Natsumi was single-mindedly focused on how to show off her masked persona and make a high-profile opening for the Holy Grail War, and found Norton's endless rambling absolutely unbearable.
She muttered internally that if this Holy Grail War somehow managed to cough up a second White King vessel to cause trouble again, then she'd... she'd make Fenrir do a handstand while eating spaghetti mixed with No. 42 concrete through his nostrils!
As for how to deal with existing issues? Whatever, she—Yūsei Daiō—would take care of it herself!
In short, Natsumi had to put in some effort just to get Norton, who was thousands of miles away, to finally stop his excessive worrying. She cut the remote communication mid-nagging. Then, and only then, did she look toward the massive structure dominating the entire hollow cavern—the Greater Grail, at the center of the grand alchemical array.
…Huh? Compared to the last time she saw Prototype Freya Zero, it looked like the seal now had extra alchemical markings etched into her body? Was this the "modification" Norton mentioned?
"Fenrir!"
Fenrir, who was about to sneak off and slack, immediately perked up. "Here, Nee-chan!"
"I've got some stuff to do. What exactly I'm doing... well, you wouldn't understand even if I explained, so I won't bother. Your job is simple: stand guard here, watch the center of this array, and do not let her get out. Got it?"
While giving instructions, Natsumi's figure slowly walked off—she was off to prepare the ritual to summon her masked identity, "Attila." As for Fenrir, he never dared to disobey Natsumi… or rather, after so many years, he had grown used to obeying her commands.
"Got it! Understood!"
Fenrir's massive dragon face lit up with determination. This mission from his sister—he would complete it without a single flaw!
With conviction…
Fenrir couldn't help glancing sideways at the small color TV on the other side of the cavern. The shows on that thing were almost more tempting than potato chips... How could he manage to do both: follow Nee-chan's orders and enjoy his precious TV time?
For him, this tiny problem was actually a colossal dilemma.
But after much brain strain (a rare activity for him), Fenrir finally thought of a genius solution!
He extended his massive claw and carefully moved the TV to a new spot—directly across from the alchemical matrix.
Now, in his line of sight, he could monitor the Greater Grail and watch the shows on the screen. Perfect! Though the TV looked a bit far from this angle, no problem—Fenrir had excellent dragon eyesight. Distance didn't matter!
Haha! He, Fenrir, had solved the problem on his own! He couldn't wait to show Nee-chan later. She would definitely be thrilled!
With that, Fenrir boldly turned on the TV while Natsumi was away. His enormous dragon eyes locked onto the captivating drama, while he monitored the Greater Grail using only the corner of his eye.
The White King's soul inside the Grail hadn't escaped.
However, at the same time Natsumi was attempting a new Heroic Spirit summoning, the powerful energy from the leylines instantly synced with the Greater Grail. The markings on Prototype Freya Zero's body flared to life.
Sensing a rare opportunity, the soul of the White King extended probing tendrils toward the flowing, seemingly infinite mana—
———
Meanwhile, Shirou had lingered at Ruri Kazama's place for quite a while to ensure Nono's appearance would be handled properly. So before that was resolved, Eri had been waiting in the dressing room for too long and got bored. She wandered out and began casually circling the massive structure of the Kabuki Theater.
This supreme stage of artistic performance, nestled in Ginza, seemed removed from Tokyo's usual nightlife buzz. The moving lights and colors outside felt blocked by some invisible barrier, pulling crowds only a street away.
Eri's long hair, now dyed a soft iced milk-tea color, fluttered in the breeze. Her curious, innocent eyes observed the glowing fragments of the night world around her.
She saw drunk people stumbling out of bars and izakayas, friends gathering at wagyu or French restaurants, and tourists heading to Tokyo Tower to gaze down from the observation deck.
Then suddenly, a dark shadow darted into her field of vision.
Eri's sharp eyes didn't miss a thing—she instantly noticed something odd under a tall streetlight nearby. It looked like a shadowy figure standing upright... but had no limbs.
