MTLNOVEL Chapter 11: Chapter 11
"Master Haruka…?" Arthur asked hesitantly when he saw Haruka's burning eyes.
She didn't respond as her fingers tapped the phone screen, taking her to the summoning section. A maniacal smile curved her lips as a dark, dark aura rose off her. Her eyes were now wide and round, with no sign of white sclerae.
Arthur, sensing a great danger, turned his pleading eyes to Karna. "Karna, what should we do?!"
"Let her roll," Karna replied. "Master Haruka has been suppressing her desires to roll the gacha for the past few days despite having 500 quartz. Letting them out now is better than waiting until later."
"Is she going to be alright though?" Kairi asked cautiously. "Her aura feels more dangerous than a Dead Apostle Ancestor's."
"And… roll!" Haruka slammed her finger down on the "10x roll" button and the screen loaded.
Inhaling, Arthur watched the virtual orbs spin. Haruka excitedly tapped the screen, squealing as she saw a golden Berserker card appear. "My third SR has come to me… wait… what?!" The card froze, flickering between gold and silver before settling on silver, the Servant revealing itself to be… Kiyohime. Tapping the screen a few more times revealed the rest of Haruka's roll: 3 Black Key Craft Essences, two of a shirtless Kotomine Kirei, 3 copies of Kiyohime, and 2 mapo tofu Craft Essences.
"…" Haruka stared at the screen.
"…" Arthur mentally debated whether or not to dematerialize.
"…" The faintest hint of uncertainty flickered in Karna's eyes.
"DAMN MY LUCK!" Haruka's scream reverberated throughout the mausoleum. Kairi had to clap his hands over his ears to muffle the sound, while Arthur and Karna exchanged resigned looks. Mordred simply looked confused.
"Master Haruka…" Arthur started. "It's only one roll. You should try again."
"No! I've had similar rolls like this before! Once it starts, I don't even get a 5* Craft Essence! I've had it with this stupid game!" Haruka tossed her phone in some random direction and started rolling around on the floor.
(By some miracle, Karna caught the phone and carefully placed it down next to Haruka.)
"Hey, if you're going to make such a big fuss over one roll then let me try," Mordred said. "You're going to get nowhere at this rate."
"I've been nowhere for the past few months," Haruka said morosely as she handed the phone to the blond knight.
"So I just press this 10x button, right?" Mordred tapped the button and the screen loaded.
Rainbow orbs spun around the summoning circle, and a golden Saber card appeared.
Haruka snatched the phone from Mordred. "Did you just roll me a gold Saber?!"
Mordred blinked. "Is that supposed to be good?"
Haruka squealed as the card revealed itself. "You rolled Altera! This is the best day of my life! Thanks Mordred!"
"Isn't that great, Mordred?" Arthur said happily before Mordred could reply. "Look at my cute daughter already rolling some of the best Servants for my Master!"
Mordred's cheeks coloured. "S-shut up, Father! I'm not cute, I'm a knight!"
Karna simply watched the two banter, faint amusement lighting up his eyes. "I wonder how you managed to settle the differences between you and Arturia with Mordred, Arthur."
Arthur simply grinned. "A doting father has to keep his secrets."
Haruka's squeal drowned out any other noise. "MORDRED ROLLED ME ALTERA, HERSELF, AND ATALANTA IN ONE ROLL! YOU'RE THE BEST!"
"So… two SSRs and one SR. That is quite rare. Good job, Mordred," Karna said.
"Wait, I'm in this game as well?!" Mordred said, scooting over to see Haruka's screen.
Haruka turned up the volume so she could hear her new Servants introduce themselves.
"My name is Altera, descendant of the Huns and the God of War's warrior." Haruka squealed. "My first ever SSR Saber!"
Then came Mordred's. "Saber, Mordred. Is Father here?"
Arthur burst into laughter as Mordred's face burned red. "I wouldn't say that in a regular summoning!"
"So cute!"
Finally, Atalanta. "Are you my Master? Nice to meet you."
"Alright, so priorities are leveling Mordred and Atalanta. I'll have to level Altera later but this is my version of a thank-you to Mordred, I guess!" Haruka took out some Saber EXP crystals and gave them to Mordred. "Here's my thank-you gift! They taste really good."
