《A Sword's Nakama》


 Pre Romance Dawn

    I see hell


    Every part of this burning waste land is hell.


    Every step I take or the ones I took was filled with pain.


    Every dry scorching breath I take burns up my lungs.


    Each piece of ember of fire I see, each cloud of smoke I breathe is a piece of hell.


    Yet I keep on walking.


    I don¡¯t know whether I am walking away from hell or walking towards it.


    Yet I keep on walking.


    I hear hell.


    The screams of anguish of my fellow man wanting to be saved.


    Screams and pleas.


    Cries of help that goes unanswered.


    I too was screaming like them in this hell but my voice like all of them has long died out in this hell.


    Everywhere I looked people laid dead or dying beneath piles of rubble skewered or crushed from debris or being cook alive while being pinned down.


    A hand from a man pinned beneath a wooden beam of a collapse house tried to reach out to me.


    ¡°Help me, help me. Please help me.¡± The voice begged


    Yet I keep on walking.


    As I keep on walking I saw a mother holding her child in tears, begging her child to open his eyes screaming for help.


    ¡°Shun open your eyes, God help us, please somebody, anybody please help my son.¡±


    Yet I keep on walking.


    This is hell in here there is no God.


    I smelled hell.


    The burning flesh of men and women, children and elderly alike.


    Charcoaled bodies of different shapes and sizes.


    Melting skin, flesh, organs and bones.


    A black piece of human remains holding a much smaller piece unidentifiable whether they were father and daughter or mother and son I did not know nor did I care to know.


    This is hell.


    Yet I keep on walking.


    Walking towards salvation I know not where.


    My legs losing strength every step I take.


    My bones feel like their turning to heavy steel.


    Blazing fire coursing through my blood burning me inside and out.


    Muscles all but torn from anguish and fatigue asking me to stop.


    Yet¡­ the road to salvation never ends so I keep on walking.


    Then I tripped over a corpse.


    Then I saw it I saw death in the face of the lifeless man I stumbled over, I don¡¯t want to be like that.


    I picked myself up with all the strength I could master and kept on walking.


    NO¡­NO¡­NO..NO¡­


    I don¡¯t want to die¡­


    I keep on walking throwing everything I could to keep on walking.


    My memories those happy times with my mother and father, the small house we lived in, my friend at school my grumpy old teacher their promise of comfort and rest weigh down on me so I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of fear I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of love I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of compassion I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of friendship I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of logic I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of greed I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of pride I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    The weight of dreams I threw them to the fire to keep on walking.


    I kept on throwing everything I have and am to the fire just to keep on walking, I don¡¯t know what I threw in the fire anymore just for me to keep on walking.


    Yet the fire keeps asking for more.


    I wonder what there is left of me.


    Yes there are two more.


    I threw hope to the fire then I suddenly knelt down staring at the burning skies and the rising smoke.


    What was it all for?


    Why did he walk so far just to accomplish nothing?


    Maybe, just maybe if he throws the last remaining piece of him he would know.


    He then threw salvation to the fire.


    He laid there using the last of his strength to reach out to what he has thrown away ever wondering what was it for, as he ever so slowly close his eyes.


    I then saw it a light glorious and beautiful.


    I then felt it an embrace warm and protective.


    I then heard it word of thanks for me living.


    I then felt it salvation given back to me in the form of a smile.


    And in that moment I wondered will I be able to smile like he himself did.


    That is how I came to be a boy who threw everything into the fire to be forged by it.


    I see a dream


    Kiritsugu Emiya the person who saved me that day, the assassin who found the forged blade from the fires of his own making, was sitting beneath the pale moon light.


    I called to him asking him to get inside the house reasoning that the evening chill would be detrimental to his waning health, unknown to me at that time that the curse of Angra Mainyu has all but done its intended purpose.


    ¡°Hey old man what are you doing here this late at night? If you¡¯re gonna sleep do it in your own bed. ¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Nah I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Even then in my young addled mine I knew he was not okay that even not today nor tomorrow he will be leaving me just another soul that I could not save but in the silence of that serene summer night sitting beside me I was content.


    ¡°When I was little, I wanted to be a hero of Justice.¡±


    In that moment my heart ache for the man that is my father, the man I knew to be all that is right in the world.


    Call it ignorance or maybe just juvenile innocence but in the eyes of a young boy or maybe every young boys mind their father would always be the benchmark of what they want to be when they grow up, in their young eyes they are the equivalent of super men who can do anything they want to, so I asked him.


    ¡°What? You wanted to be one? Did you give up?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    I frowned at his answer why did he give up is it really that hard.


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate but being a hero is a limited-time thing. When you grow up, it gets hard to call yourself one. I should¡¯ve realized that earlier¡±


    So that¡¯s it he didn¡¯t truly give up he just run out of time.


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s just too bad, then.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re absolutely right.¡±


    He took a long, deep, and dragging breath and said


    ¡°The moon really looks beautiful tonight¡±


    I did not know it at that time but I felt it deep within my very soul that they were going to be his last words but I was not satisfied with that, no for the first time since the fire I was greedy I wanted something more I wanted to do something for him.


    With all the steel and resolve my young self could muster I uttered the words that will haunt me till I meet her.


    The chains of a dream that will drag me in all 9 circles of hell and grant me audience with Satan himself.


    ¡°Yeah since you couldn¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll do it for you. You¡¯re an adult now, so you can¡¯t do it but I can. Just leave it to me your dream¡±


    After I said those words the look in his eyes were the most serene I have ever saw them. His body as if letting go of a vast heavy burden he carried for his whole life was gone, for the first time since I saw him he relaxed.


    If you asked me knowing what I know now if making that promise was worth it, then even through all the pain the sacrifices, the hell that I¡¯ve seen in the path to being a hero of justice the answer would still be ¡­.YES.


    Because in that moment I knew I saved him. I saved him with the results of my own action and just like him I could save others like he did mine.


    ¡°Right¡­ I see¡­ I am at peace now.¡±


    In the porch of our house overlooking the koi pond reflecting the full moon my saviour, my adoptive father, my teacher, and my hero slumbered.


    I fell in Love


    Years has passed since I took up the dream my father left me and every waking moment I have was spent making that dream a reality one day sooner than the last.


    Every free time spent honing the pittance of instruction he was able to impart me on becoming a proper magus.


    Every time some ask for help I respond without question or consideration hoping to do that dream proud. Day by day hour by hour minute by minute my life passed living in a mundane repetitive cycle till that fateful night when the cyclical mundane was shattered by a clash of red and blue.


    In a night like many others after doing a favour for my classmate (like always) I stumbled upon a fight a battle like none I have ever seen, where a man clad in blue zipped across the school¡¯s athletic grounds in speeds my eyes and mind can barely register, thrusting and jabbing his red spear towards the man wearing a red cloak and black battle armor parrying it with twin Chinese falchion blades, one as white as snow the other as black as night.


    Even then I knew these two creatures of war were not normal even by magus standard and looking back at my actions I cringe at my utter lack of survival instinct, where in any normal man would¡¯ve run the first time they saw it I caught myself utterly gobsmacked with awe at the sight of two warriors duking it out no holds barred.


    Where every clash of steel means either death or victory, every inch given by the enemy an opportunity, when life and death is being threaded with utmost precision, such was the sight I find myself totally and completely awestruck by.


    Alas as great as it was all good things must come to an end, at the climax of the battle when the blue spearman was readying what I assume to be his secret technique the amount of bloodlust and sheer killing intent it erupted within him caught me wholly unprepared causing me to instinctively backpedal stepping on a twig breaking the serene silence of the battle while simultaneously revealing my existence and position to the two gods of war.


    Thankfully though I am not as brain dead as I thought myself to be because the next thing I knew I was running like a bat out of hell, my instinct calling out to me saying ¡®Run faster you dumb mother fucker¡¯ you get caught you die¡¯, props to my instinct though he was right by the time I got caught I can barely register what happened and the next thing I know a 6 foot red spear was run straight through my heart.


    Thankfully a kind but devious she devil, I mean Samaritan helped me with my wound or whatever you call getting speared in the heart is, allowing me to get home with my own two feet.


    Upon going home I wandered about what just happened trying to piece together the memories I have with that particular encounter and quite frankly at that time I honestly believed I was hallucinating the whole thing, maybe I was just tired and overworking my body too much but the undeniable evidence that it really happened slapped me right in the face in the form of my clearly ripped school uniform soaked in blood.


    While ruminating my unique situation of dying and being revived I noticed the wards installed by my father blaring a warning that someone with no good intention has just entered our compound and knowing how shitty this day has been my bet that the guy that gave me a new hole to breathe through is the one causing the ruckus.


    The next few minutes was brutal to say the least but in the bright side I can honestly tell that I was able to experience what most man in this time and age have not had the displeasure of experiencing, the feeling of being a human ragdoll.


    If I had a sense of humour during those minutes I would¡¯ve made some snide comment on being double dead or how shitty a killer my attacker was on killing the same guy twice on the same day, well you know what they say about missed opportunity and spilled milk and all that jazz.


    With that said on the same minutes of being a human equivalent of a punching bag I in all my brilliance decided that it was the proper and opportune moment to have an existential crisis, questioning where all my effort has gone all the years of training and of course the clincher of why I lived through that hell where everyone else around me died like flies.


    What is it that among all those people I was the one that fate decided was worthy to be saved, to hell with this guy trying to kill me without having my question answered, so I with all the will I can muster I fought to the bitter end and thankfully I did for all my effort I did survive and was rewarded with the most glorious sight I have seen during that time in my life.


    All my questions were answered by that singular moment, my whole fate in time.


    I SAW HER.


    My Saber


    My King


    My Servant


    My Anchor


    My Sheath


    My Avalon


    My Love


    Under the baleful light of the gleaming moon I saw her.


    Her beautiful blonde hair tied into a perfect bun akin to a crown upon her head.


    Her piercing green eyes that spoke of gentle calm and raging storm.


    Her regal demeanour that evoked countless men to kneel before her and pledge their allegiances.


    Her proud standing that remains firm against all that life throws at her unbent and unbroken.


    Her dazzling armor that hides her femininity but in no way diminishes her beauty.


    All these and more I see in her


    All these time that has passed, yet that fateful meeting remains unforgotten, unblemished by the passage of time.


    And when her lips parted and uttered the word that I will never ever forget, with a voice akin to ringing church bells on an early Sunday morn with a tint of angelic trumpets heralding certain victory.


    ¡°I ask of thee¡­ Are you my MASTER.¡±


    In hindsight it was most ironic of meetings, in a way that without my old man implanting Avalon in me we would not have met.


    Beneath the moon¡¯s light that took my father the same light brought her here.


    Thus began the most agonizing, most painful, and most fulfilling two weeks of my life.


    We fought against heroes of legends and of yore.


    We fought against the servant of madness. The greatest hero of Greece, Heracles, Son of Zeus, the behemoth whose strength was unmatched, the demi-god who accomplished the twelve labours and his reward God Hand.


    We fought against the servant of the mount. A monster of Greek lore that spoke of her beauty and the tragedy it brought, along with her curse that all who gaze upon her eyes will be turned to stone, Medusa, the Gorgon and her mighty steed the Pegasus Ballerophon.


    We fought against the servant of the spear. The hound of Cullan, Ireland¡¯s child of light, the Queen of the Land of Shadow¡¯s most prized student, Cu Chulainn and his red spear of barbed death that seeks out the heart whenever its name is invoked


    We fought against the servant of the shadows. One of my countries greatest swordsmen, the Rival of Miyamoto Musashi, a man who devoted his life to the sword, Sasaki Kojiro and his greatest technique that all but breaks the laws of physic the Tsubame Gaeshi, the swallows return.


    We fought against the servant of spells. The witch of betrayal, Medea of Colchis who in her time was cursed by love but upon this time she was blessed by it and in her desperation to not lose this blessing was willing to go to any and all measure.


    We fought against and with the servant of the bow. The insufferable bastard whose name and legend are yet to be told, my future self in another timeline, a twisted version of my dream of justice, Alaya¡¯s guard dog that fell against the mad servant to buy us time for our escape and through his sacrifice we were able to cut down the greatest and most powerful foe at that time Heracles. Asshole as he might be he did save our lives and without him we wouldn¡¯t have the power nor preparation to kill Heracles.


    And in a spectacular twist of fate we also fought against the servant of the bow from the last war. Humanities oldest hero, the king of heroes, the king that ruled when the land was one, the king who owns all the earths treasure, the legend from where legends were born, the one all and be all of all dickishness Gilgamesh along with the heaping pile of curses and abominations that represents all the worlds evil that tainted the Holy grail.


    Yeah we also fought a fake priest


    We fought them all and won.


    Yet victory never tasted so bitter for victory signals the end of the war that lead to our inevitable parting.


    Within the two weeks I learned more of myself than all the years I have lived.


    I learned the truth about the fire that forged me.


    I learned about the truth of my father.


    I learned about the hypocrisy of my dream.


    I learned about the truth about my sister.


    I learned about the truth of my magecraft


    I learned the truth about fighting.


    I learned the truth of resolve.


    But above all I learned about love.


    I learned the truth about the joy it brings


    I learned about the pain it inflicts


    And I leaned about the strength needed to let go.


    As I stared upon her fading visage along with the light of the coming dawn I heard her utter the words that filled my heart with boundless joy and breaks it in a single motion.


    ¡°Shirou¡­ I love you.¡±


    Word said with nary a whisper, carried by the wind from you to me yet heard by my heart as the only sound in a vast dessert of silence, and it drowned me, drowned me in whirlpool of emotions that I did not know I have.


    ¡°I love you too Arturia¡±


    Only to have the dawn as my witness for with the arrival of its light you departed.


    Taken from me.


    Taken to a place that I needed a life time to reach.


    And reach it I will, the land of fair Avalon your final resting place.


    I will live a life worthy of its splendour, in whatever manner or form it takes.


    Not as a hypocritical hero of justice but a true hero, your hero, a hero whose name is Shirou Emiya.


    Upon this day I swear, I will live a life worth living.


    I saw a chance


    After I was saying my farewells to Arturia I turned around to go pick up Illya and go down the mountain an old white haired red eyed man wearing what I assume to be 18<sup>th</sup> century cosplay is looking at me with a searching gaze


    ¡°Those are some nice eyes you have there boy¡­.full of resolve with a tinge of unbending steel.¡±


    I readied myself in a combat stance allowing me to strike or run depending on how things go and in response the mysterious man just chuckled.


    ¡°What do you think that would do?¡±


    ¡°I assume nothing but you can¡¯t fault a man who is trying his hardest at the very least.¡±


    Yes whether I run, hide, or fight all will be rendered useless before this man.


    I who has just gotten over my battle high against Kotomine and a tearful goodbye with the woman I love, whilst promising to live a full life and be a hero worthy of her might die in a single misstep


    The scent of magic rolling of that man is damn near reaching ridiculous level¡¯s that dwarfed any being I have had the misfortune of meeting, far surpassing that of Gilgamesh by a huge margin.


    ¡°That I cannot. Hehehehe if it¡¯s any comfort I give you my word that I did not come here bearing any evil intention that may harm you or any of those under your protection.¡±


    I blinked owlishly towards the impossibly powerful man. To be honest his word did assuage me of the danger towards me and my friends.


    What use would a dragon gain in lying towards an ant if he can just crush said ant with just an afterthought.


    ¡°Then good sir my name is Shirou Emiya may I have the honour of knowing yours?¡±


    ¡°A polite young man I see. Very well my name is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg master of the Kaleidoscope and Wizard Marshal of the London Clocktower. Nice too meet you young magus.¡±


    Well shit, frankly I don¡¯t know how to react I assume the first part is his name, the other his title and position and organization he belongs in, but the one that unnerved me the most is the way he addressed me as a magus confirming my theory that the man before me is a very powerful magus, the very least I can do is remain respectful.


    ¡°Forgive me sir marshal for not addressing you with your proper title.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­. What a lacking reaction. Oh well I guess I cannot fault you for your lack of knowledge you are pretty ignorant of the moonlit world at this time. Well I am not one for grandstanding and hollow praises so you may just call me Zeltrech is that okay Shirou.¡±


    ¡°As you wish Zeltrech-san I thank you for your generosity and understanding, but if you are truly from the Clocktower may I assume that you being here means you seek the Holy Grail, if it is so I am afraid you are too late, I am sorry for being a bearer of bad news but the cursed artefact has already been destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Then you assume wrong young Shirou my business here does not concern the Holy Grail but considering that I was one of those responsible in its creation maybe it is.¡±


    This man is one of the people involved in the grails creation I thought that the three families made it almost 300 years ago. Well that answers the clothing question it¡¯s not cosplay just the usual 300 year old wardrobe


    ¡°Yes young man I am that old and more. Hahahaha just don¡¯t rub it in and were good.¡±


    Well at least he is a pleasant old man that doesn¡¯t go killing people unprovoked, I think.


    ¡°Well sir if it is not about the Holy Grail per se may I ask what brings you here? If it is within my power I may be able to help even if it is only a little, I may be ignorant in the ways of a magus but I was still a participant of the grail war, if your reason for being here is in anyway related to the grail I wish to offer my assistance so such tragedy may never occur again and besides having a local to assist you would undoubtedly be an asset.¡±


    ¡°Heroic, helpful, and headstrong much like the others I see. I am glad to hear your offer of assistance to my endeavours young Shirou but I am afraid that your assistance is not wanted nor needed but required for my business here young magus¡­ is you.¡±


    All of a sudden the light hearted tone of the atmosphere changed to a foreboding one the ones casual manner in which the old man spoke became taught and serious.


    ¡°Shirou Emiya, adopted son of Kiritsugu Emiya the magus killer, heir-apparent of the Emiya magus family, and the Wrought-Iron magus, I came here to offer you a deal¡±


    Shit what the hell is happening here is he one of dad¡¯s old enemies, did I do something wrong in destroying the grail, what do I do here. Going by the old man¡¯s words he came here for a transaction with me but I don¡¯t have anything of worth that a long lived and powerful magus like him would take any interest in, except maybe for Avalon that I gave back to Arthuria but I don¡¯t have it any more. Shit if he finds out that I don¡¯t have what he wants it will endanger not only me but Illya too and Rin and Sakura and maybe even Taiga shit shit shit shit.


    ¡°Hahahahahahahahaha¡±. The old man laughed at my distress. ¡°Don¡¯t get so worked up young Shirou as I said I came here bearing no ill intent, you Emiya¡¯s really like to think about worst case scenario outcomes. I¡¯ll say it again I came here to make a deal, a trade, a transaction no need to be so tensed if you so wished you can refuse the deal after hearing me out, is that okay. ¡±


    ¡°Sorry Zeltrech-san I just got freaked out with you releasing your Od like that I thought you were going to attack.¡±


    The old man just looked at me with an amused stare akin to a parent looking at a child when said child did something or say something stupid.


    ¡°Haah¡­¡± he took a long sombre sigh and look to me ¡°My apologies young Shirou it seems that with my old age I keep forgetting that you are untrained and uninitiated in our ways, when I flared my od it was for you to confirm that I am a magus same as you, as I stated your name affiliation and title to assert that I too recognize you as a magus, it is a sign of respect when two magus will begin a discussion or negotiation.¡±


    What can I say to that but be embarrassed like hell and scratch the back of my head sheepishly as I silently complained to my father and Rin on why they didn¡¯t teach me these stuff to keep myself from looking like a fool.


    Well sure the first one didn¡¯t really intend for me to be involved in things like this and Rin was more inclined teaching me practical lessons since we were in the middle of a war but still it does not feel good feeling like an idiot.


    Back then I was so na?ve and bought the drivel coming from the old blood sucking trolls mouth as gospel but knowing what I know now that asshole was spewing total and utter bullshit, standard greeting my ass, that jerk just wanted to laugh at my reaction for his entertainment. The frustrating part is nobody corrected me on it that led to many embarrassing, life threatening and infuriating circumstances.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Well on to the matters at hand young Shirou, would you like to hear the contents of the deal?¡±


    ¡°Yes and thank you, for clearing up my misunderstanding Zeltrech-san.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it young Shirou. Now onto business first let¡¯s talk about the reasons that you would take up this deal which unfortunately involves your sister lying over there¡± My eyes widened in horror as I rushed in between him and Illya in a protective manner ¡°worry not young Shirou I do not intend to harm her in whatever shape or form, the reason for her being involved with this deal will be made clear to you if you cast structural analysis on her, considering her unconscious and weakened state it should be possible for you. ¡±


    I did as Zeltrech-san told me and cast structural analysis on Illya and what I have found horrified me to no end, countless experiments and modification were made towards her to be the perfect master in the Grail war effectively reducing her lifespan, if what my analysis prove to be correct then she would only last a year two at most.


    The other thing was that Illya is not my younger sister but my older one she is currently 19 years old while looking no more than 12 because said modifications also stunted her growth.


    What¡¯s more is that the vile mud of the Holy Grail also somehow found its way to her system reducing her limited life span more to a mere 4 month this discovery enraged and saddened me to the core my sister is dying and I can do nothing about it.


    The extent of the damage is too widespread and to permanent for me or even Rin to undo. Nothing can be done the sheer helplessness and my utter powerlessness in this situation was dragging me to the depths of despair.


    Can this day be more hateful than it already is, first I lost the woman I love then I came to find out that my sister is dying, as I was about to lose all hope my eyes landed again on the old man Zeltrech and once again I was given hope, he spoke about Illya¡¯s condition because there is something he can do right.


    If I beg him to help her maybe there¡¯s a chance that she can be saved so damn my non-existent pride, if it is to save my sister I¡¯ll grovel on my knees to a complete stranger if I have to.


    ¡°Hold your tongue young Shirou.¡± Before I could even have to beg for his help he shuts me up and gave me a kind smile, playful but kind. ¡°Need I remind you this is a negotiation, if another magus with ill intent were to see your expression they would undoubtedly prey on your feelings and use not only you but also your sister, let this be a lesson to you always keep a cool and collected attitude in any stressful situation lest you make it worse. Is that understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Zeltrech san.¡±


    ¡°Good as you have deduced your sister is indeed in dire straits and I can indeed cure it and reverse any and all damage that your sister have suffered, along with having the natural state of her body as a 19 year old young woman but her intellectual maturity is up to her or would you rather she stayed young and innocent forever, as I recall there are some young man who preferred preadolescent girls calling them onii-chan forever.¡± I cocked my head to the side in confusion and he just smirked at me ¡°I think in your country¡¯s culture such young men of unique tastes are called lollicon neee?¡±


    If I was drinking something at that time I would¡¯ve done a marvellous spit take at the utter ridiculousness of the old man¡¯s question. What the hell is wrong with this old man thinking first he tells me that my sister is dying then he insinuates that I¡¯m a lollicon? What the freaking hell?


    ¡°Zeltrech-san, can we just please stay on topic.¡±


    ¡°Well if you insist but don¡¯t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with such tastes¡­ no wait let me amend that there maybe a little bit wrong¡­. No there is something totally wrong, well my point is I won¡¯t judge.¡±


    I just stared at him with a deadpan expression, I don¡¯t care if this old man is the best chance my older sister has in living a normal¡­ I mean a long life, dealing with him is just giving me a head ache.


    ¡°Ahem. In lieu of this situation may I ask your permission young Shirou to wake the young Damsel up, as she is already a part of the negotiation?¡±


    I nodded my head towards him as he calmly took measured steps towards us and put a hand directly over Illya as I watched intently looking for any signs that he may do anything untoward, which gladly did not come to pass and after a few seconds Illya stirred from her slumber blinkingly opened her eyes followed by a loud screeching yell.


    ¡°HHHhhiiiieeeeeee¡­¡­ Shi..shi..shii.. Rouuuu what are you doing in my room¡± as she clutched the makeshift blanket I draped over her to hide her naked body which, she then proceeded to look around and dawned to a realization that we were not in her room and we were not alone.


    ¡°That was a nice reaction young Illya, you could learn a thing or two from her young Shirou so why don¡¯t you and me turn our backs and head over there to give time for the young maiden to make herself decent¡±


    To which I nodded my head eagerly and where Illya blushed as red as my hair. Me and Zeltrech-san walked a few steps into the forest and stood in contemplative silence until Illya voice called to us.


    ¡°You can come back now. I¡¯m dressed.¡±


    We came back to the clearing where my little older sister was dressed with her usual purple overcoat and purple hat.


