Chapter 3

Fuyuki City is a small coastal city with two districts: the old district, Miyama Town in the mountains, and the newly constructed district of Shinto, which experienced rapid economic development.

As the city is small, there are only two primary schools: Hachigata in Miyama Town and Tsukimogami in Shinto. Shirou attends Tsukimogami Primary School because his house is in Shinto.

At this moment, many students are saying goodbye to their parents at the school gate, including Mrs. Fujimaru, who takes Shirou to the gate and says seriously, "Don't wander off after school. Wait for me to pick you up, understand?"

There are regular parents sending their children to school, as well as some who are worried because of the recent cases of missing children.

"I know." Shirou nods, understanding the stakes of Ryuunosuke hunting children. He is a time traveler who knows about the future, and his wish is to become a wealthy and powerful individual, so he would not allow himself to fall here.

As he walks towards the campus, children in groups of three to five share their happiness on the way. Shirou does not encounter anyone he knows, and walks towards the school building with his backpack.

Suddenly, he feels like someone is spying on him, but when he looks around, he doesn't see anyone looking at him.

"An illusion?" he wonders.

Could it be that he is too nervous about the upcoming Fourth Holy Grail War, causing this illusion? Scratching his face, Shirou ultimately can only come to this conclusion.

Shirou is just an ordinary primary school student now, without the awakening of origins, and not a participant in the Holy Grail War. Who would need to spy on him, and for what reason? Thinking this, Shirou walks into the teaching building with peace of mind.

However, he does not know that on a tower overlooking the entire Primary School, a young man in golden armor has a slightly interested smile on his face.

"An interesting soul," the man thinks.

Shirou's soul is more complex and nauseating than that of adults, like a mottled fire burning with cow dung, garbage, plastic, weeds, and waste. However, in this nauseating mottled fire that exudes a bad smell, there is also a small fire that exudes a fragrant new fire.

The golden king is sensitive and has noticed this small fire, and wonders whether to let the nauseating fire of evil swallow it up, let it become a complete mixed breed, or let the new fire ignite and break away from ignorance.

The golden king gradually fades away and finally disappears without a trace.

The final math class ends, and it's time for lunch. Tsukimogami Primary School does not have a cafeteria, so students must bring bento boxes or buy food at the small shop. Mrs. Fujimaru made a bento for Shirou but also included a cup of kelp tea, which Shirou dislikes. He shakes his head and goes to the school gate grocery store to buy a soft drink instead.

As Shirou burps and heads towards school, he can't shake the feeling that he is being watched. The icy malice emanating from his unseen observer only adds to his unease. Suddenly, a shadow darts across his field of vision and a loud bang echoes through the air.

...

When Shirou comes to, he finds himself facing a stranger, unsure of where he is or how he got there. A distant voice is crying out, but he can't seem to focus on it, his head still foggy from whatever happened.

The man's chaotic words suddenly stir Shirou's spirit, and he struggles to move his body and bites his tongue, causing intense pain that wakes him up.

He is in a room with closed doors and windows, and the man has a girl tied up with a thick rope, crying. There is a bloody smell emanating from the damp ground and an unknown liquid flowing from a nearby adult corpse, telling a more terrifying story. The bloody scene stimulates the brain, causing Shirou to breathe slightly hurriedly and his head to become chaotic.

"Calm down! Calm down!"

Shirou tries to calm down, but the bloody scene stimulates his brain, causing adrenaline to constantly secrete and his head to heat up. He sees a man with orange short hair and a refreshing face, but he is using blood to draw an unknown magic circle on the ground. Shirou realizes that this is Uryuu Ryuunosuke, the serial killer!

His eyes lock onto Ryuunosuke as the madman picks up the girl, who is bound and crying, next to him.

"Your tears are so lovely," Ryuunosuke says, his smile growing wider as he relishes in the girl's cries of despair.

Shirou's survival plan was crushed by Sakura and then he was caught by Ryuunosuke. He feels so unlucky!

He then noticed the brown-haired girl with short hair was wearing a uniform from Hachigata Elementary School, not a good sign.

"Oh, my little angel, you're awake too," Ryuunosuke exclaimed as he grabbed the girl and threw her into the center of the magic circle. He then turned to Shirou and laughed maniacally, throwing him into the circle as well.

"With this, the sacrifice to the demon will be enough," Ryuunosuke said, his face contorting into a twisted smile. "Overflow, overflow... Hmm? Did I just say this a moment ago? Oh, never mind."

He began to recite the incantation, and cold sweat ran down Shirou's forehead. It was clear that Ryuunosuke intended to play the game of summoning a demon and killing them both. He was a scumbag who took pleasure in killing, and he had even killed his own beloved sister in the past. He had found an ancient book that seemed to be a magic book at his home, and he had been following the summoning ritual in the book, collecting sacrifices and killing people to summon a demon.

Although this had inadvertently triggered the summoning mechanism for the Holy Grail War and summoned a Servant, he had participated in the war not because he wanted to, but because this kind of cult-like killing pattern brought him new joy in killing. If Ryuunosuke, who had finished the incantation, was unable to summon a demon, he would personally kill Shirou and the girl!

What to do...

Shirou's fear of death was palpable as he sat, bound and helpless, in the dark room.

As an ordinary elementary school student, he knew that he had nothing to offer in this dire situation, save for his knowledge of the Type-Moon world and a sense of business acumen!

Sweat dripped down his forehead as he frantically tried to think of a way out, but all he could do was wait and hope that someone – the Jade Emperor, the Three Pure Ones, God, Jesus, or even the mysterious being who had sent him through time – would come to his rescue.

These purely mental beings were unreliable!

The most reliable ones might be the police!

But then, when he looked at the girl by his side, his heart grew cold.

He realized that the police might be his only hope for survival. With Hachigata Elementary School being over ten miles away from Tsukimogami Elementary School, the perpetrator, Ryuunosuke had committed crimes in two different locations, which would only further delay the police's response!

Shirou couldn't shake the feeling that by the time the authorities arrived, it would be too late, and all they would find would be the bodies of two innocent children.

Nobody is reliable, the only thing left is...

The only thing left is self-rescue!

But how can we go about self-rescuing?

No system, no awakening, no magic, no superpowers... he was just an ordinary elementary school student, with his hands and feet tied up with thick ropes. How was he going to self-rescue?

As Ryuunosuke recited the incantation and slowly walked over with a knife in hand, Shirou panicked. He didn't want to die...

I don't want to die!

As he lay trapped within the magic circle, Shirou barely registers the faint flickering light that dances around its perimeter. His fear of death and delirious fever leave him unable to focus on anything other than his own terror. Meanwhile, a warmth begins to spread through his right hand, accompanied by the appearance of a bright red mark. If he were in a more lucid state, he might have realized that something strange was happening to him.