Chapter 344: [344] Lancer Kiyohime Begins Her Attempt to "Conquer"

In the pitch-black cavern, only a dozen pairs of eyes shimmered in the darkness.

"Ugh, I’m soaked... A drenched little fox! If only I could be a nice, dewy fox again..."

"Ouch... My skin’s probably all red from that!"

"Does Britain even get this kind of torrential rain?"

"Southern rain is cold too, huh... That’s a first for me."

"Kiyohime, could you start a fire?"

"Ma—Master... you’ve finally made up your mind! Of course, leave it to me! Come, surrender yourself to me completely—let me envelop you and warm your very bones..."

"Kiyohime-san! I think the Master just meant to literally start a fire!"

"...Oh. That’s all you meant..."

"Ahaha, more importantly, once the rain stops, let’s try building a little cabin."

As Ritsuka spoke, Illya suddenly cried out.

"Draco... Draco is gone!"

Gone?

Everyone instantly tensed up. Though Draco had tried to keep a low profile, after spending five days together, a bond had inevitably formed.

"When did she disappear?"

"Are there other creatures in this cave?"

"She’s not out there in the rain, is she?!"

As everyone buzzed with concern, Artoria called out from the cave entrance: "Found her. She’s outside... uh..."

Without waiting to question why the ahoge knight suddenly stammered, everyone rushed to the entrance—only to find Draco walking through the rain with the man who had called himself Sakatsuki, the supposed "villain." A shimmering blue spatial field surrounded them, keeping them dry. Draco looked calm—almost serene—clearly enjoying the quiet moment.

The harmony of the scene was so stark that Ritsuka stood stunned for a moment before finally snapping out of it.

"Wait a second—isn’t that guy, Sakatsuki, supposed to be our enemy?"

"He claims to be Sakatsuki! That name is supposed to belong to a priest or something!" Illya snapped. Then her face shifted with realization. "Wait—Draco did say she knew a Sakatsuki before... Don’t tell me it was this guy the whole time?! But—he saved us!?"

Yeah... Sakatsuki just couldn’t be bothered to change his name. Illya’s little CPU was clearly overheating again.

"Let’s just say the Sakatsuki, Draco knows is this younger version," Kuro chimed in. "But... what are they doing now? Looks like they’re scouting a place to... build a house?"

"But that would take a ton of materials..." Miyu started to say, but Illya cut her off in a huff.

"No way! There’s no chance that perverted creep is better at this than we are!"

To be fair, this young man really didn’t deserve that label—he didn’t even choose his spiritron costume...

Ritsuka twitched slightly at Illya’s outburst but didn’t object. Clearly, Illya had a strong personal bias against Sakatsuki.

Besides, she wasn’t wrong. Building a proper shelter with only two people and almost no resources was next to impossible.

Rather than suspect them of hiding a secret plan, Ritsuka preferred to believe that Sakatsuki was being considerate and didn’t want to stir up trouble in the cave—especially with "Red Anger Mode Illya" still lurking around.

Just then, Mash let out a shout:

"Senpai, look!"

***

"Say, aren’t you calling me something different again?"

Hand in hand, they walked along together. Sakatsuki was focused on finding suitable ground, while Draco occasionally stole glances at his side profile.

"I don’t like the name ’Draco.’ You didn’t like ’Beast Nero’ either... So after thinking about it, I decided that ’Your Majesty’ suits you best."

"Hmph. Then what about that other Nero—the dumb, clueless one? What do you call her?"

"That one’s easy." Sakatsuki smiled confidently.

"Just call her by name."

To a girl emperor whose life had been shackled by poison and plots, calling her by name showed there were still people who loved her as a friend.

To the crimson little dragon who bore the burden of all of humanity’s evils and clawed her way back from bestiality, calling her "Your Majesty" with affection was a vow of lifelong devotion and protection.

Whether Draco caught the deeper meaning in his words or not, she simply went, "Hmph," thought for a moment, and pointed at a spot.

"I’ve decided. Let’s build it here."

Sakatsuki blinked. "Here? But this is a small hill. Building a palace will be tough..."

"Palace?" Draco looked more confused than he was. "You’re that extravagant? I’d be happy with just a little house..."

"..." Sakatsuki stared at her wide-eyed, serious face, utterly speechless.

