"Really don't want to come to my house, Shirou?" Mrs. Somar hadn't given up. She looked at Shirou with burning eyes. "My little Somar is always out playing with kids his age. I'm all alone at home."
"Uh, this..."
What does it have to do with me that you're home alone?
Shirou really wanted to say that, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Somar. I have patrol duties and can't waste time," Shirou finally said hesitantly. "If you really want to invite me, come find me again when I have a day off."
Even though he said that, Shirou actually had no intention of taking a day off.
Until now, he had been carrying out the Greyrat family's patrol duties every day. Besides that, he used all his time for swordsmanship training and magic practice. He had no extra time at all, let alone a so-called break.
He was purely making an excuse to avoid Mrs. Somar's overly enthusiastic attitude.
Mrs. Somar didn't see Shirou's intention. She was quite disappointed, and even waved goodbye to Shirou reluctantly, saying, "Okay, then I'll see you next time. I'll bake you some delicious cookies. Remember to come, Shirou."
"Ah, um..."
Seeing the beautiful lady's expectant and lonely look, Shirou fled in a panic, afraid that if he wasn't careful, he would really be tempted to go to her house.
After leaving Mrs. Somar's house, Shirou went to the tower on the edge of the Buena Village Great Forest. He hadn't even reached the tower when Laws walked out with a smile.
"Yo, Shirou, you're really popular lately."
"What do you mean, popular..."
"People in the village like you a lot. Many villagers are even thinking about marrying their daughters to you. Should I start preparing Sylphy in advance?"
"Uh..."
Shirou never expected Laws to talk about this kind of thing as soon as they met. His face was full of embarrassment and helplessness.
He hadn't expected the villagers to be so enthusiastic. He was just simply helping people in the village who were having trouble and dealing with some problems. But since Buena Village was a small place, a small village with only a few dozen families, information spread faster than imaginable.
Shirou's name quickly spread throughout the village. People even often came to him to be matchmakers, wanting to marry their daughters to him.
Although Shirou was only 7 years old now, considering that people in this world generally got married at the age of twelve or thirteen, the villagers' enthusiasm was understandable.
But Shirou made it clear that he had no interest in this at all. Whether it was in his previous life, this life, or even in Servant Emiya's life, he had never experienced any love, let alone marriage. That kind of thing was completely irrelevant to Shirou.
Maybe someday in the future, he would indeed find someone he loved and marry them. But right now, he wasn't keen on it. He hoped to improve his strength even further.
And Laws was clearly just joking. He and Shirou were now considered to be friends despite their age difference. They talked about monsters and forest information every day. Shirou was very interested in learning about this, and Laws, as a half-elf, also had a very deep understanding of it.
Laws therefore understood Shirou's thoughts very well. But even so, he still jokingly said that he wanted to marry his daughter to him, which showed that he truly approved of Shirou in his heart.
"There hasn't been any movement in the Great Forest recently. Monster hunting is also going well." Laws saw Shirou's embarrassment and frankly skipped the topic of marrying his daughter, "Shirou, speaking of which, you've been paying close attention to the forest's movements lately. Do you want to become a monster hunter?"
"Monster hunter?"
"Hehe, actually, monster hunter is a non-standard term. The most correct term is adventurer." Laws showed a nostalgic expression as he spoke, "Although I haven't been an adventurer in my life, I've met many people who have been adventurers. Even your father, Paul, used to be an adventurer, and a member of the famous adventurer team, Black Wolf's Fang."
"Black Wolf's Fang?"
"Yes, Black Wolf's Fang is a famous S-rank adventurer team. They have conquered many labyrinths and dungeons, and hunted many monsters. They are somewhat famous throughout the world. Of course, since Paul and Mrs. Zenith got married, Black Wolf's Fang has completely disbanded."
Shirou didn't expect Paul to have such a glorious past, so he naturally became curious about adventurers.
He learned from Laws that adventurers were a special group of people recognized by an organization called the Adventurers Guild. Their usual task was to take on various quests from the Adventurers Guild. Most of these quests involved eliminating various monsters. After completing the quests, they would be recognized by the Adventurers Guild. They could not only receive rewards but also increase the level of the adventurer team.
Adventurer teams were divided into ranks from F to S. Only enough strength and constant contributions could allow the rank to be increased. It was said that there were SS-rank adventurers above S-rank, but they were so rare that they were practically non-existent.
"I once thought about becoming an adventurer and earning money by hunting monsters." Laws showed a complicated look as he spoke, "To this end, I also worked hard to learn the elven archery. Unfortunately, before that, I had already married my current wife and couldn't do such a dangerous job. Shirou, if you want to become an adventurer, maybe I can teach you my archery."
"Archery..."
Hearing Laws's words, Shirou couldn't help but show a subtle expression.
Neither he himself nor Servant Emiya was unfamiliar with the weapon of the bow. Servant Emiya's class was even Archer.
If described with levels, Emiya Shirou's swordsmanship might only be C, but his archery was truly A-level. It was not to be underestimated even among Servants.
Laws's archery might have been trained to some extent, but to Shirou, it was purely showing off his skills to an expert.
Considering Paul's loss of confidence in front of him before, Shirou ultimately gave up the idea of asking Laws to teach him archery.
If he caused Laws to lose confidence and doubt his life because of his own actions, that would be too bad.
However, Laws's words also reminded Shirou that fighting could rely on more than just swordsmanship.
The archery from Servant Emiya, although a trick and not the proper way, could indeed greatly increase his fighting ability in a short time. He should probably put more effort into it later, and at least practice often so that he wouldn't become rusty.