Chapter 5

"Onii…"

I heard a girl's soft voice.

"Onii-chan..."

Who's that? Who has called me?

"Onii-chan..."

A young girl's voice had called out to me earlier but I couldn't hear it clearly…

"Onii-chan! Can't you hear me!" As soon as the young girl screaming beside me was heard, I immediately focused on the thing in front of me.

I don't know when but I was in the middle of the cooking process. My body moves automatically as if I were a robot doing its job. There is no anger or satisfaction. There are only actions and results without expressions.

I was preparing the ingredients for making hamburgers and was interrupted by a little girl's soft voice calling. This girl is an albino girl who started living with me recently. She is Kiritsugu's only child who has been in the possession of the Einzbern family for a long time.

Our first meeting was very awkward and could even be said to be the worst first meeting. However, over time our relationship got better. Even though I don't value my life very highly, it doesn't mean I want to just throw it away without something that can redeem my sins...

"Of course Illya. I'm listening to you very clearly and I'm not sure if Kappappi's character is real..." even though I started my relationship with Illya with a very awkward start doesn't mean I'll still be in a position where I have to worry about this little girl's every move.

Like right now where he and I are together talking about his favorite cartoon character while I prepare our dinner. This conversation would never have happened in the past few months when the holy grail war was passing.

I don't want to go into details about what happened back then…all I can tell you is that I was with not very good luck caught in a life-and-death struggle. At that time I received a lot of learning and also met a lot of people but I still feel like I chose this life over living during that war. A life that would be in danger of being lost if I let my guard down just a little.

Me trying to be a hero will be considered to prefer a life where I will be able to fight at will and also gain a lot of wealth. I'm not like that...I just want other people to be happy and not live a life of conflict and feeling threatened.

Different from the popular image where a hero is someone who can achieve great achievements from conflict or war, I want to be a different hero. I just want to be a person who can create a world where people can live their lives well and smoothly and without worries as peacefully as humanly possible.

Since I was a child I have known that dreams are impossible and coupled with my experience in this holy grail war I am increasingly aware of that reality. I feel I can't give up...yet. I feel that I still have to pursue that dream even if it is impossible. More than keeping my promise and atonement for my sins, I felt that the dream gave meaning to my life. I feel the meaning of life through my pursuit of the impossible.

I feel...

"ONII-CHAN!"

"Y-yes, I'm about to finish making the food…" When I answered Illya I didn't get the answer I wanted.

"...Hurt..."

Sensing danger, I immediately checked Illya's condition...

"Illya?!"

Only to not find Illya at all...

"Illya where are you?"

I was the one screaming loudly at this empty dining room.

I don't know since when this whole room suddenly became quiet and uninhabited differently than before. The voices of Taiga and Rider fighting as well as Saber who was watching the anime this morning suddenly disappeared...

'wait why is there Saber...'

"ONII-CHAN! ITS HUURTT!"

My vision suddenly faded….. The whole place was suddenly swallowed up by darkness.

"Its hurt! I CAN NOT STAND IT ANYMORE!"

This darkness began to try to reach me and try to devour me. The bottomless darkness that seemed to devour anything. From the edge of this darkness I can see Illya.

Illya was seen rolling around while enduring the pain.

"ILLYA!"

Without hesitation I ran towards my sister as fast as I could. I ignored the darkness that was starting to swalow me.

A burning pain spread throughout my body. This pain is more intense than anything I've ever felt but I can't stop.

"ILLYA!"

I tried to grab Illya's body which felt farther and farther away every time I approached her.

My whole body is burning…my whole soul has been covered by this black color. My consciousness began to disappear in this darkness.

"Onii-chan! It hurt so much!"

Illya's screams are buzzing in my ears...

"I'm coming Illya!"

His voice was getting louder but his figure was getting further and further away...

"I'm coming Illya! I'll save you!"

My body and mind are already heavily burdened with this Darkness that is biting into me. I started not being able to feel my body. All I know is my desire to save my little sister.

"No Shirou, you can't save me"

Suddenly all the darkness disappeared and I was standing in the middle of a strange room. This room looks like a boundless white dimension. As far as the eye could see I could only see a disturbing white color.

