Shirou was greatly startled and secretly broke out in a cold sweat.
If Hundred-Faced Hassan had not told him, he would not have known at all that Lady Avalon had already drawn the enemy's close attention.
If he later announced to others that his Servant belonged to the Extra class, he would definitely become the first target of the Tohsaka faction!
Fortunately, he had been suspicious of the Fuyuki City Church from the beginning. Even after obtaining his Command Spells and summoning his Servant, he had not gone there to register or listen to their explanations.
His idea of pretending to ally himself with the Tohsaka Family and then using Assassin to stab them in the back later had also been abandoned.
Shirou had now become a thorn in Tokiomi Tohsaka's side.
That night, he stayed in Assassin's hotel room until nearly dawn before hurriedly leaving.
Assassin returned to Kirei Kotomine's side, continuing to lie low and gather information while occasionally providing Shirou with some important intelligence.
Shirou, meanwhile, promised her that he would help look after the unattended Loli Hassan whenever she was busy with work.
And so, they established a subtle, equal cooperative relationship.
Before leaving, Shirou asked Hundred-Faced Hassan for a bone mask and a set of black robes.
"Ah~~~~~ Master, you'd be much more effective if you showed your face~ Especially to girls~"
Lady Avalon said this.
The Holy Grail War officially began, and Shirou's first thought was to have Sister Fujiwara hide at the Fujimura Group for a while.
However, when he made that request, his guardian lady flatly refused.
"Should I use Suggestion Magic?" Lady Avalon asked with a grin.
How could he possibly let her do that? Shirou refused without a second thought.
That was the one red line he could never cross, no matter what.
Suggestion Magic was simply too useful in everyday life.
It was like drug or gambling addiction. Once he became dependent on it, there would be no turning back.
To avoid straying too far from the path of humanity, Shirou had already decided that he would never use Suggestion Magic on Sister Fujiwara.
There was nothing he could do. He would just continue strengthening the defenses of the Amamiya Residence. It could not hurt, and Shirou himself would benefit from it as well.
For that, he needed to prepare some new magical materials.
There were still too few strategic supplies available in the shopping district.
Over the past decade, Miyama Town had gradually become a neighborhood left behind by the times, while large shopping malls and luxury hotels had sprung up throughout the bustling Shinto.
Today, Shirou brought Makiri to Shinto to shop. As for Lady Avalon—
After exchanging information with Assassin the previous night, Shirou's level of trust in her had risen slightly.
Lady Avalon did not belong to one of the seven standard classes and could not even be detected by the Church's overseers. The information she had claimed was all proven true.
Shirou entrusted Lady Avalon with guarding the house.
"Mm. Leave it to me, Master! Although I can't help you build a workshop, looking after the house is no problem!
"This is my specialty. Even a single Cait Sith won't be allowed to sneak in!"
Lady Avalon guaranteed this with her hands on her hips.
She claimed that although she was the younger sister of the great sage Merlin and an all-purpose Divine Era Magus, she was uniquely unskilled at "Territory Creation."
"Because, you see, I'm a free-spirited flower of travel. My creed is never to stay in one place for long.
"Since I have absolutely no experience building workshops, I'll leave that to you, little Master~?"
Although her tone and attitude seemed incredibly fake... this time, she did not seem to be lying.
Shirou took a train to the bustling commercial district of Shinto.
Lady Avalon should be watching him through a crystal ball right now.
If he truly encountered danger, she should be able to grasp the situation immediately.
"Although I won't actually come help you, ehehe~☆"
The face of the frivolous Female Magus appeared in Shirou's mind.
No one expected you to fight, but at least get the basic reinforcement and support magic right.
Shirou sighed inwardly.
I really did summon a weak, irresponsible, nameless Servant shamelessly loitering by the roadside.
And because of her, I even made an enemy of Tokiomi...
Ah, Sakura had already made an enemy of him back then, so never mind.
Forget it. There was no point regretting it now.
Since this was the result of a compatibility-based summoning, he could only try to accept her.
Come to think of it...
Shirou remembered that when Lady Avalon first appeared, she seemed to have said something.
"I messed up. I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to refuse the summoning..."
That was what she had said at the time, wasn't it?
Had she not answered the summoning of her own accord, but instead been forcibly summoned by him?
The manifestation of heroic spirits in the Holy Grail War followed the principle of voluntary participation.
Only when the heroic spirit's side actively accepted the summoning could they manifest as a Servant.
In other words—
Lady Avalon had actually wanted to refuse his summoning back then, but had failed? Why?
The more Shirou thought about it, the more confused he became, and he shook his head.
He might as well look at the distant streets.
At that moment, a pair of figures seen from behind caught Shirou's attention.
A silver-haired woman in a pure white fur coat strolled down the street, accompanied by a blond youth in a black suit.
"Those must be the Artificial Lifeform of Einzbern, and the one beside her is... her Yakuza Clone bodyguard?!"
