Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

"Pfft——!"

Blood splattered onto the ground instantly as the scissors tore through Vlad III's black armor without hindrance, viciously piercing his chest.

"You really are a hero!!!"

Looking at his chest pierced through, Vlad III showed no remorse. Instead, he praised Shirou Emiya, who had been pierced by his spear.

"Come back, your appetite has vanished!"

Chapter 573 The Voice of Call

"Since your appetite has disappeared, there's nothing we can do!"

Vlad III waved his hand dismissively, and with a seemingly painless gesture, pulled the scissors that had pierced his chest out and tossed them to the ground.

Then, with his other hand holding the demon spear, he swiftly pulled the spear that had pierced Shirou Emiya's abdomen out and walked towards Lanlu without any hesitation.

"Unknown hero, you've been lucky to escape with your life—!!"

With a smile full of fighting spirit, he turned around and looked at Shirou Emiya before leaving with Ranji.

"A vampire?"

Shirou Emiya watched Vlad III and Ranlu leave, muttering to himself.

No one could ignore such a horrific injury, not even a Servant.

Even for many Servants, such injuries, even without damaging their Soul Core, are enough to eliminate them.

The only thing Shirou Emiya could think of was the legend of Dracula, who was inextricably linked to Vlad III.

He originally thought Vlad III was satirizing his own fate, mocking the author who portrayed him as a monster, but he never expected that this time he would indeed transform into a monster called a vampire.

The next day, Shirou Emiya washed up early in his room. The wound that had pierced his abdomen the day before had already healed, and the blood-stained clothes had been broken down into magical energy by Shirou Emiya.

When there are no clothes to change into, Shirou Emiya mostly wears clothes that are projected onto his body.

Shirou Emiya will also basically project the bulletproof school uniform from Tokyo Butei High School.

Of course, this school uniform only has a little defensive power, and the attacks of heroic spirits can easily penetrate it.

The fact that Vlad III's spear could easily pierce Shirou Emiya's abdomen yesterday was also his own doing.

Even if the evolved demonic possession is merely a projection, its defenses are not so easily broken.

Moreover, the magic spear in his hand did not have the enhancement of the concept of "penetration".

Shirou Emiya's purpose was to restrict Vlad III's spear so that the One Slash could easily pierce his armor.

"Shirou——!"

At that very moment, a very familiar, soft voice called out to Shirou Emiya.

"who!?"

Emiya Shirou also turned around sharply, but there was nothing behind him.

"Ruler?"

Shirou Emiya prefers to call someone by their class name rather than their real name.

This was an excellent habit during the Holy Grail War.

But there was still no response, as if the sound they had just heard was just an illusion.

But Shirou Emiya could clearly feel that the previously elusive contract had become more solid at this moment, and the Command Seal marks on the back of his hand had become more and more obvious.

Even so, Shirou Emiya is still unable to contact Jeanne d'Arc and can only take things one step at a time.

"Why did you come?"

Upon arriving on the rooftop, beside the familiar flowerbed, a girl named Rin Tohsaka looked at Shirou Emiya, who had just opened the door, with extreme impatience and made a very dissatisfied sound.

"Looking up information = went to—"

Shirou Emiya answered Rin Tohsaka truthfully. After all, this Vlad III was quite different from the one he knew. So Shirou Emiya decided to go to the library to look up the history of this world's Vlad III.

"You've already decided on your opponent for the second round?"

Rin Tohsaka could easily deduce why Shirou Emiya would look up information—it was because he knew about the enemy's Servants, and she was the one who told Shirou about it.

If I hadn't said that, Shirou Emiya probably wouldn't have known that the school library could do this kind of thing.

"Don't you have it yet?"

"We haven't received any messages yet."

Rin Tohsaka shook her head. Not all magicians fight at the same time; each magician has a different rest period.

"What is the true name of your opponent's Servant?"

Seemingly realizing that her question was inappropriate, Rin Tohsaka quickly added another sentence before Shirou Emiya could answer.

"Don't get me wrong, I just think you might be eliminated in the second round, and that person might be my opponent, so I want to gather some information."

Emiya Shirou, on the other hand, had absolutely no problem with it. Rather than working in isolation, he preferred to share information and exchange ideas.

"Vlad III."

"That Dracula?"

"Let's not call him Dracula."

"why?"

"Because I personally despise this reputation."

