Two months later, Shirou had completed all of Reines's commissions. That day, he came to Webber's office. Regardless of why Webber had approached him, the two had gotten along well lately, and Shirou had come to say goodbye.
Just like that time with Touko Aozaki, Shirou kicked the door open without an ounce of decorum, then plopped himself down on the expensive sofa in Webber's office.
Webber did not even raise his head. He had already grown used to Shirou's rude behavior—or rather, he found it reassuring. After two months of observation, he had discovered something: Shirou only acted so disrespectfully around people he knew.
That was not a bad thing for either Webber or El-Melloi. After all, the kid could fight like a beast.
"What brought you here?" Webber asked. There was no need to be too polite with Shirou.
"Nothing much. I'm leaving, so I came to let you know."
At that, Webber suddenly looked up and glanced at Shirou through his square glasses. "Then do me one last favor, all right?"
"Go ahead." Webber was a decent person, and Shirou did not mind helping him out.
Webber checked the time, then stood and headed for the door. "Come with me," he said to Shirou.
The two did not stop until they reached the door of the El-Melloi Classroom. Shirou asked Webber boredly, "Hey, Second, is there something you couldn't have said in your office?"
"Nothing much." Webber lit a cigar. Ever since becoming a Lord, he had taken a liking to them. "I just want you to substitute for one class."
You really think highly of me, Second. I don't know a damn thing about magecraft!
"You really aren't afraid I'll lead your students astray, Second?" Shirou muttered.
Webber leisurely blew out a smoke ring and replied at an unhurried pace, "It's fine. At least you're strong. Just tell them how to become stronger."
Well, sorry about that. I was born overpowered the moment I came to this world! Shirou grumbled inwardly. But since he had agreed in the first place, he would not go back on his word. He could only blame himself for agreeing too soon.
"All right, but at least introduce me to the students first. I don't exactly look very authoritative."
It would have been one thing if the students were from another classroom, but Shirou was substituting in the Modern Magecraft Department's El-Melloi Classroom, where all the Clock Tower's problem students gathered. Without even a shred of authority, he would really be treated as a joke.
Webber nodded. Shirou had a point. He led Shirou into the noisy classroom. Sure enough, Velvet's reputation was no joke in this classroom; it immediately fell silent.
Webber pointed directly at Shirou. "Let me introduce him. This is the substitute teacher I found for you. He'll be in charge of this class. All of you had better behave yourselves, or else..."
Webber paused, then spoke the words every student dreaded most:
"Ten times the homework!"
Second really knew what he was doing! Looking at Webber, Shirou somehow thought of his middle school teachers... They had been terrifying.
After Webber left, Shirou shoved his hands into his pockets and casually walked up to the podium. He could clearly feel himself becoming the center of attention in the classroom.
They had thought he was merely a new classmate brought in by their teacher, only to find out he was a new teacher. The disappointment was immense.
"Don't be so nervous." Shirou waved at the students. "At worst, I won't assign homework for this class, so even if that guy Second multiplies it by ten, it won't matter!"
Shirou made a small joke, and the students in the classroom all breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, a teacher who joked with students could not be too hard to get along with.
"Well! Let me introduce myself first. My name is Shirou, and you can call me Teacher Shirou. I'm actually around the same age as you. Dreams are too far-off, so I won't talk about those. As for what I like and dislike... um, I'm not telling you!"
"So after all that, we only know his name?" Caules quietly complained below. "Also, isn't Teacher Shirou about the same age as us? How strong could he possibly be? Why did Velvet make him substitute for us?"
"Caules, don't say that. Teacher Shirou is really strong. Of everyone I've met, he has the most magical energy. It can almost rival Holy Lance Rhongominiad." The gray-haired girl beside Caules spoke. She was Gray, the student Webber had brought from the countryside.
Rumor had it that she possessed King Arthur's bloodline and was now King Arthur's tomb keeper.
But everyone knew Saber was a woman. The only person who could possibly be called her descendant was the infamous wielder of the father-killing sword, the Type-Moon world's renowned troublemaker, Mordred.
Unfortunately, Mordred was also a woman. In other words, Uther's Pendragon family had not only lost its kingdom, but had also been without heirs for thousands of years. So King Arthur's bloodline was simply out of the question.
Gray could actually be considered Saber's distant relative. If one traced it through Morgan's side, that was indeed correct.
As for why Gray also had Saber's face, everyone was kindly asked to ignore that. It was merely a foolish millennium-long conspiracy—a conspiracy to resurrect the living as the dead.
"King Arthur's armament... Isn't that way too exaggerated?" Caules cried out, unaware that he had become the focus of the entire classroom.
"There's nothing exaggerated about it, Caules," Shirou said. At some point, he had used Sonido to appear behind Caules. "If you're envious, then give up, because this is an inborn talent of mine. You can't envy your way into it. If you have any complaints about me, you may say them directly, but I will repeat your words verbatim to your Teacher Velvet and let him handle them as he sees fit. Finally, if you have nothing else to say, please sit down and let me teach my lesson."
Devil! This teacher, who was about the same age as me, is definitely a devil! Cold sweat poured down Caules's face. The person Velvet had found was truly no ordinary person. Even when they whispered so quietly, Velvet had never noticed. And that bizarre way of moving... What terrible luck!
After easily dealing with one of the El-Melloi Classroom's biggest problem students, Shirou used Sonido to return to the podium. When dealing with problem students, the most important thing was to intimidate them.
"Even so, I don't really have anything substantial to teach you," Shirou said helplessly. "To be honest, I'm not an outstanding magus at all. Other than being able to fight, I'm practically useless. I may be strong, but when it comes to magecraft research, I'm still far behind!"
"So the only thing I can teach you is this: choose a path that suits you, not the path everyone else chooses. We're the problem students in other people's eyes. Isn't being different perfectly normal?"
"Projection Magecraft is a very simple but very useless form of magecraft. Normally, it can only project the appearance of the original—a hollow shell with no practical use. But mine is different.
Because I possess a special magecraft attribute and special talent, anything created through my Projection Magecraft will be infinitely close to the genuine article. I will prove to everyone that a fake is not necessarily inferior in quality to the real thing!"
Before you continue