I'm Back.

Awkward.

Extremely awkward.

A super awkward atmosphere.

After Kiritsugu, Artoria, and the others left, Xia and Artoria were left alone on the balcony, standing in silence.

The black tea on the table was still emitting a warm steam in the icy, snowy landscape, but when faced with the silent stillness between Xia and Artoria, it could only helplessly and gradually dissipate.

Xia stood by the table, his back straight. He appeared expressionless and not nervous at all, but in reality, he was so tense that his palms were sweating.

{What do I do? What do I do? What should I say? What can I do right now to warm up the atmosphere?! Speaking of which! Why is Artoria also silent like me right now?!}

Gulp. Xia tugged at his collar and swallowed.

He secretly turned his head, glancing at Artoria from the corner of his eye, only to find her looking around with a helpless expression.

When Artoria's gaze, which was darting around, met Xia's "sneaky" gaze.

"Yada yada! No! I wasn't looking at you, I was looking at this table~ Ah, what a beautiful piece of art~! Ahahaha!! Ahahahahaha..!!!" Like a thief caught red-handed, Xia chuckled foolishly, scratching his head, and feigned an attempt to lower his head to carefully admire this cheap item full of "artistic value."

Simply an idiot...

"Ah! ..Yes! It truly is a table with "a bunch" of value! You must appreciate it carefully!" To his surprise, Artoria replied, as if trying to hide something. After speaking nervously, she actually bent down! Planning to "admire" this table full of "a bunch" of value together with Xia!

Simply two idiots...

Because the dining table was already very narrow, and both Heroic Spirits were known for their agility and speed.

So when they both quickly bent down at the same time, this scene occurred...

Bonk!

Artoria's forehead made intimate contact with Xia's head as they both bent down quickly, with no space in between.

They both straightened up at almost the same speed, each clutching their injured spot and squatting to the side, grimacing in pain...

The collision between Artoria and Xia was like two high-speed race cars crashing head-on; it was definitely a case where both cars suffered...

"Oof...!" Artoria clutched her forehead, squatting painfully to the side and letting out a muffled sound of endurance.

Hearing Artoria's pained groan, Xia, who was also in pain and squatting on the other side, immediately threw his own pain aside and quickly went to Artoria's side, wanting to check if her injury was serious.

Xia finally managed to move Artoria's small hand away from her forehead, only to see a blood-red mark on Artoria's originally fair forehead, which looked exceptionally gruesome. (Actually, it was quite normal; it was Xia's perception that was playing tricks on him.)

Looking at this blood-red mark, and then at Artoria's pained expression.

{Should I commit suicide to atone...}

There was no other way...

"Hoo~ hoo~ Let me blow on it~ Pain, go away quickly~ Hoo hoo~ Hurry, hurry, run away~" Xia forced a smile, bracing himself as he comforted Artoria, gently blowing on the red mark, saying the words his mother used to comfort him when he was injured as a child.

When Artoria first heard Xia's comfort, she almost burst out laughing.

{Is he treating me like a child? Hehe..}

Just as she was about to lift her head to tell Xia that it didn't hurt that much anymore, she happened to see Xia's dark pupils filled with worry and concern. His usually heroic brows were now tightly furrowed. His handsome face was filled with anxiety, yet he dared not show it.

{Xia...?}

Seeing Xia so full of worry, enjoying his clumsy yet sincere comfort, and feeling his warm hand gently stroking her golden hair.

Artoria swallowed the words that were about to come out.

She simply slowly closed her green eyes, slowly wrapped her arms around her knees, and squatted there, smiling softly, enjoying the peace and warmth of the moment...

{This familiarity, this sense of ease, this feeling of dependence... So comfortable...}

After a while, when Xia saw that the swelling on Artoria's forehead had gradually subsided, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Casually wiping the sweat from his forehead, he smiled and was about to tell Artoria that it was fine.

But then he found that, at some point, the golden-haired girl who had been kneeling had already run into his arms, clutching his robes tightly, and had fallen into a deep sleep with a peaceful and gentle smile...

Upon seeing this scene, Xia, who was slightly taken aback, gradually calmed down.

He held the girl's body tightly with both hands, savoring the gentle and reassuring touch he had dreamed of every night since his countless reincarnations began.

Holding her, loving her, thinking of her.

Countless reincarnations, countless thoughts, countless struggles and battles.

Now, he had finally received his greatest reward...

Finally, finally, he had it again...

My goddess...

I crossed the gates of time and swam through oceans of decay.

My shattered soul, my body that had collapsed countless times...

But.

No matter how difficult or disastrous the obstacles were that stood before me, no matter how many divine obstructions there were along the way.

I will overcome all difficulties and obstacles! I will stake my one and only soul! I will definitely come to your side!

"You're back...? Xia." A soft, dreamlike murmur, a small hand clinging tightly to his robe. A tear of longing fell onto the cold ground.

The young man's slightly constricted pupils looked with astonishment at the person in his arms.

When he realized the other person was merely murmuring in their sleep, he lowered his head again with a hint of disappointment.

But.

His hands tightened once more, holding the person in his arms close.

He listened to the sudden roar of the hurricane outside the balcony.

He watched as pure white snow began to fall from the sky, landing in this world of white.

"Yes, I'm back..."

ZERO is just a side story.

The real main topic is the Fifth Holy Grail War~

...Recommendation tickets~!

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching for the author; perhaps they just changed the name!