The only thing that stands out the most here is just me and Illya.

"Illya"

Illya was wearing a strange white dress with gold trim as decoration and also a beautiful crown. She looks like a goddess who came down from nirvana and bless all mortal beings.

"Illya!"

"You can't Shirou!"

Illya looked at me blankly.

"You can't save me"

"You can't save me Shirou!"

Her scream was so loud it seemed like it could shatter the entire room.

"You are…"

' ILLYA! '

I wanted to scream because of all this ambiguity but I couldn't make the slightest sound.

"too..."

' ILLYA! '

Once again my voice could not come out at all.

" WEAK! "

XXX

Emiya Shirou(Argento Riverwood)

Human

Level 19

HP: 233/233 ||| MP: 2,160/2,160

Strength: 162 Endurance: 167 Agility: 165 Dexterity: 220

Magic: 157 Magic resistance: 177

SP: 38 ||| JP: 19

"ILLYAAAAAAA! "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Be patient, don't shout or else this cave will collapse."

After I woke up from my sleep (I guess) while screaming as loud as I could I started to realize where I was. With Issei in the middle of workshop room while he finished his meal he scolded me with his mouth still full.

"Thank goodness Senpai is wake up..."

With a very gentle tone Reikan greeted me while checking the condition of my body with his mystical eyes.

'and until now I still do not know the function of the mystical eye.'

I do know the existence of the mystical eye but I am not at all experienced in dealing with it. I didn't meet many mystical eye users in my previous life. I really don't know what to do with Reikan's eyes….he once said that he often had bad luck before meeting me. Since I didn't know what to do I just made Reikan special glasses to reduce the effect of the Mystical Eyes.

I still can't make a magic tool that can seal perfectly his mystical eye. I could have projected some of the blindfolds Rider was wearing to cover her eyes but the Prana cost of those things was too high that I gave up on making them.

"Oi, if you're awake let's hurry and get out of here. It's already too dangerous here…"

Beside Issei a young red haired girl who was sitting while eating something. If I'm not mistaken, her name is Inggrit. She told me in a cocky tone but because her mouth was still full it made her look like a spoiled little girl who was asking her parents to do their business more quickly.

"Here… since when are we here?" I have absolutely no recollection of reaching this place.

My memory after my battle with that monster became hazy and fragmented as I tried to remember it. It felt like I was doing something after that fight but I wasn't sure what it was either. Maybe I didn't do anything but I'm also very unsure.

"We've been here since a few hours ago...if I'm not mistaken we reached this cave about nine hours ago..."

Reikan answered my question very gently while changing this bandage covering my body. I was very surprised when Reikan changed my bandage, I was surprised not because Reikan changed my bandage but the condition of my body that I saw when the bandage was opened.

"My wound has healed..."

It's also true that all my wounds have healed without leaving the slightest scar. I know that this is normal when I'm with Saber but I can't heal my wounds this fast without Saber's help. No matter how strong Avalon is, if there is no Saber near me then his power will not be used effectively. In fact, I probably shouldn't be able to use it without the reality marble on my body.

Does this have anything to do with all the chaos that's going on? Maybe I can investigate now…

"Aru-boy, if you want to do something you better do it in a safer place. I can't stand protecting this place from monster attacks with just the help of these two guys …." Inggrit grumbled as she finished her meal.

"Alright, looks like we can share information elsewhere…but where are we going? Is there a safer place than here?" I understand Inggrit's concern but I don't know which place is safer than this place...

" The [Boundary Field] in Kishinami's house has been activated and also with the many guards plus the Tou sisters and also the Kishinami it seems that place is safer than here...at least we don't have to fight those monsters with just these three people" Issei who had finished eating his food stood up while taking his weapon and answered my question.

"Okay, looks like we have to hurry from this place .." with that I also rushed to put on my clothes and started walking towards the back door of this cave...

"Hey, are you just going to leave these weapons here?"

Until Inggrit asked about it.

"Well, it can't be helped. I don't have enough strength to carry all these weapons while fighting those monsters…" although my wounds are technically healed but my entire mental burden has piled up too much.

