Jeanne Can't Hold Back

"The village is saved!"

"Our village is saved!"

Meanwhile, on the thatched roof of a house further away, sat a black-haired, red-eyed girl wearing a golden Shemesh helmet. She watched the departing figure of the wiry warrior with great interest, smiled, and then vanished in the next moment.

"Please accept me as your disciple!" At this moment, a black-haired boy ran up and bowed to Shirou.

Shirou looked at the strangely familiar samurai boy and shook his head.

"I'm not some great samurai. Subduing thieves is something any samurai who's been on the battlefield a few times can do easily."

"Go back. Right now, I'm just a homeless wanderer with no wealth or fame. I have the name of a samurai, but I haven't been able to save anyone or protect any land."

"The only things I do besides blacksmithing are searching for a way to break this chaotic cycle of reincarnation because of my inescapable delusions. If you follow me, there will be no good outcome." Shirou sheathed Muramasa and said calmly to the boy.

"No! What I admire is a samurai like you, who doesn't fight for salary or status, but for the beliefs in his heart to protect and help the weak. Only such a person is a true samurai," the young samurai said.

"Please accept me as your disciple. I was born into the Minamoto clan, my name is Yoshitsune, and my childhood name is Ushiwakamaru. Actually, I also have another family name, Yukino." The samurai boy bowed respectfully.

"Yukino... Yukino?!" Shirou scrutinized the samurai boy, who looked only twelve or thirteen years old. No... upon closer inspection, she seemed to be a samurai loli. Could she really be Yukino as a child?

"Yukino?" Shirou asked tentatively.

"Huh? Master, how do you know that someone from another household calls me by my name? Is this some kind of tanuki magic?" Yukino asked, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Really?" Shirou exclaimed.

After some investigation, Shirou finally understood that this child seemed to be in a similar situation to him, except that she was an outsider, not a high school student Yukino Yukinoshita, but an elementary school student?!

"Master! Please accept me as your disciple! I have made up my mind to follow you." The little samurai pleaded. She now looked like a combination of a young Yukino and Ushiwakamaru whose body had been miniaturized several years, so she was simply called Young Yukino.

"No, I will not take you as my disciple, but... it's fate that we met here. If you want to learn something, then follow me," Shirou said.

"Yes!" Seeing that her master had agreed, Yukino happily replied.

"Anyway, it's almost night now, let's find a place to stay first," Shirou said.

"Yes!" Yukino replied.

The four farmers followed at a distance, and when they saw Shirou about to enter the inn, they quickly ran after him.

Faced with samurai who held the power of life and death over peasants, they dared not act rashly. They simply ran up to them, prostrated themselves on the ground, and knelt down respectfully.

"What do you want? Get up and speak," Shirou asked, looking at the four men kneeling on the ground. Judging from their travel-worn appearance, they had clearly suffered a lot along the way.

The farmer merely raised his head, but remained kneeling, and said, "Sir Samurai! Please have mercy and save us!"

"Bandits have discovered our village and are coming to seize our grain during the autumn harvest. If our grain is taken, even if we don't starve to death, we will be captured by the government and enslaved because we won't be able to pay our taxes."

"Master, let's help them!" Yukino said, full of a sense of justice and fighting spirit.

"Mountain bandits... How do you want me to help you?" Shirou frowned and asked the four of them.

"Our village wants to hire a samurai to help us defeat the bandits! We will offer him all the rice that every household eats as payment, ensuring that the samurai can eat white rice every meal during his employment!" the leader, a farmer in his thirties, called out respectfully.

"How many bandits are there? And how many men are in your village?" Shirou asked.

"There are forty bandits, and 70 able-bodied men in the village," the farmer replied.

"Master, if there are forty bandits, we can train farmers to fight with sharpened bamboo," Yukino said eagerly.

"Forty people... Is your village accessible from all sides?" Shirou asked.

"Yes, there are flat areas on two sides, one side connects to the back mountain, and the other side is a small river with a bridge over it," the farmer replied.

"That would require defenses on all four sides. How many samurai can you hire at most?" Shirou stopped the girl and asked again.

"Four..." the farmer answered softly.

"That's not enough. Forty bandits, with entrances on all four sides, we need at least eight... no... seven samurai." Shirou said in a deep voice, looking at the emaciated farmers who were on the verge of collapse.

"What should we do..." the farmers said, looking at each other in distress.

"Seven! We can afford it! As long as everyone eats only millet and no rice, our village can support seven people." The leading farmer calculated for a moment and then loudly reported, "I'm going all out."

"Is that so? Is this really all we can offer?" Shirou asked again to confirm.

"Yes... this is all the farmers can offer." The farmer bowed his head again and knelt down.

Having no other options besides farming, they had no other choice.

They looked at Shirou as if he were their last straw.

