"Shichen, are you saying Est is the sa sword you used when you fought Lancer that day?"
In the burger joint, Saber sat across from him, looking stunned.
Shichen had just finished explaining Est's true identity.
"Yep."
He reached over and ruffled Est's hair. Her silky silver strands slipped between his fingers—too soft to resist.
On the other side of the table, Illya and Sakura were happily tearing into fried chicken drumsticks.
It wasn't exactly fine dining, but since they'd never had it before, they were loving every bite—especially because they were sharing the al with everyone.
"Hehe~" Est tilted her head, eyes closed in bliss, soaking in Shichen's head pats.
It had been ages since anyone had done that for her.
"Est is actually that sword?" Irisviel blurted in surprise.
"Impossible," Saber muttered.
"What's so impossible about it? Artoria-nee, are you doubting ?" Est puffed her cheeks in mock offense.
"I… it's not doubt, it's just—"
"Then I'll show you." Est grabbed Shichen's hand.
"Hang on, let block out the bystanders first."
He set up a barrier, then took both her hands.
Est's body began to float as if gravity had given up on her—head down, feet up.
She was dressed in a sweater and long pants, so no wardrobe worries there.
Under everyone's eyes, her whole body erupted in silver light. The glow completely enveloped her, obscuring her shape.
The light warped and shrank into the outline of a sword, before bursting apart in a flash, revealing the weapon's true form.
"That's… incredible," Irisviel whispered.
"Mm…" Saber's eyes locked onto it.
She could tell instantly—this was no ordinary sword. It could rival her own Excalibur.
"Do you believe now, sis?" Est returned to human form and plopped back down beside Shichen.
"Seeing it with my own eyes? Hard not to."
"Onii-chan, more," Est demanded, dragging his hand back to her head.
"Still not enough?" He chuckled, ruffling her hair again.
"Mm-mm, never enough."
"Is that so."
"Shichen, you total lolicon," Frieren muttered around a bite of burger.
"And who exactly are you?" Est narrowed her eyes at her.
"Didn't I say I'm Frie…e…ren?" Frieren mumbled through her food.
"Why don't I know you?"
"We just t. Isn't that normal?"
"But I've never seen you before!"
"Before?" Frieren tilted her head. "We haven't t before now."
"Not that 'before'!"
"Anyway, we've never t." Frieren swallowed the last of her burger, took a huge gulp of Coke, and sighed happily.
"Onii-chan, who is she?" Est asked Shichen.
"She's Frieren."
"Tch. Still don't know her."
"Do you know Illya and the others?"
"Of course! I know Illya, Sakura, and Irisviel."
"Huh? Est knows too?" Irisviel looked surprised.
"Mm, I used to see you with Onii-chan all the ti—mmmph!" Shichen's hand clamped over Est's mouth mid-sentence.
"Cough—so things don't need to be said."
"Mmm." She nodded, and he let her go.
"Shichen, what did she an by that?" Irisviel blinked curiously.
She thought she'd heard the word kiss, but they'd only gotten to that point yesterday—certainly not before.
"Don't worry about it. Est just likes to talk nonsense."
"Fine." Irisviel puffed her cheeks, clearly unconvinced.
Shichen just smiled—she was pretty cute like that.
"Alright, eat up. Burgers aren't great when they're cold."
"Dad, we're almost done."
"Yeah? Then have a little more so you grow big and strong."
"Okay! Then you can pat my head when I grow up."
"Illya, give it up—you're probably going to stay the sa," Est teased.
"Huh? Why?"
"Rember when you used to get Onii-chan to give you massages to 'help you develop'? Didn't work. Still tiny."
"Used to?" Illya looked confused.
"It's—mmmph!"
"Est, eat your burger." Shichen stuffed one in her mouth.
"Onii-chan, you're so an." She shot him a glare.
"Eat. Illya, don't listen to her."
"…Okay."
Not that he believed Est either. Like he'd ever do sothing that crazy. No way. Absolutely not.
After eating, they left the burger joint. Shichen took the full and happy group for a bike ride.
He went back to the castle to grab the three bikes he'd bought earlier, and picked up another for Saber.
Four riders set off, each with a passenger—except Frieren, who rode alone. Est rode pillion with Saber, clearly getting along well with her.
"Dad, catch up~ You're too slow!" Illya called from behind Irisviel.
"Sakura, hold on tight."
"Okay!"
Once Sakura's arms were around him, Shichen sped up, overtaking Irisviel in seconds.
"We'll go ahead!" he shouted over his shoulder.
"Hey! Mom, faster!"
"Leave it to !"
"Artoria-nee, let's speed up too."
"I know."
The casual ride quickly turned into a race.
Frieren led the way, guiding them through the streets of Fuyuki.
The city was big—it took hours to loop around it, but no one seed tired.
They eventually rolled up to the seaside.
Irisviel and Saber sat on the seawall to rest while Shichen carried Illya and the others along the shore in turns.
"Dad! Faster!"
"Can't—Sakura can't keep up."
"Then carry both of us!"
"I can only carry two—what about Est?"
"Fine…"
"Shichen… slow down…" Frieren's voice drifted over from behind.
"Frieren, why are you moving like an old lady?" He set Illya down and waited for her.
"I'm a mage, not an athlete," she grumbled.
"Yeah right, you had plenty of stamina on the bike."
"T-that's…" Frieren hesitated.
"You just want to go back and lie down, don't you?"
"No!"
"Like I don't know you."
"Ugh… fine, can I go back?"
"Of course… not."
"Tch."
"Heh, stay and play a bit longer. Stop hiding in bed."
"Fine."
"Sakura, let's go." Shichen hoisted her up again.
"Mm-hm!" she hugged his head, grinning.
"Dad, wait for !" Illya ran after them.
"Frieren." Est walked alongside her.
"What is it?"
"What's your relationship with Onii-chan?"
"Mm… honestly, I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Yeah."
"Have you kissed him?"
"Yes."
"Has he ever sucked your blood?"
"Yes."
"Has he ever done everything with you?"
"No."
"That's weird," Est muttered.
"Is there a problem?" Frieren frowned.
"I've never seen you before."
"Isn't that normal?"
"You don't get it."
"Oh." Frieren shrugged.
"And he still spoils you so much…"
"Does he? He's always teasing ."
"That's spoiling you. He used to spoil sister like that too…" Est murmured.
But… sohow, this ti felt different.
"Frieren, Est, what are you two doing? Hurry up!" Shichen's voice carried from up ahead.
"Coming, Onii-chan—" Est cut herself off, suddenly looking up.
At the sa mont, Shichen's gaze snapped to the sky.
On the seawall, Saber shot to her feet, her outfit flashing into armor as an invisible sword appeared in her grip. She moved to shield Irisviel.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound split the air. A black dot appeared far above, growing rapidly as it hurtled down—
BOOM!
It smashed into the shore, sending sand and dirt flying in every direction.
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