Shinji: At the Time, That Sword Was Only 0.1... from My Throat

"It's amazing that you managed to sleep until now after all this trouble," Shinji muttered under his breath.

"So long-winded..."

What did you say?

Shinji didn't hear Alter's whispered words clearly.

Alter glared at Shinji, pointing a finger at his nose. "I said you're so long-winded! You damn wakame!!"

Chapter 170 Shinji: At that time, the sword was only 0.1 inches away from my throat...

An hour later, at the Matou Residence, in the dining room.

Everyone in the Matou Residence stared in shock as Artoria Alter sat there, eating hash browns like they were steamed buns.

"Hahaha! What happened to the King of Knights?!"

Gilgamesh, upon entering the restaurant and seeing this scene, immediately burst into laughter.

"Shinji, could it be that you've been pushing the King of Knights too hard, causing her to turn into this state?! Hahahaha, that's ridiculous! Hahahaha!"

"Shut up, Hero King," Artoria reminded him, "I'm still right here!"

Gilgamesh scoffed and sat down in his seat. "So, they've summoned another version of the King of Knights? That's interesting."

"This eating style... is much wilder than the original King of Knights's..."

Red A, looking exasperated, shared his opinion.

If anyone hates the appearance of Artoria Alter, it's him.

It's not that Red A doesn't like the Black King of Knights, it's just that there's already a Big Eater at home, and they still want to raise another one.

With the appearance of Artoria, who bears the greatest burden? Do you think it's Matou Shin, who has to share the burden of Servant magical energy?

No, no, no, it's that old woman from the Matou Family!

The thought of both King of Knights simultaneously urging him to eat made Red A feel a sharp stomachache.

[Shinji, could you please allow me to take a long leave of absence?]

[Shinji, could you summon one more chef -Heroic Spirit?]

[Shinji, could you ask your work assistant to be more involved in your daily life and help out in the kitchen?]

If given a choice, Red A would very much like to ask Shinji three questions at once.

Pity...

Red A knows that Shinji has no plans to summon Servant in the near future, which means...

[Shirou Emiya, how about we talk to Shinji and get that kid a part-time job in the Matou Residence kitchen?]

As the saying goes, the past self is meant to be used to make mistakes. Red A thinks everything else is irrelevant, but he absolutely cannot be busy while Shirou Emiya is idle.

He felt resentful!

Just as Red A was pondering how to drag Shirou Emiya into this mess, Artoria, having finished a large plate of hash browns, tapped the empty plate.

"Hey, another one, please."

Alter gave the order with a displeased look.

"I... I understand."

Perhaps it was Alter's strong aura, or perhaps it was her domineering and unquestionable tone, but Yan Qing unconsciously acted as a temporary waiter, carrying away the empty plates.

"Ah... Your Majesty!"

Lancelot knelt on the floor, looking at Alter with adoration.

"Such a majestic king... this old minister has no regrets even in death!"

Lancelot was crying and sobbing, practically clinging to Alter's leg.

"Hey, that's disgusting."

Alter clearly didn't appreciate it, and she shooed Lancelot away with her hand.

"Go away, go away, you're not my knight."

"What!!"

Lancelot's entire body turned grayish-white.

"Even the king doesn't acknowledge me anymore... I guess I'm just a useless knight after all..."

Lancelot's sorrowful expression left Alter speechless. She looked up at Artoria and asked her with a look that seemed to ask, "Is there something wrong with your knight?"

Then she saw Artoria, who was also crying.

"Don't be discouraged, Sir Lancelot! You've always been my knight!"

Alter's lips twitched helplessly. "Are you two, ruler and subject, trying to be funny?"

Here, your hash browns.

Yan Qing placed a plate of freshly fried, steaming hot potato cakes in front of Alter.

"Ah, thanks."

"You're welcome... Wait, why would I do such a thing?! And what exactly is going on?"

Yan Qing, who had just realized what was happening, glared at Shinji with indignation. "Hey, Master. What on earth is going on?!"

Shinji snorted coldly, "Why is it all my fault? I also want to know where this dark-skinned guy came from."

Alter, with a spoon in his mouth, gave a cold laugh, "Isn't this the mess you made yourself, Vinegar Kelp?"

"Vinegar-pickled kelp?!" Shinji's lips twitched. "First wakame seaweed, then vinegar-pickled kelp... You disobedient Servant, are you never going to stop?!"

Indeed, Shinji could clearly sense that there was a contract between him and the Black King of Knights.

In other words, the other party is one's own Servant.

"Ah, you're not satisfied with the vinegared kelp? I remember you really like Chinese food, right? Then let's call it Chinese Seaweed."

With a potato cake dangling from his mouth, Alter teased without restraint.

"Puff..."

The heroic Heroic Spirit laughed and turned their heads away.

Shinji's temples throbbed.

