My mother's love song

"I can understand a giant white snake...but what on earth is this black dog that's bigger than an elephant? Is it a nue? Hahaha!"

Although the Onmyojis tried their best to conceal it, similar urban legends still spread like wildfire in Edo Castle.

There is nothing we can do about this.

Anyone who witnesses it once will be left with an unforgettable shock and fear at the ferocious appearance of this monster.

The three-headed dog with a body as huge as an elephant is a mythical beast named Cerberus, who is a household name in modern times and often appears in movies and games.

Now, this hellhound, which is synonymous with terror, lowered its front legs and bent its huge body like a pet dog welcoming its owner.

"Oh...good boy~good boy~" Rhodes reached out and stroked Cerberus' head.

The three huge heads stuck out their tongues with a flattering expression and scrambled to rub against it while growling "wooooo".

"Really? Really? Did you watch the door when I was away? What? A woman who looks like a giant spider is scary?"

The boy smiled and said, "Well, actually I had to run away from home because of that scary woman... It was really scary."

It seems that Cerberus was severely beaten by the ugly emperor last night, so pitiful.

When Rod was playing with the sick Cerberus, the door of the wooden house behind him was opened, and a refreshing female voice full of energy was heard.

"Welcome back, my lovely little pigs! Uh...what? It's Adonis."

A petite woman appeared before Rhodes and Cerberus.

She has a girlish beauty and temperament, and wears a dignified Greek-style white smock.

The long elf ears on both sides of the face and the pair of wings spread out behind are particularly eye-catching.

She is Caster, one of the seven masterless heroic spirits summoned to this land by the rising moon.

Her real name is Circe, the eagle witch of temptation and depravity who lived alone on an island in Greek mythology.

It is said that she would welcome sailors who visited her island with a smile and treat them to oatmeal porridge, then wave her staff and turn anyone who ate the porridge into pigs.

Although people always associate witches with gloomy and dark images, the disciple of the magic goddess is completely the opposite.

In front of others, she always pretends to be a cheerful, talkative and caring big sister, but in reality she is self-centered and talks to herself. Her unconventional personality is also her biggest selling point.

“I feel like I’m suitable to be a Vtuber…”

"What?" Circe stared at Rhodes' face and asked suspiciously.

"nothing."

Rhode shook his head and said, "I just happened to pass by here, came to visit you, and came to retrieve Cerberus by the way."

"Hey~ Didn't you say you would give this child to me?"

Circe stood between Rhodes and the three-headed dog, with her arms outstretched.

Rhodes flatly denied: "I didn't say that."

Circe said, "In return for the oatmeal I gave you, you gave me Cerberus."

Rhodes said, "Don't make up facts that don't exist. Who would drink your oatmeal, Witch Circe?"

"It's the great witch Circe!"

"I'm just lending you Cerberus for two days. I said that before, right? I can't give it to you."

If the puppy that his daughter had left with him were lost, his reputation as a father would probably plummet.

The witch named Eagle grabbed the girl's arm and showed a pitiful expression.

"Without Cerberus's protection, I would have been killed tonight by the terrible cavalry... Can you bear to see Atalanta's friends being brutally murdered?"

“Don’t threaten me with Atalanta’s name. Caster, who built the magic workshop, won’t be killed so easily by Rider.”

Rhodes muttered in his heart, this is not FGO.

"...Not to mention the witch Circe."

"It's the Great Witch!"

Rhode ignored the Eagle Witch who was proudly standing with her hands on her hips, and changed the subject.

"You just said 'welcome back', does that mean there are other people visiting besides me?"

Circe nodded and said, "Yes! Two boys came here.

Because they trespassed into the Great Witch's territory without permission, I turned the Master of one of them into a pig as punishment."

Iori and Saber had been here after all...

Rhodes said: "Actually, I introduced them both.

Iori asked me if I knew any familiar Western magicians, so I recommended you, who were not interested in the wishing machine... So, you turned Iori into a pig?"

Circe said unconvincingly, "I have already heard from the Servant what happened, but it was after the Master turned into a pig!"

"Where are they?"

"I sent them to the mountains to look for herbs in the name of a [trial]. If they can't find the herbs to make the antidote, Master will have to remain a pig forever."

"…What a terrible woman."

Rhodes sighed.

The fact that she can use humans to work for her at will makes her look very much like a witch.

……

……

……

"So the rumors about Masterless Servants everywhere being controlled... are really true."

After the Eagle Witch asked this, Rhodes nodded.

“Although I haven’t encountered it yet, it should be true.”

"Hey! Is it true? It's so unbelievable that I thought it was a lie! Then I will be implicated too!"

