"Ah, sorry. You were just so suspicious that I completely treated you like an enemy." Shirou came to his senses and hurriedly apologized.
"Huh? Suspicious? Master, do you see me that way too?" uncle asked Gudako in dismay.
"Suspicious," Gudako answered honestly.
"Ah!!" This time, uncle directly sank to his knees in depression.
"Why do you even care about that at this point? You've been suspicious from beginning to end," Da Vinci quipped.
"Anyway, my goal is to recover my True Name, restore my Spirit Origin, and serve you better. Is that all right, Master?" Having finally pulled himself together, uncle held out his hand to Gudako.
"I'd be delighted." Gudako smiled and took uncle's hand.
Thus, Shinjuku Archer officially joined the party.
Before the next wave of pursuers could arrive, everyone hurriedly left Shinjuku Station and returned to the base in the burger joint's basement.
"Woof woof." Ca-vall II greeted his master at the door.
uncle eagerly leaned closer. "Hoho, what a friendly dog. Good boy, shake."
The white dog disdainfully turned his face away.
"Want some dog food? Here, it's really tasty." uncle took out a piece of dog food and offered it to him.
Smack!
The white dog slapped the dog food away with one paw.
"Does this dog look down on me?!!" uncle stood up and cried out in surprise.
"Woof woof." The white dog shot uncle a look of disgust.
"Mm, looks like the hierarchy here has already been decided." Gudako folded her arms and nodded.
The king of the household, Shirou, who handled the housework and controlled food, clothing, housing, and transportation, Gudako, who received care, dependable Ca-vall II, who guarded the house and acted cute, and suspicious uncle.
At that moment, Shirou stood and said to the blonde girl, "I'll go out and scout the surrounding area for a bit. I'm leaving this place to you, Artoria."
"Shirou-senpai is going out?" Gudako asked.
"Mm. Ever since arriving here, I've sensed a strange presence that's been bothering me. I'm going to investigate it a little," Shirou said.
"Then I'll come with you," Gudako said.
"No, Gudako is already exhausted. Rest here for a while. Don't worry. If necessary, I can still transform into a Servant and fight. At the very least, I can get away," Shirou said.
"I understand. Since Shinjuku Archer is here, I can't leave either. Shirou, you seem fairly capable, but there are a lot of Magecraft users and puppets here. Be careful of the wasps," Artoria warned.
"Okay, I came prepared." As Shirou spoke, he used Projection Magecraft to create the Noble Phantasm Perseus had used in the epic to vanish without a trace, draping it over himself in the form of a cloak.
With the help of his Magic Eye, his Projection Magecraft had reached another level. Even when the target was not a sword, he could still complete it smoothly. Though its functions differed somewhat, this cloak had lost its transformation ability and specialized solely in invisibility and silence.
Unless they were Servants with particularly sharp senses, Demonic Beasts generally could not detect him. Aside from the limitation that he could not use any other Noble Phantasms while using this one, it could be called an exceptionally powerful stealth Noble Phantasm.
Just a few hours ago, Shirou still vividly remembered being dragged around shopping by the girls. Now that he had come to the same place, he felt an all-pervasive sense of wrongness.
As one of the most prosperous districts in an international metropolis, countless foreigners came and went here. Mm... most of them were Chinese.
At night, all sorts of strange characters emerged. Whether talent agents scouting female performers for films, foreign gangs, or Yakuza, there had once even been a massive purge here known as the "Shinjuku Incident." Public safety had improved greatly since then, but it still bore the title of the "black—street of temptation."
This place had Kabukicho, the famous commercial district known as the city that never slept. It was divided into two chome, meaning two streets.
Kabukicho First Chome, the first street, had all kinds of restaurants and entertainment businesses.
Second Chome, the second street, had more nightclubs, clubs, and love hotels.
It was practically a miniature version of old Shanghai, where White Russian aristocrats had fallen into depravity, while wealthy foreign gentlemen who could not make it in their own country threw their weight around in the concessions among people from every walk of life.
There were geisha who sold their arts but not themselves, trained from childhood in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and all manner of talents, specializing in accompanying scholars and politicians through romantic pleasures.
There were also hosts and female public relations workers who coaxed customers into buying drinks, while behind them were love hotels lit everywhere by pink and purple lights.
As for nearby Shinjuku Second Chome, ambitious young men were welcome to visit on their own at night.
But even on a chaotic street, there should not have been ghosts, ogres, and bandits everywhere.
Shirou frowned as he looked over the city, which had completely fallen into ruin.
A tremendous explosion suddenly erupted ahead, followed by flames soaring into the sky and engulfing the entire street. These were demonic flames of hatred and rage. The heat wave they raised was so scorching that even through the cloak, Shirou felt his skin burn.
Shirou once again sensed that feeling of encountering a sworn enemy. Just like Perseus, who had invaded the world before, it was a Servant corrupted by black mud.
In a dark alley along the street where the flames had erupted, a Black Shadow staggered out, supporting herself with a flagpole in both hands.
She was a silver-haired girl wearing black armor. Her lovely, snow-white face was now haggard and weary, and she stumbled before falling to the ground.
