Back at the villa, no matter how exhausting the battles during the day had been, the familiar aroma of home-cooked food was always enough to heal the heart.
"Mm, that smells so good!"
Artoria Caster sniffed the air, unable to hide her excitement.
Although her personality differed somewhat from the Artoria of the original world, as long as she belonged to a variant of the "Ahoge Hair" species, there was no way her attitude toward food would be all that different.
Eve, who had left ahead of everyone else, hadn't gone over to the Dwarf King's to find out what had happened to Supreme King Jaden. Instead, she had returned home early and was sitting at the dining table with a silly grin on her face.
According to Eve, even though dinner hadn't been served yet, simply smelling the food from the cafeteria was enough to replenish the magical energy she had exhausted today.
"Uria, turn off the heat under the curry!"
The cafeteria was especially busy today. Perhaps because there was an extra Artoria around, both Emiya and Boudica were more fired up than usual.
The three girls, who were working part-time, were also scrambling around desperately just to keep up with the pace of the two.
"So this is what they call a 'home.' It really is wonderful, isn't it, Master~?"
With a smile as warm and gentle as the spring breeze, Artoria praised the place while stuffing chocolate into her mouth.
"You over there with the hat! No snacking before dinner!"
Having noticed Artoria secretly eating snacks, Emiya raised a rice paddle from inside the kitchen and warned her from across the room.
"So strict! But it's okay. Chocolate is a treasure of humanity. It goes into a completely different stomach~!"
Artoria Caster sped up her chewing, apparently afraid that if she took too long, the snack in her hand would be confiscated.
"Oh, right. Don't forget that we're going to take a bath together after dinner, Master~"
Danger—!
"Shh!"
Hoshino immediately covered the mouth of the innocent and completely clueless Artoria. She looked around carefully, checking whether any dangerous individuals had already entered the cafeteria.
"What is it, Master?"
"Explaining everything from the beginning would be really troublesome, but things like taking a bath together and sleeping together are forbidden words in this house. Understand?"
Artoria nodded.
"Mm, I completely don't understand!"
"Senpai, could you explain it briefly~?"
Without any warning, Mash appeared behind Hoshino and smiled as she placed a hand on Hoshino's shoulder.
"I didn't cheat on anyone!"
Explanation complete.
...
Getting someone to scrub her back in the bath was probably out of the question, but Artoria was still extremely satisfied with her first dinner after coming to Chaldea.
[Bond with Artoria Caster increased LV0 → LV1]
Meanwhile, after dinner had healed both her physical and mental exhaustion, Hoshino returned to bed early.
"What? You only woke up in the afternoon, so how could you possibly fall asleep again this quickly?"
Who said getting back into bed meant going to sleep?
(｀・・´) I still want to play with my phone for a while in bed.
Well, the wish was beautiful.
Unfortunately, after the world underwent a super-fusion, the two dimensions began squeezing against each other, causing Hoshino's mobile device to lose all signal. Holding her phone in her hand, she could only stare at it helplessly.
"Damn it! No matter how great the price, I'll restore the world to its original state!"
["Aibo, the way you suddenly become so determined at times like this makes it feel like you're only doing it so you can get back online."]
"Do you expect me to answer that I'm doing it for world peace? How vulgar."
After putting down her phone, Hoshino silently stared at the ceiling in a daze…
Perhaps this was what the life of a rich person was like — simple, plain, and boring.
The Next Day —
After getting plenty of sleep due to having no internet connection on her phone, Hoshino got up early in the morning and prepared to leave.
"Nice weather today. It's extremely suitable for Spiritron Transfer~"
["…What exactly constitutes 'weather suitable for Spiritron Transfer'?"]
After stretching, Hoshino muttered:
"Temperature: 26 degrees. Atmospheric pressure: 101 kilopascals. Gentle breeze, no clouds, and a cool climate. That's the perfect weather for Spiritron Transfer."
["You're so professional, Aibo. When did you become an expert in Spiritron Transfer?"]
"As long as you do your homework properly, you can become an expert too~"
"Master!"
Emiya's voice stopped Hoshino, who had put on her helmet and was preparing to start her D-Wheel.
"As for breakfast, I've already eaten, Emiya."
Hoshino proactively reported this.
If she left without eating breakfast, she'd probably have to listen to this nagging old housewife again.
"No. I heard that Master is going to perform Spiritron Transfer for the first time in a long while, so…"
Emiya handed Hoshino a bento box and said worriedly:
"Since I don't know how long you'll be gone, I made you a packed lunch to take with you. It's filled with all the things Master likes to eat."
This isn't a field trip!
Come to think of it, could you even take a bento through Spiritron Transfer?
Why was everyone so obsessed with bento?
Was this some kind of ominous foreshadowing that someone was going to get "bento into a coffin"?
