Quick Author's Note
Thank you Marcas Dammin for pointing out that I mixed Yahiko and Nagato's name with their identities. I've gone back and fixed the problem.
Sakura blinked the drowsiness from her eyes away.
They had slept late last night, a few hours past midnight. A consequence from her decision to spend more time with Rin. Garamm even had to wake her up at dawn for breakfast. Straight after that, the pair went about preparing for their departure.
"Have you made sure that you have left anything behind?" Garamm checked with his apprentice.
Teaching her to be conscious of her belongings was one of the habits he wished for Sakura to learn. It wouldn't do good for her to forget even the smallest of things later down the line.
Sakura nodded. She had searched the room thrice and crossed her list containing all the belongings she had. As far as she knew, she had packed everything back in her spatial ring.
"Good. Now let us be off. The trip starts in a few hours, but we still need to buy some things for your lessons."
Sakura was informed that their transport would take two weeks to fly between Fuyuki City and the nearest port on the other side of the sea.
With two weeks of travelling and no more assignments from the El-Melloi family, Garamm would spend the time training Sakura.
Sakura followed Garamm out of the room and down towards the exquisite hotel's main entrance. Unlike the adventurer guild's taverns, the high-class hotel was partially funded by the Fuyuki City council, of which the Makiri and Tohsaka families held seats.
Their rooms were reserved for them by the two families since they were attending the event as special guests. As one of the few hotels sponsored by the Fuyuki council, it was naturally required to have a high standard. Sakura considered the hotel to be on par with the Black Fortune Guild she had stayed in a year prior.
Even the rooms were impressive. Garamm and Sakura had both been handed a magical key which opened the seals locking the doors. It was a first for her, even the adventurer guild taverns didn't have magical security in place. Then again, the taverns were run by adventurers, which was enough security as they were.
After depositing the key at the front foyer, a bellman called for a carriage at Garamm's request. As it turns out, transportation was free. Being a guest of the hotel clearly had some benefits.
How grand.
A carriage rolled up the entrance and the pair entered the transport. Garamm told the coachmen of their destination, and they were off to the port outside the city.
Sakura opened the carriage windows, letting the crisp morning air enter. The clopping of horse hooves and the clatter of wheels on the stone pavement was a nice rhythm to hear as they moved through the awakening city. Some time and a few turns later, the carriage passed the city walls heading towards a large structure in the distance.
Once outside the city, the fresh chilly air of incoming autumn buffeted the carriage, pushing Sakura's drowsiness away.
The breeze brought memories of a simpler time back at the village. Sakura wondered what Shirou and the rest would be doing. They were probably preparing to hunt by now, collecting enough plants and meat to fill the warehouse with food for winter.
Whereas here she was, travelling the world.
Sakura watched the structure get closer, slowly realizing how massive it truly was. Already, it looked far taller than the tallest buildings she had seen. Sapo was a city on the edge of civilization, so the heights it reached were small. Fuyuki City had taller buildings reaching 6 storeys and more, double the highest building in Sapo.
In fact, their hotel was already 5 storeys as it was. This structure looked taller, and its width was certainly far wider.
From afar, the protrusions looked like weirdly shaped towers. But now that they were getting closer and closer, the protrusions became clear.
When Garamm mentioned they had a ship they to catch in the morning, Sakura thought it was similar to the small and medium sized aquatic vessels they had ridden in rivers and lakes from the past year of travel.
After all, Fuyuki was a harbor city.
But this? This was different. Nothing like she had ever seen before.
The true magnitude of the structure revealed itself once they reached it.
Sakura was left gaping as she and Garamm exited the coach.
"Welcome to the Fuyuki Air Harbor sir and madam." The coachman greeted them as he opened the door.
They were standing in front of what looked like a dockyard some fair distance from the city. But instead of the harbor on the bay that she had come to expect, it was a massive port for airships in the middle of land.
Several tiers of stone masonry with wooden pillars holding up paths and towers stretched in front of them. The structure was split between 3 tiers, all elevated above the ground. Each tier was massive with multiple bays containing a variety of ships while some others were empty. Some bays were busy servicing smaller ships, while others held a single gargantuan ship.
Workers moved to and fro, restocking the flying transports with mana-filled crystals for fuel, loading boxes of spatial artifacts containing massive amounts of goods. On one rampart, some guards stood watching while some mages moved a strange phantasmal beast off the landing bay closest to them.
