Chapter 571

[Time flies to the next day.]

[To help Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou perfect his Projection Magecraft, Tohsaka Rin moves into the Emiya residence to stay temporarily.]

[This move is directly unacceptable to Taiga Fujimura, who strongly opposes it.]

[She feels that Emiya Emiya Shirou, who always belonged only to her, has been snatched away by someone else.]

[First Matou Sakura, then Artoria, and now another Tohsaka Rin has popped up.]

[She cannot accept this!]

[Unfortunately, she is no match for Tohsaka Rin at all, and is quickly defeated in a verbal confrontation.]

[In the end, a tiger Taiga lies on the ground, sobbing, having lost her dreams.]

Sakura: "So, Sister is the proactive type after all? (?^?^*)."

Tohsaka Rin: "..."

She thought it was love growing over time, but it turns out she just gave herself away?

As a woman, can't you be a bit more reserved!

Taiga Fujimura: "(￣﹌￣)"

Househusband: "Don't be angry, Taiga-nee, you were never good at debating anyway."

[What can Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou say? Since Taiga Fujimura has already lost, he has even less ability to resist.]

[Because of the overdrawn battle yesterday, his arm is uncontrollable today, causing him to break several bowls.]

[Afraid that such problems will occur while cooking, Chef Emiya has to go on strike for the day.]

[When people are idle, they want to find something to do, and Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou is no exception.]

[So, he starts chatting with Artoria about food.]

[For Artoria, she doesn't dislike anything as long as it's edible; whether it's sour, sweet, bitter, or spicy, she has no specific preference.]

[As for food she dislikes, Artoria actually thinks of one. That is——]

[Gawain's mashed potatoes...]

[Back then, Gawain took a liking to researching mashed potatoes for some reason, and she ate his trial products for a long time.]

[When this topic is mentioned, Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou seems to see vengeful spirits rising behind Artoria.]

[Is this resentment toward mashed potatoes?]

[Good heavens, just how lethal are Gawain's mashed potatoes!]

Gawain: "..."

Gawain only feels betrayed at this moment.

My King, that is not what you said back then.

Zabiko: "To think there is food that even King Arthur doesn't want to eat."

Blonde Rin: "It makes me interested instead."

Artoria: "Ahem, Sir Gawain, please don't overthink it."

Mordred: "Hahaha ＼(^▽^)／, you big gorilla, now you know how terrible your mashed potatoes are."

She was also a victim of the mashed potatoes back then.

Flower Jewel Jewel Mage: "Don't be sad, Gawain-chan, at least your younger siblings still like to eat them."

Gawain: "(╥╯^╰╥)"

[At midnight, Artoria has gone to rest, while Tohsaka Rin, unable to sleep, pulls Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou to sit in the hallway and admire the moon.]

[Tohsaka Rin clearly has different feelings for Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou now, otherwise she wouldn't have moved into the Emiya house.]

[The reason for this is that Tohsaka Rin discovered a truth.]

[That guy Archer is actually Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou!]

[Actually, over the past few days, perhaps due to the contract, she had dreams for several consecutive days, seeing Archer's life experiences in her dreams.]

[Of course, the experiences were concentrated on the latter half of his life, which had the greatest impact on him; the memories of the first half regarding the Holy Grail War and the Clock Tower were glossed over.]

[Only then did she realize that her Archer was such a tragic person.]

[However, she hadn't noticed that Archer was Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou until the battle ended yesterday.]

[After returning, the more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt; she brainstormed all night and finally had a guess: Archer is Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou.]

[At first, she couldn't believe this answer; after all, you really couldn't tell.]

[Summoning a future Servant like this had never been recorded before, and in the first few days after Archer descended, he had been trying to seduce her into killing Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou.]

[Killing oneself, what kind of operation is this?]

[But as the window paper was poked through, she felt more and more that these two were very similar.]

[Holding the attitude of "better to believe it than not," she accepted this fact.]

[For this reason, she moved into the Emiya house under the pretext of helping Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou train his Projection Magecraft, hoping to help Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou's tragic future.]

[It's just that this guy Archer is incredibly awkward and doesn't know where he ran off to again.]

Fiore: "So she discovered Archer's past."

Waver: "Another case of shared memories; it really is magical."