Still, compared to the mysterious packed lunches made by Minazuki and Alexis, something made by Emiya was certainly worth looking forward to.
"Thanks, Mom Emiya~"
Hoshino cheerfully accepted the lunch box.
"I told you not to call me that."
Emiya's cheeks turned dark with a hint of red, and his eyes unconsciously drifted to the side.
"Although I believe that no matter what kind of opponent you encounter, Master, you won't lose. You still need to be careful."
"Don't worry, Mom!"
Hoshino twisted the throttle and waved at Emiya.
"I'll be back in no time. Remember to save me some dinner~"
Enjoying the gentle breeze brushing through her beautiful hair, Hoshino sped along on her D-Wheel and soon arrived at the designated meeting place.
Inside the Dwarf King's room, the familiar faces were all there.
However, there was one additional person who hadn't been present yesterday —
Yugi Muto.
"Just as I thought, Kaiba, you came too. But I can't take you with us this time."
"Hmph. I never said I wanted to go. I'm only here to see how things are going today."
Despite wearing an expression that practically screamed that he desperately wanted to come along, Kaiba stubbornly refused to admit it.
That guy really was an old tsundere.
"I heard about what happened, Hoshino," Yugi said, joining the conversation. "Duel Academy will be left to me and the other me to protect. Hoshino, you just give it everything you've got and bring Jaden back!"
"Yeah. That'll be a huge help, Yugi. It's precisely because you're here that I can leave without worrying during this special period."
"Ahem!"
Sitting on the tabletop, Da Vinci Lily coughed deliberately, making sure everyone remembered she was there.
"There's no time to waste. Since everyone is here, let's not delay and begin the Spiritron Transfer immediately. The personnel will be Hoshino, Akasha, Minazuki, and Alexis."
"I didn't expect Alexis to be the last person. I thought it would definitely be Rei Saotome~"
Akasha teased:
"Looks like her attachment to Jaden isn't quite as strong as Minazuki's."
"Hm? Rei probably doesn't even know about Spiritron Transfer, right?"
Hoshino asked curiously.
Although Rei was a grade-schooler with a hopelessly love-struck brain, Hoshino didn't actually dislike the little girl.
On the contrary, Hoshino was unexpectedly interested in Rei's appearance. She hoped that this girl who had suddenly appeared as Jaden's little admirer might help Jaden's wooden brain mature a little — and perhaps give him a chance to recognize his true feelings.
"Actually, I talked with Rei a little yesterday in the Red Dorm," Minazuki replied. "Rei seemed to be feeling a little down. She kept struggling with how she should face Supreme King Jaden, so I decided not to tell her about this."
Hoshino nodded.
"Well, it's probably better not to tell Rei. If she's confused about what she wants deep down, it could actually put her in danger. Minazuki, it looks like you understand that much after all."
The familiar blue light began to ripple beneath their feet. The energy of the Spiritron Transfer rapidly spread throughout the entire space.
"— Virtual frame architecture, Spiritron Transfer settings complete! Destination: Europe! Are you ready, everyone?"
"Oh, right, Da Vinci!" Hoshino suddenly remembered something and reminded her, "If possible, try to transfer us somewhere near Supreme King's Castle. Then we can sneak inside. That would save us a lot of trouble."
"Ah…"
Da Vinci Lily's expression instantly froze.
"You're a little too late, Hoshino-chan. The transfer point is directly above Supreme King's Castle. (sticks out tongue)~"
With a quantum shift, by the time they came to their senses the next second, the four of them — Hoshino, Akasha, Minazuki, and Alexis — were already plummeting rapidly through the pitch-black sky.
"Why are we in midair?! I wasn't told it could be this dangerous!"
Alexis screamed while instinctively holding down her school uniform skirt, which was being blown upward by the rushing air.
Minazuki screamed as well:
"I knew I shouldn't have prepared those bentos! If we fall like this, the four of us are going to become packed lunches ourselves!"
Meanwhile, Akasha took the opportunity to tightly wrap her arms around Hoshino's slender waist.
After calmly observing their surroundings, Hoshino realized that given their current situation — falling from the sky after a Spiritron Transfer — there was only one way they could land.
Fighting against the powerful headwind, Hoshino reluctantly opened her Duel Disk and accurately drew a card from her Deck.
"Leave dealing with the impact when we land to you, Mash!"
"Leave it to me, Senpai!"
A materialized radiance appeared.
Mash raised her shield and aimed it directly at the ground of the pitch-black Supreme King's Castle below.
"Noble Phantasm!"
If Hoshino had been the only one falling, Mash would merely have needed to raise her shield and release her magical energy while Hoshino held tightly onto her. They could have landed safely that way.
But with four people now, this was no time to conserve magical energy.
Mash unleashed her Noble Phantasm at full power.
