Fate: Emiya the Host

"It's done," On the rooftop, Olga Marie, now dressed again, looked a little uneasy.

"Mm," Shirou removed the cloth from his eyes. No special atmosphere, no unnecessary words.

In his mind, he built up the concept, organizing his own magic circuits.

Mana flowed along the circuits and appeared in his hand.

A pure, deep blue light.

Olga Marie, watching this scene, said nervously, "If it doesn't work, then just forget it."

Magecraft, at its root, was equivalent exchange. Not miracle-working magic.

To create a complete human body, the cost would absolutely not be simple.

Shirou didn't answer. His mind was fully immersed.

This was something where not even one step could go wrong. Otherwise, even his own magic circuits would be ruined beyond repair.

The basic image was already complete. He could begin constructing the shell. Slowly, just like with weapons—

"Projection—"

Crack!

"Emiya!"

Olga Marie immediately rushed forward to catch him.

"Are you okay? Quick, check if your magic circuits are damaged?"

Shirou's performance had been terrifying. His hand seemed to suddenly sprout countless swords, and in that instant, his expression looked on the verge of collapse.

"No problem, I forcibly stopped it," His clothes were soaked through with sweat, and he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Close call. His body had nearly self-destructed.

That was even more frightening than a magic circuit overload.

With an overload, there was still a chance to live.

But if the body itself destroyed itself, there was no saving it.

The projection didn't exactly fail, but only lasted such a fleeting instant, shorter than even time itself could grasp, before collapsing.

It was as if it had never left any proof of existence in this world.

If Shirou hadn't made the system prepare in advance, he'd have been finished.

"Sorry. Looks like I failed," Once his state had eased a little, Shirou stood.

Really bad. It felt like countless blades piercing his body, pain spreading through his nerves from the magic circuits.

Olga Marie showed no disappointment, her tone calm as she comforted him, "This was inevitable. Don't dwell on it. Now we should put our focus on resolving the Singularity. Once you've recovered, we can act."

She had already regained her Chaldea-director-like decisiveness.

At least, on the surface, there were no problems.

At the same time, she used magecraft to examine Shirou's body.

Only when she confirmed that his most important circuits hadn't been damaged, just mildly disturbed, did she relax and continue her inspection.

Once finished, she released his arm and said crisply, "Sort out your circuits. I'll go ask Fujimaru about studying how to get Mash to deploy her Noble Phantasm."

"Wait," Shirou grabbed her arm.

"What is it?", Olga Marie turned as if nothing were wrong.

Shirou stepped closer, resting both hands on her shoulders.

No matter how she tried to cover it up, her body's faint trembling couldn't be hidden.

"Want a hug?"

"What?", Never had she imagined such words would come out of this person's mouth.

Olga Marie froze.

"Well… how to put it. Saying sorry too much is meaningless. I thought maybe you needed someone to lean on, but it seems you're fine."

He was about to let go, but was instead pulled tightly into her arms.

Her fingers clenched together, gripping hard.

"No, this is perfect. I really need it."

That voice was trembling to the extreme. The fear inside was easy to hear. It was clear what she was afraid of.

What was it like to realize you had died?

Maybe like falling asleep.

But once you connected that idea with death, it wasn't the same anymore.

Would the weak become weaker? Would the brave become braver? Could the emotionless still stay emotionless? No one could give a clear answer.

Only those who experienced it themselves could truly know.

Tears welled up silently.

Shirou said nothing, only stayed silent.

The train toward happiness was limited. And the girl, she didn't even have a ticket. Even the platform seemed to shut her out.

———

Ten minutes later.

Shirou descended the stairs, the first thing he saw being two girls sitting on the steps, whispering to each other.

"You two…"

"Ahhhh!"

Both girls jumped up in fright as if hearing a ghost whisper in their ears.

When they saw it was Shirou, they immediately lashed out, "Emiya-senpai, could you please make some noise when you walk? You almost scared us to death!"

"Yeah," Mash nodded, "I didn't notice either."

She was a Servant now, yet hadn't noticed Shirou coming. That meant his concealment was incredibly advanced.

Shirou was speechless, pointing at himself, "Me, walking without sound?"

He looked at his panel. Breath Concealment, infinite E-minus. For a moment, he didn't know if this was a compliment or an insult.

"You really don't want to rest more?"

Olga Marie came down the stairs, her expression cool, "I don't care about your condition, but if you're too tired, resting a bit longer would be better."

"It's fine," Shirou walked past Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, taking the lead, "We've dragged this out too long already. Let's get it done quickly."

"If you say so."

Olga Marie didn't argue further. She turned to Fujimaru Ritsuka, "You've rested about six hours, right? If there's no problem, then we're heading out, commoner. If you drag us down, I won't forgive you."

"N-no problem, Director," Fujimaru Ritsuka laughed awkwardly.

"Um…"

Mash looked at the two walking ahead, hesitating to speak.

Fujimaru Ritsuka noticed, her expression shifting slightly, and tugged on her leather sleeve, "Mash, let's just hurry and follow…"

"Don't worry."

Shirou's voice came from ahead, "The problems that needed solving have already been solved. What you need to do now is just complete your mission. When you return, take a hot bath and a good sleep."

"After all, your vacation time won't be very long."

Mash paused, then smiled with relief.

She ran ahead and gave Shirou a polite bow.

"Sorry, for letting Emiya-senpai see such an immature side of me."

"As long as there's no problem in battle, being immature in daily life can count as a kind of cuteness."

"E-Emiya-senpai!"

The eggplant kouhai's face went red again.

"Wait, Senpai! Mash is mine, don't make her more embarrassed," Fujimaru Ritsuka ran up and poked Shirou's waist.

"Master!", Mash nearly fainted, rushing forward to pull Ritsuka back.

"Don't say nonsense, Emiya-senpai didn't mean it that way."

"True, I didn't before."

Shirou rubbed his waist, "But now I do. Caster's gone, and I don't have a Servant anymore. Mash, want to be my Servant? I'll cover food, housing, and training."

"Eh!"

Mash shouted, "Emiya-senpai, are you joking?"

"Shouldn't I, the ordinary human, be the one panicking here?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka showed the crisis-sense only a girl could.

Behind them, Olga Marie lowered her eyes.

'This is fine, Emiya.'

'With you here, I can rest assured handing responsibility to Fujimaru Ritsuka.'

"Not coming?"

Shirou stopped, turning back.

Olga Marie brushed her hair back, her presence strong, "Just a little emotional. Never thought there'd be a day I'd need a commoner's help."

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