Chiron: "Well, your posture and accuracy are both good. It seems you have a talent for archery."
House Cook: "You're too kind. I'm far from that."
Fujimura Taiga: "As expected of you, Shirou. But you actually injured your hand because of your part-time job. Your training is really not enough. You need to step it up."
House Cook: "Well Taiga, I don't have any extra time right now."
Although Shirou no longer has to work, his days are filled with learning magic, spear techniques, and combat skills from Emiya Kiritsugu. On top of that, Fujimura Taiga constantly drags him into sword training. He seems even busier than he was in the video.
Zabiko: "Even though this Shinji seems a bit arrogant, he still cares about Emiya Shirou."
Harmless: "Who cares about that idiot!"
[After school, Emiya Shirou returned home alone.]
[In this vast mansion, he is the only occupant. If not for Fujimura Taiga frequently coming over to eat, there would be no liveliness at all.]
[Sitting in the storage shed, Emiya Shirou placed his hands on a white handkerchief, closed his eyes, and held his breath.]
["Trace, on."]
[This is his weekly training—meditating in the shed and practicing his rudimentary magecraft.]
[Emerald-green lines appeared on the back of his hand as weak magical energy flowed into the handkerchief.]
["Basic structure, analyzed. Composition materials, identified."]
[Magical circuits spread across the handkerchief as its material began to strengthen.]
["Basic framework, modified. Structural composition, reinforced."]
[The fibers within the handkerchief were reshaped, glowing faintly with a green light as they became more rigid.]
[Emiya Shirou held the handkerchief in his hand and gave it a shake. After a few seconds, the magical energy dissipated, and the handkerchief returned to its original state.]
["Well..."]
[Emiya Shirou lay on the ground, looking disappointed and discouraged.]
[It failed again.]
[I've been training for so many years, so why haven't I made any significant progress?]
Kayneth: "???"
Kayneth: "Boy, who taught you to practice magecraft like this? Are you trying to get yourself killed faster?"
House Cook: "..."
Even he looked confused. Was he really this reckless in the video? He was actually relying on forcibly opening his Magic Circuits to perform spells, and his method was completely flawed. There was no way he could make any progress like this.
And yet, it seemed that the Shirou in the video practiced this way every single time.
Frequently opening Magic Circuits was an extremely dangerous act.
Fortunately, this was just basic Reinforcement magecraft. If it had been something more complex, he would have killed himself instantly.
There are 365 days in a year. If he trains once a week, that means he's putting himself at risk four times a month—and who knows how many years he's been doing this.
The fact that he's still alive and well... he's just ridiculously lucky.
Emiya Kiritsugu: "..."
He had a feeling he might be responsible for this.
[After an unknown amount of time, heavy rain began to pour, and a purple-haired girl appeared at his doorstep, gently pressing the doorbell.]
[It was Sakura—Matou Sakura.]
[Emiya Shirou didn't know why she had come to see him at this hour, but he quickly invited her in and handed her some clothes to change into.]
[Just then, Fujimura Taiga, having heard that Emiya Shirou was injured, rushed over. The moment she stepped inside, she saw Matou Sakura drying her hair, leading to an instant misunderstanding.]
[Emiya Shirou tried his best to explain, but Fujimura Taiga refused to believe him. It was Matou Sakura who ultimately spoke up to clear things up.]
[Matou Sakura had come because she saw Emiya Shirou living alone and wanted to help.]
[Emiya Shirou wanted to refuse, but Matou Sakura was insistent. After visiting for five consecutive days, he had no choice but to give in.]
Sakura: "???"
House Cook: "???"
Since Sakura had been adopted by the Edelfelt family in this world, Emiya Shirou had no contact with her. He didn't even know her.
In the video, did they have a close relationship? But judging from Shirou's expression when he first saw Sakura, that didn't seem to be the case at all.
Tohsaka Tokiomi: "There's something off here..."
He quickly noticed that when Emiya Shirou initially refused Matou Sakura's help, there was something strange about her reaction.
And later, in the middle of the video, her expression was utterly numb.
If he couldn't figure out why that was, then he must be blind.
At this moment, he wished he could drag the old worm out of hell and whip his corpse again.
[It was obvious that Sakura had no experience with housework, so Emiya Shirou had to teach her step by step.]
[She picked things up quickly, though, and within a few days, she had become quite skilled.]
