The Servant I Summoned Is Jeanne Alter?! / Is She Still That Fierce After Splitting Off Her Bloodlust?! (3/11)

Akuta Hinako took a deep breath, doing her best to steady herself before asking, "Has the time synchronized?"

"Yeah, it has."

Bai Ming's affirmative answer calmed Akuta Hinako down. She asked, "Then don't you have anything to say?"

"No." Bai Ming paused before adding, "Well, it's not that I have absolutely nothing to say..."

Akuta Hinako's heart leaped with joy, only for it to quickly turn into irritation as Bai Ming said, "Let's find a chance to become sworn brothers. I've wanted to do something like that for a long time."

Akuta Hinako's expression froze.

You damned beast, Bai Ming. Do you really want to make the whole Consort Yu and Xiang Yu sworn-brotherhood thing official?

Go swear brotherhood with yourself.

Akuta Hinako immediately said, "I refuse."

"Refusing won't help, will it? We act like sworn brothers during the day, and we don't interact at night."

Bai Ming's words left Akuta Hinako silent. After thinking it over for a long while, she realized that actually did seem to be the case.

"What you said does seem—"

Bai Ming immediately laughed at her serious expression. "Seems like my ass. Sworn brothers bathe together. Have you ever bathed with me?"

Akuta Hinako fell silent for a moment before saying, "...There just hasn't been an opportunity."

Bai Ming retorted, "You win. Let's go see how Ritsuka's training is going."

At that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka was enthusiastically wrestling with Roman.

Fujimaru Ritsuka had already grasped the basics of combat. Roman was continuously feeding her moves, but Bai Ming kept shaking his head when he saw Roman's trembling legs. Roman was such a loser. He had been drained dry by that dark-skinned beast-eared girl for three nights and was already this weak.

King Solomon... sigh, the disgrace of the Grand Caster. How could someone rape others and keep his own household safe without a decent physique?

Whether it was himself, Merlin, or even Gilgamesh, who worked himself to death every few days, all of them had better physical conditioning than King Solomon.

While he was lamenting, the two of them arrived at Fujimaru Ritsuka's training ground. Upon seeing Bai Ming and Akuta Hinako arrive, Fujimaru Ritsuka became even more fired up. She grabbed Roman's arm and performed a shoulder throw, then followed it with a leaping elbow strike.

Roman caught Fujimaru Ritsuka's elbow, seized her, and with a thud, directly threw her away.

This style originated from the legend of Jacob wrestling an angel from day into night until dawn arrived. It was a comprehensive contest that included striking and ground techniques, much like ancient Greek pankration. Different practitioners modified and refined Jacob's Limbs according to their own habits and styles.

Roman, as Israel's boxing champion, followed a standing style similar to Saint Martha's, so naturally he taught a style centered around fighting on one's feet. Yet based on Roman's standing techniques, Fujimaru Ritsuka had instead developed grappling and throwing techniques into her own unique Jacob's Limbs.

Using softness to overcome strength was Fujimaru Ritsuka's combat philosophy.

Roman could not understand how he had somehow taught someone so proficient in grappling and throwing, but he still continued sparring with her earnestly—after all, Queen of Sheba had signed a Servant Contract with Fujimaru Ritsuka. If Fujimaru Ritsuka failed to enjoy herself, Roman would most likely end up spent by tonight.

Olga Marie quietly approached. Watching Roman feed Fujimaru Ritsuka moves, she said, "At Fujimaru Ritsuka's current level, she would have more than enough ability to pass personal self-defense training even at the Clock Tower."

"So most Magi at the Clock Tower are just trash."

Bai Ming said, "If this level counts as enough, then she could still get injured by an ordinary person ambushing her with a knife."

Olga Marie sighed. "Your standards are too demanding."

"Her current level isn't enough," Akuta Hinako said. "She's far too weak. At this level, she can't even beat me."

Olga Marie sighed. "You're strong too, aren't you?"