Sakura had heard of galleons before. Garamm referred to them as the grandest line of sailing ships, fit to challenge the seas.
Now, she understood why.
Galleons were the size of mansions.
Sakura was watching one floating monstrosity slowly land on the dock farther away from them. On that landing bay, the airship gently got caught by a runic circle before several workers started throwing ropes to the sailors on the ship. Likewise, the sailors levitated the anchors below, which the dockhands tied to the iron poles below.
As the airship neared, its multiple fin-like flaps started retracting to its main body, the magical codes on them slowly powering down. The landing procedure would last for a while longer, which Sakura was not able to watch.
Garamm started walking, Sakura quickly following behind. He took the largest ramp between two landing bays, which connected to an even larger ramp leading to the next tier. Once she reached one of the main ramps, Sakura was able to see the central tower. The tower in the middle looked like a hexagonal fortress, bastions lining up the sides with some defensive mechanisms placed above.
The higher they went, the more Sakura was able to see the surrounding air harbor.
The shape of the entire port was similar to the hexagon of the fortress, each side extending further like a web when seen from above. The entire port was also elevated three floors above the ground. The base was made of stone, and the stone landing bays protruded a floor higher from the tier they were at. Wooden platforms and paths crisscrossed between each layer, connecting the 7-storey fortress with the landing bays. Each layer beyond the 8-storey fortress was lower, allowing the structure to overlook the arriving airships.
Sakura guessed that the fortress was originally built for defense, then converted into a port for the airships.
Upon reaching the central fort, Sakura saw hundreds if not thousands of people already streaming in and out of the entrance. It was only two hours past dawn, and the place was already full of people.
It made sense. While not as big as the actual port on the bay, the air harbor was still a landing dock for receiving and repairing flying ships. They were busy at all times, requiring multiple shifts and numerous groups for each bay.
Garamm and Sakura navigated around the crowds before entering the fortress. Inside, they went over to a section with the "departures" sign. Down the hall they went until they reached an area that opened into a large room. The room was clearly a waiting area, judging from the several lounges and tables set to serve the customers.
But they weren't here to wait. They were here to look for their ship's location.
In the middle of the room, suspended on a chandelier was a large magical hologram of a top-down view of the entire port. A few bays were darkened, probably being repaired or used for other reasons, but most of the others were lit up, showing different ship names.
It was only then that Sakura saw the true extent of the port's ability. The first hexagon was the central fortress, followed by the second tier containing 12 super massive bays compared to the rest. These were probably where the largest airships landed, as a couple of them only had a single ship name. The third tier had smaller landing bays, but numbered at least thrice compared to the previous tier. Sakura assumed that this was for smaller transports, numbering in the hundreds of ship names shown on the screen.
It was a convenient map for the passengers. Sakura was able to deduce that the darkened bays were for supply transports, which shouldn't clutter the image for the travellers. It was the only reason for half of the map to be dim.
It was amazing how many languages there were. Sakura could only recognize a few English and Nihonnian ship names. The rest were from other languages. The map was detailed enough to show even the small ship names, despite how numerous they were.
"Sakura, the name of our ship is the Oriental Transport. Would you like to try leading us there?" Garamm asked his student.
Sometimes, he would throw some challenges out of nowhere. This was one of those challenges.
Sakura had little experience when it came to maps, most of them being from small lessons from him. Now was the time to put them to the test.
She nodded, then started searched the map for the location of their transport. It was simple enough, the ship's name was near the center. The large words appearing on a second tier bay.
Sakura's eyes widened. Their ship was sitting on one of the massive bays on the tier below them. She had seen the size of those bays. Only galleons sat on them while they made their way up.
She was going to ride a flying galleon.
Excitement bubbled up within her. Quickly, Sakura moved towards the exit of the passenger area. Behind her, Garamm smiled as her pace indicated her anticipation.
Good to see that kids were still kids.
They steered around the bustling main chamber and left through the exit, out into the open docks once again. Sakura went around the wooden platform circling the fortress before walking towards the main eastern ramp. The bay that the Oriental Cavalier was situated in was the second on the left of the eastward rampart, and after a quarter of an hour walking, they reached their transport's docking.
