Shinji Matou at Your Service-Chapter 996: What Did You Say Your Name Was?

Let's break down Shinji's actions.

First, he put on the black-rimmed glasses. Then, he manifested the golden bow, and finally, he reached into his bag and pulled out a packet.

It was a paper bag, with a bright red and yellow design that stood out. Even more eye-catching was the white, irregular pattern in the center of the packaging. Even though Olga Marie couldn't read kanji, she could recognize what it was from the image.

In English, it's called Popcorn.

And so, the reason for manifesting the golden bow became clear—Shinji placed the packet of popcorn between the bowstring and the body of the bow, using the heat generated by the divine bow, Brahma's Bow, to pop the popcorn.

That's right—this guy was using a divine bow like a microwave.

In no time, the kernels inside the bag began to pop, and the previously flat paper bag expanded. Seeing this, Shinji put the bow away, tore open a corner of the bag, squeezed a few kernels between his fingers, and muttered to himself.

"Not bad, not bad—perfectly popped."

"Oh my, I didn't expect Karna's bow to have such a use," Roman muttered to himself on the other side.

Olga Marie couldn't believe her eyes.

What about the interference? What about stirring up trouble? What about the crisis? What about everyone teaming up to fight the Demon King?—The last part was just her overactive imagination.

You, the Azure Knight, a humanoid monster capable of tearing through Servants, came all the way to the outskirts, revealed an A+-rank Noble Phantasm, and it turns out it was just to make popcorn?

Where's your dignity? Where's the dignity of your Noble Phantasm?

Her brain was in such chaos that it led to a breakdown in her language processing. This condition is commonly known as being tongue-tied.

"H-he-he-he..."

"What about him?"

"Y-you-you..."

"What about you? Calm down, my Marie-chan, take a few deep breaths first."

Following Roman's advice, Olga Marie took a deep breath, trying to calm her jumbled thoughts, and finally managed to form a coherent sentence.

"He's making popcorn?"

"If the knowledge the Holy Grail gave me is correct, then yes, he's making something called popcorn. Judging by the look on his face, it seems to be quite tasty."

Roman nodded. He had lived in the Middle East in the 10th century BC, where corn didn't exist, so he had never seen or tasted it.

"Yeah, it's pretty tasty, though not very nutritious—wait, that's not the point! He pulled out such a high-level Noble Phantasm, just to make popcorn?"

"Well, I don't think there's any rule against using a Noble Phantasm to make popcorn."

"..."

Once again, Olga Marie was left speechless.

A Noble Phantasm, after all, is just a kind of object. How it's used depends entirely on its owner's will. You can use it to fight, but you can also use it to make popcorn. Of course, the fact that such a powerful weapon was used for something so trivial was hard to accept at first.

"I wonder if Karna would be upset seeing his Noble Phantasm used like this."

"Do you think he would be?"

Roman asked in return.

Olga Marie sighed. There's no way he would be—she couldn't even imagine Karna getting angry. That great hero would probably calmly accept whatever happened, no matter what.

"Master, what's that red metal can he just pulled out?"

Roman asked as Shinji took out another item.

Olga Marie, still recovering from the shock, glanced at it lazily and replied in a dull tone, "It's cola, a carbonated drink. Tastes good, but like popcorn, it's not nutritious. Why, are you interested?"

Roman nodded sincerely.

"Yes, a little. From the look on his face, it seems like a food that brings people joy. Such things were not allowed in my time. The world has finally become free."

"Roman..."

The emotions contained within that statement were far too complex for little Marie to fully comprehend. For a moment, she felt like the man before her seemed distant and tall, completely different from the useless man-child he usually appeared to be.

"Master, I have a request. May I try that food as well?"

"Of course. They're all cheap snacks—feel free to eat as much as you like."

"That's great. Thank you, Master. I'm really lucky to be your Servant."

Roman smiled, his usual silly demeanor returning, and the strange feeling Marie had moments ago quickly faded. She couldn't help but smile, half-amused and half-exasperated.

"That's enough to make you feel lucky? Your standards are way too low."

"Are they? For someone as useless as me, that's already a high bar—"

"Ah, so it really was just an illusion."

"—Now then, Master, I'll be off."

As Roman spoke, his figure gradually faded, turning from solid into spirit form.

"Go ahead—" Marie reflexively waved him off, then suddenly realized, "Wait, where are you going? Don't tell me... Come back, I meant after Luvia's side is done, not now—Wait, which direction are you heading?"

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For the second time that day, Olga Marie was left completely dumbfounded—this time, by Roman.

She had correctly guessed Roman's intentions. The man, who had no freedom in his previous life, was indeed eager to try out new foods. But she hadn't anticipated how he would go about it. She thought he would head down the mountain and go to a store. Instead, he took the quickest route—finding the nearest person who had the item.

That's right, he went to find Shinji.

Boldly and directly, he materialized at the top of the mountain and walked right up to Shinji.

"Excuse me, may I sit here?"

And so, Shinji was bewildered.

Though his attention had been drawn to the epic battle between Karna and Gilgamesh, he hadn't let his guard down. His mental scanning ability had been active the entire time, ready to alert him to any movement. Yet somehow, this person had managed to get so close without him noticing—something even Katou Danzo couldn't do.

Could this be an Assassin stronger than Danzo? Or perhaps someone with an effect similar to a Cloak of Hades?

Though mentally stunned, Shinji's body reacted instinctively. His muscles tensed, magical energy surged, and his spiritual particles began to gather, though he didn't yet manifest any physical Noble Phantasm.

Whoever this person was, they had concealed themselves so well, yet hadn't launched an attack, and had instead revealed themselves openly. This suggested they had no immediate hostile intent. Attacking recklessly without more information would be unwise.

"You are...?"

Quickly piecing things together, Shinji turned his head, both asking and assessing the unexpected guest.

"Sorry, too close to see clearly."

"That's because you forgot to take off your glasses," Roman gently reminded him.

"Oh, right. I got too absorbed and forgot."

With this reminder, Shinji realized he was still wearing his long-distance glasses. After taking them off, everything came into focus.

The man before him wore a white coat and had a small pink braid. Smiling, he introduced himself.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you."

"Hello, nice to meet you, too."

Shinji couldn't quite figure out his intentions, so he just went along with it.

"My name is Roman, and you are...?"

"I'm—Wait, hold on. What did you say your name was?"

Like Olga Marie, Shinji, for the second time, was completely blindsided.