There was no shortage of people who wielded twin swords, but very few could truly earn a reputation. In terms of twin-sword combat alone, few could surpass Akuta Hinako in skill and life-or-death fighting.

But Akuta Hinako merely shook her head. "I know my own limits. I'm not skilled with weapons or command. In combat, I only rely on my innate advantages."

"Alright, Ritsuka, stop for a moment."

Seeing Fujimaru Ritsuka about to charge at him again, Roman hurriedly called a halt to the fight. "Go review Reinforcement Magic. Although Bai Ming and I both oppose this kind of neither-martial-nor-magical approach, it really is useful for amateurs."

Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded. She began practicing Reinforcement Magic while listening to Bai Ming and the others talk.

"That's true, but we generally don't use Reinforcement Magic."

Bai Ming nodded. Olga Marie crossed her arms over her chest. "Come to think of it, I remember Lord El-Melloi II's classroom having two female students who used martial arts enhanced by Reinforcement Magic. The pillars, floors, and classrooms at the training grounds were always smashed up by those two."

Bai Ming said, "The heads of the Tohsaka and Edelfelt Families, right?"

"You actually know them? Then again, the Edelfelt 'most elegant hyena in the world' and the 'scale that measures gemstones' are rather famous." Olga Marie sighed. "You've never left the country, have you? Your activities have only ever taken place in China and Chaldea... No, considering the records you left behind in history, I shouldn't make judgments like that."

"You don't need to investigate my affairs that thoroughly."

Bai Ming said, "Leave the Fifth Singularity and Sixth Singularity to me. Fujimaru Ritsuka can go to the Seventh Singularity first and run errands for that conceited bastard Gilgamesh. Don't worry about the rest. I've prepared three or four different mysterious surprises for Goetia."

Roman immediately objected, "You are not allowed to use King Solomon."

Bai Ming said, "Then I still have two left."

The Servant Summoned Was Actually Jeanne Alter

"Hi, hi~ Da Vinci here. Can Bai Ming, Roman, Ritsuka, and Mash all hear me? The greatest universal genius has made a series of adjustments to Chaldea's Heroic Spirit Summoning system. Now you can summon Servants directly at Chaldea and bring them to Singularities, okay?"

Da Vinci's voice came over Chaldea's broadcast system, interrupting their conversation.

"Still, how many you can summon depends on the burden on your own magical energy. Come to the control room first~"

"What's wrong with you?"

Seeing Bai Ming hesitate in his steps, Akuta Hinako and Olga Marie could not help but grow curious. But then they thought about how this guy had flirted with everyone at all sorts of historical turning points, and sometimes had not even used his own name. It was hard not to feel amused.

Servant summoning either depended on compatibility or a Holy Relic, and it also depended on whether the other party answered the summons.

If Bai Ming went to summon one, the moment he stood in that summoning circle, he would look exactly like a widower of Holy Relics.

"N-Nothing."

Bai Ming had a bad feeling. Based on the warning Morgan had left him, what he summoned would definitely have nothing to do with the Round Table. The knights of the Round Table must have been preserving humanity's remaining strength in the Sixth Singularity while preparing an inescapable net to rape him.

As for who else he might have provoked in the future, he did not know, nor did he want to know.

"Someone's feeling guilty."

Roman immediately mocked Bai Ming when he saw him hesitating. The next moment, Bai Ming kicked him in the ass. Roman ran, Bai Ming chased him, and only after chasing each other all the way to the control room did they settle down.

Before long, the rest of Chaldea's staff also arrived in the control room. After Da Vinci introduced the general situation, everyone began preparing for Servant Summoning.

"Come to think of it, the Throne of Heroes has no concept of time or space."

Bai Ming suddenly said, "In other words, if Akuta Hinako gave up on living, then given her circumstances, she would definitely be recorded in the Throne of Heroes. Maybe I could summon an Akuta Hinako with a different Spirit Origin."

