Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

So much so that later, when Aria led everyone on their journey to find Jack, her expression was quite bewildered.

Parvati, who witnessed all these reactions, could only sigh. Indeed, no matter how times change, emotional entanglements are always a major point of interest. Fortunately, although this Novia gave me a feeling of being a 'father,' it's not really him. After all, if he were, the mother would have already appeared.

It shouldn't have come to this in that place called America... Sigh, really, because of this burning of reason, even my steady mother has become childish like a mother. Speaking of which, what was my mother's purpose again? She didn't even tell me... I hope Lord Rama can still hold on.

After a while, the group, led by Aria, arrived at a small box, following the direction with the strongest smell of alcohol.

"Okay, Jack is in here."

Aria first checked the lock on the box and found no damage, then turned to the three of them. "Previously, Kichijou said that Jack was important and should not come with us, so we left her here to rest. We originally planned to put her on the next floor, but there are keys everywhere there, so to avoid any female officers or police accidentally opening it, we put her on the third floor."

"Hmm? From what you're saying, Aria, does that mean you managed to get to the very bottom level?"

Parvati asked, puzzled.

"...Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm sorry."

That's what she said, but Aria's face didn't change at all; she still had a faint smile.

"Because of the magical fog incident in London followed by this Great Inner Palace fusion, I bravely led them in, but unfortunately, I was betrayed by Kichijoin in the end, and my mind was twisted by Kama."

From Tamamo Aria's words, one gets the sense that she would have solved the labyrinth smoothly if she hadn't been betrayed by Kichijoin.

However, Novia could probably guess that the person who brought Aria and Jack was Kichijoin. As for the final encounter with Kama, it was no surprise that Kichijoin eventually realized she couldn't defeat Kama, so she had Aria die in her place.

Although Kichijouin and Kama are each other's third beasts, Novia has not yet discovered Kichijouin's ascension, or perhaps it requires Fe. As for Kama... isn't he on the path to ascension?

"If that's the case, then how did Tamamo and the others break the precept against sexual misconduct when they successfully reached the final level?"

Well, Ritsuka's question immediately brought Aria's smile to a halt.

Because she doesn't know.

After all, Aria had relied almost entirely on Kichijou-in before, and she only learned about the Five Precepts of Buddhism from Kichijou-in from time to time. However, there were some things that Aria remembered very clearly. That is, apart from the last one, 'abstaining from sexual misconduct,' Kichijou-in seemed to have done all the other precepts without much concern.

He was more ruthless than a demon king, wantonly killing the dolls. After fooling the female official and the police, he made them kill each other. While drinking, he demanded that they kill each other, and then he used a stolen key to stab the dolls in the eyes, making them fight each other...

Aria didn't dare to think about what kind of bloody and strange things Kichijouin, the black-haired girl, would do if she really wanted to break the 'absence from illicit sexual relations' rule. Would she just bite someone to death? That would be too terrifying. There was no record of this type of human in the books.

"Well, this kind of thing, well, how should I put it, for someone like me, it's a piece of cake, practically something anyone can do. It's not something that can't be talked about, so that's basically it..."

Aria chuckled awkwardly at first, then quickly opened the box, as if intending to avoid the question.

“We’ve found you, Jack… Oh right, I forgot to tell you, Jack really wants to find her mother, so her verbal tic is something like ‘mother.’ Don’t worry about it too much, it’s nothing, she’s just a little kid after all.”

"...Hey, it's Aria."

The white-haired girl, who had gotten up from inside the box, kept rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Isn't Yuanyuan here?"

"That guy Kichijouin has already been dismembered and fed to her favorite mermaid."

Aria's cold reply showed that she was genuinely unhappy with Kichijoin.

"Oh, is that so? That's such a pity. Jack thought that if I could give my heart to such a cute girl like Tamamo, she would be so happy. It seems I can only take your heart from you in the future... Mom, Mom?"

“I’ve already told you your mother isn’t here. Stop shouting all the time. Your mother isn’t here, and she’s not among these people either.”

"No, it's true!"

Jack, who was talking to Aria whom he hadn't seen in a long time, spotted Novia in his field of vision. His expression instantly turned into undisguised joy. He even sheathed the daggers in his hands and jumped out of the box towards Novia, tilting his head slightly and burying his face in Novia's neck.

"mom!"

Jack.jpg.

Chapter 378 Chewing Wine.

"How could your mother be a man?!"

"Aria, what are you saying? A mother is a mother."

