The Thirsty Girl's Guide To Summoning (Fate/Isekai)

Chapter 42: Papa Wolf

The little clearing Ren and her companions found themselves in had been roughly expanded by the pile of sleeping Sovereign champions and their oversized familiars at one edge. Merlin sat atop the tail of a sleeping dragon, kicking one leg. He still wore his suit, just as Jack and Ritsu also wore their new clothes.

Ritsu clutched the golden foxette to her chest with one hand while hanging onto a semi-conscious Ichigo with the other. The hippogriff had vanished. Although Ren had been puzzled for a moment, she decided it was definitely dawn and not twilight staining the forest, and so she wasn't at all surprised when a spine-tingling wolf's howl came from nearby.

"Ooh, that's spooky!" said the cheerful blond youth in a schoolboy's uniform who inexplicably stood among them.

Ren stared so hard at Flat that he felt her gaze burning a hole in his back and turned to give her a laughing wave. Then, controlling her desire to shake him until he teeth rattled, she checked on everybody else. Jack had activated her Presence Concealment and had a knife in each hand. Hyde loitered near the edge of the clearing opposite Merlin, his hands in his pockets as he absently kicked a tree. Astolfo bent over the sleeping champion pile, poking interestedly at Blue Violet.

Cú? Can you manifest?

In response, the lean blue form of the Child of Light shimmered into existence. Although he no longer had the tail of his berserk form, he seemed worn about the edges. But he held Gáe Bolg with confidence and of all her Servants he was the only one to look toward the origin of the howl.

Ren went to Ritsu. "Give me Ichigo."

Ritsu pressed her lips together and then nodded. Ren scooped up the little boy in her arms and announced, "Leave the champions and let's get back to the Castle right away. Flat, you can come—"

The snarl from the edge of the glade triggered a primordial terror and Ren's mind went blank. Even crouching to spring, the Avenger Lobo loomed over all of the other Servants, and the shadowed form of Kirri on his back held a long, slim sword outstretched in each hand.

What have you done to my children? It was a howl of anguish, not a question, and the giant wolf lunged directly for Ren, jaws snapping.

It wasn't a strategic move, as Cú, Jack, Hyde and Astolfo all intercepted him. For a long horrible moment, the glade was full of a whirling fur-covered death machine that snapped at spears, knocked Servants aside, and ignored direct blade strikes to his thick pelt.

Then Ren became aware of Merlin's hand resting lightly on her lower back and returned to herself. Her Servants weren't winning easily, but they weren't losing, either. Flat had scrambled up a tree and watched the battle with keen interest.

She glanced around and found Ritsu. "Ritsu, go back to the castle as fast as you can and wake Tora somehow. Flat!" She shouted loud enough to get the blond boy's attention.

He threw himself down from the tree just as the wolf knocked Astolfo to the ground. Flat tumbled over Astolfo, but rolled on his shoulder and came up smiling at Ren. "This is very exciting!"

Ren pressed Ichigo into his arms. "Take this kid and..." she looked around. Ritsu had already started trotting down the animal trail. "And follow Ritsu. Don't let anything happen to them!"

Flat took Ichigo. "Aww, poor little guy. Sure thing, boss-lady!"

Merlin hadn't moved his gaze from the battle, but he murmured, "And now that your hands are free, will you throw yourself into battle as well?"

"Pfft." Ren watched carefully, trying to follow the flow of the fight. Given that it was one Servant against four, it was a lot more even than she'd hoped. But, no, Avenger's rider probably counted for another Servant, and her two best fighters were still suffering penalties due to their immersion in the dark fairy's curse.