Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

"..."

Emiya Shirou really didn't know how to explain it to her, after all, projection magic was something that he couldn't explain clearly even if he tried.

It seems that Fiore had told her that her projection magic was very different from normal projection magic, and that she should not perform it in front of other magicians unless absolutely necessary.

It seems I've forgotten her warning, but I'm not in my own world now, so using it like this shouldn't be a big problem, right?

Emiya Shirou thought to himself, and then began to consider how to describe it to her.

"That's right, that's right. Using the power of existence, using this power to unleash, to unleash..."

Emiya Shirou has some basic understanding of the power of existence. Although he compares it to the magical power within his body, the difference doesn't seem to be that great, at least not during battle, as both are manifestations of mana.

"The Dharma of Self-Existence?"

"Ah, yes, it's the Dharma of liberation!"

Emiya Shirou immediately replied as if he had just realized something, as if what is performed with magical power is called magic, and what is performed with the power of existence is called free magic. That was probably how Emiya Shirou guessed it.

Anyway, it's a proper noun, so whether you understand it or not isn't a big deal.

"Don't try to fob me off like that!!! How can there be such a free and easy way to do things!!!"

The girl was extremely frustrated. This was clearly not something that could be accomplished with a simple technique like Free Style. Moreover, in her opinion, Shirou Emiya didn't know how to use the power of existence, let alone Free Style based on the power of existence.

"Well! Well! That's about it—"

Shirou Emiya could only offer this perfunctory response. He didn't want to explain what magic was to her. He himself didn't know much about magic, and explaining it to someone else would be an incredibly difficult task for him.

"Um, could I know some information about the [Hunter] you mentioned?"

Emiya Shirou chose to quickly change the subject, since continuing to discuss his projection magic would likely lead to an awkward silence between them.

Shirou Emiya genuinely wanted to learn about those beings that devoured humans, and even more so, he wanted to know what the dark side of this world was like.

"Destroying the Crimson Lord is the Flame Haze's mission. You, as a human, should just live your life properly. These are not things you should know."

She gazed at Shirou Emiya with eyes filled with intense will, her youthful face revealing a serious expression, as if this was something that truly could not be told to humans.

Emiya Shirou, however, did not express any sentiment regarding the girl's reply that humans should have the right to know these things.

After all, magicians in their own world always remain hidden in the shadows, and ordinary people living ordinary lives would not know of their existence.

Moreover, what good would it do for ordinary people to know about these things? Under that crimson space, they would have no power to resist whatsoever; it would only cause panic among everyone.

"But the Crimson World Demon King you mentioned has already set his sights on me, so it would be better if I knew something."

"Protecting humans is also the duty of Flame Hazes, so you don't need to worry."

"But you didn't appear immediately when I was attacked by him, did you?"

Shirou Emiya wasn't blaming the girl; there were many things that were difficult to get to in time, something Shirou himself knew all too well.

In Fuyuki City, before Shirou Emiya had made up his mind to deal with the delinquents, he would often arrive late, after the delinquents had already started beating up the students.

Afterwards, the students even blamed him, but Shirou Emiya did not give up on saving them. Instead, he decided to eradicate all the bad elements in their area.

As for places further away, those are beyond Shirou Emiya's reach and control. One person's power is limited, and this is the limit of what Shirou Emiya can do.

What Shirou Emiya wanted to tell the girl was that since he was already involved in these events and couldn't extricate himself, he should understand exactly what kind of events he was involved in.

“Tell him that the Hunter’s initial target was him, and besides, he has more than just the Zero Hour Child Noble Phantasm. No matter what, he can’t escape the entanglement of the Crimson Denizens.”

A steady voice came from the pendant on the girl's chest, its thoughts far more profound than the girl's.

Furthermore, there are quite a few humans who assist the Flame Haze, which is not something that needs to be hidden.

"Hmph! Since Alastor has said so..."

The girl seemed reluctant, but she still patiently explained some basic facts about Crimson Denizens and Flame Haze to Shirou Emiya.

Simply put, there is another group of beings in this world who are superior to humans, and they need the power of existence to survive.

However, it does not require the power of human existence; it is simply that obtaining the power of existence from humans is the easiest, most direct, and quickest method.

Thus, these beings split into three factions: one faction devoured humans, one faction assisted humans in resisting being devoured, and the other faction remained neutral, neither hunting humans nor helping them resist.

"So, Alastor, are you also a Crimson Lord?"

"Yes."

