Otherwise, you can find another savior.

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As she said this, Artoria was shopping at the inn's specialty shop with Kallen. She had just bought a yokan (sweet bean jelly) and was enjoying it alone on a bench outside the shop when she saw Shiomi coming downstairs back to the lobby.

"This portion is barely enough for you by yourself," tide Jian said with a smile, indicating she didn't want any more. Then she asked, "Are you the only one with them? Where's Morgan?"

“Morgan is now taking Sakura and Rin to investigate that ‘Eternal Corridor’,” Artoria said. “After all, they seem more interested in this kind of thing than Kallen.”

"Is Skadi also absent because of this?"

When Shiomi guessed, Artoria nodded in confirmation.

She asked, "Scáthach went to look for you just now, why are you the only one who came down?"

Because Shiomi and Touko went to the room to talk with the detective and the others, Aoko and the others returned with the detective not long after. So Scáthach said she wanted to go and check on them.

"Oh, this?" tide Jian touched her nose. "Master is resting in his room right now, and so is Chengzi..."

I had just finished with Orange and was wiping her body when Scáthach came over. What was supposed to be a private moment suddenly turned into a relentless battle.

"It's true... yesterday it was like this, and today it's like this too. It seems that the word 'moderation' doesn't exist in Tianxi's dictionary."

Artoria smiled as she bit into the remaining half of the yokan (sweet bean jelly) while looking at Shiomi.

Her gesture was suggestive, clearly indicating that she understood what had happened before Shio came down.

Even without asking, being right next to Shio-mi now allows you to smell his scent mixed with theirs.

"Ah ha ha……"

Shio chuckled twice and looked into the shop. Karen was holding two wooden carvings, comparing which one was better.

"How are things going with Karen?"

“Compared to the ones in Chaldea, Kallen seems to be a bit more mischievous now,” Artoria mumbled as she ate her yokan. “But we get along very well, and she quickly accepted the fact that I’m her aunt.”

"Auntie?" tide Jian was taken aback.

Although they are not related by blood, Artoria acknowledges her sisterly relationship with Morgan, and it wouldn't be wrong to call her her aunt.

"Why this reaction? Is it because I call myself that, and it seems strange?" Artoria blushed slightly.

For her, the concept of "a relative's child" dates back to the Knights of the Round Table.

The identity of "aunt" can be described as both familiar and unfamiliar.

"No, I was just thinking, you don't even refer to yourself like that in Chaldea, are you trying to fool them while they're still young?" Shiomi leaned forward, resting her chin on her lap with one hand, and teased her as she turned her head.

Artoria couldn't help but think, "Perhaps... that really is the case."

"They actually admitted it."

tide Jian laughed out loud, which caught the attention of Karen in the store. Karen held up two items and waved to tide Jian.

"Which one does Dad think is better?"

"If you ask me, we should buy them all." tide Jian nodded.

Karen looked disappointed: "This one costs ten thousand yen..."

“Then let’s buy three, one for you and one for Sakura, and give the last one to Rin as a souvenir,” Shiomi said again.

"Dad...when will our family go bankrupt?" Karen asked. "Don't be reckless."

"Huh?" tide Jian was taken aback.

"If you keep spending money like this, your household expenses will run into problems sooner or later."

Karen sighed, turned around, put one down, and chose the other.

"I got lectured by Kallen," Artoria couldn't help but find it amusing.

“Who told her to be better at saving money than me?” Shio recalled the past. “Before we came to Chaldea, all the household expenses were actually managed by her and Sakura together.”

“A very suitable choice. Karen’s talent in this area should be comparable to that of Lord Agguiwen,” Artoria praised.

"Don't be silly, our Karen doesn't have that kind of stern, unsmiling face." Shio waved her hand.

“Indeed, even I have never seen Lord Agraviphon smile, while the other Knights of the Round Table do.” Artoria paused for a moment, then nodded in deep agreement.

The two laughed together. Shiomi raised her hand to wipe the food crumbs from the corner of Artoria's mouth, but Artoria grabbed her finger and sucked on it, as if she couldn't bear to waste it.

