Chapter 19: The Street Cleaner

Broly kicked another sea demon into pieces, but he was starting to get annoyed. No matter how many times he kicked them, these strange creatures kept moving and regenerating.

Just as Broly raised his small hand, aiming at a regenerating sea demon, preparing to blast it into oblivion with an energy ball...

"Don't bother with these familiars. The one controlling them is over there. You need to take out the controller to deal with these things."

Kiritsugu walked over and pointed at Caster, explaining to the terrifyingly powerful child.

Broly followed his finger and saw more sea demons. He aimed his hand in that direction.

But Artoria was still fighting the sea demons over there. She slashed through one, revealing a fleeting glimpse of her figure.

The Crystal Palace in his mind provided a prompt: [Discovered a potential target: Artoria. Current happiness value: 0.]

This made Broly lower his hand.

"Bang~"

The concrete ground shattered under Broly's bare feet, and the shockwave sent the nearby man tumbling to the ground.

"Damn it~"

Over there, Artoria was about to swing her sword to cut down another approaching sea demon when a small figure rushed past her, kicking the sea demon into pieces.

Landing, Broly leaped again, delivering a flying knee strike that turned another sea demon's head into mush. He blocked a tentacle strike from another sea demon, grabbed it, and swung it around like a giant windmill. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed as the sea demons around Artoria were cleared out.

This series of actions, though flashy, happened in an instant. Artoria thought another Servant had come to her aid and was about to thank them when she realized it was just a small boy, barely reaching her waist.

"You have my magical energy on you. Are you the one who killed my Master, Ryūnosuke Uryū?"

Gilles de Rais sensed his own magical energy on Broly and immediately questioned him.

"Ryūnosuke Uryū?"

Broly frowned. He didn't recognize the name, but if it was about killing someone, then yes, he had kicked a guy to death earlier today. That guy had also caused his other desk mate's happiness value to drop.

Thinking about the lost happiness value (and the Happy Water it represented), Broly grew angrier. Combined with the drop in Fujimura Taiga's happiness value, he raised his small hand toward Gilles de Rais.

"What are you doing?"

Artoria didn't understand the boy's actions, and neither did Gilles de Rais. But Broly's terrifying strength was undeniable. Gilles de Rais quickly retreated into the sea demon horde, casting various reinforcement spells on the surrounding sea demons.

"Why did you hurt my friend and take away my happiness?"

Broly asked.

"What?"

Gilles de Rais didn't understand what he meant.

"Disappear."

Broly answered with an energy ball.

Gilles de Rais, who had come for revenge, was instantly obliterated by the dazzling energy ball Broly released. His magical defenses were as useless as a mantis trying to stop a chariot. The energy ball continued its path, wiping out the remaining sea demons and blasting through the street.

An Assassin hiding in the shadows of the street was unlucky. Before he could react, he was caught in the terrifying energy beam and destroyed along with the rest.

The entire street was cleared. As far as the eye could see, it was empty, with only the scorched air and the dissipating bodies of the sea demons on the other side of the energy ball's path proving that the sea demon army wasn't an illusion.

"..."

Artoria, being the closest, felt the intensity of Broly's energy ball. It gave her a sense of power comparable to her fully unleashed Noble Phantasm.

With the enemy destroyed, Broly's anger subsided. He turned to look at the King of Knights. Artoria instinctively tensed, but her wariness was met with the boy's small hand.

"Hello, I'm Broly."

Broly introduced himself. Introducing oneself to strangers was a basic courtesy he had learned since coming to the civilized world.

"King Arthur, Artoria Pendragon."

Broly's non-hostile demeanor quickly put Artoria at ease. She lowered her invisible sword and shook his hand.

"Shake hands, good friends. This means you're my best friend now."

Broly said seriously, repeating the new knowledge Fujimura Taiga had taught him earlier that night.

"Huh?!"

Broly's words shocked Artoria, but seeing the boy's earnest expression and considering he had just saved her, she didn't refuse.

To be honest, Artoria had never had a friend. As a king, she had subordinates and comrades, but no friends.

What, Merlin?

He was her teacher, who taught her swordsmanship and the art of ruling.

After making another "wife," Broly walked back.

Seeing the empty street and the boy walking back as if nothing had happened, the Fujimura group instinctively backed away.

Those sea demons were monsters, but the boy who had wiped out an entire army of sea demons and cleared the street with some unknown power—wasn't he a monster among monsters?

It was natural for people to fear what they didn't understand. Only Fujimura Taiga, upon seeing Broly return, stepped forward to greet him. "Broly, you're such an amazing child!"

The boy had just stepped up, kicking monsters like they were nothing, as if he were in a movie. And when he rushed over there, though she didn't know what happened, a bright green light had flashed, and then the monsters and their controller were gone. Even the entire street was clean. It was beyond cool!

Please forgive her—Fujimura Taiga was at that middle school age where she often fantasized about being a chivalrous, highly skilled ronin. So, witnessing such extraordinary power naturally excited her.

Of course, she also had the ability to discern danger. While others who didn't know Broly backed away, she didn't believe Broly would harm her. That's why she stepped forward, both amazed and fond of Broly, who had saved her grandfather and the rest of the Fujimura group.

"By the way, what was that green light earlier?"

After checking Broly's body and confirming he wasn't injured except for some monster blood, Fujimura Taiga asked.

"It's an energy ball."

Broly answered honestly.

"How did you do that?"

Fujimura Taiga pressed.

"You just gather energy in your hand."

Broly raised his small hand to demonstrate. As green light began to glow in his palm, the crowd instantly backed away.

No joke—the street was still eerily empty as far as the eye could see. No one wanted to end up like those monsters, vaporized into nothingness.

