"You want to invite me to join the Loki Familia?"
Ritsuka tilted her head, a hint of confusion in her mind.
To this, Riveria nodded and said seriously, "Yes, by the order of our chief god Loki, to invite you to join us."
After the meal, Ritsuka, invited by Riveria for a talk, blinked in surprise, her mind becoming active.
She roughly knew why she was being invited. To be precise, she had a premonition when she saw Lefiya, and Riveria indicated it was the will of their chief god Loki.
It felt similar to the goddess Freya's intent, but the method of invitation was worlds apart.
the king Ottar wanted to capture her, perhaps due to confidence in his own strength. The Loki Familia, after two chance encounters, had gained some understanding of Ritsuka and naturally wouldn't make rash and inappropriate moves.
The only thing puzzling Ritsuka now was: she roughly knew why Loki was inviting her, but what was the deal with that Freya?
Why had she set her sights on her?
Ritsuka was somewhat troubled, sizing up the members of the Loki Familia before her.
Nine Hell, Sword Princess, Great Divide, Angry Serpent, Thousand Elf...
It seemed the strongest female Adventurers of the Loki Familia were all here, and they had come as guests. One had to admit Riveria's decision was excellent.
She couldn't just sternly refuse and kick everyone out, could she?
"The Loki Familia... I'm sorry, due to personal reasons, I currently have no intention of becoming an Adventurer."
Ritsuka shook her head, choosing to refuse.
Her current life was good. Even though she now knew that her own strength wouldn't be greatly affected by a 'favor', she had lost interest in that power.
Originally, she was someone who had already died.
"Don't want to become an Adventurer?"
"Yes, I'm sorry for wasting your time, but I no longer need power."
Striving for power was nothing to Ritsuka.
She had already gambled her life once. Unless she had a chance to return to that world... that place where human history was about to be extinguished.
But how was that possible? Even the gods of this world couldn't leave it; who was she to think she could?
The gods of this world were not weak; that was undeniable. After all, even that unreliable Hestia—the first time she saw her, Ritsuka felt a sense of being unmatched.
'In mythology, Hestia was one of the Twelve Olympians of Greece, right?'
Ritsuka remembered that busty loli with an explosive figure.
"Of course, I think you'd be very interested in my power, but you don't need to dwell on it too much."
Projection. The Sword of the Star was born in Ritsuka's hand.
It was just a purely inferior shell, without its intrinsic concept. Ritsuka didn't even have the interest to modify this Projection weapon, merely holding this Excalibur.
A blue hilt, golden guard, a medieval one-handed knight's sword, emitting a faint yet intense radiance.
Lefiya immediately stood up, staring wide-eyed at the sword with a radiance similar to the one she had received before.
This infinite magic sword, created out of thin air?
"This..."
Riveria fell into an eerie silence.
Consuming a certain amount of mana out of thin air to create a 'Magic Sword' that could be used infinitely—such an ability was truly terrifying. Such an ability had never appeared in Orario before; even the development of extremely rare Mysteries hadn't reached this level.
"Emiya, could you tell us if you have ever received a 'favor' from any Familia before?"
"I'm an outsider. Where I come from, a very small portion of people can use mana. I'm one of the weaker yet very special ones."
"No Familia?"
"An outsider? How is that possible? Having this kind of power without a 'favor'? Could it be a once-in-a-thousand-years hero born to save humanity from a fairy tale?"
Lefiya and Tiona both voiced their disbelief.
A wisp of orange-red wrapped around her fingertip. Ritsuka smiled somewhat strainedly, "How could that be? At best, I'm a villain, not a hero."
Ritsuka casually returned the Pseudo-Excalibur to Unlimited Blade Works.
She could use Projection Magic to imitate Noble Phantasms, but she couldn't use them indefinitely. The 'Eternal Distant Golden Sword' she gave to Lefiya was also just an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm that could be used three or four times.
Its power was probably around Rank A.
It was the golden sword held by that king, forever etched in the heart of a boyhood from a distant past, of which only fragments of memory remained.
That was the sword belonging to Emiya Shirou, not Emiya Ritsuka.
"How to put it... In short, I won't join any Familia. I no longer need power, nor do I need power to protect someone anymore."
"Welcome back next time."
Whether it was self-satisfaction or something else, Ritsuka's mission was complete. To be honest, her heart was weary.
Once the order to see guests out was given, Riveria sighed and said nothing more.
Everyone has their own aspirations; you can't force them.
Ritsuka walked to the back kitchen, packed the order of takeaway fried potato balls that Ais had ordered, put them in an oil-paper bag, and finally handed them to the dazed golden-haired Sword Princess.
As Ais took the fried potato balls, Ritsuka placed her hand on her head, gently stroking it. "Hold onto them well, eat them while they're hot."
The wind chime rang. The group of girls opened the door and left. Ritsuka watched them go.
Unconsciously, she let out a soft sigh, her gaze lightly shifting toward outside the door.
"Lord Loki, they've all left. Aren't you coming out?"
"Haha, as expected... I was already discovered."
The space by the entrance warped. The red-haired, ponytailed goddess appeared in the shop as if out of thin air.
Ritsuka narrowed her eyes.
"Lord Loki, if I remember correctly, gods aren't allowed to use divine power in the lower world, right?"
That's right. Loki had used a power different from mana, an extremely terrifying power.
That power twisted space. Therefore, none of the girls from the Loki Familia, including the strongest among them, Riveria, had detected Loki's arrival.
"Relax, relax, I didn't use divine power... Just pretend nothing happened?"
Loki waved her hand, not flustered at all, observing the apron-clad Ritsuka with her slit-like, squinting eyes.
Then, her ten fingers twitched, slowly rising.
Her pervert nature slowly surfaced...
"Um, Lord Loki, if you're thinking of doing anything inappropriate, I wouldn't mind having a little match with you."
Her pale golden eyes glinted slightly. Ritsuka clenched her fist.
A divine aura rose from her body. Centered on her belt, a divine power distinctly different from Loki's manifested, causing Loki to open her eyes slightly in surprise.
"A Divine Artifact? And this feeling... Heracles?"
"No, it's Alcides."
The Sword of the Star was taken out from the Sword Creation. The divine aura surrounding Ritsuka poured into it all at once.
The originally toy-like, unimpressive holy sword finally showed a hint of its true edge. An aura equivalent to the 'Eternal Distant Golden Sword' began to awaken.
Although she couldn't Project the true holy sword, she had been in close contact with that 'Excalibur' and even held Saber's class card. Therefore, projecting a counterfeit close to the Sword of the Star, albeit with its power lowered by one rank, was something she could do.
It just consumed a bit too much.
"This sword has a bit of the feel of a holy sword. Opposing a true god—aren't you afraid of death?"
Loki smiled slightly, her ruby-like eyes watching Ritsuka with interest.
The rule that gods in the lower world weren't allowed to use divine power was nonsense to begin with. It was true they couldn't use it fully, but releasing the restraints to use a portion was no problem.
Even just a portion of that power gave her the capital to not fear the Excalibur at all.
"Death is not scary... I am, after all, someone who has already died."