"By the way, Naofumi-san, I think I was wrong." Sakura-chan explained, her pretty face wrinkling a little as she frowned. "You are the one in the most danger. I'll explain more when we are back from the armoury, but it looks like they don't like you. Or rather, they don't like the shield."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Sakura-chan supported her right elbow on her left hand and rubbed at the bridge of her nose with her right hand's fingers. Cute and bouncy! "They are conspiring against all of us, but you seem to be their first target. Just... be careful, alright?"

"Aren't you exaggerating a little, Sakura-chan?"

I understand that the world she comes from seems to be a rather dark place, but I think she is allowing it to bias her opinion of our surroundings. Such a beautiful flower shouldn't have to worry about its surroundings, it should grow beautiful and free, basking in the glory of its own beauty and...!

"Motoyasu-san, they are planning on flooding your party with women to make sure you stay in the country, you know?"

"E-eh?"

"They are planning to get pregnant as soon as they can..."

I am sorry, what?

"As for Ren and myself, they are choosing 'companions' based on politics. I am fairly sure they will try to keep us isolated and nitpick at what we are allowed to see and whom we are able to talk to..."

She lifts her hand and then one finger. Ah, the way she stands straight when she is teaching really helps draw your attention.

"First, they'd like nothing more than to copy our [Legendary Weapons]"

Another finger comes up.

"But second, having the heroes that saved the world take residence in their country would, by itself, be a strong card for international negotiation. You need to remember, we will grow strong enough we are expected to protect the world."

And a third finger...

"Thirdly, having us fight for them would be ideal." She explains. "Just... be careful. I am spreading magical sensors throughout the castle, so I'll let you know the moment I learn anything new. Well, even if I have eyes everywhere, I need to focus to see through them. I'm not omniscient nor able to hold thirty plus different points of view, keep track of as many conversations and still function. I'll just... try and listen for anything important."

She turned around and, how did that go? I hate to see you go, but I love to see you leaving.

The shadow she had covered the room with retreated under her as if sucked in by a beautiful black hole, and the room went back to normal.

She opened the door and greeted the guards outside.

~O~

Sakura-nee has to be wrong. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. This world is the world of my favourite game, so I am quite familiar with its story, and it never went into political stuff. You just fight the waves as you level up, and the spirit beasts are late game content, with interesting time-limited quests popping up every month to keep things fresh.

The king is a rather absent figure. All he does is welcome new players and give them the speech about the waves and the situation of the world. True, you don't start with companions in the game, but some stuff had to be different in order to keep the game challenging, while a real world would obviously work by different rules.

I mean, who hasn't broken a jar to get some rupees and wondered 'I am saving the world, why do I need to go around like a thief?'. Of course, real people would want you to be as safe and effective as possible, so of course they'd be providing us with guides and companions. I guess a subplot where one of your companions is actually being controlled by evil is actually common enough, but after fighting them three times, they come back to your side with a new class, such as 'Dark Knight' or 'Succubus'.

Sadly, these characters are almost always weaker than when they were fighting you, though. Well, in the end, nearly everyone in your party can be trusted. It only makes sense after all. They live in this world too, so they want you to successfully save it.

Eh, we're here already?

The castle's armory. Well, in a word, its organised. Rows of kite shields, bows, swords, spears, halberds, maces and daggers, you name it. Plenty of armours in leather and metal, too. Ah, but the variety is lacking. I guess it should have been obvious, an army would have standarized gear, so if any weapon breaks it can be immediately replaced, and its user will be just as proficient with its new weapon as he was with the previous one, after all.

Still, I already copied the [Knight Longsword], so there's not much else I can get from this room. Ah, let's copy the dagger and two-handed sword. There, that's two more sword shapes.

Motoyasu-san got a halberd and jousting lance, while Naofumi-san got a large round shield and a tower shield. Sakura-nee got a heavy crossbow and a long bow as new shapes for her [Legendary Weapon], and then we were done. Perhaps we should have explained what we needed and just have them bring new weapons to our room instead.

