A Difficult Task: Returning Avalon

"To become my disciple, you must first complete a task."

Li Mo and Brishisan were both startled. They turned toward the source of the voice, only to find that an old man was somehow already seated in a chair in the corner!

"Zelretch?" Brishisan remained silent, while Li Mo asked tentatively out of curiosity.

The old man nodded and said, "That's right. It is I!"

The old man wore a black robe, with short dark-gray hair. His beard stretched from his chin all the way up to his sideburns. He was precisely the Second Magician Li Mo had once seen in illustrations from the main world!

Li Mo scratched his head, not feeling afraid in the slightest as he asked directly, "What task?"

It was the final step. Did Li Mo still have anything to fear?

Apparently appreciating Li Mo's decisiveness, Zelretch nodded in satisfaction. "I need you to return something for me."

Return something?

That simple?

Li Mo was stunned, inwardly grumbling, Could this old man have taken a liking to me long ago and just found some random task as a formality?

Then Zelretch's next words immediately shattered someone's narcissism.

The Grand Marshal flicked his hand and pulled out an ornate Sword Sheath from nowhere. "I borrowed this from a certain family for research years ago. I've finished studying it now. Your task is to return it for me."

Silence spread through the room.

Why? Because Li Mo recognized that Sword Sheath.

It was the sheath of the sword Merlin had asked the Lady of the Lake for before giving it to the legendary King of Knights of Britain—the Sword of Promised Victory.

The sheath known as the Everlasting Land in the legends of King Arthur, crowned with the name of the fairy realm; the Noble Phantasm of an ideal land far removed from the mortal world—Avalon, the Distant Utopia.

But damn it, this was something the Einzbern family had excavated and treated as a family heirloom!

Even if you were a living Magician, would they really lend it to you?

Could it have been stolen?

Li Mo fell silent. The Grand Marshal's task truly was not as easy as it had sounded.

If he ran into people who knew nothing and foolishly returned it like this, wouldn't he get beaten to death by that nest of Einzbern dolls?

Zelretch glanced at Brishisan, who had remained silent ever since he appeared, before shifting his gaze to Li Mo. "Well? Are you taking this task or not?"

"I'll do it!" After weighing the pros and cons, Li Mo gritted his teeth and accepted.

The Einzbern family's Magician had long since died, while a genuine Magician stood before him now—and it was even the Second Magic he had dreamed of. What reason did he have to refuse?

They were just a bunch of combat dolls, anyway. At worst, he could go all out and use Mana Burst to wipe them out. Then there would be no one left to accept the Sword Sheath even if he wanted to return it!

No, no. If he wiped them all out, would his adorable little Illya still have a chance to be born?

Li Mo rubbed his head as he pondered whether his little darling had even been born yet...

But Illya seemed to be a doll too, so perhaps "born" was not the right word?

Putting that aside for now, he wondered whether that Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, had been recruited by the Einzbern family yet...

To be honest, Li Mo did feel somewhat guilty whenever Kiritsugu Emiya was mentioned.

Leaving aside his utterly un-Magus-like fighting style, where he would stop at nothing, his "Origin Bullets," made from his own ribs, had even pierced Director Ken's prized Mage's Garb, Lunar Tear!

With 365 Magic Circuits, could Li Mo take a few more hits?

He did not want to try, nor did he dare to.

Since the Grand Marshal had stolen it, perhaps Li Mo could secretly put the Sword Sheath back too?

The moment the thought arose, Li Mo shook his head. The more he considered it, the more unreliable it seemed.

The old man could use the Second Magic to travel everywhere. Could Li Mo?

Since he could not, he had better honestly think of another way!

"Here. Your target is the German headquarters of the Einzbern family, one of the Three Great Families." Without giving Li Mo time to think further, Zelretch tossed the Sword Sheath to him and even specified where it was to be returned.

Li Mo caught the Sword Sheath, unable to find the words as he rolled his eyes at him.

Tch, did he really need to say that? The moment he took out the Sword Sheath, Li Mo already knew, all right?!

For some reason, Zelretch did not mind. Instead, he twisted his wrinkled face into a strange grin and laughed. "Then I'll be waiting to see your performance."

With that, he turned around and instantly vanished from the sight of the two men.

Only after the eccentric Magician left did Brishisan, who had been silent ever since his appearance, finally speak. Turning toward Li Mo, he asked with a worried expression, "What happened? Is the task difficult?"

Li Mo gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "How should I put it? It is difficult, but it isn't."

Brishisan froze, asking in surprise, "What do you mean?"

Li Mo raised the Sword Sheath in his hand and began grumbling about the Grand Marshal. "See this Sword Sheath? Avalon, the Distant Utopia—the sheath of the king's sword from the legends of the King of Knights.

"But it isn't merely a Sword Sheath. It can block all physical interference, and even the Five Magics are ineffective against it. In other words, whoever holds this Sword Sheath will never be harmed. How did that legendary King of Knights die? Wasn't it because she lost this thing?"

With that, Li Mo sighed. His face turned pale as he continued, "But this thing was later excavated by the Einzbern family, and they even made it their family heirloom."

Hearing this, Brishisan's expression changed. He looked at Li Mo with utter disbelief.

Li Mo sighed. "You were right, Teacher. This thing might have been stolen from the Einzbern family by that Grand Marshal..."

It felt as if a thousand alpacas were stampeding through his heart. Li Mo had the distinct feeling that he had used up an entire lifetime's worth of sighs today!

Brishisan was dumbfounded. It really had been stolen?

Well, that great man did seem to have some rather bad habits when it came to his personal conduct...

Brishisan shook his head helplessly and asked Li Mo, "What about the Einzbern family? That rundown family is practically extinct already. Surely they aren't worth making you sigh over?"

Ignorance truly was bliss. Before the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kiritsugu Emiya had already achieved a record of thirty-seven Magus kills with his special "Origin Bullet"!

But there was no helping it—Brishisan was his teacher, after all. Li Mo still had to explain patiently. He shook his head and said, "I'm not worried about those old, weak, sick, and crippled people in the Einzbern family. I'm worried about another person they roped in through marriage—the man known in the Mage Association as the Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya!"

Yet Brishisan merely shook his head, indicating that he had never heard of him.

Li Mo smiled bitterly. Why did it feel like his teacher had never heard of anything besides magical knowledge...?

But... perhaps Kiritsugu Emiya really had not become famous yet?

Which also meant that guy might not have joined the Einzbern family yet?

"Ha..." Li Mo let out another sigh.

Whether Kiritsugu Emiya was there or not, didn't he still have to make this trip?