The radiant fortress of Camelot manifested, granting everyone the power of absolute defense. At the same time, the conceptual image of Camelot overlapping with Supreme King's Castle further absorbed and mitigated the impact.
"— Appear! Lord Camelot!!"
BOOM!
Even though the impact had been greatly reduced, the tremendous collision and collapsing noise still echoed across the ground.
Using Mash's shield to protect them, the four of them smashed straight through the interior of Supreme King's Castle.
"I actually survived, and it doesn't hurt at all!" Minazuki said incredulously.
"Can we call this a successful landing, Senpai?" Alexis also wore an expression of disbelief.
"Yeah. An extremely precise landing," Hoshino said awkwardly. "We landed precisely inside Supreme King's Castle. And judging by the noise we just made, this has absolutely nothing to do with 'stealth' anymore."
Just as Hoshino expected, after their grandiose landing, numerous footsteps of indeterminate number gradually surrounded them.
Akasha sensed that something was wrong.
"Hoshino-nee, does this mean…"
"Yeah. We directly alerted the army inside Supreme King's Castle. I don't think we're getting away now."
Just like the appearance they had observed on the screen yesterday, the Supreme King's soldiers, clad in heavy armor and carrying spears, surrounded Hoshino and the others in layer upon layer. In a short amount of time, they were completely encircled.
"Senpai, stay behind me. I'll protect you."
Mash spoke firmly.
"But Mash, there's no way you can defeat this many people, right?"
"Despair not, mine contractor! The infiltration hath not yet failed!"
A deep voice, accompanied by the heavy and melodious sound of a bell, echoed throughout the dark interior of Supreme King's Castle.
"That voice… Gramps!" Hoshino exclaimed in delight.
King Hassan, holding a greatsword, slowly emerged from the darkness of the abyss, his killing intent overwhelming everyone present.
"So long as there remaineth not a single witness, our infiltration cannot be deemed a failure. Hearken well — the Evening Bell hath revealed thy name!"
King Hassan swung his greatsword.
A massive area-wide slash, accompanied by sword energy imbued with the Concept of Death, swept across the battlefield. With a single strike, a huge number of Supreme King's soldiers in front of him were sliced in half.
The soldiers of Supreme King's Castle who had been "assassinated" by King Hassan writhed in agony for a moment before transforming into dark energy and disappearing.
["As expected, they're not living creatures. They're soldiers created from dark energy. No wonder Supreme King was able to gather an army of this size in just one day."]
King Hassan continued swinging his greatsword.
As the white feathers of the Angel of Death drifted through the air, the cries of countless soldiers inside Supreme King's Castle rang out one after another.
Written as "infiltration," read as "mass slaughter."
Just as King Hassan had said, as long as all the witnesses were killed, the infiltration could not be considered a failure.
Minazuki trembled in fear, terrified that the wildly swinging sword energy from King Hassan's one-man massacre might accidentally hit him.
"Headmistress, this is way too brutal! At this rate, could he single-handedly fight his way through the entire Supreme King's Castle?"
"Senpai, you were hiding a trump card like this?" Even Alexis was seeing King Hassan for the first time.
In a matter of moments, the Supreme King's soldiers who had just surrounded Hoshino and the others so completely were all gone.
"Mission: infiltration, a complete success, Gramps! Now nobody knows we're here~"
"It would seem that our skill as Assassins hath yet to wane."
Satisfied, King Hassan sheathed his greatsword and patted Hoshino on the head.
"Contractor, the path before thee hath been cleared. Now, proceed unto the place where thy heart doth yearn to go."
"Mm, arigato, Gramps!"
After bidding farewell to the departing King Hassan, Hoshino gestured to the others behind her.
"There are no obstacles left. It's time to go wake Jaden up by beating some sense into him, everyone!"
"Y-Yeah…!"
Still stunned by the overwhelming display of King Hassan's ability to completely wipe out the Supreme King's army, everyone barely managed to snap out of it after Hoshino reminded them and hurriedly responded.
"But Senpai, Supreme King's Castle is so huge. Where could Jaden be?"
Before Alexis could even finish speaking, the sound of armored footsteps came once again.
Minazuki tensed.
"ヾ(ﾟдﾟ)ﾉ Wait, did one slip through?! Quick, go get Gramps!"
However, Hoshino showed no sign of panic.
"Looks like we don't need to search for him after all."
"The lord of Supreme King's Castle has personally come to welcome his guests."
"How astonishing, Hoshino Chiyuki."
Supreme King Jaden stepped out of the darkness, his voice cold.
"Whether it is your ability to arrive at Supreme King's Castle so quickly, or the combat power you displayed by completely annihilating the soldiers of my castle, you have far exceeded my calculations. As expected… you are the only obstacle to my ambitions."