After Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other three departed, repair work on the North Wall immediately began.
Although Shirou Emiya and Gorgon had not directly struck the wall during their battle, the aftershocks from Gorgon's magical beams had still caused considerable damage. As soon as Gorgon retreated, Leonidas personally led the soldiers to begin restoration.
Aside from that, the movements of the demonic beasts were also worth noting.
After Gorgon withdrew, the demonic beasts that had been relentlessly assaulting the North Wall suddenly vanished. They no longer launched attacks, as if they were gathering strength for a full-scale offensive ten days later.
Once the battle ended, Shirou Emiya returned to his tent and entered a period of rare leisure.
With Shuna attending to him, the place felt nothing like a military camp.
This made Shirou Emiya extremely satisfied.
Unfortunately, that comfort didn't last long.
A sudden shout pulled him out once more, bringing him back to Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others.
"So this time, you're planning to bribe a goddess with money?"
Shirou Emiya glanced at the two carts of treasure Fujimaru Ritsuka was hauling behind him and smiled faintly.
"I have to say, this really is a flawless plan."
"That's right."
Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded seriously.
"But to bribe a goddess, we at least need to be able to talk to her properly."
"So we need Senpai Shirou to back us up."
"No problem."
Shirou Emiya answered without hesitation.
"Leave it to me."
He was more than willing to witness this legendary scene of bribing a goddess firsthand.
Before long, the group reached the summit and arrived before Ishtar's temple.
In truth, Ishtar had already sensed their approach from afar.
At first, she assumed they had come to subjugate her, which left her extremely uneasy.
After all, she had secretly observed Shirou Emiya's battle with Gorgon.
She had a very clear understanding of just how dangerous he was.
Unless absolutely necessary, she had no intention of clashing with Shirou Emiya.
So she deliberately waited.
Only when Shirou Emiya and the others reached the temple gate and showed signs of continuing forward did she finally appear before them.
"You're not here to pick a fight with me... right?"
At that moment, Shirou Emiya's presence proved invaluable.
If he hadn't been there, Fujimaru Ritsuka was certain they would have been forced into battle before even getting a chance to speak.
But now, everything was proceeding smoothly.
Because of that, Fujimaru Ritsuka mentally gave himself a thumbs-up for insisting on bringing Shirou Emiya along.
"Please listen to me, Lady Ishtar!"
As the representative for this negotiation, Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped forward and spoke clearly.
"We didn't come here to fight you."
"We came to ask to borrow your strength."
"Hah?"
Ishtar stared at him in disbelief.
"Borrow my strength?"
"You want me to go fight the Goddess of Demonic Beasts?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Why would I go fight something like that?!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Ishtar rejected the proposal outright.
She knew very well how powerful the Goddess of Demonic Beasts was.
The opponent was clearly stronger than her.
Proactively walking into a beating wasn't her style.
"Please don't refuse so quickly, Lady Ishtar."
Fujimaru Ritsuka remained calm.
"We're not borrowing your strength for free."
At his signal, Mash-who had been standing beside the carts-pulled away the canvas coverings.
In the next instant, two full carts of treasure were revealed before Ishtar's eyes.
"Th-this is...!"
Ishtar swallowed hard, her gaze completely locked onto the glittering piles.
She couldn't look away.
"Could it be...?"
Struggling to speak, Ishtar voiced her guess.
"These are just the down payment."
Merlin answered casually.
"Down payment?!"
Ishtar's eyes shone even brighter.
"That's right."
Merlin continued calmly.
"This is only the down payment."
"King Gilgamesh has promised that if you accept our employment, you'll receive twenty percent of all his treasures afterward."
"Twenty percent... of all of Gilgamesh's treasures?"
Ishtar froze.
The sheer scale of the promise nearly caused her greedy expression to spiral out of control.
Even so, the last shred of a goddess's pride made her resist-barely.
"If twenty percent isn't enough..."
"How about twenty-five percent?"
"It can go higher?!"
Hearing that, Ishtar nearly lost control of her body.
But another thought quickly surfaced, forcing her to restrain herself.
If I stall a little longer... maybe they'll offer even more treasure?
The thought was practically written across her face.
There was no way Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others didn't notice.
"Sigh."
"It seems this operation has failed."
"What a shame."
Fujimaru Ritsuka shook his head and turned away.
"Let's go back."
"Mash."
"Yes."
Mash nodded seriously.
"It really is a shame, Senpai."
"Oh, right."
Fujimaru Ritsuka paused and looked toward Shirou Emiya.
"Senpai Shirou, please keep an eye on the treasure so no one steals it."
"Don't worry."
Shirou Emiya walked over to the carts with a relaxed smile.
"With me here, no one will even think about touching these gems."
He casually picked up a few, examining them one by one.
"These really are fine pieces."
As he spoke, Shirou Emiya selected several of the highest-quality gems.
After admiring them, he slipped them into his pocket.
"Wait!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Those are my gems!"
The moment she saw this, the last thread of restraint in Ishtar's mind snapped.
She rushed forward in a panic, throwing herself in front of the carts to shield them.
"What do you mean yours?"
Shirou Emiya looked at her calmly.
"Didn't you just refuse our invitation?"
"I-I didn't refuse!"
"I just hadn't made up my mind yet!"
"So you've decided now?"
"Of course!"
Ishtar puffed out her chest and shouted with absolute confidence.
"This goddess accepts your employment!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
"You won't regret it?"
"I won't regret it!"
"That's good."
Seeing Ishtar completely surrender to the power of money, Shirou Emiya stepped aside with a satisfied smile.
"Yes! We succeeded!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka raised his arms and shouted in excitement.
Mash's face lit up with joy as well.
Even Merlin and Ana wore faint smiles.
With Ishtar joining them, they finally had another force capable of countering the goddesses-someone other than Shirou Emiya himself.
This would be crucial in their battle against the Three Goddess Alliance.
Amid the cheers, Ishtar suddenly remembered something.
The high-quality gems Shirou Emiya had taken earlier.
"You bastard!"
"Give me back my gems!"
With an angry shout, Ishtar leapt out of the treasure cart and charged straight at Shirou Emiya.
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