Chapter 310: Tohsaka Rin's Lifetime
"Whoa..." Shirou felt as if his head had been treated like a golf ball or a baseball, sent flying into the distance before being forced through several consecutive roller coaster loops. Fortunately, he had reinforced his body's defenses just a split second before the impact, but even so, he was left spinning with dizzying vertigo.
That punch—the girl truly hadn't held back. Perhaps because she knew Shirou could definitely defend against such an attack, she felt no need to pull her weight.
Compared to a strike like that, remembering the days of hiding in a classroom and using a reinforced desk to block her endless barrage of Gandr shots felt positively heartwarming.
At that moment, the girl leaped out from the crater. Carrying a playful, devilish smile, her lips twitched slightly as if to say the "feedback" from the hit felt quite good.
Seeing that she still looked eager to go another few rounds, Shirou decisively chose to ignore the provocation.
"By the way, Tohsaka, weren't you actually dragged in here by the witch of this world?" Shirou said, clutching his head.
The girl knit her brows, looking at the boy as if he were an idiot. "Hah? Who do you think I am? If I could still be easily manipulated by some witch—well, my Great Mentor might enjoy watching the show, but whatever, he's missing anyway so who cares—but the past heads of the Tohsaka family would definitely cry!"
"Haha, true enough," Shirou answered with a forced laugh.
"It's all because of a certain someone who only knows how to act recklessly on his own. I had no way to enter that mana-less world of yours, but when I sensed you appearing in this sub-world, I came over myself," the girl said huffily, crossing her arms after jumping out of the pit.
"Eh... ah, sorry for making you come all this way to find me," Shirou said apologetically. In fact, Chaldea had detected three peculiar worlds from the start.
One was his own world, where Mash had come to find him.
Gudako had gone to another world—Tohsaka's side. Supposedly, Fou had been teleported out as well, though for some reason he was currently by the side of the White God.
Tohsaka Rin immediately rebuffed him with her arms crossed. "Who would do it for you? In the world we were in, not many years after you died, things started collapsing due to some strange occurrences, and then that God appeared out of nowhere. Then, I—who should have died—was reincarnated into another world. Likely the same happened to Sakura. I only came here to find a way to reach that God and give him a thorough beating!"
"That certainly sounds reliable. But before there's a risk and you've made perfect preparations, it's better not to act," Shirou said with a helpless smile. Hearing about his "other self" getting beaten up felt quite strange.
Then again, it was just like Tohsaka to consider nothing and simply want to punch a God who could create everything and corral the Evils of Humanity.
'She really is crazy. Though I'm pretty much in the same boat' Shirou thought to himself.
A few years after the Great Mentor left that world, there was still no word from him. As the one with the deepest research into the Second Magic in the world, she was treated by the Clock Tower as a "Magician-to-be."
Her mentor, Lord El-Melloi II of the Modern Magecraft Theory Department, would also share in the glory, hoping to gain relevant benefits. If a disciple he taught became a Magician, he might be promoted from the fourth rank of Fes to Cause based on that achievement. He might even be able to reach the Color rank that Director Kayneth held before he died.
After all, the Mage's Association was extremely strict with rankings. Beyond knowledge, application was vital. Someone like the Second, who had immense theoretical knowledge and was unrivaled in teaching but had low mana and severely lacking combat ability, remained stuck at the Fes rank even as a Lord.
Even the Savior, Gudako, who saved the world and corrected the Human Order, had only been promoted to the fifth rank of Cause.
As a descendant of the Red Branch Knights existing since the first century AD, Bazett was the top practitioner of martial arts among all Masters in the Fifth Holy Grail War, capable of defeating Servants under specific conditions. She excelled in combat-oriented Rune Magic and possessed the Fragarach—a short sword held by the Celtic God of War, Lugh. Yet, even she was only ranked at Fes.
To reach the Grand rank, one had to reach an unprecedented peak in a specific type of magecraft, representing the strongest expert in that field. Aside from a few old monsters, there were only a handful of young people like the puppet-maker Aozaki Touko.
Magicians of this level, though lower in status than a True Magician, were indispensable members of the Association. Such talents, even if they left the Association and were given a "Sealing Designation" for "protection," could return and have it revoked at any time if they so desired. After all, being a magus is a high-risk profession; everyone has moments of losing limbs, not to mention she could provide bodies identical to the original.
Of course, the so-called ranks were just that—a game played among insiders. For instance, Ciel-senpai from the Burial Agency of the Holy Church (a rival power) possessed magecraft knowledge rivaling a Grand rank, but professionally speaking, she wasn't even considered a magus.
Then there was a certain foolish person who studied at the Clock Tower for a few years and then suddenly left, not even attaining the lowest rank of Frame. But that was because he was sufficiently low-key. If his talent as a Magus Killer had been fully exposed, he would have been at the rarest level for this era. If he were targeted by the Association's upper brass, he would have been given a Sealing Designation immediately, destined to end up in a jar of formalin.
Back when Shirou was causing trouble outside, Tohsaka Rin spent no small amount of effort mediating for him among the high-ranking members of the Association. As for ranks and the "Three Primary Colors" evaluations, they no longer mattered to Tohsaka, who had chosen the path of a Magician.
Still, thinking of her mentor—though he had a sharp tongue, he truly looked out for her—it pained her to think of him watching his students surpass him one by one, rising to Cause or even Color before graduation.
