"Come on, Shirou."
Arash urged from the front, "If we're any slower we'll miss the sunrise."
"Even so, please be mindful of the fact that I am human and cannot change that."
The three-day trial card had expired, and Shirou already had no mana to waste.
That last spiral sword had drained him dry, so now even climbing the mountain he couldn't afford to use strong reinforcement magecraft.
He could only rely on his mortal body to climb.
For a human that speed was fast, but compared to Servants it was almost like a tortoise.
As for why this happened, because Arash suddenly said he wanted to see the sun from the summit, grabbed the two of them and set off without another word, giving no chance for discussion.
By the time he realized it, he'd already been dragged to the mountainside and couldn't back out.
"Huff!"
Shirou panted, "Not there yet?"
"Soon."
Arash said, "Over that ridge and we'll be there."
Shirou didn't hear clearly and kept his head down, climbing hard.
Keeping up with those two Servants was really not easy.
"..."
After who knows how long, a big hand appeared in front of him.
He looked up to see Touta's broad smile, "Come on, Lord Shirou."
"Thanks."
Shirou reached out, felt an irresistible force, and was hoisted into the air, pulled to the front.
"..."
No words, his gaze faced the sun.
"So? Not bad, right?"
Arash spoke boastfully.
But the first thing Shirou said was, "Quick, Touta. Food. I want to eat!"
He felt like Xuanzang had possessed him.
Arash's expression darkened, "You unromantic brat!"
"Haha!"
Touta laughed and produced endless food.
Full, rested, summit seen, sunrise watched.
All that remained was going back down.
The descent was much easier.
Back in the village, they found Hundred-Faced Hassan standing at the gate with a black line across her brow, "Near dawn I heard a huge commotion and thought the Round Table Knight Mordred had come back to attack."
"I was on edge guarding for a long time since I couldn't find you. So what did you go off to do?"
"Well…"
Arash was awkward and didn't know how to answer.
Shirou's tone was humble and slightly apologetic, "Sorry, Assassin. Because we found monsters drawn here by food near the village edge and I was worried one person couldn't handle it, I brought Arash and Touta to deal with them. Was the commotion too big?"
"...", Facing Shirou's sincere eyes, Hundred-Faced Hassan looked away, "So that's it. It wasn't too bad, just startled me."
"In that case, on behalf of the village I should thank you. Letting your guard down at this time almost led to a monster attack."
She moved as if to kneel, "Thank you for your hard work, Lord Shirou!"
Shirou stopped her before she could kneel.
When Hundred-Faced Hassan left, the strange looks from behind became too much for him, "You two, if you want to say something, say it boldly, don't stare at me with those weird looks."
"May we, Lord Shirou?"
Touta said sincerely, "To be frank, I'm someone who loves good wine and pretty women. So, may I take you as my teacher?"
Shirou: "..."
Good thing Arash wasn't that abstract, otherwise he might have wanted to dissect this Great Hero to see if he was for real.
When dawn came, Xuanzang, who never moved even if thunder struck, finally woke.
"Uwaaah, that was a comfortable sleep."
"Good morning, everyone."
She greeted energetically.
Nobody answered.
Shirou said, "From here it'll probably take two days to get back to the eastern village."
Arash: "About that, yeah. We'll have to cross several mountain ridges."
Touta asked, "Shall we depart now?"
Arash said, "Everything that needed doing is done. Hundred-Faced said she's fine going on alone to see if there are any warriors to recruit in nearby villages."
"This place is for villagers who can't fight to hide in. We can't linger, time to leave."
Shirou frowned slightly, "Two days is a bit long to get back."
"Well, I've got a method."
Arash rubbed his hands, "Not as convenient as Shirou's mount, but we can get back quickly."
"What is it? What is it?"
Xuanzang sought to be part of things, blinking her big eyes, "Sounds interesting."
Arash smiled mysteriously, "Let me keep it a little secret."
———
Three minutes later.
Xuanzang hid far away: "Sorry, my voice earlier was a bit loud, please forgive me, Buddha."
"You don't like it?"
Arash was puzzled, "I think it's fine."
Touta didn't know how to put it, "Lord Arash, do you mean you'll have us ride onto the base and then shoot us out?"
"Not shoot you out."
Arash corrected, "Tie you to an arrow and shoot you out."
Touta: "Forgive my ignorance, but I fail to see the difference. Putting aside reliability and safety, what do you think, Lord Shirou?"
"Hmm! I didn't expect such a clever idea."
Shirou stroked his chin and began thinking about how to implement it.
"Lord Shirou?"
"Yeah, I'm listening…ah, this base is unsafe, modify it."
The system began logging in.
———
"Lord Shirou?"
In less than half an hour, four arrow-shaped personal aircraft were finished.
"Oh!!!"
Arash's eyes lit up, "I'm ashamed, I never thought Arash Airlines could be modified like this. Not only faster, but it saves the trouble of preparing a base, and it looks safer."
With Arash's bow-and-arrow craftsmanship level, it was entirely doable.
Speed would be about the same as Shirou's.
"That's right," Shirou nodded, tone shifted, "Don't call it Arash Airlines, call it Free Wing…my invention!"
"No no no."
Arash: "I proposed the idea first, so I should name it."
"Oh? Who said the proposer must name it?"
"Well," Touta began and stopped, "who will fire these arrows?"
Both men fell silent for a moment.
Then Arash spoke seriously, "In times like this, we should follow tradition, an Archer's duel. The winner earns naming rights for Arash Airlines."
"So each of us shoots one arrow and rides on the arrow we fired. Whoever reaches the eastern village first wins, and earns naming rights to Free Wing."
Watching the two of them decide without caring what others think, Xuanzang panicked:
"No, these two are crazy! Touta, stop them!"
Touta took charge, "May I say a few words?"
Shirou turned, "Aren't you joining?"
"Join what?", Touta was baffled.
"Of course the Archer's duel, the winner gets naming rights to Free Wing."
Arash: "Correction, Arash Airlines."
Touta: "If I win, can I name it?"
Shirou: "Of course. Free Wing is free."
"What Free Wing," Touta declared grandly, "Call it Hachiman Great Bodhisattva!"
Crack!
Xuanzang was struck as if by lightning, "You two, are you…out of your minds?"
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