This happened in the winter five years ago.

Back then Kiritsugu rarely ventured out anymore. He started spending more time holed up at home, like an animal that knows when its life will end. Why hadn't I noticed it...?

"When I was little, I dreamed of being a Hero of Justice."

Suddenly, the man who was a hero in my eyes said that as if he desperately wanted it.

"What was that...? What do you mean? Did you just give up?"

I asked him just as suddenly as he did.

"Unfortunately, yes. Being a hero doesn't last long. When you grow up, it's hard to call yourself one. I wish I'd realized that earlier."

"I see. That's too bad then."

"Yeah. Such a shame."

Kiritsugu answered. But my reply was determined.

"In that case, I'll do it for you. You're an adult, so you can't do it. But I still can. So, leave it to me...

I will fulfill your wish."

Before I could finish, my father laughed. He made a face like he didn't even need to hear the rest. After breathing in, Emiya Kiritsugu said…

"Is that so? Then I'm at peace."

peacefully, as if he would wake up to the first ray of sunlight, Kiritsugu reached the end of his road.

That was in the winter five years ago.

After asking Fuji-Nee's father to sort out the funeral arrangements, I continued living alone at the Emiya residence. Even though nothing has changed since Kiritsugu left. Though I've never brought it up, I still remember it very clearly...

On that day, ten years ago,

When no one extended a helping hand to me...

When I couldn't extend a helping hand to someone...

I remember myself, the only one who was saved, and I remember the only man who reached out to save me. Which is why...

I wanted to become someone like him. I want to save others the way he did and be a Hero of Justice who won't let anyone die. Shirou Emiya must become a hero of justice...

And save those in need, like himself in the past, in the place of the man whom he admires the most. His dream must be fulfilled...

"...!"

When I open my eyes, I'm in a familiar room.

"What? Isn't this my room?"

As I speak, I start to feel sick.

"...Ugh... It tastes bad... In my mouth..."

The taste of blood ran through my mouth. Maybe it was filling my mouth, but the air I breathed was thick.

"..."

I'm not sure why, but I feel sick so I went to wash my face.

"...All right."

I stand up. I feel dizzy, I almost fall and support myself by putting a hand against the wall.

"...Ugh."

Nausea increases when I move.

...No, this is less like nausea and more like pain My body feels as heavy as lead and my stomach turns every time I move around. Maybe someone would feel like this if someone poured burning lead into their stomach.

"...Ugh... This would give anyone a major headache."

As I wiped the sweat off my forehead, I moved my jelly legs out of my room.

"Kuri Kuri"

Kuriboh was here, looking after me while I was resting. He must've been worried sick of me.

"...It's all right. I feel better now."

I wash my face and wipe the sweat off my body.

"...?"

There are bandages wrapped around my stomach for some reason. I can't recall why, but I will leave them be for now.

"…I'm hungry. I wonder if there are any leftovers…"

Even though my stomach feels like crap, my body wants food.

"Guh..."

Putting my mind into it, I start to walk along the wall. I still feel dizzy, and my body feels dull.

"Ow...Owww..."

I walk forward, crying out in pain.

...Really, I don't remember anything before I went to bed. Maybe I did some kind of extreme training, that might be the reason. I reach the living room. But, Sakura and Fuji-Nee aren't here. They must be at school. There's no breakfast prepared in the living room, and there's none of Fuji-Nee's loudness. The living room is quiet, like any ordinary Sunday...

"Good morning, Emiya. I went ahead and let myself in."

...No, this morning is not good, at all.

"...!?"

Rin Tohsaka is sitting on a cushion. Her calmness makes me think I'm the guest in this house and not her. Yeah, that's why I'm even more surprised. I didn't know how to answer her, so I sat down and then, I took a deep breath and asked...

"Tohsaka, why are you..."

"Hold on. First things first. Don't you owe me an apology? I won't let it go if you don't apologize for what happened last night."

