It definitely had nothing to do with lolis. As for what it was related to, she didn't know either. She just had a feeling.
That red-haired little girl carried an aura comparable to a top predator's, far beyond her own level. Perhaps that was what had stimulated the "Alcides" within the Crystal Dice.
Pinching the Crystal Dice between her index finger and thumb, Ritsuka narrowed her lovely eyes.
At 14%, she had obtained two things.
A bow and an ability. It seemed she had reached a threshold, allowing her to acquire the power possessed by the existence known as Alcides.
However, because the value was still too low, the skill was rather underwhelming, and she lacked the strength to even draw the bow.
Bravery (E): A skill that nullified mental interference such as confusion and disorientation, while enhancing combat ability.
At such a low rank, the effect clearly would not be very good.
Still, having it was better than not having it. Standing in the pavilion and waiting for the sleet to ease, Ritsuka began to wonder whether she might be able to max out Alcides's Synchronization Value if she had the chance to stare at that little girl for a prolonged period.
Though there was a chance she would be mistaken for a pervert...
The sleet gradually weakened. Pulling the hood of her coat over her head, Ritsuka charged out of the abandoned park.
Judging by the time, it was almost time for Miyu to get out of school. They had agreed to buy books together today and study together to prepare for the exams.
Although she had skipped the afternoon classes, Ritsuka was not worried at all. As long as it was not Taiga's class, the teachers generally did not care much about the class. One fewer student would barely even get a reaction.
Jogging all the way back, Ritsuka first rushed into the already-dismissed classroom to retrieve her belongings, then climbed over the wall into the neighboring campus.
The elementary division had clearly already let out as well. With her bag on her back, Ritsuka took out her usual Little Blue Umbrella and opened it.
"Big Sister?"
A voice sounded behind her. Once umbrella after umbrella opened, her view became obstructed, but Miyu still spotted Ritsuka immediately. The Pocky and biscuit sticks printed on the Little Blue Umbrella were quite eye-catching.
The convenience store owner had given her this umbrella after Ritsuka had once carried away an entire box of Pocky.
"Miyu, sorry to keep you waiting."
Ritsuka lightly brushed a finger across Miyu's nose and giggled.
Miyu took a few steps beneath the Little Blue Umbrella, raised her head to look towards Ritsuka, and said, "Not for very long. I only just came out too."
The Little Blue Umbrella sheltered her little sister as the two chatted and walked toward the bookstore.
"Big Sister, I met another strange person today."
"She looked like a foreigner, about my age, with twin tails. The first thing she did was call me her big sister..."
Miyu began complaining about the strange thing she had encountered that day. Being suddenly called big sister by a girl her own age truly was bizarre.
And that foreign appearance reminded Ritsuka of the two little girls she had seen that afternoon.
A name suddenly flashed through Ritsuka's mind. "Erika..."
"Hm?"
Miyu tilted her head, looking at the softly murmuring Ritsuka in confusion. She had just heard a name.
In response, Ritsuka merely reached out and patted Miyu's head without saying anything.
The two of them were walking together again after a long time. One tall and one small, the two beautiful girls walked along the street. The other person who was usually with them was nowhere to be seen, and Miyu subconsciously asked—
"Where's Sakura?"
"Little Sakura took leave and went to find Shinji, who skipped class. That guy is probably still holed up in some arcade."
Snorting through her nose, Ritsuka grumbled about Shinji in front of Miyu, lowering Miyu's favorability toward Shinji once again. He was beginning to go from her sister's classmate to a mere passerby.
Turning at the street corner, the two headed in the opposite direction from the crowd. Only a few scattered figures could be seen on the street.
Before buying books, they needed to stop by the convenience store. The snacks at home needed replenishing.
There was only one Pocky stick left, in the box in her pocket.
At the end of the street, Ritsuka, who had stopped in front of the convenience store, paused slightly. Her eyes suddenly widened. She caught sight of someone from the corner of her eye, then immediately raised her head and looked over. That head of kelp-like hair was exceptionally conspicuous.
