Reconciliation (Client: Cleo Jackal): Reach a reconciliation with the near-death Stellaron parasite Cleo Jackal, ensuring no further harm comes to her life.
Reward: 120 Points
Difficulty: One-Star
Mr. Emiya curled his lip, not expecting that the thing he had set out to deal with this time possessed such a "base" personality. Death was right on her doorstep, yet she still wanted to bribe Emiya with something like points—did she take him for that kind of man?
"Cocolia, Serval, I leave her to you."
He turned around, catching the two mature, elegant women as they slipped down from the ground. Points or no points didn't actually matter to Mr. Emiya; what mattered was that he simply couldn't stand seeing certain people unable to execute traitors and enemies with their own hands.
Good.
Extremely good.
All praise be to the great Immortal of Virtue, Mr. Emiya!
"Cleo."
Standing before the primary culprit who had nearly destroyed Belobog, Cocolia's expression was somewhat absent-minded, yet also relieved. Presumably, this disheveled state of her opponent was supposed to have been her own finale.
Unquestioningly believing everything promised by the Stellaron,
blindly obeying all that the Stellaron achieved.
Perhaps heaven had heard the desperate pleas of the people struggling across this land.
If not for the visitors from beyond, her former self would have ultimately stood in opposition to everyone, reducing the entire continent to a vast, frozen wasteland.
However,
at just such a moment, these visitors from beyond had arrived abruptly, as if following a predetermined script, appearing precisely at the moment when the Stellaron was closest to unsealing in hundreds of years.
"This is probably fate. I don't know when it started, but I've also come to believe in such things."
"Cocolia!!!"
"I'm here."
Cocolia's expression appeared poised and calm, but that very composure was the exact sight Cleo refused to gaze upon. She let out a hysterical string of curses,
"You traitor! You betrayed the Preservation! You betrayed Belobog! You're no different from me!"
Her attack power is a bit weak...
Serval curled her lip from the side. If it were her, she would have simply spoken straight from the heart and let loose a stream of colorful curses; why bother beating around the bush with talk of betrayal or lack thereof?
"That's right, I'm a traitor too. Moreover, the person the Stellaron initially designated was also me. The one who was supposed to become you was also me."
She calmly confessed to everything about herself, a hint of a smile even appearing on her face.
"Perhaps I should even thank you, Cleo. You took my script, but by a twist of fate, you ended up playing the fool's role that I was originally meant to perform."
"Cocolia!"
"I'm here. No matter how many times you call, I will answer you just like this. It's just... your frantic rage right now looks a bit like coquettish pouting, darling."
...Is that something that Cocolia could actually say?
Serval cast a disbelieving look at her good friend. How had she never known that this woman could be so smooth with her words now? Seemingly reading her friend's thoughts, Cocolia lowered her voice with a full smile,
"I learned it from you."
"Don't pin this on me."
"Cocolia!!!!!l"
When Cleo shrieked out another roar, Serval unhesitatingly delivered a full-force kick straight to the side of her head, plunging her instantly into a sleep as deep as an infant's.
"You're hurting my eyes with your noise, you scumbag."
"Leaving her to bark a bit longer wouldn't have hurt, your temper is still as fiery as ever, Serval."
"What? Playing the good guy now? When we ambushed those noble young masters back then, you were the one who struck the hardest. That fellow's older brother was beaten by you until he was practically incontinent."
"Those are all ancient history. The current me wouldn't do that anymore."
"You wouldn't just stop at incontinence, right?"
At those words, Cocolia laughed again, and Serval couldn't help joining in. Their laughter echoed through the canyon, and then gradually faded, turning into silence.
After a long while,
Serval spoke in a soft voice,
"Cocolia, you really... took such a long, long detour."
"Yeah. But in the end, I was able to return here and see you again. I'm already very happy, Serval."
Chapter 52: Do You Want to Open a Multi-Player Lobby Too?
"It's a bit strange."
The Stellaron was retrieved and then sealed away. Logically speaking, by this point, the incident should have been over.
However,
Mr. Emiya felt a subtle sense of disharmony.
It wasn't anything else; he simply felt that, given the brat's personality, she shouldn't have let it go so simply.
"It's not strange at all, old buddy."
In the central plaza before Kliperburg, old Sampo appeared before Emiya looking battered and bruised, with blood still seeping through parts of his clothing.
"The incident truly didn't end just like that. That woman even cut off a small piece of the Stellaron and placed it elsewhere."
"You actually stepped in?"
"I, old Sampo, am also a person born and raised in Belobog."
He let out a breath, slumped directly onto the ground, and spoke wearily,
"When that woman seeks amusement, she never has any bottom line. While blood running through the streets isn't happening, she injected a virus into the code of the automatons over at the Robot Settlement, and gave Clara, that little girl, a small piece of the Stellaron shard."
"According to that woman's plan, the Robot Settlement and the people of Boulder Town should have gone to all-out war... Besides, I also found a small imaginary bomb within the Stellaron shard, precisely calibrated to a yield that would blow up that little piece of the Stellaron."
"What do you mean? Did she find her conscience?"
"Which is to say, she doesn't care at all about blood in the streets; she only cares about the fun. She just wants to watch other people realize the truth after being deceived, and see the expressions on their faces when they fly into a rage or curse in anger."
"Besides, she's already gotten the ultimate fun here in Belobog this time."
"Tell me, what kind of fun?"
"Why, that would be... Little Sir, you of course!"
