Can't I Farm Commissions in Peace?

"Flower Guide, you came all the way to this tiny planet. Don't tell me it was really for a newbie like me."

"Oh my, don't put it like that. Lord Aha specifically told me to take good care of His dear brother."

"He still hasn't forgotten about that?"

Shirou Emiya slapped his forehead, suddenly at a loss for words. That god of mischief had actually turned this into another joke to tell around.

"It was because Lord Aha gave me special instructions that I came all this way to greet you, young master. How many points would you give this little gift of mine?"

"Negative points!! You got all the fun already, while Mr. Emiya hasn't gotten any benefits yet. And... where did you put the Stellaron?"

"I sealed it away, but the seal won't last very long. Before then, please find it, young master. Hehehe..."

Well, damn. She had really cooked something up for me?

Still, if the Stellaron had truly been tossed directly into Belobog to start causing trouble, the remaining several hundred thousand people would probably suffer another devastating blow. By then, Belobog might really have to start over from scratch.

She had deliberately told him about this, most likely because she wanted to lure him away from Bronya so she could make her next move.

"...Tell me, is there any chance I can get them to reconcile?"

Being manipulated out of nowhere by a stranger made Mr. Emiya deeply uncomfortable. I've already transmigrated, I've got cheats too—why should I still have to take a loss in front of a bratty girl like you?

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

"Just watch."

With the Stellaron gone, it was now a hidden bomb. If he gave up on this mother-daughter pair, the order of all Belobog would inevitably descend into utter chaos. Mr. Emiya could practically guarantee that the upper-class noble families of Belobog had already begun preparing for rebellion.

Someone from the Lower City might even rise up in response. Then the Upper and Lower Cities would go to war, the Supreme Guardian would die violently, the old nobility would take power, and every member of the Express crew would be declared unwelcome and expelled from the country. After that...

The Antimatter Legion would come crashing in, and Jarilo-VI's script would immediately come to an end.

"I'm still a little too principled."

There were methods he could think of. He just was not crazy enough to use them. At most, he would incite Geofire to march on the capital and seize the Supreme Guardian's damn seat.

But this brat? Her entire script only had two words written in it: cause trouble.

"...Can't I just farm a few commissions in peace?"

After letting out a slight sigh, Shirou looked toward the mother and daughter in the distance and spoke softly.

"It's time to clean up another mess."

"And Sparkle... you bratty girl, don't let yourself fall into my hands. When that happens... don't cry and beg me to stop."

"Hehehe... Can you do it, young master?"

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

Amid the biting wind, Cocolia's gaze was as cold and sharp as ice blades. Her usual elegance and gentleness were gone, and her voice was even colder than the gale sweeping across heaven and earth, making Bronya feel as if both her body and soul had been submerged in icy water.

"I would also like to ask you that, Mother. Why did you immediately chase after me the moment I arrived at Everwinter Peak? What is here that you cannot allow me to know?"

"Do you still need to play dumb, Bronya?"

Cocolia raised the lance in her hand and pointed it at her adopted daughter from afar, not a trace of warmth remaining in her eyes.

"This place once sealed the Stellaron, and now, the Stellaron has vanished without a trace."

"...The Stellaron?!"

Bronya's expression abruptly froze as every clue began to connect in her mind.

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

She had her answer. From the moment that person had sent her to Everwinter Peak, regardless of whether Shirou had appeared as an unexpected variable, the conflict between her and Mother had already been dragged into the open.

Mother, who had hidden the Stellaron here, must have possessed secrets connected to it. And now that she knew of the Stellaron's existence, she had already lost Mother's trust. Especially now that the Stellaron had disappeared, she had naturally become the prime suspect.

On top of Serval and Lynx's situation...

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

She understood very clearly that Serval and herself were, in all of Belobog, the two people most important to Cocolia.

And now, one's life or death was unknown, while the other's loyalties were unclear.

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

She cautiously asked Cocolia. After a brief silence, the latter answered softly.

"If it is you, I can believe you. But... Bronya, at this point, this is no longer something that can be settled by simply clearing up a misunderstanding."

"The Stellaron is Belobog's future. Its disappearance means that every effort I have made in the past has been reduced to nothing."

