Chapter 164 — Stealing Cat!!!!
The kind of personality and interests a person eventually develops are, in fact, only slightly determined by nature; much more depends on the education and worldview they experience during their growth.
For Emiya himself, he didn't quite remember what his original biological parents were like.
He only vaguely recalled that they were very busy with work, yet loved him dearly, trying their best to squeeze out time to give him the greatest companionship.
Regardless of how the world turns, a person's parents and birth trajectory usually do not shift, which is why almost every "Emiya Shirou" is inherently kind at the start.
However, Emiya was different from most other "Emiya Shirous" in that his world's "Holy Grail War" did not have the history of the Third or Fourth Wars.
Kiritsugu never gave up on his ideals due to a breakdown.
He had always hoped to find a way to truly save the world, and upon realizing his body could no longer hold out until that moment, he solemnly entrusted his remaining ideals to Emiya.
Precisely because he held expectations for Emiya and intended for him to inherit his will, Kiritsugu spent the years between rescuing the young Emiya and finding "Sakatsuki Miyu"—the Child of God who could save the world—traveling the globe with Emiya.
He exposed him to battlefields and taught him the correct philosophy of a Magus Killer.
Whether it was Magecraft or modern weaponry... they didn't need the lofty pride of being a Magus; as long as they could achieve their goal, it was enough. They were already working hard to save the world—wasn't that reason enough?
Because of his admiration for "Justice," "Saving the World," and Kiritsugu, who had saved him, the young Emiya never felt aversion to these things.
On the contrary, he was quite interested.
Although in the end, it was Emiya himself who betrayed that ideal and promise, shifting his goal from protecting the world to protecting his sister, he didn't believe he had done anything wrong. If even the desire to see a child grow up healthy was a mistake, then Emiya was willing to shoulder that "Evil."
In short, whether it be Magecraft or Jujutsu, as long as it could achieve the effect of making the world better, Emiya approved of it. Sorcerers who can naturally see Curses might look down on such inventions, but in Emiya's eyes, this was a possibility to further safeguard the lives of ordinary people.
As long as similar monitoring facilities could be popularized, then even without telling non-sorcerers about the existence of Cursed Spirits, Jujutsu High could use surveillance to
precisely locate the position and target of a "Curse" the moment it was born and handle it promptly.
Isn't that how the modern technological era works?
As long as the authorities are willing, criminals have nowhere to hide in a city full of "Sky Eyes"; they can only find a slim chance of survival by fleeing into deep mountains and old forests.
Even then, the reason crime rates cannot be fully controlled is that people cannot watch monitors every second, nor can they predict if someone is plotting something.
But "Curses" and Cursed Spirits are different.
They come with an inherent "I am a bad guy" attribute.
As long as the monitors are fitted with an automatic alarm function for detecting "Residual Dregs" (Residue), they will have nowhere to hide. Special Grade Curses might consciously hide their tracks, but for low-level Curses, the time from discovery to extermination wouldn't even take an hour.
In this way, Cursed Spirits would also be stepping into the technological society, enjoying the "dividends" of the era's progress.
Emiya had previously wondered if he could forge similar devices, but "Forging" was a technique unique to him; he could break his arms working and still not create a monitoring network covering even half a city. Until Rom brought his discovery and technology, this vision instantly shifted from impossible to possible. Though there would certainly be much resistance, they had already moved from zero to one—why fear the steps that followed?
"Do you... want to consider becoming a teacher at Jujutsu High?"
After discussing a series of modernization inventions with Rom, Emiya suddenly extended this invitation. Rom's current strength as a sorcerer was at most Grade 2, lower than many students, but in teaching, isn't it always "he who has the knowledge is the teacher"?
Even Assistant Supervisors who only know a few barrier techniques can be teachers; why not the open-minded and advanced Rom?
Seeing Rom's excellent and unique insights, Emiya realized a critical issue: even if Gojo Satoru wanted to reform the jujutsu world, he had to draw a clean line from the past and produce epoch-making results.
Suppressing it with strength alone was absolutely not enough.
Currently, Itadori and the others' strength was steadily improving, and their thinking was more open than the sorcerers of the Three Great Families, but the actual state of the jujutsu world hadn't changed. The people at the top had been replaced, but the sorcerers at the bottom still faced the same old problems, and the casualties of non-sorcerers were hard to truly reduce.
But once more research-oriented geniuses like Rom were discovered, allowing sorcerers to accept reform, the entire jujutsu world would become completely different in just a few years.
"What... me?"
Upon receiving the invitation, Rom's first reaction wasn't joy, but... "But if I do that, will the progress of my work be slowed down? Will it be very tiring?"
He didn't care about vanity; he only cared if his great cause could advance.
"It won't. Currently, all the students in the school combined don't even total ten. Besides... why are you so sure none of the students will like this?" Interest is indeed cultivated, but talent is innate—what if there's a genius in this field among them?
'Well, Itadori Yuji can probably be ruled out immediately'.
"Hmm... sounds tempting. I agree! As we just said, Jujutsu High will support my research, right?"
"No problem at all," Emiya answered without hesitation.
This short process felt like a dream to Mrs. Mitsue. She clearly only came to say thank you, yet in a few minutes, her "unpromising" disciple had become a teacher at Jujutsu High? Getting a prestigious official post without even going to school—is such a thing actually possible?! Truly, there are no wrong nicknames: "The Prodigy Rom"...
Having handled the business here, Emiya turned to Miko, who had been standing obediently to the side.
"Since there are other guests, I need to head over there first. Can you wait for me for a moment?"
Since she had traveled so far, even if Emiya couldn't let her stay the night, he at least had to provide a meal.
"Yes, I'm fine, Emiya-kun. Your business is most important." Miko nodded seriously, truly considering Emiya's needs.
"Okay, I'll be going then?" After saying goodbye, Emiya left the room and was quickly led by Ijichi to another room.
Whether it was a coincidence or someone's deliberate arrangement, even though this space was separated by barriers, Miko happened to be able to see the opposite room—and the blue-haired girl who was enthusiastically greeting her Emiya.
She only wanted to peek at Emiya's retreating back through the window; how did she suddenly see the opposite window and the person inside?!
Miko knew that eavesdropping or spying was impolite, but her eyes were like magnets glued to the scene; she couldn't look away.
She didn't even notice that a tall, thin man with white hair had stood up beside her at some point.
Strangely, even though this guy was wearing a blindfold, he was holding a pair of binoculars over the blindfold, pointing directly at the room opposite.
"You also think that guy looks like a disgusting animal, right?"
Two people who had never met before spoke the same word in unison after glancing at each other:
"Thieving Cat!!!!"
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