Chapter 20

Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun

Cover: LousGndiner


"Thirty gold! Just thirty gold!"

"Finely knit clothes for the coming winter! It's never too late to purchase now!"

"Hey, bro? How about some crepes, for you and your girl!"

Shirou let out a bit of embarrassed laughter. To see someone walking up to him just to advertise brought back some interesting memories. To be fair, the entire marketplace was active, with people raising their voices in an attempt to garner customers.

"It looks interesting, doesn't it?" Sakura muttered from beside him. "I wonder what recipe he used?"

"Trade secret, sis," the would-be merchant replied. "But, if you can guess the secret ingredient, I'll give you both one for free! How about it?"

"Seems like a deal. Right, Shirou?" his twin-tailed companion said with a slight smirk. "Go on, have a taste."

Unable to refuse, Shirou simply grabbed what he was handed. The vendor excitedly handed it over and confidently crossed his arms as Shirou took a bite.

"Tastes like banana," he remarked but continued to chew. "There's a little something extra mixed into the whipped cream. It feels a bit firm yet crumbly for whipped cream, so you didn't really use normal eggs. Cockatrice eggs have a heavy ratio of yolk to white, so it was likely that."

"Not the secret ingredient, but you got that right," the clerk muttered in surprise. "Are you a chef too?"

"I used to cook at home before, but I'm just a blacksmith now," Shirou admitted. "Do I keep going?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "I kinda want to see how much you can guess."

Shirou nodded, but mentally frowned at the expectant look Rin was throwing. Sakura was sort of similar, except she had a twinkle in her eye. It was as if she was watching something worth marveling at.

If you asked the young Matou, she definitely was.

"Since there aren't any huge banana chunks, you must've sliced it thinly to mix with the cream… or you reduced it into a paste. It's savory too, so it's probably the crepe itself that's been buttered, which works with the banana," Shirou continued to muse. "However, it has a lasting nutty flavor. Cheese? Probably cream cheese, but it isn't the main part of it. Is it mayonnaise?"

And he meant Japanese Mayonnaise, not Western. The difference between them is what they're made with, with Japanese Mayonnaise being primarily made of egg yolks with a custard-like taste.

Since everyone here was from Japan, he didn't bother making the distinction.

"Impressive," he chuckled. "But there's one more! Can you–"

"Vanilla," Shirou interrupted. "Out of everything, that flavor stands out the most."

He sighed. "Well, damn. Didn't think you'd actually get it."

"Which means we get some for free, right?" Rin politely reminded. "Or was that a lie?"

He snorted and went back into his stall. "You aren't making a liar out of me! Just wait there for a bit!"

Within a few minutes, two more crepes had been prepared and handed to his companions. However, the clerk didn't look the least bit grumpy. In fact, he had quite a large smile on his face.

"You got a pair of vipers there, bro," he commented once Shirou's companions made to go on ahead. Frankly, the magus had to nod in agreement. "By the way, you sure that you aren't actually a chef? You seem to know your way around a kitchen. It'd be a shame if you weren't one."

"If I ended up switching subclass now, my guild master would probably kill me," Shirou laughed wearily. "I'm the only one who can repair our armor, and if we end up needing to outsource our repairs instead of doing it in-house…"

"That's tough," he muttered in response. "At least there's a lot more chefs around. We're spoiled for choice, aren't we?"

"I guess we are," Shirou said with a smile. However, he turned away from looking at his companions, who were eating and chatting with each other between bites, to the would-be merchant. "By the way, you should probably find some strawberries. They work together with all your ingredients and should up the flavor profile."

"Now that's a suggestion," he muttered and tapped his chin. "Do you know where I can find a supply?"

"In Theldesia, they're called strawbas, so you'll want to talk to Drudgel," Shirou replied. "I heard he was handling all the farming inventory. If they don't have any, put in a request before the next harvest season. I'm sure they'll be more than obliged."

"Yeah, but talking to Landers will work up my nerves," the clerk admitted. "They're just so… stiff, you know? It's like I gotta watch my words around them or something."

"It's the same for them, you know?" Shirou added. "They're still getting used to this arrangement. Just be nice and they'll be too. None of us were exactly good when we arrived."

The clerk sighed with a grimace. "Please don't remind me. I still need to apologize to that old lady…" He suddenly perked up and stared at him. "I didn't do anything to her, alright!? I just didn't help her out when she tripped with all her groceries, but looking back, it was a dick move, wasn't it?"

"Most would agree with you there," Shirou said with a smile before propping himself up. "Well, have fun with the store…?"

Shirou blinked at the notification sent his way.

"I like you, so if you need any extra muscle, my buddies and I will help you out," said the newly identified 'Katsuomaru'. "Most of us are still looking for work, so if you need any help, we'll be glad to."

The Emiya Family's blacksmith simply smiled and accepted the friend request. "Maybe one day."

The store clerk, a Samurai named Katsuomaru, turned away and looked for another person to sell to.

It wasn't really for a profit, Shirou could tell, but simply to act like he was contributing to society. In that player's mind, he was merely playing a role, but he had fun doing so. Sort of like that Dungeons and Dragons thing that Lord El-Melloi II mentioned once.

"What took you so long?" Rin complained as she dumped her leftovers, just the paper wrapping the missing crepe, into a newly installed public trashcan. "Did that guy say something?"

"I just gave him a few suggestions, like add some strawberries. He also said I should switch to the chef subclass," Shirou admitted to the knowing look of his compatriots. Well, it wasn't like he couldn't cook anymore. "Come on, Illya's probably waiting for us back home."

