Can't a guy just farm commissions in peace?

"Flower Guide, lowering yourself to visit this tiny little planet—surely it's not just for little old me, a total newbie?"

"Aiyaya, don't be so formal, young master. Lord Aha gave me strict instructions to take good care of His old pal."

"He hasn't forgotten about that yet."

Mr. Emiya slapped his forehead, feeling a bit speechless. That prankster god had actually gone and spread this story as a joke.

"It's precisely because Lord Aha specially ordered it that I traveled all this way to say hello to you, young master. I wonder, how would you score this little greeting gift of mine?"

"Negative points!! You've had all the fun, and Mr. Emiya hasn't gotten a single benefit yet. Also... where did you put the Stellaron?"

"I sealed it away, you see. But the seal won't last long. Before that, please go find it yourself, young master, hehehe..."

Good grief, you're giving me a task too?

But to be fair, if that Stellaron had been directly dumped into Belobog to start causing trouble, the remaining few hundred thousand people would probably be devastated again. At that point, Belobog would truly have to start over from scratch.

Her specifically telling him this was likely to get her away from Bronya's side, so she could make her next move.

"...Say, is there a chance I could make them reconcile?"

Being suddenly arranged like this by a stranger, Mr. Emiya felt genuinely uncomfortable. He'd transmigrated, he had cheats—why should he have to take crap from a little devil girl like her?

"Oh? And how does young master plan to do that?"

"Just watch."

With the Stellaron taken and now a hidden bomb, if he abandoned this mother-daughter pair in front of him, Belobog's order would inevitably descend into chaos. Mr. Emiya could basically bet that the top noble families of Belobog were already preparing for rebellion.

It wouldn't be surprising if someone in the Lower City rose up in response. Then the Upper and Lower Cities would clash, the Supreme Guardian would die, old nobles would take power, the Express crew would all be declared unwelcome and expelled, and after that...

The Antimatter Legion would sweep in, and Jarilo-VI's script would be finished.

"I still have too many scruples."

He could think of methods, but he wasn't that crazy. At most, he'd incite the Geofire to march on the capital and seize the Supreme Guardian's throne.

But this little brat's script had only two words written all over it: cause trouble.

"...Can't I just peacefully finish a few commissions?"

Letting out a slight sigh, Mr. Emiya looked toward the mother-daughter pair not far away and spoke softly, "It's time to clean up the mess again."

"And, Sparkle... you little devil girl, don't ever fall into my hands. When you do... don't come crying 'no.'"

"Hehehe... can you really do it, young master?"

Chapter 040: Let the Supreme Guardians of the Past Tell You the Answer. (4/4)

"Bronya, tell me, why did you come to Everwinter Peak without informing me?"

In the biting wind, Cocolia's gaze was as cold as a blade of ice, stripped of her usual elegance and warmth. Her voice was even sharper than the gale sweeping the heavens and earth, making Bronya feel as though her body and soul were soaked in ice water.

"I want to ask you the same question, Mother. Why did you chase after me the moment I arrived at Everwinter Peak? What is here that you cannot let me know?"

"Still playing dumb, Bronya?"

Cocolia raised her lance, pointing it at her adopted daughter from afar, not a trace of warmth left in her eyes.

"Here, the Stellaron was sealed. And now, it has vanished without a trace."

"...Stellaron?!"

Bronya's expression froze instantly as all the clues began to connect in her mind.

"So that's it. That person's goal was this? To create an unbridgeable rift between Mother and me."

She had her answer. From the moment she was sent to Everwinter Peak, regardless of whether Mr. Emiya appeared as an unexpected variable, the conflict between her and Mother had already been brought into the open.

Mother, who had hidden the Stellaron here, must have secrets tied to it. And now that Bronya knew of its existence, she had lost Mother's trust. Especially with the Stellaron gone, she had naturally become a suspect.

Add to that the fates of Lady Serval and Lynx...

Mother's judgment was likely no longer as calm as usual.

Bronya understood well: Serval and herself were the two most important people in all of Belobog to Cocolia.

And now, one's fate was unknown, the other's loyalty was in question.

"Mother, if I say I didn't take the Stellaron, would you believe me?"

She tentatively asked Cocolia, who was silent for a moment before responding softly, "If it's you, I can believe it. But... Bronya, things have gone too far for us to simply resolve this with a misunderstanding."

