"Supreme Guardian, forgive me, but this time I cannot hand over command to you." Gepard was silent for a long while before finally summoning the courage to warn Cocolia.
"This is the life-or-death moment of Belobog. You and Lady Bronya should return as soon as possible!"
"Don't worry, I'm only going to take a look. I have no interest in your command." Cocolia shot Gepard a glare, then walked toward the frontline on her own.
"The Supreme Guardian wants to personally take the risk, to test the importance of the Emiya family."
Bronya motioned with her lips toward the Emiyas. Vera and Acheron were brushing seasoning onto barbecue, while Zoe and Pela were teasing the snow rabbit in the cage with little wooden sticks.
"Look, they don't seem the least bit panicked. That proves they are sure Emiya has the power to turn the tide."
"But isn't that way too shocking? What can one person possibly do?"
From a young age, Gepard had experienced brutal battles. With his perspective, even activating the Constructs' creation engines might not be enough to repel such a massive horde of rift creatures.
"Gepard, do you even remember how many times you've said 'impossible' since meeting Emiya and his family?" Bronya absentmindedly played with the long hair at her chest, the corners of her mouth always carrying a faint smile. "I can't remember either."
"…Mm, you're right."
Gepard didn't argue further. Instead, he focused entirely on preparing his pre-battle speech. Whether or not Emiya truly had heaven-shaking power, Gepard had to do everything within his own duty. Emiya's first lesson to him had been, to stand strong on your own two feet.
Beyond the towering walls of the frontline stood a black watchtower.
Here, attacks by rift creatures large and small happened every day. The walls were covered in patches and repairs, looking as though the slightest gust of wind could blow them down. And yet, they had stood for hundreds of years.
Because this battle was far too critical, when Pela returned to report, she had already evacuated everyone from the tower.
At this moment, Emiya sat on the roof edge at the very top of the watchtower. In one hand, he held a large piece of braised meat; in the other, a bunch of round, plump purple grapes.
He ate with great enjoyment, his short, fine white hair fluttering in the wind, looking completely carefree and at ease.
"Your food pairing is really something new to me." Cocolia had seen many people in her lifetime, but she had never even heard of someone sitting in a blizzard eating braised meat with grapes.
"Would the Supreme Guardian also like to try my cooking?" Emiya said, holding the greasy braised meat out toward Cocolia.
"Why is this braised meat still hot?!" Cocolia's eyes were locked onto the meat. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't figure out how it stayed steaming hot in such a freezing blizzard.
"It's just one way of using power. Nothing strange about it." Emiya didn't even need to look back to know what she was thinking.
After years of constant research, Emiya had discovered that the mana provided by the system was far more convenient than in his previous life, and its quality couldn't even be compared.
Besides changes in projection magecraft, other applications of mana that had only existed in theory before should soon become possible to master as well.
Like now, covering the meat and grapes with mana to keep them warm against the cold, this was just one small step in Emiya's path of mana training.
"Fine then." For a while, the scene grew quiet again.
Only the whistling cold wind blew, cutting at Cocolia's cheeks like knives. Only the sound of Emiya chewing continuously filled the air, even making Cocolia a little hungry. Since yesterday, after hearing about this family, she had been so worried she hadn't eaten a single grain of rice.
Before long, the distant snow-covered mountaintop was swallowed by surging black mist. With her sharp eyes, Cocolia could see that black mist was a tidal wave of rift creatures.
Aside from all kinds of strange-shaped monsters, nearly half of them looked almost identical to the Silvermane Iron Guards, except their heads were made entirely of icicles.
"Cocolia, if I alone can shatter all these monsters, would you consider turning your faith to me?" Emiya suddenly spoke a bizarre, out-of-the-blue line.
"Eh? Faith? So you really are a Emanator of the Aeons?"
If Emiya was a Emanator of the Aeons, then everything made sense. Not just defeating monsters, even smashing planets would not be impossible.
"May I ask, which Aeon's Emanator are you? Don't tell me it's Preservation."
"You're not that young anymore, so how are you still so dense?" Emiya poked Cocolia's forehead with his greasy hand. He hadn't intended to spell things out like this.
"I know the history of Jarilo. When the Antimatter Legion arrived, the Supreme Guardian prayed for Preservation's help, but Preservation ignored them. Forced into desperation, the Guardian turned instead to the Stellaron.
"And you, facing a situation harsher than any Guardian before you, you're probably on the verge of being seduced by the Stellaron, aren't you?"
"Don't talk nonsense! That kind of thing could get people killed!" Struck right in her sore spot, Cocolia flared up like an angry kitten, almost pouncing to claw at Emiya.
"I'm not a Emanator of any Aeon." When the word "Emanator" came up, Acheron's figure flashed through Emiya's mind. Not only was he no Aeon's Emanator, he was actively plotting to kill an Aeon.
"I just decided to establish an organization called Utopia. You could also call it a church."
Emiya stuffed the last of the meat and grapes into his mouth, his cheeks puffed adorably full, though his eyes were deadly serious.
"If you're willing to join this organization, I'll clear away all these monsters for you, and I'll make Jarilo flourish again."
"Please stop spouting nonsense! Belobog is built upon the great Aeon of Preservation, Lord Qlipoth, and the Constructs. We will always put our faith in Preservation!"
Cocolia screamed hoarsely, not only to tell Emiya, but also to warn herself not to abandon Preservation's protection.
"Hahaha, is pretending to be strong just a woman's nature?"
With a broad grin, Emiya pinched Cocolia's warm, soft cheeks in her stunned gaze, then, like an elder doting on a child, placed his big hand on her head and ruffled her hair.
"From today on, you're officially the fifth member of Utopia. You don't need to force yourself anymore. From now on, Utopia's members will help one another, and together we'll step toward the true utopia."
"You've been spouting nonsense nonstop since just now!" Cocolia finally snapped back to her senses. She grabbed Emiya's hand and bit it with all her strength, then leapt off the watchtower like the wind.
"Hahaha! If you can stay that defiant, that's actually pretty entertaining too." Emiya looked at the clear row of teeth marks on his hand and couldn't help laughing loudly.
Run if you want, sooner or later, you'll come running back on your own, wagging your tail.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.