I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

Page 134

When Yue Zhengling mentioned the last component of the Mage's Association, everyone perked up their ears. After all, according to their affiliation, Chaldea belonged to the Clock Tower, Shion, whose identity had been confirmed, belonged to the Atlas Institute, and the most mysterious one was the Wandering Sea.

"Oh dear, you even knew my original schedule, which was beyond my calculations~ Also, are you really sure that my identity is Shion Eltnam Sokalis?" Shion chuckled and pointed to her face with her index finger as she asked.

“Yes, it’s confirmed. Although I know there are several different faces with this one, judging from your tone and personality, you are undoubtedly Shion Eltnam Sokaris of this world.” Yue Zhengling looked at the face and nodded with certainty.

“Alright, congratulations on guessing correctly. Since you guessed right, I'll tell you a secret.” Ziyuan looked at Le Zhengling’s throat, chest, and expression with a strange gaze. “Someone is looking for you—or rather, looking for your face. Hmm, I feel a bit of a sense of shared suffering. After all, judging from your tone and what you just said, you know several people who are not me but have the exact same face as me.”

Upon hearing Ziyuan's so-called secret, Yue Zhengling felt a slight ripple in his heart. He had originally thought that he was special as a transmigrator, but now it seemed that he, or rather, the person who should have been Yue Zhengling, was also a part of the Type-Moon world.

"By the way, the person looking for your face is Jewel Elder~"

However, just when Yue Zhengling thought this was no big deal, Ziyuan suddenly dropped a bombshell, causing an uproar.

Rafe's eyebrows twitched. He remembered that before summoning Yue Zhengling, the girl who called herself Ji Ling was holding a jeweled sword. Now, hearing Zi Yuan mention that the jeweled spirit was looking for someone who looked exactly like Yue Zhengling, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Although it was only a short time of contact, Ji Ling left him with the impression that she was irresistible. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance around at the people who had met Ji Ling and found that they had similar reactions to him.

Fear and anxiety gripped everyone's hearts.

"Ziyuan, do you know about the existence of [Ji Ling]?" Yue Zhengling couldn't help but ask after guessing a certain possibility. Originally, he wasn't very interested in [Ji Ling]. His previous desire to get the recording from Leifu was just out of momentary curiosity. But now that he heard that Gemstone was looking for someone who looked like him, he thought it would be better to get the necessary information in order to avoid being mistaken for a secondary car.

“I know, Ji Ling, who once visited Chaldea, is the person that the Jewel Mage is looking for.” Shion did not hide anything from Ji Ling. “I heard that she ambushed the Jewel Mage, stole the Second Magic Mystic Code, and gained the ability to travel between parallel worlds. Now the Jewel Mage, whose whereabouts are unknown, has sent a notice to the Mage's Association. As long as that person is found, we must do everything we can to stall her and notify her. She will come to clean up the mess as soon as possible.”

For some reason, Ziyuan once again revealed a smile that seemed to see through everything. "But in my opinion, these are all just public statements. Do you know why?"

Le Zhengling closed his eyes and thought for a moment. After opening them again, he said, "It's true that we need to hold off Ji Ling. As for whether she'll come, I reserve my opinion."

Shion clapped her hands gently. "That's right. According to my calculations, this situation is more than 80% likely among the seven conclusions I've drawn. If someone really did notify the Jewel Mage, he would probably run far away immediately. After all, the other party is someone who can even injure a mage. And I don't think any Mage Association in any timeline would be so stupid as to help the Jewel Mage take the fall."

“Indeed, after all, that old man who likes to cause trouble isn’t very popular. As far as I know, apart from Waver and your ancestor, he’s practically hated by everyone. Oh, right, we should probably add the Tohsaka family too, since they’re one of the few disciples who haven’t been ruined.” Yue Zhengling spoke ill of the Sapphire Crystal in front of Chaldea without any pressure.

Those watching these two unbridled individuals felt immense pressure listening to their conversation, but since they couldn't get a word in edgewise, they could only listen silently, filled with trepidation.

