"It seems Lancer has died..."
It appeared he had perished in battle against Cú Chulainn.
'It doesn't matter if he's dead. Diarmuid possessed the fighting spirit of a warrior, and fundamentally, he was from a warrior race. I have no right to say anything about his death... Artoria is living as a normal girl. Lancelot is watching over Artoria as a retainer. Medea, for some reason, chose to walk with me. And Tiamat... well, she intended to be with me from our very first meeting. I suppose it's natural...'
For the past 10 years, I had been training in Projection Magecraft, Gandr, and understanding the functions of my smartphone.
It was only natural since I had plenty of time, but my goal was to explore, destroy, or obtain the other Grails.
The number of Grails appearing was absurd, on the level of Chaldea without actually being Chaldea.
First off, I could project the Honkai Impact 3rd weapons stored in the smartphone, but with the exception of the Key of Domination, the side effects were severe.
The Key of Revelation (Void Archives) couldn't be projected at all, perhaps because it's a conceptual recording. The Key of Infinity (Cosmic Juggernaut) was impossible due to its sheer size. I almost disintegrated my body trying to use the Key of Judgment (Seven Thunders of Retribution) because my aptitude didn't match. The 4th Key was a satellite, so that was impossible from the start.
I managed to project the Key of Stasis (Great Hibernation), but my hand started corroding, and the mana drain forced me to cancel it and get treated by Medea. The Key of Destruction (Abyss Flower) was impossible because I couldn't withstand it. I could use the Key of Consciousness (Fenghuang Down), but due to side effects related to memory (including knowledge) itself, I couldn't use it. The Key of Devouring (Star of Eden) was too wide-range a weapon to find an opening to use.
I could make the Xuanyuan Sword, Water's Edge, and Grips of Taixuan, but the results weren't satisfactory. I couldn't use the Key of Constraint (Oath of Judah) because the moment I used it, I would die. The Key of Corruption (Jizo Mitama) was useless as it was just an empty shell with nothing inside.
Since this was the Fate universe, bringing in Honkai weapons resulted in too many side effects and ambiguous performance, so I had no choice but to give up on projecting them.
Well, it would be better to project Servant Noble Phantasms and find performance that matched, but the Divine Keys were weapons that surpassed even Noble Phantasms.
The Key of Constraint was superior to the Chains of Heaven (Enkidu) in that it could indiscriminately neutralize mystery, but since it applied to the user as well, it wasn't something a human should use unless they were planning a double suicide.
The Key of Domination felt similar in rank to the twin swords Archer used, but unless I could use the sword control techniques found in martial arts novels, it didn't have much meaning.
On the other hand, my Projection Magecraft remained permanently like the original Shirou Emiya's, but the difference was that I could materialize 99% of the internal contents as well.
If it took damage beyond a crack, it would turn into mana particles and disappear, but it seemed I could project as much as I wanted as long as I grasped the structure.
When Medea first saw that, she looked like she had given up thinking about it and just moved on. Next was Gandr.
After the Holy Grail War ended, I maximized my proficiency with Gandr, and as a result, I could fire it almost like an assault rifle.
The power was enough to shatter a magic shield made by Medea in 1 to 3 seconds.
I had never seen a normal magus's Gandr, so I didn't know who to use as an average for comparison, so let's move on.
Next is the smartphone.
It's a data box that allows me to replicate Projection Magecraft and Honkai Impact 3rd weapons.
For now, the condition was that if I read the structure, the smartphone would automatically record it. As for Honkai Impact 3rd, it was limited to the Divine Keys. I had big questions about why it didn't provide other information, but in any case, it recorded and updated automatically without me knowing.
I thought BB might be behind this, but if it were the BB I knew, she would have surely popped out of the smartphone to talk.
Excluding that, it was clear that the true nature of the smartphone couldn't be determined.
"Sakura? Shall we go to the Emiya house?"
"Yes! Let's go right now!"
『....』
Tamamo, in her fox form, silently came into my arms.
I just petted her without a word.
"Then, may I come as well? Akira."
"Let's bring Excalibur just in case."
"Since I've taken on my adult form, I already have it with me."
"Well, that's a relief. Shall we go?"
"Mama will go together too."
I'll go later. I can just move via spatial transfer.
===================
Emiya Residence
Clang, clang, clang.
The sound of striking iron echoed.
