The present world really was different from Shirou's own.
The lack of disruption to the magical make-up of his projections was one key factor in his analysis, the other was perhaps the most novel experience. Odd pop-up windows continually graced his vision.
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Grade C Magic Circuits Acquired]
The depth and quality of his magical reserves were undergoing a qualitative breakthrough such that he had momentarily lost himself in the moment. He couldn't help it though. The one limiting factor that he'd always had in regards to his magecraft was his substandard level of magical output.
His magical output wasn't bad per say, but the energy required to Trace weapons above the league of mundane was always consuming. It left him with little choice but to learn not to recklessly squander his available energy during the course of his previous career. With this new 'leveling' thing however, he was suddenly given more leeway in regards to energy consumption.
After years of learning to conserve as much magical energy as possible, when presented with such an opportunity, there was no way to hold himself back.
Maybe, he might have had over done it though?
The expression on his face blackened while looking at the upturned and cratered field around him. What was worse, was that the place didn't used to be a field, but a verdant patch of forest.
He turned around only to see Naofumi and the other Heroes standing in a group with their respective parties.
Realizing that he alone was the only one standing in the middle of a devastated field, he understood how precarious he looked. He didn't mind drawing attention, but he never preferred it in the first place. This was to say, that he ordinarily wouldn't have cared. However, given the situation, it wasn't the best decision.
Presently, the Kingdom of Melromarc paid him little regard due to his status as a 'tag-along' during the summoning of the Four Heroes. This was good in its own way.
He was in a new world.
In this regard, he was still unfamiliar with political alignments, magical systems, and the like.
In his line of work, that meant that it was best to remain low profile until he could update his information. Besides, something didn't seem quite right about the way that the situation between the Four Heroes was being handled.
It was best to save his trump cards for when they were really needed.
It wasn't yet time to reveal his capabilities.
Fortunately, there was still smoke and dust around to obscure his form so he quickly dug deep within himself and drew forth from the magical energy produced his magic circuits.
Magic suffused his form, running through his body with a dim sheen of blue before fading.
Reinforcement Magic.
In his world, it was a type of magecraft that any magus was capable of pulling off. It involved enhancing the ability of items or objects such that a pillow could potentially become more durable that steel.
In his case, it wasn't a pillow that he was Reinforcing, but his body instead. To most magi, doing such a thing was suicidal simply because if too much magical energy was exerted, the body would explode. If too little was used, then why even bother?
He was special in a different regard. In the ignorance of his youth, rather than use his magic circuits to convert mana into magical energy, he used his nerves as make-shift circuits. Not only was the procedure painful, but he had obtained an unexpected gain: A full understanding of his body's capabilities.
Reinforcing his body was almost second nature at this point.
Magical power coursing through his veins, he dug his feet into the ground before bolting off into the distance and circling around from where Naofumi and the others stood.
Patting the dust and grime from off of his clothing, he approached the group of Heroes in the opposite direction of the mess that he'd created.
"What happened?" He asked with a carefully confused voice when the others took notice of him.
For a second, it appeared as if Naofumi's eyes bugged out when they saw each other. However, before Naofumi could voice any exclamations, Ren and the others spoke first.
"We don't know ourselves," Ren said grimly. Itsuki and Motoyasu were of the same opinion if the confusion on their faces were anything to go by. "Based on the information in our minds, there shouldn't be any kind of monster able to cause this much damage in the beginner area."
Itsuki nodded his head while Motoyasu placed a hand beneath his chin.
"It makes no sense," Itsuki muttered before turning his attention back to Naofumi. Everyone else was quick to do the same.
If Ren and the others had thought that Shirou had an answer, then now they no longer thought so given the context of his previous question. Only Naofumi kept giving Shirou odd looks.
In response, Shirou shook his head at Naofumi when no one was looking, indicating for him to keep quiet.
"So, what did you see?" Itsuki went back to pressing Naofumi for an answer.
Naofumi stood up from the ground, and dusted off the dirt beneath his pants. "I don't know," he said with a flat expression. The man had a damn good poker face. "Do you even think my level was high enough to determine a monster with this kind of strength?"
In most games, level dictated everything. A player at the basic level would never hope to match the capabilities of a higher-level player. It was like a standard bird trying to keep up with the movements of a sparrow.
The excuse was beyond reasonable.
