But I Refuse!

Undoubtedly, little Illya was greatly looking forward to Mami-senpai's perfect debut.

Just like an elementary school student... well, she was an elementary school student. Returning to '[Illya]'s house, she eagerly and excitedly approached the TV.

Everything was as expected—Miss Mami, appearing as a magical girl, perfectly satisfied and refreshed her fantasies. Not with a magic wand, but with flintlock pistols woven from magic ribbons! From a magical perspective, this was truly making something ordinary into something extraordinary.

Of course, she strongly agreed with this. After all, in little Illya's eyes, magical girls were such wondrous beings. They should be able to fly... Hmm, Mami-senpai not fulfilling this point did make little Illya a bit regretful. She herself could fly using Ruby!

However, things are never perfect, and this imperfection, conversely, made little Illya yearn for it even more.

"Hey, hey, Ruby, can you turn into a flintlock pistol or something?"

"Unfortunately, that's not possible."

Ruby clearly denied, "If you need it, I can transform into a gun muzzle for you."

Although as a Mystic Code, the jewel wand did possess a certain degree of shaping ability, it was more of a morphological change of released magical energy, just like how Rin Tohsaka could use it to create a mana blade. As for a more complete transformation of its entire form... well, at least normally, it couldn't do that!

"Oh..."

Little Illya was a bit disappointed, but she quickly cheered up. After all, the elegant and powerful Mami-senpai was performing, demonstrating to her juniors, Sayaka Miki and Madoka Kaname, how to beat up the Dessert Witch... Mmm, that monster seems so abstract~

Unexpectedly, Mami-senpai easily achieved victory, which left little Illya feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

Although it was very exciting, Mami-senpai's battle was really short... Well, it didn't matter, there seemed to be many more episodes, so she should be able to see all sorts of...

"...Eh?"

As little Illya was fantasizing about future events, a sudden change in the picture made her freeze.

With just a 'crack,' the elegant and powerful Mami Tomoe had transformed from 'Mami Tomoe' to 'Ba Mami' (Headless Mami) in an extremely short amount of time.

She stared blankly at this scene.

A moment later—

"Eeeeeeeh—?!"

Little Illya's astonished expression became quite 'spectacular,' looking utterly terrified.

"Qiao... Qiao!!! Qiao Qiao Qiao!!!"

For ease of distinction, she had received this nickname from Mr. Jiang Qiao. Although Illya wasn't entirely sure why she was called that, undoubtedly, at this moment, after seeing this terrifying scene, the first person she thought of was '[Illya],' and she frantically called out to her.

"Huh... What's wrong?"

[Illya], who was organizing the magical workshop and simultaneously preparing magecraft and pre-made familiars, looked over, then noticed the source of all evil and revealed a malicious smile.

"Oh... It's this."

"What's wrong?"

"Mami-senpai... Mami-senpai's head fell off!" Little Illya looked at the calmly smiling '[Illya]' with a face full of panic and grief.

"Well, if it fell off, just stick it back on, right?"

"That kind of thing can't be stuck back on," Illya couldn't help but retort.

"No..."

Coming back to her senses, she calmed down a bit, sorted out her thoughts, and pointed stutteringly at the TV screen:

"This is completely wrong!"

"Is this even a magical girl show?!"

"Doesn't it say so on the disc? Madoka Magica. And it's indeed magical and has girls, so there's no problem, right?"

This statement made little Illya almost lose her composure. She clearly felt something was wrong, but for some reason, it sounded completely reasonable.

But...

Is this "magical girl" show even legal?

No way, absolutely no way! Magical girls should be about love and justice! Wielding magic wands... Mmm, and the firearms-wielding type like Mami-senpai—but no matter what, it should be happy, right? It should be happy!

Why did her head get bitten off?! This isn't love and justice at all, not magical girl at all!

Undoubtedly, this horrifying development was challenging little Illya's bottom line for magical girl works!