"...Shinji?"
They were too far away. She could only see Shinji's mouth moving, as though he were saying something, but she could not hear him.
There were four people over there, all of whom she had seen before: the two little girls she had encountered in the abandoned park, Matou Shinji, and Ichiyoshi Julian...
Suddenly, Julian raised his head and looked towards her.
At the end of the street, magecraft that interfered with others' attention had been deployed. Four people stood there, with the two little girls behind Julian.
Julian Enzō.
Standing face-to-face with Julian was Matou Shinji, who had been missing since that morning. Shinji was currently staring gloomily at the cards in his hand.
"Lord Julian, what are these?"
"Class Cards. These two are your Matou family's tickets for this Holy Grail War."
The corner of the mouth curled up as Shinji revealed a chilling smile.
Assassin and Archer.
The Holy Grail War was a massive ritual ground, a ritual created by the Tohsaka, Matou, and Enzō families in pursuit of the cauldron of miracles.
With the Tohsaka destroyed and the Matou in decline, Enzō could be said to be indirectly controlling everything.
They were the only family that still endured...
Class Cards were Noble Phantasms capable of housing the power of Class Servants. Commonly known as Class Cards, they were essentially Servant Cards that could connect to the power of Servants upon the Throne of Heroes.
Servants were degraded forms of Heroic Spirits after their division.
Heroic Spirits were beings formed from heroes recorded in history and legend—those whose great deeds remained as legends after death, becoming objects of faith.
Not only official history and mythology, but even some strange tales could sometimes form Heroic Spirits. All that was needed was sufficient faith.
Thus, the existence of Class Cards could be called utterly miraculous. To wield the power of legends with a human body—how could mere Replacement Magic achieve such an effect? It inevitably made one wonder what other reason lay behind it.
But none of that mattered. At least, it did not matter to Matou Shinji.
Whether it was the old man's prejudice against his talent, leaving the family's entire magecraft inheritance to Sakura, or all the other humiliations, with this, he could reclaim everything he had lost!
"Lord Julian, since you have brought out the Class Cards, does that mean the vessel serving as the Holy Grail is already in place?"
"..."
Without a Holy Grail, there could be no war centered around it.
Julian narrowed his eyes and looked past the magical barrier toward the convenience store beside the street, his fingers clenching tightly.
Ritsuka, carrying a box of snacks, and Miyu beside her entered Julian's sight. Then, their eyes suddenly met.
"Erika, is that her?"
The blonde little girl poked her head out from behind Julian. Miyu's figure was reflected in her large blue eyes.
"Though its nature has disappeared, the vessel's rank remains."
A strange surge of magical energy flashed through her eyes. In that instant, the magical barrier shattered with a bang. That unpleasant aura Ritsuka had felt before rose once more, and those demonic eyes fixed upon the two of them.
Separated by quite a distance, Ritsuka stepped in front of Miyu. It was entirely instinctive.
It was something incomprehensible, unimaginable—like a deity existing only in myth. Merely meeting its gaze could strip away a person's will.
An immense majesty enveloped Ritsuka, and her palm began to glow faintly.
Alcides's Synchronization Value began rising again. This time, it progressed extremely quickly!
Leave Notice
As the title says, there will be no update today.
Honestly, figuring out how to handle Matou Sakura has been rather troubling. Giving her a good ending would affect the plot's development, while the alternative would be killing her off. It feels awful.
—This is a crossover story, and it will definitely leave the Type-Moon world later on. Therefore, the main world cannot be burdened with too many attachments.
After thinking about it for a long time, and hesitating over the equivalent of two chapters' worth of plot, I ultimately decided to have Ritsuka accidentally kill her, and I had already planted some foreshadowing.
But in the end, after discussing it with the group, I decided to change it, so I will be revising roughly two or three chapters of content.
