Chapter 114

After glancing back at the direction of the Slums, and hesitating for a moment, Shirou did not turn back, but continued back towards the dormitory.

Only after confirming that Shirou had completely left did the monitor resume its swinging life.

Since the plan was to sneak into the Slums, Shirou didn't ride a bicycle. After all, it would be inconvenient to take it with him if he wanted to run, and it would also be used as a clue to track him.

When Shirou returned to his dormitory, it was already past two o'clock.

The Penguin Logistics dormitory was very quiet at this time, both upstairs and downstairs.

"Phew... I'm so tired."

He slowly opened the door to his dormitory and breathed a sigh of Shirou when he saw that it was completely dark inside.

After all, all the entertainment options have been moved here, and sometimes when a few of us can't sleep, we'll sneak off to play.

It would be terrible if we encountered it directly now.

Although it could be said that the boss assigned him the work on short notice.

But Shirou felt it would be unfair of him to use his boss as a shield again, since his boss and Isv had helped him a lot.

Upon returning to his dorm Shirou first took a shower and changed his clothes.

Instead of practicing Magecraft as usual, he went straight to bed.

Shirou was thinking about what Isv had told him.

He's definitely gotten a bit cocky lately. The Fuyuki Store is on track and can be self-sufficient, and he's also received help from Rhodes Island for treatment.

The events of this month had captivated him, drawing him back to the ideals he had longed for.

Then he was enlightened by what Isv.

Isv is right. He's not alone now; he has to consider other people.

Penguin Logistics... It should be said that the Emperor helped him a lot, so he couldn't bring himself to just ignore it.

Moreover, he got along quite well with the four of them, which at least helped him calm down his initial anxiety when he first arrived.

"So it really does have some impact after all?"

Shirou rubbed his brow and thought that those four memories must have affected him.

He envied each of himself in the story... or rather, he envied Shirou Emiya.

Find your soulmate, surpass your ideal self, and understand what you want to protect.

All four memories are quite dazzling.

This also led to him being unwittingly influenced by the four versions of himself from his memories.

It didn't come from anything else; it was simply... imitation of them.

Before he had much contact with his past memories, he no longer held onto his ideals, but recently he has suddenly started taking action.

"Is it a memory problem, or is it simply that I'm unable to change this... curse?"

Shirou lay on the bed, turning his head to look out the window.

The moonlight streaming through the window fell onto the table, allowing Shirou's thoughts to drift away.

On that same night, the Red Knight, with a relieved smile on his face, said:

"Will the ideal of Hero of Justice continue to curse Emiya in the end?"

"No... it should be that Shirou Emiya will ultimately walk the path of being Hero of Justice until his body is shattered."

"Emiya will eventually become Hero of Justice? That's not something to laugh about."

The scene then cuts off, with Shirou on the bed covering his head.

Headache, dizziness, and a general feeling of unease made Shirou feel like he was completely out of sorts.

"Hiss... that's... Archer?"

Once he recovered, Shirou recalled the image that had suddenly flashed before his eyes and the words the other person had said.

None of those were seen in past memories.

That should mean that it's one's own memory.

He himself definitely participated in the Holy Grail War; this had already been confirmed beforehand.

His right hand... His right hand was interrupted in the previous memory, and the last image was of Archer severing his right hand.

There are cases of people using human bodies to take on the bodies of Servant.

That time it wasn't my right hand, but my left.

Thinking of this, Shirou sat up and carefully examined his right hand.

"This is definitely my hand... or am I overthinking it?"

No matter how many times he checks, Shirou can clearly say that it is his right hand.

Skin color, size, length, nerves, and connections in Magic Circuits —these are all evidence.

"And the Holy Shroud ...this should belong to Archer, not that priest."

As he picked up the Holy Shroud, Shirou felt that there were more and more things he didn't understand.

Shirou felt this was even harder than trying to guess what riddle the riddle was saying. At least the riddle was right in front of him, and he could forcefully ask the riddle. But these questions were something he had to figure out on his own.

What is certain at present is that his previous memory is real.

But his missing right hand is still attached to his body, as is the Holy Shroud used to seal Archer's arm.

Shirou probably encountered something after that that caused his body to be transported back to before the Holy Grail War began?

After all, his Magic Circuits were a bit strange when he first arrived here. At first, he simply thought it was due to the influence of different worlds.

But now it seems that it was probably for other reasons.

Why did he come here?

How did he travel here?

Even if Shirou racked his brains, he couldn't figure out the answer to this problem.

There is too little information available, and he has many problems.

