Chapter 22. A Bribe? This Must Be a Bribe!

[Arc4] - 22. A Bribe? This Must Be a Bribe!

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A new day began. It should have been a Saturday for sleeping in, a wonderful weekend morning. The one who should have woken her up was supposed to be her brother's helpless yet doting voice...

That's how it "should" have been!

Plap, plap, plap…!

The window, covered by curtains, made strange sounds, a thick and sticky noise like something wet slapping against it.

Eek! This was just like that horror movie scene that gave her a scare!

I'm asleep! I'm asleep!

Illya burrowed deeper into her blanket, pressing her hands hard against her ears.

The person knocking on the window seemed to have endless patience, as the sticky, heavy slapping sound kept a peculiar rhythm.

After enduring a long and difficult five minutes, the knocking finally stopped. But just as Illya started to relax, a crisp "click" was heard, and the curtains gently swayed in the breeze.

Oh no, it's the classic horror movie scene!

Illya cautiously lifted the blanket. The sunlight cast a shadow on the wall, revealing a terrifying figure with multiple heads!

Eek! Help!

"Illya~ Time to wake up," a somewhat chilly hand slipped into her blanket and touched Illya's neck.

Illya shivered, instinctively wanting to scream. But the owner of the hand seemed to have anticipated her reaction, or maybe they were just quick. They flipped over, pressed Illya down, and covered her mouth with their hand.

"Mmff, mmff!"

"Hurry up, take her away!"

Illya had no idea who shouted that, but she was so frightened that tears welled up in her eyes. She thought she heard the sound of a rope being pulled.

A kidnapping?! They're kidnapping an ordinary elementary school girl like me?!

"What are you all doing?"

Illya suddenly felt a weight lifted off her, as if the person on top of her was picked up. She got a clear look at the person who had been covering her mouth—an exquisite doll-like face with a confused expression, black hair hanging down, and a faint scent...

Wait! Isn't this Miyu?!

Then the others…

Illya sat up, her face twitching.

Gray was cautiously closing the window, El-Melloi II was bending over, examining a family photo, Tohsaka Rin and Luvia were quietly putting away the ropes, and Cyd was holding Miyu in the air.

"W-what are you all doing?!" Illya clutched her head in despair.

"Just waking you up," Cyd and Miyu both gave a thumbs up.

"Who wakes people up by climbing through the window?! It's only… six o'clock!" Illya grabbed the blanket and covered her chest. "And what was that sticky sound?!"

"That was me~" Ruby popped out, waving her wing-like accessories.

"Didn't I mention training~?" Tohsaka Rin waved her hand. "There's a lot of techniques you'll need in battles with servants. We'll train during the day and challenge a servant at night."

"Tonight?! We're going tonight?!" Illya's eyes widened.

"With him here," Rin pointed at Cyd, "as much as it frustrates me, there's no way we'll fail."

"But we only have one chance!" Luvia narrowed her eyes. "If we fail, that man will take care of the servant himself."

"Well, then just let him deal with it," Illya yawned and started to burrow back under her blanket.

"We can't let that happen," Rin pulled a photo out of her pocket.

A photo of Magical Girl Illya mid-transformation!

"Eh?! How do you have that?!" Illya instantly woke up.

"Ta-da~ This is the power of me, the great Ruby, able to print photos!" Ruby twirled in the air. "Ah~ If Illya as a magical girl slacks off, it'll be quite troubling for me as her partner~ Of course, I have pictures of the transformation process too. Wanna see?"

As she spoke, a photo fell from Ruby's body.

"Eeeek!" In an instant, steam seemed to rise from Illya's head. She dove out of her blanket, grabbed the photo, and crumpled it into a ball.

The… transformation… process…

Gray's expression froze.

Does this mean she has a record of me too?!

"Fine, I'll go train," Illya muttered, covering her face.

What kind of scenario was this? The classic trope of a poor l*li blackmailed with her embarrassing history?

"Um… I thought the new master's data overwrites the previous one," Gray made a final effort.

"Oh~ So Gray-chan finally remembered~" Ruby said in a perverted tone. "What a pity. Gray's shy expressions are treasures of this world! I'd stake my life on protecting them!"

So, in other words, she'll never delete them…

Gray's vision darkened, and she staggered back a few steps. Just as her legs weakened, and she was about to collapse, a warm hand supported her back.

"Mr… Mr. Cyd…" Gray rarely showed such a pitiful expression.

"Oh no~ Not again~"

Just as Cyd was about to respond, Ruby, like a drunken person, spun around and bumped into his chest. She wobbled back before drifting away.

Cyd looked a little embarrassed, as Ruby had just slipped a photo into his clothes.

Knowing Ruby well, that photo was undoubtedly Gray's magical girl picture.

Is this a bribe?!

"Ahem, Ruby, you absolutely cannot leak any of these photos," Cyd coughed, gently patting Gray's head.

"Of course~ I would never show such treasures to anyone else," Ruby spun in the air.

Gray lowered her head in disappointment, but her gentle nature prevented her from forcing Ruby to delete the files.

"It's about time to go," El-Melloi II sighed in resignation after confirming for the umpteenth time that Illya's father was indeed the famed mage killer, Emiya Kiritsugu.

"I'll teach you everything I know about the powers of the class cards today."

"Even on weekends, there's school…" Illya groaned as she got out of bed.

It had to be said that El-Melloi II's strict teacher persona made Illya, a regular elementary school student, instinctively nervous. Now, with her teacher literally climbing through the window to wake her up, all she could do was nod and obediently agree.

"Um… I need to change clothes now…" Illya awkwardly glanced at the group staring at her.

El-Melloi II froze, coughed a few times, then awkwardly opened the window and climbed out.

"Be careful not to fall, Master," Gray quickly rushed over to grab his clothes, worried he might slip.

Cyd blinked and reached out to grab Ruby, who had no intention of leaving.

"Wait! This is precious footage of a little girl changing her clothes!" Ruby struggled in Cyd's hand, unwilling to leave.

Illya paled and hid behind Miyu, clutching her shoulders.

"Nope," Cyd held Ruby tightly, refusing to let her escape.

Illya sighed in relief.

"Besides, don't you usually sneak photos anyway?"

"Well… you've got a point~"

Illya felt darkness closing in and weakly leaned against Miyu.