"Bronya, if we cannot retrieve the Stellaron in time and complete the planned operation... everything in Belobog will be trampled into oblivion beneath the iron hooves of the Antimatter Legion."

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

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon Serval and Lynx, and she muttered once more.

"Back then, because of the Stellaron, Serval and I completely parted ways. I never thought that now, because of the Stellaron again, I would have to turn my blade against you. I can no longer turn back, nor can I argue over right and wrong."

"...Mother."

Bronya's lips trembled incessantly. She could not grip the weapon she had always treated as her second life. No matter how practiced she normally was at pulling the trigger, when facing the woman before her, she could not display any of her usual proficiency.

Why do I have to raise my weapon against my own mother?

Why did things suddenly become like this?

"I can't..."

She released the rifle in her hand and let it fall into the snow. Then she raised her eyes and stared at her mother with an unyielding gaze.

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

"Indeed, it is not."

Cocolia nodded, but her gaze was as still as a pool of dead water.

"However, I will not agree to it, Bronya, because I know that it would be the wrong choice for your life."

"I would rather you die by my gun than see you become my accomplice just to accommodate me."

"Your hands have not yet been stained with the blood of tens of thousands of Belobog's people. What I wished for you was to welcome the new world clean and untainted."

"Bronya, if the Stellaron had not disappeared, I would soon have unleashed an even more terrifying Great Cold than the current one, completely cleansing this world upon the surface. As long as you led all of Belobog's people underground and rebuilt a new Belobog, I would remain with you and with Belobog in the future new world as the Stellaron."

As Bronya listened to Cocolia's account, her expression went blank and confused for a moment. But only moments later, the girl replied to her mother in a resolute tone.

"That is absolutely not the future I wish to accept, Mother. I have already made up my mind. I will not accept the position of Belobog's Supreme Guardian. Becoming the Supreme Guardian means being fated to remain confined to one corner, incapable of truly restoring Jarilo-VI."

"I had originally thought we might still have a chance to talk properly, but now... perhaps we no longer have the leisure to sit down and discuss our lives."

She took a deep breath and suddenly spread her arms wide, her expression filled with determination.

"I cannot pull the trigger on you. Perhaps that is cowardice, but I am willing to place the choice in your hands. Shoot me here, or... become my support. Let me take the lead. I will find a way to retrieve the Stellaron, and find a way to deal with the Antimatter Legion."

"That kind of solution does not exist! Bronya, stop dreaming!"

Cocolia let out a roar like an enraged lioness. Amid that dangerously furious cry, unstable Imaginary energy began gathering at the tip of her lance.

"Only the Stellaron is our one and only way out!"

"Mother, why must we believe everything spoken by the butcher who once raised a slaughtering knife against us?!"

"Because there is no other choice!"

In the bitter wind, the mother and daughter, who had actually come to understand each other yet could never be compatible, faced off and remained locked in stalemate. Cocolia looked at the stubborn girl approaching her, fell silent, and finally... gave a bitter laugh as she placed her finger upon the trigger.

She could no longer give Bronya the future she wanted.

Since that was the case...

She would bear everything herself.

"You two are really wearing me out with this melodramatic scene."

Suddenly, a voice forcibly inserted itself between them. Cocolia instantly became extremely alert. Just as she turned toward the source of the voice, immense force abruptly transmitted through the lance in her hand. Before she had any time to react, the lance that symbolized the Supreme Guardian had been snatched away by an unknown person.

"For the answers you seek, let the Supreme Guardians of the past answer you."

"What?"

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

"Spirit Summoning!"

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

Shirou had only suspected it before, but once he truly saw this weapon, he could confirm it.

A "spirit" differed from a mere "memory." It carried the characteristics of the individual, much like identification code.

And his spirit-summoning constitution was equivalent to a machine that could not only identify that code, but also temporarily call upon it.

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

Shirou sensed the number of lingering spirits within the lance, then waved toward the vigilant Cocolia and Bronya in the distance.

"For the answers you cannot obtain, I will give you a way to find them!"

"Manifest Possession."