"If there were someone else who traveled from another time like me, things would be much easier..."

After thinking for a long time, Shirou lay completely flat on the bed.

If there is another person who has traveled through time like him, at least there is someone to compare and ask.

He was just a high school student before, and his grades were actually pretty bad, so he didn't understand any of this nonsense.

Now... he's just a housekeeper.

Shirou chose to abandon his thinking.

Many times, many problems cannot be solved by simply getting stuck in a rut.

He could only wait, waiting for himself to recall more memories of his time in the Holy Grail War.

Perhaps we can glean some useful information from it.

A curse... Indeed, the ideal of Hero of Justice, which is too heavy, may have always been a curse on Shirou Emiya.

But... even knowing that continuing forward would only lead to a bottomless abyss, he would still resolutely move forward.

This was something he had promised his father.

In a hazy Shirou thought about the scene he had just witnessed, and, embracing his weary body and a host of unanswered questions, drifted off to sleep.

124 Texas Physics silenced the two.

A few days later, Shirou got up around 5:30 every morning and stayed up until 2:00 in the morning before going to bed.

That number of working hours was something that Isv admired quite a bit.

If it weren't for the fact that most of the time was spent on Shirou's personal matters, the Emperor might have been moved to tears.

I was right about judging people! He can work a whole month straight and still put in intense overtime! He's practically every boss's dream employee!

He just takes on a lot of side jobs, but it doesn't bother the Emperor.

Who doesn't have some hobbies these days? Anyway, he doesn't care once he's done his job.

Besides, what Shirou is doing is much more normal than what other people's hobbies are, so it's fine for him to continue doing it steadily.

I don't expect to make money from this business, but it's good to build some connections.

For those of us in the intelligence field, having more connections and knowing more people can save us a lot of trouble.

That's why the Emperor, being a capitalist, thinks so much; Shirou's thoughts are much simpler.

If someone is in need and willing to accept help, then he will help them.

The shop hired two more people, both of whom had been kicked out of their homes after contracting Oripathy and had nowhere else to go.

Given its current size, Shirou no longer takes in a large number of people.

With no money, no space, and no one to manage things, the decision not to expand further was made after discussions with a few people. Human capabilities have their limits, and if we were to forcibly recruit more people now, we might not even be able to maintain the business. That's why Shirou put an end to the idea.

The children we're taking in now are all people the kids already knew, and they're all able to integrate well into the group.

As for the investigation at night, there has been some progress in the past few days.

However, Shirou felt as if he was being targeted, as he was being chased by that Hooded Figure every time he appeared.

He has now changed back into his red coat. Since he'll be chased no matter what he wears, there's no need to waste any more energy modifying the Projection product.

Thanks to this, Shirou also discovered a faster way to obtain information.

Find a high place to stand, and you can look down much faster without worrying about being chased.

Although there are some blind spots, as long as he notices a suspicious person, he can find them by having Is Isv.

This is a victory of teamwork and collaboration!

The reason it's described as "some progress" is that Wei Jingong helped the Hooded Figure catch the person.

They didn't do much, just fired a few arrows from a distance to surround the enemy.

Since it was unclear whether the person was a criminal or not, Shirou did not directly injure the opponent, but instead chose a slightly more complicated approach.

Yes, that's right, it's a little troublesome.

It simply means trapping someone inside with precise arrows from four kilometers away.

When the Isv drone circled around, it could see the other side with snot and tears streaming down their face.

That's just too tragic.

When Chen, who was chasing the criminal, saw the arrows turn into blue specks of light and disappear, he only frowned slightly.

Of course, these images were dictated back to Isv by Shirou.

Seeing one's own family members crush others is quite stress-relieving.

However, Shirou still doesn't know the Hooded Figure's true identity, and as long as he's not a bad person, he doesn't need to find out who he is.

Just focus on doing what you're supposed to do, and don't bother the other person or let them bother you.

"Shirou? Shirou! You're daydreaming again!"

Exusiai stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Shirou several times before Shirou was pulled back from his memories of the past few days.

He was able to hold on for a few days, but he would occasionally start to drift off into a daze.

Thank goodness I don't have to go to class, otherwise I would definitely have been made to stand in the hallway as punishment by the teacher.

"What's wrong?"

Looking at the table full of food and tableware, Shirou, who had regained his senses, realized that nothing seemed to be missing.

There was just one person missing; besides him, the only other people at the table were Croissant, Exusiai, and Texas.

They're probably still rehearsing right now.

"I want to tell you that you've ruined all the toppings in your burger."

Exusiai pointed to the hamburger in Shirou's hand and said.