Tohsaka glares at me like she's really mad. It seems she's really angry about last night, but what happened...?

"... What happened last night..."

Hang on...

Now I remember. I wanted to save Saber but ended up having Berserker slash my gut open.

"...Ugh."

The nausea returns. I feel a chill, remembering the feeling of having a hole in my belly. Something in my stomach moves. It makes me feel sick, but that proves I'm still alive. Wait, that's weird. Shouldn't that be instant death for me?

"... So, why the hell am I alive?"

"Do you remember now? Remember, just how stupid you were last night? Reflect upon your actions a bit."

Tohsaka lets out a "Hmph" as she scolds me. Huh, that's really annoying. My head, which was frozen by the fact that Tohsaka is here, finally resumes activity again.

"What are you talking about? That was the only thing I could do at the time!

...No, solely in terms of results, what I did was stupid. But I was trying to do better than that. So, I wasn't stupid for trying!"

I protested, glaring at her.

"...Hmph."

W-What? Why is she sighing?

"I told you before that If the master dies, the servant vanishes too, right? Get It? If you die, then so will Saber. If you're going to support her, it needs to be from a safe distance or there's no point, understand?"

"You've got a point, but it couldn't be helped. Things just ended up happening like that when I tried to save Saber."

I did think I would be killed if I went near that monster, but that's a different matter.

"Listen here, Emiya. To be clear, I didn't bring you to the church to help you win. It was to that ignorance of yours and get you to think of how to survive on your own. It seems you didn't understand at all."

"To survive on my own..."

"Right. Once you learned that defeat means death, you wouldn't do anything rash...

I was worried since you seemed like you'd walk alone at night under these circumstances. I thought that if I scared you, you wouldn't needlessly risk yourself and, if lucky, you might survive until the end. And yet, you ran straight at Berserker right afterward."

"...Is that so?"

So that's why she's complaining to me about not realizing that and running at Berserker.

"But why are you angry at me, Tohsaka? Whether or not I blunder and die has nothing to do with you."

"It does have something to do with me! You had not just me, but also poor Kuriboh worried all night."

Tohsaka loses her temper

...But I see. Honestly, I'm happy she's worrying about me.

Looking at the situation, it seems Tohsaka was the one who treated my injuries.

"I see. Thanks for taking care of me, Tohsaka."

I bow my head to show my thanks and apologize.

"Hmph. As long as you get it. If you learned your lesson, make sure to think before you act next time."

Tohsaka looks away. Her gesture is snappy, but it seems she's in a good mood again.

"Then, let's stop with the apologies here. I'll move on to the main subjects. As for the reason you're still alive after being killed by Berserker..."

Tohsaka described yesterday's events. From what she said, as soon as I lost consciousness, Berserker left. She says that my body started to heal itself, and it looked fine ten minutes later. She also says she brought me here since I didn't regain consciousness even after my wound healed, and that's where we are right now.

"So, you're not the one who healed me, Tohsaka?"

"No way! I can't pull off stuns like reviving someone from the verge of death anymore. You healed those wounds all by yourself. You somehow managed to put your smashed innards back together."

"...Hm."

What can I do, now that she said that? My stomach is certainly healed, but I have doubts about Tohsaka's story. I can't use healing magic, let alone revival magic.

"In that case, the cause must be your servant. From what I've seen, Saber seems to have a self-healing ability. That ability might have carried over to you. Normally, the flow of mana goes the other way, though."

"In other words...

It's like a river that's moving upstream?"

"Yeah, that's a good example. Normally it'd be impossible, but saber has such an enormous storage of mana that it can change the flow of the river. If not, it's impossible to imagine that she could fight Berserker as well as she did."

"In that case, Tohsaka, you mean my body's wounds will pretty much heal on their own if I ignore them?"

"In exchange for using up Saber's mana, that is...

I don't know the theory behind it, though."

What is it? Tohsaka's words are indirect and hard to follow.

