C392

At Mount Enzou, Shirou, no longer in his Eternal King state, stood tall and observed Gil, who was still searching for his Class Card. He couldn't help but ask, "Hey, maybe the card fell into the parallel world?"

In the 'Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya' anime universe, after it got sucked into the parallel world, Angelica Ainsworth ends up picking up his Class Card. However, in the manga version, Angelica already had Gil's Class Card in her possession. Now, Shirou can't quite figure out what kind of world they are in.

Gil scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat perplexed, and then shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. My Sha Naqba Imuru is telling me that my other half is still somewhere around here."

Shirou raised an eyebrow. "Can't your Sha Naqba Imuru pinpoint the exact location of your Class Card?"

Gil shook his head again and pointed at him. "Nope, your skill is interfering with it. Likewise, my skill is messing with yours too."

"I see..." He stood up and said, "Well then, I guess I'll be on my way."

"Aren't you gonna stick around and search with me?" Gil flashed a pure smile. "Fujimaru-niisan?"

He frowned in disgust, then shook his head, "Sorry, but I really need to head back."

"Ah, what a shame." Gil sighed.

"Oh, and by the way," Gil added, "Ea accidentally tore the barrier between this world and that parallel world again just now."

Shirou wasn't the least bit surprised that Ea had the power to tear through barriers between worlds. In the end, it meant a headache for Zelretch, who would be tasked with handling the repairs.

However...

"Why did you say 'again'?" He picked up on that detail.

Gil smiled and explained, "Because Ea was already used once in that parallel world to break down the barriers between both worlds. And that's also the reason why the Holy Grail... oops, I mean that lovely lady, found herself falling into this world."

Frowning, he asked, "So, you're saying that the gods from that world are coming here because of the barriers torn down by Ea?"

Gil-kun shook his head, "It's not like that. It's because the magic of that mage went berserk over 1500 years ago. There were already some issues between the two worlds. And over those 1500 years, many things from the parallel world ended up falling into this world, but fortunately, someone managed to clean them up."

"I see..." Shirou nodded, then turned around and activated the wings of evil on his back, flying off into the distance.

"You didn't stop asking... Do you already have the answer in your heart?" Gil smiled mischievously. "For over 1500 years, amidst the invasion of the parallel world, someone has been protecting this world. But who could it be? Of course, it's a witch wandering in darkness."

Gil's face lit up with delight, "I must admit, I'm quite intrigued by this grand spectacle, Eternal King. Being targeted by a woman can be quite terrifying, especially if she's a powerful one."

He had once been targeted by a powerful yet foolish woman, or rather, a foolish goddess. She had toyed with him to the point of nearly breaking him entirely. Even his sole friend had been defeated by her.

"By the way, I wonder where my Class Card has fallen to?" Gil scratched the back of his head with some distress, then continued to dig through the soil in the large pit.

...

As Shirou flying all the way back home, he couldn't help but notice a crowd of people gathered at the doorstep of their house, all staring in the direction of Mount Enzou. Even several helicopters were heading towards the mountain. Clearly, the intense battle he had with Gil earlier had grabbed the attention of the people on the surface world.

But that wasn't his concern; dealing with the aftermath was the Church and the Mage's Association's responsibility. They were pretty skilled at handling such situations, and he had faith that they would manage it properly.

At worst, they could always use the excuse of the coming of the Savior of Light.

Nine years ago, they had successfully covered up the Holy Grail War and the Fuyuki Fire, so handling this situation shouldn't be a problem either.

Back at home, he found that Miyu had already finished tutoring Ritsuka in her studies.

Artoria and Sakura expressed their concern for him, but he reassured them, saying that everything was fine.

The atmosphere at home was warm and homely, just like that of an ordinary, loving family.

However, Ritsuka's continuous requests for him to return Ruby back to her left Shirou feeling somewhat displeased.

Ritsuka saw Ruby as a dear friend and genuinely cared about its well-being, which deserved some acknowledgment, maybe even a pat on the back. But returning Ruby was simply not an option.

Who knew that if he gave Ruby back now, the next thing it would do is deceive her sister into becoming a magical girl?

That was absolutely out of the question!

Late at night, Shirou walked over to where Miyu was busy tidying up her schoolbooks and gently asked, "How are you feeling?"

It had been over a week since Miyu started living with him and attending school. Now that Shirou was her legal guardian, it was only natural for him to be concerned about her well-being.

She pondered for a moment before responding, "Even though it can get a bit noisy at school... I'm doing okay, Fujimaru-niisan."

He nodded and smiled, "That's good to hear."

Miyu hesitated for a moment, her voice soft as she asked, "Fujimaru-niisan, can I really keep living here?"

She scolded herself internally for even bringing up such a question, especially to Shirou. But the more she experienced this peaceful and warm life, the more afraid she became. She was terrified that one day this kind of life would be taken away from her. Moreover, after the turmoil caused by Gil earlier that day, her fears only intensified.

