83 – French-style Tsundere with Disdain
This place is the severed demonic realm of Shinjuku, a hellish place doomed to destruction.
Here, all goodness has come to an end, leaving behind only the evils that struggle to survive.
The only Heroic Spirits that can be summoned here are those with evil alignments.
Even top-tier Heroic Spirits like the King of Knights would be rejected by this sinful world.
However, even Heroic Spirits defined as evil have their own convictions; they're not all villains who seek to destroy the world or relish in slaughter.
Naturally, those Servants who refuse to cooperate are attacked by the others.
One such Servant, forced to the brink by a bow-wielding black-mud-corrupted pursuer, attempted to take the enemy down in a final, self-destructive Noble Phantasm—but the enemy escaped.
The girl, her mana exhausted, ended up collapsed miserably on the street.
At that moment, Shirou sensed the presence of his sworn enemy.
The corrupted Heroic Spirit had tracked him here and noticed the flames of battle, guiding him to the scene.
He arrived just in time to hear the words of the silver-haired girl lying on the ground in despair.
"Who the hell are you? Your state is weird—clearly human, but with a faint trace of a Heroic Spirit. Still, you're way better than the weird monsters around here," the silver-haired girl said, frowning at the harmless-looking newcomer.
"Well, I'm kind of a Master. I've come from Chaldea.
You were summoned here as a Servant, so you must've heard of it, right?" Shirou said as he removed his invisibility cloak.
"Chaldea?! A Master from Chaldea?! Don't think you can fool me just because I'm some bumpkin!
The one who solved the seven Singularities is a woman, okay?! You wanna get roasted?!" Jeanne d'Arc Alter, clad in a black helm, raised her head and shouted fiercely.
'No, but threats made from someone lying on the ground aren't scary at all,' Shirou thought.
"I was called in by Chaldea to help. The Master you mentioned is Gudako—she's here too," Shirou explained.
"Hmph, you don't seem to be lying… I guess I'll believe you—for now."
"Alright then, let's start by getting you on your feet." Shirou extended his hand to help her up. "Oh right, I'm Shirou. What's your name?"
"Jeanne…" the silver-haired girl replied.
"Eh? That Jeanne? The holy maiden? France's national hero?" Shirou asked in surprise.
The silver-haired girl slapped his hand away angrily and shouted, "Wrong! I'm Jeanne d'Arc Alter! Got it?! If you confuse me with that detestable holy maiden again, I'll burn you!"
"Jeanne Alter, huh?" Shirou nodded thoughtfully.
So this girl must be like Artoria's altered form—a corrupted version.
Although Jeanne was canonized, there were plenty of legends from her enemies in Britain claiming she was a witch.
"What's wrong with being a fake!" the silver-haired girl snapped.
Shirou shook his head and said, "No, actually, I often get called a Faker too. But I don't think my projected Noble Phantasms are inferior to the originals.
I know you're a different existence from history, but you're still Jeanne to me. After all, you're the first Jeanne I've met."
"Faker, huh? Heh, that does suit you, Shirou! In that case, I'll specially permit you to call me that." The silver-haired girl smiled happily—but raised her eyebrows and glared to make it look more like a villainous smirk.
'Anyone who sees that smile would think she's some final boss plotting to destroy the world… even though she seems genuinely happy. Well, that's nice too.'
Despite her awkward attitude, Shirou felt she had accepted him. He reached out his hand again.
"So… can you stand now?"
"…Thanks…" This time, the silver-haired girl surprisingly reached out her hand and stood up with his help. But almost immediately, she snapped back, "Hmph! I didn't say anything, okay?!"
"Mm… no need to thank me," Shirou said with a smile.
"Are you deaf?! I said I didn't thank you!" Jeanne yelled, averting her gaze, unable to meet his eyes.
"Sure, sure," Shirou replied with a smile like he was coaxing a child. 'Sharp-tongued, but actually a pretty honest kid deep down.'
"Hmph! What are you smiling at?!" Jeanne violently shook off his hand and shouted, "Don't look at me! And let go of my hand already! I'll burn you!"
"You seem pretty energetic. Looks like you're recovering well." By now, Shirou had a rough grasp of the personality of this Heroic Spirit girl.
If he was familiar with Japanese-style tsundere, then this must be what they call the French kind.
"Hmph! Since you say you're a Master from Chaldea, I'll reluctantly accept you as my contract partner.
But listen carefully! From now on, no lying to me, no betrayal! If I find out you tricked me, I'll burn you to death on the spot!" Jeanne Alter declared fiercely.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, let's regroup with the others. You need a safe place to restore your mana." Shirou said as he prepared to take her to the hamburger shop basement.
At that moment, Mash contacted them via holographic magecraft.
"Shirou-Senpai, I finally found you—ah! You've already found Miss Jeanne! As expected of you, Senpai. When it comes to women, you always find them somehow," Mash said admiringly.
"Mash, that sounded kind of wrong. What do you mean by that?" Shirou frowned.
"Huh? You're that Shielder from Chaldea. Why aren't you here?" Jeanne asked.
"Due to certain reasons, I haven't been able to come yet," Mash replied.
"Hmm… Without your solid defense, I do feel a bit uneasy. Well, I'm sure we'll figure something out." Jeanne said.
"Thank you for the compliment. I didn't expect Miss Jeanne to hold me in such high regard," Mash replied shyly.
Jeanne said, "Ah, I know you—you're the kind of person who, even while crying or trembling, would hold your shield in front and never retreat a single step.
That detestable holy maiden never even knew what fear was.
So, from a human perspective, someone like you is much better.
Ahhh, if only you were here, I definitely wouldn't have lost to that bow-wielding black freak!"
"Well, even though I'm not there, Shirou-Senpai is. He's way more reliable than I am, so there's no problem," Mash said.
"Shirou…?" Jeanne Alter looked at the boy with disdain and then said, "Him? Just don't drag me down."
'Honestly, who was that collapsed, helpless girl needing help just to stand earlier…?' Shirou thought helplessly.