The civil war in the Asura Kingdom is over.
After Shirou defeated the Water God Reida, he completely established his strength as surpassing the strongest in the Asura Kingdom, and the competition for the throne was basically without suspense.
Not to mention, the Dragon God Orsted also appeared during the process, describing the fact that he killed Darius.
As a result, the nobles generally suspected that the Dragon God Orsted and Ariel were allies, and they dared not have any ideas about Ariel.
The First Prince Gravel's faction disbanded on the spot, and Gravel himself surrendered directly, giving up the idea of inheriting the throne.
Several leaders of the Gravel faction also chose to submit to Ariel.
Pilemon, the head of the Notos family, directly chose to give up his position as head of the family, in order to beg Ariel for a chance to live.
Because the father and son always had a good relationship, Luke chose to plead with Ariel.
Ariel then allowed Pilemon to live, but he would basically have no chance to participate in the kingdom's politics from now on.
James, the current head of Boreas, also submitted to Ariel, and took the initiative to apologize to his father, Sauros, hoping to get Sauros' forgiveness.
However, compared to Luke and Pilemon, the father-son relationship between James and Sauros was obviously not so harmonious.
Sauros directly refused to see James, unwilling to have any involvement with him.
Helpless, James had to ask to see his younger brother Philip, but Philip was even more outrageous than Sauros, directly ordering his men to drive James out.
Without obtaining the forgiveness of the Boreas family, James was almost undoubtedly judged by the Ariel faction and imprisoned.
Sauros thus regained the position of head of Boreas.
But after this incident, Sauros' personality was much more silent than before. He no longer had the motivation to participate in political struggles, nor the strength to fight with others. He directly chose to give up the position of head of the family, retire and return home, returning to the Fitoa territory, which is still under reconstruction, and put all his energy into the reconstruction work of the Fitoa territory.
When Sauros gave up the position of head of the family, the position of head of Boreas naturally needed to be taken by someone else.
After discussing for a long time, the family found that only two people were suitable to inherit the position of head of Boreas.
One is Philip, and the other is Eris.
Faced with such two candidates, most of the Boreas family didn't even think about it, and felt that Philip was definitely going to be the head of the family.
This wasn't because they looked down on Eris.
After all, Eris has now become a dignified Sword King, with strength at the same level as Ghislaine, and no one would underestimate her no matter what.
The problem is that Eris' personality is really not the stuff of a family head. If she were to become the head of the Boreas family, she would probably lead the entire family into a ditch the next day.
Eris herself had a clear understanding of this fact, and she directly refused to inherit the position of family head.
However, Philip had a different opinion on this.
It wasn't that he thought Eris was suitable to be the head of the Boreas family, but that he thought it was a good opportunity to have Shirou marry into the Boreas family.
Philip believed that Eris was not suitable to be the head of the family, but Shirou was obviously suitable.
As long as Eris and Shirou got married, Shirou could take on the responsibilities of the head of the Boreas family, and everything would be logical.
Faced with Philip's bold idea, the people of the Boreas family had mixed attitudes. Some people thought it was good, but others thought it was too outrageous. More people felt that they still needed to see what Shirou thought.
In the few years that Shirou stayed in the Boreas family, he could be said to have completely integrated into the Boreas family.
The people of the Boreas family all recognized him and regarded him as a true member of the family, but precisely because of this, they would not do anything to force Shirou, hoping that Shirou could make the choice in his heart.
Of course, since Shirou had to make a choice, they first needed to tell Shirou about this.
The Boreas family discussed for several days, and finally decided to let Eris take the initiative to propose to Shirou. As long as they saw whether Shirou was willing to agree, everything would have an answer.
Unexpectedly, things would turn out like this, and Eris was undoubtedly the most troubled one.
Unfortunately, the others in the Boreas family didn't mind the chaos.
Her father, Philip, prepared a full set of dresses for her, Azaka, and even a wedding ring. Her mother, Hilda, also passed on to Eris many experiences and skills that she had learned when she accepted Philip's proposal, and even included some content about night-time bedroom life, making Eris blush and feel dizzy.
Sauros was relatively calm. He just calmly encouraged Eris and told her that some opportunities only come once in a lifetime, and once missed, they will never be available again.
Hearing Sauros' words, Eris finally made up her mind.
She first found Ghislaine and used swordsmanship competitions with Ghislaine to calm her heart, and then, carrying the expectations and encouragement of her family, she embarked on the road to propose marriage.
…
While the Boreas family was bustling with excitement, Shirou was in a blacksmith shop in the royal capital, meeting with the old blacksmith who had taught him forging techniques.
When the great teleportation incident occurred, Shirou specifically arranged for the old blacksmith to leave the Boreas territory, so that he could avoid the great teleportation storm.
Later, the old blacksmith also participated in the internal struggles of the Boreas family, staying in the royal capital and providing support to Philip, forging various weapons.
When Shirou came to the royal capital and learned that he was still alive, he immediately went to see him.
It had been a long time since the last time they met. Shirou and the old blacksmith had changed a lot, but the two were still the same as before, talking to each other with an attitude as if everything was normal.
