IBHJ Chapter 969

Artoria helped Morrigan to her feet, shooting Shirou a helpless look. "My King, please stop teasing sister Morgan."

"My little sister is still the best," Morrigan mumbled, hugging Artoria tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. She wondered how she could have ever thought her sister wasn't good enough.

He held up his hands, smiling. "I'd never pick on her. What if she turns me into a frog?" His eyes twinkled with mischief. "But come on, who trips over a pebble?"

Morrigan shot him an angry glare, her cheeks burning. She looked down, ready to blast the offending rock into dust. How dare it make her look so stupid!

But as she searched for the culprit, she found something unexpected. It wasn't a rock at all, but a strange, star-shaped stone that shimmered with rainbow colors.

"Huh? This is—," Morrigan's anger faded, replaced by confusion.

The three of them huddled around, eyes wide with surprise.

Artoria leaned in closer, her voice hushed. "That's no ordinary stone, is it?"

"Isn't that a Saint Quartz?" He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Just then, Kiara wandered over, drawn by their huddle. She caught sight of the shimmering object in Morrigan's palm. "Oh my," she breathed, her eyes sparkling. "What a beautiful stone."

Morrigan smiled, "This isn't just beautiful, it's incredibly rare. We could use this instead of relics—it's perfect for summoning Servants."

She paused, her excitement giving way to confusion. "But usually only Atlas Institute alchemists make these. How did it end up here?"

"This... this isn't..."

A trembling voice cut through their excitement. Everyone turned to see Charia, his face pale with fear.

"Charia?" Shirou stepped towards him. "What's wrong?"

Charia's eyes flashed with a mix of terror and anger. "That thing belongs to the priests!" he spat, his words dripping with hatred.

Hearing this, Shirou and the others exchanged glances. He gently took the stone from Morrigan and held it up to Charia. "Are you sure the priests who attacked your village had these things?"

Charia nodded vigorously, his face twisting with rage. "I remember clearly. They were carrying plenty of them!"

"I see," Shirou said, nodding. He turned to Morrigan. "Can we use this to track down the owners?"

"Of course!" she replied, nodding confidently.

Finally, a lead!

Just then, Mordred's cheerful voice broke the tension. "Food's ready~! Hey, why's everyone huddled up? Oh, I get it!" Her face fell into a pout. "You're playing a game without me, aren't you?"

Without another word, she joined in on the fun.

Morrigan took out a box of iron powder and drew a hexagram magic circle on the ground. She then carefully placed the stone in the center of the circle and began softly chanting incantations.

Shirou and the others sat nearby, watching her with wide eyes. None of them were particularly knowledgeable about magecraft, so they couldn't understand what she was doing. However, they could sense that she was using some kind of ritual to trace the owner of the stone.

Suddenly, Morrigan furrowed her brow and looked at the stone with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Did you find the owner?"

Morrigan nodded slowly. "I did, but... something's strange."

"Strange how?"

"It's easier if you hear for yourselves," Morrigan muttered. She reached into her pouch, pulling out a pinch of shimmering powder. With a flick of her wrist, she dusted it over the stone.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then—

"Achoo!" The stone shuddered, a tiny sneeze coming from it.

Everyone jumped back, eyes wide with shock.

"Miss Morrigan!" the stone whined in a squeaky voice. "You used way too much. You know I can't stand pollen!"

"It-it talked!" Kiara gasped, pointing at the stone with wide eyes. "The stone actually talked!"

Shirou and the others exchanged bewildered glances. A talking stone was definitely not what they had expected.

"What's so surprising about that?" Morrigan rolled her eyes at the magecraft novice Kiara, then turned to the stone with her hands on her hips, threatening, "You'd better stop complaining and answer my questions honestly. Otherwise, I'll break you into eight pieces."

The stone scoffed, "I'm a stone, remember? That doesn't scare me in the slightest."

"Fine," Morrigan's eyes narrowed. "How about I toss you in a cesspool then?"

There was a moment of silence before the stone spoke again, its voice noticeably less confident. "Well... I suppose being broken isn't so bad. But really, it's your kindness and beauty that's convinced me to help."

"What a spineless rock!" Mordred snorted.

The stone pretended not to hear. Being spineless was better than becoming a stone in a cesspool.

Morrigan cleared her throat, getting back to business. "Right. Who's your master? And where are they?"

"My master is Miyu Emiya," the stone answered, its voice taking on a wistful tone. "She left for the Andes Mountains. But before that, she... she traded me to the village chief here." The stone sighed. "It broke my heart. What I loved the most was her sweet scent... Ahh~~ If only-"

Before it could finish speaking, the stone fell silent. Evidently, the enchantment effect had worn off.

"Well, there you have it," Morrigan said helplessly.

"It actually belongs to Miyu..." Shirou trailed off, lost for words.

This Connection Point had initially been explored by Miyu and Shirou Emiya, but something had gone terribly wrong. Miyu had regressed, losing both her intellect and age, becoming an infant. She had then been carried away from this Connection Point by the five-year-old Emiya.

Artoria's brow furrowed with concern. "Does this mean we've hit another dead end?"

"No," he said slowly, his eyes coming back into focus. "On the contrary, I think we've just made an important connection."

Miyu had been the first to reach this Connection Point, obtained this precious stone, interacted with the village chief of the three-eyed people, and ultimately met with misfortune on her way to the Andes Mountains, regressing into an infant.

The most important part wasn't Miyu's final state, but the experiences she had along the way.

This Saint Quartz was a precious material created by Atlas alchemists. So where had Miyu gotten it from? Besides that, there was the question of how Emiya had managed to take Miyu out of this Connection Point.

To escape from a Connection Point, one had to clear it. This was why even the arrogant Gilgamesh was unwilling to come personally, and why Chaldea was hesitant to enter in force.

However, Emiya had been able to escape this Connection Point while carrying Miyu.

There had to be a special reason for this.

Shirou said. "We need to contact Waver and tell him about what's happening here."

Artoria nodded, made a gesture in the air, and then started moving her fingers randomly in space, obviously communicating with Waver.

After a moment, she lowered her hand and looked at everyone. "Waver helped us ask Emiya and apparently, they obtained this stone from a party member in a dungeon called 'Sorrow of the Dead' in the Holy Land. They had intended to return it, but..." Her voice softened. "Their party member didn't make it out of the dungeon."

Shirou's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, Emiya is awake?"

She shook her head. "Not physically. He's under a curse that keeps his body unconscious. But Angelica found a workaround - she transferred his soul and consciousness into an artificial intelligence. That's how we can communicate with him now."

Angelica... Shirou raised an eyebrow. She must be the woman who used Gilgamesh's class card. He hadn't expected her to be in Chaldea as well. Clearly, Angelica and the rest of her group were in a different section, which explained why he hadn't seen them.

After a pause, Artoria continued, "Emiya also said that he and Miyu took on a mission in the Sanctuary to investigate Ghandaran village. Since they were planning to go to the Andes Mountains to defeat Pluto, they accepted the mission as it was on their way. They rested in the village for a night, had a brief exchange with the village chief, and traded the stone with the chief to replenish some supplies."

"Afterwards, they were attacked by someone in the Andes Mountains. As a result, they were forced to enter Pluto's cave unprepared, and eventually had all their age and intellect taken away by Pluto."

"They were ambushed?" he raised an eyebrow, "By other adventurers?"