"You're quite an interesting person. According to my calculations, you're not exactly the bold type. Is there some reason that makes you so fearless? Or is there some connection between you and the Gemstone Elder?" Ziyuan looked at Yue Zhengling with a probing gaze, as if trying to figure something out.

"Well, who knows? Maybe I just really dislike him." When Le Zhengling was in Avalon, he had plenty of time to waste, so even if he didn't want to, he would still think about the days before he died, especially the last part of his life.

When he died, he saw the Night of Wallachia, which is the ancestor of Violet, Tsbia Eltnam Oberon. Although he didn't know what happened, Tsbia in human form had said something to Uncle Fuaburo.

He didn't pay attention or think much about it at the time, but when Yue Zhengling calmed down, he thought of a possibility: the Night of Wallachia might have regained the intellect he had when he was still human, just like Uncle Fuaburo.

In short, Le Zhengling felt that his guess was very likely, and since Tsbia was someone who could maintain contact with the Gemstone Elder, it was definitely not a coincidence that he appeared at the place where he died.

This reminded him of the phone call he had made to his guardian. Although he heard his guardian's voice over the phone, he was certain that the person on the other end was an elderly man.

The other party's prophetic words and their obvious knowledge of the existence of other worlds both pointed to one entity.

Your life or death is not the key for me to intervene in this world; I cannot even appear before you.

—Your lineage has completely disappeared, but that doesn't mean the same is true for other worlds.

In that conversation, those two sentences actually hinted at the other person's identity, but at the time, I was so overwhelmed by the impending death that I didn't even think of it.

It wasn't until he went to Avalon that his calm mind recalled these details he had missed. However, Yue Zhengling also knew that even if he had thought of these things and revealed the other party's identity at the time, given the other party's identity and attitude, the other party's actions would still not have changed.

To the Gem Elder, he was as insignificant as a speck of dust. Having witnessed countless parallel worlds, he would not be swayed by his own life or death.

Yue Zhengling now vaguely understands that kind of mindset that is completely detached from external things, because when he arrived at Chaldea, even though he knew what changes he would face in the world line he had reached, he treated it as just a play.

If you knew the future, everything would be meaningless. I suppose that's how most people who can see through the future feel.

No matter how much someone loves the world, seeing too many tragedies will gradually numb them, let alone someone who was originally excluded from the world.

Even though he had promised Arthur to treat himself and the world well, Yue Zhengling felt that there was not much difference between doing it and not doing it. He believed from beginning to end that being an observer was the best choice.

All his previous actions were based on the desire to find a peaceful place to live a quiet, carefree life. That's why he told Leonardo da Vinci about the burning of humanity, which both fulfilled Arthur's promise and served his own interests.

Information is invaluable. Knowing the opponent's plans in advance will allow you to remain calm and composed. If Chaldea really fails, then hold on to Merlin and make him take you back to Avalon!

"Hehe, things are getting more and more interesting~" Ziyuan pushed up her glasses, "But what exactly is your relationship with Ji Ling, who calls herself [Ling]?"

"I can tell you with certainty that I don't know who [Ji Ling] is. If possible, I'd like to see what she looks like," Yue Zhengling shrugged, answering honestly.

"Hum, is that so? You want to see [Ji Ling]? That's a bit difficult. When I was reading the Void Archives, I found that this information was blocked. In the end, no matter how hard I tried, I could only see the records about [Ji Ling] in my world. If you want to see it, I can show it to you when you come back."

Ziyuan had some guesses about the relationship between the two Lings because she knew about the existence of parallel worlds and was very familiar with parallel world counterparts. However, after her calculations, she found that the relationship between the two Lings was not as simple as that of counterparts.

This was a very new topic, which aroused her a strong desire to explore it further.

"You want to wait for me to return to Chaldea?" Yue Zhengling looked surprised. He knew that Shion didn't have much time. During the time when the Human Order Burned, she hid in the Wandering Sea and used it to build a second Chaldea.

"Yes, is there a problem?" Ziyuan asked with a smile.

"...Anyway, it's your problem, I have no objection." Le Zhengling looked at Ziyuan strangely for a while, and found that the other party seemed to really intend to do so.