She could tolerate monster gore, and something as abstract as a witch, she might even find it a bit creepy but also novel—tentacle monster defeats and lewd displays were one thing, but this... unbearable, completely unbearable!

"Well, can't be helped. That's how the scriptwriter wrote it."

[Illya] held a steaming cup of black tea and shrugged at little Illya's objection.

Although she was a complete elementary schooler, even if it was a delayed reaction, little Illya had already realized that the 'bad Illya' before her must have planned this long ago.

She stared resentfully at the other, took a sip of the hot tea the other had helped brew...

Although she wished she could blast that dog scriptwriter named Uro-something with a magic cannon, out of a desire to see things through, even though her most admired Mami-senpai made her debut and exit in the same episode, dying at lightning speed, little Illya didn't plan to give up halfway.

After all, if you watch an anime halfway, wouldn't the rest of the ending claw at your heart like a bear's paw?!

With complicated feelings, little Illya thought that maybe things would get better later... Although her beloved Mami-senpai was gone, hmph!

"Seriously, you used up all three Command Spells at once. What were you thinking?"

Just as someone expected, Mordred, having escaped with the help of the Great King and now staying with Kairi Sisigou in a dilapidated factory, couldn't help but complain to Kairi Sisigou—that being said, the smile on her face couldn't be hidden.

"Command Spells are meant to be used. If you don't use them when you need to, they lose their meaning." Kairi Sisigou, sitting on a pile of discarded junk, bandaged and treating his wounds with healing magecraft, was quite philosophical.

He knew very well that one Command Spell wouldn't be enough to help Mordred turn the tide, at most only slightly mitigating her disadvantage. Two Command Spells would be enough for Clarent Blood Arthur to contend with Excalibur, but that wasn't enough, not nearly enough. If it were only two, it would at best end with a slight advantage.

But... if he gambled all three, it would be enough to achieve an overwhelming advantage!

If so, then just do it.

Sisigou would absolutely not regret this. He only felt it was a bit of a pity—

"It's a pity I couldn't help you finish off that renowned Knight King in one go."

"Hmph, I can do that kind of thing even without your help..." Mordred pouted.

"Is that so... Then it seems I overdid it."

Sisigou laughed heartily.

"Hmph... It was unnecessary in the first place."

"But it doesn't matter anymore."

"Command Spells, it makes no difference whether I have them or not!"

"Even without that thing, I'll still lead you to victory in this Holy Grail War!"

"In the name of a knight, I give you my word."

Looking at the solemn Mordred, Sisigou smiled helplessly:

"Haha... Don't use such a precious thing to guarantee something so uncertain."

"As long as there are no regrets."

"Seriously, have a little confidence in me..." Little Mo grumbled, dissatisfied.

Of course, she herself wasn't very confident either. After all, even dealing with that Saber was already very difficult for her, and she only won thanks to a temporary all-in burst with three Command Spells. And those two fellows at the opening of the Holy Grail War... those monsters, even she would find it hard to deal with.

However, even if she felt she had little chance of winning, she still wanted to offer the victory of this war to this Master she had sworn allegiance to, no matter what. Even if she had to abandon her knightly honor for it... But then again, a reputation like 'traitor' didn't have much honor to speak of in the first place.

The next moment, sensing something, she suddenly became alert, instantly donning her armor.

She shouted loudly:

"...A Servant is approaching!"

Undoubtedly, it was an extremely powerful magical entity, a powerful Servant no less than her father... And, this magical energy...

Could it be—

Her eyes widened as she watched the figure materialize not far away.

"It has been a long time, Mordred."

A cold, indifferent, yet familiar voice sounded beside her ear. Looking at the silver-haired witch in black, little Mo looked horrified.

"Mother!"

She never dreamed that she would see her mother again—of course, for Mordred, Morgan's appearance was by no means a joyous occasion. After all, after shedding her initial naivety and becoming a Heroic Spirit after death, she knew very well that she was just a pawn to her mother, and her mother's true nature was that of a complete madwoman.

