Alexis tried her best to expin, and after repying the clip several times, Scarlet finally uood her . Still, she was fident. “This would never happen. Don’t worry.”

  “How you be so sure?!” Alexis protested, pointing at the paused se of Gilgamesh and Enkidu bsting each other with Enuma Elish. “Look! They could totally explode a whole ti! I mean, we’re talking like...humanoid nukes here!”

  “Their power es from their Masters, doesn’t it?” Scarlet pointed out calmly. “Trust me, no human in this world could fuel them to that level.”

  “But, like they could use the Ley lines...”

  “If someoually used the Ley lines (some sort of power source from earth) on such a massive scale, the Queen would have alerted me,” Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “The Queen’s been the world for turies, sihe time of legends. She never once mentiohe Holy Grail War or Ley lio me. Do you really think she wouldn’t tell me about this?”

  Alexis thought about it for a moment, then exhaled. “You’re right, I guess I’m just, like, over-w.”

  After a brief silence, Scarlet asked, “When is this ing out?”

  “It’s like...thirty years from now, I think?” Alexis ted on her fingers. “Oh! I mean, Fate/Strange Fake. The Fate universe started way earlier, like, in the year 2000...I think? I never got the ce to get super into it before I got here. Ugh, I still haven’t started the game!”

  “So, you just learned about the Servants’ lore, and their anime and video clips.”

  “Yup!” Alexis nodded enthusiastically. “I mean, just look at him! Gilgamesh is hot! Okay, yeah, he’s got an awful personality, thinking everyone else is, like, a total ‘mongrel’, but hey, he’s hot! And Enkidu? Also hot! That’s all that matters.”

  “...Okay.”

  “Not just him, though. There are loads of hot guys in the series!” Alexis emphasised, “Even some of the grandpas are, like, super hot!”

  “...Grandpa?”

  “The First Hassan! He’s literally why assassins are called assassins,” Alexis said, eyes sparkling. “Oh, and Archer! In his red battle suit – super good at cooking. He’s like, the mom of the group.”

  “...Archer?” Scarlet looked puzzled but decided not to think too deeply about it. Instead, she asked, “By the way, what css do you think I’d be?”

  “Lancer, obviously!” Alexis paused, sidering it. “But also maybe Caster. You could totally have two csses and more, like Cú n! Oh, he’s super hot too! And holy, your battle suit looked a lot like the one he wore in the anime...”

  Scarlet chuckled ahe thought aside. “Right. Well, I’m starting my training now, so keep it quiet, okay?”

  “Actually, I’m heading back.” Alexis quickly shoved her things int. “So gd none of this stuff is actually gonna happen. Anyway, see you tomorrow. Byeee!”

  “Bye,” Scarlet replied, watg her leave before beginning her warm-ups.

  But as the door closed behind Alexis, something Scarlet. The door had closed slower than usual, creaking as it did...Hmm, probably needs some oil, she thought, shrugging it off and tih her routine.

  The day, she was surprised to find that the twins had ma Alexis’s character designs to life.

  They ied a gss piece, about the size of a thumb, into a wooden board carved with ay slot. Something activated, and a holographic yet solid-looking s materialized above the board, floating in mid-air. The s dispyed an animation of two boys tipping their hats and bowing, them jumping aside as two wands shot into view, f a sparkling “W” - their logo, a W with two iwined wands.

  “Fancy, isn’t it?” Fred grinned broadly, “I must say, midy, ygestion to put o on every product has been a real bea for us. Our name’s spread to people who haven’t even bought anythi!”

  “We’ve even had an order from Germany!” Gee added, his face lighting up. “Blimey!”

  “Gd it helped.” Scarlet examihe wooden pte as the s dispyed a bnk page with only a py button. “So, what’s ?”

  “In our first design, this shard only holds one game, so just click py, and we’re set. But we hit a bit of a snag fitting all of Wizard’s Gambit into this small gss piece – it's just too plex. So, it’s a demo version for now.” Fred expined. “Anyway, it’ll work for testing the character designs. Just click py, and we test it out.”

