Chapter 160: What a Mess!
Sou-!
Sou-!
After doing a thrust and an upward cut, Shinji reverted back to a squatting position. Then, he repeated the set of actions several times so as to clear the worries in his mind. He subconsciously held the spear tighter, as if he's sporting out his frustrations.
The spear held by him is none other than the specially made training spear that Shiro gave him months ago. It's made from normal materials, but the sentimental value that it has is no less than a family heirloom. It marked him moving forth to a difficult yet brighter future than his original fate.
Suddenly, few memories popped up in his mind. His surroundings changed, with him seeing a familiar visage walking away from him.
"Tohsaka..!"
The moment he heard this voice, he froze. Not because of it being unknown; rather, he's familiar with it very well. Just as he thought of it, his vision shifted away from his previous perspective.
The 9-year old Shinji separated from the origin of the voice.
'What...'
Shinji saw a man... no, a guy older than him. He has a seaweed-like hair, blue pupils that looked very condescending, and an air of superiority that belittled others' existence.
The moment he saw the guy, his mind blanked for a second. Then, the suppressed emotions from long ago erupted like a volcano.
Silently, he tightly gripped the training spear in his hand as he rushed to that guy. In less than a second, he leaped, reaching the seaweed guy's eye level.
Sou-!
The tip of his spear pierced through the guy's neck. As soon as it did, his surroundings went back to normal as he found himself back in their courtyard.
Still, the amount of rage and remorse that he's feeling right now didn't disappear.
"...Was it an illusion?"
Shinji tried looking at the Bounded Fields present in their mansion, but he didn't find something strange. Considering that it's a few months away before Berserker is even summoned, there should be no one capable of infiltrating silently in their household.
Once he finished investigating, he could only pour in his frustration towards training. He planned to tell this experience of his to others, but that has to wait until his mind is clear first.
*****
{Insufficient Data Found. It is recommended to observe the phenomenon personally to draw predictions higher than 10.57%.}
A robotic voice rang out in Kal'tsit's mind. It has been aa few dozen times since she tried doing this prediction, but the best that she can reach doesn't exceed 11%.
"Where is he?"
It has been a few weeks since Shiro disappeared in that mission. The rest of the Chat Group members are expecting the three of them to return back, but only Roman and Touka returned back. It was only then did they know of the ridiculous phenomena that happened during that mission.
No one had expected that a mission involving Magical Girls would end up with fighting against god-level beings and Shiro casually destroying numerous advanced civilizations.
...
[Virtual Librarian has joined the Chat Group.]
Roman: "Shiro is missing."
Kuroneko: "What?"
Shino: "What???"
Shinji: "..."
Kouzuki: "..."
"Ah?"
Currently, Kal'tsit is at her office in Babel, a mobile base similar to a Nomadic City. She's screening the applicants for this organization, and it was only until this surprising message and notice came did her concentration got broken.
Touka: "Long story short, the battle was of cosmic proportions. Shiro modified its laws to help the 'Magical Girls', but he ended up injured. Now, we don't know where he went."
Roman and Touka slowly explained the concepts of 'Magical Girls', 'Witches', and 'Incubators' in this world.
Kouzuki: "I thought that everything went well when I received the exp prompt, but who would've thought..."
Shinji: "...Shiro aniki is somewhere right now? Is he alone?"
Roman: "He's not alone. Two of his new students disappeared with him."
Shino: "If two of those Magical Girls are with Shiro, what happened to the rest?"
Roman: "..."
Touka: "Roman took care of them. For now, he bought a huge apartment complex and taught those girls."
Kouzuki: "You must be living a dream life, eh? Being a teacher to dozens of Magical Girls must be a dream come true for you~!"
Roman: "I'm loyal to Magi*Mari."
After leaving that message, Roman went inactive as seen in the red name tag that he has in the [Member List]. It's reasonable though, since he's been taking care of those girls on top of his responsibility as Chaldea's acting director.
Fortunately, his "mediocre" body is fixed by Shiro's...no, Fenrir's meddling, making it so that his body isn't limited by his "self-imposed" restraints anymore.
Kouzuki: "I'll take this time to deduce more blueprints. I might be able to help with finding Shiro."
Kuroneko: "Too bad I couldn't help. I will focus on reaching level 50 first. I might be able to gain new abilities that can help."
Looking at the consecutive chat logs, Kal'tsit paused what she's doing.
"Great Sage. Track the person known as "Shiro"."