He manifested all the remaining spirits within the lance at once, then used Aether Editing to adjust the forms of these spirit bodies so they could be directly observed. In the next instant, ten figures—some tall, some petite, some cold, some gentle—appeared before Cocolia and Bronya.

Cocolia's eyes widened abruptly. Staring at the woman closest to her, she murmured in disbelief.

"Mother?!"

"Cocolia."

The 17th Supreme Guardian slowly approached her adopted daughter. She extended her hand as though wishing to touch her daughter, but unfortunately, spirit bodies could not directly interact with things in the material world. They were beings from another phase, and what had manifested here was merely a projection-like form.

"I am sorry, Cocolia. I placed everything upon your shoulders so suddenly."

That Supreme Guardian appeared to be only a little over thirty, still very young. Though her features were somewhat blurry, she upheld the Supreme Guardians' rigorous selection standards and was a beauty in no way inferior to her daughter.

"After my death, I resided in Lady Arisa's lance. I witnessed every step as you gradually drifted away from Preservation. I wanted to warn you, but... back then, I was powerless."

"I left too early, and there were still many things I had not had the chance to tell you. Belobog's continued existence has always been closely tied to the will of Preservation..."

"Enough, Rosaliya. None of us here are qualified to judge her. She is no ordinary Supreme Guardian—she is a meritorious one. She even dared to make use of the Stellaron. What right do old relics like us, who only dared lock the Stellaron outside our doors, have to judge her?"

Interrupting the 17th Supreme Guardian, a Supreme Guardian from an earlier era forcefully entered the conversation. Her gaze was as sharp as blades, fixed upon Cocolia.

"Cocolia Rand, you have made your choice. Considering your position and what you have endured, I should have no grounds to criticize you."

"Every Supreme Guardian is subjected to the Stellaron's temptation. Your original intention was also to ensure Belobog's survival. As a Supreme Guardian, you have not failed in your duties. At most, you were merely incompetent."

"Come to think of it, compared to Siriil, you might even qualify as mediocre."

Her words were full of mockery and sarcasm. Yet in the face of her derision, Cocolia said nothing. She merely looked past the two Supreme Guardians at the woman standing furthest within the group.

Unlike the other Supreme Guardians, who still retained some youthful beauty, that woman was completely aged, with a head full of white hair. Yet she was also the woman who stood at the very pinnacle among all the past Supreme Guardians.

"Lady Arisa?"

Cocolia tentatively greeted her. Upon hearing Cocolia's greeting, the white-haired old woman revealed a faint smile upon her aged yet kindly face. She nodded, then replied.

"Liliya's words are rather sharp, so do not take them too much to heart. While I was alive, I too sent tens of thousands of soldiers to the battlefield more than once. In the Great Cold brought about by me, the number of casualties across Jarilo-VI exceeded Belobog's current total population."

"Though it is cruel, as Supreme Guardians, our stance has always been to ensure Belobog's continued existence. Thus, even though you made the wrong choice and chose a path contrary to ours, your original intentions... as Liliya said, were not a dereliction of duty."

"The hands of every Supreme Guardian are soaked in this city's blood and tears. The Geodust Pioneers deep underground, the scientific expeditions exploring the outside world, the Silvermane Guards defending the foremost front against the Fragmentum, and the citizens who can only wait for death at home because of scarce resources..."

"I say this not to tell you that we are innocent, but to tell you... since we have borne these sacrifices and losses, we must obtain corresponding returns. Returns multiplied severalfold, hundreds of times over!"

"To Belobog, life has never been something precious. For continuation... for future generations to survive and revive, as long as there are sufficient returns, any loss is acceptable. Even abandoning oneself, or the lives of hundreds of thousands or millions, would be acceptable."

"My unconscious wish to the Stellaron brought this world to its end. In my later years, I regretted it and blamed myself countless times. More than once, I wished to end my own life. But I ultimately did not do so—not because I feared death, but because I had to make every possible recompense for what I had done and accomplish everything my generation could accomplish."

"For the past thousand years, Preservation has witnessed everything we have gone through: prosperity and destruction, survival and this present end. I also know everything Belobog faces now, so... even at this very moment, I am still willing to believe in your final choice."