Rin nodded and made to walk towards the guild hall only to stop and turn on her heels. "You didn't see anything."

"We saw nothing," her sister helpfully chimed. "We certainly didn't see that you forgot where we live now. Certainly not."

"What miscreant changed you Sakura!? You weren't this cruel before!" Rin playfully bemoaned. "I guess punishment is required. Think you can be stubborn, eh?"

Sakura suddenly widened her eyes and took a step back. "Oh, dear."

As one sister attacked the other in a bear hug, Shirou ushered them along before they disturbed anyone.

Then again, nobody in the marketplace really cared at the sight of two adventurers having fun. In fact, it was the opposite. He could see a few adventurers smiled at their antics, alongside a rare few Landers broke out a smile.

Such a sight was not possible a week ago.


After the meeting, the guilds went their separate ways for the day before reconvening the next day. However, they weren't alone.

This time, Illya played host to a meeting between the heads of each adventurer guild and the Landers elected to represent them. Among them was the leader of the blacksmiths' guild – Kazhak – and the head merchants of the Akihabara – Drudgel, Edgar, and Tomtom – along with several others

It was a bigger meeting than normal, so Shiroe opted to aid in managing it.

Illya supposed she was lucky that he did. Gatherings of this scale rarely happened with magi, so both she and Lord El-Melloi II were caught a bit unaware.

At first, both parties made their intentions clear with the other. Their grievances, what would happen should happen if the other shoe drops, and what struggles they aim to fix. All that dirty laundry had been thrown into the wash and was leaving squeaky clean.

Not perfectly, though. Shiroe had to hammer out what laws they wanted to implement and ensure that the Landers understood what these laws entailed. Illya helped of course, but she mostly let the villain-in-glasses do the job for her.

First, they went over how the different groups would be treated. This led to the formation of two subsections of laws for both Landers and adventurers

Within the adventurers' section, the players weren't allowed to harm Landers at all costs, or take other players into custody for an indefinite amount of time, citing the humanitarian issue that it created. Also, players had to pay taxes to the newly created governing body.

Now, that seemed like taking candy from a baby, but that said baby was immortal and lying on the side of a street with nothing to do. The required monthly payment was a way to kick them into doing something productive. Sometimes, humanity needed that push to do something, anything. Requiring them to pay taxes was a start, but Illya imagined it would get more complex down the line.

However, Landers were exempt from this. The only exception being those who owned businesses. Both Illya and Shiroe realized that the common Lander was akin to a medieval peasant, someone ill-equipped to deal with a constant economic drain. Not to mention, they were raising families, of which adventurers could not.

Well, not that they've tried. These were shut-ins with as much romantic experience as a rock. Maybe they'll try 'procreate' one day, but that wasn't anytime soon. Speaking of which, would the offspring be immortal too?

Illya shook her head and recalled the rest of the meeting.

Within the Landers section, any crimes they commit will be subjected to due process, instead of outright banishment as with players. There was very little you could do to an immortal adventurer, so they needed to be heavy-handed in their sanctions. If they weren't, there was little stopping them from breaking the law.

Lord El-Melloi had planned to teach many of the Landers how it worked. The plan was that they would know when they were being taken advantage of and demand compensation. This was mostly to stop players from simply kidnapping a Lander and making them do work for free. A salary was required before they would even begin, alongside a written contract.

Now, Illya didn't miss the look of contemplation that the villain-in-glasses had during that meeting, which only served to prove how little experience he had when compared to his innate strategic senses. She had little doubt that the Scribe would try to do something related to his own subclass, perhaps create a Geass-like contract?

Normally, that would've been cause for concern, but Shirou could just as easily trace Rule Breaker and annul the effects. It wasn't an issue.

Perhaps Illya could get Rin to try the subclass out? No, that girl was actually taking her subclass of Artificer seriously, creating more than just worthwhile jewelry. In the span of a week, she was halfway to leveling her subclass to one-hundred.

They also realized that adventurers don't need sleep, which resulted in Sakura harshly berating her elder sister. The elder Tohsaka could do nothing but kneel in repent.

There were a few more details, but Illya was too tired to try to recall them. She still had no idea how Rin stayed up for a week straight when Illya was just about ready to keel over and visit Never-Land.

"Lady Illya, it appears that we have a visitor at our doorstep," Krentelfal said as he formed before her, likely because he heard the doorbell. Illya didn't as she was too deep in thought. "Shall I greet them?"

"No, let me do it," Illya said as she got off her chair. It was a newly varnished wooden one with a comfortable royal purple pillow for her to sit on. She was glad she spent her gold on it. "Might as well do something today. Stupid Rin for dragging everyone off with her…"

"You had slept in, and Lady Rin attempted to waken you thrice before giving up," Krentelfal helpfully reminded. Keyword being helpful, which he wasn't.

Although, she wasn't the only one to have overslept. Taiga did too, but she immediately bid Illya farewell and made her try to follow the others. It left Illya alone with Krentelfal, but that wasn't too bad.

"At least it helped me finally sign those documents," Illya muttered. She had been sitting on those for a few days now, but at last, the dreadful things were finally gone. She idly wondered if Lord El-Melloi II had to deal with such things before realizing he would have been dealing with a lot more as a Lord.

Maybe she should've asked him for tips?

She shook the thought away and slid a standard Japanese door open to reveal a patio hallway. As she stepped outside, she flinched slightly at the bright sun, which would have shined down upon her if it weren't blocked by their newly constructed roof.

It was like she was back at the Emiya Estate, where Rin, Sakura, and Shirou had lived alongside her.