"Alright then, let's give it a try. First, we need to gather capable samurai who are willing to take on this task." Shirou pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"That's great! I knew you'd agree, Master!" Yukino said happily, looking at the man she admired.

"Thank you so much, Sir Samurai!" the farmers said, kneeling in gratitude.

"Anyway, let's go to where you're staying first," Shirou said to the farmers.

When he heard that the bandits were going to steal the grain and leave the farmers no way to survive, Shirou decided to take action.

But this is a world of samurai, a place where real swords and spears determine victory or defeat. Even heroes and valiant warriors can be killed by a stray arrow. If he accepts this commission but fails to lead the farmers to victory, the result will only be the slaughter of the entire village by bandits. He has no choice but to act recklessly.

But since I've already agreed, I'll just have to do my best.

Just as Shirou and Yukino arrived at a wooden house, led by the farmers.

He felt a moment of dizziness, and a sound seemed to pull him out of the world of his dream.

"Hey... brother, hey, brother, wake up!"

Shirou was shaken awake, and when he opened his eyes, he saw his sister's face.

"Brother, it's time to make dinner! You said you'd leave the rest of the holiday to you, right? Ria and Mashiro are both looking forward to seeing how you do, so do your best!" Komachi gave her brother a thumbs-up and smiled knowingly as she saw him wake up.

"Yeah, yeah, you obviously wanted to eat well, why did you have to drag other people into it?" Shirou retorted.

"Hehe, but I will definitely support you, brother. That's for sure," Komachi said with a smile.

"I don't need this kind of support," Shirou said helplessly.

So, Shirou followed Komachi downstairs.

Meanwhile, on another island in Okinawa, Yukino fell asleep on a lounge chair in the heated swimming pool of her hotel, only to be woken up by Yuihama.

"Yukino? Why are you sleeping here? You'll catch a cold. Are you feeling unwell?" Yuihama asked her friend with concern.

"It's nothing, I just seem to have had a dream from a long time ago," Yukino Yukinoshita said, sitting up from the recliner. It was quite unexpected that she would fall asleep here with a book in her hand. But the scene from the dream was still lingering in her mind, so it didn't seem so bad.

"Eh? What kind of dream? Tell me, tell me!" Yuihama a smile, hugging me tightly.

Yukino Yukinoshita recalled, "Hmm... I remember now, it was a very strange dream I had when I was little... It was about a hero who gathered other samurai to defeat the Demon King..."

Of course, she wouldn't say it aloud: the hero she admired and longed for looked remarkably like someone else, almost like that person grown up. Had she seen the boy when she was very young? She had a feeling of being chosen by fate.

"Eh... Samurai? Did Yukino like things like that when she was little? But with a Demon King, it really is a childhood dream, isn't it? So cute." Yuihama a smile, but she seemed to have lost interest in exploring further. Although her possessed Servant all seemed to be related to samurai, they were all enemies or had very complicated relationships.

As a modern-day high school girl, she obviously had no interest in this kind of thing.

Of course, if a favorite idol star is starring in Taiga drama, she might watch a few episodes, but once that star dies, she loses all desire to continue watching.

"Yuihama, let's go outside," Yukino said, standing up at that moment.

"Yeah, that's about right. Let's call everyone and find out where there's something good to eat," Yuihama a bright smile. Food was definitely what interested her most.

In the boy's living room, Artoria was already waiting with the meal in hand.

Sitting next to the girl was Mashiro, who, accompanied by Artoria, had already met with the editor and returned home. She was sitting on the sofa with her legs drawn up, holding a tablet computer, looking at something.

Judging from her expression, she didn't seem too happy or disappointed, although she doesn't usually have many expressions, so it's really hard to tell anything from her face.

"Mashiro, how's the manga going?" Shirou finally asked the girl.

"It didn't pass, but the editor gave me a lot of advice, telling me to work harder on the plot. So next, I want to try a romance manga." Mashiro's eyes lit up when she talked about manga, and she agreed very seriously.

"A romance manga? Good luck then! If there's anything I can help with, just let me know, don't hesitate to ask." Shirou nodded. He didn't have much experience with this type of manga. If it were a battle manga, he could offer some advice, like recommending she draw a male protagonist who uses black and white dual blades—that would definitely be a hit.

It seems the only thing he can do to support the girl is to provide food. He can make some late-night snacks for Mashiro while he's making dinner.

"Okay, I understand, thank you, Shirou." Mashiro thanked her. In fact, she was not good at making up stories, so she planned to draw inspiration from her surroundings. For example, a beautiful and gentle Shirouko was good at cooking, and her cohabitation life with several handsome young men with different personalities.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Yes, yes, I'm here." Komachi went to open the door.

"Ah, Komachi, leave it to me." Artoria stood up and said to the girl.

"Oh, then I'll leave it to you." Komachi was happy to oblige, and at the same time, she agreed to give this young lady, who didn't look much older than her, the opportunity to show herself.

