Shinji Matou at Your Service

"Beautiful? Are you talking about me?"

Because of the close distance, Shinji could see the changes in Altira's face.

Her eyelashes trembled, and the tension in her cheeks seemed to spread throughout her body, with a blush spreading from the base of her ears.

She was shy and unexpectedly innocent.

Shinji nodded while activating the recording function.

"Of course, I'm talking about you. If you're not beautiful, then there aren't many people in human history who could be called beautiful. At least, that's what I think."

"Uh..."

The blush at the base of her ears quickly spread across her entire face, and her already gentle and melodious voice grew weaker.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid of what?"

Shinji feigned ignorance, asking knowingly.

"Afraid... of me. Just a squeeze from my hand, and you would lose your life."

Altira tried to make herself look fierce by putting on a stern face. But to Shinji, a giant without killing intent was just a huge rabbit, completely non-threatening.

"If you wanted to hurt me, of course, I'd be afraid. It's an instinct of life—are you going to hurt me?"

"I... won't."

Looking at Shinji's still gentle face, Altira made her decision.

"Why?"

Shinji asked.

"You have no hostility towards me. I won't harm those who aren't hostile to me."

Altira's thought process was very simple, and this simplicity indicated her kindness.

"Even if I act with those who are hostile to you?"

Perhaps recalling the battle with Arcueid a few days earlier, there was a subtle change in Altira's expression. Only at this moment did Shinji feel the pressure released by her.

Fortunately, this pressure quickly dissipated, accompanied by a sigh.

"She is she, and you are you."

Perhaps because of an inherent familiarity from a past life, Shinji never harbored hostility towards Altira, and this goodwill was being reciprocated at this moment.

"According to your logic, you aren't hostile to me and don't want to harm me, so why should I be afraid?"

As he spoke, Shinji floated into the air and jumped down from the top of the temple.

"It should be fine here. Lying there and talking must be uncomfortable, right?"

"Thank you."

Altira sat up as gently as possible.

"This is your home, and I'm an intruder. For the host to thank the intruder, you are..."

Although his words were teasing, his fondness for Altira increased. After all, Arcueid, who held a similar status, was very willful and lacked common sense, causing Shinji a lot of trouble cleaning up after her. In comparison, Altira was much more considerate.

"Home... is it?"

The term Shinji inadvertently used made Altira ponder.

"Although I don't fully understand the concept, this place shouldn't be my home. This is a fragment of the Wandering Star of Predation, a landing pod used to invade Mooncell."

"No, I think this is your home."

Shinji shook his head.

"Otherwise, why would there be so much gold here? I don't think these metals are useful to the Wandering Star of Predation."

"This... this is something I created. It's formed by extracting the desires for wealth, fame, and other pursuits from humans and then constructing them with spiritual particles. It isn't real gold. It's influenced by dreams, an experience of my mind-body left on Earth."

Altira closed her eyes, seemingly recalling that dream, and laughed.

"Hehe, it seems that in the past, I also collected a lot of treasures and then slept on them. I am recreating that experience now. Although it's a pity that they're not cute things, since they're spoils of war, there's nothing I can do. Anyway, as long as they shine, they can't be bad things."

It's a dragon-like hobby, but given the culture of the Huns, it's not surprising.

The Wandering Star of Predation Altira has two names engraved in Earth's history. First, the white giant of destruction, Sefar, and second, the ancient Hunnic leader who trampled the Eurasian continent with iron hooves, destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire, and conquered territories second only to Genghis Khan and Iskandar—Attila, known as the Scourge of God.

Why did a giant of destruction from 14,000 years ago become a hero active in the 5th century AD? There's an unknown secret behind this.

14,000 years ago, the original Holy Sword Wielder killed Sefar with Excalibur, and Mooncell took the opportunity to isolate Altira's true body in an unknown domain. However, the uncontrolled remnants of Sefar did not fall. Instead, it continued to wander the continent until it exhausted its last bit of strength and collapsed in the Sahara Desert.

Its form was witnessed by the locals, who depicted it in giant murals. Over the long years, Sefar's corpse turned into ruins, later excavated by the Hunnic chieftains. In the deepest part of the ruins, they found a sleeping girl—the future king of the Huns, Attila. Her essence was a mind-body created by Sefar as a backup.

As a mere backup, she had no direct connection to the Wandering Star of Predation and thus did not carry out the mission of destroying civilizations. The girl was raised as a human, fought as the king of the Huns, died as a hero, and was ultimately etched into human history, ascending to the rank of a heroic spirit. Although she had no direct link to the Wandering Star of Predation, her destructive instincts and part of her combat power remained, and with this strength, Attila earned the title of the Scourge of God.

This life was passed on as a dream to the sleeping Altira, influencing her. The surrounding gold, the attitude that hostility means an enemy who must be eliminated, and even the name Altira all stem from this.

As for why she calls herself Altira instead of Attila, it's simply because she finds the name Attila unpleasant; Altira sounds cuter. It's this girlish sentiment that makes her smile like this.

Shinji also smiled.

"Regardless of the value, it certainly isn't a bad thing."

"Do you like treasures too?"

"I do—wait, what are you doing?"

Before he could finish speaking, Altira excitedly scooped up a large handful of gold coins and scattered them toward Shinji. As she did, she exclaimed:

"Come, come~ Ah, how beautiful, how beautiful, just like a golden waterfall. This is a king's dream, isn't it?"

"Whoa!"

Shinji let out a cry and retreated into the temple as fast as he could.

"Why are you running?"

Altira's eyes, like burning stars, appeared outside the temple.

"Don't you like treasures? I heard that the most luxurious thing on Earth is to bathe in gold."

"That's outdated," Shinji protested.

"Besides, so much gold falling could kill a person. Even if it doesn't kill me, it still hurts."

"Eh? Ah..."

Altira finally realized the problem, her eyelids drooping.

"Is that so? Well, you're right. Ah... I'm sorry, I got too excited."

"It's okay."

Shinji walked out of the temple, his feet sinking into the sea of gold, demonstrating with his actions that he didn't mind.

Why get so excited over such a small thing?

It's simple.

The 14,000 years of isolation made her feel lonely, so she could only keep recalling Attila's brief life.

She and Arcueid are the same; both are afraid of loneliness, even if they are not aware of it.