Time passed in the blink of an eye.
A few days later, Cydra Nazele Yorifis and Emiya Shirou arrived safely in London, Country Y.
The architecture here was completely different from that of Fuyuki. Everything radiated the atmosphere of a Western land.
---
❖ The Yorifis Family Estate
> "Excellent! Let him become an adopted son of the House of Yorifis."
The speaker was an old man with long silver-white hair, including his eyebrows and beard. He wore a black suit and carried an air of nobility and authority.
This was Luvreyus Nazele Yorifis, the current head of the prestigious Yorifis family.
He was examining Shirou closely, running his hands along his arms and body to assess his condition.
Shirou remained outwardly obedient, but inwardly he was fuming.
> If I had the strength, I'd knock this creepy old man flat for groping me like this.
> "Fifty-one magic circuits… How incredible."
Luvreyus muttered to himself, intrigued.
Then, without warmth, he asked,
> "What's your name?"
> "Shirou. My name is Shirou,"
Shirou replied, feigning a slight tremble in his voice.
Of course, it was all an act.
> "From now on, your name will be Shirou Nazele Yorifis."
Having said that, Luvreyus turned and left.
---
❖ The Clock Tower
Located on the outskirts of London, the Clock Tower took its name from its resemblance to the famous Big Ben.
As one of the Twelve Lord Families, the Yorifis family held influence and status—so the news that they had adopted a child quickly spread.
Shirou was enrolled as a junior student at the Clock Tower.
It was his first day in class. Most of the students were around eight years old, making him one of the youngest.
As soon as he entered the room, all eyes turned to him.
> "Who's that kid?"
"Is he new?"
"What's his name?"
"Hey, look! He's got red hair! He's probably a foreigner."
Shirou heard the chatter but didn't react.
> Foreigner? You little brats are the foreigners here, not me.
(Note: Ignore cultural or linguistic inconsistencies; setting aligns with Japanese-style school life.)
Without hesitation, Shirou headed straight for the back row, window seat—the throne of kings.
> "Doesn't that kid know that seat belongs to Lisephyr Animusphere?"
"Lisephyr has a bad temper…"
Whispers rippled through the classroom again, most of the students looking on with a hint of schadenfreude.
Then she appeared.
Silver-haired, fair-skinned, wearing a frilly, jewel-studded dress—
Her posture radiated nobility and arrogance. She sparkled like she thought she was royalty.
> "Who are you? Don't you know that seat belongs to me, you peasant?"
Lisephyr Animusphere's tone was cold and condescending, her finger pointing directly at Shirou.
> Loli alert. She's cute, no doubt about that. I wonder what Illya looks like at this age… I'd really love to see her.
Though Shirou looked straight at Lisephyr, his thoughts were clearly somewhere else.
To him, she was practically invisible.
> "You… You dare ignore me? How dare you treat this lady like air! You're asking for it!"
Lisephyr snapped. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stormed forward, furious.
As the precious daughter of the Animusphere family, she had never been ignored like this.
Several magic circuits lit up along her body, and she kicked Shirou hard.
He crashed to the floor, stunned.
> Damn, that hurt. This little girl's got some serious strength. Did I just get my butt kicked by a loli?
And as she kicked, he thought he caught a glimpse of something—
> "Blue-and-white striped panties…?"
The words escaped his mouth before he realized it.
Lisephyr's face flushed bright red—even her ears turned pink.
> "DIE, YOU PERVERT!"
Furious, her circuits flared again. She reinforced her body, lifted a desk, and hurled it at him.
Just as Shirou prepared to counter, a magical barrier appeared out of nowhere and deflected the desk.
> "Lisephyr! No bullying the new student!"
The teacher had finally entered, sounding both exasperated and helpless.
As the heir of the Animusphere family—another of the Twelve Lords—Lisephyr was both a magical prodigy and a major handful.
Shirou sighed.
He realized he probably couldn't beat this girl in his current state, so he stood up and brushed himself off.
But he didn't budge from the seat.
> No way. From this day forward, this seat is my throne.
Lisephyr glared at him, looked at the teacher, and finally sat down—fuming—in the next seat over.
---
> "Let's start class. New student, please introduce yourself."
All eyes turned to Shirou again.
He hated these kinds of self-introductions.
> "My name is Shirou Nazele Yorifis."
He walked to the front, said his name plainly, and without another word, returned to his seat.
> "So he's the Yorifis family's adopted son?"
"And he doesn't even have noble blood…"
Even at their age, these children had already internalized the belief that nobility equaled superiority.
> "Filthy insect. Even if you slap a noble name on yourself, your blood's still common.
Perverted trash like you doesn't deserve to live."
Lisephyr's taunts were sharp, her voice full of contempt.
> "Wow… You really don't hold back, do you?"
Shirou couldn't help but snap back.
She was pretty, sure, but way too toxic. Her arrogant, high-and-mighty attitude seriously got on his nerves.
> "You pervert! You want a fight?!"
Lisephyr slammed her desk, fuming.
Everyone—including the teacher—turned to look.
She gritted her teeth, trying not to explode in the middle of class.
Shirou opened his textbook.
The lecture covered basic magical theory—too elementary to interest Lisephyr.
She'd learned all this years ago.
Shirou, on the other hand, paid close attention, flipping through his textbook page by page.
---
❖ Magic vs. Magecraft – A Key Difference
Every magus possesses their own magic circuits and magical attribute. These allow them to cast offensive, supportive, or practical spells—what the world recognizes as magecraft.
By contrast, True Magic refers to phenomena beyond the reach of humanity—things that cannot be replicated through any current means.
In ancient times, when both science and magecraft were far less advanced, there were many forms of magic.
But as technology and magecraft progressed, more and more once-miraculous spells became achievable by human effort.
When that happens, magic becomes magecraft.
In other words, True Magic is magecraft that cannot be realized by human means, no matter how advanced.
That is the distinction between magic and magecraft.
They were all mages, not magicians.
They used magecraft, not True Magic.
---
After class, Shirou ran straight to the library.
He dove into the books, studying intently.
> "Time's running out. I need to learn how to use my circuits and mana—fast."
He couldn't afford to fail.
If he couldn't save Sakura, the guilt would destroy him.
He would never forgive himself.
---
A week passed.
Shirou had already fully adapted to life at the Clock Tower.
The Mage's Association contained vast magical research.
The library housed countless grimoires, many centuries or even millennia old.
Aside from six hours of sleep each day, Shirou spent every waking moment buried in magical theory.
---
Lisephyr Animusphere, however, kept harassing him.
Shirou ignored her.
She'd clearly targeted him—causing him no end of trouble.
She'd slipped gross familiars into his desk drawers, left sticky, disgusting creatures he couldn't even identify.
Worst of all—she kept hiding his textbooks.
Eventually, Shirou started carrying all the grimoires he needed in his arms all day to protect them from her antics.
> This brat… she's the worst loli I've ever encountered.
Still, he had no time or energy to waste on her.
He was on a mission—
And time was running out.
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