    ¡°Illyasviell von Einzbern of the Einzbern magus family greets Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg¡± which she then punctuated with releasing the miniscule amount of Od she has recovered ¡°may I ask what business do you have with me and my brother.¡±


    Considering what I learned from Zeltrech-san I really thought that flaring your Od was a sign of respect but truthfully that was just my sister being protective of me and threatening someone above her weight class, which was very, very stupid but at that time in my ignorant mind I thought that the conversation was going along well and my little older sister didn¡¯t just pick a fight with a guy that bitch-slapped the moon back into space.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually about you Illya-nee¡± as I said those words Illya stiffened in shock and proceeded to look at me.


    ¡°Noo.. Shirou don¡¯t listen to him his lying!¡± she practically shouted at me as I walked closer to her and put my hands in her shoulder to calm her down and reassure her that nothing is wrong.


    ¡°Sorry Illya-nee but he didn¡¯t tell me anything¡±


    She breathe out a tired sigh


    ¡°I see so you found out after all, well there¡¯s nothing I can do about that but I did enjoy getting pampered by you and calling you Shirou-nii as long as it lasted though¡± she said with a defeated look on her face. ¡°Sorry for not telling you, I just wanted you to treat me normally and not like a glass doll that would break any moment at least I still have 2 years to enjoy your company.¡±


    Those words stop me dead in my tracks, what I was about to say was caught up in my throat. How could you tell someone that what little time they have left is actually quite shorter than they think, especially your own sister. I held my breath preparing to break the news to my sister however hard as it is for me I am sure it is a 100 times harder for her but luckily or unluckily it was Zeltrech that cut in to my intended action.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say this young Illya but it seems you are mistaken.¡± Illya then looked at the old man in confusion as he continued. ¡°After taking a dip in the curse of the Holy Grail your life span has been shortened some more, you were lucky that your brother rescued you in time and not an hour more because if he did you will no longer be with us but even so the curse of the grail affected you, being its vessel and all making your remaining time no more than 4 months.¡±


    Such a news would break any man but my little older sister is not just any man where I collapsed and despaired she stood strong she just stared impassively at Zeltrech for a few seconds and uttered


    ¡°If that is so then I¡¯ll just enjoy these 4 remaining month as I would a lifetime and having my brother here is enough. Truth be told I expected to die here in this war like those before me.¡± She smiled a content smile and said ¡°These 4 months is a blessing, I could not ask for more.¡±


    ¡°What if I tell you I can heal you that I can help you live a full life?¡±


    ¡°Then I will ask you what the price is? No self-respecting magus would think such an offer will just literally drop from the sky without an equivalent price tag, so tell me Wizard Marshall what is it that you require as recompense for your services?¡±


    Wow so this is what a negotiation between two magus feels like, no one is giving ground for the other to exploit so calm, so collected, and so measured every response well thought out and calculated, thinking back to my earlier actions makes me want to dig up a hole and die.


    ¡°The price for my service as you put it young magus is a mission for your brother.¡±


    ¡°ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!... OUT OF THE QUESTION!!!!! YOU BASTARD THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME DON¡¯T INVOLVE SHIROU IN THIS.¡±


    Now there goes the civility I expected from Illya, magus or not she is still a child compared to this 300+ year old magus.


    ¡°Wait Illya-nee let¡¯s hear him out first on what this mission entails, it may not actually be that bad.¡±


    Illya gave me an incredulous stare as if questioning whether I am really talking out of my mouth or out of my ass.


    ¡°Shirou do you even know who this is?¡±


    ¡°Well actually no. he just told me his name that he is the master of Kaledos-something and that he is the Wizard Marshall of the London Clocktower that Rin wants to go to.¡±


    ¡°Kaliedos-something Shirou¡± she gave me a smile that terrified me to no end, a smile that promised pain and suffering, a smile that I learned to fear ¡°Did you just call the second true magic, the dream and goal of any magus, a sure and certain path to the Root such a disrespectful name¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± I hurriedly said as my go to strategy in dealing with angry woman, apologize first then figure out what you did wrong , then suddenly the implication of what she said hit me like a truck loaded to the brim with bricks, driven by a raging Berserker.


    ¡°Wait you mean this old guy is a magician, a Root-damn magician that mastered a form of magecraft that no science can replicate.¡±


    ¡°Yes Shirou, yes he is.¡± She answered me while still sporting that wickedly terrifying smile ¡°and you called that very same Root-damned magician an old guy to his face¡± her smile growing wider and a terrifying black aura starts to envelop her O Gaia, Alaya, or any of the gods out there please let me face Gilgamesh again, or even Berserker, or maybe Lancer, or I can take them all at once if you want to, just spare me from my little older sister¡¯s incoming wrath ¡°so Shirou if you have nothing constructive to add please leave the talking to the adults okay.¡±


    To this day I don¡¯t know how and I don¡¯t know why but the sight of my sister sporting that wicked smile terrifies the living shit out of me.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Where were we then Sir Zeltrech. Ah yes it¡¯s about my idiotic, suicidal, and inexperienced brother going on a mission for you is that right?¡±


    ¡°Why yes young Illya, yes it is,did I perhaps stutter or was it not understood correctly because I can clarify it if you want?¡±


    ¡°Many thanks sir Zeltrech, if you would please indulge me this very important question. Why him? You and I both know that compared too many magus out there he is untrained and considering his recklessness he is more likely to die not by outward threats but by his own stupidity.¡±


    ¡°Oyy... I¡¯m right here you know, yeah I know I go a bit overboard sometimes but I¡¯m really not that stupid.¡±


    The both of them just looked at me with pity in their eyes and just as quickly ignored my comment and went back to discussing with each other.


    ¡°I agree with you on that one young Illya that he is untrained in his magecraft and can just be barely called a beginner magus but in my opinion he is the only one who can accomplish the mission I am about to give, for it is no mission that requires actual magecraft but of heart, resolve, and ideals. A quest so grand that it makes those completed and undertaken by mere magus of old look like child¡¯s play and a mission not even your dear departed father was able to receive much less complete¡­¡±


    My sister and I waited with bated breath as old man Zeltrech described the details of the mission I was to undertake to heal my little older sister.


    ¡°¡­ That mission is to entertain me.¡±


    Both of us sweat-dropped at the incredulousness of the (air quote) mission (air quote). What the actual living fuck, to save my root-be-damned sisters life I would be an entertainer. I pictured this day to be many things but not this, definitely not this.


    Illya just stared impassively at the centuries old man ¡°So what are the terms of this so called entertainment of your sir Zeltrech?¡±


    ¡°Well it kinda sorta involves me whisking your brother away in another reality.¡±


    ¡°WHAT¡± both of us shouted at the same time.


    ¡°You Root-damned SON Of A ¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Illya-nee calm down, calm down, deep breaths, 1¡­2¡­.3¡­., inhale ¡­exhale ¡­inhale¡­ exhale okay you good.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, thanks Shirou.¡±


    ¡°So Illya-nee what did he mean by another reality¡±


    ¡°Let me explain my magic the kaleidoscope involve operation of parallel worlds you do know what parallel worlds are right?¡±


    I just nodded my head.


    ¡°Good, well my magic allows me to travel to them as well as observe them but this is where it gets complicated, some realities are easier to travel to than others, for example the realities where I and different versions of me are easier to observe and go to, because a part of me or you know another me already exist there anchoring me and serving as a GPS or beacon for me to follow, cause nothing is easier to detect than your own magical signature, but there are other realities that have different ruling bodies of authority, like realities where neither Gaia or Alaya exist or where I don¡¯t exist, realities that are unlike our own where the evolutionary path differs, or the geological structure of the earth is different, or sometimes it is not even called earth at all, also in order for me to visit there I need someone to volunteer for me, to serve as my anchor and before you say anything on why don¡¯t I just remember it and visit it when I feel like it, well that¡¯s the reason why kaleidoscope is called the operation of parallel worlds not the control of it, because as powerful as I am I cannot for the life of me calculate and by pass the uncertainty principle of the ever expanding multiverse phenomena, in short a lot of alternate time lines and multiverses are being born every minute and if I don¡¯t concentrate and keep track of them I lose their position and they are lost to me without knowing to go back except with blind luck. So I need someone to go there and be my signal of sorts. ¡±


    Well that was a long ass exposition of his powers, which half of it are gibberish to me I wonder if Illya understood all that and what will her answer be.


    ¡°Well when you put it that way then NO. Absolutely and definitely, Not.¡±


    ¡°Illya-nee if I don¡¯t do this then you¡¯ll die. I don¡¯t want to lose you just after I got to know you.¡±


    ¡°Still No. You idiot don¡¯t you know what he¡¯s asking! He is asking you to go to an unknown world, without any friends or allies or resources or anything, you¡¯ll be there all alone. You¡­ you¡­ you¡¯ll be separated from me; he¡¯s going to take you away to a place I couldn¡¯t take you back. You¡¯re my only family left I can¡¯t allow him or anyone else to take you away from me, because you¡¯re my little brother and it¡¯s my job to protect you so it¡¯s okay for me to die as long as you¡¯re there beside me. I just don¡¯t want to be alone anymore. ¡±


    What the hell can I say to that? What could I do to dissuade her? Nothing at all, for here is my little older sister standing in the face of certain death with the resolve of a hero facing an army unshaken and unbowed.


    I could do nothing but accept and make her remaining days the happiest she could have. In a moment of pure siblingship we hugged each other, lost in the warmth of each other¡¯s embrace, this is fine, this is alright, I may lose her but she will remain in my heart and soul for all eternity, but the beauty of the moment was ruined as we were reminded that we were not alone.


    ¡°Ahem¡­. If we could please get back on topic here watching you two is quite awkward for this old man, I half expected you to begin a full out make-out session if I wasn¡¯t here and in the middle of the forest no less. Oooohhhhh ¡­ ¡­my¡­... how scandalous. ¡±


    The both of us quickly took hurried steps away from each other to hide our embarrassment and full on glaring at the perverted magician. How could this lowlife taint our beautiful fraternal love for each other by insinuating such lewd comments?


    ¡°Ahem. My apologies Sir Zeltrech as you have heard my brother and I have no intention of being separated now that we have found each other so I assume that you have your answer then?¡±


    ¡°Yes young Illya that I do.¡± He then turned to me and asked ¡°So when do you want to go today, tonight, or tomorrow make sure it is not later than tomorrow, the coordinates of that world would be long gone by then and I in good conscience can¡¯t throw you at in the vast space of the multiverse without a clear and concise destination, or in hindsight maybe I would, just to see if you end up going somewhere interesting, or if you¡¯re feeling adventurous you can just go right now¡±


    ¡°Have you gone senile Sir Zeltrech I thought that we made it clear that we don¡¯t want to be separated from each other?¡±


    ¡°Yes I got it that¡¯s why I am asking when young Shirou would like to go.¡±


    ¡°We already said no, why are you forcing Shirou to go?¡±


    ¡°Why would you say no it¡¯s a win-win situation for both you?¡±


    ¡°You really are going senile Sir Zeltrech. I told you already because we don¡¯t want to be separated.¡±


    ¡°What has that got to do with anything? I already told you that I would heal you didn¡¯t i? ¡±


    ¡°Yes you would if Shirou would go to another reality.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Then it is still No.¡±


    ¡°WHY?¡±


    ¡°How many times should I say it? It is because we don¡¯t want to be separated.¡±


    ¡°As many times as needed till we make this clear. If you really don¡¯t want to be separated from each other, then all the more reason that young Shirou should go.¡±


    ¡°HUH???¡± both of us looked at the old man in confusion with question marks hanging over both me and Illya-nee¡¯s heads as we had an impromptu staring competition with the magician.


    A few minutes of confused silence hang around us trying to figure out where in the supposedly straight up conversation reached an unprecedented tangled mess. The glaring contest was suddenly broken by the only magician in the lot sporting a ¡°Eureka I got it¡± expression on his face followed by a magnificent palm-meet-face action, then looked at both, nay glared at us from between his fingers causing us to stiffen in nervousness.


    ¡°This is really a thing with you Emiya¡¯s isn¡¯t it?¡± the magician sighed in a tired weary voice full of derision, regret, and then forced acceptance.


    ¡°Damn you Kiritsugu and your pessimistic genes.¡± Cursing the heavens with exasperation.


    ¡°Oy¡­ Magician or not don¡¯t diss a man in front of his children¡± a statement the magician casually ignored.


    ¡°So to clarify to both of you I will heal young Illya if young Shirou goes to the other reality, you both got that right?¡±


    The both of us firmly nodded our heads.


    ¡°Then answer me this? How would young Shirou ascertain whether I did or did not fulfil my end of the bargain? ¡±


    That got both of us to look at each other to see if the other one has the answer and considering Illya-nee¡¯s questioning look towards me I am guessing that the both of us is just as confused as the other.


    ¡°Well aren¡¯t you giving us more reason not to trust you then, are you really trying to get us to say yes because as it stands the answer is still no.¡±


    The expression of old man Zeltrech at that moment felt like he was trying really, really hard not to strangle¡­ well anyone and failing at it hard.


    ¡°Okay... okay... calm down me. Let¡¯s see here if young Illya have you not thought about why I needed to talk to you and young Shirou at the same time? ¡±


    Both Illya-nee and I once again sported confused looks.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it supposed to be because she would be healed when I accept your deal making her a part of the negotiation discussion?¡±


    ¡°No not necessarily¡± Illya-nee said in a thinking expression ¡°If you really think about it my input in whether you want to rescue me or not is a decision belonging only to you and you alone because in the end it will be you who is traveling to another reality, so my presence shouldn¡¯t be needed in this discussion and knowing you, you would¡¯ve accepted in a heartbeat, so why did you invite me knowing the chances of convincing Shirou would lower, that just doesn¡¯t make sense. Yes all of this just doesn¡¯t make sense, so that leads me to conclude that this is just an elaborate trap to set us up. Yes, that¡¯s it isn¡¯t it we have caught up to your plan vile magician hahahahaha.¡± she accusingly pointed at the said magician who was sporting a rather comical jaw dropped face.


    ¡°WHERE THE HELL IN THE NEVER ENDING SWIRL OF THE ROOT DID YOU GET THAT CONCLUSION?¡± he shouted in frustration.


    ¡°But that¡¯s the only thing that makes sense, isn¡¯t that right Shirou?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, as far as I can tell Illya-nee hit it right in the head.¡±


    For the nth time that day we both saw the magician sigh in exasperation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hit both of you right in head to smack the stupid out of both of you.¡±


    ¡°Oy. Don¡¯t be mad just because we discovered your plans.¡± Illya-nee smugly proclaims.


    ¡°Okay that does it! Let me spell it out for both of you. My plan is that both of you will go to the other world¡±


    Both Illya-nee and I were dumbstruck by the unexpected, unprecedented and completely unseen twist of fate to which completely caught us off guard like a sudden lightning bolt striking us from the heavens as the realization dawn on us. The magician unaware and uncaring of our earth shattering world views just casually continued with his explanation.


    ¡°Shirou goes first to be the anchor and transmit me the coordinates by his mere existence, then after I heal you here we will then go to Shiro to confirm that I upheld my end of the deal. The reason I need you in this discussion is I need your consent to travel to another world too. So all in all I thought because you refuse to be separated you were willing to live and endure for just a bit of time just so you can be together longer and fuller, is that understood brats.¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes, Sir¡± we both respond in unison


    ¡°Honestly you Emiya¡¯s and your pessimism, always expecting the worst out comes from any scenarios, no this is beyond pessimism you are not expecting bad thing to happen, what your doing is worse than that, its negative optimism isn¡¯t it, I didn¡¯t know they developed that kind of philosophical school, wow the Emiya magus family are such pioneers aren¡¯t they? Such an inglorious school of thought that they develop, hear it one and all this revolutionary thinking, rather than expecting bad thing to happen lets go beyond that, and what do you say that is, easy it¡¯s to think that nothing good ever happens to us. Really, just really, is that really how you go about day by day huuhhhh, huuuhhh, huuuhhh.¡±


    Both Illya-nee and I were really embarrassed and looking everywhere else other than the ranting magician in front of us.


    ¡°Now with that out of the way you both should understand the extent of the deal. Yes.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± We both responded


    ¡°Good then anything else?¡± to which Illya-nee raised her hand.


    ¡°Yes what is it young Illya¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question, why Shirou?¡±


    ¡°The better question would be young Illya is, why not him?¡±


    ¡°Ehh??¡± I unintelligently questioned. Both of them looked at each other seriously.


    ¡°You saw what he became did you not and this is indeed an opportunity to prevent that.¡±


    ¡°Why? Why are you going so far for him? I see no reason for you to help him?¡±


    ¡°I have no reason not to either and you forget young Illya is that I am old. Old enough that your bastard of a grandfather would call me ancient. Too old to feel anything towards anything so when I do feel something I hold onto it and see every and all reason to hold onto it even just a second longer and you young Shirou have done just that, for the longest time you made me feel something, you fascinated me with your ideals and hypocritical dream, and to reward you of that service I am giving you this chance the chance to be with her once more.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­wha..whaat do you mean?¡± I stuttered as I feel the weight of the words he uttered to me as the memories of our recent parting came surfacing back.


    ¡°I mean what I just said young Shirou what I offer next is the chance for you to accomplish your newly acquired dream, to be a hero worthy of your departed Arthuria.¡±


    ¡°HOW?¡± I questioned, can I really see her again, even though I made a promise to do everything I can to be worthy of Avalon, the confirmation that it was doable is enough for me to break out into song accompanied by a cheesy dance routine.


    ¡°That I cannot tell you but what I can is thus, it is not impossible for you to be a hero in this world but it is highly improbable, your chances of becoming one here is as slim as you missing a stationary target with a bow 5 feet away from you at your peak physical and mental condition¡± well shit when you put it that way it does seem impossible.


    ¡°Do you know why that is young Shirou?¡±


    ¡°I am sorry Sir Zeltrech but I am afraid that I do not know the answer.¡± Which quite frankly depresses me to no end.


    ¡°One aspect is the time we live in, we are at what you call an era of stability, this world has no longer need of heroes that do battle against great evil, it is an era where all of humanity stand up against evil, a hero has always been an individual that rises up among the crowds and for you to do so in our time is hard.¡± That is true in our time there are no dragons to slay, no evil warlords to kill, no grand quest from kings or queens and no princesses to rescue from their towers what men fight against right now are corruption, pollution, global warming, poverty and hunger which undoubtedly my skill set is ill equip to handle.


    ¡°A second one is you yourself is lacking, not lacking in the ways of a hero, no you got that part in spades, you are lacking in ways of humanity, for you to truly be able to save others you must first understand them, one cannot give what one does not have, to give hope and salvation to others you must first have it, and then understand how to give it. To put it simply how can one expect to save others if they cannot save themselves, and in truth young Shirou you have not even began saving yourself.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean sir Zeltrech, I don¡¯t understand?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully you would in time young Shirou but let me give you a hint. The thing that you seek is in the fire that birthed you.¡±


    I shuddered at the implication of what he is saying.


    ¡°Yes young Shirou, you need to face the fire once more in order to be whole again.¡±


    ¡°Those are the two things are the greatest obstacle you have in being a hero, obstacles that you would hopefully clear in this journey of yours.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Sir Zeltrech for your guidance.¡±


    ¡°Think nothing of it young Shirou. So how goes the status of our deal young ones. Is it a yes or a no?¡±


    ¡°Considering all that is at stake here isn¡¯t there any other answer except yes, for both my sake and Shirou¡¯s but before anything else we should iron out the finer details of the deal, if you so wish we can continue here or we can proceed to a more appropriate venue, the Emiya estate is in no way shape or form to welcome you Sir Zeltrech considering the aftermath of Kirei¡¯s attack to get to me, if I may suggest a hotel or caf¨¦.¡±


    ¡°No need to trouble yourself over little old me. I¡¯m sure your estate no matter how in dire need of repair will in no way bring any discomfort to this old man, so shall we proceed to a more hospitable arrangements¡± he then proceed to wave his hands a low and behold a hole in reality appeared sporting within its edges are a myriad of colours that human eyes can¡¯t begin to make sense of and in the middle of said hole appears to be our living room. ¡°So my two young friends shall we adjourn to your living room.¡± As he walked to the said portal and we both siblings following closely behind him


    As we walked out of the portal I felt a wave of nausea erupting out of nowhere and going by the same expression in Illya-nee¡¯s face then it was safe to assume that I am not the only one feeling it.


    ¡°Sorry my young friends it seems I forgot to warn you about the nasty side effects of the second magic, don¡¯t worry the nausea will only last a few moments. In another note you were not kidding about the damage on your abode perhaps the porch will be better suited for our discussion as well as provide you ample fresh air to breathe to ease the nausea¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your kind consideration sir Zeltrech and apologies again for receiving you in such an unpleasant manner.¡±


    ¡°Think nothing of it come young ones show me the porch that we may relax that you may get your bearings once more.¡±


    A few minutes passed and as old man Zeltrech said the nausea is now completely gone. As soon as the annoying dizziness was gone I then proceeded to the kitchen to make some tea, thankfully the destruction was only limited to the living room making the my kitchen untouched, if Kotomine has somehow made even a single of any plate in here crack then damn salvation to hell, ill drag him back to the land of the living world through Satan¡¯s ass if need be just to exact my righteous fury upon his brainless cranium.


    As I served the tea and some cookies I heard Old man Zeltrech clear his throat after drinking the tea I served.


    ¡°Ahem so shall we continue the discussion from earlier young ones?¡±


    ¡°Yes Sir Zeltrech there is an important detail I wish to ask you, will there be any kind of danger that Shirou will encounter in the reality where you¡¯ll send us.¡±


    ¡°If you are asking if the reality is totally safe then no. In any or all worlds that I have seen and visited not a single one of them is free of any dangers but the worlds I¡¯m sending you and Shirou to is in no way as dangerous as our reality¡±


    I crunched my eyebrows in confusion about his statement, best to just listen and go along with the conversation.


    ¡°Is that so, then part of me is a little relieved at that, so how will Shirou and me adapt to the other reality concerning language, arithmetic , and physical appearance¡±


    ¡°Well regarding physical appearances I think you are both good, while regarding language and the like I may be able to incorporate the system they made for the Holy Grail so both of you can speak, write and read the local languages.¡±


    ¡°Lastly sir Zeltrech how long do you think it will take for you to completely heal me?¡±


    ¡°Well that one is a little bit complicated for Shirou it will be 2 years and six months while for you it will just be 6 moths at most¡±


    ¡°I see, so I take it you will keep my body in stasis during the time you heal me. Is that right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that young Illya but to cure what ails you is no easy feat even for me, for you see it requires for me to reverse 13 years¡¯ worth of malignant damages and restoring your life span to acceptable levels, along with stabilizing your short telomeres, and those can¡¯t be done without the proper materials and preparation, if I don¡¯t keep your body in stasis then I am afraid the time I need for finding the ingredients for the first ritual will exceed your remaining time in the living world.¡±


    ¡°Haaah it seems nothing comes easy when it comes to living is it.¡±


    ¡°From someone who lived for a ridiculously long amount of time you have no idea. Well if that is all young Illya I suggest you pack for our trip to the clock tower and be a dear and take care of young Shirou¡¯s uhm, let¡¯s call it exit strategy ¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that sir Zeltrech I have that taken care off. I already wrote a letter stating that Saber got pregnant with Shirou¡¯s baby and they decided to elope, so Shirou, Sir Zeltrech I¡¯m off to pack my things¡± my little older sister said with an impish grin as she walk towards her room, the implication of the things she said flew over my head as I was preparing myself to ask the magician in the room about the thing that bothered me in the conversation.


    ¡°How about you young Emiya is there anything you wish to ask?¡±


    ¡°Actually there is something bothering me when you said that you¡¯re sending us to a world that isn¡¯t as dangerous as the one we are in, you never really said that it was safer there, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Quite sharp of you young Emiya, quite sharp indeed, always keep that edge on you at all times especially in where you¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°You did not answer my question sir Zeltrech¡± the old man just ignored me and casually searching his inner coat pockets and when he finally found the thing he was apparently looking for he promptly and lazily tossed it towards me, with instinct kicking in I deftly caught the pack of cigarettes and preceded to look at the magician with a questioning gaze.


    ¡°That was your fathers favourite brand of smoke would you care to try?¡± Hmm I don¡¯t really know how to react to the sudden non-sequitur, but well anyway so dad used to smoke huh I never knew. I open the pack of cigarettes I took one stick and put it in my mouth Zeltrech-san offered me a light while he too lighted his cigar. The first mouthful of smoke that I inhaled promptly irritated my lung causing me to proceed into a coughing fit.


