Fate: Emiya the Host

In the end, Shirou chose to train "Swordsmanship."

At first, he had intended to practice Projection Magecraft.

It was only during hosting that he realized there were no Noble Phantasms for him to project, and because he used magical energy, he got scolded by Sella who jumped up in anger.

The reason: Illya couldn't sleep from the pain.

As a result, Shirou could only improve swordsmanship, at least to make himself not look entirely useless aside from his stats.

Although he could let the System handle the fighting, the "System" wasn't truly him. It could only serve as support. Shirou could rely on the System, only a fool wouldn't use a good tool. But he didn't want that to stifle his own potential.

Regardless of the skill, including Noble Phantasms, if one wanted to grow them to EX rank, there had to be a certain uniqueness.

Someday, Shirou also hoped to train one useful skill to EX through his own effort. And not those weird ones... especially criticizing high jump.

Under the demonstration of System Shirou, whether it was sword-holding posture, footwork, basic attacks, or deliberately exhibited agile defense, Shirou made huge improvements.

[Swordsmanship: D+]

The stats don't lie, he had talent in swordsmanship.

After seriously training until midnight, the Einzbern Castle still shone with bright lights. Even at this time, they were continuously researching, aiming to create a more perfect homunculus.

In simple terms: to surpass Illya.

Unfortunately, as a homunculus, Illya had already gone through countless rounds of fine-tuning while Irisviel was pregnant. She was the pinnacle of Einzbern alchemy.

Acht also viewed this Holy Grail War as the final one.

In other words, if Illya were to fail, then the Einzbern family, which had stood for nearly a thousand years, would vanish.

Acht would also voluntarily cease bodily functions.

———

After another two hours of practice, swordsmanship still didn't rise to C.

Looks like he had talent, but not that much.

"Tap tap...", Very light footsteps. From the sound of them, Shirou estimated the person's body weight didn't exceed 30kg.

'Hmm... math doesn't disappoint me.'

He felt he was really improving in academics too. Shirou nodded in satisfaction.

Even at times like this, he hadn't forgotten to learn, his future was destined to be extraordinary.

Then Shirou canceled hosting, twirled the sword he had sneakily taken from the Einzbern estate into a flashy flourish, tucked it behind his arm, and looked at the approaching person.

Illya, wrapped in a thick blanket, "So cold."

'She ran over just to say that?'

Shirou was just about to tell her to go back to bed if it was cold, when Illya already opened her mouth, "Clearly you have no emotions, yet you force yourself to act like you do, what's the point of that, Berserker?"

"...", Shirou raised his golden-brown eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Isn't the answer obvious?", Illya tightened the blanket around her, her red eyes mercilessly tearing through Shirou's disguise, "When you practice swordsmanship, you're like a robot, and when you talk to Illya, you pretend to be human. You know what? Illya hates guys like you the most!!"

"..."

"Haven't learned anything, and you think being gentle is all it takes to be human?", In the freezing snow, Illya's words were like sharp blades of ice.

"I ask you, Berserker, do you even have a personality? Is everything you do of your own will? Or is it all something borrowed from others?"

"Only on this point will I object," Shirou said calmly, "Everything I do is of my own will."

He had his own personality, and everything he did was simply because he wanted to.

To love others, you must first love yourself.

"Hmph," Illya interrogated, "Then, your desire to protect Illya, is that also voluntary?"

"Mm!"

"Liar!"

"I can promise on this, no lies."

"You're saying, you'd be willing to die for Illya?"

"I would," Shirou said it without a moment's hesitation.

"Ha…", Illya acted like she'd heard the biggest joke in the world, her delicate body leaning back, "Hahahaha, Berserker! You dare to swear right here, that for the sake of protecting Illya, you'd give up the Holy Grail?"

"I swear! I'll make a wish on the Holy Grail right now, I will protect you. I'm not a knight. Not even a hero. I'm just a nobody. So, would you let me protect you, until the end of the Holy Grail War, Illya?", Shirou walked in front of her and extended his hand.

Illya slapped it away without hesitation.

"Lies!", Her voice was sharp, "Illya will absolutely, absolutely never trust anyone again. Let alone someone like you, someone who keeps a blank face and still says flowery things."

"You, what's the difference between you and that other Servant Illya met before?", She stormed off in anger, ending this utterly meaningless conversation that had gone on from start to finish.

Shirou watched her leave and placed a hand over his heart.

Whenever his emotions became stirred, it would always immediately stabilize his heartbeat and calm him down.

Without absolute rationality, he thought, he definitely would have chased after her.

However, his current judgment was: even if he did, it would be useless. The misunderstanding couldn't be resolved. So should he just stay still?

If it were the System, what would it do?

The system responded instantly.

["Recommended: Directly reveal your True Name."]

Shirou: "?"

'Are you serious?'

He was afraid that if he revealed his name, Illya would use Command Spells to kill him the next second.

You had to understand, Servants can be replaced.

The System said no more.

Shirou began pondering this possibility, 'At the core, why am I hiding my True Name?'

'I don't want her to know that I am Emiya Shirou?'

'Am I afraid that telling Illya my True Name will lead to something uncontrollable?'

'That... seems like the reason. But thinking deeper, maybe there are more fundamental reasons.'

'What are they?'

"Berserker, did Miss start hating you?"

Thoughts interrupted, Shirou replied, "Yeah, she really hates me. I'm a bit worried about tomorrow's trial."

Sella walked over and stood beside him, watching the snow together. This winter that hadn't changed since her consciousness was born.

"Miss... hasn't been outside either~"

She seemed to be thinking about those homunculi who shared the same fate as Illya.

Maybe staying inside was better. Because leaving meant death.

Like an infant in a cradle. Once separated from the mother, they couldn't survive. Only this "mother" named Einzbern was too cold.

"Have you ever had hope, Sella?", After a pause, Shirou asked.

"Of course," Sella placed her hand on her chest, her eyes shining with light that could cut through the snowstorm, "As an Einzbern homunculus, our one and only wish is to let Miss complete the Third Magic. So Berserker, please, don't hold any resentment toward Miss."

"You can do whatever you want to me, as long as you're willing to protect Miss and help her win the Holy Grail War."

"Just that...?"

"Just that!"

Such a firm answer, so firm that Shirou felt she had said this purely from her own will.

Logically, the answer had been given.

However, emotionally, that suppressed resistance in that instant, what did it mean?

Shirou looked up. The sky above Einzbern Castle had no full moon. The unchanging gloomy clouds blanketed everything above.

Like the iron tree that had not borne fruit in 900 years, thorny leaves, and that was all.

It was as if everything had already been decided by fate.

'Is that what fate is?'

Then—

'Why can birds fly?'

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