Jeanne, You Have to Believe Me

As the sun set, the evening gradually enveloped the land, and the streets of Sighișoara grew quiet.

This small town, with a population of less than twenty thousand, was primarily supported by tourism, with its appeal being its medieval-style architecture. However, recent murders had spread fear among the local residents, and even more so among tourists.

With a serial killer on the loose, and following the destruction of the hilltop church last night, the number of visitors to Sighișoara had dropped to zero. Many of the town's residents had also fled, planning to return only after the authorities apprehended the culprit.

The only ones remaining in the town now were either locals who couldn't abandon their livelihoods or those associated with the Holy Church and the Mage's Association. As a result, after sunset, the streets became entirely deserted, the town seemingly dead.

Suddenly, the quiet streets were broken by a crisp female voice.

"Ahhh—damn the Age of Gods, damn the gods! How did she manage to hoard so much gold and treasure...?"

"Seriously, is she like one of those dragons obsessed with shiny objects? Does she sleep on piles of gold and silver?"

Ruler Jeanne d'Arc sat on a bench in the small plaza at the town's crossroads, clutching a large paper bag. As she continued to grumble in a low voice, she angrily shoved bread from the bag into her mouth, mumbling as she chewed.

Thinking back on the day's events, Jeanne couldn't help but feel her face flush. That Black Rider—Selene—what an awful sense of humor! Are all gods this boring?

Selene's request wasn't anything that violated Jeanne's principles—it didn't involve favoring the Black faction or anything like that—but still...

It was so embarrassing!!!

At that moment, Selene's voice rang playfully in Jeanne's mind, seeming to stifle a laugh.

"What's there to be embarrassed about? Didn't I pay for it?"

"You're still talking about that! And what do you mean, 'paid for it'? You make it sound like I'm some... some kind of... loose woman!" Jeanne flared up instantly, but her voice grew quieter as she spoke.

She buried her face in her hands, mumbling to herself in shame, "If it weren't for Laeticia, for the need to repay the money I've spent on her, I would never have agreed to your wicked request!"

"Hey, come on now. What's so wicked about it? I didn't do anything to you. All that money was spent on you, not a penny less."

"I don't want to hear it!" Jeanne furiously crumpled the now-empty large paper bag from the bakery, crushing it as if it were Selene herself.

"All I did was ask you to model some clothes. I…"

"Ahhhhh—! Don't bring that up!! Look at your figure, so much taller than mine. Why didn't you try those on instead? Were those even clothes? There was barely any fabric, only covering a few spots, with random holes here and there. It was practically indecent!"

"It was shameless!" Jeanne's face flushed even more, as if steam were rising from her forehead, her hands still covering her face in embarrassment.

As a simple village girl from France, Jeanne had never seen anything like it. Lace trimmings, skimpy outfits, sheer and transparent fabrics—everything about it had been utterly shocking to both Jeanne and the young girl, Laeticia, whose body she had taken possession of.

"Ahem... cough, cough."

Not far away, hiding in a high-rise building, Selene pulled back the curtain slightly to glance at Jeanne in the small plaza. Hearing Jeanne's complaints, she couldn't help but cough lightly to cover her laughter.

Jeanne, you have to believe me—I didn't know that Sighișoara, a town of less than twenty thousand people, would still have such a wild store even after most of the residents fled. It must have been fate.

Originally, Selene had just wanted to get Jeanne a maid outfit. But when she entered the shop, and with an air of generosity, told the store clerk to bring out the best, the clerk must have misunderstood Selene's request. She had taken them to a more hidden part of the shop and brought out... well, certain outfits.

At that moment, Selene couldn't back down. Since it wasn't her who had to wear them, she simply went along with it.

And so, Jeanne was exposed to a side of the world she had never wanted to know.

"Cough, cough... Anyway, everything I bought was for you, and I even gave you a bunch of gold and jewels. If anything, I ended up losing out... But don't worry, no one else will know. Heaven and earth, you, and I—no one else. I didn't leave any records, and I've already erased the memory from the shop clerk's mind."

Selene wasn't lying. She hadn't taken any photos or kept any records—just enjoyed the sight in the moment.

After they left the ruins of the hilltop church, Selene had spent the next four to five hours taking Jeanne shopping around the still-open stores in Sighișoara, buying her food, drinks, and clothes (normal ones).

From the start, Selene had made it clear that this Holy Grail War was more of a light skirmish for her—she was merely making her presence known, setting the stage for a larger conflict in the future. There was no need to rush things—she could relax and take her time.

"Ahem, let's move on. It's almost nighttime. Jeanne, prepare yourself. Assassin Jack the Ripper should be coming out to hunt soon." Selene shifted gears, her voice turning calm.

"Yes, I understand." Jeanne nodded, casting aside her embarrassment as she tossed the crumpled paper bag into a nearby trash bin. She looked up at the darkening sky.

"You want me to act as bait, to lure Black Assassin into attacking me, correct?" Jeanne asked, scanning the empty streets around her.

After a full day of shopping and talking, her relationship with Selene had warmed. She now saw Selene as approachable, though still proud and somewhat cold, with a mischievous streak.

"That's the plan. I'm a pure Servant, so unless she's an idiot, Jack won't target me. But you're different, Jeanne. You've been summoned in the form of a Pseudo-Servant. Once you suppress your Servant presence, anyone not paying close attention would mistake you for an ordinary human with magical energy."

"And since you're a woman, your heart would be a prime target for Jack."

Selene was confident that Jeanne would draw Jack the Ripper's attention. After all, Jeanne was a saint, and with her "generous" figure, she perfectly fit the target for Jack's Noble Phantasm, Maria the Ripper.

