He was imprisoned in Nibelungen for a thousand years, only to find out upon his release that he was

I didn't see anything.

Francesca frowned in thought for a moment, but her smile returned the next second:

"Master, your arrival is timely. These past few days, quite a few unfamiliar faces have entered the city, and I think a few deserve attention..."

"Ok?"

Listening to Francesca's daily report, Lu Ming suddenly noticed something strange.

Wait a minute, Francesca saw this girl Tiamat and didn't ask her anything?

This isn't like Francesca at all...

Could it be that she can't see Tiamat...?

No, to be precise, it should be—no one else can see it?

Lu Ming looked around.

Only then did he realize that, from the moment he appeared, no one had paid any attention to the little girl who had suddenly appeared next to Lu Ming, not even a glance from her.

Lu Ming: "......"

So, no matter what Tiamat does to herself, no one can see it, right?

Is this what they call stealth play?

Was all of this part of your plan, Tiamat?

Without warning, Lu Ming tilted his head and looked down at the pretty girl with light blue hair tied up.

Almost at the same time, Tiamat met his gaze, and a smile almost leaped off her face.

......

'A shadow spirit that others cannot see...'

Ayaka Sajou muttered in annoyance.

Her life had recently become more regular and leisurely.

Despite the city being in a state of chaos and devastation, she miraculously found herself living a more peaceful life than during the Holy Grail War.

Perhaps we should all thank the incredibly capable Lord Lu Ming and his many capable subordinates.

Ultimately, besides expressing her gratitude, there seemed to be nothing else she could do. Aside from having an extraordinary amount of magic, she didn't possess any particular special skills.

Even the daily work is quite leisurely: replenishing magic power for fixed ritual sites, or other barriers and nodes, and that's it.

There is only one thing that still troubles me.

Ayaka walked to the side of the road, and out of the corner of her eye, through her glasses, she could see a blood-red figure wearing a red hood, watching her from afar. The figure was covered in blood.

'little Red Riding Hood......'

The shadow of the past still chases after me.

They followed her all the way from Genki-zaka Chana Apartment to Yukihara City.

It was like a terrible nightmare that never ended.

Moreover, this special shadow spirit cannot be seen by others.

It's not even a typical Servant spiritification technique. Because ordinary Servants wouldn't be able to detect it.

Only those with exceptionally strong perception can vaguely sense Little Red Riding Hood's presence.

For some reason, Ayaka Sajou suddenly thought of Saber.

The Saber Richard I who died in the Dragon Plague seems to have 'companions' around his Spirit Origin that others can't see.

He can even briefly summon those shadows to assist him in battle.

Perhaps it was because of this commonality that I summoned him.

Unfortunately, the other person is no longer here.

Ayaka Sajou was completely baffled by the Little Red Riding Hood Blood Shadow that kept appearing beside her, and she had no better solution.

'Perhaps, asking the bigwigs in this team, or even Lord Lu Ming himself, might yield some useful advice?'

Suddenly, this idea popped into Ayaka's mind.

With that in mind, she decided to change direction and head towards that place.

Ayaka knew the whereabouts of the goddess Ereshkigal, who oversaw all affairs.

It was precisely because of the unique nature of her magic that she was qualified to participate in that special ceremony and thus caught the eye of the goddess.

Perhaps I can resolve my troubles without troubling Lord Lu Ming or Goddess Ereshkigal...

Ayaka thought to herself.

Their steps were light and quick.

However, suddenly several people blocked their way.

"Excuse me, but you look Japanese, right?"

The first to greet them was an orange-haired girl. Behind her was a girl with short pink hair.

Following at the very back was a man dressed in a long robe and hood to conceal himself, with a few strands of blue hair peeking out from the seams of his clothes.

A somewhat suspicious guy.

"I'm not."

After taking a look around, Ayaka Sajo adjusted her glasses.

According to the memories in her mind, she wasn't even human.

The most basic racial premise is wrong.

She is not human, so she couldn't possibly be from an island nation.

"Ahaha, sorry, we misread it. We wanted to ask if you know... who the big shots are above us, what they're in charge of, or if there are any other rumors you'd like to share?"

Faced with the strange story about the orange-haired girl, Ayaka pursed her lips slightly. "Are you new here? Newcomers go to the City Hall and the Request Hall."

"Someone will guide you. As for other things, unless you are told by your superiors, it is best not to ask too many questions."

Ayaka felt that the newcomers were rather naive; was it appropriate to casually inquire about matters concerning the gods?

After the blonde girl left.

Ritsuka and the others exchanged glances:

"We still have no clue about the source of that 'entry into the city' notice."

Volume 1: Chapter 138 Ishtar's loyalty this time is beyond words!

"You were so confident just now, talking about it like it was some kind of magic trick... but it turns out that this flirting technique doesn't work at all!" Mashu complained.

