[FMMISM] Chapter 31: Ragna's Scheme

At this moment, a Mercedes-Benz drove smoothly down the orange-tinted streets of Fuyuki at dusk, maintaining a moderate speed.

Surprisingly, not like usual, the car belonging to the Lancer group was perfectly adhering to Japanese traffic laws.

Of course, this wasn't because Irisviel had a sudden change of heart but because the driver was Artoria.

"Iri, are you alright now?"

Artoria turned her worried face towards the lady sitting in the passenger seat.

Ever since Irisviel had been forcibly kissed by that boy at the restaurant, she seemed like a completely different person. At this moment, the excitement and curiosity that usually filled her face had vanished, leaving her silent and absent-minded.

"..."

Irisviel remained unmoved and silent as Artoria asked in concern.

She just stared ahead silently, looking like a lifeless doll.

"...Iri."

At last, Artoria's second call finally revived the lifeless doll.

"Ahh... Artoria, were you calling me just now?" Irisviel made an awkward smile.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... Sorry for worrying you..." Irisviel answered and made a forced smile.

"Is that so? That's good. When we get back to the hotel, we should contact Kiritsugu about today's events…" Artoria nodded.

"No!"

A high-pitched voice suddenly came from the passenger seat, startling Artoria.

"What?" Artoria quickly looked at Irisviel's face.

Irisviel shook her head.

"Uhh, I mean, let's not report today's events to Kiritsugu... It's nothing worth mentioning, really..."

"But, you were disrespected by that rude boy today…" Artoria frowned.

For a knight, a woman's honor was paramount.

Even if Kiritsugu mocked her later for failing to protect Irisviel, Artoria couldn't stand seeing Irisviel humiliated like that.

"We can't tell Kiritsugu..." Irisviel said firmly. "He has noble and great goals in mind. We can't let my personal problems distract him and affect his judgment during the Holy Grail War."

"But you…" Artoria hesitated.

"I-I'll be fine... Thank you for your concern, Artoria..." Irisviel managed to make a normal smile.

"I see... If that's how you feel, I understand, Iri... But..." Artoria hesitated for a long time before swallowing the words she was about to say.

Could it be that she was mistaken?

Just now, for a brief moment, she thought she saw a faint dark fluctuation emanating from Irisviel's body.

===

Fuyuki City, Miyama Town.

The base of Ragna and Morgan in Fuyuki was located in a corner of Miyama, a plain-looking family inn.

First, they booked the entire inn for a month, then had Morgan hypnotize the owner.

Using both money and magecraft, Ragna took control of the three-story inn.

After moving in, his Holy Grail War officially began.

Ragna still remembered that the first step was to eliminate the serial killer Uryuu Ryuunosuke lurking in Fuyuki.

He started by using family registration to find the location of Ryuunosuke's ancestral home.

If he was lucky, he could catch Ryuunosuke right after summoning his Servant, thus avoiding the need to search the foul-smelling Fuyuki sewers.

The next step was to inform Morgan of his decision to have her go alone to eliminate Ryuunosuke.

"You want me to take out the enemy Master by myself?"

Morgan wasn't surprised by Ragna's precise information on the enemy Master's location, but she was shocked by the order to confront the enemy alone.

"What crazy scheme are you up to now? Sending me out alone, that's not like you. Didn't you say you're not the type to hide and give orders from the rear?"

Upon hearing that, Ragna rolled his eyes.

'Don't act like you know me that well, woman.'

After all, they had only been living under the same roof for about thirty days, and on top of that, they hadn't even shared a bed. 

Nevertheless, she was actually kind of right.

Ragna was indeed scheming something.

He wanted Morgan to appear alone in front of Gilles de Rais, who might appear as a Berserker.

Ragna believed that perverted mage would surely have a high-intensity reaction upon seeing Morgan with her 'Artoria Face', something like:

"Oooohhhh, what is this?!"

"Ohhhh... God, why are you so cruel?!"

"Ohhh, why is this happening?! Why did my holy maiden turn into a witch?!"

"Jeanne, my Jeanne?!"

While Morgan and Gilles were having their showdown, Ragna would sit in a warm, heated room, sipping on high-end wine and enjoying the show through the eyes of his familiar.

He wondered how Morgan would react? It was truly something to look forward to.

'This is bad, my grin is getting too wide...' Ragna straightened his face, then spoke up. "What's wrong, Caster? Don't tell me you're too scared to fight alone?"

"Scared? Me? Hmph."

After snorting, Morgan gave Ragna a meaningful look for a moment before turning to leave.

"I understand. Please wait here for my good news, Master."

As soon as Morgan left, Ragna sent his pigeon familiar, Yahweh, to follow her, eagerly awaiting the show to begin.

Ragna didn't feel any sympathy for what Gilles was about to go through. In fact, he felt he was doing something very righteous.

Why?

Because Gilles's fall from grace had something to do with Morgan—

It was actually a long story.

Not long after Ragna was born as a Beast in this world, he met his first, and possibly only, best friend.

For someone to be considered a best friend by the Great Red Dragon, one would either have to be utterly evil or universally condemned.

As it turned out, that was indeed the case.

Ragna's best friend was a legendary figure known as Francois Prelati, an evil mage with the blood of an evil god running through her veins, rumored to be the earthly incarnation of Beelzebub.

During the Hundred Years' War, Francois Prelati was an ally and friend of Gilles de Rais.

Francois was the one who gave Gilles the translation of the 'Textbook of the Sunken Spiral Castle', known as 'Prelati's Spellbook'.

Francois was also the one who led the holy maiden Jeanne d'Arc to her tragic fiery end.

Moreover, Francois, who shared the sin of 'Gluttony' with Ragna, was once Morgan le Fay's disciple.

Whenever Ragna thought of this, he felt that summoning Morgan was not a mere coincidence.

===

At this moment, it had been less than five minutes since Morgan left the base.

The crystal ball in front of Ragna, connected to the eyes of Yahweh, reflected the elegant face of the witch of Britain.

"Hmm?"

Ragna leaned closer and found that Morgan on the other side was looking at him with an extremely mocking expression.

Clearly, she had discovered the familiar pigeon he sent to track her.

However, without warning, she suddenly shot the pigeon down with a magical bullet.

Following this, as Morgan looked down at the pigeon, she stomped on it with her high heel without hesitation.

"Yahweh?!"

Ragna's yell resounded in the inn.