In Itsuki, Ren, and Motoyasu's minds, it was the only explanation.
"Fair point," Motoyasu rested his spear against his shoulder before frowning at the damage done in front of him. "Lets just hope that none of us run into whoever caused this any time soon."
"Right." Ren and Itsuki were quick to agree.
Naofumi was the one who felt the most incredulous, but recalling the way that Shirou shook his head at him, he didn't make much of a fuss.
With nothing to be gained or known, Ren and the others decided that it was best that they stop wasting their time. The Heroes weren't supposed to travel as a party anyway. They needed to grow stronger with their own individual parties.
"Well then, take care I guess," Itsuki inclined his head and left followed by Motoyasu who gave a small wave, and Ren who shrugged. Their parties all followed at their lead.
Left alone, it was only then that Naofumi looked questioningly at Shirou.
Shirou let out a breath and knew that it was probably best not to keep too many secrets from his current partner. It ruined the concept of level ground and made it difficult to establish genuine trust. Besides, wasn't it because of being part of Naofumi's party that he could benefit from this new leveling thing?
Making sure that Ren and the others were really gone, he motioned for Naofumi to follow him to a more secluded location away from the new field of craters where he could see Melromarc's guards congregating towards.
Eventually, the two stopped at a small clearing where a stream ran through and two large boulders could made do as chairs. He gestured for Naofumi to take a seat.
"To start off, let me reintroduce myself," Shirou began while sitting opposite to Naofumi. "My name is Shirou Emiya, and from my world, I go around saving as many people as a I can."
"The Hero of Wrought Iron," Naofumi suddenly said.
Shirou's eye narrowed in surprise, but before he could even begin to question Naofumi where he'd heard that title from, Naofumi was already pointing above him.
"It says so on an icon right on top of your head," Naofumi offered.
Shirou blinked. What?
No, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. Too many weird things had happened with his life so he was already beyond the point of being phased for long. "What else does it say above me?" He inquired.
"Nothing else really," Naofumi scrutinized the air. "See for yourself. You're part of my party so you should be able to see it to."
How was he supposed to do that?
His confusion must have had been showing because Naofumi cleared his throat and spoke up again. "You should be able to bring up the game panel if you think hard about it."
Again, Shirou was left at a loss.
"What game panel?" He asked, lips curving downward into a grimace.
Naofumi looked dumbfounded. "Have you never played a video game before?"
"No," was the flat answer. "But I know of them, I guess."
Naofumi considered his answer while looking at him in disbelief. "Okay, let me so what I can do as party leader then."
The only sort of screens and icons that Shirou had been able to see before was nothing regarding stats or basic information. Instead, all that he had ever seen were basic notifications.
Naofumi as party leader began poking at the air and eventually pulled up a party-leader panel which he soon shared. "Here, try this."
A prompt appeared before Shirou's eyes, and soon enough, he was given access to what Naofumi could see above his head.
[Party member: Shirou Emiya]
[Title: Hero of the Wrought Iron: Bonus weapon affinity to all weapons]
[Status: Sword]
[Class: Nameless]
[Sub Class: Magus]
[Level: ? (Basic)]
[Applying experience yield]
[New Level: ?]
[Magic: ?]
[Strength: ?]
[Intelligence: ?]
[Wisdom: ?]
[Dexterity: ?]
[Luck: E]
Of course, Luck was the only attribute with an actual designation.
Shirou felt his upper lip twitch, but as for the question marks, it was probably because Naofumi did not have an accurate idea of his capabilities yet. That, or his current abilities, level, and attributes were too high for Naofumi to presently appraise. Everything was from Naofumi's perspective after all so if he wanted to see his actual stats, he'd have to bring up his own status screen himself. A feat that he'd figure out how to do later. Right now, he still had some explaining to do.
"What did you do before?" Naofumi asked in excitement. "You should have had told me from the beginning if you were this capable. I rose up by like ten levels just then!"
He shrugged at Naofumi's question while deciding how he should answer. The truth may be difficult for anyone to accept, but he could see that out of all the summoned Heroes, Naofumi was the most earnest. The way that Naofumi seemed to believe in the best of people and inherently trust them was enough of an indication of Naofumi's character.
In all honesty, Naofumi naivety reminded him of himself in some ways.
"In my world, there's a profession of magic practitioners known individually as a Magus." He started to explain. "I am a Magus, a user of magecraft. What you just saw me do earlier can be considered my unique magic."