"Still, you shouldn't get careless. There probably won't be a next time if you receive such severe injuries again."

"...Yeah. Being a burden on Saber by injuring myself is beyond excusable."

"Idiot, that's not what I meant! I can definitely guarantee that you're using up something in exchange for being healed! Like your lifespan, or luck, or account balance...

Anyway, you're definitely giving up something in exchange!"

Tohsaka gives a "Hmph" once again. I feel the same way, but…

"Tohsaka...

My account balance has nothing to do with it."

"It does! Magecraft is a huge money pit! Your money decreases the more you use it! It'd be unforgivable if that weren't the case, especially for me!"

Tohsaka Rin erupts with the fire of a personal grudge. It's strange.

The more I talk with her, the more I understand this is the real Rin Tohsaka, and that the Tohsaka at school is just a mask she puts on.

…No, it's something I realized already yesterday.

"...Well, leaving the subject of money. The next topic is more serious. Emiya, what do you intend to do now?"

She confronts me with the one question I don't want to be asked.

…No, that's not it. It's not that I don't want her to ask me, but I haven't made my mind up yet. I'm the one who wants to ask what I should do now.

"...I have no interest in something like the Numeron Code. I want to avoid getting involved in a battle to the death as much as possible and stop the other participants from fighting..."

"you mean to stop others from being killed? Emiya... Despite being a mage, you're still clinging on to such a sense of justice?"

Tohsaka is completely right. As a mage, I'm always walking side by side with death. Even so, I...

"Of course. I have no intention of playing along in a battle to kill other people. The point is to survive, right? I have no intention of attacking others, but I won't show any mercy in a battle."

"So you'll stay on the defensive? Then, for example, if Berserker went on a rampage and massacred people throughout the town, you would just ignore it?"

Berserker?

She must mean that inhuman monster. With strength powerful enough to destroy a house or two, if that thing wanted, this town could be in ruins in just one night. On top of that, when they are in spirit form, modern weapons do not affect them. So, facing them would be suicide.

"But masters and servants only attack each other, right? The townspeople have nothing to do with this war."

"Yeah, things would be so peaceful if that were the case. But then we wouldn't need an overseer like Kirei, right? Inferior masters tend to make their servants devour humans."

"Huh...?"

"As spirits, servants act using the mana within themselves and from their masters as fuel. The more mana they have to use, the more they can display their powerful abilities. Since nature spirits absorb mana from nature, where do you think human spirits get mana from?"

It is a simple answer. Just as we humans eat meat, the human spirits...

"If the master is strong, spirits get mana from them. But if the master is weak, then spirits replenish their mana by eating human souls as sacrifices."

"...In that case, I'll just have to stop them. If their servant is killed, the master would have to immediately stop and drop out of the war, right?"

"Hmph...

There's one problem with that. May I say it?"

"Go ahead..."

"Remember the master from last night, who told her servant to kill us like it was nothing?"

How could I ever forget? They attacked us mercilessly.

"That girl will come to kill us. I think you understand that as well, Emiya."

I… see. That girl is a Master too. Since she knows Tohsaka and I are Masters, she will come and attack us sooner or later. I don't know if it'll be today or tomorrow, but I do know it's a death sentence. At least, I know I can't stop such a monster.

"Berserker is in a completely different league. You said you won't attack others and only protect yourself but as an inexperienced master, you can't even do that."

"...Sorry for being inexperienced. Then what about you, Tohsaka?"

"There's no way I could beat that monster head-on. That thing's the strongest servant, in terms of close combat."

"…I feel the same way. I don't think I'll get another chance if they attack me again."

Unconsciously, I place my hand on my stomach. The wound on my stomach is healed now. No, you couldn't call it a wound. It was pretty much instant death. My nausea returns just at the thought of taking another blow like that.

"I understand that doing nothing and waiting for the Numeron war to end isn't an option in this situation. But what are you trying to say, Tohsaka? I don't understand, or do you enjoy watching me die?"

