Making Demands

"Hahaha, I never expected you, King of Knights, to arrive even earlier than us! Looks like I was still too slow!"

A hearty laugh rang out, followed by Iskandar descending from the sky in his ox cart.

Waver complained from the side, "Hey, hey, hey! What if you just drop down without any reconnaissance and they're harboring ill intentions?"

Iskandar answered with a laugh. "Haha, I trust Lord Mo Li's character. In a situation like that, he had his own people step forward alongside him to face us directly. Especially when two Heroic Spirits who weren't suited to appearing openly still stepped forward in accordance with his will—no matter how you view them, they are surely heroes worthy of trust!"

Waver was somewhat speechless after hearing that, but he did not argue. Instead, he looked toward the field. "Why is the Berserker lying down?"

"He's just tired of fighting and doesn't want to get up. All right, get up already. The other guests will be arriving soon, so stop embarrassing me." Mo Li helplessly called Berserker Lancelot up from the ground.

Berserker Lancelot was quite skilled at playing the fool. He had absolutely no sense of shame—or perhaps his way of thinking was simply different from ordinary people's.

Maybe it had been a mistake not to add the Madness Enhancement Incantation and completely sacrifice Berserker Lancelot's reason. Hmm...

Watching Berserker Lancelot stand up, Artoria could not help but wonder whether the Lancelot she had known in the past had only seemed serious on the surface.

Iskandar said to Artoria, "Hey, King of Knights, interested in challenging me? Settling the score between kings is quite an enjoyable thing!"

Artoria looked at Iskandar. "Challenge you? Have you already chosen the nature of your challenge?"

Iskandar patted his ox cart. "Yes. After Lord Mo Li's reminder, I realized my mount was perfectly suited to be the subject of a challenge. Let's compete in driving skills. But mine is a chariot, so you'd better prepare properly."

"Chariot driving..." Artoria fell into thought as she looked at his chariot. The ox pulling it was no ordinary creature, and the chariot itself could not be underestimated. How was she supposed to find something comparable?

Seeing this, Mo Li said, "If you intend to take the challenge, Artoria, I do know a way for you to do so."

Artoria immediately asked, "Hmm? You have a way?"

"Uh, I do." Mo Li said to Irisviel, "Then we'll need the Einzbern Family to provide some modern firearms. I'm sure you have your own channels to obtain them."

Irisviel did not immediately understand what use they would have. "Hmm? What does that have to do with Artoria's challenge?"

Modern firearms could not harm Heroic Spirits anyway; they would not even break through their defenses.

Mo Li said, "Artoria, you have the ability to modify weapons, right? The ability to turn ordinary weapons directly into magical weapons."

Artoria did not deny it and said directly, "Yes, I do have such an ability. Strictly speaking, as long as I use Mana Burst to increase the output, forcibly modifying them is quite convenient. Of course, they definitely cannot compare to weapons made through proper methods, but it is still a useful method in an emergency."

Mo Li said, "Modern tanks aren't suitable for getting you, so Artoria, you can only start with weapons. A motorcycle plus firearms should be enough, I believe. But we won't provide bullets—compared to your Mana Burst, bullets would only be a burden."

Irisviel said thoughtfully, "So that will do it? Then there definitely won't be a problem."

Mo Li said, "Mm."

Iskandar looked toward Mash Kyrielight. "By the way, that little girl looks quite like a Servant. Lord Mo Li, what is her role? You said she was your girlfriend, and now she's here too. You must have some arrangement for her, right?"

Artoria looked at Mash Kyrielight in surprise, as though she had accidentally heard some gossip.

Mash Kyrielight shyly wanted to explain, but Mo Li was covering for them after all, so she did not want to undermine him. Still, the misunderstanding only grew deeper.

Mo Li said, "She's my assistant, responsible for maintaining order at the venue with me. Although our pair usually won't take action, it's better to be prepared for anything, isn't it? After all, the vast majority of Masters are ordinary people who are no match for you."

Iskandar nodded after hearing that. "Indeed. Though as Heroic Spirits, I don't think anyone would disrupt the order, having you protect the Masters is certainly very necessary."

"Hey, is it really okay to just leave my safety to someone else like this?!" Waver protested again, feeling that this was thoroughly unreliable.

"Well..." Iskandar looked at Waver. "Isn't everyone close to Lord Mo Li fully exposed before us as well? Trust is mutual. He even has a little girl and an ordinary young woman by his side. In truth, shouldn't he be even more worried about others targeting the people around him? The risk he bears is much greater than ours."

