Can't I Just Grind Commissions in Peace?

Although Bronya had no desire to inherit the Guardian's responsibilities, she was still willing to leave a truly clean and efficient administrative system for the next ruler.

When the people of the Lower City entered the Upper City, everyone was astonished to find that the world here had changed.

Amid cheers and celebration, people searched for old friends and relatives who had once lived in the Upper City.

Some were heartbroken upon learning of old acquaintances' deaths.

Others wept with joy at the sight of their parents, still alive and well.

The countless faces of humanity all fell into Cocolia and Bronya's eyes. Cocolia remained silent. She had personally orchestrated tragedy after tragedy. In this ancient city-state, the crimes she had committed were already beyond forgiveness.

But she did not intend to run away.

She had brought too much pain to this land, and now she had to pay the necessary "price" for what she had done.

"From here on, all hatred will be chained to me."

"Bronya, as long as the chain at its source—me—is severed, Belobog... no, Jarilo-VI's rebirth will be complete."

"Mm."

Bronya remained silent. She already knew everything Cocolia had done, and she was not qualified to forgive Cocolia on behalf of all Belobogians.

"Bronya, you were right to give up the position of Supreme Guardian."

She continued speaking. Knowing her own finale, Cocolia's words had begun to grow increasingly rambling.

"You are my adopted daughter. Because of that identity, others will always hold prejudice against you."

"You were right to leave Jarilo-VI. I hope that in the future, you can make up for some of my mistakes as much as possible."

"Those Nameless—you must grow closer to them, especially Shirou Emiya. That man is very capable, but if you sincerely ask him for something, it seems as though he will never refuse. But never try to morally manipulate him because of that. Bronya, keep the passionate and sincere heart you have now. I believe that if you travel with them, those people will never betray you."

"Once you leave, remember to adjust your mindset. By then, you will no longer be the commander of the Silvermane Guards, but simply Bronya Rand... Bronya... when you have the chance to make choices in the future, never... never seek shortcuts like I did. Do not leave yourself with regrets."

Her voice gradually became choked with sobs. Perhaps she truly had been an unqualified Guardian, but her feelings for Bronya were utterly real.

"You must work hard to live better than you do now."

"Mm."

Cocolia received only a muffled response, so quiet it was nearly inaudible.

And so, after the great purge following the noble incident, the dirt surrounding Cocolia, the Supreme Guardian, began to be dug up without end. Soon... immense public resentment converged upon the Guardian.

The storm of her downfall erupted swiftly. In merely two or three days, Cocolia Rand was bound upon the judgment stand. After the temporary adjudicator chosen by the public read out every one of Cocolia Rand's crimes and punishments, Cocolia Rand was pushed onto the execution block amid the curses and cheers of countless citizens.

Before the eyes of all, the Supreme Guardian who had once stood at the pinnacle of Belobog calmly accepted her ending.

The eighteenth Rand had fallen.

The "Wildfire Commander" of Boulder Town in the Lower City, temporarily chosen by the people, and the current head of the Landau family in the Upper City, the "new Minister of the Interior," began taking over all affairs of Belobog.

And on the night before the eighteenth Rand's death, two women abruptly visited the inn where the Visitors from Beyond were staying.

"What are you doing?"

"Let me make this clear first: I'm not easy."

"...You two have really caused me trouble. Fine. As for Cocolia, I'll only help you once."

"So I really did die once?"

Cocolia sat in Boulder Town's temporary clinic, looking somewhat dazed. She touched her neck, uneasily recalling the faint pain and warmth she had felt when the executioner's blade severed her throat...

"You really died. Your body was cremated into ashes and scattered across the snowfields. The people did not even want your ashes to remain in Belobog."

Serval openly mocked her old friend, who had "returned from the dead."

"That body of yours was remade by Young Master Emiya. He also gathered your soul immediately and placed it back into this container."

"In other words, the people truly did execute Cocolia Rand. As for you now... you should take a new name and start over."

"A new name? Forget it. I don't intend to change my name. I'll just live somewhere else like Bronya."

Having already died once, Cocolia was not foolish enough to let the people vent their anger on her again. This did not count as faking her death to escape, either. She had already given the people an answer, and she had also shed the burden of being Supreme Guardian.

"I want to become a true City Builder."

She looked at her best friend from her youth and smiled as she extended an invitation.

"Serval, let's go together, just like Alisa Rand did back then."