"Excuse me?" I address the closest knight. "We can copy different weapons, so could you arrange for a variety of weapons to be available tomorrow morning? We won't be taking them. All we need to do is touch them, and that would be all."

"Yes, hero-sama!" He holds his hand to his chest and nods.

~O~

Once we left the armoury and made our way back to the rooms, I excused myself from the gentlemen's presence and had the female knight guide me to my own room. I had finished placing magical sensors all over the castle, and would need peace and quiet in order to make sense of the information they feed me, even while accelerating the speed of my thoughts and ability to process information. To describe it in simple terms, I was present in over eighty rooms and trying to make sense of everything in a coherent manner, which was just impossible while also keeping track of conversation with my fellow transmigrators.

Having said that, I did leave a sensor in their room, of course, but was actively trying to avoid peeking as they washed and changed clothes for the night. Really.

Well, as soon as I walked into the room, the first thing I did was to peek out from every shadow large enough to hold a person until I found the Kabuki theatrestagehand-lookalikes hiding in a passage on the roof and the northern wall, then had the shadows swallow and spit them back out on the hallway.

I wonder if I should start throwing them out of the castle... maybe from second-floor height next time, then work my way up until they stop.

Just in case they felt like coming back, I dimmed the lights and had the shadows grow and overlap. In this kind of shadow-rich room, I'm basically undetectable enough neither Shirou or Rider could spot me. Well, that led to the forbidden laundry room incident that caused nee-san to turn into a hardcore fan of 'lights-on' sex. Its forbidden to talk about it in her presence. Which makes it excellent tease material.

Obviously.

And so, I started focusing on each sensor in turn, 'closing' the ones in empty rooms first, then the ones in hallways (minus the one outside our rooms), and so on until only a few remained, letting me peek on what seemed to be relevant conversations.

Well, I also had an active sensor in the kitchens, because I'm not going to pass on the chance to learn a recipe Shirou doesn't has so I can one-up him in the kitchen.

Hmm~ they are already planning to throw Naofumi-san out into the streets with nothing but his underwear, though I missed out on exactly how... well, let's just keep in mind that whatever happens tomorrow, at least they're not planning to kill him.

Now let's try and experiment a little.

Ever since that time we all go dragged along with Shirou into another world, he's been giving me fencing lessons, though nee-san is of the opinion I should just run away and keep throwing magic at the problem to make it go away... well, the simple truth is that I like spending time with hubby, so I am quite happy about it. And that led to this.

"My will is absolute. My shadow shall become my sword."

The shadows under me flow up to the palm of my hand, coalesce into an orb, and take the shape of a bow. It is a lacquered bamboo bow in shape and name, but nothing more. It is a mass of shadow with barely any substance, yet it exists. For a while, anyway.

I wonder if this world will actually try and erode its existence? I guess it will be interesting to keep it around and see what happens, I- ouch!

An electric shock starts running up my arm. Naturally, it causes my hand to clench the shadow bow all the tighter. Its not stopping even as I curl up in pain.

[Rules Violation – The Hero cannot wield other weapons.]

"I'm not wielding it, you idiot, I'm just holding it so you can copy it!"

A number of things happen at the same time. The Kabuki stagehand-impostor that had come into the room to try and look for me (it was amusing to see her (him?) walk right past me a couple of times) jump and stiffen as she realises I've been there the entire time. The one in the air duct hits the back of his head hard enough to whimper. The shock stops and I drop the bow into the bed, then look at the black-wearing person standing next to me while holding my now singed hand and channelling shadows into it to cool and mend the flesh. Shirou's body would have automatically produced swords. I have to consciously channel shadows, but at least mine doesn't hurt.

"Anything to say?" I ask her (him?)

