Harem on Fire (Literally) / Group B Gathers / Sakura's Confession II

"..."

Atalanta never expected Berserker to say something like that at this moment. And what was worse—she realized she seemed to be able to guess who the "Lord Abe" the other party spoke of was. Yes. The only man she could serve and not mind was the man named Ian.

But—how did Ian become associated with the name "Lord Abe"? Atalanta couldn't figure it out for a moment. So, she instinctively denied Berserker's statement.

"Berserker, what are you talking about! I... I haven't done anything like that!"

However, faced with the cat-girl Servant's denial, Berserker not only wasn't flustered but seemed even calmer than before. "You, cat demon! You say one thing but mean another—I dislike dishonest oni."

"What do you mean, I say one thing but mean another!" Atalanta retorted. "Everything I said is the truth!"

"But—" Berserker's gaze lingered on the cat-girl Servant's tail, with a hint of gentle wisdom. "Your tail hasn't stopped wagging since I spoke those words. If you weren't truly happy, why would you react like this?" Atalanta looked back and saw that her tail was indeed out, just as Berserker had said. At the same time, it was still wagging continuously from side to side, looking like a car windshield wiper. It was something even the little cat-girl herself hadn't noticed, but Berserker had completely seen it.

"I..." Faced with such "ironclad evidence," Atalanta couldn't refute it at all—after all, she had indeed felt quite excited when she recalled Ian just now. If it weren't for the afterglow of the battle still burning inside her, her cheeks would probably have flushed too.

"I won't discuss the tail for now—You... answer a few of my questions truthfully, from your heart." Berserker pointed her flaming arm at Atalanta. "One, do you find doing such things with Lord Abe interesting? Two, do you like doing such things with Lord Abe? Three, do you look forward to doing such things with Lord Abe again?"

"..." Atalanta looked at the small, flame-enshrouded loli Berserker before her, and suddenly felt that the other party was far more stable in her dealings than her appearance suggested. And the three questions she posed were not as casual as a game. Was this the legendary intelligent child? Atalanta, who already liked children, immediately became more serious. The cat-girl Servant seamlessly changed the subject of the questions to Ian and began to answer them seriously.

"If you ask me if I find it interesting... then of course it's interesting. After all, when we do such things—he gently strokes my head."

"Indeed," Berserker nodded in agreement. "Lord Abe gently strokes our heads, and then gradually inserts the thing he needs us to serve."

"..." Although she felt the topic was a bit delicate, Atalanta didn't care about that right now. She directly answered the second and third questions together.

"As for whether I like it and if I look forward to the next time—my answer is..." Atalanta looked at the six-armed Berserker before her, her expression very firm. "I like it very much, and I look forward to it. One might even say—that's why I participated in this Holy Grail War."

"..." Ibaraki-Douji didn't answer what the Archer before her said. But the flames on her body were disappearing at a visible rate, until they finally returned to their original state.

"As expected—" Ibaraki-Douji looked at the Archer, who was much taller than herself, and nodded. "You also greatly enjoy serving Lord Abe's "o-bou" (〇棒 - a euphemism for penis)."

Meanwhile, on the other side. Tohsaka Rin and Tohsaka Sakura were bewildered. A moment ago, Archer and Berserker were fighting to the death, but now they were chatting as if nothing had happened. The previously burning, six-armed demon had also turned into a harmless little loli. The atmosphere was harmonious, yet at the same time, quite eerie.

"Sister," Tohsaka Sakura asked worriedly, "do we really not need to manage Archer?"

"..." Tohsaka Rin scratched her face, her expression showing difficulty. "You want me to manage her... I don't even know how to manage her? Should I let her continue fighting Berserker? Or should I tell her not to chat with Berserker anymore? Neither of those seems appropriate for the current situation, does it?"

"That's true..." Tohsaka Sakura looked at the harmonious atmosphere between Berserker and Archer, and had the same realization.

Returning to Ibaraki-Douji, after confirming the close connection between the Archer before her and the Lord Abe she admired in her heart, she began to have other thoughts. Ibaraki-Douji was a very unique existence. Although her class was Berserker, due to her nature as an Oni, she miraculously disregarded the side effects of Berserker's madness. Her current thoughts and communication were completely unrestricted.

"Archer, wait for me!" Ibaraki-Douji said to the cat-girl before her. "I'll inform my Master."

"Eh, oh..." Feeling that Berserker's attitude had become friendly, Atalanta also lost the desire to fight her. She put away her Tauropolos. "I understand. Then—I'll also return to my Master for now."

After informing each other, Ibaraki-Douji quickly returned to her Master Illya's side.

"Berserker!" Illya looked at Ibaraki-Douji, who had returned to her two-armed state, her expression looking a little displeased. "What are you doing? I clearly lent you magical energy—! Why did you turn back like this?"

"Master—" Ibaraki-Douji didn't rush to deny her Master's words, but looked at the Archer group not far away. "We may have misjudged. I think we might be able to go and consult with Archer; there might be a possibility of finding Rider."

"..." Illya blinked her beautiful ruby-like eyes—it was clear she was thinking about what her Servant had said. Finally, the little loli chose to trust Ibaraki-Douji.

"Then, in that case—should we go over there now?"