    ¡°Hahahaha the first few intakes are quite rough for someone who is inexperienced but give it a few more tries it gets smoother¡± after a few more coughing fits I think my lungs just grew more accustomed to it and it gets smoother and smoother. We just sat there in silence smocking our respective cancer sticks until mine run out and as if sensing my dilemma an ashtray was projected beside me where I promptly disposed of said stick.


    ¡°Your father was one of the few people I enjoy sharing a smoke with, too bad he stopped when your sister was about to be born, damn shame too I was hoping to give him that very pack of cigarettes, not to brag but I may be the only magus in living history that created a mystic code purely for smoking¡±


    ¡°What do you mean Zeltrech-san are you saying this box of cigarettes is a mystic code?¡±


    ¡°Yes it is the only one of its kind actually. Try channelling your od into it¡± I did as I was told and surprisingly the box did absorb my od then I took a peek inside and saw that the pack was full again.


    ¡°Yup, you got it the very first and only cigarette pack mystic code in existence, a self-refilling cigarette pack using the holders od as supply, complete with a water proof metal casing, downside though is it can only hold 20 at a time and once you take out a stick it only last about an hour, so make sure to light it up before it expires, unfortunately this is only the brand and flavour I have given that this was specifically made for your father¡±


    ¡°Were you and dad close?¡±


    ¡°As close as anyone can be towards Kiritsugu Emiya I suppose, your father was not really the outgoing type if you know what I mean, hell the only thing we shared besides me being his employer from time to time is our mutual love of smoking, which to this day is the only thing I know he indulges in besides work, before you or your sister came into his life¡±


    ¡°What can you tell me about his life as a Magus?¡±


    ¡°Shirou do you know what you¡¯re asking? Are you truly prepared to know?¡±


    Truth be told I don¡¯t know what to think, nor why I would want to know and even if I did will it really change the way I feel about him. I heard stories about my dad from Saber of how ruthless and efficient of a killer he was but even then he was and always will be the kind father that saved me, my role model, and my hero and I know that he had a dark past but the Kiritsugu back then was not my father rather he was the magus killer, whatever that means, but maybe it was because he is my hero that I can¡¯t help but want to know his origin story.


    ¡°Yes I do Zeltrech-san.¡±


    ¡°Very well then Shirou Emiya let me tell you the tale of the greatest assassin and operative of this current generation, a man who never lived for his dream but killed for it, the tale of the hero named Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer.¡±


    Thus began the story of my father a young boy that grew in a tropical island in the Philippines named Alimango Island, the story of his dream to become a hero, the story of his first love Shirley, the story of how his home was burned to the ground by the experiment of a mad magus, how said experiment resulted in his first loves death, the story of his first kill the mad magus that caused the experiment my grandfather his father Norikata Emiya, the story of how he was adopted and trained by my grandmother in all but blood Natalia Kaminski, the story on how he was forced to kill his mother in order to avoid a catastrophic disaster, the story when the name of the Magus Killer was spread far and wide and its meaning being synonymous to death, the story of his many different missions his tactics, his efficiency, his cunning, his predator instincts, his ruthlessness, his decisive ness, his wide array of skills, the employ of his magecraft in his missions, his most favoured weapon the Thompson Contender and his disappearance from the limelight.


    The story was then continued on by my little older sister Illyasviel, who I didn¡¯t notice was beside me being too immersed in listening to the story she too has a cigarette in her hand, as do I which I don¡¯t remember lighting. The story then proceeded about my father¡¯s life in the Einzbern mansion, on how he fell in love with our mother Irisviel von Einzbern, the story on how he was hired by the family to compete in the Holy Grail, the story of the man who wished for peace more than anything in the world that he was willing to lose the little piece of happiness he has found, the story of a father that would day by day play with his young daughter the walnut game that where he apparently always cheats and his eventual goodbye and departure to the holy grail war.


    I then continued his story from the boy who died in the fire and was saved by him with a smile that brought salvation, on how he adopted the boy and gave him a home, the story the boy begging him to teach the boy mage craft, the story of the man who lacks any and all skill in the kitchen to the point of burning said kitchen by boiling water, the story of what a shitty magecraft teacher he is to the boy, the story of the man who frequently leaves home trying any and all ways to free his daughter, the story of the man who was ravaged by the curse from All the Worlds Evil and the story of his end under the light of the moon and him passing his dream to another and so the story comes to its inevitable conclusion.


    ¡°Kiritsugu was many things but at his core he always strives to follow his dreams to become a hero of justice. A flawed kind of justice but justice none the less, he lived by his creed of heroism kill 1 to save 10, kill 10 to save 100, kill 100 to save 1,000 yet his justice was stopped by two young brats huh. You learn something new every day I suppose.¡±


    Illya and I looked at each other the asked the old man


    ¡°What do you mean sir Zeltrech?¡±


    ¡°Well you two were the one that stopped the Magus Killers creed of justice I suppose. Young Illya do you understand when he was faced with the holy grail you are the only one he couldn¡¯t kill, you became the exception to his creed and you young Shirou was the only life he could save without killing any one, you were saved not by the arms of a bloodied killer but by the hands of a man that is just willing to help. You two are without a doubt Kiritsugu¡¯s greatest treasures and his undying legacy so do him and me a favour and live a life worth living.¡±


    ¡°Well if you put it that way me and Illya-nee has to right?¡±


    ¡°Yup, he was not a perfect or even a normal father but we are lucky and proud to call him our father.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Illya-nee so its our job to make him proud right?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean Shirou?¡±


    ¡°Well for a magus family like ours doesn¡¯t it mean we need to surpass him, like if he needed to kill 1 to save ten then we just need to kill no one yet save the same number right or we just need to kill 1 to save 10,000 or something like that?¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s one way to look at it I suppose but Shirou I think you should have your own creed of justice and not just copy dad¡¯s, for us to surpass him we should walk our own path right. You may have inherited his dreams but that doesn¡¯t mean that you shouldn¡¯t make it your own. You should admire but not follow blindly, where he failed you should succeed and where he succeeded you should do better.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a tall and tough orders you know Nee-san but I can do it for him and for Arthuria.¡±


    ¡°Ahem, not to ruin this precious moment but when do you want to leave Shirou.¡±


    ¡°Maybe after I pack my stuff.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about that you don¡¯t have to bring anything with you, I already prepared all that you need, so you¡¯re already set as far as I am concerned and it almost slipped my mind but you can¡¯t tell anyone you are from another world okay.¡±


    ¡°Understood Zeltrech-san I won¡¯t tell anyone, should I also hide my magecraft too, no matter how little amount I have.¡±


    ¡°Uhm. What I mean is you literally can¡¯t tell anyone your from another world or give leading hints that make them find out and if you do all they will hear is literal gibberish, consider it as a measure to prevent people from discovering or knowing something that they are not prepared to handle, or to simplify it it¡¯s a curse that prevents others from learning secret information. With regards to magecraft I leave it to your discretion because I don¡¯t know if that world even has a mage association or not?¡±


    ¡°So any other questions?¡±


    ¡°Yeah so can I bring that pack of cigarettes with me?¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course. hahahaha¡±


    ¡°Oy how about me? I want one too.¡±


    ¡°Well Illya-nee I don¡¯t know if they even have cigarettes like this there so I should keep it and besides you will be asleep for at least two years, at least with me it will be put to good use¡±


    ¡°Well just be careful out there and don¡¯t do anything stupid okay. Haaah. Who am I kidding it¡¯s you the holder of the legendary E rank luck that gets dragged into the most troublesome situations, it will be a miracle if you can get through one day there without starting something unprecedentedly stupid. If you do... I mean When you do just make sure to kick some ass and survive until I come there, and watch your back okay and don¡¯t forget to make many friends okay.¡±


    Is it just me or does the last part of that sounds like you¡¯re dropping of a kid on a day-care, considering this is the last time I would see her in two years I¡¯ll let it slide. I run to her and gave her the biggest and tightest hug I could muster.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Illya-nee. I¡¯ll take care and tell you lots of great stories when we see each other.¡±


    ¡°You better you big dummy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready Zeltrech-san ¡±


    He waved his hand and muttered something unrecognizable to me and the same hole in reality appeared but this time the myriad of colours are more vibrant and distinct


    ¡°So young Shirou are you truly ready? Are you sure that you haven¡¯t forgotten anything? ¡±


    I then started to remember if I really did forget anything so I checked my pockets to make sure everything is ready. It feels like I was forgetting something important but if I forgot it in the first place maybe it is not that important.


    ¡°Ah, Zeltrech-san about the thing that I requested if I could bring?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already arranged it young Shirou, worry not you will have the said item along with the starter pack I sent you, along with a surprise present¡±


    ¡°Surprise present for what exactly?¡±


    ¡°As a reward of course for destroying the Holy Grail, as I have said I was one of its creators and thus it is my responsibility and for sparing me the extra hustle and work I suppose an appropriate compensation is in order.¡±


    ¡°Thank you again Zeltrech-san¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing young Shirou you should get going now for it seems you are dilly-dallying¡±


    I jumped into the portal and as I started to drift off to unconsciousness I suddenly remembered what the important thing I forgot.


    ¡°OH¡­. SHIT¡­ I FORGOT TO TELL RIN¡±

 Romance Dawn

    <u>¡°Santoryu: Onigiri¡±</u>


    I put the coffin in-between me and the attack to block it and gain some distance from the green haired bounty hunter.


    I said gain some distance but truth be told it¡¯s more like getting batted away across the marine bases training field and landing on my feet.


    Seriously the strength of this world is no joke.


    Considering his training it is no wonder he can hit as hard as Arthuria not to mention that weird-ass sword style of his.


    ¡°Bastard that attack would¡¯ve cut me in three pieces.¡± I shouted at the bandana wearing battle maniac as I readied Kanshou and Bakuya at my side readying myself for our next clash.


    ¡°Well you didn¡¯t so quit your whining and just take it like a man.¡± It speak volumes for my declining sanity that I didn¡¯t even question how he can talk so clearly even after having to grip that sword in his mouth.


    ¡°Shi shi shi, Zoro hurry up and finish it up already I¡¯m getting hungry.¡± The rubber-brained idiot said to the violent sword for brains, seriously this world is insane; I tell that to myself for the nth time since arriving here.


    For Roots-sake when I say ¡°rubber-brained¡± I really meant it literally, in every sense of the word ¡°rubber-brained¡±.


    What kind of ROOT-BE-DAMNED existence is that abomination, don¡¯t get me wrong I¡¯ve heard of elementals before, you know the spirits of nature that take physical form of their respective elements, but this is just weird and quite unnerving, who in the whole never ending Swirl of the mother-f@ck1ng ROOT thought of creating or even breading a ROOT-damned Rubber elemental.


    ¡°Well you heard my captain, considering this is my first official orders, I hope you¡¯re ready Emiya.¡±


    ¡°As if I even have a choice, haaaaah, so this is my life now.¡± I said with begrudging acceptance. It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t understand why he wanted to fight me but pointless bloodshed really isn¡¯t that appealing to me. But looking at his eyes filled with resolve and from the memories I saw within his sword, one of the Meito graded in the category of the 21 O Wazamono, The Straight Road of the Harmony, The Wado Ichimonji,  I shouldn¡¯t hold anything back, I will match the steel of his resolve with the steel of my own.


    ¡°BRING IT ON¡­ l¡¯Olannais.¡± I shouted and it is with a deep cathartic pleasure that I find a tick mark on the forehead of my opponent for my comment about his name.


    ¡°I told you not to call me that. Now this will be more painful than it is supposed to be.¡± He went into a stance where he put his two swords from his hands in front of him and started spinning them.


    So it has come to this huh. He really is using his strongest technique against me. Well considering he¡¯s stronger, faster, more skilled and more experienced than me I guess it would be an honor to face his strongest. Well with all that said it¡¯s not like I¡¯m guaranteed to lose, my style has always been made for fighting against those stronger than me. If he outclasses me in quality I¡¯ll go with, quantity. I threw Kanshou and Bakuya towards him and without missing a beat I rushed towards him unarmed, I didn¡¯t know if its because of genuine surprise in my action or the blatant mockery of swordsmanship that I just did, but going by the pissed off and murderous glare directed at me I guess it¡¯s the latter. Well, I¡¯ve always told him that I¡¯m not a swordsman like him, it¡¯s his fault that he doesn¡¯t believe me, after executing this technique I hope he¡¯ll finally believe me, if I¡¯m still breathing by then.


    ¡°Luffy, make sure to watch closely and make sure both of us don¡¯t die.¡± Hopefully the idiot gets my meaning.


    Really what the hell is wrong with this fucked up picture? I¡¯ve been here for only a month and I find myself facing off against one of these seas most famous bounty hunter turned pirate.


    Fuck my life,


    Fuck my E-rank luck,


    Fuck the old troll,


    Fuck the pirates,


    Fuck the marines,


    And


    Fuck this world.


    Where, just where did it all go wrong?


    Well thinking back on it¡­.. Yeah nothing went right since I got here¡­ Even before I got here nothing went right in my life¡­Yeah that was a sad realization to have, especially when you have a 3 sword wielding demon out for your blood.


    Let¡¯s see my track record so far:


    Get caught up in a War that only occurs once every 6 decades that kills all your immediate family and lose all your memories. Check


    Get saved by the one who caused said fire that was an ex-super magic based assassin that left you a dream that will more than likely get you killed. Check


    Taught you an ultra-painful way to use magecraft that would¡¯ve gotten you killed 90% of the time if you didn¡¯t have Avalon and said method isn¡¯t even the right one. Check


    Get caught up in the same war that took everything from you that started 50 years earlier and because you were the only viable candidate in the immediate vicinity due to the piss-poor bastardization of magecraft that your father taught you, while getting the most powerful class of servant for having implanted with a catalyst that saved your life and not know how to support said servant for having no formal magus training whatsoever. Check


    Let¡¯s face it if my luck is anything to go by I think the war just started early just to shove a pole in my ass, which in the first night of getting involved did shove a cursed red pole in me, just not in my rear side thankfully.


    Hmmmm¡­ is it just me or am I sensing a pattern here?


    Getting marked for death by the wars undoubtedly strongest master and servant pair that turned out to be your long lost sister that hated your very existence because you stole dad away from her while said servant almost cut you in half. Check


    This is getting really, really weird it seems that the worsts parts of my life are connected to dad in one way or the other. Nah¡­ surely its just me over thinking it, right?


    Falling in love with your dream girl and having said love to be hopeless from the very beginning because said love interest is for a lack of a better description a ¡°Dream girl¡±. Just to drive the point home of how hopeless it is the universe decided to ruin the end of your one and only date with your love by throwing humanities first and oldest stalker in your way that rains countless peerless swords and blades in your general direction. Check


    Well that was one thing that dad didn¡¯t cause.


    Wait wasn¡¯t Gilgamesh Kirei¡¯s servant from the last war, and Dad being Kirei¡¯s rival in the last war where he failed to kill him, if Dad did kill Kirei then no Gilgamesh.


    That does it, its official everyone Dad is my anti-luck charm. I know, I know anti-luck charms doesn¡¯t exist, but if I would equate an accurate description of what he is in contrast to actual things or even words, then I¡¯m afraid that I would be cursing like a sailor.


    Dad if your hearing this, you know I love you right and I know you loved me, but man oh man you had you¡¯re issues and that¡¯s okay and all. But really, just really can those issues of yours not fuck me up in the most horrible way possible


    Getting drenched by the Mud of ALL-THE-WORLD¡¯S-EVILS not once but twice and feel all of the curses and vile intentions harbored by thousands of man. Check


    Find out your sister is dying just after saying goodbye to the love of your lie and to save said sister you are subjected to the whims of an old blood-sucking magician trolling your life. Check


    Shit, listing them all like this just feels like getting a nice punch in the groin. (AN: All hail Master Ken)


    When did my life get from depressingly-insane to bat shit crazy?


    Oh yeah that would be when the troll left me in his dimensional portal.


    How did it go again?


    {[(<u>I am a line break, I may not be essential to the plot of story but I do my job and I do it well.)</u>]}


    <u>~Approximately One Month Ago~</u>


    I was floating in the middle of an empty space filled to the brim with colours, each of different shade and vibrancy from what is expected, if I would explain it more clearly it seems that the colours do not imprint themselves to my eyes they bypass the physical act of seeing and go directly to the brain.


    Weird as it is I could not deny its sheer novelty and beauty and frankly I was quite enamored with all the different colours like a child watching the ever explosive fireworks in a night sky.


    Unfortunately for me I forgot the most basic lesson taught to a magus, the very first instruction nay law imparted when starting to delve to the depths of the moonlit world ¡°to be a magus is to walk with death¡±.


    Our magic may kill us, the people around us may kill us, our experiment may kill us and heck the very spirit of our world is actively trying to kill us so it should¡¯ve came as no surprise when the very colours that I am currently admiring are currently attacking my brain.


    It started when the different colours were suddenly merging together forming so many different images, images that are currently bombarding my mind continuously without giving break causing me the mother of all headaches.


    Even before my mind can make sense of the first one, a second one comes, then a third, then a fourth if my brain was not currently trying its best not to explode from the sheer amount of information being forcibly shoved into it, I would¡¯ve tried counting said images.


    No matter how high my mental endurance has grown from the pain of making make shift circuits with my spinal nerves even I have a limit.


    The limit which my current dire situation has graciously shown me, followed by an ever encompassing darkness.


    The next thing I knew was that I was waking up in a well-lit cave my back aching from what I assume to be from sleeping in the cold hard floor of said cave.


    I tried to stand up but before I do I got a searing headache almost comparable to the one I had before being knocked unconscious.


    The pain came out of nowhere and as fast as it came so did it disappear but after that came clarity.


    Memories and information about the world I am in.


    A world whose geography consists of mostly blue seas where landmasses are few and far between, there are no continents here the largest piece of continues geological formation appears to be a giant wall like mountain that seems to divide the whole world in two called the Red Line.


    The habitable pieces of real states are mostly composed of island ranging from small ones that may or may not be able to contain at least a villages worth of people, to truly big ones where entire countries with different cities were built.


    The different seas are what interest me though, if the memories are to be trusted then depending which sea I ended up in may signify the amount of danger I will be.


    The 6 seas the first four of which are named after the four cardinal directions they are situated in accordance to the placement they have between both the Red Line and the Grand Line the North blue, the South Blue, the West blue and the East blue.


    Next we have is the Calm seas or most popularly known as the calm belt a stretch of two seas that separates the Grand Line from the other sees.


    Lastly we have the Grand Line a body of water that much like the red line travels around the world the largest among the six seas and the most dangerous among them not only for its vastness but because of the current era I am currently in.


    Unlike in my own world where all the seas have been navigated, mapped and travelled the seas of the Grand Line have never been fully documented nor are there any reliable information regarding it.


    My initial assessment of the situation is that this world is not yet as advanced as mine for when my world reached the Machine age of Shipbuilding it seems that this world is currently in between the Age of Sails and the Age of Steam. Though navigation is a problem the most concerning one is the era I am in.


    The current era of this world is what they have called to be The Great Age of Pirates a parallel to my own worlds Golden Age of piracy the difference however is how the era came to begin.


    Where in my world it began due to seafarers wanting to go for exploration and trade the Pirate age of this world can be attributed to one man the Pirate King Gol D. Roger¡¯s last word in his execution.


    The first and only man to have conquered the Grandest among all the seas, the man whose words launched an age of adventure and chaos, a man who is still causing waves 20 years after his death, a man who has undoubtedly cemented his name in the annals of this worlds history and a man who has undoubtedly ascended to the throne of heroes.


    ¡°Hahahahahahahahahahaha.¡±


    I could not help but laugh in joy for the opportunity that old man Zeltrech has given me while also laughing at the absurdity of the situation he put me in.


    In my world the Golden Age of Piracy indeed produced certain number of individuals that ascended to the Throne of heroes at the top of my head I could already name a few that the fingers on my hands and foot are not enough to count; people like Edward Teach, Hayreddin Barbarossa, Henry Morgan, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, William Kidd, Bartholomew Roberts, Henry Every, Jean Lafitte, Olivier Levasseur, Charlotte Badger, Thomas Cavendish, Calico Jack, Francois l¡¯Olannais, Walter Raleigh, Oruc Reis, Edward Thatch, Benjamin Hornigold, Edward England, Stede Bonnet, Samuel Bellamy, Awilda, Edward Low, Cheung Po Tsai, and of course ¡°El Draque¡± Sir Francis Drake.


    Considering this world is more seafaring than actual land travel the pirate age of this world will be grander than the one in mine and dare I say it the amount of legends that will be created during this era might be comparable to my own worlds Age of Heroes.


    Given the opportunity this brings me what could I complain about you ask?


    It¡¯s simple really, it is because they are ¡­ Pirates¡­.ROOT-DAMNED PIRATES, the rape, pillage, plunder, burn the village and salt the earth pirates.


    Yeah some of them had started with noble intentions but even then they committed atrocities not against their enemies but towards the innocent.


    Among the heroes that ascended during the Golden age of piracy all of them committed plunder on trade vessels and merchants alike to keep their ships afloat, some of them would even torture their victims in the cruelest most twisted way they now how just to show their competitors who has the baddest ass around.


    If I joined a pirate crew I would join one who doesn¡¯t commit such atrocities and let¡¯s be honest what chance would there be of one existing (AN: more than you think Dear Shirou more than you think).


    Even if I become a captain who I highly doubt am charismatic enough to do, who would join a crew that does not want treasure they would be better off joining the marines at least they¡¯ll get paid.


    This is my current dilemma, I am in an age where ascending the throne of heroes is doable but the method in doing so is wrought with infamy not of glory, which unfortunately clashes with the very reason I want to be a hero in the first place, a hero worthy of Avalon, a hero worthy of reaching her, yet the path of ascension to the throne is unacceptable.


    With no solution in sight I decided to put it in the back burner for a while and leave the long term plans after I have acclimated myself to this world. So I started to proceed to do what the headache prevented me to do before and that is to sit up and scan my surroundings.


    ¡°So where did that old man drop me off?¡± I questioned


    I looked at the source of light I have and was promptly shocked out of my wits.


    ¡°WHAAAT THE FUCK IS THAT?¡± I screamed to no one in particular which the small cave I was in decided to echo.


    Really what else is the expected response to have when you are staring at a silver coffin with the freakiest, boot shacking, design you¡¯ll ever see just casually standing there about the same height as you, with its skull figurehead¡¯s eyes glowing blue illuminating the tiny cave I was in. (AN: Design of THE COFFIN in Gungrave but instead of black and red its silver and blue and instead of the cross symbol on it the symbol is Shirou¡¯s command seals)


    As I gathered my wits about me and trying to stay composed in front of this monstrosity I noticed the folded parchment of paper right underneath the Skull design. I proceeded to walk towards the coffin and grabbed said paper which read ¡°To Shirou¡±. I unfolded the paper and read.


    Dear Shirou,


    If you are reading this then you have arrived safely to your destination safely. This coffin in front of you contains all the things you may or may not need for starting off in that new world¡­


    ¡°Why the hell in all Root damned existence did he deliver all of this in a coffin?¡±


    ¡­First and foremost you might be wondering along the lines of ¡°Why a coffin of all things? Why not a crate? Or a Suit case? Or maybe just a duffel bag?¡±. To answer your question is because those things are not remarkable enough. They are easily forgettable and therefore prone to loss or theft. Who in their right mind would ever forget a coffin? Or what thief is brave enough to steal a coffin? The answer is no one because a coffin always gets attention. Don¡¯t you love how macabre human thoughts are? All of those are good reasons but the one above all is that, how hilarious would it be for you to drag a coffin around the city? An age old question I want an answer to, which you have the misfortune of providing me.


    ¡°That root-damned old troll did all this just to get a laugh. THAT @$$H01&!!!!¡±


    Now, now Shirou I may do things that are safe to say downright sadistic to embarrass or shame you but I operate by the principle of equivalent exchange, you have a choice here Shirou Emiya you can leave the coffin alone or you can use it. You may think this coffin is a mere delivery box but I assure you it¡¯s not. You can just empty out its contents and be done with it and that is fine by me.


    Let me describe what The Coffin is first or maybe you should take it around for a spin. Say the words ¡°Grave Alter¡± first and you¡¯ll see what I mean.


    Seeing as there is no reason to distrust the old man I did as told and uttered the words.


    ¡°Grave Alter¡± and how I wish I didn¡¯t.


    Upon saying the words the blue circle under the skull design bearing the symbol of me and Arthuria¡¯s command seal opened revealing Kanshou and Bakuya, but these were not the Kanshou and Bakuya I was familiar with, they were different, they were no longer mere blades, they were altered, no longer a pair of twin falchions but a pair of bayoneted handguns.