[The once-quiet Emiya household gradually became more lively. In addition to Matou Sakura, Fujimura Taiga began visiting more often out of concern.]
[Emiya Shirou even entrusted a spare key to Matou Sakura.]
[Time passed, and autumn arrived. The fracture in Shirou's right hand had healed, but there was now a burn on his right shoulder.]
[Hōgu High School's Kyudo Club placed great emphasis on form. Male members had to expose their right shoulders when performing their bows. Seeing this, Matou Shinji insisted that someone with a burn scar shouldn't be in the Kyudo Club and forced Emiya Shirou to quit.]
[Emiya Shirou had no complaints about this. He had originally joined the club just to keep his body in shape. Now that he was leaving, he could free up more time to work and earn money.]
[The only good thing was that Matou Sakura didn't stop coming just because his injury healed. She still visited every day to help with housework.]
[The smile on her face gradually became more frequent.]
Zabiko: "Is this guy really still a child?"
In her world, Shinji was only eight years old and often looked down on others, but it was just a front.
But the Matou Shinji in this world was already in high school, and he still acted like this. It was just frustrating.
[Time passed, and soon it was Christmas. Emiya Shirou and the others celebrated together. Fujimura Taiga took out his old photo albums and showed them to Matou Sakura.]
[There were photos of him and Emiya Kiritsugu from his childhood, as well as his two good friends, Yanagi Kazunari and Mitsuzuri Ayako. Of course, there were also pictures of Matou Shinji.]
[In junior high school, Matou Shinji had been closest to Emiya Shirou and seemed harmless, but after entering high school, he had become—]
Matou Kariya: "Hmph—"
This was all that damned worm's doing. Just look at what he had turned the Matou family into.
Then again, Shinji had always been a jealous child. He simply didn't know how to handle it properly.
[A new year arrived. While repairing the lights in the storage shed, Emiya Shirou suddenly recalled his childhood, the overwhelming black mud.]
[It felt like some kind of premonition.]
[The next day, he saw Tohsaka Rin helping Matou Sakura pick up some papers in the hallway. That was when he finally realized they were sisters.]
[But when Matou Sakura was asked about Tohsaka Rin, her mood visibly darkened, and her smile disappeared.]
Tohsaka Tokiomi: "..."
Tohsaka Rin: "..."
Although they had already learned the truth from a previous video, seeing it again still left them with complicated feelings.
Rin didn't blame Sakura. If she had been in the same situation, suffering through such inhumane experience, she probably would have felt resentment toward her sister too.
[That evening, after walking Matou Sakura home, Emiya Shirou was about to leave when he suddenly heard an old man's whisper and the sound of insects buzzing.]
[How could there be insects flying around in the middle of winter?]
[Shirou felt confused, but the strange occurrences that night weren't over yet.]
[On the way home, he saw police tape with "Gas Leak Warning" written on it.]
[It seemed like such incidents had been happening frequently these days.]
[As he walked, Shirou suddenly noticed a silver-haired girl dressed in purple standing across the street—Illya.]
[A police car drove by, and Illya vanished.]
[That night, Emiya Shirou had another dream about the tragedy of that year. But this time, just as he was about to move forward, Illya suddenly appeared and stopped him.]
["If you don't summon it soon, you'll die, you know? Big Brother..."]
[The next morning, as Matou Sakura and Fujimura Taiga visited as usual, the TV reported a string of recent accidents—gas leaks, car crashes, underground pipeline explosions.]
Irisviel: "Illya..."
Seeing her daughter walking the same path she once had, Irisviel felt nothing but heartache.
She knew that unless Illya could win the Holy Grail War, her fate would never be a good one.
Waver: "It looks like the other Masters have already started making their moves."
Fujimura Taiga: "The amount of destruction is insane! Can't you people fight somewhere less populated?"
Cú Chulainn: "Tch, we're about to fight for our lives. Who has time to think about that?"
Fujimura Taiga: "Which is why you guys end up causing car accidents!"
[Matou Sakura was handing a plate to Emiya Shirou, but when she caught sight of the Command Seals on his hand, she was so startled that she dropped it.]
[Soon after, she left in a daze. Before leaving, she suddenly told Emiya Shirou to go home early after school today.]
[At the same time, the TV reported another case, four residents had been found dead in their homes, all killed by bladed weapons.]
(To be continued.)