  Gee tapped the py button, then pced a card onto the wooden pte.

  A vortex appeared oe, then a man in armour holding a sword emerged, scowling and addressing the audience, “You’re the one who summoned me? Whatcha’ wao kill?”

  The art style wasn’t quite the 2D anime look Alexis had aimed for. It looked more like a 3D model trying to resemble 2D in some mobile games, or simir to the Vtubers Scarlet had stumbled upon in her previous life.

  Scarlet g a proud Alexis, who had her hands on her hips. “Looks . What about the other characters?”

  Gee sed the Swordsman card for ahis time showing a young woman holding a spear. “Spearman, at your service.”

  The voice of the spear-wielding woman caught Scarlet off guard. She narrowed her eyes at Alexis. “Why does her voice sound like an older version of me?”

  Alexis looked away with a sheepish smile. “Well...I might’ve been a bit inspired by you, hehe.”

  Fred and Gee chuckled.

  Gee took away the Spearman card and pother. This time, a middle-aged man with a longboeared, muttering, “Let’s get this over with quick. I need a nap.”

  Fred nodded approvingly. “Brilliant. Just as we imagined. Well worth splitting wizard chess just to study their magic.”

  Scarlet eyed the three cards. “So, only three characters?”

  “They be upgraded.” Gee held up more cards. “This one makes them a team leader, this one a captain, and this one a general.”

  Fred poio aack. “These are buffs, ons, and items.”

  “Only healing potions?” Scarlet flipped through the cards. “No clerics or csses to heal injured units?”

  “The ander - meaning the pyer - has healing powers,” Fred expined, pointing to a er of the wooden pte. “In 1v1, the ander heal their unit three times, with a minute gap between each use, and no recharges. In 5v5, three heals with a recharge. Troops-vs-troops allows ten heals with faster recharge time.”

  Gee added, “Plus, they use items to speed up the recharge.”

  “And all cards only be drawn from the stack beside the battlefield? Once every minute?” Scarlet asked for firmations and received nods in reply. “So it’s all down to luck – no pig favourites?”

  “For this version, no,” Fred replied with a mischievous smile. “But for an upgraded version - definitely.”

  “And we’ll sell it at different prices,” Gee added with a simir grin.

  “With even more stylish characters, each with their own lore and stories--”

  “--getting pyers hooked on colleg them, just like with the Chocote frog cards.”

  “And we’ll package these with our other ables--”

  “--our sales will soar so high, and we’ll be the fi businessmen, bringing joy and ughter to everyone!”

  Scarlet was impressed. “Wow, you two dream big.”

  Alexis, however, was looking a bit downcast. “I wish I knew what my dream was.”

  “Until you do, just keep making games with us!” Fred said, g her on the shoulder. “After Wizard’s Gambit is a hit, we’ll make one of your simple games . You’ll be famous, Alexis!”

  “Or,” Scarlet suggested, “you could still sider sending a résumé to Nintendo or PyStation.”

  Alexis’s eyes lit up, then aruck her. “Or, I could start my own studio and make indie games!”

  Scarlet nodded. “If you’ve got the funding.”

  “Which means I’d better start saving up if I want my own studio.” Alexis sank thoughtfully into her pns.

  Turning back to Fred and Gee, Scarlet asked, “So, up is finishing the game table design?”

  “Absolutely,” Fred nodded. “Although we’ll have to slow down a bit – exams are ing, and we’re not taking a bunch of T’s home.”

  Scarlet chuckled. “Fair enough. Just let me know if you need any galleons.”

  “Will do, Midy!” The twins chorused.

  With a satisfied sigh, Scarlet bid the game makers goodbye and headed to the library. Life was just lovely without vilins lurking in the shadows.

  And once she dealt with the soul fragments, she’d have even more time hunt down those Death Eaters at her leisure.

  Scarlet sincerely hoped her pn would succeed.

  Qiya