IBHJ 1107

"You're too slow about everything, Morgan. When dealing with foreign threats, you must be quick, precise, and ruthless."

Apostle Ector stepped in front of Shirou and grabbed his shoulder. "Welcome to the Empire, Heroic Spirit of Pan-Human History. Sleep now. When you wake up, you will be a citizen of our empire. Consider this an honor, this is His Majesty's blessing."

Shirou tried to focus on Ector's face as his vision blurred. Morgan's voice faded into the background as darkness claimed him.

...

So this is the truth, he thought. The Emperor is the one behind everything...

But Guinevere... what part are you playing in all of this?

Through Xuanzang's eyes, Shirou could see the crown on his own head—a circle of thorny brambles. That explained the sharp pain in his palm whenever he touched it.

"How did they imprison you here as well?" he asked.

"Well..." Xuanzang showed a troubled expression.

She explained that King Leodegrance had planned this from the start. He never meant to let her leave—bringing her to Tintagel was just a trap so the Apostle could capture her.

It was the same with Shirou. Or rather, their plan had always been to capture Shirou, but when Xuanzang insisted on joining them to Tintagel, King Leodegrance decided to take her as well.

But unlike Shirou, they didn't put a thorny crown on her head to seal her powers. She never had to fight an Apostle either. King Leodegrance had treated her with respect from the beginning—she had walked right into this trap herself.

At first, Shirou wondered if they were gentle with Xuanzang because she had no fighting skills, making her seem harmless to the Empire. But no—it was because Xuanzang had the Enlightened One and Pure Land behind her, so the Empire didn't want to touch this lightning rod.

Shirou now understood why—earlier, Ector had specifically mentioned Pan-Human History. This Britain, the Empire, was probably similar to the South American connection point. And they must be planning something that involved Pan-Human History. That would explain why some force had pulled Xuanzang here.

The Empire knew about the Enlightened One and Pure Land. They understood how powerful these beings were, so they didn't want to risk moving against Xuanzang. Their original plan was just to have King Leodegrance keep her in the city. But when Xuanzang kept insisting on traveling west, they finally decided to lock her up.

"What am I going to do?" Tears rolled down Xuanzang's cheeks. "Trapped here, how can I go west? How can I complete my mission and follow my dreams?" She looked up. "Wukong, where are you? Please come save your master..."

Shirou let out a sigh. It was her deep commitment to that dream that had led her into this trap.

Still, if the Empire was their enemy, then who were those foreign attackers?

But thinking about this wouldn't help them now.

They had been checkmated...

Shirou sighed. He'd been defeated before he even saw the Emperor's face.

"Oh Wukong," Xuanzang continued through her tears, "with your master gone, there'll be no one left to recite the Band-Tightening Sutra. But please don't cause trouble. If you end up trapped under another mountain, no one will come to free you this time."

She wiped her eyes, but the tears kept flowing. "And Bajie, stop planning to divide up my belongings already. Your master owns nothing but a few pieces of underwear. But since I do have those clothes, at least use them for your master's memorial."

"Wujing... Wujing... you... you are such a good person."

"Your poor master," she choked out, "dying in a foreign land like this. If only I could taste the old man's vegetarian dishes one last time... Waaah!"

Shirou: "..."

He stared at her and rolled his eyes. She was so dramatic.

"Shut up, you stupid nun!"

The child's voice cut through Xuanzang's sobs. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"I'm not a nun, I'm a monk! And I'm about to be eaten alive as immortal flesh—can't I even cry about it?" Xuanzang snapped back before freezing. "Wait... where did that child's voice come from?"

She stopped crying and looked around, but all she could see was endless white.

"Up there," Shirou said quietly, having just noticed it himself.

Xuanzang looked up and saw a small figure lying above them. "Eh? How is there someone up there?"

"How old are you, you stupid nun, to be asking such dumb questions?" the little girl shot back.

"I told you, I'm not a nun!" Xuanzang insisted. "And I'm certainly not an idiot!"

"Only idiots cry like that at your age. Betty never cries," the little girl said with a haughty sniff.

"Betty? Is that your name?"

"No, she's my cousin. I'm Abigail Williams." The little girl sat up, her black lantern dress billowing around her as her golden hair floated weightlessly. Between her eyebrows sat a strange black keyhole, and her deep blue eyes landed Xuanzang with pure disgust. "And I hate monks! Especially green-haired monks—I super, super hate them! Super!"

Abigail glared at Xuanzang, then turned to Shirou. She froze for a moment before jumping up and pointing at him. "It's you! You despicable outsider, you horrible thief!"

"Thief?" Xuanzang glanced at Shirou in confusion.

Shirou spread his hands. "You're the one who forced that thing on me. How does that make me a thief?"

"Forced it on you? You tricked me, you lying liar!"

"I just followed the rules you set, and you're the one who didn't take back your Noble Phantasm. How is that my fault?"

Abigail pointed at him, too angry to speak. What a terrible grown-up!

Xuanzang looked between them, completely lost.

Abigail marched up to him and held out her hand. "I don't care about before. Give it back! Or I'll trap you in bubbles forever!"

He smiled and pointed to the crown of thorns on his head. "You have the same thing I do. You can't use any powers right now, can you? No bubbles."

"So... so what?"

"Don't you understand? In a pure contest of strength, a little kid can never match a young man. For example, if a certain young man wanted to discipline an impolite little kid right now by spanking her little bottom, that little kid definitely couldn't resist. Don't you agree, Abigail?"

Abigail instantly understood, quickly covering her bottom and backing away from Shirou, her blue eyes watching him warily, "What do you want to do to my bottom?"

"What do you think I want to do to your bottom?"

Abigail trembled in fear.

Xuanzang was looking at Shirou like she was looking at a pervert.

Abigail trembled all over, then resignedly lowered her hands, "Go ahead, I have nothing left now anyway, can't hear God's voice anymore, and Betty is doomed... But I'll never forgive you, you thief, or that green-haired monk, or that black iron man... Even if I die, I'll curse you all from hell! Curse you!"

"..."

Shirou sighed. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean? Chaldea people always kill Council members when they meet, right? I was ready for that, but you want to use impalement... that's so cruel."

"Don't worry, my true name isn't Vlad the Impaler, and I don't want to kill you. Chaldea, Council—none of that matters when we're all trapped here together." Shirou tapped the thorny crown on his head. "I don't want to die, you don't want to die, and you definitely don't want anything happening to Betty, right?"

Abigail hesitated, then gave a small nod.

"So let's cooperate, at least for now. Unless you object? Though that would make things... unpleasant for both of us."

Abigail took a step back, nodding quickly. "Mean thief... no, no, big brother is right! Let's get along, let's definitely get along!"

He nodded, "Peace always comes at a price. In your case, that's your Noble Phantasm."

"But you haven't paid anything!" Abigail protested.

"My palm is starting to itch..."

"Ah! Handsome big brother makes an excellent point! Peace needs sacrifices—let's keep getting along!"

"I'm glad we understand each other," Shirou said with a warm smile.

He hadn't expected to find Abigail here.

This was awkward, since her Noble Phantasm was already gone—swallowed by the Lord of Salvation.

Lucky for him that Abigail also wore a thorny crown. Otherwise, his grave would have been covered in tall grass, and he would have been fertilizing daisies by next spring.

But something bothered him...

They had captured even Abigail?

Shirou's brow furrowed. Clearly they weren't working with the Council.