A Scare for the Two

Mo Li soon returned carrying two boxes. When he saw the supplies they had just summoned, he hesitated. "What? Do you two also like Nine Solitary Swords?"

The things laid out on the floor looked more and more familiar the longer Mo Li looked at them—a pile of Mystic Codes, junk that came in heaps from a single pull in the Friendship Pool. If the Friendship Pool could not produce gold characters, he would not even want to touch it.

"Ah, there was nothing we could do. These were the things the system summoned." Ritsuka Fujimaru looked embarrassed as well.

"We're terribly sorry. We just tested the summoning system, and we'll reclaim these supplies right away!" Mash Kyrielight said in a panic.

"No need. Leave them here. I'll see if I can find some use for them." Mo Li walked over and handed them each a box. "Your clothes are inside. Three sets each. Tomorrow, I'll ask Medea to make you each a set of formal wear."

Ritsuka Fujimaru accepted the box. "Mm, thank you, Senior Mo. Um... Dr. Roman wants to see you. He'll contact us again in half an hour."

"Sure. Romani can contact me too," Mo Li said.

"Hm? Keeping beauties hidden away? These two girls... it's them. Why are they here..." Tian Nü Ba's voice suddenly sounded from behind Mo Li, and she stepped out from behind him as well.

"You really come and go without a trace..." Mo Li looked at Tian Nü Ba beside him. She was carrying takeout boxes in her hands.

"Keeping beauties hidden away?!" Mash Kyrielight cried softly.

Ritsuka Fujimaru smiled helplessly from the side. "There's nothing we can do, Mash. Everyone reacts like that when they see us. Senior Mo doesn't even have to say anything..."

Tian Nü Ba looked at the two of them, her gaze equally helpless. "So why did you come to this world? Logically speaking, you shouldn't have been able to come here..."

Ritsuka Fujimaru seemed to realize something. He stared at the girl in disbelief. "You... could you be Tian Nü Ba?"

"Yep. Is it strange for there to be immortals in modern times? Come eat."

"Fou?" Fou tilted his head and watched Tian Nü Ba for a moment.

The four of them and Fou entered the living room.

Tian Nü Ba set the food on the table and laid out bowls, chopsticks, and tableware for all four people, herself included, as well as Fou. There were three vegetable dishes, two meat dishes, and a soup. She had even thoughtfully served Fou's food for him.

Mo Li had originally thought they were all ordinary dishes, but Tian Nü Ba suddenly reached into the space beside her and pulled out an extra small food container. Smiling brightly, she said to Mo Li, "I haven't finished researching it yet, but you can eat it now~"

"...All right." Mo Li looked rather speechless at the food container, but he still took it and set it in front of himself.

Tian Nü Ba naturally sat to Mo Li's right and looked at the two on his left. "I really didn't expect you two to come to this world."

Ritsuka Fujimaru gave a polite smile. "I couldn't do anything about it either... Oh, right, Senior Tian Nü Ba, you're an immortal. Could I ask you to save our world?"

Tian Nü Ba sighed before replying, "Your world needs to be saved by yourselves. I haven't seen any fate between us that would bind me to you in that way. If you understand Huaxia culture, then you should know that immortals like us place great importance on fate when we lend a hand. We do not act on a whim."

"Fate? What kind of fate would be needed?" Mash Kyrielight immediately asked.

It would be wonderful if an immortal could help them!

Tian Nü Ba unusually offered a more detailed explanation. "There was no fate between us to begin with. You were simply lucky enough to meet Mo Li by chance, and then meet me through him. The fate between you and me now exists only in this world. If something happens here that you cannot handle, I can help you. But that is all."

"This..." Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight both looked dejected, their spirits low, yet neither blamed Tian Nü Ba.

Tian Nü Ba was right. They had to save their own world. No matter how difficult it was, they could do it! And they had to!

"All right, stop discouraging them. Let's eat." Mo Li opened his food container and fell into thought as he looked at the enormous rice ball stuffed with meat inside. "Tian Nü Ba, what kind of dish is stuffed inside this rice ball? It's bigger than both my fists."

Tian Nü Ba looked delighted, her face full of smiles. "Spicy Blood Duck! It's all meat, no bones, and there's lots of meat juice inside too~"

"Spicy Blood Duck..." Mo Li scooped at the huge rice ball with a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other. The moment he dug out a piece of rice, a nearly imperceptible sourness and a rich, fiery aroma rushed into his nose.

"When will you make something that isn't so focused on spicy flavors..." Mo Li looked at Tian Nü Ba helplessly.

"My, my~ There's nothing I can do~ My cooking hasn't reached the level where I can incorporate other ultimate flavors yet."

While the two spoke, Mash Kyrielight curiously leaned closer for a quick look, only to be driven back by the scorching spicy scent. It even brought a sheen of sweat to her forehead. "What a terrifying food..."

Seeing Mash like that, Ritsuka Fujimaru swallowed nervously. "Is it really that intense...?"

