In the suburbs surrounding Kanbuchi City,
On a stretch of ruins, Touko Aozaki, who had been sailing smoothly all the way, still had blood at the corner of her mouth that she had not had time to wipe away. Her entire body was pinned to the ground, which was covered in rubble, mangled corpses, and broken stones.
Feeling the boy on top of her, who seemed almost weightless, she stared blankly at the sky.
All the Autonomous Dolls she had brought had been destroyed, and some part that had fallen off someone might still have been beneath her.
The Old Man who had confidently claimed there would be no problem when they came was now like a dead dog, with half his body lodged in the wall beside them.
"Love is dead..." Touko Aozaki looked at the lewdly dressed little boy before her. Oh, no, 168 could no longer be called a little boy.
Her heart was ashes, and she felt utterly lost.
"So why did you do something so foolish, big sister?" Fu Yuan, who had completely transformed into a Herrscher, looked at her in confusion. His fingers, now somewhat slender, gently stroked her cheek as he spoke without expression.
Why had things turned out like this? Why? Touko suddenly remembered.
"Are you Ms. Irisviel? I have long admired you. Now that I see you in person, you truly are as beautiful as the rumors say." Touko Aozaki, who had not yet been battered by society, greeted her with a radiant smile as she studied this strange group with interest.
The dignified and beautiful white-haired woman was clearly the target of this transaction, along with a curious-looking little boy? Why bring a child to a business deal? To pad his résumé? That made no sense either!
Fu Yuan looked at Touko, who apparently had yet to awaken a certain fetish, and suddenly felt emotional. Just as the comments had said, Touko and Aoko were both good kids. Only Old Man Aozaki was an idiot.
Then, seeing Touko's still-cheerful expression, he suddenly blinked his large eyes and returned a dazzling smile.
Touko's pupils suddenly shrank at the sight. Damn, that was the feeling of arousal—no, the feeling of her heart racing.
But she quickly came back to herself. After all, he was just a little boy. That gemstone was obviously more important. This discovery could make not only her, but her entire family, leave their names in the history of magecraft forever.
Little boys could be found anytime, but opportunities like this were rare!
Wow! Why did her heart suddenly ache?
"You too, Ms. Touko. You are not only beautiful, but so accomplished at such a young age." Although Irisviel could be pretty unreliable at ordinary times, she was dependable on important occasions, unlike a certain someone.
When she received no reply for a long time, she looked over in confusion and found that the young and accomplished Ms. Touko's expression was changing rapidly. Who knew what she was thinking about.
Watching Touko's constantly shifting expression, Old Man Aozaki cursed inwardly. What was she thinking about at a time like this? Thinking was one thing, but why make it so obvious on her face? He suddenly felt that giving her this opportunity to gain experience had been a terrible decision.
"My apologies, Ms. Irisviel. The little girl does not know better. I will handle the rest of the transaction." He gave Irisviel a polite yet not-too-awkward smile, then pulled the recovered Touko behind him.
"..." Touko looked at the old bastard, suddenly went expressionless, and took two steps back.
Then, where Old Man Aozaki could not see, she suddenly beamed at Fu Yuan, blinked, made a gesture, and slowly began backing away.
Fu Yuan looked at Touko, whose ideas were clearly at odds with his own, with mixed feelings. Then he glanced awkwardly at Irisviel, only to find her discussing the specific terms of the deal with Old Man Aozaki. So he quietly followed Touko.
"Is something wrong, big sister?" After they had walked some distance away, Fu Yuan estimated that Irisviel could no longer hear them and looked innocently at the big sister before him.
Touko had already grown into herself. She was only one centimeter short of her peak, and at 164 centimeters tall, she could indeed be called a big sister.
"What is your name, little brother? How old are you? What grade are you in?..." Looking at Fu Yuan, who was cute from head to toe, Touko rattled off all the lines she had prepared in one breath.
"Would you mind having another girlfriend?" Touko suddenly boldly added her true purpose at the end.
"Hmm...?" Fu Yuan was completely dumbfounded. He froze where he stood, suddenly unsure how to respond. Were background checks really this thorough? And was she serious about that last question?
A bad premonition suddenly rose in his heart, and he quietly took half a step back.
