Xyrin Empire
Chapter 480: Is This Considered Intruding?

Chapter 480: Chapter 480: Is This Considered Intruding?

After returning to the real world from Avalon, it was deep into the night, speckled with countless stars and a leisurely cold moon, making the collapsed Emiya Mansion appear somewhat bizarre under the night sky, yet it remained tranquil.

The master of the mansion, Emiya Shirou, and his Servant, Saber, were standing at the entrance of the dojo. As we had agreed beforehand, neither of them had stepped inside until the dojo door was pushed open from within, which was when they came forward to greet.

"Has Tohsaka already left?"

Not seeing the red-clad twintailed Miss Tohsaka, although I had already confirmed it, I still casually asked.

"She left quite a while ago, considering it’s already this late."

Emiya nodded, then couldn’t wait to ask, "What about Sakura? How is she now?"

Previously, we had only mentioned that we could help remove the Engraving Worms from Makoto Sakura’s body and heal her thoroughly damaged physique, but we hadn’t told him the details. Naturally, Emiya was anxious as he didn’t see Sakura come out with us.

"She’s in a very safe place now," I reassured Emiya with a wave of my hand, "She’s undergoing treatment using our technology, and no one should disturb her during this time. However, it shouldn’t take more than a few days. But what about you? How are you doing?"

"What do you mean, ’How am I doing?’" Emiya blinked, puzzled. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"What are you planning to do now? Study swordsmanship with Saber all night, achieve Golden Core Success the next day, and then on the third day ride the Five-Colored Auspicious Cloud to wipe out the Makoto Family?"

"Although I don’t know what you’re talking about, it sounds pretty bad..."

Emiya Shirou listened to me dumbfounded; then, breaking out in a cold sweat, he responded.

Seeing the look in his eyes, I was slightly surprised to find that this guy seemed to have changed a bit.

Embracing the idea of becoming a Justice Partner and seriously considering it as his life goal, this naive ideal seemed extremely childish at first glance. However, if you knew that he not only adhered to this idea for life but ultimately fought for it and became a Guardian on Alaya’s side, achieving Heroic Spirit-level accomplishments, this determination could hardly be described as naive.

That’s an even more outrageous single-minded, absentminded spirit than a Xyrin Apostle!

Alright, the above statement is actually a compliment—do you believe it?

A single-minded person, once they persist, is always formidable. The Xyrin Apostle, once as weak as any Mortal Race and unable to comprehend failure, ascended to the realm of gods, and Emiya, with his human body, became a Heroic Spirit by embodying justice in his soul. This all is the effect of being single-minded. Therefore, seeing Emiya now actively trying to become stronger, I wouldn’t underestimate his current tiny progress and effort, however pitiful they might look.

Moreover, I faintly sensed that this Emiya was slightly different from the original story. Although he still possessed the irredeemable good-natured personality, this one in front of me seemed more decisive and goal-oriented, perhaps a subtle change caused by knowing about Sakura’s situation earlier. I didn’t know whether the "Ultimate Justice" ideology he believed in would change or even be negated by himself, but at least for now, this real-world version of Emiya looked much more pleasing than the one in the original story.

"Keep trying, young man," I patted Emiya’s shoulder, a flash of bright white at the corner of my mouth, "But at this moment, it seems you should rest."

Sandora immediately tugged at my sleeve, looking pitifully as she spoke, "But Ah Jun, I haven’t had dinner yet..."

Was all that fruit you ate in Avalon just a snack?

And, how should I put it, it seemed just as Sandora uttered the words ’dinner,’ a certain youngster, who claimed to aim to become a Justice Envoy and boldy planned to save all of humanity, suddenly crumpled completely, even twitching in his calves, preparing to flee.

"Hey, young Emiya, what’s the deal with your reaction! Don’t you even look a bit like a hero who saves the world? Is this consistent with your original protagonist style? Don’t get scared by a blonde girl’s words so easily! Wow the audience, wake up, and go cook for my girlfriend!"

"Okay, sorry, I apologize. Sandora’s dinner is indeed terrifying enough to make anyone turn tail and run. As the host, Emiya, you’ve done well to endure till now."

"It’s already past ten at night, Tsuruya and the Pandora Sisters must be too sleepy to stay awake and have gone back to sleep. Plus, seeing the Emiya Mansion in its post-disaster state, it’s downright cruel to ask the victim, Mr. Emiya, to endure physical and mental trauma and cook dinner for a treasury-level Glutton—Sandora, in less than two days, has already eaten what would usually be a whole month’s worth of groceries for Emiya, and to avoid a patriotic young man from going bankrupt and starving to death due to a Glutton, after giving Emiya a heads-up, I decisively took Sandora out to find food."

"Um, Ah Jun, I want to start with several tables of the Manchu Han Imperial Feast..."

Rubbing her stomach as she hadn’t eaten dinner on time, the Queen Hereinafter made a request that could bring a man to tears.