When it comes to nicknames, it's mostly about compatibility. Anyone with a little knowledge of Dota knows that Antimage building Shadow Blade is considered bad luck, but even the most devout Dota fans wouldn't think there's anything wrong with Mai Sakurajima's nickname "[Shadow Blade Antimage]".

Similarly, the Heroic Spirit clearly accepted the nickname "Chinese Seaweed" for Shinji very quickly.

Apart from the Second Master himself.

"Don't go too far! Even Lizzie has never flirted with me like this!"

Shinji pulled up his sleeve, revealing the Command Spell on his arm.

"Hey, Alter. You should understand, right? With Command Spell, I can command you to do anything."

Shinji let out a chilling laugh, "For example, you could have me dancing ballet in the street while shouting 'Cú Chulainn is a filthy little dog!'"

"Brother, where did you come from, villain?"

"Master, you can't kill someone by destroying their spirit."

"Let Cú Chulainn go; he's already pitiful enough."

Shinji ignored the others' complaints, instead placing one foot on the table and declaring, "Enough nonsense! This is the first time I, as the Master, have been looked down upon like this. I must teach this Servant who is the Master and who is the Servant!"

"Snort."

Artoria Alter let out a heavy, cold snort.

Then, she suddenly materialized a black Holy Sword and cleaved the table in two, causing Shinji was standing on it, to fall to the ground.

"Ah! The dining table!!"

Red A let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Alter demonstrated what it means to be ruthless and taciturn; now it was her turn to stand with one foot on the wreckage of the table, looking down at Shinji.

"Master, it seems necessary for you to understand the relationship between us."

Alter pressed his sword against Shinji's throat, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Faced with a sword that was only 0.1 centimeters from his throat, Second Master showed no sign of panic.

Because Miss Alter had one foot raised, his gaze was completely drawn to the bottom of the Black King of Knights's skirt.

[Black... suspender... lace... black lace...]

"Ahem!"

Shinji coughed loudly, then glanced at Artoria: "This is much more exciting than yours. As expected, my lack of sexual interest in you is because of your outfit."

"Master!! You still have the mind to say this at a time like this!!"

Artoria slapped the half-table wreckage into pieces— Red A died on the spot.

"Tsk."

Noticing that she had exposed herself, Ms. Alter slowly withdrew her foot.

Although she appeared unusually calm, her slightly flushed cheeks betrayed some of her inner thoughts.

"Um..." Shinji suggested in a very serious tone, "I think you could wear super short shorts. That way, it won't affect the activities, and you won't accidentally expose yourself again."

"Um."

Artoria Alter slowly nodded, acknowledging her agreement to the suggestion.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Shinji stood up calmly and walked out of the restaurant at a leisurely pace.

Only after leaving the Matou Residence and arriving at the back courtyard, and after confirming that the Heroic Spirit could not sense him, did the Second Master plop down on the ground, panting heavily without any regard for his image.

"Damn it, that scared me to death! I really thought that woman was going to slash me with her sword."

Shinji tugged at his shirt, saying with lingering fear.

"Hehehe~"

Suddenly, a sinister laugh came from behind Shinji.

"Grandpa! Don't scare me!"

Shinji, who jumped up in fright, sat back down after seeing that it was Zouken.

"What kind of laughter is that? Did you overdo it while acting? Please don't laugh like that, or someone will mistake you for Karasuma Renya and kidnap you."

Smack

Shinji's head was hit by Zouken's cane.

"You brat, how dare you talk to your grandfather like that?!"

"Tsk, Grandpa. Was that black Artoria your doing?" Shinji asked, rubbing his head.

"I tried it out with the Einsbern family girl and the Tohsaka family boy, and it actually worked!"

"It really is you!" Shinji complained, jumping up and down. "Do you know how dangerous that was? That woman wanted to wipe out the Matou Family... Ouch!"

Shinji got hit on the head again by Zouken.

"Don't give me that, I don't believe you can't handle her."

After the joke, Zouken said seriously, "That Saber Alter was just a test. Mainly, it was a test to see if I could summon a special individual of the same Heroic Spirit you needed to meet your requirements. It was also a test to see if your film and television works could bring Heroic Spirit to life."

Heroic Spirit are very strange things. Although heroes become Heroic Spirit at the moment of their death, Heroic Spirit are not Issei.

The stories of Heroic Spirit are constantly being updated and iterated, and the Heroic Spirit themselves also change as their stories evolve.

This summoning of Artoria Alter is a test to Shinji's simple "What if... (hypothetical)" scenario can be recorded by the Hall of Heroes after it is widely adopted.

"This successful summoning means we can summon special-class Heroic Spirit now. You've been waiting for this for a long time, haven't you, my dear grandson?" Zouken chuckled.

"Grandpa, I understand the logic, but why that woman in black? Don't you think things are chaotic enough around me right now?"