"Splendid, splendid."
At the Emiya residence, Sasaki Kojirou slowly clapped his hands by the hearth, his eyes brimming with undisguised admiration.
Six flying swords… An ordinary person might spend their entire life unable to master even a single sword to such a degree, yet this young Yanqing could wield six simultaneously. To call him "a prodigy of unparalleled brilliance" would not be an overstatement.
"Assassin, are you saying you can't handle his flying swords?" Emiya Shirou asked, puzzled. In his mind, when it came to understanding swords, only he and Saber could compare.
"If it were just one or two swords, I might stand a chance…" Sasaki Kojirou gently shook his head. "But with six? I'd likely need to team up with Saber to have even a sliver of hope."
"Seriously? That's a bit exaggerated, isn't it?" Shirou looked at Saber in disbelief, only to notice that beads of cold sweat had slid down to the chin of the lovely young woman's face.
It wasn't Yanqing's swordsmanship that made her sweat—it was the white-haired woman with a black veil covering her eyes standing before him…
It was Jingliu!!
——
["Thank you for saving me, little brother," Jingliu said, slightly tilting her head. Though she was expressing gratitude, her cold tone carried little warmth.]
["Oh, that's just my duty. The port of the Luofu is sealed off—how are you still out here alone?"]
["I came here on a merchant ship. Lately, the shadows of a few old friends have been swirling in my mind. I wanted to meet them again, to relive old times… Who could've expected the Luofu to be so dangerous now?"]
["You've come at a bad time. The Xianzhou's dealing with some trouble. But the General will handle it. Come on, you can't stay here—we need to head to the nearest Cloud Knight outpost." Yanqing suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, have you seen a man with long black hair dressed in black—?"]
[Before he could finish, Jingliu turned around, and Yanqing's words stopped abruptly—he saw the black veil covering her eyes.]
["You… you can't see? Sorry, I thought…" Yanqing stammered, feeling awkward, and quickly introduced himself. "I'm Yanqing, an officially registered Cloud Knight. May I have your name, big sister?"]
["I'm Jingliu."]
["Uh… Sister Jingliu, let me guide you for a bit. We might need to take a detour, but I promise I'll get you safely to the Cloud Knights."]
[Along the way, Yanqing asked Jingliu many questions—where she was from, how long it had been since she last visited the Xianzhou—but this Miss Jingliu remained cool and distant. Apart from learning she was from Cangcheng, he couldn't pry anything else out of her.]
In Japan, on the outskirts of Shinjuku, inside a cheap capsule hotel, Caesar, Lu Mingfei, and Chu Zihang had a rare chance to meet up.
"Talking to women requires finesse, especially when you're trying to get information out of them. You've got to pay attention to the details," Caesar said, shaking his head at Yanqing's blunt, almost artless attempt to probe for information.
"Asking a beautiful woman where she's from or where she's going? Ugh… I stopped asking questions like that when I was eight," Caesar remarked. "Questions with such obvious intent are bound to make her wary. You've got to weave them subtly into the conversation."
"Hey, hey, hey! Boss, can we not bring up your elementary school love stories right now? If you're going to admire a beauty, focus on the beauty!"
"The principal told us to study her swordsmanship thoroughly. They might add a 'Jingliu Swordsmanship' course to the final exams next semester, and if you fail, you won't get the credits," Chu Zihang said. "Right now is a prime opportunity to learn."
"A prime opportunity? Sorry, I can't calm down enough to focus right now," Caesar replied, his eyes slightly glazed.
As he spoke, the screen shifted to a view of Jingliu's lower body. Beneath the light-colored, petal-shaped pleated skirt, her fair, jade-like legs dazzled the eyes.
"Boss, staring at a girl's legs like that is hardly gentlemanly! Keep it up, and the Gattuso family's reputation will be in tatters!"
"The Gattuso family's reputation has nothing to do with this. According to our family traditions, I should keep looking. If it were my playboy father, he'd probably be holding a rose in his mouth and inviting Jingliu for a midnight swordsmanship lesson."
Caesar raised an eyebrow. "Besides, don't you think this is the part most worthy of admiration?"
[Yanqing and Jingliu headed toward the dock, but their only path was blocked by a mara-struck creature.]
[He instructed Jingliu to stay put and not move while he dealt with the monster. The mara-struck creature wasn't difficult to handle, but its lucid consciousness made Yanqing's expression sharpen.]
["What's the deal with these things? Ugh, the General was right—there's indeed an internal threat on the Xianzhou," Yanqing sighed with concern.]
[At that moment, Jingliu suddenly spoke up, "Little brother, your swordsmanship is impressive."]
["Huh? You… can see?" Yanqing was stunned.]
["I can hear. The hum of flying swords slicing through the air, the sound of a sharp edge cutting… these traces reveal the quality of one's swordsmanship in subtle ways."]
["It's like a musician hearing a melody or a poet discerning rhythm. In the flow of sword techniques, a master swordsman leaves no discordant notes. To control six flying swords in a single breath—there can't be many Cloud Knights with such skill."]
[Yanqing, flustered by the praise, scratched his head. "Uh, haha, you're too kind."]
["But your focus on relentless offense leaves your edge unrefined…" Jingliu paused. "As a result, the finale of your swordplay feels somewhat chaotic."]
["…It seems swordsmanship and music do share similarities. The General said something similar once—that my sword carries too much youthful bravado, its edges too sharp. To claim the title of [Sword Champion], I still lack a touch of maturity…"]
["Sword Champion? I recall that's the title for the Cloud Knight who has reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship. A lofty goal…" Jingliu's gaze shifted from the distant sea of clouds to the sword in Yanqing's hand. "Speaking of which, the Cloud Knights' martial arts each have their own lineage. Little brother, who taught you your swordsmanship?"]
[At the mention of his mentor, Yanqing tilted his head proudly, smiling slightly. "Since you're someone who appreciates the sword, I won't keep it a secret. It was none other than General Jing Yuan of the Luofu."]
"This is the disciple's disciple meeting the grandmaster… Tsk tsk, if I were Jing Yuan, just thinking about it would stress me out."
Just imagining the scene made Hu Tao sweat profusely. "If the grandmaster isn't satisfied with the disciple I've trained, will she come to deal with me herself?"
"No way, Director Hu, you're overthinking it," Zhongli chuckled. "With a prodigy like Yanqing in the lineage, Jingliu would probably cherish him too much to be displeased, don't you think?"