Aria stared at Jack, who was more excited than ever before, with an expression of disbelief.

How did the mount I was supposed to collect suddenly become your mother? Besides that, the gender difference is completely unrelated! A male should be called "Dad" or "Father," right?

Compared to Aria's excitement, Ritsuka and Parvati were quite calm.

For Parvati, since it's not unusual in Hindu mythology for a man to transform into a woman and give birth, she felt fine about it.

As for Ritsuka, after hearing Jack say those words, she subconsciously thought, "I see," and nodded in affirmation.

Perhaps she had become accustomed to the female Servants who frequently surrounded Novia.

After all, starting from France, characters like the Dragon Witch who suddenly shrank, Melishin, and Kiyohime are all like that.

Then, having probably reached a conclusion in her mind, Ritsuka nodded vigorously and continued with a smile:

"So, which shadow within you, Consultant Novia, is it this time?"

In response to this question, Novia, still rubbing against Jack, answered in the same manner she used to deal with Roman and Da Vinci, first raising one hand, then 'honestly' saying:

"I do not know."

Nevertheless, Ritsuka's slightly suspicious gaze remained fixed on Novia.

"Advisor... I have something I'd like to discuss with you privately, is that alright?"

"Huh? Uh, this—"

Novia wanted to say "wait a minute" to stop Ritsuka, but Ritsuka, unusually, grabbed his arm with an unyielding attitude and stared straight at him.

Compared to her 'subconscious' reaction at the shrine back then, this time Ritsuka seems to have made up her mind.

"Row."

Novia nodded in agreement and then put Jack down. During this process, Jack did not make a fuss and behaved very calmly, waving with a smile.

This is normal. After all, regarding Jack, the Assassin, she is essentially the embodiment of the resentment of the children who were abandoned and drowned in the river in London. Novia purified them all during the Holy Grail War, which means she arranged for their reincarnation.

Although the population of the Fa world may not be able to keep up with so many births all at once, there are always parallel worlds that are extremely short of people. Gaia, who had just finished defeating the Holy Grail that swept the world, took over the reincarnation of these children.

The current Jack is simply devoid of the concept of 'resentment,' nor is she naive; it's just a small disguise. Moreover, it could be said that her mother really is Novia, and she could have been reincarnated, but she ran away alone...

Not long after, the burning of human reason occurred, so Jack ran to familiar London, intending to meet Novia in a reasonable way.

"...What are you trying to say?"

"Could it be a declaration of love?"

The little fox from Japan and the goddess from India both tilted their heads, each expressing different feelings.

"Yes, Mom should love the children, which means she should love me. Everything else is just a heart."

Jack then joined the conversation, to which Parvati simply smiled, while Tamamo Aria spread her hands in a horrified expression, as if to say, "Could it be?"

"Wait a minute, Jack, what exactly do you mean by 'mom'?"

"Because I love my mom the most. I'd do anything for her. I wish I could sleep in a warm bed with her all the time, because it's so comfortable."

For a moment, Parvati and Aria both felt that although the silver-haired girl in front of them was from a foreign land, she had a strange sense of Japanese and Indian style.

I never expected that Jack, that brat, would be the enemy... Is this guy some kind of natural talent?

Having grasped the current situation, Aria has realized that Jack and Ritsuka are both enemies trying to steal the mount. What's even more frightening is that these two have a better emotional connection than she does—one is her 'daughter' and the other is her 'junior,' giving them a much higher priority than her… It seems she has no choice but to resort to 'cheating'.

Therefore, in the next instant, Tamamo Aria moved to a dead corner of the room, looking as if she had been hit hard and become withdrawn.

Actually, that wasn't the case. She wanted to take advantage of the maze's layout; this was the third level of the maze, where you couldn't get out without drinking alcohol. Therefore, Aria felt she had every reason to make Novia drink the wine she had made.

Chewing wine.

So-called "mouth-chewed wine" is generally made by women who have washed their bodies first chewing raw rice and brushing their teeth with salt, and then carefully chewing freshly cooked rice. At the appropriate time, they spit it into a container, then add a little water to the container and stir it with a mortar and pestle. After the contents become viscous, it is poured into a jar to ferment...

This is rarely the case nowadays.

But for Aria, who had decided to use this opportunity to make Novia her mount in one fell swoop, she didn't care about such things anymore. She chose to materialize the strong smell of alcohol that filled the labyrinth, put it in her mouth and process it to create a Noble Phantasm-level chewed sake.