It was a picturesque scene, but Illya did not idly stand by to watch it. It was an odd feeling to see the new guild house being built. They had first ordered a few carpenters to build it, but Michitaka's Marine Organization offered them a few, so they took that deal. Working out how much the construction cost afterward had been a nightmare though, and the main source of Illya's pile of paperwork.

Luckily, they didn't need to waste time describing how they wanted it to look, as Rin had easily sketched up a diagram for them to follow. Shirou and Sakura also helped out by pointing out what was missing, and how long each corridor was. How exactly her brother remembered that, Illya had no idea, but her dear brother was amazing so she didn't care.

But they didn't forget to renovate either. They realized that they would need more room for their workshops. Lord El-Melloi II in particular was picky about which direction his door had to face, which was north, for some special bounded field for his room.

Expanding outward didn't make sense, so they expanded upwards. The Emiya Family guild house was, in all sense, just the old Emiya Estate with a second floor. Nothing absurd, but certainly something to get used to, especially for her dear brother.

Illya didn't even wait for the doorbell to ring again when she opened the gate to the guild. "Who is it?"

Sakura?

"Hello~" a tall purple-haired Foxtail that was assuredly not Sakura, replied. "Is Sakura around? My guild finally whipped up some sake, so we wanted to share with the new neighbors."

Yes, neighbors.

Out of all the available plots left in Akihabara, the cheapest and largest plot was nearby Soujirou's infamous harem guild, the West Wind Brigade. At first, Illya wanted to try to find a new location, but Sakura said that it'd be fun to actually have neighbors who visited them at times. Granted, Illya never knew what that was like, having lived in a strict western manor in the snowy wilderness for most of her existence, but was willing to let it happen.

She still owed the guild for helping Sakura out, even though the magus within her argued she had already paid it in full.

"No, but I can take you to our storehouse and drop it off," Illya replied as she beckoned her to follow. "They'll probably be back in an hour. Do you want to wait?"

"Nah, I have to go back later~" the big Foxtail mused. "I'll just drop off the sake and be on my way. We're going to be visiting Shiroe later, to congratulate them on their new house."

"That finally got finished?" Illya mused. "Did they even clear out the water?"

Isaac, that utter buffoon, thought that utterly drenching a building with wooden floors to clean it was a good idea. True, it got rid of the pests, but now the dust and grime mixed and drained into the wood. They were going to replace it anyway, but still, it was a horrible idea.

Seriously, did he ever clean his house back in Japan? It just sounded like a bad idea, even on paper.

"Drying it out was a nightmare, apparently," Soujirou's guild member replied. "I heard they had to find a Druid that could use Draining Petal to get rid of it all."

Draining Petal, a druid skill that aesthetically removed the moisture in nearby plants to heal a unit. In reality, it was just a skill that heals based on how much greenery was near the caster. Maybe Sakura would learn it later on? Then again, she'd have to give up going down the meta tree… Did Sakura even care about a meta build?

Probably not.

"Here we are," Illya said as she slid open the storehouse. Back in reality, this was where Shirou had set up his magecraft workshop. It was where he practiced his magecraft – wrongly, Illya mentally added. Now, Shirou didn't really need it anymore, so they decided to make it a place to store their perishable food items.

Illya would've made it his personal smithy, but apparently, Shirou wanted a new building constructed with forging in mind, instead of haphazardly making the storehouse into one. It made sense so she spent a bit more to build it in the opposite corner of the estate, for symmetry's sake.

"By the way, cute clothes," their new neighbor complimented. "The purple makes the red in your eyes stand out. What do you think about wearing a hat, maybe a fluffy one? I think it would look good on you."

Illya let a small smile out. "Thank you. I had a friend of mine make it for me."

What she wore was basically what she had back in the Einzbern manor, but aged up to fit her new feminine body. It was actually much more comfortable.

She was also happy that Eisel finally decided to ditch that mining subclass. It didn't suit him in this world. An overworked college student could finally relax in the company of friends and family. With any luck, Eisel would level his tailoring subclass even higher, and of course, Illya would reap the benefits.

As she evidently already had.

"Right, I didn't actually introduce myself, did I?" the Foxtail apologized after she dropped off the sake, which Illya was sure would be used later in some dishes. "I'm Nazuna. I was in the same party as Souji and Shiroe–"

"You were a member of the Tea Party!?"

Nazuna blinked as she suddenly found the guild leader standing under her with a sparkle in her eye. "Oya?"

"What was it like!? How did you clear so many raids with ease!? Where are the other members!?"

"Chill, chill," Nazuna tried calming, but when that didn't work, she just patted the Wolf-Fang's head. Illya truly wanted to swat it away, but she involuntarily leaned into it. No! Only her dear brother could do this! Damn you, Wolf-Fang instincts!

As they both walked to leave the estate, Nazuna decided to continue. "It was fun. We did a lot, but they weren't easy. And finally, no idea."

"Really?" Illya incredulously asked.

"Yup," she lazily nodded. "As far as I'm concerned, those guys could be doing whatever they want. That's just how the Tea Party was…" she trailed off as she realized something. "How come you didn't ask Shiroe this? He knows a lot more than me."

"Honestly? I thought I could trick you into spilling some secrets by acting like a lovable little sister."

The sparkly-eyed younger sister archetype usually got some people to spill, or at least that was the common trope. Sad to see it didn't work.

"Frightening~" Nazuna simply mused. "Well, you could've gotten more outta me if you kept going, but~"

"You don't know anything else, is what I surmised. Which was why I didn't continue pushing."

