Fate: Nameless Hero

Chapter 102: Chapter 100: Another Video For Our Dear Lion King (3.6K)



The newcomer appeared slender and tall, exuding a peculiar charm that transcended conventional gender—similar to Enkidu's otherworldly allure.

At that moment, they were beaming with a bright, radiant smile, looking especially kind and approachable.

Sanjiro almost froze on the spot.

The First Emperor is in my house???

No, no—must've been a mistake!

There's no way that's real!

It had been so long since he last used lip-reading, surely he messed up this time!

Sanjiro's gaze swept over the visitor's face.

Having walked through the history of humanity, interacted with powerful Heroic Spirits and even divine beings and Evils of Humanity, he had long since build a calm and steady demeanor—calm even in the face of a collapsing world.

He must not panic!

What if this was just a bluff—like that damned Golden Bastard always pulling tricks?

Remaining composed, Sanjiro lowered his voice and asked, "Did you bring this guy home?"

Damn it! First she brought Gilgamesh home, and now she's brought Shikotei? Did she break the seal and escape?!

Back then, they were sworn enemies who almost destroyed each other—neither owed the other anything!

Sanjiro suddenly felt like he might need to add a few more layers of seals—really lock this girl down tight.

If she actually managed to break free… humanity is doomed.

"This Mr. said he wanted to hand it to you personally. Isn't this the fox fur scarf you bought?" Kirina asked, looking even more confused.

What did this have to do with her?

The guy said he was buying a fox scarf. She thought it was just some ordinary knitwear.

But judging by this whole situation, this looked like something worth thousands of dollars—real fur!

"Must be a mistake…" Sanjiro muttered in disbelief.

The brat didn't mess up this time???

… did the sun just rise from the west?

Looks like he'd have to give the kid a good dinner tonight—completely satisfy her bottomless stomach.

But now, the real problem: how was he supposed to deal with this guy?

Sanjiro walked over calmly, feigning curiosity. "You came to deliver a fox fur scarf?"

"Yes, I came especially to deliver this fox fur scarf to you. Please take a look at the quality," the man replied with a smile, pulling out the gift from his sleek leather bag.

It was a gleaming golden fox tail.

About a meter long, it looked unbelievably smooth and soft, with a dreamlike beauty.

"Wow… is that a real fox tail?" Kirina gasped, eyes sparkling with star-like light.

She was completely enchanted by the scarf—unable to take her eyes off it.

Just a single glance was enough to tell: this was a luxury item she couldn't possibly afford!

Was this worth thousands?

So… why did Sanjiro buy her such an expensive gift?!

A nervous twinge suddenly crept into Kirina's heart.

He had always complained about her before. Could it be… he was just pretending?

Maybe he actually liked her a lot—so much that he wanted to be with her forever—but just kept teasing her about being flat-chested and having a petite, childlike figure?

And now, to win her over completely… he went all in and bought her a real fox fur scarf?

So… does that mean tonight she's really going to step into the adult world?

What should she do? Kirina suddenly felt a bit nervous—she wasn't ready at all!

T-This is way too fast!

"Yes, this is genuine fox fur," Shikotei replied, his smile growing even gentler.

This slightly silly-looking child seemed to possess a truly extraordinary identity.

Just by looking at her, one could feel a vast, mysterious, and overwhelming presence—as if facing the entire world itself.

Even the gods would pale in comparison, utterly insignificant in front of her.

It was a sensation almost identical to what he felt when, as a Heroic Spirit summoned from the past, he happened to glimpse that mysterious collective consciousness of humanity.

And yet…

Such a terrifying and powerful existence was now acting like an obedient little girl.

Every gesture was filled with childlike innocence and charm.

How interesting.

Under his gaze—

Kirina carefully and slightly trembling, reached out to touch it, gasping in amazement, "Wow… this texture is incredible! I've never felt anything so smooth and soft before!"

It was undoubtedly the highest-grade fur, and just touching it made her not want to let go.