Maybe because I was already in a safe place or indeed the accumulated mental burden was far beyond tolerance, I felt a very deep mental exhaustion. I'm pretty sure I can't carry all the weapons here in one go. I guess I'll need about three or four round trips from here to Kishinami's house to be able to transport all the stuff here...

"Then why don't you use your [Item Box] ?" Inggrit asked me as if it was a matter of course.

I don't really understand what he calls an Item Box but I can guess that it might be some kind of Arcane Magic...and of course...

"I can't do that…and I don't have any acquaintances who can do that" I answered Inggrit in a flat tone.

Of course I didn't do high-level techniques like that. I've heard that the Lord family who are the top brass of the London clock tower can do that technique but I've never seen them do it or at least I've never seen them perform it before my eyes.

"HA! How could you not do that, then what about all the swords you flew at the monsters when you brought me to this place? isn't that because you used your Item Box?" she looks really frustrated with something i don't know.

Well, if you look at it from the perspective of others one might think that I keep the swords and weapons I use in a special place and I summoned them with some kind of special magic. Technically I DO use special magic and I DO keep weapons and other gear in a special place.

However, that place could not store items from outside. It couldn't have been more accurate especially since I could only store things created from that place.

"Okay, I won't go into details but I can use a technique that allows me to make copies of one or more weapons and I can also use it as you saw earlier. So, my ability isn't an Item Box or whatever it's called…" I answered Inggrit while watching Reikan and Issei Prepare themselves by wearing armor and also taking a magic reinforcing wand for Reikan and a new war hammer for Issei.

"I give up! I feel like if I ask you anything else there's a chance that my head will explode…let's get out of here, I'm already going to take a shower" he grumbled a lot for a little girl.

"But before that…" when we were done getting ready Inggrit suddenly reached out her hand and I felt something strange happening in this room.

It felt as if being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner I felt something being pulled.

"!" and instantly all the items in this place disappeared.

"And also this..." didn't end there when I and the others were dumbfounded by what she was doing.

[As a result of special actions you have aquire Skills "Store"]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 2]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 3]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 4]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 5]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 6]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 7]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 8]

[Skills Store has been reached Lv 9]

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"WHAT IS THIS?"

XXX

(Inggrit's point of view)

Uh, my ears hurt so much….. do they have to scream that loud in a cave like this?

But I can't blame them either. Giving a skill or taking someone else's skill is what allows me to survive as a demon general even though I'm from the Imp race, otherwise known as the lowest tier of demons races. I have a lot of enemies from among the high-class devils, let alone those who look down on my race. Well there aren't many details I want to tell you but I had a life full of dangers while I was a demon general. I got a lot of elimination trials done by the other demon generals.

I who incidentally is the weakest race could die at any time if I didn't have this special power.

"Skill Origin "

No one knows the details of why this skill exists or the limits of how strong this skill is. there are only a few facts that are new to me regarding this ability. the first is that this skill gives me the power to make skills. This ability is able to make me create a skill whether it's an copy of existing skills or making new skills from. At first glance, this ability of mine is a very powerful ability and it really is. For us the Imp race who don't have much affinity for skills and also jobs that make our race unable to grow strong like other races. Even though in terms of physical strength we still surpass the average human, but in terms of abilities even human children are far superior to us.

That's why by using this skill I can break through the weakness of my race who can't have many skills and become one of the strongest demons for now. by combining the first function of this skill and its second function, this skill allows me to manage my skills and others make me a demon general.

"What the hell is this skill?" contemplation with myself in my mind when that Aru-whatever asked me something.

"Oh, that skill is an ability that allows you to access the astral shop and stuff. You can use magic crystals as currency in that shop" I tried to explain this skill I just made suddenly to this kid using human logic(perhaps).

"So, this skill is an online shop that uses magic crystals as a fee….which the magic crystal you're referring to exactly?" The red-haired boy asked me after trying to analyze the skill I just gave him.

"Didn't you already know that? That you know, the crystals you will get after you defeat a monster!"

