"Eh?"
Sakai Yuuji pulled aside the crimson cloak covering him and began gingerly touching his left arm, his left leg, and finally, his abdomen.
At the very last moment before the doll's attack struck home, he'd desperately thrown himself to the side with all his might, narrowly avoiding having his stomach punched straight through.
But with his already wounded body, there was no way he could completely dodge that blow. Ultimately, the doll's punch had slammed brutally into his side. All he could say was that he'd somehow managed to survive.
Yet now, all the injuries covering Sakai Yuuji's body had miraculously healed in an instant—this looked even more outrageous than Emiya Shirou's own Avalon.
After all, except for truly life-threatening wounds, Avalon wouldn't heal injuries instantaneously, but would instead mend them gradually.
Emiya Kiritsugu, during his battle with Kotomine Kirei, had his shattered heart instantly restored by Avalon, whereas Emiya Shirou himself, during his battle with Archer, had been covered in various wounds yet had received no immediate healing. Clearly, Avalon could distinguish the severity of injuries.
Perhaps this selective healing was to conserve magical energy—instantaneous recovery might consume far more mana. Though really, who could say for certain?
Emiya Shirou's gaze, however, was now locked onto Sakai Yuuji.
"[Trace on]."
In his hands, an intricately crafted device suddenly appeared, shimmering faintly with light, illuminating the darkness around them.
"What's that?"
Sakai Yuuji stared, slightly astonished, as the ornament had materialized in Emiya Shirou's hand as though by magic.
"I don't know."
Emiya Shirou shook his head with absolute certainty. Although he could project this device, he genuinely had no idea of its exact nature.
Even though Shirou could analyze and project items, this didn't mean he understood the concept of the Power of Existence. After all, what he projected lacked certain essential qualities of the original—it could only carry out the function it was meant to perform.
If a weapon stored some special form of energy, Shirou couldn't project it along with the internal energy. If, say, a sword stored up magical power to release a beam attack, Shirou's projected copy would always be an empty vessel, not fully charged.
He knew exactly what this particular ornament did—but not its deeper significance.
For example, the fact that it restored Power of Existence at midnight: Shirou understood that much clearly. However, he didn't truly grasp what Power of Existence actually was. All he could do was equate it vaguely to mana.
"Aren't you going home now? You've been lying in the infirmary all this time; your family must be worried."
Emiya Shirou asked Sakai Yuuji carefully. This boy had no combat capability—Shirou certainly couldn't allow him to remain here and assist.
He had already gained the information he'd needed from him, and if possible, he hoped that Sakai Yuuji wouldn't become further embroiled in this disaster.
From what Shirou understood thus far, ordinary humans had practically no means of resisting these entities—they could only obediently become prey to those dolls.
And within that frozen crimson world, combined with the existence of Torches, ordinary humans would never even realize their world was inhabited by beings that devoured their very existence.
If Shirou himself could barely survive such a threat, how could an ordinary high-schooler ever hope to manage?
"I can only hope…this thing might let me move freely in that strange world I've never seen before."
Shirou murmured quietly, holding the softly glowing blue ornament in his hand.
After all, the only difference between Sakai Yuuji and other Torches was that he carried such a Treasure Tool within himself.
Surely it wasn't the case that all those Torches could move freely within the frozen world but simply chose not to.
Though he couldn't dismiss that possibility entirely, Emiya Shirou had no better solution right now.
Night passed by silently.
When Emiya Shirou woke up in the infirmary and wrapped himself once more in his red cloak, his mind immediately returned to yesterday's events. He desperately wanted to confront those beings slaughtering humans as soon as possible, but—
Groooowl—!
Having gone a full day without eating, Shirou felt hunger pangs gnawing insistently at his stomach.
Missing a single day's meals wouldn't greatly affect Emiya Shirou, but if he didn't quickly find a way to earn some money, he really might end up digging through trash cans for food.
Previously, all his basic needs had been taken care of by others; suddenly having to handle it all himself took some getting used to.
It wasn't that Shirou was incapable of finding work. After all, he was quite experienced at taking odd jobs—wasn't he currently heading off to find another?
As for exactly what Shirou was supposed to be doing in this world, he himself didn't really grasp it. That ball of light had told him he'd become something like an "anchor," which enabled it to interfere with this world.
Honestly, Shirou hadn't fully understood the explanation. At the time, he'd simply accepted the offer because refusal meant death. He'd had no reason to decline.
Shirou had just been so preoccupied at first with observing those whose presence seemed diminished, that he'd pushed finding a job to the back of his mind.
But now that he had gained some understanding of this world, it was finally time to deal with practical concerns like supporting himself.
He wasn't a Servant, after all—he required food, rest, and a comfortable place to live, not just magical energy alone.
Though he'd existed as a spiritual body within the Holy Grail, the Grail had re-created his physical body. Now, Shirou had a complete, fully human form.
The Grail hadn't enhanced his new body in any special way. He was simply reconstructed exactly as he had been before—though at least his arm was fully restored.
His soul had never lost his arm, so naturally, the body built for him now also had both arms intact.
As things stood, Shirou could only wait passively for the enemy's next move. Being anxious wouldn't help matters one bit.
Thus prepared, Shirou once again wandered through Misaki City's streets, searching for a suitable job.
...
"Is that human still alive?"
Atop the tallest building in Misaki City, the elegant man gazed curiously at the figure depicted within his glass vessel—the human who had somehow survived being attacked by the Rinne. A deeply intrigued smile formed at the corners of his lips.
This time, he genuinely felt curious about how a human unable to move within a Fūzetsu could possibly survive such an encounter.
They had personally observed the dolls approach Emiya Shirou. Moreover, Shirou had clearly shown no means of resisting the Fūzetsu—completely immobilized.
If a human capable of using Unrestricted Spells had survived a Rinne's attack within a Fūzetsu, he wouldn't have found it particularly surprising.
After all, those dolls weren't particularly powerful. A handgun alone could dispatch them easily—not to mention humans proficient in Unrestricted Spells having even more potent means.
But for a powerless human, unable to move freely within a Fūzetsu and completely ignorant of Unrestricted Spells, to survive…
Perhaps it was due to his lack of imagination, but he truly couldn't conceive how Emiya Shirou had survived that situation.
Even hiding inside a car wouldn't have protected him from the dolls' attacks.
Unless—
"Could that human be holding a Treasure Tool?"
The doll in his arms softly voiced the suspicion that had already formed within his heart.
Though most Treasure Tools belonged to Crimson Denizens, Flame Hazes, or Mystes, that didn't mean ordinary humans never possessed them.
As the sturdy backbone behind Flame Hazes, a few humans indeed possessed enough strength to occasionally battle Rinne.
But if it was a Treasure Tool incapable of even breaching a Fūzetsu, it surely couldn't be particularly powerful.
Nevertheless, he was quite curious to see exactly what Treasure Tool Emiya Shirou possessed—after all, he himself owned a vast collection of them.
Even if it had no practical use, it would make a nice addition to his collection, wouldn't it?
---
T/N: welcome back Emiya SHirou
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