"So what's the result?" Artoria asked, holding Shiomi's hand.

"Half and half—"

After that, Shiomi relayed what she had discussed with Touko in the room to Artoria.

"You mean, the suspect is the missing 'Tianxi from 2001'?" She was surprised by this conclusion. "Why? Did you in 2001 really have a motive to kill Aozaki Aoko?"

“It is precisely because I myself do not know what my motives are that I feel like I have entered a dead end.” Shiomi looked at Artoria. “I have grown up in vain for so many years, and as a result, I do not even have the insight to see through everything.”

“Without Merlin’s clairvoyance, you naturally can’t see things beyond your field of vision, even if they are related to you,” Artoria quietly comforted Shiomi. “Besides, this is a singularity, and what’s happening here probably doesn’t even exist for you.”

"Although I didn't mean to ask for your comfort, I still want to thank you for saying that." tide Jian nodded.

"Moreover, you already possess greater power than before we parted, enough to qualify you to ascend to the throne of God. If you were to pursue boundless wisdom, you would likely rival that Lord of Heaven."

Artoria was just speaking from the heart, so Shiomi didn't refute her, but went along with what she said:

"Then let me borrow the King of Knights' wisdom in governing the country?"

"Well, to be honest, it's not my forte to be in charge of criminal investigations, but I will do my best to help you. This vow has never changed." Artoria touched her chest and answered Shiomi earnestly.

“I understand, and I’ve always remembered.”

As Shio was speaking, she saw Karen come out of the store, carrying several bags in her hands.

"I bought a lot!" he said, beaming.

“Since it’s a rare opportunity to come here, of course I want to buy more. After all, I’ll be going to other hot springs next time.” Karen pursed her lips, her golden eyes filled with joy. “But it’s still a bit heavy, Daddy, could you help me carry some?”

"Okay."

Shiomi reached out to take it, and Artoria offered to help.

“It’s quite heavy,” she told Karen.

"There are some snacks that I plan to serve to your aunt and your friends later."

"Then I shall respectfully accept your offer."

Artoria was quite pleased with Kallen's attitude.

Shiomi could only mutter a wry smile:

"...So he's been bought off already..."

Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Raven

"——Wait a minute, Yuzhu!"

Aoko suddenly interrupted Ayumi, who was asking her a question, and looked towards the terrace outside the room.

The first Aoko was placed in the same room as Arisu, and as the second one, the current Aoko naturally continued in this manner.

"Qingzi?"

Yuzhu was slightly surprised. Following Aoko's gaze, she looked out the window and saw a bird, entirely emerald green and as if carved from jade, circling outside the new building of the hot spring hotel. It then slowly landed on the railing of their holiday terrace.

Although the bird perched there like any other wild bird, turning its head to preen its feathers, it couldn't hide the fact that...

"Oh my, this is definitely no ordinary bird. Even in our bird world, it's considered top-tier! It's just a raven, yet it has such strange feathers! A rival! Yes, it must be my rival!"

Robin, the familiar robin who always followed Ayumi, started shouting and speaking human language in front of everyone when no one else was around.

Then, with a thud, it was calmly slapped to the ground and instantly lost its life.

He died just like that.

But it revived immediately a few seconds later.

"...Leaving aside whether Robin is a bit noisy, this is definitely a raven, isn't it?" Aoko ignored the familiar deaths of Robin and walked to the balcony to observe the emerald green raven just a step away. "And, it's a familiar..."

Yuzhu carefully examined the raven: "This is not a tamed or contracted familiar. It is a creation made of pure magic, created by someone using magic."

"Using only eight units of magic power to create seven familiars, that's pretty ordinary for a magician, isn't it?" Aoko asked.

“Generally speaking, it’s quite ordinary.” Yuzhu walked onto the balcony, caught the raven without any difficulty, and examined it in her hands. “But this familiar’s magic is quite pure. If you attack it rashly, the resulting explosion will be enough to destroy this room, and the people in the room will hardly be spared.”

Aoko looked wary: "Who sent this time bomb?"