"Also you couldn't collect the magic crystals that fell while you were protecting me so I've gathered them for you…" As I was trying to speak the red haired boy interrupted me impolitely.

"Ooh! So that's why I sensed something odd in the dimension space around me when I brought you here?" I knew there was something odd about this kid.

Generally you won't be able to detect the flow of multidimensional space when you store something in a dimensional store. The flow is very complex and smooth so that even creatures like dragons can't feel the awkwardness in a Storage skill.

'But, this brat can feel the changing flow of space so easily and doesn't feel any side effects….. uh, he's really weird'

I'm really frustrated right now, what the hell? why so many strange things happen one after another. First I was in a place I didn't know. I also met someone who could defeat a demon king very easily. He who already possessed unreasonable combat power still possessed extremely underhanded abilities.

What? you can make a copy of an object? Is that great, I want that ability too. Doesn't this brat know how many resources I can save by having that ability. Yes, I have an ability that allows me to shape my mana into anything I want. Even though I can mold my magical energy into whatever I want but I can't make a perfect copy of an object. The thing I made with mana doesn't only have one color, which is blue, but can't function like the real thing. Ordinary things like swords and other common tools might still function normally but complicated things like cursed swords or other magic tools definitely can't be imitated by the things I made out of.

'And…hah, I don't want to talk about it anymore'

I who as an imp race even though I have become a demon general will still feel a sense of anxiety and low self-esteem. Being the weakest race makes me the race that will die the fastest among all the demon races. Therefore we who have survived these millions of years rely heavily on our low self-esteem and excessive fear as our guide in dealing with problems with other races. That's why even though I'm very interested in this red-haired boy I have to keep my distance and look for loopholes so I can kill him when this boy shows signs of betraying me. I would...

"That ability sounds very useful…..but why did you give it that skill? Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean that your gift is a bad thing or anything. I'm just curious why you want to give a skill and why it has to be that skill…..what was it called? Skill [Store] ?" after the red-haired boy who asked now it was the turn of the boy with magic eyes to ask.

"..."

Honestly I don't know why I chose that skill, I just want to give it a random skill to pay for its protection and also for the items I borrowed for the time being. I don't think it gives off too strong an ability and doesn't he still have other secret abilities I don't know about.

'no! I, Inggrit Anastashia Hoshin swear I will never burden and be indebted to anyone!'

"I thought you would need it"

I who didn't want to get too close to them answered the boys' questions as briefly as I could. I still can't figure out their intentions so I still have to be careful but I also can't allow rare subjects experiment to go wastefully. I really got into a difficult situation.

"..." when I answered another boy's question Aru-whatever didn't make a sound.

"Hey, are you okay?" I, who was starting to feel tense due to his composure, tried to summon him as well as get ready for battle if this brat intends to immobilize me.

"Oh? Nothing, I was just thinking something. By the way, it's very kind of you to give me a useful ability…thank you" he who broke his own silence thanked me while giving me a pretty big smile.

* Dug Dug *

Hah? Why does my heart beat so fast when I see her smile? Wait a minute! I am only paying my respects to him for nothing! I shouldn't feel pleasure when she smiles. I should have stayed wary of him but why…

"Hummp! IT'S NOTHING Y...YOU WOULD ALSO MOST NOT NEED IT!" I who had accumulated a lot of frustration suddenly couldn't see his face directly so I just answered him by shouting while turning my face away from him.

"Is that so? I guess I'm a very lucky boy huh?" with a small laugh I could feel his ridicule.

He really is...

"Y...YES, SO WHY HAVE YOU BEEN SILENT SINCE EARLIER?" I'm already starting to not be able to keep my composure in front of him and I'm really pissed off because of that… I did find myself in a bad situation after all ain't I.

"Nothing, it's just that I was thinking about the crystal stone that I didn't get to pick up when I parted from you here. Those crystal stones won't be dangerous right?" and from those words my heart was beating very fast again but for another reason.

"Then…" before I could finish my words my entire vision went black and I couldn't feel anything.

Author notes:

My lazy ass body is becoming even more lazy as day goes...so, thank you for your time to read this story.

God bless you

Adios