Waking up in the morning light, Emiya Shirou saw the figure sitting at the end of the corridor, looking a little lonely.
"Shirou."
Annuo was closing his eyes to rest, and when he saw Shirou walking over, he opened his eyes.
Shirou sat next to Annuo, and the two of them raised their heads together, looking at the still slightly dim sky.
He turned his head and glanced at An Nuo, and suddenly felt that the scene in front of him was somewhat familiar.
I always feel that this scene is... somewhat familiar.
Did he and Kiritsugu raise their heads and look at the moon like this that time...?
"You look like you have something to say, Shirou."
Annuo looked at his hands on his knees, with a calmness in his voice.
"Um."
"Mr. Anno, why don't you draw that sword?"
Emiya Shirou asked a question that Emiya Kiritsugu had not asked Anno before.
"Because of a kind of persistence that doesn't matter."
Annuo said with relief.
"For the sake of loyalty and dignity, I choose... to leave the throne to the Pendragon family."
He seemed to have been waiting for someone to ask him this question.
"...Do you still think so now?"
Emiya Shirou listened to Anno's answer and asked after a moment of silence.
"...No more."
Annuo raised his head.
"She is still my king and will always be my king. I will respect her and be loyal to her as my monarch, but... if I were allowed to return to that period of history, let me stand again.
In front of that sword, no matter what, I will draw that sword."
"Learn to bear what you should bear, this sentence, it took me my whole life to understand what it means."
"...Is this so?"
Emiya Shirou nodded.
This is more or less... the answer he wants to get.
He glanced at Annuo.
The knight in front of him... doesn't seem to be that inaccessible.
"But...why do I dream about Mr. Annuo's life?"
Emiya Shirou finally realized this problem belatedly.
After waking up, because he was so curious about this question, he came directly to ask Annuo, so much so that he completely ignored that he actually dreamed about Annuo's life.
And judging from Annuo's reaction now, it seems...that his dream was not wrong.
King Uther, King Arthur, Merlin, and the legendary Knights of the Round Table, all flashed before Shirou Emiya's eyes one by one. The so-called truth of history turned out to be... so bizarre.
The most important thing...
"Is King Arthur actually a woman...?"
This was what shocked Shirou the most.
"Regardless of gender, she is a king."
Annuo nodded.
"In Merlin's prophecy, she is the kind of king who is destined to take on the role of Britain, but... you also know the actual result."
"Perhaps my only comfort is that even if something like that happened, the round table could still be united in the end."
"As for Meng, you are the master and I am the servant. Through the contract, you will naturally have the means to understand me, and so will I."
Annuo smiled.
"In other words, Mr. Anno also dreamed of me?"
"Um."
"I dreamed about it."
Annuo thought of the face he saw with blurry eyes in the dream, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Kiritsugu...
"Speaking of which, we have to go to school today. I've prepared breakfast. Let's eat it quickly and set off."
"Ah, ah yes!"
...
When Emiya Shirou arrived at school, he found that just as he expected, neither the Matou siblings nor Tohsaka Rin came to school.
Holy Grail War...?
This made his mood sink a lot.
In an unknown corner, magicians are fighting...
"Morning, Shirou..."
"Morning, Issei...huh?"
After Emiya Shirou subconsciously said hello, he was stunned for a moment.
That feeble voice just now... was it Issei?
Is it possible that 10% of the voice is weak?
"Are you okay? Yi Cheng, you look... not feeling well?"
Liudong Kazunari now looks gloomy, his shoulders are slumped, and even his clothes feel a little baggy.
This is definitely not the mental state that the student council president Yanagi Kazunari should display... As Yanagi Kazunari's "close friend", Emiya Shirou just felt that something was very wrong.
...Isn't it also because of the influence of the Holy Grail War?
"I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well...I'm too sleepy."
Liu Dongyi Cheng's eyelids twitched and he waved his hand, trying to put the matter away.
"You can't sleep well...Is it really okay?"
Emiya Shirou looked a little suspicious.
"It's okay..."
Liudong Yichen waved his hand again.
He was swinging his right hand, and there were no traces of command spells on the back of his hand.
Emiya Shirou had no choice but to smile and pat his best friend on the shoulder.
"Anyway, take advantage of today's lunch break to take a rest. If you are in the student union, I can help keep an eye on you."
"Is that so? It helps a lot..."
...
In Liudong Temple.
A girl wearing a regular kimono is dressing up.
"That...donor, this is today's morning fast..."
An elderly-looking monk placed the plate next to the girl, and then left carefully.
The girl didn't speak from beginning to end, but had an implicit and gentle smile on her face.
"Human food has been delicious since ancient times."
"Now it seems that there has been a lot of progress... but the taste of the wine is still not good."
The girl picked up a snack and placed it at the end. Her eyes curled up and she looked very interested.
And at the door of Liudong Temple, a person who was probably an uninvited guest also appeared.
"Long time no see, Abbot Liudong."
The priest from Fuyuki Church bowed slightly to the abbot of the temple, with an expression on his face that seemed to never change.
"Father Kotomine... why are you here at this time...?"
Abbot Liudong looked a little confused.
Perhaps they knew each other because they were both believers, but because they worshiped different gods, they rarely interacted with each other, let alone such direct visits.
"It's just a casual visit. I heard that you have a new guest here recently. Is it true?"
Kotomine Kirei asked seemingly politely.
There is no doubt that he came here to deal with this vicious incident.
It is unreasonable for any Master or Servant to come here to conduct intelligence exploration. It is most appropriate for him, the neutral supervisor, to do so.
Moreover, he is also confident that he can escape even if he encounters danger.