178 The Dark Queen Marie
"..." Shirou looked at the three Servants who had left and remained silent.
This was a world of dreams. Hatred or anger, however it was vented, perhaps everything was inherently irrational. He hoped that everyone could find happiness, but he didn't have the right to demand change from people he didn't know, much less from heroic spirits who had endured so many cruelties. However, if Queen Marie intended to harm the humans who had been caught up in this, he absolutely could not stand idly by.
Shirou calmed his emotions and said to everyone, "Alright, let's discuss what we should do next."
Da Vinci from Chaldea was recording while speaking:
"So let's first tally the Servants we currently know: we have 'Alice', 'Demon Lord' Jeanne, and Tamamo Cat, who is in charge of cats."
"Don't add strange code names before my name!" Jeanne said unhappily.
"Yes, yes, Puss in Boots and the Cheshire Cat are both Meow ~!" Tamamo Cat raised both hands and happily agreed.
"The Mad Hatter Elizabeth, the Dormouse Osakabehime, Merlin in charge of rabbits, and then there's the Princess d'Eon, Sanson and Mozart as Palace Officials, and then that Blackened Queen Marie, who is practically acting true to form," Da Vinci noted as she recorded.
"Are there any other clues? Speaking of important characters, there shouldn't be many left, right?" Shirou asked.
"That Merlin guy said that as the White Rabbit, he serves the Queen and the Countess. I really feel like burning these troublesome nobles," Jeanne said.
"Then it seems the only remaining Servant is this Countess!" Shirou stated.
"Actually, there's one more Servant!" Elizabeth interjected at this point.
"Who?" Shirou asked.
"The Mock Turtle who stays with the Gryphon," Elizabeth said, holding up a red finger.
"Mock Turtle? What a strange name. Who is that?" Jeanne asked, confused.
At this point, this was the young man's area of expertise, so Shirou explained to the others, "Ah, this is actually a fantastical creature fabricated in the fairy tale, a parody of the popular turtle soup in Britain at the time, which is sea turtle soup. The rich ate turtle soup, but the poor couldn't afford it, so a chef devised a way to cook a similar-tasting Mock Turtle Soup using a calf's head. It's like, if there's turtle soup, there must first be a turtle. Similarly, for Mock Turtle Soup, there must be a Mock Turtle."
"Like how there are dragons and tigers in 'Dragon-Tiger Stew'~! and how 'Baby Cabbage' has babies~ " Tamamo Cat chimed in, explaining.
"Huh?" Jeanne looked even more confused. Was this stray cat messing with them again?
Shirou said, "Tamamo Cat, your explanation makes it harder to understand. Nowadays, Mock Turtle Soup is actually sometimes made with minced beef. Next time, I'll try making it for you to taste, Jeanne, then you'll understand."
"Hmm, if you say so, Shirou," Jeanne nodded, letting the matter drop.
"Then I'll set off now to look for the Mock Turtle," Shirou said.
"Huh? Leaving already? What about the concert?" Elizabeth called out.
"..." Shirou and the others tacitly ignored her, quickening their pace.
"Goodbye~! Mr. Shirou, remember to text me back," the Dormouse Princess waved goodbye, then lazily slumped back onto the table.
"There's just no helping these impatient people. Then I'll stick to my usual practice today. I'll drop by and sing for them next time." Elizabeth wore an expression of helplessness, but as a top-quality idol, she wouldn't treat her fans as mere accessories once she became famous, unlike those inferior products.
The Dragon Idol, who valued every fan and treated everyone equally, took out her microphone, shouted a few times, and began to practice.
"Yes, yes." Osakabehime turned her Noble Phantasm Himeji Castle into soundproof earplugs, put them on, and continued to pretend to be asleep.
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Shirou, Jeanne, and Tamamo Cat quietly sneaked out to the green space outside the palace. As they walked through the garden and reached the spacious lawn, which was being used as a large golf course, they saw a blue lake further ahead.
On the path leading there, they spotted a beast the size of a horse. Its hindquarters were a horse's body, and its two feet were hooves, but its front half was a lion's body with raptor claws, large, powerful eagle wings on its back, and a large eagle head with a sharp beak.