As the author of this work, the heroine I personally ordained as chosen by heaven, there is no doubt that this book will have a yuri setup. I simply have not decided between "single heroine" and "harem," which is why I have not added any tags.
I will do my best to write it better. If everyone has any related opinions, you can also bring them up in the chapter comments, and I will handle them as appropriate.
(I'm begging you all, please leave some chapter comments. Writing with no feedback really wears down my creative passion. This newbie is rolling around on the floor begging here.)
PS: Please vote with recommendation tickets...
I will not ask for monthly tickets, tips, or other things that cost money. As someone destined to become an old flop, I will not dare hope for those. I just want to survive on subscriptions after the book goes premium. I'm a student, after all.
For this book to survive and avoid getting cut short, if you can, please give me your recommendation tickets!
Humbly begging.JPG
The One Who Killed Kiritsugu
"Shinji and Julian...?"
Ritsuka murmured in confusion.
Matou Shinji and Ichiyoshi Julian had a bad relationship. Everyone in the academy knew that these two, famous in their own way, were actually at odds with one another.
Yet they were standing together and chatting amiably now...
Ritsuka instinctively stood in front of Miyu, using her body to block Julian's gaze. Yet that look, filled with madness and venomous hatred, made her feel suffocating pressure.
The greatest pressure did not come from Julian, whose gaze was somewhat frightening, but from the blonde little girl behind him.
It was extremely similar to the sensation when she had first encountered Miyu: a hollow, godlike vastness. Irresistible pressure bore down upon her, as if even her soul had been severely constrained and sealed within a tiny space.
The faint light in her palm was gradually becoming more pronounced.
Yet no one could see the Crystal Dice. Even Ritsuka herself, under such immense pressure, had not noticed its reaction.
"I really did not expect it. So the thief was you."
Julian left the group and slowly walked toward Ritsuka alone. The eyes beneath his gloomy expression made one's heart tremble.
Clenching her right hand, Ritsuka summoned a dagger from the Crystal Dice and gripped it directly. Circuit-board-like patterns rapidly spread across its surface.
The dagger was shorter than a sword. It was a weapon stained with human life, a standard piece of equipment Ritsuka had kept ever since receiving it from Kiritsugu as a child. Her instincts told her it could not threaten Julian, yet she still took it out unconsciously.
"Julian..."
That figure drew closer and closer. Ritsuka gripped her weapon tightly. The aura around the girl named Erika had already vanished.
The next moment, Julian raised his head. His cold gaze met Ritsuka's. "So many coincidences... the Divine Child had been by my side all along, yet I failed to notice."
"I'm the thief? Then what are you people, bandits?"
From what she remembered, the small girl whom even Kiritsugu could not defeat head-on had possessed enough overwhelming strength to nearly shatter the earth. Then there was that twin-tailed girl with strange magecraft who wanted to take Miyu away. The answer now seemed obvious—
Those two were connected to Julian!
"I have been searching for the miracle that exists in this world—the thing that can erase all the foreign matter devouring this town."
"—And the thief who took it away!"
Her sense of danger surged instantly. Light rose from Ritsuka's right hand, and she swung the dagger upward, throwing it directly at Julian as a concealed weapon.
Magical energy condensed into lightning. She projected a black shortsword, one half of the paired swords Gan Jiang Mo Ye.
The dagger was aimed at Julian's chest. Ritsuka had deliberately adjusted the angle slightly; even if it hit, it would only injure him rather than end his life. But the instant the attack was unleashed, earth-shaking power came roaring forth.
The tiny red-haired girl appeared before Julian in an instant and casually raised her hand to catch the dagger.
A murderous, vicious smile entered Ritsuka's sight. "What?"
Both blades shot out, only to completely break apart in the next instant. The little girl easily snapped the projected armament.
Even if it had been projected, it was still something known as a Noble Phantasm. It had been shattered!
"Don't you dare harm Lord Julian!!"
Before you continue