Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

However, this day, which repeats itself endlessly, is about to end.

The soft glow of the setting sun shone through the window of the infirmary, gently illuminating Sakura lying on the hospital bed.

Today, the purple-haired girl named Sakura has been lying in her hospital bed for an unusually long time.

"senior--!"

A soft and gentle voice sounded from in front of Shirou Emiya.

"Senior, you must have already noticed the fact that it keeps repeating itself every day."

With a mixture of laughter and tears, Sakura looked at Shirou Emiya beside her with utmost tenderness.

Emiya Shirou didn't shift his gaze at all, his eyes meeting Sakura's directly without uttering a sound, only nodding slightly.

Since Shirou Emiya was able to discover that Sakura was the only one who did not repeat the same actions throughout the day, she could also discover that Shirou Emiya had not actually lost his memory and was constantly repeating what he did on the first day.

"How did you find out?"

Emiya Shirou sighed. He naturally knew how Sakura had discovered him, but he still couldn't help asking, because he understood that since Sakura had decided to confront him now, she was naturally prepared to end it all.

"That's because they're seniors; they didn't hide their thoughts at all!"

Sakura covered her mouth and let out a somewhat melodious laugh, but Shirou Emiya could hear a very obvious bitterness in it.

"However, even though my senior knew that this day was being repeated because of me, he still went to great lengths to be with me every day—"

As she spoke, the girl named Sakura looked out the window, which was bathed in the sunlight of the setting sun, and slightly stretched out her right hand, as if recalling the various experiences she had had with Emiya Shirou over the past ten days.

That's right, from the time Shirou Emiya arrived here until now, it has been a full ten days.

Looking at Sakura bathed in the sunset, Shirou Emiya remained silent. From Sakura's right hand, which was gripping his palm tightly, he could sense the tension and inner conflict she was experiencing.

"Thank you, Emiya-senpai!"

Sakura slowly turned her gaze away and sincerely expressed her gratitude to Emiya Shirou.

Because of Emiya Shirou, he experienced things that his original self, being an AI, could never have experienced.

It is also impossible to experience such emotions in just ten short days.

She thanked Shirou Emiya, but she was also reluctant to part with him.

But more than wanting to stay by Shirou Emiya's side, she wanted to save him.

Sakuramoto had no intention of constantly restarting this day.

But at the end of the day, she suddenly realized that she couldn't seem to find any information about a magician named Emiya Shirou.

So at the last moment, she once again used her advanced AI privileges to investigate Emiya Shirou.

However, during her investigation, she came to a conclusion that she could not accept at all.

Chapter 531 Moving Towards Tomorrow

In Mooncell's view, Shirou Emiya's existence is more like a virus than a Wizard.

Whether it's Shirou Emiya being an existence that doesn't belong to this world, or Mooncell deducing from the abnormal magical fluctuations within him that it might have an irreversible impact on him.

All of this led Mooncell to reject Shirou Emiya.

Since he is not a person of this world, Shirou Emiya's acquisition of the Holy Grail has almost no significance for the future of this world.

However, given that its existence is almost identical to that of a being with whom it has made a contract, and because Shirou Emiya is a human from another world.

Mooncell has chosen to observe for the time being.

It gathers humans from the ground, rewarding them with a single use in a competition. It's not about finding the "strongest," but rather that this survival competition itself is Mooncell's object of observation, serving as a "yardstick" it needs to understand humanity.

Shirou Emiya is still human, and even a human from another world. Mooncell simply sees Shirou Emiya as more like a virus than as a virus itself.

It can be said to be somewhere between a wizard and a virus.

If Shirou Emiya were to actually obtain the Holy Grail, Mooncell would treat him as a virus and eliminate him.

However, in the Holy Grail War, only one person can survive. If Shirou Emiya becomes the last one, he will be eliminated as a virus.

If Shirou Emiya is not the last one standing, he will die in the Holy Grail War.

Even if Shirou Emiya hadn't been the last one standing, nor had he died in the Holy Grail War, he still wouldn't have survived.

Because he no longer has a physical body, when Mooncell returns the Wizard at the end of the Holy Grail War, Shirou Emiya's soul will dissipate in the material world due to the lack of a physical body to carry him.

In either case, Shirou Emiya has no chance of surviving.

It was precisely for this reason that Sakura used her advanced AI privileges to repeatedly relive this day.

But she didn't expect that Shirou Emiya's will could even fight against the system. Even if this day was reset, Shirou Emiya would still retain some memories.

And these memories will be fully restored when they are repeatedly triggered.

Unless Sakura keeps repeating this day, constantly eroding Shirou Emiya's will until his will can no longer maintain the stability of his memories, Shirou Emiya will not be able to forget everything that happened.