It’s terrifying to have such a girlfriend without the support of the Empire’s logistics.

But how should I put it—if she doesn’t make special requests, Sandora is actually quite easy to raise.

Though her appetite is horrifying, the good thing about Sandora is she’s not picky about food—oh, she’s very unselective. This girl, who could munch her way through the periodic table of elements, will eat anything and doesn’t care about nutritional value. If I didn’t pamper her, I reckon I could just throw her into a vast grassland, let her forage freely during the day, and merely round her up and comfort her in the evening, and she’d still survive...

Err, if there’s no grassland, just throwing her onto an uninhabited planet might also work, as long as I quickly retrieve her when the gravitational constant of the planet starts plummeting.

Should I call this the free-range Sandora rearing plan?

"Ah Jun, why do I feel like you’re thinking about a lot of very rude things?"

Sandora suddenly stopped walking, slightly tilting her head, and said in a rather dangerous tone.

"Nothing much, I was just thinking about what would be appropriate for your dinner!" I said calmly, though cold sweat whooshed behind my head.

God help me, there wasn’t a single false word in that statement! I really was considering that just now.

"Um, really?" Sandora, who’s always trusted anything I say, naively nodded in agreement and suddenly discovered something as if she had found a new continent. She grabbed my arm and ran in one direction, "Ah Jun! There really is food up ahead!"

I was almost flung into mid-air by Sandora but managed to catch up with the Queen, who now had nothing but food on her mind, and finally focused ahead where I discovered, to no surprise, a small barbecue stall still open at a corner of the street.

Because there were many residents nearby and an open-late cinema, it was quite common for one or two barbecue stalls to be open until 11 p.m. However, meeting a girl who’s always been a perfect, polite miss at such a stall was unexpected.

"Rin!" I greeted her, while Sandora beside me couldn’t wait and urged the stall owner to fire up all the ingredients for her.

"Wow, alien... cough, cough," Miss Tohsaka almost let slip a forbidden word and choked, coughing violently before catching her breath, "Is that Mr. Chen? Are you having barbecue this late?"

I turned helplessly to Sandora who was already grinding her teeth, "My girlfriend was hungry."

Then Miss Tohsaka solemnly acknowledged with an "Oh."

"But what about you, holding such a status and eating barbecue nearly at 11 p.m. outside, is that really okay?"

"I just suddenly felt like getting some fresh air, and happened to see this barbecue stand," Tohsaka Rin said nonchalantly. However, as she raised the skewered meat in her hand, she still seemed a bit embarrassed. After all, being used to showing a perfect facade in front of people, it was quite embarrassing for her to be caught with her mouth greasy at a nighttime barbecue stand.

Moreover, it was clear that she wasn’t telling the whole truth, perhaps not because she was wary of me being an "alien," but because she didn’t want the ordinary barbecue uncle to get involved.

Just as I thought of the barbecue uncle, his voice rang beside us, filled with serious confusion and doubt, as if his entire worldview had just been flipped: "This customer..."

I could almost guess what he wanted to say, so I responded without even looking up: "Whatever this girl wants, just grill it for her, she can eat it all."

Uncle Barbecue’s tone was filled with sorrow: "It’s not that, this young lady just happened to bite through a stainless steel plate..."

I turned around in shock. Sandora, with the severely deformed plate, now even missing a small chunk, turned back to smile brightly at me.

Oh no! This silly girl is used to eating plates before meals at home!!

I couldn’t clearly remember what expression the barbecue uncle ultimately wore as he saw us troublemakers off. I ended up buying the plate that Sandora had bitten through, as I dared not imagine what the uncle’s reaction would be when he discovered that the stainless steel plate was missing a chunk and not just a few bite marks. Holding enough barbecue to stuff two people, Sandora walked with us in a quiet park at night, her carefree smile unwavering, which made Tohsaka, who had come along, keep an expression of disbelief throughout.

When one first met Sandora, her noble and elegant demeanor was ingrained in one’s memory. Even Tohsaka, who had been schooled by a true noble family, had been deeply impressed by just a glance from Sandora. But compared to her usual distant and aloof demeanor in front of others, her completely collapsed image when starting to eat was perhaps even more memorable.

"Coming out so late, it must be for more than just clearing your mind, right?"

I glanced at the silent Tohsaka Rin next to me and spoke with a casual tone, while slightly vibrating my spiritual power. The energy around us immediately became chaotic, revealing the invisibly spiritualized Archer with a surprised look.

"Invisibility and snooping are the patents of aliens." Facing the disgruntled look of the man in the red windbreaker, I lightly retorted, and then Tohsaka immediately complained, "Don’t mention it, ever since I learned that aliens often secretly take photos on Earth, I couldn’t sleep at all that night!"

I responded with a silly laugh, sorry Miss, I’ve caused you too much stress.

