Chapter 261

Chapter 261: Chapter 261

"This is... the Greater Grail?"

Standing in the vast central hall of the Hanging Gardens, Jeanne gazed up at the magnificent golden Grail—or, more accurately, the enormous sphere that still looked suspiciously like a giant egg—and could not suppress her amazement.

In a world where magical energy itself represented power, an ocean-like quantity of mana was already a miracle in its own right, and the sheer scale of what lay before her was enough to leave even a Servant momentarily awed.

"Yes. The Greater Grail."

Kiriya smiled as he watched Jeanne’s delicate features light up with wonder.

"And this is supposed to be an omnipotent wish-granting device. Surely the great Saint herself doesn’t have any unfinished wishes?"

"No."

Jeanne shook her head with a bright, gentle smile.

"If I still possessed some unresolved wish from my lifetime, the Greater Grail wouldn’t have summoned me as Ruler in the first place."

"You said from your lifetime."

Kiriya had expected that answer and continued without missing a beat.

"But after coming to a world several centuries beyond your own era, is there really nothing here you’d miss if you simply disappeared?"

He took a slow step toward her.

"Don’t you want to travel around and see what the world has become, to watch ordinary people doing their best to live peaceful, happy lives every day?"

Another step brought him closer.

"To taste food that didn’t exist in your era, visit places you could never have imagined, see scenery from every corner of the world..."

By the time he reached the last part, there was barely a palm’s width left between them.

"Or maybe experience a romance you’ll remember for the rest of your life?"

Jeanne raised her head and found Kiriya’s eyes far too close to her own.

Her heart immediately fell out of rhythm, and a strange panic rose inside her as she instinctively turned her face aside, unable to hide the flush spreading across her cheeks.

"I-I’m Ruler. My duty is to supervise this Holy Grail War until the very end and ensure that a victor is properly determined."

"In that case, Miss Ruler, answer me honestly."

Kiriya showed no intention of retreating.

"Has ownership of the Greater Grail now been decided?"

"It has."

Jeanne did not quite understand where he was going with this, but she answered honestly.

"Do any of the remaining Servants object?"

"No."

This time, Jeanne seemed to realize what he was trying to do.

"So that means the Holy Grail War is effectively over, doesn’t it?"

"Well... I suppose it is."

Jeanne’s answer became noticeably less certain.

Kiriya’s smile deepened.

"Then as the winner, I want to discuss how to use the Greater Grail with the most important person I have in this world. There shouldn’t be any problem with that, right?"

"I... suppose not?"

Jeanne’s confidence faltered completely.

The phrase the most important person I have in this world struck her far harder than the rest of his argument, sending her heart pounding like a frightened rabbit trapped inside her chest.

Kiriya gently took one of her slender hands into his own, and when he spoke again, his voice was softer than she had ever heard it.

"Then Jeanne, answer me seriously."

"Do you want to stay?"

His fingers closed warmly around hers.

"Do you want to remain in this world and spend the time ahead together with me?"

"I... I don’t know."

Jeanne lowered her head until Kiriya could barely see her face, and her voice became so quiet that it was almost lost beneath the hum of magical energy filling the hall.

They had only known one another for a matter of days, yet somehow Kiriya’s presence had already become deeply engraved in her memories.

She could still vividly remember his fearless confidence in battle, the shameless teasing during their day together, the way he had held her whenever danger approached, and all the little moments between them that had no importance to the Holy Grail War at all yet somehow felt more precious than anything else.

Jeanne had commanded armies in life, led soldiers against invaders, helped reclaim her homeland, and accomplished feats that caused later generations to revere her as a saint.

Her faith had been pure enough to withstand betrayal, imprisonment, condemnation, and even the flames of execution.

But beneath all of that, she had still been a teenage girl.

She had wanted peace.

She had wanted happiness.

And somewhere deep inside, she had possessed the same curiosity and yearning for love that any ordinary girl might have.

Her present manifestation only made those feelings harder to ignore.

Jeanne had descended through possession, sharing a body and part of her consciousness with Laeticia, and that young girl’s innocence, romantic imagination, and longing for a beautiful encounter naturally influenced Jeanne in return.

So when Kiriya offered what was effectively a confession and an invitation to remain beside him, claiming she felt nothing would have been a lie.

She was moved.

Deeply so.

But this was also the first time Jeanne had ever found herself facing emotions like these directly, and no amount of battlefield courage could eliminate the shyness and uncertainty of a girl confronting romance for the first time.

"I see."

Kiriya sighed with deliberately exaggerated disappointment.

"That really is troublesome."

Then his expression suddenly brightened, as though he had just remembered something obvious.

"Oh, right. We have the Greater Grail."

Jeanne blinked.

Kiriya raised one hand toward it.

"I’ll just make a wish and ask the Grail to tell me what you really want."

Smack!

Jeanne caught his raised hand with both of hers before he could do anything.

