At this moment, it was wielded with ease in the hands of a young girl, displaying its greatest power.
Shirou activated his Magic Eye. On the girl's body, he saw a white-haired, horned samurai female ghost possessing her?
After finishing a round, the girl put away her bow and looked at the boy provocatively. "According to my rules, the loser has to agree to one condition from the winner. That's fine, right?!"
The girl's name was Nakiri Erina, the young lady of Nakiri International Group. As one of the foremost corporations in the culinary world, it could be said to occupy half of Japan's food industry. However, since this world had no mysteries, there were no legal drug-laced or hallucinogenic dishes. Thus, although Nakiri was still a giant in the food industry, it had not founded Totsuki Academy.
Nakiri Erina was merely a middle school graduate with an extraordinarily sensitive tongue and taste buds ranked among the best in the world, who had just taken the International High School entrance exam.
As someone who enjoyed manga, she had read a youthful romance gourmet story about a heroine traveling everywhere to eat ramen and continuously winning over all kinds of people. She could not help becoming interested in ramen, a commoner's food.
So she invited Hikigaya Komachi, a friend she had met during a campus tour, to eat ramen together. After searching for several nearby shops, none satisfied her experienced eye and discerning taste. They either cut corners or lacked skill. In the end, they finally found an old shop that had been passed down for decades.
The third-generation ramen master was already nearly forty, at an age when his experience was abundant but his energy had not yet declined. Upon hearing that they were examinees, he carefully prepared the finest rich-broth ramen for them.
Both girls ate their fill, and their afternoon exam went smoothly as well.
However, the exam was mentally exhausting, and by the afternoon, their stomachs started growling again. Komachi took out that box of rice balls and shared them with her friend.
"What is this?!" Nakiri Erina, who was extremely picky about food, cried out after taking a bite of a rice ball.
"Huh? Just ordinary rice balls?" Komachi blinked in confusion.
"No! I'm asking which master made these rice balls?"
"Ahaha, Erina-chan, you're exaggerating. My Brother made these for me as snacks." Komachi laughed.
"Can I have another one?"
"Of course. Erina-chan treated me to such delicious ramen too. If you like them that much, Komachi would be happy to have you visit the Higashiya family for a simple meal." Komachi grinned. She believed that anyone who ate Brother's cooking would definitely come to like him.
Meticulous—so meticulous that every ingredient's strengths had been perfectly brought out, while the ingredients' inherent unpleasant odors had been carefully neutralized.
With her sensitive taste buds, she could discern every step that had gone into making the rice ball. The rice, seasonings, and side dishes were all very ordinary, common household ingredients. Yet under the cook's handling, every step had been perfectly judged, taking into account when it would be eaten and adjusting the salt, sugar, and vinegar accordingly. This was no ordinary rice ball, but the heartfelt creation of a cook whose skills had reached the pinnacle of humanity.
Nakiri Erina looked at Komachi, who had no idea how fortunate she was, and thought of the cook behind it all. Only one thought arose in her heart.
"Komachi! Where will your Brother be this Saturday?" the blonde girl asked.
"Huh? You're really coming?" Komachi said delightedly. Not only was this friend in front of her incredibly beautiful, she was also incredibly rich. Honestly, Komachi felt that her own reckless, unromantic Brother was somewhat beneath her.
Komachi felt she was truly great. Her Komachi points had probably risen so high that there was no way to add any more.
"I want to challenge him! As a chef!!!" Nakiri Erina declared, filled with fighting spirit. As a genius, she absolutely refused to admit that for a moment, she had thought this rice ball tasted better than the French feasts she had made!
It had to be an illusion, so she would personally challenge that man and prove that she was the strongest, most gifted cook!
Still immersed in the sense of accomplishment from completing a major mission in life, Komachi nodded with a smile. "Is that so? You want to challenge my Brother? Sure. Anything is fine. Even if you want to marry into the family, you're welcome anytime..."
"Huh? A challenge?" Komachi finally reacted and widened her eyes.
Cook and Samurai Girl
At the archery range on the green lawn, the blonde girl in a baseball cap held a bow in one hand and raised the other, pointing at the boy in the lane beside her.
