Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

He felt a chill that went deep into his bones emanating from his hands.

With just one strike, Emiya's hands were completely frozen, and even his fingers were unable to move at all.

Both hands were frozen to death.

However, despite the extreme cold in his hands, a silver katana reappeared in his palm.

He struggled to plant the sword in the ground, supported himself as he stood up, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his arm.

"Why? They've lost their will to fight and are only thinking about escaping, yet you won't let them go!"

Emiya questioned Esdeath in an extremely angry tone.

"Why? It's simply because they're too weak! The strong kill the weak, why ask so many questions?"

Esdeath couldn't help but sneer, finding Emiya's question utterly naive. She twirled her longsword in a dazzling display before planting it into the ground.

"These are all precious human lives!"

Emiya didn't say this aloud; he knew he couldn't impose his own standards on others.

War is not something that can be resolved by the loss of human lives, nor can it be decided by the pursuit of justice.

Esdeath killed the fleeing enemy soldiers, and from both a moral and legal standpoint, Emiya had no reason to blame her.

Emiya himself knew that being merciful to the enemy was being cruel to himself and irresponsible to his people and subordinates.

If you hold back against them on the battlefield, you might be the next one to be betrayed.

Throughout history books, there are countless battles where people were killed because of their kind hearts.

If Esdeath merely ordered her men to pursue and kill them, or if the purpose of killing those soldiers was not to completely annihilate them all...

Emiya will not make a move at all.

Pursuing the routed enemy is a matter of course.

Esdeath could have had more options in dealing with these enemy soldiers, but she chose the cruelest method, leaving no one alive. Everyone died on the battlefield in an extremely brutal manner.

This might just be one of her strategies.

Destroying the enemy to the point of complete terror is also a tactic of warfare.

Emiya could understand, but he couldn't accept it.

Why could she value human life so little? Why could she so easily kill so many people without any psychological burden?

A flash of golden lightning appeared at the corner of Emiya's mouth. This was a war whose outcome was already decided, and he intended to buy more time for the deserters.

"Ding!"

But Emiya suddenly stumbled and almost fell on the snow.

"My legs are frozen!"

Esdeath had even anticipated that Emiya wouldn't give up and continue fighting her. In the instant she breathed with Emiya, his limbs were completely frozen, leaving him utterly unable to move.

She certainly didn't want to kill such a talented person because of her own mistake.

If it weren't for the fact that news of Numa Seka's capture on the other side of the battlefield hadn't yet reached them, the war would still be ongoing.

Perhaps Esdeath would actually be willing to fight Emiya without using the abilities of her Imperial Arms.

And killed him.

Instead of controlling Emiya.

Esdeath is more interested in exhilarating battles than in taking Emiya as a subordinate.

Aside from Imperial Arms, few can match her in physical combat.

Esdeath was not only a brave and skilled warrior who loved blood and war, but also a general who treated his subordinates with great kindness.

She did not want her subordinates to make meaningless sacrifices.

Even though they could easily rout the enemy, they still forced them into a direct confrontation.

This is neither Esdeath's style nor her behavior.

As the empire's Grand General, she was able to distinguish between what was important and what was not.

Otherwise, she would have already fought a decisive battle with General Bud, or even challenged the Supreme Emperor to see who was stronger, instead of considering the various affairs of the Empire.

She is a war maniac, a battle maniac, but she is not a person without reason who only fights.

She enjoys blood and war, but she won't let her subordinates do it meaninglessly.

The war here should end now, instead of continuing to fight according to one's own whims.

Despite having the ability to kill Emiya instantly, she continued to entangle with him.

This is irresponsible to the empire and to one's own subordinates.

So she decided to end the fight quickly; she had had her fill and there was no need to prolong it.

Moreover, she hadn't seen a young man with such strength at such a young age for a long time.

This made Esdeath appreciate his talent, and Emiya's unwavering gaze only fueled her desire to conquer him and recruit him into her ranks.

Besides these reasons, there is another reason why Esdeath did not kill Emiya—even in his furious state, Emiya did not reveal any killing intent or hostility towards Esdeath, only ordinary fighting spirit.

