Chapter 44: Hard Work Leads to Success
Artoria Pendragon, the legendary King of Britain, raised her gaze to look directly at the schoolboy standing before her.
The duplicate created by The Mirror card showed not the slightest waver under this kingly pressure.
After all, it was just a soulless mirror.
Kazama, hiding behind the sofa, issued a mental command.
"Respond to her."
The duplicate standing in the center of the living room slowly spoke.
"Yes, I summoned you, Saber. It's nice to meet you. I am your Master, Kazama Chiba."
"Although I didn't draw any magic circles or recite those convoluted incantations, I definitely brought you to this world."
Artoria Pendragon narrowed those emerald eyes slightly, somewhat suspicious.
"Master?"
"Since you summoned me, then I must ask—where are your Command Seals?"
Hidden behind the illusion barrier, Kazama couldn't help but click his tongue.
As expected, this famous Altria wasn't some naive pushover you could trick into following you home with a bit of food.
The kind of plot where someone just shouts "Master!" and pledges loyalty the moment they're summoned probably only existed in fanfiction.
"Ahem."
He controlled the Mirror duplicate to clear its throat and put on an air of unfathomable depth.
"That's not important, Saber. The current world doesn't need that brutal Holy Grail War. In peaceful times, people prefer to resolve problems through more civilized means."
The duplicate pointed at its own chest and began spouting complete nonsense with a straight face.
"So I didn't summon you to make you fight. I'm just an ordinary high school student who happens to be slightly lacking in security. I only need one thing."
He pointed at the empty space where Saber's scabbard would be.
Although nothing was visible there now, Avalon existed as a conceptual armament within Saber's body.
"Avalon. That utopia that blocks all harm. Just lend it to me for protection, and I'll be completely satisfied. As for you, you can enjoy delicious food in this peaceful world or experience modern life—I'll cover everything."
Just hand over the equipment without doing any work and even get free meals?
A Heroic Spirit without much integrity might have agreed, but unfortunately, standing before Kazama was King Arthur, who valued honor more than life itself.
Artoria's frown only deepened.
She could sense that this boy had no trace of magic circuits, not even Command Seals.
How had someone like this summoned her?
Artoria said seriously: "Although I have manifested due to your summoning, that does not mean I will blindly obey others. Avalon is the utopia far removed from the mortal world, the embodiment of protection—absolutely not a tool for clinging to life through cowardice."
"Furthermore, I sense no magical energy supply from you. Though I don't know how you obtained this power to manifest me in this form, as a knight, I cannot entrust such a sacred Noble Phantasm to someone without a 'heart.'"
As expected of a woman with A-rank Instinct.
Kazama didn't panic at being exposed so directly. He wanted to see what Artoria would say next.
Then Artoria suddenly became earnest.
"I can see it—your words are filled with a thirst for power, but simultaneously filled with an avoidance of effort. You want shortcuts. You want to rely on external things to gain security."
"Since you have summoned me, as a knight, even if you are not an orthodox Master, I should still guide you onto the right path. Although you currently lack the qualifications to possess Avalon, if you are willing to work hard and refine your mind and martial skills through training, perhaps one day you may earn its recognition."
"Starting tomorrow, I will personally instruct you in swordsmanship. Ten thousand sword swings daily, rain or shine. As long as you—"
"Stop."
Kazama directly interrupted her passionate speech.
How did this conversation go so off-topic?
Ten thousand sword swings?
If he could endure that kind of suffering, he would have gotten rich in his previous life.
His real body then dispelled the illusion from the corner and walked out expressionlessly.
Saber froze, looking at the suddenly appearing "second Master," then at the duplicate slowly transforming into a mirror and disappearing. A flash of confusion crossed her eyes, immediately followed by anger at being deceived.
Kazama didn't give her a chance to explode. He said directly:
"I think you've misunderstood. My greatest strength is self-awareness, and my greatest weakness is laziness. Make me practice sword swings? You might as well kill me."
He didn't even give Artoria a chance to argue.
"Since our compatibility is this poor, we should just say goodbye."
The next second, Kazama's fingers touched her breastplate.
With a light flick, he retrieved the Rat Talisman.
The King of Knights who had been solemnly declaring "only sweat can forge glory" one second before instantly reverted to a figure.
Kazama stuffed the figure back into its large packaging box with practiced movements, as if nothing had happened.
As expected, hot-blooded manga cheats weren't easy to exploit.
This failed attempt made Kazama completely recognize a certain reality.
Although this world had fused various anime settings, some fundamental logic was very difficult to break.
Like how Naruto required chakra and bloodlines, One Piece required Devil Fruits or Haki, Bleach required spiritual pressure, and Fate required magic circuits.
And he, Kazama Chiba, aside from these few Clow Cards and that Rat Talisman, was essentially just an ordinary carbon-based lifeform.
He had neither those twenty-seven magic circuits nor chakra pathways—he didn't even have a Zanpakuto.
Even if he really did revive those powerful characters, even if they wanted to teach him, he couldn't learn.
"It'd be great if this world had Doraemon," Kazama muttered, sprawled on the sofa and staring at the ceiling.
"I could just ask that blue cat for a What-If Phone Booth or a Dictator Button, and there wouldn't be so many problems."
Unfortunately, this world didn't even have the robot cat anime.
After thinking it over, the divine equipment most suitable for an ordinary person like him—requiring no training, no good looks, just plug and play—was still the Jackie Chan Adventures system.
Especially the Dog and Horse Talismans.
As long as he had those two, even if Kazama stood at the center of a nuclear explosion, it would just be a matter of changing clothes.
But those things were mostly in America.
Traveling halfway across the globe to collect equipment was too slow by plane, and it would be easy for that woman Kaguya to monitor his movements.
So he still needed to find The Move card first.
To that end, Kazama reactivated Kerberos with the Rat Talisman, then picked up his phone and opened a paranormal forum that had been popular among Kamimizu City students lately—the "Strange Tales Hub."
Since yesterday's Thunder beast battle, although authorities had tried their best to suppress the news, who didn't have a phone these days? Combined with various anomalies caused by the scattered Clow Cards, online discussions had already exploded.
[SHOCKING! Blue Giant Beast Sighted in Kamimizu City Park Late at Night! Photos Attached! (Deleted)]
[The lake next to my house suddenly froze! It's October! And only the lake surface froze—the grass around it is still green!]
[Did anyone see a huge bird flying in the sky? Everywhere it flew, feathers fell. I picked one up and the feather turned to stone!]
Kazama skimmed through the information, ignoring obvious incidents caused by The Sand card or other cards, his fingers rapidly filtering through posts.
Unfortunately, traces of The Move card weren't easy to find. Even after scrolling through dozens of pages, he hadn't seen anyone mention it.
Aside from the same old "ghost sightings" and "wall ghosts," there was no intelligence matching The Move card's characteristics.
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