"Are you joking, big sister?" Fu Yuan looked at Touko, whose face had clearly stiffened. Her Takeuchi Face was still flushed from how quickly her expression had changed, and he spoke somewhat awkwardly.
He could not be blamed for overreacting. The moment Touko said that, Fu Yuan had distinctly felt his soul tremble. That was absolutely not his instinctive reaction. Absolutely not!
"Haha, of course I'm joking!" Touko laughed awkwardly twice, then began reflecting on whether she had been too hasty. Too hasty? Perhaps a little? One day. No more than one day.
"Here, how about big sister gives you a present?" Touko recalled how her fair-weather friends had pursued girls. Throw money at them? No, the Einzbern Family definitely did not lack money.
Flowers? That might work for chasing girls, but for a boy... forget it!
Then inspiration struck. Right, figurines! Did not boys these days all like figurines?
With that thought, Touko snapped her fingers. An Autonomous Doll immediately made its way over from the distance.
It had a beautiful, neat face like that of a doll, ruby-red eyes, and shining silver hair like snow.
When Fu Yuan saw the person in the distance, he lowered his head awkwardly. Wow! What if he got caught slacking off? He then looked at Touko with dissatisfaction. It was all her fault!
Touko watched the boy suddenly become shy, and he had even glared at her? Something felt wrong. Based on what she knew, should he not have been fanatical?
Then the doll walked over, completely lost its vitality, and stood blankly between the two of them.
Touko's mouth twitched as she looked at the doll that had arrived. Damn it, she had forgotten. Because of the transaction, she had just set that program.
Looking at the doll whose intelligence had completely vanished, she suddenly felt miserable. Th-this, how was she supposed to bring it up now?
"Yuan, what are you doing?" After realizing that Saber, who always caused her trouble, had disappeared again, Irisviel did not panic. She merely calmly apologized to Old Man Aozaki before preparing to find her child first.
Irisviel looked at the situation before her with a complicated expression: an awkward Yuan, a flustered and shy Ms. Touko, and a doll that looked exactly like herself.
It stood completely still, looking much like a certain product for single people that she had previously learned about online.
"Eh~~ There's another Irisviel." Fu Yuan's intelligence, restricted by his form, suddenly proved insufficient. He stared at the two Irisviels in shock, unable to tell the difference between them for a moment.
Two people, private transaction, doll, motionless, realistic, mine.
"Haha, Ms. Irisviel, you have a good child. But do not worry about the transaction. I am still trustworthy." Touko laughed awkwardly twice and claimed it was merely an accident.
"Mm." Irisviel bit her lip and gave a complicated hum, indicating that she understood.
Do I believe him? I should, right? Irisviel kept telling herself in her heart. Yuan is a good child. Yuan is a good child. I should trust him.
Fu Yuan gave Irisviel a complicated look. What could he say about Emotion Perception? Sometimes, it was really awkward.
"So when will we begin, Ms. Touko?" After hypnotizing herself for a while, Irisviel found herself completely unable to erase the image from her mind. In the end, she simply gave up. Whatever. Let it be.
"Haha, let's begin now!" Touko clapped her hands a few more times, and several dolls obediently brought over the necessary instruments and items.
Then, while no one was paying attention, she formed a spell behind her back and informed that old bastard of her location.
The ritual began!
Fu Yuan sat bored atop a large rock nearby, swinging his two legs back and forth.
Then, at some unknown stage of the ritual, when both Irisviels erupted with golden light, Fu Yuan felt something stir in his DNA and watched Irisviel, surrounded by golden radiance, with interest.
Wow! A Golden Legend!
Five-star! Mantle of the Heavens!
Smile!
He could clearly sense that Irisviel's life force had weakened considerably. She probably had only about twice Kiritsugu's remaining now, but she would definitely live longer than in the previous situation.
By the time Old Man Aozaki arrived, the ritual was nearly complete. He looked helplessly at the ritual, feeling troubled.
I wonder if they collected the payment. Can this really work?
Well, they can't possibly choose Aoko, can they?
Although he had already decided to kidnap the target of this transaction afterward, certain necessary things still had to be done. For example, fulfilling the contract. Even he would find it troublesome otherwise.
The ritual proceeded smoothly. Irisviel's original body successfully became a—ugh, a soulless doll, while the doll that had originally lost its vitality came completely alive. Even some of its original flaws became perfect after being supplemented with a soul.