"Mm," Ibaraki-Douji nodded. And so—the two little lolis came before the Tohsaka sisters and Atalanta. And because of the little cat-girl's recent report, the atmosphere now seemed peaceful.

"Hello, big sisters~" Illya bowed to the three older sisters before her—although it didn't look quite standard, as if she had secretly learned it from somewhere. But the scene was completely different from before.

However, more than the change in behavior, Tohsaka Rin was currently more concerned about the magical energy constantly overflowing from Illya. It was very chaotic—indicating that the little loli's mastery of magecraft was not deep, perhaps even completely lacking systematic training. But even so, her magical energy reserves were astonishingly large. Tohsaka Rin felt a strange sense of awe just by sensing it. Her Archer had just been fighting a Berserker supported by such a monster?!

While Tohsaka Rin was still in shock, her Servant Archer Atalanta reacted first. She loved children the most—this was something that could never change. Atalanta bent down and picked up Illya.

"What's wrong?" The cat-girl held the little loli in her arms and gently whispered in her ear, "Is there anything big sister can help you with?"

"..." Although she felt Archer's current behavior was a bit strange, Tohsaka Rin thought that her current action might be an appropriate way to communicate. She chose to remain silent and observe the situation.

And Illya seemed to fall for it completely. Being held by Atalanta, she clearly looked much happier than before.

"Then—" Illya looked up at the cat-girl Servant holding her. "Big sister, can you help me find someone?"

"Find someone?" Atalanta's two cat ears twitched slightly. "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for a big sister named Artoria!" Illya directly stated her intention. "I need to see her!"

"..." As soon as Illya said this, Atalanta's tail immediately stood up—a sign of nervousness. "Um... who did you say you were looking for again?" she asked once more.

"Artoria!" Illya repeated without hesitation. "I'm looking for her!"

"But why are you looking for her?" The little cat-girl was a little troubled.

"To have her take me to find Mama~"

"..." Atalanta's expression gradually shifted from awkwardness to confusion. "Why do you want her to take you to find Mama?"

"Because she's Mama's friend... and Mama hasn't appeared for a long time—through her, I can find Mama!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

As soon as Illya said this, the Tohsaka sisters and Atalanta present all fell silent. The participants of the Holy Grail War were diverse, and also had completely different wishes. But someone like Illya was the first.

And as the one who understood the situation best, Atalanta naturally knew that the Artoria Illya spoke of was the Rider in this Holy Grail War. But now, she couldn't disclose such information—after all, Ian had left with Artoria, and he hadn't returned yet! What should she do?

Just as Atalanta was agonizing, Tohsaka Sakura walked over. She completely understood the feeling of not being able to see one's mother. No. Just "understanding" might not be enough to describe her feelings at the moment—it should be called empathy.

"I see." "You... want to see your mother?"

"Mm-hm~" Illya nodded cutely. "Just a quick visit would be fine! I want to tell Mama—that I'm doing very well now!"

"..." Tohsaka Sakura felt more and more distressed, and finally looked at her sister Tohsaka Rin. "Sister... do you think we should help her?"

"..." Tohsaka Rin sighed. "Seriously... this Holy Grail War has become too strange, hasn't it? It's completely different from what I envisioned."

"So you mean—" Tohsaka Sakura asked, a little worried.

"If we can help, then we help," Tohsaka Rin replied to her sister, hands on her hips. "But—!" The Tohsaka family's young lady looked at the campus before them. "Before that, all of you have to listen to me—if we don't use magecraft to erase these traces, there'll be big trouble tomorrow."

Honestly. Tohsaka Rin felt that she should have refused such an unknown request for help. But—her heart felt so heavy. Seeing Illya say she wanted to find her mother, Tohsaka Rin immediately thought of her own sister, Tohsaka Sakura. Had she, growing up abroad, ever said something similar in the dead of night? Thinking this, Tohsaka Rin truly experienced what guilt felt like—even if it wasn't her fault.

Over an hour later. Under Tohsaka Rin's "command," the battle traces of Archer Atalanta and Berserker Ibaraki-Douji were finally barely concealed. Under the moonlight, the group walked towards the Tohsaka residence.

Atalanta walked at the front, holding Ibaraki-Douji and Illya, looking utterly blissful as she loved children. Even though they had just gone through a life-and-death battle not long ago. The Tohsaka sisters followed behind.

"I never thought..." Tohsaka Rin mused, "that you'd want to stay at home for a night."

"Because Mr. Ian isn't here..." Tohsaka Sakura shrugged. "It's no fun staying there alone. Oh, right—" Tohsaka Sakura looked at her sister beside her, her expression as if she had made an important decision. "Sister, didn't you ask me before what I did to Mr. Ian with the Command Spell?"

"..." Tohsaka Rin mumbled. "That? If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine—after all, that's your freedom."

"No," Tohsaka Sakura shook her head. "I think I still need to tell you. Because—I think something went wrong."

"Huh?" Tohsaka Rin suddenly tensed up. "Sakura, what do you mean?"

"It's just..." Tohsaka Sakura lowered her head. "I gave Mr. Ian a Command Spell to only love me and only satisfy his sexual desires with my body—but now he's nowhere to be found."

"What?!"