“Shi... Shirou, good morning.”
Artoria looked at the marks on Shirou Emiya's body, and the faint scent that lingered, and then thought of the sounds she had heard last night. Now, even speaking became stuttering, and she didn't dare to raise her head to look at Shirou Emiya.
Although she was the former King of Camelot, she had never experienced these things before.
She was definitely still a pure and innocent maiden.
In the corridor, Shirou Emiya at this time did not notice Artoria's abnormal expression at all, and walked towards the kitchen on his own. After drinking a large glass of water in one breath, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but smile.
He subconsciously raised his hand and stroked the marks left by Sakura Matou on his neck. Honestly, he really didn't intend to do anything with Sakura Matou last night.
However, with Sakura Matou taking the initiative, Shirou Emiya was still a young man full of vigor, and coupled with the recent increase in his physique, he eventually went along with Sakura Matou half-willingly.
Afterwards, Shirou Emiya passed through the corridor and returned to his room. At this time, Sakura Matou was still lying in the quilt, only showing a small head, her eyes full of shyness as she looked at him.
“Senpai…”
“Sakura, how are you feeling?”
Shirou Emiya sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Sakura Matou, who was blushing shyly, and asked in a low voice, with a trace of self-blame on his face. He was a little too much last night, and he didn't care about Sakura Matou's feelings at all towards the end.
“It’s okay, Senpai, as long as you’re happy.”
Looking at Shirou Emiya's self-blaming face, Sakura Matou certainly understood what he was thinking, and quickly sat up and comforted him.
“That… Senpai.”
A few seconds later, Sakura Matou stared blankly at Shirou Emiya in front of her, wanting to say something but hesitating.
“What’s wrong, Sakura?”
“Senpai, I’m not a virgin anymore…”
After hesitating for a few seconds, Sakura Matou still said this matter. After saying it, she lowered her head and didn't dare to look at Shirou Emiya in front of her again, biting her lip hard, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes from falling.
If possible, she really didn't want Senpai to have such a self. She clearly loved Senpai so much, but she couldn't even give him her most precious thing.
She even had the most precious thing in her life taken away by the worms.
“It’s okay, Sakura.”
Looking at Sakura Matou in front of him, who was lowering her head and had tears in the corners of her eyes, although Shirou Emiya had already discovered this matter last night, he deliberately didn't mention it today, because he knew that Sakura Matou was a good girl, and something he didn't know must have happened for her to become like this.
“Senpai!”
“Sakura!”
Inside the room, the boy and girl looked at each other, their faces gradually approaching.
“Pfft…!”
In front of the corridor, Artoria, who was drinking tea, saw this scene through the open door. The tea she had just drunk was immediately spat out, and she turned her head to the side with a flushed face, suddenly feeling out of place.
A few minutes later, just as Artoria was thinking about whether she should continue to stay here, Shirou Emiya's room was suddenly pushed open. Shirou Emiya walked out with an embarrassed expression, and Sakura Matou was following closely behind him.
“Saber, sorry.”
Looking at Artoria sitting in the corridor, seeing her blushing appearance, Shirou Emiya scratched the back of his head and apologized embarrassedly.
“No… It’s okay, Master. I know this is very… very normal.”
Hearing Shirou Emiya's apology, Artoria stood up and tried to put on a calm appearance, but her stuttering way of speaking had completely betrayed her.
“By the way, Saber, how is your magic power and injuries recovering?”
Seeing Artoria's appearance, Shirou Emiya also clearly knew that he shouldn't continue this topic, and quickly shifted the topic to Artoria. It had been almost two days since the last incident.
In these two days, because they needed to recuperate and restore their magic power, they had been staying at home and did not choose to go out and fight other Servants.
“It can be fully recovered tonight.”
Hearing Shirou Emiya mention the matter at hand, Artoria also became serious. After carefully feeling her physical condition, she raised her head and looked at Shirou Emiya and said.
“Tonight, huh? I understand.”
After getting an accurate reply, Shirou Emiya subconsciously glanced at Sakura Matou behind him, and decided that he would continue to take Artoria to participate in the Holy Grail War tonight. If he didn't end it as soon as possible, something like what happened to the Matou family might happen one day.
