A Hero Always Arrives Fashionably Late! (New Book—Please Support!)

After standing there in silence for a long while, Shinji finally moved.

He reached up and scratched his hair, his face showing a hint of helplessness as he muttered under his breath.

"Seriously, calling it a legacy makes it sound so nice, but it's just a complete mess."

Then Shinji let out a soft breath, turned to Sakura, who had not fully understood the situation but had quietly listened from beginning to end, and gave a few awkward chuckles.

"Sakura, it may indeed be a little late, but you should know that heroes are the kind of people who arrive fashionably late."

Looking at Shinji's awkward smile, Sakura recalled Zouken's earlier words: "Whether it was your jealousy toward Sakura, your obsession with Magecraft, or that twisted pride of yours, it was all an act you deliberately put on!" She also remembered what her brother had said from the very beginning: "This is merely a power fundamentally different from magecraft, accumulated bit by bit in secret over the past ten years." And there was also what Emiya had mentioned about her brother once stealing his pudding.

The way he deliberately tossed her the leftovers he had barely touched, along with desserts after meals, as though throwing away trash, even though she could only eat poisonous food for all three meals of the day; the late-night snacks that belonged only to the two of them; the presents that had never ceased on her birthdays and every holiday...

The distance, resentment, and disgust she had believed were all an act. Her brother had always been protecting her in his own way.

As she thought about it, the image of that cool little boy standing proudly before her surfaced in Sakura's mind again.

"Sakura, just wait. As long as you obediently listen to me, once I learn all those amazing things, I'll definitely look after you!"

Though she still did not entirely understand what was going on, the fact that this brother had cared about her from beginning to end had become clear. Even those words she had once dismissed as childish nonsense had been true...

Seeing Sakura staring blankly into space, Shinji scratched his cheek with a finger and gave an embarrassed, crooked smile.

"Even I think it's ridiculously late, but at least you've gained a future where you can breathe freely and live freely, right? So..."

Before Shinji could finish, Sakura, silent tears bursting forth in an instant, threw herself into his arms.

Yeah, so soft... No, so big... No, so heavy... Damn it, damn it, damn it!

She's just my little sister. Little sister means purple has a certain charm...

Shinji silently recited a little sutra to clear away distracting thoughts. It worked remarkably well.

"Brother—!"

This was the loudest Sakura had ever called him "Brother" in Shinji's memory.

A cry filled with countless complicated emotions: bitterness, grievance, gratitude, pain, and more.

"There, there." Shinji's expression gradually softened as well. He reached out and gently rubbed Sakura's head. "You don't need to suppress your emotions anymore, Sakura."

Feeling the warm hand on her head and the firm, warm chest before her, looking at her brother's gentle face and eyes filled with heartache, Sakura's emotions, suppressed for so long, finally broke completely out of control.

In the end, she burst into loud, heartbroken sobs.

So she had not been as alone and helpless as she had thought...

Rider had also roughly understood the situation from the earlier conversation. At this moment, she merely stood quietly to the side without making a sound, waiting for her Master to vent emotions that had been bottled up for who knew how long.

Reception room.

On the sofa, Sakura, her face covered in tear tracks, tightly clung to Shinji's arm. Her head had not left Shinji's shoulder since earlier, as though she feared losing the most important thing in the world.

After reading documents for nearly half an hour, Shinji finally could not help speaking. "Um, Sakura, how about you go wash up and put some clothes on first?"

Sakura shook her head, still wrapping herself tightly around Shinji's arm. She even seemed to hold on a little tighter.

After letting out a soft cry of pain, Shinji put down the documents in his hands and pinched Sakura's cheek. "Did that hurt?"

Sakura shook her head again. At the same time, she seemed to use all her strength to lock Shinji's arm tightly against her chest, with no intention of letting go whatsoever.

Seeing Sakura act like this, Shinji silently broke into a cold sweat. ...I just wanted to tell you that you're not dreaming. How am I supposed to continue if you shake your head? Should I force it? So soft... No, this is way too hard—awkward, damn it!

"Be good. There are still many things that need to be handled next," Shinji continued softly. "Now that Grandfather is gone, there's a vacancy in the management of the spiritual land. We also need to find a way to deal with the Mage's Association's investigation. Before long, a whole pile of trouble will come knocking. We need to deal with things quickly while we still can."

Sakura still showed no reaction. She only shook her head.

"Master, preparations must also be made early for the upcoming Holy Grail War."

Rider, who had been waiting at the side the entire time, spoke as well. But the response she received was exactly the same as Shinji's: a shake of Sakura's head.

After a long silence, Rider spoke again. "Does Master have no wish she wishes to have granted by the Holy Grail?"

This time, Sakura finally spoke.

"My wish..." Sakura raised her head to glance at Shinji, her voice soft. "If this isn't a dream, then it's already come true."

Rider: ...Then how about you send me back?

Seeing Rider fall silent, Shinji smiled helplessly and once again reached out to rub Sakura's head.

"It's not a dream. You should know that your brother never dreams. The nightmare of eleven years has ended, Sakura. Also, you really should rest now. Although all the Imprint Worms in your body have been removed, the burden those things placed on your body over the past eleven years can't be fully recovered from in such a short time. Besides, since a Servant has already been summoned, the Holy Grail War is unavoidable. But your brother will do his best to keep you out of the Holy Grail War."

"What did you mean earlier about Master's Holy Grail function?" Rider asked.

"I can't tell you the answer to that question for now, but don't worry. That problem has basically been resolved."

"Will you participate in the Holy Grail War?" Rider asked the key question.

Shinji gently shook his head. "Like Sakura, I don't have any wish I want the Holy Grail to grant."

"But you aren't denying that you might participate?"

"Yeah, that's how it is for now. After all, quite a few of the participants this time are acquaintances. I might get dragged into it somehow, so it's not entirely impossible that I'll end up participating."

In Rider's eyes, Shinji's gaze was clear and sincere. He did not seem to be lying. Other than his eyes constantly staring at her chest, there was nothing particularly wrong with him.

"Don't misunderstand. It's my habit to observe a person's breathing through the rise and fall of their chest, then predict their next move from every breath. I absolutely don't have any strange thoughts."

Rider fell silent once more. Although Shinji's words sounded impressive, even rather cool, she somehow felt that something was off.

"As long as you pose no threat to Master, I will not attack you. And I do not believe I am a match for you."

"Hahaha..." Shinji suddenly laughed for no apparent reason. "You seem to have misunderstood, Rider. I'm not nearly as powerful as you think. Earlier, I merely borrowed a little power from the future."

"Power from the future?"

"Yeah." Shinji clenched his fist. "I borrowed the power from the height I'll be able to reach someday in the future. Of course, it had a time limit, and I've already returned it."

"Borrowing power from the future, even for an instant, would come at an unimaginable cost. What price did you pay?"

Shinji did not answer. Instead, he smiled and glanced at Rider, abruptly changing the subject. "Do you know, Rider? When a woman starts becoming increasingly curious about a man, that's when she gradually falls into the greatest danger a woman can face..."