With a soft snip, the invisible chains of the Apostle of the Alien God were severed under the Dimensional Scissors, and the light of a truth-seeker finally returned to the ever-detached eyes of Sherlock Holmes.
For this famous detective, it was not merely the liberation of intellect, but the restoration of dignity as a human being.
Steve had no intention of engaging in lengthy discussion about the Alien God's true identity—it was better to leave such mysteries for the clever detective to unravel at his own pace. For a time-traveler who already knew the script, spoilers might be tempting, but the ultimate joy lay in watching the characters forge a new story under the butterfly effect.
"Well, then—work time is over. Next…" Steve's sunglasses hid the shift in his gaze—from ruthless mastermind to seeker of deep truth.
It's about time to begin my search for ideal waifu.
Yes, that's it.
This is the true reason why Steve left his peaceful parallel world and embarked on a journey across the stormy, crisis-laden universe of FGO: to seek the woman who could become his mother.
Of course, by the unique aesthetic criteria deeply ingrained in his soul, this mother had to possess two traits that seemed at first contradictory, yet together achieved perfect harmony.
First: she must be a young girl, delicate as a flower bud about to bloom, embodying purity.
Second: she must possess maternal instincts—a Mother Earth's love that embraces every whim, heals a weary soul, and gently guides those lost on the path.
This was—the motherly loli. (PS: This guy is so weird.)
"New Chaldea—what a treasure trove!" Striding down the broad corridor, Steve's eyes swept over the passing Servants like a high-spec radar.
With 198 Servants summoned, Chaldea had become one grand cosplay festival (albeit with all the cosplayers being real).
First to catch his attention were several figures leaping at the end of the hall.
"Jack… that's a no." He glimpsed the white-haired girl waving a dagger crying "I want to disappear!" and shook his head with regret. Jack the Ripper might appear adorable, but her insides harbored the curses of tens of thousands of abandoned children. She sought motherly love, but couldn't give it. Such reverse longing was against Steve's experience points.
"Nursery Rhyme… not right, either." The Alice-like girl, in essence, was a storybook come to life. No matter how cute she seemed, she lacked the human complexity and depth. Being with her was like reading a fairy tale—the opposite feeling from being cared for by a mother.
"Jeanne d'Arc Alter Lily… that's a stretch." Steve had to smile wryly, watching the girl in her Christmas costume, trying so hard to act grown up. That child longed to be guided, not to guide. Making her into a mother would be too cruel.
Steve continued onward, his motherly radar quickly eliminating candidates whose cuteness didn't satisfy the soul mate standard.
After careful selection and investigation, he narrowed his targets to five:
Target 1: Stheno
A goddess of breathtaking beauty and long purple hair reclined languidly on a luxury sofa in the rest area. Stheno—the eldest of the Gorgon sisters, possessing the visage of a perfect goddess.
"Hey you in red, it's rude to stare at women like that," she teased Steve, flashing a mischievous smile—a smile containing mockery, arrogance, and just a hint of indulgent affection, as if doting on a naughty child.
Steve's heart skipped a beat. Indeed, while she may be a manipulative goddess (and to most, terribly willful), to Steve her easy, unbothered dominance—her effortless power—was, in itself, a kind of motherly mercy akin to the ancient Mother Earth's compassion. She demanded nothing of you, other than to dance in the palm of her hand.
Target 2: Magical Girl Illyasviel von Einzbern
In the library's corner, a silver-haired girl tiptoed, reaching for a high shelf filled with magical tomes. Not the little Holy Grail warped by Fate/stay night's tragedies, but the loving magical girl from a happier parallel world.
"Aaah, I can't reach…" Illya puffed her cheeks, cuteness verging on criminal.
But Steve saw deeper. He saw the kindness and selfless strength she'd shown in Prisma Illya, protecting her friends and brother even in a child's body. Hers was a nascent mother's love—a comfort and confidence that promised immense potential.
Target 3: Sleepless City Assassin Wu Zetian
"How dare you stare at my majestic visage!" At the edge of the mock training ground, a small empress clad in purple issued orders to her subordinates, arms akimbo, chin raised with imperial dignity.
To most, she seemed comically tyrannical for one so young. But to Steve, she embodied the highest form of maternal majesty: Wu Zetian, history's only woman emperor, ultimate ruler of a vast empire. Hers was not gentle care, but absolute protection—"I am the state; I am the law."
No need to think—just obey. She would punish flaws, reward loyalty, and organize your life. For those with a secret yearning to be guided, that was irresistible.
Target 4: Consort of the Sun—Chacha
"Wow! These shiny gold coins look delicious—let's buy them all!" In front of the convenience store, a dazzlingly dressed girl swept snacks off the shelves with glee.
She was Hideyoshi's favored consort—famed for her extravagance. Outwardly a spoiled, spendthrift girl, but Steve knew her core: Lady Yodo, mother who cradled her dying son amidst the flames of Osaka Castle. Behind her innocent smile, sorrow and love for her child ran deep. Her apparent selfishness was a defense to mask overwhelming motherly weight. To touch that wounded yet gentle heart… what a moving experience that would be.
Target 5: Founder of Theosophy—Helena Blavatsky
Finally, on a bench in the corridor, Steve found a girl trying to mediate between Edison and Tesla.
"Honestly… how old are you two? Why fight like children? Be nicer to each other!" Sighing, she patted the heads of both grown men as if they were grandkids.
Short lilac hair, wisdom and kindness shining through youthful eyes—her catchphrase: "Grandma, at your service."
Bingo.
At first glance, she was a ten-year-old bookworm; within, however, she was an ancient grandmother, keeper of cosmic truths, guide of souls. This combination—the urge to care for and guide others, this elderly temperament—was nothing short of a miracle for the motherly loli seeker.
[Stheno, Illya, Wu Zetian, Chacha, Helena…]
Steve stood in the central hall of New Chaldea, surveying his five 'gems' scattered across the scene, a confident smile on his lips. "Wonderful… this FGO journey is going to be anything but boring."
He fished a small notebook (of course, a future gadget from his four-dimensional pocket) and solemnly wrote their names on the first page of the "New Human Instrumentality: Supplemental Chapter."
Who to start with? Or, as an adult, should he challenge them all?
Just as Steve was lost in pleasant contemplation, Da Vinci Lily's voice sounded from the radio:
"To all staff: Shadow Border's final debugging is complete. Please get ready. Tomorrow morning, we depart for the first Lostbelt—Eternal Ice Empire!"
Steve snapped the notebook shut and carefully tucked it near his heart.
"Looks like the romantic comedy has to give way to epic war—temporarily."
"But it's fine…" Raising his head, he looked up at the towering gate that led to the outside world. His crimson mantle drifted in the still air.
"I'm a professional at war."