"Okay, I understand—"

Rin Tohsaka readily agreed to Shirou Emiya's request.

Although they are enemies, upon closer reflection, she realized that her life had been overshadowed by a novelist from who-knows-where, leaving her with a reputation that was almost unrelated to her or even negative. She would feel resentful and resistant to this title.

"But you seem quite familiar with the opponent's Servants?"

Rin Tohsaka originally wanted to help Shirou Emiya analyze the situation, but she didn't expect that on the third day, Shirou Emiya already knew the true name of the opposing Servant, and he seemed quite confident, so he must have some countermeasures.

Rin Tohsaka still couldn't figure out what countermeasures Shirou Emiya had, nor could she figure out how Shirou Emiya had defeated Shinji Matou's Servant.

Keep in mind that she was the woman who defeated the Spanish Armada; she was no pushover.

At least according to Shinji Matou's description, he was not so easy to defeat.

When asked how Matou Shinji and Emiya Shirou defeated Drake, Matou Shinji suddenly shut his mouth and refused to say another word, as if he wanted to hide something.

Rin Tohsaka cannot lay a hand on Shinji Matou, and even private duels between magicians are prohibited within the academy.

She could only grit her teeth in hatred, pondering how Shirou Emiya had won that battle.

Then came the second battle, which shocked her even more. If she had to say, Shirou Emiya had already figured out his opponent's strength in just one battle.

"Um, I know quite a bit about the history of Vlad III—"

That was the only answer Shirou Emiya could give Rin Tohsaka.

He did know more about Vlad III's history than most people, but that was all, because Shirou Emiya didn't have much contact with Vlad III during his time with the Black Faction.

It's just that Shirou Emiya did some research on the Servants who participated in the Holy Grail War.

Compared to the Black faction's commander, Shirou Emiya was more familiar with Chiron, who had taught him archery skills.

During that Holy Grail War, besides Arthur, the only people he spent the most time with were Joan of Arc and Chiron.

Chapter 574 Current Situation (Revised)

Despite having experienced a battle, many magicians were still exchanging ideas in the corridors of the school building where Shirou Emiya was located.

There can only be one victor in this Holy Grail War, but no one can guarantee that they will survive to the end, and many times they are not even sure if they can survive this battle.

A significant number of magicians choose to team up with others, exchanging information when the two are not adversaries.

In the same arena, there might even be situations where two Servants fight against one Servant.

This is the Holy Grail War, a war where lives are at stake, not some video game. Everyone who participates in the Holy Grail War has their own desires, and no one is willing to sacrifice their life.

Everyone was not only after obtaining the Holy Grail that could grant wishes, but also to survive in such a brutal war.

As for why it seems that the number of people in this school has not decreased, but has even increased.

That's because there wasn't just one school building in this Holy Grail War.

During the first battle of the Holy Grail War, Mooncell will be operating seven school buildings simultaneously.

The 128 participants were spread across seven school buildings, with an average of only about 17 participants per school building.

During the second war, the seven school buildings were merged, leaving only two.

The 64 participants were evenly distributed, with 32 people in each school building. This is why it felt like there were more magicians in the school buildings than in the first round.

Under the clear sunlight, the students and magicians became lively.

Some magicians decided to continue venturing into the arena, training their coordination with their Servants, searching for the key number to participate in the finals, or devising methods in the arena to defeat their opponents.

Some magicians would immerse themselves in libraries, searching for information about their rival Servants and finding their weaknesses.

Some magicians then consulted with magicians who were not their opponents, discussing how to cooperate and win the fight.

Other magicians are running around the campus, completing the tasks given to them by the NPCs.

Money is essential for survival in this academy, as not everyone receives a lunchbox from Matou Sakura in the infirmary.

Most of them received only the simplest potions from Sakura, which had effects similar to the simplest healing magic.

Therefore, in order to survive in this world, they also need to obtain money from NPCs to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the school cafeteria.

Not everyone can use their hacking skills to directly place treasure in the arena like Shinji Matou, and many people don't realize that many items in the arena can be taken out and exchanged for money at the shop.

The reason why Shinji Matou didn't directly modify his own money amount is naturally because he couldn't do that; otherwise, he would have chosen to modify his money to be infinite.

After all, the power of Drake's Noble Phantasm is also linked to money, and if Matou Shinji could do that, he would have done it long ago.