Circe's eyes widened and her face looked panicked.

Rhode asked curiously, "I thought that with your magic skills, you would have noticed something unusual a long time ago."

Circe smiled and said, "Hmm? You said, "As expected of a great witch"?

Of course, I am the Great Witch. You are welcome, please give me more compliments!"

"I'm not complimenting you at all. Are your pointy ears a cosplay prop?"

Circe restrained her cheerful look and said solemnly, "I did notice that my spiritual veins were in disorder, but I thought it was a problem with the ritual itself.

After all, this full moon ceremony was pretty bad.

It's not just a lack of catalyst, this is a summoning of heroic spirits that have nothing to do with this land and its people using only the spiritual vein as the foundation.

This must have consumed a considerable amount of mana, it's really not very efficient.

...Not only does it waste magic power, but it is also very different from the original ritual.

What happened? Did he foresee a bad future and had to take the risk?

They actually produced inferior products that were not carefully constructed from theory but were simply crude imitations. "

Circe's beautiful features rarely revealed her true emotion: anger.

It is probably because she is an extremely outstanding magician that she is angry about Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro's "masterpiece".

"Although it has some power as a wish-granting machine, it's a waste of resources everywhere! It's not beautiful at all! It's shoddy!"

"Of course, because this is a ritual compiled by a mediocre Yin Yang master using the fragments of records left by his ancestors."

Rhodes said: "Rather than the beauty of the script, what makes this waxing moon ceremony possible is the obsession."

Hearing him say this, Circe asked curiously: "As expected... is there some extraordinary wish?

Saving the world, the evolution of all mankind... or returning the surface of the earth to the Age of Gods?"

Rhode said with a sly smile, "On the contrary, it's an extremely simple and boring wish.

He wants to use the power of the waxing moon to revive the Tsuchimikado family."

"Wow...the size is so small."

Circe was shocked. Has the human race of this era fallen to such a level?

"To risk one's life on such a boring and mundane wish is what we call human desire.

It must be difficult for Circe, a demigod, to understand."

Rhode smiled and said, "However, precisely because it is an extremely small wish, the souls of fifteen heroic spirits are not needed.

At most, it would take the magic power of four or five riders, and the "last rider" to fill up the waxing moon.

Just offering all of this will be enough to make your wish come true."

Circe said, "Then why did that person summon the Masterless Servant? Our presence will only delay the ritual, right?"

Rod explained: “It’s not that I want to summon, but I have to summon… The ritual is incomplete.

Since there is no way to avoid summoning extra masterless servants, why not use them the other way around?

The Crescent Moon has been buried with a spiritual base that can interfere with the summoned Heroic Spirits and thus control us."

The Eagle Witch poked her chin with her slender fingers: "...Ah! Is this how the technique of controlling masterless servants came about?

But this technique doesn’t seem to be able to completely control all Servants. It has no effect on you and me, and it’s the same for those Servants who have Masters!!!”

Circe suddenly pressed her hand to her forehead and groaned in pain.

"Uh...uh...!"

It was as if what was said came true, and signs of being manipulated appeared on Circe.

The Eagle Witch's elegant and dignified face became ferocious, and her eyes turned scarlet.

"…Haha. Hahaha, hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

With crazy laughter, a magic wand appeared in Circe's hand, and she pointed the magic wand full of power at the boy.

Rhodes watched this scene calmly.

He did not panic because of this, but instead observed the reaction of the servant being controlled.

Perhaps because of the boy's cold eyes, the violent Circe was enraged.

"I am the Great Witch!"

A blazing light burst out from the Eagle Witch's wand.

Hundreds of magic bullets.

Made of pure magic power, it is enough to turn the entire street into ashes.

If it were handed over to the magicians in the Clock Tower, it would require several people to chant continuously for several hours to complete the magic, but it was shot out without chanting.

In an instant, a weapon appeared in Rhodes' right hand.

However, he did not use the magic gift in his hand. Instead, he easily deflected the powerful magic bullet with the back of his hand.

"What? This is"

Circe's scarlet eyes widened, and Rhodes took a step forward.

"excuse me."

The young man decisively swung down his raised right hand and penetrated Circe's chest with the magic Rule Breaker in his hand.

The witch suddenly fell down like a puppet with its strings cut, and the boy caught her body.

He gently picked her up like a princess and walked towards the witch's workshop.

"I'm sorry... for causing you trouble, Adonis."

As Rod carried her back to the workshop, Circe opened her eyes weakly and said apologetically.

Rhodes shook his head: "Don't take it to heart."

"Did you just...sever my magical connection to the ley lines?"