She couldn't tell where it came from. It was as if it had grown out of the ground.
The streetlight abruptly shut off with a click, and the shadow vanished into the darkness.
Most girls might panic in a scene like this, but Eri wasn't an ordinary girl—she was the secret weapon of the Orochi family, and the Uesugi Clan's own "Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto."
Though she didn't know what that thing was, she instinctively reached into her hair and pulled out a hairpin—shorter than a knife. With a casual flick, a chilling aura began to spread through the surrounding air.
A faint squirming sound came from the darkness. At first, it sounded excited and restless… then came the hush of something facing death.
"…?"
Eri glanced around, suspicious. She didn't feel like that thing had truly disappeared.
Still, she didn't see any more shadowy figures. All she saw now was a familiar red-haired boy walking toward her.
Eri tucked her hairpin back into place. In that instant, she transformed from the cold and deadly Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto back into a lovely girl in her youthful prime. As she walked toward Shirou, she pulled out her notebook and started sketching something.
"What's wrong?"
Shirou finally relaxed upon seeing that the girl was unharmed. He brushed aside a few strands of her wind-tousled hair.
Eri opened her notebook in the moonlight—not filled with her usual neat writing, but instead a strange, abstract doodle: a big black blob like a child's crayon scribble.
"What's this supposed to be?" Even someone as sharp as Shirou couldn't make sense of it. Eri's art style left much to be desired.
"…" Eri shook her head. She didn't know either.
"…Wow. You're really going with 'I have no idea,' huh." Shirou scratched his head, deciding to let this one slide for now. They still had to catch the last JR train before midnight.
On the way, Shirou explained the fake identity backstory to her—since Natsumi was still at home and knew nothing, they had to keep up appearances. Eri listened seriously while also taking mental notes for her future runaway tactics.
At the same time, Shirou messaged Natsumi.
Her reply? She hadn't gotten home yet either. Seriously!? What kind of weirdo studies in the library from morning to night!?
So they agreed to meet at the station platform.
Shirou and Eri arrived at the Ginza train station first. Natsumi showed up soon after, arms full of documents.
"Yo, senpai! And Nono… wait, that's not her. Who's this?"
Natsumi had just stepped onto the platform when she noticed that Shirou's "companion" had changed again. Tsk, did he pick up another stray girl? She'd heard that this country had a tendency for orphans to randomly end up in someone's care…
Shirou and Eri had rehearsed this already. "For the record, I didn't pick her up. She's a distant relative of Nono's—someone from overseas."
Here it comes—the Chen family's go-to excuse: "She's a cousin."
"…Distant relative?"
Natsumi scanned Eri's obviously styled hair and striking appearance.
Honestly, they'd already used the "distant relative" excuse once with Melusine. For someone who knew Melusine's true identity, this was pretty weak. But Natsumi played along.
Strangely enough, Eri did resemble Nono a bit… so maybe the excuse actually held water?
"Yep! The Chen family is old money. You know what that means, right?" Shirou added more nonsense to make it stick. "With all their arranged marriages and global ties, having a cousin in France or Japan isn't weird at all."
"Ohhh! I've seen that in dramas!" Natsumi lit up. "Like the heiress runs off with a poor guy, and the evil in-laws throw a check at him and tell him to leave!"
"Yeah… well, in real life, those families usually marry into equally powerful ones. Like Nono's family marrying into clans across the world. So a Japanese or French cousin? Totally plausible."
"I see. Then, mind telling me where Nono and Melusine went? Did they head home first?"
"They're not home yet," Shirou said smoothly.
"They went to visit Eri's family today and plan to stay there for a while. But Eri got curious about our place and begged to stay over for a few days."
Eri nodded seriously and showed her prepared notebook:
"Yup yup, I wanted to come. My house is super strict. This is a rare opportunity."
(End of Chapter)
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