Shirou slept soundly.
It was probably the most comfortable night he had slept since he began getting used to the Japanese lifestyle.
Training familiars, setting up bounded fields, and performing the Summoning Ritual—this recent series of tasks had kept Shirou in a constant state of magical energy shortage, but after last night's sleep, he had somehow fully replenished his reserves.
"Could it be that my abilities as a magus have improved? Great~ From today onward, I'll have to work even harder!"
Shirou walked into the living room with a light step.
"Ah, Master, good morning~ Did you sleep well last night?"
After hearing a crisp, melodious female voice that sounded like the voice of heaven—
Lady Avalon sat upright at the dining table, smiling brightly at him.
Shirou: "What happened to becoming spirit-form?"
At that moment, another female voice came from behind him. "Haaah, I'm so sleepy... Good morning, Shirou."
Shirou's eyes widened. Oh no! Sister Fujiwara is here! She'll see her!
Without time to think, the boy lunged at Lady Avalon and pinned her beneath him.
"Become spirit-form, now!"
"...Shirou, what are you doing over there?"
Taiga Fujimura blinked and asked blankly, "Why are you rolling around in a place where nobody is?"
"Huh?"
Shirou looked down at the silver-haired beauty beneath him in confusion.
Lady Avalon clearly hadn't become spirit-form, yet Sister Fujiwara seemed completely unable to see her.
"Hehehe, Master is certainly full of vigor. Are you attacking me first thing in the morning?"
Lady Avalon covered her mouth and giggled.
"?"
Only then did Shirou notice that both his hands had sunk deeply into a pair of plump, soft...
Volume One 032 "Dead Count Shapeshifter" (4/6)
"Waaah!!!!"
Shirou hurriedly pulled his hands back and leaped away.
Lady Avalon wore a mischievous smile. "Oh my, what a shame. We could have continued, you know."
"How could we possibly continue?!" Shirou's face flushed bright red as he shouted.
Taiga Fujimura leaned closer and asked in confusion, "Shirou, who are you talking to?"
Just as I thought. She really can't see her...
There was clearly an unparalleled beauty in the room, with colorful flowers blooming around her, yet Sister Fujiwara simply ignored her existence.
Without a doubt, this was Lady Avalon using her abilities.
A skill... No, magic?
It was countless levels above Shirou's Suggestion Magic.
He didn't know whether it would work against enemy magi and Servants, but it was certainly more than enough to deal with an ordinary person like Sister Fujiwara.
That left Shirou in a difficult position.
In other words, Lady Avalon could now walk around the house openly and aboveboard.
During breakfast, Taiga Fujimura asked while drinking miso soup:
"What exactly is wrong with you today, Shirou? You've been sneaking glances at empty spaces ever since earlier."
"Hehehe, Master, have you been sneaking glances at me this whole time?"
The first morning after Lady Avalon moved into the Amamiya Residence began like hell for Shirou.
Would he have to endure days like this until the Holy Grail War ended?
Shirou sighed in despair.
But then again.
They really are soft and fragrant...
The rear of an empty classroom at Hohyunohara Academy's elementary school division.
"We'll now begin the first Holy Grail War strategy meeting."
After Shirou made the announcement, the silver-haired beauty sitting across from him excitedly applauded.
"Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap..."
Lady Avalon, in physical form, clapped while bending over with a smile and asking the other aide of the Amamiya faction:
"Mr. Makiri, why aren't you applauding?"
Little Yellow Duck: Do I look like I can applaud?
Shirou raised one hand to signal for silence, then, as the meeting's host, summarized the current situation.
First, although we were participating in the war, we had no Servant capable of fighting.
"Sorry~?" Lady Avalon gave him a flirtatious wink.
Although she couldn't participate in the war, she could provide Shirou with extremely powerful support and Enhancement Magic.
Lady Avalon's Enhancement Magic could even allow Shirou, whose body was physically frail, to contend with Servants for a short time. However, it was not an all-purpose solution, and its side effects were also tremendous.
Furthermore, once the Master lost, everything was lost, so unless it was absolutely necessary, he had to avoid fighting Servants...
