Chapter 210

"..."

Archer wore an expression that said, "I knew it," and felt utterly exhausted.

Luckily, we spoke up early; otherwise, this guy might have already started taking action.

After thinking for a moment, Archer said, "Don't forget you're not a local, and there doesn't seem to be any human being here as we know them. I'm referring to the relationship between Originium and mana."

"Oh... I see. So Archer, you mean I should have as little contact with Originium as possible?"

Shirou thought Archer's words made a lot of sense.

"Given the situation here, it's difficult to avoid contact with Originium. My advice is to at least not cross that line. Once you cross that final line, there's no turning back."

From the words revealed by Shirou, Archer could roughly guess what stage the other party was currently in.

It was only a matter of time before that thing was discovered, and if possible, Archer hoped that Shirou could discover it later.

Let's try to delay it as long as possible.

Given Shirou Emiya's personality, he'll probably take action immediately once he confirms the truth of the matter.

As someone who's been through it all, all he can offer is a reminder not to cross that final line.

"What line?"

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Shirou felt that Archer, who was already difficult to understand when he spoke, was now even more incomprehensible, and even a bit abstract.

We're all Shirou, so please just say what you want to say directly, okay?

"You'll understand what I'm saying later. As for now... you should go back. Don't come back for a while. I'm not your babysitter who will take care of you forever."

Archer ended the conversation, knowing that if they continued, many things would be revealed through subtle means.

He understood the saying that too much talk leads to mistakes, so he gave the order to leave.

Although this is within Shirou's consciousness, he still holds a certain degree of control.

Unlike last time, Archer was not brutal. This time, he simply snapped his fingers and sent Shirou away, who still wanted to say something.

"They're such a worry... I don't have that much magic left."

After watching Shirou completely disappear, Archer sighed and muttered to himself, while gently clenching his hands to feel the magical power within him.

It can last for a while, but eventually it will run out.

Before that, it was unknown whether the other person could grow to the point of being able to stand on their own.

I don't ask for anything else, I just hope my thinking can mature a bit.

"Hopefully he'll calm down a bit from now on."

After saying that, Archer disappeared.

Then a large amount of sandstorm swept through, the snowfield slowly disappeared, and the desert beneath it was revealed.

Dusk, desert, and tiny Originium crystals that fill the earth.

"..."

He opened his eyes, looked at the familiar Shirou, and then silently got up.

At least this time the guy didn't use violence to throw him out, but he still threw out a riddle at the end that gave him a headache.

He was already having a headache because of many things, and now Archer's words were giving him an even bigger headache.

Shirou felt he desperately needed some headache medicine.

Of course, this is just a thought.

"Take a cold shower and get ready for breakfast. Don't overthink it."

After giving himself a pep talk, Shirou decided to put aside thinking about other things for the time being!

First, focus on preparing breakfast for this morning!

Before that, I need to freshen up, just like always.

Upon entering the bathroom, Shirou prepared to wash his face to clear his head, lest he momentarily lose focus and slip and fall in the shower.

"At this time? Let me think... I'll empty the fridge for breakfast, and pack some lunches for the three members of the Knights of the Round Table. That should be just right. I can buy some more supplies this afternoon."

While holding a towel and rinsing himself with hot water, Shirou thought about what he should do this morning.

Deliberately avoid other thoughts.

But many things cannot be avoided simply by deliberately avoiding them.

After wiping his face with a hot towel, Shirou looked at himself in the mirror.

His red hair was a little messy because he had just woken up, and his brown eyes were still a little sleepy because he had just woken up.

There are also tops that are a bit tight because they have a long body.

As he looked in the mirror, Shirou felt as if his reflection overlapped with a fragment of his memory.

Wearing red and black arm sleeves, he was looking at himself coldly through the mirror.

Bump—

When he came to his senses, Shirou's right fist had already shattered the mirror in front of him.

Because the Reinforcement Magic was performed unconsciously, he was not injured.

It's just a bit of a hassle to clean up the shattered mirror all over the floor.

"..."

However, Shirou's mind was clearly not on these matters.

"It's just a fragment, don't worry about it too much... It's just because our eyes met that it left such a deep impression. Like Archer said, it's just a fragment."

I thought of myself in the Black Mud, and then I thought of what Archer had said.

Shirou quickly calmed down.

"It's just because that scene was so memorable that I reacted like this. Calm down, calm down..."

Taking a deep breath, Shirou attributed his reaction to the fact that he had such a strong impression of that version of himself, coupled with the fact that the two of them looked alike.

The thought of himself bathing in Black Mud... just imagining it made his whole body tingle, but that's precisely why it left such a deep impression.