Shirou described to the old blacksmith how he forged Holy Swords for the Milis Holy Kingdom as Muramasa during the great teleportation, and how he went to the Magic University and used the power of the magicians to forge a distant ideal land, and even gained the approval of the Dragon King, who praised his forging skills…
The old blacksmith showed a very excited expression when he heard Shirou's description, and said that he regretted not being able to witness the occurrence of those legendary events with his own eyes.
Shirou then smiled and said that when he forges his next weapon, he will definitely let him see it.
The two chatted and exchanged forging skills at the same time.
Although Shirou's forging skills have now reached an unspeakable level, he is still too young and lacks experience. The old blacksmith has gone through various hardships over the years, and his forging skills can be said to be becoming more and more mature, giving Shirou a lot of inspiration and benefiting him a lot.
During their conversation, the old blacksmith suddenly mentioned one thing.
"Before Philip was in danger, a man in a long black coat suddenly appeared, solved Philip's immediate problems, and provided a lot of support, but that person always hid his appearance and didn't let anyone know what he looked like, which is very strange."
The old blacksmith spoke silently, "He also specifically came to see me and exchanged some forging skills with me. That person's forging skills are very exaggerated, making me feel that he is even no weaker than you, but I have never heard of such a powerful blacksmith in the world."
"Hiding his appearance?"
Hearing the old blacksmith's words, Shirou's first reaction was that the person was the Dragon God Orsted.
Because he bears a curse that will make everyone in the world hate him, Orsted generally doesn't let people see his true appearance, to prevent causing a sensation, which is in line with what the old blacksmith said.
But Shirou has never heard that Orsted possesses forging skills, and it is even more difficult to imagine that Orsted would be a blacksmith no weaker than himself.
He then asked the old blacksmith for more information about the man in the black coat.
But the old blacksmith couldn't describe more, saying that for some reason, the man gave people a very faint impression, and he would even forget about it if he wasn't careful.
Shirou became more and more concerned about this, but there was no way to investigate.
After completing the exchange with the old blacksmith, Shirou returned to the inn where the Greyrat family was staying, and found that the inn was empty. The family took this opportunity to go sightseeing in the royal capital.
After all, except for Paul, most of the Greyrat family had never been to the royal capital, and they were full of curiosity about this most prosperous city in the Asura Kingdom.
Although Paul was tired of this city, he also needed to be responsible for guarding, so he still had to follow closely beside them.
Shirou could only stay in the room alone, enjoying a long-lost peace.
It can be said that with the end of the civil war in the Asura Kingdom, Shirou fell into a state of peace without goals for a long time.
Now all the missing members of the Greyrat family have been found, and although Zenith has a strange disease, as long as they keep working hard in the future, there may be a way to cure it.
Ariel has also completed her goal and can inherit the throne at any time and become the queen of the Asura Kingdom.
The problems of the Boreas family have also been solved by the way, and Sauros is safely out of prison.
Even the Dragon God Orsted, whom Shirou was most wary of, seemed to no longer regard himself as an enemy from his attitude during their previous meeting.
After having the title of Seven Great Powers, ordinary people wouldn't dare to threaten him anymore, let alone do anything to the Greyrat family.
In this way, Shirou suddenly realized that he had completed everything he wanted to complete in this world. He no longer had any enemies, and he no longer needed to endure pressure and pain.
He completed everything he wanted to complete, and achieved the regrets he couldn't complete in his previous life.
"Did I do it?"
Shirou murmured, looking at his hands, and was even a little unable to accept this reality.
Did he really do everything?
Didn't he need to work hard anymore?
But why did he always feel that there was something he couldn't accept…
In a state of loss, Shirou couldn't help but sit on the bed in a daze, spending the whole day idly like never before, until he lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
In his dream, he came to that white space again.
"Hi."
Hitogami's long-lost mosaic smile appeared in front of Shirou.
"Long time no see."
Because too many things had happened, Shirou no longer had as much rejection of Hitogami as he had in the past. He faced the other party with a frank attitude and sat opposite him on the ground.
The two were like old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years, each looking at the other.
"It's been a while since we last met after you went to the Begaritt Continent."
"Yeah, you even suggested that I don't go to the Begaritt Continent at that time, saying that I would definitely regret it if I went, but as a result, nothing happened afterwards."
"Well, who knows about that kind of thing."
"Didn't you make the suggestion? Why don't you know?"
Shirou was inexplicably alert to Hitogami's attitude.
"Maybe it's because my suggestion didn't work on you."
Hitogami opened his mouth with a slight helplessness, "I can see the occurrence of some bad things, but that's only for ordinary people. For Shirou, who has unimaginable mobility, it's normal for my suggestions to fail."
"Is that so? Then why did you make such a suggestion to the Water God, to let her work for Darius?"
"Because that was the Water God's fate, it was the best choice for her. From the result, my suggestion was not wrong, was it? She has already had the most beautiful life."
"This…"
Shirou hesitated for a moment, and felt that Hitogami's statement was not wrong.
