"What you think about during the day, you dream about at night."
That line echoed in Emiya Shirou's mind.
Yesterday, he had carried Wa-zhu on his back for quite a while. The sensation of her serpentine body coiling around him still lingered. And, sure enough, that night he had a strange dream—a seductive snake demon approached him wearing nearly transparent robes, smiling alluringly. Meanwhile, a stern and upright version of himself straightened his monk robes, summoned deep spiritual power, and shouted:
"Wicked creature, I want you to help me cultivate!"
...Yeah. What the hell was that dream?
Today, the formal appointment of Emiya as Chief Historian of the Zhou family had been finalized. He expected a long string of traditional formalities.
After all, Wa-zhu hadn't officially launched her "reforms" yet. Based on the old-fashioned nature of the Zhou family, Emiya guessed he'd have to deal with fish-shaped talismans, waist tags, ivory tokens, and ancient appointment scrolls.
But to his surprise, Wa-zhu issued an order early in the morning allowing him to skip all that and simply sign a modern contract.
Most of the Zhou family didn't know who he was yet, so the people bustling about looked at him oddly—especially after yesterday's events. Rumor had it he'd carried Wa-zhu into the underground palace and "shocked" the elders into unconsciousness. Now, they stared at Emiya like he was the pampered pretty boy of the family head.
He shrugged. Not worth arguing over. Gossip would fade. Once he demonstrated his talents in projection magecraft, they'd all look at him with different eyes.
Right now, he was more curious about why Wa-zhu hadn't shown up today. She seemed especially busy.
"This is the investigation report compiled from the site of the Dead Apostle attack," said Zhou Yuxuan, now fully recovered. Since he had witnessed the incident firsthand, it made sense that he was the one reporting to Wa-zhu.
"…As I thought, no useful evidence?"
Compared to her warmth yesterday, Wa-zhu today was like a frozen lake.
Her own envoy had been ambushed while meeting with an honored guest. It was a direct insult to the Zhou family. Even though the enemy had been annihilated with minimal loss, Wa-zhu couldn't forgive the affront.
It was likely the attackers had planned to sabotage the Zhou-led excavation of the ruins, and the Zhou family had simply stumbled into their scheme. If those Dead Apostles had successfully infiltrated the ruins and harmed members of other families, the Zhou family would have borne the blame.
Zhou Yuxuan lowered his head. "Yes… unfortunately. The scene was too thoroughly destroyed. Likely due to the immense power of the Da Yan Ling spell. But… we can't blame Chief Historian Emiya."
"Blame?" Wa-zhu scoffed, suddenly smiling. "Why would I blame him? I'm grateful!"
Zhou Yuxuan blinked. He couldn't believe how quickly her attitude shifted from icy winter to warm spring.
"Hehehe, if not for Shirou's actions, we'd never have had the chance to turn the tide…"
Her mood brightened further, and she teased a little: "You can probably guess who the real culprit is even without proof. Only a handful of families have the means to raise Dead Apostles. And even fewer would dare to challenge the Zhou family's authority…"
"Chen family!" Zhou Yuxuan said instantly.
"Exactly. Ever since the Chen family cozied up to that Western… what was it, the Gattuso family? I remember reading somewhere they used to be mobsters who cleaned up their act. Anyway, the Chen family's been acting out more and more. Now it's obvious—they were already crooked."
"You're planning to use this incident to settle the score with the Chen family?" Yuxuan frowned. The biggest issue was the lack of solid evidence.
"Forget about gathering evidence," Wa-zhu said flatly. "Even if you had preserved complete corpses, you still wouldn't find anything directly linking them to the Chens. Their entire operation is external. Those Apostles were likely smuggled in. Looking for proof from within China is like digging in the wrong direction—it just lets them escape clean."
"…Then what?" Yuxuan asked.
"We don't need proof. Change the perspective. Strike first. Stir up all the other families against them. When the Chens are isolated and loathed, we beat them down while they're vulnerable. Make it so they can never rise again in all of Shenzhou. And to spark this development…"
She proudly lifted a report titled:
"Feasibility Study on the Human Meridian System, Inscription Arrays, and Energy Refinement."
This was the result of her collaboration with Emiya Shirou and several Daoist masters from the Internal Alchemy school. They had created a new cultivation theory by merging ideas.
Once this method was proven effective and they had successful test cases, every family would flock to adopt it. At that point, even destroying the Chen family would be within reach.
"Zhou Yuxuan, you mentioned before that you sensed metal-based micro-arrays inside Shirou—something like his so-called 'Magic Circuits,' correct?"
"Yes. Those formations were so intricate… they were composed of interconnected alchemical arrays, forming a fully realized system across his body. Wa-zhu, it's like… it's like a living organ. Alive. Breathing."
"...A system that refined?" Wa-zhu whispered, eyes flickering with emotion. "It seems this new era's foundation depends entirely on Shirou."
She carefully closed the report, handling it like it was a sacred scripture.
"Oh, and those treasures we promised to make available to Shirou—get that arranged."
"It's already done."
"You're Zhou Minhao?"
The man who arrived was a calm, well-mannered youth in Tang-style robes. His posture was impeccable, his movements efficient and refined. Like Zhou Yuxuan, he was slim but full of inner energy—a trained martial artist, clearly.
"That's me, Chief Historian Emiya. I've been assigned to escort you to the family vault. Is now a good time?"
"No time like the present. Please, lead the way."
Emiya stood without hesitation. Other than analyzing the structure of the Dragon Severing Platform and studying projection, he had no urgent tasks.
With his sharp eyes and excellent memory, once he mastered projection, he'd only need to see a noble artifact once to replicate it.
Back at the Clock Tower, Tohsaka Rin had taken full advantage of this ability—she filed over a thousand requests just so Shirou could access the British Museum and Clock Tower's secret vaults.
Of course, Rin's goal was a little shady. She wanted him to project famous paintings and sell the replicas to keep their household afloat.
Unlike Rin, Wa-zhu was doing this to genuinely help him grow stronger.
(End of Chapter)
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