Princess Otohime, You Were Right

"Damn it! How could I fall here?"

Fisher Tiger gritted his teeth and forced his right arm back into place, letting it hang limply at his waist before clenching his right fist and charging forward again.

"Can't you see the gap between our strength?"

Shirou muttered to himself, throwing another punch and colliding with Fisher Tiger's fist.

This time, Fisher Tiger was not sent flying, but his left arm suffered a severe fracture and could no longer move.

"Damn it! Damn it... He's just a child. How can he be this strong?"

He roared and charged forward again, but his legs were broken one after another. He could only kneel on one knee, glaring at Shirou with furious eyes.

"Bastard! Is this as far as I can go? Take my head if you want, but please spare those innocent people behind me. They only fled with me because I forced them to."

"Even now, you're still thinking of others. You're a hero, Fisher Tiger."

"What kind of hero am I? In the end, I still couldn't do anything."

At that moment, a series of angry shouts suddenly came from the crowd behind Fisher Tiger.

"No! Mr. Tiger is a true hero."

"Don't hurt Mr. Tiger! We'll fight you!"

"Let Mr. Tiger go!"

The next moment, the slaves all rushed forward.

Among them were not only strong adults, but also children about Shirou's age.

Every one of them was filled with anger toward Shirou and the determination to protect Fisher Tiger at all costs.

The sight involuntarily reminded Shirou of the past.

After being adopted by Kirei Kotomine, he had not been as kind-hearted as Shirou Emiya. Those children imprisoned in the church had been used by Kirei Kotomine to provide magical energy for the Hero King, and Kirei Kotomine had committed plenty of evil deeds in secret.

As for him, although he had never participated, he had never stopped it either. He had always maintained the attitude that what did not concern him was none of his business, watching coldly from the sidelines.

If he had not been fairly close with Rin, he would never have accompanied her to save Sakura.

After transmigrating into a Celestial Dragon, he had believed this world was too dangerous. He had stayed at home cultivating his Devil Fruit abilities and had never stepped outside.

There were countless slaves like Hancock, yet despite having the ability, he had always watched coldly and never offered them any help.

In the end, he had always been a cold-blooded creature.

Raising his head and looking at the tens of thousands of slaves who had already rushed close, Shirou softly uttered a few words:

"Snow Burial!"

In an instant!

Snow appeared out of thin air, wrapping around all ten thousand slaves at once.

Three seconds later, everyone below the neck had been frozen into ice sculptures.

"Why! Why would you do something like this?"

Fisher Tiger, whose limbs had all been broken, suddenly let out an enraged roar.

"Don't you have even a shred of compassion?"

"Compassion? Of course I do." Shirou shook his head slightly. "But one's position determines one's perspective. My identity means I can only do this."

If I had no compassion, I would have killed all of you in an instant.

"What kind of nonsense is that? You treat others as slaves as if it were natural. You Celestial Dragons all deserve to die!"

Fisher Tiger roared again. Feeling the gazes of those ten thousand people behind him, his heart was filled with agony.

He had failed the expectations of so many people. He was truly useless.

If he had not come, they would still be living as slaves, but at least their lives would not be in danger.

It was he who had led them onto a dead end.

"Damn Celestial Dragons! Every one of them has parents, family, and friends, yet you captured them as slaves and forced them to live lives without daylight."

"You destroy other people's happiness, regard all humans as inferior creatures, and take all of that for granted. Yet you tell me it is simply because you are a Celestial Dragon?"

"Because you are a Celestial Dragon, you have to do such vile things as enslaving others? Because you are a Celestial Dragon, you have to stand above everyone else?"

"Bastard! Don't you have the ability to think for yourself? You know it's wrong, yet you insist on continuing down the wrong path?"

Looking at his face filled with rage, Shirou remained silent.

Indeed, he had a point.

He knew it was wrong, yet he had intended to continue making the same mistake.

In terms of knowledge and experience, he far surpassed Fisher Tiger.

Yet he, someone who had received a higher education, was being lectured by an idiot who had never even received compulsory education.

He had known from the very beginning what was right and what was wrong.

He had also known what the correct course of action was.

Yet he had continued doing wrong things and treating them as natural.

"Heh heh... You make a lot of sense. But what meaning does what you're doing have?"

"Even if you rescue these ten thousand people, as long as the slave trade continues, neither the world nor the Holy Land will change in any way."

"Once another batch of slaves is purchased, Holy Land Mary Geoise will return to its former prosperity, just as it always has, without the slightest change."

A trace of confusion flashed through Fisher Tiger's eyes, but it quickly turned firm again as he said loudly:

"Even so, it still has to be done! I'm an idiot. I don't know any method that solves everything once and for all. I can only do this."