    As soon as I laid my eyes on them I subconsciously read the weapons history they maybe guns now but a part of them retained the element of blades.


    What I saw disgusted me, these weapons were not used in the murder of hundreds or thousands but the hundred thousand.


    These were weapons of carnage and massacre, as blood stained as they are I couldn¡¯t help myself but be drawn to them.


    I liberated them from their respective holsters and as soon as I positioned my fingers in their grip I knew they fitted just right. Kanshou and Bakuya no matter what form they take would always be weapons made for no one¡¯s use.


    Blades made purely from the desire to make, the most fitting weapons for a faker.


    To say that the one who altered these blades didn¡¯t bother me would be a lie, the truth is he fascinated me and I pitied him.


    He was a sword without purpose, a drawn blade with no direction so he cut all and everything around him till the blood he spilled rusted his edge and blunted him and when he most needed his sharpness it failed him; but credit where credit is due in his maddened search for purpose he has done what none before him could, he became the owner of Kanshou and Bakuya, yes he did disrespect the legacy of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye and I resent him for that but unlike me or Archer he was no faker he was a killer.


    Kanshou and Bakuya became the extension of his will, the heralds of death in his hands.


    For me who never had a sword for my own has felt a tinge of envy for the version of me that did and as he did his Kanshou and Bakuya I too will one day have my own, till then his blades-no his gun blades will be in my employ.


    As I returned the gunblades to their respective holsters I closed the lid on them and continued reading.


    Those guns are yours from an alternate reality that I procured after your version¡¯s untimely expiration. Much like the cigarette pack I gave you it runs on your Od to create bullets, you get around 8 rounds per clip and the reload time about 10 seconds at least. I leave it to you how you wish to handle them but be warned you may copy his skills but you need your body to be up to the task to fully demonstrate it. Next is ¡°Grave Dance¡± which I think is the one you¡¯ll find most familiar


    Okay let¡¯s see he said I¡¯m familiar with the next one considering the last one he showed me it¡¯s safe to say that my most familiar blades would be the next to appear.


    ¡°Grave Dance¡±


    The bottom part under the blue circle opened this time revealing my most favored swords the falchion form of Kanshou and Bakuya. After inspecting them that nothing is amiss I closed them again and continued reading the letter.


    The next would be for an ultra-range attack the password is ¡°Grave Roar¡±


    ¡°Grave Roar¡±


    The sides of the skull coffin retracted like a zipper and revealed the black bow that archer uses which is as tall as me designed to fire broken noble phantasms without strain and the top part of the coffin appeared to have sported some protrusions which I assume are supposed to be the arrows I¡¯ll use.


    If you notice the nails attached to chains hanging in the top and bottom of The Coffin those are indeed pair of Rider¡¯s chain nails you can just push your Od into them to attach and reattach them. You might be wondering what good The Coffin is when you can merely trace them for your convenience but let me remind you Shirou you are still a beginner and until you are up to snuff with your magecraft a little help goes a long way and it is also a convenient way for you to conceal you¡¯re a magus if that world is not that accepting of our kind. What I explained to you by far is what The Coffin contains but the coffin itself is the greatest weapon among them. That Coffin is a mystic code I myself has crafted and used the second magic in most of its functions, first of which is those command seals as its insignia which work like a teleportation method to come to you if you so wish the chant is ¡°Grave Rise¡± much like a command seal however it can be used for only three times until it runs out of power each time you use it a seal disappears but it is also self-charging the time for its reuses depend on the amount of ambient prana in the worlds environment once it is ready the seal is also restored .


    ¡°Are you freakin serious this coffin is a mystic ode?¡± I unbelievingly clench my hands tighter on the parchment I was reading and looked at said coffin in disbelief.


    This creepy piece of thing is a mystic code made from one of the True Magic¡¯s, this is unbelievable; in my old world such a thing is incredibly priceless.


    Magus far and wide will be willing to offer their first born just for a chance to study it never mind about owning it.


    For those who pursue the second magic this thing is a gold mine that will never run out and all of a sudden thought came in to my mind, never let Rin find out I have it, this thing will be taken apart before I can even say ¡°Kaleidoscope¡±.


    Also this can also function as a portable prana battery for you, do you see the glowing eyes in the skull design? The brighter they glow the more prana they currently hold and yes you can extract them for your own use or use them to recharge the seal. What¡¯s more is the material I used to craft the coffin is no ordinary metal, for it to withstand the enchantments and spells I used, especially those related to the second magic is that I needed something with more durability, so I used an unknown metal in our world. The Coffin is made from a metal I acquired in another world, this metal is known in that world as Vibranium, which I kind of sort of stole and it has properties to be able to disperse momentum so as far as defenses go it is nearly indestructible.


    Unbelieving of what he said I touched said coffin and did a quick structural analysis on the metal that caused a very painful yet familiar headache.


    I quickly step back from The Coffin, that head ache was the same headache I got from when I saw Gilgamesh¡¯s sword when he fought Arthuria beneath the bridge.


    This metal is not a native of our world, yes I recognize the familiar elements in it but I don¡¯t recognize its composition or the other unknown elements in it.


    This metal was as mysterious as Ea one not made by the world or man¡¯s, something I have no chance of understanding now.


    Now that I explained the usefulness of The Coffin in battle I would like to explain its most important function its storage. As I said The Coffin uses the Kaleidoscope which in its most basic form involves manipulation of space, I put enchantment in the body of the coffin to be able to store large quantities of items regardless of its size trying to create an unlimited storage. That however was a failed endeavor the amount of space it can contain would only be about 3 storage units big, a huge failure I know, to this day I cursed that blue cat in envy of its dimensional pocket. I swear if I once again find that thrice damned #MS-903 time-travelling robot cat he will not come out of the meeting in one piece, I will learn the secrets of dimensional storage from its shriveled corpse if it is the last thing I do. Sorry young Shirou I got side-tracked due to my hate for that damned feline you can open the coffin by pushing your Od atop the skull.


    I do it and was surprised by the whole lid slipped and detached itself from the rest of the coffin, as it started crashing to the ground I caught it.


    Surprised by the light weight of the hunk of metal I was carrying I looked at the remains of The Coffin that hasn¡¯t fallen to the ground and confusingly stared at what stood before me is a whole plain coffin devoid of the unnecessary theatrics of the one I¡¯m carrying. I put the lid down at the ground to read the letter hoping to find an answer.


    The coffin is divided in to two parts the one with the ornate skull design is the weapon carrier part which is slim and easy to carry and maneuver in battle while the rest is the storage part. The two are separate for a reason; the storage contains the prana gathering and space enchantment, the weapon carrier has a significant durability and prana conversion enchantment, and so to recharge the command seals and prana battery you must put the lid back with the storage one. Do not worry though if you use the teleportation function they will both come.  Now to open the storage you just need to drop some of your blood in it. I hope you like my surprise present for you Shirou.


    That statement caused my blood to freeze and skin to crawl.


    I don¡¯t think I can handle any more surprises from the old troll. I guided the rest of coffin to the floor in a horizontal position and pricked my finger with the chain nails from the weapon carrier.


    Preparing any and all my nerves for what I have to uncover. The coffin went click and it opened.


    The first thing I saw was the thing I ask the old man to bring with me the picture of me and Arthuria when we went out on the day of our date with her holding onto a lion plushy. A reminder of what I came here to accomplish the promised reward for being true to my path.


    After a respectful amount of time my eyes began to wander about the other things inside the coffin and as quickly as I began I promptly stop, eyeing an object wrapped in what I could only assume as Christmas wrapping with a card written with big bold letters in it ¡°SURPRISE PRESENT!¡±.


    ¡°Well there¡¯s no use delaying the inevitable I suppose.¡± I let out a long drawn out sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it then.¡± I pulled the ribbon keeping the wrappings intact and revealed what¡¯s hidden beneath.


    I rubbed my eyes and pinched myself to make sure I wasn¡¯t dreaming or hallucinating for what¡¯s in front of me is something  that should not be here, an object that I already parted with and given back to its original owner, the artifact that linked me to Arthuria in the throne of heroes, Excalibur¡¯s sheath The Avalon.


    After going through a cycle of denial, disbelief, and dumbfoundedness I finally came to the acceptance that Avalon was truly here. How or why it was here I couldn¡¯t care less, what is important is that it is here and I have it in my arms, a connection to the one I hold most dear.


    Hard as it is for me I will grudgingly admit that the old troll certainly outdid himself, this was certainly a surprise I admit to be most unexpected but no less thankful for.


    Without thinking I hugged the legendary sheath close to me as it¡¯s familiar warmth began disappearing into my body as I reabsorbed it and after it has been done a it feels as though a weight has been lifted from something I did not even know I was carrying, a comforting feeling that something has been found after long hours of looking a subtle feeling of completeness.


    The other stuff in the coffin seems to be books about mage craft and containers of different kinds. In the corner of my eye I spotted in the open lid an old looking paper embedded in the coffin itself with a list of things that that the coffin seemingly contains called ¡°Shirou Emiya Starter pack¡±.


    The list contains an assortment of things from the expected and mundane like change of clothes, a guitar, lighters, gold bullions and jewels, to the more esoteric like magecraft books regarding bounded fields, runes, projections and alteration and enchantments, to the most bat shit crazy and insane like Zeltrech¡¯s Guide in being a Badass: 101 Rules in being a Main Character, Pros and Cons of Being a Dense Harem Protagonist, Bedding Lessons from a Kama Deva, Cool Lines for Shonen Protagonist, An Idiot¡¯s Guide For a Jaw Dropping Entrance and the thing that creeps me out the most to the point that my skin crawls and my body hair stands on end just by reading it is; the extra organs of Shirou Emiya he¡¯s got in here from hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, spleen, intestines and others numbering a dozen of each.


    How, why, what and just how did he have this organs?


    I really don¡¯t want to know how or why but the macabre and creepy part of my brain or the magus part of it couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it.


    Did he harvest the organs of my counter parts or did he grow it himself from my clone or something?


    Holding on to the piece of parchment tightly in my arms and staring at it pleadingly akin to a lifeline for my ever declining sense of sanity, hoping, wishing and praying for any and all sort of explanation that would somehow abate my inevitable fall into madness over the completely nonsensical existence of my innards placed neatly in transparent containers before me.


    I turned to the second page of the letter and read on.


    The contains of the Coffin is the basic help I was able to prepare for your journey and all of it is yours to help you with whatever trouble you might find in your stay there. All of the things I place there are in preparation when your luck finally choose to rear its ugly head. To be honest Shirou you are one of the greatest trouble magnets I have seen in the last century or so, your ability to stumble upon situations that will most certainly kill any man is absurdly outstanding if you know what I mean, as such these objects were chosen to help your chances in going through them with all your limbs intact or so I hope, well most of them are, the others I leave to your imagination.


    Well, considering my track record in finding myself in life and death situations I deem that the old magician¡¯s words to be unfortunately true.


    The grandest among my gifts other than the coffin itself as you may have noticed is¡­


    Yeah I know it¡¯s the organs right, considering how likely I would get myself injured trying to be a hero a few ¡°supplies¡± in case of a rainy day may come in handy.


    ¡°Huuhhh¡­..¡±


    I let out a sigh accepting the reality of the situation, no matter how incomprehensible as it seems the old magician is trying to look out for my survival in his own demented and sadistic way I suppose.


    ¡­ the guitar.


    I blinked at the words that I just read. Surely he is kidding right? My eyes subconsciously searched around the coffin to find the said guitar, planning to check it for anything that makes said instrument to be outstanding, to my shock I could not find it.


    The only things in the coffin were the books about magecraft and the containers of my extra organs.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    I looked at the letter again to find an explanation for the lack of things inside the coffin as opposed to the list that is embedded in the coffin.


    The guitar is one of my most surprising finds in another world. What it does is imbue musical knowledge and talents for anyone possessing it. Imagine my surprise the first time I held it, feeling like a rock star all of a sudden though there is a minor drawback in it which I honestly don¡¯t think will affect you that much. As one of the valuable pieces of equipment I left you along with the others I find it prudent to be on the safe side, as such it is hidden in plain sight. The function of the list parchment embedded into the coffin serves as a monitoring tool for what it contains. It automatically casts structural analysis on anything and everything that is put inside the coffin and scribes it in an organized manner to help keep the owners possession in check and perfect condition. Unfortunately as I already said is that the dimensional pocket of the coffin is incomplete and a failure as such it can only display things proportionate to its size and no living things are allowed. If you wish to change the objects that are to be shown in the coffin all you need to do is close the coffin then highlight the desired objects in the list with your blood for a few seconds and open it again. The desired changes should be seen after those actions have been taken.


    I did as the old troll said. I really don¡¯t give a damn what happens now. It is getting so annoying; my patience is rather wearing thin by now.


    For god¡¯s sake just when I thought the ridiculousness that old magician will put my sanity through reaches rock-bottom I imagine him smirking at me and summoning a shovel out of nowhere and keeps digging, just to prove me wrong on how low can he go.


    I picked the clothes, books about magecraft, the guitar, the lighter, and 4 gold bullions determined for the creepy show of my innards in different containers never ever see the light of day ever again.


    Now if I haven¡¯t forgotten anything, those are the things that are of the utmost importance regarding The Coffin and its contents, most of the others are self-explanatory. If you do decide to disregard the use of my gift then I ask of you to throw it somewhere you¡¯re sure no one, and I mean no one not even me can find it or get to it. As I have said Shirou this is a mystic code made from using one of the remaining true magic¡¯s in existence and I cannot stress the dangers it would bring if a magus in that world with evil intent would uncover even a fraction of its secrets¡¯.


    That part I completely agree with the old troll something as esoteric and valuable as it is should never fall in the hands of anyone with bad intentions.


    I shudder in horror as I pictured the fake priest wielding the secrets of a true magic, if that would happen he wouldn¡¯t need the Holy Grail or maybe even Gilgamesh to make his wish come true.


    I wish you luck on your endeavors young Emiya. I hope that you survive in the coming 2 years and 6 months for your sake and mine¡¯s, only God knows what your dear older sister would do to me if she ever finds out that I caused your demise.


    Trollingly yours,


    Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg


    P.S. If you are wondering why I would give you such a valuable artifact think nothing of it all I did was make adjustment to the weapon carrier and packed the thing I thought you might need. Rather than having The Coffin collect dust I thought you might put it to better use.


    P.P.S. The Functions of the Coffin is now directly linked to you and you only. The Voice, Magical Signature, and Blood scanner has all been restructured for your use. It is bound to you that not even Medea¡¯s Rule Breaker can break the connection. It will be as if you are the one and only owner of The Coffin since it was made that even I the creator can no longer take it without your permission.


    P.P.P.S. Please burn the letter to avoid any evidence of your connection to me magecraft that others may find.


    Well even if he is an insufferable prankster I guess thanks are in order for giving me the opportunity to save Illya-nee and to fulfill my dream to see Arthuria again.


    ¡°Thank you Zeltrech-san.¡± As I burned the letter with the lighter I have while fishing out the pack of cigarette he gave me and lighting it up with the burning letter.


    Now let¡¯s see what this world has to offer.


    {[(<u>I am a line break; I am the herald of the beginning and the end, The Alpha and The Omega.)</u>]}


    <u>~The real reason why Zeltrech gave Shirou The Coffin~</u>


    A century ago after a certain blood sucking troll finished reading Bram Stoker¡¯s Dracula.


    ¡°That was quite an interesting embellishment on my kinds habits and culture although most of it is untrue I admit it is somewhat kind of cool waking up from a coffin straight up.¡±


    Taking inspiration from the author¡¯s stories about his kind a maniacal grin finds its place in the aged Ancestor¡¯s face.


    For weeks the wizard marshal was in a period of non-action which brought the Clock tower relative peace unknown to them it was merely the calm before the storm.


    The next time anyone would see the wizard marshal he was carrying a silver coffin on his back, when the braver or more idiotic magus of the clock tower would asked what it was for the magician would say.


    ¡°This is my coffin. It¡¯s quite hard for my age too sleep without it. Unlike the other young 27 ancestor I am no longer as youthful as I wish to be. A decade or so ago it wouldn¡¯t bother me to sleep in what you human¡¯s call a bed but for any and all Dead Apostle a coffin is the proper way to slumber. Unfortunately magus such as ourselves lack in hospitality, so much so that not once since I existed has anyone offered proper sleeping arrangements for me and as powerful as I might be it would be uncouth for me to demand a coffin to my specifications from my hosts.¡±


    The questioners would then be embarrassed of their ignorance regarding the culture of Dead apostles. Thus began the rumor of vampires sleeping in coffins circulated in the clock tower, the younger students within the tower who has contact with the mundane world would further fuel these rumors in saying that they knew that vampires did indeed sleep in coffins often quoting Bram Stoker, unbeknownst to the older families that said author was merely a novelist rather they were thinking he was a researcher of Dead Apostles, not wanting to show their ignorance in front of the lesser families they merely nodded their head in compliance, moreover the troll would disguise himself as another dead apostle and carries The Coffin with him wherever he goes and would then repeat his explanations to those willing to listen while adding some lies and embellishment on how comfortable coffins are for the undead along with more common preferences of his people.


    Thus the rumor that vampires sleep in coffins became a fact in the clock tower.


    All in all it was supposed to be a harmless prank by the Wizard Marshall just to alleviate his boredom and be a trend setter in the process. Unfortunately the world had other plans.


    The Bartomeloi magus lineage one of the three great noble families of the clocktower has always been Lords and Rulers embodying perfection and nobility.


    When the information reached them, it came as a shock as that they themselves never knew of such culture among the Dead Apostles and considering that they had invited one of the oldest among the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors Trhvmn Ortenrosse, The White Wing Lord they would like to redeem themselves of their presumed ignorance in giving proper accommodation to the visiting Lord.


    ¡°This cannot stand, as the pillar of nobility in the clocktower we the Bartomeloi holder of the Blue-Blood Noble magic circuits must serve as an example of proper decorum.¡± Said the family head.


    He then sent Messengers towards The White Wing lord to ask for his preferred sleeping arrangements.


    ¡°Lord Trhvmn Ortenrosse, I came at the behest of the Head of The Bartomeloi family with a question regarding you visit.¡±


    ¡°Ask away servant, I am honored at the invitation from one of the longest lineage of magus in the Association¡±


    ¡°My master asks of thee. What Coffin would you like?¡±


    The old vampire just stared at the messenger for an uncomfortable amount of time before he answered.


    ¡°Why would your master ask that of me?¡± the old vampire asked with a raised eyebrow and a tinge of threat in his voice.


    The servant nervously answered the vampire.


    ¡°In order for us to prepare for your visit, your lordship. For when you arrive at the Bartomeloi state the family head hopes for you to slumber in a coffin peacefully.¡±


    Those were the last words the servant ever got to say for as soon as he finished his sentence his head was already detached from his body.


    ¡°How dare those filthy humans, even though they may be an old magus family that does not give them the right to threaten me. To invite me in their abode, then threaten me with death and to add insult to injury they send a messenger to me asking for my funeral, as if to show me that for them my death is a foregone conclusion. This insult will not go unpunished.¡±


    The old vampire raged towards the perceived threat so he beheaded all the messengers and sent them back to the Bartomeloi.


    The Blue-Blood Nobles takings this as a slight to their pride and a declaration of war responded in turn.


    So began the blood feud between the Bartomeloi family and the 17<sup>th</sup> Dead Apostle Ancestor Trhvmn Ortenrosse.


    It would be years later that both parties of the ongoing war would realize this misunderstanding but none of them would back down as blood has already been spilt, the first to lay down arms would take a heavy hit in their reputation something that both participants did not want.


    As for the cause of all this mess, he claimed ignorance of such events saying he was not an undertaker so he has no reason in carrying a coffin.


    Which the Magus Association indeed believe, as incorrigible Zeltrech is even he is not malicious enough to do something that endanger the lives of thousands for a mere prank.


    They are indeed correct in their assumptions for this act was indeed done without malice but a result of stupidity.


    When realization reach both parties of the blood feud, they called on a worldwide hunt for the holder of the Silver Coffin with the distinctive Skull design, though Zeltrech did disguise himself he did not disguise the coffin, thinking it was a conspiracy and a setup made for them to fight each other and weaken their respective standings both agreed that the miscreant who spread such rumors should be captured and punished, thus for the first time since the Blood Feud started they came to an agreement that a bounty will be issued.


    Due to the current state of unrest between the two and the desire to show up their competitor both sides has pledge to pay ridiculous amount for the capture of the perpetrator, the amount was so ridiculous that it even caught the attention of one of the remaining True Magician ¡°The Blue¡± Aoko Aozaki, it was reported that when she heard of the news regarding the amount she dropped whatever it was she was doing and prepared to find the perpetrator while laughing maniacally and repeatedly muttering in soft vindictive whispers ¡°No¡­more...debts¡­forever¡­No¡­more¡­debts¡­forever.¡±


    Thus even to this day the hatred between the Bartomeloi family and the White Wing Lord still persist, any and all dead apostle wandering around with a coffin are killed without question in the clocktower without repercussion from the 27 Dead apostle Ancestor, and to this day The Legend of the Silver Coffin and its owner is spoken throughout the moonlit world as the object that has the highest bounty for any freelancer paid for by One of the Three noble Houses of The Magus Association and one of the oldest of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors and the only one in the recorded history to avoid the wrath of ¡°The Blue¡±.


    At the present day after dropping Shirou and the coffin in another reality the Master of The Kaleidoscope let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Finally, I was able to get rid of that blasted thing. I can finally invite people here again without the dangers of having someone find that accursed coffin. What was I thinking making that thing out of One of Earths Strongest metal anyway? Oh yeah it¡¯s because fuck the police, the master of the Kaleidoscope rolls in Style.¡± He looked all around his empty abode and wondered.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ what should I do? Now that I can have people moving about freely here I can finally take on apprentices again. At last I can have servants for this place again without risk of them outing me to Lorelai and Trhvmn for that goddamn ridiculous reward. I mean how the hell did that bounty get so high anyway? Not to mention how many Islands that damn Aoko disintegrated just to find it. Well considering young Shirou will not likely come back I think my problems concerning that Coffin are all but over.¡±


    Unknown to Shirou Emiya the Iron-Wrought Magus even before becoming a pirate he already became the most wanted man in the moonlit-world.


    {[(<u>I am a line break; thou should treat thee with the respect thee deserves for I am invaluable.)</u>]}


    It has been a week since I arrived here in this world and the things I have discovered here leads me to the conclusion that this world is insane.


    First and foremost I am here in one of the blues surrounding the Grandline specifically the East Blue in an island where Shell¡¯s Town was located which, thankfully it is a relatively peaceful town where a marine outpost is located.


    Though I did not stay in said town for convenience sake, I do visit daily however to gather information and necessary rations for me. While I perform experiments and improvements in my mage craft and to create a style that incorporates the huge weapon carrier of the coffin, as well to familiarize myself with the newly acquired gunblades that the old troll has graciously given me.


    The cave I find myself is near the town¡¯s port to which there are only few people making it extremely convenient for me to practice magecraft. Well to be totally honest my spells are not totally flashy or even noticeable as the only one I¡¯ve been practicing is reinforcement on my muscles and few projections and my personal spell tracing to which the cave where I fist woke up is enough for me which I further repurposed as a temporary home and workshop.


    The thing about this world that would make modern magus of my world drool with satisfaction is the amount of ambient prana in the air and the seemingly non-existent interference of Gaia towards magecraft. The effect of said circumstances was a boon for me considering my bed and basically all the things I own were made from my projection spell.


    Though Gaia does not seem to exist in this world it does not mean there is no overarching spirit of authority regarding the magical aspects in this world which by my observation is concentrated mostly with the sea and the different bodies of water.


    I first noticed it when I planned to go fishing, having planned to do so I projected a simple fishing rod and cast out to the sea but by the time the hook came in contact with the water it started crumbling to prana and dissipated in the air.


    The scope off effect may be smaller than the one in my original world as it only takes effect in bodies of water but I assure you it is no less troubling considering most of this worlds geography is characterized by water.


    The more concerning thing about this though is the rate of degradation of magecraft spells when coming in contact with the sea.


    The speed is by far faster than that of my old world where my normal projections would at the very least last about a minute or two to be used and my well-crafted ones about an hour before being disassembled by the time it makes contact with the sea its degradation starts almost immediately.


    I was quite thankful for Zeltrech-san for the weapon¡¯s he gave me though as they were not made from the prana of this world it seems it is recognized as an original when I tested Kanshou by dipping it in the sea it was not degraded even a bit.


    It is quite helpful that at least I won¡¯t be disarmed if I ever fell into the sea.


