Chapter 74 74: Summer, Ice Pops, and Tiamat
Snowfield City, 9 AM.
Inside the cheap inn room.
Seeing the system reward displayed before his eyes, then looking at Draco — the Beast VI identified by the system as a "grumpy fire-breathing lizard" — Matou Yuu felt dissatisfaction welling up as he didn't know where to begin complaining.
He stared intently at the system description before him.
[Special Item: Specially formulated mood-enhancing catnip]
[Item Description: A plant that hides mysterious laws. Pets that consume it will temporarily lose consciousness and make small "uuu" sounds while rolling around and begging to be petted.]
No matter how you looked at it, this so-called "specially prepared emotion-stimulating catnip" seemed like a special attack tool designed to target this Roman tyrant, didn't it?
However, Draco had only reluctantly agreed to the "two-day trial period" condition, and it seemed the contract wouldn't be dissolved even after the trial period ended… This might be useless.
Just as Matou Yuu was shaking his head and about to close the item screen, he suddenly caught sight of one word in the item description from the corner of his eye and vaguely noticed a blind spot.
"Wait a minute… The pet is being kept?!"
Yes, the product description said "any pet." And it wasn't just Draco!
It was important to know that, excluding Sesshōin Kiara next door for the time being… this system was indiscriminately classifying Lily Tiamat (Beast II), ORT (alien UO), and even the Crimson Moon and Draco (Beast VI/S) before his eyes as "pets"!
In other words… could this device theoretically affect any living being tagged as a "pet" by the system?
If that were the case, it might bring about unimaginable miraculous effects in the future…
As various thoughts raced through his mind, Matou Yuu suddenly had an idea and quietly closed the system interface after a while.
He turned his gaze to Draco before him and quickly asked with a puzzled expression, "What are you looking at?"
From the moment the trial period began, Draco seemed to have developed a strong interest in this modern society.
At that moment, she was standing on tiptoes and peeking outside through the hotel window. Her ruby-like eyes were filled with curiosity as she looked out at the cityscape and the desolate desert at the edge of Snowfield City.
Hearing Matou Yuu's voice, Tiamat also tilted her head and cast a questioning gaze at this new "colleague."
Realizing that her earlier reaction — like a country bumpkin visiting the city — had damaged the tyrant's dignity, Draco suddenly turned around.
A faint blush appeared on her adorable cheeks as she quickly clenched her small fists and lightly coughed into her mouth. "Umu! It's just that I only just arrived here, and I'm a little interested in the modern society of your era, so I'm just scouting the area a bit... Don't mind it!"
After saying this, she casually changed the subject and said with feigned indifference, "So then, temporary master, what's the next plan?"
Although Tiamat was nominally the Master in charge of magical energy supply, after she finished speaking, she was directing an expectant gaze toward Matou Yuu.
"I sense something. It seems there's a strange distortion in this city's Holy Grail system. What's the situation outside like... As a Master, isn't it your duty to take me out on a patrol investigation?"
The moment he finished speaking, the familiar system notification sound rang out again.
[Chomp!]
[Your pet, the "grumpy fire-breathing lizard," has developed a strong desire to explore the world.]
[Today's Quest: Essential Pet Walking Lesson for Pet Owners]
[Quest Content: Both the protected fire-breathing lizard and the newborn deep-sea creature need a fun walk. Immediately take your pets out for a walk in the city and buy some appropriate daily necessities while you're at it.]
[System Notice: The outside world is wonderful, but also fragile. When taking them for a walk, make sure to hold their hands tightly. Also, buy plenty of snacks so they don't get grumpy.]
[Quest Reward: Attribute Points +1 (Free)]
Matou Yuu looked at the quest displayed on the panel, then glanced at Draco, who was pretending to be calm, and thought to himself, "In the end, she just wanted to go outside, but her pride was too high to say it directly, huh?"
He secretly shook his head, then looked at Tiamat beside him.