Artoria walked to the door; she opened it simply because she sensed a familiar presence.

The silver-haired girl outside the door was waiting for the person inside to come over. She suddenly felt a little nervous. The thought of seeing the boy and entering his house made her unsure of what expression to wear.

"Ah!" Jeanne d'Arc cried out in surprise when she saw the familiar, cold face appear inside the open door.

"Oh dear, where did you crawl into some bushes or mud cave? You look quite disheveled..." Artoria looked the silver-haired girl up and down, asking with a mocking tone.

"Why... why are you the one opening the door? You should stay in Britain and be a maid!" Jeanne d'Arc shouted angrily.

"Want to know why I was the one who opened the door?" Artoria asked.

"What? Who would be interested in Cold-blooded King like you! But if you have something to say, then say it." Jeanne d'Arc said, arms crossed.

"That's because... you've come to the wrong place." Artoria glanced at the silver-haired girl arrogantly, drawing out her words, then gave a cold laugh and closed the door.

"..." Jeanne d'Arc of Arc, who was blocked outside the door, was stunned for a moment.

"You cold-blooded woman, you bastard, open the door! I'm looking for Shirou ~! Shirou ~!" After several seconds, Jeanne d'Arc finally reacted, knocking on the door and shouting loudly.

Jeanne d'Arc got lost in the forest, stumbling around aimlessly until she somehow climbed up a mountain. She thought that if she broke through the mountain path, she would surely find a road, but she found that there were still mountains beyond mountains. Da Vinci, who had finally finished his business at Chaldea, contacted Jeanne d'Arc.

Guided by Da Vinci, Jeanne d'Arc descended the mountain, emerged from the disorienting forest, and finally arrived in Chiba. When she found Shirou's house, she was overjoyed, thinking that she could finally see Shirou, eat a hot meal he had prepared for her, and then rest for a while.

The person standing in front of her was that cold-blooded woman! And she locked her out of the door.

At this moment, Artoria returned to the living room.

"Who's that outside? It sounds like they're shouting something," asked the boy who had just come out of the kitchen and was carrying dishes to the table.

"No, it's just because spring has arrived, and some of the stray cats are fighting outside, being a bit noisy," Artoria said with a cold laugh.

Chapter 212 Jeanne d'Arc Loses Control

It was just a fragile door, yet it kept the silver-haired girl and the boy far apart. And since this was Shirou's house, she couldn't just burn the door down.

Jeanne d'Arc checked her phone and found it was dead! She hadn't bothered to contact Shirou before because she was too embarrassed, but now she had no way to contact him at all.

"Shirou ..." Jeanne d'Arc stared at the light shining from inside the door, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

'What should we do? Is climbing in this way the only option? Is there a chimney in this house?'

Even if it were true, I always feel like a cold-blooded woman would put a boiling pot under the chimney.

'Looks like I'll have to climb through the window,' Jeanne d'Arc. But that would ruin her plan for a grand entrance. Or maybe she should wait until night and suddenly appear in Shirou's room to give him a big surprise?

Just then, a middle-aged couple walked in from outside and saw a beautiful but somewhat disheveled foreign girl standing alone at their door, calling their son's name with a look of dejection.

The couple stared at each other, wondering what was going on behind this dramatic scene of a philandering man abandoning a woman.

"Little girl, what's wrong? If someone in my family has upset you, please tell us," Hachiman's mother asked with concern as she stepped forward.

"Huh?!" Jeanne d'Arc turned around, wanting to see who was so blind as to think she would be saddened by such a trivial matter? That cold-blooded woman? Never in this lifetime.

'Wait a minute... my house? Did that woman just say my house? Then they wouldn't be...'

The silver-haired girl silently turned her head, unsure of what to say for a moment.

"Oh my, you must be Jenny from France, right? Your family has already contacted me." Seeing that the girl was from the European Union, the mother remembered and asked with a smile, looking the girl up and down.

"Ah... ah! Yes, Uncle and Aunt, please take good care of me!" Jeanne d'Arc suddenly realized, and in a great mood, she greeted the two adults with unusually standard etiquette.

Well, actually, she had secretly practiced the social etiquette here on her own in preparation for this day.

"Honestly, what are Shirou and Komachi doing? How can we let you stay outside? Anyway, come in first," Mom said.

"Yes." Jeanne d'Arc smiled and followed, and was welcomed into the house by Shirou's parents. Although she had never been married and didn't quite understand, she should think she had won!

Sure enough, once inside, Jeanne d'Arc saw Artoria's somewhat surprised expression.

"Hmph..." Jeanne d'Arc grinned smugly at her, laughing like a villain.

"Whoa..." Artoria crossed her arms and stared at Jeanne d'Arc.

Because Shirou's parents were there, both of their arrogance was suppressed.