    Falling to the sea is another problem in and of itself however as it seems I can¡¯t absorb or channel any prana while I¡¯m swimming.


    Given I can still swim but falling in the sea seals away any magecraft I perform even basic reinforcement as all the Od stored in my body is being sucked away and returned to nature making me an average mortal.


    As most of this world involves sea faring and lands are few and far in between it seems that travelling is a lot more dangerous than I first thought it was.


    Though my magecraft may be a little bit crippled this world has its advantages on the physical aspect.


    When I said that this world¡¯s age of piracy is comparable to my own world¡¯s age of heroes, I never imagine how right I was in that statement.


    Due to the abundant prana in the air it permeates and is absorbed by the body directly strengthening it and this is not only applicable to humans but to the plants and animals as well making their nutritional value higher than my own worlds counterpart.


    Given the information I gathered I truly fear what monsters resides in this world given the nature they were raised in and planning how to catch up with said monsters so day by day I practice my magecraft and took advantage of the ambient prana in the air and improve my physical condition.


    Another surprise I have had was being enamored with playing the guitar.


    At first I was suspicious at said guitar for the side effect that Zeltrech warned me about, but bit by bit I think I¡¯m starting to enjoy it.


    Without cooking to help me relax playing the guitar was a good alternative. I did try to make a kitchen and cook in my cave but unfortunately rather than cook a good meal I would more than likely suffocate myself to death for the lack of ventilation.


    Oh¡­ the promiseland of food and spices how I miss thee.


    How unfortunate really subsisting on roasted fish and wild fruits and vegetables.


    Thank the root for structural analysis cause the some fruits and fishes here look weird as hell and had no clue whether they were edible or not, the surplus of my catch I exchange for currency called Ber¨©.


    I avoided using the gold and jewels because it looks mighty suspicious for a stranger carrying loads of precious metal and I might get targeted by the more malice filled people, considering how much trouble I attract I opted to be on the careful side.


    That being said the huge chunk of silver, which is the grotesque looking coffin, is firmly hidden inside the cave.


    To hell with the magician¡¯s entertainment, no way in all hell will I drag that abomination across town.


    I might be forced to travel with it one day but that day is not today.


    Because today will just be another ordinary boring day without any dramatic bullshit that my life has become with no climactic meetings or any of that destiny crap.


    Those were the thought I keep thinking as I was walking to the market carrying my catch for the day.


    My path however is blocked by a gawking crowed it seems, me being my meddlesome self can¡¯t help but become curious, in the week that I arrived here I mostly kept to myself and it seems that my hero-complex-bullheadedness choose now of all times to manifest.


    As I was getting closer I was hearing murmurs from around me.


    ¡°Is that really him. Isn¡¯t he a bit young for a demon.¡±


    ¡°Sshhh don¡¯t be so loud he might hear you and slaughter your whole family.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯d he get caught anyway, I heard he was ridiculously strong.¡±


    ¡°Seems like he surrendered.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ really, I don¡¯t believe it, just look at those eyes does that look like the eyes of a man that surrendered.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ really how can you tell.¡±


    ¡°Hmph¡­ a real man knows.¡±


    ¡°pshhhh¡­ your just making shit up¡±


    ¡°Is that really Roronoa Zoro, he doesn¡¯t look much, a bit on the scrawny side if you ask me, compared to Captain Morgan.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he is quite small, maybe the marines just using some kid as a stand in for propaganda.¡±


    ¡°Not another word man, wanna be executed, if those marines heard you and reported it to Captain Morgan, your heads gonna roll¡±


    As I was making my way through the crowd I tried listening to the rumors going around trying to pick up anything relevant.


    The ones of importance I get to hear were the words, ¡°demon¡±, ¡°pirate hunter¡±, ¡°bounty hunter¡± and the name Roronoa Zoro


    Is it me or does his name sound familiar.


    As I was finally able to walk in front of the crowd I saw a bandana wearing man with a haramaki tied around his waist sporting an evil glare conveying something akin to ¡°mess with me and you¡¯ll wish you¡¯d ended up in your mother¡¯s stomach rather than her womb¡±


    I watched him as he got dragged towards the marine base and got tied up in the wooden cross on the Bases courtyard.


    I asked the man beside me what¡¯s happening.


    ¡°Mister, who¡¯s that guy?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know kid, that right there is Roronoa Zoro.¡± I tilted my head in confusion and wonder where I heard that name before.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t know do you kid, I wonder if you¡¯re just ignorant or a visitor cause almost everyone in east blue knows who pirate hunter Zoro is.¡±


    ¡°Well to be honest I just arrived in this town a week ago and don¡¯t really know anything about what¡¯s happening here.¡±


    ¡°Oh well that explains why you don¡¯t know him then. Let me explain this for you kid. That person right there is the most famous bounty hunter in east blue right now. It is said that pirates tremble and flee at the mere sight of his shadow, he¡¯s brought pirates down with bounties of more than 1 million berries in more than one occasion, it is said that he is as ruthless and as monstrous as the pirates he hunts, rumor has it that he fights and slaughters like an uncaged beast when he hunts for his next prey.¡± I furrowed my brow at his explanation, a bounty hunter huh maybe I should try being one or maybe I could be a marine. It would be nice being the hero of the marines and the ones to end the age of pirates, which would surely help a lot of people sleep at night knowing pirates will no longer come.


    ¡°Well if he¡¯s a bounty hunter, why is he being arrested and displayed in the marine base? Did he commit a crime or something? Like he hurt civilians in his hunt or destroyed important buildings like that?¡±


    ¡°Well, to be honest lad I really don¡¯t know. All I¡¯ve heard is that he caused some kind of trouble at Ririka¡¯s bar.¡±


    ¡°Could you tell me where the bar is?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I can , but can I ask what do you plan to do there, being curious is okay and good in your age but troubling the owner¡¯s just to satisfy your curiosity is pretty mean spirited don¡¯t you think.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I won¡¯t go there just for the rumors, I was just wondering if that person really did cause some trouble there they could use a hand or two in cleaning up or helping the injured, if there are any.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a pretty nice kid aintcha, young¡¯uns like you are quite rare now a days.¡± I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment for the old guys compliment. ¡°just go down that road and turn left at the second alley then¡­.¡±


    After following the old man¡¯s direction I reached the bar where said bounty hunter wreaked havoc, and wreak havoc he did the entrance of the bar has been kicked out of its hinges with broken tables and chairs inside.


    I entered inside the establishment and after the first step I detected the smell I came to know throughout the events of the Holy Grail War, the stench of blood and going by the iron-y waft in the air the person was recently wounded.


    I clenched my hands in anger towards the perpetrator of the crime and justified that he is getting what he deserves at the moment. Being crucified under the sun may not be the punishment I would go for but, who am I to question their judicial system, maybe he is just being held there before his trial anyway.


    So lost was I in my thoughts and plans of staking out the place to make sure that the culprit would not escape that I didn¡¯t notice the middle age woman walking towards me holding a bucket of water with cloth rags.


    ¡°Ano¡­ I¡¯m sorry but we are close at the moment so I¡¯m sorry but we can¡¯t welcome any customers.¡± I blinked at the woman who called out to me.


    I was so flustered from being pulled out from my train of thought that my brain needed to reboot for a second and realizing I was still holding the fish I caught earlier in the day I inadvertently said the first thing that came to mind.


    ¡°Do you want some fish?¡±


    The woman looked at the bundle of fish I have then, to me, then back to the fish. She let out an exasperated sigh and said


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but as you can see the bar is in no need of fish at the moment.¡±


    ¡°heh¡­hehe¡± I tried to laugh out my embarrassment but she and I both know that it wasn¡¯t working even in the slightest


    ¡°If that is all you came here for young man then I suggest you leave, I¡¯m busy cleaning up here you see.¡± She said in a harsher tone.


    ¡°Well if you let me I can help out if you want.¡±


    ¡°That is a nice offer young man but I¡¯m afraid I still won¡¯t be buying nor needing the fish so would you please leave.¡±


    ¡°uhm ¡­ I¡¯m not here to sell the fish, I just wanna help out.¡±


    The lady just eyed me suspiciously.


    ¡°Haaah.. young man I admire your dedication in selling your catch but you are bothering others who are in the middle of work right now so for the last time, please leave¡±


    Dammit this conversation is not going the way I hope for at all. To hell with the fish. Tsk


    ¡°Fine , you get the fish for free just let me help.¡±


    The lady then blinked in confusion unbelieving of what I said then eyed me with a guarded and pitying look


    ¡°What are you playing at young man, I may be a widow but I have no interest in a man who by the looks of it is half my age, I may not look it but I have a daughter to look after so take your lascivious games elsewhere.¡±


    I sweat dropped at what the lady said, sure she looks beautiful and all but I didn¡¯t come here for that.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am with all due respect you are attractive but I promise I am not here to court you, I. CAME. HERE.TO.HELP. nothing more nothing less¡± raising my voice to prevent the misunderstanding from spiraling further.


    ¡°ARA¡­ if you want to help you should¡¯ve just said so without going on a segway about fish.¡±


    I have no response to that, it was really my fault.


    ¡°Sorry¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay young man. My name is Ririka by the way.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Shirou, nice to meet you Ririka-san¡± I held out my hand in a hand shake to which she responded in kind


    ¡°Now that the introductions are over, would you mind putting the fish in the kitchen, my bar is starting to smell like the wet market, after that you can start helping around.¡± I quickly went to the direction she pointed towards.


    After I put the fish in the ice box they have, I look around the kitchen with envy. How long has it been since I¡¯ve cooked in a proper kitchen, oh yeah 8 days at most, haaah it feels like forever.


    As I was getting out of the kitchen I noticed a little girl walking towards me and when she notices me her eyes widen in surprise and a bit of fear, must be Ririka¡¯s daughter.


    ¡°Who are you? What are you doing here?¡± She asks in a shaky voice trying to hide her fear, I raised my hand in a position akin to surrender to make her less wary of me.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a guy asked by your mom to help out in cleaning the bar¡±


    She relaxed a bit after I said that I know her mother.


    ¡°I see, thank you for helping out mister.¡±


    ¡°No worries about it, when I heard the bounty hunter caused trouble here I came to help out as much as I can¡± smiling towards the little girl to show my friendliness, it was to my complete surprise however that she began shouting at me.


    ¡°NOOO¡­ IT WAS NOT GREEN HAIRED-NIISANS FAULT. IT¡¯S ALL BECAUSE OF THAT IDIOT HELMEPPO.¡±


    ¡°Calm down, calm down, I¡¯m so sorry for saying something that upsets you.¡±


    ¡°Ahhhh¡­ sorry mister.¡± She embarrassingly looks at the ground.


    ¡°Ara¡­ what¡¯s happening here?¡± Ririka walks towards us with concern in her voice.


    ¡°Nothing at all mom, mister here just surprised me that¡¯s all, I did not know we have guests.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Shirou-san I haven¡¯t introduced you to my daughter Rika yet, Rika this is Shirou-san he came here to help clean the place up, Shirou-san this is my daughter Rika.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you Rika-chan I came here to help out, uhm what were you saying about the green haired-niisan and Helmeppo being an idiot.¡±


    ¡°RIKA, what did I tell you about speaking bad things about Helmeppo if the marines hear you they might hurt you.¡±


    Huh this exchange is confusing the heck out of me it seems like I¡¯m missing something important, well I should just ask then.


    ¡°Ano¡­ I don¡¯t know about this Helmeppo person but isn¡¯t the name of the person who messed up your bar Roronoa Zoro the bounty hunter.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ green haired-niisan didn¡¯t do it he just protected me from the idiot Helmeppo¡¯s pet wolf¡­¡± a pet wolf, really even in my world no sane person would ever try to domesticate a wolf and I can only imagine the wolves living in this world where prana is abundant in the air.


    ¡°¡­when it tried to attack me so green haired-niisan has no choice but to kill it¡±


    ¡°So let me get this straight the damage to the bar and the smell of blood is from a loose pet wolf of this Helmeppo person which Roronoa-san most likely killed to protect you.¡±


    Rika nodded just nodded her head while her mother just disapprovingly shook hers.


    ¡°Then we should tell the Marines that they caught the wrong person and report this Helmeppo person so Roronoa-san can be released.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not possible Shirou-san¡±


    ¡°Why not Ririka-san if we explain it properly they should understand that Zoro-san did nothing wrong and the Helmeppo person should be the one to be punished.¡±


    ¡°It seems you¡¯re not from here Shirou-san so you don¡¯t understand our position. Helmeppo is not just anyone around here he is the son of Captain Axe Morgan the person currently in charge of this town¡¯s marine branch and the ruling power around this parts. Even if we did report it to the marines they would do nothing about it. In fact when Helmeppo barged in to our bar followed by his pet wolf he was escorted by the very same marines that arrested Roronoa-san¡±


    ¡°But¡­ But¡­ THAT¡¯S NOT RIGHT. They are the marines they should uphold the law and protect justice not abuse it.¡± I grit my teeth in anger as the reality of the situation dawned on me.


    So much for my plan in enlisting in the marines. I should have expected it, in any organization as big as theirs corruption is inevitable, but to brazenly do it without worrying about the consequences is just sickening, to imagine how deep the corruption goes is worrying. No wonder even after 20 years the Great Pirate age is still in full swing the incompetence of the marines is mind boggling.


    ¡°WHY¡­ Why doesn¡¯t someone report something to the other branches or the headquarters?¡±


    ¡°We did try Shirou-san, the former mayor tried to get in contact with others but it was hopeless, the letters are being monitored by Captain Morgan himself and anyone who questions his authority is Executed, some tried to travel to other islands to ask for help but the only vessels available to us civilians are dinghy¡¯s and fishing boats that wouldn¡¯t last long in the open seas and even if it did it can¡¯t contain enough food to reach the nearest ones, the only one that can travel for trade are the merchants in Morgan¡¯s pocket, and when the annual inspection of the outpost comes the inspector is bribed by Morgan so no report about his corruption ever reaches the ears of others.¡±


    This, this is far worse than I expected. I have to do something , anything, I can¡¯t just let an innocent man suffer because of blatant nepotism and corruption.


    ¡°Shirou-san where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to plan how to break Roronoa-san out of the base.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that Shirou-san.¡±


    ¡°Why not Ririka-san?¡± I asked her with a little anger in my voice.


    ¡°Because green haired-niisan can escape if he wanted too¡± Rika said in a soft weak voice.


    ¡°Huh, what do you mean?¡± I turned towards Rika.


    ¡°When the bad guys tried to arrest him he fought them off without killing anyone and just threatened them but Helmeppo said that he would execute me and mom if he escape, and green haired-niisan does not want to be a bad guy so he made a deal with Helmeppo that if he survived a month tied to the post he will go free and me and mom won¡¯t be executed.¡±


    Shit, shit, shit so that¡¯s the big picture if I saved him Zoro-san then I¡¯ll be sentencing Ririka and Rika to the gallows. Damn it. I hate this, I hate being so weak that I can¡¯t do anything.


    ¡°I know how it feels Shirou-san, the shame of being so weak that you can¡¯t do anything, so weak that you have to rely on another person, a stranger at that to save your daughter¡¯s life. The only thing I can do is pray that he survives the following month.¡±


    I know deep within that it is impossible for him to survive a month in there with no food or water but I can¡¯t help but admire his tenacity to accept such a deal, if Illya-nee were here he would undoubtedly say that it was a bone head move only the brain of Shirou Emiya can think of.


    I can¡¯t help but feel respect towards the idiotic bounty hunter and at the same time utterly frustrated, if this was how Illya-nee, Rin, and Arthuria felt whenever I had one of my bright ideas then I admit they are completely within their right to berate me in my stupidity.


    Even with the grimness of the situation I can¡¯t help but sport a slight grin in finding a kindred spirit in all of this. If only there is a way to meet him. Wait a minute; I just need to meet him.


    If the deal was for him to survive for a month tied up to that post then I just need to make sure he does survive.


    ¡°Ririka-san can I request to borrow your kitchen after we¡¯re done cleaning the place up?¡±


    ¡°Of course Shirou-san, For what exactly?¡±


    ¡°To cook a meal of course.¡±


    {[(<u>I am a line break; I have been working 24/7/365, Dear employer I demand a raise.)</u>]}


    Well that was certainly a long day of cleaning and fixing stuff not that I can complain I was finally able to cook in a proper kitchen after a long while.


    I kept thinking about what I was gonna do now regarding the bounty hunter named Roronoa Zoro.


    Roronoa Zoro something about his name sound vaguely familiar.


    Roronoa Zoro¡­ Roronoa Zoro¡­ Roronoa Zoro¡­ Rolonoa Zoro¡­ Lolonoa Zoro¡­ Lolonoa Zoro


    That¡¯s it Lolonoa, I know we Japanese butchers our L¡¯s and R¡¯s at time but even then this is just ridiculous, now I know where I heard it from Lolonoa the pronunciation for l¡¯Olannais as in Francois l¡¯Olannais a famous buccaneer well known for his use of swords in torture and his sacking of a town defended by a fortress that was reputed to be nigh impregnable.


    Well considering the characters they exhibited I guess the names are just coincidences or maybe he is this world¡¯s counterpart. Well learning about it doesn¡¯t really change much, he¡¯s still an innocent man that walked the noble path of saving others. Hmmm maybe being a bounty hunter wasn¡¯t so bad after all.


    When I decided to infiltrate the marine base I expected myself to have a few close calls or experience nerve wracking stealth and concealment operation or maybe knockout a few guards to accomplish my mission.


    The reality however was underwhelming, do they even have a sense of security here. What kind of root-forsaken idiot leaves an outpost like this without defenses, no patrols, no guards, no night-watch, no warning systems, it makes me feel like an idiot being nervous breaking in.


    Even Rika could infiltrate this base all she needs is a ladder to go over the fence and viola she¡¯s in.


    Really what kind of idiot is the man in charge here, they ought to make him pay back his salary, well what can you expect from a corrupt idiot motivated by ego rather than duty.


    These building may don the flag of the marines but this is no marine base its just a decoration, a flagpole used to flaunt power but in truth contains no substance that constitutes or even resembles any modicum of strength


    Really, just really no wonder pirate fills every corner of this world¡¯s seas now a day.


    I just climb up a fence and casually strolled towards the prisoner where all the supposedly guardians of justice are off taking their beauty sleep.


    ¡°Who are you? Get out of here before anyone could see you.¡± He called out to me even before reaching 3 meters from him.


    Quite impressive considering I muffled my steps and approached from his blindside.


    ¡°Just a concerned citizen that wants to help.¡± As I continued walking towards him


    ¡°Don¡¯t need it. Get lost before you get hurt.¡± I then came face to face with him and even with the dim light from the marine outpost I can see that the person in front to me is young, far younger than I expected him to be.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong I know that looks and age doesn¡¯t really necessarily equate to strength, Arthuria can certainly kick my ass seven ways to Sunday while looking like a cute 15 year old, but when I imagined meeting the most fearsome bounty hunter in this part of the world I never imagine coming face to face with a young man 2 to 4 years older than me.


    ¡°Stop gawking you bastard. Just do what you gotta do and leave me alone.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that I didn¡¯t expect you to be so young after all.¡±


    ¡°Hmph¡­ look who¡¯s talking you look a lot younger than me. Now you¡¯re here and I¡¯m here just do what you gotta do and leave me the fuck alone.¡±


    ¡°huh? What do you mean what I gotta do?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb with me asshole these is what you weaklings do after all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little confused here Pirate Hunter-san do you want me to do something. OH. I know, do you want me to help you escape?¡±


    ¡°HELL NO. I told that butt-chinned dick-head that I can survive a month here, then I will damn well survive.¡±


    ¡°Oy don¡¯t raise your voice like that, it¡¯s the middle of the night have some consideration for the sleeping marines after all they must be quite tired guarding you.¡± My voice dripping with sarcasm


    ¡°As if they need to guard me, I gave them my word after all I ain¡¯t escaping until I fulfilled my promise. So are you done with the questions?¡±


    ¡°uhm. There¡¯s one more thing. What do you expect me to do here?.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious what you came here to do, you¡¯re a punk ass bastard whose got no balls playing a dare game with your friends trying to prove you¡¯ve got a pair. So whatcha gonna do to prove them wrong, gonna kick me in the balls, spit at my face, punch me in the gut, it¡¯s the dealers choice right now pick one or pick all I don¡¯t give a damn, cause that¡¯s what weaklings are in the end, taking advantage when you know others can¡¯t fight back.¡± I sweat dropped at the stupidity of his statement is he some who doesn¡¯t think that anything good happens in his life, what a pessimist.


    As I finished that train of thought it felt like I just kicked myself in the ass for some reason.


    ¡°Sorry to disappoint, I¡¯m not here for something that exciting I¡¯m just here to feed you food after all.¡±


    ¡°GO A-W-A-Y. I don¡¯t need your fucking pity.¡±


    ¡°Could you lower your voice man it won¡¯t look good if I get caught here, it¡¯s a fucking embarrassment just to be caught in a base with no fucking defenses after all.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t wanna get caught then don¡¯t fucking go here. I said I¡¯d survive for a month here tied to this post and I won¡¯t let you fucking ruin my word of honor.¡±


    ¡°Well technically you¡¯re still tied in the post and he never really said you can¡¯t eat or drink. Did they?¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s not the point it¡¯s a matter of pride, I don¡¯t need your pity to survive.¡±


    ¡°Its not pity you hard headed idiot¡­¡± I know this is quite a hypocritical statement coming from me but this idiot is slowly getting on my nerves, sheesh if this is what its like dealing with me then I need to grovel and apologize to everyone in my life starting with Rin and Illya-nee. ¡°¡­ consider it as thanks for saving the little girl at the bar, Rika¡±


    That stunned him in silence a bit and took a look at the lunch box I¡¯m holding, well it¡¯s technically a dinner box considering the time but oh well.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need thanks. I just did what I did because the mutt was disturbing my lunch, now that we clear, you don¡¯t have to do anything like that. They owe me nothing and I don¡¯t want to owe you anything¡±


    Why do I always need to deal with a prideful egotistical narcissist?


    ¡°Considering you did all those things for your own selfishness then you can¡¯t say anything about me doing something for my own selfishness.¡± A walk towards him and opened the packed dinner I prepared


    ¡°I told you that I only did it because the mutt was bothering me.¡±


    ¡°Well I only do this because its feels good feeding people so how is that any different from yours.¡±


    He looked at me in silence for a minute and gave a smug grin.


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t want to criticize the fetish that gets you off but if you can just leave me out of it I¡¯ll be fine and all.¡±


    Okay that¡¯s it did this asshole just insinuate something lewd about my love for cooking.


    ¡°At least what I do doesn¡¯t get me bound in ropes and be made a display as an exhibit for all to see, or maybe that is what you¡¯re really going for, well my friend I won¡¯t judge whatever floats your boat or maybe in this case raises your anchor.¡± I channeled my inner archer to make the statement drip with vile sarcasm from beginning to end.


    I was filled with victorious glee as I see my opponent in this duel of words sport a bulging vein in his forehead.


    ¡°See here you--hmphhh¡± I shoved a spoonful of fish in his mouth before finishing the sentence.


    After tasting the dish I cooked he stopped talking and as if an intense battle of will and desire was unfolding inside his mind and everything in the world stopped for a moment, what he did next sent me into a frenzy of unholy rage.


    That bastard, that whore of a mother animal fucking gangbanged son of a hundred beast bastard dare spit out the first dish I cooked in a week.


    Even before the tied up bastard could¡¯ve even gloat over my ticked of reaction I lunged towards him clenching his jaw trying to pry it open and failing miserably.


    ¡°What kind of fucking jaw muscles do you have you root-damned bastard?¡±


    ¡°Muscles a weakling like you can never have¡± the gloating smug son of a whore just keep grinding on my nerves. Time for plan b I suppose, I pinched his nose trying to make him breathe through his mouth.


    ¡°If I clench my teeth like this while I open my mouth to breath, makes it impossible for you to feed me anything.¡± That¡¯s the final straw this bastard is going down, I¡¯m done playing nice.


    I did a karate chop directly into his Adam¡¯s apple to loosen the grit in his teeth, then I shoved a huge chunk of fish, bones and all into his mouth, and before he can even think about spitting it again I hammered my fist directly in his chest to force a gag reflex making him swallow the whole thing without chewing.


    I was quite happy and satisfied in how things turned out, helping people in trouble really is the greatest piece of happiness a man can find in this ever changing world, especially if said kindness was done towards people who also gave the said kindness to others.


