"Is this Fuyuki City?"
Xia Yu held Illya's hand curiously as she stepped off the plane.
Fuyuki City in 2004. It felt quite fresh to see. After all, in her previous life, she was still a little brat in 2004. Let alone cities in Japan, she hadn't even been to the county town of her hometown. The liveliest scene she had ever seen was the monthly market.
"Big Sister Firefly..." Illya followed beside her weakly. "Do we really have to rush like this?"
"There's still a month until the Holy Grail War begins."
"The Einzbern castle is lifeless." Hearing this, Xia Yu squatted down and gently patted Illya's small head. "It's not suitable for a child like you to live in. We should come out and walk around more."
"Besides, you don't have to bear the burden of my magical energy, do you?"
Hearing this, Illya sighed.
A month had passed since that summoning.
The Einzbern castle had been completely repaired, and the damage to the magecraft workshop was undergoing emergency repairs. Although Acht had died, there were still quite a few homunculi in the castle.
Furthermore, through a month of interacting, she discovered that the Servant before her wasn't an unreasonable person. She was usually very easy to talk to, liked eating sweets, especially cakes, and was full of curiosity about everything around her.
She would learn to cook and brew tea from Leysritt, she would prune bushes and tend the garden with Sella, and she would clap happily at her magecraft tricks...
In short, Big Sister Firefly wasn't difficult to get along with. So back then, when she unhesitatingly drew her greatsword and fired that Might of An-Utu at the family head... it was highly likely related to her identity as a homunculus.
A homunculus representing rebellion? After encountering a person like Acht, coupled with the slight influence of the Mad Enhancement curse within her Saint Graph, that was why she acted that way?
At least Illya felt that over the past month, she had acted disrespectfully towards her quite a few times, but the most Big Sister Firefly did was flick her forehead... She didn't resemble how she acted during their first meeting at all.
Therefore, she had opened up a lot when getting along with her.
"It's meaningless, Big Sister Firefly." Illya turned her face away. "Arriving a month early will needlessly give the other Masters many opportunities to uncover our identities."
"So what?" Xia Yu smiled. "Can they see through my abilities?"
Let alone them, right now, even when Illya looked at her own Servant's status panel, it was completely full of question marks...
Speaking of which, she could be considered to have drawn a trump card. Even if she wasn't Heracles, her basic attacks rivaled standard Noble Phantasms, she possessed the transcendent stats of a Berserker while retaining her sanity, and on top of that, she was a Servant who didn't require her to supply energy. Was this the beauty of strength?
Especially the last point. Big Sister Firefly said she was an Iron Cavalry of Glamoth from the Interstellar Era, possessing ultra-advanced energy furnace technology called the Cocoon-type Source Fire Hub. As long as she was summoned, she absolutely didn't need her Master to supply energy.
Since that attack that evaporated Acht that day, Big Sister Firefly hadn't drawn a single trace of magical energy from her.
What this meant in the Holy Grail War naturally went without saying. Just based on the attack that killed Acht that day, she could probably unleash it consecutively seven or eight times without stopping.
"So, Big Sister Firefly, what is your Noble Phantasm?" Thinking of this, Illya grabbed her hand, gently swayed her body, and acted spoiled. "As a Master, you have to let me have some sense of participation."
"If I don't know my Servant's Noble Phantasm, how is Illya supposed to formulate a battle plan next?"
"Noble Phantasm..." Hearing this, Xia Yu's mouth twitched.
Good question, I really want to know too.
Although her situation was very similar to Saber, her core was completely different. Even though Saber wasn't dead yet, she probably would be soon, so she could appear in her Heroic Spirit form from Human History, capable of using Noble Phantasms sublimated from legends.
And her?
Hehe, how could the Iron Cavalry of Glamoth have any legends in this world...
Naturally, she had no Noble Phantasms. However, to say she had absolutely none wasn't right either; she actually still had the Usurper of the Celestial Wind from Heracles.
It was highly functional, the kind that could completely thrash Lancelot's Knight of Owner which was in the same lane, but she couldn't count on releasing an Excalibur-like attack like Saber or other Servants.
"I'm actually not very clear about it myself," Xia Yu shrugged at her. "I don't really think I have anything like a Noble Phantasm."