The... uhmm... I'm going to call her Kabuki. I'll come up with a name for the other one later. Kabuki stands up straight, bows and awkwardly lets herself out of the room.

All the same, I give her a magic tracker, then have the shadows swallow her and her counterpart before I drop them out of the castle from third floor height. I'm aware that I am taking my pain out on them, but a trained adult won't die from just that. They may get a twisted ankle, though.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

I stare at the [Legendary Bow], knowing I'm being petty for getting angry with a [Mystic Code] for following its directives, but it could have at least waited until confirming I was actually planning to use it in a fight. I mean, it didn't complain when I copied the weapons in the armory or handed weapons to the other heroes earlier, so it really has no valid excuses.

[A Legendary Weapon was following the rules.]

'I can play with lightning too, you know?' I have shadowlight arc between the fingers of my other hand. 'I think its only fair you have a taste of your own medicine, wouldn't you agree?'

[A Legendary Weapon is indestructible.]

'That's great. It doesn't means it won't hurt, though.'

I lower my hand slowly towards the [Holy Bow], making a show of wiggling my fingers as cold shadow lightning arcs and flows over them.

[A Legendary Weapon is indestructible!]

'Isn't that nice? It means we can play like this all night.'

~O~

"Do you think Sakura-chan is right?" Motoyasu asks while laying face up on his bed

"About? I don't think we have enough knowledge to agree or disagree with anything she said. I want to believe she is wrong about many things, though. It would suck to have to live while keeping everyone at arm's length."

"I don't think Sakura-nee would lie to us."

"We are not calling her a liar. Just saying that she may be wrong. I mean, these people need us to save their world, right? Why would they want to hamper us and make it harder for us to succeed?"

"Hm."

We've already changed and gone to bed, but are obviously a bit too excited to fall asleep.

"So, what else? Is there a pet system? Is it practical, or cosmetic only? What about mounts?"

"Yes." I always wanted to answer like that, once.

"Yes there are, and there are mounts?"

"Yes."

"Are they practical, or cosmetic?"

"Well, according to Sakura-nee, we shouldn't think of this world as a game, right? I guess a dragon mount could do battle if you teach it to."

The kingdom knights can ride around in lesser dragons, so maybe we could get one each? Ah but it may be too much to ask, trying to get one for every party member... yeah, I guess that's too much.

'Ren, you're such a good kid.'

"S-sakura-nee!?" Its a good thing I was laying down. "Where are you!?"

"Eh, Sakura-chan?" Motoyasu sits at the edge of the bed and looks at me. "Ren, what is it?"

'I'm using a spell to talk directly into your mind.'

"Telepathy... that feels more sci-fi than magic-like, Sakura-nee."

Both Naofumi and Motoyasu are now looking at me.

"Wait, seriously, Ren? That's pretty awesome. Sakura-san, can you hear us?"

'I can, but not through the mind link. I left a magical sensor in the room. My point of view is from slightly over the wardrobe against the north wall.'

"Its complicated." I reply to skip over the pointless stuff.

'Ren-kun, quietly walk to the door and open it all at once.'

"Really, Sakura-nee?"

'Let's show them the heroes are not that easy to spy on.'

"...alright."

Sure enough, two maids and a guard fall into the room as soon.

"Could you please not?"

"S-sorry, Ren-sama!"

They hurry to get up and get out.

'There's also a Kabuki stagehand-lookalike hiding behind a fake wall. I think you need to move the wardrobe...'

"I'm on it."

Sure enough, there was a person dressed in all black behind the wardrobe.

'Tell him...' Sakura-nee, what have you been up to?

"You can walk out the front door, or you can learn to fly."

The person in black bows and walks out the front door. A few moments later, a second spy joins the first outside the door.

'That was it. I just wanted to make sure you had some privacy. Also, Ren-kun, the [Holy Bow] gave me an electric shock when I tried holding another weapon.'

"Eh? But it was fine earlier?"