He gently patted her shoulder, "Just enjoy your childhood and have peace of mind. That's what adults are here for."

"Okay!" she nodded, feeling comforted by his words.

As she looked at his calm and dignified expression, she couldn't help but think to herself, 'So this big brother can also be gentle and comforting.'

...

Late at night, Shirou entered his dream and trained his spear techniques with Scathach.

Due to preparations for dealing with the parallel world, he had been accumulating magical energy recently and trying to minimize its use in daily activities.

However, unlike most magi who hide their magical energy and spells in their hair, like Waver, Shirou was different. He stored his magical energy in the evil mud.

The evil mud might have been limited, much like hair, but it had this fascinating property of containing overlapping and infinite imaginary spaces. This aspect allowed him to store magical energy to a somewhat limitless extent.

However, at the moment, his magical energy reserve was relatively small, while the Eternal King's consumption of magical energy was incredibly massive. So, in order to be fully ready for the upcoming battle, he knew he had to be mindful of his daily magical energy usage and conserve it as much as possible.

And to prepare for the battle, he was diligently training his close combat spear techniques. Of course, he had the perfect sparring partner in Scathach, whose mastery of spear techniques had reached godly levels.

Well, it was quite evident that Scathach had an overwhelming advantage when it came to spear techniques, outperforming Shirou by an immeasurable margin. No matter how much effort he put into honing his close combat spear skills, he simply couldn't defeat her. His best record so far was managing to last five moves against her, and then... 

There was no 'and then' because he was promptly stabbed to death by Scathach.

This brought a great sense of joy to her. She found herself even happier than if she had fought a powerful enemy. To her, there was nothing quite as satisfying as sparring with Shirou and landing that decisive, victorious strike. 

What could be more joyful than stabbing a full-grown king? Nothing!

On the other hand, Shirou didn't think much about it. For him, true training and growth came from real-life-and-death battles, where he wielded the actual swords and spears against formidable opponents.

Yet, despite this, he couldn't ignore the happiness it brought to Scathach. If their dream battles made her even the slightest bit happier, then that was fine. Moreover, he couldn't ignore the fact that he might have been a bit too oppressive towards her lately, and he realized the importance of considering her well-being too.

However...

Lately, he couldn't help but notice that she had been acting a bit unrestrained. As he sat cross-legged amidst the crimson flowers, he found himself pondering his own shortcomings in handling the spear.

But before he could delve too deeply into his thoughts, Scathach approached him, holding a dog's tail grass in her hand. Playfully, she leaned in and tickled his ears with it.

"Shirou, look at your shisho."

Shirou: "..."

"Why do you have your eyes closed? Oh, I see. It's because you've reached that age now. It's only natural to be impulsive during your youth. No need to suppress yourself. Falling for your teacher's charm is to be expected," Scathach said in a gentle tone, playfully teasing his ears with the dog's tail grass.

Shirou: "..."

"Shirou..."

"Enough! Keep it down! I'm trying to reflect on my shortcomings in spear techniques!" Shirou snapped irritably.

Scathach tossed the dog's tail grass aside and flashed a smile, "You've got all the time to work on spear techniques. But youth is a fleeting thing, don't be a charmless man, or you might miss out on some beautiful encounters in life and come to regret it. That's your shisho's advice!"

"Beautiful encounters?" He chuckled, "With an old lady like you?"

Scathach's expression turned dark, and she said unhappily, "I've told you not to call me an old lady! I'm still young! I'm the young Miss Scathach! You said that yourself!"

"You taking kids' words seriously now? They say when you hit sixty, you treat a sixty-year-old lady like a child, and that's exactly what I'm doing with you. Oh, my bad. I forgot, your age seems to be way beyond sixty, my apologies. I shouldn't treat you like a child; I should treat you like a yet-to-be-conceived embryo."

Her face turned even darker as she asked, "Where's your card?"

"What card?"

"Your Class Card! Change back!" she demanded.

He feigned innocence and replied, "Oh, that card. I don't know where it is."

In a fit of frustration, she picked up her spear and attempted to stab him, who swiftly got up and dashed away. He ran ahead, and she chased after him.

The night passed, and the next day in the afternoon, Miyu brought Illya to Fujimaru's house.

Shirou took a glance and remarked, "You brought your friends over to play, Miyu."

"Yeah. Fujimaru-niisan," Miyu nodded, with a faint blush on her face.

She felt a little shy about bringing her friends over for the first time.

"Don't be so shy, Miyu," Illya reassured her with a smile.

Then, Illya looked at him and affectionately said, "Onii-chan—"

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow, taken aback by her suddenly calling him "Onii-chan."

"What's the matter, Illya?" He asked.

"I like you, Onii-chan," she said with an innocent smile.

Miyu, who was about to close the door, suddenly froze.

...

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