"All of them."
That sent a chill down Shirou's spine. Going by the script he knew, if the Three Founding Families were like this, they were practically on the verge of dying out!
First was the Matou family. Zouken Matou was dead, and Shinji had long since died and been turned into a puppet. Next, the Tohsaka family had been wiped out entirely; whether any of them had been made into puppets was still unclear. Finally, there was Einzbern.
Shirou did not know much about the Einzbern family. At the very least, he knew far less about them than he did about the Einzbern family, so for now, he treated Einzbern as the parallel-world replacement for the Einzbern family.
But in truth, even though Einzbern was the great villain, its family was nearly extinct as well.
Julian had once been Shirou's friend. His older sister, Angelica, was a puppet, which meant Angelica must have died before. Likewise, his father Zacary had also been turned into a puppet and had obtained the Saber card in this Holy Grail War.
Remembering such a terrifying matter, Sakura lowered her head. "There's something I want to tell you, Senpai."
"Hm?" Shirou was still immersed in shock and had not reacted when Sakura threw herself into his chest.
"If you can, if you'll allow it, please... run away! Forget everything! Forget Miyu, forget magecraft. Forget it all and leave this town. Senpai... if you can abandon it, then I'll abandon everything with you too!"
Was that so?
Shirou gave a bitter smile. But in this crumbling world, even if he could run, where could he run to?
This world was like Steel Land. Gaia seemed determined to wipe humanity out, changing the rules in certain regions of the planet. Where could he flee to?
This was not home.
Nowhere was home.
There was no longer any place on this planet where people could live happily.
Despair was everywhere.
Everywhere carried the stench of destruction.
That was why, after the Grand Hero made his wish, the Holy Grail could not transform the world into one where Miyu could live happily. So it simply sent Miyu to Illya's world instead.
"I'm sorry, Sakura." Shirou shook his head and chuckled softly. "Do you think that if I ran away today and abandoned the little sister who needed her brother, I would still be Shirou Emiya?"
"Even if I ran away, wouldn't I still run away in the future if something happened to you?" Shirou asked again.
"Senpai?" Sakura raised her head in disappointment. Tears glimmered in her eyes, but she still smiled. "I understand."
"I'll save them all. I'll save everyone. Not just Miyu, not just little Sakura, but myself as well. Everyone." Shirou made his vow.
Seeing Sakura's puzzled expression, Shirou joked, "After all, I'm an Ally of Justice."
Hearing Shirou's words, little Sakura let out a soft laugh. "As expected, you're still the Senpai I know."
"Stay here tonight." Shirou glanced out the window. "It's getting late."
At those words, little Sakura's face suddenly flushed. "Senpai really is... naughty."
"?????" A huge question mark appeared over Shirou's head, followed by several smaller ones. How was that naughty? He had clearly been kindly asking little Sakura to stay because it would be safer, yet somehow that made him naughty.
This was exhausting.
Wait... there was something implied in those words!
Shirou was, after all, an experienced driver of many years. At least, the soul he had before crossing over had been.
Before you continue