Don't use Type-Moon references in Oregairu!

"Fujimaru Ritsuka! How could you touch such a young girl like that!"

"Uh, no, that commander didn't..."

"There's an opening!" Lancelot's eyes flashed, and his unparalleled martial arts allowed him to deftly bypass the long key with his longsword and thrust it towards Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Although his strength was even greater, his experience was still too shallow~ No, it's just that the people of the Round Table Host Club are all too scoundrels. Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed inwardly, drew Twilight Muramasa from its sheath, and used an iaido slash stance to block Lancelot's change of attack posture.

"The bindings are fully forged, pass."

"Stop him, Abby!"

Lancelot attempted to activate his Noble Phantasm during a brief gap in the clash of swords, but it was all in vain.

Like wings tinged with the colors of the void, unfurled from Abigail's body. The unknown monster from the depths of the starry sky interrupted Lancelot's attempt to gather magic with its innate ability.

Almost suffering a backlash from having his magic flow interrupted, Lancelot held his sword, struggling to defend himself, his eyes filled with resentment.

Fujimaru Ritsuka naturally understood why he was unwilling—why she was able to detect the gap in his jumps and know where he came from? Ha, to instantly teleport before the progenitor of manipulating time and space in another world was simply showing off one's limited skills before an expert. As for why they didn't fight one-on-one?

"Hmph, who said I wanted to have a one-on-one fight with you! You're just being presumptuous, Shiha!" Fujimaru Ritsuka called out the name of her companion who had now freed up her hands and feet.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lancelot saw Gawain being shot down from the sky by the dancers of the Seagull, leaving a blood-red parabola in the air.

The aloof girl, wielding the sword of the God of War, strode forward and, with a full-force swing of her magic, repelled Bedivere, who had attempted to come to her aid.

His heart was filled with sorrow, but it quickly turned into a calm. Without thinking too much, he decided that at the very least, he needed to get Bedivere, who had the most abundant magic, down below.

With a flick of his finger, the spell imbued with the power of the Lord of Mount Tai touched Lancelot's back.

With a flick of his fingers, the crimson flames and amorphous tentacles tore through Lancelot's armor, severely injuring him.

With a flick of his fingers, he had teleported in front of Bedivere and grabbed his shoulder armor.

The meows that were usually quite cute were now utterly repulsive. The hunter who preyed on the void was about to arrive, and he knew it was too late, but there was still time to deliver a final assist to his comrades: "Tell the king of our defeat, this is my last bit of magic, Bedivere!"

The power from the seal is about to be activated, and the scale of spacetime is shrinking. Lancelot has already sensed the aura of the two terrifying creatures behind him. He will never experience joy or sorrow again in this life. The Eastern saying that generals inevitably die on the battlefield is nothing more than fulfilling their loyalty and duty.

"—"

Lancelot stared silently at his chest, the familiar cross-shaped blade almost touching him, the slender blade piercing through his body from behind. He stared blankly at his companion.

They smiled slightly and said, "Sorry, I'm an undercover agent."

Twisting his wrist, the wound widened again.

Lancelot wanted to burst into laughter, but blood rushed into his trachea, and he could only manage a few gasping sounds from his throat. He knelt silently on the ground, the darkness completely obscuring his vision.

Finally, all he could hear was another severely wounded comrade roaring, "Lancelot!"

Ah, I heard that, it's so noisy, Gao Wenqing, I'm going to take a nap.

...My king...if only I could see you one more time...

Fujimaru Ritsuka stared blankly as [Bedwill] drew his longsword from Lancelot's chest, wiped it on his cloak, and then hesitantly asked, "Bedwill?"

She blinked her bright blue eyes and softly replied, "No, it's Violet. Thank you."

Hmm, it's a woman? No, it's Violet? No, she's really awake?

The roaring gorilla over there couldn't hold on for long and was completely knocked down, never to make a sound again.

Violet sheathed her longsword and looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression with some misunderstanding: "Do you suspect that I'm staging a self-inflicted injury? Do you need me to kill these two completely? However, for intelligence reasons, I personally do not recommend doing so."

"No, I didn't think that way, and Lancelot isn't completely dead yet?" Fujimaru Ritsuka exclaimed in surprise.

Violet looked at Gawain, who was completely injured and unconscious, and bound by the spell, and shook her head in denial: "Of course. As one of them before, I can tell you for sure that if their spirit foundation wasn't completely shattered, they could slowly recover with the help of magic. Now they're just in a near-death state where their injuries are being repaired by magic."

"It seems you know a lot... But don't rush, let's bind them completely first." Fujimaru Ritsuka gave her a deep look and gestured for Kasumigaoka Utaha to come over.

Violet didn't speak. She neither approached to offer help nor distanced herself too much to avoid being misunderstood as trying to escape. She simply found a suitable distance, sat down with her legs together, and remained silent, like a doll devoid of any emotion.

Even if people don't trust each other enough to build a relationship, should we still act with the most rational attitude?