The heavily injured old Sampo vanished in a flash. In his place, Miss Sparkle drew close to Emiya, speaking with a beaming smile,
"Little Sir, do you admit that Lady Sparkle's wits are peerless in the world, and her beauty is unmatched?"
"What are you up to this time?"
"Oh my, I merely wanted to have another chat with Little Sir. Sampo tried to stop the surprise I prepared at the Robot Settlement, but in reality, I didn't prepare any Stellaron for that cute little girl at all. Poor brother Sampo, eager to get the Stellaron from the little girl, almost got done in by Mr. Svarog, and I was the one who cleaned up the mess for him."
"So, there really is still a leftover Stellaron, right?"
"Care to guess, Little Sir? Where could it be?"
"No need to guess."
Emiya pulled a button remote control box from his sleeve and placed it directly in front of Sparkle, a cheerful smile instantly spreading across his face as well.
"It was given to me, wasn't it, Masked Fool?"
Sparkle paused slightly, and right before her eyes, Shirou Emiya's form suddenly disintegrated, transforming into a grey-haired girl with three curved, flowing pigtails.
Click, click, click...
Accompanied by a sudden, continuous flurry of camera shutter sounds, a man's voice abruptly came from empty air,
"Changing shapes isn't your exclusive patent, sister."
Lifting the Noble Phantasm of the Faceless King, Emiya stepped out from his state of invisibility. With Aether Editing present, using a single Noble Phantasm to forcibly align with local legendary bonuses was not overly difficult; even an Emanator of Joy like Sparkle failed to detect the presence-concealing function of the Faceless King.
As for Bronya, she had used the Transformation Free Gaia Foundation obtained previously. Though merely a toy, it was undeniably flawless when it came to bodily mimicry. Furthermore, Emiya had utilized the effect of the Faceless King to conceal Bronya's personal presence. Under such circumstances, how could Sparkle—someone she had only met twice—possibly make an accurate judgment?
"Nice shots."
Gazing at the consecutive frames on the camera screen, which even captured several moments of Sparkle's astonishment and daze, if this photo were shown to Sampo, old Sampo would undoubtedly be willing to spend his entire fortune to buy a copy.
No,
if he took it to the tavern to sell, it would surely fetch at least a few billion credits, right?
Lady Sparkle stared at the camera resting in Emiya's hand, her expression indeed freezing for a moment, but then she burst into uncontrollable laughter,
"As expected of Little Sir, actually managing to make Lady Sparkle part of the fun. Long live the Aeon of Joy, you really have found a fine new brother for everyone here."
Emotion value from Sparkle +99
Emotion value from Sparkle +11
Oh? A double blessing?
The emotions that burst out first were genuine joy and happiness, while the latter seemed to indicate that this woman's mental defense had been breached to some degree at the bottom of her heart. Mr. Emiya wore a similarly delighted smile.
This whole bunch of women were all stubborn to the bone, weren't they?
However, it didn't matter. Mr. Emiya loved your stubborn little expressions the most.
Well, they'd probably only feel a bit soft when kissed.
"Alright, alright, Lady Sparkle has indeed lost. But Lady Sparkle still left a little gift for Little Grey Hair, you know."
The follower of Joy looked smilingly toward Bronya,
"Lady Sparkle didn't lie. There really is a giant firework capable of blowing the entire Belobog sky-high. Although it's not underneath Belobog, it does exist... That thing was placed by Lady Sparkle in the place with the most Antimatter Legions."
"Consider it a little parting gift from Lady Sparkle. As for the location of that button, use your cute little brain to guess 933 and see if it's..."
"It's with Clara, right? At worst, it's with Hook."
Emiya interrupted Sparkle's spellcasting. Since this woman had run down to the Lower City, she was bound to have made arrangements. Hearing Emiya pinpoint those two names so clearly, Lady Sparkle's mouth twitched, and she let out a helpless sigh,
"Little Sir, can't you just let people enjoy themselves in peace until the very end?"
"If you're enjoying yourself, how am I supposed to have fun?"
"Then next time, I'll definitely serve Little Sir..."
"Spare me. If you dare plot against me again next time, watch out—I might really tie you up and take a beautiful Ahenobarbus face photo as a souvenir."
"Hehehe... Then you simply must let Little Grey Hair be present when that happens! Also, it would be best to invite the Little Star Core Spirit and that little pink hair along too."
Damn it, you actually want to open a multi-player lobby?!
...I want to as well, so never mind then.
Bronya watched the bickering duo with a subtle expression, unable to help feeling a slight chill in her heart. Were people skilled in scheming like this everywhere across the starry cosmos?
The contents discussed in just a few brief words were enough to trigger a massive uproar in Belobog.
The Masked Fool aside, why could Emiya also keep up with the other person's train of thought and make advance predictions?
Mother, is it still too time for me to take back my bold declaration about going out to explore the world?
Chapter 53: Oh No, Woke Up and Turned Into a Family Bucket.
The Stellaron was successfully recovered.
The nobles' rebellion and mutiny were thoroughly investigated down to the last detail.
Perhaps because she was preparing for self-trial, Cocolia dragged every single implicated noble down with her.
In the small city of Belobog, nearly a hundred noble houses existed, and in this round, Cocolia had scraped away the titles of almost all of them.
Following that came a massive reshuffle, digging up old accounts. Whatever could be resolved in one fell swoop was dealt with, leaving no hidden dangers behind.
In the span of just three days, Belobog was swept by a river of blood.
Before you continue