Are You Showing Off to Me?

Germany, Alpine region.

This area lay in the southern part of Germany, but due to the terrain being high in the south and low in the north, its average winter temperature was only -6°C. Generally speaking, few people settled here.

In a mountain range, two figures were struggling through the bitter wind.

Or perhaps only one of them was struggling?

"Mō-san, can't you put that Constant Temperature Magecraft on me too? This damn place can literally freeze someone to death," one of the figures said, tightening his overcoat. He was Kirie Sakuragi, whom Brishisan had entrusted to accompany Li Mo.

He no longer looked like a bare-chested man in black sunglasses. Instead, he was wrapped tightly in a heavy overcoat, with a white fur hat on his head, shivering all over from the cold.

"Nnn... no..." Li Mo dragged out the words, fully stirring up Sakuragi's emotions before suddenly shaking his head and rejecting the proposal.

"The human body constantly releases heat through movement. My Constant Temperature Magecraft has to account not only for maintaining body temperature, but also for the amount of heat the body releases. It's already pretty good that I can use it on myself. How could I possibly add another one for you?"

Hehe, just keep wearing that penguin coat. One handsome guy was enough~

"You..." Sakuragi stared at him dumbfounded. If you couldn't do it, why did you tell me all that?

Fine, you've got a Fire Attribute, so you're amazing!

"What kind of shitty family builds a castle in a place like this?!" After glancing enviously at Li Mo, Sakuragi complained about the damned Einzbern family a few times, pulled his coat tighter, lowered his head in resignation, and continued onward.

Li Mo curled his lips into a smile as he thought of the Einzbern castle they were heading for. As the inheriting family of the mighty Third Magic, had the Einzbern family dwindled to so few members because they had built their ancestral grounds too far away?

After all, in a place as barren as the Alps, where not even a bird could be found, wouldn't they be unable to find anyone at all if they wanted wives?

Otherwise, perhaps they had made those doll sisters too beautiful, so they simply stopped thinking about girlfriends?

Back in the main world, Li Mo had seen news about people from some bizarre country marrying virtual characters...

Li Mo had really gotten it wrong this time. The reason the Einzbern family had built their home in such an uninhabited place was simply that their inherited magecraft was easier to practice there. After all, magi couldn't exactly appear openly in the public eye, could they?

Otherwise, the Mage Association, which followed the principle of "Thou Shalt Conceal," would probably be the first to wipe out the Einzbern family.

As for why the family had dwindled to so few members, jokes aside, Li Mo did have a somewhat more reliable guess in mind, but it was not something he could say aloud.

At last, after crossing a mountain ridge, a castle that nearly blended into the silver-white snow of the mountains appeared before them.

"We're finally here!" Sakuragi exhaled a cloud of white vapor, and several icicles hanging from his beard trembled before falling to the ground.

Magi weren't cockroaches. Where would they get the ability to keep adapting to their surroundings?

Turning his head, Sakuragi gave Li Mo a solemn look. "Have you figured out what we're going to do?"

The commission details he had received only told him that Li Mo was going to return an item and might come into conflict with the other side. As for what exactly he was returning and how he planned to return it, he had no idea.

Li Mo looked at the distant castle, blinked, and smiled. "Since we've already made it this far, the Einzbern family has probably noticed us long ago. Since they haven't attacked, we should take the initiative to speak with them and directly state why we're here."

Since they weren't speaking first, they could just take the initiative.

Though he had actually wanted to charge straight in, doing that apparently meant he would not get to see little Illya.

Besides, who knew whether Kiritsugu Emiya was here? If he did not first figure out the situation, what if Kiritsugu hid in the back and suddenly shot him?

After walking forward a few steps, Li Mo puffed out his chest, drew a deep breath, and shouted, "Li Mo, disciple of Lord Britisang of the Clock Tower's Department of Lore, has come at another's request to visit your esteemed grounds! Please open a gap in the barrier!"

Sakuragi was startled and hurriedly looked around at the snowy ground. There was a barrier in this damn place, and he had not even noticed it?

Who exactly was supposed to be protecting whom here?!

Ignoring Sakuragi's helpless expression, Li Mo saw that the distant castle had not responded and shouted again, "The person beside me is also a student of the Clock Tower. We truly mean no harm. Please make things convenient for us!"

Make things convenient...

Convenient...

Li Mo's echo drifted through the distant valley, making Sakuragi's mouth twitch.

That way of speaking really carried the flavor of that Eastern country...

Before Sakuragi could complain, a voice suddenly came from the distant castle. "Young one of the Clock Tower, who sent you to visit us?"

Li Mo chuckled. The other side had responded. Since they had responded, that meant they could still communicate.

"It's a complicated matter. That senior merely asked me to return an item. He did not say anything else!" Li Mo's expression turned serious as he pretended with complete sincerity that he knew nothing.

After all, that Grand Marshal had said he wanted to observe Li Mo's performance. If Li Mo acted like he knew everything, how could he satisfy the old man's twisted sense of fun?

He would just humor that empty-nester old man and pretend not to know what he was thinking!

Li Mo did not have to wait long. After another "Very well" came from the distant castle, a film of light resembling a dome around the castle gradually appeared in the air. Then, the section before Li Mo and Sakuragi seemed to corrode away, slowly opening into a small door.

"Tch, as expected of one of the Three Great Families that produced a Magician. This barrier is nearly on par with the Department of Lore's," Li Mo said with a smile, unsure whether he was praising the Einzbern family or showing off, as he stepped directly through the light door before him.

Sakuragi stood in the snow, hesitated briefly, then immediately followed Li Mo through the light door.

To be honest, as a magus from a family that existed outside the Mage Association, he had truly never seen a magecraft barrier of such scale. Although he had studied at the Clock Tower before, when would something like a barrier ever be entrusted to someone like him...

Even with Sakuragi's steady temperament, he was looking at Li Mo with envy now.

Having a good teacher really was great!

Of course, Li Mo did not know that. He had only wanted to show off a little before the Einzbern family. Who would have thought Sakuragi would be impressed first?

After entering the light door, Li Mo blinked. What a fucking grand display!

From the entrance of the distant castle all the way to where Li Mo stood, two rows of maids stood ramrod straight, staring intently at the two of them with unreadable expressions, as if they might suddenly pounce at any moment.

But pouncing while dressed as maids... no matter how he thought about it, wasn't that image just strange?

Li Mo took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and strode down the path between the maids as a hundred thousand alpacas stampeded through his heart.

I've wanted a doll for so long, and you people are showing off to me?!