Chapter 193: Time to Wake Up
"Shirou, thank you for helping us protect France. You've been a great help. If you ever need assistance in the future, please don't hesitate to summon me.
Although I am not a powerful Servant outside of France, I can still help you if you have any complex mechanisms or locks you can't open," Louis XVI said with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor. This was something I was naturally obligated to do," Shirou nodded and agreed.
Initially, he just came to protect this world, but after arriving in Paris and meeting the enthusiastic principal and the students, this city could no longer be considered irrelevant to him.
"Is that so? It's wonderful that you've grown to like this country. Then, farewell! Young man, I hope you have a happy and fulfilling life!" Louis XVI seemed to perceive the boy's thoughts and said with a smile.
With a mix of relief, sentimentality, and a touch of regret, Louis XVI returned to the Throne of Heroes.
Seeing the boy dismiss the spiritual armor, Marie turned back and looked at her friends.
"Although I'd like to hold another tea party, we haven't had one together since this whole incident. But there's no more time, so let everyone do something they want in their final moments. Don't worry about me. If you want to leave, then leave."
Black Queen Marie said this and walked straight into the Palace of Versailles, which was filled with all her memories.
D'Eon and Sanson exchanged glances and followed closely behind Marie.
"What's wrong with you two? Don't you have anything else to do?" Marie asked.
"No, we'll just follow you, Your Majesty."
Meanwhile, Mozart, who was silently trailing behind, asked in confusion, "Marie, why didn't you ask me?"
"You're going to keep stalking me regardless, whether I'm black or white, aren't you?" Marie retorted irritably.
"Ah, ah, the tempo of Marie's breathing accelerated by three-quarters when she said that. Is this what they call tsundere?" Mozart said with a hint of excitement.
"Go back to Vienna!! You hopeless scumbag!" D'Eon cursed.
Gazing at the largely destroyed Palace of Versailles, Black Queen Marie felt a little down. Back when her family was seized and forced to leave this place, the scene after the mob stormed in to smash, loot, and demolish must have looked like this.
"Indeed! I cannot forgive those people!" Marie, who had been silent, finally spoke.
"Your Majesty..."
"But His Majesty said he hoped I would be happy, so I will smile and love the people who deserve my love, and the country that deserves my love. Then, I will achieve supreme happiness as everyone's idol, accept the adoration of all my people, and lead them to enjoy a stylish and interesting life.
And secretly, I will search for my enemies. If I get a chance to meet the descendants of the people who persecuted my children and me back then, I'll secretly take revenge!
Hmm... The people who do that kind of work, like the 'my-homies' in special professions in the theater from before, those honest and dependable 'black brothers' would be perfect. I'm really looking forward to it!" Marie said with an angelic smile.
"Yes! Your Majesty, as your knight, I will always follow behind you." D'Eon declared.
That's right, whether it was the Goddess Idol Marie or the Dark World Empress who secretly controlled the black-skinned gang, as the Knight of the Lily, D'Eon would unconditionally protect her.
"What a magnificent idea! Truly a Goddess~!" Sanson praised, utterly stunned.
"Well, no matter what kind of Marie you are, I'll stand by you," Mozart said with an indifferent smile.
"Ahaha..." Shirou dryly chuckled and distanced himself from the French group. He felt like he couldn't blend in with any of these types, nor did he want to.
"Well, it's time for us to exit too. You guys don't be sad. We had to split up because of the earlier battle and you missed my spectacular performance. But next time, I'll remember to send you invitations. You can just come to my concert then." Elizabeth comforted Shirou and the others, patting her chest to assure them.
"Ahaha, that's such a shame," Jeanne said, seemingly letting out a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Shirou, be sure to keep in touch with me after you return, or I might fold a paper doll of you and put a curse on it," Himeji ran over and said. When she pushed up her glasses, she revealed a sinister, dark expression.
"Hmm... what?" Shirou was about to agree, but he paused, stunned, at the last part.
"Princess, you're exposing your true nature, meow." Tamamo Cat called out.
"Master, please don't worry. Whether it's sorcery or a curse, I will protect you, meow. Just silently call out the name of your adorable pet, and summon me. Even if I have to cross multiple worlds, even if I have to cultivate multiple tails, I will come to you, meow," Tamamo Cat said.
