Take this, Big Diao!
An attack wildly flailed in anger naturally posed no threat to Rider. Iskandar calmly blocked Jizi's tantrum-like slashes with his short sword, while teasing her in a flirtatious tone:
"Hahahahaha! You can accompany me into battle, occasionally act spoiled and throw little fits, and on top of that possess beauty unmatched in the world. Caster, you are the perfect candidate to be the Queen Consort of the King of Conquerors! What do you say? If you are willing, forget this Holy Grail—even the world itself, I can share with you."
"Is that so? But I have no interest in a muscle-brained gay like you, and I have no plans to get married either—if I really had to marry someone, that Lancer over there would be far better than you. Saber looks like a handsome young man too, so what makes you think I would choose you?"
The two knights who had been innocently caught in the crossfire stared at Rider's meaningfully ambiguous glance with dark expressions. Though they had not clearly seen just how breathtaking this Caster was earlier, her ability to stir up trouble certainly earned her the title of femme fatale.
As for the Master, Weber clung to the edge of the Gordius Wheel and kept praying that Rider would stop making trouble for him. At the same time, he nervously shrank behind Rider's back. Though he had only caught a fleeting glimpse, he had indeed seen that beauty which should never have existed in the human world: delicate cherry-pink lips, a face almost perfectly proportioned, crimson eyes filled with strange allure, and silver hair reflecting the moonlight. Weber, who was basically a hopeless loser, could not help entertaining a few romantic fantasies. At the same time, though, he was terrified that Caster would take her anger out on him.
As for Irisviel, well—"Saber, Saber, did you see Caster's face just now? Is she really that pretty? She was only embarrassed just now, right? Her attacks did not carry any killing intent at all. Can Servants get embarrassed too? Caster said she could marry you, so what do you think, Saber?"
"When did I ever say I wanted to marry anyone? It was only an example, okay? You are obviously focusing on the wrong thing! Shouldn't Archer and Berserker's battle over there be more important? Is my face really worth being this curious about?"
The urge to retort that she had been suppressing finally burst forth under Irisviel's provocation. But when Jizi took a deep breath and recovered, she realized that everyone around her was staring at her with deeply meaningful looks... ahem, observing her.
"My Queen Consort need only act spoiled for me in the future." ←Rider.
"What a fierce woman. But she really is beautiful. It would be nice if I could see her one more time." ←Weber.
"She is embarrassed again. But that will not do. If you want to marry Saber, you must at least let me see what you look like. Otherwise, I will not hand Saber over so casually." ←Irisviel.
"We did not care at first, but after seeing everyone else's reactions, the two of us are a little curious too." ←Saber and Lancer.
Jizi: How did I read so much meaning from their eyes? This is not the Hekiyou Student Council!
Jizi had always been the gloomy shut-in type, and being watched by so many people at once was practically a first for her. So she became embarrassingly shy in a perfectly ordinary way. But that did not stop the onlookers' curious gazes; instead, it only made their desire to take off Jizi's mask even stronger.
Damn it, did they think staring at me like that would make me give in? I only unconditionally agree to requests from people I like—such as my real mother and my adopted little sister. Who do they think they are—wait a second, Irisviel, Artoria, Iskandar, and Luck E all seem to be people I "like"... Why am I digging a hole for myself and jumping into it? Still, even Artoria, the poster girl of Type-Moon... is not entirely unacceptable... Fine, you win! Besides, the plan was never something I could accomplish alone. Winning over other Servants was something I would have to do sooner or later. I really did not want to miss such a great chance to massively raise their favorability, and hiding the mask within my spirit body would actually be safer for me. I just did not want them to ogle me for free! My masculine dignity—even if there is not much left, there is still some!—would weep! At the very least, I need to turn the tables and make them uncomfortable too. Hmph!
After lowering her head and going through a fierce internal struggle, Jizi finally chose to hide her mask inside her spirit body. When she raised her head and generously—was it really "generously"?—revealed her face...
"Ilya!"
The first thing she heard was Irisviel's cry of surprise.
"No, ma'am, I told you, I really have nothing to do with your daughter. Please let me go."
The scene was still Fuyuki Port, but the cast had changed somewhat from before—Gilgamesh, Yangtze, Luck E, Emperor, and the Queen Consort were gone. Kayneth, who had been hiding in the shadows, had likely left as well.
Just when everyone else was marveling at Jizi's beauty, praising her, evaluating her, and chatting away, Gilgamesh, whose G-spot had been poked but could not find release—after all, the other side's technique was too superb—finally decided to unleash his ultimate move and give himself a proper thrill. However, the climax he had been building up for so long was ultimately interrupted by Tokiomi. After leaving behind a harsh threat, he departed in a foul mood.
After losing his target, Yangtze turned his sinful black hand toward Miss Artoria. Kayneth also forcibly ordered Luck E and Yangtze to take turns gang—no, to take turns doing—no, never mind, everyone understood. Emperor naturally could not stand such behavior, so he drove his chariot into the enemy formation and rescued Miss Artoria. Jizi also seized another chance to raise favorability, standing beside Saber and hurling a massive fireball at Lancer as he tried to rush over. At last, Kayneth's sleazy plan was thwarted. Before leaving, Lancer, the one who had been smacked, even thanked Jizi... Without her mask, she had to work very hard not to laugh.