"Damn it! That black bastard with the bow actually escaped by blasting flames like a jet. Next time... I'll definitely... kill him." The girl lying on the ground cursed unwillingly. Having made one final desperate effort earlier, she had exhausted all her mana and no longer had even the strength to walk.
"I can't move at all... Forget it. Dying here is still better than being burned to death. Will I be dragged into the river and drowned, or stripped naked and violated to death..." The girl on the ground no longer knew. She merely laughed mockingly, as if ridiculing the world and herself, then closed her eyes as though giving up on everything.
"Um... I wouldn't do that... Mm, where should I even start commenting on that?" Shirou, who had walked over, happened to hear the girl's words. There was no one else around, so it was practically as if she were speaking to him. It was terribly awkward, and he had no idea how to respond.
French Disdainful Tsundere
This was Shinjuku, the Absolute Demonic Realm, a hell destined for destruction. All good had ended here, leaving only evils struggling to survive. The only Servants who could be summoned here were those aligned with evil. Aside from them, even top-tier Servants as powerful as the King of Knights would be rejected by this sinful world.
But even Servants defined as evil had convictions of their own. Not all of them were villains who sought to destroy the world and enjoyed slaughter.
Thus, the uncooperative Servants naturally came under siege from the other Servants.
Driven into a corner by the black-mud Servant wielding a bow, she had tried to use self-destruction to unleash her final Noble Phantasm and perish together with the Servant who had driven her to suicide, only for him to escape. Thus, the girl, her mana exhausted, ended up collapsed miserably in the street.
Shirou had sensed the presence of that sworn enemy and tracked the Servant corrupted by black mud here. He happened to see the flames erupt from the battle and came looking.
Thus, he happened to hear the silver-haired girl lying on the ground speak in self-abandonment.
"Who are you? Why is your state so strange? You're clearly human, yet you have a subtle hint of a Servant about you. Still, you're much better than the inexplicable monsters around here." Seeing that the newcomer looked entirely harmless, the silver-haired girl frowned and asked.
"Well, I suppose I count as a Master. I came from Chaldea. Since you were summoned here as a Servant, you should have heard of it, right?" Shirou said as he put away the invisibility cloak.
"Chaldea?! Chaldea's Master! Don't think you can fool me just because I'm some country girl! The Master who resolved the seven Singularities was clearly female, all right! Do you want to be burned to a crisp?!" Jeanne d'Arc Alter, clad in silver hair and black armor, lifted her head and glared at him as she shouted viciously.
No, even if you say that, a threat made while lying face-down on the ground isn't scary at all.
"I'm a helper summoned by Chaldea. The Master you mentioned is Gudako. She came here too," Shirou explained.
"Hmph. You don't look like you're lying, so I'll believe you for now."
"All right, stand up first." Shirou held out his hand, preparing to help the girl up. "By the way, I'm Shirou. What's your name?"
"Jeanne..." the silver-haired girl answered.
"Huh? That Saintess Jeanne d'Arc? France's national hero?" Shirou said in surprise.
The silver-haired girl angrily slapped Youth's hand away and roared, "Of course not! I'm Jeanne d'Arc Alter, understand?! If you confuse me with that disgusting Saintess again, I'll burn you!"
"Jeanne d'Arc Alter." Shirou nodded thoughtfully. So the girl before him was in a reversed state similar to Artoria's. Though Jeanne d'Arc had been canonized, England, the opposing side, had many legends claiming she was actually a witch.
"What's that supposed to mean?! Is it because I'm a fake?!" the silver-haired girl shouted harshly.
Shirou shook his head. "No. I get called Faker a lot too, but I don't think the Noble Phantasms I project lose to the originals. I know you are a different existence from history. Then I'll still call you Jeanne. After all, you're the first Jeanne I've ever met."
"A counterfeit? Hehe, that really suits you, Shirou! In that case, I'll specially permit you to call me that." The silver-haired girl smiled happily, yet she insisted on raising her brows and glaring. Even a perfectly fine smile turned into a villainous smirk.
Someone who didn't know better would think she was some great villain plotting to destroy the world. Still, she seems genuinely happy, so I suppose that's fine.
Though her attitude was still awkward, Shirou felt that she had accepted him, so he held out his hand to the silver-haired girl again.
"So... can you stand now?"
"Thank you..." This time, the silver-haired girl unexpectedly held out her hand obediently and used his help to stand. But she quickly came to her senses and instantly changed her words. "Hmph! I didn't say anything!"
"Mm... you're welcome." Shirou smiled and replied.
"Are your ears broken? I said I never thanked you!" Jeanne shouted. The girl looked away in confusion, not daring to meet Youth's eyes.
"Yes, yes." Shirou answered with the smile of someone humoring a child. Her mouth is vicious, but she's unexpectedly straightforward.
"Hmph! What are you smiling about?!" Jeanne forcefully shook off Youth's hand and cursed, "Don't look at me! And stop holding my hand! I'll burn you!"