Mo Li turned back to tell them, "Yours is normal. Just don't come near mine. Eat up. It's already late. Once you finish getting settled here, I need to head back soon too."

"Mm!"

"Fou!" Seeing that they had finally started eating, Fou lowered his head and began eating the food in his bowl as well.

Romani checked the time and contacted Ritsuka Fujimaru the moment their appointed time arrived. The call was quickly answered.

What appeared on the screen was the scene after they had finished eating. Even the bowls and chopsticks had already been cleared away, and Tian Nü Ba was about to take everything with her.

Romani looked at Mo Li first. "Are you Sir Mo Li?"

"It's me. Dr. Roman—or rather, Romani. What did you want to see me about?" Mo Li asked.

Seeing Mo Li respond, Romani immediately spoke seriously. "Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you. We are Finis Chaldea, the Organization for the Preservation of Human Order, or Chaldea for short. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by our operational mistake."

"It wasn't an inconvenience. I thought they were pretty cute, so I helped them out," Mo Li said with a smile.

"Cute..." Romani nearly could not keep a straight face at that answer. Because they were cute, one of the participants in the Holy Grail War had casually helped two people of unknown origin?

Still, that was better than those twisted Magi.

Romani immediately regained his composure. "We were originally dealing with a serious matter and dispatched the two of them to resolve it. However, an accident occurred, causing them to end up on your side. If you could help safely send them back, Chaldea would be willing to offer sufficient compensation."

Chaldea's supplies had been greatly depleted by the explosion, but they still had some resources left. As long as the two of them could return safely, that was enough.

"I helped them because I thought they were cute. I don't need anything from Chaldea. On the contrary, if there's anything you need, feel free to ask me," Mo Li replied grandly.

Romani froze for a moment. Where had this tycoon come from?

Mo Li added, "Anyway, I'm governing half of Japan now. Only those Japanese officials and factions backed by the Americans are still opposing me."

Romani fell silent for a moment, then said apologetically, "If possible, we would need quite a lot of things. I need time to make a list!"

This was no time for modesty. Take whatever they could get—there was a rich benefactor right in front of them, so they had to fleece him while they could!

It was just that Mash's shield was too small to carry too much at once...

Mo Li said, "Alright. If there's nothing else, I'll head home first."

"The Matou Family? Mr. Mo Li, I'd like to know the identity of that Matou Zouken..."

Mo Li shook his head slightly. "An old bug that refused to die. I couldn't help killing him when he was about to do something bad, then I took his place, sent his descendants somewhere safe to live, and expanded the Matou Family. I suppose I didn't take over his identity for nothing."

"Is that so? Then we have nothing else for now, so we won't disturb you any further, Mr. Mo Li."

"Mm, I'm leaving." Mo Li turned and walked over to Tian Nü Ba, who had been waiting for some time.

Romani looked at Tian Nü Ba in silence for a long while. When she and Mo Li began walking toward the exit, he finally asked, "Honored celestial maiden, regarding our world..."

Tian Nü Ba replied calmly, "Your world should not be saved by me. Your world needs to be saved by yourselves. There is no necessity for me to intervene and save everything there. You should understand what I mean."

With that, the two of them left through the door.

"No necessity to intervene and save it..." Romani let out an almost imperceptible sigh and stopped considering the possibility of asking her to act.

He understood Tian Nü Ba's meaning very clearly. It was not that she did not want to save them, nor that she could save them but chose not to. Rather, there was no inevitability for her to come and save their world!

In other words, Tian Nü Ba simply had no plotline in which she saved the FGO world. Without such a script, it was impossible for her to save the FGO world under the watchful eyes of all those immortals.

Unless someone rewrote the script.

Romani said to Mash Kyrielight and Ritsuka Fujimaru, "Then it is now completely confirmed that Tian Nü Ba and Mo Li are friendly toward you. You should be safe for the near future. Stay by Mr. Mo Li's side and get through the Holy Grail War in their world. We'll keep watch from here to ensure no accidents occur, and make sure we can summon you back at any time."

Mash Kyrielight said, "Okay!"

Ritsuka Fujimaru said, "It's a good thing we met Mr. Mo Li this time."

"Indeed. Then we'll disconnect the communication from our side for now."

As the communication disconnected, Romani immediately called out to everyone, "Hurry! List every material needed to repair Chaldea, along with all the supplies we need! Quickly!"

Everyone in the control room became busy.

Mash Kyrielight opened the box of spare clothes Mo Li had given her and immediately panicked. "Senpai! Senpai, what do we do?! Pajamas, skirts, casual clothes, even the sizes... they all match perfectly! What do we do? What do we do? Mo Li really knows me that well! And even underwear in these colors..."

On the other side, Ritsuka Fujimaru opened his own box and panicked as well. "Mash! I don't know what to do either! Everything on my side matches too! Doesn't that prove he truly knows us extremely well?!"