"You and Shiroe are real smart, aren't 'cha?" Nazuna praised as she finally reached the estate entrance again. "I'll be heading out now. Bye-bye, Illya-chan~"

Illya decided it was simply easier to wave at the lazy Foxtail than saying her farewells, which the West Wind Brigade member didn't mind.

However, she suddenly stopped. "Right, before I forget. Shiroe says it's happening sooner than we think, I think!"

Just like that Illya's good mood vanished. She didn't even wait for Nazuna to be out of sight before returning to her personal office and began to look for a recently signed document.

"I assume madam Nazuna meant…" Krentelfal muttered, reappearing from below the floorboards.

"Yeah," Illya muttered. "It appears we have a meeting to attend. Probably tomorrow. It might just be some scouts, so we don't need to worry as much. We can relax for today."

"Considering how careful you've been for the past week, I'd assumed you would have sent out scouts of your own," Krentelfal remarked.

Just then, a translucent white bird flew through the window and landed on Illya's desk.

Illya smirked.

"I already did, Krentelfal."


"Sakura! How are you?"

"Melhia!" her sister happily widened her arms for a friendly embrace.

It pleased Rin to see her get along with others, especially with how her early life was like.

"Sorry, were we bothering?" Shirou, ever the considerate worrywart, asked.

Rin supposed it was warranted, especially when she looked at the long line of adventurers in front of the stall. "You'd think you'd see fewer newbies as time went on, but where did all of these guys come from?" Rin muttered, finally getting to use the word Illya kept calling them.

"You know how it is. The streets weren't as friendly before," Melhia said quickly before returning into the smithy, beckoning them to follow her. "By the way, Shirou. Are you free to help out? We had to temporarily hire a guy to man the stall while we work the forge, but an extra hand would really save us!"

Rin sighed as she saw her beloved idiot agree and step into the forge. "I guess we'll be back?" She muttered to her sister until she found her sitting on a stool near the entrance. "Sakura?"

Rin then blinked as she noticed the subtle blush on her sister's face. Following her gaze, she found Shirou steadily removing his outerwear and equipping an apron… revealing his muscular…

Oh, Sakura, you naughty little girl.

Seeing the show that was taking place, Rin grabbed another free stool and set up shop beside her sister, who seemed surprised at the sudden company.

"Oh, my legs got tired. Don't worry about me," Rin coyly teased as her gaze never left the eye-candy. Her sister, as adorable as it was, didn't even pay her any attention and simply stared heavily at their lover. Wonderful.

However, Rin's focus shifted away from her friends when she saw what they were forging.

It was mechanical parts.

Screws, nuts, bolts, a wrench, screwdriver, and pretty much anything a woodworker would want. There were even stone mason tools and– oh, they could make chisels that small? Maybe she should have Shirou make her one, for free of course.

It sort of made sense that this was what the blacksmiths would be doing recently.

After revealing the secret of how they made good food, the Round Table – which Rin still thought was an ironically funny name – created a new market for adventurers and Landers to partake in. Inventing items was an entirely novel concept to them.

To put it into perspective, Lander's were simply content with what they had. They weren't greedy enough to expand, nor were they ambitious to leave a mark on history, which Rin supposed was fair when their history was absolutely dominated by adventurers and their efforts. It was reflected in their magical society too, with how Ferlna lambasted the capital's magical scholars for never seeking to test or improve previous assumptions. Laughable.

In their eyes, such a stance was radical. A wildly alien train of thought.

At least the Lander's in Akihabara were much more sensible, possibly due to cooperating with the Round Table themselves. This current situation was likely the result of it.

Player Blacksmiths were unskilled. There was nothing they could say to prove otherwise. They relied on the system to create objects and didn't do it themselves. A fast yet resource-wasteful method. Seriously, two iron ingots to make one sword? One ingot was all you needed, just stretch and hammer the thing!

Even the jewelry made by adventurers was uniform. There was no chance to create unique designs, mostly because the result of a diamond and a ring was just a diamond ring. Give those materials to professionals, and no two rings would look the same.

Even Rin's own creations stood out from the others, mostly because she had meticulously engraved them herself throughout several nights. Man, Sakura hadn't been happy about that, still isn't, but Rin was pleased with the results of her endeavors.

Rin eyed the ring on her middle finger, noticing how it shimmered under the right angle. The gem itself was nothing special like a diamond, which had both immense monetary worth and an equally immense mystery behind it. It was simply a ruby that Shirou said reminded him of her.

She certainly didn't buy it without a second thought. Certainly not. She was much more responsible with her finances than that. However, it wasn't a regular ruby, not anymore. Even when she no longer had her magical crest, she remembered every single part of it.

Back when she still loved her father unconditionally, that magic crest was the only thing left of him. She would stare at it day and night, examining every part of what made it tick. Rin supposed her efforts were rewarded when she finally managed to engrave one part of it onto the ruby itself.

Yes, once she was done with it, she received a notification from her interface. It totally didn't make her jump in surprise, she was much too mature for that.

Based on what her notification said, the ring she crafted allowed the caster to use a specific spell once every ten seconds without any cost, and what was that specific spell?

Gandr.

No longer did she need to waste any of her mana to cast Gandr, but instead, she could use it for more offensive magecraft. She had yet to test if it lowered the cost of the Gandr variants she created, but she couldn't wait to do so.

Speaking of specially crafted items… Rin narrowed her eyes on her lover, and not for any specific eye-candy purposes.