"It might not be that simple..."

"What do you mean?"

"Shirou Emiya."

When the strong-willed blonde beauty mentioned that name, a faint flush appeared on her face. She slightly raised her head so her close friend would not see her expression.

"Someone paid a price for your resurrection."

"What price?"

"Well... um, you may need to prepare yourself to become a grandmother."

Cocolia fell silent. After a long while, she suddenly laughed and cried at the same time.

"I had originally planned to entrust Bronya to him completely. Has it become a straightforward transaction instead?"

"It's not that blunt. Bronya wouldn't have gone looking for him on her own if she did not feel something for him. And he did not exactly refuse, either. Besides, Bronya is going to leave this planet with the Nameless and head into the universe. It is only natural for family to board the train too, right?"

"Wait, why do you know so many details?"

"...Because I was there that day too. I also want to leave Belobog and see the world. And Young Master Emiya is a good person. He likes tinkering with machines, knows a little music, and is skilled at cooking... Though he can be a little sadistic in private, he is still the best man I could ever meet."

Listening to Serval list that person's virtues as though reciting treasured possessions, Cocolia's expression gradually turned ashen. After waking up from one sleep, her daughter had been taken by someone, and even her best friend had been poached by that same person...

And her body had been remade by his own hands...

The good news was that she had not been excluded.

The bad news was that after waking up, she had become part of the family-value bundle... possibly even a free bonus.

"Flame Spear, charge—!"

Playing with the newly activated weapon in her hands, Little Grey Hair looked extremely excited. During the previous turmoil, in order to awaken those residents bewitched by the Stellaron and keep them from being harmed and corrupted by Void creatures, she had resonated with the Supreme Guardians within the lance and activated the Path of Preservation.

After learning about this, Shirou Emiya did not find it particularly strange. The power of Paths was extremely subjective. When one truly possessed that will, as long as one found an opportunity to push open that door, one could naturally step through it.

Whether it was fighting powerful enemies or protecting others, the will of Preservation had always been so pure and direct.

Previously, Little Grey Hair's understanding of the Path of Destruction had been, "Fighting feels great."

Now, her understanding of Preservation was more like, "If you've got the guts, hit me head-on first."

All that could be said was that the simpler and more brutal a Path's form of expression was, the easier it was for Little Grey Hair to handle.

Thinking about it, Mr. Emiya truly found it difficult to imagine Little Grey Hair stepping onto the Path of Erudition. Though she was not as hopelessly incompetent in both literature and martial arts as Li Dazhen, there was indeed an insurmountable chasm between Little Grey Hair and the Path of Erudition.

As for the Hunt, it would probably happen when March 7th got stabbed someday and an arrow from the Reignbow Arbiter happened to fall nearby.

Something like Joy might also happen if she picked up some Masked Fool's hat one day... Hmm, surely old Sampo's mask would not become a job-changing item, right?

Mr. Emiya could not help maliciously imagining that possibility. This time, old Sampo had suffered badly in his home territory. First, he had gotten into trouble with Shirou, then Sparkle had made a complete clown out of him.

After learning that Shirou had taken "beautiful pictures" of Miss Sparkle, old Sampo swore he would buy several from him. However, old Sampo was a little short on funds at the moment, so he would probably need to save up some Credits for a while.

"Damn it, Asta has a new Path, and you showed off your skills during the incident too. I'm the only one who was just a useless bystander."

Looking at the Flame Spear swinging in her companion's hands, March 7th's face was full of envy. Everyone had been playing through the same scenario, so why had Mr. Emiya become Belobog's honored guest and Savior? Her companion had also become known as a hero for protecting many residents after activating the Flame Spear. Even Dan Heng, who had been out of contact for so long, had repelled many Void creatures during the incident and voluntarily provided plenty of incriminating material about the nobles. Many young girls had even sent him flower baskets and fruit baskets.

"March, switching Paths is easy."

Shirou took a strange card from his pocket, handed it to March 7th, and spoke seriously.

"When you get something that can read the contents of this card, you can transform directly into this Rider. Your Path will definitely switch to Destruction then."

"No. It looks like a beetle."

"This is one of my favorite suits."

Mr. Emiya curled his lips. The Heisei Big Brother's suit was actually being disliked. But to be fair, that suit did carry considerable risk. It naturally had the potential to go berserk and destroy everything. Not everyone could evolve like Yusuke Godai, reaching Ultimate Form and then pulling off Red Eyes as well.

