(Shirou POV)
"Uwaah! Uwaah!"
A loud cry echoed throughout the room.
"Ah!?"
Iroha panicked, frantically looking for a way to stop the baby from crying. She made funny faces and tried to soothe her, but nothing worked.
The baby kept crying loudly, and Iroha was clearly struggling.
I gently took the baby from her arms, trying not to think about the fact that my hand had accidentally brushed against Iroha's chest in the process.
"Shh… shh…"
I swayed the baby softly and began humming a lullaby. After a few moments, the little one slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Looks like she was just hungry," I muttered, glancing at Iroha.
She was staring at me, a faint blush on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Snapping out of her daze, Iroha quickly shook her head. "Nothing. I just noticed that you're really good at taking care of a baby."
"I'm used to taking care of my niece," I answered honestly.
"Is that so?" she replied softly.
The two of us sat next to each other.
"Can you lay down a futon? Let's put her there."
"Wait a moment." She stood up, opened the closet, took out her futon, and carefully spread it on the floor.
Once it was ready, I gently placed the baby down.
I never tried using Observe on her.
Using Observe was far more dangerous than it seemed. I didn't mind using it on objects, but using it on people, especially when there was a chance they could be some kind of eldritch horror, was another matter entirely.
The last thing I needed was to get dragged into an endless nightmare.
"Do you have a pillow? Let's place one on each side of her so she won't roll onto her stomach," I said.
Iroha handed me a pillow without a word.
"You really know a lot," she muttered as she opened my newly bought laptop. "I'll set it up for you."
"Alright," I replied.
After placing the pillows carefully on both sides of the baby, I stepped back to make sure she was secure. She slept peacefully, her tiny breaths soft and steady.
I walked toward the terrace and looked up at the night sky. The moon hung high above, pale and silent.
…Please don't tell me this little one came from the moon.
The last thing I needed was a surprise visit from BB.
"…Oops." Now that I thought about it, I probably shouldn't have even mentioned that name in my head.
A chill ran down my spine.
No, no. Calm down. Not every mysterious baby is connected to some sadistic moon AI.
That would be ridiculous.
Right?
I glanced back inside. Iroha was focused on my laptop, humming softly as she worked. The gentle light from the screen illuminated her face.
For a moment, everything looked peaceful.
Then-
The laptop screen flickered.
I froze. "Iroha," I called carefully. "Did you touch anything weird?"
She blinked. "No? I just turned it on and connected it to the Wi-Fi." The screen flickered again.
And then-
A small pink icon appeared in the corner of the screen. My eye twitched.
Please No!
There was no way.
The icon pulsed once, almost playfully, before disappearing.
"…Must be a system update," I muttered weakly.
"Are you okay?" Iroha asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah. Totally fine." I forced a smile. "Just… suddenly felt like uninstalling the moon."
She gave me a strange look. "You can't uninstall the moon."
"I know," I sighed. "But if it's possible I'm going to do it."
Behind us, the baby shifted slightly but didn't wake.
I stared at the quiet room, then at the moon again.
Should I involve Iroha in the Moonlit World?
…No. That wouldn't be a good idea.
But-
I looked at the baby sleeping peacefully between the pillows. Maybe she's already involved.
"Uhm, Shirou?" Iroha's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. She turned the laptop toward me, pointing at the screen.
A message had appeared.
"You thought it was BB? But it was me, Zelretch!"
"Anyway, I left this message on your laptop due to a sudden change of plans. And yes, the girl currently with you is already involved in the Moonlit World."
My eye twitched. Of course it was him.
The message continued:
"But that is not the main issue right now. Do not be distressed. No one will make a move on the child. They won't even know she exists. She is not a BEAST, nor is she a TYPE, so rest assured."
"However, that child is classified as a Foreigner."
Foreigner?
The screen flickered slightly before more text appeared.
"To clarify: a Foreigner is a being whose origin does not belong to this world's established texture. She does not align with the current Human Order, nor does she originate from the will of the planet."
"Normally, such an existence would trigger defensive responses."
That was the last thing I wanted, defensive responses from Gaia or Alaya.
The message continued.
"There are two primary defense mechanisms in this world: Gaia, the will of the planet, and Alaya, the collective unconscious will of humanity.
Gaia reacts to threats against the planet itself, entities that disrupt the natural order or attempt to overwrite the world's texture.
Alaya, on the other hand, responds to threats against human survival and the continuity of human history."
I frowned.
Wait.
He isn't explaining this to me. I already know all that.
Slowly, I turned my head toward Iroha.
She was staring at the screen, completely confused but trying her best to understand.
He's explaining this to her. Is this old troll actually interested in her?
Almost as if responding to my thoughts, new text appeared.
"Of course I would be interested in Miss Iroha. She has what it takes to become a wielder of True Magic, after all."
My eye twitched.
Iroha's mouth hung open in shock as the text changed.
So he could read the atmosphere through the recording. Or maybe he just predicted our reaction.
That's just like him.
