Chapter 438: The Red Emperor, Nero
With four out of the five judges having cast their votes, everyone turned their attention to the final key individual.
"I'm ready too, de-chu! Right!" the little red-haired girl agreed. Suddenly remembering something, she hopped off her chair.
"Cleopatra, why don't you bring them with you? Having them there makes me feel at ease, de-chu!" Beni-enma walked in front of Cleopatra and looked up.
"Oh? Boss Beni, did you bring some helpers?" Cleopatra asked curiously.
"Chu-chu~ chu-chu-a-chu!" Three blue sparrows hiding behind Beni-enma's hair peeked out and tilted their heads at the Pharaoh. They were the three "Bird of Nobles" from a certain yokai apartment building; because they were acquaintances, Beni-enma had brought them along.
For some reason, Cleopatra felt as if she saw an inexplicable pressure radiating from them. For a brief moment, it looked like the Sun King, Goetia, and Yoshikage Kira—who loved Da Vinci—or no! Ashiya Doman...
Cleopatra rubbed her eyes and looked again, only to find they had returned to being three sparrows. She sighed in relief, "It must have been an illusion. It's all because I've been looking at Caesar-sama for so long; the glare is so intense that my eyes just can't take it."
"Rest assured, we won't let anything slip by, chu!" "Good-looking and delicious things, chu!" "Leave it all to us, chu!" "Chu-chu~ chu-chu-a-chu!" The three little birds flew onto Cleopatra's shoulders as they spoke.
When Shirou saw the girl's face, his eyelids twitched. He felt a sudden jolt in his brain as memories of another "himself" from a different world flooded his mind.
In a small apartment building in a European district, waves of "demonic" sounds drifted out from time to time—one moment it was the vibration of sound waves, and the next, it was like a dragon breathing fire. There were thunderclaps without light and the howling of a wind tornado spinning only atop the high-rise.
"Onii-sama~! But this karaoke thing is truly so interesting~! Even without magic power, it can achieve all kinds of accompaniment and performance effects. Umu~ umu! Daily practice is very important; I am so happy~!" said a little girl with blonde hair and a red outfit, holding a microphone.
"Shirou Nii-chan, please! Once we've finished practicing, we will absolutely invite you to be the first one to listen!" A little dragon girl with long pink hair smiled from the side.
"I... I see. Well then, keep practicing. I have something to take care of, so I'll be stepping out for a bit," Shirou promised with a wry smile.
"Eh... you're leaving now? We haven't even finished the first song yet," little Nero puffed out her cheeks.
The little dragon girl patted little Nero's shoulder and swore, "It's fine, my fated rival. Don't worry about now; what we really need is later!"
Hearing her sister's words, little Nero couldn't help but let her imagination run wild. Finally, she beamed with a radiant smile and nodded repeatedly. "That's right! As expected of my fated rival! A grand concert! Yes! When the time comes, we will hold a special thanksgiving concert for Onii-sama—a large-scale banquet that seats twenty thousand people!"
"Ahahaha... see you later." Shirou stepped quickly out the door and sighed helplessly. This was the top floor of a European-style apartment building, and the room was equipped with soundproofing inside and out, making it a perfect music room. But...
"Shirou." Waiting against the wall by the door was Artoria Lancer Alter, the career woman in a black suit. She didn't have to work today, so she had come to find Shirou.
"Artoria, sorry to keep you waiting," Shirou said.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhh~!!!" The sound waves pierced the wall. With a squeak, cracks appeared on the wall, and white powder fell to the floor.
"What do I do? If this keeps up, the house won't be able to handle it sooner or later." Shirou looked at the cracked wall and hurriedly used magic to repair it and reinforce its sturdiness.
"And I'm most worried that people elsewhere will be disturbed and come to complain; that would be a nuisance," Shirou added.
Artoria, the domineering CEO, waved her hand, snapped her fingers, and said, "It doesn't matter. Tell the subordinate construction company to send people for emergency processing to increase the soundproofing by tenfold. If that still doesn't work, we'll buy the neighboring residential buildings at a premium."