"Now that the Stellaron matter is settled, should we leave Belobog?"

March 7th asked about the next arrangement. She was not the type to sit still. Belobog had now entered a full-scale period of great revival. Everyone was passionately preparing for reconstruction. Society was being reorganized, large numbers of workers were being reassigned, and institutions that had once been shut down were reopening. March 7th could not get involved in any of those things. She could barely lend a hand, but she simply had no interest in doing odd jobs.

"We can leave, but there's no rush. March, do you want to come with me somewhere first?"

"Where?"

"Mr. Welt's hometown."

"Ehhh?!"

March 7th's pretty eyes immediately widened as she cried out in disbelief. Asta seemed to sense that there was juicy gossip to be had and immediately put down her Flame Spear, rushing over to listen.

"One of the spacetime beacons I sent out earlier locked onto a region of spacetime where Mr. Welt's hometown is located."

"Does Uncle Yang know?"

"I didn't tell him. That place is separated from his hometown by a very long time."

"What do you mean?"

"A world fifty thousand years before Uncle Yang was born."

Fifty thousand years?!

Both March 7th and Asta looked stunned. Shirou smiled.

"On the timeline of Uncle Yang's world, it can roughly be divided into the Previous Civilization and the Later Civilization. Both civilizations underwent a catastrophic trial known as 'Honkai.' You can think of it as Stellarons appearing in both worlds, and those Stellarons chose many people like Clio and bestowed power upon them. Those granted power wanted to destroy everything, just like Clio."

"The Later Civilization where Uncle Yang lived ultimately defeated the Stellaron. But the Previous Civilization... unfortunately, they failed to overcome the final trial."

"Now that you mention Stellarons, I get it! I never got the chance to show off on Jarilo-VI, so I'm definitely going to win back some face in this new place."

"I'm going too!"

How could Little Stellaron Essence give up something so interesting? Her pale golden eyes clearly conveyed, If you don't take me, I'm going to cause trouble. Naturally, Shirou would not refuse this Stellaron Essence. If they were going to find Elysia, the best approach was definitely to bring a group of beautiful girls and max out her favorability right away.

Now, he had March 7th, a pink-haired girl, as well as Little Stellaron Essence, a cosmic seductress. Add Serval, Cocolia, Bronya, Lynx, Pela, Seele... especially March 7th. She was just as lively and energetic as Elysia, pink-haired, ice-elemental, and an archer. Every buff had stacked perfectly. If they did not immediately swear brotherhood by sacrificing a chicken and burning yellow paper, it would almost feel unreasonable.

If March 7th got close with Elysia, and then I got close with March 7th, that would mean I could pull Elysia over to get close with me too. If I could win over Elysia, the true queen of lesbians, then characters like Sakura, Mei, Vill-V, and Eden would already be half taken care of.

After Bronya had brought Serval along to play cards that night, Mr. Emiya began to realize that he could broaden his way of thinking a little. MiHoYo was all lesbian bait. If he won over one of them, the other might have softer resolve and could be dragged into it. One leading one along was a traditional art; it could not be left untried.

"On that timeline, Eden has already joined the Flame-Chaser, which means Himiko is already dead. What a pity... If I had contacted Elysia before the Australia incident, I would have had three Himekos in hand... Putting them before Kiana would deal triple critical damage. It might even critically hit A-Fu."

"No, the Herrscher of Reason's core can devour the souls of three hundred thousand people. Could the Gem of Disease possibly contain a Himiko too?"

"This has potential!"

"Eden, Eden, come help me see how this outfit looks! I'm meeting new friends today, so I absolutely have to greet them in my most perfect form."

Inside a room at a five-star hotel, Elysia kept turning before the mirror, examining what she was wearing that day.

As always, Eden watched her close friend with a gentle smile, occasionally agreeing and offering a comment.

Beside Eden sat a green-haired woman in a white lab coat, her expression somewhat impatient as she frowned.

"Elysia, you've already changed outfits five times. Stop fussing."

"Cute girls must present their most perfect appearance at their first meeting, Mei."

"Are you yearning for a man, Elysia?"

"Perhaps I am."

Elysia smiled as she looked at Mei, then took several quick little steps over to her and spoke again.

"If a man appeared who was handsome, excellent at cooking, and capable of bringing you more possibilities, I refuse to believe you wouldn't be interested, Mei."