Chapter 465
No matter how outstanding you are, my existence is indeed indispensable.
Shirou gave a wry smile, "Yes, please continue to guide me from now on, Miss Ushiwakamaru."
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm! I'm glad you understand--so I'll take care of Shirou tonight."
"... Why?"
Ushiwakamaru picked up Shirou's dinner and happily brought the spoon to his lips.
"I'll feed the immobile Shirou, come on... ah~"
Even if the other person is a hero from a thousand years ago, it's still embarrassing to be fed by a girl of similar age.
Shirou hurriedly sought help from those around him, but Musashibō Benkei turned his gaze away, while Siduri touched her cheek and smiled.
Wait! Help me!
"Come, Shirou, ah~"
Shirou opened his mouth in despair.
As he humiliatingly swallowed his food under the girl's happy gaze, he secretly resolved to overcome this divine environment as soon as possible.
Seven days passed after his first day of work, Shirou successfully continued his work of guarding Uruk.
Although this was a commission without any payment, Siduri did give Shirou some living expenses and pocket money.
Having learned from the first day's experience, Shirou no longer went all out as before, but instead limited his output and gradually eliminated the enemy.
That being said, encountering large-scale Magical Beast attacks might just be a matter of luck at first; it's not always that smooth sailing.
The number of Magical Beast lurking near Uruk is decreasing.
This is not a good thing; it indicates that enemy forces are gathering at the northern fortress.
King Leonidas, the Lancer who commands the army on the Demonic Beast Front, also seems to be living in the Heroic Spirit Dormitory, but Shirou has been in Uruk for a week and still hasn't been able to meet him.
It is said that Leonidas used to return to his dormitory every night to rest, but he hasn't been seen lately.
The fighting at the northern fortress is extremely intense, to the point that even on nights when the Magical Beast are at a truce, vigilance cannot be relaxed.
According to Siduri, a powerful Magical Beast with extremely high intelligence appeared in the Northern Fortress, which unified the ragtag Magical Beast into a well-trained army.
Because the number of Magical Beast near Uruk has decreased dramatically, Shirou has no choice but to accept Siduri's suggestion to stay in the city and do some requests from the citizens.
"Okay, that's about right. How is it, grandma?"
"Oh, this is a huge help. My back has been bothering me lately, and just cutting wheat like this makes it hurt terribly."
That must be really hard work, please don't push yourself too hard.
If it's inconvenient, just curse King Gilgamesh to the heavens, and I think someone will come to your aid soon.
"Hahaha! To speak ill of such a wise king would surely incur divine retribution!"
The client's mother-in-law patted Shirou on the back while smiling.
Since there were no Magical Beast hunting tasks available, Shirou started running quests around the city.
He estimated that he would stay in this era for a long time, and establishing connections and deepening exchanges with the locals would be essential.
Today's job is to harvest crops.
The elderly woman had planted some wheat, which she had always managed alone, but starting this year, she began to experience health problems, making it difficult for her to continue harvesting.
In the past, she could have petitioned King Gilgamesh to borrow two soldiers to help at her home.
However, due to the Magical Beast, the city is facing a severe shortage of manpower.
Shirou received this request from Siduri and came to help.
Having grown up in the city, Shirou had no experience in farm work. Although he was initially at a loss, he quickly adapted.
After successfully completing his work, Shirou received five Miko silver coins from the old woman.
The original Mesopotamia, of course, had no concept of currency.
In response to the crisis, Gilgamesh transformed Uruk into a fortified city.
They cultivated grains, trained soldiers, carried out large-scale construction projects, and introduced a monetary system in the city.
"Damn it... don't misuse the Clairvoyance!"
Shirou, clutching the heavy silver coin in his hand, embarked on his journey home at dusk.
We walked through the market and slipped into a small alleyway around the corner.
Then, Shirou stopped just as he was about to reach the dead end of the alley.
"You've been following and monitoring me for a week now, haven't you? What do you want from me? I don't sense any malice from you."
As he said this, Shirou suddenly turned around.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeage!?!?"
Behind them came a girl's panicked screams and a huge surge of magical energy.
However, when Shirou turned around, there was no one there.
In the deep, narrow alley, there was nothing but himself, as if the girl's cries just now were his own hallucination.
"... Did they escape?"
Shirou muttered to himself.
It seems I'm being targeted by a particularly shy woman who doesn't want to show her true face.
Speaking of which, didn't that scream just now sound familiar?
The red-haired boy thought to himself, "I feel like my voice sounds a lot like someone else's."
"Haa... haa... haa..."
