"Good, we can see the Princess now."
Amber and Shiori had reached the outermost edge of the epicenter through the ruins.
Though the buildings around them had partially collapsed and the area was shrouded in dust and debris, the path under their feet remained relatively even.
Ahead of them, the heart of the ruins had transformed into a massive semicircular crater three hundred meters in diameter.
The only figure within it was a girl clad in violet armor, seated solemnly upon a golden throne.
Such a distinctive sight instantly told Amber who it was—the Spirit who currently bore no name, identified only by the codename "Princess."
Hearing Kotori's voice, Shiori swallowed hard. "That may be so... but what are we supposed to do now?"
"Well... go up and say hello?" Kotori suggested.
"This doesn't exactly feel like a 'casual hello' kind of situation..."
Shiori's heart was uneasy. Even though she'd long since resolved herself, facing the real thing was another matter entirely.
"From an efficiency standpoint, I really shouldn't intervene further," said Amber, who had escorted Shiori through the hazardous zone.
"But you were just an ordinary civilian until today. It's only natural you'd be frightened. So, if you'd like, I can go with you."
In principle, it was better for Shiori to be alone with the Spirit when building rapport—but that wasn't an absolute rule.
If Shiori's fear made her too awkward to communicate properly, things could take a turn for the worse. Not only would the Spirit feel no attraction, she might grow even more wary.
One had to admit, Mio certainly knew how to arrange things. In the original storyline, Shido's first target had been Tohka, a blank-slate Spirit with no experience of human society.
Even though Shido was a rookie himself, his sincerity alone had been enough to win Tohka over.
But the same might not hold true for the later Spirits.
And Shiori's situation was even tougher than Shido's. After all, she was approaching this with an ulterior motive from the start.
While being a girl had given her the same courage Shido possessed in the original, it also made her somewhat passive, weighed down by self-disgust at her own duplicity.
Shido's bravery in the original—dashing right into a Spacequake—was largely because Kotori's signal had been detected at its center.
"So... shall we go together, then?" Shiori asked.
The tendency for girls to prefer doing things together made Shiori lean toward having someone by her side.
Kotori frowned slightly but didn't object.
Murasame Reine remained completely expressionless, utterly unmoved.
To her, one more person made no real difference. Matters of affection weren't decided by numbers, any more than her own decision to flee from Westcott and Elliot had been.
Once their plan was settled, the two moved forward, with Amber taking the lead as they approached the crater.
The steep slope of the crater was difficult to navigate, even with the added friction from loose soil and gravel. Amber simply supported Shiori and slid down together with her.
"Who are you?"
The Princess on her throne had naturally noticed the two approaching. But since they carried no weapons and showed no immediate intent to attack, she didn't display hostility right away.
Sliding down the crater until they lost momentum left less than fifty meters between them. Shiori could clearly hear the Princess's voice.
"We…"
Shiori faltered.
It wasn't just that she didn't know how to respond—she was deeply moved by the expression on the violet-haired girl's face.
How to describe it? Just looking at her face filled Shiori with a profound sadness, as though she were seeing a daughter who'd been out in the world, battered by wind and rain.
An intense ache of compassion welled up inside her.
"Time to choose!"
Kotori had never expected someone as romantically inexperienced as Shiori to come up with a good opening line. Her confidence in Shiori's ability to win over a Spirit came from the countless battle-hardened dating experts on her team, and Fraxinus's ultimate artificial love AI.
At Kotori's command, several options instantly appeared on the large screen.
[1: What happened here? Why are you in such a dangerous place? Let's get to safety!]
[2: I'm Itsuka Shiori, and I'm here to save you!]
[3: Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking who I am?]
The various "experts" made their selections at high speed.
Thanks to the acceleration provided by the Territory, they could process ten or even twenty seconds' worth of information in a single second. (Similar to Emiya Kiritsugu's Time Alter.)
"Option one might seem appropriate, but it actually gives the impression of being clueless and unreliable."
"Option three tries to seize control of the conversation, but we don't know the Spirit's personality yet. It could be taken as a provocation."
"Compared to those, Option two may seem reckless, but it's a straightforward approach. It shows we understand her situation, aligns with her perspective, adds a bit of mystery to us, and avoids any provocative tone."
After listening to Kannazuki's concise breakdown of the three options, Kotori nodded.
"You heard him, Shiori. The answer is number two."
Accelerated by the Territory, Shiori's mind processed the information rapidly. In the Princess's eyes, Shiori merely paused for a moment, then spoke with determination.
"I'm Itsuka Shiori, and this is Bianka Durandal Ataegina. We're here to save you."
"Save me?"
The Princess was both puzzled and skeptical. "You're human too, aren't you? And you talk about saving me?"
"Yes, but we're not like the ones who attacked you!"
If before this had been about duty, now Shiori genuinely cared. The girl before her seemed utterly out of place in this world, as if rejected by everything. Her expression held nothing but sorrow and desolation.
Faced with Shiori's response, the Princess furrowed her brow even more.
Without realizing it, she'd already categorized the blue-haired girl as harmless.
But… there was another person present.
The Princess looked at Amber. Unlike the blue-haired human who seemed weak at a glance, this golden-haired one was clearly different.
She radiated an aura stronger than any human the Princess had encountered before. In her conscious moments, when she wasn't lost in thought, she was fighting—her combat intuition was exceedingly sharp, which made her deeply wary of Amber.
Yet, that same intuition wasn't signaling danger as it usually did. That was why she hadn't made a move yet.
The atmosphere grew tense, but the stalemate was soon broken.
A sharp whistling sound pierced the air overhead. Both Amber and the Princess turned their attention toward the source.
"Found you at last, Durandal."
Equipped with a Realizer Unit, Ellen, with her long beige hair, flew to a spot not far from Amber, a battle-hungry grin on her face.
Amber frowned. "Where are my team members?"
Another unforeseen complication—Ellen was here.
"Don't worry, I only shot them down. I have to admit, Schicksal certainly has reason to be proud. Especially that warrior named Rita—she actually has the power to manipulate a Territory as well. She could probably even defeat a Spirit in combat."
Though her words were complimentary, Ellen's expression remained smug, tinged with a hint of provocation. "Pity she ran into me, the world's strongest Wizard."
"Durandal, the world hails you as its strongest combatant for having once slain a Spirit. But I've always had… a small doubt about whether you're truly stronger than me."
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.