Just like Draco, her clear, cross-shaped red eyes were also shining as if filled with anticipation for going outside.
"Want to go for a walk to change the mood?" Matou Yuu asked cautiously.
Seeing Tiamat obediently nod, Matou Yuu couldn't help but smile. "Alright... Then let's go for a walk and check on the current state of Snowfield City."
When Tiamat went berserk, the Sea of Life had submerged the entire city. Even after the Singularity was repaired and the city's surface returned to normal, no one knew whether something had gone wrong with the Great Holy Grail system.
After all, under normal circumstances, no matter what method you used to summon a Heroic Spirit, it should be impossible to summon a Beast clone from the Great Holy Grail system, right?
Thinking this, he stopped and stared at the two unbelievably beautiful lolis before him — dressed in red and blue beautiful garments — and immediately fell into deep thought.
For some reason, he felt like he had become a zookeeper at a zoo.
The only difference was that while other people kept pets, he was keeping lolis… no, to be precise, Beasts.
…
Snowfield City was located in the vast desert region of Nevada, United States.
At 9 AM, the scorching sun had already baked the asphalt roads, and even the air was filled with distorted hot ripples.
"It's so hot…"
The moment Tiamat stepped outside the hotel, she was hit with a sensation that felt like she was about to melt from the heat.
She tugged at the collar of her garment and said with a slightly troubled expression, "Ahh... It feels like there's a fire burning inside my body, and it's really hard to breathe. I should have changed into my spiritual dress... Even my underwear is soaked with sweat."
Hearing this, Matou Yuu momentarily turned his gaze toward Tiamat.
She was wearing a loose light-blue garment, and the soft fabric perfectly accentuated her small, adorable figure.
Under the sunlight, fine beads of sweat could be clearly seen forming on Tiamat's white forehead, trickling down her slender neck and disappearing into the slightly open collar.
Although a Servant's body was composed of "spiritual particles," it was also equipped with extremely realistic five senses to allow interference with the human world.
Moreover, this city was built at the edge of the desert.
Looking outside, the outskirts of the city were nothing more than a desolate sea of sand, and the daytime temperature was nothing short of terrifying.
He wasn't surprised at all that Tiamat was complaining about the heat.
However...
"I heard that when wearing a kimono, you normally don't wear underwear..." Matou Yuu finally couldn't suppress his curiosity.
Tiamat gently wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, raised her bright, clear red eyes, and tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? There's such a rule in the real world?"
"But I was wearing proper clothing."
After she finished speaking, as if she had noticed something, she stared straight at the young man with her clear eyes and suddenly said in a soft, gentle tone, "Yuu looked a little disappointed earlier, didn't you?"
Matou Yuu was surprised but quickly coughed lightly and smiled. "You misunderstand, it's just that…"
Before he could finish speaking, he heard Tiamat continue while tilting her head. "If Yuu wishes for it… I don't have to wear anything under my garment, okay?"
Matou Yuu was momentarily at a loss for words. Then, seeing Tiamat's innocent expression, he hurriedly shook his head out of guilt and said with a smile, "Um... No! I was just asking out of curiosity, there was no ill intent at all..."
Tiamat blinked and showed a thoughtful, obedient expression.
'First of all, I'm not interested in that sort of thing at all. But Tiamat is really cute, isn't she…'
Matou Yuu organized his thoughts and pointed to the intersection ahead. "Wait here for me. I'll go buy something to cool down."
After saying this, he immediately turned on his heel and quickly walked toward a nearby convenience store.
However, while the young man was selecting items in front of the cold freezer, the scene from earlier kept replaying in his mind.
It was just a declarative sentence, yet... why did it feel like his heart was beating faster and faster?
The scorching sun baked the earth, and a hot wind carrying sand blew through the streets.
Soon, Matou Yuu came running back with two ice pops emitting cold air and handed them to the two girls.