Bad news... Absolutely bad news, Morgan actually appeared in this Holy Grail War...

Mordred, as her daughter, felt her imposing aura weaken.

But thinking of Kairi Sisigou beside her, she couldn't help but muster her courage again and said quite seriously:

"Even if my opponent is you, Mother, I will not allow you to harm my Master!"

"Oh? It's been a while, but your courage has grown, I see."

Morgan was somewhat surprised, but after glancing at Sisigou, she couldn't help but sneer, "Is this the courage you found from this man?"

"I have sworn to my Master that I will win this Holy Grail War for him. Mother, if you want to make a move, then do it now!"

"Still so impetuous, Mordred. However, win this Holy Grail War? This man's decisiveness is indeed admirable, but his skill as a magus can only be called third-rate. He won't be able to defeat Arthur and the other enemies with you."

"Your capabilities are not sufficient to support such a thing. You should understand that, Mordred."

"Mother, what you mean is..."

Facing Mordred's question, the cold, silver-haired woman extended her hand in an inviting gesture and said indifferently:

"Become my pawn, just like before. If you do, then a mere Holy Grail is not something that cannot be relinquished."

Even when summoned to a Lostbelt, Morgan could reverse-engineer Chaldea's Rayshift system in a single night and use it to travel thousands of years into the past, leaving all the information and technology she carried with her to her Lostbelt predecessor, Baobhan Sith, the Savior, creating that Fairy Queen Morgan who came from the end. Undoubtedly, even if the Pan-Human History Morgan was born at the end of the Age of Gods in Britain, she still possessed magical skills sufficient to reach godhood, her level even far exceeding that of Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, summoned in the Fifth Holy Grail War.

For magi of their level, the so-called omnipotent wish-granting machine, the Holy Grail, hyped up by the Three Founding Families, was simply not worth mentioning.

With enough time and magical energy, they could completely create one by hand. Therefore, Morgan had no pursuit for such a thing.

The reason she appeared in this Holy Grail War was simply because she wanted to come out from the Reverse Side of the World to restore Britain's glory.

Therefore, she didn't mind promising Mordred the Holy Grail at all.

And the price was for Mordred to become her tool once again.

After all, even among the 'tools' Morgan created, Mordred was the most successful one. Not only did she replicate that hateful Red Dragon almost perfectly, but she also excellently completed the task of burying Arthur.

To restore Britain's glory, acquiring such a tool was undoubtedly very necessary.

At this proposal, Mordred couldn't help but feel tempted and hesitant.

Honestly, she was actually quite resentful of her mother treating her as a tool. The reason she went along with her mother's wishes was simply because it was also her own desire.

But, as her mother said, her own capabilities were simply not enough to help her Master win this Holy Grail War. Let alone those two monsters, she wasn't even confident of defeating Arthur. And that uncle who had helped her out, she wasn't very sure about him either. Counting carefully, among the Servants who had already appeared, the only one she seemed capable of dealing with was that pretty-boy Lancer.

Now, she had to add her mother to the list.

But if she had her mother's help... then she could obtain unimaginable assistance. Whether it was Arthur or those troublesome opponents, she imagined that in the face of Morgan's magecraft, it would be no difficult feat. After all, the underlying logic of the Holy Grail War was, in the end, just a large-scale magical ritual, which was nothing to a top-tier magus like Morgan.

Moreover, with her mother's help, the wish her Master wanted to achieve through the Holy Grail would also become very simple, right?

If so, then her own unhappiness wasn't that important.

"Master..."

The final decision still had to be left to Kairi Sisigou. She looked at him.

He met her gaze, said nothing, just took a drag from his cigarette, as if contemplating something.

Morgan smiled indifferently at this.

Exchanging the Holy Grail for the price of being a tool, such a condition wasn't much, was it?

At least, in her view, the other party had no reason to refuse. As for Mordred's little temper, that was just a small rebellion, nothing to worry about.

Therefore—

"I refuse."

At this moment, Morgan froze.