Her eyes shimmered with tears as she turned to the side. "Sanjiro, isn't this a little… too much? Don't tell me this costs over nine thousand?"(Its over nine thousand!)

The two of them actually lived fairly modestly, mostly relying on their savings and Sanjiro's part-time jobs during holidays.

Plus her scholarship and such.

Even her phone was a cheap thousand-yuan model. She only splurged on mobile games when she got carried away.

Such a luxurious fox fur scarf would cost years' worth of her pocket money!

"Ahem… it probably isn't that expensive…" Sanjiro replied, trying his best to stay composed while looking at the scarf.

Even without using any magecraft or touching it, he could sense a deeply hidden and incredibly powerful magical aura.

It looked like just a fox tail… but it felt like it carried the explosive force of a missile—or even a nuclear bomb!

A bold thought suddenly popped into his mind—

Could this be Tamamo-no-Mae's tail?!

Just last night, he had used Platinum Dragon's aura to give Tamamo a proper beatdown—and now her tail was here being gifted as a scarf?

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Sanjiro couldn't help but become more convinced that this guy really was Shikotei.

And most importantly—

He was willing to hand over such a valuable item. Was he trying to coax Sanjiro into returning to the battlefield, working 007 overtime again, and becoming the official Imperial Teacher of the Empire?

Shikotei… I can't do this anymore!

Just thinking about it made Sanjiro want to cry.

He'd painstakingly crossed thousands of years of human history, slaved away for Alaya for who knows how long, left traces of himself across countless timelines and worlds.

Now that he'd finally broken free from that capitalist hell-contract, he was expected to dedicate his life again for another cause?

Absolutely not!

I refuse to go back to working like a dog!

You already have Shokatsu Kōmei, that ultimate overtime demon! For the love of all that's sacred, let me retire in peace for all the hard work I did tutoring you day and night back in the day!

"It's really not that expensive—just a New Year's gift," Shikotei said, his smile softening even more.

Completely unlike the dominating image of him threatening Tamamo-no-Mae and forcing her to hand over her tail.

If he wanted to send a gift, what better than the tail of someone who dared to attack his teacher?

"A New Year's gift?" Kirina was even more astonished.

To casually give away something this valuable—was this guy as rich as Mr. Gold?

Gulp.

She couldn't help but swallow nervously.

Lately her luck had been unreal—people just showing up one after another to give her gifts!

Previously, Mr. Gold had paid her thousands just to be his campus guide. Then he gave her an ultra-rare ticket to the Fuyuki Grand Hotel to see real Heroic Spirits in person.

That ticket alone could fetch tens of thousands if sold online—in dollars if I must say!

That meeting even made her besties with Mordred and had Artoria and Jeanne both fighting over who got to treat her as a daughter—she could die happy now.

And now, another gift-bearing guest? Was she secretly the reincarnation of someone who saved the world?

God upstairs', you've been so good to me… it's like you're just giving away gifts for free!

Wait a second—Mr. Gold was Sanjiro's friend, could this person be one too?

But… they seemed kinda unfamiliar?

The biggest question—could Sanjiro actually be some kind of rich heir?

Just waiting for the "Three Years Later" prophecy to be fulfilled and return as a rich second generation young master?

At that moment—

Fou walked over and looked curiously at the unfamiliar guest. "Fou… Fou? (Why is there another one?)"

All it wanted was to be a normal little cat, but more and more Heroic Spirits kept showing up at their home.

And each one seemed to have shady motives—like they all wanted to take Sanjiro away!

Unacceptable. It had to show the true terror of the Beasts of Humanity!

It leapt onto Sanjiro's lap, snuggled against his chest, raised its little paws, and made an extremely ferocious face—

[DRAGON ROAR!!]

Kirina couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Fou, are you trying to act cute on purpose?"

This little cat was just too funny.

So tiny and adorable, but trying its best to look scary.

If this got posted online, it'd totally kill the internet with cuteness!

