Chapter 254: Ryuudou Issei: Obviously, You Two Cannot Sleep Together
In the course of human civilization's development, the emergence and existence of faith have actually been exceptionally important, serving as one of the major reasons for the continuous cohesion and progress during the early stages of civilization.
Just as the universe has no true boundaries, and magi spend their entire lives—even across countless generations—pursuing the "limit of knowledge," knowledge is infinite. The more one knows, the more one feels the depths of their own ignorance.
When wisdom and civilization gradually budded, humans, who as beasts previously only worried about survival and eating, began to ponder: Why does the moon rise, and why does the sun set? Why was the world born, and what is its meaning...?
A newborn "infant" finds everything in the world unknown, and the unknown brings not only a desire for exploration but also an irrepressible fear.
Thus, to fill this void, the concept of gods was born simultaneously across the origins of civilizations worldwide. Facts prove that this was an inseparable part of civilization's developmental process.
Even if major human civilizations generally realized in the middle stages of social development that the concept of gods did not actually exist, it cannot be denied that it initially gave humanity courage and united a scattered race.
To this day, myths originally derived from different civilizations have gradually assimilated through collision and fusion, continuing as a universally applicable spiritual heritage.
At the end of the deep mountains on one side of Fuyuki City's old town district sits an ancient mountain temple—Ryuudou Temple.
As an ancient temple with centuries of heritage, Ryuudou Temple is even managed by a dedicated family of chief priests. The number of monks has always remained stable, making it a place of cultivation free from any impurities.
To outsiders, Ryuudou Temple might seem at most a historical landmark. In reality, it is the confluence of the largest of Fuyuki City's four spiritual pulses, serving as a pivot for the entire network. For Fuyuki City, it can be called the unquestionable "heart."
The concept of a spiritual pulse in magecraft is not just a tool for magi to hold rituals and extract prana; it is also a source of "fortune" that brings special blessings to an area. It can be said that as long as the spiritual pulse is not excessively damaged, Fuyuki City can maintain a relatively stable state, nearly immune to natural disasters or major calamities.
For magi who only wish to pursue the [Root], living in seclusion is a fine option—so magi living around the world often spontaneously protect these spiritual pulses. Some might even intervene in society to prevent chaos. As long as there is no conflict of interest or direct exposure of their tracks, the existence of these fellows isn't actually bad for a city.
Even Emiya, who was quite an amateur as a magus, could realize the uniqueness of this spiritual pulse land the first moment he arrived at Ryuudou Temple. That no magi were stationed at this hub, and instead, ordinary monks lived atop it, was actually somewhat novel in the world of magecraft.
As for the reason Emiya came to such a place...
That brings us to Ryuudou Issei, who was currently sitting upright and formal across from Emiya.
The other man silently lifted his tea, which was still slowly steaming, took a light sip, and set the cup down. His pupils stared intently at Emiya through his glasses as he asked seriously: "So what you mean is, you aren't actually the Emiya Shirou I know and am familiar with, but just someone with the same name and a similar appearance who happens to be from another place, is that right?"
"..."
"Yes."
Emiya's explanation didn't sound nearly that strange when he gave it, so why did it sound so weird once it came out of Ryuudou Issei's mouth?
What kind of situation was this? A passive attempt to separate the real from the fake?
Emiya knew that using such words to explain wasn't a good solution. He had originally wanted to leave during a gap before the other could react, but unfortunately, at that moment, Itadori Yuji had already sidled up to the man.
Leaving together with Itadori without a word wasn't impossible, but that would be even more conspicuous than this, and the other would surely tell the "Emiya Shirou" of this world about it.
That wouldn't be fair to the other self, and it would directly expose his information... Who knows if a magus has already sensed his arrival? The abilities of magi are definitely several times more bizarre and complex than those of jujutsu sorcerers.
From the other's reaction upon first seeing him, he was clearly an acquaintance of "Emiya Shirou." Emiya's initial claim of not knowing him wasn't intentional, as there was no trace of the man in the memory fragments he had obtained.
Well... it wasn't necessarily because the man was unimportant in the view of "Emiya Shirou"; it might be because "all the memory fragments were related to combat, whereas Ryuudou Issei is just an ordinary person."
Not being involved with the [Holy Grail War] or the world of magecraft was absolute luck for an ordinary person.