“If they don’t attack, everything will be fine.” Yuzhu continued, raising her eyes to look around the new building. She could still see several more ravens. “Someone must have created these familiars to scout out the surrounding environment.”

"That's even worse, it feels like we're being watched." Aoko thought for a moment, "It must be my older sister's... uh, anyway, it's that man!"

"Staying away from reality is really not like you, Aoko," Azusa calmly criticized.

"Don't you think this is outrageous, Aoko? That older sister actually has a fiancé and even claims she's going to abandon the name of Aozaki!" Aoko started wailing, clutching her head. "This is the only thing I don't want to be left behind by my older sister!"

Yuzhu understood: "So, you're still single?"

"...Haha, more or less..." Aoko laughed awkwardly, clearly unwilling to admit the truth.

“Is that so?” Yuzhu thought for a moment. “Miss Orange was just teasing you. She lied to you because she knew you didn’t have the information that ‘First Aoko’ had.”

"Huh? So, in fact, my older sister is still—" Aoko was overjoyed.

“He’s just my boyfriend,” Yuzhu added. “That’s what Ms. Orange said. They’re probably not engaged yet.”

Her words dealt another heavy blow to her old friend.

Aoko swayed weakly as she leaned against the railing: "It's not much different, is it... Damn it..."

“At least I don’t think he’ll get married,” Arisu said. “Mr. Shiomi is already married, you must have heard that.”

“…Oh right.” Aoko’s eyes widened, then she jumped up suddenly. “No, no, if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that my older sister is having an affair with a married man and they even came to the hot springs together?”

As Aoko learned of this fact, her worries began to shift in another direction.

"Ah... I knew my older sister lived a very casual life, but I really don't want to admit that she's this casual..."

She murmured softly.

"Please cheer up, Miss Aoko! Although I don't know which era you're from, you're definitely not young. But Miss Touko is a few years older than you and she can find a lover, so you definitely can too! No, in our opinion, you absolutely can, it's not time to admit you're old yet!"

Robin started chattering and encouraging Aoko again.

"Hey, do you want to die again?" Aoko's face darkened.

This talkative robin is so good at encouraging people that Aoko, who was used to seeing Ayumi do things herself, suddenly felt an urge to do it herself.

However, this time it was still Zhu who did it.

The robin died for the second time.

"Putting aside the personal issues of Miss Orange for now, what exactly is that man's intention in releasing the familiar?" Yuzhu could not sense any hostility from the familiar, nor did she feel uncomfortable being stared at.

Moreover, when she tried to use magic to interfere with the familiar and harmlessly dissolve it, she discovered that the seemingly pure magical body was actually composed of a refined and complex spell.

Faced with Yuzhu's magic, it merely moved in her palm and preened its feathers like a wild bird that felt no threat.

Extremely docile.

"This bird... why don't we take it? It can't talk or make a fuss. Next time we go out, Robin can stay here to guard the house." Yuzhu actually started to think about the value of this familiar.

"Think it over, Miss Yuzhu! Even if you buy a familiar made of pure magic, you can't maintain it. Once the original owner cancels the spell, it's just a waste of money!"

Robin realized that his living space was threatened and immediately expressed his opinion vehemently.

"Won't this just make Azusa think that her previous idea was even more correct?" Aoko said with pity to Robin, who was flapping her wings.

The blue robin was well aware of the raven's danger and didn't dare to attack it at all.

Then, as if Robin's wish had come true, the emerald raven suddenly spread its wings, which were about fifty centimeters wide.

The emerald raven suddenly flew away from Youzhu's hand, soaring into the sky. A few seconds later, it flew back and landed on the railing some distance away from the two people and the bird, looking around aimlessly.

"I thought it was going to fly away." Yuzhu felt slightly puzzled.

Just then, a greeting came from the sky, and Aoko and Yuzu looked up at the eighth floor.

Shio and Tenki were hugging Skadi and greeting them when their clear, bright voices came through:

"Sorry, sorry. One of the ravens had a bad magical signal, so I issued a forced takeoff order! I hope I didn't scare you two!"

"No--!"

Aoko thought to herself, "I knew it," and then answered at the top of her lungs.

Chapter Eighty Terrace