'This was a bow. I think it got jealous. Its alright, we've been patching things up. Have a good night, Ren-kun.'

"Good night, Sakura-nee."

Both Naofumi and Motoyasu look at me as if I was a weird bug. Its not my fault that Sakura-nee is a wiz- a magus, alright? Besides, she just wanted to make sure we weren't being spied on. Ah, but I'm not going to tell them that Sakura-nee can still watch and hear into the room. I'll just make sure to wash and change clothes out of her field of view.

"Sakura-nee said goodnight. She's gone."

"That woman is kind of scary." Comments Motoyasu. "I just got the weirdest fear boner..."

"Ugh, man, what the hell!? Too much information!"

"Sorry. You have to admit, she's a 9 out of 10, though."

"I assume that being married costs her a point in the Motoyasu scale?"

"Nah, it pumps her up from an 8, you know? I mean, experienced women are so much better in bed. You don't have to try and live up to a virgin's inflated pink-tinted expectations, and they know how to please a man, so..."

I really should tell him that Sakura-nee can hear what he's saying, but its just so fun to let him braid the rope he'll hang from.

~O~

I checked to make sure nobody else was spying on them, and closed the sensor into their room when Motoyasu-san began commenting about the 'soft feminine glory on display' whenever I pushed an arm under my breasts.

'A virgin's pink-tinted expectations... is it?'

Honestly, I feel fulfilled whenever senp- I mean, Shirou gives me a good morning kiss. To have that happen every morning for the rest of our lives is my pink-tinted expectations. After this is over and I'm back home, I'll talk with him and nee-san about finding a way to make sure that whenever one of us gets dragged into another world, the other goes along as well.

I brought it up before and he said it would be too dangerous, but if I'm the one taken away, I'm sure he'll want to tag along.

'You know, that sounds like such an amazing thing, I'm going to stop shocking you now!'

[A Legendary Weapo-p-po-pon thinks hubby is an amazing thing to exist.]

'You'll call him Shirou-sama.'

[A Legendary Weapo-p-po-pon will refer to him as Shirou-sam-m-ma.] Electric white blue sparks jump off the bow while lightning dances over its surface.

'And from now on, just message me whenever you think I'm about to break a rule, alright? I am sure neither of us wants to have this conversation again.'

[A Legendary Weapo-p-pon will do so.]

'Excellent.'

Actually, I think this wasn't completely bad... I mean, I got 3 new 'Shadow Bow' series of forms, though I am pretty sure the legendary bow just came up with that on the fly. After all, I just made them to satisfy my curiosity and gain some options.

A tower shield with a crossbow attached so I can shoot from cover. It looks like one of those old flak cannons from WWII. Basically a massive shield with an slit for a heavy crossbow to shoot through. I also made a +1 and a +2 versions, but the +2 one requires level 32 to unlock, so I'll be sticking to +1 weapons for a while. Then, a long bow with a short blade at the ends of its tips... normally I'd say such a thing is pointless since a bow is too delicate to use that way, but the legendary bow is indestructible, so there's no reason to not take advantage of it. And finally, a small japanese bow for indoor use.

I also realized that, even if they don't dispensary, I am still limited by a +12 bonus shared evenly between any and all of my shadow-forged armaments, so I'll dismiss them after Ren-kun and Naokumi-san are done copying them.

Motoyasu-san? I have nothing for mister '9 our of 10'. You got a problem with that?

[A Legendary Weapon has no issues with that.]

Good.

~O~

Good morning.

Including me, four Shadows and the Spear Hero caused quite the splash as we fell into the castle moat from a height equivalent to a third floor, starting rumours about truly odd weather amongst the castle guards.

Then came breakfast.

Sakura Emiya, the Hero(ine?) of the Bow, presented the heroes of the Sword and Shield with strange-looking weapons that looked as if they were made of smoky glass. Once they assured her they had successfully copied them, the weapons came undone as if they had been made of ephemeral smoke.