No sooner had she spoken than her attendants, hearing the snap, notified the company to begin drafting plans for housing acquisitions. Having completely taken over the forces and resources left behind by Moriarty, Artoria had become a qualified domineering CEO after a period of study and adaptation. Of course, she used iron-fisted tactics to sanction things like drugs and illicit business, and no one dared to resist her.
Since the Olympics were three years away, the government was happy to see someone capable of suppressing dark, evil forces, allowing Tokyo to return to harmony and civilization. Therefore, Artoria's company gained significant presence and received the green light, sailing through smoothly.
However, as an Alter-ed Lancer, Artoria, the King of Storms, had been viewed as having iron-blooded, tyrannical tendencies during the constant wars of the ancient era. Now, in modern
society, judged by the standards of new-era humans, the tyrant of the past would be considered a murderous butcher and a demon king of calamity.
Shirou had always held some hesitation, worried that Artoria would run wild and do something dangerous. Although Merlin said he would watch over the King and handle things properly if they arose, Gawain and Kay kept telling him the King was doing just fine.
"Eh? Artoria, wouldn't that be too brutal?!" Shirou looked at the woman with concern. Thinking of this reminded him of the evils of forced evictions, people wanting to sell land, and collusion with dark forces.
Those whose houses were demolished—some couldn't even exchange one square meter of their old home for a square meter in a modern high-rise, while others exchanged theirs for BMWs and villas. Most of the city was demolished, kicking up dust like the smog of the capital. The resettlement housing was never ready, and there were endless problems. The high-ranking officials who had directed it all to enrich themselves had already fallen, and the terrifying social phenomenon had rolled the entire city into it like a black hole.
'No! No!' Shirou shook his head repeatedly. He believed Artoria wouldn't do such things.
"It's all right, Shirou. I will send people to handle it properly. For female residents, I'll have Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristan go to negotiate; for male residents, I'll send Merlin." Artoria walked outside with Shirou and said calmly.
"Mmhmm, in that case, I'm relieved," Shirou said with a smile.
"Oh, right, Shirou, I'll be staying over tonight," Artoria suddenly turned around and looked at the man who spent his days wearing an apron and running around the whole complex after his "sisters." They hadn't spent any intimate time together in a long time.
"I see..." Shirou was about to agree when the sound of rapid footsteps came from outside.
"Shirou-aniki!!!" The child with the ponytail ran over and shouted: "Hurry over! Big Sis Martha is at school leading the little brothers and sisters in a street fight with a delinquent biker gang!"
"Artoria..." Shirou smiled apologetically at the CEO.
"I understand. Go ahead, Shirou. I'll have a car prepared for you; just go to the exit and get in." Artoria agreed quite considerately.
"I'll try my best to get back before dinner. Thank you." As he said this, Shirou waved and ran out quickly. "Just my luck! Little Martha, you're still in elementary school—why are you running into biker gangs!"
Since taking on the role of caring for his sisters, this former host no longer had the youthful vitality he had as a male publicist. He was often frowning. Although he was tempered by these trials, and holy light seemed to emanate from him, his overall aura was more like that of an ascetic monk.
"..." Artoria watched Shirou leave. Her smile slowly froze completely, and her hand tightened, clench, crushing the smartphone in her palm.
"Hmm!? That cool big sister, looking at me like that—she must have noticed my talent! When I grow up, will she let me join her legendary Round Table manager group?" Little Mo, who hadn't left yet, covered her mouth and thought excitedly while looking at Artoria.
Shirou, meanwhile, was busy with various trivial matters—apologizing for his sisters' mischief, mediating conflicts, and suppressing evildoers. With twenty thousand sisters, each having a strong personality, they were only weakened versions of Servants as homunculi, and their intellects were still those of children, far from mature. In this dark and complicated society, the deceit of humans could trip up even Servants. As little girls, they weren't enough to protect themselves.
Dominating the school was one thing, but sometimes they dared to act as agents of justice and required him to bring them along to smash criminal syndicates. By the time deep night arrived, when Shirou collapsed on his bed, exhausted—feeling like white ash that a breeze could blow away—he still had to deal with Artoria returning from work...
Shirou, the "dead-fish-eyed" chef of this world, shuddered and came back to his senses. That kind of life! He absolutely didn't want it!