Fujimaru Ritsuka kept a watchful eye on her, leaving others to clean up the mess, and the two maintained an unspoken understanding.

It was only then that he noticed a hint of feminine grace in her posture. But to be honest, seeing her dressed in Beckham's heroic armor and striking such a girlish pose felt subtly incongruous to him.

Violet, who had been watching her, turned her head slightly, seemingly realizing something, and unfastened the sword from her waist, indicating that she was now unarmed.

"...Uh, have you forgotten that your prosthetic limb is also a powerful weapon?" Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but remind her, seeing that she was looking a bit dazed.

"Oh right." Violet suddenly realized and began to remove her prosthetic limb, but Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly stopped her.

Does this girl have difficulty communicating with others?

As someone who is well-versed in "Emotional Intelligence," I couldn't help but feel a bit of a thorny problem, like a mouse trying to catch a turtle.

124. Dolls that look a bit easy to fool

"name?"

Violet Bedwell.

Fujimaru Ritsuka sat cross-legged in front of Violet, resting her chin on her hand and looking quite puzzled: "Your surname..."

“Those two over there, their surnames are actually Gawain and Lancelot. After all, the Knights of the Round Table didn’t have any concrete proof of their surviving surnames, so we Awakened Ones all use their names as our surnames,” Violet answered expressionlessly in front of everyone in Chaldea. “Including Lord Galahad who is still on the ground... we are all orphans.”

They exchanged a knowing glance, sensing something was off, but chose to suppress their doubts and continue asking.

Violet's recovery of consciousness can be traced back to the experiment conducted by Kasumigaoka Utaha.

According to Violet's speculation, the three of them were severely injured after entering the Spirit Tomb. After Lancelot and Gawain's Awakened Ones died completely, their consciousnesses, which had remained in their Spirit Origins, were awakened by magic and then took over, becoming Servants who controlled the bodies of the undead.

Compared to Gawain and Lancelot, who were subdued, Violet's body was surprisingly still in a state of barely clinging to life. After Bedivere was awakened from his Spirit Origin, this gentlemanly and gentle man had been silently using magic to repair and heal his body.

Therefore, in Gawain and Lancelot's eyes, Bedivere was not yet fully recovered, and thus was assigned the task of harassing and weakening the guards left behind in the Spirit Tomb. And because of his weakened state, he was easily defeated during Yui's surprise attack.

The experiments Kasumigaoka Utaha conducted on her body allowed her to regain control: the strange magical energy entangled in her Spirit Origin was extracted, freeing her consciousness and also awakening her as Bedivere's Heroic Spirit, correcting her previously affected and obsessive thoughts. Bedivere thus retreated completely into the depths of her consciousness into slumber, while the memories of what she experienced remained.

“But I still sensed something was wrong. Within my Spirit Origin, that pale and crimson magical energy seems to be slowly increasing. If I don’t cleanse it regularly, I feel I’ll eventually lose my mind.” Violet spoke as if she were talking about someone else’s situation, as calm and rational as a doctor giving a terminally ill patient a critical condition notice.

"Can I take another look?" Kasumigaoka Utaha was eager to try. As the one who inherited Murasaki Shikibu's spirit origin, she had inherited some of the Casters' curiosity about magic and other powers. Therefore, she was drooling over Violet, this large and precious experimental subject.

The gaze that seemed to dissect a person's body and analyze them thoroughly would have made an ordinary person's skin crawl and they would have refused immediately. But Violet didn't care at all. She simply made a gesture of invitation, then closed her eyes, completely abandoning her defenses and opening her mind and body to accept Kasumigaoka Utaha's examination.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, standing to the side, was somewhat speechless. He had originally intended to act as a negotiator to discuss Violet's acceptance of treatment; as a human being, it's difficult for anyone to easily accept scrutiny from strangers. But this girl did it without hesitation. Rather than saying she was decisive, it would be more accurate to say she lacked a sense of humanity, acting somewhat like a doll.

But these are all good things!

Only Utaha and Fujimaru Ritsuka could see it; they watched as the pale and crimson magical energy was slowly drawn out, lingering in the air. The Spirit Origin seemed to have returned to normal, but they didn't stop, remaining observant.

The others were also affected by the solemn atmosphere and waited quietly.

Within the spirit core, a wisp of magical energy slowly began to reappear in the field of vision.

"Kasumigaoka, is there any way to preserve this?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked Kasumigaoka Utaha, who nodded and carefully selected a crystal bottle from her belongings, preserving the trace of magic power with utmost care.

After sealing the crystal bottle, Kasumigaoka Utaha was still not at ease. In addition to casting several Yin-Yang spells on the crystal bottle, she thought for a moment, then took out a few gemstones, crushed them, and evenly smeared them inside the bottle. She then sealed the crystal bottle with a mercury and lead box before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Wiping the fine sweat from her forehead, Kasumigaoka Utaha carefully placed the sealed container into her bosom: "This should preserve it, but Violet's condition is not completely resolved yet, and the possibility of generating magic cannot be eradicated. I suggest we return to the surface as soon as possible to seek help from Mr. Kaiki Deishuu and the others."