"You're this energetic, so it looks like you've recovered quite well." Shirou now understood the personality of the heroic spirit girl before him to some degree. In terms of the Japanese tsunderes he was familiar with, this girl was probably what one would call a French tsundere.
"Hmph! Since you say you're Chaldea's Master, I'll reluctantly allow you to become my contract partner. But listen carefully! From now on, you're not allowed to deceive me, and you're not allowed to betray me! If I find out you lied to me, I'll burn you to death immediately." Jeanne d'Arc Alter said with an extremely fierce expression.
"Yes, yes. In any case, let's meet up with everyone first. You need somewhere safe to recover your mana as well." Shirou prepared to take the girl back to the burger joint's basement.
It was then that Mash contacted them through holographic magecraft.
"Shirou-senpai, I finally found you. Ah! You've already found Miss Jeanne? As expected of senpai. If it's female, it seems you'll definitely be able to find her." Mash said admiringly.
"Mash, that sounds a little ambiguous. What exactly is going on?" Shirou asked with a frown.
"Huh! You're that shield girl from Chaldea, Shielder. Why haven't you come here?" Jeanne asked.
"Yes, for certain reasons, I still haven't been able to come there," Mash said.
"Mm... Without your sturdy defense, I do feel somewhat uneasy. Still, forget it. We'll find a way," Jeanne said.
"Thank you for the compliment. I didn't expect Miss Jeanne to think so highly of me." Mash said somewhat shyly.
Jeanne said, "Ah, the Jeanne I know is someone who, even while crying and trembling, would hold up her shield at the very front and never retreat a single step. That disgusting Saintess does not have emotions like fear at all, after all. So from a human perspective, someone like you is better. Ah, if only you were here. I definitely wouldn't have lost to that black bastard with the bow!"
"Um, although I'm not there, Shirou-senpai is. He's far more dependable than I am, so it'll definitely be fine," Mash said.
"Shirou...?" Jeanne d'Arc Alter shot Youth a disdainful look, then said, "Him? As long as he doesn't hold me back, that's enough."
I really don't know who the person lying on the ground earlier, needing someone to pull her up, was... Shirou thought helplessly.
Anglo-Gallic Yuri War
"Ah! Shirou-senpai!"
"Hey! Shirou."
Gudako and Artoria walked over.
"As expected of Shirou-senpai! You already found Jeanne and even got along with her!" Gudako shouted happily, looking at Youth with great admiration. He really was someone she wanted to entrust with caring for her for the rest of her life.
"Oh, Chaldea's Master Gudako really did come too. Looks like you got to keep your life, Shirou." Having confirmed the girl's identity, Jeanne awkwardly bared her teeth in a smile at Shirou beside her.
"Then thank you very much for your magnanimity," Shirou said indifferently.
"Shirou, what's with that stupid woman beside you?" Artoria glared with golden eyes, seeming somewhat angry as she questioned him.
"Ah, Artoria, she's also..." Shirou was about to explain when the silver-haired girl interrupted him.
"...I was wondering who it was. Why did you, you hateful cold-blooded woman, come along too? Didn't we agree not to interfere with each other?!" Jeanne stepped forward, blocking Shirou behind her as she shouted angrily.
"Hah... You're just like a dog guarding its food. But haven't you mistaken the target? Shirou is a Master who formed a contract with me long ago. You're an eyesore. Get lost!" Artoria said.
"Master? Shirou is my Master! We already formed a contract just now!" Jeanne retorted.
"How shameless. You Assault Girl who only knows how to charge forward, you're making the face of a defeated dog. Were you trying to deceive my Master into pitying you? Stay away from Shirou!" Artoria said as she tried to pull Youth to her side.
"Hey! Cold-blooded woman! I formed a contract with Shirou too, so why should I listen to you?!" Jeanne grabbed Shirou's shoulder and refused to let go.
"Artoria, Jeanne, calm down. We're all companions on the same side. Try to get along," Shirou urged.
"Shirou... You want me to get along with this person? I've never considered her a companion!"
"Shirou, are you joking? Get along with this cold-blooded woman? Look at that. It's clearly turned black, yet it's still the holy sword. That taste is absolutely revolting. I'm already nearing my limit just enduring it."
"France's village girl is truly crude and rude!"
"So England's upstart king is that impressive?"
"Hoh!"
"Hah!"
Artoria and Jeanne stared at each other as though electric light were violently colliding between them.
"If this were a normal Holy Grail War rather than a world like this, you'd be the first person I'd cut down," Artoria Alter said with a cold smile, raising her holy sword.
"What a coincidence. I was thinking the same thing. If you want to fight, why pick a location? Let's kill each other right now." Jeanne d'Arc Alter bared her teeth in a wicked grin and raised her flag-spear.
The two girls immediately drew weapons against each other. Sword light and spear shadows clashed continuously in the air, scattering sparks.
The blonde girl, a king symbolizing victory, wielded her holy sword and unleashed sword techniques tempered through countless battles.
The silver-haired girl inherited the fortress-like defensive combat techniques of the one who had led France to win several outnumbered defensive battles, recaptured cities, and never suffered a single injury on the battlefield.
Before you continue