At this moment, at the entrance framed by Roman marble columns, the Chef God Cup tournament was being broadcast live to the whole world via tracking cameras that covered every angle.
The girl in the red dress raised her arm toward the five chefs approaching her. Her red sleeves swayed as she splayed her five fingers wide, putting her hand to its fullest extent, and said with great momentum: "Gentlemen! It has taken a year and thousands of hardships—you have truly worked hard. Your performance in the past was so spirited that I couldn't help but want to praise you a few more times. My bosom is unimaginably broad! The theme this time is 'Nothingness'! Exert your intellect, rack your brains, and use all your might to satisfy my Imperial appetite~!"
Shirou breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, this child wasn't the Nero-type sister from that other world—she didn't say "Umu Umu" or run up to call him Onii-sama. It seemed his peaceful, "salted-fish" life was still intact.
Nero was in high spirits, circling in place and dancing as she said: "I accepted the invitation to come here; I heard that hundreds of millions of viewers will be watching! This is exactly the ultimate stage that an idol of the new era dreams of! I am so fired up that I want to sing a song right now!"
"Si... singing, let's skip that. Let's hurry up and proceed with the competition," Shirou advised.
Nero nodded, accepting Shirou's suggestion, and said: "Hmm, that's true. Let's save this program for the award ceremony and closing ceremony."
Shirou suddenly didn't feel like winning anymore.
After finishing her conversation with Shirou, Nero skipped over to the center of the crowd, spread her arms, danced in place, and turned nimbly, drawing circles. She loudly announced: "The rules for this tournament are that there are no rules. It is sufficient to make a dish that satisfies all five judges, da."
The famous French chef asked if it was really true that there were no rules, even if accidental injuries occurred.
Yes, the criteria for judgment were in the hearts of the judges; so as long as the judges didn't mind, even if it were a street fight or a war, no one would care. As for her part, she wanted them to frolic to their hearts' content; she felt it would definitely be more interesting the noisier it got, da!
"Hehe, I understand." The famous French chef sneered secretly in agreement. He was waiting for a special item—a "sure-kill" tool. He was in contact with a businesswoman; as long as the special medicine she mentioned was truly effective, then there would be no problems.
The moment the elderly Liu lifted the lid of his pot, an intense and dazzling white light erupted from within.
"That is..." The people in front of their televisions stood up one after another.
"That is!" an old man born in the 80s, leaning on a cane, opened his farsighted eyes wide.
"It... it's glowing!!!" Nero gasped in surprise and jumped off her chair.
"Before I knew it, so many years have passed. It was precisely because I saw the glowing food he made back then that I learned the charm of Chinese cuisine. I didn't expect that after so many years, I would still be able to see such a sight with my own eyes," said an old man, rubbing his eyes, deeply moved.
In fact, he was not the only one with such emotions. When they saw the glowing food created by the elderly Liu, viewers all over the world stopped what they were doing, many of them shedding tears of nostalgia.
Naturally, this dish passed without question, though Nero was pondering curiously.
Miss Nero rested her chin on her hand and thought: "If I were to eat food like this every day, would I eventually gain a new skill to glow all over my body?"
Next, the famous French chef Pablo came up with an arrogant expression, carrying a platter. He had prepared roast peacock, specifically arranging the meat to mimic a fanned tail, and presented it to the stage, also receiving favorable reviews.
Nakiri Senzaemon served tempura. He seemed to have truly put in a lot of effort, having received assistance from several elders who were revered as "gods" in Japan, and had undergone three months of secluded training.
"Ooooooh! The fried food of Japan is also excellent! So hot~! So fragrant~! Fufu, Umu~! Delicious~! Everything is so delicious~!" Nero held her knife and fork, blowing on the freshly fried tempura.
Shirou prepared a roasted suckling pig, which received Nero's praise. After all... in those occasional memories from the other world, he had a sister exactly like her—her personality, her preferences, and the destructive power of her singing were all identical.
"I super love the taste of this pork~! Fragrant and delicious~!" the blonde girl shouted joyfully, looking up toward the sky.
Through the camera lens, just by seeing the Emperor's delicious and cute way of eating, everyone's appetites were stimulated, and some gentlemen could eat three large bowls of white rice just watching her. The ratings were currently skyrocketing!
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