"Damn it, I thought the 'fellow townsmen meeting' trick would work, but they just gave me a perfunctory reply and immediately slipped away!"

"The world is cold and heartless! Even asking for information from higher-ups requires such tight security. How did the world become like this? Where is the most basic trust between people?"

Ritsuka brandished her fists, filled with indignation; clearly, she only thought of Sajou Ayaka as an ordinary girl.

Therefore, in Ritsuka's ears, the other party's frank words just now sounded like a complete perfunctory response.

"What are we going to do now? The people here seem a bit xenophobic. Is that the atmosphere in America?"

Mashu chimed in:

"This is unusual and may be related to people's previous experiences."

As she said this, Mashu looked around and lowered her voice, "It seems like she has some mental issues... like she has post-traumatic stress disorder..."

"How do you know about this?" Ritsuka asked in surprise.

"I learned it from the doctor." Mashu puffed out her chest.

"As expected of you, you learn everything..."

Cú Chulainn, idly propping up his wand, said, "Hey! You two, it seems like there won't be any more progress. How about we check out the City Hall and the Request Hall they mentioned?"

Then we went to those two places.

Ritsuka and the others didn't feel anything special; it was all modern people and modern settings. This place seemed to be there specifically for recording and guiding newly arrived, unfamiliar faces.

In addition, since they do not need to stay for a long time and have their own backing, they do not need to apply for residence permits or other miscellaneous procedures, which saves the city hall a lot of trouble.

The task hall seemed to be filled with various tasks of varying difficulty.

From small tasks like clearing ruins and collecting supplies, transporting building materials and maintaining city walls, to large-scale operations like eliminating giant monsters at specific locations...

It is said that truly important matters are directly assigned to specific individuals and will not appear in the entrustment process.

"So we have to work hard, gain seniority, and raise our status so that we can gradually have a voice and meet with management."

"Otherwise, we'd just be nobody paying attention to us, right?"

Ritsuka looked completely numb.

Another job?

This reminded her of her hard-working days in Uruk, carrying bricks and building walls.

To be fair, at least King Gilgamesh met them at the beginning... These oddballs, on the other hand, are all high and mighty, and they don't even know how to meet them.

"Oh, right..."

Mashu realized the situation, raised her arm, and encouraged him with great enthusiasm, "Go for it, senior! We can't rest yet! Let's work together to create a better tomorrow!"

"..."

But is it okay if I don't want to work hard anymore?

“Speaking of which…” Cú Chulainn pointed to the ‘Newcomer Zone’ that had been specially marked out in the public notice board.

"That spot has a 'Snowfield City Newcomer Mutual Aid Organization Activity' sign, and it's marked as mandatory for newcomers. A high-ranking leader will be giving a speech there soon..."

Isn't the key to getting in touch with high-level people? Here's the opportunity.

"Mutual assistance..."

Upon hearing this, Ritsuka was reminded of the various mutual aid organizations in her hometown, such as the town association and the student union.

It's the kind of non-governmental organization where you pay membership fees, there are entry requirements, and a group of people band together for mutual support... and even if you band together, you're not guaranteed to get any support.

Ah, it's all about human relationships and social interactions!

It seems like America is also quite popular for NGOs (non-governmental organizations)?

"Is there any additional requirement for this?"

"It seems like it's free, but it's limited to newcomers and only available for a short period of time. Once it's over, it won't be available again."

"That's alright."

"I've decided, let's go take a look!"

Not far from them, a girl in a white dress with dark skin also stared intently at the request column.

......

Inside the temple in the city center.

"You mean, because the new, unfamiliar faces appearing in the city are suspicious, it's necessary to take some measures?"

Lu Ming followed Francesca all the way here. According to the current allocation of tasks... these matters involving the people have been handed over to Ishtar.

Although Lu Ming believed that he had already placed full trust in Ishtar and entrusted her with important responsibilities based on her recent attentive behavior.

However, he felt that this was the first time Ishtar had been in charge of so much work, and if she lacked experience, she might make some mistakes and get flustered.

Francesca specifically mentioned this, so it seems necessary to give Ishtar some well-intentioned advice.

"Hehehe, yes, yes! Master Lu Ming, you can never underestimate the cunning of the enemy."

As Francesca spoke, she stretched out her arm with a sly smile, and then climbed up to him, her two white lips squeezing out a rounded arc.

Lu Ming nodded calmly and answered fluently.

Because her arm had been constantly pulled by the young Tiamat along the way, it was somewhat numb. Therefore, Francesca's chest was slightly flattened.

Tiamat, who had been pushed aside, was clearly annoyed. However, since she couldn't be seen by others, she couldn't do anything to stop them and could only grumpy and endure it, occupying the other arm.