Mordred bit into one, crunching loudly. Her eyes lit up. "These taste so much better than Gawain's cooking!"
"Arthur, Karna, you too." Haruka handed Saber and Lancer EXP crystals to the respective Servants, both nodding their thanks to their Master.
"So, are you going to continue rolling?" Kairi asked.
Haruka shook her head. "Not me. Considering Mordred managed to roll me two SSRs while I haven't rolled a single SR in months means I'm the one cursed with Black Keys, not my account."
"So then…"
Haruka's eyes burned again. "Mordred, keep on rolling!"
"E-eh?!"
In the end, Haruka spent a total of 480 quartz. Arthur, Mordred and Kairi alternated rolling to see who got the most rare Servants. Karna declined the offer, deciding to keep an eye on Haruka's reactions.
Needless to say, Haruka was ready to explode.
Whether from excitement, incredulity, or shock, no one knew.
Arthur: Managed to roll copies most of the better 5* Craft Essences and two versions of his counterpart Arturia—Saber Alter and Lancer. He also somehow managed to roll Jeanne.
Mordred: Rolled Arturia in her original Saber form and Lancer Alter. She also rolled Astolfo, Frankenstein, and Vlad. Also got a lot of SR Craft Essences.
(Haruka was ready to hug Mordred after she rolled Vlad but Karna restrained her just in time.)
Kairi: Mostly 3* Craft Essences that weren't Black Keys or Mapo, a few copies of his Craft Essence ("Now that's creepy," he remarked), Siegfried, and Fionn.
It was quite easy to deduce who surprisingly had the best luck in the entire group.
***
"Master."
"Hm?"
"Master."
"What, Karna?"
"It's almost time."
"Ehh? But I wanted to battle with Mordred a bit more. I'm almost at bond level 6!"
"That's fast!" Mordred yelped.
"Master, if you do not execute your plan in the next 15 minutes it will fail."
Haruka sighed and put down her phone. "Let's go over this one more time, shall we?"
Kairi, Mordred, Arthur, and Karna nodded.
"Arthur, equipped with Volumen Hydragyrum, will infiltrate Yggdmillenia Forest and intercept Siegfried and his Master from reaching Astolfo and the homunculus… Sieg was his name, right? Or at least the name he will use. Karna, you get a second Volumen Hydragyrum. You'll be back up. In case Arthur ends up getting locked in battle with Siegfried, you get Sieg out of there and back here. I've been thinking about it, and we should keep Sieg safe. He can probably help us out."
"Wouldn't bringing Karna along be a bad idea?" Arthur asked. "The Black Faction will know that I am affiliated with the Red Faction and then it won't take them long to trace me back to you. You will be put in more danger."
"It's a risk we have to take. Actually… Karna, stay hidden unless Arthur is completely occupied. I'll just call you back immediately with a Command Seal if you guys get stuck. They'll restore themselves in a few days anyways."
"Wait, your Command Seals restore themselves?!" Kairi gasped.
"Mhm. I'm a Master with over 100 Servants; how would I be able to keep the troublesome ones in line with only 3 command seals? There were a couple incidents that forced me to use all 3 of them at once. I had to spend 3 days doing nothing to wait for them to replenish. Anyways, back on topic. Karna, here you go." Haruka pulled a Craft Essence out of her phone and handed it to Karna, who took it with a nod of thanks.
"Shall I go then?" Arthur asked.
Haruka nodded.
"Don't get into trouble, Mordred!" Arthur ruffled Mordred's hair before she could protest and swiftly dematerialized.
"I will be taking my leave as well." Karna dematerialized after he finished speaking.
"Now, the question is, what to do with Sieg," Haruka mused. "He's not the version who's going to receive Siegfried's heart and gain powers beyond a normal homunculus, so he'll still be a pretty weak guy in general who's only useful for a mana battery… nah, that's too cruel. Jeanne would never let me hear the end of it once she found out. But what to do then? He's not a Servant so I can't form a contract with him, and he has no memories of the self that foiled Amakusa's plans in the war… oh, I hate parallel worlds," Haruka groaned. "I could try strengthening his body with the items I have, but there would be no point in bringing him back to Chaldea…"
"Sounds like you're in quite the dilemma," a mysterious voice spoke.
"E-ehh?"