The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 374 You've Been Deceived

"Ugh, meetings are so boring!"

As she walked by, Jeanne Alter glanced at the main conference room of Chaldea and let out a listless sigh.

At this very moment, the Chaldean director, whose name was Caesar—incredibly similar to that of a Roman emperor—was delivering a lengthy, highly technical speech in the conference room:

"Everyone should pay attention to summarizing several key points in the investigation of the spacetime distortion of singularities, including observing the giant halo in the sky above the planet that is suspected to be created by the demons, the large-scale magical reactions in the area that may be the Holy Grail, and the anomalous events that are different from the original history..."

"Based on the above, we require the compilation of the most detailed reports and assessment dimensions possible to facilitate the subsequent work on conquering the singularities. In this regard, Ms. Da Vinci, the head of technical development, has promised to use a quantitative standard called 'Humanity Foundation Value' to assist the conquest team in determining the status of the singularities."

"As for the scope of impact caused during the repair period after the singularity is completed, Da Vinci also defined it as 'human reasoning calculation' to assist in writing the action report. Equipment will be available to perform the calculations later. We appreciate your hard work in the early stages..."

"Besides that, there is another issue that cannot be ignored: the supply reserves within Chaldea. The supplies we stockpiled before the Burning of Humanity, based on the principle of being prepared for any eventuality, have already been used up..."

"what……"

Jeanne Alter stood outside the door for a full two minutes before finally letting out a yawn.

Her gaze swept around, but she still couldn't find the red-haired figure she was looking for. How strange, given that man's status, would he occasionally miss a meeting?

She originally wanted to find Emiya to talk about the last scene that happened in the previous singularity. She heard that at the critical moment, he forged the God-Slaying Spear by shaking the spiritual beliefs of millions of people and defeated the Archangel Michael summoned by Emperor Karl.

Jeanne Alter expressed great interest in this. In particular, the aspect of believers denying their God was one of the few ways she found amusement in this regard since becoming an Avenger.

She also learned from many people in Chaldea about Emiya's reputation as the "Godslayer." Overwhelmed with emotion, Jeanne Alter instinctively felt that she and Emiya must be incredibly compatible, able to become comrades-in-arms on the same side, so she lightly and naturally went to find him…

As for why I was so proactive, could it be because Emiya used mental interference to increase my favorability during the "obedience test" (hypnosis app) that day?

Black Jeanne believes this is absolutely not true.

She's an avenger with "forgetfulness correction," and she has an eternally burning hatred etched into her heart. No wonder she's much more difficult to conquer than other Servants... right?

After pondering it for a moment and feeling increasingly self-satisfied, Jeanne Alter inquired around and went to the meeting room, which was said to be the most frequented by Chaldea employees, to look for someone.

Unexpectedly, they came up empty-handed, wasting several minutes of their time.

However, Jeanne Alter probably didn't know that Emiya wouldn't attend such work meetings on ordinary days unless it was an important occasion—he wouldn't take on too many miscellaneous tasks for himself, otherwise he wouldn't have relinquished the position of director to Caesar. As for the meeting minutes, Su Enxi, who was in charge of some of the secretarial work for the inspection team, would naturally handle that.

'Never mind, since it's not here, let's go wander around somewhere else—'

But as soon as I turned my head, I saw a face that looked quite familiar.

"what are you doing here?"

Black Mary happened to be passing by and looked at Black Jeanne with suspicion, wondering if she was eavesdropping.

"Cough! It's nothing—no, what I do is none of your business, is it?"

Faced with the other party's piercing gaze, Black Jeanne felt a moment of guilt, but quickly tried to cover it up with an irritated tone.

“Heh~” Black Mary remained noncommittal.

"I thought you were acting out of loneliness because of that 'obedience test' that day, and that you were creating these fake 'chance encounters' because you missed that man! You... you can't be like that, can you?"

"You're talking nonsense, that's impossible!"

Black Jeanne's voice instantly rose several decibels.

She thought to herself that since Black Mary had already said that, she couldn't admit that she had come to see Emiya for the real reason. Otherwise, his statement would be confirmed, and he would really think that she was making up an excuse to create an opportunity for a "secret rendezvous" with him...

Why are you yelling so loudly?

Black Mary took a step back and looked out the window.

"...I didn't expect you to be more interested in these boring report meetings. Is it because you didn't have enough of holding operational meetings when you were leading troops in battle?"

Jeanne Alter chuckled dryly upon hearing this, "Of course that's how it is!"

It was actually misunderstood as liking meetings... well, that's a good thing.

