I Will Eventually Embark On The Path Of No Return Called A Hero

[Arc4] - 28. You... Don't Come Any Closer!

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The Berserker Class Card, the final card, was collected.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Cyd asked, confused as he looked at the people gathered around him.

"Because you… no, cough, cough, I just feel like if I comfort you a little right now, I might gain some favor… and then maybe trick… trick…" Tohsaka Rin coughed heavily a few times, then scratched her head. "Ugh! I just wanted to come over and comfort you, okay! Is that so wrong? Wait… what I said earlier doesn't count!"

"Tohsaka Rin, you're really such a troublesome woman," Luvia pouted. "Why don't you just say, 'Thank you for saving my poor little life' like an honest person?"

"Huh!? Are you looking for a fight? You want to fight, don't you?" Rin rolled up her sleeves, revealing her slender but deadly arms that could take down an elephant.

"Mr. Cyd…" Gray looked at Cyd hesitantly.

Sweet and innocent Gray felt that Cyd surely needed comfort right now, but she was worried that if she said something wrong, it might make him feel even worse.

The tuft of hair on Gray's head swayed back and forth, as if expressing her inner conflict.

Miyu quietly tugged at Cyd's sleeve, standing on her tiptoes, trying hard to reach up, as if she wanted to pat Cyd on the head. But her arms were too short, so she ended up awkwardly patting his chest instead.

"Seriously, I'm really happy right now," Cyd said, placing his hand on Miyu's head and ruffling her hair. "I finally heard his voice."

"Wait! My brain is all scrambled," Illya clutched her head, spinning around in confusion.

Based on what everyone said, that big guy was Heracles, and Cyd was really Cyd! Wait, could an ordinary neighbor really have access to those terrifying weapons?

"Don't worry about it; just take a nap, and it'll all pass," Cyd waved his hand dismissively, as if it were a small issue easily brushed away.

"Can it really be dismissed like that? Why is everyone acting so indifferent, while I'm the only one who has no idea what's going on?" Illya cried out in frustration.

The others silently nodded in response to her question.

Illya felt like an arrow had just pierced straight through her heart.

"Oh? I thought you had figured it out already," Ruby wobbled in mid-air.

"Who would think of something like that!?"

"But… it's over now," Luvia sighed. "With all seven Class Cards collected, the mission is complete."

"It was a huge failure, though…" Rin scratched her head.

They had come to Fuyuki City full of confidence, armed with borrowed magical tools. Rin was even supposed to be the city's official overseer. Yet all they could do was watch helplessly as Lord El-Melloi II casually collected Class Cards as if they were scratch-off tickets. Even their trump cards, Ruby and Sapphire, had ditched them.

If they were being graded, they would probably get a failing mark this time.

"You might as well get ready to face the endless assignments I'll be handing out as punishment… Though honestly, I was going to say that," Lord El-Melloi II sighed. "But it's not over yet."

"Wait… Did I just hear the word 'endless'?" Rin's eyes widened.

"The Class Cards haven't all been collected," Lord El-Melloi II squinted. "I knew it wouldn't be that simple."

After acquiring the power of Zhuge Liang, he could clearly sense the ley lines of Fuyuki City.

The discomfort he'd felt while studying the ley line map wasn't just due to exhaustion. He dealt with worse things on a daily basis, so this situation was relatively easy. That discomfort wasn't a mistake.

Intuition is the mind processing all the surrounding information at lightning speed, leading to a conclusion before the conscious mind has time to react.

At that moment, he must have noticed something. Just a moment ago, he had deliberately observed again to confirm his suspicions. That one extra glance…

As expected, things weren't so simple!

"There's still… an eighth Class Card," Lord El-Melloi II sighed deeply.

Which meant...

"We still have a chance!" Luvia and Rin exchanged glances, their eyes blazing with determination.

"No! There's no chance! Seriously, why haven't you given up yet?" Illya grabbed Rin's waist and shook her vigorously. "Be realistic! You can't win!"

"You're still here, aren't you? I don't believe he'd snatch something from a kid," Rin slapped both of her hands down onto Illya's shoulders.

"Of course it's like that!" Illya burst into tears.

It didn't matter how fired up those two were, since it was she who'd be sent in.

After witnessing the brutal brawl between Cyd and Heracles, anyone with a brain knew when to give up. Fortunately, Cyd didn't hit kids or take their things.

But little did she know, someone who would steal from a child had just arrived in Fuyuki City.

"This is Fuyuki City."

A woman in a suit adjusted her collar, slung a small cloth bag over her shoulder, and walked away from the airport alone.

As for her other luggage...

That's the reason she could make it to Fuyuki City in the first place.

Although she wasn't sure why that kind person had put her on the wrong plane, after a few days of hardship, turning down some football team offers, accidentally dismantling a few shady organizations, and selling everything except her clothes and un-sellable items, she finally scraped together enough money for the trip.

But if she couldn't solve things within two days, she might starve to death!

Splat—!

Maybe two days wasn't even necessary.

Before she'd walked a few steps, Bazett's vision darkened, and she collapsed into the bushes.

Since parting from that kind person, she hadn't eaten or slept much.

She was starving…

[What luck… Looks like something interesting has happened.]

Who was that?

Bazett thought she heard a voice, though it might have been a hallucination. She felt something poking her head.

[Should we just bury her?]

Huh?

What did you just say!?

Bazett frowned, but her body was too exhausted, and her empty stomach had nothing left to give. At the very least, she needed to sleep a night before she could recover some energy.

[Don't worry about her. She's like a female version of Berserker. A night or two outside won't kill her. Actually, if something happens, that might be even better.]

[Why not place a curse on her while she's helpless? She might come in handy later.]

[Good idea!]

Bazett struggled to open her eyes.

After going without sleep or food for several days, she felt as if she were hallucinating.

She saw two beautiful girls, one in red and one in gold, staring at her with eerie eyes. In her hunger-induced delirium, she imagined bats' wings unfurling behind them.

"You… you…"

Don't come any closer!