However…

Shikotei frowned slightly, sensing a terrifying, vast power.

A power that surpassed even the gods—so overwhelming it was impossible to resist.

It was on the same level as that primordial mother goddess who appeared in the "Oldest King" spinoff "Flower of the Underworld."

A being capable of annihilating humanity—a Beast of Humanity?!

What made it even more special—

Shikotei clearly sensed that this little beast controlled a terrifying concept akin to causality itself—

[Comparison]

No matter how strong you are—it could always be stronger than you!

"Fou… the white beast Merlin threw from the Tower at the End in 'Flower Magus' spinoff?" Shikotei looked at it in slight astonishment.

Just from that story, it was impossible to tell how powerful it truly was.

It was portrayed as just a soft, cute little pet.

But now, seeing it with his own eyes—it was clearly way stronger than Merlin!

When Shikotei went to find Tamamo-no-Mae earlier, he had sensed a strange magical wave.

That scummy bastard obviously teamed up with the fox spirit to go after Nameless!

Nightmare… you better run far, far away.

When he caught them, he'd hand both of them over to the teacher!

Fou, upon hearing that name, instantly got even more enraged—

"Fou… Fou! (Merlin must die!)"

That bastard had thrown it from the Tower of the End, and it had been falling for 1,500 years! One thousand five hundred years of freefall—do you know what that does to a creature?!

Kirina pouted. "That's just a stray kitten we picked up. How could it be that adorable little beast?"

They didn't even look alike!

The real Fou was way cuter than this one.

And the worst part—this housecat wouldn't even let her pet it! Not even once!

At that moment—

Shikotei stood up and prepared to leave. "Since the gift is delivered, I'll take my leave now."

"Huh? You're leaving already?" Kirina was even more surprised.

This guy was so nice—brought a luxury fur gift, then immediately got up to go.

Who was he?

Kirina cautiously asked, "Um… do you know Mr. Gold?"

"Mr. Gold? Never heard of him," Shikotei replied with a gentle smile as he stood, casually pointing beside him. "Hey, mind walking me out?"

Familiar words. A familiar scene.

Sanjiro instantly felt like a giant red word was flashing over his head—

[DEATH.]

Kirina happily hugged the fox tail. "Sanjiro, you should walk Mr. out."

Just touching it made her never want to let go.

There even seemed to be some kind of special fox fragrance on it that made her cheeks blush and her head feel all fuzzy like she'd been drinking.

There was even a strange heat stirring inside her…

Something strange is happening…

Sanjiro stared blankly.

You brat… seriously switching sides over a single fox tail?!

Should I give you the other eight tails from that fox spirit too?

Sighing, Sanjiro put on his coat and followed the First Emperor outside.

In the distance, a song played—

"Snowflakes fluttering, the north wind howling, the world is vast and desolate…"

The entire neighborhood was already blanketed in snow.

Children were gleefully throwing snowballs and building snowmen.

As Shikotei walked, he softly sighed. "Back then, when I was just a kid, I wanted to play with them too… but I was always excluded."

He had been born in the enemy state.

That childhood shadow cast over Shikotei that left him deeply anxious and insecure.

It wasn't until he escaped that he was lucky enough to meet his Teacher—Sanjiro—who finally gave him that long-desired sense of safety.

"Um, what are you talking about?" Sanjiro asked, feigning confusion.

He had to stay sharp. He couldn't fall for any tricks!

"Teacher, must you still pretend in front of me?" Shikotei stared straight at him.

Faced with such a familiar scene—

Sanjiro gave up pretending, letting out a helpless sigh. "Uh, did you find me through the Platinum Dragon?"

He really shouldn't have used that ability the guy gave him…

Of course something went wrong!

"Yes. Since you clearly knew, was that not an invitation for me to come see you?" Shikotei looked at the young man in front of him.

In that moment, it was like he had returned to more than 2,200 years ago.

Back then, wasn't Teacher also looking at his younger self in the exact same way?

Had he grown up into his teacher?