"How is that possible?" Illya frowned upon hearing this. "How could a Servant not have a Noble Phantasm?"
"Perhaps Alaya forgot to equip me with one?" Hearing this, Xia Yu bent down, picked Illya up, and walked out of the airport with the silent Sella and Leysritt behind her.
"There's no such thing." Illya pouted. A month ago, she wouldn't have dared to act so presumptuously with her Servant. It was mainly because, after interacting for this period of time, she had gradually grown bolder.
"Let's not talk about this for now," Xia Yu said. "I remember the Einzbern castle is in the outskirts of Fuyuki City, right?"
"Yes, Lady Firefly," Sella answered respectfully. "Rest assured, although it hasn't been maintained for ten years, Leysritt and I will give it a new lease on life."
Magecraft is quite amazing, isn't it.
Because Firefly came from the future, there were no legends of her in the modern era, so they could completely relax and boldly call her name without worrying about exposing her identity.
Fine, it was mainly because Xia Yu felt the title Berserker sounded too awful, so she ordered them to call her that.
The others couldn't out-argue her, so they could only agree.
"Sigh, why live in a castle?" Hearing this, Xia Yu shook her head. "It's desolate, dilapidated, and the transportation is inconvenient. I've had enough of living in a castle deep in the mountains for the past month."
"We might as well rent a house in the city. As expected, living in a place with a human touch is more comfortable."
"But the castle has the magecraft workshop left behind by the Einzbern Family," Sella earnestly advised upon hearing this. "Even if you have peerless combat strength, Miss Illya is ultimately vulnerable as a Master."
"With the magecraft workshop, it can save us a lot of trouble."
"Actually, I don't think your magecraft workshop is of much use either," Xia Yu retorted. "It exploded with a light poke from me, and it hasn't been fixed even after a month of repairs... Any random Heroic Spirit could probably breach it, right?"
"It's still much better than a normal residence," Sella continued to insist on her own idea.
"How about this," Xia Yu pondered for a moment. "Isn't it just about Illya's future safety? Here, take this."
She pulled out a bell emitting a grayish-white glow and stuffed it into Illya's hands.
"This is called the Spirit-Calling Bell, and this is called the Mimic Tear."
Xia Yu said with a beaming smile, "This, paired with this, can summon my good friend, the Elden Lord. He has formidable strength, so fighting an average Heroic Spirit won't be a problem."
"Uh..." Hearing this, Illya froze for a moment. No matter how she looked at it, these two items in her hands had nothing to do with the Interstellar Era.
"Is this also your Noble Phantasm, Big Sister Firefly?"
"I suppose so," Xia Yu thought for a moment and nodded in acknowledgment.
"So it's this type of Noble Phantasm?" Illya seemed to understand something.
"Mhm, now that Illya's safety is guaranteed, let's hurry up and find a house," Xia Yu picked Illya up and looked out at the streets of Fuyuki City in 2004. "Speaking of which, where should we go in this era to find a quiet yet not secluded, spacious, and hidden enough house?"
Hearing this, the corner of Sella's eye twitched.
Listen to yourself, are you speaking human language?
It has to be quiet, yet not secluded, it has to be spacious, and it also needs to be hidden... Where is it so easy to find a house like this?
"This is the place!" A passionate red-haired high school boy led the group to a spacious estate. "The uncle who lives here is going abroad for work. Lately, he's been worrying about finding someone to take care of such a large estate. If someone is willing to rent it, he'd be truly grateful."
"Hmm, classmate," Xia Yu looked at the red-haired high school boy with a strange gaze. "You seem to know a lot about this place."
"Haha, my house is actually right across the street," Emiya Shirou smiled in embarrassment upon hearing this, pointing at the residence across the way. "Look, that's my house."
Hearing this, Illya looked over with a wooden face.
Emiya... oh boy.
"So your surname is Emiya, young man. I'm really sorry. Even though I didn't even know your name, you still helped us out so much," Xia Yu blinked, gently squeezed Illya's hand in her arms, and then said, "If we can rent this estate, we will definitely visit to thank you properly."
"There's no need to be so polite." Hearing this, seeing the grateful look in the young girl's eyes across from him, Emiya Shirou felt a bit bashful. "It's just lifting a finger, it's not a big deal."