But why would she treat Emiya Shirou so abusively?

By the third day, Sakura was already prepared to face Shirou Emiya's questioning and accept his accusations.

But Shirou Emiya, who clearly knew everything, pretended not to know anything and stayed by his side without any resentment.

At that moment, Sakura's heart was filled with conflicting emotions, and she was caught in a dilemma.

Especially on the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and even eighth day, Shirou Emiya still wore a faint smile and did not treat her differently because of her selfishness.

She was prepared to face Shirou Emiya's wrath, but nothing happened.

Sometimes, Shirou Emiya would even comfort him when he saw that he was in a bad mood.

It's important to understand that Shirou Emiya wasn't completely ignorant; rather, he knew everything and understood everything.

This is why Sakura's inner turmoil and guilt have become even deeper.

She wanted to relive this happy time forever; she wanted to stay on this day forever.

But what about Emiya Shirou?

She couldn't possibly trap Shirou Emiya in this day forever because of her own selfish desires.

Tears streamed down her face.

She is not only an NPC in this Holy Grail War, but also a highly advanced AI.

In this world, each NPC has their own duties, as well as their own thoughts and personality. However, their personality is disposable and cannot be separated from their pre-set worldview.

After the war ends, the records of NPCs and AI will be confiscated by Mooncell, while the rest will be reset and repurposed for the next war.

Advanced AIs are created using the same process as NPCs, but they are endowed with unwavering human rights, personalities, and souls. Due to the high cost of creating advanced AIs, only their records are reset after a war; their personalities are preserved, and they are carried over to the next Holy Grail War as fixed characters.

Advanced AI cannot delete the records it acquires on its own, because submitting them to Mooncell is their fundamental principle and reason for existence.

Sakura wanted to preserve this record forever, but Mooncell conducted AI testing every day during the pre-selection period.

If Mooncell discovers its anomaly, it will be unable to avoid being deleted and replaced by another advanced AI.

Originally, she only wanted to buy time and find a way to save Shirou Emiya.

However, she couldn't find any way to save Shirou Emiya, and because of her own selfish desires, Sakura kept repeating this day.

She didn't want to continue binding Shirou Emiya like this, nor did she want him to worry.

Ultimately, amidst constant internal conflict, Sakura chose to sacrifice herself.

And this was originally part of her job duties.

Advanced AIs are created specifically to learn about the Master. For Mooncell, repeatedly using their own selfish desires to repeat this behavior is a violation of the rules.

At this moment, Shirou Emiya didn't know how to comfort her.

Sakura slowly released her grip on Shirou Emiya's hand, opened her arms wide, and hugged him tightly.

Tears fell drop by drop onto the crimson trench coat worn by Emiya Shirou.

By this time, the sky outside had darkened, and it seemed that the day was about to end.

In the past, at this time every year, Shirou Emiya would return to the school gate.

But now——

"Goodbye, Emiya-senpai—"

As Sakura spoke, Shirou Emiya's vision went completely black, as if he had been struck on the head with tremendous force, and he instantly lost consciousness.

Sakura, who was holding Shirou Emiya in front of her, suddenly lost her focus, as if her consciousness had been erased by some force.

The next second————

"senior--?"

The girl named Sakura unconsciously uttered a sound, then slowly sat up from the hospital bed and steadily placed Emiya Shirou on the bed.

The girl didn't know why, but even though she didn't know him, she felt such emotions. Looking at Shirou Emiya lying on the hospital bed, the girl named Sakura couldn't help but waver.

Even if one loses their mental memories, the memories recorded in their body continue to live on.

She, who should have forgotten everything and returned to being a normal AI, was constantly swayed by her unclear feelings the moment she looked at Shirou Emiya.

"Perhaps I should take a good rest too—"

As she said this, Sakura walked to the wooden table in front of Shirou Emiya's sickbed and placed her hands under her head.

Even though she, as an AI, didn't need to rest, for some reason, she felt her body was full of fatigue.

Once again, she turned her head with some unease to look at Shirou Emiya, who was already fast asleep in the hospital bed, and slowly closed her eyes as well.

Sakura, who had been unable to fall asleep, suddenly seemed to drift off to sleep, her chest rising and falling rhythmically, and her breathing quickly becoming calm.

Sakura's lips curled into a smile, as if she were having a blissful dream.

On the other side, amidst countless black oceans so filthy they defied description, a woman with long, purple hair reaching past her knees, a red ribbon tied to the left side of her head, and dressed in a sailor uniform, crawled out.

Her eyes were filled with indescribable anger as she looked toward what appeared to be the center of the entire black ocean in the distance.

He was constantly roaring.

"Unforgivable!"