"Hmm, as expected, my days in the smithy are better than the days being cross-dressed by Big Sis Illya."
'Our Shirou, it seems you've suffered a lot.'
Meanwhile, Boudica could only pity Shirou.
The blades had turned sharp, and the weapons were nearly at the level of Noble Phantasms.
A sword that cuts evil, a sword that cuts wickedness, a sword that cuts the non-living... Shirou had been making countless swords, imbuing them with mana, grudges, and origins.
Grudges lead to demonic swords, and origins lead to holy swords or demonic swords, but they were uncertain weapons.
Metals that had consumed blood for a long time harbored grudges, and metals left facing the sun and moon harbored the energy of the sun and moon.
If such metals were refined normally, they would just be metals, but when Shirou refined them, metals harboring mystery were completed.
It was about awakening the anecdotes of the metals and turning their potential into weapons.
Shirou had no talent as a magus.
He just took up blacksmithing to avoid bad experiences, but now it had become his main occupation as he piled up swords.
Kiritsugu's wealth was beyond imagination, and obtaining metals was possible by asking Maiya.
Or, he would trade with magi to collect metals harboring mystery, refine them into swords, and if he didn't like them, he would melt them down and make them again.
Those weapons were F~C rank Noble Phantasms at minimum, and his masterpieces were C+~B- at best.
"That's enough for today."
"Good work."
Boudica handed Shirou a basket of sandwiches and a towel.
"Ah, thank you, Big Sis Boudica."
"Fufufu, Shirou is so kind."
"...Is that so?"
He wiped his hands with the towel, seemingly unaware of it himself, and ate the sandwich Boudica gave him.
And Boudica handed Shirou a glass of milk.
"Mmm, thanks."
"Don't mention it~"
Boudica watched Shirou with a slightly pounding heart.
Seeing Shirou, who was so likable, she licked her lips and said:
"By the way, every single one of your weapons is Noble Phantasm class."
"Well, I couldn't make Excalibur, which is a mess in terms of efficiency and performance regardless of what it's made of, but I wanted to make them Noble Phantasm class. I sold a few to Big Sis Taiga in the process, but they were full of mystery... I sold her the lowest quality ones, but she said she'd never seen such amazing swords."
"Maybe she recognized them because they were swords you made with effort, Shirou?"
"Is that it?"
Shirou didn't realize it himself.
He had no talent, but he didn't have time to realize that he was making weapons in a state of selflessness by keeping his mind calm like a still sea.
"By the way, Big Sis Boudica? Did we have any milk left at home? It tastes different from the milk I usually drink."
"Ah~, I just went out and bought it a moment ago? It's soy milk, so don't worry."
"Ah, really?"
And Boudica blushed as she watched him drink the milk in the glass.
'Ah, I'm crazy, I'm crazy. What am I feeding Shirou!'
At the same time, a knocking sound was heard at the door.
"Must be a guest. No, is it Big Sis Artoria and Big Brother?"
"How did you sense that?"
"Well, they come often. I just have a feeling."
For a moment, Boudica's heart raced.
Thinking her suspicion that Shirou might possess Clairvoyance was wrong, she sighed in relief and opened the gate to the mansion to welcome the guests.
"Shirou, are you making weapons well?"
"Uh, well... I can't find any metal better than this. I can't make the ultimate sword."
"Hmm, how about asking Medea to make some?"
"Hmm... that's not a bad idea, but wouldn't it be a bother for Big Sis Medea?"
"Well, considering she's free these days, I don't think it matters..."
"Really? But these days I want to make a weapon I've never made before. Like a Demon Sword (Yoto)."
Poof!
"Mikon! If it's materials for that, I think I can create them for you?"
"Hmm, a fox?"
"Your reaction is weak!?"
Tamamo was trying to get a reaction, but Shirou maintained his expression unwaveringly, like a calm water surface.
"Well... I'm too used to it...? Doing blacksmithing made me become like a calm lake."
"What is that? Tamamo is starting to get scared."
"Senior Shirou, I'm here too."
"Sakura? Hmm... so, good morning? No, is it lunch now?"
"It's dinner. Senior Shirou, you must have forgotten again while focusing."
"Ah, it seems my concept of time has disappeared..."
"Yes, I felt bad coming empty-handed, so I brought some ingredients."
And so, using the ingredients Artoria was holding, we cooked and ate Shabu-shabu, spending time together and chatting.