The negotiation ended badly.
Before the sun went down, Shirou left Kiritsugu Emiya's hideout.
He had even offered, "There's still some time before tonight's battle starts. Old man, want to go grab dinner together? My treat." But he was completely ignored.
The hotel room door slammed shut, leaving an eight-year-old boy standing alone in the hallway with a bewildered look on his face.
"..."
He had never imagined that his ultimate trump card, cuteness and sincerity, could ever fail. Kiritsugu Emiya really was not a man to be underestimated.
Shirou left the hotel and returned to the streets of Shinto.
"I really did want to get along with him... well, whatever."
Muttering to himself, he looked out at the orange sun sinking beyond the horizon.
Now in his second year in Proper Human History, Shirou had gradually grown used to blue skies. Because of that, the sight of dusk felt strangely novel to him.
When people come to understand things, they are often deceived by what lies right in front of their eyes, and in doing so lose sight of the whole picture.
Take Fairy Britain and Proper Human History, for example.
Anyone would think the most obvious outward difference between the two worlds was the color of the sky, because that was always the first thing human eyes noticed.
But in truth, the greatest difference was the size of the land itself.
Compared to this world, Proper Human History, that world, Fairy Britain, was only a lone island just 0.1% the size of the latter.
Up until a year ago, Shirou had believed Britain was the entire world.
Whenever he thought about the fact that six billion people besides himself lived in this world, he found it astonishing, and at the same time, awe-inspiring.
"Are you going to trample on the happiness of six billion people just to protect a Homunculus who only has a few days left to live?"
The man's question from a short while ago echoed once more in the boy's mind.
"Kiritsugu Emiya, do you think you're God?"
That had been Shirou's answer to him.
Even though that had been their first conversation, Shirou felt as if he had already read through the life and ideals of the Assassin called Kiritsugu Emiya.
That man's ideal was simple. He sincerely wanted everyone in the world to be happy.
It was a childish dream he had carried since he was young.
Even after growing up and recognizing the cruelty of reality, he had never changed.
In the course of pursuing that ideal, he had come to understand that every "salvation" in this world was accompanied by "sacrifice." The two were like opposite sides of a scale, and neither side could ever truly be emptied.
From that day onward, Kiritsugu Emiya became the master of the scales.
To save more people, he would abandon the side with fewer lives, even if the difference was only a single person.
That was the act of slaughtering the few so that the many could live.
As a result, the more people the man saved, the more refined his skill at killing became.
His hands were stained again and again with bloody red, yet he never recoiled in fear.
No matter whether the method was just, and no matter whether the goal was right, the man demanded that he become a fair and impartial scale.
His heart was like steel, and he would never misjudge the weight of a life.
One life had no distinction of value, no difference between old and young. It was only a fixed unit.
The man saved lives equally. In the same way, he killed without distinguishing between good and evil, virtue and vice.
To value all lives equally also meant that he loved no one.
And in the end, no one ever appeared who loved him or saved him. At the end of all that killing, Kiritsugu Emiya's emotions were completely worn away, until his soul was summoned to the Ring of Deterrence.
Kiritsugu Emiya had become something like a device for saving the world.
To kill fewer people in order to save more, even when you knew full well the ones being sacrificed were innocent...
Shirou simply could not do that.
If anything, what he had done in Fairy Britain in that life was the exact opposite of Kiritsugu Emiya.
To protect the few fairies being bullied, he had slaughtered the many rotten fairies. That was what the Fairy Knight Arthur had done.
Of course, Shirou had not killed for the sake of "numbers."
For the sake of justice in his heart... no, that sounded too grand. Shirou did not understand what true justice really was.
He simply could not stand by and watch someone be mistreated right in front of him.
Not "justice," but "rightness."
Shirou simply followed his own heart and did what he believed was most right.
If Kiritsugu, rather than Shirou, had gone to Fairy Britain, what would he have done?
Would he still have upheld his principles and killed the few for the sake of the many? Shirou could not figure it out.
But there was one thing he was certain of.
To use Irisviel's life as a sacrifice in order to save the world...
That was something he could not accept, nor was he willing to compromise on it.
"Sacrifice..."
That word drew Shirou's thoughts back to a long time ago.
...
...
It was not long after Shirou and the Fairy of Paradise had begun their pilgrimage to save the world.
At the time, the Fairy of Paradise had already stopped using the name "Morgan" and had started calling herself "Aesc" instead.
The name "Morgan" had been the first gift given to her by her adoptive mother, the Queen Consort of the Rain Clan, and the girl had always treasured it with pride.