If a Servant came to their door, Shirou Emiya wasn't sure if he could protect Sakura Matou.
On the side, Sakura Matou saw that the two were discussing matters related to the Holy Grail War, and silently walked towards the kitchen to start preparing today's breakfast for them.
At this moment, the television in the living room began to broadcast the morning news. The first piece of news was that the old district on the northern edge of Fuyuki City, due to its age, had severely aging gas pipelines, which led to a major gas pipeline explosion last night.
Dozens of houses were destroyed, and it has been confirmed that thousands of people have died in this accident, and it has caused a large amount of economic loss.
By the way, the news also reminded the residents of Fuyuki City to stay away from the remote old district recently to prevent being affected by the explosion of aging gas pipelines.
Immediately afterwards, the television began to broadcast news about the destruction of the Matou family's centuries-old mansion. As for the reason, of course, it was still the gas pipeline explosion incident that was characteristic of Fuyuki City.
“Shirou, it seems we have to speed things up.”
In front of the television, Artoria turned her head and looked at Shirou Emiya with a serious expression. She certainly knew that the so-called exhaust gas pipeline explosion was actually caused by the great war between Servants, and the two places with heavy losses in the news.
Were the places where the two Servants who retired yesterday died.
In just one day, two Servants have already retired. There must be a Master who is taking their Servant and wants to end this Holy Grail War as soon as possible. Currently, Artoria suspects two people.
One is Rin Tohsaka and Lu Minghao, who attacked them before, and the other is Illya and Berserker.
Currently, the Servants summoned in the entire Holy Grail War only have these two who have done such a thing, and most importantly, both sides have fought them.
“Yeah!”
Shirou Emiya nodded vigorously, staring intently at the images being broadcast on the news. In just one day, so many people had died. If this continued, Shirou Emiya couldn't imagine how many victims there would be in the end.
........
On the other side, on top of the high-rise buildings in Fuyuki City, Archer was staring intently at the bustling streets below, seemingly looking for a certain existence.
Currently, besides Hassan and Cu Chulainn, who had already retired yesterday, the remaining Servants including him are Lu Minghao as Caster, Artoria as Saber, Heracles as Berserker, and Medusa as Rider, a total of five.
However, Archer knew that besides the Heroic Spirits summoned in this Holy Grail War, there was also the previous Archer, Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, who had obtained a physical body in the evil of the previous Holy Grail War.
Now, what Archer was searching for was Gilgamesh, who had remained in this world after the end of the previous Holy Grail War.
However, even after Archer had searched the entire Fuyuki City, he still hadn't found any trace of him. Archer had even considered finding Kirei Kotomine, Gilgamesh's current Master, and killing him.
However, after careful consideration, Archer abandoned this idea, because Gilgamesh had already obtained a physical body, and even if he lost his Master, he wouldn't be greatly affected.
"Yo, Archer, are you looking for something?"
Suddenly, a voice with a hint of a smile rang out behind Archer. Instinctively, Archer quickly distanced himself, and two short swords appeared in his hands.
"Don't be nervous. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."
On the edge of a high-rise building, Lu Minghao sat there with a smile on his face, looking at Archer, who was staring at him warily. Just now, if he wanted to kill the other party, it could be said to be an easy task. The reason he didn't kill him was because he still had a use for his Giant Hero Creation Plan.
"Anomaly, why are you here?"
Looking at Lu Minghao opposite him, Archer hesitated for a few seconds and didn't choose to attack. He asked Lu Minghao what his purpose was in finding him.
"It's very simple. I'm just here to fulfill your wish... Shirou Emiya."
"...How do you know about this?"
The moment Lu Minghao accurately said his name, Archer's pupils shrank to the extreme, and his body was ready to attack at any time. He only told Sakura Matou about this matter, and the anomaly in front of him shouldn't know his identity.
What's more, Lu Minghao seemed to know his wish that he had never mentioned to anyone.
"Aren't you calling me an anomaly? Isn't it normal for an anomaly to know these things?"
As he spoke, Lu Minghao jumped down from the edge of the rooftop and walked towards Archer step by step. Looking at Lu Minghao approaching step by step, Archer finally gave up the idea of attacking.