Waver looked at Mo Li, who was surrounded by girls. After a moment of silence, he could only nod in acknowledgment. "From that perspective, he really does need to worry about that more. But could he be using that to gamble on our trust, so that once we all trust him, he can control or even kill all the hostile Masters?"

Listening to Waver's suspicions, Mo Li said with a serious expression, "Waver, your vigilance is certainly a good thing, but I'm not that sort of person. Comparatively speaking, I should be the one who needs the Holy Grail least among *** all Masters and even Heroic Spirits. If they were people with evil intentions, it would not be strange for them to make such plans. You simply don't know me well enough; your assumption does not hold true for me."

"After all, the reason I joined the Holy Grail War..." Mo Li rubbed Caren's head. "Was to escort this little one and make sure she can safely get through this Holy Grail War."

"Big Brother Mo Li~" Caren gave Mo Li an innocent smile.

Looking at Caren, who appeared young enough to have only just started elementary school, Waver found himself unable to offer any rebuttal. It would have been too much to keep suspecting him under such circumstances.

Waver said helplessly, "All right, I understand. I'll trust you in this Holy Grail War."

"Hmph, Waver, you arrived even earlier than I did." Kayneth's voice suddenly rang out, startling Waver into trembling like a quail as the group of three entered Fuyuki City.

Iskandar patted Waver's shoulder somewhat helplessly. Some things had to be faced by Waver himself in the end. He could not rely on Iskandar for everything; a young man needed to grow on his own.

Diarmuid, Kayneth, and Sola had rarely left the Magus workshop in their hotel to come here. This was all thanks to Mo Li using the method from the Ritsuka Fujimaru FZ crossover storyline to resolve the issues between the married couple and clear up the misunderstanding concerning Diarmuid.

Everyone looked toward Kayneth.

At this moment, Mo Li secretly felt it was a pity. If Ritsuka Fujimaru had decent talent for magecraft, perhaps he could have used her as an excuse to learn the El-Melloi Family's magecraft knowledge from Kayneth.

But it was not a major problem. He still had Medea; learning modern magecraft knowledge directly would be fine too. Ritsuka Fujimaru would frequently travel to ancient times and even the Age of Gods later anyway.

Or he could teach her himself. Though he had not yet fully mastered it all, he had firmly memorized every piece of knowledge Medea had taught him.

Seeing Waver's state, Kayneth sighed inwardly before saying to Mo Li, "Mr. Mo Li, the finest ally of my El-Melloi Family, I, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, have come at your invitation today."

Mo Li replied with a broad smile, "Welcome. However, not all the guests have arrived yet, so we'll need to wait a little longer."

Sola said apologetically, "Thank you, Mr. Mo Li, for resolving the problems between my husband and me. Otherwise, had things continued, it would have been hard to imagine where things between Kayneth and me would have ended up."

Mo Li said with a smile, "Relationship problems between Magi have always been a common topic in the magecraft world. I merely wish to help everyone as much as possible."

Kayneth said with a smile, "Then you have done me a great favor, my friend Mo Li. If there is anything you require, you may ask me. So long as it is something I can fulfill, the El-Melloi Family will never go back on its word."

Mo Li immediately said, "As it happens, there is indeed something I need your help with. I hope to become Olga Marie Animusphere's teacher. Though she has only been born for a few years, I think she will be a fine student. But without someone to introduce me, showing up at her door rashly would probably make them think I harbor ill intentions. So I hope you can help me in this regard."

Listening to their conversation, Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight were both stunned. At this point in time, the Director had only just been born?

But why did Senior Mo want to become the director's teacher? What was he trying to do?

Kayneth fell into thought. "The Animusphere family's newborn daughter? It's possible. Her father is one of the Lords as well, and we do have some acquaintance. But whether that man agrees to your proposal will depend on you."

Mo Li smiled. "As long as he agrees to meet me, that will be enough. I'm not worried about lacking something that will move him."

Wouldn't the Age of Gods Magic knowledge he had learned from Medea come in handy here? Even if it could not be replicated in the modern era, that did not stop the magical theories within from showing their power.

After all, this was a world where the older something was, the stronger it became. Modern humanity had yet to recover the glory it possessed during the Age of Gods. Even a mere planet-busting ORT, that giant Mercury spider, could wipe out humanity. Humanity had really fallen far.

Seeing Mo Li brimming with confidence, Kayneth nodded. "Since you're confident, then once we return, I'll speak to the Lord of the Animusphere family about this matter."

As for why Mo Li wanted to take Olga Marie as his student, that was not something the El-Melloi family needed to concern itself with. He seemed like a decent person, and it would not be bad for her to become his student.