"Well, what can it do?" The eagerness in Naofumi's tone was not lost on him.
"See for yourself." Magical energy thrummed from within him, and all of a sudden, a certain sword appeared in his hands causing Naofumi to startle in wonderment.
"Ren's sword?" Naofumi felt his breath hitch in his throat.
Precisely.
In his hands was a copy of the Legendary Sword.
This was the ability of his magecraft known as Tracing. Any weapon or shield that he'd ever seen is stored and recorded within his inner world and can be recreated at will. The quality and make of a weapon when created through Tracing was near identical to any original such that no differences could be seen if ever.
What he didn't expect however was the series of prompts that manifested in front of him after tracing the Legendary Sword.
[Host Error: Sword Hero]
[Troubleshooting]
[Host Qualifications: Determining]
[Error]
[Error]
It was like the Legendary Sword had a mind of its own and was constantly going haywire. Reading the words of the various notifications in front of him, it was like the sword was asking itself why he himself wasn't summoned as the Hero of the Sword.
Wait, did that mean that the Traced copy of the Legendary Sword was somehow linked to the original?
He didn't know what that meant, but he stopped caring when he realized that the Traced version of the Legendary Sword was attempting to bind itself to him.
[Host compatibility: Beyond Optimal]
Uhm, no.
He stopped it right then and there and dismissed the sword.
All notifications quickly disappeared.
Out of curiosity, he Traced the other Legendary Weapons which all provided similar icon prompts. Of the Four Legendary Weapons, the least compatible for him was the Shield while the most compatible for him was the Sword. The Spear and Bow were optimally compatible with him due to his experience in those fields and the number of spears in his inner world.
In his contemplation, he forgot that he was actually in the middle of an explanation. It wasn't until he heard the sound of a mouth shutting closed that he snapped back into reality.
He stared up to see Naofumi's deceptively blank face. "You're a cheat," Naofumi said. "If this were a game, you'd be goddamn fucking broken."
Shirou raised a brow. He couldn't understand how his Tracing had anything to do with a game. "It's called Tracing," he offered. "Any weapon I see, I can recreate. I'd also prefer it you didn't disclose this ability of mine lightly. I'm only sharing it with you because we're a party and we need to know what the two of us can do."
Shirou decided that it was best that he didn't yet inform Naofumi that his Tracing also allowed him to inherit the skills of the wielder. He really didn't know how Naofumi would react considering that the man was already acting weird at the moment.
"Anything else that you want to know?" he asked.
Naofumi shook his head.
Inwardly, the man was screaming like a player in a video game that had stumbled onto a Divine-level treasure.
JACKPOT!
He lost out on a large party, but instead, his starter gift was something far more valuable than just six-hundred silver.
Seeing Naofumi's silence, Shirou nodded.
"Good," he stood up from where he sat opposite to Naofumi. "It's better to use our time to understand what you can do with that shield anyway. Any ideas?"
Snapping out of his stupor and wiping away the dumb smile on his face, Naofumi energetically brought himself back into the conversation.
"As of the moment, no," Naofumi admitted while copying Shirou's actions and standing up from the rock that he was sitting on. "I haven't had much time to really look into it. Moreover, I think I want to actually get some kind of weapon."
Naofumi scratched the back of his head while grinning sheepishly. "Since we went out to the training fields so fast, I haven't had the time to properly equip myself. My shield isn't suitable as a damage weapon. Well, at least we have money so what about heading to town first?"
From Naofumi's perspective, the two had already leveled up enough to warrant a break.
Shirou considered Naofumi's idea before agreeing. "Sure," he said.
Fiddling with his pockets, Naofumi produced the bag containing six-hundred silver and split it evenly in half before offering Shirou his share.
"Here," Naofumi said. "You should buy yourself some equipment too."
Before Naofumi could give Shirou his full share, Shirou raised up a hand and only took a hundred silver to act as pocket money.
"This will be enough," he said. "It's not like I'm short on armour or weapons anyway."
Recalling what Shirou had just explained about his special ability, Naofumi once again felt like grinning from ear to ear but forcibly quelled the urge. "Then thanks. I'll make sure to make good use of it."
Naofumi pocketed the rest of the silver and walked together into town with Shirou.
