Street Cleanup Master

Broly kicked another Sea Demon to pieces, but he was starting to get irritated. No matter how many times he kicked these strange creatures, they kept moving, and they could even restore themselves.

Just as Broly raised his little hand at a Sea Demon that was regenerating, preparing to blast the thing to nothing with an Energy Blast—

"Don't bother with these Familiars. The one controlling them is over there. You need to kill the controller to deal with these things."

Emiya Kiritsugu walked over, raised a hand, and pointed at Caster as he spoke to the terrifyingly powerful child.

Broly followed the direction he pointed and saw even more Sea Demons, so he aimed his little hand that way.

But Artoria was still fighting the Sea Demons over there. She split one of them apart with her sword, exposing her fleeting figure.

A notification appeared in the Crystal Palace in his mind: Capture Target discovered: Artoria. Current Happiness Value: 0.

That made Broly lower his hand.

Bang!

His bare little foot shattered the concrete beneath it, and the blast of air knocked the nearby men flat onto their backsides.

"Damn it!"

Over there, just as Artoria was about to swing her sword and cut down another Sea Demon rushing toward her, a petite figure darted ahead of her and shattered the creature with a flying kick.

After landing, Broly leaped up and drove a flying Knee Strike into another Sea Demon, turning its head into mush. He raised a hand to block a tentacle swung at him, grabbed the entire Sea Demon in one motion, and swung it through the air like a tilted Big Windmill. The endless smacking sounds rang out as the Sea Demon swarm around Artoria was completely cleared away.

The sequence looked flashy, but it had all happened in an instant. Artoria had thought a Servant had come to support her, and only after thanking him did she realize that the one who had landed beside her was merely a little boy who only came up to her waist.

"Your body carries traces of my magecraft. Are you the one who killed my Master, Ryunosuke Uryu?"

Gilles de Rais sensed the traces of his magecraft on Broly and immediately questioned him.

"Ryunosuke Uryu?"

Broly frowned with his little brows. He had never heard that name, but if they were talking about killing someone, then there had indeed been someone besides these strange creatures whom he had kicked to death today. And that bastard had caused the Happiness Value of his other desk-mate wife to drop.

The more Broly thought about the Happiness Value he had lost—his Happy Water—the angrier he became. Coupled with Fujimura Taiga's Happiness Value dropping earlier, he immediately raised his little hand at Gilles de Rais, who had spoken up.

"What are you doing?"

Artoria did not understand the boy's actions, and neither did Gilles de Rais. But Broly's displayed strength was truly terrifying, so he swiftly retreated into the Sea Demon swarm and rapidly cast all sorts of enhancement magecraft upon the Sea Demons around him.

"Why did you hurt my friends and take away my happiness?"

Broly asked.

"What?"

Gilles de Rais did not understand what he meant.

"Disappear."

Broly answered his confusion with an Energy Blast.

Gilles de Rais, who had come seeking revenge, was instantly reduced to ashes beneath the dazzling Energy Blast released by Broly. His feeble magecraft resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a cart—utterly meaningless. The Energy Blast did not slow, wiping out more than half of the remaining Sea Demon Army and continuing onward.

Assassin, hiding in the shadows of the street, had terrible luck. Before he could even react, he was caught in the terrifying Energy Beam and destroyed along with everything else.

The entire street had been cleared. Everywhere the eye could see was empty, with only the scorched air and the bodies of a few Sea Demons on the far side of the Energy Blast's path, dissolving now that they no longer had magical energy, proving that the vanished Sea Demon Army had not been an illusion.

"..."

Artoria had been closest and felt it most clearly. Broly's Energy Blast gave her the impression that it was no weaker than the power of her Noble Phantasm when fully unleashed.

With the enemy eliminated, Broly's anger subsided as well. He turned to look at the King of Knights beside him. Artoria instinctively tensed up, but her vigilance was met only by the boy's little hand.

"Hello, I'm Broly."

Broly introduced himself. Introducing yourself when meeting someone you did not know was a basic courtesy he had learned after coming to the civilized world.

"King Arthur, Artoria Pendragon."

Broly's lack of hostility quickly made Artoria lower her guard as well. She lowered her invisible holy sword and reached out to shake the boy's hand.

