029: Be a Magician or... Be a Father

An extremely faint magical fluctuation emanated from Shirou Emiya. It was so subtle that if Rin Tohsaka had not been staring at him the entire time, she might not have noticed it at all.

At the same time, Rin recognized the magic he was using. It was the most basic reinforcement analysis spell, allowing one to synchronize their senses with the object they touched for a short period and understand its structure. It was generally regarded as one of the foundations of alchemy.

But...

"Trace, on?" Rin looked at Shirou and suddenly asked in confusion, "Is that... a chant?"

She asked because, a day earlier, when she had solemnly asked Rimuru to find the barrier spell marks in the company that had been attacked by Caster and had its employees drained of much of their vitality and life force—

The two had split up. While Rin stood in the company's server room, staring blankly at the countless servers and preparing to inspect them one by one in resignation—"Rin, you've been exposed to Jewel Magic since childhood, right? And you seem especially proficient in it?"

"Yeah, why are you suddenly asking that... Huh? You're done searching over there already?!"

"Then I suggest you incorporate a few reinforcement or analysis spells into your Jewel Magic. At least when you encounter an environment like this..."

Rimuru chuckled, placed his hand on a row of server racks, and murmured an unclear chant. Instantly, a faint ripple of magical energy spread out and vanished. Yet the next moment, he effortlessly found three spell marks. "It'll be more convenient."

Ah, right... Rin snapped out of her daze. Thinking back now, Rimuru's soft murmur from back then suddenly became clear.

"Trace, on..." That was right. It really was that phrase—

At the time, although she did