"That's amazing. Can I touch it?"

Fujimura Taiga reached out, seemingly wanting to feel the energy ball Broly was holding.

"You're too weak. You can't touch it. It'll hurt you."

Broly quickly dissipated the energy ball. Even he could now clearly understand how fragile the people of this world were.

Others didn't matter, but he couldn't harm those who were good to him. And among those, Fujimura Taiga, who fed him, clothed him, bathed him, and gave him a bed to sleep in, was undoubtedly number one.

"Alright, I am too weak."

Seeing the boy's incredible display of power, Fujimura Taiga had to admit it. Then she pinched her nose, looking at Broly with slight disgust. "You smell terrible. You need another bath."

Broly sniffed himself and realized it was true. The sea demon blood, after sitting for a while, had started to emit a fishy, seafood-like stench. It wasn't as bad as Vampa Spider fluids, but now that Broly had experienced being a clean child, he frowned slightly.

"I'll take you to bathe."

Fujimura Taiga grabbed Broly and headed back toward the Fujimura residence.

After all the chaos, she was also drenched in sweat.

"Wait, I still have something to say."

"What is it?"

"Put me down first."

Fujimura Taiga set Broly down, and the boy ran over to the Humvee belonging to the man named Kiritsugu Emiya. Under the man's wary gaze, Broly reached out to the red-eyed, white-haired Irisviel and said, "Hello, I'm Broly."

"Uh, I'm Irisviel. What is it?"

The homunculus woman, who had only nine years of life experience, responded to his introduction, shaking his small hand.

"You're my best friend now."

After completing the "wife acquisition" process, Broly ran back to Fujimura Taiga's side.

Left behind was a group of utterly confused people.

"What's up with that child?"

Irisviel asked, both amused and bewildered.

"I don't know."

Kiritsugu shook his head, completely unaware that his wife had just been "claimed."

"But one thing is certain: he's not a Servant. He has no magical energy, and he's not a magus."

"Then what is he?"

"I don't know, but 'monster' might be the right word to describe him."

"Will he be a threat to us?"

Kiritsugu didn't answer because he still wasn't sure. However, he realized one thing: tonight, he might have been dragged into this mess because of Broly. After hearing from Artoria about the conversation between Caster and the boy...

"Should we relocate?"

"We don't have a third safehouse prepared. Moving randomly would be worse than staying here. Let's adapt to the situation as it unfolds."

After giving Broly, who was being carried back to the Fujimura residence by Fujimura Taiga, a deep look, Kiritsugu said this and drove the Humvee, now missing a door, back to the original house.

"I'll go check out the aftermath of that attack."

After sending Irisviel back, Kiritsugu went out again, this time to inspect the end of the street where Broly's energy ball had landed.

He traveled over three kilometers. At the end of the energy ball's destructive path, Kiritsugu saw a majestic man standing beside a chariot pulled by oxen. Next to him was a young man with delicate features.

If it wasn't Rider and his Master, then who else could it be?

"Master..."

Artoria stepped forward from behind, cautiously eyeing the Rider duo.

"Yo, King of Knights, good evening."

Iskandar greeted her.

"You made quite a stir tonight."

He said.

"It wasn't..."

Artoria's words were cut off by Kiritsugu.

"Caster came after us again. We had no choice but to fight back."

"That's true. I just didn't expect the King of Knights, with her injured left hand, to still unleash such immense power. Last night, I called her a little girl, but that was a bit presumptuous of me."

The Conqueror apologized sincerely. Strength didn't define everything, but possessing such power proved that Artoria was no mere girl.

"Rider, did you come here just to say that to my Servant, or are you planning to take advantage of the situation and attack us?"

"Saber's Master, though I know you're trying to provoke me into not attacking, my decision not to attack has nothing to do with your strategy. A king's battle should be fair and honorable. I have no intention of taking advantage of others' misfortunes."

Iskandar said this to Kiritsugu, then turned to Artoria. "King of Knights, I look forward to our final showdown. Also, congratulations on your great victory tonight."

With that, the Conqueror Iskandar left with his young Master in their chariot. His reaction gave Kiritsugu an idea.

"What? You want to take credit for defeating Caster? No, I refuse. I wasn't the one who defeated Caster."

Back at the house, Artoria immediately rejected Kiritsugu's proposal.

Taking credit for someone else's achievements was a disgrace to her knightly code.

After all, among the eight virtues of a knight were **integrity** and **honor**.

"I understand your feelings, but the problem is, the one who defeated Caster is neither a Master nor a Servant. He might not even be related to the Holy Grail War. And the bounty on Caster is specifically for the Masters participating in the Holy Grail War."

"But that's still no reason to take credit for someone else's work."

"Listen, Saber. You're not taking credit. Even though you didn't defeat Caster, you were the only Servant who participated in the battle to eliminate Caster. According to the rules, we are entitled to claim the Command Seal bounty."

"But this..."

"Don't worry. I'll truthfully report to the Holy Church how Caster was defeated. Whether they acknowledge our role in Caster's defeat is up to them."

---

"That night, we were attacked by Caster and his sea demon army. With the assistance of our Servant, Saber, Caster and his army were destroyed by a powerful force.

Well, that's Saber's Master's report on last night's battle with Caster. The elimination of Caster has been confirmed, and the terrifying beam that nearly obliterated the old district was also captured by street surveillance.

Even one of the Assassins my son sent to observe the situation was caught in the crossfire and destroyed before he could relay any information."

Kirei Ryūnosuke discussed the situation with Tohsaka Tokiomi over the gramophone, mainly debating whether to award the Command Seal bounty.