If she could make something like this, with her artificer level at 49, then why hasn't Shirou made anything yet? He was a level-60 blacksmith, surely he's made something worthwhile throughout his time here, hasn't he? He didn't seem the type to keep secrets… unless the idiot hasn't even tried to do it–

No, he definitely did. Rin thought back to the day Taiga mentioned a sword he had been crafting exploded violently, and that was through regular forging, not like how Archer used to do it. She also recalled that they wouldn't be able to do things above their subclass level, like how chefs couldn't instantly make a Michelin-star meal at level 30.

Did that mean that whatever Shirou had been making was over his current level? Oh certainly. It was likely that Shirou would only be making a unique sword at max level, and once he does…

"Nee-san, you're making a scary face," Sakura muttered worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine, Sakura," Rin replied. "Just thinking about the future. Don't mind me,"

She nodded slowly and refocused on Shirou. Rin honestly wanted to join her but found the sight slowly less interesting. He was making some kind of wrench and modifying it so that it would tighten and grip smaller nuts.

"Actually, I'm going to step outside for a little," Rin suddenly said as she got up. "There's something I wanted to check. Don't mind me."

At Sakura's nod, Rin left from the back of the smithy, not wanting to draw attention to herself with the line upfront.

Once she was out of the public eye, Rin turned to the corner of an alleyway. "You there. You've been watching this forge for a while. What's your business?"

The shadow darted away without even a word.

Rin just sighed. She eyed the top of the building and flicked her wrist.

From up above, a green gem shot down and landed on her open palm.

"Let's see…" Rin muttered as she filled the gem with mana.

She hadn't been idly raising her artificer subclass in this week of economic upheaval. No, she ensured that the locations they frequented were protected in some way or form. The green gem she had up there was hidden from the common eye and blended into the moss of the buildings.

One of the protections she planted was a surveillance gem. It recorded the presence of anything nearby, but that was it. She'd have to make a bounded field if she wanted to do anything more than that.

There was nothing visual with the gem, but she felt the imprints left behind within. It was like winding a tape back to a specific part, which was easy to do, kinda.

"A Lander," Rin muttered once she finally learned the signature. They had much less presence than even a level 1 adventurer. "Now why would a Lander be snooping around the back alleys?"

Not a local, that's for sure. Then again, a lot more merchants were showing up lately, so perhaps it was from one of them, a mere competitor hoping to outshine them by learning their techniques.

"If it was just that, it'd be so much simpler," she sighed. However, she knew it wasn't the case. After all, she and Illya had been talking about this exact situation. They weren't exactly unprepared but it looks like her days of lazing about with her family had come to a close, at least for the time being.

"I really hate dressing up too," she groaned.

"Really? I think you'd look great in a dress."

Rin jumped and prepared to shoot a Gandr at the sudden intruder.

"Woah! Woah! Wait! It's me, your teacher!"

Rin blinked and finally recognized the adventurer in samurai armor. "Fujimura-sensei, can you not sneak up on people so casually? We were two seconds away from inviting the Royal Guards to tea."

The Wolf-Fang samurai, which Rin could barely see as anything other than her goofball of a teacher, simply laughed wearily. "Sorry. I heard from Sakura that you went out for some reason, so I wanted to check."

"Wouldn't you prefer staying with Sakura and Shirou?" Rin asked as she pocketed her surveillance gem into her inventory. She'd have to manually put it back later, and possibly look into an upgrade. There was little she could do with a gem as small as a pebble. "I'm certain they'd enjoy your presence more."

In the first place, where did she even come from? Wasn't she sleeping back at home?

"True," Fujimura replied with a slight grin. "But, I got worried for one of my darling students! I couldn't forgive myself if something happened–!"

"Let's not beat around the bush," Rin interrupted. "You can put on that act in front of the others, but please don't do so in front of me. I know a facade when I see one."

Especially since she was wearing one for the entirety of her high school life.

And it irritated her, greatly.

"E-Eh? Whatever could you be–?"

"You're still uncomfortable with the fact we're all magi," Rin continued. It was clear that the former teacher was putting up a front to deal with all the things she didn't understand. It had been clear to everyone in the Emiya Family, except to the two that mattered the most. "Sakura and Shirou may not see it, but everyone else does. Or rather, even if they might've noticed, they're too fond of you to put you on the spot like this."

Fortunately, the teacher remained silent. However, the playful grin that used to rest on her face during the past week had faded.

"So, what's wrong?" Rin asked in a much gentler tone. "I may not act like it, but I do care about you too."

"That's because you care about those two more, right?" Fujimura reiterated. "Do you really want to know?"

Rin simply nodded.

They were in the middle of an alleyway where nobody was around, nor could Rin feel any eavesdroppers. Not that there would be, as everyone was too busy wandering the market for new treats to gorge themselves with.

"Yes, I'm still wary about all of the magi stuff," she answered. "I kinda already knew about you guys because my gramps learned about it from Kiritsugu–" and Rin had to suppress being surprised at that bombshell casually dropping on her. Their teacher knew the Magus Killer? And a Yakuza boss knew about magi!? "– and it was kinda hard to keep believing that it was a gas leak causing deaths every hundred years or so. You guys really should've gotten better excuses."

"Damn it, Kirei…" Rin sighed. "I think you'll find that we magi are unusually stagnant, Lord El-Melloi II being a large exception." Honestly, if she didn't know about how mental suggestions worked, she would've been surprised at the lack of health and safety investigations.

