He lost.
Lu Mingfei stared at the golden glow of the Site of Grace and scratched his messy bird's nest of hair.
Fighting one against many was not his specialty. What he excelled at was seduction, assassination, backstabbing, and one-on-one duels.
Once the number of enemies increased, his advantages vanished completely.
Especially this time: two elite Demi-Human chiefs, along with a large number of ordinary Demi-Humans gathered around them.
What should he do...
There was no way he could win.
Glancing at Boc, the Demi-Human sitting quietly in the corner, Lu Mingfei felt somewhat defeated.
Before setting out, he had thumped his chest and promised that he would retrieve Boc's mother's keepsake. Yet he had lost so thoroughly...
Was there any way...
Lu Mingfei sat cross-legged and lowered his head in thought.
His advantage was that he would not die.
Even if his true strength was inferior to elite enemies like Beastmen or knights, he could still win by challenging them repeatedly and memorizing their attack patterns.
Yet that advantage vanished completely before a Demi-Human horde.
The two huge Demi-Human chiefs were massive. Their attacks were nothing more than claws and teeth, and they were not very agile. It was no problem at all to slip in a few cuts during the gaps in their attacks.
But there were too many of those irritating ordinary Demi-Humans, buzzing around like mosquitoes. Every time he swung his sword, one would hit him with a club, then another, beating Lu Mingfei until he fled in a panic, dizzy and disoriented.
Demi-Humans did not care about gentlemanly conduct or knightly spirit. They were no different from wild beasts and would never let go of any opening to weaken their prey.
"I need someone to draw them away..."
He had found the crucial point. So long as he could reduce the number of ordinary Demi-Humans by half, his skills would be enough to handle the two chiefs.
As if possessed, Lu Mingfei's gaze drifted to the side...
Slap!
A loud slap echoed through the cave.
Other than Boc, the Demi-Human, there was no third living person here, and Boc did not have the courage to do something like that.
So Lu Mingfei had slapped himself.
"Lu Mingfei, Lu Mingfei," he said with a self-mocking tug of his lips, "when the hell did you become so despicable?"
"Tch."
He irritably ruffled his already messy hair.
"Of course. A loser stays a loser no matter what world he ends up in."
Suddenly, as though he had thought of something, his Golden Eyes blazed to life.
"Wait... a loser..."
Lu Mingfei sprang to his feet, a familiar shameless grin curling across his lips.
"A loser should fight like a loser!"
"If I can't beat them, I can just find people to help me!"
When in doubt, call senior sister. If senior sister was not around, call senior brother. And if that still did not work, there was always the Little Devil... But in this godforsaken otherworld, the only way to call someone was...
Lu Mingfei pulled a box of yellow, ointment-like substance from his inventory.
As Lu Mingfei stared at it, a line of small words naturally surfaced in his mind.
"Furlcalling Finger Remedy."
"Reveals cooperative signs and hostile signs, allowing one to summon spirits from other worlds known as Summon Fingers."
The moment he saw the thing, Lu Mingfei could not help pounding his chest and stomping his feet.
Galle had fleeced him for a full 1,000 Runes for this tiny little thing!
Killing a Beastman of Farum Azula only gave 1,500 Runes!
And after Lu Mingfei bought the Furlcalling Finger Remedy, one look was enough for him to immediately understand how to craft it, as "every Tarnished knew how."
All it took were two Erdleaf Flowers! Two! Those things grew everywhere like roadside wildflowers!
And no one except Tarnished could use it. Galle had kept it in his hands for who knew how many years without selling it, while ordinary Tarnished could make it themselves and would never buy the stuff.
"That red-capped swindler..."
The thought made Lu Mingfei grind his teeth in fury.
That Santa Claus had probably dug up some cheap junk from the corpse of some Tarnished, something so worthless that nobody would buy it, and waited until he found a sucker like Lu Mingfei!
"Forget it, forget it." Lu Mingfei sighed and clutched his chest. "If this really works, things will be much easier from now on. I won't have to act like some orphan..."
Lu Mingfei stared at the expensive box of yellow ointment in his hand, his Golden Eyes glimmering faintly in the darkness.
He took a deep breath...
"No, how am I supposed to use this thing?"
There were no instructions, either.
Hmm... Since it let people see signs, then... was he supposed to smear it on his eyelids?
Lu Mingfei scratched his head. Deciding to treat a dead horse like it was alive, he smeared the ointment over his eyelids, then casually flicked the yellow residue from his fingers.
Drip.
An illusory sound rang through his soul.
The world before him suddenly rippled. Countless fluorescent runes seemed to appear before Lu Mingfei's eyes, then gradually settled into stillness.
Lu Mingfei anxiously looked around.
Every corner of the cave was spotless. There was not even half a summoning rune in sight.
"Holy shit?!"
Lu Mingfei nearly smashed the ointment onto the ground.
"This is what 1,000 Runes got me? That fraud Galle!"
Beside a distant Site of Grace, a certain red-capped merchant suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his chin in confusion, then continued polishing that box of "precious" Furlcalling Finger Remedy.
Boc shuddered at the commotion.
"W-what happened?"
"Nothing..." Lu Mingfei forced a smile, though in his heart he had already plucked Galle's beard out one hair at a time.
Dejected, he headed toward the cave entrance.
"I'm going out for some air..."
The instant he stepped out of the cave, a golden rune suddenly flashed amidst the moss. The pattern was strange, yet familiar...
Wasn't this...
Wasn't this Japanese??
Lu Mingfei's pupils contracted sharply. The neat, orderly runes used a language from Earth. Though he did not recognize it, their meaning still surfaced in his heart.
[If you need help, call for me----Emiya Shirou]
"I need it so damn badly!"
"I don't care what comes over, just hurry up and save me from this hellhole!!"
Without hesitation, Lu Mingfei touched the rune on the ground and sent out his call.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Mingfei sensed someone answering from the other end of the rune.
A dazzling light burst forth, followed by the appearance of a figure.
The newcomer was clad head to toe in a magnificent suit of armor. A blue Glintstone was set in the center of the armor, surrounded by gemstones. Behind him hung a blue cloak covered in exquisite embroidery.
In his left hand, he held a knight's straight sword embedded with Glintstone. In his right was a medium-sized, teardrop-shaped shield, its center also set with a gem.
That outfit was downright flaun... handsome.
Lu Mingfei looked at him, then at his own tattered Kaiden Armor and Godrick Soldier Gauntlets...
Then he looked at him again.
The air fell silent.
The splendid knight removed his helmet, revealing red hair and a youthful face that looked about the same age as Lu Mingfei. With a gentle smile, he said:
"Hello. I am the knight Emiya Shirou from Caria. I aspire to become an 'ally of justice,' and I have answered your summons to come to this world. Tell me, are you the friend who called for help?"
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