Type-Moon, But I Summon Tom

"Regarding that, it's unlikely." Hearing Tokiomi's words, Kirei actually took a moment to seriously consider the possibility of his Assassin sneaking drinks from treasured red wine.

The conclusion was clear—impossible. Not only had Assassin just been summoned recently, but from a practical standpoint, considering the interests of the Holy Grail War, no Servant would slack off and secretly drink.

Moreover, his Assassin was the Japanese swordsman Okita Souji. In terms of taste alone, she wouldn't be interested in his preferred Western wines.

As for his master Tokiomi, although he never explicitly said it, Kirei knew that Tokiomi's taste in wine wasn't great. If Assassin wouldn't steal his own wine, she certainly wouldn't touch Tokiomi's.

Hearing Kirei's response, Tokiomi felt a bit more frustrated.

He had prepared meticulously for this Holy Grail War, even going so far as to obtain the first snake molt from ancient Mesopotamia. The victory seemed assured, but why had everything—from his and his disciple's Servant summoning to intelligence gathering—gone wrong?

First, Tokiomi was absolutely certain that the various mishaps weren't his fault. There must have been some issue with this Holy Grail War.

To the point where Tokiomi began considering whether he should just give up on this war and start preparing for the fifth Holy Grail War instead.

But after a brief moment of hesitation, Tokiomi decisively chose to continue with the current war. After all, what if he won?

"How about it? Should I have Assassin ambush Rider?" Seeing Tokiomi's silence, Kirei proposed another suggestion. "If we act now, we might be able to eliminate Rider in one move."

Hearing this, Tokiomi's eyes revealed intense doubt. This distrust wasn't directed at Kirei—he trusted Kirei completely.

The distrust was mainly aimed at Kirei's Servant. That Assassin couldn't even properly use Presence Concealment. Sending her to ambush Rider might just result in her life support failing, triggering her Weak Constitution skill, and delivering a glorious death.

If that happened, his advantage in the Holy Grail War would be nearly gone. That was unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable.

"...No, Assassin's mission remains reconnaissance... as much as possible."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Minamoto had wrapped Tom around his neck again, as they had entered the city area.

Compared to the daytime, it was much better now. At least the night was cooler, and using Tom as a scarf wasn't stifling. On the contrary, it was quite warm.

To be honest, when Tom lay still and slept, it was fine. But once he started moving, it became very obvious that he was nothing like a normal cat.

First, there was his face. Forget the fact that his movements were completely unlike those of a regular cat. Just looking at his extremely rich, even exaggerated facial expressions, it was clear that this cat was unique.

Ordinary cats might have a few basic expressions like ferocious, pitiful, or indifferent. But Tom? Minamoto had lost count of his expressions.

It could be said with certainty that, in terms of facial expressions, Tom was the Jim Carrey of the cat world!

Then there was Tom's logic of movement. Sometimes he might walk on all fours, but from Minamoto's observations, Tom seemed to particularly dislike walking on all fours for long. Even when Minamoto insisted he act like a normal cat, Tom would eventually start walking on two legs.

Especially when walking side by side and listening to Minamoto talk, Tom would almost always stand up. Perhaps he found walking on all fours too short and straining to hear Minamoto?

Minamoto wasn't entirely sure about this and needed further observation, but it was probably something like that.

In any case, Minamoto likely couldn't walk Tom in public places... Of course, it seemed Tom himself wasn't too keen on going out for walks, preferring to laze around indoors.

"...Could Ryūnosuke be any poorer?" Minamoto casually pulled out Ryūnosuke's wallet, looking at the meager amount of money inside. It felt like a heavy stone had been tied around his neck, making it hard to breathe.

Food and drink were already a concern, and on top of that, he had promised Tom some good food, which would cost even more money.

Being poor before transmigrating was one thing, but being poor after transmigrating was just tragic.

It made Minamoto regret not extorting some ransom from Waver earlier. But upon reflection, Waver seemed pretty poor too, so he let it go.

"Speaking of which, why does it feel harder to breathe... Tom?!" As he walked, feeling increasingly uncomfortable, Minamoto prepared to loosen Tom wrapped around his neck. But when he looked down, he was startled—Tom's head was gone!

Upon closer inspection, Minamoto realized that Tom's upper body was stuck to the glass window of a convenience store behind them. By now, Minamoto had walked four or five meters, stretching Tom's upper body several meters long.

Fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed. Minamoto quickly rolled up the stretched-out Tom into a coil as he walked, successfully retracting him.