Nakiri Erina said proudly, "If I win, you'll accompany me in a top-level cooking showdown!"
"Huh? So you want me to cook with you once?" Shirou asked, somewhat puzzled. If it was such a simple favor, she could have just said so. Komachi's new friend was quite a shy girl.
She came at me so aggressively, I thought she was here to assassinate me. Though he should count as Archer now.
"No! It's a contest! A contest!" Erina corrected him, flushed red with frustration. Erina herself had personally challenged him, yet he was still dragging things out like this. What was wrong with this man?!
"No, whether it's archery or cooking, I don't think I can lose." Shirou raised his bow as he spoke. Like the girl, he did not rely on sights, instead trusting his instincts and eyesight more.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
All six arrows hit the bullseye, neatly forming a small circle of six points.
Throughout history, there had been countless extraordinary people.
Martial arts, eyesight, magecraft, weapon forging—regardless of the skill, once it was trained to a certain realm, one could turn decay into the miraculous.
EX Clairvoyance could see through the past, present, and future.
EX Charisma was nearly equivalent to brainwashing, hypnosis, and mental domination.
EX Presence Concealment could assimilate with the world itself. Only at the instant it turned into an attack would its rank become A+ (Shadow Lantern, from Fate/strange fake).
Then what kind of effect would be produced when humanity honed the skill of archery to its ultimate extreme?
If the ancient records of master archers were true, they would have been astonishing beings, nearly surpassing the limits of human eyesight.
For example, the protagonist of the idiom "piercing willow leaves from a hundred paces," Yang Youji, could shoot the enemy commander amid ten thousand troops with just one arrow. Thus, he was called "Yang One-Arrow."
And according to ancient calculations, a pace meant taking one step with each foot. Lifting one foot was called a short step, while taking one step with the left foot and one with the right would be no less than one meter.
In other words, from a distance of at least one hundred meters, he had to clearly see the marked leaf on a willow tree and pierce it every time without fail.
Later, he even reached the realm of shooting without shooting. Without nocking an arrow, he merely drew the string, and when he released it, the white ape on the mountain fell in response.
Perhaps in some world, there was someone who, after setting aside his obsessions, continuously honed his spirit and will, training unceasingly somewhere until he finally reached the divine realm of EX Archery.
Of course, Shirou was still far from that level. But so was the girl. Divine Possession was a summoning method in which a divine spirit possessed a similar human body at the cost of weakening its own abilities.
The Servant Possession system worked the same way. It was a weakened version of a Servant possessing someone. Before the compatibility reached one hundred percent, the Servant would be restricted in every aspect. Even in this world whose rules had already been altered due to an invasion of Blackened Heroic Spirits, that remained true.
Let me see just how much of the Servant's strength you possess.
"If you want to compete, that's fine. But if you lose, please explain what exactly is going on with the Servant on your body." Shirou looked at the proud blonde young lady.
"Heh, so you really aren't an ordinary person either?" Erina said with a smile.
A genius like her would naturally receive some favor from heaven. So even when strange phenomena appeared in her body, she did not find them odd at all.
The Servant inside her had been summoned when she was reading a romance manga and playing FGO. On a whim, she had carelessly used a Summon Ticket and summoned it.
The manga she had been reading was historical, a romance story about Kiso Yoshinaka, known as Japan's Xiang Yu during the Genpei War, and his beloved concubine Tomoe Gozen.
Kiso Yoshinaka, also known as Minamoto no Yoshinaka, was born into the Kawachi Genji. Before reaching thirty, he had won every battle he fought, rescued Japan's retired emperor, and been granted the title General of the Morning Sun. Commanding the nation's strongest military force, he had briefly outshone his cousins Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune as a heroic figure.
Yet because of his arrogance and stubbornness, he became abandoned by all. At the age of thirty, after just one military defeat, his cities were taken from him, leaving him no choice but to flee.
Yoshinaka led his personal guards in breaking through the encirclement. By the time they fought their way out of the city, only five people remained beside him.
One of them was his childhood sweetheart and beloved concubine, Tomoe Gozen.
