Rolling mountains, winding paths.
Screech! Screech!
"ROAR!"
A red-furred monster wore a face of terror, fleeing wildly.
Hands and feet flailing as if it could summon the might of a hundred-legged centipede.
As if something like a flood-beast was behind it, no! Something more terrifying than a flood-beast.
Too brutal.
It had only wanted to beg its companions for a bit of food, but halfway through three killing gods suddenly popped up and, without a word, began slaughtering them.
While killing, they still shouted, "This is mine, don't steal!"
"Lord Arash, that's prey for us?"
"What nonsense! Since it's a contest, whoever grabs it first owns it…"
"Wait, Shirou! Why did you shoot my arrow? You stole my prey?"
"Sorry, my old eyes are failing, I thought it was some kind of UFO!"
"Old eyes failing, what kind of Archer is that?"
"Did I ever say I'm an Archer?"
Three different kinds of arrows flew about, the scene in utter chaos.
In the end, the three were a draw.
So they all turned their gazes to the last red-furred monster.
From a human perspective, these three must be genteel and easygoing, right?
One is a red-haired ghost who couldn't even assemble a whole corpse after killing three people;
One talks about how sacrifice is wrong but opens with a meteor, true heroics;
And one carries a rice bag claiming to be a monk, yet guzzles wine and eats meat like a glutton.
'So where did you three devilish guys come from?'
"Got it!"
Using his robust body and familiarity with the terrain, Arash first reached shooting range, drew his bow, and loosed an arrow.
Watching the arrow about to pierce the monster's heart, he showed a pleased look, already thinking of the taunts he would level at the others.
Unexpectedly…
"Sorry, Lord Arash, the last prey belongs to us!"
Touta said nothing more and activated his Noble Phantasm, "Namu Hachiman Daibosatsu · Please bless this arrow and grant the five-person strong bow I've loved using since my youth its power."
"This technique is: Hachiman Prayer · Great Yokai Piercer (Hachiman Kigan・Taiyoushakan)!"
In the silent black night, a blue water-dragon flew out, cutting through the air, and beneath Arash's frozen expression swallowed his arrow.
Immediately, he shouted loudly, "Using a Noble Phantasm is too much!"
'Believe it or not, I'll use Meteor One!'
"Haha, since the opponent is Lord Arash, we of course must go all out—"
Before his hearty laugh could fully escape, a crimson arrow instantly devoured his water-dragon, followed by, "Phantasm Collapse (Broken Phantasm)!"
BOOM!
The scorching mana detonated the moment it touched the monster.
A huge energy sphere expanded.
It pulverized surrounding rocks, gouging a deep pit in the ground.
With the final blast, a massive mushroom cloud surged into the sky.
Hundred Faces Hassan in the village was woken, rolled out, scrambled to her feet and shouted, "What the heck? What happened? Did the Lion King personally bring the Round Table Knights to attack?"
"..."
Only silence and the night wind answered her.
Arash, closest to the monster, nearly turned green at the sight.
'What are you doing?'
'WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?'
'It was just an unarmed monster.'
'So inhumane!'
'Couldn't you consider the monster's feelings?'
Monster: 'I really thank you, when you kill my kin, did you consider their feelings?'
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
After the storm subsided, rubble tumbled down.
After a few minutes, Arash and Touta waited breathlessly for Shirou to come running over.
No choice, no matter how much reinforcement magic is applied, a human body can never match a Servant.
Especially not against a nimble Servant like Arash.
Needless to say, Arash immediately grabbed and throttled, shouting, "You two, you used Noble Phantasms, that's outright cheating. Doesn't count! I win this time!"
"Come on," Unable to break free, Shirou gave up struggling, "Touta used his before I did."
"And besides, we agreed to pick a spot and not move. Someone immediately decided he'd lose and took terrain advantage to herd the monsters into the mountains."
"Nonsense, I just misfired, I misfired!"
The Great Hero protested.
"Yeah, yeah! The illustrious Arash Kamango (Archer), not only misfired but happened to hit the rock above the monster's head, which fell and scared them away?"
"Shut up, you damn red-haired ghost!"
"Just average, far inferior to a great hero willing to sacrifice himself with Meteor One."
Shirou's light teasing made Arash's fists clench tighter.
"All right, if I don't teach this brat a lesson, you'll never know Arash's power!"
He immediately used his signature technique.
The speed of a marksman's hands.
"Watch me scratch an itch!"
'Hosting-san, don't be shy, enjoy it for me.'
The system remained silent.
"Hahaha, so satisfying!"
Touta, who hadn't said much, exclaimed with glee, "To have met you two is indeed one of life's great fortunes; not only does food become more delicious, but things we do are infinitely more joyful."
"Not at all."
Arash scratched for a while, found Shirou expressionless, puzzled, and turned his attention to the conversation.
He thought calling Shirou a brat was no problem.
Can't even drink, what a kid who hasn't grown up.
Yet he's become so mature and can handle things on his own.
"If not for Brother Touta's Noble Phantasm, I think everyone would still be worrying about food."
"For me, it's nothing noteworthy."
Touta scratched his head, "Moreover, sharing food, seeing diners enjoy the food you made and showing smiles. For a cook that's the greatest praise."
"I think Lord Shirou must be that way too, that's why he can make such happiness-inducing dishes."
"Something like that, I guess."
Shirou, now saved, immediately tossed the system aside, "No matter how good the food, if I don't share it with everyone it loses much of its meaning; conversely, being with you lot, I think Arash's cooking is delicious too."
A question mark popped above Arash's head.
He protested, "Do you have something to say about my Arash barbecue invention?"
"No, it's very tasty."
Shirou smiled.
Indeed it was good. After all, he was someone who often hunted.
Suddenly, Touta looked up.
"Dawn's coming."
The starlight faded, the inky-blue night quietly withdrawing.
When the first slant of morning light touched the world,
to the east, the boundless sky spread a thin, delicate golden edge.
At the mountain's end, a half-sun gently poked its head out, from pale yellow to orange-red, as if crushing all the world's most brilliant colors together.
The earth revived.
The mountains reflected in the dawn glow.
Only at that moment did Shirou clearly feel that in this era, people were still alive…
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