"Ha! You really can't stay idle... Judging from how concerned you are, the meeting content must be quite important, right? What were they talking about?"

Black Mary continued to press for answers, seemingly unintentionally.

"Huh? Huh?" Alter had just been yawning and lost in thought, and hadn't really paid attention to the meeting's content. Besides, the Chaldea meeting room was well soundproofed, so instead of trying to discern the sounds, it was better to just look at the text occasionally appearing on the screen inside through the glass window...

However, Jeanne Alter's literacy rate is rather worrying.

"Ok?"

Black Mary stood there prettily with her arms crossed, but after hearing Black Jeanne's "Huh?" for a long time, she didn't say a word.

"Oh, it was just some routine management and trivial matters related to singularities. I didn't pay much attention to it. Actually, I was just about to leave!"

After saying this, Black Jeanne ran away without giving the other party a chance to ask further questions.

"Hey, where are you going?"

In terms of agility, Black Mary is definitely inferior to Black Jeanne, so if the latter insists on running away, she can only talk to her while watching her back. But it doesn't matter...

She easily manipulated this simple-minded, dark-skinned female assault soldier with just one sentence.

"—So, you still went to see other men behind my back, didn't you?"

"certainly not!"

Black Jeanne almost stumbled, thinking to herself that this Queen of France must have either been blessed with good fortune or had blossomed into a rose—she was adept at speaking with thorns.

"I'm not going to look for Emiya, I'm going to find that perverted dark wizard!"

……

"Oh no, so what should I do with that perverted Caster, Prierati?"

As Jeanne Alter looked at the approaching magic workshop, her heart was gradually filled with confusion and rejection.

Perhaps out of a rebellious streak, she actually came here.

However, as a magic-based Servant, Jeanne Alter's understanding of this room is far less than that of Mary Alter's room.

It's said that most Caster's rooms are converted like this by their owners, resembling personal research bases or magic workshops. Typical characteristics include abnormal magical fluctuations and a chilling, eerie atmosphere. Even Jeanne Alter has absolutely no desire to enter... It seems Chaldea doesn't really care about these kinds of "illegal modifications," whether they're considered ghostly or not...

Besides, at least when she's with Black Mary, she can patiently have tea with her. As for the culprit who turned her into an Avenger, Black Jeanne really has nothing to say.

Because in Jeanne Alter's eyes, this Francesca Plerati was not only eccentric and evil, but also most likely a psychopath who had conducted evil research in her lifetime, transforming herself from a male into a woman who liked to make a ruckus and constantly spout nonsense. Others were not surprised at all—was Chaldea some kind of transgender community?

Uh, it seems that Leonardo da Vinci, the head of the technology development department, was also a man with a woman's body, and personally performed a gender swap on himself... "Hey, hurry up, try it again!"

"Don't rush me, I know you're in a hurry, but please don't rush—"

Inside the room, one could hear the faint sounds of a man and a woman conversing.

It would be difficult for an ordinary person to notice, but Jeanne Alter immediately recognized that it was Emiya and that guy Prierati.

"!"

Black Jeanne's eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't understand why he would sneak into this guy's private room. Could it be...?

She took two steps, just about to press her ear against it.

"—So, you really did come here. I thought you had just run away and left me to go find Emiya."

Black Mary, who had followed from behind, said, "By the way, is there anything in Priladi's room that you could easily eavesdrop on?"

Black Jeanne was a bit tired and didn't want to dwell on it anymore. She just glared fiercely at her good friend, pointed inside, and said, "Shh!"

Soon, Black Mary also heard the sounds of more than one person inside. Curious, she followed Jeanne Alter's example and pressed her ear to the door.

The sounds inside the door gradually took on a rhythmic quality, like the sound of a sword being drawn and the humming of some heavy equipment starting up.

"Emiya, why don't you try that greatsword again?"

sword?
"Too much, too much! Slow down the magic transfer! Ooh ooh ooh!" The voice from inside the door became urgent.

"??" Magic transmission...is it replenishing mana?
Black Mary covered her mouth to hide her expression.

She never expected that such a thing would happen in the magician's room in broad daylight. Or were the two of them secretly getting together behind everyone else's back?

"?" Black Jeanne leaned against the door, turned her head, and saw Black Mary covering her face with her hand in confusion.

Compared to the Queen, the inexperienced Black Saint Virgin was still somewhat naive.

She then noticed that Black Mary, faced with the blankness and ignorance on her face, showed a subtle hint of pity.

What's with that look in your eyes?!