"I don't have such bad taste. Geez, do you still not get it? Basically, I'm asking you to team up with me."

Hm? Hmmmm, hm?

Um, if I take that at face value, that's…

"Team up...

You and me!?"

"That's right. Archer received grievous injuries and is currently recuperating at my place. You, on the other hand, have a strong servant, but you're an unskilled amateur and nothing but a burden as a master. See, don't we cover each other's weak points as well?"

"I'm not that much of an amateur..."

"Even though you got killed three times in one day?"

"Guh..."

"As compensation for allying with me, I'll overlook the wound Saber dealt to Archer. I'll also take a look at your skills in magecraft and dueling too if I have the time."

That's...

Certainly an attractive proposal. Tohsaka would be a reliable teacher to me, as someone who doesn't know left from right. and if possible, I don't want to fight her. It's not because she's the girl I admired at school. Actually, if I hadn't come to know her like this, I probably wouldn't feel so much resistance to the idea.

The "Rin Tohsaka" in front of me is different from her image as an honor student at school. But the more I talk with her, the more i can see that she's just as she appears to be.

"Well Emiya, what's your answer?"

Normally, this would be a no brainer for me. Considering what happened during that shadow duel and with Berserker, teaming up with Tohsaka is the best choice here.

But, something bothers me. That black giant servant. And the young girl who's his master...

Illyasviel von einzbern...

If I remember right, that name...

"Emiya, I'd like to hear your answer."

"Sorry. I was thinking about that girl, Ilya. Teaming up would mean fighting her, right?"

"Yeah. If she intends to pick a fight, then I'll just fight right back. Either way, the other masters are enemies to be defeated."

To Tohsaka, that girl is nothing more than a target to defeat.

Even though it's ridiculous after nearly being killed by her,

I...

Don't want to fight her.

"Emiya? It couldn't be that you've been deceived by that girl's appearance, right?"

She's the master of Berserker. She's definitely an extraordinary mage. That means I can't judge her by her physical age.

I can't, but...

"Sorry Tohsaka. But I can't give you the answer you want."

I looked directly back at her and answered. Tohsaka narrows her eyes a bit and nods emotionlessly.

"I see..."

"Thank you for looking out for me, but the circumstances being what they are, I feel like I shouldn't rashly decide my course of action."

"In that case, negotiations are over. Well, you do have a point there. If you truly intend to win, you can't trust anyone."

"That's not true. I trust you, Tohsaka. I just can't decide things on my own. As saber's master, I can't just make promises without consulting her first."

"I see. True enough. You're already a full-fledge master."

Giving a nod of understanding, Tohsaka turns away. She strides to the door, her hair fluttering behind her. But just before leaving, the girl who could have been my ally gives me one last look, and…

"See ya. The next time we meet, we'll be enemies"

Like the girl Ilya, she leaves a cold warning. I finally realized it. What I heard at the church. The killing called the Numeron War. The Numeron Code which grants any wish, given to the winner.

…I can't absorb all the facts, but I have been attacked three times already. So I can't sit here in confusion forever. I said I would fight since I could not sit by and do nothing. I won't allow any innocent people to get hurt. Since that day ten years ago, I have trained to become a Hero of Justice. I never thought I would be tested like this, but I won't back out now. I'll cast off all hesitation. Come to think of it, this is an opportunity. This is a chance to "help others" just like Emiya Kiritsugu.

"…"

But something lingers in the back of my mind…

...Rejoice, Shirou Emiya.

The backward desire that should not be wished for…

...Your wish will finally come true.

…Might be a distorted wish for a Hero of Justice…

"That can't be. I didn't want the Numeron War."

…There's no need to hesitate.

There is nothing wrong with the wish I've had for ten years. Shirou Emiya will become a Hero of Justice. I have trained in magic to help others.

"All right. First, I have to talk to Saber."

I shake off the priest's words and exit into the hallway.