
Prisma Illya gestured toward the blonde girl hugging a doll nearby, implying that her words weren't meant solely for the person she'd been speaking to.
"Actually... Abby doesn't really want to know..."
Of course, Abby was still curious. However, her "Mother's" reaction clearly indicated she knew specific inside details but hadn't shared them. Abby felt she shouldn't pry any further.
"Your ears are practically twitching. You're obviously dying of curiosity, so stop pretending you don't care."
Chloe pulled Abby closer. In situations like this, the more allies, the better.
"We all live here, so we're all family now. Let's do this together."
Hearing Chloe call Abby "family," Prisma Illya realized she probably couldn't drag Chloe back home. Besides, she hadn't even figured out how to explain everything to her parents. Though, with the Fuyuki anomaly causing such a stir in the Magecraft World, Kiritsugu and Irisviel were due back any day now.
"Anyway, back to what we were talking about. They also said Jiang You only shows up for extended periods on weekends. From Monday to Friday, he's completely unreachable, no matter how urgent the situation."
Since Chloe had discovered this pattern on her own, she explained it in detail to Prisma Illya and Abby.
"Doesn't his behavior seem a bit like... you know?"
"Like what?"
Jiang You's actions had indeed struck Prisma Illya as strange, but she hadn't connected them to anything else.
"I'm starting to doubt you're even Illya." Chloe refused to believe this dummy was another version of herself. Isn't it obvious? "Doesn't it seem like he has to go to work? He only shows up on weekday evenings but is around all day on weekends. Doesn't that sound like he only has free time after work?"
"!!!"
With Chloe's explanation, it finally clicked for Illya. It really did resemble the routine of a working professional.
"But... that doesn't make sense! Jiang You is a Servant, right? That Illya said he was summoned by a Kiritsugu from another timeline. How could he possibly have a job?!"
"Have you forgotten? Hakuno... I mean, Sister Hakuno... she was a normal person summoned as a Heroic Spirit. Do you think it's possible Jiang You is in a similar situation? That he has to return to his own world to work each time?"
Chloe had been thinking this for a while. Jiang You kept disappearing, leaving her with barely any chance to talk to him. He'd promised to take her in, but it was as if he'd completely forgotten. If she weren't so sure he was some kind of loli(?)con, she'd suspect he'd already found her too troublesome and run off.
"You have a point... but Sister Hakuno doesn't have Noble Phantasms, right? How do you explain Jiang You's?"
Prisma Illya still couldn't reconcile the idea of a Heroic Spirit with a corporate slave. Besides, corporate slaves in Japan (and here, for that matter...) rarely got weekends off or such consistent work hours. "And normal people can't have Divinity, can they?"
"That is a problem... and Jiang You has confirmed his True Name... but is he really the kind of being that sounds like a final boss?"
Chloe couldn't connect Jiang You with the concept of "Unordered Chaos" either.
"Don't you think he just picked a random, irrelevant name?"
"But regardless, what does any of this have to do with us?"
Prisma Illya had almost forgotten why she'd come here in the first place. She glanced back at Medea and Medusa, noticing that Miss Librarian had already led them to a door—one that clearly led to the Fifth War Timeline. Medea and Medusa sensed her gaze and waved goodbye.
"It does have to do with us," Chloe insisted, her curiosity far stronger—and her courage far greater—than Prisma Illya's. Perhaps because she'd been sealed away for so long, she couldn't stand being idle. "For whatever reason, Jiang You has at least one world he hasn't told us about."
"Everyone has their secrets, right?" Prisma Illya reasoned, projecting her own feelings onto him. She wouldn't tell anyone her own embarrassing little secrets... wait a minute! Because she was a miko, Jiang You had probably already seen all of her secrets. That wasn't fair at all!
Her tone shifted abruptly as she decided to indulge her own curiosity. "But that doesn't apply to Jiang You! For fairness's sake, he has to explain himself!"
"Is that really a good idea?" Abby, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke up. She didn't know the details of Jiang You's situation, only that the Mother Goddess held him in high regard. "What if it's something really important? Like... something forbidden?"
Abby wasn't just making this up. Jiang You's current public identity placed him in the same pantheon as the Mother Goddess—a pantheon notorious for its utter inhumanity. Humans couldn't possibly comprehend their actions. Not speaking a god's true name was just the beginning; even brief contact or a fleeting glimpse could curse one's later years with misfortune.
"I'm just tired of being kept in the dark," Chloe declared, brushing aside any talk of taboos. She was Jiang You's miko, and he had taken her in as family. They should be honest with each other. Now that she existed as a separate being, she was all alone and naturally craved the presence of "family." Even if Jiang You was dealing with something serious, he should at least give them an explanation, right? She felt a pang of worry and loneliness. Since no one else knew the truth, she decided she would be the one to uncover it.
"Besides," she added, "have you noticed that the other Illya is gone too?"
"Are you all really that curious?"
Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind the three of them.
Prisma Illya yelped and leaped into Chloe's arms. Abby lowered her head meekly, like a child caught misbehaving. Only Chloe stood her ground, staring directly at the newcomer. The Library was vast, but only a handful of people were authorized to enter or resided here permanently. She didn't even need to think to know who it was: the librarian who called herself Bubble.
"Of course I'm curious! My guardian keeps disappearing without any reason. Anyone would be worried, wouldn't they?"
Chloe spoke bluntly. If anyone knew Jiang You's whereabouts, it was most likely Bubble, the librarian of this place. "Miss Bubble, you must know why, right?"
