· Natalia, Returns

Same Kanbako City, same Emiya Residence, and the Emiya Family were still the main characters, but the theme had already changed.

Kiritsugu Emiya, a man who could turn into a stone-faced expression the moment he left the Emiya household, now wore a face full of shock. The reason was the woman before him. Her name was Natalia. Natalia Kaminski.

Here's what happened: back then, Natalia had been hit by Kiritsugu with an RPG, sending her plummeting from thousands of meters in the sky into the sea.

Let's rewind a bit further. Natalia had killed her target, but that bastard of a Dead Apostle Bee had stung her. However, Natalia didn't turn into a ghoul or a living corpse because of it, thanks to her unique constitution. It was something even Natalia herself had nearly forgotten: she wasn't purely human. Her body carried a trace of Succubus bloodline.

By species classification, Succubi are a type of demon, primarily active in the highly developed Age of Gods. Later, as mystery declined, demons gradually vanished from the sight of most magi.

Nowadays, magi can only find traces of this race's existence in legends.

When Natalia was infected by the Dead Apostle Bee, her Succubus bloodline reacted violently. How violently? As violently as Doraemon is black.

Whether this was a physical or chemical reaction, scientific or magical, was impossible to determine, but by the time Natalia woke up, the reaction had already ended.

Succubi and Dead Apostles are both species above humans. Neither bloodline's genes would yield to the other. One wanted to turn Natalia into a Succubus, the other into a Dead Apostle. In the end, nothing changed—Natalia remained human. But influenced by both bloodlines, she gained the powers and traits—or rather, the stat allocations—of both races.

The Succubus's innate charm and strength far beyond ordinary humans, and the Dead Apostle's vitality, regeneration, and physical prowess, each canceled out some of the other's weaknesses. For example, Natalia didn't have the blood-sucking species' vulnerabilities to sunlight, pure water, or silver.

All in all, everything turned out well. After fully mastering her new powers, Natalia set out on the path to find Kiritsugu.

Even though the latter had nearly blown her to bits with a rocket, Natalia understood Kiritsugu's personality and sympathized with him. She didn't hate him, but she definitely missed him.

"This time, I'm going to make that brat call me 'Mom.' His expression will be hilarious!" With that thought in mind, Natalia began her journey, walking the road to find Kiritsugu. Earlier, because there were outsiders around, it wasn't convenient. Now, it was obvious that everyone present was from the Emiya Family—family through and through. Why overthink it?

"So that's the story. Come on, kid, call me 'Mom' and let me hear it!" Natalia said, and whether it was due to her bloodline or not, her face carried a hint of a demonic smile.

Illya, standing nearby, looked left at the smiling Natalia, then right at Kiritsugu's pained expression. Finally, she tugged at Shirou's sleeve and asked, "Hey, Shirou, who's that lady?"

Shirou put on a serious thinking face, then after a moment, he replied to Illya with a straight face, "Based on the conclusion, she should be Dad's mom. Even though she's not blood-related like me, a mom is a mom. That means we should call her 'Grandma'!"

"Wow, Illya's grandma is so young!" Illya exclaimed in surprise after hearing Shirou's words. Because both Succubi and Dead Apostles have lifespans incomparable to humans, Natalia still looked exactly as she did when she was blown out of the sky—barely changed, and even showing signs of looking younger.

"Oh my, while having grandchildren all at once sounds nice, calling me 'Grandma' is still way too early for someone who looks like me, you little rascals!" Natalia's five senses had been greatly enhanced, so Illya and Shirou's whispers naturally didn't escape her ears. She said, "So, kid, your children are already planning to call me Grandma. Aren't you even going to say 'Mom'?"

Kiritsugu, usually calm and composed, was teased until his face was bright red, but he was helpless. He still carried a shred of guilt over that RPG shot back then—it was a thorn in his heart. Though he never regretted his decision, saying "you're my real family" while sending someone flying with an RPG was just too messed up no matter how you looked at it.

In the original timeline, or rather in the FSN-FZ timeline, Kiritsugu took this secret to his grave. But now, for a thin-skinned, tsundere guy like Kiritsugu, this situation was as awkward as an urn of ashes. Damn it!

Seeing Kiritsugu's face as red as a certain body part, wanting to say something but unable to get it out, Natalia finally let out a laugh so joyful it was practically tax-evading. "Hahaha, fine, fine. Seeing that hilarious look on your face, all I wanted was for you to call me 'Mom.' Let's talk business."

Hearing this, Kiritsugu got serious, though his flushed face was still a bit funny. "A while ago, I took on a very lucrative job. The client was a promising young lady from the El-Melloi Family. The job was to clean house for them."

"So you want to find some trustworthy people to work with, to make things easier?" It was Shirou who spoke. Catching Natalia's gaze, he said confidently, "Hey, don't judge me by my looks. I'm the strongest fighter in the Emiya Family."

Hearing this, Natalia turned her gaze to Kiritsugu, her expression translating to: Is he telling the truth? After Kiritsugu nodded, Natalia asked directly, "Strongest fighter? How strong are you?"

"Killing everyone in Kanbako City and turning this place into a pile of rubble within two hours—that's something I can do." Shirou said, patting his chest.

Looking at Shirou's innocent smile, Natalia thought to herself, Isn't that just a walking human-shaped nuclear bomb? Having traveled all over the world, she had a feeling this kid was telling the truth.

The world was never short of monsters. A walking human-shaped nuclear bomb wasn't that strange... Bullshit! Don't say such terrifying things! You scared the hell out of me, you brat!

"Hey, kid, how about lending me this little one for a month or two?" Natalia said to Kiritsugu. Being strong was one thing, but more importantly, this kid could be considered her grandson—trustworthy.

Not good at all. If you take him away, who's going to handle our family's meals?

Though that's what he thought, this was Natalia's request, and Kiritsugu couldn't bring himself to refuse. Plus, he trusted Natalia. After some internal struggle, he agreed. "Come back soon."

That was how Kiritsugu and Natalia communicated—not through words, but through tacit understanding. It was something that could only be felt, not explained.

As for Shirou's safety... Forget it! Ever since the transmigration, Shirou's body had been absorbing mana from the atmosphere like the Holy Grail Cup, nonstop. Not only that, but nine-tenths of the food he ate was also converted into mana.

Against ordinary enemies, he could drown them in mana alone. Conservatively speaking, even if Shirou went up against the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, he could go toe-to-toe with them head-on. As long as he had enough mana, a species like the Great Void could really do whatever it wanted.

"Then let's go, little one. Let me show you the world!" Hearing Kiritsugu's agreement, Natalia didn't feel like chatting anymore. Her job was urgent, and without trust, a bounty hunter couldn't make a name in this line of work.

After the two left, Kiritsugu couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. "Looks like I'll have to go back to Fuyuki and find Sella for a while."

Heaven have mercy. Kiritsugu Emiya had absolutely no talent for cooking. He'd lived his whole life relying on others to take care of him, and now he was the head of the Emiya Family. Oh, what a feeling—like flying.