Fate: Emiya the Host

In the end, they found a seafood barbecue buffet about four or five li away from Chaldea Academy.

Roman drove with Shirou.

The moment they stepped into the restaurant, Shirou immediately targeted the foods that offered the fastest energy recovery.

Then came a crazy feast.

Roman grilled for him, and he buried himself in eating without caring about the taste. If it was edible, that was enough.

One hour later.

Two hours later.

Roman was starting to fall apart.

If the servers looked at them, their expressions were truly terrifying.

"Still not enough, Emiya-kun?", He felt like he'd already turned into a barbecue machine.

"Mm, that's enough, that's enough," Shirou started eating fruit.

Roman: "?"

"Didn't you say you were done, Emiya-kun?"

"The food's almost done, of course I need some desserts, Roman-sensei can have some too."

"No," Roman held his forehead, "I mean, the dining time limit here is two hours."

"So that's how it is."

In a blur, the table piled high with fruits, desserts, and cakes was swept clean by Shirou in an instant.

Roman and the nearby server were left gaping.

"Let's go, Roman-sensei. Thanks for the treat," Shirou stood up and stretched his muscles.

Roman paid the bill.

His money had already been eaten clean by noon today.

"Uh, really sorry about that," Roman gave an awkward smile and apologized to the server.

'Normally, you shouldn't eat like this at a buffet, but…'

'Can a person really eat that much food?'

[Mana: D]

'Thanks be to the god of food.'

Shirou's attitude was devout.

At the same time, he made up his mind that from now on, whenever he had money, he'd come to eat at a buffet.

"No, no problem, the customer is always right."

Even though the corner of her eye couldn't stop twitching, the pretty-looking server still kept her smile and bowed, "Please come again next time. We can even recommend another buffet that's just as delicious, right up ahead in the food street. Here's a free discount coupon."

The server took out a coupon she had clearly prepared long ago.

"Huh?", Roman's brain stalled for a moment.

'Go out for a meal… and still get a freebie?"

"Thank you, pretty big sister," With the utmost sincerity, Shirou accepted the coupon.

There were two. If they couldn't be combined, then it was just one chance.

"Oh…", The server's heart bloomed with joy, "What's with calling me a pretty big sister, you kid."

She touched her face with one hand and smiled shyly, "Then take your time, come again next time and big sister will treat you."

Roman: "?"

The look he gave Shirou was a little complicated.

'Wait!'

'This… this is already a capture?'

'You, you!'

Only Shirou's smile stayed the same as he pulled Roman away from the buffet.

"What's wrong, Roman-sensei?"

When they got to the car, Roman was still in a daze, making Shirou ask in confusion.

But then the former spoke seriously, "Sensei, I want to learn!"

"Mm?"

"Please tell me how to stop being single."

Roman lowered his head and said loudly, "Please, this is my lifelong request."

Shirou: "…"

"Uh," he chose his words carefully, "Roman-sensei, do I look like someone who has a girlfriend?"

———

Finally making it back to the infirmary, Shirou rubbed his brow lightly.

He hadn't said anything particularly interesting just now.

He'd just thought that since the woman had indeed done something to help him, saying something nice was simply good manners.

How did that end up capturing someone in Roman's eyes?

He didn't get it.

But…

Shirou moved his body.

His legs were still in a lot of pain, and his lungs weren't much better.

Along with that, his whole body still had the lingering aftereffects of total exhaustion.

But it didn't matter, he was going to see if he could exploit a bug.

'System, give me muscle training, hit me with it hard.'

["Logged in."]

System Shirou dashed to the track at the sports field.

Facing the pain, he started running to warm up.

Shirou could endure it.

His willpower was already strong enough now.

After five laps, his body was heating up.

Roman couldn't quite figure Shirou out anymore.

He worked himself to death in the day, and still pushed himself so hard at night.

Just what was he trying to achieve, constantly squeezing himself like this?

Unfortunately, the gym club was closed, otherwise he could have used their equipment to train.

As it was, all he could do was pull-ups and push-ups.

Two hours later, he began stretching.

["One "Muscle" training session complete. Muscle stat increased, now at C. Endurance and Agility slightly improved."]

'Finally… finally an ordinary person now?'

Shirou felt great.

All the effort today hadn't been wasted.

And the bug exploit had barely succeeded.

Stretching after training made his recovery extremely fast.

But the energy drain was just as terrifying, and now he was hungry again.

If it weren't for having something relatively important to do, he would've gone for another buffet trip.

———

Back at the infirmary.

Shirou said he was going out for a while, and Roman didn't ask, he only told him to be sure to come back safe and sound.

Otherwise, his job as a teacher would be over.

After promising, Shirou left Chaldea Academy and headed for Fuyuki Bridge.

This was the important matter.

Whether it was the Holy Grail War or Illya's situation, they both originated from that place.

If he didn't investigate right away, he wouldn't be able to rest easy.

Arriving at Fuyuki Bridge, the red steel-reinforced concrete was still just as imposing and grand.

It was still under lockdown.

But no one was guarding it.

Shirou had the system log in.

He avoided all surveillance and came to the edge of the bridge.

Placing his hand on it, the scan began.

This was Shirou Emiya's innate talent.

Being able to see the structure of objects basically made him like a scanner.

If he wanted to know where the problem was, he just scanned.

Very soon, Shirou found something unusual.

"In the center of the bridge, huh."

System Shirou knew too. His face was expressionless as he activated reinforcement magecraft.

In an instant, he became an athletic martial arts master.

Leaping over barriers, he reached the center of the bridge.

Hands on, he continued the inspection.

Soon, Shirou frowned, "As expected, it's related to the Holy Grail."

At the same time, his hand felt an abnormal burning heat.

The holy marks of the Sword and Sheath surfaced.

This was the aptitude of a Master.

System Shirou ignored it, keeping a cold face.

He channeled mana, carving a magic circle into the ground.

The problem with Fuyuki Bridge originated from the Holy Grail, or rather, from a world that was holding a Holy Grail War. The power of a Servant had seeped into this world through the Grail.

But the strange thing was, Shirou had once used the Einzbern homunculus technology to make the Emperor's Armor.

Even if he was still a half-baked amateur, he could still see the structure of the Grail.

Essentially, it was just a massive mana core.

Such a core could only be achieved after the ritual ended and a victor was decided.

Which clearly meant, the Grail corroding Shirou's world wasn't simple.

If he had to put it into words, he felt like some kind of force was trying to burn away this world.

But maybe his world was rather special, so after all this time, it had only managed to cause a small disturbance.

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