"Aozaki, you're finally back!"
"Yo, Roy."
Aozaki Touko held a lit cigarette between her fingers, smoke curling lazily around her.
"Is this the attendant you chose? Looks like the little brat has finally grown up!"
Her gaze fell on Utaha, a mix of teasing and admiration in her expression.
Utaha had no words.
Why does everyone who sees me assume I'm involved with Roy?
"And the fashion sense isn't bad either!"
Aozaki Touko pointed at her maid outfit approvingly.
Utaha looked down and suddenly understood.
Wearing something like this, it's no wonder people get the wrong idea.
"Did you bring what I asked for?"
Roy sat down at the table, his eager eyes fixed on Touko.
"So impatient. You know I wouldn't have come back empty-handed, right?"
Aozaki Touko shrugged, crossing and uncrossing her legs.
As she spoke, she pulled out a wooden box from seemingly nowhere and handed it over.
"Here you go."
Roy suppressed his excitement and opened the box.
Inside was a pitch-black iron fragment, its surface covered in intricate, mottled patterns that exuded a sense of ancient history—yet it had been meticulously cleaned.
"Thanks, Touko!"
Roy stroked the thumb-sized spiral iron piece, his face breaking into a satisfied smile.
"That'll be two hundred million dollars."
Touko extended her hand with a grin.
"Two hundred million… Maybe I should just give you my Mystic Eyes instead."
Roy was thoroughly stunned by the price, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow.
"Hahaha, who would dare use your Mystic Eyes?!"
Aozaki Touko laughed heartily.
"But the two hundred million price tag is serious. Artifacts from the Age of Gods go for even higher. You have no idea how many places I had to scour to find this thing."
"And yet, when I finally get home, I don't even get a cup of tea. Ah, the youth these days, really…"
"Utaha, go make some tea."
"Yes."
"Hey, at least pour it yourself to show some gratitude?"
"How about I cook you a full imperial banquet instead?"
"That works too."
"Dream on. Even if I knew how, there's no way to get the ingredients in this era."
Roy chuckled.
Utaha walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water, glancing at Roy in surprise.
"Seeing you this happy is what matters most."
Aozaki Touko straightened up, stretching her back—her impressive figure on full display.
"I'm going to take a bath first. After being on the road for so long, I feel like I'm starting to stink."
Noticing Utaha, Touko gave her a gentle smile, gestured toward Roy, and then left the living room.
Utaha blinked, then nodded, placing the glass of water in front of Roy.
"Lord Roy, you seem especially cheerful today."
"Do I?"
Roy, if anything, looked surprised.
"Have my smiles been fake until now?"
"No, not fake…"
Utaha seemed unsure how to phrase it, hesitating for a moment.
"Lord Roy usually smiles too, but today's smile is different. Normally, it feels a bit… hollow? That kind of smile seems like second nature to you—a gentle, everyday smile. Today's smile is the kind that comes from genuine happiness."
As expected of a novelist, Utaha had a way with words.
Roy understood immediately.
In other words, between his usual smile and today's, Utaha believed today's was the one where he was truly happy.
The previous ones, while not insincere, had carried a sense of something hidden beneath.
"I still have room to improve, it seems."
Roy muttered under his breath.
"Huh?"
"No, nothing."
Roy shook his head, looking at the puzzled Utaha.
"Utaha, which smile do you prefer—today's or the usual one?"
"Which… I prefer?"
Caught off guard by the question, Utaha's face warmed slightly, and she instinctively tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear to hide her blush.
"If I had to choose… definitely today's. But I don't dislike the usual ones either."
She had been about to say she preferred today's genuine smile without hesitation.
But the moment the words left her mouth, she remembered yesterday—when he had comforted her with the same gentle smile as always. Almost instinctively, she added the latter half.
"I see."
Roy fell into thought.
Utaha, seeing him silent, slowly exhaled in relief, willing the heat in her cheeks to fade.
While Aozaki Touko was in the bath, Roy headed into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
A full imperial banquet was out of the question, but as thanks to Touko, he could at least manage eight or nine proper dishes.
Hayasaka and Utaha assisted as his sous-chefs.
The incident with the corrupted Servants earlier that afternoon remained largely unknown to the city's residents, who continued to bask in their hard-won peace—though that illusion could be shattered at any moment.
Dinner was a lively affair, especially for Aozaki Touko, who ate with gusto.
Afterward, the two girls handled the dishes.
Aozaki Touko stepped out into the hallway, lighting another cigarette with a contented sigh.
Roy, meanwhile, took the spiral iron fragment and entered the storage shed.
The shed was cluttered with cleaning tools and other odds and ends. At the very bottom lay a large, old-fashioned gym mat—the kind used in school P.E. classes over a decade ago.
Roy carved a rune into his palm and pushed the mat and the junk atop it aside. Once done, he paused to catch his breath.
Beneath the mat was a magic circle etched into the floor.
It looked ancient, its grooves filled with dust despite the mat's protection.
"Round two… Let's begin!"
Roy took a deep breath, placed the iron fragment in the center of the circle, and raised his hand—the one bearing his Command Spells—toward it.
"Let silver and steel be the essence—"
For the second time, he recited the summoning incantation.
As the chant progressed, the magic circle gradually began to glow, brilliant white light radiating outward until it illuminated the entire shed.
***
Outside, Aozaki Touko glanced toward the shed, watching the light seep through the cracks.
"Will it work?"
Normally, it shouldn't.
A single Master could only contract with one Servant—this was an ironclad rule set by the Greater Grail.
It wasn't just about fairness; it was also to protect the Masters. An ordinary magus couldn't possibly withstand the strain of sustaining multiple Servants.
But Roy was different.
He possessed Mystic Eyes capable of overriding any magecraft—the Mystic Eyes of Inverted Moon!
Long ago, he had secretly altered the Greater Grail's mechanisms, making it possible for him to command two Servants simultaneously.
With a resonant hum, the light in the magic circle faded, and the howling winds died down.
A figure stood within the circle.
"Hmm, I see. This time, it's the Rider class? What a shame. If it had been Caster, it would've been a sure thing!"
***
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