"Wait! I won't allow someone like you to stay in my Chaldea! Da Vinci, get her out of here right now!" Olga Marie, standing next to Le Zhengling, immediately objected after hearing Shion's plan.

Previously, because the conversation between Yue Zhengling and Ziyuan contained a lot of information, she was caught up in various speculations and thoughts, so she had kept quiet. But now is not the time to be quiet!

“Hum, Animusfia, I have to remind you of a few things regarding your remarks.” Shion casually pushed up her glasses, the lenses gleaming with a light that symbolized wisdom.

"First of all, Chaldea only sought help from our Atlas Institute when they had no other options, so now it is you who are in a passive position, not us."

"Secondly, the reason Chaldea was able to find you was because of my help, but what interests me is not you, but the person next to you."

"Thirdly, we have indeed found you, but!"

At this point, she raised her index finger and drew a line in front of her. "With Chaldea's current technology, even if we find you, we can't bring you back. Do you understand what I mean? In other words, even if I leave here as you request, they will still demand that I return after a while—unless you don't want to come back, or they give up on you!"

Shion's words were full of momentum, and the entire Chaldea side fell silent.

Olga Marie looked at Leonardo da Vinci and his companions in disbelief, but everyone avoided her gaze.

“Rafe!” Olga Marie called out Rafe’s name again, as was her habit.

Rafe looked troubled, unsure of what to say.

"Leonardo da Vinci!" she looked at da Vinci again, unwilling to give up.

Da Vinci gave a wry smile. "I'm sorry, Olga, even someone as omnipotent as me is helpless when the materials are insufficient. You could even say that finding you this time is a miracle. This lady from the Atlas Institute used the Emerald Record."

After hearing Leonardo da Vinci's explanation, Olga Marie could only grit her teeth and shut her mouth.

"Hum, it seems you've come to terms with reality. That's right, everything was within my calculations!" Ziyuan smiled smugly to herself.

Looking at this Shion who was somewhat similar to the one in Carnival Phantasm, Yue Zhengling felt something was off. Although she was still quite a distance from the Shion who had become a comedian, that is, the Shion of the Baka Alliance (Alley Alliance) period, she was already showing signs of moving towards that state.

Le Zhengling had initially thought that Ziyuan was a rather serious person, but after a short period of contact, he discovered that this person seemed a bit unreliable.

"So, Miss Ziyuan, how long will it take you to get us back?" Le Zhengling ignored the unimportant personality quirk and asked directly on behalf of Olga Marie, who didn't want to speak.

"Oh, it will probably take about two to three years, right?" Ziyuan stroked her chin and gave a timeframe.

"Wait! Are you serious?" Le Zhengling looked at Ziyuan in utter astonishment. This was 2013, and two years later it would be 2015, by which time the Renli Fire would have already started! If it really came to that, he wouldn't go back!

"Hum, I'm serious. Reverse teleportation to a parallel world is much more difficult than traveling between parallel worlds. For us, two to three years is already extremely fast."

When the topic turned to professional matters, Ziyuan's expression became extremely serious.

"What if we ask the Atlas Institute here for help?" Yue Zhengling thought about it carefully and came up with three feasible solutions.

Parallel world travel is an extension of the second method. The fastest way is of course to find the Gem Elder and have him take them back, but this method is completely impractical for Yue Zhengling.

Putting aside my own feelings about the Gem Elder, finding him alone would be incredibly difficult, perhaps even impossible if I lived my entire life in this world.

His second simple solution was to seek help from the Atlas Institute in this world, because he had the Atlas Institute's contract, and if he presented the contract, the Atlas Institute would definitely help him.

However, Yue Zhengling was a little reluctant, since it would be a waste to use the contract in such a way.

Chapter 296 The Way Back (Part 2)

"Hum, let me think about the feasibility first. Oh, by the way, what era are you living in now?" Ziyuan felt a glimmer of hope after hearing Yue Zhengling's suggestion.

Le Zhengling didn't know the specific timeline of his world, but he knew Olga Marie should know, so he turned around and saw Olga Marie with a very unhappy face.

