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When Shirou Emiya awakened from a deep, heavy slumber, the world that greeted him was still dark.
No.
Not dark.
Gray.
From the space directly before his eyes to the distant edges of perception, everything was soaked in a uniform, lifeless gray. There was no clear source of light, yet nothing was fully obscured either. It was a world stripped of color, depth, and warmth.
Shirou Emiya's mind sharpened instantly.
His body didn't move, but his awareness did.
"Don't be nervous," a gentle voice sounded above him. "I wouldn't hurt my child."
At the same moment, a soft, unmistakable sensation came from beneath his head.
Warm.
Supportive.
Too familiar.
"...A lap pillow."
Shirou Emiya recognized it immediately.
After all, this wasn't the first time.
Aiz had done it before.
Jeanne too.
Slowly raising his head, Shirou Emiya looked up.
His gaze met a pair of eyes looking down at him.
They belonged to a young girl.
Light purple hair cascaded down softly, framing a delicate, doll-like face. Her features were small and refined, her expression innocent, lively, and completely lacking any sense of menace.
The moment he saw her, Shirou Emiya understood.
Everything clicked into place.
This girl was Pandora.
The origin of the Campione world.
The creator and overseer of the God-Slaying Dark Ritual.
The first woman bestowed upon humanity by the gods in Greek mythology.
And right now, he was lying on her lap.
As that realization settled in, Shirou Emiya immediately scolded himself internally.
Because when he first woke up, he hadn't noticed her at all.
That mistake had a reason.
Ever since obtaining Magical Energy Perception from Rimuru, Shirou Emiya had relied on it almost unconsciously. With it, he possessed a near-complete 360-degree perception field. He could sense strength, magical fluctuations, and even perform translation, allowing him to understand any language he encountered.
Its practicality was overwhelming.
So overwhelming that he maintained it almost constantly.
And now, having lost access to Magical Energy Perception, Shirou Emiya hadn't immediately detected Pandora's presence.
That lapse nearly exposed him.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough.
His expression remained calm, and he didn't allow any of his inner thoughts to surface.
Because when facing Pandora, there were things he absolutely could not let her notice.
The ritual that transformed an ordinary human into a Campione was not a natural rule of this world.
It was a massive ritual personally created and presided over by Pandora.
And its prerequisite was absurd.
To slay a god.
If Pandora had realized something was off about his identity, if she became suspicious and refused to perform the ritual for him, everything would collapse.
That outcome was unacceptable.
So in front of this goddess who had existed for countless years, Shirou Emiya had to hide himself perfectly.
"So," he asked calmly, "who are you?"
Pandora smiled brightly.
"Who am I?" she repeated. "I'm your mother, of course."
"Pandora."
She leaned in slightly, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Come on, good child. Say 'Mama.'"
Shirou Emiya instantly understood what she wanted.
And instantly rejected the idea.
Calling a girl he had just met "Mama" was far beyond what he was willing to tolerate.
Instead, he shifted the topic.
"Where is this?"
"Huh?"
Pandora blinked.
"You changed the subject!"
Her expression visibly drooped, disappointment written clearly across her face. She clearly cared a great deal about that form of address.
But the next moment, she recovered.
"It doesn't matter," she said lightly. "Even if I tell you, you'll forget soon anyway."
She gestured around them.
"This is the Boundary of Life and Death."
"In Greek terms, it's called the Thought World."
"In Persian terms, the Mind World."
Her voice carried a strange certainty.
"You came here by initiating the ritual through the slaying of a god."
"And so, you became my child."
She leaned closer again.
"Now, come on. Call me Mama."
Her expectant gaze locked onto him.
Shirou Emiya looked away.
Silently.
Breaking free from her hold, he sat up.
"Pandora," he said, glancing at her petite, fourteen-year-old-looking body.
He couldn't help it.
A sigh escaped him.
"The aesthetic sense of Greek gods really is something else."
This was a woman created in the image of a goddess.
"And yet..."
He muttered without restraint.
"Are all of you Greek gods lolicons, or what?"
Pandora froze.
Then her expression darkened.
"To dare disrespect me this much," she said coldly, "the adoptive mother of all Campiones..."
"It seems I need to teach you a lesson."
Shirou Emiya instantly sensed danger.
"Mama, I was wrong!"
The words came out immediately.
Pandora's expression lit up in an instant.
"I knew it," she said cheerfully. "You were just joking!"
Shirou Emiya twitched.
"No," he muttered under his breath, "I really wasn't."
Once again, he mentally scolded himself.
Carelessness.
It was definitely carelessness.
"It seems the past two years in Emiya City have given me too many bad habits," he thought. "I'll need to fix them quickly."
In truth, Shirou Emiya didn't really care about calling Pandora "Mama."
She was a goddess who had lived for countless years.
With that kind of age difference, calling her "Grandma" wouldn't even be inappropriate.
Compared to that, "Mama" was nothing.
Besides, in this life, Shirou Emiya had already lost his parents.
The only family he remembered were his adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya, and his adoptive sister, Miyu Emiya.
Because of that, he felt no resistance to acknowledging the goddess before him as an adoptive mother.
And just like that, with a single word, the atmosphere changed completely.
"What a good child," Pandora said warmly.
Her tone softened.
"I wanted to talk to you longer."
"But there's no more time."
She straightened slightly.
"Let me give you one last special reward."
Before Shirou Emiya could respond, she gently pressed his head back onto her lap.
Then she leaned down.
A soft kiss landed on him.
The next moment, Shirou Emiya's figure vanished from the gray world.
Pandora remained seated on the ground.
She looked at the empty space where he had disappeared, her expression filled with quiet sorrow.
"...So even the seventh Campione has been born in this era," she murmured.
"It seems the strongest 'Iron' is about to awaken."
She lowered her gaze.
"My youngest child."
"Your luck is truly terrible."
"Having just become a King of God-Slayers..."
"Unable to enjoy the glory and rewards that should come with such a feat..."
"You must already face the end."
"How pitiful."
Her voice echoed softly through the gray world.
Again.
And again.
Lingering long after the words themselves faded.
When Shirou Emiya awoke once more, an unfamiliar ceiling entered his vision.
This time, he didn't make the same mistake.
He immediately assessed his surroundings.
"This is a residence on Sardinia Island."
There were no hostile presences nearby.
After confirming that, Shirou Emiya activated Magical Energy Perception.
The familiar sensation returned.
His awareness expanded outward.
Then he saw them.
Downstairs, in the living room, Shuna was speaking with someone.
A witch.
They seemed to be discussing something.
Shirou Emiya narrowed his eyes slightly.
"That's the witch who was observing the battle on the hillside earlier."
He searched his memory.
"...Right."
"Her name was Lucrezia Zola."
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