What Naofumi wasn't expecting was for Shirou to suddenly decide to wander off on his own.
"Are you sure?" Naofumi asked skeptically. "The both of us were just summoned to this world. We know next to nothing about it so isn't it dangerous to split up? Besides, we still have some leveling to do before calling it a day."
It was a good point, but Shirou knew better than to not prepare for emergencies in advance.
"That's precisely why its better to scout around. Let's meet back up here at the spot by the stream in another hour or so."
Naofumi considered his proposition and soon agreed.
The both of them were grown men and summoned beings with the title of Heroes.
What was the worst that could happen?
Shirou did not waste a minute after separating from Naofumi.
The Kingdom of Melromarc was rather large and there was much ground to cover. In this regard, he understood that there was no way that he could scout everything. He'd learned in his life to be practical so he decided to just start at places where he knew that he and Naofumi would frequent in order to restock supplies or rest. However, the first thing that he had to do before getting onto business was lose his 'tail.'
A Shadow faintly followed behind him and directly out of view. His pursuer was skilled, but what had given his pursuer away was curiosity.
At the time that he'd left several craters at the beginner hunting grounds, he'd felt a trace of a certain type of emotion directed towards him. Fear. Apprehension. Out of everyone on the beginner training field hours earlier, other than Naofumi, only the Shadow should know that he was the cause of the attack.
The momentary respite in his Shadow's composure was enough to leave an opening for him to discover.
From there, he had made sure to drag Naofumi to a different location where the Shadow could not so easily follow lest he or she be discovered.
He had a vague suspicion that the Shadow wasn't supposed to be tailing him in the first place, but Naofumi instead.
His fire power must have had left quite an impression for the Shadow to abandon observation on a summoned hero just for his sake.
How flattering.
Now how was he supposed to go about losing his pursuer?
None of his weapons or means were suitable for stealth and his pursuer's stealth level was definitely far higher than his own. Therefore, what was he to do?
For now, nothing.
His best option was to just directly confront his pursuer, but he had no idea what ramification doing so would have. Right now, he wasn't just acting on his own, but with Naofumi as well.
He was confident in his strength, but for all intents and purposes, Naofumi was still too weak to brave through a possible conspiracy within Melromarc.
So be it.
He slowed his pace and gave the bare minimum of attention to the observer hiding within the shadows, but not before giving a vague wave in the direction that the observer was crouched at.
Said observer must have had been terrified of him because he could have had sworn that he heard an incredulous yelp.
Regardless it was time to get a lay of the land. At the same time, he was interested in looking for some kind of library detailing the new world's magical systems and theories. He needed to understand just how much different his magecraft was from the world's common magic in order not to stand out too much.
With that in mind, he started asking around town if any such facilities were available for public viewing.
However, he didn't get far before frowning heavily.
Was he really seeing this?
What the hell?
There was a child no older than ten, bruised, dirty, and struggling with the weight of three heavy crates tied together and supported on the child's back. The contrast between the child's miniscule figure compared to the heavy crates was appalling. More so when it was evident that the child was struggling.
The child had hair the colour of a husky's fur and was wearing nothing more than a stained rag over his tiny body. Purple bruises ran up and down the child's arms while small cuts could be seen on the child's hands and feet that must have had hurt. Everyone knew just how sensitive wounds on the hands and feet were. It was why a paper cut was painful despite appearing so harmless.
Anger towards others was an emotion that he didn't generally feel. He always thought the best of others and in turn, he did his best to make everyone's lives easier. If asked to do a tedious chore, he'd never hesitated to accept. In which case, the fact that anger was building up from within him only made the situation even harder for him to accept.
Why was no one doing anything?
Could they not see the pain that a child was in, or did they refuse to help simply because of the dog ears that he could see growing from the child's head?
In any case, it didn't matter.
If no one wanted to intervene, then he would do so.
His legs carried him forward one step at a time until he stopped right in front of the child who stared back at him with a trace of anxiety. The child seemed to believe that he'd come in order to do harm. Evidently, so did the other people who were sneering in the back ground.
Bastards.
The glare that he sent in their direction must have had been chilling because no one dared stare at the child with such expressions again.
He shook his head and directly used an arm to lift up the burden on the child's back.
"Hey- huh?" The child was startled, but froze after their gazes met.
"Something like this is too heavy for a child to carry," he said while the child blinked up at him in confusion.