"Maybe I'll die here today, but so what? Even if I save only one person, my actions will still have meaning."

Shirou laughed again.

He had never expected to be lectured repeatedly by an ignorant native idiot who had barely read any books.

But he was right!

In his previous life, he had watched coldly only because he lacked the strength to do anything. All he could do was stand by and watch.

Over time, the passion in his blood had gradually cooled, until he ultimately became a cold-blooded person.

But in this life, despite possessing strength unmatched in the world, he still watched coldly from the sidelines. That was truly inexcusable.

The sages once said: when poor, cultivate oneself; when successful, help the world.

How laughable. He had clearly remembered those words all along, yet only now understood their meaning.

Fortunately, it was not too late.

"Hahaha... You're right. All this time, I've been watching coldly. I knew it was wrong, but I kept turning a blind eye."

"Water Clone Jutsu!"

His hands rapidly formed seals, and another Shirou appeared beside him the next moment.

"Mimicry—Acunologiya."

The clone Shirou's body instantly grew larger, transforming into the form of Black Dragon Shirou.

His skin was dark, his black hair nearly reached his neck, and savage hostility filled the space between his brows, making him seem extremely dangerous.

"With the CP Organization and the Navy hunting you down, you won't get far. From now on, I'll personally escort you out."

"There are plenty of empty ships over there. They aren't mine, but I'll pay to buy them later. Use them however you like."

Queen Otohime, You Were Right

Chapter 32: Queen Otohime, You Were Right

Butler Hyman looked fearfully at the clone Shirou in Acunologiya's form, then moved closer to Shirou and cautiously asked:

"Young Master, are you going to release these slaves?"

"Well... These slaves have seen the light and are filled with a yearning for freedom. They're no longer suitable for being slaves. Let them go."

"But..."

"No buts. Consider them bought by our family. If I release my own family's slaves, that shouldn't get in anyone else's way, should it?"

"Yes, Young Master!"

As he spoke, Butler Hyman quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Although Shirou's strength was absurdly powerful, and he had just displayed incomprehensible cloning and transformation abilities, that familiar tone, manner of speaking, and temperament were enough to prove that the young master was still the young master. He had not been replaced by someone else.

"Also, is there any way to suppress this matter? Don't issue a wanted poster for Fisher Tiger."

"That can't be done, Young Master. Mr. Tiger had blood on his clothes before he arrived, so he must have killed quite a few people. The other Celestial Dragon families will never let this go."

"I see. Then forget it. For Pirates, a bounty can be considered a form of encouragement."

Listening to their conversation, hope appeared in Fisher Tiger's eyes once more. He hesitantly asked:

"You're letting us go? Why?"

"There's no reason. If I have to give one, congratulations—you won against me, Mr. Fisher Tiger."

"Won? I couldn't even withstand a single punch from you."

"Strength can be improved through training, but your conviction moved me."

Shirou looked at the slaves in the distance, waved his hand to release their frozen state, and sighed.

"Some things are obviously wrong, but everyone around us is doing them, so we follow along without any guilt. But there are some things we simply cannot do without guilt."

"I won't say what you did was pointless, but from now on, I'll try to change this world through other methods."

"As an idiot who can only use this method, just watch from afar."

"Before long, the world will change because of me."

At that, a smile appeared at the corner of Shirou's mouth.

"Then, Mr. Fisher Tiger, please accept my treatment first."

Although he did not currently have any Recovery Potions made by Slime, using the Medical Ninjutsu that Water Shadow was proficient in to give Fisher Tiger some simple treatment would not be a problem.

"Thank you."

Looking at the green light in Shirou's hand and watching his fractured arms gradually recover, Fisher Tiger murmured softly.

He had never expected there to be such a different kind of Celestial Dragon in the world.

With such strength and such bearing, perhaps the world really could change because of him.

If that was the case, then he would widen his eyes and watch from afar.

Queen Otohime, you were right.

Still, this trip of mine did not seem to have been entirely meaningless.

In the blink of an eye, Fisher Tiger's injuries had recovered completely.

Although he was not fully healed, he could already walk normally.

Many slaves who had recovered from their frozen state hurried over, supporting Fisher Tiger while looking fearfully at Celestial Dragon Shirou.

"Thank you very much. May I ask what we should call you?"

Shirou glanced at the clone Shirou beside him and said with a smile:

"I'm just a child. The one who'll deal with you from now on will be him."

"Just call me Acunologiya," the clone Shirou immediately added.

Under Fisher Tiger's arrangements, the rescued slaves began boarding the ships one after another.

This continued for nearly a minute before dozens of CP Organization members ran over from the distance.

The leader among them looked around and shouted:

"New orders! Kill all slaves. Absolutely no slave may escape from the Holy Land."

"Stop!"