"Very good. It seems you also think there's a possibility for us to cooperate."
"Caster, what exactly do you want to do?"
Looking at Lu Minghao, who was close at hand and looked completely unguarded, Archer put away his short swords and began to ask.
"It's very simple. Tonight, you go and attack Shirou Emiya and try to kill him."
"Heh, why should I listen to your orders?"
Hearing Lu Minghao's words, Archer snorted disdainfully. Although he did want to kill his current self, it didn't mean he would listen to Lu Minghao's orders. At worst, they would just have a big fight.
After all, he still had Unlimited Blade Works, and he might not be Lu Minghao's opponent.
"Unlimited Blade Works, a magecraft that rewrites reality with the caster's 'image landscape', the closest magecraft to magic. Is this the confidence you have to talk to me like this?"
Lu Minghao looked at Archer opposite him with a smile. Of course, Lu Minghao knew where his confidence came from, since this was a magecraft known as the closest thing to 'magic', an ultimate magecraft that only a few mages could use.
"But, it's nothing. After all, it's still not magic. Besides, Archer, I don't like the tone you're using."
As he spoke, Lu Minghao raised a finger, and magic power wove a small figure in mid-air. The figure's appearance was that of his Master, Rin Tohsaka.
"Caster, what do you mean by this?!"
Seeing the illusion of Rin Tohsaka on Lu Minghao's finger, and Lu Minghao's undisguised and malicious smile, Archer's face suddenly became extremely gloomy. Although he accepted the Holy Grail's summons this time to kill himself.
But it didn't mean he had no feelings for Rin Tohsaka and the others.
"It's exactly what you see. If you don't do it, then let's change the person who dies tonight."
"...Impossible. If you kill Rin, you will also disappear and withdraw from the war due to the contract after losing your Master."
After a moment of silence, Archer suddenly raised his head and looked at Lu Minghao. If Lu Minghao, as a Caster, lost his Master, then his own spiritual foundation would collapse. Unless Lu Minghao really didn't care about the Holy Grail, he would never do this.
"Want to try?"
Opposite him, Lu Minghao still looked at Archer with the same expression as before. Indeed, he wouldn't kill Rin Tohsaka before cultivating the next Master, but did Archer dare to gamble with him?
"I...I understand. Tonight, I will go and kill Shirou Emiya."
"Very good."
As expected, after a few seconds, Archer still chose to listen to Lu Minghao's words. After all, the other party was simply a reckless madman. Judging from his previous behavior of wanting to directly erase the entire Fuyuki City, the other party might really kill his Master.
"Then I'll look forward to your performance."
After saying that, Lu Minghao turned around and left. Behind him, Archer stared at his back intently, magic power constantly gathering in his palm, but in the end, he gave up this idea.
At the same time, Shirou Emiya, who didn't know anything about this, was living the happiest life he had ever had. Looking at the girl nestled in his arms, the boy only felt that his current life seemed to be a little unreal.
"Senpai, what's wrong?"
Sakura Matou slightly raised her head and looked at Shirou Emiya, her gaze filled with deep love. At this moment, the girl also felt that this was the happiest time since she was born. How wonderful it would be if time could stay at this moment forever.
"It's nothing... Sakura, let's get married after everything is over."
Shirou Emiya smiled and shook his head, then gently hugged the girl in his arms and said in her ear. Now that the two of them had reached the legal age for marriage, he wanted to be with the girl in his arms forever.
"Really, Senpai?"
"Yes, really."
Looking at Sakura Matou, whose eyes were blurred with tears, Shirou Emiya nodded vigorously. When the events of last night happened, he had already secretly made this decision in his heart. No matter what had happened to Sakura before, he didn't care now.
Raising her head, Sakura Matou's tear-blurred eyes stared intently at Shirou Emiya, and the love in her heart reached its peak. At this moment, her heart had been completely occupied by Shirou Emiya.
Thump!
Just then, Sakura Matou suddenly felt her heart beat violently. Her eyes, which were originally full of happiness, suddenly filled with fear, and she tremblingly raised her hand to touch the position of her heart... That familiar feeling had appeared once again.
