Endless Rice Bag, Rank EX.
A Noble Phantasm given to Touta as a thank-you gift by the Dragon Gods.
Its ability is simple and brutal: it can endlessly produce rice, and it's incredibly delicious.
After Shirou tasted it, he couldn't take his eyes off it.
Drooling!
Unfortunately, his projection magecraft didn't seem able to reproduce this miracle.
Once projected, the rice bag would collapse instantly, without even a single grain of rice coming out.
How could that be allowed.
He told the system, "Hosting-san, it's time to show what you can do, hurry up and make me an Endless Rice Bag!"
["Would you like to…"]
Without even looking, he knew the system would definitely try some trick.
Maybe it was planning to directly drag Shirou to Ozymandias to steal the Holy Grail, then wish to find the Dragon Gods.
So Shirou ignored it outright.
"Hahahaha, satisfying! That was just too satisfying!"
From his earlier restraint to now being as bold as the sun, Touta praised, "I didn't think Lord Shirou was not only so skilled in martial arts, but also unrivaled in cooking."
"You flatter me, I'm just better with home cooking."
Hassan of Serenity had been lucky, though covered by the sandstorm, she ended up completely unharmed.
Shirou used the system to find her.
At that time Serenity was still a little muddle-headed.
When she saw Shirou, she thought she was hallucinating and leaned on him desperately.
While leaning, she kept resolutely saying, "I won't give in, no matter what you do, I won't say a single word!"
———
After some effort, they replenished mana and started making their way across the desert.
The Imperial Steed really couldn't carry four people.
Since their goal had already been achieved, there was no need to rush.
After discussing, they moved at a steady pace across the sands.
A day passed, when suddenly they heard a familiar cry for help.
"Uwaaah! Don't eat me, my meat doesn't taste good… The legends are lies. Eating my flesh won't make you immortal! Uuuhhh…"
"…A woman's scream?", Hundred Faces Hassan frowned, "This voice is very familiar."
Shirou rubbed his forehead, "Familiar? It's the Caster we met before."
"It's her?"
Hundred Faces reacted.
"She's still here?"
As mentioned before, it took about two days to reach the fortress from the western village.
On his way, Shirou had met Xuanzang halfway.
So, after a day's journey, which was half the trip, he'd run into her.
Meaning, during the one and a half days since they left, Xuanzang hadn't moved a single step.
The dragon's corpse still hung there, most of its body now covered by yellow sand.
...
"Uuuhhh… so hungry," Xuanzang sobbed uncontrollably, "I just wanted a meal, why must this always happen to me?"
"Roar?"
This time the summoned beast was a tiger.
It had just opened its jaws wide toward Xuanzang when suddenly it froze, then fell stiffly to the ground.
Shirou stood atop the tiger's massive corpse, his mouth twitching slightly, "Didn't I tell you to go to the western village?"
"Uuuhhh, because I couldn't hear the Buddha's voice, I didn't know the way."
"I remember pointing out the direction for you."
"My stomach was empty…"
Xuanzang looked at him, then at Touta behind him.
Touta sighed, holding his head, "You know, if you keep this up you'll only cause trouble for others. Didn't we already explain that to you, Xuanzang?"
Back in the prison, Hundred Faces Hassan had already explained it clearly to her.
"Touta!"
Xuanzang looked at him like seeing a savior, saying, "Quick! Hungry, tired, thirsty! I need food."
"…You really are…"
Touta was speechless. He looked at Shirou, "Is it alright, Lord Shirou? Leaving her like this isn't a solution."
"I'm tired too, let's take a break."
Shirou was planning to sit down somewhere.
Hassan of Serenity feverishly said, "Lord Shirou, do you want to sit on me?"
"No need."
"Don't hold back, please use me as you wish, and discard me afterward."
Shirou pretended not to hear, "You rest too."
Afraid she'd continue saying terrifying things, he went over to the tiger's corpse.
He wondered if he could take some of the better cuts of meat back to the western village.
"Haha! Lord Shirou, I was thinking the same."
Touta was examining the tiger, and also the nearby… dragon.
"Both are excellent ingredients…"
Hundred Faces decided she couldn't just be ignored anymore, and said, "Is there anything I can help with?"
Shirou asked, "Can you do dissections?"
Hundred Faces: "That's it?"
In terms of combat strength, she indeed wasn't on par with other Servants, even below the average Assassin.
But when it came to skills—
Expertise: Anatomy A+. Enough said.
Her multiple personalities could swap at will, sharing each one's specialized skills, tactics, academics, stealth, assassination, deception, languages, etc. 32 distinct special abilities.
And whenever used, all at B-rank or above.
That included dissection.
So Hundred Faces proudly patted her chest and drew her knife with confidence.
One minute later.
She completely shut down, crouching in a corner, drawing circles.
'Could it be… I am not even qualified to play assistant?'
In fact, Shirou hadn't scolded her, he even encouraged her that she'd done well.
But without comparison, there's no damage.
———
Once Xuanzang finally got to eat, Shirou, now starting his second round of thinking, wondered.
'Do Servants even get hungry?'
'Which means, this one was just plain lazy?'
After the meal,
Shirou and the others hurried, spending nearly another full day before they finally reached the western village.
"Looks like everything went smoothly."
With keen vision, Arash was the first to spot them and came to greet them at the village entrance.
"Good work."
He smiled, joking, "Brother Shirou, you've really gained a lot from this trip. The whole village has already heard your deeds loud and clear."
"Right now, everyone is almost seeing you as this era's final hero."
"Hero is too much, I only did what I could."
This wasn't modesty, Shirou truly thought so.
Arash only smiled silently. His gaze shifted to Xuanzang and Touta behind him, "Seems like we've got two new companions?"
"That's right!"
Now full and strong, Xuanzang released her aura as an enlightened monk, "I am Xuanzang, here to bring Buddha's blessing to everyone."
"I am Touta, well… I suppose just a passerby forced to get involved."
He looked at the ruined village for a long while before saying, "So this is the western village?"
"On the road earlier, I often heard stories about this place… so this is what it really is."
Touta then took out his Endless Rice Bag, "Since I've come to visit, and since you saved my life, I should at least show sincerity."
"Formal greetings can wait until later."
Touta's voice rang out, "To drive away pests and scour the mountains, take food without end, take food without exhaustion."
"Circle the mountain seven times, still not enough. With the mountain as hat, it's nothing worth mentioning."
"To eat, take the whole mountain."
At first Arash didn't understand what he was doing.
Only when he saw the 'Noble Phantasm' Touta carried suddenly shine did he realize he was releasing it.
Still, Arash wasn't on guard.
He was only curious.
'This Noble Phantasm doesn't look like something for battle, could it have some mysterious use?'
"The great Dragon Gods are generous, the pot overflows, the harvest is plentiful."
With an impassioned voice, Touta declared warmly, "Come, let's begin!"
"This is the Banquet Noble Phantasm, Delicious Rice, endlessly, endlessly!"
Whoosh!
From the bag, countless grains of rice poured forth.
Rapidly piling up into a small mountain.
Seeing this, Hundred Faces Hassan's eyes went wide.
"S-so much! I thought… it only gave a little at a time!"
She had always believed the bag only produced a small amount each use.
Buried under the flood of rice, Arash: "…"
He crawled out of the pile, looking at Touta as if he were an alien, "Honestly, I'm shocked. You, Archer, you're simply an irreplaceable ally!"
"Mhm, mhm."
Xuanzang said proudly, "Without a doubt this is Buddha's blessing, letting me and Touta meet."
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