Hmph, this is absolutely enough to make this guy's soul, body, and spirit completely infatuated with me, and kneel down at my feet!

With this in mind, Aria secretly started making kuchikami (chewed sake).

"what happened?"

On the other side, Novia, being led by Ritsuka into the room where they had previously entered, looked at Ritsuka with a puzzled expression, thinking to herself, "This expression is truly rare to see."

“Advisor, I guess you…”

"Uh, um."

Has Ritsuka already figured something out?

Because Ritsuka's expression was very serious, Novia couldn't help but think the same thing.

However, if it's really discovered, then there's no need to hide it anymore. It's just that Roman and Leonardo da Vinci, and Gran might be in some trouble...

"Aren't you finding these girls a bit of a hassle?"

The question was far too direct, so it took Novia by surprise. He deliberately looked at Ritsuka with a blank expression for a while, and then slumped his shoulders as if dejected.

"How should I put it..."

“I understand. There’s nothing we can do about it. Although you can control them, the reason they care is because you, as a sub-Servant, are possessed by a bunch of ‘shadows.’ To be precise, the objects aren’t you, but those within your body. Yet you have no choice but to come into contact with them. It must be very uncomfortable for you.”

Ritsuka grasped Novia's hand and gazed at him with straightforward, clear, and transparent eyes that had never changed since they met.

And so it was announced.

"Whether you're a Demi-Servant or not doesn't matter. I believe in you, Novia, you must be a very capable person. After all, you saved me at Chaldea, right? Whether you're a Demi-Servant or not, Novia would still do the same thing, right?"

Although somewhat surprised by Ritsuka's tone when her hand was being held, Novia nodded ambiguously.

That's right, if that's what Shion Ritsuka thinks, it's pretty good.

"Whether I die because of failure or survive because of success, none of this would have started if I hadn't been saved by you, Novia. I wouldn't have been working towards my duty as a Master until now. It's a miracle that I'm here. So it's okay. If this Demi-Servant status makes you uncomfortable, you can always refuse to come with us to the Singularity."

"It's okay even if the singularity raid fails?"

"I will work hard, and so will Mashu."

"He might die."

"It's possible that you won't die. After all, no matter what the outcome, we can't stop here now. I hope you can just be yourself, Novia, and not force yourself to interact with them."

Novia seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at this.

"That's right."

"Yes, that's enough."

"Is this really good?"

The reasoning is sound, but even so, Fujimaru Ritsuka should have been able to refuse.

“I’m Hibiki’s senior, so it’s okay. After all, Novia, you’re also Hibiki’s father, and Hibiki and I are friends. I feel it’s only right to protect your relationship with her mother from being compromised. In short, I will try my best to help… I won’t tell Hibiki about these things.”

That's really a humane thing to say.

Novia chuckled to herself as she thought this. Logically speaking, this was normal talk for someone living in the modern world. A magician, of course, wouldn't put himself in such a logical situation.

In fact, Ritsuka still managed to suppress a sentence from her mouth: "If another female Servant comes looking for Novia, you can say that I am your girlfriend and act as a shield." This sentence was originally before she said, "I won't tell Hibiki these things," but it was suppressed by the girl with extremely strong willpower.

After finishing their conversation, the two returned to their original room and, together with the three people remaining in the room, headed towards the deepest part of the third level of the maze.

……

"I didn't originally intend to show up."

With an unchanging expression, Kama spoke these words to the intruders from the deepest part of the third level.

"The reason I'm here is simply to check on the guests' condition. That little fox actually woke up? The goddess's abilities from the Japanese world are quite unique..."

On the other hand, she tilted her head in bewilderment, as if she were genuinely incredulous.

"But it's strange, the form doesn't fit, and the substance doesn't fit either, yet I still managed to get here. It's really strange. I didn't drink, and I didn't enjoy the banquet, yet I still managed to get here. What should I do about this..."

Immediately afterwards, a loud bang swept past Kama, a storm swept through the room, and arrows wrapped in death swept through the magic power within the labyrinth, rushing towards the five people.

But Parvati immediately released magic from her hand to envelop the arrow, and the resulting air vibrations echoed throughout the labyrinth.

"Mother, stop! If Durga's mother finds out, she'll turn into Kali, and then things will be very difficult to handle..."

"Shut up. I'll teach Durga and Kali a lesson sooner or later if I get the chance."

After saying this, Kama waved his hand downwards.

Then, all the magic in the labyrinth scattered instantly, and even Parvati felt her own magic disappear.