Although he had said he wanted to make the fight flashy enough to draw Koyanskaya's attention, Shiomi did not recklessly resort to fire.
Even if this place was only a temporary fantasy, it was still a dense and vibrant forest. He avoided any thod that could ignite flas, relying solely on wind pressure and the manipulation of surrounding vegetation to bring down the three Jotunn giants.
Even so, during the fight he noticed that these Jotunn were tougher than the native giants of the Scandinavian Lostbelt. It took him slightly longer than expected to finish them off.
By the ti he descended and rejoined Morgan and the others, they were already sharing the snacks they had brought from Storm Border.
"Well? How was it, my husband?" Morgan held out the paper bag, signaling for him to help himself.
Shiomi had no appetite and waved it off. He turned to look at the giant corpses that had yet to fully dissipate.
"They look like Jotunn forcibly brought here and turned into dependents to serve as guards against intruders," he said thoughtfully. "They're extrely durable. I held back based on my experience in the Scandinavian Lostbelt, and it wasn't enough to put them down quickly."
"Even for dependents, that level of enhancent is excessive," Scáthach said with a faint smile. "Looks like we can't rely on experience to cut corners."
"That commotion earlier stirred up the entire forest in this area," Artoria said, covering her mouth slightly as she chewed her snack. "Should we move now? Or set up Rune traps before leaving?"
Shiomi considered it. "We could lay a few Magecraft traps. If Koyanskaya shows herself here, we'd know imdiately. But would she really reveal herself so easily instead of staying in her stronghold?"
At that mont, Morgan suddenly tightened her grip on the paper bag. She held the half-eaten snack between her lips and freed one hand, turning toward another direction as she prepared to cast a spell.
"Show yourself. Or do you intend to start a fight without even eting us?" Scáthach lifted her crimson spear and aid it in the sa direction.
Shiomi folded his arms. "If soone could approach this close while the residual Mana from my battle still lingers and yet not attack, they're probably not an enemy."
As if confirming his words, a silver-haired woman stepped out from behind dense shrubs taller than a person. She raised both hands in a clear gesture of non-hostility.
"Please don't be so wary. I'm not your enemy." The woman smiled as she introduced herself. "I'm also a Servant summoned to this place. My Class is Rider. The Dragon Slayer of Kiev, Dobrynya Nikitich."
In her raised left hand, she still held a long-handled mace nearly as tall as half a person.
"Rider?"
Shiomi lightly patted Morgan's shoulder. Morgan stopped preparing her spell and resud eating her snack, allowing him to address the newly arrived Servant.
"A Servant summoned by the Counter Force?" Scáthach lowered her spear. "Did you track us here after sensing the Mana from our battle?"
Seeing their hostility fade, Nikitich smiled warmly. "No. I was traveling with soone. When we sensed the Mana from your fight, that person asked to co and receive you."
"Receive us?" Shiomi raised a brow. "Another Servant? What's their True Na?"
"I could tell you now," Nikitich said, gesturing invitingly, "but that person would prefer to introduce themselves properly in person. If you're willing to trust , follow . They're fishing by the Tunguska River at the mont."
This special anomalous region happened to encompass the Tunguska River area. The river, long gone in the outside world, flowing again here was not particularly strange.
"What do you think? Will you co?"
In situations like this, Artoria still deferred to Shiomi's judgnt.
"Fishing by the river…" Shiomi felt fairly certain already and did not hesitate. "Very well. We'll trouble you to lead the way, Ms. Dobrynya Nikitich."
"Ah! You really are decisive. Does that person know you, perhaps?" Nikitich looked both pleased and slightly surprised. "In any case, follow . I'll go ahead and clear the way. There aren't any proper paths here, so be careful not to fall behind."
With that, she swung her mace and carved a passage through the thick brush and tangled branches, allowing Shiomi and the others to follow.
They kept a distance of about ten ters behind her.
Not out of distrust, but because they needed to discuss Dobrynya Nikitich among themselves.
"Dobrynya Nikitich… if I rember correctly, he's a hero recorded in the Russian epic The Song of the Heroic Deeds." Shiomi glanced at Artoria as he spoke. "Of course, in the epic itself, Nikitich, like King Arthur, is depicted as male."
"Like , then. Soone who lived presenting as male, which is why that version was passed down?" Artoria didn't seem particularly surprised.
With her own case as precedent, encountering another similar Heroic Spirit was hardly shocking.
"Hard to say. We can ask her when we have ti." Shiomi didn't seem overly interested in digging into the details. "I only ntioned it because it looked like you weren't too familiar with this Servant's background."
"She's at least a Heroic Spirit rembered by history under the na of a hero. On that level, she's trustworthy enough," Scáthach said. "What interests more is the person who sent Rider to receive us."
Morgan casually flicked her wrist, and the unfinished snack in her hand vanished into thin air.
It was a simple application of Imaginary Number Space, used like a four-dinsional pocket for storage.
"Who else could it be?" Morgan folded her arms. "If my husband's dream wasn't mistaken, then there's only one possible person waiting for us. Since we were deliberately guided here, I can only hope he won't disappoint my husband."
"For now, let's stay ready for a fight," Shiomi said with a small shrug. "If the other side is the type who tests strength before speaking, there's not much we can do about that."
"I don't think you need to worry about it."
Nikitich had been able to hear their conversation all along but hadn't interrupted. She only spoke up now to reassure them.
They moved quickly. Before long, they had passed through the forest, avoiding roaming dependents, and arrived at the riverbank.
Just as Nikitich had said, soone was sitting there, quietly fishing.
After Nikitich called out to him, the man turned his head and inclined it toward Shiomi.
"I have been waiting for quite so ti, Lord Tenkei."
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