Just as he was about to continue, Minamoto noticed Tom stubbornly clinging to the glass window, refusing to let go. "Tom, let go!"

"Shhh~~~" Just as Minamoto was about to use the promise of 'delicious food' to coax Tom again, Tom placed a finger to his lips, shushing him, then pointed to the convenience store's bento section with his right hand.

There, a store clerk was holding a stack of half-price stickers, about to place them on the bento boxes!

"This... a sale... mmm!" Seeing this, Minamoto's eyes lit up, but before he could say anything, Tom quickly covered his mouth and pointed to a few aunties nearby who hadn't noticed yet.

Realizing he couldn't let others catch on, Minamoto quickly nodded. Tom, reassured, removed his hand and continued pretending to be a scarf around Minamoto's neck.

Thinking that grabbing these bento boxes could not only reduce living expenses but also allow him to use the half-price bento as 'delicious food' to fob off Tom, Minamoto felt a surge of excitement!

There was no time to waste outside. Minamoto resolutely pushed open the convenience store door and headed straight for the bento section.

For there lay the half-price bento that would ensure his and Tom's survival!

Minamoto took a deep breath. There was no time to hesitate!

Even a second's delay outside could mean the difference between securing a half-price bento or not. After all, the convenience store was currently populated by a sufficient number of aunties.

As everyone knows, aunties, regardless of nationality, tend to appear in large numbers at supermarkets during low-price periods. With hand speeds unmatched by ordinary people, they sweep through the cheap food like a whirlwind!

And in this convenience store, there were several such aunties!

Therefore, hesitation was not an option. After all, hesitation leads to defeat.

After casually wrapping Tom around his neck and flicking Tom's tail so it hung in front of him, Minamoto pushed open the glass door of the convenience store with a sharp look in his eyes, quickly entered, and headed straight for the bento section!

"Welcome... huh?" Just as the cashier was greeting Minamoto, he grabbed a shopping basket and dashed toward the bento section. His swift movements left the cashier momentarily stunned.

"Screech..." Since the distance wasn't long, Minamoto started braking almost immediately after accelerating. For some reason, even though such speed usually didn't require much braking, he ended up sliding for a full meter before stopping. The floor was incredibly slippery.

After slowing down, Minamoto didn't bother hiding his intentions. He rushed to the bento section and, under Tom's urging, quickly scanned the area. Once he confirmed the half-price stickers were in place, he began selecting bento boxes.

Basically, anything cheap and looking delicious went straight into the shopping basket.

"They're putting up stickers over there." Unfortunately, before Minamoto could pick out many, an auntie nearby noticed the half-price labels and even mentioned it.

Hearing this, Minamoto's heart sank. This was bad.

Sure enough, before he could grab many, the aunties and uncles swarmed in. As soon as the clerk put up a sticker, they grabbed the bento. Minamoto, positioned awkwardly at the end of the line, was quickly pushed out. After all, his shopping prowess was no match for the aunties.

Looking at the six bento boxes in his basket, Minamoto hesitated. Stopping now would still be profitable, but not hitting the jackpot felt like a loss.

Seeing others getting better deals than him was more painful than death.

At this moment, Tom seemed to sense Minamoto's reluctance. Tom's brain quickly worked, and finally, he patted Minamoto's shoulder.

"Huh? What's up?" After making sure no one was watching, Minamoto blocked the surveillance camera with his back and whispered to Tom.

Tom pointed at the bento boxes that hadn't been stickered yet, then at the clerk. He picked up a bento box from the shopping basket, mimed sticking a label on it, and looked at Minamoto.

After his performance, Tom put the bento back and resumed his role as a scarf.

Seeing Tom's mime, Minamoto instantly understood.

After hesitating for 0.114514 seconds, he decisively walked to the left of the clerk and, under his slightly surprised gaze, began selecting the unstickered bento boxes.

With no competition here, he quickly picked out over ten boxes, all cost-effective and with longer shelf lives. Seeing the now heavy shopping basket, Minamoto decided to call it quits!

Carrying the basket to the clerk who was still putting up stickers, Minamoto said righteously, "Please stick these for me, thank you."

"Huh?" The clerk was momentarily stunned by Minamoto's move, clearly thrown off by this tactic. After a moment, he took the bento boxes from Minamoto. "Ah, sure."

As the clerk stickered the bento boxes, Minamoto felt the gazes of the aunties and uncles, making him extremely uncomfortable. But saving money wasn't shameful.

After the stickers were done, Minamoto quickly headed to the checkout.