"Well... though I was inexplicably summoned here, there's nothing that can be done about going back. Shirou, let's play together next time~!" Astolfo smiled and waved his hand.
Shirou saw off Servant after Servant, then walked with the silver-haired girl to a high place. He felt the wind and looked at the surrounding scenery under the stars. The green grass gently swayed, and the reappeared azure lake surface reflected the flickering light in the breeze.
"Jeanne, what are you planning to do next?" Shirou asked the only remaining girl.
Jeanne said awkwardly with a grimace, "Me? I'll first return to Chaldea to deliver the recovered Holy Grail, and then I'll go to your world, Shirou... After all..."
"After all?" Shirou looked at the silver-haired girl in confusion.
"After all! That Cold-Blooded King also went to the outside world! So I want to go and find you, too! Is that a problem!!" Jeanne glared at the boy and said fiercely.
"No, no, I was just concerned about you. If you want to come over, I'm at the Paris branch school. You can just come and find me after you've taken care of your business," Shirou waved his hands in explanation.
"I know! I'm going back! You go back too, Shirou! I'll come to find you soon!" Jeanne shouted, waving her hand!
"I know. The school seems to be hosting a bonfire dance party tonight. You really like dancing, so don't miss it," Shirou agreed.
"I didn't say I wanted to dance with you! But if there's a dance party, I'll participate. Shirou! I've simulated and practiced that last dance a hundred times on my own. You just wait!" Jeanne pointed at the boy and smiled proudly.
"Hmm..." Shirou hesitated, wondering if he should tell her that the dance at the bonfire party was of a different style...
"Alright then! Da Vinci! Send me back!" Jeanne called out.
"Yes, yes. Thank you for the meal. I'm full on 'dog food'," Da Vinci agreed.
"Well, giving her some delicious snacks should cheer her up later," Shirou said, and he too left the world of dreams.
.
.
.
After Shirou and Jeanne left, this dream world, deprived of its energy supply, gradually dissolved. Under the restoration of the world's consciousness, the people who had been drawn into this dream were one by one recalled to their original worlds.
Most people said their final goodbyes to this place as they woke up from their dreams. However, some people were still dreaming and seemed reluctant to leave until the very last moment.
In the first street, in the center of the fountain square, a young man and woman walking hand-in-hand stopped. The French man with black-brown hair looked at the changing environment and said with a hint of reluctance, "The dream is ending..."
"What's wrong, Julien?" The beautiful woman asked her lover in confusion.
"No, let's dance," the man slightly bowed and extended his hand to his wife, inviting her.
"Huh? Here?" the woman asked, smiling.
"Trust me. I swear, the whole world is cheering for us. Will you join me?" the man looked at his wife and said.
"Alright, but if people laugh at us, I'm not talking to you," the wife placed her hand in the man's.
And so, the two began to twirl around the fountain. The man and the beautiful woman danced gracefully in the square, like a pair of butterflies shimmering with golden light, scattering sparks of fluorescence.
"Ah, this reminds me of the night fifty years ago..." The man shed tears, looking up at the stars in the sky. His eyes were blurred by tears.
The woman he was dancing with was gone, and his body began to glow, slowly drifting away. The dream had ended.
In the fourth street, where the battle royale was taking place, a bearded man with a cowboy hat and a face full of scars held a sniper rifle, hiding in a corner and aiming at an opponent in the distance.
Although he didn't know what had happened, he had gained some experience after the strange monsters had decreased. Though he lacked those odd abilities, the sniper rifle in his hand was the perfect weapon for him, the "King of Soldiers."
The bearded man snapped open his American-made Zippo lighter with a "ding" and lit a cigar for himself, exhaling a thick plume of white smoke that obscured his eagle-sharp eyes but couldn't hide the cool charisma of a King of Soldiers, honed by war and hardship.
Whoosh!!
A wraith dressed as an Indian saw the light, blew into a bamboo tube, and shot a poisoned dart directly into the bearded man's forehead.
The bearded man immediately "died," and under the interference of the world's consciousness, the people still remaining in the dream world were sucked back.
"Wait, let the old man win one round before I go!" The person inside the "dead" bearded man felt a force pushing him out of the body of the King of Soldiers, seemingly sending him back to his original place. He wanted to grab hold of the body and shouted loudly.
But the dream was over.
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