But now that all four clans regarded the Fairy of Paradise, Morgan, as a thorn in their side, she had no choice but to abandon that old name and use an alias instead.
"I wanted to make the name Morgan shine even brighter, let it resound across the world, and make every fairy know it as the name of the savior... but I guess that just isn't possible after all."
The Fairy of Paradise said that to her knight with a look of regret.
"Even if no one else knows, I do."
"Mm... mm, thank you, Shirou."
Aesc the Savior smiled shyly.
One day, the two of them passed through a small fairy village.
According to Morgan's prediction, a calamity would strike there before long, so after discussing it, they decided to stay in the village for a while.
The fairies living there were not friendly to outsiders.
"Huh? A pilgrimage? A savior here to help with disaster relief? That sounds suspicious as hell!"
The fairies eyed Morgan and Shirou warily.
Just as they were about to drive the suspicious strangers out, Shirou pulled a heavy bundle from his bag.
"Please let us stay in this village for a little while. Think of this as a small gift of goodwill. You'll get the other half once the job is done."
As he said this, Shirou stuffed the bundle into the hands of the fairy who looked like he had the most influence.
"..."
The fairies gathered around and opened the bundle. The moment they saw what was inside, their tense expressions immediately turned into broad smiles.
The fairies then led Shirou and Morgan to an empty house on the outskirts of the village.
"Shirou, what did you give them?"
"Just a little bribe."
"Why would you do that?"
Morgan puffed out her cheeks.
"We're acting to eliminate calamity and save the world. We should be doing it openly and honestly!"
"We're clearly helping people, and yet we still have to bribe them. It makes it feel like we're the ones doing something wrong. I hate it."
Hearing that, Shirou turned to look at her.
"Is Morgan's pilgrimage meant to earn praise from other people?"
The girl snapped back in a low, angry voice.
"Of course not! I'm doing all of this for the Britain I love! Who cares what anyone else thinks!"
"Exactly. Then don't worry so much about what the fairies think."
Shirou did not say the rest out loud.
If you care too much about what fairies say, the one who ends up suffering will be you.
Unlike Shirou, who had once been abused by fairies for years, Morgan still had not truly understood what fairies were like.
Convinced by Shirou, Morgan gave a small nod.
"...Got it."
Shirou continued, "Still... yeah, even when you do something good, not receiving any recognition or praise from anyone can be discouraging.
So I'll be the one to praise you. Here, have a big red flower."
"Honestly, Shirou, you're teasing me again."
Morgan brushed his hand aside, lightly bit her lip, and followed him into the house.
Not long after, the fairies came to announce that they would be holding a banquet to welcome Shirou and Morgan.
The same fairies who had looked at them coldly just moments earlier now enthusiastically prepared a lavish spread for the two of them. Clearly, Shirou's bribe had done its job.
That day, the welcoming feast went on until sunset.
Early the next morning, Shirou headed out for his usual morning training.
From five to seven every morning, those two hours were reserved for daily practice.
One hour of Magecraft training and one hour of sword training. Those were lessons Shirou had never once skipped.
As a human trying to survive in the world of fairies, he had to go that far.
"Ugh... I can't eat another bite~~"
After covering the badly sleeping Morgan with a blanket and smoothing down her hair, Shirou turned and left the hut.
He made his way to the open ground behind the village.
Just as Shirou was about to awaken his Magic Circuits...
"Hah. Take this!"
A noisy commotion from the fairies came from nearby.
"Damn it. Don't dodge. Who told you to dodge?!"
"You actually blocked it with your hand? That's totally cheating!"
"Haha! I hit her. Serves you right!"
Shirou turned his head and saw several fairies throwing stones at another fairy.
The boy immediately understood that he had come across one of Fairy Britain's most common local sights. The bullying of the weak.
The girl being pelted with stones wore ragged clothes, had pointed ears, and blazing red hair as vivid as flame.
Judging from what the other fairies were saying, she seemed to be a vampire-type fairy.
In Fairy Britain, fairies that drank human blood stood at the very bottom of fairy society.
Fairies treated creative humans as objects to imitate and learn from, but deep down they still saw humans as livestock.
So naturally, fairies who fed on human blood were looked down on even by other fairies.
Clearly, the red-haired fairy in front of him was the lowest-ranking villager in this place.
Not only was her status low, but she was clumsy too, and stones kept striking her head and body.
If Aesc were here, she would definitely have rushed forward without hesitation to stop the bullying.
But Shirou was not Morgan.
He could not stand by and do nothing either, but Shirou...
At least at this point in time, Shirou had a clear order of priorities in his heart.
The pilgrimage came first. Everything had to serve that supreme purpose.