Yanye was probably unable to hold on any longer, and Yangtze soon left after turning into spirit form. Then, after being mocked with, "What exactly did you even come here for?" Emperor laughed heartily and drove his ox cart into the sky—though naturally, he did not forget to flirt with Jizi first. Jizi fired several fireballs into the air as if venting her frustration and was about to leave as well, but Saber, prompted by Irisviel, stopped her.
The reason was:
"Caster, you look so much like my daughter. I am destined never to see my daughter grow up. Could you let me look at you a little longer? I think Ilyasviel will definitely look just like you when she grows up. Please fulfill this mother's wish."
What did Jizi look like—meaning Suigintou? Silver hair, red eyes, a small mouth, a cute slightly upturned nose, and an oval face. What did Ilyasviel look like? Silver hair, red eyes, a small mouth, a cute slightly upturned nose, and a face that was a little chubby now only because she had not yet grown into her features. So it was not unreasonable for Irisviel to say that. Jizi truly could not bear to refuse a mother's request like that, and Saber beside her wore an expression that said, "Try refusing if you dare," so she stood there and served as a model. Who would have thought—
"Caster, you showed that instant outfit-changing ability just now, so could you do me another favor? Could you put on a skirt? Could you put on a formal dress? Could you put on winter clothes? Could you put on a suit like Saber's? Could you put on a Western-style dress? Could you put on a sailor uniform? Could you put on this kind of outfit, that kind of outfit, all sorts of outfits, please, please..." (1)
After being put through who knew how many outfits, Jizi finally could not take it anymore. She was now kneeling before Irisviel in a standard full-body prostration, begging to be spared.
"If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you do not lose it next time."
"Oh my, I am terribly sorry, Miss Caster. I simply wanted so badly to know what my daughter would look like in all kinds of clothes. I caused you trouble."
"Do... not... mention it. As long as you... let me go... that is enough. Miss Ilyasviel... will definitely grow up to be many times prettier than I am. Jizi: Legal lolis are the best."
But that careless remark made the "interest" that had just faded from Irisviel's eyes reappear.
"Miss Caster, how did you know my daughter's name?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? Did you not say it yourself just now, ma'am?"
"But I only called out Ilya, not Ilyasviel."
Crap! Jizi inwardly cried out in alarm. She had been so mentally exhausted that she had let her guard down and accidentally said something she should not have. Still, she tried to bluff her way through verbally: "Ahahaha, my Master investigated the other participants."
"But even some people in the Einzbern family do not know my daughter's name. How did you find it out?"
Damn it, ma'am, could you stop having your IQ shoot up at a time like this? Since your brain is working now, hurry up and formulate tactics instead of obsessing over me. "Ahahahaha, my Master has special methods of gathering intelligence."
Naturally, Irisviel would not be fooled so easily.
"I'm staring~~~~"
"Ahhh, this is so annoying! We are enemies to begin with, so why should I tell you any of this? I am leaving, goodbye!"
Unfortunately, Saber restrained Jizi before she could slip away. Irisviel, meanwhile, rested one hand against her cheek and placed the other behind her back as she paced back and forth for a while. Then, a light bulb suddenly appeared above her head... I mean, she suddenly reached a conclusion and shouted:
"I know! I heard that the Throne of Heroes exists outside all parallel timelines, right, Saber?"
"That is correct." Though she did not know what Irisviel had thought of, Saber answered seriously.
"In other words, it is not impossible to summon a Heroic Spirit from the future?"
"In theory, yes, but..."
"Although Caster says she is our enemy, I do not sense any hostility from you at all. On the contrary, all your actions have been helping us. You yourself also seem to feel close to Saber and me, do you not?"
"Airi, now that you mention it, that does seem to be true..."
"Hey, hey, hey! Whatever you have imagined, I am telling you right now that it is absolutely wrong! Stop making wild guesses!" Jizi interrupted the deduction act of Detective Irisviel and her assistant Artoria, having vaguely anticipated something. Unfortunately, unlike Sherlock, this lady did not care much about logic in certain respects.
"Combined with that appearance, Caster, your true identity is actually Ilya from the future!"
"How huge would your imagination have to be to reach a conclusion like that?!"
(1): The first of Fate/Zero's four radio dramas. Kiritsugu was originally helping Irisviel buy clothes, but it turned into the delightful story of Irisviel forcing Kiritsugu and Saber to change into various other outfits. It revealed Irisviel's fetish for dressing others up.
P.S. The reasons for today's update:
1. Vacation.
2. To celebrate this book's breakthrough progress yesterday: bookmarks went from 17 to 37, more than doubling! Recommendations went from 3 to 17, nearly a sixfold surge! Reader impressions went from nothing to something, an even bigger step!
3. The main reason. (Fog.) I actually finished my homework.
P.S.2. Regarding the reader impression that the synopsis is artsy, I want to say that I long ago surpassed ordinary youth and far exceeded artistic youth—I am a—beep—beep—youth! (Those two censor beeps seem completely pointless...)
"If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you do not lose it next time."
Before you continue