Moreover, it wasn't that the other left no impression in the memories of the "Emiya Shirous." At the very least, after Emiya later heard the name Ryuudou Issei, he felt a strange sense of kinship; clearly, everyone had a certain level of trust in him.
Emiya happened to urgently need a way to understand this world. Having a trustworthy ordinary person to take him in shouldn't be a bad thing. At least the other was a guy, so he wouldn't run into the strange troubles that come with meeting girls, right?
However, the fact that the other had such a massive temple waiting to be inherited was a pleasant surprise. Emiya had originally only thought of borrowing some money to manage through tonight.
After all, when he was alone, he didn't care about sleeping on the streets with a piece of cardboard. But as a teacher traveling with a student, letting the student squeeze onto a cardboard box with him didn't seem like a good idea...
"You really managed to come up with such a reason, Shirou-kun."
From Ryuudou Issei's response, he clearly wasn't willing to believe such a bizarre story.
While there is a high statistical probability that two or more people might look quite similar, for these people to coincidentally appear in the same place and have the same name... isn't that a bit insulting to one's intelligence?
Of course, Emiya's original explanation wasn't like that; Ryuudou Issei had just condensed the information into this form himself.
After denying that claim, the other added without hesitation: "Instead of saying that, you'd be better off saying you were suddenly hauled into a van by a group of masked men after school, and when you were later dumped out, you accidentally hit your head by the river and didn't wake up for several hours."
"Then, because of the head trauma, you couldn't recognize who I was in your dazed state and even forgot the way home..."
This exaggerated story was at least logically clear. As long as the TV broadcasted any news about an unknown criminal gang in Fuyuki, the credibility could be pushed to 99%.
"Oh~ Emiya-sensei, what he said actually makes more sense!"
Itadori Yuji, sitting to the side, didn't understand exactly what was happening, but that didn't stop him from using his clever head to make a judgment.
"...Sensei?"
Regarding Itadori Yuji's form of address toward Emiya, Ryuudou Issei expressed reasonable doubt.
In his eyes, "Emiya Shirou" was just an ordinary high school student like himself; how could he deserve such a title?
If it were a younger child, it could at least be explained as being a tutor. But no matter how you looked at it, Itadori's age didn't seem much younger than Emiya's, right?
"No, it's nothing... it's just because I've taught Itadori some things, so he uses that title for me."
Whether letting the other mistake him for the "Emiya Shirou" of this world or anything else, the identity of a real teacher was clearly not easy to explain. Emiya only wanted to find a place to stay; it wouldn't be good to accidentally drag an ordinary person living a peaceful life into an extraordinary world.
After all, the Jujutsu world at least cares about talent; an ordinary person might wake up as a promising sorcerer. But the world of Magecraft only looks at lineage and heritage—here, true geniuses are only ever born in ancient families.
Even for the sufficiently "genius" Emiya himself, his talent for magecraft was completely insufficient when compared to the prestigious families of the magecraft world.
"That's right, that's right! Because my studies aren't very good, Emiya-sensei usually tutors me, so I call him sensei!"
Incredibly, Itadori Yuji's head was unexpectedly sharp for once, catching onto Emiya's claim in a short time and even inventing a reason for himself.
"...........Is that so?"
Hearing this, Ryuudou Issei gradually narrowed his eyes, his gaze darting between Emiya and Itadori Yuji. Logic told him this couldn't happen, but intuition told him Itadori Yuji didn't seem to be lying.
Fortunately, after staring for a few seconds, Issei chose not to press further on the matter: "Forget it. Regardless, you're staying here tonight, right? The temple allows wandering guests to stay anyway. It doesn't matter if you're really from a foreign land or if you were kicked out of the house by your sister."
"...However!"
Emiya had just breathed a sigh of relief at the first half, but Ryuudou Issei pulled a sudden turn with a sharp tone, letting his gaze rotate between Emiya and Itadori for a long time.
At the very last moment, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Itadori Yuji's shoulder, saying firmly: "The temple tradition is one guest per room. You two cannot sleep together... Come with me!"
With that, Issei didn't stay in the room any longer, even going so far as to physically drag Itadori Yuji out.
Itadori Yuji naturally tried to resist, and his way of resisting was to cast a plea for help toward the Emiya-sensei who was omnipotent in his eyes, hoping the other would help him out.