"That name sounds familiar… Damn it, that local priest was a magus too? Was everyone in that city a magus?" Fujimura suddenly complained before taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "See, it's because of stuff like this that I can't trust what my own eyes see anymore. I basically lived with Shirou and didn't even notice anything magical going on. Then there was Sakura– oh god, Sakura. I didn't even notice, you know? I thought it was just because Shinji was kind of a jerk, but the truth was just–"

"It sucks, right? You feel like you were useless, and because of it, someone you cared about got hurt," Rin said with understanding. She was well aware of that feeling. It haunted her every night, especially because she had even tried to kill those she cared about. "All that they went through, you wished it was nothing more than a bad dream. At least you could comfort them that way."

"If it was something harmless like a bad dream, I wouldn't feel like this," Fujimura admitted with a sigh. "Frankly, when that Melloi guy told me he was a magus, I didn't really believe it. I thought he was one of those chuuni's way past his time, but then he mentioned Fuyuki and all the bad things that happened here. His explanations didn't sound real, but they explained everything."

"Then he told me about you, the Second Owner," she continued. "I seriously didn't even know a kid your age could manage everything magical in a city, but it made sense because it was you. Among the other students, and even the teachers, you felt larger than life."

Glad to see that her acting skills were good enough to charm even the teachers, Rin mused.

"The idea that someone so beloved was one of these magi, a monster that would do unspeakable things if it meant getting closer to their goal, it frightened me," she admitted. "I wanted to make sure those I cared for knew about it to protect them. Lord El-Melloi II was a good guy, so I thought he'd be able to help protect them… but it turned out that the two kids I worried about the most were a part of this."

The Wolf-Fang samurai clenched her fist and smacked her chest. "It was frustrating! I can't even help those two, and I'm supposed to be the adult here! Instead, Illya-chan is calling the shots and doing a way better job than I've ever done as an adult! Useless! I've basically done nothing my entire life, and because of that, I'm useless here too! This whole change in Akihabara, I did absolutely nothing."

"That's why I've been holding it in," Fujimura said. "I can't let those two worry about me. They're finally able to have fun and relax, away from everything. They deserve it, you know? But I don't. This useless teacher, who hasn't been able to mature like an adult, doesn't deserve to stand beside them and smile like nothing is wrong– like nothing was ever wrong. Do you know what that feels like!? It feels like I'm spitting on their pain!"

Oh, she knew what this teacher was feeling. Rin knew it dearly.

In some ways, she could see herself in Fujimura's position, wallowing in her uselessness. Fortunately, she wasn't. She was Tohsaka Rin, a once-in-a-generation magical genius with unparalleled talent. Thus, she had the power to actually do something.

Unlike Fujimura Taiga.

Although, the two of them could agree on one thing.

"Yes, they certainly do," Rin agreed. "We were lucky to have been transported here. If we remained in Fuyuki, half of us would be dead."

Being transported to this world– this game world turned real, was the single biggest blessing they've ever received.

"I was on my way to a scholarship to the Clock Tower, which was why Lord El-Melloi II was at the Nine-Tails Dominion, to pick me up," Rin continued. "Sakura was fine, but her body was struggling to keep itself together, because of her status as a haphazard Lesser Grail. She would've been fine, eventually… but Illya was dying. Her body, modified by the Einzbern Family, wasn't made to last longer than the Holy Grail War. Shirou was too. He lost his arm in battle, so we had to graft on a replacement. However, that replacement was killing him, rejecting what it was connected to. Give or take a week, and Shirou might've been dead."

That was their reality. In an attempt to obtain a happy ending for all of them, they would've lost everything. What they did in that war was best left forgotten, but at the same time, they just couldn't.

"You… you would have gone overseas for a scholarship when they were–!?"

"I only accepted his offer was because I thought he'd be able to save them!" Rin said with a raised voice, which seemed to silence her former teacher. In that short moment, she felt indignation. However, she was calm enough to not let it cloud her next words. "What magus leaves their dwelling to pick up a potential student? You'll be hard-pressed to find one because they rarely do. There was only one condition Lord El-Melloi II had to accept for me to attend his classes, and that was for him to save both of them, Illya and Shirou."

"He never mentioned that…"

"I doubt he would. A Lord isn't the type of person to spill personal secrets or favors, even an odd one like Lord El-Melloi II" Rin muttered. She still didn't know why he accepted her plea. Any other magus would've turned her away the moment they smelled her weakness. "I was basically begging, but if groveling on the floor would have saved them, then I would lick his muddy boots clean of maggots. Laughable isn't it? A great genius, magical talent like mine can only be seen once a generation, kissing the floor because she couldn't do anything."

Rin spat on the ground, frustration clearly engraved onto her face.

"You're not the only one who felt useless," Rin declared. It was no wonder she was so irritated. She was looking at a twisted mirror. They weren't the same, not even close, yet they shared this feeling of despair.

She hated it.

Rin took a calming breath and walked up towards her former teacher.

"Take my advice, even if you don't feel like you don't deserve to be beside them, because you feel that you wronged them in a way that makes you want to puke, that's not your choice to make. It's theirs."

And she, above all, did not deserve to be with them, not when she was ready to hand her sister a death sentence.

Screw it.

"You know what? I'm feeling the need for another crepe," Rin said as she just grabbed Fujimura's wrist. The teacher looked in confusion until she was basically dragged away. "Come on, I've had enough sadness for one day. I'm certain that neither Shirou nor Sakura would want to see us look like we just killed a cat."

"But what about–"

"Just send them a message that we went out to eat, I'm sure they'll understand," Rin placated. "Besides, you still think that I'm just as bad as the magi Lord El-Melloi II told you about, right?"

The somewhat hesitant nod that followed confirmed it.