Akuta Hinako looked thoroughly disgusted and asked, "Do you have some strange obsession with me?"

Bai Ming sighed. "Sigh, a living Akuta Hinako, and Akuta Hinakos with different Spirit Origins and different outfits—no matter how you look at it, that sounds fun."

Not to mention that Akuta Hinako was actually the type whose skin was unexpectedly thin in certain matters.

"So, which of you wants to try first?"

Da Vinci looked back and forth between Fujimaru Ritsuka, Bai Ming, and Akuta Hinako. "Considering that Ritsuka has already signed one contract, and Bai Ming's contract with Mash still exists... Akuta Hinako, how about you?"

Akuta Hinako retorted, "Shouldn't someone experienced go first?"

"That's true. Then, Bai Ming? Ritsuka's previous summoning didn't follow the normal procedure anyway, so how about you give it a try?"

"I'll do it, then."

"Oh, right. Take this."

Da Vinci tossed several hexagonal colored stones to Bai Ming. "These are stones that house sacred power, objects crystallized after the concept of the future became established. They're called pseudo-Spiritron crystals, commonly known as Saint Quartz. You can summon without them, but having them greatly reduces the burden of summoning."

After taking the Saint Quartz, Bai Ming immediately put them away. He intended to summon a Servant by relying on his face alone. Da Vinci was dumbfounded by his blatant embezzlement of the Saint Quartz, but Bai Ming did not care. He merely said, "Whoever wants to come can come. If they don't, forget it. I won't force anyone."

Then Bai Ming poured magical energy into the summoning circle.

The summoning circle flared with magical energy, and intense white light radiated from it.

"Servant, Avenger. I have answered your summons... What's with that expression? Take it. This is the contract."

A contract covered in crooked handwriting was tossed out of the light. A white-haired, golden-eyed girl clad in black armor emerged from within. "Bet you didn't expect it. I was the one who answered your summons."

When Bai Ming saw that it was Jeanne Alter, he immediately sighed. "Sigh."

Olga Marie, who maintained a contract with Bai Ming, sharply sensed that something was wrong with his emotions. However, this was not the moment for her to ask about it.

Jeanne Alter immediately bristled. "What's with that sigh?! Are you disappointed to see me?!"

"I wanted a burly male Servant, someone like Heracles. Too bad for you that you ran into me."

In truth, Bai Ming had wanted a sparring partner, not someone he could punch into the ground and leave stuck there. Jeanne Alter only appeared to disdain Bai Ming, while Bai Ming genuinely disdained Jeanne Alter.

"Bai Ming, how does the burden feel?"

Da Vinci adjusted the Heroic Spirit Summoning system with a puzzled look. In her understanding, the summoning system absolutely could not summon anything outside the seven standard classes. An Extra Class like Avenger should have been even more impossible.

Bai Ming shook his head. "I don't feel anything. It isn't even as burdensome as Olga Marie."

At the end of the day, raising Olga Marie was not much different from raising a ghost. Servants, however, existed as familiars, so their consumption requirements were completely different.

"But I don't plan to keep summoning." Bai Ming turned and left. Jeanne Alter followed close behind him with an annoyed expression, shouting, "Hey, you obnoxious bastard, at least take a proper look at the contract! I put a lot of effort into writing it! I'm done being a puppet. I'm going to be myself. I don't know why I survived or why I was recorded in the Throne of Heroes, but isn't that great? I never thought I could appear again."

Jeanne Alter's noisy chatter gave Bai Ming a rare headache. He stopped walking, and Jeanne Alter crashed into his back without warning. "What are you stopping for?!"

"Sigh..."

Bai Ming turned around and hugged Jeanne Alter, whose nose had been knocked bright red. Jeanne Alter immediately backed away several steps, her face flushing as she shouted, "W-What are you doing?!"

"Congratulations, dear Jeanne Alter. You survived. I know the joy of surviving a catastrophe has made you very excited, and you can't wait to share it with me. But at a time like this, I hope you can be a little quieter. I need to calm down."

