"Thank you very much—"
With Caules and Fiore's assistance, Shirou Emiya successfully opened all twenty-seven of his Magic Circuits. According to Caules, given Shirou's missing arm, it should have been impossible to activate all twenty-seven circuits.
But since it had already happened, Caules naturally had no grounds to question it. Instead, he diligently took notes while assisting Fiore, making Shirou feel somewhat awkward.
Why do I feel like a lab rat in some experiment?
Yet after feeling the dramatic rise in his mana, Shirou sincerely thanked the siblings from the bottom of his heart.
When it came to magecraft, Shirou knew himself to be entirely self-taught and barely competent at best.
Caules briefly explained the method of activating Magic Circuits, but Shirou found no need to visualize any special procedure.
After countless battles, Shirou had long since integrated the opening and closing of his circuits into his breathing technique—activating his circuits simply by initiating his Breathing Style, and closing them when he ceased.
He had no need to envision any additional imagery to manage his circuits.
"No, Emiya-san, you've already done so much to help Yggdmillennia. There's really no need for thanks," Fiore replied, shaking her head gently.
Despite initially threatening Shirou—and indeed taking some action against him—Yggdmillennia had consistently benefited from Shirou's selfless assistance. Whether fighting alongside Arthur against the Red Faction or risking his life to rescue homunculi on the battlefield, Shirou had repeatedly proven his sincerity.
If Shirou Emiya were truly unrelated to any other mage lineage, Fiore might have readily accepted him as one of Yggdmillennia's own.
Yet Shirou's Magic Circuits had left Fiore astonished—twenty-seven high-quality circuits were exceptionally rare.
"May I ask… who your father is?" Fiore ventured cautiously. She was curious about Shirou's lineage. After all, normally, only magi from prominent families had such impressive numbers and quality of Magic Circuits.
"Kiritsugu Emiya—" Shirou's expression softened with nostalgia as he answered.
Whether this parallel world's Kiritsugu had adopted another Shirou, or was still alive at all, didn't particularly concern him. Shirou had no intention of approaching people he might recognize here.
"!?"
Surprise flashed across Fiore's eyes. Although her investigations had uncovered Kiritsugu Emiya's existence, there was no record whatsoever linking him to Shirou Emiya.
Moreover, Kiritsugu Emiya had never married nor fathered any children. Considering his continuous, active involvement in the magical world, it was nearly impossible for him to have raised a son, much less one of Shirou's age.
Fiore initially suspected that Shirou Emiya was merely a pseudonym, but it appeared she'd been mistaken. She respected Shirou immensely, and sensed no hint of deception from him.
"Is he your biological father?"
Since Kiritsugu Emiya was still alive in this parallel world, Fiore naturally didn't consider that Shirou's foster father Kiritsugu might have died long ago.
"My adoptive father—" Shirou answered quietly, a subtle sadness in his eyes. He'd only spent a brief time with Kiritsugu, after all.
"I see…"
Caules opened the door and began wheeling Fiore out of the room. Although somewhat intrigued by Shirou's personal history, he wasn't nearly as curious as his sister, primarily because he knew nothing about Kiritsugu Emiya.
"What's going on here?"
Just as Caules opened the door, Jeanne approached from down the corridor.
"Good day, Jeanne-san," Fiore politely greeted her.
Jeanne responded courteously, nodding lightly.
"We were assisting Emiya-san in activating his Magic Circuits," Caules explained briefly.
"Did you need something, Jeanne-san?" Fiore asked.
"I wanted to speak with Shirou Emiya about something."
Jeanne glanced toward Shirou as she replied.
She had planned to ask Shirou about his intentions regarding the Holy Grail War. After all, his Servant had already withdrawn, he wasn't formally affiliated with Yggdmillennia, nor had he been hired by them like Sisigou.
By all accounts, Shirou could freely step away from the war entirely, having no further obligation.
That was precisely why Jeanne wanted to confirm Shirou's intentions. Even if she needed allies, she would never force someone's involvement—she believed Shirou's own wishes had to come first.
Just then, a homunculus hurried down the corridor, catching everyone's attention.
"There's no food left in the villa," the homunculus reported directly to Fiore.
Although Darnic remained head of the Yggdmillennia family, he'd become largely hands-off since Fiore had grown capable of managing things. She had practically taken over running day-to-day affairs, another reason why many magi saw her as the likely next family head.
Fiore briefly considered the issue before turning to Jeanne and Shirou.
"Could I trouble you two to go into town and purchase some food?"
As this villa had long been neglected, and served only as an emergency retreat, Darnic naturally hadn't stocked any supplies here. If not for the homunculi recently inspecting the pantry, it might have taken even longer for them to discover their food shortage.
Without provisions, they'd have no choice but to endure hunger overnight. Jeanne, in particular, appeared distressed—due to continuous fighting, she'd once again forgotten to eat and risked fainting from hunger.
Her expression turned serious at once.
As for why Fiore had chosen Shirou and Jeanne specifically:
Having just relocated to the villa, Fiore herself had countless urgent matters to manage. Neither the homunculi nor Yggdmillennia's remaining magi could afford to step away right now. Despite consistently saying "we," in truth very few magi from Yggdmillennia had survived the recent battle.
The family was severely short-handed, consumed with cleaning, establishing barriers, and laying defensive traps.
Fiore hesitated to approach Sisigou, the necromancer, with such a mundane errand, feeling it inappropriate to burden someone older and uninvolved.
Thus, after consideration, only Shirou Emiya and Jeanne d'Arc remained as practical candidates to go purchase the necessary provisions.
---
T/N: SO YOU ASK THE HEROIC SPIRIT??
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