Now the Water God has completely stopped interfering in the politics of the Asura Kingdom, completely focusing on swordsmanship, and has also repaid Darius' kindness.
Although the process was full of twists and turns, the Water God's life can indeed be said to be very complete.
But he quickly couldn't help but asked, "Then what's the situation with the Dragon God? He is desperately trying to kill Hitogami's apostles, and also said that Hitogami's suggestions are all with ulterior motives."
"That's slander! How can you believe what that evil guy says!"
"But he didn't show any hostility towards me this time."
"That's just to let you relax your guard, don't be fooled!"
"…"
Hitogami seemed very dissatisfied with the topic of the Dragon God, and showed obvious anger at the mention of the Dragon God.
Shirou still couldn't tell who was right between Hitogami and the Dragon God, but he didn't want to get involved in these troublesome things.
For him, it was enough to protect the people who were most important to him.
Shirou then continued to chat with Hitogami about some ordinary topics. Compared to the past, when he was purely discussing the Dragon God, Shirou was now willing to talk to Hitogami about some different things.
This may also be because he had completed everything he wanted to complete, felt that life was complete, and developed an open-minded attitude, even putting away some of his vigilance towards Hitogami, such an abnormal existence.
In this way, Shirou chatted with Hitogami all night long.
Hitogami didn't show any dissatisfaction with Shirou giving up on resisting the Dragon God, and said very openly that as long as Shirou could live a happy enough life, he, as a god, would be very satisfied.
Faced with Hitogami's attitude, Shirou really didn't know what to say, and always felt that everything was going too smoothly, but he couldn't find any fault with it.
He didn't know how long had passed, and Shirou woke up from his dream.
He looked at the night outside and found that the rest of the Greyrat family seemed to have returned. The doors were all tightly closed.
Shirou then silently came to the window, looked at the moonlight, and thought about what he was going to do in the future.
He still had to continue to become stronger.
It's just that without motivation, it was difficult for Shirou to imagine that he could still put in 120% of his energy and devote all his time to becoming stronger as he had in the past.
Perhaps he could also imagine some other things, live the life of an ordinary person, or even marry someone and start a family…
Or, he could go and study the magic of teleporting to another world with Nanahoshi, looking for a way to return to his original world and find his younger sister, Miyu.
There were too many choices, and Shirou had never felt that time was such a luxurious thing.
Just then, Shirou suddenly found a letter clipped in the crack of the door. He opened the letter and found that it was written by Ariel.
She invited him to visit the royal palace, and also said that she had important things to tell him.
Shirou would naturally not refuse such an invitation, but he couldn't think of what the important thing that Ariel mentioned would be, and a hint of anticipation arose in his heart.
He glanced at the time, and it seemed to be exactly the time to meet with Ariel. He then put on his coat, put on his long sword, and prepared to go out.
"Is the weather in Asura at night so cold?"
Opening the room, Shirou couldn't help but shiver.
He then intended to close the door of the room, but suddenly felt a trance.
"Huh?"
Shirou carefully checked the room again and confirmed that there was no one in the room, suspecting that he was just too nervous just now.
He then locked the room properly and, after confirming his equipment, prepared to walk towards the Asura Palace.
But just as he took a step, he heard the sound of the door lock being opened behind him.
"Who!?"
Such a fast unlocking, without a doubt, was the power of magic.
Shirou drew the long sword from his waist at almost the fastest speed, kicked open his door, and found a figure sitting in his room.
It was an old man wearing a tattered long coat. His face, over seventy years old, was engraved with wrinkles, his head was covered with white hair, and his face was covered with sloppy whiskers, giving people an unkempt feeling.
The atmosphere he gave people was both experienced and decadent, and there was also an aura of a strong man that could not be easily ignored.
Faced with such an existence, Shirou almost instinctively thought it was a master of the level of the Seven Great Powers, and subconsciously wanted to swing his sword at him.
But before he could do anything, he noticed the old man's eyes, which were a pair of eyes that he was very familiar with, at least felt like he had seen countless times.
Too familiar, to the point where it made him fall into a trance.
And when the old man saw Shirou, he suddenly shed tears of excitement, as if he had dreamed of the scene before him countless times in his dreams, and cried out excitedly, "Shirou brother... finally... finally I see you again..."
"What? What did you call me?"
Hearing this familiar address, and looking at the old man's familiar eyes, Shirou almost quickly connected them to a familiar name.
But he couldn't believe that it would really be like that.
In his confusion, the old man said with a moved expression, crying, "Although you may not believe it, Shirou brother, I must tell you, I am Rudeus Greyrat, I come from the future!"
"…"
The old man's words were like a thunderbolt from the blue, hitting Shirou's body.
What Shirou did not expect even more was the old man's next words.
"I used time magic to return to the past in order to save you at this time, so that you won't die in Hitogami's hands!"
"You said... Hitogami?"
"Yes, if things develop normally, Hitogami's conspiracy will soon be officially launched. You, Shirou brother, and everyone in the Greyrat family, everyone will die! All of this has been planned by Hitogami in advance!!"