"What I choose to do is none of your business!"
Ishtar's brow furrowed, her tone turning icy. "Besides, the way you look at me is seriously annoying. It's like you're seeing someone else through me."
She's this perceptive?
Amber felt the embarrassment of being seen through, but her expression remained unreadable.
"My apologies. Having met so many people over the years, I often see traces of old friends in new acquaintances. I suppose that's one of the burdens of immortality."
"Immortality? Now that you mention it, you're a Servant too, aren't you?"
Faced with such a straightforward apology, Ishtar's expression softened slightly, giving way to curiosity.
Though she'd been caught off guard by a sneak attack before, and had let her guard down enough to let someone get this close, her instincts screamed that the woman dressed in male attire before her was no ordinary person.
If this turned out to be a legendary figure of great renown, it would at least salvage some of her pride from her two previous lapses in composure.
Thinking this, Ishtar continued, "Consider this an introduction. From where do you hail, Servant?"
"Shenzhou," Amber replied.
Shenzhou... According to this host body's memories, it was a colossal land steeped in mystery. It was commonly known that the more mysterious the magecraft, the greater its power.
Shenzhou's magi, who kept to themselves and rarely appeared outside their borders, had a reputation for being untouchable.
As a Heroic Spirit from Shenzhou, the one before her was clearly no simple character.
But Ishtar still hadn't heard the answer she wanted. "Just giving a location is too vague. Are you shy or something?"
With that, she proudly puffed out her—nonexistent—chest, placed a hand over her heart, and raised her forearm with force, introducing herself with full grandeur.
"The Goddess of Venus, also the Goddess of Beauty, the Goddess of War, the Goddess among Goddesses—Ishtar!"
"Fusion Warrior, the Phoenix Celestial, Fu Hua." In contrast, Amber's response was far more subdued.
It wasn't that she didn't want to emulate Fu Hua's habit of staying silent to seem profound—though Fu Hua genuinely was a master.
If it were Fu Hua, she'd probably just say something like 'I'm merely a martial artist.' But that wasn't what Ishtar was asking. Answering like that would only make the goddess more displeased.
It absolutely wasn't because she thought announcing Fu Hua's title sounded cool or anything! It was just that since the other party had given her full title, it was only proper to respond in kind!
While my emotional intelligence isn't exactly high, it's definitely miles better than a certain block of wood's!
The block of wood, Fu Hua, who could hear Amber's inner monologue: ...
Considering Amber's age, and those years spent in the hospital where she aged but gained little life experience, Fu Hua ultimately decided not to bother holding it against the brat.
Besides, it was just a title. Not only was there no one here who would recognize it, but even if there were, if it made Amber happy to use it, she was welcome to it.
"Fusion Warrior? The Phoenix Celestial?" Ishtar sifted through her host's memories but found no impression of either term, though she did have some notion of what a 'Celestial' was.
Thus, Ishtar smiled with understanding. "So you're a god too, Fu Hua."
"I am hardly a god. It is merely a title bestowed by the Emperor. The world calls me a Celestial only because I have lived a long life." Amber continued her role-play.
"Is that so? I don't really get it, but earlier you called me a new friend, right?" Ishtar's interests were as quick to fade as they were to arise, and she immediately moved to the next topic.
"As the most noble and proud goddess, it would usually be a headache if just anyone called me their friend. But the circumstances are different now. If you help me with one little thing, I'll acknowledge us as friends."
"What kind of thing?"
Ishtar grinned. "It's about Uruk. That Golden Brat has gotten more and more arrogant. Last time, he had the gall to spout insults at me, a goddess! So I plan to teach him a lesson."
Here, her grin shifted into a pout. "But I've been really busy with important matters lately, so I haven't had time to go to Uruk."
"What the King of Uruk does is for the continuation of humanity," Amber refused. "Protecting the people of Shenzhou is my mission. If human history were to vanish here, then Shenzhou, too, would cease to exist."
"Protecting Shenzhou's people? Protecting humanity?"
Ishtar made a strange face, seeming puzzled as to why a god would protect humans. A passing whim was one thing, but Amber clearly wasn't acting on a whim.
However, because her fusion with the host body was so seamless, she didn't comment much on it.
Instead, she continued her persuasion. "Look at you, you don't have a single gem on you. It's been a long time since you've received any offerings, hasn't it? That King of Uruk has treasures to spare. Skimming a little off the top wouldn't hinder his efforts to save humanity."
After fusing with the host, she was of course aware of the changes in her personality. But as a capricious goddess, she naturally believed that no matter how she changed, she was still herself.
And the most crucial point remained unchanged.
That was her hatred for Gilgamesh.
Because of the host, she had to admit her current temper was surprisingly good. Yet, only when facing Gilgamesh could she feel the host's malice aligning perfectly with her own.
This had led her to place 'teaching Gilgamesh a lesson' as the second priority of her current manifestation.
Seeing her act more and more like Rin Tohsaka, Amber fell silent for a moment before speaking. "I'm sorry, I cannot help you with this."
"Hmph, and here I thought we were friends," Ishtar said, displeased, before turning to walk towards her Maanna, which was already hovering low, waiting for her.
She couldn't be bothered with the gems on the ground anymore. After all, this 'friend' was clearly on Uruk's side. And besides... though she really didn't want to admit it, if a fight broke out, she'd likely end up losing face.
Seeing her like this, Amber actually felt a little guilty. But there really wasn't anything she could offer as compensation... Wait?
"Hold on."
Suddenly remembering the miscellaneous items she hadn't even bothered to look at between her last two summoning sessions, Amber flipped her hand over.
A stone materialized in her palm, black throughout but containing a soft, cherry-blossom pink light within.
The pink light inside the stone even formed the shape of a five-pointed star, glowing from within. Under its radiance, the scattered mineral inclusions inside shimmered like tiny white stars.
"Such a beautiful gemstone!"
Ishtar, who loved gemstones and minerals, could immediately tell this was no ordinary stone.
It contained not insignificant magical energy, making it an exceptionally fine material for gemstone magecraft.
Thinking this, she pursed her lips. Dammit, has that host's poverty seeped into my very bones?
"In Shenzhou, we have a custom called a 'meeting gift'," Amber explained.
"It's just that I didn't bring any presentable gifts with me at the moment. Please allow me to offer this as a temporary substitute." Seeing that Tohsaka—ahem, Ishtar—seemed very interested in the Asterite in her hand, Amber inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Looks like I've managed to appease her.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.