"Horse-hoof?" Tamamo Cat tilted her head in confusion.
"Didn't they say it was a Gryphon? Why is the back a horse?" Jeanne asked strangely.
Just then, the Gryphon, who was napping on a rock, opened its eyes and said, "Don't be so picky. I'm actually a cross between a Gryphon and a horse. It's practically the same, right!"
"It talked!!" Jeanne and Tamamo Cat exclaimed in unison.
"What nonsense are you saying? Aren't you, a cat, talking too? Since you're Servants, you must be here to see the Mock Turtle, right? Then follow me," the Gryphon stood up, stretched, and seemed to flap its wings, saying to the group.
"Indeed, in this world, perhaps talking animals are the norm. If Medusa came here, perhaps even Pegasus could talk," Shirou muttered.
"Thank you, handsome Mr. Gryphon, Nya!" Tamamo Cat jumped up and ran to the Gryphon's side to thank him.
"Hmph, I am the wind of freedom, leading you forward." The Gryphon accepted the compliment, its tail wagging behind it.
The Gryphon led the group to the lake not far ahead.
The lake, surrounded by green grass, was a beautiful azure blue, like a sapphire set amidst green jade.
"Hey~! Mock Turtle~! Come out, some humans and a cat want to see you." The Gryphon shouted towards the lake.
"Ooh ooh ooh!!!" A light, girlish voice responded from there. Then, a round black hat, looking like a cake or a jellyfish, appeared on the lake surface.
"Uwah! What is that thing!" Jeanne cried out.
"Is that, an octopus? Grilled octopus for dinner tonight!" Tamamo Cat's hunting instincts were triggered, and she stared at the black, unidentified object swimming quickly on the water.
When the Mock Turtle swam closer, they realized that the object was actually a large hat tied to someone's back. Beneath it, a beautiful girl with cherry-blossom pink hair braided into pigtails? emerged onto the lake surface, swimming rapidly towards them.
"Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins, Astolfo, has arrived! Who are you? Did you come to play with me?" The beautiful girl with the large hat tied to her back immediately made a V-sign with her fingers, jumped ashore, and asked, blinking her clear, watery eyes.
She was wearing a tight swimsuit that covered only half of her upper body, exposing a flat, smooth navel. Water droplets slid down her fair skin and fell onto the ground, giving her a charm like a lotus emerging from water or a peach blossom sprinkled with dew.
"You're a Servant, right? Why are you swimming?" Shirou asked, confused.
"Because I'm a fish!? And this place is super great. My horse always just goes 'Mm, uhh,' and I can't understand what it means, but here, I can actually hear it call my name."
"Hey, Astolfo, pay attention to the guests," the Gryphon advised.
"I am listening, though? Ah, are you jealous? Of course! I like you a lot too. Come here for a hug! Next time, carry me and fly to the moon." Astolfo hugged the Gryphon's neck.
"Even though he can understand my words, he's completely impossible to communicate with. What a troublesome Master," the Gryphon said helplessly.
"Meow completely understands how you feel. A Master who doesn't understand their pet's feelings is truly troublesome," Tamamo Cat patted the Gryphon's back in sympathy.
"Hmm?" Shirou and Astolfo exchanged confused glances, then simultaneously looked at the pet.
"Shirou, is this the one?" Jeanne asked.
"No, just an ordinary Servant." Shirou turned off his Mystic Eyes and shook his head.
"Is that so? Then let's go." Jeanne pulled the young man away. Although she didn't know why, she felt an inner urge to keep Shirou from having too much contact with the pink-haired person in front of them.
"Eh? Wait! Didn't you come to play with me?" Astolfo spread his arms, blocking the young man and girl, saying disappointedly.
"Sorry, we're actually looking for a Heroic Spirit contaminated by the black mud," Shirou said.
"Black? Is it the fierce Queen here? In this palace, she's super strong, and her temper is super bad. Just because I secretly took her hat, she wanted to chop off my head, so I had to jump into the lake to hide. Although the knight who serves her, d'Eon, is my friend," Astolfo said with a smile.