Although Black Jeanne didn't understand, she felt silently and directly mocked, and her hand unconsciously tightened its grip—

Bang! The door was forcefully pushed open!
"Oops!"

Black Mary glared resentfully at the reckless Black Jeanne. It was all the fault of this impulsive and rash female attacker. She didn't want to stumble upon this kind of thing for no reason. If the female attacker went crazy again, who knew what kind of scene she would cause!
At this point, Jeanne Alter also sensed something was amiss from the reaction of the black cake beside her.

But now she was standing right in the middle of the door, and she could only knock on the door, which was already askew, with a displeased expression and a nervous heart.

"I'm in! -- Uh, what are you all doing?"

Black Jeanne did not see any of the erotic scenes that would cause her brain to shut down on the spot.

She saw Emiya, holding the knight's sword that emitted a bright light—the holy sword Juvayus. Beside him, Prierati was wearing a dress and stockings suit that was different from usual. Her petite body was half-squatting on the workbench, sweating profusely as she tested the holy sword with some kind of tool.

Hearing the noise by the door, Prierati turned her head and grinned, "Wow, what a rare guest! Welcome, welcome! Are you here to accompany me and help Emiya test the Holy Sword System?"

Clearly, the so-called sword is the holy sword Juvayus. The strange description that Jeanne Alter heard earlier was just Prierati's boastful talk.

“Tsk, I’ve been tricked,” Black Mary said as she walked in. “Black Magician, I’ll chop your head off sooner or later.”

"Haha, that depends on whether you have the ability to kill me~"

Completely unconcerned by the dual gazes of Black Jeanne and Black Mary, Plerati put down her tools and snapped her fingers to activate the audio channel on the other side of the workshop.

The song "Never Gonna Give You Up" started playing at just the right time, its upbeat pop dance melody and simple tune drifting through the entire indoor environment.

When Emiya heard the beginning of the piece, he almost couldn't help but smile.

"What does this mean?" The two ancient French followers were not quite understanding of this sudden music playing.

"Hehe, how's the music? I heard it from the Chaldea people. In modern times, this song can be used in all the 'you've been tricked' scenarios."

Plerati put her fingers on her face, pulled down her eyelids, stuck out her tiny tongue, and made a standard funny face. "Hehehehe, you two stupid Avengers~! Stupid idiots!"

"—I'll burn you to death!"

After being repeatedly provoked, Jeanne Alter could no longer tolerate it and drew her flag spear, unleashing a fiery sweep!
Boom! The workbench, along with Prierati's figure, was engulfed in a raging torrent of flames that shot straight up to the ceiling.

"...Jeanne Alter, is that alright now?"

Not long after, Emiya looked at the pitch-black room and couldn't help but speak.

"Ah, I think I used too much force. She...she might have been burned to ashes, wouldn't she?" Black Jeanne glanced furtively at Emiya, her heart filled with panic. "I didn't expect her to be in her own workshop, without any means of retaliation..."

“No, no, this is her workshop, she certainly won’t let you ruin it like this,” Emiya said, glancing at the charred ceiling. “Well, as long as you don’t dismantle the room.”

"Hey~"

A sigh came from deep within the room, "Mr. Emiya is really biased towards that Avenger, he doesn't care about me at all. I was just burned so hot and in so much pain."

"You weren't hurt at all!"

"Hehe, being burned to death in one's own workshop by intruders without any resistance is quite a joke~"

Plerati reappeared, dressed exactly as she had been before the fire, and snapped her fingers.

*Snap.* The charred marks in the room vanished completely, and the facilities were restored to their original state, as if the brief conflict had been an illusion.

"Your illusion magic skills are amazing..." A hint of surprise flashed across Emiya's eyes.

"It's so-so," Plerati waved his hand. "In the past, on my path of exploring magic, I managed to obtain some of Merlin's research legacy."

“Let’s not talk about that anymore, Mr. Emiya. Let’s not delay and continue trying out the new Holy Sword plan,” Prierati said, her eyes filled with longing.

"Yes, I never expected that the holy sword that Charlemagne gave me would still have some peculiar remnants of spiritual faith on it. No, it should be that the holy sword has acquired wondrous qualities under the 'forging' of faith?"

Emiya waved his hand, and the radiance of the Juvayus in his hand expanded several times in response to the call. Then it began to emit a large amount of light, which split in the room, from which twelve blurry figures were faintly revealed.

It resembled the figure of one of the twelve Holy Knights.

Jeanne Alter looked completely bewildered.

Have swords evolved to the point where they can grow human figures?
(End of this chapter)