This situation where the Master sees the Servant's past memories in dreams due to the contract is not the first time; it happened to Shishigou Kairi before.]

It is still impossible to tell what the cause is for now.]

Tohsaka Rin: "Really, being overly kind."

Aozaki Aoko: "When a woman is interested in a man, it's a signal, you know."

Tohsaka Rin: "..."

[The two are silent for a moment, and Tohsaka Rin breaks the silence first.]

[She asks Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou if learning and practicing magecraft makes him feel happy.]

[She feels very happy because it allows her to forget that she is all alone, with only a distant younger sister left.]

[She likes magecraft, likes the feeling of her magecraft skills improving. But she hasn't indulged in it.]

[She won't become arrogant or dismissive just because she gained a little bit of power.]

[It can be considered a response to her father's expectations, and also a response to her own persistence.]

Waver: "Heh, a core question right off the bat."

Lord El-Melloi II: "Through this question, one should be able to see Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou's true heart."

["..."]

[To this question, Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou doesn't know how to answer.]

[He doesn't know——]

[For him, this question is like someone asking a person who runs every day, "Are you happy running every day?"]

[Running is just a way to exercise the body, just like Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou practicing and learning magecraft; he only learns it because he needs to use it, and it doesn't make him feel happy.]

Caules: "In short, he treats it as a task to be completed."

Gordes: "Actually, most magi are like this at first; for example, my good-for-nothing son, he just goes through the motions with the training plan I gave him."

Magical Girl Illya: "Just like taking exams at school (︶︹︺)."

Jinako: "Hehe, this metaphor is really too vivid."

[Tohsaka Rin: "Why are you silent? Emiya-kun's father didn't force you to do it, right? But you continue to practice; isn't it because magecraft makes you very happy?"]

[Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou: "Uh, no..."]

[Tohsaka Rin's words pierce deep into his heart.]

[Happiness, Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou has truly never felt this feeling even once.]

[He learns magecraft only to become an ally of justice, so that it can be useful when saving people.]

[Magecraft is a tool for saving people; learning how to use a tool certainly won't bring happiness.]

[He knows he has no talent for magecraft (or so he thinks), but to become someone like Kiritsugu, he can only desperately cling to this sliver of hope.]

[At least by learning magecraft, he has a chance to get closer to Kiritsugu.]

["Wait, answer me seriously."]

[Tohsaka Rin says seriously: "Emiya-kun. I, I might have misunderstood something very important..."]

[She suddenly realizes that she might have understood something.]

["...That's right."]

[Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou hesitates for a moment, then says frankly: "I have never thought that practicing magecraft is happy. Whether it's the practice of magecraft or magecraft itself, I have never felt happy. However, as long as those around me can feel happy, I am very glad. So that's it, as long as I learn magecraft, maybe one day it will be useful for someone, that's what I think."]

["I want to become an ally of justice like Kiritsugu, that's why I learn magecraft."]

["Yeah, my reason is probably just like that."]

["What is that! Aren't you learning magecraft for yourself?"]

[Tohsaka Rin feels a surge of anger in her heart; she remembers the tragedy of Archer she saw in her dream.]

[She finally understands what the source of the tragedy is.]

Waver: "A tool... I can't say that's wrong. But——"

Shishigou Kairi: "If he practices magecraft with this mindset, he won't go far."

Kayneth: "No curiosity, no creativity; learning magecraft is all for others. Such a person is just following the book."

Househusband: "...The me in the video is self-taught; this is already quite good."

Waver: "That's true, you really lack a qualified teacher to guide you in magecraft."

["Not for yourself, what does that mean?"]

[Emiya Emiya Emiya Shirou asks in confusion: "As long as I can help others, I will be very happy."]

[He doesn't know why Tohsaka Rin is angry, but he still says what's on his mind.]

[Learning magecraft, helping others, receiving others' smiles, and doing good deeds; everyone is happy, isn't that good?]

["That's just feeling glad! It's not happiness!"]

[Tohsaka Rin says, frustrated by his lack of progress: "Happiness isn't like that. I'm talking about Emiya-kun himself, whether you feel happy, it has nothing to do with everything around you!"]

["I'm asking you if you feel happy from the bottom of your heart!"]