"Ah, so that's what this hat is all about..." Shirou finally understood, looking at the black cake-like hat Astolfo wore on his back like a turtle shell. He then explained, "However, we are looking for someone more dangerous, with an abnormal amount of magical energy."
"Is that so? Is that so? An evil black mud Heroic Spirit, huh? I know! At the critical moment, I'll lend you a hand!" Astolfo, true to his knightly nature, thumped his chest and readily agreed.
"You're the fifth Servant we've encountered in this palace. Regarding suspicious individuals, do you know anything?" Shirou asked.
"Yes! Yes! I think that Mozart is very suspicious! He often wears a mask, disguises himself as a perverted mask hero, and follows behind the Black Queen," Astolfo raised his hand and said.
"He certainly is suspicious, but he's probably not the person we're looking for," Shirou said, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Hmm......" Astolfo cupped his chin, charmingly rolling his eyes, then raised a finger and said, "There's also the Countess. I saw her holding a black book and inhaling black gas in the middle of the night."
"The Countess!" Shirou and Jeanne exchanged a look. It was almost certain that she was their opponent this time.
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Meanwhile, inside the main palace where the Emperor and Empress resided, Marie sat alone on a sofa in her room, drinking red tea.
The Black Queen Marie was the exact opposite of the White Marie.
One chose to forget all hatred and love this country with a smile, while the other chose to remember the hatred, attempting to take revenge for everything she and her family had endured upon the country that had abandoned them. She was almost hysterical, locking up and sending to the guillotine anyone who displeased her.
At this moment, a hefty Black man wearing a red bandana and holding a machine gun knocked on the door and entered to report.
"Boss, the Countess is here."
"Let her in," Marie waved a hand and commanded.
The lavish palace, besides the useless soldiers who could only serve as goalposts, also housed a Black gang. These were humans drawn in from the outside by the dream world. In reality, they were a minority ethnic group in France, engaged in various professions—some lawyers, some dentists, some indeed gang members—but in this world, their assigned role was to be her homies.
Although France had long replaced the white lily flag with the tricolor, she knew the past too well. As for the White people—whether they were opportunist merchants, peasants who looted and plundered Versailles, or nobles who trimmed their sails to the wind—her past experiences taught her that not one of them could be trusted.
Only the sincere Black brothers were truly loyal. Now they were serving as guards, using modified and reinforced machine guns.
Though they couldn't compare to Servants, if they worked as a group, even a Servant wouldn't fare well if they were hit by a barrage of bullets.
The person who walked in was a little girl in a black Western-style dress. Although she was a little girl, her face lacked the innocence children should have, displaying only a cold indifference.
"What do you want?" Marie asked coldly, looking at the little girl.
"Marie, have you met that person?" the little girl asked with a gloomy, emotionless voice.
"I have. He's indeed an honest idiot, with a whiff of those foolish revolutionaries. Does he want to kill me, this idiotic Queen, too?" Marie said coldly.
Ignoring Marie's complaint, the little girl showed a look of fanaticism, and her black pleated dress began to decompose, turning into tendrils of black mud. "Is that so? He's here, Emiya Shirou. What will his dream taste like? I'm so excited. Will it be sweet like honey? Bitter like coffee? Or green tea with a sweet aftertaste? Since he has already come to my world, I won't let him leave again. I want to become one with him. That way, I should be one step closer to the real Emiya Shirou."
"Monster!" The Black Queen Marie spat out in disgust, looking at the black mud monster. She knew that the figure before her was not a little girl at all, but a creature even more twisted and nauseating than the black mud emerging from her, wearing that skin as a disguise.
When she was summoned, this world didn't exist yet, and at that time, this monster's form was still an ominous black book.
Important Announcement! New Fanfifction
Cote: Daily Intelligence System
Shimizu Akira unexpectedly transmigrated into the world of "Classroom of the Elite," becoming an ordinary student in Class D.
Relying on the advantage of foresight thanks to his daily intelligence system, Shimizu Akira navigates between the various factions.
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