Jeanne Alter's existence was a dreamlike illusion.

Perhaps, like Fujimaru Ritsuka, he was someone with one-hundred-percent Spiritron Transfer compatibility, which was why he could summon Jeanne Alter. Had he unknowingly dreamed something related to Jeanne Alter?

That was obviously impossible.

But Bai Ming could not dream, so he began to wonder whether something had gone wrong with the "place" where he threw away his garbage.

"Huh? Calm down?"

Jeanne Alter could not understand, but Bai Ming did not intend to explain in detail. He merely brushed it off by saying, "Seeing you made me so excited that I didn't know how to face you for a moment. So I hope you can give me some time to accept reality."

Even After Being Split Off, Is the Killing Intent Still This Fierce? (3/11)

After hearing those words, Jeanne Alter unexpectedly quieted down. There was still a trace of shyness on her face, but it did not affect much.

"First, go find Roman and have him arrange a room for you. Then come find me."

"No problem."

Jeanne Alter pattered away down the hallway.

Bai Ming watched Jeanne Alter run off in silence. Would Humanity Foundation really make things difficult for him over something like this?

As Bai Ming thought it over, the root of the issue was simply that a Servant outside the seven standard classes should not have appeared through this Heroic Spirit Summoning system. Extra Classes could exist because Humanity Foundation existed. Perhaps Humanity Foundation wanted him to understand the significance of Extra Classes to humanity ahead of time, then have the Extra Classes reconcile with Humanity Foundation?

Bai Ming could not figure it out for the moment. Humanity Foundation was neither particularly strong nor particularly weak.

Humanity Foundation was the principle that allowed humanity to endure longer and more steadfastly. It was also something that possessed the ability to judge and eliminate Lostbelts. It kept receiving patches and gaining more functions, yet Humanity Foundation only seemed to grow more idiotic, with every action becoming more incomprehensible than the last.

Bai Ming thought and thought, but could not understand it. He muttered, "I'm not afraid of being targeted anyway. Let it do whatever it wants. If it pushes me too far, I'll drag Goetia along and carry out another Humanity Foundation incineration, turning Humanity Foundation into my Humanity Foundation."

Thinking that, Bai Ming felt much better. He directly threw his earlier negative emotions and hesitation into the "trash can." On the way back to his room, he changed direction and headed for the training room instead, muttering, "I'll do a few more sets today."

He truly loved exercising.

After asking Roman for a room, Jeanne Alter eagerly went to it. She took a long, satisfying hot bath, changed into comfortable pajamas, lay down on the bed, and soon fell asleep without a care in the world.

She had a dream—or something that could barely be considered a dream. After signing a Servant Contract, a Master could dream of fragments of a Servant's past experiences, while a Servant could likewise dream of fragments of a Master's past.

But Bai Ming could not dream at all, so Jeanne Alter instead dreamed of what had happened before she answered the summons.

The taste of revenge was as sweet as honey. Jeanne Alter had forgotten who had said those words. At first, she had treated them as gospel, but after encountering that muscular man, she realized revenge was not such a big deal.

After all, that man had defeated her head-on with sheer force and then pulled dirty tricks on her, making everything meaningless. Her existence, her life, even her spirit and concept—all of it had been thoroughly dissected by that man and that village girl.

Nothing belonged to her. Everything had been bestowed upon her by that black Magus, Gilles de Rais.

Yet that man had told her to find her own life before killing her. She had believed she had no future, but his words had become like a curse and allowed her to survive.

So Jeanne Alter had no choice but to begin from zero.

She had stayed for a very long time in a place that ordinary people could neither see, imagine, nor comprehend.

It was a modern city, filled with towering buildings she had never seen, vehicles she had never seen, food she had never seen, and even writing she could not understand—though she could still understand what the people around her said. At the very least, during the First Singularity, because Bai Ming did not know French, she had specifically used the Holy Grail to rapidly learn Chinese.