"Olga, what time is it now?" Looking at Olga Marie, who was crying just a moment ago but whose expression changed instantly after the Chaldea contact appeared, Yue Zhengling couldn't help but sigh that all women were excellent actresses.

Although he didn't know whether Olga Marie's crying earlier was real or not, it couldn't hide the fact that she changed her expression so quickly.

“I don’t know.” Olga Marie didn’t want to answer, but seeing that Yue Zhengling had called her name, she reluctantly gave a useless answer.

"...You really don't know?" Yue Zhengling looked at her with eyes full of distrust.

"I don't know, I don't know! And why are you asking me this kind of question? This spirit transfer clearly started with you as the time anchor! Why don't you just ask Da Vinci and the others to check it out!" Olga Marie angrily offered a solution.

“Oh, right, let me see~ Your time is June 1993, and you are in Germany. Wait, you have a special magical barrier there, and it’s not low-level!” Da Vinci quickly determined the location and time of Le Zhengling and his group through Chaldea.

Although the two of them are in a parallel world, Chaldea can still obtain this information through the Ultimate Mystic Code, Chaldea, which is a simulated Earth environment model and is actually a miniature projection of Earth.

"Einzbern?" Le Zhengling looked at Olga Marie uncertainly. She remembered that when she descended into this world, she directly entered a physical body and was soon forced to approach the Great Hollow Cave of Mount Yuanzang, where she met the Winter Saintess.

Although he didn't know what happened after he lost consciousness, since the topic of Germany and magic barriers came up, and it was related to the Winter Saintess, the only place he could think of was Einzbern.

“Huh? Einzbern, I remember that’s an alchemist family, and they seem to be related to—” Leonardo da Vinci unconsciously turned his gaze to Dr. Roman beside him.

She knew that Dr. Roman obtained his physical body through the Holy Grail War, and that the magical foundation of this Holy Grail War was related to the Einzbern family. However, she also understood that this was not something she could talk about now, so she stopped there.

“Ziyuan, you heard it too, it’s 1993 now. Logically, the ‘you’ here should have been born by now. Let’s go directly to the ‘you’ here and ask for help,” Yue Zhengling suggested, looking at Ziyuan again.

"It's no use. Even if you bring up my name, you won't get the Atlas Institute's help." Shion crushed that hope without hesitation.

"Leaving aside whether I exist in the world you live in, even if there is a person named [Ziyuan], do you think she would listen to you and help you?" Ziyuan began to analyze for Yue Zhengling.

"Our research findings are only made public to ourselves—this is an ironclad rule of our Atlas Institute, and anyone who violates this rule will be hunted down. Our Atlas Institute will never intervene to help you."

Ziyuan shook her head with a regretful expression, "Not to mention how old I am here? Even if I were willing to help you, I would probably be powerless to do so, lacking the strength, resources, and motivation."

"Is that so? Connections won't solve it." Yue Zhengling nodded, then raised his hand, and a white light appeared in his palm. "Then, what if it's this?"

The white light gradually faded, revealing an ancient scroll of parchment in Yue Zhengling's hand. After seeing what he was holding, Ziyuan looked shocked: "Why do you have this?!"

Upon hearing Ziyuan's words, everyone stared intently at the parchment in Yue Zhengling's hand, but no one knew what it was.

Olga Marie alone guessed what it was, because her father had mentioned this thing long ago, so she said uncertainly, "Listen, could this be the Atlas Academy Contract?"

Upon hearing this term, everyone in Chaldea looked enlightened, as they knew that the establishment of Chaldea was inseparable from this contract.

“That’s right. These are the seven contracts that were leaked from the Atlas Institute. The person who holds these contracts can break the rules of the Atlas Institute and get them to provide special assistance. Your father used the contracts held by the Animusphia family to get the Atlas Institute’s assistance in building Chaldea.”

Le Zhengling brandished the contract in his hand, staring intently at Ziyuan. "With this contract, I can get the Atlas Institute's assistance, right?"