Unfortunately, facing that pure gaze, Emiya chose to selectively ignore it, slightly turning his head away while silently picking up the hot tea from the table and taking a sip.
"Huh?! Does the temple really have such a rule? You aren't trying to separate me from Emiya-sensei so you can sneak in while I'm gone and...!"
Thud!
Before Itadori Yuji's tragic cry could finish, he had been pushed out the door by Ryuudou Issei.
After doing this, Issei didn't forget to open the door again, poking his head in to look at Emiya, who finally seemed to relax.
"Get some rest early. There's school tomorrow; don't be late."
Thud!
Only after confirming the two sets of footsteps had completely faded away did the somewhat awkward Emiya finally set down his teacup. He looked up at the lampshade and sighed: "Really, how did things turn out like this...?"
Though he successfully found a place to stay tonight and could leave before the other realized, Emiya clearly wasn't the kind of man who would take an advantage and remain completely oblivious.
Furthermore, the "Emiya Shirou" of this world didn't even know what was happening here yet. They could leave without any burden, but what about the trouble left behind for the other person?
Modern society isn't like the past; even if a stranger mysteriously appears, you can't just muddle through with various excuses. Modern society is fully capable of investigating your household registration and social background.
The reason he wasn't affected much in the other world was mainly because becoming a sorcerer didn't care about these credentials, and Principal Masamichi Yaga later took the initiative to solve this problem for him without asking questions.
But upon returning to this familiar world, the biggest issue wasn't just registration or housing; more importantly—this world clearly had its own "Emiya Shirou."
Emiya didn't know what state that "self" was in, or if he had intervened in the world of magecraft and the [Holy Grail War]. Actually, if possible, Emiya wouldn't mind providing some help to another self in trouble, but the more fundamental issue was how to handle the trust between them.
The conclusion was that it was most convenient not to let the other person know he was also "Emiya Shirou."
However, household registration and possible issues in the magecraft world... if Emiya remembered correctly, in his memories, Fuyuki City was basically managed by the Tohsaka family regarding magecraft matters.
If he could find a way to establish contact and cooperation with them, then reality-based issues could be solved. Of course, the most important point was another—the Tohsaka family once had a master-disciple relationship with the [Second Magician] at the [Clock Tower], and this relationship remains effective to this day.
Five phenomena that neither magecraft nor science can achieve are called [True Magic], and the humans who can cause them are [Magicians].
Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the man who has allegedly lived for thousands of years, one of the disciples of the [King of Magecraft] Solomon, and the Magician who wields the [Second Magic], is clearly one of the major reasons the Mage's Association and the [Clock Tower] stand firmly today.
Mastering the [Second Magic], he can freely travel across numerous parallel worlds. As a legacy of his disciples, Emiya believed the Tohsaka family could likewise understand the concept of "parallel worlds" and his existence.
If he could establish a connection with the [Second Magician] through this, Emiya might have the possibility of returning to the Jujutsu world, or even... finding his sister.
The former issue still needed resolution; after all, though he brought "Ryomen Sukuna" with him, the more sinister Kenjaku remained. As for the latter? That was naturally his own life ideal and wish: to be able to live happily with his sister... naturally not the kind of life that can't be broadcasted.
If Emiya dared to go to the [Clock Tower] himself, whether he could see the [Second Magician] aside, various bizarre magi would definitely jump out to cause him trouble—the existence of Jujutsu and cursed energy would clearly be a novel thing to them, not suitable for crazed magi to see.
Moreover, even if he met the [Second Magician], why should he expect the man to help him without any connection?
Even though Emiya had already defeated the so-called strongest, Ryomen Sukuna, in the Jujutsu world, in the world of Magecraft, there were many more people far older than that guy. Emiya had little confidence in fighting such people.
From a long-term perspective, establishing contact and reaching a cooperation with the Tohsaka family was one of the best options.
It's just that in Emiya's own world, the Tohsaka family no longer existed in Fuyuki. And regarding the Tohsaka family in "Emiya Shirou's" memories, after the lineage reached this point in time, it seemed only Tohsaka Rin remained as a formal member...
From the emotions left in those memories, she didn't seem easy to get along with, especially for people she couldn't trust.
Well, whatever. Those problems can be left for tomorrow's self.
After all, having gone through so many battles today, his physical fatigue had indeed reached its limit...
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