Chapter 223: Chaldeas's Observation

"Illyasviel…have you been waiting here for me all this time?" Emiya Shirou was stunned, and a hint of guilt crept into his gaze.

"Where else could I go?" Illyasviel sat on the bench, swinging her little legs, a little displeased. "I thought something had happened to you in another world."

Emiya Shirou had indeed said he would be back soon, but he remembered that when he parted from Illyasviel, she had already left this park before he headed off to another world.

Had she turned back again?

Illyasviel beckoned to Emiya Shirou, motioning for him to come over.

Emiya Shirou walked forward with an apologetic air, and her small hand patted the empty spot on his right.

"Sit over here."

Emiya Shirou obediently sat down.

Illyasviel: "How long were you in the other world?"

Emiya Shirou: "A little over a year."

Illyasviel was in a rather unhappy mood, but after sizing Emiya Shirou up carefully and staring into his eyes for quite a while, she finally deflated and did not flare up.

"Honestly, Shirou mustn't lie to a lady." Illyasviel's ethereal voice carried a note of helpless resignation. "Big sis was really worried about you."

Emiya Shirou was about to apologize, but she reached out and pressed a slender jade finger against his lips, telling him not to say more.

"Even if your age is already over 18, I'm the big sister, got it? Big brother." Illyasviel brought her little face close, the distance between their faces no more than a fist.

"Eh?" Emiya Shirou did not know how to respond; Illyasviel's way of addressing him left him a little confused. "You're calling me big brother again."

"Is that not allowed?" Illyasviel tilted her head in puzzlement. "Doesn't Shirou really like little-sister-type characters?"

"You should spend less time looking at things online!" Emiya Shirou's eyelid twitched, and he flicked her on the forehead with his fingers bent like a bow.

"Ouch!" Illyasviel covered her head and said indignantly, "What the heck! Clearly you have mature-sister-type and little-sister-type magazines hidden inside that fh game!"

"Are you dissatisfied with a me who can be both a sister-type and a little-sister-type! The little weekly magazines in your room have already exposed your preferences!"

"Th-that! I've already told you, there aren't those things in my room now! That's a game!" Emiya Shirou's face immediately flushed red as he argued back, "And didn't the game also say it was a misunderstanding!"

"Roar~, really now~?" Illyasviel drew out the last syllable, making no attempt to hide her teasing. "Lying often means swallowing a thousand needles, you know."

Emiya Shirou: "Illyasviel, I don't have a habit of lying."

If one were to ask who Emiya Shirou was most helpless against, the former record-holder was Fujimi-sis, but now Illyasviel had broken that record.

"But haven't you failed to faithfully keep a single one of the things you promised me?" Illyasviel's mood shifted quickly and naturally; her voice and expression both turned stern as she pressed him:

"You promised me you'd come back soon, and you promised me you wouldn't shoulder all the pressure by yourself. You said so much before, yet not one of it was done."

"How long has it been since you rested, Shirou? Do you really think you can fool me with that exhausted look?!"

Illyasviel placed her hand on Emiya Shirou's forehead, and under his startled gaze, a faint ripple of magical energy flickered, as though she were scanning his body.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Emiya Shirou instinctively tried to avert his gaze, not daring at all to meet the eyes of the owner of those deep crimson irises.

Illyasviel: "Shirou."

Emiya Shirou: "I'm here.."

Illyasviel: "Lie down."

Hearing such words, Emiya Shirou did not quite catch on for a moment, and he asked, "What?"

"I'm telling you to lie down." Illyasviel tilted her chin up slightly and patted her own thighs. "Now Shirou is going to rest properly for me."

Emiya Shirou was stunned for a beat, then hurriedly said, "I-I'll go back and rest!"

The moment he tried to rise, Illyasviel wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him toward herself with force.

"Berserker!" Illyasviel called out toward an empty spot nearby.

Hercules's figure rapidly condensed into a solid form, departing from his spirit-body state.

Illyasviel said huffily, "If you don't rest properly, I'll have Berserker force you to rest!"

Hercules said nothing, only raising the stone axe in his hand. It was fortunate no pedestrians were passing by, or he would surely have been mistaken for a vicious, muscle-bound thug and caused a public disturbance.