"No, no, no, your 'lifting a finger' has been a huge help to us, Emiya-kun," Xia Yu's smile grew even brighter. "Otherwise, we really wouldn't know where to find such a suitable house. This child's health has never been very good, she can't stay in hotels for too long..."
"Uh, your younger sister's health is..." Emiya Shirou looked at Illya in her arms.
But Illya was unwilling to meet his gaze and directly turned her head away.
She hadn't figured out what kind of attitude to use when facing the person before her yet, but as a result... she unexpectedly bumped into him so suddenly.
"Sorry, this child is a bit shy," Xia Yu flashed an apologetic smile at Emiya Shirou.
"Ah, it's fine, I was being presumptuous," the latter quickly waved his hands.
To be honest, ever since he said his surname was Emiya, he felt the gazes of these people in front of him carrying a hint of scrutiny... He didn't know why.
A complete look of scrutiny.
He had simply bumped into them on the street after school, saw them looking troubled, and approached to strike up a conversation out of a desire to help.
It just so happened that the uncle next door had this need.
"Senpai?" Right at this moment, a somewhat hesitant girl's voice rang out.
The group turned around, only to see a young girl with long purple hair standing at the entrance to Emiya Shirou's house, looking over.
"It's Sakura," a trace of gentleness appeared on Emiya Shirou's face. "Sorry, I came back a bit late today."
"It's fine, Senpai. These people are..." The latter gave him a sweet smile, then turned her head to look at the people beside Emiya Shirou.
"This is Miss Firefly. They just happened to want to rent a house in Fuyuki City to stay in," Emiya Shirou hurriedly introduced. "So I brought them over to Uncle Mizufune's house to take a look."
"I see..." Matou Sakura's gaze lingered on their silver hair for a few seconds before she looked hesitantly at Emiya Shirou. "Then I'll go back and make dinner first."
"Mhm, you go back first, Sakura, I'll be right there!" Emiya Shirou said with a face full of sunshine.
Renting the house actually didn't take too much time.
The main reason was that the rent offered was simply too generous.
The owner of the house didn't say a second word and directly signed the agreement, happily moving out on the spot.
Generally speaking, under these circumstances, one should always give the owner a few days to prepare.
But who asked the little miss across from him to be in poor health and unable to stay in a hotel for a long time? So the owner very reasonably packed up his personal belongings and left.
Of course, no magecraft tricks were used; it relied purely on the power of money.
When the uncle Emiya Shirou called Mizufune left, his mouth was grinning from ear to ear.
And now, this estate temporarily belonged to Einzbern.
"Berserker!" Illya puffed up her cheeks fiercely, not even calling Xia Yu's name anymore. "You knew all along, didn't you!"
It seemed she was truly angry, not even calling her name anymore. If she didn't know that Command Spells were useless, she probably would have brought out a Command Spell to make Xia Yu obey.
"It's a coincidence," Xia Yu smiled and shook her head.
"How could there be such a coincidence in the world!" Illya pounced over in exasperation. "Right across from his house!"
"Besides, didn't you say that you didn't know the history related to the Holy Grail War?"
"I learned it from you, Illya," Xia Yu said without blinking an eye. "After forming a contract, the Master can dream of the Servant's past life experiences. And I am quite special. As someone who fought her way out of Penacony, the Land of Dreams, I can simultaneously dream of your past too, Illya."
She reached out and hugged the exasperated Illya, placing her in her arms and gently stroking her hair as if petting a cat. "That guy I killed... It seems he didn't die unjustly. What do you know, my intuition is quite useful after all."
"But..." Illya still wanted to say something, but Xia Yu stuffed her mouth with a piece of cake.
"Actually, when you kept saying it was bad to come too early, you just didn't want to face these things, right, Illya?"
"But sometimes, rather than passively letting the past come knocking at my door, I prefer to block it at its doorstep before it even leaves the house," Xia Yu blinked and said. "To be honest, I actually couldn't believe it myself that it would be such a coincidence."
"But it just happened like that. While we were still searching everywhere for a place to stay, he just appeared right in front of us. Illya, perhaps this is fate."
This was the truth. Although she wanted to stir up trouble, she didn't have the ability to predict this kind of thing. Originally, she had just wanted to find a house within the urban area.
To think she would actually bump directly into Emiya Shirou.