Chapter 59 God, If This Is the Kind of Alliance We're Forming, I'd Rather Not
An enchanting aura that defied her physical age created an inexplicable psychological pressure. Moreover, even without looking back, one knew the girl possessed pure white, beautiful hair and skin as fair as a field of snow.
Like a jammed doll, a cold sensation crawled across his back as she leaned against him, sending a jolt through Shirou's entire body.
In the meantime, slender, jade-like hands had already wrapped around him.
"Illya—"
"What is it?"
A gentle voice that made his heart race.
The sweet tone, leaking into his ear from an extremely close distance, invaded his head directly, leading him lightly in a specific direction.
In a situation like this, one must first stay calm.
Since this wasn't the first time Illya had done this, Shirou had established an emergency contingency plan. Generally speaking, it involved letting the opponent lower their guard, pretending to have fallen for the trick, and then...
"Suggestion Magecraft... is useless against the current me!"
With a sudden pivot, Shirou instantly hoisted the girl—who had been acting like a mysterious spectral presence at his back—into the air.
"Eeeh!?"
Illya's arms and legs dangled in mid-air as she let out a dainty cry.
Situation resolved. No "meowing" allowed.
"Illya, stop these pointless attempts."
Shirou forced a triumphant winner's smile.
While the number of Magic Circuits remains constant, the total volume of magical energy grows as a magus ages. The Magic Resistance gained from flushing the circuits with mana only becomes stronger over time. In other words, for the current Shirou to fall for whatever hypnosis or suggestion Illya was trying to pull—forget about it!
Illya pouted dissatisfaction.
"That's too cunning, Shirou!"
"The one trying to bewitch me with Suggestion Magecraft is the more cunning one, Illya."
Illya stated firmly: "I'm just trying to improve our relationship, I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Improving a relationship through hypnosis... isn't that completely wrong!?"
Illya flailed her limbs even more frantically in Shirou's grip: "Fine then, I'll just persuade you head-on!"
"Do as you like, Illya. I'm certainly not going to agree anyway."
The moment Shirou finished speaking... Illya suddenly flashed a peculiar smile.
Deep inside, something clicked; he had a bad premonition, as if everything was falling right into her calculations.
Illya began her argument: "Hey, Shirou, do you hate me?"
Of course he didn't hate her, but not taking a bath together was a different matter entirely.
After Shirou answered in that vein, Illya continued: "Even if a day comes where I can never do this again, you still won't grant this wish?"
Shirou furrowed his brows, confused by the meaning behind her words.
Promptly, Illya replied with both tenderness and a hint of cruelty.
"Yesterday, I almost died."
She parted her lips nonchalantly: "So, I've decided I want to do this even more. I want to feel Shirou more closely. Though people say you never know if tomorrow or an accident will come first, I don't have thoughts like I'm in hospice care. I just... hope to turn the days spent with my Onii-chan into a precious experience that stays in my heart forever.
—After all, opportunities to be close to Shirou are very rare. I want to feel that weight more."
There were no tears in the girl's eyes; she was very calm, but they were more crystal clear than ever. She wasn't using any magecraft; they were simply pure, transparent eyes.
But precisely because of that... it became difficult for Shirou to handle.
A plea involving the fragility of her own life was a trap he couldn't refuse. Illya was making it clear that she wasn't acting without thought, but rather that she wanted to cherish every experience because she had considered it deeply.
The preciousness of life is not a topic one can easily reject with various excuses.
The girl blinked with a misty gaze and said: "...And, I want to chat with Shirou alone about 'that Heroic Spirit.' I have so many things I want to get off my chest. Is that not okay?"
With emotional and rational arguments intertwined, the refusal he originally wanted to voice felt stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.
Shirou swallowed the unidentified object blocking his throat hollowly.
...His psychological defenses began to melt away like accumulating snow.
Someone, anyone, come save me! His meaningless prayer to the gods vanished pathetically. Just as Shirou's resolve loosened and he was about to speak...
"Illya, give up. Do not make things too difficult for Shirou."
A tranquil, concerned voice came from the empty doorway.
A savior had arrived.
The figure of the tall woman, devoid of presence, slowly emerged from the corner of the wall. There was no sense of incongruity, as if she had been standing there for a long time.