"The Stellaron is Belobog's future. And now, its disappearance means all my efforts up to this point have gone up in smoke."

"Bronya, if we cannot recover the Stellaron in time and complete the planned course... everything in Belobog will be crushed under the hooves of the Antimatter Legion."

"You have no choice. Neither do I. Come, child... draw your weapon. From now on, only one of us can leave this Everwinter Peak alive."

With that, her gaze shifted to Serval and Lynx, and she murmured again, "Back then, because of the Stellaron, I cut ties completely with Serval. I never thought that now, because of the Stellaron again, I would face you blade to blade. I can no longer turn back, nor can I argue right from wrong."

"...Mother."

Bronya's lips trembled uncontrollably. She couldn't grip the weapon she had always treated as her second life, no matter how practiced she was at pulling the trigger on ordinary days. Facing the woman before her now, she couldn't muster any of her usual familiarity.

Why must I raise a weapon against my own mother?

Why had things suddenly come to this?

"I... I can't..."

She released her grip on the rifle, letting it fall into the snow. Lifting her eyes, she fixed her mother with a stubborn gaze.

"I don't believe this is the only solution between us, Mother."

"It isn't."

Cocolia nodded, but her eyes were as still as dead water.

"But I won't agree to it, Bronya, because I know it would be the wrong choice for your life."

"I would rather you kill me with your own gun than see you become my accomplice just to appease me."

"Your hands have yet to be stained with the blood of tens of thousands of lives in Belobog. My hope for you is that you can greet the new world cleanly."

"Bronya, if the Stellaron hadn't disappeared, I would soon unleash a Great Cold even more terrifying than now to completely scour the surface world. As long as you lead everyone in Belobog underground and rebuild a new Belobog, in the future new world, I will exist as the 'Stellaron' alongside you and Belobog."

Listening to Cocolia's confession, Bronya's expression flickered with momentary daze and confusion, but only for an instant. Then the young girl responded to her mother in a firm tone.

"That is absolutely not the future I want to accept, Mother. I have made up my mind. I will not accept the seat of Belobog's Supreme Guardian. Becoming the Supreme Guardian can only keep us safe in a corner, never truly achieving Jarilo-VI's revival."

"I thought we might still have a chance to talk things through, but now... perhaps we no longer have the leisure for a sit-down life discussion."

She took a deep breath, then suddenly spread her arms, her expression filled with absolute resolve.

"I cannot pull the trigger on you. That may be an act of cowardice, but I am willing to place the choice in your hands. Shoot me here, or... become my ally. Let me take the lead. I will find a way to retrieve the Stellaron and a solution to the Antimatter Legion."

"That kind of solution doesn't exist! Bronya, stop dreaming!"

Cocolia roared like an enraged leopardess. In the midst of that dangerously furious cry, unstable Imaginary energy began to gather at the muzzle of her gun.

"Only the Stellaron is our way out!"

"Mother, why should we believe everything that butcher who once raised a blade against us says?!"

"Because there is no other choice!"

In the biting wind, a pair of mother and daughter who truly understood each other yet could not reconcile stood locked in confrontation. Cocolia watched the stubborn girl drawing closer to her, fell silent, and then... with a bitter laugh, placed her finger on the trigger.

She could no longer give Bronya the future she wanted.

If that was the case...

Then let her bear it all herself.

"This melodrama of yours is honestly exhausting to watch."

Suddenly, a voice forcibly inserted itself between the two. Cocolia's expression instantly turned wary. The moment she looked toward the source of the sound, a tremendous force abruptly transmitted through the lance in her hand. Before she could even react, the lance—the symbol of the Supreme Guardian—was snatched away by an unknown intruder.

"The answer you're looking for—let your past Supreme Guardians give it to you."

"What?"

Before Cocolia could think further, the stranger who had seized Arisa's Lance raised it high and suddenly spoke.

"Spirit Communion!"

Chapter 041: The Lance Inscribes Our Time (1/4)

Within Arisa's Lance existed the "spirits" of past Supreme Guardians.

Shirou Emiya had only suspected this before, but the moment he truly saw the weapon, he could confirm it as fact.

"Spirits" were different from mere "memories." They carried individual characteristics, like identity recognition codes.

And the Spirit Communion constitution was like a machine—capable of reading those identity codes while temporarily borrowing their power.

"Ten? Looks like some are no longer here."

