Everyone's Whereabouts (1)

That smile seemed both helpless and wistful.

The first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds, illuminating this small town in the far east, like a blessing of new life.

Even in ruins, Ryuudou Temple, bathed in the first rays of sunlight, still exudes a comforting sandalwood fragrance—a scent unique to temples.

When Wang Xiaoming came to his senses again, he noticed that there seemed to be other people around him. He turned his head and saw that it was Emiya Kiritsugu guarding the two children. He had taken off his trench coat and covered Shirou and Sakura, who were still sleeping.

"You've arrived? Well then, goodbye."

Kiritsugu, who had witnessed Medea's dissipation, saw Wang Xiaoming come to his senses, and then got up from beside the two children.

They staggered toward the gate of Ryuudou Temple.

However, just as they were passing each other, Wang Xiaoming called out to him:

"Wait."

"?"

Emiya Kiritsugu stopped, but didn't turn around. His back was to him, his expression unseen, and he remained silent, seemingly waiting for Wang Xiaoming to speak next.

"If I told you that your wife is still alive, would you believe me?"

"..."

Perhaps suspecting there was something wrong with his ears, Emiya Kiritsugu didn't react at first. However, after Wang Xiaoming patiently repeated the question again, Emiya Kiritsugu finally turned around, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes.

"What did you say?!"

Without repeating himself, Wang Xiaoming turned and walked straight to Shirou, who was lying down. He half-squatted down, placed his palm on Shirou's chest, and then, following Medea's instructions before parting, concentrated all his magical power on his fingertips.

Suddenly, a golden light emanated from his previously empty hand, enveloping the surrounding area in a warm glow.

Emiya Kiritsugu held his breath as he watched everything unfold before him. Although both reason and what he had witnessed firsthand proved that Irisviel was dead, the scene before him rekindled the last glimmer of hope in the man's heart.

The light gradually formed an outline, then transformed into a gleaming, metallic object in Wang Xiaoming's hand.

It is a sword sheath.

Made of gold and decorated with dazzling blue enamel, the engraving in the center is a long-lost fairy script, proving that this scabbard is an artifact crafted by non-human hands.

--Avalon is the scabbard used by King Arthur, and also the Noble Phantasm used by the Einzbern Family to summon Saber. Previously, because Irisviel needed to disguise herself as her Master to fight on the front lines, Kiritsugu sealed it into her body as Conceptual Weapon to protect her safety.

As for why it appeared inside Shirou's body, no one knows what happened at the time, and Kiritsugu doesn't want to know either.

"Keep this if you want it..."

Seeing that Wang Xiaoming had produced this, Emiya Kiritsugu felt a surge of anger amidst his disappointment, but the next second—

"Caster said your wife's soul is inside."

Ryuudou Temple Main Hall

Although the Lesser Grail had been destroyed, the remaining Black Mud began to stir wildly as if making a final, desperate charge.

The magic emanating from the Black Mud was frantically disturbing Medea, who had just used Magecraft to jump into the main hall. Suppressing her agitation, Medea looked around and quickly found her target.

In a corner of the main hall, two children were sleeping peacefully. Medea breathed a sigh of relief, but she was also surprised that the black Black Mud had not swallowed the two children. In fact, the area around the two children was clean, without a trace of the Black Mud.

Although she didn't understand what was happening, Medea didn't care and used Magecraft to appear in front of the two children.

After Medea created a protective barrier around the two children, the surging Black Mud that had been flowing around them seemed to have lost some kind of restraint and began to rush towards Medea.

Medea gritted her teeth, wanting to use Magecraft to move the two children away. However, the disturbance from the Black Mud prevented Medea from concentrating on her chanting.

Suddenly, a golden light emerged from Shirou and enveloped Medea and the two children.

The surging Black Mud, which had been spreading beyond the golden light, miraculously stopped. It was like a giant wave crashing against a dam; although the force was astonishing, it still couldn't break through the dam's restraint.

--What exactly happened?

Upon seeing this, Medea was surprised and couldn't help but feel a bit curious.

After instinctively using Magecraft to examine Shirou's body, Medea discovered the golden scabbard and the soul sleeping within it.

Before parting, Medea telepathically told Wang Xiaoming that there was a sleeping soul inside the sword sheath.

Medea, who had once adjusted Irisviel's body, recognized the soul sleeping in the scabbard at a glance.

"But I don't know the specifics of how to do it..."

However, for Noble Phantasm of Avalon's caliber, being able to identify Irisviel from it is the limit of Medea's capabilities.

"Anyway, you can figure it out yourself."

Wang Xiaoming scratched his head, walked up to Kiritsugu, and handed him the scabbard.

After taking the scabbard from Wang Xiaoming, a somewhat bewildered voice appeared in Kiritsugu's ear:

"... Kiritsugu?"

A single call was enough to quietly melt Emiya Kiritsugu's long-frozen heart.

"I am here..."

With a slightly trembling voice, Emiya Kiritsugu responded to the call.

Then--

Golden light emerged from the sword sheath, followed by a white figure appearing within the golden light.

With her silver hair flowing down her back and her beautiful face radiating an intense tenderness, the mistress of Einzbern emerged from her sword sheath.

"Iris... Iris!"

Emiya Kiritsugu practically rushed over and embraced his wife.

"Uncle?"

Wang Xiaoming, who was already prepared to watch the show, suddenly heard Shirou's voice from the side. He turned around and saw Little Shirou rubbing his eyes as he crawled up from the ground.