If he stayed any longer, Minamoto felt he could dig a three-bedroom apartment with his toes out of sheer embarrassment.

After paying at the checkout, Minamoto left the convenience store with a plastic bag, feeling a huge weight off his shoulders. A total of 21 half-price bento boxes cost him 4000 yen, averaging less than 200 yen per box. It was an epic victory!

Thinking this, Minamoto felt that the sacrifice of his dignity was well worth it!

Although it was still early, Minamoto decided to head home. After all, a battle had already occurred tonight, and the other Holy Grail War participants likely wouldn't make any big moves. The rest of the night should be relatively quiet, so there was no need to wander outside. Honestly, after the mountain road chase with Tom and the high-speed fall, Minamoto just wanted to lie down.

Of course, Tom's urging to go home and eat also played a significant role.

About twenty minutes later, Minamoto and Tom returned to the vicinity of their 'home.' After looking around to ensure no one was nearby, Minamoto quietly climbed into the yard.

When they left in the evening, Minamoto had stuffed a piece of cardboard into the door lock since he didn't have a key. This made it seem like no one had entered the house, but in reality, the door could be opened with a pull.

"Phew~, finally home." Upon entering the living room, Minamoto immediately took Tom off his neck and placed him on the floor, handing him a bento box while grabbing one for himself.

Tom sat cross-legged on the floor, holding the box with his left hand and chopsticks with his right, shoveling food into his mouth!

Seeing this, Minamoto also prepared to dig in.

"Beep beep~~~" At that moment, an unpleasant sound suddenly rang in Minamoto's mind, immediately catching his attention.

Clearly, it was a notification from his panel.

"Panel." Minamoto couldn't care less about eating now. He stood up and summoned his panel. Soon, a floating display appeared before him. The summon button on the left, which had turned gray after summoning Tom, had lit up again.

Seeing this, Minamoto's spirits lifted. He knew exactly what this meant—he could perform another summoning ritual!

Looking at the button, Minamoto felt instantly better.

Honestly, after summoning Tom, the summon button had turned gray, with no indication of recovery or a progress bar. He had thought he might only get this one Servant.

While having Tom was enough to ensure his safety, who wouldn't want more firepower? Now that he could summon a second Servant, Minamoto was filled with excitement, already fantasizing about which Servant he might get.

After calming his excitement a bit, Minamoto put the bento box he had just picked up back on the coffee table and moved to a relatively open area, ready to begin his second summoning.

Just like the first time, after Minamoto clicked the summon button, a crimson summoning circle appeared on the ground and began operating on its own. Throughout the process, Minamoto didn't need to do anything except press the button.

As the summoning circle activated, each line of the circle began to emit a faint blue light, growing brighter and brighter.

Finally, after a burst of intense white light, the summoning was complete.

"Tom, don't look this way!" This time, Minamoto remembered his lesson. Last time, he didn't cover his eyes, and the light blinded him, making everything blurry for a while. This time, he preemptively covered his eyes.

At that moment, a small, soft light flew out of the summoning circle and headed straight for a nearby wall, hitting a mouse hole that suddenly appeared at the base of the wall. However, since both Minamoto and Tom had their eyes closed, neither saw this.

As the white light gradually faded, Minamoto uncovered his eyes and looked eagerly at the summoning circle, ready to see what kind of Servant he had summoned this time.

Then, Minamoto saw... zero figures in the middle of the summoning circle.

Yes, zero figures. There was nothing in the summoning circle, not even the circle itself, which began to disappear.

"..." Watching the summoning circle vanish, Minamoto's smile froze. He then opened his panel again, utterly baffled.

However, the summon button on the left side of the panel, which had turned gray after summoning Tom, was gray again. In other words, Minamoto should have completed the summoning.

"Where's my Servant?!!" Looking at the empty ground, Minamoto grabbed the bento box, ready to throw it in frustration. But remembering it was somewhat expensive, he put it back. Despite his grief, Minamoto's poverty-induced rationality held strong. Wasting a bento box would only deepen his sorrow.

Minamoto looked at the ground, then at the panel, and whispered in grief and indignation, "Can this thing really be a dud?!"

He never expected that summoning a Servant could fail. Who knew it was a chance-based summon?!

Seeing Minamoto's grief and indignation, Tom, who was quickly finishing his meal, glanced up, unsure what was happening. But after confirming it wasn't his fault, he went back to eating with his chopsticks.

As long as it didn't affect him, Tom would always choose to slack off.

Minamoto's mentality was completely shattered. He thought he was about to get a second Servant, but... well, he ended up summoning a lump of air instead!