    I was certainly not happy because of how Roronoa-san face turned from a pale sickly green to suffocated purple, I was happy because he could finally enjoy a sumptuous meal considering he has not been fed all day.


    I was certainly not happy on how he pleadingly gazed at the jar of water I brought with me while I purposely slowed down my movements to prolong his agony, NO. I was happy because he can now graciously accept the help I¡¯m offering openly without antagonizing me.


    I was certainly not happy on how he was gurgling intelligibly as he was drowning in the water as I held the water jar in a way that the water level both covers his nose and mouth, no sir. I was happy on how he is slowly gaining back the fluids he lost during the day while refilling his reserves for what¡¯s to come tomorrow.


    Isn¡¯t helping our fellow man such an enjoyable thing to do?


    ¡°Youu¡­* spits up surplass water*¡­ sadistic son of a ¡­*coughing roughly*¡­ wench¡­*trying to gurgle out the stuck fishbone in his throat*¡­ What kind conscienceless cur punches someone in the throat?¡±


    ¡°The kind that is forced to deal with thankless and uncooperative assholes that spits out a person¡¯s hard work.¡±


    ¡°Concerned citizen my ass. I bet you¡¯re just a marine in disguise sent to torture me.¡±


    ¡°Believe what you want asshole but I just came here to help you whether you like it or not.¡±


    ¡°Meddlesome bastard.¡±


    ¡°Same to you bandana man, being meddlesome is what got you in here.¡±


    ¡°Hmph¡­ I can get through this with or without you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to make sure you do whether you like it or not. Oh look at that there are a lot of fishes left it would be such a waste to let it go to waste.¡±


    ¡°Bastard you wouldn¡¯t dare.¡±


    ¡°Oh really I wouldn¡¯t, what would you do then? Escape from them and break your word. As you said right now I am here and you¡¯re there pick one or pick all it¡¯s the dealers choice, would you like to know how many more combination of attack I have, to make you open those pearly whites of yours¡­¡± a sadistic gleam appeared in my eyes matched by an equally terrifying smile.


    The look of horror on the bounty hunter¡¯s face was priceless beyond all measure of currency.


    ¡°¡­or would you rather cooperate and make these less painful than it is supposed to be.¡±


    ¡°Bastard when I get out of these in a month I¡¯ll make sure every inch of your body will be begging for death.¡±


    ¡°Promises, promises, just shut up and eat already the dish is getting cold.¡±


    After getting the prideful bastard to cooperate with me the process got faster and without the constant antagonizing towards each other it made us more tolerable with each other, though me feeding another guy is really quite awkward for both of us.


    ¡°Oy conscienceless cur can I ask you something?¡±


    ¡°What is it thankless asshole?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a swordsman aren¡¯t you.¡±


    ¡°Are you asking? Or are you telling?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling, no I¡¯m confirming what I already know.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to say but I¡¯m no swordsman.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me bastard the callouses on your hand when you grabbed my jaw, those were formed from holding a sword, not katana¡¯s but swords nonetheless. So I¡¯m asking you again, are you a swordsman?¡±


    ¡°My answer is still the same, I know a little bit on how to use a sword but I¡¯m no swordsman I¡¯m more of a sword brawler.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. What¡¯s the difference if you fight with a sword then you might as well be a swordsman?¡±


    ¡°Well first and foremost its teachings and discipline. I was never properly trained on how to use a sword I just stick them with the pointy end and slash with the sharp edge. I didn¡¯t pick up a sword to fight, I was forced to carry them to survive. I never really like fighting you see when I use a sword I used it the service of others, it was always for the sake of others and never myself, and that what separates me from a swordsman, a swordsman sees the sword as a part of themselves an extension of their will, how can I be a swordsman if I have no will of my own.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just become one then?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Maybe, if I do will you teach me?¡±


    ¡°Nah¡­ too much hustle. Can¡¯t be a master yet, maybe after I fulfilled my dream maybe then.¡±


    ¡°Thank the root, I thought you were going to accept, that was meant to be a joke.¡±


    ¡°Conscienceless cur, what¡¯s your name?*kimi no nawa?*¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Shirou, Shirou Emiya. Nice to meet you thankless asshole.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine thanks for the food you praise monger, I¡¯m Zoro by the way, Roronoa Zoro. I¡¯d shake your hand but as you can see they are rather preoccupied in the moment.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯d just wait till they aren¡¯t tied up then, I¡¯d best be going now see you again tomorrow l¡¯Olannais.¡±


    ¡°Tsk¡­ don¡¯t change my name like you wish, and go choke on your breakfast Emiya.¡±


    That¡¯s how my first meeting with Roronoa Zoro went. Heading back to my cave I kept thinking on how fast he was able to identify me as a sword wielder. Well more topics for discussion tomorrow I guess.

 Its A Pirates Life For Me

    I woke up refreshed after dealing with that thankless bastard knowing that I can help him


    Seriously though, are the Marines of the world government really that bad?


    I mean they stationed no guards for a prisoner who has mere ropes binding him.


    Well there was that threat about Ririka-san and her daughter, but the threat in and of itself was something the marines should not do.


    This world is insane.


    Well let¡¯s just get on with my day and catch some fish.


    My day goes on as usual, practicing my magecraft, reading the books about runes and alteration and bounded fields given to me by Zeltrech-san, getting used to fighting with the coffin, practicing with the different weapons and going to Ririka¡¯s bar to help and practice playing with the guitar.


    When night fell I prepared myself again to infiltrate the marine base.


    Like last time Roronoa-san detected me as I got closer.


    ¡°So you came back again, huh. What is it you want this time?¡± Damn his instincts, he is sharp.


    ¡°Same as last time I came here to feed you. So are we going to be stubborn again today?¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± The inconsiderate asshole snorted in my direction. ¡°Might as well eat the crap you¡¯re offering so I can go back to my peace and quiet.¡±


    ¡°Oy, quit calling my cooking crap just be glad I¡¯m feeding you thankless asshole.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, who ever needed your help conscienceless bastard.¡± Dealing with this asshole is really thinning down my patience and that is saying something considering that I was fucking friends with Shinji Matou, well Shinji never did insult my cooking.


    ¡°Are we really doing this again l¡¯Olonais? Do you want to remember how that went for you last time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s RO-RO-NO-A asshole not l¡¯Olonais. What a dumb idiot, can¡¯t even remember my name right and for the record Emiya if I weren¡¯t tied up in this god forsaken post I would¡¯ve kicked your ass already.¡±


    ¡°Fortunately for me and unfortunately for you as it stands yesterday and tonight as well you still are and you have no one else to blame but yourself, so quit whining and just eat.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a swordsman you bastard I don¡¯t whine I threaten. Believe me when I said that I¡¯ll make every inch of you beg for death after I get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Well if you do survive this in a month I might just take you up on that beating you promise Roronoa after all I¡¯m here to make sure you are still alive to get out of here, so if you can just be a good boy and eat your dinner, we can gut each other after you get out of here in a month.¡±


    ¡°Hoho¡­ you have balls Emiya I give you that or maybe your just all talk and run away before I get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not, why don¡¯t we find out in a month then?¡±


    ¡°If that isn¡¯t a challenge then I don¡¯t know what is.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s called banter Roronoa, well take it as you will as long as you survive I¡¯m game.¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha¡­ Well maybe getting tied up in here isn¡¯t as bad as I thought, I hope you bring your A-game then Emiya, just because you¡¯re helping me now doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll hold back when it¡¯s against a fellow swordsman.¡±


    ¡°I told you before I¡¯m no swordsman.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care as long as you¡¯re strong and fight with a sword then in my eyes you¡¯re a swordsman.¡±


    ¡°Stubborn bastard, here open your mouth I¡¯m gonna feed you now and if you dare fucking spit it out again , I promise you one way or the other this food will end up in your stomach either it enters through your mouth or your rear-end wouldn¡¯t matter to me.¡±


    ¡°Geez fine, whatever you say you conscienceless bastard, you get a little bit scary when it comes to food huh.¡±


    ¡°Just shut up and eat.¡±


    After feeding the thankless asshole I had hope to engage him with some questions I wanted to know about this world.


    Considering the amount of prana in the air I assume that the dangers this world possesses would be larger and stronger than that of my own and quite frankly I am interested in being a bounty hunter, considering what I¡¯ve seen in the marines and being a pirate to my knowledge is just plain deplorable so being a bounty hunter is quite frankly my best chance in being a hero during this times.


    Who better to ask about the bounty hunter lifestyle than a famous one that I¡¯m currently in the process of feeding.


    ¡°Oy, there¡¯s no more food left so you can leave now Emiya.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ can I ask you a question?¡± the bastard glared at me before answering.


    ¡°Depends on the question. If I don¡¯t want to answer then I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough I suppose. What¡¯s it like being a bounty hunter I mean?¡±


    ¡°Well truth be told Emiya I¡¯m not really sure, cause I¡¯m no bounty hunter.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ but the people around town said that you were one. They even say that you are East Blues strongest bounty hunter bringing in bounties left and right and not just any bounties I mean, they said you hunt those with bounties over a million berries. Are you telling me that they are just rumours?¡±


    ¡°No, I did those things it¡¯s just I kinda did it by accident.¡±


    ¡°Huh, what do you mean you did it by accident? Its not like you just walk in to a pirates turf unprompted and without investigation right?...¡± the said not-a-bounty hunter turned his head away sheepishly at my question ¡°¡­seriously you didn¡¯t right?¡± walking in right into pirates territory while inland is improbable right.


    ¡°Ahem¡­ it sorta happened that way a few times.¡± Wait did he just say a few times


    ¡°How many times did it happen once, twice or maybe three times?¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡± The not-a-bounty hunter mumbled something under his breath.


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°I said everytime okay?¡±


    ¡°How the hell did that happen?¡±


    ¡°It just happens okay. It¡¯s not my fault they ran into me all the time.¡±


    ¡°Wait are you telling me that you just ran into pirates on the street?¡±


    ¡°Well sometimes, most of the time I ran into them in dinners or bars.¡±


    That¡¯s something I just don¡¯t know how to think about.


    This world has really gone insane, you just don¡¯t run into a freakin wanted criminal on the street and claim his bounty.


    This asshole might be lying to me but looking at his embarrassed expression I couldn¡¯t help but feel that he is telling the truth.


    To be honest I expected to hear him tell me about some kind of tricks he acquired in hunting pirates. Like contacts in a black market or something, information brokers, well known pirate hide outs, recognizing pillaging patterns and the like, contact with the marines or something, but this lucky or maybe unlucky, depending on your point of view on luck asshole just run into million berry bounty on streets and pubs.


    I gave a deadpan expression on the luckiest bounty hunter in the world, no make that 2 worlds on how fucking unfair it was for those serious bounty hunters in the business.


    ¡°Hey it¡¯s not like I wanted to run into them you know, oh yeah there was this one time I heard someone partying in forest and me hoping to bum of some booze went to them and it turns out they were pirates so there are times that I do hunt them you know.¡±


    ¡°You were not hunting for bounty fucktard you were hunting for booze.¡±


    ¡°Well who cares what they call me it¡¯s not like I wanted to be a bounty hunter in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah right, then how in God¡¯s green earth did you become the most famous bounty hunter in east blue if you¡¯re not even trying, why didn¡¯t you just go home and leave those poor pirates in peace. God knows how freaking annoying it is to be attacked when you¡¯re just out for a walk.¡±


    Yeah remembering the grail war where whenever I step out of the house I get into some kind of trouble is really annoying.


    My views towards taking on a night stroll is definitely different now than before the war well getting almost slice in half by your sisters servant, getting kidnap by said sister to her castle, discovering my teacher is an ex-assassin and master of caster, and getting attack by the king of heroes all happened because I decided to go on a night walk, yeah no more night walks for me from here on out.


    ¡°I won¡¯t go home Emiya not until I accomplish what I set out to do¡­¡± the bandana wearing man said in a somber mood that snapped me out of my agitated disbelief on how lucky this son of a wench was ¡°¡­ and I kinda don¡¯t know the way back home.¡± And now were back.


    ¡°So technically you¡¯re lost?¡±


    ¡°No I ain¡¯t lost dipshit I¡¯m just on a journey.¡±


    ¡°So where are you going?¡±


    ¡°Dunno.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯re fucking lost asshole.¡±


    ¡°No I am not its not where that I¡¯m looking for it¡¯s a who.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s his name?¡±


    ¡°Dunno.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re messing with me right. How the hell do you even expect to find someone  you don¡¯t even know the name of nor where he lives.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯ll work out somehow I know that he has Eyes like a Hawk so atleast there¡¯s something. It always does work out one way or the other just like whenever I ran out of money for food then I go to a restaurant and viola there are pirates there I get to eat and earn money at the same time.¡±


    I don¡¯t even need to look in the mirror to know that statement caused me to have a drop jawed facial expression with twitching eyebrows added on for good measure on how ludicrous this asshole¡¯s statement was.


    If this jerk would have ever learned magecraft then there is no doubt in my mind that he will have a high chance in developing a reality marble on just how ridiculously distorted his sense of the world is and coming from me that is saying fucking lots.


    ¡°Why the hell are you even looking for him anyway? Is it for revenge or something?¡±


    ¡°If I ever did have someone like that he¡¯d already be dead and no it¡¯s not for revenge¡­¡± he looked at the ground and I assume that he is debating with himself whether to tell me or not. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m looking for him to fulfil a dream and a promise.¡±


    The melancholic and peaceful look in his face as he said those words contained something so pure, so sure, and so similar to my own wish that I can¡¯t help but follow his gaze as he turned upwards towards the night sky.


    ¡°Can I ask what that dream is?¡± as I carefully stitched my words so as not to offend him.


    ¡°The world¡¯s strongest swordsman¡­¡± he said those words as he shifted his gaze towards me as he looked me in the eye as if looking for something, looking for any sign of scorn, disbelief, or derision for his dream and for a couple of seconds as if judging my worth with those eyes burning towards a horizon I see not bore its weight upon me.


    I returned the gaze with a weight equal to his, for I too dream of something as grand or dare I say grander than his, a promise to both my beloved and my father, a promise that gave direction to a naked blade such as myself, a direction and purpose worth devoting my life to, a dream so beautiful shared between the three of us.


    ¡°How about you what¡¯s your dream? Those eyes are not ones from a weakling that just sit back a does nothing in his life, considering you train with swords are you aiming for the same thing as me.¡±


    ¡°No, I am not my dream is to become a hero.¡± I did not know why but as I grew up back in my world I did not answer that question as direct as I did here with Roronoa-san but here I am saying it to a man I barely knew an embarrassing dream that most people would find cringe worthy and mad coming from a man my age and did so with a smile on my face.


    I felt it then as we stood there facing each other, affirming to one another the reason of our existence and it felt that all is right in the world.


    I felt an emotion that even all the people I have met in all my life Arthuria included did not invoke in me.


    A sense of kinship.


    When I thought to myself yesterday that I was to meet a kindred spirit I never expected that my expectation was so below the reality of how alike we are.


    What I felt as we looked at each other was a sense of belonging, a sense that for the entirety of my life has been inaccessible to me the sense of humanity.


    The feeling of ascertaining the fact that a person perfectly akin to myself exited in this world.


    When Rin called me distorted I accepted it nonchalantly as I already knew I was different from others I lacked some essential things that make me human all I had that was from my time as a human was salvation and all others were relearned from the pieces left to me after the fire.


    I knew that even then no one would understand but here is someone with a possibility to glimpse at my distortion and see nothing wrong with it for he too is as distorted as me.


    Single minded to the point of only seeing what he wants and all else around him mattered less.


    Up until now I was unique, unique in how broken I was only glued together by a sense of purpose I know not how to accomplish the knowledge only given recently to me by my beloved.


    All the people in my life has at one time or another discourage me in pursuing a dream I hold most dear even Arthuria but in the eyes of this man he sees nothing wrong with my dream he exhibits no judgement nor bias only curiosity and wonder.


    For minutes we just stood there, the empty field in the marine base only echoes the sound of silence we shared and much like as we begun this abrupt silence so to it ended with a cacophony of his and mine¡¯s laughter.


    So we laughed uncaring of who hears us for tonight we found joy, joy in a form we know not nor expected.


    ¡°Well that was nice, but I better be going now can¡¯t let those marine guards of yours wake up and disturb their wonderful dreams.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you better Emiya can¡¯t have my personal bread shuttle getting caught now would we.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m your bread shuttle now am i?¡±


    ¡°Well you bring food and water without me paying for it so yeah, my personal bread shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Well, fuck you asshole, acting all tough and shit, fine I¡¯m going.¡±


    ¡°See you later Emiya.¡±


    ¡°Yeah you too.¡± Well isn¡¯t that a surprise  saying he¡¯ll be seeing me later, that conversation didn¡¯t go as planned about asking information about the intricacies of bounty hunting but oh well at least the thankless bastard isn¡¯t so gungho in refusing my help anymore.


    {[(<u>I am a line break, I may not be essential to the plot of story but I do my job and I do it well.)</u>]}


    Going day to day getting stronger and practicing my mage craft and helping people. Well sometimes little things go a long way.


    Like helping some fishermen fix their nets and boats, fixing broken houses, running errands, helping people to cook and there was that one time that I helped in hunting down bears in the forest nearby, those were good times and really nourishes my soul.


    The highlight of my daily life really came with my daily visits with the future strongest swordsman.


    After that night, I dunno how to describe but talking and making him cooperate became much easier.


    It may not have borne any fruit for my planning for the future but it did however given something greater, especially the time I asked him for some tips about training


    ¡°You serious Emiya that¡¯s all you do, you don¡¯t use weights or anything?¡±


    ¡°No not really I would love to but where the hell do I even find some training weights?¡±


    ¡°There are boulders everywhere in the forest dumbass use them as your weights.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re shitting me right now, right. Boulders don¡¯t work like that fucktard.¡±


    ¡°Yeah they do, I did those when I was 9 years old so no reason you can¡¯t do it either.¡±


    ¡°Seriously¡­¡±


    ¡°Yup all you need is some rope tie it too a boulder hang it in a nearby tree and try lifting it.¡±


    ¡°Well might as well try I suppose.¡±


    So try I did.


    Waking up the next day however was a bitch and a half considering how sore my muscles were the only reason I was able to hold out and keep functioning was thanks to the help of Avalon healing my muscle tears and the fact that I used any reinforcement on my muscles to accelerate the healing concept in my cells.


    It was not without reward though since using Roronoa-san¡¯s training my muscle growth since going through it has been boosted exponentially, from muscle quality, mass, density and structure all got huge upgrade.


    It would¡¯ve even a thankful gift from the thankless asshole only that he decided to laugh at my beaten and worn out body as I dragged it to get his food.


    A part of me indeed believe that I am sort of his bread-shuttle not considering how demanding he is recently being.


    ¡°I got no sake on me Roronoa¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a cheapskate Emiya I¡¯ve been tied up here for more than 2 weaks now and just eating food is plain boring, come on man just a bottle.¡±


    ¡°For the last time no, god dammit it ruins the taste of food and it dehydrates you faster so no sake until you get untied.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, conscienceless cur.¡±


    ¡°Drop dead asshole¡±


    10 days just ten more days and I¡¯d be rid of this asshole when the time comes I¡¯m gonna enjoy beating him up.


    There was this one incident however last week that I am missing 3 whole days¡¯ worth of memories which both Roronoa and I seem to have lost time for no reason at all which got me very cautious not knowing how it happened and knowing my luck it would not have been pretty.


    Well one other thing that I got myself doing during the day is performing with my guitar on busy streets and the like or sometimes performing near the marine base to alleviate some of that guys boredom from being tied up.


    The town in here lacks any form of modern entertainment and the like so no TV or internet or whatever, just children playing around and me going around performing songs they never heard before which maybe is a novelty for them considering the crowds I draw and the coins they provide me.


    Well never thought I would enjoy playing music that¡¯s for sure but ushering in the tone from striking the strings of a guitar to make a melody is something I find myself enamoured by and quite relaxing not to mention the joyful faces of my listeners as they hum along to the songs not knowing the lyrics.


    I am not a good song writer in any sense it¡¯s just that the guitar seems to know what kind of music I¡¯m in the mood for and it kinda gives me the song I want to sing without me knowing how it happens.


    Well a part of me doesn¡¯t care that much it¡¯s not like it will do anything destructive or whatever.


    Speaking of performing I¡¯m headed down to the port right now, being almost midday and I was done with my early morning workout and training along with my daily meals already hunted and waiting to be cooked with nothing better to do and no people to help might as well enjoy myself.


    Now what song will the guitar and me be singing today.


    I strummed the chords of the guitar and the words of the song came to me.


    Words of adventure and treasure.


    Words symbolising this world¡¯s current era a world full of promise and dreams.


    So I sang the words as I pour more of my emotions to it.


    {WE ARE!-Mavilon acoustic cover}


    Arittake no yume wo kakiatsume~ (Gathering up all of our dreams)~


    Sagashimono wo sagashi ni yuku no sa~ (Going to search for our desires)~


    One Piece~


    Rashinban nante juutai no moto~ (Compasses only cause delays)~


    Netsu ni ukasare kaji wo toru no sa~ (Filled with excitement, I take the helm)~


    HOKORI kabutteta takara no chizu mo~ (If we can prove the dusty old treasure map,)~


    Tashikameta no nara densetsu ja nai!~ (Then it''s not a legend anymore!)~


    Kojinteki na arashi wa dareka no~ (It''s alright if our personal problems)~


    BAIORIZUMU nokkatte~ (Get on someone else''s nerves)~


    Omoisugoseba ii!~ (Because we think about them too much)~


    Arittake no yume wo kakiatsume~ (Gathering up all of our dreams)~


    Sagashimono wo sagashi ni yuku no sa~ (And going to search for our desires)~


    POKETTO no KOIN, soreto~ (A coin in the pocket, and)~


    You wanna be my Friend?~


    We are, We are on the cruise! WE ARE!~


    Zembu ma ni ukete shinjichattemo~ (Even though I believe everything I''m told)~


    Kata wo osarete ippo RIIDO sa~ (When my shoulders are shoved, I take a one-step lead)~


    Kondo aeta nara hanasu tsumori sa~ (If we ever meet again, I''ll tell you all about)~


    Sorekara no koto to korekara no koto~ (What I''ve been doing and where I''m headed next)~


    Tsumari itsumo PINCHI wa dareka ni~ (So being in a pinch is always)~


    APIIRU dekiru ii CHANSU~ (A good chance to appeal to someone)~


    Jiishiki kajou ni!~ (With excess self-consciousness!)~


    Shimittareta yoru wo buttobase!~ (Full speed through the stingy night!)~


    Takarabako ni KYOUMI wa nai kedo~ (I''m not interested in treasure anyway)~


    POKETTO ni ROMAN, soreto~ (A romance in the pocket, and)~


    You wanna be my Friend?~


    We are, We Are on the cruise! WE ARE!~


    Arittake no yume wo kakiatsume~ (Gathering up all of our dreams)~


    Sagashimono wo sagashi ni yuku no sa~ (And going to search for our desires)~


    POKETTO no KOIN, soreto~ (A coin in the pocket, and)~


    You wanna be my Friend?~


    We are, We are on the cruise! WE ARE!~


    WE ARE! WE ARE!~


    {[(<u>I am a line break, I may not be essential to the plot of story but I do my job and I do it well. )</u>]}


    <u>~POV change Luffy and Coby~</u>


    ¡°Luffy-san are you really sure you want to recruit Roronoa Zoro.¡±


    ¡°Yup you said he¡¯s strong right, I need strong guys on my crew if someone¡¯s gonna be my first nakama it should be someone whose strong.¡±


    ¡°Well he is strong but people say he¡¯s a demon in human skin, it¡¯s impossible to recruit him¡±


    The man wearing a straw hat stopped walking and look around him as if searching for the direction he is to go to.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Luffy-san? Did you change your mind about recruiting Roronoa Zoro.¡±


    ¡°Ne, Coby do you hear something?¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± the little kid with pink hair wearing a white shirt looked at his companion in confusion and tried hearing what his companion seems to be hearing. Try as he might it seems as though there seems nothing amiss in their immediate surroundings. ¡°¡­ Not really Luffy-san maybe it was just your imagination¡±


    The man with the straw hat grabbed his companions arms and started dragging him onto the direction he chose to go


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Luffy-san? Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°Were going to where the sound is coming from.¡±


    ¡°What sound Luffy-san I don¡¯t hear¡­¡± as the pink haired boy was being dragged by his companion unknown to him where they were going he wanted to complain but his complaints died in his throat as he hears the steady rhythm of someone strumming the guitar and figuring out that it was the sound his companion was hearing and as he is getting dragged closer and closer to its source the sound of music became clearer and clearer then they stopped as what lies in front of them was a small crowd comprised mostly of children and in the midst of it all is a young man the same age as the man wearing a straw hat strumming a guitar as he sang a song full of life and excitement.