"Well... yes, I do know," Bubble replied, her gaze drifting toward some distant point. The fate of this world—whether it would continue to exist—would be decided within the next two months. Even Bubble couldn't predict the outcome, which made it all the more fascinating to her. She wouldn't mind if the world was destroyed, as long as she got to witness something unexpected, regardless of whether the ending was good or bad. For now, though, she had to maintain the status quo.
"But I can't tell you directly."
She reached out and ruffled Abby's hair. "This truly is a taboo—an absolute taboo for this world. The truth might be terrifying... in a certain sense, of course. Jiang You is still Jiang You; he's not some monster."
"Now I understand why Jiang You hates people who speak in riddles so much."
Chloe's face darkened as she stared at Bubble. The librarian had said a lot, yet revealed nothing at all.
"Hahaha, how about we play a game?" Bubble suggested. "I can indeed contact Jiang You right now. If you can defeat me, I'll give you the chance. You have five minutes."
She pulled out a phone and shook it playfully.
"So, what do you say? Want to give it a try?"
"Wouldn't it be easier to just wait for him to come back and ask him directly?"
Chloe was confused. Why go through all this trouble? Besides, Bubble had a teasing, playful expression. Everyone seemed so relaxed, which should mean Jiang You wasn't in any danger. If I can beat you, why not just send me to his side? "And if I win, why not use a more direct method?"
"Because if this call goes through, it might start to blur some boundaries for Jiang You. It's very important for future developments, you know."
Bubble was quite curious to see how Jiang You would react to Chloe's words. Would he treat it like a conversation with an AI, or... something else? She was patient enough to wait, but she wouldn't refuse a few variables.
"This seems suspicious..." Chloe murmured.
As the administrator of Jiang You's world, Bubble's relationship with him must be extraordinary. But right now, she's acting like a kidnapper holding someone for ransom, which made Chloe a little wary. Why would learning the truth have such a massive impact on the world? Even though Jiang You's Spirit Origin is Azathoth, and his Authority is similar to Brahmastra, he surely can't directly alter the world itself, right? The ability to change rules is already absurd enough, but Jiang You's actions have always been tied to cards, never straying too far beyond those boundaries.
"If you're not willing, then forget it," Bubble said nonchalantly.
"No, I accept," Chloe replied, gritting her teeth. It's just a fight, right? The worst that can happen is I lose. Besides, Bubble just wants to play around.
"So, what kind of combat will it be? Brute force... or perhaps a Duel?"
As Jiang You's miko, Chloe naturally possessed the ability to drag people into a Duel Space, a power even Bubble couldn't escape. But Bubble seemed completely unconcerned, even willing to go easy. "Anything works for me."
"Neither, of course!"
Abby had, intentionally or not, mentioned Bubble's true identity before. As one of the Three Pillar Gods, second only to Jiang You in the pantheon, Bubble's power was unimaginably strong. A direct physical confrontation was out of the question. Even though Chloe, as Jiang You's miko, could summon him to fight, it likely wouldn't be enough against a god's complete Deck.
"Since anything goes, I want to compete on..."
"Height and age are off-limits," Bubble interrupted with a smile, shaking her head. "Anything related to our inherent traits would make the outcome predetermined."
"They're not allowed?"
Chloe had indeed considered something along those lines, like "whoever is younger wins." In that case, Bubble would have no chance of victory. "Then... how about Jiang You's Affection for us? That's objective enough, right?"
"Such a... cunning child," Bubble chuckled. In truth, this wasn't much different from the previous suggestions. Even ignoring her true form, her current appearance was that of a character from a niche game. Her popularity couldn't compare to Illya's, let alone Chloe's, who was merely a derivative. Jiang You's Affection for Chloe was far higher than for her; the outcome was obvious. However, Chloe didn't know this, so Bubble decided to let her pass this round.
"Alright, you win," Bubble conceded. "Here's the phone. Ask him whatever you want."
-
Jiang You, who was shopping with "Christina," suddenly received a call. He glanced at the screen and was taken aback. The caller ID read "Bubble," with the specific name "Yog-Sothoth." This was absurd—he had never saved this number. While his contract did include his contact information, and the Yog-Sothoth-skinned customer service representative had mentioned she would contact him, how could she have possibly altered his contact name for her?
"Sorry, I have to take this call," Jiang You said, stepping away from Christina.
"Christina" nodded in understanding. After all, no one from the Type-Moon world could reach him here. At most, it would be someone from "Reality." This "Reality" was meticulously constructed based on Jiang You's subconscious understanding of the world, making it objectively real (relative to his memories) and its inhabitants remarkably authentic.
"Christina" was absolutely confident. After all, what "3D" woman could possibly compete with a "2D" one?
Curiosity piqued, Jiang You answered the call, speaking politely. "Hello? Who is this?"
"Jiang You!"
A slightly childish voice came from the receiver. Jiang You froze. The voice sounded like Illya, but with a subtle difference.
"Where did you go?"
Jiang You listened carefully for another moment and confirmed the caller was Kuro, also known as Chloe. If it were just Kuro's voice, it wouldn't be that strange. These days, games often used characters' voices to call players for new version updates or to entice them back, performing some cringey skit where they rambled incomprehensibly. But the mismatch was strange—why was the call coming from "Bubble"?
"Do you guys use employee phones for version update calls? Or is this your customer service line?"
Jiang You was already braced for Kuro to spout some bizarre lines. Just as he was about to hang up, he heard her respond directly to his question.
"What employee? What version update?"
An AI call? Jiang You found himself intrigued. Modern games were getting more and more creative.