Sakura gaped at the massive green and yellow accented vessel in front of her. From her side, she could tell that the hull was easily three storeys tall. Three folded fins decorated the starboard side, two medium sized fins near the front and back with the largest in the middle. Many windows were built on the side, something that wasn't akin to those of the aquatic variety she rode before. Even the number and bulk of the masts were something new. Four masts! The most she had ever seen were two!
Garamm silently chuckled watching the small girl awe at the grand ship.
On the side, workers were moving several crates inside, most likely supplies and fuel. Near them, there was a ramp leading to the ship's deck above. A small group of people already arrived ahead of them, busy talking with the steward in charge of the passengers.
The master-student pair queued before the steward. Soon, it was their turn. The earlier group was allowed entrance after confirming their reservations.
"Name?" The steward asked. He was dressed in a uniform that matched the theme of the ship.
"Garamm El-Melloi Archisorte and Sakura. We have reservations a month prior." Garamm answered.
The man didn't recognize who they were. Sakura blinked. Was it because of the nature of his job? Travelling all over the place didn't exactly allow you to stay in places for long. The Oriental Cavalier and its crew must've just landed recently if news had not reached them yet. After all, Garamm had been around the nation for quite a while.
The man shuffled his logbook for a bit before checking two names on his list. "Welcome to the Oriental Cavalier, here are the keys to your room. Your key is specifically designed to unlock the magical seal on the door. Should you lose the keys, please inform any crew member and we shall provide another. Enjoy your trip." The steward handed them a key each with a smile.
Garamm nodded as he walked past with Sakura in tow. Up the winding ramp they went until they reached the deck of the Oriental Cavalier.
Wide. Sakura guessed that the deck's width had to be around 10 meters or more. The length of the ship was 50 meters from the side, which was already longer than any other vessel she had seen.
Together, the pair walked into the quarters area below the deck. Upon seeing the rows of doors in the hallway, Sakura couldn't fathom how people could fit within such tight accommodations. The rooms seemed smaller even compared to the smallest room provided at the adventurer's guild.
That was until they reached their room.
Once the door opened, Sakura blinked at the scene in front of her.
It was magically expanded, just like a few other places they had seen. The space inside was easily capable of housing 5 people, but Garamm had rented out the entire room for the two of them.
Sakura walked towards the window, peering at the dockyard outside. It was still early in the morning, the sun slowly climbing over the sky. The time must've been 9 am from the looks of it.
"When is the ship departing?" She asked. Sakura wanted to see the other parts of the galleon.
"Departure is at noon time. As long as we return 30 minutes before then, we are allowed to leave the ship." Garamm decided to arrive early at the Oriental Cavalier to avoid the traffic once more people came to the air harbor. Already, the scene outside the window had shown the increase in dockyard activity.
Lots of time to explore the ship while other passengers weren't around yet.
Sakura left the room to see the galleon's interiors until the awaited departure time.
…
A few hours later, Sakura and Garamm stood on the bow of the ship. The landing bay had been vacated by the dockyard personnel once the Oriental Cavalier's departure neared.
The captain's voice echoed around the ship as he announced the ship's flight.
"This is your captain speaking, in a few moments the Oriental Cavalier will be taking off. The duration of the trip is estimated to take two weeks to reach our destination. Until then, we invite you to enjoy yourselves on the Oriental Cavalier. Enjoy your flight."
The short message ended and the ship started preparing to embark on its journey across the sea. Sakura watched the ship's flaps on the sides begin to unfold, extending to their maximum width. The airspace near the galleon had no other flying ships, assuring that the Oriental Cavalier had no interference during takeoff.
The massive ship experienced a small tremor as power was routed to the magical seals powering its flight. Slowly, it started inching off the ground, rising from the bay it sat on.
Sakura watched it all with anticipation. Soon, she was going to see the world from above. Soaring through the sky on a magical ship, seeing the heavens from a new perspective.
Behind her, Garamm watched his protege light up excitedly. She was smiling as she watched the ground disappear below them. Inwardly, he was content at how bright Sakura looked.
Sometimes, he questioned whether she would ever forgive him for taking her away. But now…showing her the world…
Garamm was convinced that it was the right decision.
Sakura wouldn't be left at the edge of civilization. Sooner or later, someone else would've found her.
The old man pondered about his relationship with the young girl. Did she still see him as the person who snatched her away? Or had he become a teacher in her eyes?