"Wait."
Little Yellow Duck stopped Shirou's speech.
He had heard something wrong in what Shirou had just said.
Makiri asked suspiciously, "Brat, what exactly is this woman's Enhancement Magic? And what are the side effects?"
"...Well, about that."
Shirou looked at the Command Spells on the back of his right hand.
"Hey! Brat! What happened to your Command Spells?!"
Makiri shouted. This was the first time he had shown such agitation since losing his body.
The shape of the Command Spells on Shirou Amamiya's hand had changed from the first time he saw them.
Their color had also changed from its original bright red to an ominous dark crimson. What exactly was this...?
"Allow me to explain."
Lady Avalon came before Shirou, knelt down while lifting her skirt, and took his right hand in hers.
"I modified Master's Command Spells with magic. Master can now use the Command Spells to enhance himself."
"Not enhance a Servant, but the magus himself? How is that possible?!"
Makiri, the creator of the Command Spells, roared. Lady Avalon continued indifferently:
"Furthermore, I've already embedded a designated program inside the Command Spells.
"To maximize the efficiency of the Magic Block—the Command Spells—I set them to have a single activation effect.
"The specific enhancement is—
"'For three minutes, rapidly grow Master's body into the state he'll have ten years from now—at eighteen years old.'"
"Wha..."
Lady Avalon tilted her head cutely. "Rather than 'growth,' perhaps 'transformation' would be more appropriate?
"Once the battle lasts longer than 180 seconds, Master will revert to his current child state.
"Ta-da! I've named this mechanism 'Dead Count Shapeshifter.'
"As the name implies, the side effect is that it consumes Master's life. Every time he uses a Command Spell, he may come one step closer to death.
"By the way, personally, I still prefer Master the way he is now. Aww, so cute~"
"Your opinion doesn't matter."
Shirou pushed away the hand Lady Avalon was using to pinch his cheek.
"..."
On the other side, Makiri was speechless.
Although he had already lost his body and soul, it was as if he could still feel the chill of his back breaking into a cold sweat, an icy terror that seeped into his bones.
He was stunned by the extraordinary talent of the Female Magus before him.
She had only manifested as a Servant last night, yet in the span of a single night, she had bypassed the Holy Grail's authority, deciphered the mechanism of the Command Spells, and even completely modified them!
Without godlike magical ability, such a thing would have been impossible.
Could she be a Divine Era Magus?
No, even a Divine Era Magus couldn't accomplish this!
Someone capable of reaching this level was already worthy of being called a Grand...
"Brat, do you think this is really okay?"
Admiration and fear were one matter.
But on the other hand, Makiri sensed deep malice in the woman's actions.
"Hmm? Why wouldn't it be?"
Shirou tilted his head innocently. "Even if it only lasts three minutes, being able to enhance myself enough to fight a Servant is sufficient."
"That's not what I'm talking about!"
Little Yellow Duck spoke angrily. "This isn't something that comes without a price. Fundamentally, it's a loan.
"Forcibly using magical energy to grow your body into the form you'll have ten years from now is equivalent to borrowing against your future!
"This thing can't be considered a Gift at all. It can only be called a curse. It will only lead you toward deeper destruction and decline."
"But aren't so-called 'miracles' precisely things like that?"
Shirou spoke as though it were only natural.
The strongest and most incredible Grand Magic he knew of was Morgan's Spiritron Transfer.
It was a miracle that had stepped into the realm of true magic.
With nothing more than a wave of her wand, she could cast an enemy from the "present" into an age in the "past."
Actual time travel—
It sounded wonderful, but was in fact an act of borrowing that forced the debt of the present onto the past.
What Shirou would do next was no different from what Morgan had done.
"There are no free 'miracles' in this world, so as long as I can accept the price myself, I have no objection."
Shirou spoke those utterly unhinged words in a perfectly rational tone, leaving Makiri speechless.
Indeed, even the true Five Great Magics could not erase entropy out of thin air.
But "being able to understand" and "being able to accept easily" were two entirely different things!
This brat...
"I oppose this strategy." Makiri said coldly.
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