"This is..." The Lily Tiamat looked at the colorful stick-shaped object in her hand with interest.
"It's an ice pop. You should both try it. It's very effective for enduring the summer heat in the modern era," Matou Yuu explained with a smile.
The Lily Tiamat opened the packaging and leaned forward with a slightly skeptical expression, gently licking it with her small pink tongue.
The very next moment, a cool, sweet sensation exploded in her taste buds, and her red cross-shaped eyes seemed to shine brighter than ever before.
Meanwhile, Draco — who had maintained an arrogant attitude until now — also had her eyes shine uncontrollably the moment she took a bite.
However, the heavy responsibility of being the Roman tyrant immediately restored her arrogant demeanor. "Hmph! It's nothing more than a crude piece of ice made by mere humans... However, since you offered me such a refreshing dessert in this barbaric land, I shall graciously accept this insignificant act of loyalty!"
"Ahh… The taste is passable, so you over there, mother, give Yuu another bite of the ice pop…"
Matou Yuu casually took Tiamat's small hand with his left hand and Draco's hand with his right, preparing to depart.
Suddenly, he vaguely remembered something and turned his gaze to the golden-haired loli beside him who was eating deliciously. "By the way, Draco. What exactly is that 'Star Beast' you mentioned at the inn? One of the reasons you came to this world was… for her, right?"
"Umu… Slurp slurp… Delicious…"
The Roman tyrant was so engrossed in enjoying the summer ice pop that it took her quite a while to notice what was happening.
She licked the ice crystals from the corner of her mouth with the tip of her tongue, and her expression suddenly darkened. Grinding her teeth, she said, "My birth into this world is related to that persistent ghost."
"That unpleasant guy has been staring at me like a peeping tom the whole time, it's really irritating! Besides retrieving my mount, the Great Red Dragon, another purpose for me coming to this world is…"
"Should she apologize to you later?" Matou Yuu asked.
"How could that be possible? Apologizing later won't mean anything." Draco grinned, showing her small fangs, but a dangerous light shone in her eyes.
"This time, I'll turn that cheeky, irritating smile into ash!"
Hearing this, Matou Yuu's curiosity grew even stronger, and he couldn't help but ask, "...What's the name of that Star Beast?"
Draco snorted coldly, and a ferocious light appeared in her ruby-like eyes.
"That man calls himself the Court Magus of England…"
…
A Singularity was an "abnormal spacetime" that had been distorted and separated from nothing within a long time axis and established human history due to interference from powerful magic or some kind of calamity.
If a Singularity could not be repaired, it would spread like a virus and eventually lead to the collapse of all human history.
After the world-destroying riot subsided and the Singularity was repaired, everything in Snowfield City seemed to have returned to normal.
The people living in this city were as if the data had disappeared without a trace. They did not remember the terrifying disaster that had occurred at the time and continued to live their daily lives as usual.
"Is this... the power of the Goddess of Creation Tiamat?"
Deep underground in the snow-covered city, in a secret command center equipped with the highest level of defense systems.
A man named Faldeus was silently staring at the "magical monitoring matrix" lined up before him.
These expensive, special instruments were a fusion of cutting-edge American technology and a magical foundation.
They had originally been designed to calculate and monitor the "magical energy" and "Noble Phantasm specifications" of the various heroic spirits who had descended upon Snowfield City in real time, collect data, and reverse-analyze it in order to realize the ambition of "mass-producing" the Holy Grail system.
However, just recently, when Tiamat had completely gone berserk, all of these precious instruments had suddenly broken.
It was only after this Singularity had been completely repaired and time had rewound that the backup monitoring equipment had barely resumed normal operation.
However… they had not been able to collect any useful data regarding Tiamat.
"Just the quality of that spiritual origin alone far surpasses ordinary heroic spirits by several times and completely exceeds the limits of what modern technology can analyze…?"
Faldeus sat in the monitoring room, staring at the screen before him while tiredly rubbing his temples.