"A handshake means good friends. From now on, you're my best friend."

Broly said this seriously. It was new knowledge Rin Tohsaka had taught him just tonight.

"Huh?!"

Broly's words startled Artoria a little, but seeing the boy's earnest expression, and considering that he had just gotten her out of trouble, she did not refuse.

To be honest, Artoria had never had a friend. As a King, she had subordinates and comrades-in-arms around her, but no friends.

What, Merlin?

He was her Teacher, the Teacher who had taught her Swordsmanship and the art of ruling a kingdom.

Having made another wife, Broly walked back.

Looking at the empty street, then at the boy walking back with a perfectly normal expression, the members of the Fujimura Group all subconsciously backed away.

Those Sea Demons were monsters, and the boy who had wiped out a whole horde of Sea Demons and cleared an entire street with some unknown method—wasn't he a monster among monsters?

It was normal for people to fear things they did not understand. Only Fujimura Taiga stepped forward to greet Broly when she saw him return. "Broly, so you're such an amazing kid?"

The boy had stepped out earlier and kicked down one little monster after another, just like something out of a movie. Then he had rushed over there. She did not know what had happened, but a powerful green light had suddenly appeared, and then both the monsters and the person controlling them had vanished. Even the entire street had been cleaned up. It was unbelievably cool.

Please forgive Fujimura Taiga. She was at the age of Middle School, and she usually imagined herself as a highly skilled wandering samurai who upheld the way of chivalry. Naturally, she was a little excited after witnessing power beyond the ordinary with her own eyes.

Of course, she could tell danger from safety. While everyone else who did not understand Broly was backing away, she did not believe Broly would hurt her. That was why she had approached him herself. She was both amazed by him and fond of him, because Broly had saved her Grandfather and the other members of the Fujimura Group.

"By the way, what was that green light just now?"

After checking Broly over and confirming that he had not been injured anywhere apart from being splattered with monster blood, Fujimura Taiga asked.

"It was an Energy Blast."

Broly answered honestly.

"How did you do that?"

Fujimura Taiga pressed.

"You gather your Qi and condense it in your hand."

As Broly spoke, he raised his little hand to demonstrate. Green light emerged from his hand, and the crowd immediately scattered farther away.

This was no joke. The street over there was still empty as far as the eye could see. No one wanted to be vaporized into nothing like those monsters.

"That's amazing. Can I touch it?"

Fujimura Taiga reached out as she spoke, seemingly wanting to touch the Energy Blast condensed in Broly's hand.

"You're too weak. You can't touch it. You'll get hurt."

Broly hurriedly drew the Energy Blast's Qi back into his body. Even he could now clearly understand just how weak the people of this world were.

The others did not matter, but he could not hurt people who treated him well. And among those people, Fujimura Taiga—who gave him food, clothes, baths, and bedding to sleep in—was undoubtedly ranked number one.

"All right, I really am too weak."

After seeing the boy's mighty display, Fujimura Taiga had no choice but to admit it. Then she pinched her nose and looked at Broly with some distaste. "You stink of fishy blood. You need to Take a Bath again."

Broly sniffed himself and found that it was true. After sitting for a while, the Sea Demon blood had developed the distinct fishy stench of seafood. It was definitely not as bad as Vampa Spider Bodily Fluid, but Broly had already experienced being a clean child, so his little brows furrowed slightly.

"I'll take you to Take a Bath."

Fujimura Taiga picked Broly up and prepared to head into the Fujimura Residence.

After all that chaos, she was drenched in sweat too.

"Wait, I still have something to say."

"What is it?"

"Put me down first."

Fujimura Taiga put Broly down and watched as the boy ran toward someone else's Humvee. Under the wary gaze of the man named Emiya Kiritsugu, he reached out to the red-eyed, white-haired Irisviel and said, "Hello, I'm Broly."

"Uh, I'm Irisviel. Is something wrong?"

The artificial woman, who had been created and whose actual life experience amounted to only nine years, responded to his introduction. She reached out, shook his little hand, and asked.

"You're my best friend now."

Having completed the process of meeting a wife, Broly tossed out those words and ran back to Fujimura Taiga.