Kiriya immediately smiled with the expression of someone whose trap had worked exactly as planned.

He lowered his gaze toward Jeanne, who was now glaring at him with puffed cheeks.

Her face had turned completely red, right down to her ears, whose crimson color reminded him of polished red jade and gave him the extremely inappropriate urge to lean over and nibble one.

"Kiriya-kun... you really are mean."

Jeanne complained softly.

"Yeah."

Kiriya admitted it without the slightest shame.

"I can be pretty awful."

He squeezed her hand gently.

"But if being a little wicked is what it takes to keep you here, I’m fine with that."

Thump-thump-thump-thump—

Jeanne’s heartbeat became so violent that she felt faint.

"My Lord..."

Almost instinctively, she whispered a prayer to the God she had revered above everything else throughout her life.

Kiriya watched her flushed, confused expression and nearly laughed aloud from sheer delight.

Clearly, it was time for one final push.

"Jeanne."

His tone suddenly became serious.

"Have you ever considered that our meeting might actually have been arranged by the Lord?"

"What?"

Jeanne looked at him in genuine surprise.

"That... is one way of looking at it?"

"Think about it."

Kiriya’s expression remained solemn enough that he almost sounded convincing.

"During your life, you heard the Lord’s guidance and chose to walk the path of saving your homeland. You fought for France and its people without holding anything back, giving everything you possessed until the very end."

His praise was sincere enough to leave Jeanne embarrassed.

"I-It wasn’t quite as extraordinary as you’re making it sound..."

"It was."

Kiriya did not allow her to dismiss it.

"Even after being betrayed by people on your own side, slandered and humiliated by your enemies, misunderstood by ordinary people, and treated with hostility by those you had fought to protect, you never abandoned your original convictions or your faith."

His voice gradually softened.

"Even when you were burned alive, you never allowed hatred toward those people to consume you. You remained faithful to what you believed the Lord had taught you."

There was genuine admiration in Kiriya’s eyes now.

"I’ll be honest, Jeanne. If I put myself in your place, I don’t think I could have remained anywhere near as calm as you did."

Jeanne looked at him quietly.

"If that had been me, I probably would’ve turned my back on the Lord, joined Satan out of spite, and started a war against the entire world."

"Don’t say things like that!"

Jeanne immediately covered his mouth with one hand, looking genuinely alarmed that such outrageous blasphemy might somehow invite divine punishment.

Kiriya gently caught her wrist.

"Relax. The Lord isn’t that petty."

Then, before Jeanne could react, he turned his head and lightly kissed her palm.

Jeanne jerked her hand away as though she had been shocked by lightning.

Her eyes immediately became watery as she glared at him, clearly furious and embarrassed in equal measure.

Kiriya coughed twice and adopted an innocent expression.

"Anyway, back to what I was saying."

Jeanne continued glaring.

Kiriya pretended not to notice.

"Precisely because you remained faithful, selfless, and fearless throughout your life, perhaps the Lord arranged this Holy Grail War so that you could come here and meet me."

Jeanne’s expression gradually changed.

"So that you could have another chance to live in this world as a human being."

Kiriya took her hand again, this time much more gently.

"To experience the happiness and beauty of ordinary life that you never had the chance to enjoy before."

He looked directly into her clear blue eyes.

"Jeanne, maybe this is the Lord’s reward for everything you gave during your first life."

"His... reward?"

Jeanne’s eyes quickly filled with tears.

"You really think this is a reward from the Lord?"

"Absolutely."

Kiriya answered with such confidence that there seemed to be no room for doubt.

"I’m certain of it."

"But..."

Jeanne hurriedly shook her head.

"As a soldier of the Lord, how could I ask Him for a reward? That would be... that would be an impure thought."

"No."

Kiriya rejected the idea immediately.

"You never did any of those things because you expected a reward in the first place. That’s exactly why receiving one afterward wouldn’t make your actions selfish."

Jeanne looked uncertain, and Kiriya decided it was time to deliver the finishing blow.

"Unless you think the Lord is some kind of bloodsucking employer who only demands sacrifice from people and never rewards them for anything?"

"Kiriya-kun!"

Jeanne immediately slapped her hand over his mouth again.

"Stop saying things like that!"

Unfortunately, she had apparently forgotten what had happened the last time she tried this.

Kiriya’s lips brushed against her palm again.

Jeanne recoiled instantly, her entire face turning red enough that she looked ready to hit him for real.

"I’m just saying."

Kiriya caught her hand before she could withdraw completely and puffed out his chest with shameless confidence.

"So I’ll carry out the Lord’s will myself and personally deliver His blessing to our wonderful Saint."

That final combination broke through the last of Jeanne’s resistance.

Her head lowered, shoulders trembling slightly as embarrassment and happiness tangled together inside her until she could no longer think of another excuse.

"I... I understand."

She squeezed Kiriya’s hand.

"I’ll stay."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but this time there was no uncertainty left in it.

"I accept."