"Eh?!?" Cold sweat broke out on Emiya Shirou, disbelief written all over him. "Don't be ridiculous, Illyasviel."

Was it really okay to summon Berserker just for something like this?

"If Shirou finds me annoying, then just go!" Illyasviel turned her head away and complained, "You said we'd live together from now on, liar! Not a single thing you promised me has been done."

"Or you can leave now and go to another world; then I won't be able to have Berserker stop you either."

This is a precious day off, and going back right after returning is just too cruel.

Emiya Shirou sighed and closed his eyes a little shyly.

"Then I'll nap for a bit, remember to wake me at 6."

"Mm, Shirou should just rest properly."

The current time was roughly 4:50 in the afternoon. The early-spring sky always darkened earlier; the gloomy sky was like a caramel pudding, dusk and the encroaching night blending into one color.

"Good boy~" Illyasviel stroked Emiya Shirou's head and said softly.

Emiya Shirou felt a softness, a faint floral fragrance drifting into his nose, and the body and mind that had gone without rest for days slowly relaxed.

'This scene feels like I've seen it somewhere before, ah well, never mind.'

Whether it was mass-produced projection work, refined projection work, alchemy, or the study of Divine Craft Refinement—leave it all for later.

What worried him most was everything that was about to happen in this world, yet at this moment Emiya Shirou felt utterly at ease. The feeling was contradictory yet reasonable; beside family, it seemed there was no need to think so much.

"I've told you already—even if Shirou just leans on me, I can carry you through this Holy Grail War, you don't need to try so hard." Illyasviel gazed at Emiya Shirou's profile as he gradually drifted off, gently stroking his cheek; her eyes were lowered, her gaze soft.

A cold wind blew gently by. As the last trace of golden radiance was swallowed by the night, the stars in the sky, having nothing to obscure their light, appeared in swarms, twinkling while the sun took its rest.

Illyasviel did not wake Emiya Shirou, simply maintaining her seated posture and waiting for time to pass little by little.

"To think a bounded field to repel ordinary people was even set up here—honestly, if Archer hadn't observed from a high vantage point, I never would have imagined it was in this place."

Tohsaka Rin came around the corner of the street, hands on her hips, glaring at Illyasviel with a hostile expression; behind her was Saber, dressed in a blue-and-white casual outfit.

"I've been looking for Emiya-kun for so long, I didn't think he'd already fallen into the enemy's hands." Tohsaka Rin's expression was stern, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Shirou!" Saber, seeing Emiya Shirou lying on Illyasviel's lap, called out to her Master: "What have you done to him, Illyasviel von Einzbern!"

"Oh, who do we have here — a bench vise and a water pump." Illya curved a faint smile. She had set up two soundproofing spells at Emiya Shirou's ears, and said lightly, "Could you not bother me and Shirou? Once he wakes up, he'll go back on his own."

"Bench Vise, Water Pump, what nonsense are you spouting?" Tohsaka Rin frowned. She vaguely felt Illya was hinting at something. "Saber, get ready to fight. Archer, be prepared to provide support."

Red — that is, the figure of Heroic Spirit Emiya — emerged from one side, casting a strange glance at Emiya Shirou, who lay across Illya's lap.

The other party really did seem to be in a deep sleep, but it didn't look like he'd been hit by some kind of hypnosis spell — his whole body was relaxed, with nothing unnatural about him.

"Let me say this up front: you don't have the slightest chance of winning. But for Shirou's sake, I won't fight you." Confidence bled through Illya's words. "Saber, if you're worried about Shirou you can stay. As for Rin, you'd better hurry home. This is our family matter, so don't get involved."

"Family matter…" Saber hesitated, but still drew a transparent longsword. Armor materialized over her body, and she said in a low voice, "I don't know what your aim is, but you'd best give Shirou back right now."

"Give him back? I don't care for that phrasing." Illya faced the three ahead squarely and said, "Shirou is my property. This route isn't yours."

"Berserker!"

The sound of tearing air came from the right side, but before the sound could even register, a biting gale arrived first along with a massive Shi Fu sword at Saber's flank.

Red pulled Tohsaka Rin back to one side.

Saber, who had been prepared, took the blow head-on, but the opponent's tremendous force made it hard for her to withstand. She could only borrow the momentum to leap backward, her iron boots scraping two clear gouges into the ground.

