The endless, gloomy raindrops caught his eye.
There was neither sadness nor pain in that scene –
It was death.
Now, tears would no longer flow, and there was no need for them to. After seeing that important person, the girl who danced with the wind, leave, only satisfaction remained in Emiya Shirou's heart.
The Holy Grail's wishing machine had already started, and a happy and wonderful world would greet his sister, Miyu.
In contrast, his broken body was nearing its end. The fate awaiting him held no future, only a fall into an abyss-like hell.
But so what?
In the pouring rain, a cheerful laugh escaped Emiya Shirou's heart, a truly happy and joyful laugh, as if to echo throughout the heavens.
No coffin was needed, nor any tombstone. All that awaited him was to have this sky and earth write the simplest of funerals.
This was good enough.
This was enough.
However, as if unwilling to grant his wish, a shrill, angry scream came from afar.
"Emiya Shirou!"
The blonde girl, clad in golden armor, was so enraged that her appearance was beyond ugly, like a demon returned from hell.
This couldn't be helped.
After all, he had ruined that family's long-standing plan, allowing Miyu, the wishing machine capable of changing and saving everything, to leave this world.
"So, hate me as much as you want." Emiya Shirou dragged his broken body, preparing to meet his death. "However, sadly, since I've used this body to do everything I needed to, it's now time to repay everything."
"Repay? What are you talking about?"
The blonde girl's eyes showed obvious confusion, because she could see that Emiya Shirou's gaze was not on her, but raised towards the sky, looking at something hidden beyond the rain.
Emiya Shirou once used a Servant card to save his sister, Miyu, and gained the power of Servant Emiya with a human body. But because of this, he was being assimilated by the Servant's power. With each battle, his body and personality moved further towards Servant Emiya.
Since a human body briefly carried the power of a Servant, there was no way to avoid paying the price.
Now, he was practically no longer human. His soul was stained with the Servant's color, and even in death, it seemed he could no longer escape the boundary line.
To live was to die.
To die was to live.
The tragedy called Servantification was about to unfold on him.
However, it seemed to be the pity of some god, or perhaps fate playing with him.
That miserable and tragic ending did not come. Instead, he was sent to an unknown and unfamiliar new world, filled with boundless fantasy.
There, Emiya Shirou would begin his brand new life.
…
Consciousness swirled as if in a meat grinder. Vast amounts of unfamiliar but strangely familiar memories appeared in Shirou's mind.
A blonde woman knight wielding a long sword,
A black-haired girl with twin tails, a lively Caster in red clothes,
A purple-haired, gentle and kind junior...
Even though they were memories he had never experienced, Shirou instinctively felt those things, yet they were crushed and fused into his soul.
At that moment, Shirou understood that those were Servant Emiya's memories, and they had also become his own.
He was both Emiya Shirou and Servant Emiya.
"Ha~ ha~"
Rain, more rain.
Wet raindrops soaked the ground of the rural countryside. His tired and heavy body couldn't even lift a finger. Most importantly, Shirou realized that his body had somehow reverted to its childhood state, looking no older than 5 years old.
"What is this?"
Before he could react, a suffocating feeling, almost like dying, came from his chest.
He desperately struggled, reaching out his hand forward. He thought it would be empty, but suddenly he grasped a steady, calm hand.
"Yo-You are...?"
As Shirou felt confused, the brown-haired man in front of him, filled with muscles, said in a panic, "Zenith, come quick, there's an injured child here!"
"Huh?"
Hearing the man's words, a fair-haired woman walked over in surprise. She was pregnant, radiating a motherly glow, and looked at Shirou gently. "Indeed, is he a child of some villager from Village? But I've never seen him before."
"His face doesn't really look like anyone from around here. Maybe he's a stray child who was kidnapped from somewhere." The brown-haired man didn't think too much. "Anyway, we can't leave this child alone, let's take him home first."
"Yeah, you're right."
There was no disagreement between the couple. Although their personalities were completely different, their kind hearts were exactly the same.
Shirou was then taken to a warm house and received careful care from the couple.
"Holy power is fragrant food, grant those who have lost their strength the power to stand up again – healing."
As the words slowly echoed, the woman named Zenith used some kind of special technique on him, a magic-like power that completely healed his injuries.
"This is..."
"This is magic, you probably haven't seen a magician before." Zenith said kindly, and didn't let him get up immediately. "Although magic can heal injuries, it can only heal surface wounds, so you'll still need to rest to recover completely."
"Th-Thank you."
"Hehe, even though you're just a child, you're strangely well-behaved. I hope I can have a child as obedient as you in the future."
The woman showed a smile from the bottom of her heart.
Seeing the smile on her face, Shirou inexplicably recalled his past father, Emiya Kiritsugu.
When he was rescued from the ruins, he had also shown a similar smile, not like the smile of a rescuer, but rather like the smile of the rescued...
Shirou fell silent for a moment.
Zenith thought he was just recovering and spoke gently, "By the way, I haven't asked your name yet?"
"Emiya, my name is Emiya Shirou."
"Emiya... Shirou? That's a strange name, are you a foreigner?"
Zenith had been an adventurer before and had traveled to many places, but she had never encountered such a peculiar name. She then introduced herself: "My name is Zenith Greyrat, the man from before is my husband, Paul Greyrat. He's a knight stationed in this village, kind of like a manager. Can I call you Shirou?"
"Of course."
This couple had not only saved him, but had also gone out of their way to heal and take care of him. Shirou was undoubtedly very grateful to them, and even wanted to repay their kindness.
However, he also knew that his body was not only injured, but had also turned into a child, so there was nothing he could do to repay them.
Zenith didn't mind too much. Instead, she continued to speak gently, "Shirou, do you still know where your home is?"
"This..."
"I thought so."
Zenith seemed to have expected this result. She then said, "Then, how about you become our child, Shirou?"
"Huh?"
Unexpectedly receiving such a surprise invitation, a clear look of surprise appeared on Shirou's face.