Does the soul affect the body? What an interesting world. Su Mei watched this utterly unreasonable ritual with envy.
She wanted one too!
Suddenly, some Purple Epics appeared within the Golden Legend, lowering its quality. Yet this did not affect the ritual. Instead, it further increased the vitality of Irisviel's new body.
It was probably equal to three Kiritsugus now.
Fu Yuan suddenly stopped swinging his legs and stared at Irisviel in astonishment. He knew that aura of destruction and calamity well.
Honkai!
Fu Yuan felt that things had become serious. How had he never known the Imaginary Tree possessed enough power to reach into other worlds?
Or was it because of him? Right, otherwise how could he have triggered Honkai energy? That was scientific!
Well...
Was he a traitor to the planet?
But it did not seem like a big deal. The world of magi was not necessarily any better than Honkai. At least with the method Otto had adopted—controlling human technology—the destructive power seemed lower than this side's.
A change of style once in a while was not bad. As Fu Yuan thought this, he suddenly began looking forward to it.
Touko truly deserved her reputation as a genius. The instant that energy appeared, she detected it. But there was nothing she could do; the ritual had already ended.
She wiped sweat that did not exist from her forehead and prepared to discuss how the remaining payment would be made.
Then she saw the little boy who had been sitting on the large rock suddenly grow taller and become somewhat seductive. Wonderful!
Divine Grace
The Honkai energy that had just begun spreading through this world was instantly annihilated, and Fu Yuan had merely raised a finger.
The Honkai energy spreading from his body was also continuously being eliminated and erased. As he swept his gaze around, he met Irisviel's utterly stunned eyes.
With a snap of his fingers, the Chain behind him obediently bound her and pulled her over, along with that—ugh, her original body. Yet he did nothing else, merely drew them behind him.
Irisviel, suddenly bound: ?
He then boredly looked at Touko, whose eyes had just become unusually heated, and Old Man Aozaki.
"How should the remaining payment be made?" The Chain behind him obediently set down one Irisviel while handing him a cola stolen from who knew where.
Right, the remaining payment. How ridiculous. If Senior Sister had been negotiating—or no, even if he had done it himself—not only would there be no remaining payment, the other side would have had to pay him extra.
A new energy source! They should have offered something else along with it. Irisviel's account was basically ruined too. It should probably be deleted and rebuilt.
Touko suddenly frowned. Although this version of Fu Yuan clearly suited her tastes better, her interest abruptly weakened.
"How about this?" As the words fell, a chest of Honkai Crystals appeared before Touko. Honkai energy visibly permeated the air.
Fu Yuan suddenly felt that the cola in his hand was no longer appealing. Those words had not been spoken by him at all.
And he would swear that Senior Sister absolutely had bad intentions.
Looking at the chest of Honkai Crystals, Irisviel fell silent. This was really worthless! Even the matter of her suddenly being bound was pushed aside by that thought.
Touko froze. Touko pondered. Touko rejoiced wildly.
Th-this had been made by that little boy. In other words, she could use the excuse of obtaining Honkai Crystals to join forces with that old bastard, have him help her, and then she could do this to him, then that to him.
Having swiftly worked out the logic behind it all, Touko's gaze gradually became dangerous and highly aggressive.
"Would Your Excellency be willing to part with these gemstones and their method of creation?"
As the transaction ended, a strange energy began disappearing from both parties. After noticing this, Old Man Aozaki began speaking with a cheerful smile.
At the same time, he released his magical energy. It was merely a simple pressure of magical energy, yet it gave off an entirely different feeling.
As for why he did not simply seize it by force, the Einzbern Family still had some standing. Of course, if the other side refused, then what needed to be taken would still be taken.
"No!" ×2
Irisviel looked in confusion at Touko, who had spoken at the same time as her. Had she misunderstood her? Was she actually a good person?
Old Man Aozaki was equally confused as he looked at this heir who had been making frequent mistakes today. What was wrong with you, little brother!
Touko's brain raced.
Old bastard = very strong
Very strong = the other side might back down
Back down = transaction succeeds
Old bastard = old and cunning = political issue
Political issue = cannot fight
Cannot fight = little boy is gone
No, she absolutely could not let that happen!
Before you continue