"No, I'm not! That's not what happened! Don't make stuff up!" Sanjiro instantly denied it three times in a row.

If he hadn't burned through all his mana fighting Hassan of the Hundred Faces, and if Tamamo-no-Mae hadn't shown up at his door, how would he ever have used that trap called Platinum Dragon?

That damn fox. I swear I'm going to break you one day.

"Teacher, are you surprised to see me?"

Shikotei asked with a bright smile.

Back during the coronation ceremony, the Nameless he summoned had only been a version from the past.

But now, he was finally seeing the real Nameless!

"Yeah… surprised, alright…"

Sanjiro grew even more exasperated.

He nearly had a heart attack from the surprise!

Surprised my ass!

The First Emperor himself showing up at your house… how is that not terrifying?!

"Teacher, what have you been fighting… to end up like this?" Shikotei frowned as he looked at him.

The Nameless who had once stood so proudly before him was now a tattered wreck—like a ragdoll forced back together with broken thread.

What in the world had happened?

How could the heroic spirit who once traversed human history, saving countless lives, now look like a stray dog hiding away to survive?

"Just… a bit too much…"

Sanjiro didn't want to go into the details of all the battles.

There were simply too many. So many that even he couldn't remember them all.

Oh right—you were part of one of them too!

So what if you were a King of a Lostbelt?

Damn it—you really were absurdly strong!

"Teacher, come with me," Shikotei said with a smile, stretching out his hand. "Let me return all the glory to you. Let the world know who's been silently protecting them!

If anyone dares to disrespect you, I'll execute their entire family.

If a country disrespect you, I'll destroy the entire nation.

A true guardian of humanity deserves the highest honor!"

His voice wasn't loud, nor his tone forceful—

But it was full of absolute certainty.

This was the First Emperor:

His words were law. Once spoken, they became reality.

He really could do it.

Snowflakes drifted down, settling on the two of them.

One landed gently on the pale, slender hand extended toward him.

"…Sorry. I'm just too tired." Sanjiro shook his head and didn't take the hand.

He had been a hero of justice for countless years, a savior of the world for countless years, a nameless heroic spirit for countless years.

If his titles were listed—

Dearest Friend of Uruk's oldest Hero-King;

Nameless Knight of Britain's King Artoria;

Crimson Knight of the Royal Paladins of France;

Teacher of the First Emperor;

Hero blessed by the gods of Olympus;

…Just these few already filled several A4 pages. You could easily stretch the list to thousands of words.

So many battles. So many brushes with death. So many desperate fights. He had burned out all his passion.

He was too tired.

It was time to rest.

"Teacher… you've rejected me again," Shikotei sighed, withdrawing his hand.

Back during the war against the gods, Teacher had also chosen to fight alone.

He could only watch helplessly as the man he admired was reduced to dust.

And now, once again, he refused his hand.

Shikotei stared deeply at him. "Did something happen after I gained immortality? Something that made you not want to stay by my side?"

"Ahem! N-No! Nothing like that!" Sanjiro said with righteous conviction.

"Ah, I see. Then you must have done something to betray me," Shikotei nodded solemnly.

"…You're overthinking it." Sanjiro groaned.

At this rate, once that video gets leaked, there's no way this guy would still be this nice to him.

He quickly added, "I'm really just exhausted. I just want to enjoy a peaceful, normal life. Glory and fame mean nothing to me!"

The unspoken message was:

Please stop looking for me. Let me just be an ordinary high school student!

"…Alright. I'll honor your wish."

Shikotei turned to look at the children having a snowball fight in the distance, sighing wistfully. "Originally, I wanted to give you the entirety of Japan as your fief(estate of land)… but I suppose I'll have to let that go."

…???

Sanjiro stared at him in shock.

Good lord, that's an insane gift.

Giving him Japan as a fief basically meant granting him all of its tax revenue—

That's trillions of yen a year!

And he just… rejected it with one sentence?