He patted the child's head while trying to get a better look at the child's condition.
It was far worse than what he had been able to see in the distance. Some of the wounds were infected and festering. Puss oozed from broken sores and the sickly pallor of the child's complexion was concerning.
Looking closely, Shirou concluded that the child in front of him was a boy.
"What's your name?" He asked carefully. "And why the heck is a child doing this kind of work?"
"Keel," the boy gave a strained smile despite the pain that the boy was in. "It's my job. I was asked to run errands."
What kind of employer forces a child to carry something so heavy?
Curious about the contents of the crates, he took a moment to inspect what was inside and felt his jaw tighten in disbelief.
Stones.
They were all stones with hardly any value.
This wasn't a delivery or a job, this was child torture.
His mouth thinned into a line, his hands balling into fists as he directly discarded the crates to the side under Keel's fearful gaze. "Now there's nothing to deliver," he said flatly, a trace of coldness in his tone. "And if your boss has any complaints, I'll deal with all of them. Personally."
Keel opened and closed his mouth before pursing his lips and staring at the ground.
Shirou wasn't sure what sort of thoughts Keel was having, but the despair on the young boy's face wasn't something that he could stomach.
He really had to have a talk with Keel's employer.
"Hey, how about I buy you something to eat?" He spoke up to lighten the mood. "You look starved."
Keel swallowed audibly at the prospect of food, his stomach growling. "R-Really?"
He nodded.
"Thanks!" Despite Keel's situation, his bright personality somehow still shone through albeit, if just a little subdued. A bout of pain from moving too actively forced Keel to whimper and recoil.
Keel bit down on his lips to prevent any outburst from escaping, but the action wasn't lost on Shirou.
A child shouldn't deserve this.
"Let me help clean those wounds first."
Without waiting for Keel's approval, he directly carried the ten-year old into his arms. He was far taller than Keel, to the point that Keel only reached up to his waist so the boy didn't actually weigh very much. He chose not to think about how thin Keel felt in his arms.
"What are you doing?" Keel's head kept darting left and right, Keel's body squirming in his grip.
Keel's strength compared to his own was pitiful. There was no way that Keel could escape, nor did he want that to happen. Keel's feet were bleeding. It wouldn't do to presently walk on them if at all.
"Keep still," he told her. "I'm just taking you to a small creak to help wash you off and help with your wounds."
Keel froze before tentatively turning around in his grip to peak up at his face.
"Why?" Keel asked with bright-blue coloured eyes. Keel's hands were balled into fists and pressing against his chest.
He stared down at Keel, not a break in his expression, but rather, his gaze was filled with compassion. "Do you need a reason to help someone in need?"
Keel looked down and didn't say anything anymore.
There was something in Keel's expression that was hard to read. However, Keel rebounded quickly and began to curiously look around her.
"Hold tight," he said as he positioned himself into a jumping start. "I'm going to speed up the pace."
Waiting for Keel to wrap his small arms around him, he took a breath and directly leapt into the air on reinforced legs.
Wind whipped violently across his face while the colour on Keel's face drained at a rapid rate. Keel firmly shut his eyes.
By the time that Keel opened his eyes again, it was to the sight of a slow-moving creak.
Stopping by the edge of the creak, Shirou soon arrived at a problem. He didn't have a change of clothes for Keel and he'd forgotten to consider such a thing on the way. Well, whatever, they were both guys in the first place so it wasn't like it mattered.
"Here, lets gets you clean," he said. He didn't have any soap at hand, but cleaning the dirt and grime from Keel using water was better than nothing.
Keel nodded stiffly before taking off his clothes in order to wash properly.
This was where the problem began.
Keel wasn't a boy.
Keel was a girl.
The moment that Shirou made the distinction, he directly pulled Keel's clothing back on. For her part, Keel looked entirely confused.
"A young girl shouldn't be so immodest in front of the opposite gender." He reprimanded with a sigh. He soon looked at the fabric of his current attire and tore off a large section which he then wrapped around Keel's waist. "This should do for now."
Keel tilted her head to the side but didn't make much of a fuss.
In the meantime, he took Keel and sat her down in the stream in front of him.
Tearing another piece of cloth from his clothing, he soaked the cloth in the water and began wiping down Keel's back.