"Because Archer discovered something here, we came to investigate."

Considering there was no conflict of interest and she was more or less on our side now, Tohsaka didn’t keep me in doubt for long regarding what she meant by "discovered something," which was likely the traces of activity by hostile magicians.

According to Tohsaka, she and Archer had been wandering around here at night, but until now, they had come up empty.

It seems that even outside the chaotic and joyful daily life at Emiya Mansion, the turbulent undercurrents of the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City never truly ceased. How much these currents had subtly changed since our arrival, that remained unknown.

"Being a magician must be really tough,"

My exclamation was completely heartfelt and unfeigned. If she had been a normal girl, at Tohsaka Rin’s age she would probably still be peacefully studying in school, experiencing her parents’ love at home, occasionally going out to shop and frolic with friends. But instead, the young girl in front of me was bearing the entire burden of her family and struggling in the potentially deadly Holy Grail War. Though her home already had a bunch of lollipop-sucking heads coming out to save the world, I still thought Tohsaka was pretty incredible.

"It’s funny, isn’t it? The way you see humans."

Tohsaka Rin suddenly came out with this remark, seemingly having thought of something.

"You can tell how strong your Technology Power is―although it’s strange for a magician to say this, even powerful Heroic Spirits can’t handle the children among you, and Human Civilization as a whole probably doesn’t seem much more sophisticated than a paramecium to you, right? But no matter how ridiculous it seems to you, it has great significance to me."

"I think you’ve misunderstood..." I quickly explained, but just as I began to speak, a surge of energy fluctuations from afar interrupted what I was about to say.

Exchanging a glance with Sandora, we immediately activated our Space Invisibility Field and folded Tohsaka and Archer into the Space Rift as well.

Although Tohsaka didn’t know what the suddenly appearing transparent barrier was or how effective the invisibility it provided could be, the rapidly approaching enemy obviously didn’t allow her any more time to hide. Trusting in our strength, she had no choice but to stay put and vigilantly watch the north direction.

A small, blurry dot was rapidly enlarging from there, and in an instant, it was less than a hundred meters in front of us—a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl wearing a simple pink dress and sporting just-shoulder-length golden hair, her face full of arrogance.

The only thing that didn’t match her cute appearance was the vast magic power she emitted in an instant, undeniable, or perhaps not even deigned to conceal. The magic power emanating from the nameless girl almost made the nearby air congeal.

"Strange, why is no one here?"

Relying on amazing hearing... well, actually, thanks to an invisible listening device floating right beside that wild girl’s mouth, we clearly heard her mumbling to herself. Obviously, she had been aware of our presence from the start and had come our way, but now, due to the effects of the invisibility field, she had lost sight of her target.

"Who is this girl?"

While gnawing on a skewer, Sandora asked through a spiritual connection, not so much as a means of battlefield communication, but more so she didn’t have to stop eating while talking.

"Heaven knows." I could only respond like this. Although I knew much more about the plot than Sandora, it seemed that there wasn’t such a girl in the original story, right?

Err, wait, maybe not necessarily nonexistent. A terrible association just flashed through my mind momentarily.

The nameless wild girl looked around and saw neither the shadow of an enemy nor any fluctuations in energy. She immediately showed an extremely furious expression, stomping her foot heavily as she exclaimed, "Damn! It’s all that idiot gunman’s fault! How dare he deceive the king; that peasant must die ten thousand deaths when I get back!"

The king? That kind of catchphrase sounds like...

No way, has this world really gone mad?

Dingdang above! Don’t tell me that the fiery-haired dummy, who’s only one meter sixty with frizzy hair sticking up, is the Golden Shining! Damn it, this was supposed to be a very serious and impassioned savior-themed sci-fi novel!

But, I really hate this word now, but, it seems like today fate is determined to mess with me. Hardly had a suspicion about Golden Shining hooked my desire to ridicule her when another exasperating thing happened unexpectedly.

A piercing scream—not mistaken, that kind of high-pitched scream of a massive body slicing through the air rapidly in the atmosphere. Other than that one time, I’ve heard this sound twice now!

Fucking hell, another landing pod, is there not! Where did this landing pod come from now!

An instinctive urge to vent burst forth in my mind, almost making me physically flip an imaginary coffee table. Yet, what was even more table-flipping was the urgent call that rang in my mind right after, coming from Shadow Base: "Reporting, Commander! An emergency has occurred!"

"Speak, Sivis, I can handle it."

"Little Baobao secretly climbed into a New Eden Federation battlecruiser being repaired at the spaceport, then the whole battlecruiser was suddenly started and rushed into the World Gate!"

At that moment, I was in tears, but still managed to calm myself down to reassure the probably chaotic Imperial Capital Governors on the other side, "No worries, that silly kid has already come over; just let me know if that battlecruiser will follow and fall from outer space to Fuyuki City..." (Continued, to find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com, with more Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)