Emiya Shirou: Need Help?

Lost.

Lu Mingfei stared at the golden glow of the Site of Grace and scratched his messy nest of hair.

Taking on many enemies at once was not his specialty. What he was good at was luring, assassinating, 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 pounded his chest and promised that he would retrieve Boc's mother's keepsake. Yet he had lost this thoroughly...

Was there any way...

Lu Mingfei sat down 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 monsters like Beastmen and knights, he could still win by repeatedly challenging them until he had memorized their attack patterns.

However, that advantage was utterly useless against a group of demi-humans.

The two enormous demi-human chiefs were huge. Their attacks were nothing more than claws and teeth, and they were not particularly agile. It would not be difficult to slip in a few slashes during the gaps in their attacks.

But there were simply too many of those annoying ordinary demi-humans, like mosquitoes. Whenever he swung his sword, they would each smack him with a club, beating Lu Mingfei until he fled in panic, dizzy and disoriented.

Demi-humans did not care about gentlemanly conduct or knightly honor. They were no different from beasts and would not let slip any opening to weaken him.

"I need someone to draw them away..."

He had identified the crucial point. If 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 toward the side...

Slap!

A loud slap rang through the cave.

Aside from Boc, 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 this despicable?"

"Tch."

He irritably ruffled his already disheveled hair.

"A loser is still a loser in any world."

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, his golden eyes lit up.

"Wait... a loser..."

Lu Mingfei sprang to his feet, a familiar roguish grin curling across his lips.

"A loser has to fight like a loser!"

"If I can't beat them, I can find someone to call in!"

When in doubt, call Senior Sister. If she was not around, call Senior Brother. If all else failed, there was always the little devil... But in this godforsaken other world, the only way to call for someone was...

Lu Mingfei pulled a box of yellow, ointment-like stuff from his inventory.

As Lu Mingfei stared at it, a line of small text naturally surfaced in his mind.

"Furlcalling Finger Remedy."

"Allows one to see cooperative signs and hostile signs, summoning Fingered spirits from other worlds."

The moment he saw the thing, Lu Mingfei could not help but stomp his feet and beat his chest.

Galle had ripped him off for a full 1,000 Runes for this tiny thing!

Killing the Beastmen of Farum Azula had only earned him 1,500 Runes!

And after buying the Furlcalling Finger Remedy, Lu Mingfei had understood at a glance the crafting method for the remedy that "every Tarnished knows."

All it took was two Erdleaf Flowers! Two! Those things grew everywhere, like roadside wildflowers!

And nobody except Tarnished could use the stuff. Galle had probably kept it in his hands for years without selling any, while ordinary Tarnished would make their own and never buy it at all.

"That red-hatted crooked merchant..."

The thought made Lu Mingfei grind his teeth in hatred.

That Santa Claus had probably rummaged the cheap, unsellable junk off some Tarnished's corpse, only for it to finally find Lu Mingfei, the perfect sucker!

"Forget it, forget it." Lu Mingfei sighed and covered his chest. "If it really works, things will be much easier from now on. I won't have to be 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...

"Wait, how am I supposed to use this thing?"

There was not even an instruction manual.

Hmm... Since it let people see signs, then... was he supposed to apply it to his eyelids?

Lu Mingfei scratched his head. Deciding to treat a dead horse as if it were alive, he smeared the ointment over his eyelids, then casually flicked the yellow residue from his fingers.

Drip.

An illusory sound echoed within his soul.

The world before him suddenly rippled. Countless glowing runes seemed to emerge 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.

"What the hell?!"

Lu Mingfei nearly smashed the ointment onto the ground.

"One thousand Runes for this? That liar Galle!"

Near the distant Site of Grace, a certain red-hatted merchant suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his chin in confusion, then continued polishing that "precious" box of Furlcalling Finger Remedy.

Boc trembled at the commotion.

"W-what happened?"

"Nothing..." Lu Mingfei forced a smile, though in his mind he had already plucked Galle's beard out strand by strand.

Dejected, he headed toward the cave entrance.

"I'm going out for some air..."

The instant he stepped outside, a golden rune suddenly flashed among the moss. Its pattern was strange yet familiar...

Wasn't this...

Wasn't this Japanese??

Lu Mingfei's pupils contracted. The neat, orderly runes used a language from Earth. Though he did not recognize it, their meaning still surfaced in his mind.

[If you need help, call for me—Emiya Shirou]

"I need it so badly!"

"I don't care what you are, 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 responding from the other end of the rune.

A dazzling light burst forth, followed by a figure.

The newcomer was clad head to toe in a magnificent suit of armor. A blue glintstone was set into the center of the armor, surrounded by gemstones. Behind him hung a finely embroidered blue cape.

He held a knight's straight sword embedded with glintstone in his left hand, while his right carried a medium-sized teardrop-shaped shield, also set with a gemstone at its center.

This outfit was downright flashy... handsome.

Lu Mingfei looked at him, then at his own battered Kaiden Armor and Godrick Soldier Gauntlets...

Then he looked back at him.

Silence fell over them.

The splendid knight removed his helmet, revealing red hair and a youthful face that looked about Lu Mingfei's age. With a gentle smile, he said:

"Hello. I am Knight Emiya Shirou of Caria. I aspire to become an 'ally of justice,' and I have answered your summons to this world. Tell me, are you the friend who called for help?"