MTLNOVEL Chapter 7: Departure
Zaruba answered Shirou's question, and although the result was somewhat unexpected, it made sense.
When Shirou first saw the memories of the soul fragment that came with the light source, he merged with the fragment and accepted the memories of the soul fragment's owner. His personality was also affected to some extent, but the determination of his soul was far stronger than that of a mere fragment, and the impact was negligible, so he hadn't noticed it until the intense battle with Esdeath earlier.
After learning the reason, Shirou breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what happened, knowing the reason was a good thing. The unknown was the most terrifying. As for the merging of the soul fragment, he didn't take it seriously at all. He was a Heroic Spirit, so at most, his personality would be slightly influenced. If he were truly affected by a mere soul fragment, he would have been destroyed.
So, after resting, Shirou continued his journey.
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On this day, the sky was clear, and white clouds floated in the air, adding a decorative touch to the blue sky.
At this moment, Shirou was sitting on the back of a dangerous species shaped like an eagle, admiring the surrounding scenery with great interest. After leaving the battlefield, he found a small town and exchanged some money for the dangerous species he had hunted. After purchasing some daily necessities and a map of the empire, he began his journey.
However, since the journey to the imperial capital was too long—it would take a month even at his speed—Shirou tamed the eagle-like dangerous species and flew toward the imperial capital.
"Kirigaya, Urad, Meru..."
"What have you been muttering about, Zaruba?" Shirou looked at the ring on his hand with a headache. After spending days together, they had become familiar with each other, and Zaruba's personality had also changed. Displayed before him, surprisingly, the ring was quite talkative.
"I'm just naming this creature. After all, you're the one raising it. You can't just release it when you reach your destination. That would be a waste."
"This person." of course, referred to Shirou's current mount.
"Keith... How about Keith?"
"That's fine. Do as you please."
"Oh? Thank you, little guy. Did you hear that? Just call it Keith." Zaruba happily called out to the dangerous species below. It responded as if answering.
"See, this little guy is very happy. It seems I'm quite good at naming things."
"Why didn't your creator shut your mouth? Didn't your previous contractors say anything about you?" Shirou couldn't help but wonder.
"I couldn't help it. My two previous contractors were a father and son, and both of them were cold and didn't like to talk much. I could only talk to myself. As for my producer, that old man isn't here."
"Alright, suit yourself."
Shirou stopped talking with Zaruba. Well, aside from being a bit gossipy and sharp-tongued, it was quite suitable as an assistant.
After spending days together, Shirou also learned about some of Zaruba's abilities. Aside from helping him convey the meaning of the light source in his body, Zaruba could also detect the location of the light source. That was why Shirou was rushing to the imperial capital—Zaruba had sensed the location of the light source, and the direction pointed toward the imperial capital. Shirou had casually told Esdeath that he would go to the imperial capital, but he hadn't expected that he would actually have to rush there now.
Sitting on the back of the eagle-like dangerous species—now named Keith—Shirou leisurely gazed at the scenery and listened to the song composed and directed by Zaruba. For a moment, he felt relaxed for the first time in a long while.
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In the military camp, Esdeath stayed alone in her tent.
A block of ice appeared in her hand, transforming into various shapes under her power.
"I must say, my Imperial Arm is truly useful. As long as I have new ideas, I can create new techniques." Esdeath stared at the ice in front of her, a smile on her lips, but suddenly, a red figure appeared in her mind.
Her right hand unconsciously exerted force, crushing the ice in her hand.
Esdeath stood up and walked to the mirror. She touched her forehead and remembered the headpiece that had been taken. Her eyes slowly filled with determination. Although the headpiece was special to her, she cared more about the fact that Shirou had defeated her.
"Of course, ordinary techniques are useless against you, but the next time we meet, I will definitely crush you under my feet."
"I won't lose, and you won't be able to escape my hunt."
Esdeath muttered to herself. After being defeated by Shirou, she devoted herself to researching and developing new techniques. Based on her personality, she would have left the troops and rushed to the imperial capital to find Shirou. However, although Esdeath loved to fight, she wasn't foolish. She could see the gap between herself and Shirou. With her current strength, her chances of winning against Shirou were too low, so she calmly advanced with the troops, using this time to develop new techniques.
"But you..." Esdeath remembered Shirou's youthful yet aged face, "If you meet all the requirements, you would be a good choice."
Esdeath, who grew up in the Partas tribe that hunted dangerous species, had been introduced to the concept of survival of the fittest since birth.
"The reason the weak grieve is because they are too weak, so they can only be destroyed by the strong." That was what she thought and did. Whether hunting dangerous species or killing enemies on the battlefield, she was ruthless, and no one could defeat her. But this time, she felt the sting of humiliating defeat. However, this only fueled her determination and desire to surpass him.
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"Hiss!" Shirou suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if someone was thinking about him.
"What's wrong?" Zaruba asked, sensing something was off with him.
"Nothing!"
"Seeing you like this, is someone thinking about you? Could it be a woman?"
"Uh..." Hearing this, Shirou couldn't help but think of the blue figure on the battlefield. He shook his head and drove away the distracting thoughts.
"Did you make this up? Did you hit your head while doing this? How could you end up thinking about a woman?"
"Isn't that what's written in books? The hero leaves a deep impression on the heroine, but then leaves her, and the heroine keeps thinking about him..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Shirou interrupted Zaruba before he could finish. "That's just a novel. Don't bring novel plots into real life."
"Art comes from life. Besides, this book was written by you humans. If you want to blame someone, blame the humans who wrote it."
"Never mind. I can't win against you." Shirou shook his head helplessly, "It's always like this."
But it was precisely because of this that his journey wasn't too boring.