Sensing the number of residual "spirits" within the lance, Shirou waved toward the wary Cocolia and the distant Bronya.

"The answers you can't reach—I'll give you the path to find them!"

"Manifestation."

He manifested the residual spirits within the lance simultaneously, using Aether Editing to adjust their forms to be directly observable. In the next instant, before Cocolia and Bronya's eyes, ten figures—some tall, some petite, some cold, some gentle—appeared before them.

Cocolia's pupils suddenly dilated as she stared at the one closest to her, murmuring in disbelief.

"Mother?!"

"Cocolia."

The 17th Supreme Guardian slowly approached her adopted daughter. She reached out a hand, as if wanting to touch her, but unfortunately, spirits could not directly interact with the material world. They were individuals in another phase, and what appeared here was merely a projection-like form.

"I'm sorry, Cocolia, for suddenly pressing everything onto you like that."

The Supreme Guardian appeared to be only in her early thirties, still quite young. Her features were somewhat blurred, but following the strict selection standards of the Supreme Guardians, she was a beauty no less than her own daughter.

"Since my death, dwelling within Lady Arisa's Lance, I have witnessed every step of your gradual departure from Preservation. I wanted to warn you, but... at that time, I was powerless."

"I left too early. There were still many things I didn't have time to tell you. Belobog's continuation has always been closely tied to the will of Preservation..."

"Enough, Rosaliya. None of us here have the right to judge her. She is no ordinary Supreme Guardian—she is a Guardian of merit, one who dared to exploit even the Stellar Core itself. What right do we, relics of an older age who only dared to lock the Stellar Core outside the gates, have to evaluate her?"

Interrupting the words of the 17th Supreme Guardian, a Guardian from an even earlier generation forcefully inserted herself into the conversation. Her gaze was as sharp as a blade, locking onto Cocolia.

"Cocolia Rand, you have made your choice. Standing in your position and given what you have endured, I should, in truth, have no grounds to reproach you."

"Every Supreme Guardian throughout the ages has faced the temptation of the Stellar Core. Your starting intention was also rooted in the continuation of Belobog. As a Supreme Guardian, you have not failed in your duty—at worst, you are merely incompetent."

"Come to think of it, compared to Siriil, you might even earn the title of mediocrity."

Her words were laced with mockery and sarcasm, a sharp Yin-Yang of tone. Yet faced with her cold taunts, Cocolia remained silent, merely fixing her gaze past these two Guardians to the woman standing deepest within.

That woman's appearance differed from the other Guardians, who still retained some youthful vitality. She was utterly aged, her hair completely white, yet she stood as the pinnacle among all the Supreme Guardians throughout history.

"Lady Arisa?"

Cocolia ventured a greeting. The old woman with the snow-white hair heard her, and a faint smile spread across her aged, kindly face. She nodded, then replied, "Liliya's words are a bit sharp; don't take them too much to heart. When I was alive, I too sent tens of thousands of soldiers to the battlefield more than once. In the Great Cold that I brought about, the total number of casualties on Jarilo-VI exceeded the current population of Belobog."

"As cruel as it may be, as Supreme Guardians, our stance has always been for the continuation of Belobog. So, even if you made a wrong choice, taking a path that diverges from ours, your original intention... as Liliya said, you have not failed in your duty."

"The hands of every Supreme Guardian are steeped in the blood and tears of this city—the Geodust Pioneers who delve deep underground, the scientific expeditions exploring the world beyond, the Silvermane Guards holding the front lines of the Fragmentum, the people who can only wait for death at home due to scarce resources..."

"I say this not to tell you we are innocent, but to make you understand... since we have borne these sacrifices and losses, we must reap corresponding returns—returns many times, hundreds of times over!"

"For Belobog, life has never been something precious. Continuation... for the sake of our descendants' revival and continuation, any loss is acceptable as long as the returns are sufficient. Even if it means sacrificing oneself, or sacrificing hundreds of thousands, millions of lives."

"I made a wish to the Stellar Core unconsciously, leading this world to its doom. In the twilight of my life, I regretted and blamed myself countless times, wanting to end it all more than once. But I never did—not because I feared death, but because I had to compensate as much as possible for everything I had done, to accomplish all that my generation could."

"In the past thousand years, the Preservation has witnessed everything we have done—prosperity and Destruction, survival and the current dead end. I also know all that Belobog faces now. So... at this very moment, I still choose to trust your final decision."