"Let's go back together. Let's return home," Tomoe Gozen said to her husband, hoping they could return to the rural village where they had lived as children and live peaceful, tranquil lives together.
The reason she had followed her husband and brothers into battle was only because the person she loved had wanted her to do so. By nature, she was merely a woman who wished for her family to live safe and peaceful lives.
But that was no longer possible. Seeing her covered in blood and filth from battle, Yoshinaka could not bear to let this childhood sweetheart die beside him. He said to her, "If a man is with a woman before he dies, people will laugh at him. Do you want me to die without even a shred of dignity?"
"Then! Let me fight one more battle for you!" Tomoe Gozen suppressed her grief, mounted her horse, and during the breakout, casually captured the enemy general charging toward her. With one slash, she severed his head, then galloped away in a cloud of dust.
After that, there were many rumors regarding Tomoe Gozen's whereabouts, but no one ever definitively saw her again...
Erina had been moved to tears by the manga's story. Then, when she pressed the summon button, the Servant of the white-haired samurai girl appeared.
With faint resentment, she came to this world. Resisting the temptation from a girl who was very good at playing games, she answered the summon of Erina, who was very good at cooking, and prepared to undergo bridal training by her side.
In life, she had been very skilled at cutting off enemies' heads, but she was not very good at cooking. If she ever had the chance to meet Servant Kiso Yoshinaka again, she hoped they could live peaceful, leisurely lives together.
Thus, Nakiri Erina and Servant Tomoe Gozen formed a complementary relationship. Erina allowed Tomoe Gozen to possess her body and learn cooking from her, while Nakiri Erina now wanted to challenge the greatest enemy of her life, so Tomoe Gozen naturally provided her Master with her strength.
When Erina followed Komachi to the archery competition venue, she saw the boy shooting in the recurve bow event. He stood straight and powerful, man and bow connected in harmonious natural unity. Amid calm ease, he unleashed an arrow that flashed like a star. The shift between stillness and motion was simply artistic, a feast for the eyes.
This was a posture that only appeared when someone devoted their whole heart to doing one thing. She had only seen something similar when her most admired cook was preparing food—equally pure, powerful, beautiful, and peerless.
Erina refused to admit that she had stood there watching in a trance, unable to stop a sense of longing from arising in her heart.
When she learned that the boy would also participate in the compound bow friendly match, and that anyone could sign up for it, she immediately ran to the shop inside the large tent, pulled out her credit card, and bought the strongest bow in the store.
As long as it was a bow, Tomoe Gozen could use it and lend her strength. Erina wanted to challenge this boy, then have him compete with her in cooking. No matter what, she could not miss this chance.
The Strongest Archery Showdown
Because this was more of a promotional event, the friendly match's rules were simple. Contestants continuously shot six arrows per round, leaving after six rounds. Anyone who missed the target had to give up their position, line up again, and start over. In the end, the top three with the highest scores would be named champion, runner-up, and third place, followed by an on-site award ceremony.
The contestants who had missed the target earlier had already stepped down, replaced by new competitors. The second round was about to begin.
Tomoe Gozen was the daughter of a local noble family. Since childhood, she had grown up alongside Kiso Yoshinaka. Two of Kiso Yoshinaka's four Generals were her brothers, and she had learned martial arts while growing up around these people.
Having followed the army into various battles from a very young age, she had mastered the secrets of battlefield combat and excelled at archery, horsemanship, and mounted shooting.
Although Erina was a complete amateur, with Servant Possession assisting her, she gained experience in archery.
Mana guided the muscles in her arms and back, bringing them into their best state.
A red glint flashed through the eyes of the girl in the baseball cap.
The bowstring rang, and the arrow shot like a meteor into the target with a heavy thud.
Six shots, six hits, all directly in the bullseye.
Shirou refused to fall behind. He raised his bow and fired cleanly, as though copying his previous round. After six arrows, a neat little circle formed steadily in the bullseye, identical to before.
When the scorer removed the arrows, he discovered that the holes in the target were still only six in number, and had not widened by even a millimeter.
The two seemed locked in a stalemate. The heavy artillery girl brimming with firepower and the calm, steady boy immediately drew the attention of many spectators and competitors.