Keel was silent during the process despite how energetic she had been before. Her dog ears were twitching left and right on top of her head as she got herself clean. Thereafter, she wore the same rags as before and finally looked up at him with uncertainty.
She was currently sitting on the ground, her legs sprawled in front of her.
"I'm a Demi-Human," she took the initiative to say as if the admission would change the way that he treated her.
"I'm a Human," he replied back flatly, using the time to dry Keel's hair with a cloth that he'd rung out.
Keel's brows furrowed before she tried again. "I'm a Demi-Human?"
Why did she sound like she was asking a question?
He stopped drying her hair in order to look Keel in the eyes.
"Does it really matter?" He asked her.
The kingdom of Melromarc didn't just have Humans, but another race known as Demi-Humans. Judging from Keel's treatment on the streets and her hesitation towards him, Demi-Humans were probably heavily discriminated against in the kingdom. However, that didn't mean that he was same as everyone else.
Keel swallowed audibly before changing attitudes and smiling up at him again.
"No. No it doesn't!" She let out a small laugh and tried to stand up.
"Oh no you don't." He sighed. Keel's feet weren't in a condition to walk. He'd just gotten the cuts near her ankles to stop bleeding. "What would your parents think if you acted so recklessly?"
"My parents are dead." The light in Keel's eyes dimmed.
O boy. Bad topic here.
Without wasting another second, he picked Keel up again and moved to fulfill his promise of a free meal in hopes of cheering her up.
The area by the creak wasn't very far away from the main market area of Melromarc so it wasn't difficult to find a restaurant. He had a hundred silver in his pocket so he wasn't concerned at all about the prospect of being unable to pay.
By the time that he reached the restaurant, he placed Keel down next to him and informed her to try walking on the balls of her toes rather than her heels where most of the cuts were placed. She did her best, but balancing was hard.
He took Keel's hand in order to support her.
"C'mon. Let's go." He said.
She nodded with a trace of anticipation.
He sat her down on a high-stool by the counter of the restaurant before calling the server over who passed out a menu. Looking at the restaurant's dishes, he soon decided what he would order as Keel held onto a fork and spook in each hand. She was glancing around curiously while swinging her legs back and forth from the high-stool.
"One regular meal, and this kid's special here," he said while pointing out the from the menu.
The server nodded professionally, but the expressions of the other patrons in the room were looking at Keel in disgust. Of course, Keel noticed and the jubilance on her face became strained.
She was just a child.
His eyes narrowed sharply before he shifted his body in order to cover a majority of the glares directed in Keel's direction. She stared up at him in surprise before lowering her head, her lips quivering. "Thanks," she said with a sniffle.
He didn't reply, too busy daring anyone else in the room to continue staring. Magical power was already flowing freely through him and all it would take a was a single thought to manifest a myriad of swords.
The situation didn't come to that.
"That man's part of the Shield Hero's party," a voice called out from the shadows in apprehension. Listening to it and noticing the absence of a speaker, he was quick to realize that it was the voice of the observer who'd been trailing him all day. He hummed in thought.
"H-He's a Hero's companion so he's definitely strong. I don't recommend getting into a fight."
A good choice.
He was already moments away from acting.
Everyone in the restaurant were adults. They shouldn't be directing such vicious stares on a little kid in the first place.
Giving a steel-eyed glare at the people around him, he failed to realize that Keel had been watching his actions from the very beginning. She bowed her head low when he turned his gaze back on her, but she continued to peak up at him from time to time until the food came.
The child's special resembled Hamburg Steak with a little flag pierced into the meat.
"Go ahead," he nodded for Keel to eat.
She wasted no time in doing so.
Keel had a large appetite. She finished her meal faster than it took for his own meal to arrive in front of him.
He smiled wryly.
"Here." He slid his ordered food in front of Keel to eat. "I'm not hungry."
She looked up at him, and then to the food before he heard a distinct sound that sounded too much like sobbing to his ears. It had been too long since anyone had ever shown Keel such kindness. He glanced down at the corner of his eyes only to see Keel crying while stuffing her mouth with food.
What a weird kid.
By the time lunch was over, it was almost time to meet back up Naofumi. Still, he looked down at Keel and suddenly understood that he didn't wish for her to return to her current employer.
He knelt down to Keel height and patter her on the head.
"Say," he began. "Want to come with me rather than working at your current place?"
Keel stiffened and subconsciously clung onto his right pant leg with her hands.