Communicating telepathically through magic, Selene noticed Jeanne's discomfort and continued, "What's wrong? Are you hesitating because of her childlike appearance? Or do you think it would violate the fairness of the Holy Grail War?"

"No, it doesn't matter what she looks like. Her cruel methods and the innocent lives she's taken—those are undeniable facts. Eliminating her doesn't violate the fairness of the Holy Grail War. I will fully cooperate with you."

Jeanne's face became stern as she spoke. The embarrassment from earlier was gone, replaced by a sharp clarity of mind.

Jack the Ripper had already crossed the line by killing her own Master and continuing to slaughter innocent people, using their hearts as magical energy to remain in the world. She was nothing less than an evil spirit now.

"Hmm?!"

As Jeanne sat praying on the bench, her eyes suddenly snapped open. "Your Majesty, Black Assassin Jack the Ripper is here."

As she spoke, a thick, gray fog quickly spread through the air. Noticing the flowers and grass in the plaza beginning to wilt in the fog, Jeanne frowned slightly. "This is poisonous mist... no, acid fog!"

"Come out, murderer!" Jeanne rose from the bench, her voice firm and commanding. Assassin's greatest skill, Presence Concealment, was useless against the Ruler.

Jeanne's gaze cut through the thick gray mist, locking onto a spot on a nearby rooftop.

As the Ruler, Jeanne's special ability allowed her to sense the presence of any Servant within a ten-kilometer radius, rendering even Assassin's Presence Concealment ineffective.

Jeanne was in no rush. Her EX-rank Magic Resistance made her immune to the corrosive fog. Maintaining the fog would drain Jack's magical energy, and since Jack had already resorted to killing humans to replenish her mana, it was clear her reserves were running low. The longer this dragged out, the worse it would be for Jack.

"You're a woman, aren't you?"

In the mist-covered plaza, a childish voice suddenly echoed. Hearing this, Selene, who was hiding in the distance, couldn't help but chuckle.

Are you really asking that? Jeanne isn't exactly flat-chested like Artoria. Can't you see her figure? Or are you like those people from the British Isles, who can't tell the difference between men and women?

Well... Jack the Ripper was from England, after all. The infamous murderer's legend spread throughout London in the 19th century.

These corrosive fogs were a manifestation of the industrial pollution of London's "fog city" during that time.

"Jeanne, draw Jack the Ripper out. I'll take the chance to strike her down in one blow to prevent her Master from using Command Spells to retreat," Selene telepathically instructed.

Jack the Ripper might not be very powerful, but her abilities to conceal and escape were troublesome.

Her Information Erasure skill, at rank B, would erase all traces of her from witnesses' and opponents' memories, including details of her appearance, abilities, and name. However, it couldn't fool modern recording devices like cameras.

"Understood…"

As Jeanne responded to Selene, a small figure suddenly leaped silently from the rooftops, aiming at Jeanne's back.

"Now!"

Jeanne's student uniform vanished, replaced by her Servant armor. Jack the Ripper's every movement was within Jeanne's perception as Ruler.

Clang—!

In the instant Jack lunged, Jeanne swung her white Fleur de Lis battle flag behind her without even turning, and the flagpole's tip clashed with Jack's single-edged dagger. Sparks flew.

As an Assassin, Jack's C-rank Strength couldn't compete with Jeanne's swing, and she was immediately flung away.

Boom!

...

Meanwhile, both the Black and Red factions, observing in real-time as Jeanne attempted to execute Black Assassin Jack the Ripper, reacted in starkly different ways.

The Yggdmillennia clan had already been informed of Selene's decision to eliminate Jack the Ripper and had no objections—in fact, they fully supported it.

After all, their comrade, Hyouma Sagara, had been killed by Jack. Even the most kind-hearted of the clan, Fiore and Caules, agreed that it was best to eliminate her.

On the other side, in the nearly-completed Hanging Gardens of Babylon of the Red faction, not everyone shared this sentiment.

In particular, Red Archer Atalanta had a very different reaction.

As she watched the scene of Jeanne threatening and preparing to kill the young girl through her familiar, Atalanta's face twisted with anger and hatred.

"Archer, calm down. Black Rider is lying in wait nearby. Rushing over would be suicide," Amakusa Shirou Tokisada cautioned.

"No! I have to go! That Assassin... she's just a child!" Atalanta roared in response.

...

Bang!

The small figure crashed into the bench where Jeanne had been sitting, shattering it. Rolling a few times on the ground, Jack finally slammed into a nearby tree.

"That hurt…"

Seeing the small, fragile figure before her, Jeanne, though she had already seen Jack's appearance through the World Chronicle's projection, still felt a moment of hesitation when seeing her in person.

After all, she was just a child...

Jack.jpg

She was an incredibly cute girl.

Dressed in black, tight-fitting clothes with a black cloak draped over her shoulders, her short white hair framed her face, and her emerald green eyes glared stubbornly at Jeanne. Her cheeks still had a hint of baby fat, her mouth stained with blood, and her small body was curled up in pain, evoking a sense of pity.

Judging by her appearance alone, it was impossible to associate the name Jack the Ripper, infamous for being a vicious killer, with the innocent-looking girl in front of her.

But Jeanne quickly hardened her expression, reminding herself that this girl was a ruthless murderer. Don't be deceived by her appearance, she thought.

"I, Jeanne d'Arc, in my authority as the Ruler of this Holy Grail War, hereby declare that Black Assassin Jack the Ripper has violated the rules. She will be eliminated!"

Clutching her abdomen where Jeanne's flagpole had inflicted a wound, Jack struggled to stand.

"I won't let you! You're a bad woman! We just want to be with Mommy—no one can take us away!"

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