The pendant on the girl's chest emitted a bright light, indicating her confirmation of Shirou Emiya's question.

During their conversation, Shirou Emiya also learned the name of the pendant in front of the girl.

"Just like those [evil spirits]."

After listening to what the girl had to say, Shirou Emiya murmured to himself.

To humans, those Crimson Lords who devour the power of human existence are truly like the demons in Demon Slayer.

After all, ordinary people have no way to defend themselves against their attacks.

Without the Demon Slayer Corps, those demons could easily slaughter an entire village.

The Crimson Demon King is capable of easily slaughtering an entire city.

In terms of strength, there is still a big difference between the two, but the human situation under both is extremely similar.

"I don't know your name yet."

After chatting for so long, Shirou Emiya suddenly realized that he hadn't asked the girl in front of him her name yet. He even knew the name on the pendant on her chest, but not her real name.

The girl paused, stopping in her tracks, causing Shirou Emiya, who was walking beside her, to also quickly stop and turn to look at the girl.

"I—have no name, I'm simply called [The Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Assassin]."

Chapter 232 Shana

"Eh!?"

Shirou Emiya looked at the pendant in front of her with a questioning gaze, only to receive a confirming flash of light from Alastor.

"Do you have any opinion?"

The girl met Shirou Emiya's questioning gaze with anger.

"No no."

Emiya Shirou quickly shook his head; this irritable personality reminded him of a certain red Saber.

"It would be fine if it were someone I didn't know well, but Alastor wouldn't call you 'Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Assassin,' would it? Wouldn't it sound too distant to use that code name?"

Especially since it's such a long code name.

Emiya Shirou thought to himself, "That's what I'm complaining about."

If the code name is just a single word, such as "empty" or "white," then even using the code name won't seem unfamiliar.

In his opinion, people in daily life usually use shorter forms of address, which is convenient and avoids a sense of unfamiliarity. For example, people who know Shirou Emiya usually call him Emiya or Shirou, rather than by his name, Shirou Emiya.

However, just as Shirou Emiya said, Alastor never referred to her as "the Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Assassin" when they were communicating normally.

However, that's because the girl always acted alone, and Alastor only communicated with her. There was no other person to talk to, so there was no need to address her when they spoke to each other.

Alastor did not respond to Shirou Emiya, because he had not thought about how to address the girl.

He discovered that all the Flame Haze he knew did indeed have their own names, except for her, who only had the codename "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Killer".

"Titles and such are completely unnecessary. As for distinguishing identities, the title 'Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Assassin' is sufficient."

This girl was raised as a Flame Haze from a young age, and then formed a contract with Alastor to become a Flame Haze herself.

The Flame Haze warriors who formed a pact with Alastor were known as "the Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Killers".

She was raised from childhood to be the "Flaming-Haired Burning-Eyed Killer," and was meant to inherit that title.

She did not know her own name, and no one named her.

She had always only thought about becoming a Flame Haze, so she never thought about her name.

It wasn't until Shirou Emiya brought it up that she remembered she didn't have a name.

After all, since becoming a Flame Haze, she has been relentlessly eliminating Crimson Denizens, and apart from Alastor, she has never had such a long conversation with anyone as she has now.

Although many of the questions were raised by Emiya, she provided the answers.

"Then, Miss [Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Assassin]?"

"..."

As Shirou Emiya finished speaking, gusts of cool wind blew from the river beside them, making the whole scene even more desolate.

Even Alastor, who was standing in front of her, didn't know how to respond to Shirou Emiya's address.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!!!!!!!!"

The girl shouted directly at Shirou Emiya. Originally, she didn't want to care about the name at all, but now Shirou Emiya had brought it out into the open, forcing her to face this fact.

"Zheng—!"

Under the night sky, a gleaming silver katana was drawn from her veil and pointed at Shirou Emiya.

Fortunately, during their conversation, they unknowingly arrived at the Misaki Bridge in Misaki City, and there were no other residents passing by besides them.

Otherwise, they would definitely be startled by the sudden appearance of that gleaming katana.

"It's just a name! I can just pick one myself!"

Holding her katana and pointing it at Shirou Emiya, the girl spoke with extreme indignation.

Then, a long silence fell over the scene.

She seemed to be thinking about her name.

"Shana."

A low voice came from the girl's mouth.

"Varied----"

Just as Shirou Emiya was about to ask a question, the katana gleaming with silver light suddenly moved forward and swiftly pressed against Shirou Emiya's neck.