"Give it up. I'm not going out to buy you Jump."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Who would've thought, Archer? You're such a tsundere. Your words are so harsh, but your heart is as soft as tofu—you even ordered takeout for me. Heh heh..." Lancer Wallace moved faster than his Hong Kong counterparts, rushing to the door.
Those Hong Kong reporters were all fakes, while he, the genuine article, naturally ran at lightning speed.
"Senpai, has Lancer started liking Mapo Tofu too?" Sakura asked as she skillfully worked the controller.
Over the past two days, Sakura's combat ability had grown stronger and stronger.
Not only could she help him defeat enemies after using Phantasmal Summon (Install), but she could also trade blows with him in games without falling behind—she even seemed to have the upper hand.
The character Shirou controlled on the PS4 was nearly out of health, and he had no ultimate move available. If they were truly competing on skill alone, things would be difficult.
"He doesn't just like Mapo Tofu. He likes Maron too, since Maron is a priest."
"What?" Sakura knew perfectly well who Maron was—that was Kirei Kotomine! D-d-did Lancer change his affections the moment Berserker died?
"GG." A mysterious smile curled at Shirou's lips.
Secret technique—conversation style!
A battle centered on talking, with the movements of one's hands reduced to a secondary concern. Whoever devoted more attention to the conversation would lose the fight.
Despicable and shameless were practically his middle names.
Who told him he was Kiritsugu Emiya's child? He was just that skilled at these tricks. Something like blowing up a skyscraper was effortless for him.
"Senpai is way too sly!" Sakura helplessly watched her health bar empty.
"That's not right at all. This is entirely because Sakura is still too young, too simple—sometimes even too naive. There's an old saying across the sea: say nothing and quietly make a fortune. That's the best. You still don't understand the principle of quietly making a fortune."
"You're already very familiar with the controls in games, but there's still one thing you need to learn."
"Huh?" Sakura watched Shirou pull off a suffocatingly outrageous move and fell silent. How had she never realized that Senpai was such a shameless person?
"Very good. Sakura has taken her first step toward becoming an elder."
Then Lancer's girlish scream rang out from the entryway once more—
"Why are we having Mapo Tofu again today?!"
Looking at the vivid red color before him, it seemed as warm as the sun, but this bowl of mapo was actually hot enough to feel like it could roast him over a fire.
Spicy. Very spicy. So spicy it was suffocating.
"Lancer, aren't you eating?" Maron Kirei ate with great relish. In this world, the reason his heart had not become completely twisted was Kiritsugu and the mapo before him.
Mapo Tofu made him forget all pain and worries. Its fragrant heat and rich texture constantly stimulated his cerebral cortex, making his glands continuously release hormones. For example, his hypothalamus was now constantly releasing dopamine.
This stimulation was the most lethal pleasure of all—that was joy!
"No, there's no way I can eat that. Absolutely no way! I'm never eating this stuff again! After eating it yesterday, I ran from here to Shinto, then ran all the way back from Shinto before I could endure the burning in my stomach and fall asleep. Today, I absolutely won't eat it again!"
"Hm?" Kirei Kotomine smiled, a smile of joy, as his hands left the bowl of Mapo Tofu. "If Lancer doesn't eat it, I'll bury you in the ground with only your head sticking out, then pour the Mapo Tofu into your mouth. What do you think?"
Before you continue