“You already know what my technique can do.
The beings summoned by Heroic Spirit Summoning—I call them Servants.
And I am their Master.”
As they walked, Ritsuka continued explaining the technique framework she had adapted and consolidated.
“Master and Servant?
Kinky.”
Gojo teased.
“Ahaha…”
It’s not like I came up with the names.
What do you want me to do about it?
Ritsuka laughed dryly and didn’t take the bait, instead pressing on.
“Heroic Spirit Summoning comes in two forms.
One I can activate at any time, but what’s summoned isn’t a complete Servant.
They have no autonomous consciousness, and even with a continuous supply of ma—cursed energy, they can’t exist for long.”
In truth, this was simply the distinction between Shadow Servants and full Servant Summoning.
“Wait!”
Hearing this, Megumi—a fellow summoning-technique user—felt his heart lurch.
He quickly asked, “Are you saying that a complete Servant possesses self-awareness and can exist for an extended period?!”
His own technique was the Ten Shadows Technique, passed down in the Zen’in clan, one of the three great families of the jujutsu world.
It allowed him to summon corresponding shikigami based on hand-shadow gestures and was acknowledged as one of the mightiest techniques in existence.
But as a summoning-technique user himself, he had never heard of a summoned shikigami possessing its own consciousness.
At the very least, none of the shikigami he currently controlled were capable of that.
Even untamed shikigami displayed nothing more than attack instincts at most.
Ritsuka, for her part, was startled by Megumi’s reaction, momentarily afraid he had caught the near-slip she’d made earlier.
Thankfully, his focus was elsewhere.
Breathing an inward sigh of relief, she nodded.
“That’s right.
Is there a problem?”
A problem?
There’s a huge problem!
Megumi instinctively looked toward Gojo, and seeing that his expression remained perfectly relaxed, he calmed himself somewhat.
He pressed further.
“If the summoned shikigami—Servant—has its own consciousness, then how do you guarantee it will obey your orders?”
Hearing this, Ritsuka finally grasped what he was worried about.
She patted her chest and grinned.
“Don’t worry.
The Servants I summon are all very friendly…”
Mid-sentence, the faces of Moriarty, Ashiya Douman, Columbus, and a host of other troublemaking Servants suddenly flashed through her mind.
Her confidence instantly evaporated, and her voice grew smaller and smaller until it vanished entirely.
He curled one corner of his mouth and said, lightly, “Don’t worry too much.
I’m here.”
Right.
Gojo-sensei was here.
Realizing this, Megumi relaxed a bit.
He also more or less guessed why Gojo had called them all together to observe Ritsuka’s technique.
If the shikigami—Servant—Ritsuka summoned refused to obey commands, then Ritsuka, Megumi, and Nobara would probably engage it in battle first.
Only if the three of them together couldn’t handle it would Gojo step in.
On the other side, Nobara asked Ritsuka with some concern, “This technique sounds a bit dangerous.
There aren’t any side effects, are there?”
“Don’t worry, there aren’t.
Thanks for asking.”
Overhearing this exchange, Gojo gave Nobara a thumbs-up.
“Nice one, Kugisaki.
Full of camaraderie.
Nice!”
“Haha, well of course!”
Of course, my ass.
Megumi couldn’t help but gripe inwardly.
This woman Kugisaki practically practiced gender discrimination.
She had never once shown concern for him or Itadori.
Only around Maki-senpai and now Ritsuka did she act like a normal girl.
As they talked, the group arrived at an open area outside the academic building.
Eyeing the reasonably flat stretch of concrete, Ritsuka nodded.
Then she reached into the Treasury of the Retainer and pulled out the tools she would need.
“What is that?!”
Megumi’s eyes went wide with shock.
Even Gojo wore a look of keen interest.
Only Nobara, having witnessed this just the day before, remained perfectly calm—and even kindly explained it to the two boys.
“This is one of Ritsuka’s cursed tools…”
Before they could even process this, Ritsuka had already pulled a full set of equipment out of that unknown space—a set of triangle rulers, a large compass, and a sheet of blueprint paper.
Huh?
“And what’s all that?”
This time, Megumi’s tone was more puzzled than anything.
At the question, Ritsuka looked a little embarrassed.
She showed them the summoning circle drawn on the blueprint while scratching her head with an awkward laugh.
“The summoning ritual requires drawing a summoning circle, but I’m not very good at drawing.
So I have to use a few aids to help out.”
She was pretty despairing about it herself.
Polygons, fine, whatever.
But who was going to tell her why every mage out there could freehand a massive, perfectly round circle with nothing but their bare hand?!
The others present were similarly silent, baffled that someone couldn’t even master the ritual elements of their own technique.
“…Let us help.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
With their assistance, the summoning circle was quickly completed.
Now, at last, it was her time to shine.
Ignoring the murmured commentary from the sidelines—”This ritual is so Western too” “Definitely, definitely”—Ritsuka reached once more into the Treasury of the Retainer and withdrew a gleaming golden Holy Grail, placing it beside the summoning circle to serve as a leyline conduit.
Then, under the somewhat curious gazes of the three onlookers, she gently stepped into the summoning circle, positioning herself at its inner edge.
Don’t ask.
The answer is: she herself was the catalyst.
Within the summoning circle, Ritsuka took a deep breath.
Then she raised her right hand, bearing the Command Seals, and chanted aloud:
“Heed my words!
My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Holy Grail’s call and obey my will and reason, then answer my summon!
I hereby swear—
That I shall be all the good in the world,
That I shall defeat all the evil in the world.
I am the one who holds the chains.
From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three greet words of power,
Come forth from the Ring of Restraints,
Protector of the Holy Balance!”
As Ritsuka’s incantation rang out, the summoning circle began to glow with a bluish-white light.
Invisible magical energy whipped up gusts of wind and dust like a storm, setting the clothes of the three onlookers flapping noisily.
But no one paid the slightest attention to these small anomalies.
Their gazes were locked firmly on the center of the summoning circle.
They could feel it.
Something was manifesting.
“Servant, Avenger.
I have come in answer to your summons.
Honestly, how many times have I told you?
Stop using that revolting summoning chant when you call me!
It makes me sick to my stomach.
You…
do you really want to be burned to death by me?”
A sharp, biting female voice rang out.
However, before the self-introduction could even finish, her words quickly devolved into complaints and threats.
But Ritsuka paid not the slightest heed to these caustic remarks.
The instant she recognized the figure before her, she joyfully threw herself forward, wrapping the other in a tight embrace.
“Kyaa—?!
You insolent—”
Amidst the other’s flustered, outraged shrieks and scolding, Ritsuka delightedly called out her true name—
“Jeanne d’Arc Alter!”