"You brat, call me Dad!"

Wang Xiaoming lightly punched Little Shirou on the head, then ignored him as he clapped his head in his hands.

Turning his gaze to the other side, watching the Emiya couple embracing each other, Wang Xiaoming chuckled softly.

--Perhaps tragedy is always beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful, unforgettable. But there have already been too many tragedies in this world, why can't there be some happiness this time?

I'm almost done updating, please join the group to urge me to update!

(The group number is in the book's description)

The next chapter will wrap things up, and then they'll start giving the protagonist a power-up.

Chapter 138. The Movements of the Crowd (Part 1)

The battle at Ryuudou Temple ultimately garnered significant attention within Fuyuki City.

Although the monks in the temple had been dismissed before the battle began, the loud noises that came through the night still aroused great curiosity among the residents of Fuyuki.

However, after police investigation and church intervention, the incident was ultimately determined to be an underground pipe explosion. Apart from the main hall, which was now in ruins, there were no casualties.

The end of the Holy Grail War was simply defined as an "accident".

No one knows the fierce battle that took place inside Ryuudou Temple that night, nor does anyone know what tragedy Fuyuki City avoided.

All that battle left Fuyuki City with were the simple words, "No casualties." Naturally, no one would know about the Heroic Spirit and Magecraft who fought in it.

But this is for the best.

London Clock Tower

After the Holy Grail War ended, Waver bid farewell to the MacKeigis and returned to London to continue his studies. Not long after, Kayneth also returned to the Clock Tower.

To Waver's surprise, the first thing Kayneth did upon returning to the Clock Tower was to publicly announce to the Mage's Association that Waver Velvet had been accepted into his fold by himself, Kayneth El- El-Melloi Archibald, one of the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower.

--That is, the successor who will inherit his magic and the name El-Melloi.

This news immediately caused a huge uproar in the Clock Tower. Even though the news of Kayneth's defeat in the war in the Far East had spread throughout the entire Clock Tower, no one in the Clock Tower dared to question Kayneth's decision.

However, the name Waver Velvet was on the desks of other faction leaders at the same time. Everyone was curious about what kind of person this student, whom they had never heard of, was, that would be chosen by the arrogant "Lord".

But when Waver's information was made public, everyone was shocked.

He had no outstanding talent whatsoever, and his Magecraft abilities were insufficient even for the lowest rank. He was practically a piece of trash... no, he was even worse than trash in terms of aptitude. His thesis was even criticized as worthless by Kayneth.

His friend Marisbilly Animusphere even came to dissuade Kayneth from acting rashly, but Kayneth managed to persuade him to stay calm.

So what exactly was the reason that Lord El-Melloi chose this incredibly bad student? This unanswered question has become a strange tale within the Clock Tower.

However, everyone agreed that Lord El-Melloi had made an incredibly foolish decision this time.

Friends like Animusphere are few and far between; most people are prepared to watch the joke unfold, and some are even ready to kick the El-Melloi clan while it's weakened.

However, none of this seemed to affect Kayneth, who was currently preoccupied with another matter:

After reading the "leave of absence" in his hand, Kayneth turned his gaze to his disciple standing before him— Waver Velvet—and asked in a calm tone:

"Have you made a decision?"

"That's right, I think I need to go out and gain some experience."

The boy was still not very confident, and his posture was not as straight as Kayneth's when he was sitting in the chair, but he spoke very clearly and expressed his attitude very clearly.

"Traveling abroad?"

After listening to his disciple's words, Kayneth took out another document from the envelope containing the leave slip. It contained only a few words, but clearly explained his plan.

"Greece, Persia, India... these places..."

Kayneth looked up from the letter and gave his student a half-smile, as if he had seen through his disciple's little schemes.

"..."

Waver resisted the urge to look away, firmly meeting his mentor's gaze, while also bracing himself for Kayneth's sarcastic remarks.

"Now that we have a plan, let's go for it."

To Waver's surprise, he was met not with ridicule but with Kayneth's calm approval.

Seeing the astonished look in his disciple's eyes, Kayneth put down the letter in his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips before disappearing, making Waver wonder if he was seeing things.

"Do you need me to prepare the funds for your travels? Although the previous war dealt some blows to the Archibald Family, we can still afford to cover the expenses for my travels."

My advisor can't possibly be that easy to talk to!

Although it may be somewhat disrespectful, it was Waver's most genuine thought at that moment.

"So, what's your answer?"

Perhaps not getting the answer he wanted, Kayneth frowned and looked at his disciple with displeasure.

"No... no need!"

Shaking his head, shaking his head frantically.

Waver had never intended to receive assistance from Kayneth in the first place. Although he received an unexpected bonus, it was not what he wanted.

--If one's travels are aimed at following in Rider's footsteps, then approaching them with a leisurely, sightseeing attitude is not only disrespectful and blasphemous to Rider, but also an insult to oneself.

Seeing that Waver had refused his "kindness," Kayneth was not angry. On the contrary, the frown that had been furrowed with dissatisfaction relaxed, and he nodded and said:

"Is that so? Then it's up to you."

Waver's purpose in coming here was to obtain Kayneth's permission. Now that he had achieved his goal, there was no need for him to stay any longer.

After bowing slightly to his mentor in farewell, Waver turned to leave.

"Wait a moment."

The voice from behind sent a chill down Waver's spine, not out of fear, but as an instinctive reaction to the long-suppressed authority Kayneth held in his heart.