IBHJ Chapter 837

A night went by, and as the bright sun rose, Shirou finally headed back to Chaldea.

"Shirou, you're--"

Artoria stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise as she took in his clothes, which were torn to shreds. She asked worriedly, "Did you get into a fight with someone? Was it Altera? That woman... I won't let her get away with this!"

"Uh... I didn't get into a fight with anyone." Shirou tugged at his tattered clothes and said, "This probably got ripped up by the air currents when I was in the troposphere."

"Troposphere?" She blinked.

He nodded. "Let's not get into that right now." With that, he took a deep breath, and his entire body shimmered with spirit particles as he changed into his pale silver dragon armor. Then, he headed to the meeting room with Artoria to meet up with Gray.

Nero tagged along with them. She greeted him, then asked with a smile, "Eternal King. I heard you have a lot of musical talent and that you're an artist. I'm thinking about starting a band soon. You interested in joining?"

"I do have some interest, but I haven't found my Ideal Instrument yet, so I don't have any plans for that right now," he said with a sigh.

He had actually found an ideal instrument in Romania. But someone else had snatched it up before he could get his hands on it.

"That's really unfortunate." Nero sighed. She knew how important an ideal instrument was to an artist and couldn't help but feel bad for him.

At that moment, he noticed something strange - the Connection Point Gray had chosen actually had a depth of B. He couldn't help but ask, "Gray, didn't you mention before that you were going to bring along a newbie? According to the manual, when you're teaching a newbie the basics, the depth should be an E or C, right?"

"There is a regulation about that. But..."

"But what?"

"But for some reason, I always get the feeling that if I work together with you, Mr. Shirou, choosing a Connection Point with a depth of E or C will cause some kind of abnormality, like what happened in Romania, so..."

He gave her a deadpan look. "You're saying I'm a jinx?"

"No... no... absolutely not. But I just have this feeling, and my horoscope has been really terrible lately, so I'd better go with my gut on this one." Gray quickly waved her hands, trying to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Alright then." Shirou shrugged, not really bothered. As long as they didn't run into a Council member, regular Connection Points weren't that big of a deal.

"So who's the newbie that's coming with us?" He asked.

"It's a very well-behaved child, but her Servant is a bit of a handful..." As she spoke, Gray's gaze shifted to Artoria.

Noticing Gray looking at her, Artoria tilted her head, confused. "??????"

The next moment, a frantic voice echoed from outside the room, "Artoria!!"

"This, this voice..."

Artoria's body shuddered violently, as if she'd heard the voice of a stalker. She whipped her head around to look outside the room and immediately felt like crying. "No way...?"

"Artoria!!" Altera shouted as she searched for Artoria like a madwoman, with a pair of hands tightly hugging her slender waist.

"Stop making a scene, Altera! I really don't have any more money to pay for your damages! Waaah... I'm seriously broke, ahhh!"

Ayaka Sajyou cried out as she hugged Altera's waist tightly, but she ended up getting dragged along by the frenzied Altera.

"Why! Why! Why does it have to be Altera, ahhh!"

Artoria grabbed Gray's shoulders with both hands and wailed, "Why her, Gray?!"

"This... I didn't have a choice. It just so happened that she got matched up with Ayaka." Gray helplessly spread her hands.

"Artoria!!" Altera stared at Artoria with crazed eyes that had no room for anyone else, only Artoria remained.

Ah... destroy, destroy... must destroy her...! Altera's mind flashed back to that scene from over 1,500 years ago, when Artoria had disguised herself as a stunning beauty lying on her bed. When Altera had let her guard down, Artoria had stabbed her through the abdomen with a single sword. Remembering this ambush, the frenzied aura around her became more intense.

Seeing Altera like this, Artoria couldn't help but take a step back.

"Artoria...!!"

"No! Cut it out, Altera! Stop! At this rate, we're going to starve! Don't make a scene anymore, ahhh!" Ayaka cried out.

Shirou glanced at Altera, then at Artoria, and covered his face with his hand, letting out a heavy sigh.

He could smell it.

The stench of trouble!

...

"D-Damn it! Why did it have to be Altera?" Artoria gritted her teeth. "I can't believe you followed me all the way here. There's no other choice, I'll just have to take you down right here and now!"

"Artoria...!" Altera let out a low growl.

"Umu, umu! Let's have a battle, a battle! The winner gets to call the shots!" Nero chimed in, watching the commotion with excitement.

"No! Please stop fighting! We're totally broke! I don't want to starve, Waaaah..." The pitiful Master Ayaka was still clinging to her Servant.

Looking at the team that had fallen into chaos before they'd even set off, Shirou let out a heavy sigh. What the hell was going on?

But he couldn't let things keep spiraling out of control like this.

He took out the holy lance, Rhongomyniad, and with a heavy "thud," he slammed it onto the ground, declaring in a deep voice, "Enough!"

The sudden sound drew everyone's attention towards him.

"I understand, my king."

Artoria was very obedient to his words. She put away her sword and stood behind him.

"Looks like there won't be any excitement to watch. But a peaceful environment is the most fundamental requirement for the birth of art. Umu, umu... Peace is of the utmost importance." Nero nodded sagely.

However, it was clear that Altera had no intention of backing down.

This former destroyer of civilizations who had once brought ruin to the Age of Gods, although usually very agreeable and gentle, would have a chemical reaction-like change once she encountered Artoria, who had killed her in the past. Her entire being would be dominated by the desire for destruction.

Artoria gripped her sword tightly, ready to defend against Altera's attack at any moment.

"Ahem..." Shirou cleared his throat and then looked at Altera, saying, "Altera, even if you want to become friends with Artoria, this isn't the way to go about it."

Everyone, including Artoria, turned their heads and looked at him with dumbfounded expressions. "?????"

"My king, what are you talking about?" Artoria was completely baffled. Altera wanted to become friends with her? What kind of nonsense was this? She and Altera were mortal enemies!

"Haven't you realized it yet?" He looked at Artoria and pointed at Altera, saying, "Why doesn't Altera go berserk against others? Why does Altera want to fight you every time she sees you? There's only one answer - she wants to be friends with you, but she's too shy to say it out loud, so she challenges you to a duel every day, hoping that one day you'll notice!"

Hearing this, Artoria was shocked, "My king, what are you saying!?"

Everyone was also stunned by his astonishing statement.

"Is...is that true, Altera?" Ayaka hugged Altera's waist, looked up at her, and asked curiously.

Everyone also turned to look at Altera. Being stared at and misunderstood like this, even Altera, who was focused only on Artoria, couldn't help but break free from her mindless destructive urge and argue, "No! I just want to destroy her!"

Altera pointed at Artoria. She had regained a bit of her sanity.

Glancing at the arguing Altera, the corner of his mouth curved up, "It seems I was wrong. But Altera, you should pay attention to what's going on around you. You wouldn't want to make your Master cry, right?"

He gestured to her Master clinging to her waist and hearing this, Altera was stunned. She turned her head and saw Ayaka with tears in her eyes.

She couldn't help but feel ashamed. Had she hurt her Master again?

At this moment, Artoria tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "My king, it's no use saying these things to her. That Huns King only thinks about destruction and can't stand the sight of beautiful things..."

Before Artoria could finish her sentence, Altera took a deep breath. Her frenzied eyes gradually calmed down. She looked at him and nodded, "I understand. To avoid making Ayaka sad, this time I'll do my best to hold back my destructive instincts."

"Eh? Eh? Eh?"

Artoria looked at the calm Altera in amazement. Everyone else had the same reaction as her. They couldn't believe that Shirou managed to tame the raging Altera so easily!