    The both of them were now silently walking towards the source of the music careful in their steps lest they disturb the performance and they too joined the crowed in admiring the performer and humming along with the song and as they got more comfortable with the song they too chimed in with the lyrics of the chorus, the straw hat wearing man would even be energetic as he chanted in with the end of every chorus in an almost shouting way as he uttered ¡°WE are!¡±


    As the song ended and the crowd dissipated but the two young man stayed standing until the last of the adoring crowd was gone the pink haired one glancing nervously towards his companion then towards the performer then back to his companion who was staring unblinkingly towards said performer where in the performer returned the said stare towards his companion, hence his nervousness.


    After a few minutes of the epic stare down the man with the straw hat took slow steps towards the performer and staring at him eye-to-eye.


    ¡°JOIN MY CREW¡±


    {[(<u>I am a line break, I may not be essential to the plot of story but I do my job and I do it well. )</u>]}


    Well that was a performance I find myself lost into the music itself which never happened before.


    It was an experience for me pouring all my emotion and self into it not minding my surroundings a bit.


    Considering I just came from a war of epic proportions the month of time off in this island may have dulled my senses by a bit because for one, since for the first time in my arrival in this world I detected signs of magecraft and I did not notice it till it is a few meters from me.


    I was able to detect it like I usually do with my sense of smell but it was weird as hell unlike that of a human magus like Rin, Illya or that damn fake priest Kotomine this smell is more attuned to a curse and nature. The smell of rubber sap left to dry in the summer sun bright and bouncy mixed with the smell off wild animals and the forest.


    The anomaly just stared at me after my performance while in my head I was silently praying that this one is non-hostile and that if it is not I wished it might have a shred of humanity in it to not attack while we were in a densely populated area.


    The staring contest between as was getting too long to be considered normal and getting quite uncomfortable if I say so myself which was reflected by the anxious glances of the unidentified being¡¯s companion as to how he nervously glanced towards both of us.


    The man with the straw hat was now walking towards me which I have to say I was quite thankful towards that he let any bystander walk out without much fuss while I was still confused why he was heading towards me as I know for a fact that I don¡¯t know him and kept my Od in check as to avoid detection from fellow magus so there is little chance he identified me as a mage and in the eventuality that he did I was already preparing myself for a confrontation but the next words he uttered caught me completely off guard.


    ¡°JOIN MY CREW¡± the unknown magical being shouted in proclamation which I dignified with an appropriate answer.


    ¡°HUhhh¡­???¡± confused with the sudden declaration.


    ¡°I said join my crew I need a musician.¡± Which earned him a head bonk from his shorter companion


    ¡°Luffy-san you shouldn¡¯t be dragging innocent people with you.¡±


    ¡°Coby you heard him sing and play the guitar it was so cooool. It went like like kraannnggg then Trinnggg Then fast then slow then it goes WE Are  at the end it was amazing¡±


    ¡°Well I admit I was really amazing but you just can¡¯t Luffy-san.¡±


    ¡°Why not Coby he¡¯s so sooo good.¡±


    Well this is not what I expected he came to me, I expected it to be a fight or something but the magical being called Luffy was just a person admiring music and wanted to hire me as a musician for his crew going by their conversation, well I¡¯m just glad this did not turn violent.


    ¡°He¡¯s just an innocent street performer making a living Luffy-san we shouldn¡¯t disturb honest to goodness hard working people with dangerous things and you just said that you need people who are strong and he looks scrawny and weak he won¡¯t survive in the seas for long¡± did the freakin munchkin with pink hair just diss me and said I was weak where I could barely see him without literally looking down on him


    ¡°But Coby all pirates love to sing.¡± A single word in that statement caused me to put up my lowered guard towards the newly met Luffy and Coby respectively.


    ¡°Wait a minute are you telling me that both of you are pirates?¡±


    They both turned to look at me at the same time and said


    ¡°Nope/NO!¡±


    Whew.. well that¡¯s a relief, looking at them again maybe I jumped the gun there thinking they were untoward people just because I detected magecraft from the one called Luffy. Yeah considering how young they seem to be it is highly unlikely that they are pirates.


    ¡°Nah little Coby here is gonna be a marine so we came here to sign him up and me I¡¯m a pirate looking for people to join my crew, neh¡­ could you be our musician being a pirate is cool¡± there goes that train of thought out the window and straight to oblivion.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    This kid, a pirate at such an age what crew would want a kid like him, I know, I know its hypocritical coming from me considering we both look like were the same age but still it¡¯s the principle of the matter that I¡¯m trying to be a hero.


    Well maybe he¡¯s just being taken advantage of, considering the traces of prana he is exhibiting maybe those people in his crew is just using him for his power


    ¡°Luffy-san please don¡¯t involve him anymore than you just did, you admitted that you¡¯re a pirate to him he might call the marines.¡±


    ¡°He obviously wouldn¡¯t do that Coby.¡± He looked at his companion with a confused expression.


    ¡°And why not Luffy-san?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna be my crewmate so he¡¯s not gonna call the marines on us.¡± Huh, the way he spoke make it seem that I don¡¯t even have a choice in the matter, maybe its time for me to voice my own opinion in the matter.


    ¡°Ano¡­ I don¡¯t wanna be a pirate. Luffy-san, was it thank you for the offer but I don¡¯t wanna join you¡¯re crew.¡±


    ¡°Ehhhhh¡­. Why not being a pirate is the coolest you get to go on adventures and find treasure and get to eat all the meat.¡± He looked at me as if I was the biggest idiot in the world and he makes it seem that I was lacking basic common sense.


    How do I explain it to this person and convince me to stop bothering me with this asinine offer, this person who seem to be too bouncy and energetic for his own good, a person who while we were talking seem far to innocent and optimistic about everything in the world.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like being a pirate because being a pirate means you have to hurt innocent people.¡±


    ¡°Ehhh, but that¡¯s not how being a pirate works, being a pirate is about being free and adventuring towards your dreams and I also don¡¯t want to hurt innocent people.¡±


    Hahhh¡­ called it this person has a far too optimistic view of pirates but hearing it from him it seems that for him at least being a pirate is all about freedom, dreams and adventure, if only if it were that easy they wouldn¡¯t be called pirates in the first place but adventurers instead.


    ¡°Well, what if your captain decides to hurt them then you have no choice but to follow his orders or mutiny which then means that your force to hurt your own crewmates.¡± He looked at me with understanding


    ¡°Well there¡¯s no problem then cause I¡¯m the captain anyway.¡± Huuuuhhhh this person who is the same age as me is already a captain of his own pirate crew.


    How fearsome this world is that even 17 year old teens could become captains, considering these seas most famous ¡°bounty hunter¡± (I characterized him with utmost disgust that that guy even qualified as such considering there¡¯s no actual hunting process in his approach to finding pirates) is merely 19 years also maybe it¡¯s only normal.


    LKE HELL I¡¯m GONNA BELIEVE THAT SHIT


    ¡°WHAT¡­ you¡¯re the captain of your crew?¡±


    ¡°Yup it¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be shittin me who in the right mind would follow a kid.¡±


    ¡°Shishishi¡­ you¡¯re the same age as me so why ya complaining.¡±


    ¡°Well how many are there in your crew?¡±


    ¡°well it¡¯s just  me for now and after you say yes and I invite that Roronoa guy its gonna be three Shishishi¡± he explained to me with a helpful visual aid of counting his fingers as if unsure if it was even right but there was something in what he said that caught my interest.


    ¡°Wait youre gonna recruit Roronoa Zora the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro?¡±


    ¡°Ohhhh¡­ you know him. Coby it seems I¡¯m really lucky I already found two members for my crew and they know each other?¡±


    ¡°Let me get this straight. You¡­¡± pointing at him ¡°a pirate accompanied by an aspiring marine¡­¡± pointing at his short pink haired companion ¡°went here to recruit a bounty hunter?¡±


    ¡°Yup that¡¯s it.¡± He puffed up his chest with a great sense of pride and accomplishment I know not where he found.


    I gave a big sigh in defeat as I was coming to the terms with the situation that I once again was talking to a deeply unreasonable person.


    ¡°Just saying your twisted situation makes me feel that there¡¯s a punchline or a bar joke in there somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Shishishi¡­You¡¯re a funny guy so wanna join my crew.¡±


    ¡°Nope, for the last time I don¡¯t want to be a pirate.¡±


    ¡°Awwww¡­ come on pretty please I¡¯ll even let you get a bite of my meat¡± I blanched at what the idiot said as he smiled innocently at me unaware or maybe uncaring of the insinuation of his words.


    ¡°Come on Luffy-san he said he doesn¡¯t want too.¡±


    ¡°But Coby I want a musician and I want it now.¡±


    ¡°Well we can always come back and search for him after we find Roronoa Zoro so there is really no hurry Luffy-san¡±


    ¡°But what if he gets away¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a small town Luffy-san so I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll meet him again before leaving and we can just ask around town on where he live so come on Luffy-san¡± the pink haired boy dragged the one called Luffy away from me walking towards the marine base and even as they turned around the corner I can still see Luffy not moving his gaze towards me and the weirdest thing is as they were about to get out of my range of vision I could¡¯ve swore his neck stretched for a bit as he tried his hardest to get one last look at me.


    Nah that didn¡¯t happen, must be my imagination caused by the stress of suddenly being invited to a pirate crew.


    Talking to the person named Luffy was a weird experience for me not just because he exuded certain levels of prana or maybe it was precisely because of it that it was weird.


    Normally I would¡¯ve been more guarded, more vigilant towards him considering I don¡¯t know what to expect from some unknown person with connection to this worlds type of magic, but whilst talking to him I can¡¯t help but feel relaxed and open to him ready to believe every word he said and during our exchange I was constantly checking whether I was under any influence from magecraft or anything untoward but even then I found nothing out of place.


    With all his na?ve end energetic exuberance I felt myself being dragged to his pace and even knowing it I couldn¡¯t help myself but to be drawn. With any other person I would¡¯ve attempted to gather more information to help me combat any threat that may arise but while being in his presence made it to be the last thing on my mind.


    Hmm well going on about how he wanted to recruit the thankless bastard to his crew would be a challenge for him. I hope he doesn¡¯t bother me if shit goes sideways cause I ain¡¯t helping him convince someone to be a pirate.


    I wish he won¡¯t cause trouble for him only a week and three days left till the deal is done without anyone getting hurt but a part of me sceptical about the deal in the first place if they would really keep their word and risk getting this sea¡¯s well known ¡°bounty hunter¡± on their bad side.


    Maybe that¡¯s why I was training my hardest for the past weeks preparing myself when thing get from bad to worse and my gut is telling me that the arrival of an unknown piece on the already complicated situation is no coincidence because my luck will fuck me over sideways given any and all opportunity.


    Realizing that thing may take the turn for the worse in the coming days with an unknown magical being intent on making me a musician for his crew I walk over to my cave/home to check if I have everything ready if ever my fears will come to pass.


    After checking and double checking that everything was battle ready and prepared to satisfy my paranoia I walked out of the cave and towards Ririka-san¡¯s bar to check them out, something that I had the habit of doing daily considering that they were threatened by the marines to make sure that they were okay.


    When I arrived however I saw a mess of broken chairs and a table with Ririka-san comforting Rika.


    ¡°what happened here Ririka-san?¡±


    ¡°Shirou-san this is¡­¡±


    Ririka-san explained what happened saying a man in red wearing a straw hat with a pink haired boy out the one known as Helmeppo after admitting that they won¡¯t keep their promise and execute Roronoa-san tomorrow and the duo went to the marine base to rescue him and after the explanation I went to the kitchen and making sure no one is watching I summoned the coffin.


    ¡°Grave Rise¡±


    I detached the weapon carrier and started running towards the marine base unconcerned about the looks of the people around me towards the coffin I was carrying.


    ¡°I knew it, I fucking knew it.¡±


    Damn those marine bastards.


    Tsk, what¡¯s more the bastard in the straw hat just up and decided to storm a marine base.


    Sure its not guarded that well or at all for that matter but he shouldn¡¯t just walk in there all willy nilly to rescue a hostage they might just kill him in the first sign of resistance.


    Damn it all he should¡¯ve waited for night fall at the very least.


    So I ran and ran as fast as I could with reinforcement aiding me and as I neared the marine base I jumped over onto the top of the marine bases fence and greeted by a sight I didn¡¯t want to see.


    There in the grounds of the marine base was my crucified dare I say friend for the last 3 weeks being helped by the small pink haired boy out of his bindings while marine scum forms a firing line ready to shoot him dead and in my mind during that time I beg that I be fast enough to stop what is about to happen.


    To no avail I heard and saw a chorus of fired marine rifles at the command of an impossibly large man with an axe attachment as a hand.


    Late I was too late and powerless yet again to save someone.


    What happened next was something I was thankful for and equally baffled by the straw hat wearing person jump in front of the bullets rather than pierce him the bullets bounced of his skin like rubber.


    Going by everybody¡¯s reaction I guess that¡¯s not normal here even in this world.


    I strengthened my hearing with reinforcement to hear what¡¯s going on in there considering my distance from  here where I was sitting on top of the fence while trying to be as inconspicuous as possible ready to intervene if things get dicey.


    The explanation about devil fruits a fruit capable of granting inhuman abilities to those who ate them and the straw-hat wearing man being as one of them explaining the trace levels of prana I was able to detect from him.


    Oh so that¡¯s what his reason for being a pirate is.


    Finding one piece and becoming the pirate king as dreams go I think his is probably the hardest to achieve for this era is not called the great pirate age for nothing, to truly accomplish it he has no choice but to stand atop all not only amongst pirates but also fight the marines and all the strongest this world can offer.


    I continue to observe them and the situation I don¡¯t know which is more alarming for me the fact that the thankless bastard and the rubber idiot are talking like they¡¯re in their own backyard without a care in the world or that the marines are just standing there gobsmacked by the revelation that the strawhat wearing abomination ate a devil fruit and let him talk to the three sword wielding bastard without doing anything.


    For goodness sake if you¡¯re gonna talk shop could you at least untie the man first.


    So much so for the situational awareness of one who seeks to be the king of pirates.


    With a snap the spell of calm was broken with the command of the marine captain as his subordinates rushed towards the trio with swords drawn.


    ¡°Grave Alter¡± I whispered towards the coffin I was carrying and brandished the two bayoneted handguns as I take aim towards the rushing marines but before I could make my move the green haired asshole was unleashed from his binding and in a flash unsheathed his three blades and blocked all the swords coming for the head of the strawhat wearing pirate which I admit was somewhat cool.


    As I laid eyes on the three blades however instinctively grasping their make and history caused me a bit of tunnel vision towards the third that he hel in his mouth.


    The two katana¡¯s he held with his arms were common run off the mill swords but the third was something special. Something comparable to swords of legends before their legends were ever told. A sword whose quality was considered one of a kind in its make a physical noble phantasm without a legend attach to it. It was confusing to say the least a sword that is not a noble phantasm but has the capacity to become one. It does not have the bloodlust or the killing curse of Gaebolg or the glory and prayer of salvation of Excalibur nor the betrayal and in Rule Breaker or even the inseparability of Kanshou and Bakuya what it has is something different not a legend or a representation but a will, NO not a will perse but a promise a promise of two friends as I delve deeper into the sword¡¯s memories two names came up.


    Kuina and Zoro.


    Kuina the wielder of Wado Ichimonji before Zoro her best friend and the one from which the promise came to being inscribed to the very core of this sword a wish and a dream.


    The wolds greatest swordsman.


    As the thankless bastard stated his stipulation towards his new captain that if ever he stands in the way of his dreams then he will cut him down I find a smile tugging on my lips as the straw hat captain accepted it with no compunction and hesitation, maybe just maybe those two won¡¯t be as bloodthirsty as other pirates at least Roronoa-san is considering his honor won¡¯t allow harm without sufficient reason.


    Well maybe that¡¯s just me being bias towards someone I recognize as a kin.


    I continue to watch on the events as they unfold before me as they battle the marines and the weird way that the man in the straw hat named Luffy fights taking advantage of his unique physical attributes.


    Considering my analysis of what he is I would say he is closer to what my world called elementals or physical incarnation of the said element much like my status as a sword incarnate where both my element and origin are completely the same maybe the devil fruit as they call it changes those aspects of the person and ties them to the prana in nature meaning as long as they are connected to the worlds prana they can use their abilities without exhaustion unlike me who first should absorb the parana around me and convert them to Od to use my abilities.


    I watched on as the rubber-man clobbered the axe captain and it really goes to show how physically superior the warriors in this world are compared to mine as even though he is losing the axe captain can crack the earth with a swing of his quite literal axe-hand.


    Too bad though as even though I hoped to keep to myself and just be a passing spectator I was forced to intervene as a hostage situation unfolds before me.


    I took aim with the altered Kanshou and fired.


    Bang!


    And with that I showed myself as the crowd in the marine base as they turned towards me as I shot the pistol out of the idiot captains son¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s the guitar-guy shishishi. Did you change your mind and decide to be my nakama.¡±


    ¡°Nakama, oy Emiya are you in this idiot Captains crew.¡±


    ¡°Coby it¡¯s the guitar guy he and Zoro know each other shishishi my crew is getting bigger.¡±


    I raised my lowered Kanshou and aimed the nuzzle towards their direction which promptly shut them up then I unloaded the remaining ammo of Kanshou


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    One for each kneecaps one for each shoulder blade a one towards the elbow of the hand with the axe attachment and the towering Marine captain fell down.


    ¡°Jeez you guys should have better awareness of your surrounding or better yet finish your opponent before engaging in goddamn chit chat in enemy territory.¡±


    ¡°TsK, Emiya I could¡¯ve handled that no need for you flexing your shit all over the place.¡±


    ¡°Could¡¯ve, would¡¯ve, should¡¯ve doesn¡¯t matter Roronoa the fact of the matter is I¡¯m the one who did it the least you could do is thank me.¡±


    ¡°Always the praise monger huh Emiya you really never change¡±


    ¡°As do you Roronoa a thankless bastard as always.¡±


    ¡°Conscienceless cur¡±


    ¡°Violent Ingrate¡±


    ¡°Funny Guys¡±


    ¡°STAY OUT OF THIS¡± we both reprimanded the interloper between our argument.


    ¡°So Emiya are you really in this guy¡¯s crew?¡±


    ¡°Yup/NO¡±


    ¡°Eh why not guitar-guy being a pirate is cool.¡±


    ¡°I already said no, but thank you for the offer nonetheless. I know you¡¯re a good person but I never pictured myself being a pirate and all so I¡¯m very sorry.¡±


    ¡°So let me get this straight captain you want to recruit Emiya here to be part of your crew.¡±


    ¡°Yup too bad he doesn¡¯t wanna cause he¡¯s really good with singing and making music with his guitar.¡±


    ¡°So you gonna give up captain?¡±


    ¡°Course not were not leavin the island till I have my musician.¡±


    ¡°EHHHH¡­ but I already said I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t care.¡±


    Before I could give my rebuttal I was forced to dodge a slash from a katana coming from my peripheral vision.


    ¡°Oy what the heck is your problem.¡±


    ¡°Well remember what I said when we first met.¡±


    ¡°Huh, what are you on about did the sun fry what little brain you had left?¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t remember after all, well let me remind you¡± as he drew another katana from its sheath ¡°if I remember correctly I said that one once I get out of that stupid wooden post I¡¯ll make every inch of you beg for death, any of that ring any bells.¡±


    ¡°Well, you may have mentioned it once or twice but can you at least wait till I¡¯m done talking and get my rejection through that thick rubbery skull of your captain first¡±


    ¡°ZORO don¡¯t kill our new musician.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry captain he aint gonna die, hes just gonna wish he was.¡±


    ¡°Okay carry on then.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it, don¡¯t I get any say in this.¡±


    ¡°Afraid you won¡¯t Emiya I¡¯m just gonna beat you up and force you to join us.¡±


    ¡°And why the fuck would I join you if you¡¯re gonna beat me up to do it?¡± I grumbled as I dodge another slash from the green haired mad-man


    ¡°Better question is why not Emiya?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean why not Roronoa?¡±


    ¡°Well considering what you just did to that poor marine captain over there turning him too Swiss cheese then in one way or the other you¡¯re a criminal like us.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s not the point Roronoa¡± as I dodge one of his swings once more


    ¡°Then what is the point then Emiya?¡±


    Good question, a question I find myself asking why did I reject the offer on becoming a pirate with them. On top of my head I would¡¯ve said that piracy is wrong it is despicable and it involves harming the innocent for personal gain, but such reasons are shallow at best.


    Thinking back with my interactions with Roronoa and the pirate known as Luffy I could honestly say that they are both good people.


    So why, why was I so against in serving as a pirate with them as they are both clearly kind hearted individuals and considering the things I have seen the pirates have done much more good for this island than the marines ever did and the reason eludes me much like me eluding the green haired bastard¡¯s assault.


    Thinking about it logically Roronoa is right I¡¯m already a criminal considering I a civilian attacked a marine officer, going by that train of thought I will most likely be on the run from here on out and their offer to join them is the best choice I have as I was not familiar with this world as I like to be.


    WHY?


    WHY?


    Just WHY?


    While I was dodging the green haired swordsman¡¯s half-hearted assault towards me I keep asking myself over and over, again and again till the answer came to me.


    The answer was unexpected and hilariously unprecedented that even though I was being attacked I can¡¯t help but let out a chuckle.


    A low growling chuckle that was aparrently heard by my attacker as he stop trying to discombobulate me.


    When we both stopped in our tracks from my unexpected reaction that little mirthful chuckle got louder and louder that it went to a full blown roaring laughter that the whole field was being encompassed by.


    As I rein myself in from the hysterical fit of loosened emotion I had I announced


    ¡°Grave Dance¡±


    I returned the altered Kanshou to its proper holster and took out my most favoured weapons the married falchion blades Kanshou and Bakuya and for the first time since our battle I rushed towards my opponent  and executed a cross slash which he promptly blocked.


    ¡°Oh finally taking this seriously huh Emiya.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Shirou.¡±


    ¡°Huh , what did you say?¡±


    ¡°I said, You should call me Shirou, Zoro¡±


    ¡°Oh and why is that?¡±


    ¡°Emiya is my father and I would rather you call me Shirou to avoid confusion as I am my own man.¡±


    ¡°Why does it matter how I call you anyway?¡±


    ¡°Hehehehe.. it¡¯s because it¡¯s the point Zoro.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°You were asking me what is my point in not joining you and the point is because I¡¯m Shirou.¡±


    ¡°Ehhh.. You¡¯re not making any sense Emi¡­ Shirou.¡±


    ¡°HAHAHAHAHA¡­ you¡¯re right it doesn¡¯t make any fucking sense why I¡¯d join you¡± I look straight towards Zorro then to his captain Luffy then I let out an Archer like smirk ¡°both of you should join me instead.¡±


    The gobsmacked expression of everybody in the field from Zoro to the pink haired boy named Coby was hilarious but none could compare to the intensity of the effect of my declaration caused the Strawhat rubber person named Luffy as my statement wiped the ever present grin on his face and changed it to a scowl.


    But really this world is really insane and its insanity may have affected me a bit a month ago such words would¡¯ve never come out of my mouth but my recent revelation about myself makes such utterance a mere par of course.


    The reason for my reluctance in joining them can be summed up in one word.


    <u>PRIDE</u>


    I had pride something I never imagine myself having and in the instant I realized it i couldn¡¯t help myself but laugh at how in the 10 years of existence finally obtained something so basically human.


    I did not have pride on my skills as a magus for I still know I am only third-rate at best and a toddler compared to the likes of Zeltrech, Illya-nee, Caster and Rin.


    I did not have pride on my skill as a swordsman for I still know that I am no match in technique and power compared to Saber and Zoro.


    But what I do have pride in is that I am Shirou.


    Shirou the survivor who lived through the hells of the Fourth Holy Grail War and emerged as the victor of the Fifth.


    Shirou the son of the magus killer feared by magi and dead apostles alike throughout the moonlit world.


    Shirou the sheath and lover of the mighty King of Knights whose promise drives a dream reaching the holy Land of Avalon.


    The person Arthuria loves and to this day is still waiting for the dreams continuation.


    What right then do they have to command my blades.


    They maybe good people respectable even but even then for me to take up their cause as my own is not enough.