The Hero of the Spear got nothing but a '9 out of 10' comment, degojaru.

The Hero(ine?) of the Bow paused outside the audience chamber, and went over the appearance of the heroes of the Sword and Shield before heading in. The Hero of the Spear-sama seemed quite dejected as he lined up next to the other three hero-samas. Then the king greeted them, and presented their future companions to them.

"As promised yesterday, I have recruited companions who will accompany you on your journey. Apparently, everyone gathered here has already decided on which hero they wish to follow."

Each of them should be getting three people, if divided evenly. A well-balanced party. That being said, the legend seemed to imply that the heroes' party could contain up to 6 people in total, hero-sama included, degojaru.

Now then, future champions. Please line up before the Hero to whom you shall swear allegiance."

Eh? They don't get to choose? It was a surprising development.

Your majesty, please wait a minute, we should try and organize our companions based on the traits and needs of our weapons, I don't-" The Hero(ine?) of the Bow-sama tried to say something, but was clearly ignored as their chosen companions began lining up in front of the hero-samas.

The lineup went as follows:

Sword Hero: 5 people

Spear Hero: 4 people

Bow Hero(ine?): 3 people

Shield Hero: 0 people

The Bow Hero(ine?) had expressed her worrying over the future treatment of the Shield Hero multiple times during the previous night. Was this his majesty's plan? Well, it could have been worse.

""Your majesty PLEASE WAIT A MOMENT.""

Cold sweat fell off the king's face when both Shield and Bow hero-samas raised their voice in protest.

"W-well... such a situation is truly unexpected."

"There's a huge difference in charisma between them..."

The minister standing by the king's side seemed completely surprised, but then quickly began to whisper in the king's ear.

"Fumu~ such a rumour..."

"Did something happen?"

Hero of the Spear-sama asked with concern.

"Fumu~ it appears there's some strange rumours circulating about the Shield Hero-dono."

""Eh?""

"Apparently, the Shield Hero sama is both completely unfamiliar with the way our world works, and prosseses no special skills."

"I... that must have been spread after our conversation lastnight."

The Hero(ine) of the Bow-sama seemed quite worried. She supported her right elbow with her left hand and began rubbing at the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, Ren! Give me someone since you have five people!"

The adventurers in the Sword Hero-sama's group hid behind him as if scared. The Hero(ine) of the Bow looked at Ren and nodded. The Hero of the Sword-sama nodded softly, and looked at his companions.

"I dislike large groups anyway, so anyone who doesn't has the resolve to put up with me, please leave."

Yet nobody left his side.

"Motoyasu, my friend! Don't you think this is unfair!?"

By the way, there was a heavily skewed female-to-male ratio in that party. Harem already, degojaru!?

Sakura-sama was about to say something to her companions when the Shield Hero-sama interrupted her.

"Sakura-san, out of us, you are both the only female, and the only one with 3 party members, which was the obvious number of companions each of us should have started to begin with. If anything, I would feel better if Ren gave you one more."

"That... I think you are right." The Sword Hero-sama agreed with the Shield Hero-sama on giving the Hero(ine) of the Bow one more companion, degojaru.

However...

"Wait. WAIT!" The Hero(ine) of the Bow-sama raised her voice. "I will not be having these party members."

"Sakura-san?"

"Sakura-nee?"

"Sakura-chan, what...?"

"You seem to forget, but I am a married woman. Your majesty, it is unconscionable to ask me to travel with a group of gentlemen who are neither my family members nor approved of by my husband. Rather, it would make much more sense for Motoyasu-san and myself to switch parties instead."

Actually, now that she mentions it, she looks like a lamb surrounded by three hungry wolves.

"T-that won't be necessary." The princess in adventurer's clothes said. "I will join the Shield Hero-sama." She moved over to the Shield Hero's side.

"That comforts me a little." The Hero(ine) of the Bow nodded. "But it is unrelated to my problem."