The message continued:
"If the child were hostile, excessively powerful, or inclined toward planetary-scale interference, either Gaia or Alaya would have already initiated corrective measures.
But I know you would have noticed. You do have that kind of experience, after all."
I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Yeah. I would have noticed.
Reality pressure. Subtle distortions. The feeling of being observed by the world itself.
None of that was happening.
"However, she is currently harmless, dormant, and integrated at a minimal level. In simpler terms: she is beneath their threshold of rejection."
I slowly exhaled.
So she wasn't being targeted.
The final lines appeared:
"Furthermore, she is not recognized as a planetary invader like the Aristoteles (TYPEs), nor is she classified as an Evil of Humanity. She lacks the conceptual weight required to be designated a calamity.
Also, watch over my two disciples for me.
—Zelretch"
The screen went still.
Silence filled the room.
Iroha slowly turned to look at me.
"…Shirou," she said carefully, "I don't understand anything that was just written. But why do I feel like that message was responding to me? It even mentioned me."
I stayed quiet for a moment.
When I looked at her, her expression wasn't just confused anymore and it was pure horror.
"Well… there are a lot of things you need to know," I admitted. "But I'm not the right person to explain everything."
I couldn't properly explain the deeper parts of magecraft to her. Not the foundations. Not the politics. Not the risks.
"But I can tell you this much," I continued. "You're already involved with Mystery. There's no undoing that."
She swallowed but nodded, signaling for me to continue.
So I gave her a simplified explanation.
About the hidden side of the world.
About magi who pursue the Root.
About supernatural phenomena hidden beneath everyday life.
About how most people live their entire lives without ever realizing any of it exists.
I left out the Grail Wars and the Counter Guardians.
When I finished, I expected disbelief.
Instead—
"I see," Iroha said quietly.
That was it.
She didn't scream and didn't call me insane. She just accepted if as if it's normal.
Maybe it's because she just witnessed a Mystery happen right in front of her.
She might be stronger than I thought.
Then, about a minute later, she tilted her head.
"Do I have the talent to become a True Magician? What does that even mean?"
I almost choked.
"That's… not something you 'become' through talent alone," I said carefully. "True Magic is different from magecraft. Magecraft is imitation, it reproduces mysteries that once existed. True Magic is something humanity cannot achieve through science, no matter how far it advances."
She blinked.
"So… it's like cheating?"
"…In a way."
"And that old man thinks I can do that?"
"He thinks you have the potential to reach that level," I corrected.
Her expression turned complicated.
"I wanted to teach you," I admitted, "but I don't think I can. My magecraft is… unique. It only works because I'm me. It's not something I can pass on or properly explain."
Projection. Reinforcement. Can be taught but the structure of my circuits. The Reality Marble sleeping inside me, none of that was transferable in a normal way.
"But," I added, a small smirk forming on my lips, "I do have a way to help you… cheat your way through it."
Iroha narrowed her eyes. "Is it safe?"
"It is," I admitted.
Thanks to the Gamer System, specifically, the Party function, I could accelerate her growth.
Magus will lobotomies me if they knew about this system.
But if she truly had Magic Circuits, the system could help her recognize them, refine them, maybe even develop proper magecraft foundations far faster than normal.
"But I can't learn anything from you?" she asked, her expression downcast.
"It's not that," I said quickly. "You can learn the basics. Circuits. Foundations. Theory. But if you're talking about what I do specifically? No. That path is mine alone."
She stared at her hands for a moment.
"It's kind of unfair." Her pout was cute, but it couldn't be helped. My Trace-On was something only I could use, as someone with the Origin of Sword. "Why is it that only a few people can learn magecraft, and why does it have to stay in the family?"
"Welcome to magecraft," I said, a sly grin forming. "My magecraft is like a clan crest, unique to me alone. Not even my descendants could ever wield it."
A small, reluctant smile appeared on her face.
Silence settled between us again, softer this time.
"…Shirou."
"Yeah?"
"If I'm already involved… does that mean I'm in danger?"
There it was, the real question.
I looked at the sleeping baby between the pillows.
"You weren't supposed to be," I admitted. "But now that someone like Zelretch has taken interest in you… your life probably won't stay completely normal."
Who knows what Zelretch will do to her? I don't fully understand that old man. Heck, I can't even properly tell whether him knowing me means my E-rank Luck is acting up again.
She inhaled sharply.
"But," I added firmly, "I won't let anything happen to you."
That was a promise.
I will protect her. I will protect this world, for the beauty of this world.
Iroha studied my face for a long moment.
"…You say that so seriously," she muttered with a hint of blush on her face.
"…Then teach me," she said quietly.
I blinked. "What?"
"If I'm already involved, and if weird old magicians are watching me, then I don't want to stay clueless. Even if you can't teach me your magecraft… teach me something."
Her eyes were steady now.
"…You might regret that," I warned.
"Who knows," she said. "But I'm going to regret doing nothing even more."
"…Fine," I said at last. "We'll start with something simple. Meditation. Awareness of your internal flow. If you really do have circuits, you'll feel them eventually."