If Shirou stepped in here and stopped the bullying, there was a real chance he would end up clashing with the villagers, and in the end both he and Morgan might be driven out of the village.
Was it really worth jeopardizing what mattered most in order to protect a fairy he did not even know?
Shirou hesitated.
"Ugh, this is so boring. Even getting hit in the head doesn't make her cry out."
"Looks like stones don't work on her."
"Huh? Really? That's scary. A bloodsucker really is terrifying."
"Hehe, then why don't we switch from stones to something else?"
"What? What?"
"Look. I got these iron stakes from some humans!"
"Wah. That's dangerous. Don't just pull something like that out, idiot!"
For ageless, immortal fairies, there was actually a special kind of natural enemy. Iron.
If specially processed iron touched fairy skin, it would poison them, and could even threaten their lives.
That was why fairies generally stayed well away from iron tools.
"All right. Let's try these iron stakes."
"Make sure you dodge properly. Hahahahaha!"
Shirou fell silent.
By the time he came back to himself, he was already standing in front of the red-haired fairy girl.
The fairies stared at the outsider in surprise and lowered the hands that had been holding the iron stakes aloft.
"You're the one from yesterday..."
Shirou did not say a single word. Without speaking, he grabbed the bullied fairy by the wrist and turned away from the clearing.
The red-haired fairy stared blankly at the boy's back, then timidly spoke up.
"Um..."
Shirou ignored her, still walking angrily until they reached the area near the hut. Only then did he let go of her wrist.
"Um, may I ask... do you need something from me, Sir Knight...?"
The girl had recognized Shirou too. After all, he and Morgan had been the stars of the welcome feast the village held last night.
With an unhappy look on his face, Shirou asked, "Does this kind of thing happen to you a lot in the village?"
"This kind of thing?"
The girl blinked in confusion.
Shirou frowned.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
The red-haired fairy replied earnestly, "Sir Knight, I think you may have misunderstood.
I wasn't being bullied. We were just playing a game with everyone."
This girl... seriously?
Shirou was left speechless. He had met plenty of sly fairies before, but this was the first time he had ever met one this airheaded.
They were about to throw iron stakes at you. That could have killed you. What kind of game is that supposed to be?
Maybe she had finally understood what Shirou's actions had meant, because the fairy girl smiled brightly and said,
"Sir Knight, you misunderstood. I wasn't being bullied. We were just playing a game of dodge-the-stones together.
But thank you. You were trying to help me just now, weren't you? Thank you so much. I'm really happy.
It's the first time anyone has ever treated me like that. You were just like a knight from a human storybook...
Hehe, I'm so happy, so happy, but, but—It really was just a game."
A game...
Shirou let out a small scoff.
"And every time, you're the one who ends up as the target getting pelted with stones, right?"
The fairy girl's eyes widened in surprise.
"How did you know that, Sir Knight?"
Shirou said nothing.
Nervously watching his reaction, the girl hurriedly bowed in apology.
"I'm sorry. I ruined Sir Knight's good mood. I'm truly sorry.
Um... I'm only the target in a game of dodge-the-stones. I'm already used to it, and I don't think it's anything bad, so please, please don't let it trouble you."
"Do you really think that's okay?"
Shirou's eyes fell on the girl's exposed arm, which was covered in scars.
On her pale skin there were both obvious fresh wounds and plenty of older ones that had clearly been there a long time.
The fairy girl shyly covered the wounds with her hand and said in a low voice,
"For a useless fairy like me, this is the only way I can be of any use to others.
If I'm the only one who has to suffer a little, then everyone else in the village gets to be happy... that has to be a wonderful thing, right?"
Shirou frowned slightly.
At this point in time, Shirou still did not have the Mystic Eyes of the End. Even so, he could clearly tell that she was not lying.
Shirou had always thought all fairies enjoyed bullying others. So there were fairies like this too...
"...I see. Then do whatever makes you happy."
Shirou turned and headed back inside.
What rotten luck. Thanks to those fairies, he had completely lost the motivation to do his morning training.
Shirou decided he would go back and pick a fight with Miss Witch instead. Does she have any idea what time it is and she's still asleep? I'm going to use a magnifying glass and burn her butt.
"...Oh, right."
Shirou stopped and turned back to the girl behind him.
"What's your name?"
For some reason, he had a feeling she and Morgan might become good friends.
"Ba, Ba, Baobhan Sith!"
The red-haired fairy girl immediately straightened up.
"My name is Baobhan Sith!"
That was Shirou's first meeting with Baobhan Sith.
To be precise, it was his first meeting with "this generation's Baobhan Sith."