"Step down like that, Saber." Heracles spoke. "My Master bears no ill will. In your current state, you're no match for me."

"Berserker!?"

Everyone stared in surprise at the black giant like a small mountain. The other party, a Berserker, actually possessed reason at this moment!?

The most surprised of all was Red. In his memory, Berserker had always been powerful but only ever followed orders — he had never displayed such rationality, never spoken and conversed with others!

'This is bad. A Berserker with reason won't be easy to deal with.'

He didn't understand why the current situation differed from what he remembered. He had originally thought that after Emiya Shirou went missing, he would be abducted to a castle in the suburbs, but instead they were still in the park, and Berserker had suddenly gained reason.

"If you bear no ill will, then have him return my Master to me. I am willing to fight you in a fair battle!" Saber said solemnly. Bound by the spirit of chivalry, she now placed Emiya Shirou's safety above all else.

The taut, ready-to-strike atmosphere grew ever more Solemn. And just then, the sleeping Emiya Shirou turned over in his dream, turning his back to the crowd. He curled up instinctively against the cold wind, nuzzled into Illya's arms, and went on sleeping. A mumble escaped his lips — not loud, but clear enough for everyone present to hear.

"Run… there are five Transformation-Dragon realm on the other side."

"Two thousand Wheel Sea realm behind us… Ye Fan, I want to go home."

"I don't have a single drop of magic power left."

"Su Zongzhu… the sect's stockpile, give it a rest. I really don't have the time."

"Blackie, don't sneak the client's goods."

"The basic principle of alchemy is—"

"Divine Mechanism talent… a hundred refinements become truth."

Although no one knew exactly what nonsense Emiya Shirou was mumbling in his dream, at this point everyone could be sure of one thing—

He really did seem to be asleep.

"Illya, I didn't lie to you." Emiya Shirou mumbled in his dream. "Believe me, we have to stay together forever. Born—"

He didn't finish before falling back into quiet slumber, his body rising and falling gently with his breathing.

Illya clearly started at the last bit of dream-talk she heard from Emiya Shirou. She gathered him into her arms with slow, gentle movements. Her pupils were more lustrous than before, shimmering under the Yu Yingzhao of the park's streetlamp with a gorgeous, stirring red — like red wine swaying in a goblet.

Illya lowered her head, patted Shirou's back lightly, glanced at the three opposite her, and suddenly thought of something.

She pressed a light kiss to Emiya Shirou's forehead, then revealed a sly smile. "Alright, we'll definitely have two children."

That remark of hers made the sword in Saber's hand dip slightly downward. Confusion showed in those emerald-green pupils.

"Archer, let's just leave this guy alone…" Tohsaka Rin said darkly, her face a picture of contempt as she looked at Emiya Shirou's back. She said with disgust, "Let's just call the police. Ah, worrying about a guy like this was entirely my mistake. A person like him deserves to be destroyed."

"…" Red was silent, but a new emotion had entered his gaze toward Emiya Shirou — disgust. It was the emotion called self-loathing.

Chaldea

This was an institute and observatory built to ensure that human history could endure long and resiliently into the future. Gathering researchers from every field without distinction between magic and science, it was an astronomical facility constructed to gaze down upon all of Earth from the void.

A faint red light flared on Chaldeas. The instant this red light appeared, the observation staff were about to slam the warning button as if by reflex — but in the blink of an eye, the red light vanished without a trace.

He was dazed for a moment. Had the red dot he'd seen earlier been a hallucination?

"Check the records!" said another observer beside him.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd seen what just happened.

Not daring to be careless, he hurriedly pulled up the observation logs on his computer and began flipping through the records from the past few minutes to check.

"No anomalies at all," he said in disbelief.

"No anomalies."

"No anomalies."

Before the cold, silver-gray control consoles, every staff member likewise reported no anomalies whatsoever.

"Log this incident. At 09:15, a suspected anomaly was detected. Coordinates—" Leonardo da Vinci checked the spot on Chaldeas where the red dot had just appeared from memory, paused, and said:

"Fuyuki City, February 4, 2004. Nature: an occasional Parallel World observation."

Let me plant a foreshadowing here for now. The Type-Moon instance is either next or the one after — it should be after the Blue Star arc and the next scenario.