Volume One: Entangled with a Strange Woman
On the bustling streets of Shinto, a beautiful sight that would normally never appear had emerged.
The Saber pair—
Irisviel and Artoria had appeared openly on the street.
Although fashionable beauties were not uncommon in such a prosperous district, compared with these two, they were utterly insignificant.
Irisviel wore a pure white coat trimmed with snow fox fur on her upper body, outlining her full and graceful curves. Below, she wore a pair of thigh-high boots that boldly revealed her long, shapely legs. Her entire appearance radiated an otherworldly, noble elegance.
Beside her, Artoria possessed an entirely different kind of austere heroism compared with the pure-white Artificial Lifeform princess.
The black suit, tie, and shirt made Saber look like an impeccable beautiful young man.
Her flowing golden hair and fair skin, emerald-green eyes and delicate lips, together with her immaculate features, gave the girl an androgynous beauty that transcended gender.
Standing together, the pair looked just like a princess and knight who had stepped out of a painting, drawing envious gazes from all the surrounding passersby.
"Irisviel, aren't we two being a little too conspicuous?"
Saber was somewhat dissatisfied with the situation. From the airport to the city, the attention around them had never diminished.
Feeling the enthusiastic gazes of the passersby, Irisviel was equally confused. "How strange. I deliberately chose an outfit that fit modern social norms...
"Could it be that I failed to disguise myself as an inconspicuous tourist?"
As the princess of an Artificial Lifeform clan isolated from the world, the common sense in her heart was far removed from actual common sense.
Irisviel's carefully selected outfit was not inconspicuous in the slightest. Combined with the pair's appearances and bearing, which could never blend into a crowd, they became the center of attention wherever they went.
"Forget it. This isn't Irisviel's fault. If anyone is to blame, it's me for being unable to become spirit-form."
Saber sighed, and Irisviel furrowed her delicate brows.
"Really? I actually think it's wonderful. Because you can't become spirit-form, I can travel together with Saber like this.
"After putting on modern clothes like these, no one can recognize you as a Servant, either."
After nearly a year together, Saber clearly understood that Irisviel was a master with almost no sense of tension.
Being unable to become spirit-form should have been a serious defect. It would not have been strange for a Master to scold her for it, but Irisviel was delighted. Every day, she happily treated Saber as a dress-up doll.
Compared with Einzbern's grand wish, she seemed to enjoy the Holy Grail War more, regarding the Far Eastern ritual as a pleasant journey.
It was no wonder. Compared with the Irisviel of F/Z, she had never experienced family life and possessed no sense of responsibility as a mother or wife.
Even compared with the Illyasviel of F/SN, she had never endured a childhood that went from heaven to hell like Sasuke (CV: Noriaki Sugiyama?).
Saber often wondered: Did Irisviel truly desire to obtain the Holy Grail?
She had once said that she wanted a child, but that was not a wish that had to be entrusted to the Holy Grail.
As the latest-generation Artificial Lifeform, Irisviel herself was capable of bearing children.
In other words, she had no reason that made obtaining the Holy Grail essential.
No, what was I thinking...
Saber absolutely did not mean to dislike Irisviel. On the contrary, she was sincerely grateful that this person had become her Master.
Irisviel was the culmination of two thousand years of Einzbern technology. Her capabilities as a magus were beyond question.
The strongest Master—even saying that would not be an exaggeration.
However, she also had far too many shortcomings.
She was overly innocent and carefree, with an even greater lack of worldly understanding. As her knight, Saber would properly make up for those deficiencies.
"Irisviel, we've probably done enough shopping today. We should head back soon..."
Lord Knight arrived near the changing rooms and was shocked to discover that the princess, who had been trying on clothes there moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
Saber's scalp immediately went numb: ...I lost my Master!?
In a fast-food restaurant, Shirou silently gnawed on a hamburger.
Across from him sat a woman who watched him eat with a gentle smile.
"Hehe, don't rush. Take your time. The delicious food won't run away... Here, have some soda, too."
Shirou grunted, accepted the cola from the woman, and continued to wolf down his food while secretly observing her from the corner of his eye.
Her doll-like beauty and fair skin, lustrous silver hair, and blazing crimson eyes.
Every one of her features identified her as a woman of the Einzbern, one of the Three Founding Families.
Shirou had recognized that magnificent silver hair from far away on the street, but at the time, she had been accompanied by a blond bodyguard in a black suit.
Although the distance had prevented him from seeing the youth's face clearly, Shirou could judge solely from the boy's back and gait:
He was an unfathomably powerful expert.
Was he a Yakuza hired by Einzbern?
There was not the slightest opening anywhere on his body!
He had thought the Fujimura Group represented the average level of the underworld in this world, but he had never expected there to be such an expert overseas!
To avoid exposing himself, Shirou had followed them from a distance of several hundred meters all morning, finally finding an opportunity to make his move.
Before you continue