But in that world, it was all too late—or rather, everything came too fast. Before humanity could learn how to restore nature, the world had already broken.
After the Great Mentor disappeared, the world faced destruction. In ten years, she had only mastered the production and use of a few Mystic Codes, like the Jeweled Sword and the Kaleidoscope wand for transforming into a magical girl.
Immature as she was, she couldn't stop it all, but she didn't choose to use magic to abandon that world. She chose to face it with everyone until the final moment of fate.
However, before the moment of death arrived, the White God appeared. He transferred the surviving humans to another world, but she seemed to have received special treatment, being sent alone to a different world.
Furthermore, she was sent as a child. Everything started over; she prevented the tragedy of losing her parents, but there was no Shirou, no Sakura. So she focused all her energy on the path of becoming stronger.
From the moment she could walk, she practiced magecraft and boxing, integrating the two, while continuing her study of the Second Magic. While it wasn't fully complete, it was beginning to bear fruit. By middle school, her Bajiquan had surpassed that of her fake-priest teacher, whom she beat into the dirt.
In magecraft, she gained the recognition of her first-class magus father. Later, her father, Tohsaka Tokiomi, confidently handed the headship of the family to her and took his wife on a world tour, leaving his professional responsibilities behind.
Though she wished they could have stayed by her side, she felt it would be too selfish to monopolize all that love and be the only one who became happy. So she kept working hard, trying to find the boy and her sister.
After that, a different Fifth Holy Grail War occurred. Gudako came to her door, and various events unfolded. The boy appeared as well; although the current Shirou lacked those memories, it was an event destined to happen in the near future.
Using this as a catalyst, the girl sensed the world where the boy resided.
After gaining the Mystic Eyes that could see through parallel worlds, the girl gradually noticed an anomaly. Shirou was missing from every single parallel world, as if he had vanished into thin air. Others' memories of the boy were fading, eventually forgetting him entirely.
The only certainty was that something had happened to the boy to cause such an ill-fated situation. Through the Mystic Eyes developed under the influence of magic, she could see scenes from parallel worlds.
Originally, she couldn't interfere with this closed world where Shirou lived, so even Tohsaka Rin, with her power to travel between parallel worlds, couldn't find him at first. However, a few months ago, some change occurred in this world, making observation possible.
If Shirou could find maximum happiness in this world, she intended not to disturb him. But naturally, this Shirou was thinking about going on another adventure.
The one he wanted to face and oppose was the very God who had reincarnated her, Shirou, and that child into different worlds. As a convergence of Shirou, he truly made her feel sick.
Even Shinji, in his slimy, hideous state after merging with the Black Mud of the Grail, hadn't disgusted her this much. It was as if she were about to become a psychological freak she couldn't accept, making her feel completely out of place.
If all these worlds required Shirou's sacrifice to achieve happiness, then honestly, such worlds would be better off returning to their original free state and being destroyed.
'This time, I will protect Shirou's happiness. If you can't find happiness on your own, then I will guide you. Even if I have to beat you down, I'll make sure you're happy.'
The girl looked at Shirou and made a silent vow.
"So! Shirou, I'll let you off this time! Do whatever you like in this sub-world; I'm not sticking around! But don't think you can just bypass me and go see that God alone! Well then! Goodbye!" The huffy girl stood with her hands on her hips, having deliberately jumped to a high point to look down at the boy.
As she spoke, her silky black twin-tails swayed. Though her eyes pretended not to care as they swept over him, they were actually very serious.
"Wait, Tohsaka... if you have the power to leave this world, help us out and let us get out of here," Shirou said to the girl he had just reunited with.
"Who cares about you! You provoked these girls, so you go deal with them! Anyway, it's already certain that we'll meet again soon." Tohsaka Rin raised her hand and summoned the
mount of the Goddess Ishtar, transforming into a golden shooting star and breaking through the boundaries of this world to leave.
"Ah... she left." Before Shirou could explain further, the girl had vanished.
"My, my, Shirou, she really is a woman of action. Is that the influence of the Goddess, or is it just her nature? Regardless, I can confirm she is indeed a 'good woman'," Merlin, who had been quietly watching from inside, said with a snicker.
"Yeah, I know," Shirou agreed as he stood up. "But for now, let's hurry and check on the other girls."
The meeting with Tohsaka reminded him that perhaps he should take more action, but everything remained the same—everything had to move forward. His will and Tohsaka's ideas would likely clash again in the near future.
But before that, he wanted everyone to be happy.
In a part of the forest, a demonic beast twice the size of a human crouched on the ground. It was a terrifying, intimidating creature with three-fingered avian claws, four-toed hooked feet, woolly goat-like legs, and a body covered in lizard scales.
Waiting there as promised was a pink-haired girl. Shirou already knew her name was Yuno. She had kept her promise to the boy.
She had stayed there the whole time, facing the nearby demonic beasts without ever leaving. The area was marked by a high pile of monster corpses and traces of battles with other Servants.
"Sorry for leaving you here alone for so long," Shirou said, looking at the girl with deep apology.
"No. Since it was a promise with Shirou, I will definitely keep it. And as long as it is your wish, Shirou, I will help you fulfill it. Anyone who wants to hurt you, I will kill. Whether it's the Holy Grail or anything else, I will get it for you." The pink-haired girl spoke like she was making a vow, her eyes wide and intensely serious as she looked at Shirou.
She wasn't lying. But the madness displayed in her every word reached an almost incomprehensible degree.
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