The distant sound of footsteps echoed softly through the room. Shirou's eyes snapped open, his senses still alert from the recent battle. His hand instinctively reached out, ready to summon Ashbringer—until he paused.
A woman stood before him, wearing the uniform of the Lucus mansion staff. Her expression was calm and composed.
"You are inside Sir Lucus' mansion," she said politely. "I will inform Sir Lucus that you have regained consciousness."
Shirou gave a small nod, watching her exit the room. He slowly pushed himself up from the bed, his eyes scanning his surroundings. It was the same guest room Lucus had given him before. Sunlight filtered in through the curtains, and there, resting against the wall beside his bed, was Ashbringer.
"I... survived," Shirou muttered in disbelief.
He pulled the sheets off and looked at his body. Not a single wound. No bandages. No pain. Not even a scar. It was as if the entire battle had been a dream.
"How long was I out?"
Before he could ponder further, he heard the door creak open. Lucus stepped into the room, followed by Darwin. Behind them were Elliot and Amelia.
Lucus smiled warmly. "You don't have to worry. You're safe now. You were in a pretty bad condition, so I called in one of the best healers I know. Thankfully, she was able to heal all your injuries."
"You didn't have to go that far," Shirou replied, a bit embarrassed.
"It was nothing," Lucus said, waving a hand dismissively. "You protected my mansion, my people... and even me. Risking your life like that. I don't think any reward I give will truly make up for it."
His voice grew a little heavier as he continued, "Rust Blade cooperating with Viper's Den… that wasn't something I expected. I should have seen it coming."
Elliot stepped forward. "No, Sir Lucus. The fault falls on me. As the team leader, I should have anticipated that something like this could happen. I failed to see the signs. If anyone should be blamed, it's me."
Lucus shook his head. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Elliot. Mistakes are what shape us—only if we choose to learn from them. You're a good leader, and a brave one."
Elliot nodded silently.
Lucus then turned back to Shirou. "The mission contract you accepted had a time limit of one month. Technically, you still have some time left. But honestly, I doubt anyone else will come after the mana stone now. We even found the traitor among the ones we captured."
He paused, then continued, "So you're free to leave whenever you wish. However, I hope you'll stay for a while longer. Not just as part of the mission... but as a guest."
He looked over at Elliot. "And of course, I know Elliot won't be leaving until the contract period ends."
Lucus' voice softened. "I mentioned it before–I have a daughter. After the first attack, I had to send her away for safety. Now that the threat has been dealt with, she'll be returning home soon. Her birthday is in 18 days. I would be honoured if the three of you joined us for the celebration."
Elliot bowed slightly. "It would be our pleasure."
Lucus smiled. "Then it's settled. For now, I'll leave you all alone. You've been out for almost two days, Shirou. They were worried."
"Two days...?" Shirou repeated, surprised.
With that, Lucus and Darwin exited the room, leaving a heavy silence behind.
A long pause followed. No one spoke. Shirou cleared his throat and tried to break the ice.
"Hey... we actually made it through, huh?"
Amelia exploded. "Oh, shut up already!"
Shirou blinked. "I'm sorry."
Amelia crossed her arms and scowled. "What happened to your big tri-elemental power and your fancy clone technique? I thought you were gonna wipe the entire gang by yourself!"
"I didn't have a choice," Shirou defended. "At first, I wasn't sure if my guesses were right. And then Cruz showed up… I never expected someone like him to be there."
Elliot spoke next, calm but serious. "But Shirou, when you did find out, you still chose to fight alone. You should have communicated with us."
"I know. But you two were already fighting the rest of the gang. And to be honest, I lost the communicator right at the start," Shirou said, his voice dropping.
Elliot sighed. "Even so, the smarter move would have been to switch places with me. Once you saw there were two of them, you should have swapped out."
Shirou lowered his head. "You're right."
He clenched his fists. "Elliot's stronger than me. He could have taken both of them out without getting hurt like I did. I... I was just full of myself. I acted like I was some kind of protagonist who could survive anything. I believed that no matter what, I'd be okay. That I'd win. I was arrogant."
His voice was quiet. "I'm sorry. I really am. And thank you... for saving me."
Elliot gave a small smile. "There's no need to thank us. Watching each other's back is part of being a team."
He gestured to Amelia. "And you should be thanking her more. She was keeping an eye on you from the rooftop while helping me fight. She updated me constantly."
Shirou turned to Amelia, ready to thank her, but froze. She looked furious.
"I didn't do it for you," Amelia snapped. "I dragged you into this. If anything had happened to you, and the Guild found out we let an unregistered person join our mission, we'd be the ones in trouble."
She looked away, her voice colder. "You getting hurt was the last thing on my mind."
Shirou opened his mouth, but she didn't let him speak.
"And here I thought you were the big hero or something. Three elements. Clone ability. I mean, come on. If it were me, I'd lose. But you? No way, right?"
Shirou sighed. "Thank you, both of you. I owe you my life."
"You better," Amelia muttered.
Elliot gently placed a hand on Amelia's shoulder. "Amelia."
"Hmmm?" she grunted.
Just then, a knock came at the door. A staff member stepped inside.
"Your food has been prepared downstairs," she said.
"We'll be right there," Elliot responded.
Shirou's stomach growled at the sound of the word 'food.'
"Now that you mention it..." he mumbled. "I really am hungry.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up, stretching his limbs. Despite what he'd been through, he felt light, like the weight of death that had loomed over him had finally lifted. But the guilt remained—a quiet reminder of how close he'd come to losing everything.