"Don't worry, Violet. Now that we can prove you're harmless, we'll do our best to help you so you don't become a puppet controlled by that thing," Fujimaru Ritsuka gently comforted Violet. He was very worried about the girl's feelings, after all, this thing might fluctuate depending on the test of will, and maintaining Violet's resistance to this strange magic was extremely important.

Violet nodded nonchalantly: "It's alright. I was able to fully awaken because of you guys, so naturally I'll choose to believe in the help you can give me. I was even prepared to self-destruct at a crucial moment."

“While your idea sounds very selfless, I don’t think it’s quite right.” Yukino frowned, clearly dissatisfied with Violet’s mindset.

“Indeed, suicide is a sign of a bad civilization.” Even Tsukamoto Yakumo, who had been expressionless, disagreed with Violet’s words.

“However, in the military, the mission is the most important thing. I now believe that my survival can help you all, but I also think that at the time, sacrificing myself to ensure that the people on the ground received the information was the best solution.” Violet stubbornly insisted on her opinion.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, observing from the sidelines, stopped the group from arguing: "Alright, let's not get into a debate about values. Besides, Violet, I think your value in surviving is definitely more important than completing the mission. After all, you might be one of the few reliable forces left in the British government."

Violet blinked, a little confused: "What do you mean?"

When she learned from everyone about the commotion caused by the Albion Tomb, she was a little at a loss: "Huh? Um, I remember I'm a member of the Albion Tomb Management Office, so who should I report to when I get back?"

Contrary to popular belief, she showed no signs of anger whatsoever, and was completely unconcerned about what her country had lost—a loss that might have been Britain's last chance to regain its former glory.

Noticing Violet's unusual behavior, Fujimaru Ritsuka asked her what she was thinking, and the answer she received was:

“Soldiers don’t need to get involved in politics. That’s what my instructor told me. Besides, I don’t understand these things. All I need to know is where the objective is and how to accomplish it once the mission is assigned.”

On the way back, Fujimaru Ritsuka kept thinking about Violet's situation, leaving all the monsters blocking the way to others to deal with.

Judging from all the signs, she doesn't seem like someone who grew up in a normal environment.

Rather than being brainwashed by military education, it's more accurate to say they grew up within the military, like puppets being manipulated, lacking any sense of self and solely focused on completing tasks and following orders. Such a person...

"What are you thinking about?" After enjoying some light exercise, Yukino suddenly asked Fujimaru Ritsuka.

"I'm thinking about how to lure this guy in," Fujimaru Ritsuka said bluntly.

"You're overthinking things. Britain wouldn't let go, would they? On the surface, they only have a few Awakened Knights of the Round Table. Even if they have Awakened subordinates in secret, they wouldn't let Violet go, would they?" Yukino completely dismissed his wishful thinking.

Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled and said, "Actually, it's not impossible to manipulate things. Violet is currently in a state where she will do whatever her superiors tell her to do, and she doesn't have much initiative on her own. What we need is either to offer a good deal or to lower her price."

"The key question is whether Britain is willing to let her go."

“Indeed, but you must understand that in a capitalist country like Britain, the army is never the will of just one person. The faction that lost out in the Albion incident might be Violet’s superiors. We might be able to gain some advantage over these losers once we get there.”

After all, even if a capitalist were to hang himself, he would still sell the rope if the profit was enough.

"Hey, you two over there, flirting and whispering to each other, come help us out! We have to deal with two heavy old men and attacking monsters on top of that!" Yui Yuigahama shouted, panting as she slashed down a clumsy little dragon.

Fujimaru Ritsuka stared silently in that direction. The makeshift trailer made from nearby materials wasn't exactly effortless, and the two guys lying on it were quite heavy even with their armor, but wasn't it Violet who was quietly pulling it? All you're doing is cutting down monsters and stretching your body, right?

He sighed and rolled up his sleeves: "Coming."

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Hachiman Hikigaya didn't know exactly how wide the first level of the Albion tomb was.

This strange den of demons can never be entered in the same place twice. Except for a few people, no one dares to say that they know exactly where the end and the entrance are.

There will always be someone who, in some unexplored place, unearths magic materials or books that were once used to build workshops or rest areas.

Here, people constantly gain new opportunities, while others disappear completely without a trace.

Fortunately, Hachiman Hikigaya knew of Yakumo Tsukamoto's reputation. As an explorer who had been in the Spirit Tomb Albion for almost a year, her name was a household name.

Therefore, after his team was completely defeated by Gawain and Lancelot, he informed everyone that Gawain and Lancelot might launch a surprise attack on Fujimaru Ritsuka's team. Out of trust in Tsukamoto Yakumo and considering the current critical situation, everyone wanted to obtain firsthand information.