Illya's eyes shifted slightly, the corners of her mouth turning down, as she simply stared at the visitor.
Illya had no intention of yielding, and the visiting snake-woman wore no expression other than calm.
Invisible sparks seemed to fly—though if they were invisible, how one could "see" them was also a question.
He had said "anyone," but first off, this was Shirou's own room, right? Why did Rider, who had clearly left, reappear here as if she were a regular guest?
Perhaps there were larger issues being ignored, but the situation was stronger than the man; Shirou could only reach out a hand for help to this genuine goddess.
"Why are you in Shirou's room, Rider?"
Illya took the initiative, striking first with the very question Shirou wanted to ask.
"...I simply noticed Illya's arrival and came to check on the situation."
Rider responded softly, her serious expression showing nothing out of the ordinary.
On the other side, her soft "Shirou-mode" was completely gone; Illya let out a cool snort like a tiny lady.
To those in the know, it looked like you sensed Illya's movements and rushed over to stop her.
To those who didn't, it looked like you were suppressed by Onii-chan's teasing and, in order to do something improper at night, you used spiritualization to scout the room in advance, only to collide with her!
"Rider—no, Goddess Medusa... I have no desire to criticize your intentions. However, could you perhaps not interfere with mine and Shirou's plans? Since our interests don't conflict, let's get along as friends, shall we?"
The mini-lady's wording relaxed as she proposed a peace treaty, a non-interference pact.
Her innocent voice carried extra weight on the word "Goddess," as if pained by the fall of a deity.
Rider reacted to this, averting her eyes and saying silently: "That is impossible."
"Why?"
"I cannot stand by and watch an incident occur that would be disadvantageous to Sakura."
"Eeeh—" Illya tilted her head: "And what does Rider think about that?"
Illya also began to smile, calmly and with a touch of bewitching charm.
"Rider doesn't truly believe that Sakura is completely unaware of Rider, does she?"
"......"
At this encrypted message, Rider stood still, appearing unruffled, but her snake-like eyes began to droop slightly.
Conversely, Illya looked as if she had grasped the logic of the situation, her pure smile widening.
"I see, I see~ I'm starting to understand Rider's thoughts."
She clapped her tiny hands leisurely, looking like a cute porcelain doll:
"Please rest easy, I won't get in Sakura's way. On the contrary, if Sakura wants to take similar actions, I'll help her. Sakura is someone I've acknowledged; as Shirou's older sister, I'll support her with all my might. See? Didn't I do her a favor the day before yesterday?"
The smile she gave while lightly touching her lips possessed a charm no less than Rider's.
Rider's faint expression was tinged with hesitation, and she remained rooted to the spot, lost in thought.
The air underwent a long period of stagnation.
Unbelievable—the snake-woman was being suppressed by the mini-lady, though Shirou didn't understand at all what they were negotiating.
After Rider fell into silence, Illya dropped the final straw:
"Rider should understand, shouldn't she? The relationship between us is no longer a zero-sum game where one can steal a lead and then discard everyone else. In that case, rather than a short-term confrontation, it's self-evident that one should consider long-term interests, is it not?"
Moving her with emotion and persuading her with logic—in other words, an "OK" move.
".................. It is indeed as you say."
The negotiation seemed to be over.
When both their gazes converged on Shirou simultaneously... he felt his bad premonition reach an all-time high.
'Wait, wait, wait, wait!?'
Illya continued to wrap herself around him from the front. Rider did nothing to stop her, merely letting out a long sigh: "Shirou, I cannot help you. Just follow her wishes."
'No, Rider!?'
Rider's golden eyes shifted slightly as she washed her hands of the matter: "After all, I was never here today."
"Mm-hmm, I know. Bye-bye?"
Illya, resting her chin on Shirou's shoulder while looking at Rider, smiled and waved.
The savior vanished. With her long hair fluttering, Rider turned into particles and disappeared as mysteriously as she had arrived. Shirou didn't even know what she had originally come for.
Leaving behind a dazed Shirou who, as if sliding toward the abyss of paradise, began to be dragged toward the bathroom bit by bit by the white angel.
The goddess came, the goddess went, and only one sacrificial male who couldn't keep it together remained.
'O goddess of my household, if this is the kind of alliance we're forming, I'd rather not!'
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