"I-I can't." Keel shook her head. "I'm a slave," she admitted.
What?
His brows knit together before he shook his head and resolved himself. It didn't matter about whatever laws Melromarc had about slavery. He could deal with it later because he couldn't just abandon a child for the sake of some absurd law. He could feel Keel's hands trembling while she held onto his pant leg.
"All the more reason to come," he said sternly.
"No. I can't run." Keel shook her head again and turned around to reveal a mark at the back of her neck beneath her shoulder-length hair. It was a slave branding imbued with some kind of restrictive magic. "Master will kill me."
What a barbaric system.
He released a breath.
"Can you trust me, just this once Keel?" He asked her carefully while directing his magic energy towards his right palm.
Keel didn't say anything, but she eventually nodded her head after careful thought.
Good.
"Close your eyes," He said.
What he needed right now was a dagger of absolution. One that would sever all bonds and return everything to zero.
"Trace. On."
His magic circuits thrummed as a small wind manifested over his palm that blew back Keel's hair.
Legends told of a danger that belonged to a certain woman of Greek origin.
The ritual dagger of the Witch of Colchis, the woman who killed even her family.
It was a dagger that directly severed the bonds of magic and contracts alike.
A twisted knife of betrayal.
A crooked knife manifested in his grip, imbued with jewels along the hilt and rimmed with a tinge of ceremonial gold.
Rule Breaker.
No magic or contract could withstand its touch. Even the slave seal boded no chance.
"Keep still, alright?" He ruffled her hair reassuringly. "I promise that this won't hurt."
He gently pricked Rule Breaker over the spot where the slave seal was located.
Suddenly, Keel flinched as the sound of cracking glass resounded.
The slave brand shattered into fragmented pieces which dissipated like sand blown in the wind.
Keel opened her eyes to see him nodding at her.
"You're free," he spoke softly.
He pointed at Keel's reflection within the window of a market building.
The Seal was gone.
Keel's mouth shut closed before she suddenly hugged his leg and began whimpering. She couldn't speak even if she wanted to.
"Let's go," he said while picking her up. Keel didn't have any parents so he decided to take care of her in his time within Melromarc just until she could take care of herself.
Carrying Keel in his arms, he made the trip back to where he said that he'd meet back up with Naofumi. The journey back was uneventful, and if anything, the most that happened was that he scared his observer away by staring at the exact location that the observer hid each time. It wasn't his fault that the observer was using an enhancement magic that allowed him to detect her location.
Regardless, what he had to do right now was think about how he should explain Keel to Naofumi. He didn't want the man to get any ideas about him just because he decided to help a child in need.
As it would turn out, his explanation was unrequired.
He wasn't the only one to return with a child.
Rather than getting armor and weapons, Naofumi seemed to have had used his money on something else entirely.
"What the hell are you doing, Naofumi?" He asked in a low tone, his voice containing traces of sharpness while looking at the iron collar attached to a chain in Naofumi's grip.
The collar and chain themselves weren't a problem, but what was, was that the collar was latched onto a dirty hollow-eyed child with more bruises than Keel.
The child was around the same age as Keel with long brown hair and tanuki-like ears. The rags that the child was dressed in were even worse than Keel's and that was saying something because Keel's was awful.
Naofumi was still holding the heavy chains collared around the child's neck by the time that he arrived back with Keel. Worse, he could see the same kind of slave seal on the collared child. In this case, the child's new Master was obviously Naofumi.
"T-This isn't what it looks I swear!" Naofumi noticed the look in his eyes and was quick to yell out. However, the fact that he hadn't let go of the chain yet wasn't helping his case.
Noticing where he was staring at, Naofumi looked to his hand and hurriedly let go of the chains as if scalded. "I can explain!" he hurriedly said.
He stepped forward in order to question Naofumi, but Keel's voice beat him to the punch.
"R-Raphtalia?" It was almost hopeful. Desperate even.
The slave girl glanced up and a flicker of recognition appeared in her eyes.
"K-Keel?"
Naofumi finally took notice of Keel in Shirou's hands and pointed out with a shaking finger.
"You bastard you brought a child back too!"
Shirou's face sank.
Naofumi wasn't wrong.
Meanwhile, the both of them only had a single thought in regards to each other.
'At least I had a reason!'
Thanks for reading!
Next update: Fate in time
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