After cleaning up the broken pieces on the floor, Shirou decided not to take a bath.

After all, that fright just now woke him up directly, which was more effective than taking a cold shower or drinking coffee.

If Chen is unkind, don't blame him for being unjust.

These events did not significantly affect Shirou's subsequent schedule.

He was just not in a very good mental state, and we received a lot of concern about him for a while.

In the morning, I was practically forced to rest on the sofa by the four of them, while they were responsible for cleaning up the kitchen.

Also, when I was an instructor at the Knights of the Round Table, every time someone was replaced, someone would ask if he was in good spirits.

Do I really look that bad right now?

At noon, Shirou handed the bento boxes he had made that morning to Chen and Hoshiguma.

Of course, I didn't forget Swire's share, but she's in the next office and will probably be here a while.

Compared to Shirou, Hoshiguma and Chen's condition was not much better. Although they tried to cover it up, their deep fatigue and dark circles under their eyes could not escape Shirou's eyes, which were almost like a bug.

To put it simply, all three of them looked pretty bad.

"Didn't you sleep well last night? Were you bothered by those people from Penguin Logistics all night?"

As lunch break approached, Hoshiguma, who had been working tirelessly all morning, finally had a moment to relax and yawned as she asked...

Don't be fooled by the fact that she sent the battle plan to the other party very early yesterday. After that, she and Old Chen were still working on those battle plans in detail.

Although I was a little tired, it wasn't as tiring as I had originally thought, and it was still within my tolerance range.

Shirou, who went home so early, seems even more tired than the others.

Two pairs of tired, dark-circled eyes looked at Shirou and posed a soul-searching question.

"It's nothing, just a nightmare."

Seeing the two staring at him, Shirou scratched his head and said.

"Because you didn't sleep well because of a nightmare...? That sounds like a reason only a child would use."

Chen, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark after hearing Shirou's answer.

How old are you to still have trouble sleeping because of nightmares?

However, that's not entirely true. Everyone has some memories they don't want to recall, and perhaps Shirou is no exception.

So Chen only made a slight complaint and didn't take it too seriously.

Anyway, apart from looking like he hadn't slept well, Shirou was basically fine.

Isn't it because he's quite different from the usual Shirou? That's why some people care so much.

However, there's no need to bring this up specifically to bother Shirou.

"I don't want to either! By the way, are you planning to skip today's practice? Be careful, or I'll tell Commander Wei Yanwu you skipped class without a valid reason!"

After refuting Chen's complaint, Shirou asked a question.

The sparring session, which was originally scheduled for the morning, has not been arranged for various reasons.

Shirou hadn't originally planned to bring it up, but since Chen was so unkind, he shouldn't blame him for being unjust.

After all, he could be considered, to some extent, Chen's short-term tutor!

"Gulp... after my afternoon nap."

Chen, who was suddenly threatened by Shirou, made a somewhat reluctant sound.

First of all, she's very tired!

Then the Knights of the Round Table has a lot of work to do!

And I also need to find time to investigate the case of that blocking agent tonight!

Most importantly! You have to be extremely focused when sparring with Shirou! Otherwise, you'll basically be getting beaten up by him!

A guy who knows the weaknesses in your swordsmanship and can come up with a slightly different sword technique to spar with you each time is really hard to deal with!

The advantage is also quite obvious: Chen's understanding of his swordsmanship is deeper than before.

However, the downside is that it consumes a lot of energy.

Let's just leave it at that for today.

Looking at Chen's expression, Shirou said.

He was just saying it casually; he's not some kind of demon. Chen is clearly out of commission right now. If he arranges another practice session, things could get really bad if he encounters a case that requires him to be on duty in the afternoon.

"That would be perfect."

Hearing Shirou's words, Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's rare, isn't it? Old Chen, you've really got him wrapped around your little finger this time!"

Watching the standoff between the two, Hoshiguma smiled and said after Chen was defeated.

This is so good with rice, it makes you want to eat so much rice!

Just watching that scene made her eat most of her bento box.

"I can't do anything about it. Who told Shirou to hold Commander Wei Yanwu as a trump card?"

Faced with Hoshiguma's teasing, Chen simply waved his hands helplessly and said...

She prefers to relax and have fun in private, and doesn't want everything to be so serious.

"You guys had a good chat, didn't you? How did the investigation go yesterday?"

After three people at the dinner table were in poor spirits, the first person in good spirits finally arrived.

Swire simply pulled out the seat next to Shirou and sat down.

She knew that the others had abandoned her to investigate other cases, but she couldn't offer any useful help, so she didn't go.