    ¡°Shishishi.. sorry  Shirou but ¡± he stepped between me and Zoro and looked directly at me ¡°I can¡¯t join you there¡¯s only one room for a captain on a pirate ship and that¡¯s me but I still want you to join my crew and be my nakama.¡±


    ¡°I can still join you if you want but know this I don¡¯t serve you. I may call you the captain of the ship but not the captain of Shirou Emiya. If your decision in one way or another goes against my morals and code I not only will refuse to obey but I will cut of your head from its perch called your neck and until you¡¯ve proven yourself to me as someone worthy of my service then I will follow my own ambition to be a Hero, do we have an accord Captain.¡±


    ¡°Shishsihi.. so the same deal as Zoro then. All right I got no worries. So a Hero huh I like heroes as long as you don¡¯t share my meat I¡¯m fine with it¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Shirou by the way, names Shirou Emiya.¡±


    ¡°Ohh. I¡¯m Monkey D. Luffy future Pirate King.¡±


    ¡°Glad to make your acquaintance and looking forward to working with you, hope you don¡¯t disappoint Luffy.¡±


    ¡°Glad to have you on board Shirou. Coby I got another nakama. woohoooo¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s over and done with can we get back to the fight now Shirou.¡±


    ¡°I thought we were just fighting to recruit me.¡±


    ¡°Whatever gave you that idea, it maybe one of the reasons but the most important being is that I¡¯m a man of my word and when I said that I¡¯ll make you beg for death I mean it, but considering you¡¯re a crewmate now I¡¯ll settle with half dead.¡±


    The violent bastard unsheathed Wado Ichimonji  and gripped it with his mouth after which he tied his bandana on his head giving him a more menacing look.


    ¡°Consider this the welcoming ceremony for you officially joining the crew, hope your still in one piece after this¡±


    He went on the attack towards me and considering I was able to dodge all his previous attacks I was surprised that the only option I had was to block showing that the performance from before was not really him giving his all.


    I reinforced my body to the limit just to keep up with the assholes continuous assault while I on the other hand did not take things just lying down as I blocked and countered his strikes with archers sword technique while blocking debilitating sword swings with the coffin.


    Duelling him like this with no distraction made me realize the ferocity of his self-created three sword style, from the sharpness of his swing, the impossible angles he executed his attack but most of all the crushing power and force he uses in every strike.


    I wouldn¡¯t have last longer than two clashes without the use of reinforcement and archers suicidal style even with the month long training I had.


    ¡°Draw-and-Counter¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Your sword style it¡¯s a variation of Draw-and-Counter taken to the very extreme limits to the point that you leave your vitals open as a trap and counter it when your opponent inevitably falls for it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah what of it even if you know it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re gonna make any headway in attacking me anyway.¡±


    ¡°Yup that¡¯s some vile tricky shit you got there Shirou, it messes with a swordsman honed battle instinct in a middle of a high speed high pressure fight where you exploit every opening given but I gotta give it to you pulling those shit of where dying is a very real thing proves you have at the very least balls in comparison to your shitty swordsmanship¡±


    ¡°Oy I already told you I¡¯m no swordsman.¡±


    ¡°Like I told you it doesn¡¯t matter to me as long as you¡¯re strong and wield a sword you¡¯re a swords man a tricky swordsman but a swordsman nonetheless.¡±


    ¡°Wow really that so, that¡¯s surprising anyone who saw me pull this out would say it¡¯s a stupid and suicidal style.¡±


    ¡°Stupid yes but it fucking works so it ain¡¯t. It¡¯s just look stupid cause you haven¡¯t perfected it yet, and suicidal its only suicidal if your weak enough to die in using that style. People use to tell me that using my mouth to grip a sword is stupid but it still fucking works.¡±


    ¡°You know I did want to ask about that, is putting that sword in your mouth really effective or just another one of your fetishes.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you Shirou.¡±


    ¡°No,no,no you misunderstand I have no objection with you putting swords in your mouth I¡¯m just asking for professional curiosity, if were gonna be on the same ship then I at least need to know the dangers I¡¯m facing especially towards my chastity.¡±


    ¡°That does it you Goddamn bastard I¡¯m so enjoying killing you¡± that riled him up rather fast as Saber once said anger when not channelled properly is a distraction and distraction causes mistakes so why not infuriate him further.


    ¡°Just saying since we first met I¡¯ve been wondering which team you were playing for considering the freaky shit you were into like being tied up for a month just waiting for a guy who can stretch any part of his anatomy to come rescue you.¡±


    ¡°Shut up Shirou and just stand there and take your mother fucking beating and after that I¡¯m gonna shove my swords so far up your ass that it cuts your goddamn tongue.¡±


    I smirked towards what he said and seemingly realizing what he said he went from angry red to a combination of burning lava read in fury switching to vermillion the color of carnal shame.


    Yup Saber was right anger does leads to mistakes just not the one I hope it would but this will do


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m flattered you think of me that way, but to think that you were not only an M but an S as well, I wish you luck in finding happiness but I can¡¯t accept your feelings¡±


    ¡°You bastard I¡¯m a straight heterosexual male.¡±


    ¡°I understand you¡¯re as straight as a katana.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m as straight as a ka¡­¡± he then looked at the sword he was holding the trailed down from the guard to the blade then as if just noticing for the first time how it curves towards the tip then glared at me and took up what looks like a pouncing stance.


    ¡°<u>SANTORYUU: ONIGIRI</u>¡±


    {[(<u>I am a line break, I may not be essential to the plot of story but I do my job and I do it well. )</u>]}


    So here we are facing of a three sword wielding demon¡¯s strongest technique. With only a month of stay here in this world.


    Yeah maybe some of this is my fault, shouldn¡¯t have pissed the swordsman too much, but I admit channelling the smug bastard Archer¡¯s attitude is quite fun.


    Well maybe it¡¯s not so much as channelling him that I am merely learning to enjoy it he was or will might be me after all.


    After I threw Kanshou and Bakuya towards him which he unceremoniously blocked I went to the next step of my technique.


    ¡°Grave Alter ¡±


    I unholstered both Kanshou and Bakuya Alter and fired all twelve bullets towards him taking caution not to hit any vital organs that maybe unnecessary for the spinning blades in his hand just blocked which is of no consequence as the bullets were merely used to prevent him from escaping the next part.


    While doing that I detached both of Rider¡¯s chainail-dagger¡¯s from the coffin and threw it at him to block his vision of me then using his impeded sight I followed it up with the chain nails to bind his feet leaving no room for escape.


    As he blocked the coffin and me readying the next step of the assault I raised both the altered Kanshou and Bakuya up for an overhead slash using the bladed parts to bisect him and being surprised after seeing me  he tried to dodge only to find his feet bounded and causing him to fall off balance but props to his strength and skill even after all those preaparation and disadvantages he still managed to block my strike with the Altered Kanshou and Bakuya and disarm me and with that opening he had already had Wado Ichhimonji poised to slice my neck.


    With that the field was silent as I unleashed the technique I¡¯ve been practicing for the past month since I found the different array of weapons the Old Troll left me.


    A technique that my future self used, using the attraction properties of Kanshou and Bakuya which I repurpose for my own use considering the weapons I have a technique that leaves an opponent with no opportunity or angle to dodge or block.


    My very own execution of <u>Crane Wing Three Realms</u>


    So there we stood stewing in palpable silence as he had Wado centimetres from my neck ready to draw blood as he was grinning like a mad man.


    ¡°You¡¯re one tricky bastard aren¡¯t you Shirou?¡±


    ¡°Yeah Shirou that was dangerous you almost killed Zoro.¡±


    The Rubber brained Captain said as he spoke behind Zoro holding both Kanshou and Bakuya by the handles before they could pierce my current crewmates head and heart respectively.


    Glad I told the idiot captain to watch us carefully as the one who has a third person point of view on the battlefield he would have been able to see that Kanshou and Bakuya were returning to me like boomerangs.


    Even as Gun-Blades they were still Kanshou and Bakuya so even the original are still attracted to them which I was glad to find out during my training this past month by the time I went for the overhead slash they were already prepared to behead Roronoa from behind.


    All in all I was glad at the result of using this technique for my first real battle and I was able to execute it perfectly.


    Throwing Kanshou and Bakuya as a surprise attack and distraction.


    Using The altered bayoneted pistols to disrupt the enemy and herd him to the position I wanted to.


    Throwing the coffin to block my opponents vision.


    Using the Chainail-daggers to bind the legs to prevent escape.


    And lastly to time everything just rightly so the overhead slash and the returning Falchion blades reach simultaneously.


    The attack I developed when executed perfectly leaves no room to dodge or block a surekill setup but something about the actions of my crewmate baffles me.


    ¡°Oy Zoro why didn¡¯t you turn around and blocked the incoming blades, unlike the blades in my hand at that time I can still control them and stop from seriously injuring you but you chose to block me instead of the blades coming from behind with no hands holding them.¡±


    He sheathed all his three blades while I was walking towards the Altered Kanshou and Bakuya that were thrown when I was disarmed and Luffy was playing around with Kanshou and Bakuya with sparkling eyes mumbling how cool they were


    For a swordsman of his calibre he would¡¯ve felt they were coming though that would not change the result considering we would be somewhat be working together from now on I would like to know his thought process.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ you really are not a swordsman yet if you even need to ask that question Shirou.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°A true Swordman never turns his back on his opponent even it will result to certain death and besides its all good I didn¡¯t die after all.¡±


    That was cool, badass even what could I say in response to such declarations and it is with glee that I found the proper way to respond to him.


    ¡°Are you really that uncomfortable with your own sexuality that you¡¯re afraid that someone shoving a sword through your backside would awaken something in you, as your new crewmate I swear to my non-existent honor that no one would ever succeed in giving you a surprise butt-fuck.¡±


    The rage coming off from him was so great and menacing that I swear they took on a physical manifestation of flames.


    ¡°You know I seriously regret not killing you right now¡± he said in a voice that almost sounded like a growl from a menacing beast.


    ¡°Well better luck next time I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Yeah next time you wouldn¡¯t be so lucky.¡±


    ¡°Shirou, Shirou this thing looks so cool what is it.¡± The rubber brained captain asked me running towards us carrying the weapon coffin in his hands.


    ¡°It¡¯s my weapon an unwanted gift given to me.¡±


    ¡°Wah that looks scary and creepy Shirou are you sure it¡¯s not you who has some weird fetishes.¡±


    ¡°Drop dead Zoro if this thing is not as useful as it is I would¡¯ve thrown it to the sea a long time ago.¡±


    I opened up the coffins weapon compartments a put all the things I used in the fight back to their proper places with both my crew mates gawking at the novelty of my weapon carrier along with the pink haired munchkin whose existence I literally forgot until this moment. (AN: Sorry guys I forgot that Coby is there too)


    If there is once complaint I have regarding my new weapons in comparison to tracing is the clean-up traced weapons may not be as powerful as these but I can just dismiss them from existence once in was through using them.


    ¡°Damn this is one scary shit you got here Shirou are you really sure this is not some kind of weird fetish of yours cause I don¡¯t want to be walking in on you doing some creepy shit on a mutilated corpse of our enemies when we¡¯re living on the same ship.¡± The smug swords man flashed a grin at me satisfied for a small respite from my teasing that he found and decided to counter attack.


    Before I could rebut his statement I found my rebuttal stuck at my throat, can I really honestly say that I won¡¯t be doing some ¡°creepy shit¡± as he called it on a mutilated corpse considering that half of the things in the storage coffin is composed of mutilated inner organs from my own corpse if my thoughts about it are true. I have at least enough organs there to build half a dozen humans.


    It seems my hesitation was caught on by two people however the little person named Coby and the paling Zoro who grabed my shirt collar and looked me in the eye.


    ¡°You¡¯re not doing that right Shirou. I want you to look me in the eye and say there¡¯s no way you would be doing that on our ship and that shit is just my imagination right Shirou Emiya.¡±


    I look around hoping trying my hardest not to look him in the eye and to change the subject and my salvation came as I saw Luffy holding his stomach


    ¡°Luffy you said you were hungry right I know a bar that serves good food and I have to pick up-0 something there anyway.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ That¡¯s right Shirou lets eat come on Zoro, Coby the meat is waiting.¡± as he grabbed me with his elongated arms that I suppose I should start getting used to and proceed to get out of the marine base.


    While being chased by the two who we left behind with Zoro shouting


    ¡°GET BACK HERE BASTARD AND TELL ME I¡¯M WRONG¡±


    {[(<u>I am a line break, I may not be essential to the plot of story but I do my job and I do it well. )</u>]}


    After eating we sat there for our first planning session as a band of outlaws and pirates.


    Thinking about it now seems quite unreal.


    Me being a pirate was not something I think I ever thought I¡¯d be doing when I woke up this morning.


    Well three cheers for my craptastic luck for throwing my life in a curveball once in a while that I at least end up in a crew of semi-decent pirates albeit a bat-shit insane captain as he explained his plan in going to the Grandline that has the reputation of being a pirates graveyard just to get a chance to fulfil his dreams.


    ¡°So let me get this straight me and that tricky praise monger over there are the only current members of your crew and that little dingy over there that seems to be struggling just to stay afloat is our pirateship. So much for walking in on you doing creepy shit Shirou I think we don¡¯t even have space to lie down there.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Zoro I really want to get us a big pirate ship that can carry all the meat we want.¡±


    ¡°How do you plan to do that then captain¡± I asked hoping against hope that there might even an ioata of a braincell left in my current captain¡¯s head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, do you have any ideas Shirou?¡±


    ¡°Well as long as we don¡¯t involve or harm any innocent people I think I can manage with any plan but if your asking for my opinion how to get one, I think we can steal from other pirate crews but considering there are only three of us here we don¡¯t have nearly enough to man a huge pirate ship, and the most important part is do both of you know how to sail a ship?¡±


    ¡°NO/Nope¡±


    ¡°Thought so, until we find a proper crew and navigator to sail a ship I suggest we hold off on that thought for the time being and concentrate on recruiting the essential people we need for a ship to function properly.¡±


    ¡°Yup Shirou is right we need to find capable people for a pirate crew and I¡¯m telling you right now I maybe good in a fight but everything else while I was in my journey is me winging it. So what are the requirements of joining the crew Captain?¡±


    ¡°Dunno as long as they¡¯re good guys and fun to be around I think it¡¯s cool.¡±


    I let out a drawn sigh for the nonchalance my current captain is treating the situation and going by the disturbed look my fellow crewmate has it was a sentiment shared by both of us.


    To bring some braincells back to this discussion I opened my mouth to give my two cents about our situation.


    ¡°Well as far as I know the important positions to be filled in all pirate ships are these First-mate, Quartermaster, Sailing Master, Boatswain, Master Gunner, Head Cook, Shipwright and Doctor if were large enough we should also look into having Strikers, Riggers, Coopers, Powder-monkeys, Appraisers and Cabin boys. ¡±


    ¡°Oh your so smart Shirou I didn¡¯t know there were so many jobs on a pirate ship, when I first set sail I only wanted 10 members for my crew but now I want one of each of those but you forgot one thing Shirou all pirate crew needs a musician well considering you¡¯re here I think we don¡¯t need one anymore.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a musician Luffy so sorry but if you want we can recruit one.¡±


    ¡°Ehh but you¡¯re so good at playing the guitar Shirou why not become our musician.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that good Luffy and I only know how to play the guitar Luffy a true musician should have a deeper knowledge for music not just going by whatever emotions I have and play it a musician should have knowledge of a wide array of instruments not just one and shouldn¡¯t the pirate king have the best musician there is so sorry Luffy but I¡¯m not good enough to be a musician but thank you for the offer nonetheless.¡±


    ¡°You sure, too bad then maybe we could find another one but till we find one you wouldn¡¯t mind doing it for a little while.¡±


    ¡°Sure,sure, whatever you say captain.¡±


    Whew that was close, I¡¯m just thankful I convinced him so that I won¡¯t be this rubber idiots personal jukebox however long I have to stay on his ship.


    ¡°I have a question Shirou-san, why are these positions important in the first place?¡± which was asked by Coby.


    ¡°Yeah Shirou why do we even need this people on a Pirate ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh Shirou I want to know too considering there will be less meat for me if there are a lot of people that will join.¡±


    ¡°Very well since we already have a captain I¡¯ll skip that explanation.¡±


    ¡°Yup there¡¯s only one captain of the ship and that¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°I get I all right let¡¯s start with the First-mate he¡¯s basically your right hand the acting captain when you¡¯re not around your second in command so he is basically does your job when you¡¯re not around and takes care of the crew when you can¡¯t. The Quartermaster¡¯s job is to discipline the crew and make sure that they are doing their job on the ship right it involves making sure the whole ship is able to work together and keep the morale up and make sure the whole crew is prepared for anything that might threaten the ship and the captain¡±


    ¡°Wow those two sounds so cool.¡±


    ¡°Of course they are aside from the captain those two positions are the one that holds the most power let¡¯s put it this way the First-mate and the Quartermaster are the captains Right and left hand for everything he wants in the ship done.


    Next we have the positions for the ship to sail properly.


    First and foremost is the Sailing Master which is the head of the ships navigators, sea artists and helms officer his job is weather reading, map analysis, and everything related for the ship to reach the proper destination in the open seas where proper direction is lacking a skilled sailing master is needed lest we get lost at sea while running out of food and water.


    Regarding Food and Water next we have the Head Cook who is in charge of the whole crew¡¯s diet and food supplies so we don¡¯t starve while sailing.


    Next we have the Master Gunner who is in charge of all the ships cannons and firearms he is also the person in charge of the powder-monkeys that will join so basically if you want something to go boom talk to him.


    A Boatswain is in charge of keeping the decks, masts, anchors, along with the ships riggings so basically he is the boss of all the riggers and also the ships landing boats.


    The Shipwright is in charge of the ships carpenters and make sure the tub of wood were gonna stay at keeps floating meaning that he¡¯s the one who fixes the ship and


    The Doctor is there so if ever the crew does get sick then there is someone to help them rather than die.


    So did you get all how important these people are in a pirate ship.¡±


    My explanation was met by blank eyed stares and the Captain of our merry band of outlaws has literal smoke coming out of his ears proving once and for all to see that he indeed has a brain unfortunately his brain overheats easily like an overused E-rank magic circuit.


    ¡°*sigh*¡­ to put it simply we need to fill these position with not just anyone but the best we can find because one screw up from this guys and we can call our seafaring days sayonara do I make myself clear.¡±


    My declaration was met with a bunch of nodding heads while the green haired swordsman asks a question


    ¡°What about the other guys you want?¡±


    ¡°Well those positions are quite handy to have but not really essential as a pirate ship can function without them but talented ones are always appreciated.


    Strikers are mostly there to help secure food when the crew is running low they are experts in identifying edible Flora and Fauna around the seas so having one lessens the possibility of starving to death in the seas but if we have an effective head cook who can ration food properly there is really no need for one.


    Dedicated Riggers for any ship are good to lessen the time for orders in moving the ship if any emergencies arose like a sudden storm but if we have a great Sailing master it makes the position redundant.


    Coopers are one who are in charge of storage barrels for food and water making sure they don¡¯t spoil but if the Boatswain and Quartermaster are diligent in checking them then there will be no need.


    Powder-monkeys and Cabin boys are more like chore help for any ship the powder-monkeys answer to the gunnery while the Cabin-boys answer under both the Boatswain and Quarter master and helping in the chores around the ship


    So basically these positions are a welcome help to lighten the load off the others.


    Lastly is the Appraiser which I doubt that we will ever have any chance of finding as they are the hardest positions to fill as their educational requirement is quite high all I know from history is that not even 1% of known pirate ships have them, they are basically scholars and learned people task in identifying and pricing any and all treasures found by the crew, Appraisers need extensive knowledge of history and the arts of archaeology for preserving and raising the value of any loot found so you can imagine that they are a hard find as why would anyone join a pirate ship if they already accomplished and learned.


    That¡¯s all I know about the people we need to have a proper functioning crew though what I know is based upon the history I know from where I came from other positions would be up for our captain if he wants to fill them but I have a feeling that a musician is on top of his priority list.¡±


    ¡°You got that right Shirou so we should find a musician as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Shirou in your opinion what position do you think we should fill first?¡±


    ¡°Well considering we are lacking of pretty much everyone I would suggest to find a capable Sailing master first then acquire a proper pirate ship.¡±


    ¡°Eh why not a musician Shirou?¡±


    ¡°Well if you really want to be seen as a proper pirate then you should have a proper pirate ship not a rundown dingy nobody would want to join a captain who can¡¯t even procure a proper pirate ship and to sail that ship we need a Sailing master.¡±


    ¡°But I really want a musician.¡±


    ¡°Look at it this way if we don¡¯t get a proper ship even if we have a musician he won¡¯t have any place to play music on that tiny boat¡±


    ¡°Okay got it Shirou lets find that Sales thing first so we can get a good ship.¡±


    Our little meeting however was interrupted by a group of marines barging in to Ririka-san¡¯s place and considering the situation I was preparing myself to bust my way out with the least amount of bloodshed possible.


    Fortunately my fears were unfounded as I just relegated myself to the background of the events that was unfolding which I find myself doing so quite often as since I arrived in this world.


    I watched as mu current captain get punch for goading his friend to follow his dreams cementing once again in my mind that the Pirate and my current captain Monkey D. Luffy was not like the pirates I expected to find in this current era which earned some brownie points from me but if he wishes to earn my loyalty with just that then he would be sorely mistaken.


    I followed them out as we were forced to leave due to our status as pirates showing me that indeed I am a pirate right now I was a wanted man by the standards of this world¡¯s government and I was fine with it as long I am able to fulfil my dreams of being a hero.


    ¡°Yeah can you guys meet me back at the door I kinda have something to grab in Ririka-san¡¯s kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Sure Shirou we will wait for you.¡±


    ¡°Just hurry up you bastard¡±


    ¡°Geez it¡¯ll only take a minute you impatient brute.¡±


    I walk towards the kitchen a went to the backdoor to take the storage part of the coffin I his camouflaged by an assortment of broken chairs and tables where I attached the Weapon and storage part making them whole and checking if there was anything wrong.


    Besides the two red sigils rather than three it seems that nothing is amiss. I found after experimenting on the instant transport of the coffin in the month I was here that it takes a weak till the sigil restores itself which considering the ambient prana in the surrounding is a lot of prana.


    A part of me was glad that the old troll made the whole coffin waterproof and buoyant enough to float on water as I fear that if the coffin sinks to the ocean I wouldn¡¯t be able to recover it and it can function as a makeshift boat in case of emergencies.


    Though in exchange I suppose I would be fulfilling that assholes preferred kind of entertainment which is me walking in a populated town carrying a creepy as hell coffin from now onh.


    When I walked out of the door my two companions looked at the object I was carrying with mixed reaction one of absolute excitement with stars in his eyes the other shivered in disgust or more precisely he was creeped out.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be shittin me it was not enough for you carry that creepy ass coffin lid you just had to complete the ensemble didn¡¯t you.¡±


    Can¡¯t argue with that one though when both the weapon coffin and the storage coffin were attached to each other the weapon coffins eyes starts glowing signifying it started to gather prana.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just go already I¡¯m too embarrassed carrying this thing around and you shouting at me is gathering more attention.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want people staring then dump that creepy ass shit why dontcha.¡±


    ¡°I would if I could but this thing is just too useful ¡±


    ¡°How the hell is a coffin useful I get the lid part it¡¯s a great weapon carrier and a sturdy shield but why the rest of the coffin¡±


    ¡°Well it carries around my stuff and belongings.¡±


    ¡°If you want to carry your things just use a bag or a suitcase or a crate or a sack would be better than a freaking coffin.¡±


    ¡°Well some of my stuff needs a coffin to carry it hence the coffin so just drop it okay.¡±


    Yeah considering I have hearts, lungs, kidneys, and intestines in here then a coffin seems to be the proper travelling apparel.


    ¡°I really shouldn¡¯t be asking this but you don¡¯t have a dead body in there right?¡± The fearless pirate hunter asked me as he kept on giving worried glances towards the coffin.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s a nice day to set sail isn¡¯t that right Luffy.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no dead body right¡± *ignore*


    ¡°Yeah it is such a great day Shirou I have two brand new nakama¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just your taste in fashion right there really is no dead body inside, RIGHT?¡± *ignore*


    ¡°Once again, glad to be sailing with you Luffy.¡±


    ¡°Same to you Shirou.¡±


    ¡°ANSWER ME GOD-DAMN-IT¡±


    ¡°Shishishi¡­ You guys are funny.¡±