At the end of every round, people excitedly cheered for the boy and girl, even letting out fan-like screams.
The two competitors had clearly become the biggest stars on the entire field.
To those in the know, these two young people were terrifyingly skilled. Two completely different styles of archery displayed equally stunning results. It was like a perfect textbook, and they watched almost greedily, hoping to draw nourishment from it and take their own skills a step further.
To the outsiders watching for excitement, it was simply a spectacular contest. Every shot brought an exhilarating rush, and the beauty of the hand releasing the string thrilled them endlessly.
Some sharp-eyed people with vivid imaginations became as excited as if they were watching an Asura Field. The blonde girl clearly had feelings for the boy, while a group of girls behind him watched this side closely.
The blonde girl's glare at the boy clearly demanded something. She was definitely saying, "If I win, you'll come home and marry me!"
And the boy was saying, "I have greater ideals to pursue. I don't want to be bound by marriage so early."
"If the genders of the man and woman were switched, this would definitely make an amazing doujin!"
A yuri-loving man and a fujoshi doujin artist passed each other, both excitedly pulling out notebooks to scribble and sketch nonstop, recording the inspiration pouring forth. Strange laughter occasionally escaped their mouths.
When the competition reached the fifth round, Erina could not help feeling anxious.
What is this?! Is there really someone more talented than me in this world? He already understands cooking to that extent, so why is he also so strong in archery?
This was not a field the girl excelled in. The power she had borrowed was like duckweed without roots. When there was water, it could float high, but once drought came and the water level dropped, it would sink with it.
But the boy opposite her was like a straight arrow bamboo: hollow within and upright without, able to keep growing. It swayed in wind and rain, yet would bend without breaking, always remaining straight and upward-reaching.
Thirty-six arrows later, the six rounds were over.
Shirou won first place with 360 points from thirty-six arrows. His target had maintained six holes in the bullseye the entire time. Erina, whose target had been blasted full of pits, made one mistake and lost one point, taking second place with 359 points.
The white-haired Servant inside her communicated mentally and apologized to the girl.
"My deepest apologies, Erina. I am very skilled at throwing enemies into the air and shooting them apart. But in this sort of competition targeting stationary targets, I still could not defeat him."
"You don't need to apologize. I was also the one who caused the archery mistake." Erina took off her hat, flicked her long hair back, and replied in her heart, admitting that it had been her own error.
"No, Erina, you already performed wonderfully. Aside from being outstanding at archery, he also has a pair of eyes that make one jealous."
"As expected, I shouldn't have challenged him with archery in the first place." Erina bit her finger regretfully.
After the competition ended, Shirou and Erina, as first and second place, were invited onto the awards platform.
"Congratulations. That was truly a wonderful showdown. Please be sure to participate in competitions held here again in the future." The presenter awarded Shirou, the first-place winner, a silver trophy shaped like a bow and arrow. Second and third place received certificates.
"Thank you for the praise." Shirou accepted the trophy.
"Congratulations, competitor Nakiri. Among the top ten, you are the only female participant. Impressive—you are truly a heroine among women."
"Hmph. Achieving this much is only natural for me, though I did lose," Erina said proudly.
"No, you're already amazing." Shirou tried to console her. Even with the assistance of a Servant's abilities, it was still not easy to achieve this.
"By the way, are you two a couple?" the middle-aged man presenting the awards asked curiously.
"No! Absolutely not! Why would I be mistaken for being together with a man like him?!" Erina protested repeatedly, her face red with embarrassment. She had felt a little admiration for him, but dating with marriage in mind was still far too early for someone who was not even in high school yet!
"Is that so? Is that so? I see. Keep it up, young man." The middle-aged presenter wore the knowing smile of an experienced elder and encouragingly patted Shirou on the shoulder.
The spectators below also smiled kindly and shouted, "Keep it up! Don't let such a cute girl get away!"
"From my experience, you can win her over if you just try a little harder. Good luck!" The military man in third place smiled and gave Shirou a thumbs-up.
"No, you've all misunderstood." Shirou tried to explain.
Before you continue