The little girl had grown on him. One way or another, Garamm was sure that Sakura had become more than just a student for him.
Once the Oriental Cavalier had reached a significant height, the galleon's sails magically unfurled. Sails caught the eastern wind and the ship accelerated. The boat's mass was already lightened from the runes engraved into the hull and was propelled forward by the air.
Forward, to lands unknown.
One week into the journey and Sakura had yet to shake off the excitement.
Even Garamm was impressed at how fast Sakura was advancing when she was in a good mood. The lessons were proceeding at a rapid pace and she was burning through them. Rather than giving her more work, he decided that she could have the rest of their sessions as freetime.
Best to keep this streak going.
The pair of them were currently eating breakfast at the Oriental Cavalier's dining room. It was early in the morning, roughly an hour past sunrise. They weren't the only ones awake at such a time. Crew members and other guests were also dining.
One of the guests shot the pair a look before whispering to his friends. Garamm idly noted the interaction. It seems that news has reached far about their identities. He hoped that people wouldn't recognize them yet.
Sakura placed her silverware down then wiped her lips with the napkin beside her plate. Her table etiquette had gone a long way from when she started. Garamm had taught her well.
"You have an hour until our spar." Garamm sipped on his drink.
In place of dungeon crawling and tackling quests, sparring was the only combat exercise they could do on the ship.
When Garamm asked Sakura about what they offered, she listed down the amenities offered by the Oriental Cavalier. There was a lot. A pool, an entertainment club, a small workout center were just some of the facilities available.
After one week of studying and practicing exercises, Sakura was finally going to do something different. The last time she sparred with her master was a month ago, and she was excited to see if any of her new ideas would work.
One hour was enough time for them to digest their meal, and Sakura would spend that time going over her notes for their spar.
…
A small crowd of people had formed around them. Crew members on break were on one side whispering to one another while the other guests sparse throughout the room.
Sakura and Garamm had just finished their 5th round. All of which had gone in the way of Garamm. As expected really. He was the mentor between them both. Even with a handicap, he was handily beating her.
She had extra assistance from her wand, while Garamm casted with his hands.
Focus.
Sakura closed her eyes as she prepared herself for the 6th round. It was time to try her plan.
Their arbiter was one of the Oriental Cavalier's crewmembers. He was given the choice to dictate when the round kicked off.
A moment passed…then his hand dropped.
"Start!"
Sakura watched Garamm instantly snap a silent mana missile at her. The ball of light homed in an arc aiming for her side. The direction wasn't straight, so preparing for it before it was shot was useless. Sakura was forced to create a small shield, positioning it on the edge of her wand. Rather than setting it down as a barrier, she learned to keep it small and compact. This meant that her energy consumption was less, while keeping the stronger shield flexible.
Then as Sakura moved to counter the magic missile, Garamm used his other hand to form a fireball, launching it at her after the previous spell.
With the situation stacked against her at such an early stage, Sakura was forced to use one of her trump cards immediately. Her wand wouldn't be able to move in time to reach the fireball after blocking the missile.
So she just had to make it longer.
Sakura casted an augmentation charm on the magical conduit, extending its length to roughly the same size as her body. Then as the shield deflected the missile, she switched the position of the defensive charm, immediately transporting it on the other end.
Just in time to meet the fireball coming her way.
The fireball exploded on her compacted shield, scattering fire around her in a shower. Using the fire spell's explosion as a makeshift smokescreen, Sakura shot her own missile through.
Garamm stayed on the same spot, unconcerned as he waved his hand to block the missile. The same compact shield he taught Sakura appeared briefly to meet it head on.
He had not moved an inch ever since the first spar.
Sakura's goal was to make him move one step, and she would consider it a win.
Lightning flickered across her wand-turned-staff as a silent lightning spell was casted. A testament to her ability to use multiple elements.
The lightning spell congregated on the edge of her augmented wand, then Sakura smashed it into the ground. An electric surge spread across the ground, moving in the direction of her mentor.
Now, time to spike it up a notch.
Sakura grunted with exertion as she controlled the spell mid-execution.
Lightning is powerful, but like all spells, the strength is weakened when spread over a larger area. But lightning in itself is already a highly concentrated energy, having the highest piercing strength out of all elements. Which meant that expanding it was a bad move.