Then he slowly picked up the security-protected telephone on the table and dialed an encrypted line.
"What is the current status of the Great Holy Grail's base?"
After Tiamat went berserk, the Sea of Life had swallowed the entire city like a destructive force.
Although the Singularity had been resolved, the Great Holy Grail system was still in an offline state.
Logically speaking, after the Singularity was repaired, the suppression devices should have returned everything to a normal state.
Judging from the current situation, the Singularity that occurred after Tiamat's rampage had left behind residual calamity of too high a level, so perhaps many malfunctions remained even after the Singularity was repaired.
Moreover, the Counter Force seemed to have no intention of dealing with this chaos at all.
"Reporting. It has been confirmed that two of the three Greater Grail systems dispersed throughout Snowfield City are currently non-operational. However, the core mechanism of the Grail system is still functioning!"
Hearing this, Faldeus closed his eyes and, after pondering for a while, said quietly, "Let's do our best to begin repairs… We need to restart this game as soon as possible."
The Beast Tiamat had now disappeared, and the possibility of an extraordinary existence like the Mother Goddess of Creation descending upon the human world again under normal circumstances was low.
In other words, the war that would follow had finally been corrected onto its proper trajectory and had become a war truly worthy of the "heroic spirits of all human history."
For Faldeus, without the monster that was the Beast — capable of flipping the chessboard at any time — a Holy Grail War conducted according to the rules was nothing more than an ordinary Holy Grail War. It was also his trump card for completely controlling the situation and seizing power by utilizing information disparity and military force.
In the end, this incident had caused him and his family to be coldly treated by the upper echelons of the U.S. military.
If he couldn't produce results that would satisfy the upper echelons in this false Holy Grail War…
The man unconsciously rubbed his stomach, feeling a pressure and anxiety he hadn't felt in a long time.
At that moment, the heavy alloy door of the monitoring room was pushed open.
A neatly dressed female secretary quickly approached him and reported in a low voice, "Lord Faldeus, we've received information from the front-line intelligence bureau. Several entrants with special magical crests have been confirmed at Snowfield City's international airport. They are almost certainly magi from the London Clock Tower."
Faldeus showed no sign of surprise and simply muttered coldly to himself, "Those decadent old geezers from the Clock Tower... Seeing us build a stage on this land without their permission, they've finally decided to stick their noses in?"
"It's not just the Clock Tower."
The female secretary suddenly stopped speaking and said in a slightly reserved tone, "There are two more names on the latest registration list... According to the information, they are from the same place as the previous high-risk target, 'Matou Yuu.'"
The moment he heard the name "Matou Yuu," Faldeus's eyelids twitched violently.
After a long silence, he slowly exhaled a stagnant breath and said in a low voice, "...From Fuyuki?"
The female secretary stared at her superior, who was suppressing his emotions, and quietly flipped over the tablet terminal in her hand before handing it to him.
The screen displayed two high-resolution screenshots from the airport's surveillance cameras.
The first surveillance camera footage showed a tall, curvaceous black-haired girl.
She was wearing a red form-fitting trench coat and a black pleated skirt, with her captivating cleavage exposed. Her long, straight, well-proportioned legs were particularly eye-catching. Despite her youth, her eyes and eyebrows exuded the elegance and unrestrained temperament befitting a traditional magus family.
Another surveillance camera footage showed a small girl with snow-white skin and long silver hair, like a delicate doll. Her clear wine-red eyes carried a somewhat innocent purity.
"These two are..." Faldeus slightly narrowed his eyes.
The female secretary whispered, "One is the eldest daughter of the Tohsaka family from Fuyuki City, Tohsaka Rin."
"And the other is…"
Faldeus stared at the silver-haired girl on the screen and quickly skimmed through her background information, his expression gradually becoming serious.
"From the Einzbern family…?"
…
PS: Please support me and read advanced chapters at /AbsoluteCode