He left only a dumbfounded group of people behind.

"What's with that child?"

Irisviel asked, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

"I don't know."

Emiya Kiritsugu shook his head, completely unaware that someone had set his sights on his wife.

"But one thing is certain. He isn't a Servant. He has no magical energy, and he isn't a Magician either."

"Then what exactly is he?"

"I don't know. But monster is probably the best word to describe an existence like that."

"Will he pose a threat to us?"

Emiya Kiritsugu said nothing, because he still did not know. However, after learning about the exchange between Caster and the boy from Artoria, he realized something: he really might have been caught up in the boy's attack tonight.

"Should we relocate our base?"

"The third safe house isn't ready. Moving carelessly would be worse than staying here. We should stick to the plan and adapt as things come."

Emiya Kiritsugu took a long look at the boy being carried back into the Fujimura Residence by Fujimura Taiga, then drove the Humvee, now missing half a door, back to their original residence.

"I'm going to see the power of the attack that destroyed Caster."

After taking Irisviel back, Emiya Kiritsugu came out again, intending to inspect the far end of the street.

He traveled more than three kilometers. At the end of the destruction caused by the Energy Blast, Emiya Kiritsugu saw a mighty man beside a bull-drawn chariot, with a refined young man standing next to him.

Who else could they be but Rider and his Master?

"Master..."

Artoria walked up from behind, watching the Rider pair warily.

"Yo, King of Knights. Good evening."

Iskandar greeted her.

"You caused quite a commotion tonight."

He said.

"This wasn't—"

Before Artoria could finish, Emiya Kiritsugu interrupted her.

"Caster came looking for trouble again. We had no choice but to fight back."

"That's true. I just didn't expect the King of Knights, even with an injured left hand, to still wield such tremendous power. Calling her merely a little girl last night was rather presumptuous of me."

The King of Conquerors took the initiative to apologize. Strength was not everything, but possessing strength proved that Artoria was no mere little girl.

"Rider, did you come here only to say this to my Servant, or are you planning to take the opportunity to attack us?"

"Saber's Master, I know you're trying to provoke me into not attacking, but my decision not to attack has absolutely nothing to do with your strategy. A King's battle should be honorable and forthright. I have no interest in taking advantage of someone's misfortune."

After saying this to Emiya Kiritsugu, Iskandar looked at Artoria. "King of Knights, I look forward to the moment when we face each other in a decisive battle. Also, congratulations on your great victory tonight."

With those words, King of Conquerors Iskandar drove off with his little Master. His reaction gave Emiya Kiritsugu an idea.

"What? You want to claim the credit for destroying Caster? No, I refuse. I was not the one who destroyed Caster."

Back at the residence, Artoria immediately expressed her opposition to Emiya Kiritsugu's proposal.

Claiming someone else's achievement was, to a knight, practically a stain upon the path of knighthood.

After all, among the eight virtues of a knight were integrity and honor.

"I understand what you mean, but the one who destroyed Caster was neither a Master nor a Servant. He may not even have anything to do with the Holy Grail Ritual. The Bounty Command Spell for Caster is meant for Masters participating in the Holy Grail."

"But that is still no reason to claim another person's achievement."

"Listen, Saber. You are not claiming credit. Although the one who destroyed Caster was not you, you were the only Servant who participated in the battle against Caster tonight. According to the rules, we are qualified to receive that Bounty Command Spell."

"But—"

"You don't need to worry. I'll truthfully report the actual circumstances of Caster's defeat to the Holy Church. Whether the Holy Church acknowledges our subjugation of Caster is their business."

"Last night, our side was attacked by Caster and his Sea Demon Army. With the assistance of our Servant Saber, Caster and his Sea Demon Army were eliminated by a powerful force.

"Yes, that was Saber's Master's battle report concerning last night's clash with Caster. Caster's destruction has already been confirmed. The terrifying beam that nearly ran through Old Town was also captured by roadside surveillance.

"Even one of the Assassin bodies my son sent to observe the situation was caught up in the battle. It was destroyed before it could send back a detailed report."

Kirei Kotomine discussed the matter with Tokiomi Tohsaka through the magical Item known as a gramophone. Their main topic was whether to award the Bounty Command Spell.