This aroused her great curiosity. With her beast-like intuition, she simply couldn't believe that the man in front of her didn't have any murderous intent or hostility towards her.

It was as if she wasn't Emiya's enemy, which Esdeath found extremely unbelievable.

It's important to understand that from beginning to end, Esdeath's thoughts, aura, and fighting style were all geared towards killing Emiya.

Even so, he still did not show her the slightest bit of murderous intent or hostility.

Esdeath does not believe that there is anyone in the world who can conceal their murderous intent and hostility so that she cannot detect it.

She didn't believe that Emiya had never wanted to fight her from beginning to end, nor did he have any resentment towards her attacks, as if he thought that he should be killed by her for helping those soldiers escape.

Even after killing so many soldiers in the war, Emiya showed no murderous intent or hostility towards them.

Emiya always countered their attacks, rather than charging into the battlefield to engage in direct combat.

If it weren't for the fact that there was nowhere to hide and that Emiya was unwilling to point his blade at humans, he would not have any killing intent or hostility; on the contrary, he would be filled with guilt.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have helped the soldiers who wanted to kill him, allowing them to live.

Esdeath became even more interested in this suddenly appearing Emiya.

There was no murderous intent or hostility, which is why Esdeath believed that Emiya could be spared.

Allowing someone filled with murderous intent to become her subordinate would only be like raising a tiger to cause trouble later. Although Esdeath might not care about this, she didn't want such trouble to distract her.

There are so many things to take care of in the empire; I don't have time to play this game of raising a tiger that will eventually become my enemy.

Moreover, Esdeath hadn't reached the stage where she could stand alone on a mountaintop and enjoy the view.

She instantly appeared behind Emiya, who was practically unable to move.

"puff--!"

With a muffled thud, Emiya collapsed unconscious, unable to resist.

After all, with Emiya's magical power, just releasing that Breathing Technique that projects four swords at once would consume most of his magical power.

Not to mention that Emiya has been fighting using projection magic and breathing techniques since yesterday, and he hasn't rested at night. His magic power has been constantly depleted without replenishment.

Emiya's breathing technique is combined with his magic circuits. It not only expands Emiya's magical power, but also causes him to consume his own magical power when he uses the breathing technique.

Chapter 58 Liva

"..."

Emiya was used to always falling into a coma due to various things and then being taken to all sorts of strange places.

So much so that he didn't complain at all about the unfamiliar ceiling in front of him.

Anyway, I never woke up to a familiar ceiling.

Oh, except for sleeping at home.

And after getting used to this kind of thing happening, quickly examine your own body.

His hands and legs were bandaged, and Emiya could even feel the soft warmth emanating from them.

It seems that the medicine was applied to treat his frostbite.

However, Emiya could no longer feel his frozen wounds; inside the bandages, he could move his fingers with great dexterity.

Looking at the wailing Imperial soldiers around him, Emiya didn't know why he had come here.

When facing Esdeath, Emiya was already prepared to die.

For rescuing people from a country hostile to Esdeath's, Emiya should have been sentenced to death, instead of lying in a hospital bed receiving treatment meant for his soldiers.

Emiya had already prepared for all of this.

He didn't know who started the war, who was right, and who was wrong. Emiya only knew that war was not a just thing.

Emiya would be content if he could save a few lives in the war.

Even if they might die at the hands of others later.

Although these were merely Emiya's own psychological comforts.

If we assume that Emiya has a friend who wants revenge, and he succeeds, it will cause extremely horrific casualties, harming many innocent people, and such harm is unavoidable.

Emiya would not try to dissuade him from giving up his revenge, as there is nothing wrong with revenge itself.

But Emiya will go to stop him.

The result is the same, but the purpose is completely different.

One was to stop revenge, and the other was to prevent innocent people from being harmed.

Just like Emiya saving those soldiers in the war.

He wasn't trying to give the northern barbarians a chance to catch their breath, but rather to give them a chance to survive the battle.

Whether or not they face death again later, at least this time Emiya saved their lives.