{Affirmative. Locking Coordinates... Error.}
{Switching to a general-type scan... Error.}
{Switching to prediction-type scan...}
{The lifeform known as "Shiro" existing in the current universe: 2.11%.}
{The lifeform know as "Shiro" existing in the outside universe: 97.89%.}
{Continuing deductions... Estimated time of completion: 12 days, 14 hours, 59 minutes.}
...
Her expression is ever-frozen, with no one knowing what's truly going on inside her mind. Still, a soft mumble escaped from her mouth:
"I hope he's alright..."
*****
Swallowing the blood from his internal injuries once more, Shiro walked to the Emiya Residence's front yard. With each step that he took, it felt very heavy. It's as if he's walking while having ten different illnesses.
If not for his vision unavailable, he's sure that he'll feel worse visual impairments that temporary blindness seems better to have.
Feeling the cold wind brush his cheek, he couldn't help but sigh.
"It's my fault that I became like this... though of course, I don't regret anything." Underneath his jacket is the [Old World Suit (SSR)] that he got through the lucky spins that he'd done.
As to why Fenrir didn't use those points, it's due to the <ORIGIN STATE>'s interference, which made him unable to use the Chat Group's functions during that state. Only, his interaction with [The Root] cut off his connection with it more deeply.
[Old World Suit (SSR)]
Details: A.... known record is... withstand planetary ca... ease...
Effects: Physique... by 10x. Toughness and defense of the suit will... calibrated... 20x of user's physique.
As usual, a glitched out panel with broken lines of texts greeted his sight. Shiro knew about its general effects. Due to its modifications, it can increase one's physical strength by ten times, as well as the overall defense of the user by twenty times. The only reason why Shiro doesn't wear it continuously is its energy usage.
"So you're here."
Even as a blind man, Shiro can perceive his surroundings through his [Six Eyes]. As long as the damages to it heals, he can gain his vision back.
"I'm surprised that a magus can see a Servant's spiritual form. Perhaps, it is [Mystic Eyes]?"
ARCHER appeared out as a physical form. He crossed his arms as he laid his back on the wall not far from the sliding door. He then added, "That aurora curtain from earlier... It's not a form of magic, but one similar to it."
Hearing this, Shiro didn't try to hide it as he said, "That's right. Now, can you tell me your honest thoughts?"
"My thoughts, eh? You three are very suspicious. What's more is there to hear from me?"
"That's all?" Shiro asked.
"That's all." ARCHER paused before adding, "But, I'm quite curious as to how that girl can [Project] Noble Phantasms with that quality."
"So it's that." Shiro nodded as he imagined ARCHER's looks when he saw someone that bears an uncanny resemblance to him. Her calm demeanor and a glimpse of her ideals is enough to unnerve him.
It's as if he's seeing a reflection of his self. The looks from her eyes during their initial contact says it all.
"You can think of it as her specialty." He replied vaguely, hiding most of their information to the Servant. "Though, you don't need to worry much as we won't interfere much in this Grail War. We would only find our way back home before leaving here. As for the Grail... we don't have any huge need towards it."
"Oh? This is the fifth time I'm hearing of this."
Actually, ARCHER didn't lie. Someone who doesn't care much about the Holy Grail? THE HOLY GRAIL?! Even as his time as a Counter Guardian, he only encountered this situation four times. Just Magi alone will get crazy upon acquiring it, not to mention the Aristocratic Families who wants to increase the power of their family by possessing the so-called "True Magic".
Shiro didn't mind his sarcastic tone as he said, "The first, second, fourth, and fifth already has their owners. Only the third remains, but..."
He cut off his musings with a thin smile. ARCHER guessed his intentions behind it, but the only response that he got is Shiro telling the truth judging from his several reactions.
In the end, he gave off a shrug and spoke, "If that's what you want."
Soon, he disappeared on the spot as he went back to his spiritual form. Shiro, who was left behind, suddenly coughed out blood from his mouth.
He shook it off from his pale hand, staining the grass red. The nanosuit that he wore also reverted back to its initial sphere form before he pocketed it and sat down on the wooden floor.
"The moon here... it's quite unique, but beautiful nonetheless."
At this moment, Shiro enjoyed a rare occasion of relaxation. He'd only put it behind the back of his mind, but he's more anxious the moment he woke up in this world. Although temporarily, he lost most of his power that he gained from the beginning. Still, it removed the sense of security that he once felt in Terra.
"I wonder how's going with the others..."