"Then let's change it, shall we?" She said as the two walked out into the busily cheerful market. "Just know that you're already a part of this family. You've been in it longer than I've ever been, and just like you, I'd kill to protect it."

"That's… reassuring," Fujimura muttered. "No, I guess that's expected. Can't expect normal morals from magi, I suppose."

"This coming from a Yakuza princess?" Rin teased.

"Oh shut it," Fujimura complained. "I haven't done anything worth jail time. Gramps keeps me away from that stuff and I'm glad he does. Compared to you all, I'm normal!"

"Normality doesn't help protect my family, so it's useless," Rin offhandedly threw. "Don't you think so?"

"… You know, when you put it like that," she reluctantly agreed. "So, any tips for your dear old teacher in not being normal?"

"No idea," Rin admitted.

"Helpful, truly."

"After all, I only know how to be myself."

Rin noticed that Fujimura stopped momentarily to slap herself.

"Why do I feel like I got handed the same kind of medicine I handed out to my students?"

"Probably because it was," Rin muttered. "If there was one thing I learned from our lessons, it was that. I didn't really put it into practice back at high school, but out here? Where nobody would rip out our throats the moment we showed weakness?"

Fujimura snorted as she got the idea.

"You can call me Taiga, by the way," which prompted Rin to stare back at her with a raised brow. "We're family, aren't we? First name basis and all that~"

Rin smirked.

At the very least, Taiga seemed like she'd open up a bit more now. That was good.

One less distraction for the real issues tomorrow.


"We're home!"

Illya shook her head as soon as she heard everyone return from their daybreak. Or at least, she assumed it was everyone. Taiga was quite loud at this time of day.

"Meanies! You guys left me back here alone!" Illya complained as she stomped into the living room.

Taiga hopped right past her and collapsed under the kotatsu that Illya had been resting with. There wasn't any air-conditioning or heater installed and Illya doubted that someone had re-invented them as of yet, which meant it was sort of chilly. In other words, it was the ideal time to set up a kotatsu.

It should've been hot as hell in June, but since it was the middle of the night, a cold night's breeze swept through the Emiya estate. They should've considered that in hindsight.

"We did try to wake you up several times, midget," Rin declared, using that ill-suited nickname on her once again. "But why didn't you follow us, like Taiga?"

"Because, unlike all of you, I had work to get done," Illya complained. She really shouldn't have, because the reason she had those documents was herself, but she wanted to regardless. "I wanted to go out and try the new things!"

"Don't worry, I got you something, at least," Rin placated.

Illya raised her brow as she was handed a crepe from Rin's inventory. "Is it fresh?"

"I put it into my inventory as soon as I got it, so it's as fresh as it could be," Rin admitted before stretching. "Well, I'm tired. I'll just scoot on over here~"

"Hey, that was my spot!" Illya complained as her sister in all but name crawled into the kotatsu, but when it seemed like the Sorcerer didn't care, she sighed and took a bite of the crepe. Oh, banana. Then, she blinked. "Oh, Onii-chan! I forgot. The West Wind Brigade sent someone over to deliver us a gift! It's in the storehouse!"

"What is it?" Shirou said as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Sake!"

Like the living dead, Taiga rose from her deathlike state with widened eyes.

"Sake?"

"Fuji-nee, no!" Shirou shouted from the kitchen. "We haven't even gotten dinner yet!"

"Just a little sip!"

"Sakura, restrain her!" the eldest Tohsaka commanded.

"Sorry, Fujimura-sensei."

"Traitors! I haven't had the sweet nectar in months!"

"And you can wait for a few more, can't you? Foolish woman," Lord El-Melloi II stated as he made his way to the dining room. "Honestly, I could hear you all the way up in my workshop."

"Did you get back from the warehouse?" Illya asked the Enchanter. "How did everything go?"

The warehouse that Illya spoke of was the one she won off of Michitaka. No matter what he or his team of alchemists did, none of them could even come close to making an EXP potion, even when Illya gave them all EXP potions to try and reverse engineer it. The guy was flabbergasted at how badly his bet went against him, but he was at least a man of his word.

There was no doubt in Illya's mind that he was still trying to recreate it, but unless they had a genius Lord of the Clock Tower and a source of immense mana, they were shit out of luck.

"Perfectly," he reported as he slid into the kotatsu without a care in the world. His clothing shimmered as a regular shirt and fuzzy gym pants were equipped. "That Lander Ferlna helped greatly to set up the distillery. However, the production of EXP potions is somewhat limited. A drop of adventurer blood is needed for every potion made, but having a steady supply of it is challenging to even come across."

"I still think we should've hypnotized Hamelin," Illya said.

""Illya, no.""

She sucked through her teeth once Shirou and Sakura routinely denied the idea. Well, it was out of her reach now, seeing as all Hamelin members had been banished from the city, without a single hint of them left within the city.

Seriously, it was a great idea! Sure, there were ethical issues, but they were magi! Why should it matter to them!?

Honestly, her family was conscious of the weirdest things.

"Do you think raw mana can replace adventurer blood for production?" Illya suggested in an attempt to shift the conversation. She was getting tired of being scolded on the same issue again and again.

"Probably," Lord El-Melloi II mused. "However, then that will create the need for a device or machine that could reliably store all of that surplus mana. Elemental stones have their limits, and the only resource I can think of are Artifact-class or even Phantasmal-class crystals."

"Excuse me, but what are those?" Sakura ended up asking from the kitchen.