Wasn’t this the same emperor who once declared, "Bring me wine! Bring me plates! Bring me a palace! I shall sleep tonight on a bed of soft velvet!"

Sakatsuki, who had yet to learn that "girls never mean what they say when they’re mad," realized—again—just how changeable this one was.

"Sigh... fine, we’ll do it your way."

At last, he gave in. "So, what kind of house do you want?"

"Go with your style. I’ve lived in Roman palaces long enough."

Draco waved her hand with a mock-generous air.

Sakatsuki chuckled softly and snapped his fingers.

[Parallel Projection Deployment — Begin Construction]

A magecraft on par with the First Magic when it came to infrastructure, now revealed its true glory.

White walls and black tiles, pavilions and water features... Traditional Chinese architecture began assembling itself like a giant puzzle—piece by flawless piece—until an elegant courtyard stood before them, dripping with classical charm.

Ignoring the shouts of surprise from afar, Sakatsuki opened the courtyard gate and smiled, "Come, we still have to project the interior."

"Hmm, what a convenient spell," Draco said with a smug little smile, stepping briskly inside and closing the door—shutting out the curious stares behind them.

Unseen by Sakatsuki, her tail swayed joyfully behind her like a little dance.

***

Back in the cold, damp, and utterly joyless cave...

Having just witnessed Sakatsuki’s miracle, Ritsuka crumbled to her knees in despair.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I even doing here?

Why was it that, while they were still struggling just to survive, he was already in full-on creative mode?

Trembling with cold and rage, Master Ritsuka hugged the soft and warm Mash, slowly regaining composure.

"When the rain stops... we’ll go ask Mr. Sakatsuki for help." She looked seriously at Illya.

Pride meant nothing when survival was on the line. As a Master, she had a responsibility to her Servants. Even if she had to ask their supposed enemy for help, she had no regrets.

Illya looked like she wanted to protest, but the more mature Kuro stopped her and began to explain. The rest of the Servants exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Kiyohime even clung to Ritsuka’s arm.

"It’s alright, Master! When the time comes, let me be the first to charge through fire and flame for you!"

"No, there’s no need for that level of dramatic self-sacrifice..." Ritsuka sighed.

Nearby, Tamamo-no-Mae’s fox ears twitched.

"Wait... Do you all hear that?"

Mash perked up next: "Something’s... rustling deeper inside the cave. Like... leaves brushing together?"

Artoria’s ahoge suddenly stood on end. She drew her holy sword.

"It’s approaching! Everyone, be alert!"

The group tensed up as Saber stepped to the front—taking point and providing play-by-play commentary.

"Something’s coming from deep within the cave."

"Crawling along the ground... a dark, carpet-like mass... It’s close... Be ready—"

"That’s!?"

"..."

A tense silence followed.

Artoria casually concluded:

"They’re bugs."

With the ahoge king’s final judgment, Tamamo’s fur stood on end. She and Illya shrieked and clung to each other.

"KYAAAAAAA!!"

As their high-pitched screams rang out, Kiyohime quickly joined in, latching onto Ritsuka in the chaos.

To most girls, bugs are the ultimate foe!

The cave fell into disarray, with people screaming, running, and even shouting out Noble Phantasms. Bursts of energy and explosions echoed. By the time the last Servant exited, the shelter had completely collapsed behind them!

Ah yes, just another disaster-filled day in Chaldea.

Even drenched by cold rain, the girls were still shaken.

"Haah... that cave’s done for. From a biological standpoint."

"Actually, didn’t someone use a Noble Phantasm just now? It’s not so much unusable as gone."

"While running, I felt this huge destructive force behind me. For the sake of everyone’s dignity, let’s not name names. I’m sure we all felt it."

"Speaking of which... the rain’s stopped. Lucky us."

"Though that probably just means the weather here is unstable. Who knows when the next storm hits..."

"Sigh..."

The drenched Servants turned their gazes toward the elegant Chinese courtyard in the distance. Even the most level-headed of heroes couldn’t help but let out a strained chuckle.

Wasn’t this difference in living standards... a bit too extreme?

Ritsuka hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind.

"No choice. I’ll go speak with Sakatsuki—"

"No, Master. Allow me to go first. A Servant should never trouble their Master with such tasks."

Kiyohime stopped her, tidied her clothes, and strode toward the courtyard.

Lancer Kiyohime, begins her attempt to "conquer"!

***

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