A Meal at the Emiya Residence

"Ding~ Daily Quest Two completed. Submit?"

"Submit."

"Ding~ Quest Two submitted. Rewards issued: 1,500 experience points, 50 Blue Essence, moderate Strength increase."

Mo Shuying now needed 20,000 experience points to level up once.

He had previously thought the required experience doubled with every level, but it stopped doing so after reaching 10,000 experience points. It only became 20,000 at level 20.

It had not increased over the next few level-ups either. Mo Shuying guessed that when he reached level 30, it might become 30,000 or 40,000.

It had to be said that the experience requirements for leveling up were now quite high. Especially with no magical beasts around, Daily Quests alone could not provide much experience toward a level-up. He still had to think of another solution for that.

"Did you lose, Archer?"

After Red Archer dispelled Unlimited Blade Works, the two reappeared before everyone. Tohsaka Rin's first words made Red Archer roll his eyes, but he merely snorted and said nothing.

"Lucky win. I only won by a narrow margin."

Mo Shuying dismissed his equipment, having noticed that Saber and Gray were looking at him rather strangely.

"Alright, alright, everyone, stop fooling around. It'll be noon soon, and the rooms have all been cleaned up. Rin, assign rooms to everyone. I'll head out and buy some ingredients for lunch, then cook for everyone."

Emiya Shirou looked at this whole crowd and felt somewhat troubled. He was not particularly well-off financially, and now he had to prepare meals for so many people. It really gave him a headache.

Emiya Shirou suddenly thought of a question.

Should he charge them some rent and meal fees?

Time passed before they knew it.

Mo Shuying ran around the spacious courtyard and finally completed his Daily Exercise Quest at noon.

He received a small increase in Strength and Endurance, as well as 500 experience points. As Mo Shuying's level increased, the experience granted had also risen slightly.

At that moment, Emiya Shirou returned, and besides himself and Saber, he had brought other people along.

"Hi~ Hello~ Wow~ This handsome guy has such a great body~"

"Fuji-nee, you can't act like that! It's very rude!"

One was a woman with short yellow hair, whom Mo Shuying also knew—Fujimura Taiga. She was Illya's homeroom teacher, Emiya Shirou's guardian, and something of an "older sister." She was cheerful and carefree, over twenty-five years old. Well, single.

The other had long purple hair draped over her shoulders and a petite, adorable figure. She clutched Fujimura Taiga to restrain Taiga's beastly impulses. Mo Shuying knew this girl as well.

Matou Sakura, a pitiful child.

"Oh, hello. I'm Mo Shuying, staying here temporarily. Nice to meet you both."

Mo Shuying introduced himself with a smile, glancing at Matou Sakura's left hand. It wore an opaque white silk glove.

"Mo Shuying? Are you from the great Eastern nation? Hello, hello! I'm Fujimura Taiga, this guy's older sister. This little girl is Matou Sakura. Cute, right~ Hehe~ The great Eastern nation, huh? Wow~ I've always wanted to travel there. I heard there's lots of delicious food! Sadly, I'm this person's guardian, so I can't get away."

Fujimura Taiga spoke excitedly at first, then sadly. She cast Emiya Shirou a resentful look, obviously referring to him.

"Isn't the reason you can't travel abroad because you spent all your money? What does that have to do with me?"

Emiya Shirou hurriedly retorted, while Matou Sakura covered her mouth and chuckled softly beside him.

The atmosphere was lively. Fujimura Taiga truly was a bundle of joy—she could make everyone happy wherever she went.

"Alright, alright, Mr. Mo, I need to start cooking. If you're done exercising, go wash up. The bathroom is in the back. By the time you're done, it should be time to eat."

Emiya Shirou spoke as he lifted the bags full of ingredients in his hands. Mo Shuying nodded and made an OK gesture to show he understood.

Emiya Shirou and the others then went inside. Mo Shuying kept watching them—more precisely, he was watching Matou Sakura.

Others might not know, but he knew this girl's circumstances.

He had been wondering who the remaining three Masters were. Now it seemed Matou Sakura was one of them. Otherwise, why would she hide her left hand?

He just did not know what class her Servant belonged to.

Emiya Shirou truly deserved to be called a Grand Chef. Even cooking for more than a dozen people by himself, he was still incredibly efficient, and the food tasted excellent.

Eleven people sat around one table. It was a little crowded, but not bad. After all, there were only three boys—Mo Shuying, Red Archer, and Emiya Shirou—while everyone on either side was a girl, so squeezing together was rather pleasant.

What? Astolfo? That just made it even easier to squeeze together without any mental burden!

"Ah! This fish is so delicious! It's the first time in my life I've eaten fish this good! Emiya, you're amazing!"

Astolfo grew extremely excited after eating a piece of grilled salmon. Kneeling there, he kept wriggling his body, occasionally bumping into Mo Shuying.

Though being bumped by such a soft body was quite enjoyable, Mo Shuying still sighed inwardly.

You bastard, if you rub against me again, my next wish will be to turn you into a girl!!

"Rub rub~"

"Eh? Momo, why aren't you eating? Is it not to your taste? Then should I help you finish it!!"

Pink-haired Astolfo turned to look at Mo Shuying, whose body had gone stiff, then stared brightly at Mo Shuying's grilled fish.

"No!! Also, who's Momo? Some kind of undead king?"

Mo Shuying reached out with his chopsticks to protect his grilled fish and asked amid Astolfo's disappointed expression.

"Eh, but don't you call me Astolfo? I thought I should call you something more affectionate too, so can I call you Momo?"

Astolfo blinked at Mo Shuying and said.

Mo Shuying: "...Hmph, whatever."

He answered in a very tsundere tone, then placed half of his grilled fish into Astolfo's bowl.

"Eat more. You're still growing."

"Wow~ This is great! I love you most, Momo!"

At the sight of half a fish, Astolfo was so happy he nearly jumped up. Hearing Astolfo's words, the corners of Mo Shuying's lips rose despite himself—only for his expression to freeze the next moment!

[Ahhhhh! What the hell am I even doing?!]

Feeling that something was seriously wrong with himself, Mo Shuying covered his face, unable to calm his emotions.

Seeing this, Tohsaka Rin and Luvia exchanged smiles. Luvia blinked meaningfully, conveying her message with her eyes.

[Looks like we can capture his heart without even stepping in!]

[Have to say, Astolfo really is amazing!]

[Then we need to make a proper plan for how Astolfo can win him over! Oh-ho-ho-ho~ It would be even better if we could record that scene~]

Tohsaka Rin: "..."

While Tohsaka Rin and Luvia communicated with their eyes, Matou Sakura, seated beside Fujimura Taiga, slightly raised her head and looked toward Tohsaka Rin.

Matou Sakura was actually Tohsaka Rin's younger sister. She had merely been adopted into the Matou Family as a child. Though both sisters knew about this, they had never had the chance to properly talk.

Deep down, Matou Sakura had even hated the fact that she had been the one adopted out. Why?

Why hadn't it been Tohsaka Rin?