But what if someone were to just micromanage the lightning's path? Instead of changing the spell to cover a wider area, just control it to move like so? The speed of lightning was instantaneous, a natural characteristic of the element.
From a visual standpoint, it would look like she had strengthened the spell. With such an attack coming, no one would expect the follow up. Or rather, what her intended follow up spell was.
It hadn't even been half of a second yet, and the lightning spell was already halfway to Garamm.
His eyes widened as the lightning surge suddenly jumped from the ground, turning into a wall of lightning. The electric energy bounced from air particle to air particle, while the same surge of power was reflected on the ground.
With less than a quarter of a second to react, Garamm instinctively activated a simple barrier to block the attack.
Even when he wasn't focusing on his spell, the mage was able to gauge just how powerful the attack was, and how much energy he needed to put into his barrier.
The lightning spell and barrier met in a clash of energy. The surge slowly dispersed at meeting the S-rank's defence.
Now! It was Sakura's only chance! She let go of the lightning, using her wand to cast one strong spell that would end the entire round.
All she had to do was move him right?
Then move him, she will.
Sakura casted a extremely powerful pull spell, making an exaggerated motion with her wand.
Garamm saw the move through the flashing lightning, and prepared to counter the next spell.
Suddenly, Garamm felt a tug. His eyes widened in surprise as his body nearly lurched forward before he managed to counter the pulling spell with a body-wide cancel. His energy fluctuated as it pulsed to remove all external mana within contact of his body, cancelling the pull spell.
But that was a distraction.
Sakura had intended for Garamm to react immediately to her obvious attack, and used the pull spell as an unusual method to do so.
Her plan was in its final stage, maneuvered by the situation she had manipulated.
Hidden behind her body, her other hand was in a grasping motion, silently enacting a pulling enchantment she had placed on a rock. The enchantment had been activated at the same time as the pulling spell from her wand, hiding the small pulse of energy generated behind the stronger spell.
Who said preparing before a spar was not allowed? As far as she knew, Garamm never introduced any rules.
First hit, any hit, counted as a win.
A rock hidden behind Garamm silently flew over the crowd behind him, aimed directly for his head. Not with enough power to kill, but just enough to hurt.
Garamm's eyes widened again as his instincts spiked all of a sudden, telling him to dodge an attack that came out of nowhere. His head jerked to the side, the small rock missing by a few centimeters.
Instantly, Garamm was able to deduce the plan behind Sakura's offensive maneuver.
Smart.
To all but the best fighters, such an attack would've broken through their defense. Not when their opponent was sending a threat in the form of a powerful attack, combined with an unorthodox spell afterward.
In fact, the manuever was already dangerous as it simply was. Had it been a knife instead of a rock…then he wouldn't count them alive anymore.
Sakura's eyes widened as her hidden threat was neutralized. She had worked hard to make sure such a complex combination would work in her favour.
With dexterity no ordinary elder in their 50s had, Garamm plucked out the offending projectile. He overpowered Sakura's control over the rock and threw it at her. It was followed up by an intense barrage of magic missiles, on a complexity Sakura had never faced before.
Sakura backpeddaled, deflecting the rock to the side. Panicking from the sudden onslaught of missiles, she casted a hastily formed shield to block the wave of attacks.
The shield wasn't prepared properly, and succumbed to the half dozen magic missiles. The barrier broke and Sakura was hit from many directions as the attack homed in on her.
"Match set!" The arbited shouted as Sakura wavered from her position.
The attacks weren't too painful, they still hurt, but Garamm kept their power at the weakest level.
Sakura heaved heavily, catching her breath while her wand reverted back to its original state. Casting spells at such a hectic rate always tired her out quickly, and to do so for such a short spar…
8 spells, in a span of 10 seconds. How many 9 year olds could accomplish such a feat?
Applause and hollers reached Sakura's ears as her focus left Garamm. Surprise came on her face as she looked at the impressed audience clapping at her performance.
The spar the student teacher pair had showcased was definitely going to be remembered for a long time by the spectators.
"Our spar is over. You did well, Sakura." Garamm said, drawing the attention of Sakura.
She blinked in confusion. Their previous spars had always ended in her loss, so why was he commending her? Sakura thought that Garamm would've launched into lecture mode, criticizing the few moves and decisions she made during their spar.
After all, her previous spars ended faster than the last.