Damn it. No. He must not be tempted. He was going to be the King of Slackers!

Still, Sanjiro felt his heart bleeding inside.

He'd just casually thrown away that much money.

But then he saw the smile tugging at Shikotei's lips and realized—

He'd been played.

Little brat… when did you learn to mess with me like that?

"Then, until next year," Shikotei bowed and smiled in farewell.

It was only New Year's Eve, after all.

He'd come again tomorrow for a proper New Year's visit.

"See you,"

Sanjiro smiled and waved goodbye—while muttering in his heart:

"Please don't come back again!!"

It was one thing for Gilgamesh to randomly play Good Samaritan in Fuyuki City—but why did you have to do a sneak attack too?

———

After returning home—

Sanjiro collapsed tiredly onto the sofa.

Just a short conversation had felt like fighting a whole war.

It was exhausting.

He nearly got dragged off by Shikotei to compete with Shokatsu Kōmei in overwork!

Thankfully the guy left right away—hopefully never to return.

All these sudden heart-stopping moments would be the death of him.

And if he died, Alaya would just drag his soul right back into endless overtime!

At that moment—

A girl in pajamas ran over and plopped herself down on his lap.

"Sanjiro… my body feels kinda hot~"

Kirina's eyes were hazy, her voice soaked with affection, her breathing disordered.

"…Huh? What's wrong with you?"

Sanjiro held her, and his hand happened to rest on her thigh.

The soft, bouncy, jelly-like feel was amazing.

She wrapped her slim arms around his neck and snuggled up.

Her eyes gleamed with desire.

"You just look so handsome today…"

Smack!—

Sanjiro gave her a light swat on the butt and scolded her seriously:

"From now on, no more touching that fox scarf!"

Her strange behavior was obviously due to the lingering charm effect from the fox tail.

Seriously now—you're a high-level existence too! How could you get swayed by some measly fox charm?!

(T/N: Yeaaa, I don't wanna write some smut with kids—lolis in general.)

"Uuu… Don't hit me…"

Kirina squirmed in his arms, and Sanjiro took a deep breath.

He scooped her up by the waist and tossed her back into bed, wrapping her up tightly under the blanket.

Thump—

Sanjiro shut the door with a quiet sigh.

"Damn it, Alaya… First, I get scared half to death by Shikotei's sudden visit, and now I almost get seduced by a brat?"

Better be careful, or it's five years minimum jail time!

Seriously now—Artoria, Mordred, when are you guys leaving?!

Sanjiro felt another headache coming on.

A whole bunch of Heroic Spirits gathering in Fuyuki City… it was giving him insane pressure.

If the brat's seal ever gets lifted, they're all doomed!

At the same time—

In Academy City.

With Shikotei returning to Fuyuki, a new round of diplomatic talks was about to begin.

And now, once again, two monarchs standing at the very peak of the Heroic Spirit hierarchy sat face-to-face.

Shikotei's expression was calm and indifferent:

"If your side wants to collaborate with Me, you'll need to show the proper posture."

"Of course,"

Artoria nodded.

During this time, the Britannian side had been deliberating how many benefits they could afford to offer.

There was even Mordred's proposed "political marriage" strategy on the table.

Just as she was about to lay out a full series of plans—

Gawain leaned in, visibly shocked, and whispered:

"My King—Alaya has released a new video. And it's… about you!"

Same scenario: two supreme rulers holding a diplomatic summit.

Same timing: Alaya drops a new bombshell video.

Naturally, Artoria didn't want to follow in the footsteps of the First Emperor, who was practically publicly executed by the last video.

"Let's postpone the meeting until we've all seen the video…"

"If we truly seek cooperation, then we must understand each other," Shikotei interjected with authority.

"Someone, play the video. Let us watch it together with our Britannian guests!"

This time, the newly updated Alaya video was titled—

[Divine Realm of the Round Table]

===========

So yea, I'm not really comfortable with writing loli or kid smut so suck it up, Translator san's still has some principle left.

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