"Wait, wait, wait!! This is completely outside of the calculations! Why is this thing in your hands?! This is something that has undergone extremely precise calculations and can only be used by special people during special times and events! Who did you steal this from?! Without this thing, the world would be in chaos!!" For the first time, Ziyuan showed a panicked expression. She hurriedly put her face close to the screen, trying to see it clearly, and kept praying in her heart that it was a fake.

"It's rolled up and I can't see it clearly! Open it and let me see! If it's true, the world will be in chaos!"

Le Zhengling narrowed his eyes. Judging from Ziyuan's tone, she wasn't lying. He didn't know what she had just said. After all, this kind of contract had only appeared twice in the Type-Moon world: once in FGO and once in the Second Generation Case Files.

As Yue Zhengling pondered, he slowly opened the contract. When everyone saw the terms and the authorized agent's signature at the end of the contract, they all fell into an eerie silence.

Bartholomew Loreleia. This name was familiar to all the magicians present, as it belonged to the current candidate for Dean of the Clock Tower, known as the "pinnacle of contemporary magicians"—the Grand Marshal of the Magic Path.

Moreover, this name is accompanied by a special magical emblem, which is the family crest of the Barthelo family.

“Bartholomew—” Shion kept pushing up her glasses, revealing her inner turmoil. “I can’t believe it’s true. This is troublesome. Tell me honestly, where did you get this thing from?”

After hearing that Ziyuan had confirmed the authenticity of the parchment, Yue Zheng rolled it up again and put it back into the imaginary space. "Of course, I got it from Barthelon Loreleia. Don't doubt it, I made a proper and honest deal with her."

"Wait! Ling, when exactly did you make a deal with Bartholomew? You didn't have any contact with outsiders at Chaldea, did you?!" Dr. Roman realized things were getting out of hand.

Shion, whose identity is quite remarkable within the Atlas Institute, came to Chaldea out of curiosity about Rin. Now, with Lord Barthemello involved, if the outside world finds out about Rin's existence, it will cause a great deal of trouble.

"When? Before I went to Chaldea, of course. Oh, back then I not only made deals with Barthezello, but also with El-Melloi II, and even with Atlas."

"I have quite a few good things on hand, such as all kinds of magical artifacts, relics necessary for summoning Servants, and a lot of precious magical materials. If I sell these, I can get funds to build another Chaldea anytime, anywhere."

At this point, Yue Zhengling revealed a malicious smile.

"Besides, the time here is earlier than yours. What if I took this contract to the Atlas Institute and asked them to do everything in their power to destroy Chaldea's construction, so that Animusphia could never complete their Grand Order? Wouldn't that make the world more interesting?"

Hearing these words, Olga Marie felt a chill run down her spine. She stared intently at Yue Zhengling. "Is this a threat?"

Yue Zhengling looked back at her with innocent eyes and said softly, "Yes, this is a threat. After all, you have really become my Master. Those three Command Seals are like the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head, so you'd better not do anything reckless."

In Yue Zhengling's knowledge, the Grand Order has several different translations, each with its own distinct meaning. The statement he just made, which only a brain-dead person would actually implement, specifically targets magician families with ancient traditions.

"The initial command held by magic families that have continued from before the Western calendar to the present day are the most exalted blood commandments in the magic world."

Le Zhengling stared silently into Olga Marie's expressionless face with his blood-red eyes, and spoke in a very soft voice, yet it sounded incredibly heavy to Olga Marie.

"This kind of absolute pride, like a curse, is about sacrificing oneself for that mission until the extinction of the entire race. That is what is called the Grand Order."

"Simply put, it is the duty bestowed by God when the magician's family line was founded, and as the family magic imprint is passed down from generation to generation, it becomes an unbreakable destiny."

“A magic crest is both a blessing and a chain that binds one’s destiny. Leaving aside death caused by external factors, a magician who possesses a magic crest cannot break the clan’s rules with his own hands. In other words, taking one’s own life due to setbacks, or abandoning the cause midway, is not allowed.”

“You Animusfia are a race that watches over human history and witnesses its continued existence. But it all began with the founding of Chaldea—” Le Zhengling stopped abruptly, for he saw a pleading look in Olga’s eyes, signaling him not to continue.