...so it was, degojaru.

"W-well... the thing is..." One of the party members of the Spear Hero-sama began to explain. "We are all wizards. Rumours say that you are a wizard too, Sakura-sama. A party of nothing but casters wouldn't work, would it?"

"...I guess you are right."

The Spear Hero, his party members, the king, and the adventurers who had chosen to go with the Hero(ine) of the Bow all looked relieved.

"In that case, I will go alone. Naofumi-san can have my party members."

"""Sakura-san/nee/chan!"""

"As a man, I cannot allow you to do such a thing!"

"There's no way I would, either!"

"Absolutely ridiculous, Sakura-chan!"

The Hero(ine) of the Bow had already proven difficult lastnight and this morning, somehow having us fall from wherever we happened to be, first out of her room, and then out of the castle. And now this. What a difficult woman, degojaru.

"How about this, then? I will switch party members with Naofumi-san. That way he gets three attackers, and I get a female companion. If that is still a impossible, I will join Naofumi-san's party instead."

"That would stump your growth. The World's Blessing upon the Heroes..."

One of the ministers tried to explain.

"It is an extra +900% growth so long as the heroes are at least a kilometre away from each other. Otherwise, this blessing is equally split among all the heroes in the area. I convinced my [Legendary Weapon] to explain things as accurately as possible. This means that instead of each of us growing ten times as fast, we would grow five times as fast, but while I am sure Naofumi-san may object to sacrificing his own growth speed, I am asking for this favour as a chaste wife. Naofumi-san, you have a female companion only, please let me go with you."

"Well! In that case-"

"Please be quiet, Nine out of Ten-san."

For some reason, the Spear Hero-sama shut up as if someone had stomped on his foot.

"Sakura-dono, you seem truly determined. Are you sure this is what you want?"

The king gestured for one of his ministers to approach, and whispered something at him. The man nodded, and took off in a rush.

"It is, your majesty. I will not have nothing but male companions. Ren-kun already has a large party, as does Motoyasu-san. Joining them would affect our growth too much. Naofumi-san is the best choice. Either that, or I will go alone, as I have abilities and resources they do not have."

"Fumu~ I doubt anyone will cast any questions about your virtue after today, Sakura-dono. In that case, I was going to give each hero 600 silver coins as starting funds, but I could give Naofumi-dono 800, and then give you 1000, so you can more easily recruit companions and equip them as you see fit." Then he looked at the Shield Hero-sama. "Unless Naofumi-dono feels this would be unfair, and would prefer both of you to receive 900 instead?"

"Absolutely not. I am most grateful, your majesty!"

"Well, in that case... "

The minister came running back with extra bags of coin, and the audience was successfully concluded, degojaru.

Author Notes:

As suggested, I looked into the Shadowcaster erratas, and found that indeed they were deemed to be too weak as originally released, so they were bumped as follows.

At Sakura's level, all of her Mysteries of up to level 3 are now (su)pernatural abilities, meaning they are so simple for her, that she can use them an infinite number of times per day, as easily as someone else could click their tongue. Mysteries of levels 4 to 6 are (sp)ell-like abilities, meaning that she doesn't needs to recite an aria to use them, but they are still subject to the target's magic resistance, and can be dispelled or countered by an attentive enemy caster, and finally, any Mystery she has that is level 7 or above is indistinguishable from a spell, meaning they can be interrupted by damage, she needs to recite an aria to use them, needs specific materials to use them, and she needs to be able to use complicated hand gestures in order to use them. So if she was hanging upside down while hanging from a rope around her ankles with her hands behind her back and/or gagged, she could use any Mystery of up to level 6, but not the level 7 or 8.

Oh, and my Discord handle is Maglad#4263 in case you want to talk about the fic. Also, I'm also posting a different Fate crossover called 'Yet Another Fate Crossover' intermittently with this one. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

That is all.