Abnormality In Type-Moon: Madness Of Animeverse

"You're finally back, Orange!"

"Hey, Roy."

Aozaki Touko, cigarette perched between her fingers, was surrounded by a haze of smoke.

"So, is this your little servant now? Looks like the brat's finally grown up, huh!"

Her teasing gaze fell on Kasumigaoka Utaha, a mixture of mockery and admiration in her eyes.

Utaha had no response.

Why did everyone who saw her assume she had something going on with Roy?

"Nice taste in clothes too!" Touko pointed at Utaha's maid outfit with an approving nod.

Utaha glanced down and suddenly understood. Wearing something like this, it's no wonder people misunderstood.

"Do you have what I asked for?"

Roy sat down at the table, his eyes eagerly fixed on Touko.

"Impatient, aren't you? You know me—if I hadn't found it, I wouldn't have come back."

Touko shrugged, crossing her legs in a new position.

As she spoke, she pulled out a small wooden box from who-knows-where and handed it over.

"Here, take it."

Roy, trying to keep his excitement in check, opened the box.

Inside was a small, pitch-black piece of iron, crisscrossed with intricate patterns. It was weathered with age, exuding a palpable sense of history, yet meticulously cleaned.

"Thanks, Touko!" Roy's smile brimmed with satisfaction as he ran his fingers over the thumb-sized iron piece.

"That'll be two hundred million dollars."

Touko grinned, extending her hand.

"Two hundred million… How about I give you my Mystic Eyes as payment?" Roy wiped the cold sweat from his brow, clearly taken aback by the staggering price.

"Hahaha! Who would dare use your Mystic Eyes?"

Touko laughed heartily.

"But I'm serious about the two hundred million. This thing dates back to the Age of Gods. The price is actually on the low side. You've got no idea how many places I had to scour to find it."

"Here I am, back home, and you didn't even offer me a cup of tea. The younger generation these days, I swear..."

"Utaha, go make some tea."

"Yes."

"Hey, at least make the tea yourself as a sign of gratitude, no?"

"How about I cook you a full-course Imperial banquet instead?"

"I'd take that!"

"Yeah, right! Even if I could cook, it's not like we have the ingredients in this day and age."

Roy burst into laughter.

Utaha returned from the kitchen, carrying a glass of plain water, and shot Roy a curious look.

"As long as you're happy, that's what matters."

Touko stood up, stretching her back, her figure perfectly outlined as she did.

"I'm going to take a bath. After being on the road for so long, I feel like I've started to reek."

Touko glanced at Utaha and smiled warmly at her, gesturing toward Roy before leaving the room.

Utaha blinked, nodded slightly, and placed the water in front of Roy.

"Lord Roy, you're in a particularly good mood today."

"Am I?"

Roy seemed genuinely surprised at her remark.

"Have I been faking my smiles all this time?"

"No, not fake exactly..."

Utaha hesitated for a moment, unsure how to phrase it.

"Usually, Lord Roy, when you smile, it feels... a bit empty. It's a gentle, polite smile, one you probably give out of habit. But today, your smile seems genuine, like you're truly happy."

True to her reputation as a novelist, Utaha was precise in her expression.

Roy immediately grasped her meaning.

In other words, she believed that today's smile reflected his true feelings, unlike his usual smiles, which, while not false, seemed to hide something.

"I guess my training still needs work," Roy murmured under his breath.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, really."

Roy shook his head, seeing the puzzled look on Utaha's face.

"Utaha, tell me, which smile do you prefer—today's or my usual one?"

"Which do I prefer?"

Caught off guard by the question, Utaha's cheeks grew warm as she instinctively tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear to hide her blush.

"If I had to choose, I'd say today's... But honestly, I don't dislike your usual smile either."

She had intended to answer without hesitation, preferring today's heartfelt smile. But just as she was about to speak, she remembered how comforting Roy's usual gentle smile had been when he consoled her the previous day. Almost instinctively, she added that last part.

"I see."

Roy fell silent, seemingly lost in thought.

Relieved by his quietness, Utaha took the opportunity to calm her flushed face.

While Touko was in the bath, Roy headed into the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

Though a full-course Imperial banquet was out of the question, whipping up eight or ten good dishes as thanks to Touko was well within reach.

Aizaka and Utaha busied themselves as his assistants.

The earlier attack by the corrupted Servant hadn't caused much of a stir in the city. People continued to enjoy their fragile peace, blissfully unaware that it could shatter at any moment.

Dinner was a lively affair. Aozaki Touko, in particular, thoroughly enjoyed herself.

After dinner, the two girls cleared the table.

Touko stepped out to the corridor, lighting up another cigarette with a relaxed expression.

Meanwhile, Roy took the iron piece and made his way into the storage room.

The room was cluttered with tools and equipment for maintaining the estate. Beneath it all was a large, worn-out mat, reminiscent of the kind used in school gym classes decades ago.

Roy etched a rune into his hand and pushed the mat and debris aside, leaving him out of breath for a moment.

Beneath the mat was a magic circle, though it was hard to tell how long it had been there. Even with the mat covering it, the grooves of the formation were filled with dust.

"Round two, here we go."

Roy took a deep breath and placed the threaded iron piece into the center of the magic circle, raising his Command Seal-engraved hand toward the formation.

"Declare—"

He began chanting the summoning incantation for the second time.

As the incantation progressed, the magic circle gradually glowed brighter, a brilliant white light filling the entire storage room.

Outside, in the corridor, Touko glanced toward the storage room, where light was seeping through the cracks.

"Will it work?"

Ordinarily, a second summoning would be impossible.

A Master could only have one Servant—that was an iron law set by the Holy Grail.

Not only was this rule established for fairness, but it also served to protect the Master. After all, a regular Master couldn't handle the burden of sustaining multiple Servants.

But Roy was different.

He possessed Mystic Eyes capable of controlling any magic—The Mystic Eyes of Reversal.

He had already secretly altered the Holy Grail's system, making it possible for him to command two Servants at once.

With a low hum, the light in the magic circle faded, and the wind that had been swirling around died down.

A figure stood within the magic circle.

"Ah, I see... So this time it's a Rider-class Servant, huh? Well, too bad—it would've been perfect if it were a Caster."

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