Garamm patted the little girl's head. The confusion on her face was obvious, so he might as well explain.
"The previous spars all lasted 5 seconds each, but you managed to endure for twice as long this time. Your sneak attack was impressive. Keep up the good work."
Sakura blushed under the praise. Garamm rarely gave her praises, even when she finished her studies early, a nod was all she would get.
"Go and rest. You earned free time until lunch."
She brightened at the reward. Sakura had expected to go through her magical exercises after the spar, but now? She was free to rest. Sakura could spend the time enjoying the breeze on the deck above, or go to the ship's kitchen and cook. The crew was happy to teach the eager girl about the dishes prepared onboard.
Garamm dismissed Sakura with a wave of his hand. The girl skipped away happily, forgetting elegant etiquette for a little bit. Sakura was still replaying Garamm's praise and reward in her mind.
Garamm will just have to let this slip in manners go, just for this exception.
After lunch, it was back to lessons.
They still had a week left onboard the flying ship.
Shirou blinked.
Someone had been inside his room at the tavern. The clues were obvious even to the most inexperienced of adventurers.
He had just returned from another mission with the sisters. So whoever rummaged through his room was a tracker. The group had made sure to leave no evidence whenever they traveled, so they must've missed something at one point.
Shirou checked his room again.
The intruder had been in the room less than one hour ago. No signs pointed to a break-in, nor were there tracks leaving the room.
He had traced the door after all.
Meanwhile, the room was full of clues. But even with tracing, he could only gather that the intruder was a small furry beastman. The mass and footsteps indicated that it was a child standing on two legs.
But no such child could possibly break into the room, nor track them down.
An accident? Unlikely.
Nothing important was stolen…all of the belongings were kept by the girls.
Nothing…except for the food he had packed.
He prepared it earlier that day, for when they returned. The sisters at this point we're allocating the cooking responsibilities to him.
Weren't they able to cook before? Shirou remembered them preparing their own meals back when he joined them.
But after putting his memories to work, Shirou found his dishes as a child…lacking.
So, he sought to improve them. But unfortunately, he was limited to the locally available ingredients.
To him, his food still lacked the flavors he reached in his previous world. So why did the girls always ask for his dishes?
Surely they weren't that good.
Right?
But now that the prepared food was gone, what was Shirou going to tell Heinrich and Eugen.
I think a dog ate it.
Yeah…that excuse never worked even in his previous life.
Shirou sighed. Looks like he will just have to ask the tavern owner if he could use the kitchen again. The man was happy after the last time he offered to serve food. Shirou did it as his payment for using the kitchen.
It wasn't his fault working as a criminal stressed him. He needed time to cool down.
Shirou should start cooking before Eugen starts whining. She always made a big show whenever he does something "ungentlemanly" like keeping the girls waiting.
Time to cook again.
"You're in a happy mood."
Lunulupae watched her daughter laze around. Lunea was on cloud nine. She looked like a melted marshmallow as she laid on the ground after returning into the pocket dimension.
"I'm so fullll…"
As phantasmal beasts, they could survive on ambient mana alone. Food was just a delicacy to them.
Lunulupae raised an eyebrow. Shirou and the sisters should be on a job right now, so where did Lunea get the food?
"They're finished already?"
"Yup. But I couldn't wait anymore for them, so I ate the food he hid."
Lunulupae closed her eyes. No wonder her daughter was stuffed. She must've eaten the whole batch.
She will at least commend the boy, his food was definitely impressive.
…
Then the realization hit Lunulupae. She snapped her head in the direction of Lunea.
No. She couldn't have.
"How many servings were there?"
"...five."
Oohhh the little brat. Lunea also ate her share.
She could forgive her daughter for eating all of Shirou's food.
What she couldn't forgive…was that Lunea took hers as well.
Lunea sensed something behind her.
When she turned around, Lunulupae was standing behind her with a smile.
So why did she feel so scared right now?
"...mama?"
"I think it's time I taught you about sharing."
Author's Note
A filler chapter again. The next one will be the last I promise. I just needed to write down chapters for Sakura's trip because of how long Shirou's time skip was. This should've been the last timeskip chapter, but 2 became 3 parts because of how different each part was.
Hopefully, everyone likes how much Sakura has developed so far as well. Can't have her lagging behind Shirou after all!
