[In an atmosphere filled with harmony and friendship, you and Elysia, who left the suburbs, were sent back to town by a team composed of border guards and unknown troops.]
[At 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, the municipal building of Vostok-51 officially issued an emergency notice to all local residents, and the town immediately entered a seven-day state of total martial law. A curfew was imposed from one o'clock to six o'clock the next day.]
[As a small town located on the national border, Vostok-51 had entered a state of martial law before, so this sudden martial law did not cause much disturbance in the town.]
At twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, everything was silent.
Just as Emiya Shirou was about to start his usual night exercise in the living room on the first floor, there was a sudden sound of soft footsteps coming from the direction of the stairs.
"What's the matter? It's very late now, aren't you going to sleep?" Emiya Shirou turned his head and looked at the little figure running down from the second floor with a peaceful gaze.
Elysia, wearing light pajamas, was barefoot. For some reason, after seeing Shirou Emiya's gaze, her pink eyes suddenly began to dodge, as if feeling guilty about something.
Seeing Elysia's appearance, Emiya Shirou did not continue to speak but watched her patiently with calm eyes.
He knew Elysia very well. Although the child occasionally showed a mischievous side, in most cases, she had always been a very kind and sincere person.
Elysia was very smart and very good at doing things properly. If she realized that she had done something wrong, she would immediately reflect on her behavior and sincerely apologize.
So even when she was mischievous, Elysia never really made Emiya Shirou angry. Like now, seeing her fearful and guilty look in front of his eyes, Emiya Shirou only saw it when he encountered a convoy during the day.
"That... that..." Elysia bit her lower lip, then raised her head as if she had made up her mind and stared at Emiya Shirou with a somewhat nervous expression. "I... I have something I want to talk to 'Mom'."
Emiya Shirou pondered for a moment. "Is... is it something about those people we met during the day?"
Elysia was taken aback, blinking her eyes. She was still full of nervousness just a moment ago. Her pupils were filled with confused emotions. "What... what?"
Didn't he even realize it...
Seeing Elysia's dazed look, Emiya Shirou murmured in the depths of his heart while shaking his head slightly. "It's nothing. Just take it as my mistake."
Something was very wrong.
For Emiya Shirou, who had taken care of Elysia since her arrival seven years ago, it was not difficult to notice this.
Ever since she was summoned to this world by the "Mother Simulator" and came to the side of the newly born baby, this little girl with pink eyes and hair had always been surrounded by an extremely mysterious atmosphere.
Who were her parents?
Why did she appear in the suburban forest?
Why was her growth process completely inconsistent with the knowledge written in the "Encyclopedia of Newborn Baby Care"? And why was she so smart?
Although Emiya Shirou could attribute the last two questions to inherent individual differences between babies, he had no way to answer the first two questions.
Even the relevant clues, as if they didn't exist from the beginning, were surrounded by a thick fog.
The nearest town to the forest was Vostok-51. If nothing unexpected happened, Elysia should be a child abandoned in the forest by a town resident.
However, after these seven years of life, Shirou Emiya had already recognized the residents of this small town as familiar faces, but he had never found anyone who was suspected to be Elysia's parents.
This was so strange.
Although it was located in a border area, the living standards of the residents in the town were quite impressive due to the peaceful period and the rapid evolution of civilization and productivity in the current era.
In the process of gradually integrating into this town, Emiya Shirou had never seen anyone whose life was so desolate that they couldn't even support a child.
Coupled with the improvement of the social welfare system, even if it was really impossible for parents to raise a child, they could still send the child to the orphanage in the town instead of abandoning her in the forest.
If it wasn't for Emiya Shirou's arrival, if this child hadn't been discovered by other residents of the town... Just thinking about it made Emiya Shirou feel a chill all over his body.
But what if they thought about it from another angle?
Suppose this Elysia did not have the so-called "parents" in the first place but appeared in that forest out of thin air?
Emiya Shirou himself didn't care about this. After all, in terms of the way of appearance, no matter how abnormal Elysia was, she must be inferior to him, who wasn't even a human being. But as Elysia's family member, he had to consider whether Elysia's "abnormality" would have a negative impact on her normal life.
Although there was no evidence that the soldiers had blocked the town because of Elysia's affairs, Emiya Shirou had to be prepared for their actions if it was true.
If he encountered the worst situation, like confronting the "captain" directly...
"What do you want to say to me?" Emiya Shirou stared seriously into Elysia's eyes, speaking in a soothing and gentle tone. "It doesn't matter. Let's continue. Since we are family members, if we encounter any difficulties, we should support each other."
"Oh..." Elysia nodded. Probably because of Emiya Shirou's encouragement, she gradually became more courageous. "That is to say, um... Can I leave here?"
Emiya Shirou frowned slightly. "Do you want to leave the house?"
"Hmm..." Elysia nodded sullenly.
