Himeko only wanted to make the kid back down, but she actually ignited his unwavering desire in return.
'However, if the child can endure the aura she released at this age...'
Himeko rolled her eyes and displayed a friendly smile as her mind suddenly became active. With the disappearance of the chill, the atmosphere in the scene suddenly relaxed. The warriors who had fallen into the ice cave couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They raised their hands and wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
Emiya Shirou calmly turned his head and glanced at the nervous Elysia. She nodded slightly.
He then turned his gaze back towards Himiko and spoke in a deep voice, "What do you mean? Are you trying to threaten us?" Lifting his chin.
Himeko continued, "By the way, I have bought both of you all the way back to town, but you haven't told me your name. It seems a bit impolite."
Emiya Shiro said coldly, "Emiya. Emiya Shirou."
"What about this little girl?" Himeko asked.
"Does she have anything to do with what we're talking about?" Emiya Shirou responded. "It seems even more impolite to answer my question with a question, and you still owe us an explanation."
"You want an explanation, huh" Himeko nodded lightly. "The explanation is... everything you suffered just now was just a 'test' rather than a 'threat.' Can you accept this explanation?"
"So, your so-called test refers to oppressing us with that force?" Emiya Shirou inquired.
"If you can't even bear that force, even if you know the truth of the matter, it will be meaningless to you," Himeko said quietly. "Sometimes, ignorance is also a kind of happiness."
After hearing Himeko's words, Emiya Shirou fell into silence. In fact, he couldn't be considered someone who is very eager to uncover the truth. In many cases, he doesn't mind if others actively hide things from him. But when the truth involves the safety of the town or even Elysia's well-being, that's a different matter.
Emiya Shirou pursed his lips and slowly took a step back. "...Sorry, I was the one who overstepped."
"Oh?" Himeko raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I thought you were the type of person who would never give up until you reach the truth. Did you give up so easily?"
"If I keep asking, will you answer me?" Emiya Shiro responded flatly.
"If you can truly pass the test and become one of 'us,' then the so-called truth will naturally open its doors to you," Himeko said.
"Forget it then," Emiya Shirou shook his head, holding Elysia's hand even tighter. "I'm not interested in becoming one of you, and I don't intend to deliberately seek the truth of this world. For me, my family is more important than those illusory things."
"That's quite a romantic confession," Himeko smirked. "You may appear mature and serious, but you're unexpectedly a mischievous boy who knows how to please girls."
"Aunty, what kind of nonsense are you teaching two innocent children?" Emiya Shirou rolled his eyes, not hesitating to turn his words into a sharp blade that easily pierced Himeko's heart.
"What—" Himeko's smile froze instantly, and her lips twitched slightly. "You impolite brat calling me an aunt! I'm only twenty-three this year!"
"Elysia, let's stay away from her," Emiya Shirou said, turning around and ignoring the now-infuriated Himeko. He pulled Elysia towards home, his expression dignified as he earnestly spoke, "Take a good look, that's a typical negative example. When you grow up, never become such a sad adult."
"I told you not to call me Auntie!! Come back here and explain! And what's with the sad adult?!" Himeko shouted, her chest heaving rapidly. Her red lips, like flames, trembled with her quick panting.
Suddenly, someone cautiously approached from behind her.
"That, Captain?"
"Huh?" Himeko, enveloped in frustration, stared into a pair of lifeless, dead fish eyes and shifted her gaze behind her.
The man trembled slightly and swallowed. "Um, it seems we haven't checked the bodies of the two children..."
"It's unnecessary," Himeko walked breathlessly towards the back seat of the jeep. She leaned into the car door, retrieved a small instrument from the gap between the seats, and tossed it back to the soldier who had come to remind her. "You can see for yourself."
"A Honkai energy detector?" The soldier caught the instrument thrown by Himeko in a hurry and was slightly taken aback. "Captain, were you suspicious of them from the beginning?"
"Why else do you think I sat in the back seat with them?" Himeko pulled her upper body out of the back seat and spoke angrily.
"So, the reason the captain let them go is because..."
"Of course. The suspicions regarding those two have been cleared," Himiko interrupted. "If those two children were truly what Dr. Mobius calculated, the Honkai energy detector would have given a warning long ago."
"After all, according to common sense, it's impossible for humans infected with Honkai to live safely and unharmed among the other residents of this town for such a long time. However, compared to that, I'm more interested in that boy, even though it has already been disproven."
"Like Dr. Mobius, that boy is also one of the unreasonable 'monsters' that are appearing one after another," the soldier stated.
The soldier hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked, "So, does that mean the boy is capable of resisting the aura released by the captain?" Himiko gave the soldier a brief glance and spoke concisely, freezing the soldier in place.
"If you were to face him one-on-one in a confrontation, it's likely you would be the one to lose."