The goddess Ishtar slumped on the Sky Ark Maanna, sweating profusely and panting heavily.
That was close...
That was close... he almost caught me!
She had already used her goddess Authority to minimize her presence as much as possible, so why was he still able to discover her?
The goddess Ishtar was astonished by Shirou's perceptive abilities: This boy is indeed very special.
Ever since Ishtar's chance encounter with Shirou while inspecting the garden a week ago, she has been secretly following him.
The reason why reports of the goddess Ishtar's murder on King Gilgamesh's side decreased by 70% is due to this.
From that moment on, the goddess focused all her attention on Shirou, and had no time to pay attention to anything else.
In short --
Ishtar fell in love with the red-haired boy at first sight.
The goddess has always been very emotional when it comes to love.
In terms of appearance, the boy was only an average person, slightly above average, and could not be compared to Ishtar, the goddess who was the embodiment of beauty.
Comparing them side by side is like comparing a "Golden King inlaid with seven-colored gemstones" to "iron ore just dug out of the ground, still covered in mud."
Ishtar loved glamorous, Gilgamesh things; she had no interest in plain-looking men, however—
This time, she inexplicably felt an attraction from the red-haired boy.
Even she herself couldn't explain it; perhaps it was due to the influence of this body?
Decades ago, the Age of Gods in Mesopotamia came to an end.
The goddess Ishtar also disappeared from the earth at that time, along with the other gods.
The Heavenly Mistress who has appeared here is actually someone summoned three months ago by the Uruk Miko.
When Magical Beast appeared in the north, the Miko secretly performed some kind of ritual behind the king's back.
That is to attempt to summon the city goddess Ishtar.
The Miko and her group valued the city god more than the King, and they saw the instability of time and space as a golden opportunity.
Taking advantage of King Gilgamesh's construction of a fortress north of Uruk, the High Miko first summoned a "soul matching the goddess's divinity," and then used that soul to summon Ishtar.
As it turned out, Ishtar, the city god of Uruk, did indeed descend.
The Mesopotamia gods were mostly blonde, but she had black hair—this was because she was a girl who "became the foundation."
The two selves have completely merged, becoming a completely new existence, but can still exist as the original "goddess".
Compared to the original Ishtar, she has now become slightly more human-like, which is why she unconsciously protects citizens while eliminating Magical Beast.
The goddess Ishtar thought to herself: her falling in love with that boy at first sight was probably due to the influence of this body.
But--
This body originally possessed the highest affinity with the goddess, and was the perfect vessel summoned by the Miko from the distant future of Human History.
In other words, the men this body would be attracted to are the same type that Ishtar would be attracted to.
How... how is that possible...?
Why would I be attracted to that ordinary, poor kid...?
This confusion and shame only deepened the goddess Ishtar's shyness.
Given this goddess's arrogant personality, she would have appeared before her beloved in a grand and straightforward manner to propose; if he refused, she would have knocked him unconscious and taken him home.
However, now she was too ashamed to show herself in front of him, and could only observe him silently from a distance, her face flushed.
"Should I have run away just now? But it was just a subconscious thought... Ugh, what if he thinks I'm weird!"
Ishtar cupped her burning cheeks.
The goddess is also troubled by her love life today.
Today marks the tenth day since Shirou arrived in this era, and he has finally received King Gilgamesh's second summons.
"What's going on? I thought you'd completely forgotten about me."
As soon as he entered the audience hall, Shirou began to complain.
Upon hearing this, the Golden King of Uruk shouted, "Fool! My work is very busy; I have no time to care about insignificant nobodys like you!"
"Even so... the King actually asks me about Shirou every single day, without missing a single one," the High Priest added from the side.
"Stop talking nonsense, Siduri!" Gilgamesh was even more enraged.
"I was too talkative."
"... snort."
Gilgamesh rubbed his forehead; he looked even more tired than when Shirou first met him.
Shirou could roughly understand why his father couldn't spare the time to talk to him: it seemed that the situation on the Demonic Beast Front was really not optimistic.
"Shirou, I've heard so many rumors about you these days, my ears are practically calloused."
"I only did some trivial things," Shirou said modestly.
"No need for formalities. You just want to see me want to praise you but can't bring myself to do it, don't you?"
Gilgamesh chin on his hand. "I heard from Siduri that you are very confident in your Martial Arts and hope to undertake a mission that directly confronts the Magical Beast army, is that right?"
Since that's the case, this time, as you wish, I'll assign you a task suitable for your role—go to the front lines!
"The front lines, which means..."
"Demonic Beast Front."