"They're really rare drops, Sakura," Taiga ended up answering for them, which was surprising until you realized she played this game for much longer than Illya did. "But it's kind of unrealistic. You need to clear dungeons and get lucky enough for them to drop. It takes months to get an Artifact-class item that you need, and you can forget about getting a Phantasmal-class item. There are only five-hundred of those released each expansion."

"Which means that, if we wanted a Phantasmal-class crystal to store mana, we'd have to look through every Phantasmal-class item," Illya muttered. "And that's practically impossible. It'd be like finding a needle in a haystack."

"We could always try to make a crystal instead," Rin suggested. "I can probably make one for us once my Artificer reaches level one-hundred, the problem with that is it'll take some time."

"Creating an Artifact-class item manually has a point-zero-one percent chance of happening, so it's not realistic to hope for, and Phantasm-class items cannot be crafted…" Lord El-Melloi II informed, but he narrowed his eyes. "But, that could've changed with the expansion, in addition to how versatile manually creating items is. I see, that is certainly an idea. We should try it once you lot reach level one-hundred."

"Shouldn't take that long," Rin muttered. "If we keep our current pace, we could reach it in a month. If only our regular levels could level up as fast as our subclass…"

They hadn't leveled up at all from a week ago, mostly because the affairs they had to tackle in the city superseded the need to level up. Before, leveling up was a priority due to how volatile Akihabara was, and that there was no telling when a person would snap and kill you just because they were bored.

The peaceful city of today was built on their efforts, and Illya could not be happier, even if that peace was also built on subtle mental manipulation of Landers, but that was a secret that Rin, Lord El-Melloi II, and Illya was going to take to their grave if need be.

Suddenly, Illya perked up at the smell wafting from the kitchen.

"Onii-chan, what're you making?" Illya called, feeling the rumbling in her belly triple in an instant.

"Hamburg steak, with some salmon side and rice!" he replied.

"How oriental," Lord El-Melloi II commented.

"Just like home," Taiga added. "When's it ready?"

Shirou popped out of the kitchen wearing a comically pink apron with frills around it. "Right now. Help me with the plates, Fuji-nee,"

"Allow me," Lord El-Melloi II interjected as he rose from his spot. "It's the least I can do for you all allowing me a safe place to stay."

"No, it's fine!" Taiga denied. "I can do it. Just relax over there,"

The Lord of the Clock Tower raised a brow at the sudden hospitality and relented. Within minutes, everything was in place. A cheese-covered Hamburg steak atop a bowl of fried rice, and a single central fish, likely marinated in soy sauce and topped with thinly chopped herbs.

"Certainly a feast," he commented once again. "Very well. Itadakimasu."

""Itadakimasu~""

"It's good, Onii-chan!" Illya praised for a short second before continuing to devour her portion. However, she knew that there was more waiting in the kitchen. Shirou had definitely made more fried rice than normal to account for the extra mouths to feed.

And yes, she knew Shirou had made it and not Sakura, even though he was a blacksmith and not a chef. The reason?

While Shirou didn't have it equipped right now, he had a special item that allowed the user to cook whatever they wanted by giving them a temporary chef subclass of moderate level, around level fifty if Illya remembered correctly.

Whenever she ate her dear brother's cooking again, she was reminded to thank her old guild master, Woodstock W. If he hadn't reminded her of the "Newlywed's Apron Dress", then they would've been completely relying on Sakura for everything. In fact, just a few days ago Rin had decided to whip up something herself, something much more Chinese in taste. When asked, Rin said that a certain mapo-tofu loving priest had taught her.

It wasn't enough to allow Shirou to cook any of the better dishes in his roster, but at least he could cook again. Hopefully, that meant he wouldn't swap away from his blacksmithing subclass.

Within half an hour, the entire guild, surrounding a simple kotatsu, sighed in contentment. Illya could tell that at least one of them felt out of place as they ate, but she was sure that he would get over it. There was nowhere else for him to go, so he might as well get comfortable. Although, it looked like Fujimura was going to make him comfortable, especially with the barrel she dragged out of the storehouse.

This was life.

Illya eyed the message she received from Shiroe, on a meeting that would occur tomorrow. It was probably a copy-pasted message sent to all members of the Round Table, but she was courteous enough to send a reply that she was coming.

Life inside Akihabara had improved.

The same couldn't be said for outside.

However, that was a task for future Illya. Current Illya simply relaxed in the presence of friends and family.

She wouldn't trade this away, even if she was offered the world.


Next Chapter: Late March


A/N: Not late by a day, you're seeing things. It's February 29 and tomorrow is March 2. Don't ask questions.

This chapter doesn't really progress the plot, but after a plot-heavy double-sized chapter that I put out previously, this should be expected. I wanted to put the Emiya Family's daily life before entering what should be POLITICKING the arc, but you may have to temper your expectations because the Capital's Landers' aren't as politically savvy as you'd think. However, that will be addressed too. Like the previous arc, I'll try to make the contributions that the Emiya Family makes significant. I don't want to gloss over this arc because there isn't any action, etc. It's important moving forward, especially because some perceptive viewers noticed what Silver Sword staying in the Round Table means.

Also, Log Horizon Season 3. It is out now, so go and watch it if you want. I still haven't lmao, I'm gonna binge that shit. The opening is a banger though, not DATABASE DATABASE, but still pretty good. LET'S~ GO~ ITS~ SHOWTIME~.

I don't really have much to say other than the above, so...

Until next time,

Kappa

A/N 2: In my haste to upload this chapter, I've neglected several errors and turned the Geneva convention into a suggestion. They should be fixed now, I think. One of which includes a missing punctuation in the paragraph where Rin describes who taught her (credit to 'sleeping moon356').